Podcasts about Maccabees

Can a Catholic be personally opposed to abortion but still believe it shouldn’t be criminalized? In this segment of Catholic Answers Live, we tackle the tough intersection of morality, law, and Church teaching. Karlo Broussard explores what it means to be a Catholic in good standing, how the Church views the legal protection of human life, and where the line is drawn when it comes to public policy. A must-watch for anyone navigating pro-life convictions in a political world. Help us reach our goal by donating! Catholicanswersradio.com Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 02:50 – Dr. Bergsma proposed that the events of Holy Week were originally different than we thought. He says the last supper might have been on Tuesday. What are your thoughts on this? 07:55 – Why is the conclave kept in secrecy? 15:40 – 1 Chronicles references other books like Chronicles of Nathan and Chronicles Gad the Seer. What do we know about them, and can we read them? 16:00 – Where do we get the idea of purgatory other than Maccabees? 29:15 – What constitutes grave matter? 33:35 – Is it possible for a protestant to bring communion to a person who is homebound? 40:56 – My mom is Protestant. What is the best way to evangelize Protestants? 45:33 – Where is the line between invincible ignorance and universalism? 50:39 – Can I be a Catholic in good standing if I personally oppose abortion but also don’t think the government should criminalize it?

This week we're getting all apocryphal, and diving headlong into Maccabees. Specifically, we're discussing the story of a mother and her sons in 2 Maccabees, chapter 7. This is the inspiring (?) tale of a family defying tyranny by refusing to eat, and all being brutally murdered for their trouble. And while the story itself is quite harrowing (and graphic!), it's small moments along the way that are actually worthy of some fascinating discussion. Then we go to the gospel of John, where there might be something fishy going on. We have talked about other parts of the Bible where references to feet have actually been euphemisms for genitals. So what are we to make of the moment in John where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples? ---- For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/DataOverDogma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠      Follow us on the various social media places: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/data_over_dogma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Have you ordered Dan McClellan's hit book ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Bible Says So⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ yet??? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGLTkpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQY4Ahs0Hi289IcnsQMh_0OAVf3oGefyUsWkLjhfB8OF8nio1fmroJbXxA_aem_v_4sISp8Zt43zsKfDjx1aA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Second Temple period will look at the Jewish rebellions, including the Maccabees against the Greeks, the Jews against the Romans, Bar Kochba's reconquest of Jerusalem, and the splintering of Jewish society into numerous Jewish sects.  We will discuss the significance of the development of the Talmud and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Also considered will be Jesus' Jewish identity and the beginnings of Christianity emerging from Judaism. The visual part of the talk and the presentation can be found on our YouTube channel by this link: https://youtu.be/dlbuymIRnRk?si=Aa5hZU5bdHzMiuYR

The Second Temple period will look at the Jewish rebellions, including the Maccabees against the Greeks, the Jews against the Romans, Bar Kochba's reconquest of Jerusalem, and the splintering of Jewish society into numerous Jewish sects.  We will discuss the significance of the development of the Talmud and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Also considered will be Jesus' Jewish identity and the beginnings of Christianity emerging from Judaism. The visual part of the talk and the presentation can be found on our YouTube channel by this link: https://youtu.be/dlbuymIRnRk?si=Aa5hZU5bdHzMiuYR

The Second Temple period will look at the Jewish rebellions, including the Maccabees against the Greeks, the Jews against the Romans, Bar Kochba's reconquest of Jerusalem, and the splintering of Jewish society into numerous Jewish sects.  We will discuss the significance of the development of the Talmud and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Also considered will be Jesus' Jewish identity and the beginnings of Christianity emerging from Judaism. The visual part of the talk and the presentation can be found on our YouTube channel by this link: https://youtu.be/dlbuymIRnRk?si=Aa5hZU5bdHzMiuYR

How the Bible Was Formed E1 — If you've ever compared a Protestant Bible to a Catholic Bible, you may notice some additional books in the Catholic Bible, such as Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, etc. These books, called the Deuterocanon by Catholics and the Apocrypha by Protestants, are Jewish Literature from the period after the Babylonian exile but before the time of Jesus. The Jewish people were back in the land, being ruled by Syria and other empires descended from Alexander the Great. As they read the Hebrew Bible, they created many new literary works, reflecting on stories in Scripture and what was happening in their own day. So how do we understand the status and value of these books when compared to the Hebrew Bible and New Testament? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the background, history, and content of this Second-Temple Jewish literature.CHAPTERSMultiple Bibles on the Shelf (00:00-21:10)History of the Protestant Apocrypha (21:10-34:35)How Jesus and the Apostles Engaged With These Books (34:35-43:05)Why We're Talking About the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha (43:05-57:36)OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTView this episode's official transcript.REFERENCED RESOURCESThe Old Testament Pseudepigrapha by James H. CharlesworthOld Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, edited by Richard Bauckham, James Davila, Alex PanayotovYou can view annotations for this episode—plus our entire library of videos, podcasts, articles, and classes—in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.Check out Tim's extensive collection of recommended books here.SHOW MUSIC“Pure Joy ft. John Lee” by Lofi Sunday“Chillbop ft. Me & The Boys” by Lofi Sunday“Answered Prayers ft. PAINT WITH SOUND” by Lofi SundayBibleProject theme song by TENTSSHOW CREDITSProduction of today's episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who edited today's episode and also provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Gunners Mate First Class Osmond Kelly Ingram was the first enlisted man  killed in WW I. As a torpedo approach the ship he was on , Ingram tried to throw all the depth charges overboard. He was killed preforming the act and won the Medal of Honor, since he saved the ship and all the men aboard. He was the only fatality, and this is his story

Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Easter - John 10:22-30, 1 Maccabees 1 & 4

Pastor Chris Alford

We consider the importance of history and human chronicles to our faith, beginning our exploration of 1 Maccabees, with its first chapter. In this we note its embeddedness in the flow of history, its connections with Daniel, Hebrews, and 1 Corinthians, and its challenges to us today.

Most Jewish holidays date back thousands of years. We commemorate the time when an ancient Persian with a triangle hat tried to kill the Jews, when the Maccabees rededicated the temple in Jerusalem, when we escaped slavery in Egypt and the seas parted ways. But in the past century, Jews have added three new holidays, all of which fall in the span of a week. We're now at the tail end of the trilogy of "memory days": Yom HaShoah, Yom ha-Zikaron and Yom ha-Atzmaut. And, perhaps because they're recent additions, the way in which we mark them is susceptible to shifting, particularly after Oct. 7. Just this week, former hostages and survivors of Oct. 7 marched in the March of the Living in Poland. The USC Shoah Foundation is expanding its mission beyond the Shoah, collecting testimonies of antisemitism in the modern world. It begs the question: How do you memorialize events when you're still living through them? That's the topic for this week's episode of Not in Heaven, a podcast about the future of communal Judaism. Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl join to discuss these traditions, memory engineering, and how the stories we tell about the past shape our present—and our future. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Marc Weisblott (editorial director), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

The guys sit down with Jeff Bukantz an American fencing champion turned wrestler, who wrestled under a mask as Mighty Maccabee and promoted the legendary Grand Masters of Wrestling shows.   Send your questions for Dan and Benny to: danandbenny@outlook.com Dan and Benny on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/danandbenny

Can we trust Scripture as divinely inspired? We look at the historical and theological reasons Catholics believe the Bible is the Word of God, plus tackle topics like the early Church's view of the afterlife, confirmation saints, and what really happened in the Roman Inquisition. Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here Questions Covered: 03:20 – How does one properly incorporate my new confirmation saint into my prayer life? 13:43 – There’s a lot of pictures online of people in Spain with what look like KKK hoods. They are the Nazarene Brothers of the Holy Week of Seville. Are they Catholic? 19:31 – What is the early Church evidence for the state of the dead? Soul sleep vs entering heaven or hell? 30:45 – How do we make sense of 2 Maccabees 15 and it stating that taking one’s own life is an honorable thing? 34:27 – With the pope passing, what would happen if the east and west were to be united? Would we have to choose from the patriarchs to be the next pope? 37:28 – How do we know that the bible truly is the Word of God? 43:14 – I watched a video online that said Pope Francis is in hell. Is this true? 49:02 – I'm writing a series of articles debunking Chick Tracts. What actually happened during the Roman Inquisition?

Daniel ch.11 gives us the history of the Greek Empire until the period of the Maccabees. What implications might we draw from this historical overview?

The Maccabees weren't just determined—they were relentless, dedicated, and unyielding in their faith and mission. They faced overwhelming opposition, yet they refused to compromise or surrender. Their courage wasn't just about military strength; it was about an unshakable trust in God and a commitment to righteousness, no matter the cost.I truly believe that this is the kind of faith God is calling us to display in these last days. A faith that does not waver in the face of adversity. A faith that stands boldly against opposition. A faith that refuses to bow to the pressures of the world. The Maccabees fought not only for their freedom but for the preservation of God's law and the identity of His chosen people. Likewise, we are called to stand firm, to fight the good fight of faith, and to remain steadfast in our pursuit of God's truth.Now more than ever, we must embody the same relentless spirit. The challenges we face—spiritually, morally, and even physically—require a deep and unwavering commitment to God's purpose. Just as the Maccabees refused to let the enemy extinguish their faith, we too must be unyielding, standing firm in our beliefs, and trusting that God will give us the victory.If you would like to support this ministry send your "Tithes, Donations, and/or Offerings" to https://cash.app/$LeoDunson and/or Cash App $LeoDunsonMinistries or at: https://leodunson.com/donateWatch My Banned YouTube Videos at: https://leodunsonministries.comAlso Check out my latest Books releases: Gods' Laws Commandments & Statutes (Amazon): https://a.co/d/8qP06jcThe Blessings of Gods' Laws; Affirmations (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1M5jJ46#Maccabees #Relentless #Determination #Israelites

THE SO-CALLED silent centuries between the Book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew weren't as quiet as we've been taught.This month, the Iron and Myth crew discusses a fictionalized account of Judea's struggle for independence in the second century BC from the rule (and gods) of their Greek overlords by Iron and Myth regular and best-selling author Brian Godawa (Godawa.com), Judah Maccabee Part 1: Abomination of Desolation and Judah Maccabee Part 2: Against the Gods of Greece.  Doug Van Dorn (DouglasVanDorn.com) and Dr. Judd Burton (BurtonBeyond.net) join Brian to discuss the historical and theological significance of the centuries between the Old and New Testaments, focusing on the story of Hanukkah and the Maccabees. We analyze the role of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Maccabean revolt, and the implications of these events on Jewish history and theology.  Our conversation also explores the nature of historical fiction and how it can be approached from a truth perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding divine authorities and principalities in the context of these narratives. Brian shares how he balances myth and history in biblical narratives, emphasizing the concept of ‘mytho-history' as a blend of mythological and historical storytelling. He explores the role of fiction in understanding scripture, the importance of cultural context, and how integrating non-biblical stories can enhance biblical narratives.

In this powerful Sermon Terrell Eggers explores the deeper meaning behind Palm Sunday—not just as a historical event, but as a transformative call to follow Jesus through humility, suffering, and true surrender. Drawing from the biblical narrative and the backdrop of Jewish resistance in 2 Maccabees, Eggers redefines what it means to be alive in Christ—thriving in freedom and abundance sourced in God, not just surviving. Discover the misunderstood mission of Jesus Learn the historical context behind Palm Sunday Embrace the path of the cross Reflect on how suffering leads to spiritual abundance  Be challenged to fully commit to a life that mirrors Jesus This sermon invites you to move beyond superficial faith and step into a life of deep worship, sacrificial love, and bold allegiance to Christ. Don't miss this stirring call to walk the paradoxical path to true life.  Subscribe for more messages from Mosaic NAC and join the journey of walking confidently with God. Stay connected:

THE SO-CALLED silent centuries between the Book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew weren't as quiet as we've been taught. This month, the Iron and Myth crew discusses a fictionalized account of Judea's struggle for independence in the second century BC from the rule (and gods) of their Greek overlords by Iron and Myth regular and best-selling author Brian Godawa (Godawa.com), Judah Maccabee Part 1: Abomination of Desolation and Judah Maccabee Part 2: Against the Gods of Greece.  Doug Van Dorn (DouglasVanDorn.com) and Dr. Judd Burton (BurtonBeyond.net) join Brian to discuss the historical and theological significance of the centuries between the Old and New Testaments, focusing on the story of Hanukkah and the Maccabees. We analyze the role of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Maccabean revolt, and the implications of these events on Jewish history and theology.  Our conversation also explores the nature of historical fiction and how it can be approached from a truth perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding divine authorities and principalities in the context of these narratives. Brian shares how he balances myth and history in biblical narratives, emphasizing the concept of ‘mytho-history' as a blend of mythological and historical storytelling. He explores the role of fiction in understanding scripture, the importance of cultural context, and how integrating non-biblical stories can enhance biblical narratives. The Gilberts' new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Derek's new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Follow us! X: @viewfrombunker | @sharonkgilbert | @derekgilbertTelegram: t.me/gilberthouseSubstack: gilberthouse.substack.comYouTube: @GilbertHouse | @UnravelingRevelationFacebook.com/viewfromthebunker Sharon's novels Winds of Evil and The Armageddon Strain are available now in paperback, ebook (Kindle), and audiobook (Audible) formats! Get signed copies of the first two books of The Laodicea Chronicles now at GilbertHouse.org/store! Thank you for making our Build Barn Better project a reality! The building has HVAC, a new floor, windows, insulation, ceiling fans, and an upgraded electrical system! We truly appreciate your support. If you are so led, you can help out at www.GilbertHouse.org/donate. —— Download our free app! This brings all of our content directly to your smartphone or tablet. Best of all, we'll never get canceled from our own app! Links to the app stores for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle Fire devices are at www.GilbertHouse.org/app. Please join us each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Check out our weekly video program Unraveling Revelation (unravelingrevelation.tv), and subscribe to the YouTube channel: YouTube.com/UnravelingRevelation. —— Special offers on our books and DVDs: www.gilberthouse.org/store. —— JOIN US AND SPECIAL GUEST CARL TEICHRIB IN ISRAEL! Our next tour of Israel is October 19–30, 2025 with an optional three-day extension to Jordan. For the latest information, log on to GilbertHouse.org/travel. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page (facebook.com/viewfromthebunker) and check out the great podcasters at the Fringe Radio Network (Spreaker.com/show/fringe-radio-network)!

David and Mark dig deep on the claims of Anti-Semitism, the violence, press when it came out and promotion within churches, Aramaic and Latin languages, Satan and demons, financial success, the makeup, cinematography and music, Jim Caviezel, Gibson's directing, the dubbed and recut versions, comparison to Best Picture Million Dollar Baby and other Oscar winners that year, comparisons to David Lynch, the humorous chair scene, "Son of Man", the upcoming sequel, Judas, the death penalty in Judaism, Pilate and who's at fault for sentencing Jesus, Yeshua's name, Mary, the flashbacks to the palm entrance and him, the potential Maccabee movie and more while discussing The Passion of the Christ (2004). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE SO-CALLED silent centuries between the Book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew weren't as quiet as we've been taught.This month, the Iron and Myth crew discusses a fictionalized account of Judea's struggle for independence in the second century BC from the rule (and gods) of their Greek overlords by Iron and Myth regular and best-selling author Brian Godawa (Godawa.com), Judah Maccabee Part 1: Abomination of Desolation and Judah Maccabee Part 2: Against the Gods of Greece.  Doug Van Dorn (DouglasVanDorn.com) and Dr. Judd Burton (BurtonBeyond.net) join Brian to discuss the historical and theological significance of the centuries between the Old and New Testaments, focusing on the story of Hanukkah and the Maccabees. We analyze the role of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Maccabean revolt, and the implications of these events on Jewish history and theology.  Our conversation also explores the nature of historical fiction and how it can be approached from a truth perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding divine authorities and principalities in the context of these narratives. Brian shares how he balances myth and history in biblical narratives, emphasizing the concept of 'mytho-history' as a blend of mythological and historical storytelling. He explores the role of fiction in understanding scripture, the importance of cultural context, and how integrating non-biblical stories can enhance biblical narratives.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. Sermon TranscriptMy name is Spencer, I am one of the pastors here. We are taking a break from 1 Samuel to really be in Holy Week this week. We have Palm Sunday today, Good Friday coming up this Friday for our night of worship, and Easter Sunday. So we're going to pause 1 Samuel, and we're actually going to be in John 15 today. If you have a Bible, you can turn there. We'll get there in a moment.One of the things I try to do with my children is I try to look for teaching moments, to really build their life on the right truth, to build their life on the right words and phrases about who our God is and how that shapes them. And I'm looking for those opportunities when they come. A year and a half ago, my son… we're trying out different activities. He started karate and gave that a run. Now, I didn't do mixed martial arts as a kid, but I was like, "Alright, we'll give this a go." So I'm watching him, and there's this one day where he's just kind of halfway going through the motions. I appreciate his instructor because his instructor didn't play around. He told him, "Just sit down. If you're not going to participate, just sit down." He got back up again, just kind of halfway through the motions. And then I was done. We were done with that. I put him in the car, and we're off to community group.I'm looking for just this moment to teach him what I've been trying to teach him for a few weeks at this point. I was just like, "Hey listen, buddy…" What I was trying to teach him is the theology of work: the idea that we work unto the Lord, that everything we do, we do to the glory of God. I wanted him to understand that this may seem small, but it's actually a picture of bigger things. Like, you need to actually listen. You need to work hard. You're there for an hour; do the motions, do all the things. I don't really know what to tell him, but I'm sitting there watching him. You pick it up, do the things that you need to do in order to do this well, because we work unto the Lord. And I'm driving, and I can see in the mirror looking back, his eyes are just kind of glazed over. I'm like, "Are you listening?" And then finally I just said, "Hey buddy, why are you doing karate?" I'd set up the moment where he's just like, "I'm doing it to the glory of God, Dad!" Like, I'm waiting for some smaller version of that, that at least captures what we've been talking about. And he was deep in thought. And then he just said, "To protect women."And I was like… and it dawned on me that when he started karate just a few months before that, that was one of the things that we had talked about. I was like, well, you know, karate, this will give you the opportunity for self-defense and to grow. And I remember that I had said something about… you know, I was trying to teach him that we as men, we're called to protect and take care of women, and that in our household, yeah, you should learn what it takes to, like, if someone's going to come in, to be able to fight them, to be able to put them on the ground. I think I did some version of that. That's what he took away: that karate was to protect women. And I was like, you know what buddy? Honestly, count the W. Like, I mean, just we'll work on the theology of work stuff on other things, but if you have it in your brain that this is how to protect women, like we're getting somewhere. But I said that months ago, I hadn't even thought about it.But that happens. We take words, we take ideas, and we build our lives upon them. He had built karate on top of this idea that "I will fight for my sisters, I will fight for my mother." And I was like, yeah, that's good. But we do that. That's something that happens as we build our lives upon ideas and truth and words. And today as we look at this passage, we're going to focus on this teaching from Jesus that teaches just that: the importance of words and how they shape us.You see, on Palm Sunday, what we just celebrated in the songs that we sang and the liturgy that we read, we celebrate that Jesus came into the city celebrated as Hosanna, the Savior King. And then a whole bunch of things happened between him entering into the city and Good Friday. In fact, when you read the Gospels, they slow down a bunch. The gospels cover the three-year ministry of Jesus, but they really slow down at the end. And a lot of it does cover this final week where we get teaching after teaching of Jesus talking about what it means to be one of his followers, what the kingdom of God is like. And John 15 is one of those teachings. It's actually on the night of Passover when he's teaching his disciples. And we're going to see what he is getting at.Now, we're not going to see it in its entirety. To do this passage justice would take three or four weeks. I mean, there's a lot going on in John 15. We're only going to do 11 verses. And even to do that, it would take some time because there's a lot of really wonderful pictures of God and some good, wonderful theology packed into this. So I'm not going to be able to answer and do all the things. That's actually part of why we have community groups. If you're in our groups this week, you'll be able to discuss this and go a little bit deeper into some of the other areas. But we're really going to focus and zoom in on one idea that comes out of this text. It's the idea of Jesus's word at work in us and how that has profound power to shape us. Because we live in a world that is offering so many different things you can build your life on, so many different phrases and words and ideas that you can build your life upon. But I want us to see so clearly that Jesus has this invitation to build our life on something better, and that matters immensely. So that's just the one thing we're going to pull from this today, and I want us to sit in this and see this so clearly.So let me pray for us that we'd have hearts to receive this, and then we will move into this. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would give us ears to hear. I pray that we would receive your word and not just be hearers of the word, but be doers. And that comes through believing the gospel. That comes through course-correcting our life, moving away from sin and more towards you. And we can't do that without your power at work within us. So we ask that you would do that. In Jesus' name, Amen.Alright. So in John 15, just a little bit of context because we're jumping into the Gospel of John. This is a teaching called, in a series of teachings called, the "I am" teachings. And John, as he's telling the story of Christ – and John's really explicit about how he's written this gospel – it is to explain Christ as God and that you should believe in him. And so he's got seven different teachings he's lined up, these "I am" teachings, that Jesus is telling them who he is. He says, "I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life." And then we get to this final "I am" teaching here in chapter 15. So I want to read it all in one clip and then we'll work through this.He says, "‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.'"Man, there's a lot going on there. A lot of wonderful truths. Now, to even begin to understand what he's getting at, we need to understand that he's using a metaphor to teach something greater. He's using the example of a vine to help teach that he is the vine and we are the branches. Now here's the problem: Many of us are not growing vineyards in this area. It's just not happening. And they would have been very familiar with this language, and we are not. So I think it's helpful to actually see what he's talking about. So this is a typical vineyard vine. And what Jesus is getting at here is that he's the main vine that goes across the trellis, and that we are the branches that flow out of this vine. So there's one main vine that's going across, and there's branches flowing out of this.And there's a lot packed into this. But one of the things he's trying to clearly teach is that his people are in him. We are a part of him. This is something that you read throughout the New Testament. This is what Paul is getting at when he's teaching that Jesus is the head of the church and the church is the body. It's all one. This is where we get teachings about Jesus is the cornerstone, the foundation of our faith that the house is built upon. It's these same ideas that we are in Christ, that when you're a Christian, you are connected to him. And it's a helpful visual to explain what he is getting at.Now, there also is quite a bit packed into this passage that we don't have time to get into. There's a whole thing on the Father pruning branches, branches thrown into the fire. There's some things on needing to understand being known by spiritual fruit and the importance of that, the importance of the commandments. There's all types of stuff that is going on here. But again, to be able to do this and do this well… I have one option: I could be here for like 60 minutes, which is frowned upon because Kid City has children that have a ticking time bomb. So I'm not going to do that. And I'm not going to stretch this out for three or four weeks. I do think that you'll find some helpful study in this in groups this week. But I do want to focus on this one main idea here: that Jesus, the Word incarnate, this is our God, and we get to abide in him, and we get to be in him and him in us. And I just want us to see this so clearly.So let's work this going back to the top in verse one when he says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser." Now, Jesus is teaching his disciples, and his disciples are Jewish, and they would have been familiar with this language of the vine. This is not something that's foreign to them, not just because they have lots of vineyards where they were living, but also this is language that flows out of the Old Testament. When you read the Old Testament, you read Psalm 80, Israel is described as a vine taken out of Egypt and planted in the promised land. Isaiah 5 talks about the people of God being described as a vineyard, as a vine. Jeremiah 2 talks about the people of God being called a choice vine. Ezekiel chapter 15 talks about Jerusalem being a vine. We see this over and over again. So much so that in the 100-200 years before Christ, in what's called the intertestamental period between the last book Malachi being written and the gospels happening and Jesus coming, the period of the Maccabees, this period a few hundred years before Christ, they had coins in that time period that had on the back of them a vine from a vineyard, symbolizing Israel. So they were familiar with this. And this was not neutral, that Jesus just took something that they were unfamiliar with that had no loaded language, no loaded meaning in it. He took something that had meaning and also some meaning that we may not see. If you read those Old Testament passages, when it usually talks about Israel as a vine, the people of God as a vine, it speaks negatively. Calls them a wild vine, a useless vine, pictures of disobedience and deserving judgment. So this is not a neutral example that they've been given. But what Jesus is doing is he's taking something that is familiar to them and he's redefining it. He's helping them see this in a different way. And he says, "I am the true vine. I am the vine." And then he says, "My Father is the vinedresser." This is the farmer. This is the gardener, is the one who tends to the vine.And then he continues in verse two. He says, "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." Verse three: "Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." So there's a lot that he's… I mean, again, if you read the Gospel of John, you see so many of these themes that are connecting together. But John 1 begins with Jesus being declared as the Word who became flesh, the incarnate Word. This is the idea that as God created the world through the power of his spoken word, this God is the Word who became flesh. And this Jesus, this Word, goes to work in his disciples, bringing them to faith. And then they are called, we'll see this later, to live by his words, by his teachings. So we got both pictures here: Jesus the Word who saves and sets apart his people, and the words that he's given for his people to live by, the teachings of the gospel. So he's telling this to his disciples, and it's to 11 disciples, minus Judas. You see, at this point in the Passover meal, Judas has already left. So it's just the 11 that he's talking to when he looks at them, and this is supposed to be unbelievably encouraging, and he says, "You are clean." He looks at 11 men that he's invested three years of his life in, teaching them the kingdom of God and the gospel, helping them see who he is over and over again. And this is the Word that is going to work in their heart to bring them to faith, to be the people of God that he builds the church through, so the people of God may abide in him. He says, "You are clean." This is the power of the word, the power of the word to save us through faith, to set us apart, to make us clean, and to live out his teachings.But I want us to pause and don't miss this point: That means that the word is powerful. That words in general are powerful. Like, we undersell so often how important it is. We unknowingly build our lives upon words and phrases. We just got done about a month ago with our recovery cycle. Recovery is a 10-week program that we do every year. It's offered for those who are working through any bit of suffering or sin or brokenness. And every year I get to watch, I get a front row seat as a pastor to watch God change people and help them see that they've built their lives upon the wrong words in ways they don't even realize. Because this is what we do. I mean, it's not uncommon in recovery to have someone that remembers a time where their parent years ago said, "Why can't you be as good as this sibling?" And that phrase took root in their heart. And they spent the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years working and striving and proving themselves with an unending work ethic, trying to please others, trying to be the best because years ago they built their life on this idea that they heard so long ago. It's not uncommon in recovery for someone who's been bullied in school growing up or in the workplace to finally make a decision: "That's not going to happen again." That they're no longer going to be in a position where someone overpowers them. They will be in the seat of power. And they build their life upon that idea where everything becomes a power dynamic, and it's beginning to crush their soul. There are positive things we build upon in the wrong ways. It's not uncommon in recovery to hear someone that heard some version of "You're so pretty," "You're so smart," "You're so strong," "You're so dependable" for so long that it went to their head. And instead of that being a place where they turned over thanks to the Lord, it became a place of pride or a place of identity. And the rest of their days has been spent trying to live up to this expectation where "I have to stay the prettiest or the strongest or the smartest or the most dependable." And it's exhausting. And I so love recovery because I get to watch people discover this and then encounter the gospel and a word that is better, that changes them to where they're no longer living under this identity, but they've been given a new one.But that helps us, I hope that helps us see, that is how powerful words are. And the power of the gospel is immense to change our lives and become a foundation that shapes us. 1 Peter 1:23 says, "since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." What he is preaching there is that we, through the word of God, are born again. It comes to live in us, and God implants this imperishable seed, this seed that will never die, spoil, or fade. It begins to grow in us, and it changes us through the living and abiding word of God. This is the power of the word, and it's the power of the word at work in us.And that's something that we should have front and center in our souls, that we should remember how powerful the gospel is. And that's what we celebrate this week, y'all. We just sang songs that celebrated "open wide the gates" and that Jesus comes into the city. We celebrate that he, on Good Friday, as we'll sing so much about on Friday, goes to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and to absorb the wrath of God that we deserve. That as Romans 6 says, "For the wages of sin is death." The good news of the gospel is that we have sinned against a holy and perfect God, but Jesus lovingly goes to the cross to pay that penalty for us. And the next Sunday, we will celebrate that he walks out of the tomb and makes a way for a new life in Christ, for us to be born again through the imperishable seed that gets implanted in us, that brings us to life. And then we celebrate that Jesus ascends to the right hand of God the Father, where he rules and reigns as King and Lord. So that we look at Jesus not just as Savior, not just as conqueror of death, but as the Lord who says "do this," and we do it; "don't do this," and we don't do it; "be obedient here," and we say, "Yes, Lord." This is the gospel that saves us and sets us apart. That's the power of the word at work in his people that saves us.But also, I don't want us to miss this: it's a continual invitation to us as Christians to abide. Because in verse four he says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." So Jesus looks at his disciples and he tells them, "Abide in me." Which means to remain, to stay. Abide in me. It's an invitation, but also it's an encouragement because what does he say? "Abide in me, and I in you." That it isn't this effort and toil to just try to stay connected to him; He's at work within us. Which, y'all, makes him the main character here. He's the vine. He is the vine. He says, "Apart from me you can do nothing. A branch apart from me cannot bear fruit. It withers and it dies." He says, "I am the vine. I'm the one that gives life to the branches. I'm the one that sustains the branches. I'm the one that gives you the fruit. It is me at work within you." And the disciples need to hear this. And y'all, we so deeply need to hear this as Christians. We so deeply need to believe this.Because so many of us are so deeply trying to be vines when he's called us to be branches. We may not say that, but our actions display this: that we want to be the vine. And my question is, are you tired? If you're honest, are you tired of trying to be the vine? It's not the way it's supposed to be. Matt Freeman, our pastor who oversees worship and other things, he's getting ready to take a sabbatical. He's going to be gone for three months, which I'm excited about for him. I'm excited about for him because this is going to be good for his soul. Um, I got to do a sabbatical last year, and I needed it. Um, I needed the time to rest and and to do some soul work. I'm thankful as a church that we get to do these sabbaticals. I'm thankful that we have the time and space and we have the team that can be able to do this. But I needed this because I've realized that so much of my pastoral ministry and my life as a Christian is this endless attempt to be the vine, and it just shows up over and over again. And that's no way to live. And as a pastor, that's an easy way to burn out. I mean, pastoring is a joy, and I love it, and it's wonderful. I wouldn't want to do anything else. But it is hard. There's a spiritual weight to it. And the burnout rate in pastoral ministry is high. I mean, it's high. There's a whole cottage industry devoted right now to trying to understand all the different factors for why pastors are burning out, why they don't last longer than five years. And it's, you know, there's a lot that's going on there. And like many things, these problems are multifaceted, multifactorial. There's a lot of things going on. And there's also trying to figure out how to inspire people to jump into pastoral ministry because there's fewer people jumping into pastoral ministry. So they're all trying to figure this out. But I know one of the factors good and well of this type of burnout is self-inflicted. It is forgetting that you're not the vine, that you're a branch. And my sabbatical taught me that so much, that so much of my effort is from me. And I had to grow in prayerfulness. There was an immense lack of prayerfulness in my life. And I've had to learn to just, when I'm feeling burdened, to just go outside and just walk down Holland Avenue in the sun and see the invisible attributes of God and his glory of his creation and just talk to God and just pray and cast my cares upon him to sustain me. Like, I need this. Well, you need this. Like, as a Christian, you need this.You need to read the scriptures, not just for the utility of checking a box or doing a thing or completing a task or what, but to actually just gaze upon the beauty of our God and his word. We need this. We need this because we're so trying to be vines, and we're not. We're not capable of it. We're not designed to be the vine. We're not designed to be the source of life, of strength, of identity. No, it comes from him. And there's this invitation to abide in him. And we just miss it, y'all. We miss it. So many of us are trying. So many of us, our Christian faith is like a phone. It's like a phone where it's just going. It's got all... like my wife, when she for a long time she didn't realize that on the iPhone you have to like close out the windows. And then one day I was like, she's like, "My battery keeps dying." I was like, "Let me see it. Have you closed out your windows?" And she's like, "What?" I was like, "You've had a hundred windows going for years! Like, you got to like get rid of these." And so many of us have so many windows open all the time. We're so many things that are happening all the time. And, you know, we'll switch to low power mode and try to stretch the life out of it, and all of a sudden it starts shutting down. And the problem is that it's meant to be connected to the source of power. It's got to be recharged. You can't endlessly use the phone and expect that it's going to function like it's supposed to.And that's us. We just, we miss this, y'all. We try to work jobs and raise children and pay rent and be good friends and family and clean up our house and be good neighbors and stay healthy and pay debt and be a better spouse. We try to do all the things without ever charging the battery. And we wonder why we are anxious and depressed and sleepless and overmedicated and overstimulated and overwhelmed. And it is because we have underwhelmed our souls by trying to be the vine when he's just saying, "Be a branch." Just be a branch. And we reject this offer to abide in the vine. And we as Christians live lives a million miles a minute. And then when we have the time to truly abide, we will doom scroll and we will distract. And there's this invitation from our Savior that's saying, "Would you abide in me? Would you abide in me?" And we wonder why our faith is so bland and God seems so foreign and our worship seems so boring. And it's because we live lives trying to be vines instead of branches. The power to live the life we're called to live flows from him. It does not flow from ourselves. And some of us, myself included, need to be so deeply confronted by that reality this morning.And then Jesus continues in verse six. He says, "If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." So he says, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, it'll be done for you." Which is a wonderful invitation that has been so deeply hijacked and marred by prosperity preachers in America, who have just tried to actively ruin that passage every chance they can. As if that's some invitation to fill the desires of your heart. As if that's not connected to the immediate context, what Jesus just taught in John 14. In John 14 he says, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." So he just taught that, and he's teaching it again. It's this idea of we ask for things in the name of the Lord, in his name, that his will would be done to his glory and not the exaltation of self. And there's a lot of prosperity preachers in America that took that and made that about our own selfish enriched desires, and they've ruined that. And hell is hot, and they're going to see it one day because that is a wicked way to twist this passage. Because what's so beautiful about this passage is to have such a sweet communion with God, to so deeply abide in him and him in you, that he so shaped your desires to be so heavenly and kingdom-motivated, that what flows out of your heart in this deep abiding relationship is things that make much of him, in his name, to his glory, and not our own. And that is a way to live. That is an invitation to a much sweeter, much better life when we live inside the vine.And then he, we'll finish here in verses 8 through 11. Says, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Now goodness, there's a lot in that passage, which again, if you're not part of a group, stop by our connect table today, jump in a group. You could study this this week in your group. So I can't get into all of this. But I do want to end on this idea here, that following the ways of God – and that's keeping his commandments – that following the ways of God is abiding in his love, and that's where joy is found. Like, y'all, we need that so deeply. Our souls need that so deeply. Because our instincts from the flesh, when God says "do this," "don't do this," our instincts say, "Ah, did you say that? Ah, is... I don't know." We don't want to do this. But what he's trying to help us see is that if you're abiding in me, if you're abiding in my love, you'll see this is where joy is found. And maybe against your instincts, but it's better for you because you'll actually discover something that is better.When my wife and I got married, we had a few different interests. I love sports, I still do. She was a musical theater minor. And to this day, she teaches dance and musical theater for a middle school. So she loves musical theater. And I, when we got married, did not like musical theater. I wasn't raised on it. I saw Oklahoma one time as a kid, and I was like, "That's a glimpse of hell." This is like, I don't love this. But she does. And so I had to finally start to see things from her perspective. And the first musical that finally started to make sense to me is I listened to Les Mis and I saw Les Mis, and I went, huh. I love stories. I love good film. I love music. Okay, I see. And I started to… and then my buddy texted me and said, "Hey, have you heard about this Broadway that just hit called Hamilton?" And I just was like, "No." It's like, I went on Spotify and I listened to it. I went, "Oh my goodness." And then we started going to see Broadways together. We started going up to Charlotte and then, you know, Colombia, and just we started seeing these things. It's like, "Oh, okay." Like, I'm starting to get some of this. And there's some that I truly have begun to enjoy. There's some I still don't enjoy, and I say, "You should go see that with your friend." But there are others where I'm just like, "No, this is a wonderful story. I'm captured by it. I'm captured by the music. I see what they're doing in the first act, how they pull this into the second act. I see this. And now I see how good this is." Now, it was against my instincts; would have never thought I'd be a person that would show up to a Broadway and enjoy it. But I see how some of them, there's a lot of joy in this, and there's joy with her and enjoying this together.And it may be against our instincts to see the commands of God that we don't want to follow. But if you in faith will trust the vine and trust what he is saying, that this is where joy is actually found. If you do this, you will experience true joy, not the fleeting happiness of this world. Because the world offers us so many things that we can chase after that we think are good, and those things will never satisfy. We have to believe this. We have to believe this wholeheartedly.A couple days ago, I got to do something that I have so wanted to do for so very long. I got to go to the Masters, which has been a bucket list thing for me to do. Like, I just, I've so badly wanted to go, and I finally got to go. And I got there, and it was awesome. This is probably going to show up in 10 sermon illustrations in the next couple of years because it just was a profound experience for me. But I know some of you don't like golf. It's fine. But stay with me. I was there, and I was enjoying it. I was enjoying all the things that I've wanted to enjoy for years. But I also realized there's a crowd that shows up to the Masters, it's a little different. I thought that, you know, everyone's going to be there and they're going to be enjoying this the whole way to the finish. And by the time we're at 18, the final hole in golf – there's 18 holes – on the final hole, we're there, which is a big deal as you see them finish in the biggest golf tournament in the world, but stay with me. We're there, and there's only like three or four hundred people still left. Like, there just, that's it. I was like, "What in the world? There were thousands of people here earlier, and we're on the final hole of the biggest golf tournament in the world." And what I realized is, is for a lot of people, this is just a social thing. This is a thing. And there's a… I went up to where all the fancy houses are, and I saw all the fancy beautiful people and all the things. And I just had a moment of clarity, not from a position of self-righteousness, but just from a position of just God-given clarity. That's like, there's so many people that want to be in those houses. There's so many people where that's the good life, that that's everything the world offers: money, status, fame, luxuries, riches, all of it. Everything is aimed at that life right there. To be able to do this, it's just a social thing that you do for a minute and go on to the next big thing. And I had such clarity to go, "That's not joyful. That is fleeting worldly happiness. And it's not where joy is found."And we have to examine our souls to realize where true joy is found. It is found in living a life that abides in the vine. It is found in joyously listening to our Savior and living a life that is pleasing in his sight because that's where ultimate joy is found. And y'all, that invitation is so clearly given to us as the people of God. But we have to have the ears to hear it, and we have to have the eyes to see it. And that's my hope. There are some of you that if you're honest, you've been looking for joy in all the wrong places. That so much of your life has been filled with, "If I can just get to this point in life, if I can just get this, if I can just obtain this, I'll finally be happy." And Jesus so clearly is saying that's not where joy is found. But there is an invitation to you, there is, to come and abide in Christ and have him abide in you, and to live a life connected as a branch to the vine. And my hope is this: in this Holy Week, as we walk through this into Good Friday and we celebrate what he did at the cross, as we walk into Easter and celebrate the empty tomb, that you would have your eyes open to what this invitation is. And you take it, and you'd believe.And there are those of us that have truly tasted and seen that the Lord is good, that we actually are Christians, we love Christ. But what you need to hear this morning is that some of you have so strived and worked and labored like a vine. And my hope this morning is that you'd hear the invitation so clearly to abide, that you'd see that you are a wonderful branch that God is pruning and doing stuff with. He's trying to bear fruit in. But things need to shift in your life. My hope is that in a group this week, you begin to see that even more clearly, that things need to shift in your life to be a Christian that actually takes the invitation to abide and remembers that you're a branch and he's the vine. Let me pray.Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us see this invitation this morning. God, help us see that you are the source of life and hope and joy and fulfillment and identity. It's you. God, I pray that you'd compel our hearts to believe that. There are those here that have never truly believed that. That has not been their story. They've lived life trying to find joy everywhere else. And God, I pray that you pierce through their heart right now to help them see where true actual joy is found. It is found in you. And there are many of us, God, that we've believed that, we've forgotten it. And we've lived lives trying to be branches. And God, may you pierce through our hearts this morning to help us see who we are actually called to be. And that we begin and remember and rediscover what it means to be a branch connected to you, our wonderful vine. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Thescene opens with Pharisees approaching Jesus: “Get out and depart from here,for Herod will kill you” (v. 31). They're likely scheming, hoping to scareHim from Perea, which was Herod Antipas' territory, back to Judea, where theSanhedrin could trap Him. Herod, who beheaded John the Baptist (Luke 9:7-9),was curious about Jesus' miracles but now threatens His life, perhaps fearingHis influence. The Pharisees' warning may carry truth, yet their motives aresuspect, cloaked in false concern. Jesus, unfazed, and with courage, replies, “Goand tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today andtomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected'” (v. 32). CallingHerod a “fox”, indicating that he was sly and despised, Jesus uses sharpsarcasm, not disrespect, fitting His prophetic role (Nehemiah 4:3). Jesus is novictim of Herod's schemes because He knows that He is following a divinetimetable (John 2:4; Acts 2:23). Nothing, not even Herod's threats, can derailGod's plan for His death at Passover in Jerusalem, decreed before time (1 Peter1:20). “Today and tomorrow” mean He'll continue His work, freeing theoppressed, healing the sick, until the “third day,” hinting at His death and resurrection,when His mission is “finished” (John 19:30). No earthly power, neither Herodnor Pharisees, can stop Him. And it will not stop us if we know God's plan andpurpose for our lives! ThenJesus declares, “Nevertheless I must walk today, tomorrow, and the dayfollowing, for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem” (v.33). With biting irony, He notes Jerusalem's grim history as the place whereprophets die, judged by the Sanhedrin as false (Luke 11:47-51; Acts 13:27). “Itcannot be”, in other words, “it's not fitting”, for Him to die elsewhere.This isn't resignation; it's resolve to face His destiny, exposing the city'sguilt in rejecting God's messengers. Jesustone now shifts to anguish revealing His compassion: “O Jerusalem,Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often Iwanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under herwings, but you were not willing!” (v. 34). This lament, repeated later(Matthew 23:37), pulses with love, not anger. Like a hen shielding chicks fromdanger (Psalm 91:4), Jesus longed to protect Israel—His “house,” both thenation and temple. He knew its history, from Melchizedek to the Maccabees, yetsaw its rebellion. Despite countless chances to repent, they refused, leavingtheir house “desolate” (v. 35). The temple, their idol, would burn in AD 70,the people scattered, with no king or priest (Hosea 3:4). Yet,Jesus gives them hope: “You shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is Hewho comes in the name of the Lord'” (v. 35; Psalm 118:26). , This points to His return, whenIsrael will mourn, then embrace Him (Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:1). Jesusdoesn't forsake them; a future awaits in His coming Millennium reign whenthey'll sing His praise.Jesus' courage should challenge our fears. Hefaced Herod's threats, unmoved, because He trusted God's plan. Are we as bold,or do we shrink from opposition? His lament reveals God's compassionate heartwhich is patient, yearning to gather us, yet grieved by refusal. Israel's “youwere not willing” warns us: privilege doesn't save; only surrender does.The Pharisees hid behind their deceit, and Jerusalem clung to tradition. Today,we might dodge God's call with excuses or delay. But the door of grace won'tstay open forever, because now is the time to respond (Hebrews 4:7). ClosingChallengeTodaydo you hear the calls of Jesus? Are you resisting Jesus' call like Jerusalem,or trusting His timing like He did? This week, face one fear or excuse holdingyou back. Maybe sharing your faith or letting go of control. Step forwardboldly, praying for a heart soft to His gathering wings. Don't say “I wouldnot”, but today say yes.

What if the seeds of revival were planted long before the birth of Christ? And what if the struggle to preserve faith in the face of overwhelming cultural pressure laid the foundation for the Gospel's explosive spread across the ancient world?   In this episode of Revival Radio TV, we uncover a forgotten battleground where faith clashed with the seductive allure of Greek philosophy. During the Second Temple period, Judaism itself was torn between two worlds: 1 Maccabees—a political manifesto aimed at legitimizing the Hasmonean dynasty, stripped of miracles and divine intervention—and 2 Maccabees—a passionate defense of traditional faith filled with miracles, martyrdom, and divine deliverance.   The influence of Hellenism reached deep into Jewish culture, dividing the nation between those who compromised with Greek thought and those who clung to the faith of their fathers. It was a culture war that shaped the very world Jesus was born into. But more than that, it laid the groundwork for the great revival to come.   How did this clash of cultures prepare the way for the Messiah? And how does this ancient battle continue to echo through history, even affecting the Church today? Join us as we unravel the mystery of faith, culture, and revival.   RRTV_250413

John Zmirak with Eric Metaxas. Big Bad John's back for his weekly update on the state of America. 4/7/25  The Eric Metaxas Show John Zmirak  Apr 07 2025   Other Episodes   Article mentioned: The Vatican's Embrace of Sex Change Mutilation Suggests We're at a Maccabees Moment You might not have read the Book of Maccabees. (Catholics and Orthodox regard it as canonical while Protestants and Jews mostly consider it simply an inspiring, accurate history of God's people enduring corruption and persecution.) But the Lutheran George Frederick…   Other articles from John Zmirak: The Brew: Can Trump Clean Out the Deep State Before It Destroys Him?   The Brew: Trump Announces ‘Liberation Day' with Tariffs Intended to Rebuild American Industry   Sidney Powell: Corrupt Lawfare Prosecutors Epitomize What's Broken in America   The Brew: New Documents Prove Biden's FBI Helped Steal 2020 Election. Will Anyone Go to Prison Over That?   The Brew: Would You Face Down Satanists and Take a Beating for Jesus? This Man Did   The Brew: Trump Must Play 4D Blindfold Chess in a Hailstorm if America Is to Survive   The Brew: Trump Acts Against Election Fraud. How Far Did He Go, and What Threats Still Remain?   The Brew: Trump's Team Shares Secrets with Leftist Anti-Trump Smear Merchant   The Brew: Evil Exposes Itself in Burning Teslas and a Shredded Constitution   The Brew: Judicial Tyranny Edition   The Brew: JFK Didn't Kill Himself, and Other Things We're Learning from His Assassination Files   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  John Zmirak makes his weekly appearance and covers current events and shares recent articles available at-   https://stream.org/author/johnzmirak/ Watch Eric Metaxas on Rumble-  https://rumble.com/c/TheEricMetaxasRadioShow  The Eric Metaxas Show- https://metaxastalk.com/podcasts/ Eric Metaxas Show on Apple Podcasts-    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-eric-metaxas-show/id991156680 Check out- Socrates in the City   Find All of John Zmirak Articles at- https://stream.org/author/johnzmirak/    John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or co-author of ten books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. He is co-author with Jason Jones of “God, Guns, & the Government.”   John Zmirak's new book: No Second Amendment, No First  by John Zmirak  Available March 19, 2024 Today's Left endlessly preaches the evils of “gun violence." It is a message increasingly echoed from the nation's pulpits, presented as common-sense decency and virtue. Calls for “radical non-violence” are routinely endowed with the imprimatur of religious doctrine.   But what if such teachings were misguided, even damaging? What if the potential of a citizenry to exercise force against violent criminals and tyrannical governments is not just compatible with church teaching, but flows from the very heart of Biblical faith and reason? What if the freedoms we treasure are intimately tied to the power to resist violent coercion?  This is the long-overdue case John Zmirak makes with stunning clarity and conviction in No Second Amendment, No First. A Yale-educated journalist and former college professor, Zmirak shows how the right of self-defense against authoritarian government was affirmed in both the Old and New Testaments, is implied in Natural Law, and has been part of Church tradition over the centuries.     --------------------------------------------------------------------  Check out our ACU Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/ACUPodcast   HELP ACU SPREAD THE WORD!  Please go to Apple Podcasts and give ACU a 5 star rating. Apple canceled us and now we are clawing our way back to the top. Don't let the Leftist win. Do it now! Thanks. Also Rate us on any platform you follow us on. It helps a lot. Forward this show to friends. 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He's not an #$$hole, He's Symptomatic - Erin Maccabee & Cinnamon Reiheld   Episode Summary In this episode of the First Responder Wellness Podcast, host Conrad Weaver is joined by Erin Maccabee and Cinnamon Reiheld for a powerful conversation about the mental health challenges faced by first responders. They explore how trauma, desensitization, and high ACEs scores impact emotional well-being, and why compassion, vulnerability, and peer support are essential for healing. Erin and Cinnamon share their personal journeys, discuss the cultural stigma around mental health in emergency services, and offer actionable steps first responders can take toward recovery and resilience. Whether you're on the front lines or supporting someone who is, this episode delivers insight, hope, and a path forward. Together, they explore: The personal journeys that led Erin and Cinnamon into the field of first responder wellness The often-hidden trauma and emotional toll these professionals face daily How compassion, peer support, and vulnerability can break through the stigma and silence The evolution of mental health awareness in emergency services and the importance of grassroots movements The powerful connection between high ACEs scores (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and career choices in high-stress professions Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of the emotional landscape of first responders, actionable strategies for healing, and the critical role of community support and mental health training in fostering long-term wellness.

Why would any leader choose to take on a transformation that requires rethinking how they lead, how their organization functions, and how they learn? In this episode, we dive deeper with Cliff Norman and David Williams, co-authors of Quality as an Organizational Strategy, exploring Chapter 11: “Getting Started.” They share powerful stories, practical steps, and the deep-rooted challenges leaders face when shifting from conventional methods to building true learning organizations grounded in Dr. Deming's philosophy. This conversation highlights why improvement cannot be delegated, why leadership transformation is essential, and how to begin the journey—with clarity, commitment, and courage. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.1 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today we are going to continue our conversation with Dave Williams and Cliff Norman about their book Quality as an Organizational Strategy. I found this book fascinating because I think it's addressing something where there's been a bit of a hole and that is how do we think about the strategy of our business? And so we already had our conversation in a prior episode about the overview of the book, but today we're going to be talking about specifically, now this is kind of funny because we're going to be talking about the back of the book and that is chapter 11, getting started. Dave, why don't you take it away?   0:00:53.3 Dave Williams: Well, thanks, Andrew. Thanks for having us back on the Deming podcast. So, as you mentioned, part of the way that the book is laid out is that it describes kind of the foundations that are behind quality as an organizational strategy and begins sort of with an introduction that explains a good bit about how Dr. Deming had this provocation of a need for leaders to transform the way that they approach leading organizations. And part of that was to move not just from process based improvement projects, but to start to think about major systems in the organization and to pursue quality as the overall strategy and create a continuous improvement organization or learning organization. And so the book lays some of the foundation behind the science of improvement or behind profound knowledge that underpin the thinking, walks through quality as an organizational strategy, as a method of five interdependent activities. Then at the end it comes back full circle to say, well, this is great, now you've learned about these theories and methods. But a natural question for any leader would be, how do I get started? And one of the first things that we talk about in that section actually is about why leaders would want to do this transformation.   0:02:30.9 Dave Williams: And this actually came from a conversation that Lloyd and Cliff and I had in 2020 where we were talking about getting on this journey of building the book. And we all kind of recognized that this was really, really hard work. And we were curious or we, we didn't have a good answer of what was our theory about why somebody would deviate from the way in which they work today and embark on a transformational change of the way that they approach leadership, the way that they approach organizations. And actually I ended up going on a journey of interviewing a whole host of leaders who had been influenced by Deming, who had been involved in improvement in healthcare, folks like Dr. Berwick and Paul Batalden and Brent James. I interviewed some folks in the UK and other places, like John Seddon, and asked them, oh and I should Blaine Godfrey, who had been the lead of the Durand Institute, and I posed the question, what causes somebody to want to embark on this change? And many people actually had a hard time articulating it. But the answer that emerged, or actually Blaine Godfrey was the one that kind of framed it the best, I think, for us, was a number of things.   0:03:57.7 Dave Williams: Sometimes it's something like a book like this comes out and people read it and it's interesting and new. Sometimes it's an event happens, a patient safety event or a major accident or something of which causes people to have to change or do something different. Sometimes it's a discouragement with a desire that you know you could do better, but you don't have methods or know how to. So there were a host of things that we listed, and those are some of a sample of them that might invite somebody to say, the way that we're working today is not getting us to the level that we want to. And now we want to embark on something different. And we might look to something like quality as an organizational strategy as a method for us to transform the way that we're working and build on the shoulders of Deming's philosophy and the science of improvement and do it differently.   0:04:56.0 Andrew Stotz: And when I look at the book, you guys are bringing together a lot of different stuff. It's not just a Deming book. It's Deming is a part of this, and that's fascinating. One of the questions I have is when we look at, let's say, a business owner, a business leader is looking for answers, as you said, maybe it's an event, maybe it's a discouragement, maybe it's a feeling like we can do better. Maybe it's just being beaten by competitors. They come to a point where they start looking for answers and they find some fantastic books, authors, ideas, consultants, all this and I think about whether that's Peter Drucker or whether that's the Lean movement or whether that's, let's say Taguchi or something like that is the teachings that you guys are talking about - and I'm going to specifically ask about the teachings of Dr. Deming. Is it more or is it more difficult or less difficult to implement than other books or styles or methods that someone's going to come across?   0:06:08.7 Cliff Norman: I have to quote one of my colleagues here who probably knew about more about Deming than anybody in API or all of us combined, that's Ron Moen, who did, I think it was 88 seminars, four-day seminars with Dr. Deming. Dr. Deming once told him, he said, Ron, I believe you've been to more of these and I've been to. And it's kind of a joke. He had a great sense of humor. But you know, Ron told me the problem with Deming is he's asking us to change. And there's all sorts of things out there that require the management and the leadership, they really don't have to do anything different. And there are several things out there. In fact, Philip Crosby, one of the three gurus during when they launched, he was more the evangelical and had a way of talking to management so that they understood it, which that was his contribution to all that. But when Six Sigma came up and black belts and all that, and Crosby looked at him and says, that's not going to change the system. He said, all you're doing is killing a bear for management, killing a bear for management, and then you'll get a black belt.   0:07:19.9 Cliff Norman: You know, And I thought, wow that's pretty profound. Because the management at that point doesn't have to do anything, just have the black belt ceremony. There's absolutely no change on their part. Where Deming, as Ron says, he's kind of a pain. You've got to learn about variation, you got to learn about Shewhart charts. You've got to be able to put together a family of measures for your organization. You've got to understand your organization's system. You need to understand psychology, you need to understand theory of knowledge and how people learn how they change. And nothing else out there puts that on leaders. And so that was a question that Dave was lending back to. Why would somebody do this to themselves? You know, why would they take on this whole extra thing to learn and all the rest of it. And for the people that I know that have made that, that bridge, the pure joy that they get and the rewards they get from people who are learning and that they're leading and that they're changing and they're able to go to other organizations and repeat this and call them up and say, thank you so much for helping me learn how to be a real leader.   0:08:35.8 Cliff Norman: I mean, that's the reward in it. But it requires a real change on the part of the leader. And I don't know of anything else, Andrew, that actually requires that kind of in depth change. And there was one of our leaders, Joe Balthazar, he had Jane and I do four years in a row with his leadership team, teach them the science of improvement. The same curriculum, same leaders, four years in a row. And the second year I was doing it, I said, don't we need... No, no, Cliff, I want you to do exactly what you did last year. He said, it takes years for people to understand this. And I thought, wow, this is unbelievable. But on the fourth year, the VP of sales walked up to me and he says, I think I figured it out. And I thought, wow. And it does it literally... Because you've got to depart from where you've been and start thinking about how you're going to change and let go of what's made you successful up to this point. And that's hard, that's hard for anybody to do.   0:09:47.2 Cliff Norman: And anybody's been through that four day seminar knows when they crossed that path that all of a sudden they had to say, you know what I've been doing, I can see where I've been, the problem and not the solution. And that's tough for us. That really is tough. And Deming says you have to give up that guilt trip. And once you understand the theory of variation, once you understand systems, once you understand psychology and theory of knowledge, it's time then for you to move on and let go of the guilt. I hope that makes sense. But that's the difficulty in this.   0:10:17.6 Andrew Stotz: It reminds me of two, it made me think about two things. I mean, I was just a 24 year old guy when I attended the seminars that I did, and they weren't even four day. I think they were two-day ones at Quality Enhancement Seminars in, what was it, George Washington, I think. But the point that I remember, as just a young guy who I was, I pretty much admired all these business leaders. And then to see Dr. Deming really nail em to the wall and say it's about you changing. And whether he was saying that directly or whether that he was implying that through the Red Bead experiment or other things, it's about you shaping the system. That really blew me away because I had already read some books and I was pretty excited. And then it also made me think about, let's say there's a really good book, I would say Good to Great by Jim Collins that highlights some things that you can do to succeed and make your business better. And you can just buy that book and hand it to your management team and go, hey, implement what you learned from this book.   0:11:20.8 Andrew Stotz: Whereas with the Deming book, it's like there's just so much more to it. So I guess the answer to this is it is more takes time. There's more thinking going on. And I think that's part of the whole point of what your book does, is to help us map it out. So why don't we go through and think about this and kind of maybe step by step through what is the starting point and how do we go?   0:11:45.4 Cliff Norman: Andrew, I just got to add to what you just said there and go back to Joe Balthazar at Hallmark Building Supplies. He shared with me that, and he's the one that said I want you to do these four year seminars dedicated Deming's idea of Profound knowledge. And he said, Cliff, the day I made it, I knew I'd made it. Is my son Joey spilled his milk. He's about three years old. And he said, I started to do my normal leap across the table and he said I was about mid air. And I thought, oh my, this is what they do. This is part of their system. This is common. And I'm treating this like it's special. And that was so profound for him. And when, when you move beyond the Shewhart chart and you see events in your life around you relative to the theory of variation, common and special cause variation at a deep way like that, that's the kind of transformation you want to see in a leader. And Joe will tell you he's forever grateful for Deming and everything he's learned, and I think that's the reward. But people need to be willing to go on that journey, as Dave was saying.   0:12:53.0 Andrew Stotz: So Dave, why don't you walk us through a little bit of what you guys are teaching in that chapter.   0:13:00.3 Dave Williams: Sure. Well, one of the next steps obviously is if somebody, if a leadership team thinks that they want to go on this journey, there's some considerations they got to think about. As we've already sort of alluded to or touched on, this is a leadership responsibility and a leadership change. And so there's got to be will amongst the leadership team in order to say we want to work together and work hard to do this work. That this is not something that, similar to Cliff's example of say, having black belts, that we can just hand it off, somebody else will do it, and we can just keep going about our business and hope. It's important that leaders spend time recognizing and thinking about the fact that this is going to involve them doing work, doing effort, changing the way that they think, changing the way that they practice. And I like to say it's good hard work. I mean it's going to be something that's deeply rewarding. But it does require them to have that will. And with will then it's going to come time and energy, right? They've got to make the space, they've got to create regular routines and opportunities for them to learn just in terms of content, learn in terms of practice or application and learn in the process of doing the improvement work and doing the change to the way that they work in the organization.   0:14:38.0 Dave Williams: So there's going to be a need to build in that ability. And then a third thing is to ask whether you think this is something that you can do on your own or whether it might be useful to have help. And help may be an internal, a consultant, but likely not to promote consulting it but, but there's a good chance that you're going to need somebody that has both experience in improvement and helping people do results-driven improvement as well as somebody who has experience doing system wide change through a lens like QOS. And, and the advantage of that often is it it gives you as a leadership team to focus in on your job of thinking and looking and learning and allow somebody else to be an external intervener, somebody who comes in and creates some of the support, some of the context, some of the ways that can make it easier for you to step back and look at your organization in a different way. And so many times those are some of the things that should be considered as teams working through it. Cliff, what would you add or improve upon.   0:16:07.3 Cliff Norman: The idea of external help. Deming was pretty black and white about that. I was kind of surprised. I went back and read one of his quotes. He said, "I should mention also the costly fallacy held by many people in management that a consultant must know all about a process in order to work on it. All evidence is exactly the contrary. Competent men in every position, from top management to the humblest worker know all there is to know about their work except how to improve it. Help towards improvement can come only from outside knowledge." And I was reflecting on that today with Jane who's been involved in this for 40 plus years also. I said Jane, when he said that, I think it was accurate because at that time she and I were going to Duran seminars. There's only two books out there with methods. One was Ishikawa's book on Guide to Quality Control. And the other was Feigenbaum's book. And then of course you had Duran's book on The Quality Handbook, which was a nice doorstop. But there wasn't that much knowledge about improvement. And the worst part where Deming was really getting to was there's very few people you'd run into that actually under the Shewhart methods and charts and understand the difference between special and common cause variation.   0:17:27.0 Cliff Norman: And so you had to bring that kind of knowledge in from the outside. And frankly, we've had people go off the rails here. You know, Dr. Deming in the teaching of statistics has identified analytic studies which is focused on looking at data over time and trying to understand that and simple methods and approaches and then what he calls enumerative statistics, which is use of T tests, F tests and all the rest of it, which assumes that under the IDD principle that data is independent and identically distributed. Well, if you have any special causes in the data set, it blows up both of those assumptions and the use of those methods doesn't offer any help in prediction. And as Dr. Deming often said, prediction is the problem. And then go back to Shewhart. And Shewhart said, things in nature are inherently stable, but man-made processes are inherently unstable. So when Dave and I first do a Shewhart chart for a client, we don't expect for it to be stable. We expect for to have special causes. And as Dr. Deming said and also Dr. Juran, that when you get a stable system, that in and of itself is an achievement, that means nobody's messing around with the system anymore.   0:18:43.0 Cliff Norman: And you see this in the simplest things, like in an office, somebody will walk in and they think that their body is the standard for what the internal temperature should be for that room. So then they walk up and they start tampering with the thermostat. And by the end of the day everybody's irritated because we've had so many bodies up there with their standard. Moving the funnel on us here, and just leaving it alone would probably all be better off. But you have to learn that. And I think that's what Dr. Deming was saying, is that that kind of knowledge is going to come from the outside. Now the good news is is that since he wrote that in 1986, we've got a lot of people out there and some of them are in organizations that do understand the Shewhart methods and can understand the difference between common and special cause variation. They do understand the difference between a new and analytic studies and statistics and they can be of help. So the Deming Institute has a room full of these people show up, but they're at their gatherings annually. So we're a lot further along than we were in 1986.   0:19:45.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. So let's go through that for just a second. Some considerations you've talked about. You know that it's a leadership change. Right. And you gotta ask yourself, are we ready to work on this? And you know, this is not a hands-off thing. The second thing you talked about is time and energy. Are we ready to make the space for this? We have to have regular meetings. You know, we've gotta really... There's some work involved here. And then the third part you've talked about is outside help. And you mentioned about this story of Joe Balthazar and how he asked you to do the same topic over and over for four years. And imagine if he was telling his team, let's meet and try to implement some of this stuff on our own. Everybody dig into a book and then let's try. It would be very difficult to make that kind of progress compared to bringing an outside person. Which also brings me to the last thing that you said, Cliff, which was the idea that Dr. Deming had mentioned, that you need an outside person to truly change something. Everybody's got the expertise on the inside.   0:20:44.5 Cliff Norman: I appreciate you summarizing that because my job and working with Joe and leadership team, I was meeting with him every month. But what the four years that Jane and I spent were the next levels of his leadership. You know, it wasn't the leadership team. And I'm glad you brought that up because it was the very next level that he wanted exposed to this and the VP of sales that came in, he was new, so he had to be part of this group because he wasn't there originally. And so there was that ongoing... He wanted that next generation that was going to take over for him and the others to really understand this. So I'm glad you summarized that for me to help.   0:21:30.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I think one of the starting points too, I mean, the body of work, not just this book, but the other books that you guys have been involved in and produced provide a lot of the starting points for this. So there's a lot there. Dave, where do we go after these considerations? And the people say, okay, yeah, leadership says, we want to make this change. We're ready to make some time for it. We're willing to get outside support and help. Where do we go next.   0:21:57.7 Dave Williams: Right. Well, one thing that we typically invite a leadership team to do is to take kind of a self assessment of where they sort of see their baseline in relation to the methods and activities of QOS. So in chapter one of the book, there's actually a table that is 10 different categories. And then each leader takes it independently and they rate their level of agreement with different definitions from 0 to 10. 0 being this really isn't present, and 10 is, I'm very, very far along on this journey that in the book that's out now, there's a summarized table, it's on a page. But actually in the QOS field guide that we're working on publishing this year, there's a much more detailed version that we use in practice that has deeper definitions, but basically it works its way through purpose and leadership and systems thinking and measurement and all the things that are tied into QOS and what... And as I mentioned, we have each individual member of the leadership team take it independently and then we bring those scores together to learn together.   0:23:32.5 Dave Williams: And there's different ways in which you can display it. In the book, we show an example of a leadership team's scatter plot where it shows the rating and then it also shows the standard deviation amongst that exists between the leadership team. It's very, very common for leaders to not be in agreement in terms of their score in each of the different areas. You know what I said, It's a 0 to 10 scale. Typically, in my experience using the tool, people tend to be between a 2 and a 6 and hovering around a 2 or a 4. But it sort of looks like a buckshot or shotgun blast where there's a very... If you were to put dots where everybody scores, where there's variation that exists. And that's good because it's useful for the team to pause and think about why they assess the organization the way that they did. Looking at it through this new lens, where are the places that there's agreement and also where are the places that there's variation? And that helps them to be able to think about the fact that through this process, they're likely to both improve their assessment of the organization, but also increase their agreement about where they are and what they need to do to move forward and what they need to do to improve.   0:25:05.2 Dave Williams: And so that's a useful starting point, gets everybody kind of on the same page, and it's something that we can use at intervals as one of the ways to continually come back and evaluate progress towards the destination of pursuing quality as an organizational strategy.   0:25:23.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I mean, I imagine that self assessment, it helps you too when you work with companies to be able to really understand, okay, here are starting point with this company is really, they just really don't know much about all of this stuff, whereas you'll have some other clients that basically, wow, okay, there's a lot of knowledge here about it, but how's the implementation and all that? So are we ready to change? Are we prepared to devote the time and energy? Are we going to get outside help? And where are we now? What's our starting point that's great to help us understand exactly how you step through it. What comes next?   0:26:03.5 Cliff Norman: Well, in that very first milestone, in that table, is it table three, Dave? Anyway, the very first milestone is to establish formal improvement efforts. And the reason for that is that unless people experience what it takes to develop, test and implement changes in the organizations, they really can't appreciate the structure that comes with quality as an organizational strategy. Because it's very difficult for many organizations to launch three or four improvement efforts and then bring them to fruition. And there's all sorts of stuff that happens. And then you find out very quickly whether you have managers or leaders, and organizations they've brought me in, they say, let's do some leadership training. I said, no, let's just do some improvement and then we'll find out if we have leaders or not. And one group, I won't mention who it was, but they had five people on their leadership team and they had to replace two of them because they found out they couldn't actually manage an improvement effort. And then the CEO was wondering how they actually manage their organization, which they weren't either. And so it's a rather, it's an important test in the front.   0:27:22.2 Cliff Norman: But as Dr. Juran says, it's real important to develop the habit of improvement. And if you don't know what that is, if you've never experienced it, then it's hard to say to people, gee, I need a purpose that aligns my improvement efforts. I need to understand my system so I know where those improvements are going on. I need to build an information system, get information from customers outside, people inside. I need to put together a strategic plan that actually makes improvements on purpose. That's a lot of work. And once you understand how complicated it can get in terms of just doing three or four improvement efforts and then all of a sudden you got a portfolio of 30 to do your strategic plan. Now that needs some structure, that needs some guidance and all the rest of it. But I'll just go back one step further. My own journey. I was sent by Halliburton at Otis Engineering to go see Dr. Deming 1982 in February. And coming back, I had an audience with the president of our organization, Purvis Thrash. And I went on and on about Dr. Deming. He said, Cliff, you know what I'd like to have? I said, what's up, Mr. Thrash?   0:28:27.5 Cliff Norman: He says, if you'll take this 50 million dollar raw material problem and solve this for me, I'll be a happy man and I'll give you all the quality you want. But go take care of that problem for me first and then come back to me and talk about Deming and Juran and anything else you want to talk about. So I put together four or five people and over about three months we solved his 50 million dollar raw material problem. And then he had a meeting of all executives and I was sitting with the managers in the back row and he called me to the front and he says, Cliff, will you sign this card right here? And I says, well Mr. Thrash, what is this? He says, well, I'm giving you authority to sign $50,000 anytime you need it to get all the quality we can stand here at Otis Engineering. One of the vice presidents said, well, I don't have that authority. He said, you didn't save me $50 million. You know, but once that happens, Andrew, once you do that, then you've got people that are willing to help you. And then once that takes place, I can't tell you how important, it allowed me then to bring in Lloyd Provost to help me.   0:29:36.2 Cliff Norman: And they weren't about to pay out money. They didn't like consultants, in fact, they were anti-consultant. But you saved us $50 million. I gave you $50,000. And Lloyd doesn't make that much. So get him in here, do whatever you need to go do. And I just think it's so critical that we have that demonstration project that people understand at the leadership level what we're talking about when we talk about design and redesign of the system.   0:30:00.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. I mean, I appreciate in the book you're talking about this concept. I'm not going to call it quick wins, but the idea is we need to get results. You know, this isn't just about talking about stuff so that's one thing that as you just illustrated, that's one point. The second thing you mentioned, is this person a leader or a manager? You know, and I think for the listeners or viewers out there, they're probably... When they heard you say that, they're probably thinking. Okay, wait a minute. Are my team managers or leaders? How do I know? What would you say? What differentiates the two?   0:30:37.2 Cliff Norman: I was fortunate to hang around Dr. Maccabee, as Deming did, and I asked Dr. Maccabee that question. He said, Cliff it's actually pretty easy. He said leaders have followers, and if you have followers, you can be anywhere in the organization, be a leader, but if you don't have followers, you're not a leader. You might be a manager with authority. You're not a leader.   0:31:02.7 Andrew Stotz: Can I ask a little bit more on that? So I'm thinking about my own business, which is a coffee factory, and I have people that are running the business, but I also have people that are running departments like the roasting department. And that area when they're overseeing this and they're doing a very good job and they're keeping things up and all that. How do I understand in a sense you could say, are they followers? Well, not really. They're people working for them and they have a good time and so do I view that person as not necessarily a leader, but more of a manager, or how do I look at it in my own company?   0:31:35.5 Cliff Norman: It could be a manager, which is essential to the organization. And that's another big difference. You see, the leader can't delegate their relationship with the people who are followers. You can't do that any more than a teacher can dedicate her class to a substitute teacher. Anybody that's ever watched that knows that chaos is getting ready to break out here because that teacher has a relationship with those students. She knows them all in a big way. And when the substitute comes in is game time in most classrooms and so forth, the managers have skills and things that they're applying and they can actually delegate those. Like when I was a foreman, I could have somebody come in and take over my department and I say assign all my people tomorrow. And they could do that. Now, in terms of the people that I was leading that saw me as a leader in that department, they didn't have that relationship.   0:32:30.2 Cliff Norman: But management or skills and necessary things to make the organization run like you're talking about, the coffee is not going to get out the door unless I have people with subject matter knowledge and competent managers to make sure that the T's are getting crossed, the I's dotted and the rest of it. But the leadership of the organization that has followers, that's a whole different person. And I think it's important. That could be anywhere in the organization. Like I had at Halliburton, I had a VP of engineering. Everybody went to him, everybody. He had 110 patents. You know, he built that system. He built the whole organization. So the CEO did not have the followers that the VP of engineering had. And it was well earned. It's always earned, too.   0:33:16.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Okay, that's great. Leaders have followers. Leaders cannot delegate their authority. They have a different relationship.   0:33:24.0 Cliff Norman: They can't delegate the relationship.   0:33:25.8 Andrew Stotz: The relationship. Okay.   0:33:27.4 Cliff Norman: Yeah. Very important.   0:33:34.3 Andrew Stotz: So now let's go back to what, where we were. So we were saying some of the considerations. Are we ready to change? Are we prepared to devote the time and energy? Are we ready to get outside help and where are we now? And that self assessment that you talked about helps us to understand what's our starting point. I always tell a joke with my students about this when I talk about. I'd say, imagine you go to London and you're going to go visit your friend and you call your friend up, you say, I've arrived and I'm calling from a phone booth and just tell me how to get there. And the friend says, well, where are you? And you say, I'm not really sure. Well, do you see anything around you? Yeah, well, there's lots of buildings, but I don't really, you know. Well, do you see any names of any streets? No, I don't really see anything. But just tell me how to get there. There's something missing. If we don't know where we are, it's very difficult to get to where we're going. So now we understand where we are. We got that scatter plot that you guys have that you've talked about. Dave, where do we go next?   0:34:26.6 Dave Williams: Well, so Cliff already mentioned one of the fundamentals. And sometimes I think this is something that people struggle with because they want to jump into something new. But one of the best starting points is to focus in on improvement. And there's a number of different reasons for that. So one is that I don't know about you all, but in my experience, if I ask people, like, hey, I want to create some improvement projects and get started on improvement, I always tell people, like, if you remember the old Stephen Covey exercise where he put the rocks and the stones and the sand into a jar and poured water. And like you would do it in different orders. And I'm fascinated that people will stare at the big rocks or the things that are right in front of them, or the things that are on their agenda, or the things that are part of their strategy. And then they'll look to the side and grab some rare event or some extra thing that isn't related to that, but they've always wanted to work on. And where we try to focus people's attention is one, what are you already working on? Can you look through your and ask around, what are the things that are currently in play, projects that exist? And sometimes we won't ask, what improvement projects do you have? Because if you do that, you get a short list.   0:35:51.4 Dave Williams: Those are the things that people defined as an improvement effort, or maybe use some kind of framing to decide it was an improvement project. It may be better to in the beginning of the book, in the first chapter, we talk about different ways that you improve. And there's designing and redesigning a process. There's designing and redesigning a service or a product. There's changing a whole system. And so it can be useful to say, well, what are we doing in these areas? And that may actually create a bigger list of the various things where people are working on something that's about change to the system that may lend itself to be better activated through firing it up as an improvement project. And then, of course, there's a good chance that any organization, especially if they've done some kind of strategic planning, have some strategic objectives or some strategic priorities which they've committed to or already said, these are the things we're going to work on. So kind of crowdsourcing or bringing those together helps us to potentially find the early portfolio of projects without having to look much further, without having to say, what else do you want to work on.   0:37:07.0 Dave Williams: And then if we've got that, if we've got that list, a second thing that we can do is invite people to use the three questions of the model for improvement and reflect on can you answer these three questions? Do you know what you're trying to accomplish? Do you know how a change will result in improvement? Do you know what changes you'll make? What's your theory about how you'll get to improvement? And so having a list of the things that are already present or existing may be one first step. Another second step in the firing up a portfolio of improvement projects is asking the three questions for the model for improvement. And then a third one, if it's an active project is we have a project progress scale that you might use that can help you gauge. So I've got a project where is it on its journey towards achieving its aim or getting results? Those three can help us to sort of get a sense of the work that is at hand and that has already been sort of started in some fashion that is already in progress and maybe to get a sense of the level of definition and the progress that exists.   0:38:22.3 Dave Williams: They may not be the right projects, but that's a good place to start before trying to create new ones. And I'll hand it to you, Andrew.   0:38:30.4 Andrew Stotz: I find that interesting. Both the story that you told Cliff about fix my raw material problem and then, Dave, what you're talking about is as you talk in the book, focus first on improvement. What are we already working on? What's an improvement project we've got? What's a problem we've got? Because a lot of times, let's say in the teachings of Dr. Deming, it's like, no, get your mind right, read this stuff, read this, figure this out, think about this, go to a seminar, talk to other people before you do anything. I feel like that is oftentimes where people get caught is they get caught up in, I need a year to think about this. And can you explain a little bit more about why once we've done our self assessment and we're ready to go, that you focus on improvement rather than the thinking process?   0:39:21.7 Dave Williams: Well, because we want to... Well, one, we know that in order to get results or to get a different result than what we want, we got to change the system that we got. Right. So in order to do that, we've got to do improvement. The other thing is that there's already energy that's being expended here.   0:39:41.4 Andrew Stotz: That's a good point.   0:39:42.7 Dave Williams: The risk that often I find people run into is that they then add other projects that are not strategic into that bucket and take up more energy. I'll tell you an example. I was working with the health system here in the States and we crowdsource just the things that they were calling improvement projects. The health system had 25 active teams that were just the ones that were called out as improvement projects. When we looked at those 25 teams, the vast majority of them were not actually... They had been meeting for months and doing things for quite some time, but they actually weren't doing any changes and, or they've been testing changes for quite some time. So, now just this exercise alone by only asking, what improvement projects do you have? You realize you've got 25 teams that have been resourced or are spending energy or going to meetings or focused on something. They may not be the strategic thing that matters, but that's irrelevant right now. We just know that we already have invested some interest here. The second thing is these folks have been on this journey for quite some time and are not making progress.   0:41:01.7 Dave Williams: So that tells me something about maybe the way that they framed it. Did they charter it well? Did they have the right people in the room or the right team? Did they have the right tools and methods to be able to break down the problem and then figure out what to test and learn? So there may be some difficulty...   0:41:19.4 Andrew Stotz: Or did they even just dissipate their efforts across 25 projects too? Right in their resources, yeah.   0:41:26.1 Dave Williams: Yeah. Or there are overlaps? So there's a number of different factors. There's actually a paper that was published by a health system in the United Kingdom, and it was really interesting. They spent a lot of attention on generating will through training and getting people in the classroom and teaching them about improvement methods. And they fired up all this energy. They had a massive explosion of the number of projects that were started or where somebody went into their software. They had a software platform. Anybody could go and start a project. Well, something like 50% of those projects never actually got to PDSA testing where they changed anything. And then there were a slew of them that were stuck in PDSA testing but never saw any movement in their process measures or their outcome measures. And only a small number actually progressed in achieving their aim. And I asked the Chief Quality Officer about this, and and he admittedly said that it was very exciting that we we're generating will and getting things going, but that alone was only getting them to maybe some early design and some thinking, but they weren't getting them to results.                                                                         0:42:34.8 Dave Williams: And I said, well, what about the ones that were getting results? And he said, well, those are actually ones where we've got an improvement advisor who's got some skills and ability and improvement. There are things that are resourced, there are things that were prioritized. And man, when we did all those things, they moved from planning and organizing and thinking to testing changes and moving in a direction of goodness and getting at least results in their process measures, if not their outcome measures. And so in my mind, I was like, I appreciate you're trying to build this sort of culture, but it felt like a lot of burnt energy at the front end with all these teams getting into training and firing up their software and more energy might have been strategic in copying what was getting to results. And I think that's part of what we're trying to get to, is helping people learn. You've got if you don't have a method to figure out strategic projects, let's look at the ones you got. How are they going? Where are people at? And how effective is the capability that you have within your system right now? And the leaders want to be part of that, and they can learn within that to go, oh, wow, this is our current state.   0:43:47.2 Dave Williams: And so maybe we're going to agree to continue on with these projects. Maybe we're going to sunset some of them, but we're going to learn together about how do we get better at getting better, and how do we learn how to move projects forward and not to have them take two years. Let's try to get them down to four or six months, whether that's through scope or execution. But let's get better at getting better. And then as we're building... Developing the early activities of QOS, we'll eventually get to a point where we'll also be able to identify more strategic projects that are going to move us towards our aim or towards our purpose better. And this will help us as we're trying to build the capability to get there.   0:44:32.7 Cliff Norman: You know, Andrew, early on, when Dave went down this path, he said that we got to make sure that somebody's working on improvement. They're actually making changes. And Jane and I were working with a group, and the CEO said they've been meeting a long time. Could you down there and see what they're doing? Because nothing's happening. And we started looking through their agendas and they had everything well documented, and it was all about getting ready to get ready. And then they'd assign the dessert. Who's going to bring the dessert to the next meeting. And Jane looked at him and says this reminds me of something, Cliff. I said, what's that? Can I share my screen?   0:45:10.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Yep, go ahead.   0:45:13.7 Cliff Norman: I may send this to. You may know about it, but this is Dr. Deming's Diary of a Cat. And everyday...   0:45:20.6 Andrew Stotz: It hasn't come up yet. Hold on one second. Hopefully you've got permission now.   0:45:28.6 Cliff Norman: Let me go back and check here.   0:45:33.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay. It looks like it's coming up. One second.   0:45:38.4 Cliff Norman: It said every day is today. There's no theory days of the week. But today I got up some food in a bowl, it was great. Slept some too. Play with yarn, got some food in a bowl, had a good nap, slept, food, yarn, fun. Play with a shoelace. There's a big change right there. Went from yarn to a shoelace. Some people call that a job shop. And ate, slept, had a good day, slept, ate some food, yarn, so forth. So, and the team meeting looked just like that. But there's really no changes going on relative to improvement. So Dr. Deming would often share this into four days seminar to make sure that we weren't involved in the Diary of the Cat, but we were actually doing something useful in terms of making changes in the organization.   0:46:24.4 Andrew Stotz: That's a great one. And it helps us to understand that we could be busy all day long and not improve anything.   0:46:31.8 Cliff Norman: You know, or actually confuse that with improvement. In fact, we have an operational API that my team, we were embarrassed in our first, wait a second, our first improvement guide we wrote. And Dr. Adamir Pente, who's a professor at the university in Brazil, he sent us a note and he said, I know you guys and he said you're real big on operational definitions, but you've written this book on improvement and nowhere have you, you've defined what you mean by improvement. And then he put together a three part definition that there's a design and redesign system, there's system measures and the change is sustainable and lasting and so we put that definition in the second edition. But I was confronted at a university, I won't mention which one it was, but they had 30 Keystone projects for a advanced degree program for nursing and they were convinced they were doing improvement. And when I had them apply that definition, they came up out of the thirty. They only could find two projects out of the 30 where they were actually designing and redesigning the system, which, that's the first thing Dave said are we designing and redesigning and making real changes? And people think just showing up and going through motions and all the rest of it is improvement. No, it means...   0:48:07.8 Dave Williams: Looks like we've lost...   0:48:11.9 Andrew Stotz: We lost you at the last, the last statement you just made. People are going through all this stuff and thinking that they're improving, but they're...   0:48:22.8 Cliff Norman: Yeah, it's showing up and going through motions and you know, having the meetings and making sure we assign who's bringing dessert. But we're not really designing and changing the system. We're not getting measurable changes of improvement. In other words, we haven't tracked the data over time and we can't say that the changes that we've made are going to in fact be sustainable because we haven't known what we've done to the system to deserve a sustainable change.   0:48:51.4 Andrew Stotz: By the way, what a buzzword these days, sustainability, sustainable and all that. And you just think do people really think about how we're building something that's really lasting and sustainable?   0:49:04.8 Cliff Norman: Well, we have a checklist and actually Jane designed it for the first edition and it literally lays out what changes did you make, which processes did you change, what's going to change in the documentation, whose role statements have been changed in the organization because of this change. And once all that's answered on that checklist, which is in the book, then we can... But we're pretty certain that we've created the structure to make it easy for people to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing. But unless that structure's changed, probably not much going to happen.   0:49:40.8 Andrew Stotz: Just for the sake of time, because I think we want to wrap up in just a bit. But there's so many stuff, so much stuff that we've been through. But I know there's even more in this chapter, but how would you start to bring this together for the person who is a leader, himself or herself, and they're listening to this and they're thinking, okay, I'm ready to make a change and I'm prepared to devote the time and energy because I see the outcome and I'm open to help, whether that's through the book and other books, whether that's through a consultant, whatever that is. And I can even do a self assessment to some extent and know where our level is, which is very low. We don't know much about this type of stuff and that type of thing. We talked about the first focus on improvement. How do they pull this all together and start moving on it?   0:50:35.0 Dave Williams: There's three things that follow the self assessment. The first one is this focus on doing improvement work and setting up a portfolio of projects. And we just kind of talked about many of the different methods that go into that. And like I said, sometimes that when you say that out loud, leaders don't initially get excited by it because they think they have it. But actually it's a powerful opportunity for you to learn about what's currently going on in the organization and about where this opportunity is to reduce a lot of the noise and a lot of the friction that's getting in the way from you getting to results. The second thing that often happens in parallel is that the leaders need to build a learning system where they're going to be able to learn together both about these projects and what these projects are telling them about their organization, about their culture, about their people, and about their capacity to get results, but also that they can start to be learning about the science of improvement and profound knowledge and the activities of QOS that are going to be part of what they're going to work on developing over the course of the first year or two.   0:51:50.6 Dave Williams: And so that typically is, that's making that space and energy. It's a blend of book learning and application and practical. Trying and looking at things within the organization. It's a very applied approach, but it's an ongoing piece of their discovery. And I often argue that this is a real opportunity for leadership because they're going to be able to see their organization in a way that they haven't seen it before. And when we talk about profound knowledge, they're going to gain this profound understanding and expertise about what they're charged with and what they own and what they want to change in a way that they haven't been able to have it before. And so it's a hard work, but rewarding work. And then third is that typically where the, where we invite people to start is to focus in on the first activity, which is to develop or establish or develop their purpose. When this work was initially framed, not everybody was as... Not everybody had a mission, vision and value statement or a purpose statement that wasn't as common, but today people do. But the difference here, and you'll see this in the chapter on purpose, is that organizations that are pursuing quality as an organizational strategy are organizations that are systems that are built to constantly be trying to match a need that exists out in the world.   0:53:34.7 Dave Williams: And so often a learning for people is to step back and have to reflect on, well, what is the need in which we are creating these products and services to match? And if we're creating these things to match the need, how do we understand what's important, what are the quality characteristics that matter? And then how do we define what our mission is in that context? And being able to say, here's why we exist and the need that we're trying to serve, and in what way? And how do we set a vision for where we want to get into the future and what are the tenants or the practical values that exist in our organization, that we want to define how we work together in terms of building in that way. And so purpose is a big focus. It's that clarity of the need, the clarity of the quality characteristics that it takes to match that need. Understanding what are the products and services that we have. I know that sounds a little trivial, but you'd be stunned how hard it is, especially in service organizations, for people to actually describe what it is that they do, what are the actual services.   0:54:54.3 Dave Williams: They might have the name of the service or the class or the whatever, but to actually say this is what we deliver, and then really think about how do I use this as our organization's sort of North Star, our aim, so that everything else that follows is going to be about building a system that produces the results that we want and produces the services that match that need. So going forward, that's going to be very, very important in instructing the direction and instructing the way in which we're going to work as a community of professional people together.   0:55:30.8 Andrew Stotz: So after self assessment, we're talking about focusing on improvement. We're talking about building a learning system, and we're talking about revisiting or establishing or developing our purpose?   0:55:43.3 Cliff Norman: Yeah, I'll just add to what you just said there, Andrew. There's three basic things that have to happen when we start working. Number one is create the habit of improvement. Start improvement right away. Second thing, Dave just went through some detail on building a system of improvement. And Dave called that a learning system, which I thought was interesting because that's what Dr. Maccabee called it when he saw the five activities. Said, these are really methods for building a learning organization. And he said, I've never really seen them before, but this is what will come out of this, which is the essence of what you want. You want people continually learning, as Dr. Deming said, so they can continually improve. But the third thing that has to happen is we have to develop internal capability for them to carry this on, because we're not going to be around with them. We've never advertised. We don't advertise for clients, and we only get word of mouth. And we're only in there to do those three things, get them started on the habit of improvement, start building the system improvement so they can take it over.   0:56:43.4 Cliff Norman: And the third thing, start developing internal capability so they can continue it on into the future. So those three things basically take off on day one. And depending on the organization, I think this is critical. Dave, you asked this question the other day, if the context is such they've got things in front of them are so bad and so challenging that they just need to work on improvement. That's where we're going to be focused. But now if they can chew gum and walk at the same time, we're going to start building the system of improvement. And the first people I want on those initial teams, I want people on there who are going to be future improvement advisors. And more importantly, they perceive them as future leaders in the organization. I don't want a cadre of a whole bunch of improvement advisors. I want leaders in the future who actually understand the science of improvement, understand these methods, so when they go to the next department, the next organization, they can carry this on. So those three things start improving, start building a system of improvement. And the third thing, start developing internal capability. Those have got to take off almost simultaneously, depending on the situation, of course.   0:57:49.8 Andrew Stotz: Well, on that note, that's quite a discussion. I'm so happy that we can have this to go in a little bit deeper into the work that you guys have done. Again, the book is Quality As an Organizational Strategy. I got mine on Amazon and it sent it to me. But I wonder if you have any last words that you'd like to share about what we've talked about today in relation to getting started.   0:58:18.3 Cliff Norman: So, Dave, why don't you talk a little bit about. Because I think this is critical. We've just finished Andrew, the book that's going to be for the people who actually have to build this system. So Dave, just say a few things about that if you would, because you.   0:58:32.0 Dave Williams: About the field guide?   0:58:33.8 Cliff Norman: Yeah.   0:58:35.5 Dave Williams: Yeah. Well, so when this body of work was first created, there was the content of which you see in this book. And then there were also a lot of exercises and methods and applications and examples that existed as well. And it was a pretty thick binder. We have created two volumes. One, the book that you have, which is the description of the theory and the method and gives you some of the tools. And we're now in the process of pulling together what we call the QOS Field Guide, which is a guide that is supporting people that are going down this journey. It follows the same structure as the book, with the exception of the, the Getting started chapter that we had at the end is now at the beginning. And it walks through in great detail various ways in which you leaders and practitioners can approach getting started and building the capacity and then working through each of the activities. And it's equal in size, I mean, it's about the same thickness. But what we tried to do is to give people really pragmatic things to do.   1:00:01.1 Dave Williams: So there are exercises where people are simulating an idea or a concept or a particular piece. There are what we call QOS applications, which are where you're actually taking the theory or the method and applying it to your own organization. There are case studies and things that have been built that might allow you to practice. There's wonderful examples of just about everything from all, from people that we have worked with over the years across multiple different fields, from my background in emergency services and healthcare to education to manufacturing to elevator companies, all kinds of great stuff. And so that will be helpful as people are trying to think about pursuing this journey and working through that first phase of developing QOS and moving into using it. And we're in the stages of having it done to be available later this year.   1:01:08.6 Andrew Stotz: Exciting.   1:01:09.2 Cliff Norman: We've tried to make it useful, Andrew, that the people have to stay overnight with the management and actually get something done and build it without being run off. That everything is there for them to make sure that they make it successfully. That's the thing we kept in mind as we kept writing this second volume.   1:01:25.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I mean, I would say my experience with your guys's writing is that it's applicable.   1:01:34.1 Dave Williams: Well, Andrew, one thing I was going to add on you mentioned a lot of different examples. There are a lot of books in which people tell you a theory, but they don't tell you how to do it. Or they tell you about their own experience, but they don't actually convey the theory. The Quality as an Organizational Strategy book is laying out the theory and the methods of this approach built on the foundations of the science of improvement and profound knowledge and the Deming philosophy. The QOS Field Guide adds to that by giving you the methods and the tools and the things. It doesn't mean that that by itself you can't just go through like it's some kind of self guided tour and all of a sudden magic happens. There's a lot of work and learning and things that have to go into going through that process. But between these two volumes, a leadership team has the tools and methods that put them in position to be able to make this journey.   1:02:41.4 Andrew Stotz: Right. Well, let's wrap it up there. On behalf of everyone, I appreciate Dave and Cliff. All that you're doing and you're sharing with us and taking the time to do that. So from everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for joining this and bringing your discussion on these topics. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And you can find this book, Quality as an Organizational Strategy at Amazon and other booksellers. Are there even booksellers these days? I don't even know. They're mainly online these days. So this is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, which is "people are entitled to joy in work."  

2 Maccabees 7:2 “One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, ‘What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers.'” This Sunday, we hear about a family of martyrs from the Old Testament. Melissa and Veronica explain why it's such a profound story. For Sunday's Mass Readings: ewtn.com/catholicism/daily-readings/2022-11-06

In today's It Was What It Was, Rob Draper and Jonathan Wilson continue to explore the fascinating story of soccer in the United States. Highlighting the pivotal role of immigrant communities in the sport's development, the episode also examines key figures like Bela Gutmann and the significant tours by foreign teams that attracted huge crowds.Join us for the conclusion of this three-part series on Tuesday. 00:00 Introduction to Bela Gutmann's New York Era00:51 The Pre-History of American Soccer01:36 Challenges in Establishing Soccer in the U.S.02:26 The First Professional Soccer League04:24 Financial Struggles and League Dynamics07:16 Formation and Early Years of the American Soccer League20:53 Innovations and Comparisons with Other Sports24:19 College Football's Dominance and Soccer's Struggles25:39 The Role of Universities in American Sports26:14 Challenges in Early American Soccer26:53 The Rise of the New York Giants27:44 Fall River Marksmen's Dominance28:25 Economic Struggles and Soccer's Impact29:29 The League's Early Successes and Challenges30:14 Expansion and New Teams31:13 Player Transfers and Immigration Issues33:19 The American Menace and Scottish Football34:49 International Influence and Jewish Tours41:07 The Impact of Jewish Players and Fans44:23 The Maccabees and Tactical Evolution47:49 The League's Growing Popularity and Issues50:32 Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Robert and Ericka as they welcome author, activist and former Executive Director of Christians United for Israel, David Brog, for a wide-ranging discussion about his current work at the Maccabee Task Force combating antisemitism on college campuses, and why Christian support is critical to winning the battle to preserving Western civilization. Brash, irreverent, and […]

Bible Study: Jeremiah 17:5-10 – The verb here for “trust” means “to rely on”. This may seem harsh but this is good advice. Jesus did not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people in John 2. To expect from a human being only what you can get from God is idolatry. You can trust human beings to be human but not God. (10:24) Luke 16:19-31 – This is a joke, this is funny. Who is Jesus talking about, he is talking about the high priest Caiaphas who dressed in purple linens. The high priests were supposed to be descendants of Zadok, but the Maccabees coopted the Monarchy and High Priesthood to which they had no right. Jesus is talking about the Pharisees and he is telling a story of a Sadducee in Hell. Isn’t it curious that Jesus calls his poor man Lazarus? Fr. Simon talks about how Jesus is using humor here talk about the Sadducees. (16:29) Letters: Anonymous – Why do priests have to wear a stole while hearing Confession? (24:02) Greg – What do we do when it is very hard to forgive someone and what is the prayer that you say to help with this? When you find that you cannot forgive someone you give permission to God to forgive them. (30:10) Word of the Day: "Compadre" (34:18) Phones: Lee- Today is the feast of St. Hubert of Derwenwater (38:48) Marsha - I go to daily Mass, pray the Rosary and the Chaplet, saying the apostle Creed 3 times in the day, seems to be not necessary. What are your thoughts? (40:05) Liz - Say you don't get to Mass on Sunday, but you watch it on TV. Is it still a sin? (42:50) Mike - In Revelation, why does it says that we shouldn't have images of heaven or hell in our homes? (46:21)

We examine the Hasmonean Dynasty. We also discuss the doctrine of Purgatory and how 2 Maccabees supports it.

Consider DONATING to help us continue and expand our media efforts. If you cannot at this time, please share this video with someone who might benefit from it. We thank you for your support! https://tinyurl.com/HereIAmWithShaiDavidai --------- Guest: Sam Fried Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samfried26/ Welcome to the 31st episode of "Here I Am with Shai Davidai," a podcast that delves into the rising tide of antisemitism through insightful discussions with top Jewish advocates. In this compelling episode, host Shai Davidai welcomes Sam Fried, a passionate advocate and former IDF soldier, to discuss identity, resilience, and the ongoing fight for Jewish civil rights. Key Highlights: Identity and Resilience: Sam shares his journey as a "fighting Jew," emphasizing the importance of standing up for one's identity and heritage. He recounts personal experiences of anti-Semitism and how they shaped his resolve to fight for the Jewish people. Military Service: Sam discusses his decision to join the IDF, inspired by his grandfather's legacy and a desire to contribute to something greater than himself. He reflects on the challenges and camaraderie of serving in the IDF during pivotal moments. October 7th and Beyond: Sam recounts the harrowing events of October 7th, the impact on his community, and his immediate decision to return to Israel to defend his people. He highlights the importance of taking action and not remaining passive in the face of adversity. Ideological Battlefield: After returning to the U.S., Sam continues his fight on the ideological front, addressing misconceptions about Israel and advocating for truth and understanding on college campuses. Call to Action: Sam urges listeners to find their own fight, whether through activism, education, or supporting the Jewish community, emphasizing that everyone can contribute to the collective effort. Closing Thoughts: Shai and Sam conclude with a powerful message about leadership and the importance of individual contributions to the Jewish cause. Sam's story is a testament to the strength and resilience of everyday heroes. Join us as we shed light on these critical conversations and work towards a future free from hate.

We learn about the Maccabees and their fight against the Syrian Empire.

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave are back to look ahead to gameweek 28 of FPL.Felix White, guitarist of The Maccabees and 86TVs, and co-presenter of the Tailenders cricket podcast, joins the pod. He reflects on his stellar season so far, before facing Statman Dave in a Glastonbury-themed game of Sutton Death.Who are the best Cunha and Mateta replacements? And is now really the right time to Wildcard?And finally, the listeners' manager makes a massive call in a bid to close the gap on Ali and Dave!

This week TMPT welcomes to the show for our special feature episode, USA Fencing Hall of Famer, Jeff Bukantz aka The Mighty Maccabee. Jeff Bukantz aka The Mighty Maccabee joins the show to talk about his entire pro wrestling journey. Host John Poz and Jeff will discuss breaking into the business, Walmart wrestling DVD success, The Maccabiah Mania 3, Crowbar, The Iron Sheik, ISPW, and more!Maccabiah Mania 3Sunday, March 2, 2025Contact Steve Graber at (215) 561-6900 Ext. 4148 with any questions.Store - Teepublic.com/stores/TMPTFollow us @TwoManPowerTrip on Twitter and IG

We look at Maccabees 1 & 2 to learn about Antiochus IV and the accounts of those martyred under his reign.

IN THE ANCIENT Near East, the dead never really went away. And if you didn't care for them properly, they could make your life hell. With us to discuss the cult of the dead in the lands around ancient Israel is our Iron and Myth crew: Dr. Judd Burton(www.BurtonBeyond.net), author of Interview with the Giant; Doug Van Dorn (www.douglasvandorn.com), author of Giants: Sons of the Gods; and Brian Godawa (www.Godawa.com), best-selling author of the theological thriller Cruel Logic, and a new novel based on the period of the Maccabees in Judea. We explore the cult of the dead in ancient Israel, examining its practices, rituals, and the influence of ancestor worship. The discussion delves into archaeological findings, biblical references, and comparative analysis with other cultures, particularly focusing on the Rephaim and the significance of rituals like the Marzeah feast.  The pervasive nature of these beliefs and practices in ancient societies is evident in biblical references to the Rephaim and the cult of the dead, and we discuss how these concepts have influenced modern spiritual practices. We also discuss how Jesus' ministry and the Last Supper serve were spiritual warfare against the cult of the dead, drawing parallels to contemporary practices that echo these ancient beliefs. 

This episode is part 21 and the end a study of the book of 1 Maccabees. In this chapter we see John take over for his father Simon and then the death of Simon by treachery. We cover how this book sets up the New Testament. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/1-maccabees-16-john-takes-over/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

IN THE ANCIENT Near East, the dead never really went away. And if you didn't care for them properly, they could make your life hell. With us to discuss the cult of the dead in the lands around ancient Israel is our Iron and Myth crew: Dr. Judd Burton (www.BurtonBeyond.net), author of Interview with the Giant; Doug Van Dorn (www.douglasvandorn.com), author of Giants: Sons of the Gods; and Brian Godawa (www.Godawa.com), best-selling author of the theological thriller Cruel Logic, and a new novel based on the period of the Maccabees in Judea.  We explore the cult of the dead in ancient Israel, examining its practices, rituals, and the influence of ancestor worship. The discussion delves into archaeological findings, biblical references, and comparative analysis with other cultures, particularly focusing on the Rephaim and the significance of rituals like the Marzeah feast.   The pervasive nature of these beliefs and practices in ancient societies is evident in biblical references to the Rephaim and the cult of the dead, and we discuss how these concepts have influenced modern spiritual practices. We also discuss how Jesus' ministry and the Last Supper serve were spiritual warfare against the cult of the dead, drawing parallels to contemporary practices that echo these ancient beliefs. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Derek's new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Follow us! X: @viewfrombunker | @sharonkgilbert | @derekgilbertTelegram: t.me/gilberthouseSubstack: gilberthouse.substack.comYouTube: @GilbertHouse | @UnravelingRevelationFacebook.com/viewfromthebunker Sharon's novels Winds of Evil and The Armageddon Strain are available now in paperback, ebook (Kindle), and audiobook (Audible) formats! Get signed copies of the first two books of The Laodicea Chronicles now at GilbertHouse.org/store! Thank you for making our Build Barn Better project a reality! The building has HVAC, a new floor, windows, insulation, ceiling fans, and an upgraded electrical system! We truly appreciate your support. If you are so led, you can help out at www.GilbertHouse.org/donate. —— Download our free app! This brings all of our content directly to your smartphone or tablet. Best of all, we'll never get canceled from our own app! Links to the app stores for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle Fire devices are at www.GilbertHouse.org/app. Please join us each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Check out our weekly video program Unraveling Revelation (unravelingrevelation.tv), and subscribe to the YouTube channel: YouTube.com/UnravelingRevelation. —— Special offers on our books and DVDs: www.gilberthouse.org/store. —— JOIN US IN ISRAEL! Our next tour of Israel is October 19–30, 2025 with an optional three-day extension to Jordan. For the latest information, log on to GilbertHouse.org/travel. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page (facebook.com/viewfromthebunker) and check out the great podcasters at the Fringe Radio Network (Spreaker.com/show/fringe-radio-network)!

This episode is part 20 in a study of the book of 1 Maccabees. Antiochus VII returns and makes all sorts of wonderful promises, which he quickly breaks when he has regained his power. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/1-maccabees-15-antiochus-vii-returns/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Questions Covered:  02:37 – How do which parts of Esther are original Hebrew if we don't have all the original Hebrew texts? 12:00 – Why did God pick St. Michael the Archangel to defeat Satan? 15:17 – From the Churches mentioned in the Bible, are any still remaining? 20:05 – Is the battle 2 Maccabees 10:29-38 (5 magical men leading the Jews) to be taken literally? 24:45 – How do you explain sanctification and justification in light of the book of James? 30:59 – What are the differences between the Catholic and Greek Orthodox canons of scripture? 33:28 – In the Bible, you hear of apparitions of Jesus or Mary. Have there been apparitions of other people from the Bible? 35:27 – If someone who received the gospel of Jesus and believed, should the Church immediately baptize him since we have a similar example in the Ethiopian eunuch? 42:45 – Why do we say “the Hebrew texts” when Hebrew is a more modern language? …

This episode is part 19 in a study of the book of 1 Maccabees. Demetrius is captured. Simon is honored and eulogized... but he is not dead yet. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/1-maccabees-14-simon-honored/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This episode is part 18 in a study of the book of 1 Maccabees. In this chapter, Simon takes over, Jonathan dies, but we finally see the people of Judah get their independence. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This episode is part 17 in a study of the book of 1 Maccabees. In this chapter, Judah renews its alliances with Rome and Sparta, but suffers a major blow when Jonathan is captured. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/1-maccabees-12-jonathan-captured/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Fr Mike celebrates the accomplishment of reading the entire Old Testament and wraps up the books of 2 Maccabees and Wisdom, talking through the key themes of the Old Testament visible in the conclusions to these books. He also discusses the motivation of the Maccabees to defend the temple and maintain its purity as well as uphold God's honor. Today's readings are from 2 Maccabees 15, Wisdom 19, and Proverbs 25:21-23 For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

As we get closer to the end of the Old Testament, Fr. Mike highlights one of the lessons we've seen time and time again—that God continues to fight for each of us, despite the brokenness and messiness of our lives. He also points out how the reading from Wisdom foreshadows the coming of Jesus. The readings are 2 Maccabees 14, Wisdom 17-18, and Proverbs 25:18-20. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Fr. Mike points out how easy it is to take good things and make idols out of them, setting them up as God's rivals for our hearts. We can discover these rivals by noticing the things we prioritize over spending time with God. The readings are 2 Maccabees 13, Wisdom 15-16, and Proverbs 25:15-17. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Fr. Mike breaks down the doctrine of purgatory as we read about Judas Maccabeus and his army praying for the dead in 2 Maccabees 12. We learn that purgatory is a process of purification that our hearts need in order to be ready to love God and to enter into his presence. In our reading of Wisdom today, Fr. Mike emphasizes the insanity of worshipping idols and how it's more tempting to make idols out of good things rather than evil things. Today's readings are 2 Maccabees 12, Wisdom 13-14, and Proverbs 25:11-14. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.