Supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism
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This is different y'all. But can we talk for real.? Sometimes we feel God is unfair. Join LaShay on this episode as she explains how Just God truly is.
Join us for this inspiring rewind episode of Lin. Woods Gospel Entertainment Podcast featuring award-winning Christian Hip Hop artist Aaron Cole!Aaron shares his incredible journey, from his roots in Bristol, VA, to performing on the world stage. He opens up about the joy of fatherhood, his mantra “No Hook-Ups, Just God”, the merging of Christian Hip Hop with Hip Hop, and how his baby boy Omari inspired his latest music.Tune in for an episode full of heart, faith, and powerful music!#LinWoodsGospelEntertainmentPodcast #AaronCole #ChristianHipHopFollow on Social Media:X: @LinwoodsLinkedIn: @Lin. WoodsInstagram & TikTok: @Linwoods96
Sunday, February 23, 2025 – Today’s message is titled “Living in Obedient Love” as we continue our study on 1 John, focusing on 1 John 2:1-6. As the title suggests, the word “living” implies a daily exercise or progression. John teaches that the life of a Christian is one of progress, moving from striving not to sin but recognizing that if one does sin, God has a plan for forgiveness, provided one understands the role of Jesus as their advocate in God’s court of heavenly justice. I realize I just said a lot that you may not fully understand, and that’s okay because that’s what this message is about. We will discuss what an “advocate” is and their vital role. Scripture shows us that both the Holy Spirit and Jesus bear the title of advocate. Both are essential, bringing sinful mankind back into a just and holy relationship with a Holy and Just God. However, they differ in function and location, and we will explain that. The end result of learning to live in “obedient love” is that we obey Jesus' commands not because we “have to” or because we “need to” but because we “want to.” When we reach that stage in our mature Christian walk, we can experience the Joy of the Lord as our strength, living a fulfilled life now while looking forward to a rewarding and joyful eternity. Worship and study with us.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 – Today’s message is titled “Living in Obedient Love” as we continue our study on 1 John, focusing on 1 John 2:1-6. As the title suggests, the word “living” implies a daily exercise or progression. John teaches that the life of a Christian is one of progress, moving from striving not to sin but recognizing that if one does sin, God has a plan for forgiveness, provided one understands the role of Jesus as their advocate in God’s court of heavenly justice. I realize I just said a lot that you may not fully understand, and that’s okay because that’s what this message is about. We will discuss what an “advocate” is and their vital role. Scripture shows us that both the Holy Spirit and Jesus bear the title of advocate. Both are essential, bringing sinful mankind back into a just and holy relationship with a Holy and Just God. However, they differ in function and location, and we will explain that. The end result of learning to live in “obedient love” is that we obey Jesus' commands not because we “have to” or because we “need to” but because we “want to.” When we reach that stage in our mature Christian walk, we can experience the Joy of the Lord as our strength, living a fulfilled life now while looking forward to a rewarding and joyful eternity. Worship and study with us.
Don't miss this inspiring episode of Lin. Woods Gospel Entertainment Podcast featuring award-winning Christian Hip Hop artist Aaron Cole!Aaron shares his incredible journey, from his roots in Bristol, VA, to performing on the world stage. He opens up about the joy of fatherhood, his mantra “No Hook-Ups, Just God”, and how his baby boy Omari inspired his latest music.Tune in for an episode full of heart, faith, and powerful music!#LinWoodsGospelEntertainmentPodcast #AaronCole #ChristianHipHopFollow on Social Media: X: @Linwoods LinkedIn: @Lin. Woods Instagram & TikTok: @Linwoods96
Pastor Yolanda Walker shares Scripture, Isaiah 1:24-31, for us not to be discouraged over the Presidential Election, remember we serve a Just God who is over those in political offices.
Series: Chaos to CovenantTitle: "What's the Bible all about? God remembers his promises." Part 2Scripture: Genesis 8:1-9:17Luke 17:20-33; Hebrews 11:7-10The Bible is all about God's story. Here, Noah's story is a snapshot of the Bible's grand narrative—a holy God seeking to redeem, restore, and renew fallen creation by a merciful covenant through Jesus Christ.God remembers his promises to his people.INTRODUCTIONCONTEXTSERMON OUTLINECONCLUSIONNOTESOUTLINESQUESTIONS TO CONSIDER DISCUSSION QUESTIONSMAIN REFERENCES USEDMy opening prayer: Lord God, help us grow to be and do like Jesus, while abiding in him, and leading others to do the same. INTRODUCTIONStories of the brave, acts big and small, sacrifice and service are what we remember today. Like the story of Vietnam War hero JimmyG. Stewart, an Army staff sergeant from West Columbia, West Virginia - one of the 58,000 Americans who lost their lives in combat during the conflict. When five fellow Soldiers of his six-man squad were wounded near An Khe in May 1966, Stewart held his position to protect his men, crawling through heavy fire to retrieve ammunition from his comrades and tossing back enemy-thrown grenades. When reinforcements arrived, 23-year-old Stewart continued to fight and was eventually killed while holding his position. The wounded he gave his life to protect were recovered and evacuated. A year later, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. This year marks 50 years since the last combat troops left South Vietnam.I share this story for a few reasons relevant to today.Our veterans are potential stories like this. They willingly choose to put themselves in harms way for the sake of defending others from tyranny. On Memorial Day we remember those like Jimmy G. Stewart here for giving his life in the line of duty because he went above and beyond the call of duty to love others with his whole life. What a picture of Christ. We honor our veterans as they put themselves in a position to do that for others.They fight of an imperfect nation that is founded on principles gleaned in part from scripture that empowers her citizens to live differently in all of life. We remember these who have fallen and these who serve our country in this way, we see in Genesis 8:1 that God remembers his promises to Noah meaning he is moved to act mercifully on behalf of sinful people in this world.We will see how precious human life is to the Lord. Stewart saw it as worthy of his own which is at least in part why he was willing to sacrifice his own. At least twice in scripture, Rachel and Hannah, saw barren women be remembered by God and given a child, the desire of their heart. God sees you in your pain even if that pain is of your own making. He remembers and this moves him to act mercifully and redemptively. Redemption of sinful people is at the forefront of his loving acts.The thief on the cross calls on Jesus to remember him when they cross over. Jesus remembers him and says today you will be with me in paradise. This is a great picture of what God remembering looks like.His acts on our behalf are in light of our needs...our greatest needs. Needs that only He can satisfy.CONTEXTIn the wake of God's flood of judgment is a new, redemptive creation. God judged sin and humanity and creation had to deal with the consequences. God takes sin seriously. Sin has consequences. And Noah believed that God's word is trustworthy. So he believed and acted accordingly building an ark to save his family from God's flood of holy judgment. And that ark saved his family and a remnant of the animal kingdom. Now we see God's judgment swing to his faithful covenant with Noah and creation. He is starting over. He is giving humanity a second chance.SERMON Outline modified from BethancourtI. GOD IS HOLY AND JUST. HE MUST PUNISH SIN. Noah and God's judgment (6:1-22) LAST WEEKA. The purpose of God's judgment (6:1-7)B. The patience of God's judgment (6:8-16)C. The promise of God's judgment (6:17-22)II. GOD IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL. HIS LOVE MAKES A WAY BACK. Noah and God's rescue (7:1-8:19)A. God rescues us from the penalty of his judgment (7:1-16)B. God rescues us from the power of his judgment (7:17-24)C. God rescues us from the presence of his judgment (8:1-19) THIS WEEKIII. GOD IS SOVEREIGN CREATOR REDEEMING US THROUGH HIS SON'S COVENANT OF LOVE. Noah and God's covenant (8:20-9:29) THIS WEEKA. The Lord and the covenant with creation (8:20-22)B. The Lord and the covenant with Noah (9:1-11)C. The Lord and the sign of the covenant (9:12-17)D. The Lord and the lineage of the covenant (9:18-29)Big ideas in this passage today:Hinge point in the story: Gen 8:1 "God remembered Noah..."Up to this point, the flood story has been one of judgment. From 8:1 on it's a story of redemption."God had not forgotten Noah and his family. To 'remember' in the Bible is not merely to recall to mind; it is to express concern for someone, to act with loving care for him. When God remembers his people, he does so 'with favor' (Neh 5:19; 13:31)." -NIV Study Bible, 1985"When Genesis 8:1 says, “God remembered Noah,” it doesn't mean that God had forgotten Noah and then recalled him suddenly. In the Bible, the phrase “God remembered” is often used to signify that God is about to act on His promises or fulfill His covenant.In this case, God's “remembering” Noah signifies His care and commitment to Noah and all creation, especially after the long, intense flood. This “remembrance” marks the beginning of the floodwaters receding, as God brings about a new stage in His plan for humanity and the earth. Here, God is staying true to His covenant with Noah by preserving him, his family, and the animals through the flood...it means that God is intervening in a meaningful, faithful way to fulfill His promises or enact His plans. So in Genesis 8:1, “God remembered Noah” signifies divine care and the beginning of restoration after judgment." -ChatGPT"Throughout the Bible, when God “remembers” someone, it signifies His attention, compassion, and faithfulness, often resulting in His direct intervention. Here are some key examples: 1. Abraham and Lot (Genesis 19:29): When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He “remembered Abraham” and spared Lot. God's covenant relationship with Abraham led to His merciful action in delivering Lot from the judgment on the cities. 2. Rachel (Genesis 30:22): After a long period of barrenness, “God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.” God's remembrance here signifies His compassion and care for Rachel, ultimately fulfilling her longing for a child. 3. Israel in Egypt (Exodus 2:24): When the Israelites were suffering under slavery, “God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” This remembrance prompts God to act by raising up Moses and setting in motion the liberation of His people from Egypt. 4. Hannah (1 Samuel 1:19): After Hannah prayed earnestly for a son, “the Lord remembered her,” and she conceived and gave birth to Samuel. God's remembering here shows His response to Hannah's heartfelt prayer and His intervention in her life. 5. God's Promise to Israel (Psalm 105:8): The psalmist declares that God “remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations.” This indicates God's unwavering commitment to His promises and His ongoing relationship with His people. 6. The Thief on the Cross (Luke 23:42-43): Although the word “remember” is used differently here, the thief's request, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” appeals to Jesus' mercy and faithfulness. Jesus' reply assures him of eternal life, demonstrating the compassion inherent in divine “remembrance.”In each case, God's “remembering” is more than mere recollection—it signals His intention to act faithfully and mercifully on behalf of His people, often in response to their need or in fulfillment of His covenant promises." -ChatGPTPerhaps we should ask Jesus to remember us as well...The flood story reveals four main characteristics of God. God is... 1. Holy and Just: God judges human wickedness, showing His intolerance for sin. 2. Gracious and Merciful: He offers time for repentance and preserves Noah's family. 3. Faithful to keep his Promises: God promises to sustain creation, never to destroy it by flood again. 4. Sovereign Creator: He controls nature, demonstrating His power to both judge and restore.These qualities reveal a God who is just, merciful, faithful, and sovereign, committed to both righteousness and renewal.Said another way...The story of Noah and the flood reflects the broader story of God in the Bible by capturing key themes of Creator-God, sovereignly creating a good world where humanity sins/falls and reaps judgment. Despite this, merciful God makes a way for wicked humanity to find redemption and restoration through the covenant relationship with Creator-God through Christ Jesus, our Savior.CONCLUSIONWhat do I want them to know?God sees, remembers, and keeps his promise of mercy.The story of God in macro and how our story fits in micro. God judges sin but remember mercy.Why? Because his character is holy love.What do I want them to do?Show and tell their story in the context of God's story. Remember that God sees, remembers and keeps his promise of mercy.Why? This is how we rescue people close to us but far from God.How?By learning this macro story, seeing our story within that context, and then sharing that story with others where we live, work, learn and play.Bottom line: Noah's story is a snapshot of the Bible's grand narrative—a holy God seeking to redeem, restore, and renew fallen creation by a merciful covenant through Jesus Christ. God sees and remembers his promise of mercy.At the end of the day, my question to you is this: "Are you in the boat?" Is your life protected from God's holy wrath? Have you entered through the only door to salvation? His name is Jesus. Cf. John 14:6Jesus spoke of Noah as well:“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,' or ‘There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!' or ‘Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”Luke 17:20-30 NIVPeter puts it all in perspective in his first sermon:““Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” Acts 2:36-39 NIVInvitationHow do we respond? Answer 2 questions:Take out a card or piece of paper right now. Write down the answer to these questions: What is God saying to me right now?What am I going to do about it? Write this down on a sheet of paper. What I hear you saying, Lord, is ___________________.[my name] is going to believe/do __________________________________________________ as a result.Finally, share this with your Home or Mission group this week when you gather as a testimony about what God is doing in your life. You don't have to get too specific to give him praise.Lord's Supper, 1 Cor 11:23-26 is good passage.Also, say something like, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." (past, present, and future)PrayNOTESMy early notes:Genesis 8:1a "God remembered Noah..."God "remembering" is the cue for God about to act redemptively i.e. He's about to rescue; mercy and grace are enroute. God acts with his covenant in mind because God is faithful and God is merciful.At this point, God's story pivots from his holy, justified wrath and judgment to his extravagent mercy and redemption offered to his people by grace through faith.His rememberance leads to merciful action on God's part. From destruction or de-creation to renewal or re-creation. Applications that might follow from this:Rest in God's "remembering." God "remembering" is God acting on your behalf in a redemptive, life-changing way. It's renewal replacing wrath. (8:1)Wait patiently for God's timing. (8:6-12) Noah waited patiently for God to speak before he disembarked from the ark.Worship God today. (8:20) Noah's first act after disembarking was to worship God. Worship is our response to God's remembering. He is always worthy whether we act like it or not.Nurture a culture of life. (8:21-22) God is the creator and sustainer of life. He treasures all life. He calls us to as well. Animal life, but more importantly, human life. All life is precious--human life is sacred. So sacred, you forfeit yours when you take someone else's. We're called to lead the charge on protecting life and that includes nurturing a culture that values life above all else. Respect and Protect Life. (9:1-7) Valuing life includes protecting those who cannot protect themselves (unborn, children, disabled, elderly, dying).Live securely and confidently in the covenant relationship we enjoy in Christ. (9:8-11) A marriage rooted in God's covenant relationship with us will give us confidence and security to love when tempted to fear.Remember and rest in God's promises. (9:12-17)God will remember his covenant with us. He'll remind us that he remembers through his bow in the sky that he is faithful and keeps his promises.These rest on the fact that God remembers; he acts on behalf of his people with compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. He grows our confident assurance in his trustworthiness when we are tempted to forget.Where is Noah's ark today?"The location of Noah's ark remains one of the great mysteries, as no definitive archaeological evidence has been found to confirm its location. According to Genesis 8:4, the ark came to rest “on the mountains of Ararat,” traditionally associated with the region of Mount Ararat in modern-day Turkey. This has led many explorers and archaeologists over the centuries to search that area, but no conclusive evidence has been found.There have been several claims of sightings and discoveries on or near Mount Ararat, including photographs and wooden structures reportedly found at high altitudes. However, these claims have not been substantiated with enough verifiable evidence, and most remain controversial or unconfirmed.In the end, whether or not the ark will ever be found is uncertain. Some believe that the wood may have been repurposed by Noah's descendants after the flood or that it has simply deteriorated over time. Others suggest that, if it exists, God may allow it to remain hidden as an enduring element of faith rather than empirical evidence.For many, the ark serves more as a theological symbol of God's salvation and judgment, rather than something that needs to be found physically to affirm the biblical account." -ChatGPTIt could also be in western Armenia or even northwestern Iran as those are close to Mt. Ararat in Turkey.Summary"You're absolutely correct. Genesis 8:1 is indeed the hinge point in the flood narrative, marking the transition from judgment to salvation, from divine wrath to mercy. The phrase “God remembered Noah” encapsulates the shift from destruction to renewal and signals that God's redemptive plan is at work. Given this centrality, all application points could indeed flow from or relate to this theme of God's remembrance. Here's a revised approach:1. Rest in God's Faithfulness and Care (8:1) • Application: God's “remembering” Noah reminds us that, even when we feel forgotten or isolated, God is actively mindful of us and our needs. His faithfulness is unwavering, especially during seasons of hardship. This calls us to trust that God's timing is perfect and that He is present and working, even when we can't see it.2. Wait Patiently for God's Timing (8:6-12) • Application: Because God “remembers” us, we can wait with hope, just as Noah waited for the waters to recede. Waiting isn't passive but an active faith in God's provision and guidance. Instead of rushing ahead, we're called to trust God's process, knowing He will bring us through in His timing.3. Respond to God's Faithfulness with Worship (8:20) • Application: When Noah leaves the ark, his first act is to worship through sacrifice. This is a fitting response to God's faithfulness in remembering him and his family. When we recognize God's merciful intervention in our lives, we are called to respond with gratitude, worship, and dedication to Him.4. Trust in God's Commitment to Life (8:21-22) • Application: God's promise never to curse the ground again is a direct result of His remembering Noah and His commitment to sustaining creation. We can trust that God values and sustains life. This invites us to live in hope, knowing that God's sustaining power is over creation and our lives, even in a broken world.5. Respect and Protect Life (9:1-7) • Application: Because God “remembers” and values humanity, He commands respect for life and emphasizes human dignity. We are called to value life as sacred, reflecting God's heart for His creation. This includes protecting others, acting justly, and honoring the image of God in each person.6. Live in Covenant Relationship with God (9:8-11) • Application: The covenant with Noah flows from God's remembrance and commitment to humanity and all creatures. God's remembrance invites us to respond in covenant faithfulness, living in relationship with Him, and being stewards of His world.7. Remember God's Promises (9:12-17) • Application: The rainbow is a visible reminder of God's covenant and faithfulness to remember His promises. Just as God remembers us, we are called to remember Him and His promises. By clinging to His faithfulness, we strengthen our faith and are reminded of God's enduring mercy and love in our lives.By centering the applications around God's remembrance, we underscore the passage's message of God's mercy, faithfulness, and the invitation for us to respond in trust, gratitude, and covenantal living. This “remembrance” becomes the anchor for our faith and actions in every part of life." -ChatGPTKey Themes • New Beginnings: Noah and his family represent a fresh start for humanity, meant to live in obedience to God and care for creation. • God's Mercy: Despite humanity's failings, God commits to sustain creation and gives humans renewed responsibility. • Divine Justice and Human Dignity: God's instruction against murder underscores the sanctity of life made in His image. • The Covenant: The rainbow as a sign of the covenant is a powerful reminder of God's promise and His ongoing relationship with humanity.Genesis 8-9:17 highlights God's mercy, the sanctity of life, and the importance of the covenant. It also sets the foundation for a worldview that values life and trusts in God's promises, even amidst a broken world.Good summary:"The story of the flood in Genesis (chapters 6–9) tells us much about God's character, values, and the way He engages with humanity. Here are some of the primary ways it reveals who God is:1. God's Justice and Holiness • The flood is a response to human corruption and violence. Genesis 6:5-6 says that God saw the great wickedness on earth and was “grieved” in His heart. God's decision to judge humanity with the flood shows His intolerance of sin and injustice. His holiness requires a world that aligns with His goodness, and the flood was a response to the pervasive moral decay of Noah's time.2. God's Patience and Long-Suffering • While the decision to flood the earth is swift in the biblical account, the story implies that God waited patiently while humanity had a chance to change. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), and his 120 years building the ark can be seen as a period when God gave people a chance to repent. This patience reveals God's mercy, even in His judgment.3. God's Mercy and Covenant Faithfulness • God's decision to save Noah and his family highlights His mercy and commitment to His creation. Although humanity deserved judgment, God chose a path that preserved life. He instructed Noah to bring animals onto the ark, ensuring the survival of all living things. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), promising never to destroy the earth with water again. The rainbow serves as a symbol of His covenant, highlighting His faithfulness to humanity despite their shortcomings.4. God's Sovereignty and Power Over Creation • The flood narrative shows God's absolute power over creation. He commands the waters to rise and fall, demonstrating His control over the natural world. The floodwaters are a reversal of the order He established at creation, where He separated waters to form dry land. By re-establishing the earth post-flood, God reaffirms His sovereignty as Creator, showing He can both judge and restore.5. God's Desire for a Righteous People • God chooses Noah, “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time” (Genesis 6:9), and establishes a covenant with him, revealing His desire for a people who walk in righteousness. God's plan for Noah's descendants is one of blessing, hoping they would embody a restored relationship with Him and reflect His justice and goodness on earth.6. God's Grace and Renewal of Creation • After the flood, God gives Noah a mandate similar to Adam's: to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). This echoes the original creation mandate, suggesting that God's intention for humanity and creation remains one of growth, flourishing, and harmony. He desires to partner with humanity in caring for and filling the earth with goodness.7. God as a Covenant Maker • The covenant with Noah is foundational, setting a pattern for the covenants God will establish later with Abraham, Moses, and David, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ. The Noahic covenant emphasizes God's promise to preserve creation, foreshadowing the redemptive plan that would unfold over time.In summary, the flood story tells the story of God as a holy and just Judge, yet also as a patient, merciful, and covenant-keeping Creator. It illustrates His commitment to renewal and restoration even in the face of human failure. Through judgment and mercy, God's desire for a faithful, righteous humanity and His love for creation shine through. This story is foundational, pointing forward to God's ongoing work to redeem and renew the world."-ChatGPTThe PatternSee D. J. A. Clines, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, No. 38 (1976), pp. 487, 488. Clines explains that Gerhard Von Rad initially observed a pattern of sin, mitigation, and punishment. Then Claus Westermann discerned another element, that of divine speech. Though he did not include it in the pattern, Clines does. Thus the following chart:I. II. III. IV. SINSPEECHGRACEPUNISHMENTFALL3:63:14-193:213:22-24CAIN4:84:10-124:154:16SONS OF GOD6:26:36:8, 18ff7:6-24FLOOD6:5, 11f6:7, 13-216:8, 18ff11:8BABEL11:411:6f10:1-3211:8Preach the Word, Genesis, Kent Hughes, chapter 1, note 3, p. 625Hamilton puts it this way:"God acts and speaks; man rebels; God punishes; God protects and reconciles." P. 201GOD ACTS & SPEAKS MAN REBELS GOD PUNISHES GOD PROTECTS & RECONCILESOUTLINESN/AQUESTIONS TO CONSIDERWho is God?What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)What do I get to do? (In light of who I am)How do I do it?DISCUSSION QUESTIONSDiscovery Bible Study process: https://www.dbsguide.org/Read the passage together.Retell the story in your own words.Discovery the storyWhat does this story tell me about God?What does this story tell me about people?If this is really true, what should I do?What is God saying to you right now? (Write this down)What are you going to do about it? (Write this down)Who am I going to tell about this?Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcastAlternate Discussion Questions (by Jeff Vanderstelt): Based on this passage:Who is God?What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)What do I do? (In light of who I am)How do I do it?Final Questions (Write this down)What is God saying to you right now? What are you going to do about it?MAIN REFERENCES USED“Genesis,” by R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word Commentary, Edited by Kent HughesExalting Jesus in Genesis, by BethancourtThe Genesis Record, by Henry MorrisThe Genesis Factor, by David Helms & Jon Dennis“Look at the Book” by John Piper (LATB)“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)Outline Bible, D Willmington (OB)Willmington's Bible Handbook, D Willmington (WBH)NIV Study Bible (NIVSB) https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/Chronological Life Application Study Bible (NLT)ESV Study Bible (ESVSB) https://www.esv.orgThe Bible Project https://bibleproject.com“The Bible in One Year 2023 with Nicky Gumbel” bible reading plan on YouVersion app (BIOY)Claude.ai
Series: Chaos to CovenantTitle: "What's the Bible all about?" Part 1Scripture: Genesis 6:9-7:24Genesis 8:1a; Matt 24:36-44; Hebrews 11:7-10The Bible is all about God's story. Here, Noah's story is a snapshot of the Bible's grand narrative—a holy God seeking to redeem, restore, and renew fallen creation by a merciful covenant through Jesus Christ. We also see that God's word is trustworthy. Are you on the boat?INTRODUCTIONCONTEXTSERMON OUTLINECONCLUSIONNOTESOUTLINESQUESTIONS TO CONSIDER DISCUSSION QUESTIONSMAIN REFERENCES USEDMy opening prayer: Lord God, help us grow to be and do like Jesus, while abiding in him, and leading others to do the same. INTRODUCTIONOur church deployed a third team to FL this past week for disaster relief in New Port Richey. (Show pics and video)As they recover from hurricane Helene, the folks in western NC probably feel like they've experienced a flood of biblical proportions. But, in fact, they only got a small fraction of what the world experienced in the Noahic flood. How many of each animal did Moses put on the ark? The answer is none because Noah is the one that put the animals on the ark actually, God did. Kind of a silly joke, but in fact, Moses is writing Genesis telling the story of Noah in Genesis six through nine.Let's say you're having lunch with somebody and they ask you the question what is the Bible all about your answer could be basically telling them the story of Noah and the arc because in this story, we see the character of God on display and we see the purpose for which God has Done in creation and a way that explains the macro story of God.CONTEXTSpiraling from the fall into more and more evil, the Way of Cain is dominating the world stage while the Way of Seth is a mere remnant of people. They don't have much of God's word to live on. They don't have the ways of God spelled out to them. They are in need of light in the darkness.But they do have a prophecy. A word from the Lord. (Gen 3:15) A light to hang hope on.After seeing the Way of Cain summarized in Cain's evil genealogy, it's followed by the Way of Seth and his genealogy. Adam and Eve are still alive and watching this unfold with I can't imagine how much guilt and anguish over what they've done. The only thing keeping them alive and sane is the hope in the few words of God in Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers (Jesus); he will crush your head, and you will strike his heal (at the cross)."At the beginning of Seth's genealogy, we see God reminding us of how he created us--in his image. We were created God-like. Nothing in all of creation is more like God than humanity. Now we're in a state of dreadful depravity. We're born sinners who are capable of incredibly evil attitudes, words and actions. And we don't have to look far to see not only the truth of that but that we're heading downhill towards a level of evil equal to that just prior to the Flood. But this reminder--that we're created in his image--is there to give us hope. Hope that the Way of Seth--the Way of Jesus--can and will deliver many from sin and death, shame and guilt, hell itself.The whole thing here about the sons of God, daughters of men, and the Nephilim is simply there to show us how bad things had gotten in the world. To show us that “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5 NIV) To show us that things were so bad that God grieved and regretted that he'd created humanity in the first place. As a result, God would wipe out all of creation (except for the ones following the Way of Seth) and re-create the world.SERMON Outline modified from BethancourtI. GOD IS HOLY AND JUST. HE MUST PUNISH SIN. Noah and God's judgment (6:1-22) THIS WEEKA. The purpose of God's judgment (6:1-7)B. The patience of God's judgment (6:8-16)C. The promise of God's judgment (6:17-22)II. GOD IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL. HIS LOVE MAKES A WAY BACK. Noah and God's rescue (7:1-8:19)A. God rescues us from the penalty of his judgment (7:1-16)B. God rescues us from the power of his judgment (7:17-24)C. God rescues us from the presence of his judgment (8:1-19)III. GOD IS SOVEREIGN CREATOR REDEEMING US THROUGH HIS SON'S COVENANT OF LOVE. Noah and God's covenant (8:20-9:29) NEXT WEEKA. The Lord and the covenant with creation (8:20-22)B. The Lord and the covenant with Noah (9:1-11)C. The Lord and the sign of the covenant (9:12-17)D. The Lord and the lineage of the covenant (9:18-29)These are my main points today:The flood story reveals four main characteristics of God. God is... 1. Holy and Just: God judges human wickedness, showing His intolerance for sin. 2. Gracious and Merciful: He offers time for repentance and preserves Noah's family. 3. Faithful to keep his Promises: God promises to sustain creation, never to destroy it by flood again. 4. Sovereign Creator: He controls nature, demonstrating His power to both judge and restore.These qualities reveal a God who is just, merciful, faithful, and sovereign, committed to both righteousness and renewal.Said another way...The story of Noah and the flood reflects the broader story of God in the Bible by capturing key themes of Creator-God, sovereignly creating a good world where humanity sins/falls and reaps judgment. Despite this, merciful God makes a way for wicked humanity to find redemption and restoration through the covenant relationship with Creator-God through Christ Jesus, our Savior.CONCLUSIONWhat do I want them to know?The story of God in macro and how our story fits in micro. Why?Because this is our mission: to show and tell the story of God through our story.What do I want them to do?Show and tell their story in the context of God's story.Why? Because this is why we're still here. This is how we rescue people close to us but far from God.How?By learning this macro story, seeing our story within that context, and then sharing that story with others where we live, work, learn and play.Bottom line: Noah's story is a snapshot of the Bible's grand narrative—a holy God seeking to redeem, restore, and renew fallen creation by a merciful covenant through Jesus Christ. We also see that God's word is trustworthy. Are you on the boat?At the end of the day, my question to you is this: "Are you in the boat?" Is your life protected from God's holy wrath? Have you entered through the only door to salvation? His name is Jesus.““Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” Acts 2:36-39 NIVInvitationHow do we respond? Answer 2 questions:Take out a card or piece of paper right now. Write down the answer to these questions: What is God saying to me right now?What am I going to do about it? Write this down on a sheet of paper. What I hear you saying, Lord, is ___________________.[my name] is going to believe/do __________________________________________________ as a result.Finally, share this with your Home or Mission group this week when you gather as a testimony about what God is doing in your life. You don't have to get too specific to give him praise.PrayNOTESGood summary:"The story of the flood in Genesis (chapters 6–9) tells us much about God's character, values, and the way He engages with humanity. Here are some of the primary ways it reveals who God is:1. God's Justice and Holiness • The flood is a response to human corruption and violence. Genesis 6:5-6 says that God saw the great wickedness on earth and was “grieved” in His heart. God's decision to judge humanity with the flood shows His intolerance of sin and injustice. His holiness requires a world that aligns with His goodness, and the flood was a response to the pervasive moral decay of Noah's time.2. God's Patience and Long-Suffering • While the decision to flood the earth is swift in the biblical account, the story implies that God waited patiently while humanity had a chance to change. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), and his 120 years building the ark can be seen as a period when God gave people a chance to repent. This patience reveals God's mercy, even in His judgment.3. God's Mercy and Covenant Faithfulness • God's decision to save Noah and his family highlights His mercy and commitment to His creation. Although humanity deserved judgment, God chose a path that preserved life. He instructed Noah to bring animals onto the ark, ensuring the survival of all living things. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), promising never to destroy the earth with water again. The rainbow serves as a symbol of His covenant, highlighting His faithfulness to humanity despite their shortcomings.4. God's Sovereignty and Power Over Creation • The flood narrative shows God's absolute power over creation. He commands the waters to rise and fall, demonstrating His control over the natural world. The floodwaters are a reversal of the order He established at creation, where He separated waters to form dry land. By re-establishing the earth post-flood, God reaffirms His sovereignty as Creator, showing He can both judge and restore.5. God's Desire for a Righteous People • God chooses Noah, “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time” (Genesis 6:9), and establishes a covenant with him, revealing His desire for a people who walk in righteousness. God's plan for Noah's descendants is one of blessing, hoping they would embody a restored relationship with Him and reflect His justice and goodness on earth.6. God's Grace and Renewal of Creation • After the flood, God gives Noah a mandate similar to Adam's: to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). This echoes the original creation mandate, suggesting that God's intention for humanity and creation remains one of growth, flourishing, and harmony. He desires to partner with humanity in caring for and filling the earth with goodness.7. God as a Covenant Maker • The covenant with Noah is foundational, setting a pattern for the covenants God will establish later with Abraham, Moses, and David, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ. The Noahic covenant emphasizes God's promise to preserve creation, foreshadowing the redemptive plan that would unfold over time.In summary, the flood story tells the story of God as a holy and just Judge, yet also as a patient, merciful, and covenant-keeping Creator. It illustrates His commitment to renewal and restoration even in the face of human failure. Through judgment and mercy, God's desire for a faithful, righteous humanity and His love for creation shine through. This story is foundational, pointing forward to God's ongoing work to redeem and renew the world."-ChatGPTThe PatternSee D. J. A. Clines, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, No. 38 (1976), pp. 487, 488. Clines explains that Gerhard Von Rad initially observed a pattern of sin, mitigation, and punishment. Then Claus Westermann discerned another element, that of divine speech. Though he did not include it in the pattern, Clines does. Thus the following chart:I. II. III. IV. SINSPEECHGRACEPUNISHMENTFALL3:63:14-193:213:22-24CAIN4:84:10-124:154:16SONS OF GOD6:26:36:8, 18ff7:6-24FLOOD6:5, 11f6:7, 13-216:8, 18ff11:8BABEL11:411:6f10:1-3211:8Preach the Word, Genesis, Kent Hughes, chapter 1, note 3, p. 625Hamilton puts it this way:"God acts and speaks; man rebels; God punishes; God protects and reconciles." P. 201GOD ACTS & SPEAKS MAN REBELS GOD PUNISHES GOD PROTECTS & RECONCILESOUTLINESN/AQUESTIONS TO CONSIDERWho is God?What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)What do I get to do? (In light of who I am)How do I do it?DISCUSSION QUESTIONSDiscovery Bible Study process: https://www.dbsguide.org/Read the passage together.Retell the story in your own words.Discovery the storyWhat does this story tell me about God?What does this story tell me about people?If this is really true, what should I do?What is God saying to you right now? (Write this down)What are you going to do about it? (Write this down)Who am I going to tell about this?Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcastAlternate Discussion Questions (by Jeff Vanderstelt): Based on this passage:Who is God?What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)What do I do? (In light of who I am)How do I do it?Final Questions (Write this down)What is God saying to you right now? What are you going to do about it?MAIN REFERENCES USED“Genesis,” by R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word Commentary, Edited by Kent HughesExalting Jesus in Genesis, by BethancourtThe Genesis Record, by Henry MorrisThe Genesis Factor, by David Helms & Jon Dennis“Look at the Book” by John Piper (LATB)“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)Outline Bible, D Willmington (OB)Willmington's Bible Handbook, D Willmington (WBH)NIV Study Bible (NIVSB) https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/Chronological Life Application Study Bible (NLT)ESV Study Bible (ESVSB) https://www.esv.orgThe Bible Project https://bibleproject.com“The Bible in One Year 2023 with Nicky Gumbel” bible reading plan on YouVersion app (BIOY)Claude.ai
Announcements: 2024 Writer Craft Writing Retreat and Workshop registration open; https://valerieihsan.com/retreat (Day Passes $400) I've got four spaces left. I have decided that because of the Costa Rica move next year, I will NOT be having a retreat in 2025. So, if you've been on the fence, NOW is the time to make the decision to purchase a ticket for this month. Part of my Burnout Recovery Series on Patreon now includes the addition of The Artist's Way. I'll be hosting a "Creative Cluster" via Zoom, starting Aug 8, (tomorrow!) Thursday, 10am-noon Pacific. It's a 12 week program only for my patrons, so go over and pick out any of the tiers. You'd need to attend live for how the sharing and caring is done, and there will not be replays. Instead, for those that can't attend live, I'll be posting in the Patron Community about my growth and inviting you to share yours in the comments. What's your experience with The Artist's Way? Three Story Method: Writing How-To Books out now. Focus and Finish: Goal-Setting and Strategic Planning for Writers (First in Series; out now.) Black Springs Saga Book 1 out now (it's the prequel) 99 cents (Accidental Stranger Book 2 preorder this coming week) SWWC and Write in the Harbor (Erick teaching.) (Valerie will be at Write on the Sound in Gig Harbor, WA this year, too! And also speaking at Alaska Writers Guild conference in Anchorage in October.) Host of Ghost Story Weekend for Wordcrafters. (Erick) Author Update: Erick: Valerie: getting ready for the retreat Working with my Burnout Recovery plan; Updates through my Patreon page. I'm reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman and Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Huang Bo-Reum. Just finished: A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Webber. Thunder Song by Sasha taqŵšeblu LaPointe The Entire Sky by Joe Wilkins Erick: Becky is reading: Annie Ernaux's "A Woman's Story" and "A Man's Place" Notes: Main Topic starts at: 11:42 Becky Ellis is a Timberwolf Pup. The daughter of a highly decorated World War II combat sergeant, she is a veteran of a war fought at home. She earned a BA in English Literature at UC Berkeley and has over twenty years of experience in the publishing industry. She teaches writing in Portland, Oregon, where she lives, plays, and has raised three daughters. Little Avalanches is her debut memoir. https://instagram.com/beckyellisauthor Won Rubery Book Award 2024. 1. Did you yoga or write first? Yoga came first. Part of the process of getting into my body. Writers live in our heads. Yoga kept me body aware. Start feel yourself. Accesses to feel your feelings. Access internal world in more embodied way. Bad Acting = Facial Expressions. Get on the Body. Get off the face. Exercise: close eyes and feel everything. 2. How did writing impact your healing? Transformational impact as a person. Understanding my father, saw them separate from me. See myself for the first time. Writing from the child's perspective. A lot of inner-child work. Consciously explore my own reasons for doing what. Study of the self = memoir. Putting your characters IN the story. Concrete sensory details. Have access to that place. 3. Talk a little about the fears memoirists have around writing about their family. Any tips or guidelines? And how does that feed into breaking cycles of silence and secret-keeping? So important to get the stories on the page. Be a Just God on the page. Give everyone their reasons for doing what they did. Take a step back, and ask Why they did it. Shifts out of victimhood. People want to be seen and felt. Everyone was totally fine with it. Take time to figure out why they did it. 4. Your media kit mentions Trauma Bounce (bouncing back from the trauma). What should we be on the lookout for when writing and getting retriggered? Spent half the time crying. Strategies: therapy while writing, yoga, find safety where you can. Exercise for memoirists: Highlight all the exposition. Get rid of all the the exposition and repetition. You can thread it back in afterwards. 5 How can wisdom come through action? Show it in the character arc, actions at end of story different than at the beginning. So many objects in rough drafts. Use them for metaphor. Don't mine your life, mine your page. Positive side to trauma. Try and try and try. "If you quit, you'll die." Train to survive. Feel so powerful in the end. Writing to be in service to the reader. What are we in service to? The reader. What psychological practice can we share with the reader? Structure of book to manipulating reader's emotions. Find Us: Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor
“True fulfillment comes from living by one's unique calling. Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and self-discovery, and choose joy on the journey towards fulfilling your God-given potential.” ~Tami Imlay How many times have you been in the shower or driving—somewhere where you can't write things down—and you get an idea, a thought, a dream, or a solution…I love and hate it when this happens. I love it because it reminds me that it's in the quiet that things happen and become clear. I hate it because I'm also at the age where if I breathe…I forget aspects of it. Well, today's episode came to me while I was driving. I was driving in silence. No kids, no music, no podcast. Just God and I sitting and having a conversation. I asked for God to show me what I was doing that I needed to keep doing and what I should set down. He reminded me of the importance of a growth path, how it has shaped my life over the last five years, and how it has transformed my clients' lives as well. It is crucial to recognize how God has uniquely wired us and how to step into that identity. This journey isn't just about looking back at our past but intentionally cultivating our growth and seeing where it leads us. Are you ready to create your growth path? Ready to take action? Book a Call with Me! Set a time on your calendar right before our call to take a moment and breathe. This is the only preparation you'll need. It's that easy! Join the call and allow your heart to be heard and seen. Key Takeaways: The Power of Stillness: Discover how moments of quiet can lead to new ideas and insights, and why embracing boredom is essential for personal growth. Reflecting on the Past: Learn the importance of reflecting on past decisions and experiences as a way to evolve and grow. Personal Development Journey: Understand the significance of embracing challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth. Aligning with Purpose: Explore the concept of living in accordance with your God-given purpose for true fulfillment. Core Identity vs. Personality Traits: Delve into the idea that while personality traits may change, your core identity remains constant. Five-Day Challenge: Participate in a five-day challenge focused on making intentional changes that align with your purpose and goals. Self-Discovery and Habit Formation: Highlight the value of self-discovery and how small changes can lead to significant personal growth. Choosing Joy: Embrace the journey towards fulfilling your potential with a mindset of joy and empowerment. Journal Question: Reflect on a recent moment of stillness or boredom in your life. How did it lead to new ideas or insights? Consider how embracing such moments can serve as a catalyst for your personal growth and development. What intentional changes can you make to align more closely with your unique purpose and goals? Permission to Pivot: The Professional Moms ROADMAP to Break free from self-imposed limitations and to gain clarity on what you truly want to create Don't miss this 5-day challenge! Join us here to get more information! Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook Email me: tami@tamimariecoaching.com My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you! For more information on the song: Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2024
A new MP3 sermon from Eager Avenue Grace Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: A Just God and a Savior Speaker: Bill Parker Broadcaster: Eager Avenue Grace Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 7/21/2024 Bible: Isaiah 45:20-25 Length: 28 min.
Today Dr. Mays reminds us that we serve a Just God. When we are willfully disobedient, there is a price we will pay. He uses the sons if Eli in 1 Samuel to explain this reality. How can Agape Leaders serve you? Please find us at: Website: http://www.agapeleaders.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-mays/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agapeleaders.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agapeleaders10/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greggmays YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCmM7ETR652mLtDSKSjda-pw Read Dr, Mays' book Practical Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=practical+leadership+lessons+from+an+average+leader&crid=259U5RNS5J5W5&sprefix=Practical+Leadership%2Caps%2C102&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_4_20
Stories in this Episode: - There Is a Just God in Heaven - The Path of Life Must Be Painful by Divine Design - Plural Marriage Sign up for FREE weekly stories here. Join my VIP Subscription and get access to all of my stories here. Contact me at: Glenn@GlennRawsonStories.com
The typical modern American has rejected the idea of a judging God, thinking that it gives them freedom. What they don't realize is that, without an ultimate judge, our lives lack meaning, purpose and hope. If there is no Just God who will judge and set all things right, there is no basis for anyone to claim any action is more meaningful than another. But as we see in John 12, Jesus has something to say about this judgment, and how a person can escape it.
A new MP3 sermon from Central Baptist Church Of Orange Park is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Problem of Disobedience-Pt 1-The Demands of a Just God Subtitle: Zechariah Speaker: Jerry N. Thrower Broadcaster: Central Baptist Church Of Orange Park Event: Sunday - PM Date: 4/21/2024 Bible: Zechariah 7:7-10 Length: 33 min.
A new MP3 sermon from Central Baptist Church Of Orange Park is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Problem of Disobedience-Pt 1-The Demands of a Just God Subtitle: Zechariah Speaker: Jerry N. Thrower Broadcaster: Central Baptist Church Of Orange Park Event: Sunday - PM Date: 4/21/2024 Bible: Zechariah 7:7-10 Length: 33 min.
St. Luke teaches: "With this deep and fiery repentance the force that prevented her from entering the church receded and she finally entered. There she fell before the life-giving Cross of the Lord and did not get up until the end of the service. Tears flowed from her eyes, from the eyes that once seduced men and are now cleansed with wholehearted and fervent repentance." -READ the Life of St. Mary of Egypt by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem: https://www.orthodox.net/saints/mary-of-egypt.html -READ St. Luke's homily here: https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2021/04/homily-for-fifth-sunday-of-great-lent.html -WATCH Trisagion Films video on the Life of St. Mary of Egypt: https://youtu.be/BBXvDuNElB8?si=Uk16Pa18mAXX9BMq -READ about St. Luke's life here: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2008/10/st-luke-archbishop-of-simferopol.html?m=1 -FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/ ______ St. Luke teaches: On the fifth Sunday of Great Lent, our Holy Church honors the memory of Saint Mary of Egypt. Her truly wonderful life is known to you because every year on this day it is narrated in the churches. But I will describe her again in a few words to remember the unusual and unique life of this Saint. Let us stand with Saint Mary at the gate of the church. We now see her heart overwhelmed by the fear of God, when she realizes that she cannot, in God's judgment, enter the church with the others. She alone is unworthy to enter, while everyone else enters freely. Her entrance is prevented by an invisible force. When she realizes her tragic situation, a strong flame of the fear of God lights up in her soul. She is shaken by the fear she feels in front of All-Holy, All-Wise, Almighty and Just God. It was not a fear of punishment, it was a shame that burned like fire, a shame for the impurity of her soul and body. It was a shame and pain for her that God, because of her impurity, did not allow her to enter the church and appear before Him. Then she prayed fervently. She fell before the icon of the Panagia which was placed above the entrance of the church and with tears begged the Mother of God to pray for her to her Son. With this deep and fiery repentance the force that prevented her from entering the church receded and she finally entered. There she fell before the life-giving Cross of the Lord and did not get up until the end of the service. Tears flowed from her eyes, from the eyes that once seduced men and are now cleansed with wholehearted and fervent repentance. ______ Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/orthodox-wisdom/message
We wrap up Season 10 with a bang! Your favorite trio, Julie, Matt, and Garrick, come together to revisit all of the attributes of God we've discovered this season! Attributes of God: UNCHANGING — God never changes, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! GOOD — God is what's best and He does what's best. CREATOR — God made everything. HOLY — God is completely perfect and separate from sin. JUST —God is right to punish sin. SOVEREIGN — God is in charge of, and can do everything and anything he wants. GENEROUS — God always gives what's best. PROVIDER — He meets the needs of his children. WISE — God always knows what is best for His children. ATTENTIVE — God hears and responds to the cries of His people. Scripture Reference: Exodus 20:1-3 5-Second Fly Through Review: True or False? An attribute is a word that tells us what someone or something is like? (TRUE!) True or False?: All of God's attributes are true of him all of the time? (TRUE!) True or False? An incommunicable attribute is an attribute that we can have too (FALSE! IT'S A COMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTE) True or False?: God created some things (FALSE! GOD CREATED EVERYTHING!) True or False?: A theologian is someone really, super smart (FALSE! ANYONE CAN BE A THEOLOGIAN!) True or False?: God's attributes are just for us to know things about him (FALSE! GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIM, NOT JUST KNOW STUFF ABOUT HIM) True or False: Next season on God's Big Story we're going to learn even more attributes of God? (TRUE!) Song: Our Great God (Attributes Song) by The Village Kids Survey: Click this link to ask us your questions and for a chance to win some free GBS merch! Season Sponsor: Kaleidoscope Kids Bibles have something for kids of all ages, they take each book of the Bible and faithfully retell it in engaging kid-friendly chapter books. Visit their website at readkaleidoscope.com to check them out and maybe order a book or a Yoto card with 10% off using the code BIGSTORY. If you've enjoyed this episode, one of the best ways to support the show and make sure others find it, is to subscribe and leave a review. Thank You! Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co. For sponsorship inquiries, email sponsor@thegoodpodcast.co
Starting next week, we'll be discussing the attributes of God! Join Matt and Julie all season long as we teach the Bible, sing the Bible, and talk about what it means with some friends! ATTRIBUTE - a quality or characteristic that someone or something has. Attributes of God: Wise: God knows what is best. Generous: God gives what is best. Loving: God does what is best. Good: God is what is best. Unchanging: God never changes. Creator: God made everything. Holy: God is completely perfect and separate from sin. Just: God is right to punish sin. Faithful: God always does what He says He will do. Provider: God meets the needs of His children. Merciful: God does not give His children the punishment they deserve. Attentive: God hears and responds to the prayers of His children. Sovereign: God has the right, wisdom and power to do all that He pleases. Almighty: Nothing is too hard for God. Compassionate: God sees, cares and acts when His children are in need. Glorious: God shows His greatness and worth. Worthy: Only God deserves all glory. Refuge: God is a place of safety and protection for His children. Deliverer: God rescues His children. If you've enjoyed this episode, one of the best ways to support the show and make sure others find it, is to subscribe and leave a review. Thank You! Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co. For sponsorship inquiries, email sponsor@thegoodpodcast.co
Text: Romans 9:16-18 (ESV) 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. GOD'S MERCY AND HARDNESS OF MAN'S HEART God gives mercy to undeserving sinners. Based upon the justice of God, all sinners deserve His punishment. All are proven guilty before the Just God beyond any reasonable doubt. We can just plead for mercy but not demand it. No beggar begging you has the right to accuse us of unfairness should you not give him a cent while you give to someone else. In our relationship with God, the bestowal of mercy absolutely lies in the hands of God. Human will, which is distorted by sin, is ruled out. Our will is always tainted with selfishness, isn't it? A sinner won't seek God, that is, he is always thinking of what he can get. Thus, a religious person like the Pharisee may behave morally but for himself not for God. How do God's mercy and man's hardness of heart interrelate with each other? There is no doubt that God has hardened Pharaoh's heart. Did He overrule Pharaoh's will? He did not. Were Adam and Eve coerced by God to obey God? Both sinned consciously and volitionally. How then did God harden Pharaoh's heart? It was through the display of His mercy. The Lord commanded Moses to demonstrate God's power and glory before Pharaoh. The plagues evidently were acts of God's power, but also His mercy. Who is Pharaoh that the God of the universe should prove to him who He is? How many times did God through Moses plead with Pharaoh to let His people go? Was not God patient with him? But, Pharaoh refused over and over again, hardening his heart. Take for example the Lord Jesus Christ's compassion for Jerusalem, weeping over the city's hardness of their hearts. As Jesus approached the city, He cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”[Matt 23:37] It is through God's mercy that He reveals Himself [Rom 1:18-20]. But, men refused thinking that they are wiser than God. Thus, God ‘gave them up' to wallow in their sins.[Rom 1:26] The more they resisted the harder their hearts become. Man's refusal to recognize God and His mercy leads to hardening of their hearts. This a solemn warning to us.[Heb 3:13] Listen and FOLLOW us on our podcast Spotify: http://bit.ly/glccfil_spotify Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-applepcast Google Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-googlepcast Audible Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-audible Follow us on various media platforms: https://gospellightfilipino.contactin.bio #gospellightfilipino #godswordfortoday #bookofRomans
Paul Tripp writes, “It's easy to look around and keep score…focusing more on what others have than what God has graciously provided for you causing you to want what they have and to question the goodness of God.” We observe this in the story of Cain and, too often, in our own story. Yet, how wonderful this Christmas season to be reminded of the goodness of God for every one of us. No more keeping score. No more comparison. Just God's good news of great joy that will be for all people––a Savior! Who is Christ the Lord! Born Unto Us Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Community Church, visit hopecc.com.
Naghmeh Abedini Panahi continues her story. After she went public with her husband's porn addiction, and physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, the Christian community blew up and turned against her. One nationally known leader of a large evangelical organization asked if she had been having an affair. Comments were made that Naghmeh had taken down the Christian community's "hero." Naghmeh's story reveals that some put celebrity status - looking good - over holiness and truth. This isn't far from our church of today that may look good on the outside yet ignores the sexual sin it's corrupt with. Episode Transcript SPONSOR: This program is sponsored by Blazing Grace Ministries. ANNOUNCER: This radio program is PG13. Parents strongly cautioned - some material may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13. Jesus's mission was to comfort those who mourn, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and open prison doors for those who are bound. For those who want more than status quo Christianity has to offer, Blazing Grace Radio begins now. And here is your host, Mike Genung. MIKE GENUNG, HOST, BLAZING GRACE RADIO: Hey, Mike Genung here. Welcome back to Blazing Grace Radio. Thank you for joining us. This is our second week talking to Naghmeh Panahi. She made national news when she publicly advocated for the release of her then-husband, Saeed Abedini, who was in prison Iran for his Christian faith. And through Saeed's imprisonment, Naghmeh was able to bring worldwide attention to the plight of persecuted Christians. And she was able to proclaim the Gospel to millions across the globe by speaking at human rights groups, major news outlets, the United Nations at Geneva, European Parliament Congress, and she had personal meetings with both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. When it came to light in 2015 that Naghmeh had been abused throughout her marriage by her husband, the Christian community suddenly turned on her. And so we're picking up this conversation from last week. And Naghmeh, welcome back to the program. NAGHMEH ABEDINI PANAHI, GUEST: Thank you. MIKE: So let's pick your story up from where you left off. NAGHMEH: Yeah, so I... through my advocacy for my husband, God was setting me free. He was building my confidence. And Saeed had gotten a phone, from inside of the prison... and, about a year before he got out, and he was calling me names, I didn't know at that time why. Later I realized he'd seen my... that I was not the girl that I... that he had, I guess, was able to control. I was becoming more confident. I was becoming more outspoken. And he didn't like that. And so, he was calling me all sorts of names like Jezebel like, "You're not submitting to me fully anymore, you're a Jezebel who wants to have pull over men," and so... and I was very... and he would say that, because, you know how Israel, the Israelites disobeyed God, that was spiritual adultery, which was worse than human sexual adultery. He would say, "you are committing - because you're not fully submitting to me - you're committing spiritual adultery." So he would call me a whore and just all sorts of names. And I couldn't understand it why he was attacking me so much when I was trying so hard to get him out. So finally I broke down. I had a meltdown. I told... I was invited to get a mega church in North Carolina whose pastor was Pastor... Doctor David Chadwick, and after the Sunday service, and after we had a prayer meeting for the person in the church, after that I... we were out in a restaurant and I finally told this pastor and his wife everything, including Saeed's messages from prison. And this pastor looked at me and he said, "Naghmeh, you know that I'm not just a pastor. I have a doctorate degree in psychology," and I was shocked that God would have me confess all of this to a pastor who was an expert in this. Just God's perfect timing and provision. And so he said, from what I understand, he said, "I can't wrap my mind around it because Saeed is my hero." But he said, "you are an abused wife," And... the pastor was so confused. He just, he's like, "I got radio tomorrow. I got stuff tomorrow. I'm just going to drop you off at your hotel - we're going to drop you off at your hotel." And, you know, "I have an early radio program," and I had an early flight. So they dropped me off and I Googled abuse, and everything that Saeed had done with the isolation, with... even the silent treatment, with everything, the financial, the emotional, the physical, all of it. It was like someone had looked into my marriage and had written a book. So I was shocked that all the symptoms in my marriage, it was not just a hard marriage. It was actually... abuse. And that's when I realized, like, "This is not something... that this is like cancer, this can't be dressed with like Tylenol, this, this needs chemo. This is, like, serious stuff." And that's when I stopped all advocacy. I actually wrote a letter to a group of supporters about what was going on, and it got leaked to media. And by the time I actually landed in Boise, all the media wanted to talk to me because it was leaked that I had written to supporters that Saeed was an abusive husband, and including porn addiction, all of that. So yeah, it became very... a frenzy, media frenzy, and the Christian world went after me. They said I had done it for the fame and the money, which is interesting because when I advocated for Saeed, I had no idea it was going to become such a big story. And, of course, my one of my first phone calls was with Franklin Graham, who... he actually recently confirmed it in a Washington Post report that he, as soon as I picked up the phone, he called, he said, "Are you cheating on Saeed?" Because that's the only thing he could think of of why I was throwing Saeed under the bus. Although I didn't ever want it, want this information about Saeed to come out publicly. So, I just got attacked by everyone including big names, like Franklin Graham, calling me basically an adulterer and just questioning my motive of why I would even call Saeed an abuser. Because at that time Saeed has had become a Christian hero. So the trauma is just the trauma of having realized I had been in an 8 year abusive marriage and I'd known this man at that time for much longer than eight years. More than 10 years. And realizing that, in addition to the response of the Church of shutting me down, and all my followers, everyone, millions and millions of people who have supported me, either stayed silent, or they attacked me and called me all sorts of... questioned my motives of even advocating for Saeed or why I was coming out about the abuse. Basically saying I was cheating on my husband, that's why I was coming out about the abuse. So that was also pretty devastating. MIKE: And this all blew up a year before he was released? NAGHMEH: A few months. Which I didn't know when he would be released. So a lot of people think Saeed got out of prison and then I came out with the information, which would make sense, even though it was like people trying to make up the story of he came out and then I said the information because I was with someone. That's there in their mind, that's their story. But no, this information came out a few months before Saeed got out of prison, which I actually didn't expect Saeed to come out of prison a few months later. But I have - I had stopped playing the game where... I realized the phone that Saeed had had inside the prison was highly... like even though it was a smuggled phone, it had internet. Like, the Iranian government was using it to get me all riled up. And they would, like, beat up Saeed and I would go to the media, "he got beaten up." Because Saeed would then call me, "I do - I just came out of solitary consignment. They just hurt me," and then I would go to the media. And then, in a way, Iran was upping the price for the... for their hostages, including my husband. And, so, once I stopped playing that game, once I the abuse stuff came out, my really my connection with Saeed was completely cut, I was no longer going to media. I stopped all advocacy in the hopes that our family would come from that world of fame and we would just... hopefully, if we went back to normal. And it was, our family could heal, because a lot of Saeed's insanity had come from him thinking he was so famous, he'd gotten way worse in prison, and he was all about fame and money now. And, so, I stopped all advocacy and shut everything down. And at that time, Barack Obama was President, and I was promised by Trump and Ben Carson and every... pretty much every candidate that was running for the GOP, I was promised, "If we become president..." like Ted Cruz, all of them told me, like, "we'll get your husband out." So my thinking was end of 20- like end of 2016 - or actually 2017 - when the new president was sworn, it was when maybe Saeed would be released, because that had happened in the Iran hostage crisis in the 70s, is when a new President became... when there was a new President, that's when they released the American hostages. So I thought he would be released a year later, but he was released a couple months after the abuse stuff came out... like 3 months later, yeah. MIKE: So you had intense years, long sexual abuse and physical abuse with your husband, and then you had this incredible weight of what I'm going to define as "spiritual abuse" from the Church community. And how... how did all that affect you? NAGHMEH: I think it was like the Peter moment, like, "I'm done, but I can't be done with Christ, because I have nowhere else to go." I was saved out of Islam since I was 9 and even though God's word was so twisted, abused me, by both my husband, and, as you said, by the Christian leaders, I knew I had nowhere else to go by Jesus. And so I clung to God, His word and God gave me Josiah 2:14-16 says, where he talks about setting Israel free, and through His word I discovered that abuse was not okay with him. Submitting to abuse or corruption was not okay with him. That, the putting institution of marriage over the well-being of a person, was not okay with God. That... you know, the same way the religious leaders of Christ's time cared more about Sabbath than the person wasting away in Sabbath, the religious leaders of our time care more about keeping the marriage statistics thing. "We don't have as much divorce," than actually helping the woman and children that are wasting away. They'd rather not touch marriage where, or be part of having to fall away fall apart. So, either they stayed away from trying to help me, or they forced - like Franklin Graham - tried to force my reconciliation. And so I reading through God the world, I realized that's not who God is. God cares about my well-being. Not the physical, but when I was under so much abuse, like my mental, I was a dead person. I couldn't even think for myself. I was... my body was going through a lot of trauma. I developed an autoimmune disease. I just... all this stuff. And through His word I realized that's not who God is. What my husband has portrayed Him to be or what the church leaders have portrayed Him to be is not Christ himself, and actually my relationship with God grew closer and closer. MIKE: So it's your perspective that what happened was the Christian community made Saeed out to be a hero, and then he got knocked off of that pedestal when the truth came out, and then people were taking that out on you? NAGHMEH: Yeah, and you know, they still do that. I think... when, like, when I say about what Franklin Graham did to me, a lot of people get upset and the big thing is, well, "this person is a hero. This person has done so much good for the Kingdom of God." Well, people focus on the good and that they have done, but they don't actually realize that the Bible... God doesn't actually care about the great good we do. It's obedience to His word, which is how we love others. How we love him and how we love others. So someone can do amazing good work for Christ but abuse his flock or abuse his wife. That, for God, that's not the priority, is the great work. But, yeah. The Christian community just attacked me because Saeed had become a hero in their eyes. And, you know, and I was told by Franklin Graham that if if this stuff about my marriage came out, that cause of Christ would be damaged. And that's what everyone kept saying. If the secrets come out, then you're damaging the cause of Christ, you're embarrassing Christianity and all of that. So that's was... that, that was a way that I was... I guess people try to silence me, saying, "You're damaging the cause of Christ." MIKE: Well, what we see is that 70 to 80% of Christian men are viewing pornography and involved in other forms of sexual sin, and abuse is a part of a lot of those marriages. And 1/3 of women are falling into the trap of porn, too. And - NAGHMEH: Mhmm. MIKE: - unfortunately, a lot of churches dodge these issues, which is keeping people in bondage and keeping people in marriages that are being destroyed. And so this is... what you're talking about, is a wide-ranging problem. That we hide. We pretend that we got it all together, and we don't. NAGHMEH: Yeah, the Church is very sick. Because we've had a structure of celebrity pastors and preachers with little... shepherding of the flock. Because we've become so big, wolves come in. We've moved, the Church moved from the house church structure where everyone knew each other and you can catch someone's bad behavior, to big buildings where all sorts of people walk in and abuse the flock, and it's become an epidemic of abuse. It's like you said, it's not... it's not just clergy abusing the flock, sexually and other ways, but also majority of the Church having porn addictions. It's we're... we're at a church age where the Church is so sick, and so... I would say bedridden. We've lost our effectiveness in society. We're very sick. And that grieves my heart. That breaks my heart because I am - I have been and I still am - I still work with the underground church in Iran and Afghanistan and... and they are how - it's looking at that and how the Church in Iran is in one of the darkest places in the world. And then looking at that American Church, how we're strangled up with so much pornography and abuse and it... it really breaks my heart. And I think it's time for reformation, for change in the way we've been doing church. MIKE: Well, as you've been speaking, Ravi Zacharias comes to mind, where it came out right after his death, where he was manipulating women into giving him massages and even having sex with him. And this was really close to the time he died, this was going on. And then first people getting mad and saying, "why is this coming out now?" But then as more, as the evidence came out, I mean, the guy had more brain power on his pinky than most of us have in our whole body, but it is not about the theology or the doctrine. It's about, "where's your heart?" NAGHMEH: Exactly. I know I met Lori Ann Thompson, which was the first woman that came out actually, before Robbie died, and he shut her down. He had her sign an NDA. She became very suicidal, the way he shut her down, and tried to prevent her from speaking out, the way he went after her family. And then when he died, I guess some of these women watched his funeral, that he had been sexually abusing, and realized there was another woman named Lori Anne Thompson had come out about it, and they started coming out about it and they realized it was an epidemic. But when he was alive, Robbie was able to silence this victim, and the whole Christian community turned on her. And again, why? Because Robbie did some quote and unquote "amazing work for Christ". But he was abusing the flock. But, you know, that people don't care about that. I think our focus has been so much on you know, Robbie has done so much work for God, and Franklin Graham, and we focus on the great work which God is actually doesn't. In the last, these men will say to Jesus, like I did these miracles in your name, I did prophesize prophesied me in your name. I cast out demons like and Jesus says, "Get away from me. I never knew you." It's not about those great work that is, we're so focused on, it's about obedience to God's word. And as you said, it's how are we treating the flock? How are we loving each other? And if that's not there, then you don't... "Get away from me. If you you are abusing my sheep, I don't care how theologically amazing you are, and you're able to like, talk to Imola or whoever like that means nothing to me. You're abusing my sheep. You're using your position of power to abuse my sheep." And, so, but we - I think as the Church we're so used to celebrity pastors, and so used to focusing on great work that, you know, we attack the victim because we don't want the work to be... you know, damaged because the victims coming out. We were trying to protect an institution with... whether it was the Robbie Zacharias institution, whether it's the Billy Graham institution, whether it's the Church institution. We care more of - whether it's the marriage institution - we care more about saving the institution that seems to be doing some good than actually saving the person that's wasting away in it. MIKE: Well, in First Corinthians 5, first two verses, Paul basically rips the Corinthian church over the sexual sin of one man. And then he says the reason that you don't do this is because you're arrogant and you don't mourn. And I mean, do we really sob over sin anymore? But how can you sob over sin when you won't even touch it? NAGHMEH: Mmm. Exactly. I don't think we sob over sin anymore. We've minimized even porn addiction. Jesus said - I was reading in my devotional space - if your eyes cause sin, gouge it out. Like, God is very serious about even... like, pornography, watching something, and he says take drastic steps. But we don't really grieve over that. We don't grieve, because I think we've lost sight of the holiness of God. We're just living. We're playing Christianity without understanding what a mighty holy God we serve. MIKE: Well, and part of what WE do is we have a... as big as an emphasis on helping the wife heal as we do the husband recover. And the wives get left out of this equation a lot, even when the porn epidemic in the Church is mentioned. And the wife is, as you've experienced, her heart is shredded, torn apart, it's very traumatic. And then, I mean, for your husband - or ex-husband - to say it was Godly to watch porn, I mean that's... a combination of sexual and spiritual abuse right there. NAGHMEH: Mmm. MIKE: So speak to the wife who is hurting right now. NAGHMEH: [sighs] Yeah, for me, the healing came from... I think Josiah 2:14-16 was really big. Where God has, like, called you into the wilderness. There's a time where you're you set free from a bondage, whether you stay in the marriage or not, you're shattered. And the marriage, as you've known it, has been shattered. And you are walking into an unknown wilderness that you don't know where you're going to get your water, your food, your protection, anything from. But God is calling you to that wilderness, because he wants to be your everything. And for me, that's what it was. He became my husband, He became my provider. He became my everything, emotional provider, helping me raise the kids. But I clung to God and I just, my message is "God will not abandon you." God sees. He's on your side. And it might seem like the wilderness, but in the wilderness is when you're going to discover an intimacy with God that is going to carry you through to the Promised Land. So... just keep going. You're going to have to depend on Him for food, and water, and protection, and guidance, and fire, and cloud, and where to go, the next step, how long to stay, when to move. But He's - He wants you in that place where He is you're everything, and He's the one that's guiding your life. And He will make something beautiful out of it. Whether you stay in the marriage or not, that's, you know, God will guide you of steps that are - that you will take. But I think my message is this "cling to Jesus." He will get you through. He will bring you out whole. He is our healing. He is our law. And that was, that was my... that's what when I felt lost and my marriage was falling apart. The marriage, I tried so hard to please, I sought to get my husband out of prison, thinking it's going to heal our marriage, he's going to appreciate me. And when it fell to pieces and my husband divorced me and moved on with another woman, I was shattered, because... but through Christ, He's made me whole. He restored things in my life that I would have never imagined. MIKE: Naghmeh, I really appreciate your honesty and all that you've shared, and we got a minute left. Anything you want to say? NAGHMEH: I guess. How... I don't know. I don't think... I think the wilderness is just... and clinging to Jesus. We have Him, no one else does. I minister to Muslim women and they don't have that relationship. We have it, but sometimes we forget we have that relationship, and we don't go to God in prayer. We don't cling to His word. We don't cling to Him. And I just, my encouragement is we have that we have the King of Kings, President of all Presidents, that we can access anytime we want to. And my encouragement is to do that, for us to spend more time accessing, and just focusing on that relationship that is... that will restore. MIKE: Mmm. I want to thank you for coming on board with us and sharing your story. And I just want to encourage you to keep doing what you're doing, because the truth does need to come out. So... NAGHMEH: Amen! And thank you for what you're doing. God bless. MIKE: Thanks! And thank you for joining us. And we'll talk to you next time. ANNOUNCER: Blazing Grace is a nonprofit international ministry for the sexually broken and the spouse. Please visit us at blazinggrace.org for information on Mike Genung's books, groups, counseling, or to have Mike speak at your organization. You can e-mail us at email@blazinggrace.org or call our office in Chandler, AZ at (719) 888-5144. Again, visit us at blazinggrace.org, e-mail us at email@blazinggrace.org, or call the office at (719) 888-5144. SPONSOR: This program was sponsored by Blazing Grace Ministries.
The Torah tells us that will shall diligently pursue justice. We also learn that God is perfect and just. Yet, for all the Torah's focus on justice, there seems to be plenty of injustice in our world. How do we square the existence injustice with a Just God? How can we be emissaries of justice and truth in our imperfect world?
We continued on in Genesis this morning, considering what it meant for the Lord to enact a covenant with Abram and then walk through the pieces Himself. What does this mean? Why should this remarkable event bring the cross to mind? We also drifted far afield of Genesis, with Tony answering audience questions regarding Judas, the meaning of repentance, and America's position before a Holy and Just God! Sometimes discussion takes unlikely turns!
Find the accompanying PowerPoint Here. Is God a Just God?, by Donnie V. Rader. 4/9/2023 Sunday PM Sermon.
Scripture: Romans 2:1-16 This Sunday, JR Vassar continued our series in Romans. This sermon closely examines how God's righteous judgment and loving kindness work together to lead us to repentance and into the fullness of life. Notes:Jesus will carry out God's Judgment God's Judgment will be Just God's judgment will be irreversible Our only Hope in judgment is Grace
Injustice is everywhere; just look outside. It's hard not to see injustice. Why does God allow it? Humans have been wondering this for a long time. Psalm 73 was written by Asaph and records his struggles as he considers the wicked and those with callous hearts and evil imaginations. He sees how they are prosperous, healthy, and don't have basic human burdens. Why would God allow this? Where is He? The wicked prosper while the innocent are trampled. Asaph wonders if he labored in vain to keep his heart pure. But, in trying to understand all this, Asaph enters the sanctuary of God. “Then I understood their final destiny,” he says in verse 17. Asaph realizes that, though the wicked may seem safe and untouched, they will be judged. God comes as an avenger, and in the end, He will repay them for their deeds. We can learn a lot from Asaph. We see all the injustice in the world and can't help but wonder why God would allow it to happen. But when we understand the final destiny of evil, it's easier to comprehend. God will one day destroy all evil. He is the Just God. It would be against His character to ignore injustice. That's why He sent Jesus to become human, die on the cross, and be raised from the dead. Through His work, He has defeated death and sin and evil, and one day He will return to destroy all injustice—permanently—and restore His creation. We have all participated in evil and injustice. Everyone has been infected by the curse of sin. But the amazingly good news is that God provided a way for justice to prevail and for mercy to be given. He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for you so that if you believe in Him, you will be forgiven and restored. While evil may shudder at the thought of judgment, if we are in Christ, we can rest satisfied that God the Just will follow through, and His justice will prevail. • Emma Pamer • Has something unjust ever happened to you, and if so, how did you feel? Jesus has compassion on us, and He invites us to tell Him about all these hard things, knowing that He also suffered injustice on earth, and He came to set things right. In addition to talking to Jesus, who are safe people—such as parents, counselors, teachers, friends, or youth leaders—you can talk to about these experiences? • How can we find hope in the fact that (1) God is the avenger of evil and He will not let evil win, and (2) God is also merciful and forgives sinners through Jesus Christ? And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. Psalm 50:6 (NIV)
A new MP3 sermon from Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Just God's Society Should Be Careful to Witness, Neighbor, & Judge Justly FW0916 Subtitle: Family Worship Speaker: James Hakim Broadcaster: Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian Event: Devotional Date: 9/15/2022 Bible: Exodus 23:1-9; Luke 10:25-37 Length: 22 min.
A new MP3 sermon from Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Just God's Society Should Be Careful to Witness, Neighbor, & Judge Justly FW0916 Subtitle: Family Worship Speaker: James Hakim Broadcaster: Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian Event: Devotional Date: 9/15/2022 Bible: Exodus 23:1-9; Luke 10:25-37 Length: 22 min.
A new MP3 sermon from Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Just God's Society Should Be Careful to Witness, Neighbor, & Judge Justly FW0916 Subtitle: Family Worship Speaker: James Hakim Broadcaster: Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian Event: Devotional Date: 9/15/2022 Bible: Exodus 23:1-9; Luke 10:25-37 Length: 22 min.
Despite all of our Shortcomings, all of our wayward ways, God's Love STILL supersedes our sin. He desires that none perish, but He is also a Just God. He will deal with us. God chose Hosea to call the people back to Him in the midst of Chaotic and evil times. The Parallels from Israel then and USA now are unmistakable. It's time to return to the Lord while there's still time.
What does it mean that God is a Just God? Is He thus wrathful? We will see throughout this book how God balances His justice and righteousness with His mercy. Amos explores the reality that God does not sit idly by as the world does injustices. There is a limit and a point at which God judges. As we explore Amos together, let us also examine our hearts and heed the call to return to God and live. rootedtogetherpodcast@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/charles-hegwood/message
"A Merciful, Gracious, and Just God".Exodus 34
This week we are sharing an amazing conversation we had with the CEO of The Corelink Solutions and HolyCutlure Radio; the man behind the historic move to bring a 24/7 Christian Hip Hop Station to SiriusXM Radio Channel 154. James Rosseau also known as TRIG, who is a leader in business and a legend in CHH, and he is the man behind a groundbreaking and unprecededented opportunity to bring CHH to the SiruisXM platform. We talk about everything from the evolution of CHH to his vision of HolyCulture Radio on SiriusXM. James; in this interview, takes us behind the move, behind the scenes, and into the boardroom, inside the studio and beyond. For those of you who are just as excited as I am about a 24/7 Christian Hip Hop Station on SiriusXM, this is an interview you do not want to miss. PLUS, as we celebrate the diversity in Christian Hop in this week's show, we've got a dynamic Thought of the Week in the form of spoken word from an artist that goes by the name of "WordsByEzekiel" entitled, "Just God." And, believe me this is a powerful thought that i'm absolutely positively sure is going to bless you! This show is definttely appointment listening. So, if you are a lover of CHH as much as I am, then this episode is dedicated to you!
Yes I will! Sing Your praise in my lowest valley! Chris and Blake discuss this song that has a message that encourages all believers that God is a Good and Just God.
INTRODUCTION:Lyn Barrett is an author and a facilitator of Writers' Workshops and Memoir Classes for People with Dissociative Disorders. Her memoir, Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory, follows her discovery of and recovery from multiple personality disorder, now called dissociative identity disorder (publication date January 3, 2022 with Koehler Books). Her free eBook DID Unpacked: A Parable is available on her website. She has been interviewed by public radio stations around the country and by Safe Communities Survivors' Voices series. A retired teacher, school principal, and pastor, Lyn was diagnosed with DID in 1992 while climbing up the career ladder. After considerable therapeutic work, she now lives a happily integrated life with her husband in the Adirondacks. You can connect with Lyn on her website at www.Lynbarrett.com. INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):· Are you really crazy? · Dissociative Identity Disorder defined· Alternate/Multiple personalities · Insight into the memoir writing process· Early childhood trauma· Trauma informed therapy· Atheistic insight· Quaker insight· Healing CONNECT WITH LYN: Website: https://www.lynbarrett.comBooks: https://amzn.to/3Ci9ixqFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynbarrettbooksIG: https://www.instagram.com/lynbarrettauthor/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyn-barrett-08642129/ CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonEmail: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS:· Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?:· PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon TRANSCRIPT:[00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Lynn Barrett is the author of her intense memoir called CRAZY: Reclaiming Life From the Shadow of Traumatic Memory. Lynn is very vulnerable and transparent in this interview as well as in her memoir. And she breaks down for us in excruciating detail, her experience with her own mental health struggles, Dissociative Identity Disorder is something I had never heard of before.This is the [00:01:00] epicenter of Lyn's book and it's what she has struggled with throughout her life. She tells us how this all starts in early childhood . We get an interesting atheistic insight as well as an interesting insight. From a Quaker perspective, I never talked to a Quaker before, so this was pretty bad ass and we wrap it all up with some good ole healing towards the end. I hope you get a lot of informative information out of this episode. Hello? Hello. Hello, Lyn. Welcome to the sex drugs and Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus podcast.Lyn: Hello, Jesus. Yes. I'm for that all the way. I'm for sex too. I'm not sure about drugs, but you know, let's keep it all open for everyone. De'Vannon: Oh, the swinging sixties and the summer of love, baby.Lyn: Yeah. And the swinging sixties, how old was I? I was [00:02:00] a late teenager, so yeah, but I was a good girl back then. So I didn't get into all that. I didn't find those other parts of myself until later in life. But we'll get to that. I'm sure in this conversation, De'Vannon: All things in it's time. Well, I'm doing great. It looks like you're doing fantastic. And you have a gift at the world with a neat memoir. It's called crazy. all crazy. I was to see if there's some sort of like polite way I can introduce this. And I said, now, you know, I'll just do what I usually do and be myself it's called crazy.And the cover is is very, very interesting. It's like a woman standing in his, like all of her shadow cells are surrounded or she has like about 60 different shadows that are all surrounding her. They're like in tri color, there's like tri Technicolor kind of [00:03:00] situation going on and everything like that.Can you. I'm always interested in people's book covers. Tell me about, tell me what this book is about, why you wrote it and why you went with that cover.Lyn: Yeah. Well, thank you for asking that question. And there is a subtitle to the book. It's called crazy reclaiming life from the shadow of traumatic memory. And the story is about my discovery of, and recovery from personality disorder, which was later renamed identity disorder, or did.I imagine that you or your listeners have probably heard something about did from Hollywood you know, on TV shows on YouTube and is so much. Misinformation out there that hopefully our conversation and my book might help [00:04:00] to clarify some of that, but that cover comes from my publisher.They produced about six different possible covers, you know, and it immediately came down to just two covers. It was either this one or another one, and the other one was beautiful too, but it was really dark. And this cover is light and I wanted the cover.to convey hope to convey light in the midst of darkness to convey a life. When it feels like there is no life. So that's how the cover came to be. What else can I tell you? De'Vannon: that reminds me of the of that artifact that the lady and the Lord of the rings game gave to What was it? No, it was the Sam wise he, and she told him may this be a light all of them go out?[00:05:00]Lyn: That's it that's the light. The only thing is there there's six shadow cells there, but I had over 20, so it's not exactly accurate, but it's still could base the same, the same sense that there is life even in the midst of that kind of darkness and that there's hope. And that I lead a very fulfilled, happy and integrated life after more than 20 years of extreme. Pain feeling unreal, how suicidal ideation feeling crazy. And maybe here's the place to say that I was not crazy, but I felt crazy. And the people. Other people out?there who have did are not crazy. They're using a creative coping strategy for the experience of chronic childhood [00:06:00] abuse. And so it's actually an incredibly powerful way the brain has protect young children. And, and so we, in a sense I've been gifted with this kind of protection when we were children with did the problem is that although it's very functional for the child when, when it's happening, it's dysfunctional when we become adults, because we don't understand it. So would you like me to explain a little more about how that all happened? De'Vannon: Well, tell me, so is multiple personality disorder. A separate thing from the ID or like, is that what it turned into? So are there like many different types of multiple personality disorders or did the name change from multiple personality disorder to dissociative identity disorder?Lyn: Well, that's a great question. And it [00:07:00] it's, it's what you just said. When I was diagnosed in 1992, it was called multiple personality disorder I believe it was in 1994. The DSM, the diagnostic statistical manual changed the name from multiple personality to dissociative identity disorder?Because by that time there had been enough research to show that this was really a dissociative issue.That the way that. Alternate personalities were created was through dissociation and dissociation is a very natural body process. It just means that we're being that, that our minds and our bodies are not necessarily connected. So everybody dissociates every Now and then if you're sitting in a lecture hall and you're really bored, and you're looking out the window at what's going on out there, you are dissociating from what's happening in [00:08:00] your lecture hall and your mind is going somewhere else. It can also happen with other very mundane things that happen in our lives that have nothing to do with trauma, but when people experience trauma, Dissociation is a natural thing for their minds to do so that they don't have to live fully in the moment of that terror, fear, horror that they're experiencing.So you will find that veterans coming back from war experience dissociation, that's a part of PTSD. You'll find that rape victims experienced association, and you will also find people who are, were abused repeatedly as small children have dissociation. Now, what happens with [00:09:00] did dissociative identity disorder is that the small child realized.On their caregiver. Usually the parent, whoever it is who takes care of them, the child can't survive without that person. If that person is also abusing that child, it puts the child in a really untenable position because they have to go back to that person in order to survive. But that person is the one who is hurting them.And so our minds, when we're very little, have not been fully formed. And so we, we sort of using dissociation, we partition off parts of the mind. So, so a part of me is hurt over and over again. But another part of me doesn't know about that and goes back to my caregivers so that I can trust them. And, and for instance, my. The center of my [00:10:00] dissociative system is Rosie, who is a two or three year old child. And she, her ammo is trust. She trusts over and over again, and she keeps climbing back into that lap that hurts her, but she gives all of her pain to nanny who takes care of her head. So nanny is exhausted and overwhelmed with this pain.So that Rosie can go back and trust again. So this is just a little snapshot of the sort of thing that happens in dissociative identity disorder. And so it's very functional for the child while it's happening, but as we grow up and we are no longer in danger, have we're trying to live a relatively normal sane and calm life. These these parts of us that we probably didn't even know existed start to create some havoc inside of ourselves. And that's where it [00:11:00] becomes a disorder because it's really difficult to manage until one, until we until we have discovered what it is it's actually happening.And we work in therapy to do the kind of work that helps to heal and resolve these issues.De'Vannon: Now you've mentioned a few names. There were those like some of your other personalities. Lyn: Yes, De'Vannon: So I want to take a moment in researching you are, I think you refer to these alternative personality as altars. Lyn: I guess that's the common term for it. De'Vannon: Okay. So I want you to, to, to, to give us information on how you discovered what your altars are.Is this something that you. Are they still there? Or is this something that you got rid of in the course of the therapy?Lyn: These are all really good questions. Davanon so let me see, let [00:12:00] me start how I discovered them. So for a good 10 years or more leading up to my diagnosis I began to feel like I wasn't myself. I began to feel unreal. I began to feel like I was in the corner of the ceiling, looking down on this wretched woman who was going through life.But then it wasn't me. This was an awful way to feel it, it was mind blowing and it made me feel crazy. I felt body pain everywhere. I had, I had multiple streams of consciousness going through my head at a time. I, I, I was, I had suicidal ideation most of the time and I attempted suicide. I was I hospitalized myself for 30 days, about two years after that. I tried everything at that time. I, I [00:13:00] had a therapist I had took different kinds of medications. I had a good lawyer to help me through the divorce that I was going through. I tried to be positive. I would write positive affirmations. I did set goals for myself and all the time that this was happening to Havana and I was also a teacher and then I was hired to be the head of a school.So there was a part of my life that was just working really well. But then there was this other part of my life that caused me to roll up in a fetal position every day and pull the covers over my head because I was in such pain. And so these were the kind of symptoms I was experiencing, but without any context for those symptoms, it made me feel crazy.That was the word that I used is that I feel crazy. I I, I went into a, really a wonderful [00:14:00] 30 day hospital unit. And at that time we did not know I had did and it helped to stabilize me when I came out, I actually got a new job. I moved. And I found a new therapist and in that interim, you know, for moving from one community to another and one job to another, I had a Twilight dream, which means that I wasn't asleep, but I wasn't fully awake.And the Twilight dream woke me up and it said to me you have a twin sister and her name is Rosie, but she is me. And they gave her a way and I had no idea what that meant to cause another crazy-making message to me. But I just sort of stirred it in the back of my mind and went on to my job. And I found my new [00:15:00] therapist and I shared this with her and. I became more comfortable talking with her Rosie came forward as the small child that she was and began to talk. And so I, of course at the time thought it was again crazy. I mean, this is nuts. You don't have. Other parts of yourself talking. I was an intelligent woman. I didn't believe it at all, Rosie would continue to share some of her story.And then nanny came out and talked about her story. I had a victim and a survivor. I had Mike who was a teenager who was angry and and Sylvia who was Mike's twin, who was very sexual, but also very sensual. So all of these different parts slowly started to make themselves known to me. I still didn't believe them.I didn't believe it. I didn't believe that this was really happening and I couldn't believe that they were real. And yet I also knew that. [00:16:00] They were a part of me somehow. And so my therapist thought that I was at that time it was called MPD multiple personality disorder. But I didn't believe it.And I wanted a second opinion. So I went to a psychiatrist who also confirm that diagnosis. I will say at that time, I actually didn't know who Sylvia was, but driving down to the psychiatrist's office, I felt this very sexual part of me come help, who decided she was going to seduce the psychiatrist.And fortunately she went back in and I went in as myself Lynn and that didn't happen, but these were different parts of me that Been most of them had existed since I was a small child. Some of them were probably created as I got older in the face of stress. But the [00:17:00] structural theory of dissociation says that these parts are created when most of them are created in the in the developmental period of a child's growth.And that that's the way your mind is is structured, which means that even though I'm integrated, those parts are still there. But they trust me now and they allow me to operate as one and they rarely come with. And speak or talk to me. They do occasionally if there's some really big thing going on, but for the most part, I don't hear from them, but they influence me because I still have I have I have an innocence. Side to myself and the caregiving side to myself. I, I, I very assertive now. I'm not filled with rage the way I used to be. But I have that assertive Mike in me. [00:18:00]I still am sexual and central. And I, I have faith. I'm religious. I have all these parts make up me just like you Divan and have parts of you too.But your parts were not created from chronic trauma. Your parts is, or the natural way that people are as adults. And that's the way my parts are now. There's a natural way that people have parts as adults. But they were initially created out of chronic promo as a response to protect the integrity of the child. De'Vannon: So, so the people, so these different personalities you say take over these, when they speak to you or they speak through you, is this like some form of possession or are they, are you hearing an audible voice in your head? And if they speak through you do you feel like someone else has taken control [00:19:00] of you at that time?Lyn: Well, that's another good question. And I don't like the word possession. I'll I'll say that right now. It, because it does It sends the message that it's some outside force that is doing this, and it's not an outside force, it's an inward force. And I think that I can only speak for myself because I think did manifested differently in, in different people.So I sometimes I did feel like, I don't know who this is. Where did that, where did those words come from? Where did this come from? You know, I didn't understand it. And I. That depending on how it manifests in people with did, we can feel more co conscious and aware of what's going on. Or we can fully not be aware that someone else is speaking through us. But they're all us [00:20:00] all of them are us. And that's the important thing for me to say to you, it's also important for people with did to hear, because when we first learned we have did, it does feel a little, like a possession. It does feel a little bit like these are outside forces, but they aren't.And part of our therapeutic work is to. Get to know them, to allow them to speak, to start to encourage communication between the parts. So the amnesiac barriers will be lower and to to listen to their stories and to believe that even when their stories seem almost unbelievable. De'Vannon: Okay. So how would people you've interacted with, with some of your different personalities? Describe it described you in the, in that time. Like what, what are some of the reactions you've gotten from people.Lyn: Well [00:21:00] to be Frank, And this is, you're a great interviewer because you ask all the right questions. This, so 90 to 95% of all people with did have what we call covert did, which means that it's, it's not clearly evident in our behavior when we've made a switch. The other five or 10%, it'll be very, very clear and you will know this is someone totally different in front of me, but most of us are covert.And there's a reason for that. The whole perp did is called the hidden disorder and the whole purpose of it is to hide the abuse from. The child who's experiencing it. And from the world around the whole purpose is to hide it. And so if we were to be very obvious about our switching and our [00:22:00] condition, it would feel very dangerous to us.So for instance, when, when I first learned that I had did, I was teaching in a public school and I just had this real, real desire to share my diagnosis with someone that I worked with, which was not. Really a very smart idea, but it was still a desire that I had. And so I was talking to a teacher that I got along with pretty well, and she was sharing family issues of her own.And then I said, yes, I really understand. And I've just been diagnosed with did, and that's really complicated things with my family too. And she just like backed away and said, oh, that's really interesting. And the next thing I knew, she had told the principal who had told the assistant superintendent who had talked with HR and my whole. [00:23:00] Teaching position was in jeopardy. The fact is that I was not released or let go. And the principal said, just let me know if there's any if it interferes with your work. And I said, I will do that. Absolutely. But we are very frightened of telling people about this condition because it is so misunderstood.And that's one of the reasons why I've written my book. And it's one of the reasons why I'm being interviewed by you right now. That it's it, I am 74 years old and I am only just now coming out and I feel that. Very comfortable coming out now, but I would not have felt comfortable coming out 10 years ago when I was still working.And I, I work with people daily now who have did in writer's workshops and they have a fear of coming out [00:24:00] because they don't know how that will impact them or affect them. Now, these are people, I was a teacher and I was a school principal. Some of the folks that I work with are artists, college professors PhDs and other areas regular everyday folks.I mean, these are, but they're all people who are capable, competent and responsible, but they're terrified to come out. They are terrified to come out and I was terrified to come out. So in terms of, would somebody know when I'm switching, not unless. You and I were intimate with each other, if we were intimate and you knew me really well, you would notice the difference.But if, if, if I were your next door neighbor or if we worked with each other or if we were just friends, you would probably not know it. And that's another area of misunderstanding with did because people think it's [00:25:00] rare. But in fact, between one and 5% of the world population has did and that's that, that puts it right next to bipolar disorder in terms of prevalence.So there are people that you know, who have it, but either they don't know it themselves yet, or they're not going to tell you because they not ready to experience what coming up. experience.De'Vannon: And then you've mentioned in the definition of this a lot as it relates to childhood trauma. So is this something that's pretty much exclusive to trauma that happens as a child or can this not happen to an adult? From what you've experienced.Lyn: So dissociation can happen at any age. And we've already mentioned that veterans and rape victims experience it. And anyone who experiences violence at any age is likely to experience dissociation, [00:26:00] but to experience it where you have separate parts of the mind sort of cordoned off from one another. It has to happen repetitively before the age of six or eight, because that's when the brain is still developing. So after that, you, you, you would still experience dissociation, but most likely not as a separate parts or we call them alters parts or insiders. Some people call them head mates. So there are different words that people use for the same thing, but you're not likely to have that after the age of maybe 10 you might, the person will be dissociated, but they, they, they will not have alters or parts. De'Vannon: Gotcha. Thank you for clarifying that for me. So, so you, so you went through, you wrote this a memoir. I know from my, from writing my own that writing memoirs [00:27:00] is, is a, is a bitch. And it can be like a really, really just emotionally. Taxing and draining and in a couple of other words that are not coming to my mind right now, because it's different than writing where you can just make it up as you are inspired, know, but when you're writing about yourself and things that are very intense, it's a completely different ball game.And it takes forever to write a memoir because of that. How, what, what, what were some of the toughest parts of this writing process? I want to hear about like, maybe when you thought you didn't want to do it anymore, maybe a time that came where you thought you were going to quit and just throw the whole thing away.Lyn: So I'll tell you how I started on the memoir. I was, I am an ordained minister and I was pastoring, a church in Connecticut. And I was planning on retiring in the next year or so. And [00:28:00] I, I, I'm a good writer and I've had an interesting life, even aside from having did, and I have a opinion, so I thought.I've got to write a book. And every time I would say that this big blank would come up in front of me, like, Nope, w what should I write about? Nope, nothing, nothing. It was just blank. There was nothing. it didn't make sense to me because I thought, what else am I going to do in retirement? This is what I should do.I'm a writer, you know? And and then I realized that the reason why I couldn't even imagine writing anything else was because I had to write this story. And so I started writing it in about 2014. And I was just playing with different ways of going about it and writing, you know, getting the writing juices going.I was still working at the time. Then I retired and I'm still doing some writing. And I went to [00:29:00] a big summer event, which was really lovely. And somebody offered a a class on writing for healing. And I thought, oh, I should go to that. So I went to that and one of the, it was right around father's day.And one of the, the assignments was to write just a couple of paragraphs about your father. And so I wrote a paragraph or two about my father. It was not an indicting paragraph, but it was, it did indicate that there were some challenges there. And I read it aloud to this group and. They were all just stunned that I could say anything negative about my father and I, I was, I was dumbfounded and I was hurt. And I was shut down and I can look back on it now and laugh and say, had, this was a class on writing for healing. I still don't understand that. But anyway, I, that shut me down. [00:30:00] I just, I, I just put it away.and I couldn't think of it anymore. Because in this class for writing for healing, people were upset that I had said anything even remotely negative about my father. But somehow I knew it was still there and I knew I was going to have to do something about it. And so I believe it was in 2000, the end of. December, 2018, I picked it up again and I started all over and I started from a totally different perspective and I just started writing and it just started coming out and we go to Florida from January through May.And so in 2019, I wrote from January through may, then moved, came back up to the Adirondacks. And I didn't do much of anything again. And then the next year we went back down again from January through may. Of course, that was the COVID year 2020. And that's what I finished the first draft. I mean, it just came pouring out of me.It came pouring [00:31:00] out of me. Now I have to tell you I've written tender AFS. So the first string. Was really important. And that's what I tell people in my writer's workshops. Just get it out, just get it out. You have as many drafts as you want after that, but get that first draft out. And so I I did, and it was a good start, but I it's, it's very different today than what it was the first time around. And I did hire an editor who taught me how to tell the story. So I was able to go back and do a lot more storytelling than I had done. Originally. I shared so much more of my personal life beyond did in the final version. I mean, it's all related to the did, but it was hard for me because I have four children and I really didn't, I think I've put them through enough and I didn't want to put them through anymore with this memoir, but [00:32:00] I also had to tell my story.So I had to tell it in the best way that I could without Yeah.without trying to invade their privacy. And I ended up by fictionalizing the, the children and what that means is all the events in my story that have to do with the children are true. But instead of having four children, I have three, instead of having two boys, three, three boys and a girl, I have two girls and a boy, so that it was really hard.Then it's hard for people to know who, who did water, what happened to who? My life. And the situations that I found myself in were very hard for both me and for my children. And so that's my greatest grief. And so I, I do everything that I can to put any more on them, but most of [00:33:00] them are really fine with it.And they they're, they're, they're cool. But it is, it is a little bit of a challenge for one of my children. So De'Vannon: Oh, they going be all right. I hope and pray.Lyn: they will. De'Vannon: So all right. So, so like in your book, you describe how, you know, life was pretty much like great, perfect, wonderful, whatever. You mentioned a divorce in there, and then I read something about an affair. curious. So at what point, you know, that something happened to, to make like a, like a snap or something to make this, you know, the, these, all this compartment compartmentalization and the least fractured, th these different personalities had been there, it's like, they didn't come out until like you said, you were like in your late thirties.So was it. A traumatic event that happened or were there, are there some sort of signs and [00:34:00] symptoms that came up? You know, how did you know even that there was a, you know, what happened.Lyn: Well, yes exactly. There was a family crisis. And I found out that my husband had been having an affair for two years. And and that's, that was the snap that it made all my parts terrified. It was a betrayal that mimicked the original betrayal and so in different ways, they began to show themselves that we've talked about that already a little bit, but I also want to say that even prior to learning about my husband's affair, I looked back and there were times when I could see, I can see now that different parts of myself were coming out and we're having [00:35:00]difficulty.So. My guess is that even if my husband had not had an affair that gradually my parts would have started to come out because they needed to be heard, but it would have been very different in terms of what the experience was like. My husband. I think was dealing with his own you know, mental health crisis in, in terms of how he responded to me because he didn't want to divorce and he wanted us to get back together.But I I, I didn't know why, but for some reason I couldn't do that. And then he got really angry and then it was very ugly for years ugly. And so I was in a constant state of alert to try to manage everything. And it was Well, I'd probably dissociating right now because it was such a hard time in [00:36:00] our lives. I will say that he and I now have a good relationship and that healing and reconciliation up to a point are possible with some people in our lives, but not with everyone. But it was a really horrendously, awful time. And it made life harder for me and harder for my children. And ultimately I'm sure it was harder for him to but I don't want to get inside his head because that's his story, not mine, but that was the. That was the turning point. That was what snapped the rubber band. When I discovered that and I also B w began to be able to look back and say, oh yeah, we had this wonderful, perfect life where at least I thought it was, had created this fantasy land for myself. But yeah, Remember the time that you know, about two years after we were married, when we had gone to Bria and he [00:37:00] told me it was because of camp toilets.Not so sure that's true. You know, the time that he said that he did this, this or that. And he, he really didn't do anything with this woman, but he might have a venereal disease and you just accepted it, Lynne. Yeah, I did. I just accepted all these things because was living in a fantasy world in a dissociative fantasy room.I accepted them all. But when I find it found out that he was actually having. The fair and he admitted it to my face and he said it had been for two years, I could no longer I could no longer keep the bubble intact, had the bubble burst. And that's what I call it. That's the first chapter of the book is when the bubble burst and you're looking at me right now and your viewers can't see this, but you're looking at me and thinking, how could she possibly believe?And you're absolutely right. That is that's what happens when we have been [00:38:00] abused. And when we dissociate and when we we create these bubbles for ourselves to live in because they seem safer than anything else.De'Vannon: Well, yeah, I do have a look of shock on my face. I'm going to be thinking that, you know, I'm going to have to have me some Tito's vodka. Whenever I get off interview to help me No, you're going to be fine. So let me just tell everybody I, you know, so I am, I actually, this is like going to the other end of the story. After I integrated, I met a wonderful man. We got married and he died suddenly and unexpectedly four days before our first anniversary, God bless his soul. My marriage with him taught me that I could actually have a healthy relationship.Lyn: And so five years later I met my third husband who I am now. We've been well, we've been together since 2015. [00:39:00] And he is wonderful. We have a very open and honest and transparent relationship and we support each other. So I only want to go there because we've been, we've been at the other extreme and I just want to go to that extreme that it is very, it's possible to heal from dissociative identity disorder.It is possible to heal from relationship dysfunction. It is possible to heal. From flashbacks and all of the other kinds of symptoms that come with early childhood abuse, it is possible to heal all of those and to lead a happy and fulfilled life. And that's the point of my story that I.That I worked really hard. I worked really, really hard. I didn't know what I was [00:40:00] doing, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and working with a very good therapist. And I never knew that I would come to a place where I didn't feel like I was in constant pain and I never knew that I would come to a place where I would have a loving partner. And I never knew that I would come to a place where I would just feel like I'm like I'm safe. And it's, and it's okay to be safe enough to be happy. So I am very happy now. So that's the other side of that story. De'Vannon: So, you're talking about you know, healing and everything like that. What was the turning point that you began to say, okay, I need to do better. I can do better. How did you know that you could do better? And then if some that's question one and then wanna a little bit more clarity on, so like if someone's listening and they may have Lyn: Yeah. De'Vannon: and they don't know they have this, what, what might they want to [00:41:00] look for?Be it in themselves. I would dare say in loved one, but if it's a covert, they may not be able to see it. So are some of the signs and symptoms that people can look for in case this is happening to them? And they may think they're crazy. And as you said, they're not crazy. You know, what are the signs and symptoms and then how did you to turn it around?Lyn: Yes. So I started trying to turn it around. 10 years before my diagnosis, that was one of the most frustrating things is I, I went to therapists, I took medication. I, I set goals for myself. I tried to be positive. I did all these great things and it didn't work. It did not work. And that's why I attempted suicide because it did not work. So it wasn't so much a matter of making a decision to turn my life around. It was a [00:42:00] matter of Finding find finding the right kind of treatment and surrendering myself to the diagnosis. So which in a sense Davanon is, is a religious thing. Isn't it? Although I don't mean to turn off anybody who's not religious, but surrendering yourself is, is, is a religious act almost.Or at least for me it was. But I, you know, I, I went into the hospital. I stabilized, but I still didn't know what was going on. I knew it would happen again. And so when I found a trauma informed therapist who wasn't afraid of did and knew how to treat did that's when things started turning around.When I got my diagnosis of did, even though I didn't really believe it that's when things started turning around?because all of a sudden. [00:43:00] There was a reason for my craziness. All of a sudden I could see that maybe, maybe I'm not really crazy. Maybe there really is something else going on here. And so I did surrender myself to this treatment and worked damn hard relentlessly.And it was mainly because it was the only way I could survive. I didn't have the luxury of having a husband who supported me. Instead I had one who was trying to hurt me. And I didn't have the luxury of parents who would support me because my parents ended up disowning me and having a relationship with my ex husband.So I was all alone. De'Vannon: Damn.Lyn: Oh alone. And I couldn't tell other people about this diagnosis because it's the hidden diagnosis, you know? So I, it was mainly working so hard to stay alive, but I did all the [00:44:00] things that I, that my whole system was pushing me towards doing. You know, I, I, my, my, my parts would come up and share stories of what happened.I didn't believe them, but I believe them, you know, that's sort of the craziness of it is, you know, I, I, I would say I It's really hard for me to believe this, but I believe you. Or I would talk to my parts. I would send them love letters. So this is, I want to talk to your, your, your audience about this.But I think one of the most important parts of healing is to get to know your parts, to hear their stories, to believe them and to love them. Now they're not always lovable. Sometimes they do things that get put you in trouble that, that make life really difficult. But we have to remember that these are small parts that were created to save our lives.They saved my life. He saved my life. She saved my life. And [00:45:00] so even though they might be acting difficult, I, I respect that and you get to know them and my therapist. This is what she said. Every time a new part came into the office, no matter how miserable they were. She would say, well, let's take the devil.I have a part in the devil who carried the shame. He said, I mean, and miserable. Nobody would want to like me. Why? You know I might hurt you. I'm terrible. I mean, I'm miserable. And Sonia, my therapist said, devil, it is so nice to meet you. I'm really glad you came. Why would you be so glad I came because I'm really bad I will, I might hurt you.So you shouldn't want to like me. And she'd say, well, I do like you, I want to learn to know you better. I hope you come back again sometime. So she would always invite them, always invite them. And so I started to do the same thing myself, even though I didn't know them, I was like, whoever's there. I love you.I love you. Whoever's there. You [00:46:00] know? so they would slowly start to come up and share, themselves. And in the end they all turned out to be hurt children. And and once they were low. And loved. began to cooperate and collaborate and eventually in my case, they were willing to integrate so that I am now one person.De'Vannon: I'm glad that you are now whole honey. Lyn: So am I. De'Vannon: Now you mentioned that your parents owned you and w with your ex-husband, which was a Dick move on their part. But I I've read somewhere that you were, that they were atheist. And you mentioned that you were a pastor in our conversations, you said that you had become a Quaker pastor, at least for some time.please, please speak to me about raised by your atheist parents and how this may have affected you [00:47:00]Lyn: Yes. Well, I have to correct. One thing. I was not a Quaker pastor. Most Quaker churches or meetings don't actually have pastors. But, but let's start from the beginning. My, my family, it was a very controlling family. My father was, God, you couldn't get in step out of line with him at all. And so he said that people who believe in God are either stupid or weak.I'm a little girl and you know, our parents. Kind of like God when we're children and I didn't want to be stupid or weak. So then I didn't believe in God either, but at the same time I had this yearning for God as a little girl. And so my mother actually did send me to a Sunday school because she thought I could learn socialization there.And I went to Sunday school and I [00:48:00] it really, really inhaled what I experienced there. But when I became an adolescent, I left it all behind. I read John Paul star, who's an existentialist. And I decided that I would be an existentialist being an existentialist was an atheist. And so that's what I was going to be, which is like my father.So in a sense, it was really like becoming like my father, because that's what he taught us to be. But I always had a deep sense of spirituality, although I didn't necessarily call it that. And I met my husband and he was an ex Catholic and he was an atheist too. And so we raised this nice little atheist family but the, the, the book Chronicles different events or experiences that I had that began to sort of punch holes [00:49:00] into my atheism and atheism is as much a religion as Christianity or it can be at least I should have put it that way.And so I I, I won't go through all of those steps in all of those experiences, but I, I just kept yearning for God. And, but I didn't believe in God. I just couldn't believe in God. My, again, my brain had been formed to not believe in God. So it was a conundrum for me. And then then I became a teacher and I was hired by a group of parents to start a Quaker school.Now, before they hired me, they had interviewed me a number of times that I, I really liked them. And I think they really liked me. And I thought they're gonna offer me this position. So I have to be honest with them. So I said to them, I really hope that you offered me this position [00:50:00] because I would love to work with you and for you.But it's only fair that I tell you that I don't believe in God. And they said to me, That's okay. You have the kind of spirituality that we want for our children. You have the kind of creative teaching skills that we want for our children. Don't worry about that. So it was like, oh, well, okay. And Quakers are pretty progressive and open that way.So now looking back that wasn't an unusual thing for them to say, but at the time it was stunning for me that they would be willing to entrust their children to me, even though I didn't believe in God, Quakers have one doctrine and only one. And it's there's that of God in every person. There's that of God in every person.And what that means is that no matter how much we dislike someone, we still have to treat them with respect and kindness and compassion. And that [00:51:00] really, really meant something to me that sort of hit me in my core. And I found myself teaching these children. I would talk to them about that of God and every person and ask them, what does it mean?And, you know, by the end of the first year of teaching, I realized that I, I felt really comfortable saying there's that of God and every person, even though I didn't believe in God, I was still able to say that honestly. And so gradually well, I, I want a lot of the stories in my book. It's a very brief story, but I had I had a love affair with a Quaker man. And this was after I was separated from my husband, not divorced yet. And he, he was a Quaker minister and I said I said to him, how do I believe in God? And he held me in his arms and he said, you you're in fourth. [00:52:00] And I, and so that's what I did. I mean, that relationship never lasted that that message that he gave to me stays with me to this day you yearn for.I began to yearn for God and , and I was able sort of to cross the Rubicon on that and, and say, I had to, I had to, I had to break through walls that my father had built against religion and claim God what, not, not any particular religion at that point. Just God, I claimed God and I believed in God and I believe in God.And so since that time I have, I I've become a spiritual director, a certified spiritual director, as Well, as an ordained minister. I am retired from the United church of Christ, but I am aware of. That God works through us in so many ways. And through so many beans and [00:53:00] in so many religions that I'm very universal in that way.I completely claim my Christian, my Christianity, but I also bless other other faith traditions that lead to the same knowledge that, that God is love. And that God is for everyone. And I, I can speak with experience that God works in all of us. Even when we don't believe in God, because I can look back on all those years when I didn't believe in God and see how God was using me. And so, you know, we tend to be very territorial people and we want God to be for us and we want God to do it our way, but God has God and God does it God's way. And it really doesn't matter. What we look like, where we live what our religion is or what our credentials are or what our sexuality is or anything like [00:54:00] that.We are all made in the image of God. And I, I, I really guess I draw on my Quaker roots for that, but I also draw on a very larger and wider spirituality to be able to say that,De'Vannon: Well, I'll say hallelujah to all of that. Lyn: oh yeah De'Vannon: I'm sorry, you went through so much in life, but I am very, very appreciative of your transparency and everything because that's how we help others get the victory. You know, this, this right here is what it's all about. So I want you to Lin tell people exactly what you hope they take away from your memoir though.You already have said it a couple of times throughout the conversation and then Ellis and more about these writers workshops.Lyn: Well, maybe I should do it in the other order. I'll start with the writer's workshops. And just say, I start just started a year ago and invited people across the country and actually in other [00:55:00] countries to come and join me every other week for a writer's workshop on zoom and people sign up to bring writing and we all get to read their writing and then we all get to support people in their writing. When I began this. Really saw it more as a way more people to get to know me so that when my book was published that there would be more people out there maybe for the same reason that you have a podcast. But what I have found is that this is such a powerful tool And we have amazing people in these, these workshops who share the deepest steps of their soul, they are trusting the people who are in that group and trusting themselves.And the writing is amazing. And we [00:56:00] support people different ways. One we can, we can support our feedback. Support the writing itself. It can support the story that's behind the writing, or it can share what your writing meant to me. When you said that this is what happened to me. So those are the three basic kinds of feedback that people give.But then there's a fourth kind of feedback called critical feedback. And we don't give that to everybody. It must be asked for because critical feedback, I actually helps people to make the writing better and sometimes it can feel critical. So We know that some people are really ready for that and they want to hear what can I do to make this better, but others it may have been an alter who wrote the writing.It may have been one that was very shy about coming out. And so the last thing they need is criticism. So we're really careful to give only the kind of feedback that people request. But these are open. You [00:57:00] do have to register for them before you can attend. And you can register by going to my website, www dot Flynn, barrett.com.That's L Y N B a R R E T t.com. I also want to say that they, that some of these women are and men, men and women are so talented. They're putting together an anthology of dissociative rating, which is going to be self published in January. It will be free on the, on my website. And they're speaking at a conference with me. Sometimes they write guest blogs, so it's we're learning how we can support each other in our writing. We've just begun. So that's pretty exciting. And I, I guess in terms of what I hope that that people will get from my From my book is to learn a little bit [00:58:00] more about what dissociative disorder to know that people who have did are courageous because they have used this strategy to survive horrible childhoods. I want people to know that recovery is possible, that hard work is required. And that when we work together, we can change our destiny and we're all in this together So those are the broad sweeps that I hope people get.De'Vannon: We are all in this together and the Lord works in mysterious ways. Y'all sell Lyn: That's right. Amen. De'Vannon: it, be on the lookout for that healing cause it's common, baby.Lyn: Yes. I'm with you on that. De'Vannon: Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much, Lynn, for coming on show today. The information that you've mentioned will go in the show notes and people will be able to find you. And I look forward for the book release, according to Amazon, I see that's January 3rd [00:59:00]Lyn: Yeah. De'Vannon: and and then it will be out and about, and then the next phase of this journey of yours can continue.Who's one thing, the right, the bug, then there's a whole nother thing. Once it gets released.Lyn: Well davana and I am just so grateful that you interviewed me. It's really been a delight to get to know you. And, and I love your questions and I wish you the best on your memoir too. And I'll just give a plug for it. I read the first chapter and it's dynamite. So let's hope that both of our books get into the hands of the people who need to read them De'Vannon: As God as my witness, they will. And yours is wait, read as Lyn: out of that. De'Vannon: Thank you all so much for taking time to listen to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. It really means everything to me. Look, if you love the show, you can find more [01:00:00] information and resources at sex, drugs, and jesus.com or wherever you listen to your podcast. Feel free to reach out to me directly at DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com and on Twitter and Facebook as well.My name is De'Vannon and it's been wonderful being your host today and just remember that everything is going to be all right.
Sunday Gathering with Pastor Antione "No Fear, Just God"Go Without Fear
The Christian Way of Living Part 3. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier [^] Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics. What does God want from us? What's God's will? [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs How to grow in the grace and knowledge of TLJC – Master the CWLiving fundamentals Recall Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper you. That is His love's motivation. And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing When you do these things then God's +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you. When you don't or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow). Sooooo, Faith in God – believe in God = 1) Divine Essence How? Learn, Think, Motive, Act [^] Learn – God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE) - God's Promises Think – How God thinks … L => R & J Motive - Do follow God's CMDs Act - to use Rebound … & Diligently use F/R Drill Learn – Think – Motive – Act (PMA of BD, Op Z) Along with Faith … Trust God – Trust in someone greater than you Benefits of: - Faith in God - Trust God - Diligently use F/R = RMA (precious) … contentment in Life – in your mind - in your Home life - at work - at play Home, work, play and in your soul – God provides a RMA [^] 2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours [bel in JC], by the integrity [+R + J] of our God [deity] and Savior [humanity], Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and [mental] prosperity [RMA] be multiplied to you by means of the [epignosis] knowledge of God[/F] and of Jesus our Lord; 2 Peter 1:3 [how? ->] seeing that His divine power [Omnipotence] has graciously been given to us everything pertaining to this [natural] life [logistical grace support] and spiritual life [CWLiving], through the epignosis knowledge [metabolized BD applied experientially] of Him [TLJC] who called [common grace] us by His own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines - Rebound, Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence and how it works] God/F has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises [1Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psm 91, etc], in order that by them [metabolized and applied BD] you might become partakers of the divine nature [God's Thinking, specifically the CWLiving], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [cosmic & human thinking; OSN lifestyle]. Precious and magnificent promises … Gods description 1 Peter 5:7 -> Psm 55:22 Prov 3:5-6 Lam 3:25 Matt 7:11 Psm 91 (picture) + Recompence of the wicked I gave you 3 refrigerator bumper stickers [^] #1 Confused which way to go? Claim a promise(s) of God Then make the best decision you can and if God does not want you to go in that direction, he will close the door. If you are receptive to closed doors, then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction. In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best. Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using the F/R procedure and as long as you do and are remaining calm about it then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or the result of the decision will be a closed door. Then you know to go in a different direction. [^] #2 Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) [^] #3 Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions (based upon your best judgment – at the moment) and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. Bottom line – Learn – God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE) - God's Promises Think – How God thinks … L => R & J Motive - Follow God's CMDs (courage to …) Act - Rebound when necessary … & Diligently use F/R Drill => the process of Trust => learning to & Loving God ----------- End Summary ----------- The next thing I want to study is - Confidence in God and some F/R scriptures We are to have confidence in God - (Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence & the Plan of God) Crunch - Fear – two types: circumstances and reaping what you sow. [^] #2 Problems (not fear) come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) Then I said …. … It matters not…. So we Rebound … Diligently …. I think a thing to remember about the Faith Rest procedure is that it is our way to tap into and utilize God's power. What do I mean by that? Back to the Driving in Weather example. God handles our concern (worry, anxiety, fear) about driving in the weather (in that example) using His Omnipotence or His Omniscience (He knew you were going to ask Him so he ‘arranged' for better driving circumstances). Therefore we can tap into that power by claiming promises. Once you know more and more promises and then use them – promises do nothing unless they are Learned, Thought about, and you have the Motivation to use them and then Act (using the F/R procedure) – … then you are tapping into God's power. That power can be physical power (like improving the driving conditions (control of the weather) or it can be giving you confidence (via your RMA) and recalling driving techniques. Either way you have utilized God's power. And that plus the fact that you Trust God is what allows you to tap into God's power. Again, God is not a genie and you do not get 3 wishes. This is an honest, sincere use of the Faith Rest procedure and learning and using God's Divine Essence. We are to have humility in approaching God and asking for His help. [^] Remember Matthew 7:11: Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! God is motivated to help you (in accordance with 1 Tim 2:4) but in doing so His motivation is giving you confidence so that you develop a more mature capacity to handle things in life. i.e. Make you a stronger person. Confident is how I usually think about it. He helps us grow up and become more confident. Yes we ‘lean' on Him but His plan is for you to grow more confident and in doing so, you will handle your own problems, using the Trust and knowledge you have of God and His plan for you. We all need to grow up in certain areas of our life and God leads us down a path to grow up. Why does God do this? First, so that you are a relaxed, confident and happy person. And people will notice that. Second, so you can be used by Him in executing His Plan for your life and you will have an impact on the lives of people around you and in your nation. Additionally, it is an honor to be used by God, something to be proud of. Something else, as you use the skills in the CWLiving (for now Rebound and the F/R procedure), you should along with your trusting God, you should develop an awe and respect of God. The ability to use His power, and the fact that you and I, have the privilege to know God and to use His promises, doctrines and thinking. We should always thank God in prayer for being able to do that. That is something you have available to you that unbelievers do not. Anytime and every time God comes through for you when you claim a promise, is proof of His faithfulness and that what He says is True. Again back to His Divine Essence, Veracity – God is truthful; And Immutable – God never changes. His promises and His ability to come through for you are ironclad backed by an Omnipotent, Sovereign and Just God. Utilizing His resources moves you along your journey of having a personal relationship with Him. I hope this gives you confidence to believe, trust and have faith in God and what He says. Here is another verse that is helpful. [^[ Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] “Do not fear for I am with you,” Who is with you? God. He never leaves you, even though you may leave Him, and then He says “do not anxiously look about you,” don't panic or look around for human solutions, don't ask your friends for their opinions, don't look at your circumstances with anxiety, look at your problems with a different perspective, remember to look to God and His solutions. His solutions. What solutions? Rebound, Faith Rest procedure, understanding His Divine Essence. Notice: When (not if) When you are anxious or fearful you claim a verse like this or 1 Peter 5:7 or any other pertinent verse and know God & His Omnipotence can handle anything. God's Omnipresence knows everything, and in using God's solution of the Faith Rest procedure then God's Righteousness is satisfied so His Justice executes what His Love wants for you in this circumstance. So what happens next? “for I am your God,” and then look what else, “I will strengthen you,” we are weak, fear weakens us, in fact we are at our weakest when we are afraid and anxious. But what does He say, “I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,”. When all help is gone and you are at the end of your human strength, there God is, that's what you got left, God's strength. So why not call on Him first? Then God goes on to say, “surely I will uphold you,” we won't sink into the mire (of bad decisions or bad circumstances), he holds us up, “with my righteous right hand.” Your fear and anxiety melts away, that is how you handle situations in life. You call upon God's power to help you and you know He will. Trust. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > The Red Sea Incident Turn to Ex 13:17 This is one of my favorite passages in the Hebrew scripture to illustrate Trust, Patience and Timing. It is Moses at the Red Sea. Short synopsis: Jews were slaves in Egypt for 400 yrs then God brought Moses in to free them from Egypt and start a new nation in their own land. Pharaoh lets them leave Egypt and after several days he changes his mind and sends his chariot army to retrieve the Jews. The Jews became caught with their backs to the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army quickly approaching. The Jews started to panic. They were yelling at Moses about what to do.... Bottom line up front: Moses had no idea how God would save the Jews when they were at the Red Sea with the Egyptian army steadily advancing on them with their army of chariots. They were minutes from death but Moses did not panic because he Trusted God and His promises. What promise? God told Moses that he would lead Israel out of Egypt and to a land that I will show you. Exodus 3:10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." So Moses believed and followed God's command - he was Motivated to Act Cccccccccccccc ccccccccccc cccccccccccc The story begins in the Book of Exodus chapter 13 & 14. We pick it up at Ex 13:17 at the point when the Pharaoh of Egypt (i.e. the King or President of Egypt) decided to let the Jews, called the Sons of Israel, go and released them to leave Egypt. Up to this point in time the Jews, all of them, were slaves of the Egyptians. Exodus 13:17 ¶ Now it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go [out of slavery in Egypt], that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near [closer]; for God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt." Exodus 13:18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness [desert] to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array [marching columns] from the land of Egypt. Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he [Joseph] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God shall surely take care of you; and you shall carry my bones from here with you." [there is a story also about the bones of Joseph we can cover later] Exodus 13:20 Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness [desert]. Exodus 13:21 And the Lord [this is the visible presence of Jesus Christ] was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. Exodus 13:22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. So you have the Jews leaving Egypt (now they all were not in just one area), they mainly were in Goshen (see the map below) [^] but also in various other parts, so when they all got the word they headed out from Goshen and the surrounding areas to Succoth. Succoth was an area where there are mines of cooper and turquoise and Jews were enslaved their as workers. So those Jews headed out with Moses and they met up with other Jews and eventually the slaves that we around Succoth. Once all the Jews had gathered, Moses led them from Succoth and they eventually they camped at Etham. How did the Jews know where to go? Verse 21 says the TLJC who showed himself as a visible pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So the Jews all saw this and they follow it to gather up with Moses as the main body of Jews coming out of Goshen in Egypt. Note that we are talking about 600,000 males over age 20, which means 3 million people (wife's, children, etc). So Jesus Christ was visible to all of them in the form of a big cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night which guided 3 million people on their trek. Exodus 14:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Exodus 14:2 "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi- hahiroth, between Migdol and the [Red] sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. … the Straits of Tiran, islands, that is where Baal-zephon is. Exodus 14:3 "For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' Exodus 14:4 "Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them [Israel to the Red Sea]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army [via the destruction of those who opposed God], and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." And they [Moses and the Jews] did so. Exodus 14:5 ¶ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward [letting] the people [Jews go], and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" Exodus 14:6 So he [Pharaoh] made his chariot [‘tank' army] ready and took his people with him [soldiers]; Exodus 14:7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. Exodus 14:9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring [they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. FEAR… Exodus 14:11 Then they said [complained] to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Exodus 14:12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve [remain slaves to] the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness [desert]?" It is amazing to me that Moses did not quit right there. What a bunch of &%^#^@ He didn't. You know why. He Learn (via God) what God wanted, was Motivated to do what God said (burning bush), Trusted God, and did what He was told. (not to mention the every minute reminder of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He TRUSTED God. In the face of adversity – whining people – HE TRUSTED GOD [^] Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! [CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. … no command to Do not Fear. Love the Lord … Future-Act-Indic ... You have to want to follow God and use His solutions. … Choice. God's way or the My Way Highway Repeat vs - [why? Because God has given you the tools to deal with them] Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you] Notice Moses said “stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord”, yet he did not know how God was going to deliver them. He knew God would do something and was content (relaxed mental attitude - RMA) to let the situation unfold. Why? God told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and He (God) would lead them to the promised land. God was not going to let the Jews died at the Red Sea. Also remember what had happened days earlier the ten plagues of Egypt (in Exodus chapter 7-13). And the last plague was all first born in Egypt (Jews and Egyptians) and first-born animals were killed by Jesus Christ if they did not paint the blood of a lamb over the door posts of their houses. So probably a few Jews and most if not all Egyptian first-born children were killed in one night as Moses told Pharaoh they would be if Pharaoh did not release the Jews. Which Pharaoh did not at that point. Only after Pharaoh's first-born son died did Pharaoh agree to release the Jews. So all this just happened. Pharaoh released the Jews and they headed out of town fast (as fast as 3 million people could walk). Let me stop here. I think it is illustrative to see what the impact of this death of the first born was at a personal level. Take your family. Who is the first born? Who in your family? Was your father the first born? Your mother? Are you the oldest in your family? How about your aunts and uncles? Think about you family and who is the first born. If they did not do what God said they would have all died in one night. So you see, it has a great impact if we make it personal to our family. So having a personal understanding of what the impact was on the first born in a family dying means you can see why Pharaoh decided to let the Jews leave and suffer the consequences of having no more slaves in Egypt. The terrible personal impact of trying to fight Israel's God. Your God. Remember that every day! The power of Your God. The lesson here is we need to do what God says. We are to Learn and Think about what God says, use that to Motivate us to change our thinking and to follow His commands and to use His procedures to live our lives (Act). Not following God and what He says has disastrous results as we will see in the continuation of our story. Back to our story. So Moses just said to the whining and crying Jews – Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! [CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. [why? −>] Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you] Exodus 14:15 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you [the Jews] crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. Exodus 14:16 "And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it [follow God's procedure], and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land [Omnipotence of God]. Exodus 14:17 [God speaking to Moses] "And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them [Omniscience]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Exodus 14:18 "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen." Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God [Jesus Christ], who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. [Omnipotence] Exodus 14:20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one [Pharaoh's army] did not come near the other [Jews] all night. [Omnipotence] Exodus 14:21 ¶ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea [following God's procedure]; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land [Omnipotence], so the waters were divided. Exodus 14:22 And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land [following God's procedure], and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Exodus 14:23 Then [the pillar of fire moved away and] the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:24 And it came about at the morning watch, that the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. Exodus 14:25 And He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty [Omnipotence]; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians." Exodus 14:26 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen [Listen to God]." Exodus 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea [following God's procedure], and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew [drowned] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. Exodus 14:29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land [God's Omnipotence] through the midst of the sea [God provides everything they needed, dry vs muddy land], and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Exodus 14:30 Thus the Lord delivered Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Exodus 14:31 And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people respected the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. [there is a difference between believing and trusting] So that is the story. What do we learn from this? God promised Israel a land of their own 650 yrs before [Genesis 12:1-3]. God raised up Moses to be a leader to take the Jews out of Egypt and into the land that He promised. Moses did what God told him to do. He went to Pharaoh to tell him that God said to let His people go. And to prove the power of God, God showed Pharaoh by the first plague His power, and when Pharaoh refused, he gave him 9 other times (total 10 plagues) to cause him to change his mind. Pharaoh did not until his son and all the first born people & cattle in Egypt died because they did not follow God's instruction to paint lamb's blood on their door posts. After Pharaoh relented and let the Jews go initially, then Moses led them out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. The Jews packed up all their belongings and gathered their families and started to march in the direction that Moses, and the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night lead them. Visual confirmation of God fulfilling His promises. Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Jews and when the Egyptians chased the Jews and pinned them against the Red Sea, Moses, before God said anything to him, stood up and told the whining Jews to ‘Stand still (shut up and calm down) and watch the deliverance of the Lord'. Moses Trusted God to make good on His promise to leading the Jews out of Egypt and to His promised land, even though Moses had no idea how God would do it. He just believed (Trusted) God would solve the problem. Then God told Moses what to do – stretch out your staff.... God used nature to part the waters, and used His Omnipotence to make sure the land (sea bed) was dry so they could easily walk on it. After God removed the pillar of fire blocking the Egyptians from pursuing the Jews, they started to pursue the Jews. They were gaining on the Jews, so God made it difficult (Omnipotence) for the Egyptians to pursue the Jews (He caused their chariot wheels to swerve). And when 3 million Jews completed the crossing, then God told Moses to “Stretch out your hand over the sea” and Moses did and the water came down on the Egyptians and killed them all. What are we to learn about this as far as our Christian Way of Living (CWLiving) is concerned? [^] ● We see that Moses listened – listened to God [aka Learn]. ● Moses followed God's instructions [aka Think – Motive – Act]. ● God provided a solution - parted the Red Sea, - made the sea bed ground dry, - stopped the Egyptians from following via the Cloud of Fire, - The Jews moved quickly across the sea [speed was essential]. God killed Pharaoh's army completely [so for all of human history God would be known – evangelism and a warning: don't mess with God and don't mess with Israel] And by contrast, we have the Jewish people that Moses was leading. They followed Moses mainly because it was freedom, some followed Moses because they believed in God and recalled His promise to them. Yet when the there was a little adversity, the Jews as a group failed. When they started to see the Egyptians coming, they panicked. They complained to Moses, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to kill us?” And many complained to God. So you see this is the real problem. And unfortunately, throughout the bible and in all of human history: many people know of God, they were acquainted with God, in this case the Jews saw His power (10 plagues, Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by night, and the killing of the entire Egyptian Army) yet did not trust God. They knew Him believe in a god but did not trust Him in what He said via Moses and what they experienced. They refused to Learn and Think about God and what He told them. They also were not Motivated to believe and Trust God and Act according to what He told them.
August 25, 2021. Knowing God: The Doctrine of God for the Christian Life. "Knowing the Just God," a message from Dr. Richard Pratt
August 25, 2021. Knowing God: The Doctrine of God for the Christian Life. "Knowing the Just God," a message from Dr. Richard Pratt
On this episode Grace and Josh had the privilege of inviting Brandon Washington, a theologian , Author, and Pastor to discuss the matter of God and justice. In our conversation, we dig into the concept of a Just God in an evil and suffering world. This conversation left us with deep insights and great hope for the future. We invite you to take a seat at the table to be encouraged by the powerful , knowledgeable and wise words spoken and explained by Brandon.
The Book of Proverbs informs us that God is meticulously in control of everything. In this sermon, Pastor Andy Davis looks at all the ways Proverbs reveals different aspects of God's providence. *This sermon was originally delivered on April 29, 2001, and released on Two Journeys in August 2021. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Introduction Take your Scriptures, if you would, and open to the Gospel of Mark. We're gonna begin our study in Proverbs in another place, like we do every week. So I want to begin in Mark chapter 1. Do you all have sheets? I gave out some sheets so that when we get into Proverbs, you won't have to flip around. I know that some of you have more nimble fingers than others. But I wanted to give you these sheets. I'm not promising this every week, but I had time a little bit this week to give them out to you and... Is anybody missing one? Do you all have one? Okay. Do you all folks have, Barb and blue, you guys have 'em? Alright. Alright, why don't we begin with prayer? Father, we thank you for the time that we've had tonight to listen to our brother and sisters as they sing about love for you. Father, it is indeed good to be alive, everything that you have given us is a gift. The Scripture says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows. And we thank you, Lord, that you have given us not only physical life but eternal life in Jesus Christ. And Father, we can look around this beautiful world that you have given us, and we can thank you for it, but it's just a dim reflection of the glory that we will see when we're with you face-to-face in heaven. Father, now as we consider the topic of God's sovereignty in the book of Proverbs, I pray that we would come to rejoice in and to embrace your sovereignty, Father, that we might understand what it means. And that we might gladly bow the knee to you and submit our lives to you in every respect, realizing that everything you will is good. Your ways are perfect, your commands are life-giving, and that we are free, truly free to walk in the path of your commands and to know the eternal life you have for us. Thank you for these things, in Jesus' name, amen. Look, if you will, in Mark chapter 1. In Mark 1:14 and following, it describes the beginning of Jesus' preaching ministry. And it says there in Mark 1:14, "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God." What's another word for good news? The gospel. So he's going around proclaiming the gospel. So we're gonna learn a little something about the gospel. Now, what does it say in verse 15? It says, "The time has come," this is Jesus speaking now, "The time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news." So what is the good news in Jesus' message? It's the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the good news. Now, we might think of the good news as being forgiveness of sin, the fact that Jesus died in our place so that we have eternal life, that he rose from the dead, all of that is good news, it's true. But here in this verse, the good news is the kingdom of God. Now, why is the kingdom of God good news? It's Sunday evening so that's not a rhetorical question. Why is the kingdom of God good news? Audience response: "It's available."; "It's available through Jesus Christ."; "It's a lot better than this world." It's a lot better than this world, that's for sure, that's for sure. At the center of the kingdom of God is a king. That makes sense, right? And he is powerful and he's awesome, and he is good, and therefore the message about his rulership, his sovereignty is good news, is it not? What kind of universe would this be if there were an awesome sovereign potentate who was not good? This would be a terrifying universe, wouldn't it? Or, if there were a force of evil running free in the universe that were unchecked by God's sovereignty, would this not be a terrifying universe to live in? But none of those is the case, and we're gonna find that out in a surprising place, perhaps the book of Proverbs. I want for us as Christians to embrace the sense of God as king, that we are to live lives of repentance and faith in that king, and that obedience to his commands is freedom, joyful freedom. Disobedience leads to slavery. Jesus said, everyone who sins is a what? A slave to sin. But "if the Son makes you free, you'll be free indeed." Free indeed. Does that mean there's no king? Absolutely not. There is a king and nothing, no force in heaven or on earth is going to remove him from his throne. They're just is insufficient power to do that. "I want for us as Christians to embrace the sense of God as king, that we are to live lives of repentance and faith in that king, and that obedience to his commands is freedom, joyful freedom." He is powerful, he is sovereign, he is ruling, and we kinda need to deal with that, don't we? It's not gonna change. But it's nothing to deal with in that God is king, because he is good and he is loving and his ways are right. And so we're going to, I think, feel around the perimeters and kind of poke our hands into the extent of his kingship tonight in the book of Proverbs. There's some amazing Proverbs that speak of the sovereignty of God. But before we go there, let's see if we can understand it. If you were to look in Psalm 47, you can turn there in the Bible if you'd like, or you can just read what's printed on the sheet there. Psalm 47:2 says, "How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Isn't that marvelous? God is the great King over all the earth. That's pretty extensive. His reign over all the earth, he is the great King. And then it says later in verse 7 through 9, "For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God." Isn't that powerful? The kings of the earth belong to God, he is greatly exalted. That's a great statement of God's rulership, of his sovereignty even over the kings of the earth. It is not for nothing that we call Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is great and he is sovereign, and he rules. Look at Isaiah 14:26-27. What would a king be if he never issued an order? What would a king be if he never gave a decree or made a law? He wouldn't be ruling, right? Well, God actually gives many decrees, many laws, he has many initiatives, he has many plans, his hand reaches out many times. He's not an inactive king, he's not a lame duck king, let's put it that way. He's moving, he's active, he has plans, he's unfolding that plan, and he's involved. His hand stretches out many, many times. We'll look at Isaiah 14:26-27, "This is the plan determined for the whole world. This is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out and who can turn it back?" What's the answer to the question? When God's hand stretches out, who has the strength and the power to turn it back? The answer is no one. Were you to assemble all the forces that God created in heaven, on earth, under the earth, they would be insufficient to turn back his hand when it moves. This is the sovereignty of God, and therefore, we could define the sovereignty of God as the active exercise of his supremacy over all creation. The active exercise of his supremacy. He is supreme. He is high and lifted up. In the vision of Isaiah 6, he is high and lifted up far above all of his created beings, you see? And why is God depicted as high and lifted up? I don't really think that spatial reasoning means much, except that it shows a sense of God's supremacy, his sovereignty, his greatness over that which is below him. And so the earth, he sits enthroned, it says, over the circle of the earth in the book of Isaiah, he's ruling. This is what it says, AW Pink wrote this, "Being infinitely elevated above the highest creature, He is the Most High, He is Lord of heaven and earth. Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him." This is the sovereignty of God. Isaiah 46:9-10, and by the way, if you want a good section of scripture on the greatness and the sovereignty and the power of God, just 10 chapters on that, go to the Isaiah 40s, beginning in chapter 40 and up through 49, that's where it's at. Just chapter after chapter of, "I am God and there is no other. There is no one like me. All the idols, there is nothing. I can predict the future, and they can't... " Just God displaying his supremacy over and over. And mostly talking to Israel that had run after other gods and why somebody would choose a piece of wood and carve it into an idol and bow down and worship it? Half of it, he uses it to make his dinner and the other half he worships. How can this be? This is Isaiah 40 through 49, read those chapters, they're just majestic. Sometime this week, read Isaiah 40 through 49, you'll see what I mean. But right in the middle of it, Isaiah 46:9-10, he says this, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'" Wow! What a God. What a God. "I say, My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Is God free to do as he pleases in his universe? Absolutely. He is King and he is free to do as he pleases in his universe, and he does as he pleases, and what he pleases is good. And so Jesus, when he began his preaching ministry, he said, "Rejoice and repent for the kingdom of God is near." So as we look at that, we think to ourselves, "Well, this is a wonderful thing. A mighty God, sovereign over all things," and yet we have to realize this is not a popular doctrine. Why is this not a popular doctrine? What is the problem here? We like our self-will. We like our self-will. We want to say I am and there is no other, I will do as I please. Oh, now, come on, admit it. You like to say, "I am and I like to do what I want," That's another way of saying it. The essence of parenting, which we talked about last week, is to persuade them that there's another will in the universe and that they need to yield and submit. It's hard. Every child comes into the world saying, "I am and there is no other, and I will do all as I please." And so, we've got that essence inside us and it's hard to break from it, isn't it? We want to do what we want to do, and we think that that's freedom, and it isn't. Jesus said it's sin, it's slavery. Freedom is bowing gladly before God, that's freedom. Now, that's kind of a paradox, isn't it? But the bottom line is, that there is a King and we need to submit to him, and he is good. Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about this topic. "There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God's Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation, the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands, the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football as the great stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne." Is that not powerful? "Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean. But when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth, and we proclaim an enthroned God and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated. And then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust." What a great quote, and yet so true. The very thing that we don't want, the sovereignty of God, and yet it is the sovereignty of God that sweetens the bitterness of the trials we go through in life, is it not? Because sovereignty has overruled them for His own purpose, and when we're through with all of this, he will bring us home. Isn't that wonderful? And so, the sovereignty of God, both loved and hated doctrine. Let's see what Proverbs says about it. There's various topics I've just gone through and I've organized them, not in any particular order, but just pulled them out with headings. The first that I like to bring out is sovereignty over human hearts, minds, wills and actions. Let's go right to the heart of the matter, shall we? Now, if you look at the Spurgeon quote, he's saying that God can rule over the waves, he can hold up the pillars of the earth, but when he ascends his throne specifically to rule over what? People, that's when we have problems, right? Well, all I'm going to do is just read the verses and you can make of them what you will. God is sovereign over human hearts, minds, wills and actions. First, he's sovereign over our words. Look at Proverbs 16:1, "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue." So what is that saying? Well, it's saying, you can make your plans, but the words you speak were ordained by God. That's what it says, and I didn't write this, I'm just telling you what it says. Alright, look at the next one, He's sovereign over our actions. Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Left foot, right foot, left foot... What should I decide next? Let's take a vote. Should I do the right foot next? Okay, right foot, left foot. The Lord directs his steps. What does that mean? I make my plans, and yet God directs my steps. Proverb 16:9, right after 16:1, so I put the two of them together. We make our plans but God works out what he wants. You see? I was talking to Jason early this week, he said, "So what? Are we robots?" Of course not. All I'm trying to do is understand these verses, and so even the very words that we speak and the steps that we step are under the sovereignty of God. We make plans, but God determines our steps. Proverbs 20:24, "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" Are you telling me I don't even understand my own life? Yes, that's what the verse says. You don't understand your own life, not fully. Do you know that God knows your life better than you do? He remembers every decision you've ever made, we don't remember those. You ever notice, "I forgot I did that. I forgot I said that." But you did. But whether you remembered it or not, God also understands the purpose behind it all, he understands why you said what you said and did what you did. And so, you put all these together, God is really involved and active in the decisions we make. I like, as I think about God directing or determining our steps, what it says in Ephesians 2:10, for it says, "We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." Wow! That means every day has a bunch of good works that he's laid out, like it's stepping stones across the river of that day? Absolutely. Step, step, step. Good work, good work, good work, good work. Go to bed. Wake up, good work, good work, good work, good work, good work, go to bed. Until you die. And he's got it worked out, doesn't he? You say yes, "But I have the choice to rebel." That's true. You do. We do it a lot. We do good work, good work, rebel, repent, good work, good work, good work. You see how that goes? And that's kind of how every day is for us, right? Good work, repent, come back, good work, good work, good work. But God understands all of this and even our sin, even our rebellion ultimately works together for good. "God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love him and are called according to His purpose." Good work, good work, good work. And the point is that we step in them, that we walk in them; he's ordained them. And this is the beauty of it, is that at 10 o'clock in the morning, there's a sovereignly ordained good work for me to do. Somebody at work who needs a message of the gospel, somebody who needs help, we'd study the Good Samaritan this morning. There's going to be an opportunity to be a good Samaritan to somebody in some way. That makes life significant. And God has ruled it all. Ephesians 2:10. And God is sovereign over a king's heart. Look at Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, He directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." Wow. Now, I've quoted that many times before, I think it helps us to understand the book of Daniel, for example. God is sovereign over Nebuchadnezzar, God is sovereign over Belshazzar, God is sovereign over Cyrus the Great, God is sovereign over Darius the Mede. He's sovereign over any and every king that comes along. He's sovereign over Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus. One after the other after the other, he's sovereign over all of them. And this verse says the king's heart. Now, what is the heart? It's not that part of you that pumps blood, we know that. What is the heart? What is he referring to? What does the heart do in the Bible? Seed of emotions, motivation, the reason why you do what you do, reasons, purposes, the will, decisions that you make. All of that is in the heart. And there are verses that talk about each one of those in Psalms and other places. That is in God's hand? What you choose, what you love, what you hate, what you are enticed by and what you're not, the decisions you make, the court, all that is in the hand of the Lord. And specifically for a king, the mighty rulers of the earth, the ones that are making big decisions and big things are happening... Yes, that is in the hand of the Lord. And he directs it like a watercourse, whichever way he chooses. Now, it's very interesting about that. I know we're at the heart of deep theology here, but I think the point is this: The king has an inclination, he has a drive, a bent, perhaps if he's a wicked man, toward evil, God directs that evil toward a certain channel, and it flows that way, and some wheels get turned that God wants turned. And you say, "How in the world can God use wickedness and evil to accomplish his ends?" Let me ask you a question, in all human history, what is the most wicked thing that human beings have ever done? Crucifying Jesus Christ. Is there anything worse? The Son of God, the only truly innocent man that has ever lived, did nothing but love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and love his neighbor as himself every day of his life, and they killed Him, Son of God. And what came out of that wicked deed? Your salvation. "The Son of God, the only truly innocent man that has ever lived, did nothing but love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and love his neighbor as himself every day of his life, and they killed Him, Son of God. And what came out of that wicked deed? Your salvation." Now, that should prove that God is fully capable using wicked things to accomplish incredibly good ends, just like Joseph said in reference to his brothers, "You meant my attack here for evil, God meant it... " feel the weight of that, he intended it, he planned it, and he worked it out, God meant it for good. God can use wicked things to accomplish his ends. Alright, God is sovereign over human hearts, minds, wills and actions. God is also sovereign over enemies. Look at Proverbs 21:30. He's sovereign over his enemies. Proverbs 21:30, "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord." Wow! You can't concoct something that gets ahead of God and overrules or overturns his purposes. You can't work something out that's going to succeed. This is Psalm 2, folks. Look at Psalm 2, "Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one, 'Let us throw off their chains and break their shackles?'" What are they saying there? "Let's rebel, I'm tired of this king who's ruling over us all the time." And the one enthroned in heaven, what does he do? He laughs. He laughs. And at the end of Psalm 2, he gives a warning, "Don't do that. Okay, don't rebel. Kiss the Son. Submit gladly and it will go well with you." That's the message of Psalm 2, and it's the message here. You can't come up with a plan that will overthrow God's plan. You can't figure something out that will get ahead of God and say, "Oh, no! Salvation, the whole gospel thing, it had a weakness and I never saw it. Satan found my weakness, and the gospel will not advance to the ends of the earth, and the such and such tribe in distant Mongolia will not hear the gospel." It's not going to happen. There is no plan that will succeed against God. The next one, God is sovereign over seemingly random events. "The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord." Again, I didn't write this. Now, we don't use lots anymore, do we? What is the modern equivalent of casting a lot into the lap? Rolling a dice. How many of you have played Monopoly in the last year? Or some game that involved the rolling of dice? Alright. I have. Actually on the computer these days, this computer dice roll program that they've come up with, alright. I don't know how they do the random number generation and all that, there's a whole math theory behind that. Huh? Oh, you know, alright. Anyone interested? Herbert Rivera is the man. Random number generation. It's very hard for humans to come up with random numbers. Anyway, the point is, you take that dice and you roll it. I was talking to my kids about this verse last night, I said, "Around the world right now, how many dice do you think are being rolled? Right this instant, how many dice?" Some of them are coming up one, some two, three, four, five, and six. And what is this verse telling you about the ones, the twos, the threes, the fours, the fives and the sixes? Every decision is from the Lord. Now, how in the world... You say, "Why does God care what it comes up?" I don't know, but this is what the verse says. He seems to care whether it comes up a four or three. Now, you say, "Is this a consistent teaching in the Bible?" Yes, it is. You remember Jonah, the story of Jonah, what happened with Jonah? There was a big storm and all that, they bring Jonah out on deck, they're trying to find out who's responsible, and so they cast lots. And where does the lot come up? On Jonah. Well, what do you know! Just by chance, if they've done it a different way, it would had come up on a different guy. No way. "The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord." Now, what is the application of this? There is no such thing as luck. Can we get around that truth right now? Can we kind of gather around and say Christians should not believe in luck? What is luck? It's some random force running through the universe that no one has control over, not even God. Is there anything like that? No, there is nothing like that. Or the modern equivalent of luck is karma, people talk about karma, that is just Buddhism or eastern mysticism coming into American culture. You watch Buddhism, folks, it's making inroads. There's no joke, you watch it, and why? Because it's very comfortable along with the lifestyle we want, it fits well, it mushes in well. And the whole karma thing is this idea of just this kind of that's how it worked out and there's no sovereignty in it, there's no purpose or person in it, there's no king who rules over it. That is a false universe, it doesn't exist and neither does luck. So, "The lot is cast into the lap but it's every decision is from the Lord." He's sovereign over the outcome of battles. "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord." You can get your horse ready and you should. You should get everything ready to accomplish the thing you want to accomplish, but victory rests with the Lord, not with a horse. Another verse that talks about this is Psalm 33:12-19, we'll take a minute and read this. It says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven, the Lord looks down and sees all mankind." That's a great statement of supremacy, isn't it? "From heaven, God looks down and sees all mankind, and from his dwelling place, he watches all who live on the earth. He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do... " Now listen, verse 16, "no king is saved by the size of his army." Wow! "No king is saved by the size of his army. No warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance. Despite all its great strength, it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love to deliver them from death." What is God saying there in Psalm 33? It's not the horse that wins the battle, it's not the size of the army, it's what God wants to do with that, that's what matters. God is sovereign even over those battles. And he's sovereign over wicked people. Proverbs 16:4, "The Lord works out everything for his own ends, even the wicked for a day of disaster." This is a very deep verse, and we don't have time to understand it fully tonight, but I just wanted to read it. "God works out all things for his own ends, even the wicked man for a day of disaster." Now, what did Jesus say of Judas who betrayed him? It would be better for him if what? He had never been born. Was he born? Who knit him together in his mother's womb? Psalm 139, who knit him together in his mother's womb? God did. So God chose something that was not better for Judas. It's deep, but God knit... I'm just putting verses together and putting concepts together. God knit him together in his mother's womb, and Jesus said of him, it would be better for him if he had never been born. It's deep. Now, nobody compelled Judas to be a thief, nobody forced him to betray Jesus, those are things he stands responsible for on judgment day, and he will give an account. There was no forcing. None of that, but God knit him together in his mother's womb. And the Lord works out everything for his own ends. And then Proverbs 16:7, I love this, "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." Well, how does he do that? "Excuse me, enemies, will you come and sit down. I've got a friend over here, okay? And his ways are pleasing to me, and I want you to live at peace with him." Are the enemies in a good relationship with God? Absolutely not, not if the man's ways are pleasing to God, most likely the enemies are in rebellion against God. And yet, God makes them be at peace with him, God is sovereign over wicked people, and he can make your enemies live at peace with you. Isn't that a great verse? Say, "God, please make my enemies live in peace with me." There's nothing wrong with asking God for that. And then Proverbs 20:22 says, "Do not say, I'll pay you back for this wrong. Wait for the Lord and he will deliver you." Let's turn the other cheek. Let God do it. God's much better at it than you are. Let God do it, don't take revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God, it says in Romans. And then God is sovereign to test hearts and to judge our ways. These are just easy to read through. Proverbs 5:21, "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord and he examines all his paths." Wow! God watches everything you do. He examines your paths. Proverbs 15:3 says, "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the good." 15:11 says, "Death and destruction lie open before the Lord. How much more the hearts of men?" God reads your heart like a book, he knows you completely in and out. 16:2, "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord." We all think we're innocent in everything we do. "All my motives were pure." Oh, don't be so sure. I'm beginning to understand my heart, and I wonder if I've ever had a completely pure motive in my entire life. But God understands my heart, he knows completely. All my ways seem innocent to me, but God weighs my motives. And then 17:3, "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." God tests what's in your heart, and he's sovereign to do that, and he's sovereign to give rewards and blessings. Houses and wealth, 19:14, it says, "Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord." Isn't that beautiful? Praise God. A prudent wife is from the Lord. You get from your parents' houses and wealth, but God gives you the wife. What God has joined together, let man not separate. God is the matchmaker, and he brings that prudent wife into your life. 18:22 says, "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord." And then 16:3, it says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed." It said earlier, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths." This is a sovereign God, to bless all the things you do if you commit your ways to him. And then sovereign to judge sin, 15:25, "The Lord tears down the proud man's house, but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact." Oh, boy! How many houses have been torn down and nobody really knows who is behind it all, but God tears down the proud man's house, but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact. God is active, and he moves through the world bringing judgment when it's needed. Now, the newspaper doesn't say, "Oh, this was an act of God," or, "That was an act of God." But God is active and he's working. And then Proverbs 22:22-23, it says, "Do not exploit the poor because they are poor, and do not crush the needy in court for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them." God is patient, and he waits for repentance, but for those that desire to attack the poor, they're taking God on, in effect, and God will act on their behalf. Now, we've been through some deep things, and I've given you these verses so that you can study them on your own, try to understand them. There's one final aspect of God's sovereignty that I wanna talk about, and that is that God is sovereign to hide secrets. He's sovereign to understand this when we don't. And this is what it says, 25:2, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. To search out a matter is the glory of kings." So we said we should search out this doctrine and try to understand it, we should search out the roots and the depths of the sovereignty of God and try to understand it, but we'll never be able to understand it fully. And it is the glory of God to conceal things. When we see him face-to-face, 1 Corinthians 13 says we will know fully, even as we have been fully known. But in the midst of all of this and our yearning for freedom and our thinking, "Oh, what does this mean?" and all that, realize that these verses that we read tonight, these are holy Scripture, this is the teaching of God on the issue of sovereignty. We can rebel or fight against it or we can say, "Praise God! We can understand why Jesus said the kingdom of God is good news. I'm glad that the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. I'm glad about that." And why? Because I don't want some random wicked thing running through the universe that he has no control over, that can wipe out me and my family, and for him to say, "It wasn't me. It wasn't me, I had no control, I couldn't stop it. There was nothing I could do." Now, to me, that's even more terrifying. What I want to do is I want to find God in his sovereign activities and gladly worship him for what he's doing. Why don't we close in prayer and ask him to bless our week as we go out, we commit our ways to him. Father, we thank you for the time we've had tonight to look at these verses, they are deep and they teach a God who is active, and powerful, and almighty, and sovereign. And God, we love you for that. We're grateful, O Lord, that nothing could stop your actions in Christ, that you were going to send Christ into the world, he was gonna live a certain length of time, he was going to die on the cross at Jewish and Roman hands alike, and on the third day, he was going to rise again and nothing could stop that plan. And I'm grateful, O Lord, that the salvation which we know in Christ has advanced, and powerfully and forcefully through the world for 2000 years. And now it's come here to America as it's come to other places of the world. What was at one time distant shores from Palestine, the gospel has come to us and we've heard it and believed it, and we say thank you for it. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here that each one of us would walk in the steps of the good works that you have laid out ahead of us, that we should walk in them. Help us, O Lord, to be faithful to do those good works you have for us to do. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Tune in and press play as I chat with new Author, Ms. La'Krish Mayes about her new Devotional Journal titled, “Just God & Me: Finding God in The Midst of Your Storm”. Stay tuned in as I talk with MC Ambush about Men, Mental Health, Music, and his new book. MC Ambush is am international recording artist from the Netherlands. Please like this podcast, share this podcast, favorite this podcast and be sure to turn on your notifications (Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, RadioPublic, PocketCasts, Breaker, and Overcast). To become a show sponsor or to sponsor a show segment, please email: PeaceandCzarinaty@gmail.com Be sure to visit PeaceandCzarinaty.com to purchase your copy of Finding Czarinaty and order your Peace Gear! Follow us on: IG @peacenczarinaty Twitter @peacenczarinaty Follow our page on FB @findingthebook Follow us on YouTube @peacenczarinaty --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peace-and-czarinaty/support
Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success. – Ad placed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1915 He would never tell you that he was the one who connected Eugene Peterson, author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible, with U2's Bono and helped cultivate their enduring friendship. It's reasonable to say that he has fostered more connections between leaders of leaders across the global Christian community than any other man in modern history. Peb Jackson is a living legend. Incurably positive, uncommonly attracted to risk, the core of Peb's heart is wild and unfettered. His life inspires my curiosity: how does a man recover and fuel this quality of consecrated masculine strength over such a length of time? Peb is slow to share about his extraordinary life because he is a man who listens far more than he talks. Through the practice of cultivating questions, he has recovered a disproportionate share of the map that leads to life for the masculine soul. And he shares this map with others with magnificent generosity. Yet Peb's most distinguishable and attractive quality is his practice of spending extended time with God his Father. With nothing else. No book, no phone, no people. Just God himself. His life embodies these words of A. W. Tozer: "The man who would know God must give time to him. He must count no time wasted which is spent in the cultivation of his acquaintance. He must give himself to meditation and prayer hours on end." This is Peb Jackson. Friends, slow down and receive with me the treasure of an intimate conversation with a man who has consented to becoming a king to whom God has entrusted much of his Kingdom. For the Kingdom, Morgan
Today, Sunday March 28 Romans 12:14-21 Overcoming Evil With Good The most natural thing in all the world is to want to get even with someone who hurts you or your family. Someone who violates your rights, your possessions, your family or friends. And honestly, this really is not totally a result of just our fallen nature, but is that part of us that is made in the image of God. Our God is a Just God! He holds everyone accountable, for not only their actions and deeds, but also for the motives behind them. And we are assured in Scripture that He will justly judge everyone one day. We must even give an account for “every idle word.” (Matthew 12:36) We are all born with a sense of justice. But we are not God, so we can never see the whole picture. And over and over in scripture we are told that we are to leave justice up to God! There is evil everywhere there are human beings. Men's heart are set in them to do evil because of the sin nature they are born with. You can't avoid the evil actions of others in this world. But God gives us specific instructions how to respond to it. The Bible tells us how Jesus responded to evil. He forgave those who were torturing Him and about to crucified Him. He set an example for us to follow. The easiest thing to want to do is to get revenge on our enemies, but the best thing to do, with God's grace and help, is to forgive them and then actually do something good for them! This is what Paul is reminding us to do in the passage in Romans 12. And my friend, it is only by God's grace that we can do that. When we know we have been forgiven by God for all our trespasses against Him because of Jesus Christ taking our punishment, we can then forgive and be kind to those who offend us! Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” God bless!
Why it was hard to record during a crumbling relationship. What learning and experience I take forward despite the horrors of Covid-19. Going to a new career. Vlog explanation. Book review - Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success by Euny Hong. Voting. Continuing the mindful revolution. If you haven't, please leave any comment, it helps SO much (my favorite podcasters insist it does). For hot dude-oir posts and gym selfies, follow www.instagram.com/ethansharrettofficial The JOYFull Podcast – Hosted by Ethan Sharrett – Ep 40. Relationships, Silence, The Korean Superpower of Nunchi. 0:10 Before we start this episode, a big Happy Birthday to my mother. A just appreciation for everything that she did, [and for] making me realize at all times that love is the highest thing that we can strive for in every situation. And every mother has such a lot of work to do, and their kids are going to love them. And then they're going to blame them for everything. But any blaming that is done that is just one step on the road to self-accountability and taking control of their own lives. And so if you feel that child with love, like my mother did, it's all an amazing thing. So thank you for everything you do. And Happy birthday, Mom. 1:01 Welcome to my podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I owe a big explanation to the time, it's been since the last episode. Or if you're pretty new to this, you might have just listened to the last episode today. So I don't owe you an explanation. Except to the dates because you can still probably see like, "Oh, man, this guy hasn't podcasted for a long time." But it has been a while. And so I wanted to give a brief update, and just talk a little bit, because I was working on something. And I was like, "You know what, I should kind of work on this and the podcast at the same time." I'll get into more of that later. But an update is, yeah, some exciting things, some challenging things, which is, you know, I never know what to... There's a few months there after the virus started, and some big changes in my life, like a move or relationship. There are some moments that I didn't have the right place to give you like an authentic glimpse into what was going on. And I know that this whole thing was begun at as an idea to give you those glimpses as things were going on. And the challenges of what I was dealing with. So that hopefully more people could relate to those as they might have dealt with them, or it could at least relate to when they were dealing with them. But I just couldn't find the right moment that I was like, "This is what I want to share." It was fast blur. 2:58 So the last episode, I talked about how I had dedicated some time when I had my previous job to try to advance and change careers. And that had been kind of a big risk for me to resign from a job with the confidence that I could bounce into this different career path, different industry, different job functions and things like that. And I think on the last episode, it might have been a downer. I was probably like "Don't do what I did, or something." Like I still don't have a job yet. I jumped the gun on that. I was overly confident and just kind of sharing with you where I was on that. 3:57 Well, it was a hard road and I didn't get a new job as fast as I would have liked to. But I eventually did. I get a new job outside of my industry in an exciting line of work, in the digital content space, in marketing. And it's been exciting to learn things I've never learned, work with people who I've never worked with before and a whole different type of space. That has been really cool. And it was a difficult road that included not having much income for a while and surviving only on what I could Uber or what I could get through the Lyft and Uber driving, which was fun by the way. Did I tell you how much fun that was on the past episode? I really liked getting people in the car talking to them whenever possible and hearing what they had to say about this and that. If there's like... It's kind of cool. I look forward to actually to doing that again alongside of the next career. So that I could do that career and then sometimes go out and make a little bit of extra money during the driving and checking in with people of from all walks of life and sharing moments with them in the Uber or Lyft or what have you... I definitely prefer Uber. I don't know why but you have to use Lyft as well, if you want to get the maximum amount of rides. 5:50 So what I was doing for a while and it got to be a little frustrating. I mean, grace of God that I did qualify for the stipend of unemployment, the stimulus, payment, those types of things kept me afloat. And it was an amazing thing that I was able to get those and I still might just blows my mind still. But now since then I have gotten that job. I had to get help on my resume. I had to attend interviewing classes. My brother and his wife really helped me out with my resume. There is job interviews that went terribly awry like I told you on the last episode. But I eventually after that interviewing seminar and that Rebs that resume assistance that I got. It really ended up giving me a cool new opportunity. And so that's kind of the update about the job. 7:07 The virus update, it was a really unique time for every single person but and still continues to be. But so many people have shared with me how the good that they got out of it whether their life was completely different for one week whether it was different for a long, long time. A lot of people that had their kids at a school, whoa, that was a whole new experience just to be with your child that much. Whoa, that's challenging. I mean, you just see immediately when you talk to a parent no matter what age their kid is just to be... It seems like it would be a gift. And it is a gift. It's an amazing gift. But the energy that it takes from you to go from your child is in daycare throughout the bulk of the day or has a nanny or whatever or is in like a school through the bulk of the day to like 24/7, you are right there and have to make sure that child is like stimulated, entertained, fed, occupied at all times. It sheds light on an interesting concept about how significant that is, as a society as civilization in this country even which is the pride of the capitalistic. Everything's not a government program. It's as many things as possible are private entities and private companies. 9:10 However, one thing all people agree on throughout the country is that there's got to be a place for our kids to be away from the home for a large majority of a day, for a large majority of the year. That's a funny thing that even more than public pay for hospitals for medical care. It's like we need to make sure these kids all have a place to freaking go. Because it is not natural for parents that have to understand how to take care of their kid all freaking day. You got to be a professional for that. It showed me that for sure. But make no mistake, I have several pictures that will remind me of what an amazing unique time that was to explore full days upon full days with my son and my girlfriend now ex-girlfriend's daughter and the kids in the neighborhood through that time. Also through that time, other really interesting things were the neighbors that lived on the street. The entire dynamic of a neighbor or a person at the store or something definitely neighbors. It shifted from that person that you wave to, do the little finger wave above your steering wheel or smile, like "Hey, how you doing? Great. How are you? Great. Take care." those simple, courteous interactions with so many people became very..., when nobody was working for a while or nobody was driving to an office for those... Most people, actually, incidentally, most people on that street simply didn't go to their office anymore but stayed home. But for that reason they're always outside. And there is also an atmospheric shift, what I really attribute to the difference of the sound of the atmosphere. 11:23 I remember one day walking out and realizing even though it was like a mile from the interstate. This is like a tucked away place in the trees and very seemingly secluded and you can hear owls at night. It's very dark there and you can see stars up above. But it's a little residential kind of circle and cul-de-sac type of area with great little condos not huge not tiny, super responsible people around that neighborhood, super friendly people. So it's not like an urban place where there's typically a lot of traffic noise, however, the extent of the virus shutdown was [Inaudible 12:15] and that this the seizing of the traffic on the interstate that was almost a mile away. It was so dramatic and so significant that the one day, I remember, thinking I've never experienced silence like this. It was both eerie and enlightening and calming. And I was really thankful for just the chance to look around. And see, by and large, everybody is okay at this time, at this moment that is completely silent. And there's no cars driving around. And just children were all playing in the street and the first several days that people really started coming together out in the street to let our kids play and to talk to one another. We actually had little chalk outlines to make sure that everybody stayed six feet away and the kids would stay within their families like little chalk bubble. And that lasted for a little while but over time you just got so accustomed. It seemed like one big family unit. And it became a little bit of gray lines to keep like your kids away from their kids and etc. So definitely see more and more relaxed. 13:41 Even though it was still definitely don't bring out a bag of chips that all kids are going to reach into. Don't share drinks with people. Don't offer somebody else some food where normally you might have said "Hey, have some of these brownies or whatever." Not that kind of brownie. You wouldn't. It just was understood that you don't... There is still some type of level of honoring the contagion as it were. But it definitely got more relaxed. And these neighbors that you'd normally would have just said given a wave to become like you knew everything about. Where they're from? Where their family's from? Who their aunts and uncles are? How many brothers and sisters they have? What their days are like? And hanging out with him all the time. So, it was an amazing realization to think of what the potential there is for those things that are right around you all the time and they could be so much more. And silence, listen. Silence. Total silence for a while was something that I'm gonna remember for a long time. Noise pollution has always been a thing that I just wish I could experience like zero noise pollution again. I've heard there's some country where no cars are allowed or Island or something. It'd be really interesting to go there. Love it. 15:21 So that's like the virus update. Let's see the relationship update. Man, I would love to get into that with you. I'm not sure I feel ready yet. But the there was a relationship that I was pretty fired up about that things didn't seem to work in the end. And wow, I mean, just culture has gone. So different, so fast that if you've been out of the dating world for a while and you try to get back into it. You see just the difference like, for example, now I'm like rebuilding. I have some side projects going on with the vlog and the channel and the podcast and some videos that I put together and a full time job that I love. And just like rebuilding but still I freaking wants some interaction. And therefore I'm on these dating websites. And you just imagine... We're just all swiping each other and expectations can't fricking meet. I'm not relationship material right now. I'm on under construction. You know what I mean. It's still on there. And other people like women are out there too. And they're probably not relationship material at all. Just got out of a relationship. No clue how to really make it work with the next one. But we're all on there swiping around and try not to be hurt. And so that's the world I'm living in right now. And a lot of things go into that, geez, I should have..., I'm gonna change my name, have a whole different podcast that's just about that. So I can say, breaking anything because there's a lot to be said. Just God bless you, if you're trying to date these days. Please allow yourself to change. I'm trying to allow myself to change and just embrace what the culture is right now. And go with the flow. That seems to be a good thing to do and don't take anything too seriously and go treat yourself. So that hopefully is a relationship thing. 18:04 It's tough with children but one thing that I know is the children need, above all, just an example of how to be happy. And so that keeps..., I truly, truly believe that no matter what I say to my son (no matter what) I tell him what he sees (what your kids see) is the way that you interact in the world. They just see what you do. So he probably detects like a little bit of, a tiny bit of confusion. Yeah, it's alright to be a little confused sometimes. But still that like things are awesome and we can appreciate everything around us and welcome every single day is like an awesome new day. And that is what gives me a boost to feel happy about everything. How did this get to multiple pods of my personal update? I remember for a while, I'll give you a personal update, a societal current events update and then a cultural update something like that. A method or technique that I've been working on or that I'm studying, an approach, an idea, a concept that I've been studying. That was the three things personal update, society and culture and then a skill method technique, approach that I've been studying. So somehow today, the personal update has been multiple facets of my personal update. 20:12 So I guess the next thing is, I guess there is something that I'm kind of that a new concept somebody gave me a book about this Korean concept of nunchi. And that is really fascinating. I recommend it. Let me go get it real quick. Alright, so the title of the book is "The power of nunchi" and nunchi is spelled N.U.N.C.H.I. by Euny Hong. This is called the Korean secret to happiness and success, the power of nunchi. And I'll try to summarize it but I definitely recommend you pick it up. It's an easy read, quick read, casual style but definitely an expert, this woman, Euny Hong, E.U.N.Y. H.O.N.G. and it seems to be this idea that in the Korean culture is so important. Basically, of knowing what's appropriate and inappropriate in any scenario, a lot of it is, it comes down to reading other people to see what really is appropriate. You might have an instinct that if you observed really what's going on your instinct is probably not a good play or it might not be. So just observe the room, observe the people you're with, to see what's appropriate and really what's going to be a good move to make the energy in the room better and to jibe with everything. And it's not always like this Western idea of kind of taking over a room or changing the energy of a room. And it's a lot about the classroom, the office meeting room, any kind of space that you happen to be a part of. There's like this overall taking in of what's going on at that time. And kind of appreciating everybody's part of it and doing your part in the best way possible. It's a really interesting read it. It really makes you think about, it makes me think about some of the things that I do, some things that I've done, some things other people do. I'll try to give you an example. I don't know if I can give an example because I didn't bookmark anything or highlight anything. 23:15 But it's pretty much like learning how to be still and see what's going on around you. And what cues people miss sometimes that we miss sometimes. One that really sticks with me is the idea of... Here's one, let me give you this example. If somebody says "Well, we have to clean this up..." So there's a little party, a dinner party or something and somebody goes. "We have to get cleaning up. So thank you so much for coming over." So they gave the excuse that they have to clean up. And then somebody without this skill of observing what's going on with the people who just said that the host that said, "We have to clean up or whatever." Somebody with very slow nunchi or bad nunchi might come back with "Hey you guys, we can clean up. Let me help you clean up. You know it's all right." Like whatever somebody offers you might try to overcome that. Whereas if you were really paying attention, they're being nice and that's a time for you to leave. And there are many examples of that type of thing in the book. And some of them really make it seem a little bit selfish and very, very ignorant to not see some of the cues that we give to each other that people don't see. For example, if somebody looks at their watch and says they have to get going. I mean, really it is your job with nunchi to say "Thank you. Goodbye" and bad nunchi to overcome whatever reason they have to go. And if they were being inauthentic and expecting in saying that to see what your reaction would be and see if you would try to encourage them to stay. Well, then that's just an inauthentic thing to say and that their own issue and that's not your job to address that. It's just to take them for what they said and allow them to do that. So it's full of different examples of that go across all different facets of life and different types of relationships, different scenarios. 26:18 Another one was a weird situation, where it was like imagine you go into a job interview and the person that you're meeting with says that they want somebody who works very well independently. That you don't need a lot of instruction. And then all of a sudden somebody busts in the room, a woman that is more of a loud talker and doesn't introduce herself at all to the other guy that you were interviewing with and seems to kind of say whatever she wants and tells you, "Well, whoever... I'm not sure. I haven't seen your resume. But I hope that you're a good team player." So basically the opposite of what the first guy was saying. So you're thinking, how did that woman behave? That guy did not correct her or anything. She was very free. She's probably the superior one in that department. She's probably the one that actually makes the decisions. So your response, if she goes, "So are you a team player is something?" Your response should definitely respect her what she said with as much weight. And in this scenario that person should give the response that they are a team player but have also been asked to do a lot independently and they're comfortable in both. But you're supposed to evaluate based on little cues of what's really going on and also honor the authenticity of everything it's said. 27:58 So that's I guess part two. Part Three is what's going on. And I guess we have an election coming up. I just hope that people can have faith that no matter what we shouldn't... If there's a quality that you don't like in a candidate in a political side. Just have faith that it's okay. There's some amazing virtues that give one side their like motivation. And I think we have to celebrate those virtues on the opposite sides of our political motivation and really latch on to those and not act like the specifics of what they're saying. And that really looking for what virtues motivate them or is going to be significant, if you actually really want to have a better tomorrow. Regardless of who ends up getting voted for (ends up getting elected in anything), I think we're all just tired of the polarity and just the vitriol on both sides. I certainly am. And I'm almost to the point where I'll just, "Hey, I don't care who's president. I'm going to support that person. I'm going to vote quietly with who I would prefer in my heart. And then I'm not going to bitch about it. I'm just going to do what I can to actually contribute positively and support people." That's where I come out on that. And I also don't watch the news. I mean, listen to so many smart people that say they're going to learn things from how they have to learn them. They're definitely not going to spend their time watching the news on TV. Because it never makes them feel good and it never accomplishes anything. And they can never forget that the news exists to sensationalize and grab your attention, which is not done through neutralization of an issue and bridging have an issue but of heightening and magnifying the tension of an issue. 30:47 Easy peasy lemon squeezy. It's as simple as that. So turn that shit off. Protect your brain space. And just do a simple vote from your heart. The one cool thing that I do appreciate when people are if they want to be an activist is just to see if those around them are voting. And to make sure that people have registered and encourage them and invite their friends and family to make sure that they do go cast a vote. Just because it's a simple fricking thing. Even if you don't think your vote is really going to shift things in one way or another let's just do it and vote. And I'm guilty of saying that, "Hey, my state was decided months ago, there's no point of me voting." I'm guilty of that too. But if somebody told me what I'm saying. What I'm telling you now is please just make that vote and make that vote your activism. And then fricking make everything else some positive energy. That's my current events culture thing. 32:04 Exciting for me is just building out another channel with I've been building for a while. Look for it. I have a channel that it was really built out of the realization that a while ago, a few years back, I was in a job. I was doing something every day that I wasn't enjoying. And that I felt like wasn't furthering my skills. I wasn't using it to utilize my gifts, my talents, my interests and I wasn't contributing anything of myself to the greater good. And that last one actually made me feel the lowest of all. I actually guilty of spending eight hours of every single day. And really if you think about the time of ironing, cleaning, making lunch, doing hair/ makeup, whatever, driving to work, driving from work. That decompression time you need when you get out of traffic at home and before you have enough energy to make dinner or something like that. You were talking about 10~11 hour commitment every single day that I was making. And it was only to basically do what's needed for the job and that's it. And not contribute to the amazing gift of brief, the amazing brief gift of life on earth. And I was like "I'm squandering what time God has given me and I'm not helping anyone out." I'm not doing my... I have unique experiences and perspectives as every single person does because nobody has your exact experiences and I have an expertise of my profession. And whether you push a broom or you do admin or you're a specific kind of attorney, you have your unique experiences and you have some type of expertise. And I wasn't using that to actually contribute to the greater good for anything. And that became like this thing that made me feel guilty for a while. 34:48 For a long while, but luckily I was doing my work. Waking up early. Listening to my favorite inspirational teachers. Reading. Studying myself, kind of exploring before work every day. Keeping on doing those things to just try to improve and explore, "When is my life not being the best it can be." And some of the concepts that kept on coming up. They kept on being repeated by everybody and everything I read were, always stay positive or look for the positive in any situation, which sometimes can be a challenge, but it's your. You can keep on doing it. Every challenge is an opportunity. There's more there, if you give more. So keep giving more. Every challenge is an opportunity. And sometimes what you think is in your way is actually the key to your next best step. So when it became clear to me that there's this barrier, that there's this job. It's like in my way but I have to have it. I can't... Maybe if you don't have a family, if you don't have children. You can just say "I'm gonna just backpack for a while" and quit your job. But that's not even an option. Even though it crosses your mind, you're like that's not an option. So the barrier really was my time. The time that I have to spend is I really felt like it was just stealing from I've been given life (a gift of life). And I was just stealing it to get by on my job. And I wasn't able to use any... I wasn't able to learn, give anything more use gifts, explored (expand) gifts and enhance my own skills. 37:18 But that barrier that kept coming up in these concepts from everyone. That barrier can actually be the thing that lifts you up to the next highest thing that you should be doing and I started doing that. I started putting more into everything I did. I started just examining everything for how this can be made to be awesome. What can I learn from this? What bigger picture can I keep, can I look for in every task that I'm doing, that will add to my understanding? If all I can do is just smile at situations that didn't get a smile before. If I smile 10 times, well, I get 10 smiles back. No, but that's 10 more chances to get a smile back that I didn't get the day before. Of course and just started reaching out and giving more and just looking for way. This doesn't just have to be this thing I can do it full on and try to make it fun. And then I started getting back more into making the videos about some of these things and having fun with the people that they were working where I was working. And that's what the channel came out of which I'm excited about, building more now. But that's what it came out of is whatever your job is, whatever your talents are, they can probably help each other and you can put... And if you don't have talents or if you don't think you have talents. You have to have interests like fishing, comedy, makeup, dating, sewing, history, [Inaudible 39:18] history, movies, painting, gardening, all of these things are interest that I have specifically seen people somehow put more of themselves into their every day. And therefore makes their day have more of their true selves in it. And it makes them happier and everybody that works around them, that interacts with them get more out of their day too because that more of that person's authentic self is there to kind of share. 39:56 And one of the things that I think I'm gonna like invite people on the channel to say, if you are challenged by a way to find a, something positive about your a, situation either whether that's your position as a whole or a situation in life that you're finding it difficult to put yourself into to be authentic in, or if you think you don't have any interests that are relevant, I definitely invite you to try and I would love the challenge of asking you for specifics. And then I 1,000% sure that there's something there that can really help both you and everybody around you. You just may need helps finding it. You may need help. You may need more time and more study to find it. But I'd love the challenge of finding that at a faster pace. By just learning about you're kind of brainstorming that if you need it. So just message and I'll give out the email of the channel (the YouTube channel) it's, notjustapartments@gmail.com (not just apartments with no spaces). And though the whole idea that name came out of when, it doesn't matter what your job is, what I did was manage apartments but that's irrelevant. The most important, relevant aspect of that is when I realized that this is not just apartments. There's like every single day is a chance for me to put more into it, get more out of it and look for more and more ways to utilize skills. In my case, it was the skills of streamlining things to make them easier, make people feel more in contact, make people understand the things they were dealing with better. And of course, use videography, more in digital like social media and things like that. That helps in every this... 42:07 I mean, just Geez. There's so many uses for that. It seems like we've used it all up. But there's so many uses and functions of it that we haven't really taken advantage of yet. And that's a cool potential. So notjustapartments@gmail.com, if you have a situation that you'd like to run by me or just share. If you have success in that realm. If there was like something that you thought was a challenge that became an opportunity. Something that you thought was a pain in the ass and then you realize, oh my gosh, the obstacle is the way. I realized that if I tackle this, it's going to make my life kind of go forward to the next best thing. I'd love to hear that too. And I'll share that unless you're make this anonymous. It's embarrassing. That might be it. I think that's all I got for you. Thank you again so much for listening. And I know that it's been a while but I appreciate every single time you click, like or comment or follow or just the fact that you played it. And God bless you and namaste.
YOU & JESUS; episode 1 of "2020: THE YEAR OF SEEING STRAIGHT" Paul Lanigan and Braden Best bringing you a 3-part series of what The Word has to say about making now the time of unlocking LIFE through faithfully walking with Jesus Christ! **This is meant to be barebones, not edited or sugar-coated. Just God's Word and some passionate believers!**
COMMUNITY & ACCOUNTABILITY; episode 2 of "2020: THE YEAR OF SEEING STRAIGHT" Paul Lanigan and Braden Best bringing you a 3-part series of what The Word has to say about making now the time of unlocking LIFE through faithfully walking with Jesus Christ! **This is meant to be barebones, not edited or sugar-coated. Just God's Word and some passionate believers!**
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