Podcast appearances and mentions of king solomon

Lorenzo Ghiberti spent 27 years creating what Michelangelo called “The Gates of Paradise” — the stunning bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery. Now, a high-quality replica is on display at the BYU Museum of Art.In this episode, we talk about:The incredible story behind Ghiberti's masterpieceHow BYU-Hawaii discovered plaster casts of the doorsHow BYU Provo recreated them with modern technologyWhy these doors are filled with powerful biblical scenesA fun suggestion: Should these doors go on the Salt Lake Temple?We also touch on another exciting replica project Ward Radio is working on involving the famous Tree of Life stone (Izapa Stela 5).Latter-day Saints continue to lead the way in preserving and celebrating beautiful religious art.#BYU #GatesOfParadise #LDSArt #RenaissanceChapter Markers / Timestamps00:00 - Intro: BYU's Incredible Artistic Achievement02:41 - Walking Into the BYU Museum of Art03:02 - The Story of the Florence Baptistery & Ghiberti's Doors04:13 - Michelangelo Calls Them “The Gates of Paradise”04:50 - How BYU-Hawaii Discovered the Plaster Casts06:48 - The Replica Comes to BYU Provo (2016)07:20 - Should These Doors Go on the Salt Lake Temple?07:47 - Panel 1: Adam and Eve (Creation & Expulsion)09:10 - Panel 2: Cain and Abel10:10 - Panel 3: Noah and the Ark10:37 - Panel 4: Abraham and Isaac11:30 - Panel 5: Isaac, Rebekah, Esau & Jacob12:02 - Panel 6: Joseph's Story13:02 - Panel 7: Moses Receiving the Law13:36 - Panel 8: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho14:02 - Panel 9: David and Goliath15:12 - Panel 10: King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba18:10 - The Details and Symbolism on the Doors20:30 - Ward Radio's Tree of Life Stela 5 Replica Project24:51 - Why Members of the Church Still Connect With Religious Art26:51 - Final Thoughts: Latter-day Saints Leading an Artistic RenaissanceJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmsAFGrFuGe0obW6tkEY6w/joinAmazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1AQLMTSMBM4DC?ref_=wl_shareVisit us for this and more at: WardRadio.comTo subscribe to "The Women of Ward Radio" Youtube Channel, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbu-wpRztV-8TYXClhUZhhwTo Subscribe to Cardon Ellis' Adventure Channel, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/@CardonEllisAdventuresThe following authors and/or sponsors are generously offering discounts on their gospel-related publication to Ward Radio listeners.⚡For free trial of Scripture Notes please visit the following link!: https://scripturenotes.com/?via=wardradio⚡For a discount on Tiny 3D Temples, Save 15% with code WARDRADIO at checkout or visit tiny3dtemples.com/wardradio⚡Family: A Rhyming Proclamation for Kids book visit the following linkhttps://plainandpreciouspublishing.com/products/family-a-rhyming-proclamation-for-kids . Use the code "Ward Radio" for 10% off. ⚡To Order Jonah's Book, “Lost Gems of Genesis” visit the following link and use coupon Code: WARDRADIO https://plainandpreciouspublishing.com/products/coming-soon-the-lost-gems-of-genesis-how-apocryphal-texts-prove-joseph-smith-fixed-the-bibleFor 10% off Plain and Precious Publishing Books, visit plainandpreciouspublishing.com and use Coupon Code: WARDRADIOFor a 5% discount on Go and Do Travel, visit goanddotravel.com and use the promo code WARDRADIO5#christian #mormon #exmormon #latter-daysaints #latterdaysaints #latterdays #bible #bookofmormon #archaeology #BYU #midnightmormons #jesus #jesuschrist #scriptures #sundayschool #biblestudy #christiancomedy #cardonellis #kwakuel #bradwitbeckTo support the channel:Venmo @WardRadio or visit: https://account.venmo.com/u/MidnightMormonsPaypal: paypal.me/@midnightmedia CashApp: $WardRadioFollow us at:Instagram: @cardonellis @kwakuel @braderico @boho.birdyFacebook: @WardRadioWorldwideTwitter: WardRadioShowTikTok: WardRadioWorldwide

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260803dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 His Love Endures Forever Many, if not most, psalms in the Bible were designed to be sung or spoken antiphonally—that is, the first half of each verse is sung by a leader or choir followed by the congregation responding with the second half. If you open your Bible to Psalm 136, you’ll notice that the second half of each of the 26 verses is exactly the same: “His love endures forever.” The entire psalm encourages us to give thanks to the Lord, the one true God, who powerfully created all things and who mercifully provides for his people. And with every mention of the Lord’s many mighty acts, the people interject the refrain: “His love endures forever.” And it’s not just in this psalm. The first time this phrase is found in the Bible is in 1 Chronicles 16, when King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The people sang and praised God with a psalm that included these same words. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” A generation later, in 2 Chronicles 5, when King Solomon completed construction of the temple, a great number of musicians played while the choir sang praise to the Lord: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Someone might ask, “Why the repetition?” But consider why it is that we repeat anything. Usually, because it’s important or because we keep forgetting it—or in this case, both. The Hebrew word translated as love here calls to mind God’s loyalty and grace in dealing with us. Despite our frequent ingratitude and lack of love for God, he is unwaveringly devoted to his love for us, simply because of who he is. In everything he does—starting with the creation of the world, all the way through human history, right down to the way he watches over and provides for us today—God does it out of his commitment to love us. His promise of grace finds its fulfillment in his own Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from certain death by taking our punishment upon himself. It is truly a love that endures forever! Prayer: Lord God, you have been good to me in so many ways. Let me never forget your grace but always give you thanks, for your love endures forever. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260803dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 His Love Endures Forever Many, if not most, psalms in the Bible were designed to be sung or spoken antiphonally—that is, the first half of each verse is sung by a leader or choir followed by the congregation responding with the second half. If you open your Bible to Psalm 136, you’ll notice that the second half of each of the 26 verses is exactly the same: “His love endures forever.” The entire psalm encourages us to give thanks to the Lord, the one true God, who powerfully created all things and who mercifully provides for his people. And with every mention of the Lord’s many mighty acts, the people interject the refrain: “His love endures forever.” And it’s not just in this psalm. The first time this phrase is found in the Bible is in 1 Chronicles 16, when King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The people sang and praised God with a psalm that included these same words. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” A generation later, in 2 Chronicles 5, when King Solomon completed construction of the temple, a great number of musicians played while the choir sang praise to the Lord: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Someone might ask, “Why the repetition?” But consider why it is that we repeat anything. Usually, because it’s important or because we keep forgetting it—or in this case, both. The Hebrew word translated as love here calls to mind God’s loyalty and grace in dealing with us. Despite our frequent ingratitude and lack of love for God, he is unwaveringly devoted to his love for us, simply because of who he is. In everything he does—starting with the creation of the world, all the way through human history, right down to the way he watches over and provides for us today—God does it out of his commitment to love us. His promise of grace finds its fulfillment in his own Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from certain death by taking our punishment upon himself. It is truly a love that endures forever! Prayer: Lord God, you have been good to me in so many ways. Let me never forget your grace but always give you thanks, for your love endures forever. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260803dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 His Love Endures Forever Many, if not most, psalms in the Bible were designed to be sung or spoken antiphonally—that is, the first half of each verse is sung by a leader or choir followed by the congregation responding with the second half. If you open your Bible to Psalm 136, you’ll notice that the second half of each of the 26 verses is exactly the same: “His love endures forever.” The entire psalm encourages us to give thanks to the Lord, the one true God, who powerfully created all things and who mercifully provides for his people. And with every mention of the Lord’s many mighty acts, the people interject the refrain: “His love endures forever.” And it’s not just in this psalm. The first time this phrase is found in the Bible is in 1 Chronicles 16, when King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The people sang and praised God with a psalm that included these same words. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” A generation later, in 2 Chronicles 5, when King Solomon completed construction of the temple, a great number of musicians played while the choir sang praise to the Lord: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Someone might ask, “Why the repetition?” But consider why it is that we repeat anything. Usually, because it’s important or because we keep forgetting it—or in this case, both. The Hebrew word translated as love here calls to mind God’s loyalty and grace in dealing with us. Despite our frequent ingratitude and lack of love for God, he is unwaveringly devoted to his love for us, simply because of who he is. In everything he does—starting with the creation of the world, all the way through human history, right down to the way he watches over and provides for us today—God does it out of his commitment to love us. His promise of grace finds its fulfillment in his own Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from certain death by taking our punishment upon himself. It is truly a love that endures forever! Prayer: Lord God, you have been good to me in so many ways. Let me never forget your grace but always give you thanks, for your love endures forever. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

The sermon explores the life of King Solomon as a bridge to understanding the book of Ecclesiastes, highlighting his unique position as a man blessed with every earthly advantage yet ultimately finding them empty. It traces Solomon's tumultuous rise to power, his humble request for wisdom at Gibeon, and his subsequent reign marked by both divine favor and eventual spiritual compromise. The preacher emphasizes that despite Solomon's unparalleled wealth and knowledge, he concluded in his old age that all worldly pursuits are 'vanity of vanities' because they are transient and unsatisfying. By contrasting the fleeting nature of physical achievements with the enduring value of fearing God, the message underscores the biblical principle that true contentment is found only in spiritual realities rather than temporal gains. This reflection serves as a theological admonition to prioritize eternal truths over temporary pleasures, pointing ultimately to Christ as the source of lasting fulfillment.

Link to the full podcast:https://youtu.be/dGY675fJKOM?si=CN-uySERVmitIAae You're still showing up. But are you leading with clarity — or just holding it together? Take 15 minutes to reflect with the Christian Leader® Self-Assessment — a simple tool to help you see what's really working... and what's quietly wearing you out. It's free!https://www.ryanfranklin.org/clselfassessment Description:In this session, Ryan Franklin explores the subtle danger of spiritual drift in leadership, using King Solomon's life as a powerful example. He shares practical steps for staying spiritually aligned with God, including rebuilding consistent time with God, cultivating honest accountability, and identifying personal markers of spiritual health. Ryan challenges leaders to honestly assess their current spiritual condition and take action before small compromises become significant consequences, emphasizing that leaders finish well by continually returning to alignment with God.Purchase Christian Leader Sight Planner (a tool that has drastically changed Ryan's productivity):Black Cover – https://amzn.to/3JpBHvmBlue Cover – https://amzn.to/4ouFRB9Green Cover – https://amzn.to/4oXVLUr Purchase The Christian Leader Blueprint book today:https://www.ryanfranklin.org/blueprintbook Connect with Ryan:Email: info@ryanfranklin.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rnfranklin/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rnfranklin/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnfranklin/Website: https://www.ryanfranklin.org  Audio mastering by Apostolic Audio: https://www.apostolic-audio.com  #leadership, #thoughtleadership, #ministry, #pastor, #pastors, #churches, #leadershiptraining, #churchleader, #churchleaders, #influence, #leadershipdevelopment, #coaching, #executivecoach, #leadershipcoaching, #productivitycoach, #productivity, #growthmindset, #theproductiveleader, #ChristianLeader, #ChristianLeadership, #LeadershipPodcast, #FaithAndBusiness, #PodcastInterview, #ChristianEntrepreneurship, #KingdomImpact, #PodcastInspiration, #LeadershipJourney, #PurposeDriven, #ChristianPodcast, #LeadershipEssentials, #LeadershipFundamentalsSend us Fan Mail

by Mark Gaskin https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/29112723/July-26-Sermon-1.mp3 1 Kings 3:5-12(NIV) 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Matthew 15: 21–28 The Faith of a Canaanite Woman 21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Alexander:Our speaker this morning is the Reverend Mark Richardson. Mark is a long-term friend of Central. We’re so glad that you’re here, Mark. Mark is retired from Westside Galt and from Central Church in Brantford, and we are so glad that he’s here. No, no, we don’t have to correct Alexander. I’ve messed up his name several times. Mark Gaskin: And, you know, if I had to be confused with somebody, Richardson is the one I’d want to be confused with. He’s a great guy, the other Mark. I don’t blame him. There’s something about this presbytery, and Lynn Pennington knows, for a while, there were four, there were at least four ordained ministers in the presbytery of Waterloo West. Mark Lewis, Kitchener, Mark Gedke, also in Kitchener, Mark Richardson, and Mark Gaskin. And the clerk of the presbytery started to give us nicknames. I have no desire to share with you what my nickname was. So Richardson is fine, Alexander, fine. I did also want to mention that I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt. They’re coming to get Alexander. When you confuse me, that’s when I, 911. I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt because I know this congregation has a deep relationship with Camp Kintail on Lake Huron. I know Jonathan and Teresa, the co-executive directors of the camp, have worshipped with you, have led worship. Every time I’m up at camp, and I go up several times a year, there is their Sunday suppers. There are also, it’s also Kirk and the Cedars. In fact, there’s one today, four o’clock, they worship in the chapel. And then there is a gathering in McDonald Lodge, afterwards a meal in McDonald Lodge. We often go up, myself and our adult children and their children, will have for several years gone up for family camp held in August. And when I mention to Jonathan and Teresa that I have preached at Central Cambridge or will be preaching at Central Church in Cambridge, they always say to me, please say thank you. They are deeply grateful for the support they receive, monetary and otherwise, especially the men’s ministry, that goes up in, is it twice a year or else, spring and fall, and just does the work that needs to be done on that acreage. There’s always something, and especially, it used to be that they would close down for the winter. So there was this spring cleanup and the fall shutdown. It’s a year-round camp now. So there’s always, there’s more to be done. And I know Jonathan and Teresa and the board at Camp Kintail very much are grateful for the support they receive from Central Church Cambridge. Our first reading is from 1 Kings 3, beginning at verse 5. King David has passed and his son, King Solomon, has come to the throne. It’s been a few months. And this is the dream that King Solomon has. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ask for whatever you want me to give to you. Solomon answered, you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord, my God, you have made your servant King in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. And our good news reading for this morning from the gospel according to Matthew, and this is what I’ll be basing the message on today. Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman came from that vicinity, came to him crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. Your daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession. Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send him away for she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me, she said. He replied, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, she said. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Amen. In the name of the creator, the redeemer, and the sustainer. Amen. Once upon a time, a woman came to a Presbyterian church. Let’s call it Knox St. Andrews on the Speedy Grand River. And she asked him, would you do a funeral for my dog? I’ve had this dog many, many years. A wonderful companion to me. I would like to have a funeral for my faithful dog. Well, the minister was more than a little taken aback. And he replied with a certain tone to his voice, well, I couldn’t possibly conduct a funeral for a dog. Perhaps you should try one of the other churches in town. The woman was polite, thanked him, and started to leave. And then turned back and she said, oh, just so you can help me when I visit these other churches. Is $500 enough of an honorarium for this type of funeral? And would I make that out to the minister or to the church? There was a pause. And the minister says, you didn’t say that the dog was Presbyterian. I’d be happy to help. I’m glad you laughed. And I am quite sure that many of you have heard that joke before. But it’s easier to tell that joke than it is to deal with this passage. We’re hearing Jesus speak in a way that we have not heard before. And we don’t hear very often. Because there’s nothing funny about these words. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Those words land with a thud. They sound harsh. They sound insulting. And if we’re honest, they don’t sound very much like the Jesus that you and I like to talk about. And it really comes down to that one word. Dog. Now, today, in our culture, in our time, dogs are beloved companions. They sleep on our couches. They have birthday parties. We sentimentalise our dogs in ways that would have seemed very strange to the ancient world. And let’s not just think about the companionship that dogs offer. Let’s think about service dogs. And how that area has expanded over the years. To include that they once helped disabled or impaired individuals. And now they do a host of activities with that population. And let’s think about the working dogs. That search for explosives or drugs. Canine dogs that protect you and I. That was not the role of dogs in Jesus’ time. They weren’t pets. They didn’t do anything. They were scavengers, mostly. Wild, dirty animals that wandered the streets. Feeding on refuse and garbage. To call someone a dog, even in our time, it’s not really a compliment. But we have a different understanding. But to call someone a dog in Jesus’ time was an absolute insult. No compliment whatsoever. Scripture reflects this attitude over and over again. The prophet Isaiah says, Israel’s watchmen are blind. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark. They lie around and dream. They love to sleep. Dogs were representations of things that were unclean, unworthy. They were outsiders. They did not belong to any household, any group. And that is exactly what was meant when Jesus said, made that statement. A Gentile woman comes pleading for healing for her daughter. Jesus answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She kneels before him, Lord, help me. And then comes the response that shocks us. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The point is unmistakable. A Jewish rabbi who abandons his own people in order to minister to outsiders, to Gentiles, well, that would be like a parent taking the food off the table that’s feeding his children and throwing it on the floor, giving it to animals instead. There is no way to soften those words. Preachers try to. I have tried to in the past. I have said, well, it’s a test of faith for the woman. I mean, after all, later in the story, he says, you are a woman of great faith. Others suggest that he was drawing out her courage by this statement, perhaps. But why not let the story just speak in all of its uncomfortable honesty? Why not hear what was being said? Matthew doesn’t hide the difficulty. He lets us hear Jesus exactly as he sounds. And maybe that honesty is important. After all, this is the same Jesus, the same Jesus who makes the statement. Elsewhere, he welcomes sinners and tax collectors. This is the same Jesus who touched lepers. It’s the same Jesus who blessed children, forgave enemies, and sat down at tables where respected people would refuse to sit. Those are the stories we know well. That is the Jesus we know well. Why can’t Jesus be as complicated as humans are, as you and I are? We’re not one person or one thing. We are complicated. That’s our nature. Why can’t Jesus be the same way? So when Jesus speaks this way in this occasion, we are unsettled. And perhaps that’s where the gospel wants us to be at that time. The mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of Jesus’ birth, is that God became truly human. We say that in our prayers, in our creeds. That’s what we read in the gospels. Jesus had a human side. And every once in a while, we see it. He doesn’t just appear to be human or pretend to be human. Jesus was born a first-century Jewish man. He lived within a culture that drew sharp distinctions between Jew and Gentile, clean and unclean, insider, outsider. The incarnation, the birth of Jesus, meant that God entered a real culture at a real time in history. He came into the real world with all of its assumptions and boundaries. So sometimes, maybe not very often, but sometimes we might be tempted to see Jesus sort of floating above his time and place, floating above human history, floating above human temptations, drawbacks, limitations. Untouched by the world around him, Matthew will not let us do that. He shows us that Jesus is genuinely human. Yes, divine, without doubt. That’s what Easter is all about. But in this moment, genuinely human. This is a Jesus who listens. This is a Jesus who responds, who grows. And that might be one of the most hopeful things in the gospel. Because if Jesus is truly human, then he engages people as real people do. Most of us do not easily change our minds. I know my wife marks on the calendar the number of times I change my mind. At the end of the year, it’s not an exercise I like to go through. Because I think I’m Mr. Flexible. That’s one of the nicknames I’ve given myself. Clerk of Presbytery never used it, but I think of myself, Mr. Flexible. Oh, sure, I listen to people. Give me a well-reasoned argument, I’ll change my mind. We cling to assumptions. We hold on to prejudice. We protect the boundaries that comfort us, that we can be sure of, that have always worked for us in the past. Sometimes we are reasoned with. Sometimes we can be challenged. Sometimes we can be confronted. And sometimes we change our minds. But lots of times we don’t. We cling on to what we know. But look carefully at this story. The woman refuses to walk away. She doesn’t become angry. She’s not confrontational. She doesn’t become defensive. She just answers Jesus with remarkable wit and astonishing faith. Yes, Lord. I hear what you say. You don’t throw food from the table to the dogs. Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. It’s one of the finest, most faithful responses in all of the New Testament. She accepts Jesus’ image. She accepts that characterisation and then turns it inside out. Is there enough bread for God’s children? Sure there is. Then surely there are enough crumbs for everyone else. If God’s grace is truly abundant and eternal, then no one needs to ever be hungry. Her faith is bold. Her persistence is courageous. Her love for her daughter is unstoppable and unmistakable. And Jesus hears that. He hears all of that. And he allows himself to be changed by that encounter. He says, woman, great is your faith. And her daughter is healed. This is not a story about someone winning an argument. It’s a story about the kingdom of God becoming larger than anyone could have imagined. Even larger than when Jesus’ own disciples, they saw that Jesus was expanding it, making it bigger. But this was still new territory. This is not what they expected. The boundaries begin to fall. They continue to fall. The table continues to grow wider. The invitations become larger. The grace of God spills over the edges. It cannot be contained. Winston Churchill once said, to improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often. Whether Churchill intended it or not, those words echo something deeply Christian. Faith is not stubborn certainty. Faith is open to the spirit of God. Faith is allowing ourselves to be surprised. Faith is discerning that God’s mercy is always bigger than we could have imagined. And this is where the gospel finally meets us. Because the question is no longer simply whether Jesus changed. We can debate that in coffee. The fellowship time. We can have that discussion. The question is, can we change? Can we allow ourselves to learn something from someone that we might have dismissed? Can we allow a stranger to help us grow in our faith? Can we admit that an outsider might reveal something about God? History suggests that’s how the Holy Spirit works. Again and again, God speaks through people that we don’t expect God to speak through. God surprises us when God speaks through foreigners and children and the poor and the outsider. Perhaps the greatest miracle in today’s gospel is not that the daughter was healed. That is a miracle. But that has happened before. Perhaps the greatest miracle is that was a conversation where God once again welcomed more people into God’s world. Which was always God’s intent. But this was God’s Son doing the welcoming. The work of welcoming people into God’s world is not finished. That’s one of the reasons that Central Church exists. That’s your mission statement. It should be every church’s mission statement. A place where God’s people are welcomed into God’s world. People still build walls. I know that. We still divide people into insiders and outsiders. People who spend time discussing who belongs and who does not. I am happy that that’s not a characteristic of this church. That every time you gather around Christ’s table, you hear this message. There is enough bread. There is enough grace. There’s enough mercy. There’s enough room. The table belongs to Christ, not to us. And everyone whom Christ welcomes is already welcomed. Every person. Without exception. Amen. And so be it.

Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest places, if you look at it right. And if you get confused, just listen to the music play. This week, resident Deadheads Isabella Gomez Sarmiento and Felix Contreras help host Robin Hilton hear what he's been missing in the music of the Grateful Dead.Are you a Deadhead? Share your memories about the Grateful Dead and we may include them in a big series about the band we're launching Aug. 1.Support the show with a review on Apple or Spotify wherever you listen to podcasts. Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: allsongs@npr.orgFeatured songs:(00:00) Intro and “King Solomon's Marbles”(08:54) “China Cat Sunflower / I Know You Rider” Alpine Valley, WI 7.17.89(11:03) “Help On the Way / Slipknot / Franklin's Tower”(16:39) “Ripple”(23:34) “Morning Dew (Europe ‘72)”(26:17) “I Shall Be Released (Live)” (30:05) “Black Muddy River”(31:34) “One More Saturday Night”(32:09) “Sunrise”(33:21) “Shady Grove”(39:14) “Birdsong”(41:45) “Uncle John's Band”See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Have You Asked God for Wisdom? Wisdom 7:7  “Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” We have talked about King Solomon before and how, on the night before He became King, God told Solomon that He would give Him whatever He asked for.  King Solomon could have asked for anything, and do you remember what he asked for?  Did he ask for riches and wealth?  Did he ask for all his enemies to be delivered into his hands?  Did he ask for all the fame and power that can come with being a king?  No, he didn't ask for any of that.  He asked for Wisdom so that he could be a just and fair ruler over his kingdom.  When I just searched how old Solomon was when he became king, it said he was 12.  Can you imagine becoming king at 12 years old?  That must have been so much responsibility for such a young man.  He was just a boy.  Even though he was just a young boy, he knew enough to pray for wisdom. I find that amazing. I talked a few days ago about how we don't think as God thinks.  I talked about how His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  One way to help us understand God's plan a little more is to pray for wisdom.  When we are praying for wisdom, we are praying that God will help us to make the right decisions.  We are praying that He will show us what we need to do and how we can do it.  We are praying that God reveals to us the next step, the next right thing that we should do.  We need God's guidance in what is right and wrong.  We need God to give us the gift of wisdom. One way that God teaches us wisdom is through His Word.  When we read His Word, we can see what He has taught those who came before us.  We can see what they have done in the past, and we can learn from them.  There is so much wisdom in the Bible.  I mean, there is a whole book of the Bible called Wisdom.  This is not the only book that is full of wisdom, though.  Proverbs and Sirach are two others that are full of wisdom.  If there is a certain subject or topic that you are looking for wisdom about, you can search the Bible.  Actually, you can search the internet, and it will search the Bible for you if you are not sure where to look.  You can just type a question into the search bar, and it will search the Bible for you.  For instance, you can type, “What does the bible say about gossip?”  The internet search will provide you with bible verses about gossip as well as articles that people have written about that subject.  Give it a try; I think you will be surprised with all that you can learn.   Another way God teaches us wisdom is through our experiences.  This one can be difficult at times, as it is usually through our mistakes that we learn our best lessons.  We can learn through our successes and our failures; however, our failures usually lead us to our successes.  Well, they do if we let them.  Sometimes we don't learn our lesson through our mistakes, and then we repeat the same mistakes over and over again.  Proverbs 26:11 says, “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly.”  This is not a very pretty picture, but I think it is an accurate picture to prove this point. It makes no sense that a dog would return to eat its own vomit.  Whatever it was that came up obviously didn't sit well with them the first time around; why would they want to try it again?  The same is true for us when we do something that we already know will not work.  Why do we keep trying the same thing over and over again when it's not working?  Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Why do we do this?  Why is it so hard for us to learn from our mistakes sometimes?  I feel as though with some things we learn pretty quickly.  For instance, if we touch a hot stove, we learn pretty quickly that we do not want to do that again.  However, when it comes to other things, we repeat the same mistakes over and over again.  For instance, I know that if I sit down to watch “one quick episode” before I do the thing I am supposed to be doing, I will get sucked in and watch several episodes and then won't have time to do the important thing I was supposed to do.  I know this about myself and recently have gotten a lot better about it.  However, for years I would tell myself that I would just watch “one quick episode” while I ate my breakfast.  It kills me to think how many hundreds of hours I have wasted watching TV when I knew better.  How about you?  Are there some lessons that God is trying to teach you, and no matter how many times it goes wrong, you still keep doing it?  When will we learn?  When will we decide that enough is enough and learn the lesson already? Another great way that we can gain wisdom is mentioned in the verse above.  “Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”  This seems so simple and yet is so profound.  We know that when we ask, God answers, so why don't we think that we will get wisdom just by asking?  Maybe you do know this.  Maybe it is just me who struggles with this.  Actually, as I said yesterday, we are never alone.  Some of you may already know this, but I know some of you are in the same boat as me.  I tend to feel like I have to earn whatever it is I am asking for.  Do you ever feel like this?  This is something that God has really been talking to me about a lot lately.  I ask God for wisdom, and then I try to see what prayers I should be saying or what things I should be doing.  I try to take it upon myself to gain the wisdom that I am seeking.  Why don't I know that just asking God for it is enough?  It says right here in the verse, “I prayed, and understanding was given to me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” It's that simple.  Why do I try to make it harder?  Why am I not trusting that He will answer my call and grant me the gift of wisdom?  When I was praying on this the other day, the story of the centurion came to mind.  This story can be found in Matthew 8:5-10.  “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”   The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,' and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,' and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” When I hear this story, I am in awe of this centurion.  He trusted that if Jesus said his servant would be healed, then He would be healed.  He didn't need Jesus to come lay hands on the servant; he didn't need Him to say a particular prayer.  All the centurion needed was for Jesus to say that his servant would be healed, and he believed it would happen.  If we ask God for wisdom, He will give it to us.  We don't have to earn it; we don't have to do anything other than ask.  God has told us this over and over again in the Bible: ask, and it will be given; seek, and you will find.  I am hoping that this time around I am ready to learn this lesson and I will actually stop trying to figure it out on my own and trust that because I have asked God for wisdom, He will deliver.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we pray to you for wisdom.  We ask that you help us find the wisdom in your scriptures.  We pray that you help us to learn from our mistakes and not be like fools returning to our folly.  We know you are the only one who can help us learn those lessons, Lord.  Help us to trust that because we ask, you will answer.  Help us to trust that there is nothing else we need to do.  Your gifts are freely given and do not need to be earned; they just need to be sought after.  We love you so much, Lord; you are truly amazing.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  This month in the Walk Boldly with Jesus Mentoring Group, we have been talking about the love of Jesus—how He sees us, comes close to us, and loves us exactly where we are. If you have been longing to know His love more deeply, I would love to invite you to join us. You do not have to have everything figured out, and you do not have to feel “holy enough.” You can simply come as you are. We meet Tuesday evenings on Zoom, and replays are available if you cannot attend live. CLICK HERE to learn more and join us. Let Jesus remind you just how deeply you are loved. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in January 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Move in my steps and in my way, and you will see my glory. You will help bring others closer to me. But you must take that first step.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeGarage sales epitomize the expression, "one man's junk is another man's treasure." Hence, how do we determine the real value of something? King Solomon provides guidance in our first reading for today. In order to determine the value of something King Solomon wants to know on a deeper level the heart of God. In making his desire known to God, Solomon found the pearl of great price. Buried treasure is not found in a field, a fishing net, or an ocean somewhere in the world. Buried treasure is found in all the tabernacles of the world: Jesus Christ. Scripture Readings for July 26, 20261 Kings 3:5, 7-12Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130Romans 8:28-30Matthew 13:44-52

Deacon Bill uses three personal stories to illustrate that, like King Solomon, we should pray with hearts focused on serving others rather than ourselves. He reminds us that instead of only asking God to help those in need, we should also ask, "What can I do?" and put our faith into action through compassion and generosity.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/family-devotions/20260727fam.mp3 Listen to Devotion At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 1 Kings 3:5-12 Pray for Your Heart to Have Ears In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Imagine someone handing you their Venmo app and saying, “Write down any amount you want!” Nobody would really do that, would they? But that is a little like what the Lord God offered young King Solomon—only better. During the early days of Solomon's reign over Israel, God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). Imagine the possibilities! The sinner inside all of us gets excited at the thought of being able to ask God for anything knowing he will give it to us. What would you ask for? More money? A giant house? Straight A's? To be famous? Your dream vacation? Or maybe for someone who hurt you to get what you think they deserve? Solomon could have asked for any of those things—and more. But he didn't. Instead, Solomon asked God for “a hearing heart” (1 Kings 3:9). What a strange prayer! Hearts don't hear; ears do. Yet Solomon understood something important. The greatest treasure God could give him was not wealth, power, or fame. It was a heart that listened to God. God gave Solomon exactly what he asked for, “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be” (1 Kings 3:12). The Lord blessed Solomon with amazing wisdom because he had asked for something far more valuable than riches, power, or success. None of us will ever need the kind of wisdom required to rule God's chosen nation. You probably won't need to settle arguments between thousands of people or make decisions for an entire country! Yet there is greater wisdom than knowing how to govern. The wisest thing anyone can do is listen to God's Word and trust its promises. That is what makes followers of Jesus different from the rest of the world. The Holy Spirit has given us a new heart—one that has ears to listen to what God tells us in his Word. We listen humbly when God shows us that something we have done is sinful—even when we don't want to admit it. We listen joyfully when God forgives every one of our sins through Jesus. We listen thankfully when God guides us in ways that show love for him and for our neighbor. When God opened the doors of his goodness to Solomon, Solomon's response was simple: “Give me a hearing heart.” One of the wisest prayers we can pray is this: “Lord, give me a heart that listens to you.” Prayer: Dear Lord, give us hearing hearts that gladly listen to your Word. Help us trust your promises and follow your wisdom every day. Amen. The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire. Questions for Younger Children If you could ask for one special gift, what would you ask for? What did Solomon ask God to give him? Questions for Elementary Age Children What is a “hearing heart”? Someone commented, “Solomon's request already showed God had begun answering his prayer.” What did they mean? How did his request show wisdom? Questions for Middle School and Above If God told you, “Ask for whatever you want,” what might your first request reveal about your heart? How do we show that we have a “hearing heart” when God shows us our sins and points us to Jesus for forgiveness? Download Family Devotions Family Devotions are brought to you by WELS Discipleship. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Morning Offering, July 26, 2026 is brought to you by Rosary.com https://bit.ly/4wyb5efFather Brad reflects on King Solomon's rise and fall, revealing why humility opened him to God's wisdom—and pride ultimately led to his downfall.Every morning, join Father Brad as he begins the day with prayer and reflection. In a few short minutes, Father Brad guides you in prayer, shares a brief reflection grounding your day in the Church's rhythm of feast days and liturgy, and provides you with the encouragement necessary to go forward with peace and strength. Disclaimer: The ads shown before, during, or after this video have no affiliation with Morning Offering and are controlled by YouTubeLet us do as the saints urge and begin our days in prayer together so as a community of believers we may join the Psalmist in saying, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3-4)________________

Pastor Micah explores the transition from King David to King Solomon in 1 Chronicles. In this moment, David offers a blessing to the people, a reminder of the past and all that God has walked through with them, and a call for eyes to see the sacred future still ahead.

Pastor Mike Dahl continues our series through 1 Kings as we look at the wise King Solomon's prayer of dedication of the temple.

Text: 1 Kings chapter 4-8 Supplemental Text: The Fourth Thousand Years chapter 9 BYU Lecture 32:  Solomon now wants to construct a temple as was instructed by his father David and from the Lord. He reaches out to Hiram, King of Lebanon, who built David's palace and humbly asks for his help. Hiram responds marvelously and promises to gift Solomon all the lumber and craftsmen needed for the job. Solomon need only provide manpower and food. Solomon sends 30,000 to Lebanon to help with the cutting of lumber and 150,000 to haul and hew the massive stone material. The location of the temple was on the peak of Mount Moriah and was therefore required to build huge walls on the 3 descending sides and cut out the mountain on the inclining side. Large rocks were used to fill the empty space until the 35 acre area, called Temple Square, could be leveled and smoothed for the temple building itself. This massive endeavor took 3 years to complete. Also constructed were giant cisterns to hold millions of gallons of water required for use in the sacrifices. These cisterns were carved out of the mountain rock and were supplied with water from aqueducts constructed, beginning at Solomon's Pools about 10 miles away. The temple itself was now ready for construction. The general plan was identical to the ancient Tabernacle except that it was twice as long (90 feet), twice as wide (30 feet) and three times as high (45 feet). The entire construction was done by pre-fabrication and then quietly and reverently put into place so as to maintain the sacredness of the grounds. The temple had 2 courtyards, an inner courtyard for the sacrifices and an outer courtyard for all to enter and worship. It took nearly 8 years to complete the temple construction, after which the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle of Moses were brought from their locations into the temple. After 7 days of sanctification, King Solomon held a Solemn Assembly and dedicated this magnificent new temple to the Lord.  

Most of us want to live well. We want good relationships, peace in our decisions, and fewer regrets—but nobody really teaches us how to do that. That's where the book of Proverbs comes in. Proverbs isn't a story and it's not a list of religious rules. It's God's wisdom for real life. It talks about how we use our words, how we choose friends, how we handle money, anger, work, and temptation. Written mainly by King Solomon—one of the wisest people who ever lived—Proverbs was designed to train people, especially the young, in how life actually works. Proverbs shows us there are two paths we can walk: the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness. And the choices we make on those paths shape the lives we end up living. For the next 31 weeks we are going to study every chapter, every word and every truth that flows from the Book of Proverbs. There will be a few breaks through the next 31 weeks for stand alone messages, but by the end of 2026 our hope is that you walk in the ways of the wise and live well.

King Solomon was called by God to be the king. But he knew that he needed help in order to fulfill this vocation well. So he prayed for wisdom and understanding. In the ways that God calls us to live out holiness and to love one another, we too need His assistance. Please listen to my homily to learn more!

Homily from the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is possible to use the gifts, use the opportunities...and lose your heart. King Solomon asked God for an understanding heart, and he was blessed with incredible wisdom. So how did he end so poorly? He did remarkable things, but he failed to do the ordinary things. Mass Readings from July 26, 2026: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130)Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52

Send us Fan MailIn the readings this Sunday, get a great sense that when we believe in God, put our hope and trust in Him, then we would be like a treasure hunter who discovers and obtains the most valuable treasure,  “fine pearls” In other words, keeping a personal relationship with Jesus, remaining in a state of grace, and sharing his view of life, are the most beautiful and the most precious things in the world.That is exactly what the young King Solomon did in the first reading. He opted for the great treasure of accepting God to rule his life by doing His will. This pleased God, who rewarded him with the gift of “a heart wise and shrewd as none before you has had and none will have after you,”In the second reading, St Paul teaches that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” This is true of all who accept a close relationship with God as their greatest treasure.And in the Gospel, using three mini-parables, Jesus teaches us that God's Kingdom, is something of extraordinary value, like a hidden treasure. Possessing that treasure demands from us a total commitment if we are to preserve it. Friends in Christ, we are encouraged today to live every moment in view to chase and share this treasure instead of chasing false treasures such as money, power, social status, or worldly pleasures. We will be able to keep safe the treasure of our personal relationship with Jesus by accepting him every day as our God and Savior, by allowing God to have total control over our lives through our loving obedience to His will. We pray for the grace to do this. Support the show

Delivered by Donna from the Parish of Holy Spirit in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indonesia. 1 Kings 3: 5.7-12; Rs psalm 119: 57.72.76-77.127-128; Romans 8: 28-30; Matthew 13: 44-52.WISE SACRIFICE The theme for our meditation on this 17thSunday in Ordinary Time is: Wise Sacrifice. There was an incident when a youngman who really loved the girl he has been following for a period of time, who wantedto express his will to marry her. The proposal was planned to be done on abridge over a wide and deep river, and witnessed by many people around there,with such a beautiful view. The young man brought a ring, a bounce of flowersand a precious gift. But before stating his most personal will, thebeautiful girl requested the young man to plunge into the river to prove herhis love. The young man immediately laid all things on the floor, took off hisshoes and jumped in. A moment later he returned to the bridge in a wetcondition and was about to declare his real will. But how shocked the young manand everyone around on the unpredicted reaction of the girl who rejected theyoung man's marriage proposal. She indeed ignored the young man who hassacrificed all to prepare everything and jumped into the river. This is an example of a futile sacrifice. Both thegirl and the young man have already made sacrifices, but the outcome wasnothing. There are so many experiences of vain sacrifice that are common in ourlives. There were people who have worked with good will, but they were notsupported by human or material resources, so they found only futility. Therewere those who have worked or done something with the support of sufficient oreven adequate resources, but they did not achieve the goal planned, which wasalso a futility. Some people were more likely to be relaxed, unfocused,lazy and delayed to work on what they supposed to make to its completeness,which eventually came as an outcome which was just a futility. Some of thosewho have done some sacrifices and works but only on certain occasions, thenthey would not continue any more the work. Actually, what it really needed wasconsistency and continuity. This was also a futile sacrifice. There are stillmany other similar examples. Today we are taught to overcome all those futile worksor sacrifices and we are led to embrace a wise sacrifice. A wise sacrificerequires us to focus on the highest goal that we want to achieve. All oursacrifices should help us to achieve that goal. For us believers and followersof Christ, our goal is primarily the kingdom of God. King Solomon asked forwisdom from that Kingdom and God gave it to him. We as followers of Christ havebeen called to that highest goal, therefore we sacrifice all our efforts andworks to achieve it.Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O God, look and bless us, so that with thisSunday celebration we may become Your children who are diligent in the paththat leads us to You. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of theFather ...

It's Wednesday, July 22nd, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus Christian convert in Somaliland, Africa poisoned to death by Muslim family Morning Star News reports a Christian convert was poisoned to death in Somaliland earlier this month. Somaliland is a partially recognized state in the Horn of Africa. Islam is the official religion of the state. Converting to another religion is punishable by death.  Back in April, Sharif Ali came to Christ secretly. However, his Muslim relatives suspected his conversion and eventually poisoned him. His own family poisoned him! Before his death, he told a visiting underground church leader, “If I die, I rejoice because I have believed in [Jesus].” Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” Amnesty withdraws report that Christian pro-life groups are a threat Amnesty International withdrew a recent report that labeled Christian and pro-life groups as a threat. The British organization claims to support humans rights. However, the group's July report smeared Christian organizations as “anti-rights.”  One of those organizations was Christian Concern. Tim Dieppe is the head of public policy at Christian Concern. He said, “The multiple successes in our cases relating to Christian freedoms and right to life show that Christian Concern, far from being ‘anti-rights' is actually very much on the right side of rights. Truth is on our side. It is Amnesty that is now anti-rights.” French legislature legalized assisted suicide France's National Assembly passed a bill to legalize assisted suicide last week.  The measure now awaits approval by France's Constitutional Council before it can become law.  The National Council of Evangelicals of France lamented the passing of the bill. A spokesman said, “[We call] on the evangelical Protestant churches of France to redouble their efforts in providing support, visiting and offering comfort. Today more than ever, our local communities are called upon to be witnesses of hope, presence and practical solidarity amongst the most vulnerable.” Proverbs 24:11 says, “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” Arkansas gave $1.7 million to pro-life pregnancy centers In the United States, Arkansas awarded $1.7 million to pro-life pregnancy resource centers over the last year, reports LifeNews.  The state's legislature also voted to increase this funding to $3.5 million over the next year.  Arkansas is among 19 states that provide some form of alternatives to abortion funding for life-affirming pregnancy help organizations. States with the biggest programs include Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Trump pauses billion dollars in Medicaid to CA and MN over fraud The Trump administration is pausing over one billion dollars in Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota.  U.S. Health Secretary ‌Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the reason is suspected fraud and noncompliance.  Listen to his comments.  KENNEDY: “If your state wants Medicaid funding, it must meet basic documentation requirements. If we suspect fraud, you will not receive taxpayer dollars until you prove that those payments are legitimate. “That's how we make America healthy again. That's how we restore the integrity of our democracy. And that's how we make America great again!” Trump imposes 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Canadian goods on Monday.  The 50 percent tariff will affect a wide range of products from wine to hockey sticks and cement.  The White House stated, “President Trump is taking action to hold Canada accountable for its continued discrimination against and unreasonable and unequal treatment of U.S. commerce that has burdened and disadvantaged hardworking Americans.” Wooden beams from Solomon's Temple discovered Archaeologists recently unearthed wooden beams from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.  King Solomon built this temple, known as the First Temple, in the 10th century B.C. The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed this temple later in 586 B.C. The Israel Antiquities Authority is now unearthing the charred remains of the structure.  Dr. Johanna Regev is studying the charred beams. She told The Jerusalem Post, “It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings. Here in the City of David, we found thick beams with many rings. ... Until now, we could date finds within a range of hundreds of years. Now, we can attain much greater precision, narrowing the dating range down to as little as 10 years.” McVeda kids in Great Falls, Montana raised $347 for The Worldview Melissa McVeda in Great Falls, Montana wrote, “My family listens to The Worldview several days every week. Being a busy mom and in a rural area, I am not able to catch other news sources very often. We really appreciate the convenience of being able to listen to The Worldview when it works with our schedule -- usually lunchtime -- rather than trying to get our radio to the right spot at the right minute to catch radio news. “We also appreciate that The Worldview team has done the legwork of bringing the news stories to us rather than us surfing the internet to find them. “We especially perk up when there is world event news, Good Samaritan stories, stories having to do with children, other Christians, and historical stories like the one you wrote and voiced on the anniversary of Perpetua's martyrdom. “My older children, Anna, age 10 and Eppie, almost 9, have organized a fundraiser for The Worldview, aided by their younger siblings Claire, age 7, and Caleb, age 5. They sold homemade items at our farm on Monday, with plans to continue fundraising one to two times per week. That first day, combined with their own contributions, brought in $205. Attached is a photo of Eppie with the fundraiser table and her older cousin, Grace, who joined in the fun. May Christ be glorified by what you and the team do with this program.” Well, let me tell you. Last night, I surprised the McVeda family in Great Falls, Montana with a phone call.  I called them and got a chance to talk to the whole family on speaker phone.  There were lots of giggles in between their answers. Since they have regular customers who buy fresh milk from them, they decided to set up a table and sell their homemade goodies which included chocolate chip cookies, meringue cookies, iced tea, and crocheted hand puppets. You heard me correctly. Hand puppets including a boar, a rabbit, and a Welsh Corgi. Anna and Eppie McVeda spent three to four hours each crocheting the puppets which they sold for approximately $20 each. Can you believe that? They spent hours of their time crocheting hand puppets to raise money for the six-member Worldview newscast team. It's incredible!  And Claire and Caleb helped make the tea and the cookies. Last night, Caleb confessed to me that he ate a couple of the cookies as well. I don't blame him. The McVeda kids in Great Falls, Montana said they were inspired by a boy who sold lemonade last year in our listenership to help fund this important cause.  If you are a kid, do you want to help raise money for The Worldview as well? Every dollar counts. Now, if you're not old enough to have email yet, make sure to have your parents email me to let me know how you are raising the money for this Christian newscast. 7 Worldview listeners gave $1,517 And finally, by Tuesday night at 7:45pm Central, 7 Worldview listeners stepped up to the plate and invested their treasure to fund the six-member team behind The Worldview for another year. We were touched by the generosity of Jeff in Boise, Idaho who gave $75 and the McVeda family in Great Falls, Montana who raised $142. And we're grateful to God for Dawn in Estero, Florida who gave $200, Loren in Brighton, Colorado who gave $300, Carlee in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, Canada who pledged $25/month for 12 months for a gift of $300, and Krystoffer in Fullerton, California who gave $500. Those 7 gifts add up to $1,517. Ready for our new grand total? Drum roll please. (drum roll sound effect) $43,755 (sound effect of people cheering) That means, in just three days, we need to raise $37,471.50 to hit our $81,226.50 goal by this Friday, July 24th! The finish line is $123,500 by Friday, July 31st to be fully funded for another year. Listen, if four kids under the age of 11 in Great Falls, Montana can raise $347 in a matter of two weeks with an initial donation of $205 and the one last night for $142, what could you give? If you were touched by their generosity of time and treasure, I wonder whether you might consider making a one-time donation of $347 yourself. If 108 Worldview listeners gave $347 – just like the McVeda kids did – today, on Wednesday, July 22nd by 8:00pm central, we will have hit our July 24th goal one day early.  Listen, you are one of tens of thousands of people listening to the sound of my voice at this moment.  Will you be one of 108 people to give $347 right now? Please, go to TheWorldview.com, click on Give, select the dollar amount, and make sure to click on the “recurring” button if that's your wish.  And remember, if you want to continue your monthly pledge to The Worldview that you started in a previous year, please let me know so we can count your generous ongoing gift toward our total. Let's see what the Lord will do on this Wednesday. I have a sneaking suspicion that at least 108 of you will rise to the occasion and make that $347 one-time donation. Just go to TheWorldview.com and click on Give. Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, July 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Join Dr. Scott Powell, JD Flynn, and Kate Olivera as they look ahead to the readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time— including the complicated figure of King Solomon and more parables about the kingdom of heaven in the Gospel of Matthew.This episode of Sunday School is brought to you by the Pillar's exclusive breviary sponsor, Ascension Press, publisher of the new translation of the Liturgy of the Hours.Preorder now at AscensionPress.com/SundaySchoolAlready read the readings? Skip ahead to 5:45.Reading 1 - 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12Psalm 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-130Reading 2 - Romans 8: 28-30Gospel - Matthew 13: 44-52 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pillarcatholic.com/subscribe

Fewer than half of American adults read a single book in 2022. Reading for pleasure has nearly halved in twenty years. Behind those numbers is a deeper story: What happens to a mind, and a democracy, when it loses the habit of sitting with a difficult idea for three hundred pages?In this episode, Reino traces the line from deep reading to deep thinking: how following a long argument builds the same muscle we need to resist slogans, hold nuance, and imagine lives unlike our own. He returns to a small town in rural KwaZulu-Natal, to a teacher named Andy Towert who could make a room fall silent with the toss of a leather bag, and to the books — King Solomon's Mines, The Pilgrimage, Anam Cara — that quietly redirected the course of his life.A reflection on reading, attention, and what a post-literate society stands to lose.#LivingToBe #LettersFromTheThreshold #WhyWeRead #DeepReading #Attention #Literacy #Empathy #Democracy #Pilgrimage #CaminoDeSantiago #ContemplativeLife #Bibliophile #SlowLiving #Storytelling⁠Subscribing to Letters from the Threshold⁠More Information:⁠⁠www.reinogevers.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reinodiary.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Books:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sages, Saints and Sinners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deep Walking for Body Mind and Soul⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Walking on Edge: A pilgrimage to Santiago⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This Indiana Jones ripoff has it all - Sharon Stone, Richard Chamberlin, movies only the way Cannon can make them and a whole bunch of cannibals. Join Mike and Christian as they dive into this wonderful mess

Text: 2 Samuel chapters 15-24; 1 Kings chapters 1-3; 1 Chronicles chapters 28-29 Supplemental Text: The Fourth Thousand Years chapters 7-8 BYU Lecture 31:  As David declines in life, his son Absalom conspires to kill David and take the throne, assisted by David's traitorous prime minister Ahithophel. The rebellion becomes so threatening that David abandons Jerusalem to save the city from the ravages of civil war. Eventually, David's army confronts the army of Absalom in the woods of Ephraim. David's battle-tested “600 mighty ones” took control of the fight and Absalom's army was devastated with over 20,000 killed. Absalom flees for his life through the forest and is caught by the gnarling branches of a tree, jerked from his racing mule and is left swinging helplessly in the air. David's commanding officer, Joab, finds and kills Absalom. David mourns over the loss of this rebellious son. David now prepares all things to strengthen Israel, fortifies the government, gathers material for the new temple, reorganizes the lessor Priesthood into quorums, and establishes temple choirs and orchestras. As King David weakens from old age, another son named Adonijah seeks the throne. The prophet Nathan, with the understanding that God named Solomon as David's heir, hastens to Bathsheba in hopes of convincing the ailing David of the crisis. Between the two, David was provoked and arose from his deathbed, calling for the prophet to anoint Solomon king of Israel. Hearing the trumpets and commotion of this great anointing, Adonijah and his supporters abandon their own feast of celebration and flee for their lives. For now, Solomon spares their lives. The great King David dies at the age of 70. King Solomon rules the kingdom in righteousness and humility. The Lord appears to him in a dream and grants him wisdom, riches, honor and long life – as long as Solomon remains faithful to the Lord. In great appreciation, Solomon offers sacrifice and begins the task of building a magnificent temple to the Lord.

Most of us want to live well. We want good relationships, peace in our decisions, and fewer regrets—but nobody really teaches us how to do that. That's where the book of Proverbs comes in. Proverbs isn't a story and it's not a list of religious rules. It's God's wisdom for real life. It talks about how we use our words, how we choose friends, how we handle money, anger, work, and temptation. Written mainly by King Solomon—one of the wisest people who ever lived—Proverbs was designed to train people, especially the young, in how life actually works. Proverbs shows us there are two paths we can walk: the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness. And the choices we make on those paths shape the lives we end up living. For the next 31 weeks we are going to study every chapter, every word and every truth that flows from the Book of Proverbs. There will be a few breaks through the next 31 weeks for stand alone messages, but by the end of 2026 our hope is that you walk in the ways of the wise and live well.

Vicki Joy Anderson, joins us to discuss her newest book, "From Eden to AI: How Fallen Angels and Ancient Idolatry are Ensnaring Humanity Through Modern Technology"Is all of the latest emerging tech truly new, or do we believe that there is truly nothing new under the sun, according to King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes? Join us in this important discussion for the days that we find ourselves living in...as in the days of Noah.

According to an ancient book called The Testament of Solomon, King Solomon hung a female demon. We explore the story

According to an ancient book called The Testament of Solomon, King Solomon hung a female demon. We explore the story

"But it's complicated." It's a sentence we've all said at one point or another, and it's usually as a counter to a solution that sounds like it HAS to be too simple for our situation. But just because a situation is difficult, doesn't mean it's actually complicated. What if God's blueprint for you to get through this season really is that simple?As we continue "Comeback Stories," Pastor Nic Smith joins us to study Ecclesiastes 12:10-14, as King Solomon reflects on all the highs and lows of his life before landing on a simple guide to life: "Fear God and keep his commandments."

This week Alphas Make Sandwiches goes big with a five-person crew, as Ashe in America, Christy Lupo, and Jackie Espada welcome guests Michelle from Tamarack Garden and Cristina (Mrs. Rise Attire) for a genuinely packed episode. Jackie debuts a new segment, Logging Into the Mainframe, teaching phone hacks your grandkids usually handle. Michelle delivers a heartfelt pep talk on taking risks, killing the crab pot mentality, and doing it messy. Professor Lupo traces the wild history of the word "bedlam" (plus a bonus word that would make George Washington proud). Then Cristina shares a delightfully unhinged puppet-professor theory linking emojis, King Solomon, the Sultanate of Oman, and 72 demonic seals, which promptly ruins emojis for everyone. Toss in cacao that keeps you up all night, sunburn cures, product updates from Tamarack Garden and Rise Attire, and a secret project reveal. It is warm, funny, spiritually curious, and a little bit chaotic. In a good way.

Ever look around and feel like the world is full of more foolishness than ever before? The truth is, we all have a version of that "No Ragrets" tattoo—a past decision, a word spoken in anger, or a habit we wish we could ink backwards.In this kickoff message for our summer series, Learning Curve, we dive deep into Proverbs 4 to discover why so much of our regret comes from a lack of wisdom diagnosed too late. King Solomon isn't just giving us information; he's giving us a roadmap to build a life free of preventable pain.Real wisdom isn't just about what you know—it's about seeing life the way God sees it and having the practical skill to live like it's true.In this video, you'll discover:The "Get" Factor: Why real wisdom requires a dogged, relentless pursuit (like a bird dog on the hunt!).Guard Your Heart: Why the cultural advice to "follow your heart" is dangerous, and how to protect the life-source of your decisions.The Ultimate Guide: How shifting from a proud heart to a "hearing heart" changes your entire trajectory.Ultimately, wisdom has a name, and His name is Jesus. If you are tired of playing dumb games and winning dumb prizes, it's time to pursue the one who can redeem every past regret and heal every foolish wound.

Most of us want to live well. We want good relationships, peace in our decisions, and fewer regrets—but nobody really teaches us how to do that. That's where the book of Proverbs comes in. Proverbs isn't a story and it's not a list of religious rules. It's God's wisdom for real life. It talks about how we use our words, how we choose friends, how we handle money, anger, work, and temptation. Written mainly by King Solomon—one of the wisest people who ever lived—Proverbs was designed to train people, especially the young, in how life actually works. Proverbs shows us there are two paths we can walk: the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness. And the choices we make on those paths shape the lives we end up living. For the next 31 weeks we are going to study every chapter, every word and every truth that flows from the Book of Proverbs. There will be a few breaks through the next 31 weeks for stand alone messages, but by the end of 2026 our hope is that you walk in the ways of the wise and live well.

We're concluding the book of Ecclesiastes today which was written by King Solomon. Keep in mind that we are reading the Old Testament chronologically, and when we've finished this book, we'll be back in 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings, covering the rest of Solomon's life. As you may have already heard, two major themes of the book of Ecclesiastes are the ideas of futility and humility. Though Solomon had almost every resource at his fingertips, he could not do all the things he wanted and though he could find pleasure, he could not find ultimate fulfillment in the things of earth. In all his searching, he ultimately concludes that men should enjoy life, fear God and keep his commands. Ecclesiastes 8 - 1:03 .  Ecclesiastes 9 - 4:36 .  Ecclesiastes 10 - 9:44 .  Ecclesiastes 11 - 12:31 .  Ecclesiastes 12 - 14:17 .  Psalm 114 - 17:15 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

As we continue our chronological reading of the Old Testament, we're spending some time in the book of Ecclesiastes which was written by King Solomon. With all of his wealth, fame and wisdom, Solomon discerned that these things could not ultimately extend one's life or even necessarily make it better. No matter what a person may accomplish, one day he will die. In today's reading Solomon considers the rhythms of life, the nature of death and eternity, justice and injustice, authentic religion, and wealth. Our reading concludes with wise sayings in chapter 7, including proverbs, meditations on moderation, and the limitations of wisdom. Ecclesiastes 3 - 1:04 .  Ecclesiastes 4 - 4:32 .  Ecclesiastes 5 - 7:24 .  Ecclesiastes 6 - 12:21 .  Ecclesiastes 7 - 14:49 .  Psalm 113 - 19:41 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

“Trust in the Lord” | SUMMER AT BETHLEHEM - Week 6 | July 5th, 2026   In Week 6 of our Summer at Bethlehem series, we examine one of the most familiar, anchor-point passages in the entire Bible: Proverbs 3:5–6. King Solomon, renowned as the wisest man to ever live, penned these words not as abstract philosophy, but as a framework for survival passed down to the next generation.   When we envision God making our paths "straight," our minds naturally visualize an upward, predictable trajectory of success. In reality, life often feels completely chaotic and scattered. Through heavy seasons of personal loss, medical diagnoses, and unexpected breakdowns, this message explores what it looks like to stop trading God's perfect track record for unproven, fragile substitutes. It is an urgent invitation to stop leaning on our own limited understanding and cast our entire weight onto a God who has never failed.  

Today, we're going to be in four different books of the Old Testament, which makes this episode the record-holder in number of places. Don't worry, though: it's not any longer than the average episode. In 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings we'll cover Solomon's imposition of forced labor over non-Israelites and the initial institution of worship in the Lord's temple. From there, we'll transition to the book of Ecclesiastes, a wisdom book written by King Solomon. In it, the king tests the bounds of all that could be seen as valuable to men, and finds them all to be empty without God at the center. Finally, we'll read a short Psalm. 2 Chronicles 8 - 1:07 .  1 Kings 9 - 4:44 .  Ecclesiastes 1 - 10:47 .  Ecclesiastes 2 - 13:40 .  Psalm 112 - 19:19 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Today's reading contains the second-longest chapter in all of Scripture, which is 1 Kings chapter 8, and it's long for a great reason: King Solomon gets excited and is full of prayer and praise as he conducts the first worship gathering at the Lord's temple. Though the tabernacle existed before the temple, this is the first permanent structure built for the worship of God in a particular geographic location. As you can imagine, it's a pretty big deal. The party lasts for two full weeks, after which the Lord appears to Solomon a second time echoing both the blessings and curses he gave to Moses before him. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Why does your faith get weaker when your life gets better? Most of us have felt it and never said it out loud. When things fall apart, we cling to God. When things fall together, we quietly forget him. And nobody warns you about the second one.In this sermon, Pastor Josiah opens up one of the most sobering stories in the Bible, King Solomon, to teach us why starting strong is nothing like finishing faithful. Solomon started with everything you would want in a leader. God poured out wisdom on him. He built the temple. He led with peace and prosperity. Kings from other lands traveled just to hear him speak. And yet by the end of his life, the wisest man who ever lived was building shrines to false gods and drifting so far from God that the entire kingdom of Israel would split in two because of it.Pastor Josiah walks us through Deuteronomy 17:16 to 17, where God gave the future kings of Israel three specific warnings. Do not multiply horses. Do not multiply wives. Do not multiply silver and gold. Not because those things were evil, but because God knew they had the power to master the human heart. Solomon knew every one of these warnings. He wrote most of the book of Proverbs. And he violated all three (1 Kings 10 and 11).Pastor Josiah pulls three sobering truths from Solomon's story. First, God's boundaries are not restrictions of joy. They are guardrails for devotion, and whatever God puts a boundary around usually points to what has power to capture your heart. Second, a lack of fear of the Lord is the invitation for erosion. Solomon did not lack wisdom. He lacked submission to the wisdom he had. Third, starting strong is not the same as finishing faithful. Faithfulness is not proven by how you begin. It is revealed by whether you continue.And then the message lands where every Counterfeit Kings sermon lands. Solomon started strong but Jesus finished faithful. Solomon had wisdom, but Jesus is wisdom. Solomon's heart was divided, but Jesus stayed perfectly surrendered. He is the true and better Solomon, and our confidence is not in our ability to hold on to him but in his ability to hold on to us.Pastor Josiah's practical challenge is worth writing down. Name what is getting too big in your life. Let one or two trusted people question your drift. Return to daily surrender. What you keep feeding will eventually start leading, and the strongest guard is not what you build around your kingdom, but what you guard in your heart.If you have been quietly drifting through a comfortable season, this teaching is for you.

Hello Friends! I love to hear from you! Please send me a text message by clicking on this link! Blessings to You!In this episode, Dr. Jori discusses with her listeners  King Solomon's prayer and dedication of the temple and how the people saw the glory of the LORD come down and then worshiped.  Scripture References: Romans 11:33-36; Luke 9:23; 2 Chronicles 7:3; 2 Chronicles 1:1-12; 2 Chronicles 6:12-7:4;  Scripture translation used is the NASB “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995, 2020 (only use the last year corresponding to the edition quoted) by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org”CHECK OUT DR. JORI'S NEW PODCAST- The First Love ProjectHere is the video introducing the podcast on You Tube-https://youtu.be/PhFY1moDDmsHERE IS A LINK TO THE YOUTUBE PLAYLIST FOR FIRST LOVE PROJECThttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdaujk1npuKR0BLSkTlKyxmuxavrZQHM6&si=dC10K4Qdh0xMKElU FIND DR. JORI ON OTHER PLATFORMS https://linktr.ee/drjorishaffer DAILY MUSICAL DEVOTIONAL BY THE WORSHIP INITIATIVE:Text SING to 79316CHECK OUT THE DWELL AUDIO BIBLE APP:Click this link for my unique referral code.  I use this frequently. Such a wonderful audio bible app. https://dwellapp.io/aff?ref=jorishafferBIBLE STUDY TOOLS DR. JORI USES:Note: These contain  Amazon affiliate links, meaning I get a commission, at no extra cost to you,  if you decide to make a purchase through my links.Here is a link to some of my favorite bible study tools on Amazon:https://geni.us/cHtrfEMr. Pen Bible Journaling Kitshttps://lvnta.com/lv_PTrHSCogbRim4yhEDnhttps://lvnta.com/lv_mkaMOuGe6m4oHR88uqhttps://lvnta.com/lv_dgvsxOc99t663A628z  BOOKS OF BIBLE COLOR CHARTI made this chart as a helpful tool for grouping the collections of books or letters  in the Holy Bible.  The colors in the different sections are the ones that I use in my journals.  Books of Bible Chart (color) (4).pdf - Google Drive    LOOKING TO RETAIN MORE OF WHAT YOUR PASTOR IS TEACHING?              CHECK OUT DR. JORI'S SERMON REFLECTION JOURNALS! Sermon Notes, Reflections and Applications Journal/Notebooks by Dr. Jori. Click the links below to be directed to amazon.com for purchase. Or search “Dr. Jori Shaffer” on Amazon to bring these up.  https://amzn.to/418LfRshttps://amzn.to/41862EyHere is a brief YouTube video that tells about the Journal/Notebooks as well:https://youtu.be/aXpQNYUEzds   Email: awordforthisday@gmail.comPodcast website:  https://awordforthisday.buzzsprout.com   Support the show

On Wednesday, July 1st 2026, Dylan Cottrill's message draws us into the sobering reflections of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes, where he looks back on a life of unprecedented wealth, wisdom, and worldly success only to declare it all meaningless—like chasing after the wind. We're confronted with a challenging truth: Solomon had everything the world could offer, yet he missed what mattered most. He built houses, planted vineyards, amassed wealth beyond measure, and denied himself no pleasure, but at the end of his days, he realized he had been chasing emptiness. The message uses a compelling illustration of unwrapping gift boxes—we climb over relationships, sacrifice prayer time, and bulldoze our spiritual foundations to reach what we think will satisfy us, only to find the box empty. Meanwhile, the gift God offers may not look as flashy, but it contains eternal treasures: joy in His presence, crowns of life for those who endure, and riches that moth and rust cannot destroy. We're reminded that our children are watching, learning from what we prioritize, and that we have a sacred responsibility to instill in them the truth that seeking first God's kingdom is the only pursuit that won't leave us empty-handed. The call is urgent: stop waiting until the sunset of our lives to learn what Solomon learned too late.

We finished Song of Songs in our last episode which means we are back into the narrative of King Solomon. As always, the Lord God makes good on His promises, and Solomon flourishes under the Lord's lavish provision. Blessed with peace on every side and abundant wealth, Solomon sets His mind on things above and gets to work. Knowing that the Lord had promised David a son who would come from his family and would establish God's house forever, Solomon builds a center of worship for God that reflects the plans for the original tabernacle. In work, wealth, and worship, Solomon is a foreshadow of the Son of David who would establish a greater kingdom where God is worshipped by the nations and the people dwell with Him in peace. 2 Chronicles 2 - 1:05 .  1 Kings 5 - 5:39 .  1 Kings 6 - 9:42 .  Psalm 108 - 16:17 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Very soon after it was completed in 1842, the Bunker Hill monument started to be about a lot more than just the battle that took place on June 17, 1775. Research: "Battle of Bunker Hill." Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Nov. 2025. libraries.state.ma.us/login?eburl=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.eb.com&ebtarget=%2Flevels%2Freferencecenter%2Farticle%2FBattle-of-Bunker-Hill%2F18086&ebboatid=9265928. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026. Markoe, Lauren. “Gun Owners take Aim at New Law.” The Patriot Ledger. Oct. 10 and 11 1998. National Park Service. “Peter Brown.” Last updated 2/26/2025. https://www.nps.gov/people/peter-brown.htm National Park Service. “Remembering Revolution: Bunker Hill Monument.” Last updated 1/2/2025. https://www.nps.gov/bost/remembering-revolution.htm#27EBF851-37AB-4F4E-AA50-9BEDD914F0CC Webster, Daniel. “Dedication Speech for the Unveiling of the Bunker Hill Monument.” 6/17/1843. Via American Battlefield Trust. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/dedication-speech-unveiling-bunker-hill-monument National Park Service. “The Bunker Hill Monument Association: Expressing Gratitude and Patriotism.” Last updated 1/22/2024. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bhma.htm National Park Service. “Bunker Hill Lodge.” Last updated 1/12/2026. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bh-lodge.htm National Park Service. “King Solomon's Lodge.” Last updated 3/30/2023. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bh-ksl.htm Warren, George Washington. “The history of the Bunker Hill monument association during the first century of the United States of America.” Bunker Hill Monument Association. https://archive.org/details/historyofbunkerh00warr/ The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire. “Caleb Stark.” https://www.socnh.org/caleb-stark/ Stebbins, G.B. “May Day – North and South.” The liberator. v.16:no.21(1846:May 22). Via Digital Commonwealth. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:gb19h555q Mansfield, Howard. “Silent Witness.” Yankee. Mar/Apr2025, Vol. 89 Issue 2, p80-106. National Park Service. “Bunker Hill Monument Projection, 1998.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bunker-hill-monument-projection-1998.htm Hay, John. “Broken Hearths: Melville's ‘Israel Potter’ and the Bunker Hill Monument.” The New England Quarterly , June 2016, Vol. 89, No. 2 (June 2016). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24718238 Purcell, Sarah J. “Commemoration, Public Art, and the Changing Meaning of the Bunker Hill Monument.” The Public Historian , Vol. 25, No. 2 (Spring 2003). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2003.25.2.55 Everett, Edward. “An oration delivered at Charlestown, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1850.” Boston. 1850. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822038214979 National Park Service. “Irish Claims to the Revolution.” 2/26/2025. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/irish-claims-to-the-revolution.htm “Unworthy of Concord: A Know-nothing Appeal.” Pilot, Volume 38, Number 18, 1 May 1875. https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=pilot18750501-01.2.19&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------+%2C+4---------------- National Park Service. “Operation POW.” March 1, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/operation-pow.htm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Promise: 1 Kings 8:56 Have you ever looked back over your life and realized that God was faithful even when you couldn't see what He was doing? In today's episode, we explore a powerful promise from 1 Kings 8:56, where King Solomon declares, "Not one word has failed of all His good promise." Those words still ring true today.   As we reflect on God's work in our own lives, we discover that He has been guiding, protecting, and providing all along. There may have been seasons of uncertainty, disappointment, or waiting, but God has never abandoned His Word. Every promise He makes is trustworthy because He is the promise-keeping God.   Join me as we remember His faithfulness, strengthen our confidence for the days ahead, and learn how reviewing God's past provision can build greater faith for today's challenges. The God who has been faithful before will be faithful again. Not one of His promises has ever failed, and neither will the promises He has made to you.

Material possessions can never make us happy. King Solomon's story begins fairly well but then his identity trap ensnares him, and everything starts to fall apart. In this message, Pastor Philip Miller shares Solomon's ascent, demise, and wisdom. What if our search for satisfaction leads us back to our heavenly Father?  This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at https://moodyoffer.com or call us at 1-800-215-5001. Moody Church Media [https://www.moodymedia.org/], home of "Moody Church Hour" and "Living Hope," exists to bring glory to God through the transformation of lives. Dr. Philip Miller is the 17th Senior Pastor of The Moody Church. He is the featured speaker on "Living Hope" and "Moody Church Hour," with programs broadcasting on 700 outlets in the U.S. He and his wife Krista live in Chicago with their four children. Pastor Philip is passionate about proclaiming God's Word, cultivating healthy ministry, and investing in future leaders. SUPPORT: Tax Deductible Support: https://www.moodymedia.org/donate/ Become an Endurance Partner: https://endurancepartners.org/   SUBSCRIBE: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoodyChurchMedia Daily Devotional and Weekly Digest: https://www.moodymedia.org/newsletters/subscription/

Solomon's Sword and Crazy Plans by Autumn Dickson This week, we get to learn a bit about Solomon's reign. Solomon was known for his wisdom, a spiritual gift that was the direct result of a request he made as he was ascending the throne. The story of the two women and the baby is well-known and highlights this wisdom. In the last post, we talked about how the Lord reflected Solomon's heart back to him when the Lord offered to answer a prayer for Solomon. This week, we get to read about Solomon imitating the Lord in the story with the two women. Here is a refresher on the story with the two women and the baby. Two women lived in the same home. They both had babies. One woman accidentally laid on top of her child and killed the child. She snuck into the room of the other woman and switched the babies. The second woman woke up to the dead child and realized he wasn't hers. They took their case to King Solomon. This is how King Solomon responded. 1 Kings 3:24-25 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. The lying woman wanted the child cut in half. The true mother offered to let the other woman have the son; she just wanted him to be alive. Solomon obviously gave the baby to the woman who wanted to protect the baby at all costs. Now, I want you to imagine being the true mother of the child who found herself in this nightmare through no fault of her own. I don't know exactly what she was feeling, but I think my response to this wild suggestion from the king would be this: “What?! I thought this guy was wise! Why would he do this? Is he crazy?” I think this is sometimes how we react when the Lord makes decisions in our lives as well. Sometimes the Lord sends or allows trials to happen in our lives. Sometimes we respond with, “What?! I thought the Lord was wise! Why would He do this?” Throughout my life, and especially while working through sharing my testimony online, I have received this testimony over and over and over: The Lord loves me and works very carefully as He makes decisions to interfere in my life. He is wise! He knows what He's doing! I know this testimony. I believe it. I find a lot of comfort in it. And yet, even though I already had a testimony of this fact, I've found that there were limits to this testimony that needed to be expanded. When certain events have cropped up in my life, such as getting pregnant three months after having a baby, I have tried to trust in that growing testimony that the Lord loves me and is trying to give me the best of what mortality actually has to offer. Despite my desire to trust that He was trying to do what was best for me, I simply felt scared and betrayed and powerless. I'm sure that woman was terrified when Solomon made the crazy suggestion to cut the baby in half. He was a king, and she was a harlot. I'm sure she knew what it meant to feel powerless and to have someone making decisions regardless of what was best for her. And yet, Solomon wasn't trying to torture her. He had very specific purposes. He was not rash or ridiculous. He was intentional. He was a mortal man blessed with wisdom to discern what was going on in his kingdom. He “sent a trial,” and it revealed the hearts of the women he was judging. The Lord already knows our hearts, but He still sends little tests in mortality. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that He isn't testing our hearts for His own sake, but for our's. We spoke about this in my last post as well: He reflects our own hearts back to us. Solomon actually needed to see the reflection of the hearts of the women so he could judge well. He was wise, but he did not know these women perfectly. He needed a way of seeing their hearts. The Lord's purposes are slightly different, but His methods are similar. His purpose is showing us our own hearts. Sometimes that means sending or allowing trials that allow the deepest parts of our heart to go on display. It highlights the boundaries of what we truly know and feel and desire. It gives us opportunities to expand those boundaries. Going back to my example of getting pregnant so quickly, I felt incredibly betrayed by God. I am so miserable when I'm pregnant, and now I was going to be in that dark state of mind for 18 months with very little reprieve (honestly, with no reprieve since my body and mind still hadn't completely recovered in between babies). I thought I had a testimony that the Lord loved me, and I did. But apparently there were limits to that testimony. This specific experience showed me the boundaries of my own testimony. It brought my heart right up to the surface where I could look at it very clearly. I then had the opportunity to work through those experiences and expand those boundaries. Despite the fact that this woman likely thought King Solomon was out of his mind, I would guess that she felt differently after the experience. Despite the initial fear and distress it caused her, she gained a testimony that Solomon acted with purpose. By the end of this, she knew that Solomon wasn't crazy. He was trying to be a good king and make sure that baby went back to its rightful mother. Surely, the experiment could have gone poorly. What if both mothers had pled for the life of the baby? Yes, it could have failed, but this story is a parable. Even if Solomon's experiments fail, the Lord's “experiments” never have to. Solomon was a mortal man. The Lord has much more to offer in the way of helping us discern the boundaries of the testimonies that will carry us and help us get where we need to go. The Lord also has the ultimate power of delivering what will be best for us. Even when He sends or allows dark times, He has the power to help those difficult times become sacred experiences. I testify that the Lord loves us. I testify He knows what He's doing. I testify that He already knows our hearts, but like Solomon, He sends and allows trials that bring our very essence up to the surface where it's noticeable. We get to find the holes and limitations of our testimonies, and in turn, we can fill the holes and broaden the boundaries until we are fully protected and constantly uplifted by them. Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR's 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – 2 Samuel 11–12; 1 Kings 3; 6–9; 11 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Today we talk a little bit about the man King Solomon was.

Centuries before Hollywood dressed it in a nun's habit, the demon Valak prowled the pages of forbidden grimoires as a winged boy astride a two-headed dragon, commanding legions of serpents to do his bidding.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources):https://weirddarkness.com/valekREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/24s8nzb9FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Although Valak is depicted in the films "The Nun" and in “The Conjuring 2” as a habit-wearing spirit, the real demon appears as a child riding a two-headed dragon — at least according to a 17th-century demon-hunting manual. (The Reality Behind The Demon, Valak) *** The Vatican is one of the most well-guarded areas in the world. But if rumors are to be believed, all that security isn't only to protect the pontiff… but some dark, disturbing secrets… and a machine that could change everything we know to be true. (The Vatican's Secret Machine) *** We'll look at that time a force field was accidentally created at a 3M plant. (3M's Accidental Force Field) *** In 1872 George Wheeler met and married May Tillson in Boston. He made a home for May and her younger sister Della, first in New York, then in California. Along the way, George fell in love with young Della and when she planned to marry someone else he was faced with a dilemma: he could not marry her himself and he could not bear to see her wed to another. The solution he chose pleased no one. (Thus She Passed Away) *** In the 1800s scientists and doctors needed cadavers to study human anatomy and practice their skills. To help accommodate the need, it was made legal to sell dead bodies. What could possibly go wrong? (The Unsettling Anatomy Act)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:16.547 = Show Open00:03:31.777 = The Reality Behind The Demon Valak00:11:37.807 = The Unsettling Anatomy Act ***00:24:33.689 = 3M's Accidental Force Field00:34:11.149 = Thus She Passed Away ***00:44:01.086 = The Vatican's Secret Machine00:53:13.339 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Reality Behind The Demon, Valak” by Gina Dimuro for All That's Interesting:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/43vu356n“3M's Accidental Force Field” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3vvnwbpv“Thus She Passed Away” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yyztmnat“The Unsettling Anatomy Act” by SM for ListVerse: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8vdns9“The Vatican's Secret Machine” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8kxxz8(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: December, 2021This episode of Weird Darkness moves from a centuries-old demon mistaken for a nun, through the Victorian trade in stolen corpses and a force field that appeared inside a 1980 factory, to a San Francisco trunk murder and a Catholic priest who claimed to have built a machine that could film the past.It opens with the demon Valak, who reaches modern audiences through The Nun and The Conjuring 2 as a pale, nun-robed figure but appears in the 17th-century grimoire Clavicula Salomonis Regis, or The Key of Solomon, as the 62nd spirit: a boy with angel's wings riding a two-headed dragon, commanding a legion of serpents and an army of thirty demons while hunting snakes and hidden treasure. The nun costume was the invention of director James Wan, who reshaped a vision the medium Lorraine Warren described to him — a swirling hooded figure carrying female energy — into a holy icon turned against her Catholic faith. Warren and her husband Ed, the demonologists who rose to fame after the 1976 Amityville investigation, reportedly met a spectral hooded figure at the Borley church in southern England, where lore held that a nun had been bricked alive in the convent walls after an affair with a monk. The Key of Solomon, which lists the seventy-two demons King Solomon was said to have vanquished, sat on the Vatican's Index librorum prohibitorum until the Church abandoned that list of prohibited books in 1966, though copies kept turning up in the hands of Catholic priests.From there the episode turns to the Anatomy Act of 1832, the British law that legalized dissecting unclaimed bodies from workhouses and hospitals to end the grave-robbing of the resurrectionists, yet instead built an organized corpse trade across Victorian England. The twelfth-century St. Bartholomew's left wicker baskets beneath its King Henry VIII gate for body dealers to fill, while a Liverpool Street express known as the "dead train" carried sealed funeral wagons of stacked corpses toward Cambridge. Deepening the trade, the New Poor Law of 1834 confined the destitute to workhouses whose officials profited from selling the dead, and in 1858 the master of St. Mary Newington workhouse, Alfred Feist, was caught funneling pauper bodies to Guy's Hospital through the undertaker Robert Hogg, who staged fake funerals and collected double payment. Anatomists prized the bodies of fetuses and children, keeping their skulls intact — only one of fifty-four specimens in a Cambridge collection had received a craniotomy — and the public's dread boiled over in Manchester in 1832, when a grandfather opened the coffin of a three-year-old who had died at the Swan Street Cholera Hospital and found a brick where the boy's head should have been.Next comes a stranger kind of dread, set in the summer of 1980 at a 3M plant in South Carolina, where workers slitting twenty-foot-wide polypropylene film at a thousand feet per minute walked into an invisible wall they could not push through. The static-charged field, which one worker measured past the limit of a 200-kilovolt handheld electrometer, pulled people toward it so strongly they had to back away on foot, swallowed a passing fly, and by one account could have held a bird in its grip before vanishing as abruptly as it formed. Managers reproduced the effect the next morning under lower humidity, and the plant production manager reportedly said he didn't know whether to fix it or sell tickets; later accounts claim a researcher who published on the phenomenon was contacted by NASA and federal agencies before the grounding fault was corrected and the field never returned.The episode then moves to a true-crime case in San Francisco, where around midnight on October 20, 1880, George A. Wheeler walked into a police station and confessed to strangling his sister-in-law Della Tillson and packing her body into a trunk in their room at 23 Kearney Street. Wheeler had fathered two children with Della, both of whom died, while her sister — his deaf wife, May — lived across the hall posing as his sister-in-law, and the arrival of the miner George Peckham, who hoped to marry Della and take her to Sacramento, drove Wheeler to kill rather than let the two leave together. He told reporters that Della sat in his lap and asked him to end her life, that she died with her head on his shoulder, and his defense of hereditary insanity failed across two trials, the second forced by a California Supreme Court ruling over improperly admitted testimony from a book on medical jurisprudence. On January 23, 1884, five thousand people gathered outside the jail, entrance tickets sold for ten dollars apiece, and Wheeler — newly drawn toward Catholic conversion under Father Cottle — kissed a crucifix, commended his spirit, and dropped to a broken neck.The episode closes inside the Vatican with Father Pellegrino Ernetti, an Italian priest, exorcist, and musical scholar who claimed in the 1950s to have helped build a device called the Chronovisor that could see and hear the past. Ernetti said a team of twelve anonymous scientists, among them the physicist Enrico Fermi and the rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, tuned the machine to a speech by Mussolini, then Napoleon, a Roman market under Emperor Trajan, a Cicero oration, and a 169 B.C. performance of Quintus Ennius's lost tragedy Thyestes, which he said let him publish its full text. When the magazine La Domenica del Corriere printed a Chronovisor image of Christ's face on the cross on May 2, 1972, it was soon matched to a mirrored photograph of a wood carving by the sculptor Cullot Valera, and Ernetti — who said the machine was too dangerous to exist and had been dismantled and hidden — left behind no device, no named living witnesses, and a 1993 presentation to four cardinals whose contents were never disclosed.