Podcasts about Moravian

In this weekend on Czechia in 30 Minutes, we hear from Martina Šmídová—a young Moravian woman born after 1990. She talks about building a new life in Thailand, what it means to belong to the Millennial generation, and how old labels like “Czechoslovakia” still follow her. A brief but insightful look at how younger Czechs see the world—and how the world sees them.

SummaryPastor Webb discusses the significance of spiritual heritage and identity in the context of Christian leadership. He emphasizes the importance of understanding one's roots and the impact of historical figures in shaping modern Christianity. The conversation explores the lineage of revival, the influence of key historical movements, and the call to carry forward the legacy of faith into future generations.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Leadership Monday06:19 The Importance of Heritage12:00 Spiritual Heritage and Identity16:45 Historical Roots of Revival25:48 The Moravian Influence on Modern Christianity31:25 The Impact of the First Great Awakening39:03 Conclusion: Carrying Our Heritage ForwardTakeawaysHeritage shapes our identity and purpose.Understanding our spiritual roots is crucial for personal growth.God's promises to our ancestors impact our lives today.Revival history is rich with lessons for modern believers.The Moravian movement played a pivotal role in Christian education.The First Great Awakening set the stage for significant change in America.Revival is often birthed from a deep understanding of scripture.Personal identity is tied to our spiritual heritage.We are called to carry the legacy of faith forward.God will surely visit us in our times of need.Show NotesALL PROCEEDS GO TO WORLD EVANGELISMLocate a CFM Church near you: https://cfmmap.orgWe need five-star reviews! Tell the world what you think about this podcast at:Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://apple.co/3vy1s5bPodchaser: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/taking-the-land-cfm-sermon-pod-43369

In this episode we are joined by author Neil Sater, an author of historical fiction. His most recent book is a mystery involving the Gnaddenhutten Massacre: the killing of 96 pacifist Moravian pacifist Native Americans (primarily Lenape and Mohican) by US Militiamen on March 8, 1782, at the Moravian missionary village during the Revolutionary War. Neil provide's fascinating insight into this tragic event and its consequences while striving to maintain authenticity and cultural respect. His books are captivating and intriguing and weave past history with contemporary mystery. Neil Sater's contact info: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSater/ Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/sater Neil's website: https://authorsater.com/ Check out Ohio Mysteries Backwoods Facebook page!: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558042082494¬if_id=1717202186351620¬if_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif⁠⁠ Please check other podcast episodes like this at: ⁠⁠https://www.ohiomysteries.com/⁠⁠ Dan hosts a Youtube Channel called: Ohio History and Haunts where he explores historical and dark places around Ohio: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj5x1eJjHhfyV8fomkaVzsA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonín Kokeš is the man behind Antonínovo pekařství, a successful chain of bakeries. The Moravian-born entrepreneur is also the owner of Albi, a company best-known for the board games that can be found in many Czech homes. We discussed both those businesses and much more at Kokeš's latest venture, a new branch of Antonín's Bakery due to open on May 1 in a grand building on Prague's Náměstí Míru.

261. Edible Theology with Kendall Vanderslice   Kendall's Website   John 6:35 NIV "Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."   **Transcription Below**   Kendall Vanderslice says "Yes, before you ask, that is my true name."   Kendall is a baker and writer whose best thinking occurs as she works dough between her hands; scribbles down thoughts on pieces of parchment dusted in flour, until she can parse them out later before her keyboard. When she embarked on a career as a pastry chef, she found that her love of bread transformed the ways she read Scripture. Fascinated by God's use of food throughout the arc of the Gospel, she merged her work in the kitchen with academic study of food and theology.   As a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois (BA Anthropology), she began engaging questions of food and faith. Interested in commensality—or, the social dynamics of eating together—she studied food at Boston University (MLA Gastronomy). Her thesis on church meals sparked a range of theological questions, leading her to Duke University where she wrote a thesis on the theology of bread (MTS). In 2018 she was named a James Beard Foundation national scholar for her work on food and religion.   She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her beagle, Strudel, her sourdough starter Bread Astaire, and her brood of hens: Judith Jones and the Three Gourmands.   Questions and Topics We Cover: You've studied so much about food and theology . . . are there any favorite lessons or resources that you still think about today? Is there any other science in the bread baking that is fascinating because it also has a richer, deeper spiritual meaning? What's one recipe in the book you're especially excited about?   Other Episode Mentioned from The Savvy Sauce: 47 Relationships and Opportunities that Arise from Using Your Gifts with Founder of Neighbor's Table, Sarah Harmeyer   Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: 15 The Supernatural Power Present While Gathering at the Table with Devi Titus Practical Tips to Eating Dinner Together as a Family with Blogger and Cookbook Co-Author, Rachel Tiemeyer Experiencing Joy, Connection, and Nourishment at the Table with Abby Turner Fresh Take on Hospitality with Jaime Farrell   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Dream Seller Travel, Megan Rokey   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:10 - 1:22) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    Do you love to travel?   If so, then let me introduce you to today's sponsor, Dream Seller Travel, a Christian-owned and operated travel agency. Check them out on Facebook or online at DreamSellerTravel.com.    We were one of those families who joined in the COVID trend of baking our own bread.   And so, I was fascinated even years later when I came across my guest for today, Kendall Vanderslice. She's an author and the founder of Edible Theology. And I've always appreciated different verses being brought to life, even things that we interact with every day, such as salt and yeast.   But God has richer meanings for all of these. And so, I can't wait for Kendall to unpack these in our conversation today. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Kendall.   Kendall Vanderslice: (1:20 - 1:22) Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.   Laura Dugger:  (1:23 - 1:30) Would you mind just starting us off by sharing a bit about your background and what led you to the work that you get to do today?   Kendall Vanderslice: (1:31 - 3:46) Sure. So, I have always loved baking. I always, you know, when I was a child, but especially once I was in middle school and high school, I had a lot of anxiety.   And so, when I just ever, anytime I needed to work through any sort of scope of emotions, I would always turn to the kitchen. Working with my hands became this way to sort of ground me and help me find calm in the midst of sort of my mind just buzzing. I was also one of five kids.   So, it was like after everyone had gone to bed and the kitchen was silent, was the only time there was quiet in my house. And so that was kind of always became the source of calm and grounding for me. And so, then when I graduated high school and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, once again, I turned to the kitchen as a way to try and process what I should do.   And long story short, over time, I realized, oh, maybe actually this work of baking is the work that I am called to do. And so, I ended up taking a very circuitous path to get there. I took a gap year after high school.   I went to undergrad and studied anthropology in college. And in that time, learned that I could, my love of food and my love of the kitchen, I could examine not just in the practice of cooking, but through an anthropological and historical lens, looking at how food shapes community and shapes culture and how culture shapes the foods that we eat. And so, from there, I went and worked in professional kitchens.   But I had all these historical, cultural, theological questions kind of buzzing around at the same time. And, you know, I would go from my work at the bakery on Sunday morning. I would rush from work to church and I would receive communion each week with bread dough still stuck to my arms.   And I started to question, what does this bread that I spend my whole morning baking have to do with this bread that I receive at the communion table? And so that just unlocked a whole new path of what I could do with bread and with my baking beyond just in the kitchen and larger understanding how it shapes our awareness of who God is and how God is at work in our lives and in our communities.   Laura Dugger:  (3:47 - 3:58) Wow, that is incredible. And even today, do you want to share a few of your offerings? Because edible theology was a new concept to me, and it's just fascinating what all you have going on.   Kendall Vanderslice: (3:59 - 5:31) Yeah, absolutely. So, my primary program is that I teach a workshop called Bake and Pray. And so, this is a workshop where I teach people how to bake bread as a form of prayer.   So, we look at the ways that bread is at play throughout the narrative of Scripture, kind of what it is that God is using, why it is that God is using bread as the storytelling device in the narrative of Scripture, and why Jesus would give us bread at the center of Christian worship. But then at the same time, we're learning how the actual practice of baking bread can be a way to connect with God, to find rest and to understand God's presence with us in a very tangible form. So, with that, I also have a handful of books.   Most recently, I released a book called Bake and Pray. It's sort of this workshop in book form. It's a collection of recipes, but also a collection of liturgies, so that you have the tools you need to make your time in the kitchen a time of prayer. I call it a prayer book meets cookbook.    But I also have a handful of other resources, a Bible study or a small group study called Worship at the Table, where it's actually helping people gather around the table and understand how God is at work through the table. And I have a podcast that it was a limited run.   There are 30 episodes called Kitchen Meditations. They are short meditations to listen to while you cook, while you're in the kitchen. So, you can understand the food that you eat more fully and also understand how your time preparing it can be a time of worship.   Laura Dugger:  (5:31 - 5:50) I love that. And there's so much to unpack. But let's just start here with all the things that you've studied with food and theology and gone to school for years and put this into practice.   Are there any favorite lessons that stand out and are maybe ones that you still think about today?   Kendall Vanderslice: (5:51 - 6:57) Well, you know, one of my favorite books that helped shape my understanding of food is a book that was written in the 1960s by an Episcopal priest named Robert Carr-Capin. It's a book called The Supper of the Lamb. This book is just a delightful book to read.   I think everybody should read it. Robert Carr-Capin was he was an Episcopal priest, but he was also a food writer and he also was a humor writer. He and his wife wrote a satirical column together.   And so, The Supper of the Lamb is kind of the culmination of all three. It is this beautiful reflection on a theology of food in the table, but it is hilarious as well. And so, it is written as instructions to host a dinner party that is all built around preparing lamb for eight people in four different ways.   And so, it's reflections on kind of, you know, this revelation, the imagery in the book of Revelation on the marriage supper of the lamb, But then taking that to be a very liberal dinner party that he hosts in his home. And it will forever change the way that you think about food and think about the table and think about how God cares about food.   Laura Dugger:  (6:58 - 7:13) Wow, that's interesting. And even a piece of that that you had highlighted before is community, that food draws us together in community. Are there any lessons or reflections you have on that topic as well?   Kendall Vanderslice: (7:14 - 9:03) Yeah, I mean, so I spend my days traveling the country and visiting churches and eating meals with strangers all the time. This is such a central part of my work. So, my first book was a study of churches that eat together as their primary form of worship.   And so, I had the opportunity to research 10 different churches across the country and look at how does this practice of eating together regularly shape their understanding of community, but also shape their understanding of church and shape their understanding of worship. And what I saw in that practice of traveling and eating with all of these churches was that communities that were built around the table, where their primary rhythm of gathering was this practice of eating together and talking together and dialoguing together. It created such resilience within these communities as they faced conflict and tension within them that their commitment to eating together, but then their understanding of these community meals as being intrinsically connected to the communion table, the meal of bread and the cup that they also shared, it shaped their ability to have conversations and wade into hard topics that communities might otherwise try to say, you know, kind of avoid, because what they believed was that, you know, the table that we gather at regularly is a place that can kind of manage and hold on to those tensions.   And it's a place where these hard conversations can arise. But also at the end of each of these meals, we remember that we are going to share the bread and the cup together and that God has told us that we have been made one in the body and blood of Christ. And so, we have a responsibility to care for one another, even as we argue and disagree and have a really, you know, dig into these hard conversations.   Laura Dugger:  (9:04 - 9:58) That is beautiful. And I think of so many things when you say that. I'm in the book of Acts right now, my quiet time.   And so, the early churches, they were breaking bread together daily. You see that as part of the impact, the outflow that came from that. And then just, I think, gratitude as you share, because I wasn't a follower of Jesus growing up.   Our family went to church. And by the time I was in high school, all of my family were believers, including my siblings. I was the last one.   But the church that we went to, we shared a meal together every Sunday. And those relationships are long lasting. Then you hear about what people are actually going through.   It's such a natural way to dive deeper into that fellowship. And so, I love that you've traveled around and studied this. And I'm also curious if you've connected with one of my past guests, Sarah Harmeyer with the Neighbors Table.   Kendall Vanderslice: (9:59 - 10:03) I am familiar with her work, but I have never actually connected with her.   Laura Dugger:  (10:04 - 10:09) OK, you two. I'll link her episode in the show notes, but I think you two would have a lot of fun together.   Kendall Vanderslice: (10:09 - 10:14) Oh, great. Great, great. I know I've seen some of her tables on.   She's the one who builds tables. Is that right?   Laura Dugger:  (10:14 - 10:15) Yes. Yes.   Kendall Vanderslice: (10:15 - 10:19) Yes. OK. I have seen her tables on Instagram, and they look just absolutely beautiful.   Laura Dugger:  (10:19 - 10:37) I love it. Well, I'd also like to talk about your most recent book, because there's one part where you talk about the sacred language of bread. And I'd love for you just to walk us through some significant scriptures that highlight bread throughout the Bible.   Kendall Vanderslice: (10:37 - 19:43) Yeah, absolutely. So, one of the reasons that I love to think of bread in terms of a language itself is because so often we think of our faith as being something that happens predominantly in our minds, that it is the things we believe about God and the words that we say to God. And it becomes this very sort of mental exercise of worshiping God in our heads.   And we forget that the rest of our bodies and the rest of our lives are a part of how we know God as well, that we were created in these human bodies with all of these senses. And it's only through these senses that we get to know the world around us. And it's in getting to know this creation around us that we get to know our creator as well.   And so when we think of our faith as happening something predominantly in our minds, then when we have these moments where we don't feel like God is present, or we feel like we don't hear from God, or we just don't have the energy to, you know, to read scripture every day, or we feel like we, you know, I'm just like praying and praying and praying, and I've just exhausted the words I have to say. Then it's easy for us to feel like we've been abandoned by God, that we're in this sort of spiritual dark place. But Jesus, he calls himself the word, but, you know, Jesus is the word that was present with God in the beginning.   But Jesus also calls himself the bread of life. And Jesus identifies himself as something deeply tangible. And he offers his own body to us in the form of bread at the communion table.   And so, Jesus is telling us that Jesus is present with us in this very tangible form, something that we can mix together with our hands, something that we can taste on our tongues, something that we can feel in our bellies as we digest it. That Jesus is telling us, like, I am with you in this deeply tangible way. And if you don't feel my presence, and if you don't, you know, hear what I am telling you, or you don't feel like I am listening to you, know that you can eat this bread and have this very tangible reminder that I have promised to remain present with you and to remain faithful to you.   And so, the ways that we see this at work in Scripture, once we understand that, you know, bread is not just a metaphor, that bread is actually something very physical and tangible, a way that God speaks to us, I think it changes the way that we see bread show up in Scripture. That it's not just a handy metaphor that shows up every, all over the place in the Bible, but that Jesus is actually, that God is actually doing something through bread itself.    So, the very first place that we see bread appear in Scripture is as early as Genesis 3:19, “It is by the sweat of your brow that you will eat your bread until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken, from dust you come, and to dust you will return.” So, prior to this point in Genesis, we have the creation accounts, we have, you know, that God has created the garden, placed humanity in the garden to tend to this creation, to care for it. And they are intended to, you know, they are nourished by the fruits of these trees, they delight in God by delighting in God's creation.   And God gave them just one restriction, which was a restriction on what they could eat. And so, in Genesis 3:19, we know that they have failed to honor this restriction that God has given them. And we are now learning the ramifications of that fall.   And one of those ramifications is that the soil is going to sprout forth thistles and thorns. That we will no longer just be nourished by the fruits of the trees, but that we will have to labor in this soil. We will have to labor against a creation that works against us in order to have our nutritional needs met.   But at the same time, God offers us this gift, that it's by the sweat of your brow, you will eat your bread. Our bread, you know, doesn't just grow from a tree. The humanity was probably not eating bread in the garden.   But in this offering of bread, that it's by the sweat of your brow, you will eat your bread. Humans are being told, yes, we will have to labor in the soil in order to nourish ourselves. But also, we are being invited to participate with God in the transformation of creation into something really delicious as well.   So, bread is, at the same time, both this picture of the brokenness of creation and yet also the goodness of God. This blessing, this gift from God in the midst of a broken creation. The production of bread, historically, has required a lot of work.   It requires months and months of laboring in the soil to grow wheat, harvest wheat, thresh it, and then grind it into flour. Turn that flour into dough, gather firewood to heat up an oven, and then turn that dough into bread before finally being able to eat it. So, humanity has long known that it is, you know, there is this deep, this incredible amount of labor required to make bread.   And yet also, bread contains almost all of the nutrients that humans need in order to survive. We can live off of just bread and water alone for a very, very, very long time. And in fact, many humans throughout most of human history have lived off of just bread and water for a very, very, very long time.   So then when we see bread show up in other places in scripture, we see it show up as this picture of God's miraculous provision for God's people. We see it show up as a sign of God's presence with God's people. And we see it as a sign of God's promises to God's people that God will continue this work of restoration until we have this imagery of this renewed creation in the book of Revelation.   So, one picture of that is in this provision of manna for the Israelites in the desert. You know, I think oftentimes for us, we read this story and we think the miracle is like, well, I don't know about you, but I've never opened my front door and had bread strewn across my lawn that I could just go out and gather. But we can still picture just walking into a grocery store and having a whole aisle of bread to choose from, right?   For us, the miracle seems like it just appears out of nowhere, but it doesn't seem all that crazy to just have a bunch of ready-made bread available to you. But for the Israelites, the work of making bread would have been nine months or more of labor between growing wheat, harvesting it, turning that wheat into flour, flour into dough, dough into bread. That's work that was not possible while they were wandering in the desert.   And so, when God is providing this miracle of manna, all they have to do is go out every single morning and gather, and they have to trust day after day after day that God is going to continue to provide. So, then we see a mirror of this in the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Once again, I think the miracle to us oftentimes feels like, you know, well, I've never seen five loaves capable of feeding 5,000 plus people.   But still, we can picture a Costco aisle of bread that probably has enough bread to feed 5,000 people. Just the presence of bread enough for that size crowd doesn't seem all that miraculous. But for the crowd who was gathered on the hillside with Jesus, they would have had a much closer awareness of just how much work was required to grow enough, in this case, barley.   One of the accounts says that it was barley bread. So, to grow enough barley to make enough bread to feed this crowd. And at the very least, in Mark's account of the gospel, we see a very direct link to work and how much work would be required to feed this crowd.   Because in the gospel of Mark, it says that it would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread to feed this crowd. So, this distinct connection between labor and hard work in order to feed, to provide the bread for these people. But Jesus circumvents that labor required to either make the bread or buy the bread and just miraculously provides these five loaves to feed 5,000 plus people.   So then on the night before his death, Jesus takes, I think, this imagery one step further. It is not just the labor of making bread that Jesus circumvents in his provision of bread for his disciples. He offers bread to his disciples and says, “This is my body that is broken for you.”   Jesus is circumventing the very work of defeating the curse of sin and death. He has taken the labor of defeating sin and death onto his own body. And he's offering that body back to his disciples and onto anyone who remembers Him in this meal of bread and the cup.   But he's offering to us His body as in the form of bread, as this picture of the labor that Jesus has taken on, the curse that Jesus has taken on so that we can then live in freedom. And so, we're still currently living in this sort of in-between time where we know that Jesus, that Christ has died, that Christ is risen, and we are still awaiting the day when Christ will come again. We're still awaiting this imagery in the book of Revelation where creation is restored.   And I believe our relationship to bread will purely be one of delight and joy and freedom. But right now, we do still experience that brokenness of creation in relationship to bread. But also, bread is still a way in which we can know God, in which we can trust God's promises to us in this very tangible form in which we can believe that God is with us, even when we don't feel it.   Laura Dugger: (19:43 - 22:17) Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. Do you have a bucket list of travel destinations? Or maybe you have a special event coming up like a big anniversary, a honeymoon, or even just that first trip to Europe?   If so, you need to call Dream Seller Travel. Dream Seller Travel is located in Central Illinois, but works with clients all across the USA. 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Let them deal with the problems that arise while traveling so you can just enjoy the trip. Dream Seller Travel has been planning dream trips since 2005 to amazing destinations such as Alaska, Italy, Hawaii, Canada, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, South Africa, Iceland, and more.   Where do you dream of going? You can reach out to Dream Seller Travel at 309-696-5890,  or check them out online at DreamSellerTravel.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.   In line with your brand of edible theology, I'd love to go further into the scripture. That was so fascinating. I feel like you're so succinct in the way that you put that all together.   So, I kind of want to do a deeper dive into a couple of the key ingredients of bread and then have you share their significance both in contributing to food, but also their significance for our own lives. Absolutely. Let's just begin with salt.   Will you share the scripture and insight into salt?   Kendall Vanderslice: (22:18 - 23:20) Yeah. One of the things that I love about salt, I think oftentimes, especially here in America, we have a sort of distorted understanding of the role that salt plays in our food. Oftentimes, we treat table salt.   We usually have table salt that you just add onto your food after cooking it. Maybe you add a little bit of salt while cooking, but for the most part, you just sprinkle on table salt after. And it almost is treated as this kind of added flavor.   But salt actually should not be this added flavor at the end. Salt should be incorporated into the cooking process because salt opens up our taste receptors on our tongues, and it opens up the flavors in the dish. So, salt actually should not be the predominant flavor that we taste.   Salt should be the thing that allows us to taste everything else. And I think when we understand salt in that form, it should reframe our understanding of what it means to be the salt of the earth or to be salt and light in the world. What does it mean that salt is not the thing that itself gets tasted, but salt is the thing that opens up the flavors of everything else around us?   Laura Dugger:  (23:20 - 23:30) Kendall, can you take that even a step further? What does that practically look like for believers really living as salt of the earth?   Kendall Vanderslice: (23:34 - 24:26) I think one of the great joys of the ways that these metaphors at work in Scripture is that we get to continually explore and see what that means for us and where God might be calling us. But I do think that being aware that to be the salt of the earth is to help pull out the best in the communities around us, to pull out the best in the people around us, is just this really beautiful picture of how I think God asks us to work in community. But our job is not necessarily to be the strong presence.   Our job is not necessarily to make sure everyone knows that we are present, but instead our job is to identify and build up and pull out the best parts of the people around us in the communities that we are in.   Laura Dugger:  (24:27 - 24:56) That's so good. I love how you shared that because for me, as you were unpacking it, I was just thinking that we as the salt, when you taste it, you don't want to think, oh, that's salt. You want, like you said, to open it up to others.   And so that's our purpose is to reflect and glorify Jesus and to point to him. So, I'm sure there's countless meanings. Will you also do the same thing and share the significance of yeast?   Kendall Vanderslice: (24:57 - 29:44) Yeah, sure. So, yeast is, you know, also a fascinating, fascinating thing. And we are only really just beginning to understand sort of the microbial world and the role that it plays in our lives, in our bodies, in our world.   And so, it's opening up entirely new understandings of how yeast is at work in scripture. One thing that we have to bear in mind is that the writers of scripture did not actually know what yeast was. We were only able to identify the microbes that are yeast and bacteria in the last 150 years.   And so, prior to Louis Pasteur, humans didn't know what yeast was. They only knew the reactions of yeast. You know, you saw if I mix together, you know, this, if I let this flour and water sit, it comes back to life and I can mix that into more flour and water and it can become bread.   You know, I can mix it in with a lot of water and a little bit of yeast and some hops and it becomes beer. I can mix it in with grapes and it becomes wine. So, we see the reactions, but don't necessarily know what it is that is responsible for those reactions.   So, it is fairly new that we have this, you know, in the scope of human history, it's fairly new that we have this understanding of what are the actual kind of little critters that are involved in this process. And so, I have a really dear friend who she studies theology of the microbiome. So, a lot of her research is all based around, you know, how does this emerging research on yeast and bacteria shape our understanding of what it means to be human?   And so then how does that shape the ways we read in scripture, both passages about yeast and also about what it means to be human? And so it is, I think there's just, it's a field that is ripe for exploration and we are only beginning to scratch the surface of all the beautiful imagery that's at play here. But one of the things that I find most fascinating is that leaven or yeast, it is used as a metaphor for two different things in scripture.   In one passage, it is used as a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven, the parable of leaven, the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour until it leavened the whole batch. But apart from that, yeast is always used as an image of sin, the ways that sin works through community. We have the passage about the leaven of the Pharisees.   I believe there are a few others as well. So oftentimes leaven is used as this picture of sin and the ways that sin sort of multiplies and works through communities. But at the same time, it's this picture of the kingdom of God, that it's this little bit of yeast that slowly multiplies and through its multiplication, it transforms the entire community.   It seems like a strange sort of tension that why would we use the same thing as a picture of both the kingdom of heaven and a picture of sin? And I think it makes more sense when we understand a sourdough culture. So, a sourdough culture is a culture of bacteria and yeast that is used to leaven bread, to raise bread.   So, we all have wild yeast and bacteria living in the air, on the surface of our skin, on the surface of everything around us. This wild yeast and bacteria is what makes the world go round. It's what makes our brains function.   It's what allows our bellies to digest food. It is what sort of makes everything work. And there is always this presence of both pathogenic bacteria and also beneficial bacteria.   That is true within our bodies. That's true sort of all around us. It's true in the sourdough culture that there is always the presence of pathogenic bacteria, but there is also the beneficial bacteria.   And so, to maintain a healthy sourdough starter, you have to feed it regularly. And as long as you feed it regularly and maintain its health, that good bacteria is going to keep the pathogenic bacteria in check. It's when you start to starve that starter that the pathogenic bacteria gets stronger and it overtakes the good bacteria and your sourdough starter goes bad.   And so, I think that's a really beautiful way to think about both how the kingdom of God works and also how sin works in our communities. We live in a broken creation. Sin will always be present.   But when we are digging ourselves, like when we are staying grounded and rooted in scripture, when we're staying grounded and rooted in church community and worship and prayer, when we are maintaining these healthy communities that are rooted to God, then we're able to help keep that pathogenic bacteria, that sin in check. But it's when we do not that it can start to take over and it can spread through a community just as quickly and easily as the kingdom of God can also spread through a community.   Laura Dugger:  (29:45 - 29:58) You just have brilliant answers. Is there any other science in the bread baking that is also fascinating to you because it has a richer, deeper spiritual meaning?   Kendall Vanderslice: (29:58 - 32:22) One of the things that I love, I oftentimes lead these bread baking workshops for groups of leaders, especially church leaders or faith leaders who are oftentimes having to manage just large groups of people where they're constantly facing internal conflict. I don't think anyone who leads a group of people has managed to bring together the people that never have any kind of disagreement. One of the things that I love about bread is that inherent to the structure of bread is tension.   The backbone of bread is this protein called gluten that is made up of two different proteins called gluten and gliadin. Gluten and gliadin have two opposing qualities to them. One likes to stretch and stretch and stretch.   It's what's called the elastic quality. One likes to hold its shape, what's called the plastic quality. When these protein strands unravel, they begin to form bonds with one another and they create this network, this protein network.   That protein network is what captures the carbon dioxide that the yeast releases and that allows the dough to both grow while also holding its shape. The strength and the structure of our bread is fully reliant on tension between these two opposing qualities, these two opposing needs. In order to build that tension in a way that brings strength to the bread, it has to be constantly balanced with rest.   The gluten will let you know when it's starting to get tired. If you don't give it time to rest, then it will just fall apart. It will start to break down on you.   This is something that I think so many of our communities really can learn from right now. That tension is good, that our differences, that diversity in our communities is our source of strength. When these differences rub up against one another and they help expand our understanding of the people around us, our differing needs, our differing convictions, our differing desires, our differing hopes, that can be a source of strength in our communities.   Also, we need to understand when it's time to step away and take time to rest before leaning into those differences even further. I love that bread then is itself this element that Jesus gives us as the sign of our unity in Christ, because it is this picture of our differences coming together and making us one even in our difference.   Laura Dugger:  (32:23 - 32:39) All of this from bread, it's just incredible. Then I even think you write about temperature and scoring the bread. Is there anything else?   We won't get to cover all of it, but any other scientific findings that have been really exciting?   Kendall Vanderslice: (32:40 - 33:33) I think there is so much in bread. I like to say that bread is incredibly simple and infinitely complex. It's made of four basic ingredients, but it can be mixed together in myriad ways.   A baker can commit their entire lives to learning about bread, and they will still have more to learn. We'll never be able to cover it all. I think there's room for endless exploration as far as digging into all that bread has to teach us.   My hope is that this book, Bake and Pray, helps to start to illuminate some of the ways that we see God teaching us through the many different steps in the bread-baking process. I also hope that others will start to get into this practice of baking, and through the practice of baking, they themselves will be able to start to see some of the beauty that God reveals through bread.   Laura Dugger:  (33:34 - 34:38) I just wanted to let you know there are now multiple ways to give when you visit thesavvysauce.com. We now have a donation button on our website, and you can find it under the Donate page, which is under the tab entitled Support. Our mailing address is also provided if you would prefer to save us the processing fee and send a check that is tax deductible.   Either way, you'll be supporting the work of Savvy Sauce Charities and helping us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. Make sure you visit thesavvysauce.com today. Thanks for your support.   Well, and Kendall, you also have a unique take. You spent years as a ballet dancer, and even with your books, you're just writing about the connection beyond, like you said, just our intellect and our minds to the Lord, but using our whole bodies to glorify God. Can you share some more ways that we can use our bodies to bake and pray and glorify God?   Kendall Vanderslice: (34:38 - 39:09) Yeah, so one of the things that I love when I'm first teaching people about this idea of praying with your body, it is ironic. The whole concept of praying with your body is to try and get us out of our minds and into our bodies. But the idea of praying with our body can feel like a very sort of cerebral or like, you know, the sort of thing that doesn't quite make sense.   And so, the way that I like to help people first get started is through the practice of a breath prayer. So, a breath prayer is a practice of repeating a line of scripture or poetry with every inhale and every exhale. And so, one of the ones that I love to start with is my soul finds rest in God alone, drawn from the Psalms.   And so, as you inhale, you repeat my soul finds rest. And as you exhale in God alone. And so, when I'm guiding others through this bake and pray practice, I have a start by just closing our eyes and I will lead us in this rhythm of breathing and of repeating this line again and again and again.   And then from there, I encourage the group to start to mix up their dough while repeating this line with every inhale and exhale. And I think it helps us to see how our breath, our breath itself becomes, you know, these words of scripture so ingrain themselves in our breathing that we then understand our breathing itself as an offering of prayer to God. And then the movements of our bodies through this rhythm of breathing becomes an offering of prayer to God.   And then we realize that the words themselves are not even necessary, that we can offer, you know, the movements of mixing bread dough, but also of gardening, of knitting, of cooking, of playing with our children, of raking leaves, that all of these things can be ways to offer our movements to God as prayer and to invite God into this practice with us and to pay attention to how God is present in these practices. So, I do hope that, you know, people will take bake and pray and actually bake with it and learn to bake as a form of prayer. But I also love when I hear from potters or I hear from gardeners or I hear from other people that work with their hands regularly who tell me, I read this and I don't think I'm going to start baking, but it has reshaped my understanding of my own, you know, craft and my own vocation.   So, I am excited to hear from others who maybe will take this and say, like, this is how I see this work being a form of prayer. But I first started learning about embodied prayer and practicing it when I got to college. I was in a dance team at my college.   I had grown up as a ballerina. I left the ballet world in high school, and it was a really, really hard. My experience was really wonderful in many ways and really hard in many ways.   I was in the pre-professional ballet world, which is, you know, very, very rigorous, very mentally draining, very physically demanding. And when I realized that I wasn't going to be able to make it professionally, it was just absolutely devastating. It was like my whole world was wrapped around this.   And so, then when I got to college, I was invited to be a part of this dance company. But the dance company was for women who had experienced sort of the ballet world in the way that I had, and who were looking for healing and to understand that our dance could be a form of worship and a form of prayer. And when I first started, I thought that the whole concept was really strange.   You know, I was I did not understand. I was so grateful to have this very just affirming community that I was dancing with. It was really it was the first time that I had been, you know, affirmed in my body and affirmed as a dancer and not just, you know, told all the things that were wrong with me.   But still, I was like, this is a really strange concept that as we're dancing, we're somehow praying. And it really was something that I had to practice again and again and again to understand and to really feel. And so, if someone is listening to this and thinking like this sounds like a really strange concept, I encourage you to just try it.   And it might take a few tries. Maybe try using the liturgies that are in the book to help get you into that practice. And then I hope that as you practice, either praying through baking or through gardening or what have you, that you will just get to experience the ways that God's present with you.   And then that will transform your understanding of your craft.   Laura Dugger:  (39:09 - 39:20) Thanks for sharing that. It's important for us to understand that we are embodied beings. And that points to that awesome truth that God with us, that Jesus was embodied.   Kendall Vanderslice: (39:21 - 39:22) Absolutely.   Laura Dugger:  (39:22 - 39:31) But then, OK, so in your most recent book, Bake and Pray, what's one recipe that you're especially excited about?   Kendall Vanderslice: (39:31 - 41:04) You know, we are just emerging from the season of Advent and Christmas, and those are some of my favorite recipes in the book. One that is so delicious, that is it is a Christmas recipe. It is the Moravian sugar cake, but Moravians do eat the sugar cake all year round.   So, it is kind of a classical Christmas recipe. But here at the Moravian bakeries here in North Carolina, you can get them all year round. So Moravian baked goods are an early Protestant tradition. They actually were Protestants before the Protestant Reformation, they like to say. And they're a pretty small denomination here in the United States.   But they're largely focused in here in North Carolina, where I am, and then a little bit in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But the Moravian baked goods are known for all of their breads have potato in them. And so, some people, you know, there are other recipes that have like a potato, a potato bread or potato rolls.   When you add mashed potato into baked goods, it makes it really, really moist and tender. It holds on to moisture in the baked good much longer than just flour alone. So, the Moravian baked goods all have mashed potato in them.   But the Moravian sugar cake is one where it's this very rich potato bread. And then you put it into a pan, and you poke holes in it, sort of like if you were dimpling focaccia. And then you pour butter and cinnamon sugar on top and bake it.   And it is like it is a mix between sort of coffee cake and bread. And it is so, so, so delicious. I love it.   Laura Dugger:  (41:04 - 41:09) And there is also just a cute little story in there with the history.   Kendall Vanderslice: (41:09 - 41:28) Oh, yes, absolutely. It is, you know, there's this lore that apparently when men were looking for wives, they would look for women that had thick fingers. Because if they had thick fingers, it meant that they would have bigger dimples in their Moravian sugar cake that would hold bigger pockets of cinnamon and sugar.   Laura Dugger:  (41:28 - 41:42) I love that. I thought that was so funny. Well, Kendall, what are some of the most creative ways that you've been able to pair bread and generosity together to minister to others?   Kendall Vanderslice: (41:43 - 43:24) Yeah, one of the things that I am doing right now is, you know, I'm on the road several weeks of the year leading bread baking workshops in churches all over the country. And I love, love, love that part of my work. But in the last year, I started to really crave a closer connection with my community here in Durham, North Carolina.   But I am traveling the country and telling other people about how to connect to home and how to connect to their communities. And that work keeps me from being able to connect to my own home and community. And so, I decided that when I am home, I want to have a more intentional way of feeding the people immediately around me.   And so, I have this practice on Fridays of bread for friends and neighbors. And so, I'll tell, I'll send out an email to friends and neighbors on Monday and tell them, you know, here's what I'm baking this week if I'm in town. And then they let me know what they want.   And on Fridays, I have this shed in my driveway that I open up and it's got this whole like really fun armoire and that I that I've sort of decorated to be a bread pickup area. And so, on Fridays, my neighbors and my friends all walk over, and they come pick up their bread. And it's just been such a gift to be able to feed my immediate community through bread.   But then also to see and hear them sort of connecting in the driveway as they all come pick up their bread at the same time. And folks who either didn't know one another are starting to connect and find and meet one another. But then also neighbors to realize like, oh, you can get kindle bread, I get kindle bread.   And, you know, it's just so fun to have that very simple point of connection, because it can be feel very easy to feel disconnected from the neighbors that you maybe see all over the place. But just that that time of connection and picking up bread, I think, goes a long way beyond just that particular moment.   Laura Dugger:  (43:26 - 43:36) Generosity is always inspiring. And where can we all go to learn more about edible theology online or all of the other things that you have to offer?   Kendall Vanderslice: (43:37 - 44:05) You can learn more at my website, kendallvanderslice.com. The website is currently sort of under construction. So, I've got a makeshift website up right now where you can find everything.   And eventually I will have more links to all of the edible theology resources. But you can find everything you need at kendallvanderslice.com. You can learn about my workshops. You can learn about my books. You can learn about curriculum, about retreats that I lead. All of it is right there.   Laura Dugger:  (44:06 - 44:24) Wonderful. We will certainly add links in today's show notes so that it's easy to find. And Kendall, you may be familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge.   And so is my final question for you today. What is your savvy sauce?   Kendall Vanderslice: (44:25 - 45:13) Well, I think for me it is allowing myself to use even the simplest moments in the kitchen as a time for prayer rather than trying to rush through the practice of just seeing food as something I have to eat three times a day and something I have to make for myself. To realize that even something as simple as heating up a pot of soup or slicing some bread and smearing it with butter is still an invitation to thank God for this gift of food and the ability to prepare it. And so, I think that small practice alone can transform the way we relate to food and our bodies, but also to try and slow down and have a moment in our day where we avoid just rushing through and take a little bit more intentionality to appreciate the gifts that God has given us.   Laura Dugger:  (45:14 - 45:31) Well, Kendall, I was so intrigued from the first time that I heard about edible theology. And I really appreciate how you shed light on God's profound spiritual truths that are around us and that we can interact with in everyday life. But you also have such a charming personality.   Kendall Vanderslice: (45:32 - 45:38) So, thank you for being my guest. Thank you so much for having me. It's been such a delight to be here.   Laura Dugger: (45:39 – 49:21) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life?   We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.   If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone.   Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible.   I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ.   I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the enigmatic tales surrounding Old Salem Cemetery, affectionately known as God's Acre, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1771 by the Moravian community, this burial ground is steeped in rich history and unique traditions. But beyond its serene facade lie stories that have both intrigued and unsettled visitors for centuries.   From the mischievous antics of the "Little Red Man" to shadowy apparitions reported near ancient graves, we delve deep into the accounts that have made God's Acre a focal point for paranormal enthusiasts. Join us as we explore these spectral legends, the cultural impact they've had, and the ongoing mysteries that continue to shroud this historic cemetery.

pWotD Episode 2908: Good Friday Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 466,574 views on Friday, 18 April 2025 our article of the day is Good Friday.Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum.Members of many Christian denominations, including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Oriental Orthodox, United Protestant and some Reformed traditions (including certain Continental Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches), observe Good Friday with fasting and church services. In many Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches, the Service of the Great Three Hours' Agony is held from noon until 3 p.m.—the hours the Bible records darkness covering the land until Jesus' death on the cross. In the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican traditions of Christianity, the Stations of the Cross are prayed in the evening of Good Friday, as with other Fridays of Lent. Communicants of the Moravian Church have a Good Friday tradition of cleaning gravestones in Moravian cemeteries.The date of Good Friday varies from one year to the next in both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Eastern and Western Christianity disagree over the computation of the date of Easter and therefore of Good Friday. Good Friday is a widely instituted legal holiday around the world. Some predominantly Christian countries, such as Germany, have laws prohibiting certain acts—public dancing, horse racing—in remembrance of the sombre nature of Good Friday.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 03:01 UTC on Saturday, 19 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Good Friday on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Emma.

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the enigmatic tales surrounding Old Salem Cemetery, affectionately known as God's Acre, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1771 by the Moravian community, this burial ground is steeped in rich history and unique traditions. But beyond its serene facade lie stories that have both intrigued and unsettled visitors for centuries.   From the mischievous antics of the "Little Red Man" to shadowy apparitions reported near ancient graves, we delve deep into the accounts that have made God's Acre a focal point for paranormal enthusiasts. Join us as we explore these spectral legends, the cultural impact they've had, and the ongoing mysteries that continue to shroud this historic cemetery.

Peter Greer is the President and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered economic development organization that operates in 27 countries. Under Peter's leadership, HOPE has grown significantly in scope and influence, investing in the dreams of underserved entrepreneurs around the world. He's also a prolific author with more than 15 books to his name, including Mission Drift, Rooting for Rivals, and his latest, Lead with Prayer. A Harvard Kennedy School grad and a sought-after speaker, Peter combines nonprofit leadership with business insights to fuel a global movement of Christ-centered empowerment and economic justice. Peter joins us to discuss the importance of prayer in leadership and life—especially in light of the wisdom he's gathered in co-authoring Lead with Prayer alongside Cameron Doolittle and Ryan Skoog. In this transparent conversation, Peter reflects on how his own spiritual practices have changed over the years, the challenges of truly collaborative leadership, and why prayer isn't something to squeeze into our schedules—it should be the foundation. “Most leaders today must think they're busier than Jesus—because most are spending less time in prayer, not more.” - Peter Greer “Not organization building, but movement making—that's where the exciting work is happening right now.” - Peter Greer “I've written everything not as an expert, but as a practitioner still learning what it means to live open-handed.” - Peter Greer This Week on The Wow Factor: How Peter's journey from studying international business in Moscow led him to microenterprise and missional work The mission and growth of HOPE International, and how it supports entrepreneurs in over two dozen countries The story behind Lead with Prayer and what inspired Peter and his co-authors to dig deep into leaders' prayer lives Why prayer often decreases as leadership responsibilities increase—and how to flip that script What we can learn from Johnny Erickson Tada about suffering, gratitude, and deeper intimacy with God Terry Looper's sacred pace and how “getting to neutral” helps him make decisions grounded in spiritual discernment The ripple effect of prayer and why we should pray bigger, bolder, multi-generational prayers Practical ways to integrate prayer into your everyday life—like prayer by association and “wasting time with God” How fasting, digital detoxing, and physical posture can deepen your spiritual walk Lessons from the Moravian prayer movement and how a small community's prayers changed the world Peter Greer's Word of Wisdom: Try new things. Let go of what doesn't serve you and hold tight to the prayer rhythms that draw you closer to God. The goal isn't perfection—it's presence. Connect with Peter Greer:  HOPE International Website Peters Website Peter's Book - Lead With Prayer Peter's Instagram Peter's LinkedIn Peter's Facebook Peter's X Connect with The Wow Factor:  WOW Factor Website  Brad Formsma on LinkedIn   Brad Formsma on Instagram   Brad Formsma on Facebook   X (formerly Twitter)  

This week, Pastor Magrey deVega and Bishop Patrick Streiff explore the power of spiritual practices, from the Moravian texts that shaped John Wesley to the wisdom passed down through centuries of faith. They discuss how scripture, tradition, and relationships shape our journey, just as Jesus walked with His disciples toward transformation. Join the conversation on how faith is lived and shared in community.Find out more at HydeParkUMC.org/NextSteps

The U.S. gained its 26th UNESCO World Heritage Site this summer. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Moravian settlement joined three other Moravian settlements in Germany, Denmark and Northern Ireland in becoming a World Heritage Site this year, tracing ideals and consistency found in Moravian city planning. Digital video producer Tim McPhillips went to Bethlehem to see what made Moravians so unique. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

A Christmas selection: songs old and newer, performed by Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti, Heidi Grant Murphy, Odetta, Mel Tormé, et glorious al. Trad., “Angels We Have Heard on High” Bach, “Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben,” from the Christmas Oratorio Trad., “Ríu ríu chíu” Trad., “Il est né, le divin Enfant” Schultz, “Ihr Kinderlein, kommet” Schubert-Melichar, “Mille cherubini in coro” Trad. (Moravian), “Long Ago in Bethlehem” Trad., “What Month Was Jesus Born In?” Martin & Blane, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Tormé & Wells, “The Christmas Song”

Spiritual autobiographies were essential to the spread of Methodism. In this Bonus episode, we hear about Christian David, a Moravian who preached to John Wesley at Herrnhut and whose life impacted John tremendously.Please give us a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.You can find us online at www.historyofmethodism.com.You can support us online at patreon.com/historyofmethodism. 

Shenandoah Football finished out the regular season with a victory over ODAC rival, Washington & Lee and have earned their spot in the Cape Charles Bowl part of the Chesapeake Challenge. Josh is joined by Hornets Head Coach, Scott Yoder to discuss the victory last week against W&L, his thoughts on the Chesapeake Challenge and preparing for the Cape Charles Bowl. Make sure you Like, Subscribe and Follow The Kirby on Sports Podcast for more coverage of Shenandoah University Athletics. A huge thanks to our sponsors! PM+ Reserves Shenandoah Primitives Transformative Alignment Group Mark Francis with ICON Real Estate Barrett Pest and Termite Services Mark Lynch with Guild Mortgage Shenandoah Music The Cider House Don't Sleep Energy is the Official Energy Drink of The Kirby on Sports Podcast! www.dontsleepenergy.com or amazon.com/shops/dontsleep use promo code “KOSPodcast” for 12% off your order every single time. www.kirbyonsports.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thekirbyonsportspodcast/support

News; Velvet 89: educational new game presents events of 1989 to new generation; New exhibition showcasing photographer Helena Wilson opens in Prague; The life and lessons of the Moravian thinker John Amos Comenius

This talk is a sundry talk from 2024. More materials here: https://first164.blogspot.com/

In this episode of Unknown Nations Podcast, Greg Kelley recaps the annual Celebration Dinner, focusing on Paul's mission statement to reach nations where Christ is not yet known. Greg draws inspiration from historical movements like the Moravian 24-hour prayer and modern-day martyrs like Jim Elliot, while emphasizing the power of leader multiplication as seen in 2 Timothy 2:2. Hear an inspiring story from underground church leaders, and join the mission to make Jesus known! Learn more about Unknown Nations by visiting www.UnknownNations.com.

On this week's episode of Inside the Headset – Presented by CoachComm, we sit down with Moravian Head Coach, Jeff Long. In this conversation, Coach Long discusses how his background as a teacher helped him in coaching, how he grew as a young coordinator, and being handed the keys to the Moravian program. Coach Long is in his second season leading the Moravian program and was a member of the 2024 AFCA 35 Under 35 class.   Follow Coach Long and Moravian football on social media here:   @CoachLongMUFB & @MoravianFB  Show Notes:   1:05 Similarities between Teaching and Coaching, breaking into the profession, and transitioning from coaching high school to college.   24:05 Internship with Philadelphia Eagles, developing as a young coach, and transitioning to John Carroll.  46:41 Becoming a coordinator for the first time, the opportunity to be a Head Coach, and AFCA 35 Under 35 Experience.  

Johnny Bapack on Morovian revival. CMFI Annual Prayer and Fasting Crusade in Koume. From 14th September to 22nd of September 2024

On the show today: news; scientist develop probe to save infected trees; Prague Cemeteries and Funeral Services host open days; Moravian cimbalom player Matěj Číp on his journey to Berklee College of Music

This talk is a sundry talk from 2024. More materials here: https://first164.blogspot.com/

With a 27-17 win over Moravian under his belt, Head Coach Kevin DeWall '00 discusses how the Statesmen tripped up the Greyhounds and previews the team's final non-conference game of the season, a road contest at Keystone. The Hobart Football Podcast is recorded weekly during the season.   The podcast is available on HWSAthletics.com, Amazon Music, and Spotify. To help support Hobart Football, please join the Statesmen Athletic Association. Find Hobart Football on X: @HobartFootball; Facebook: facebook.com/HobartStatesmen; and Instagram: @HobartFootball.

Jesus is the bread of life. But what about the bread at our table? Is there any connection? Kendall Vanderslice, baker and theologian, sees a direct connection between the making and consuming of bread with the good news that God is present and working. A conversation like no other - Kendall walks us through the value of eating together, the bread making process, and how we can love our neighbors through simple acts like offering some homemade bread. You may be surprised how much this conversation brings you to some deeper spiritual longings and reminds you that the tangible of today can be a great metaphor for the intangible hope of heaven. FIND MORE ABOUT KENDALL VANDERSLICE Kendall's -Website and Instagram Kendall's Book- Bake & Pray A FEW THINGS MENTIONED Alex's book- Loving My Actual Neighbor Types of bread mentioned: Moravian sugar cake Stollen Bread QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU RISE What rhythm of food prep can you incorporate into your routine that will help you slow down? How can prayer be part of this rhythm? How has food helped you feel more connected to others in the past? What cultural bread would you like to learn to make this year? How can you love your neighbors through baking this fall and holiday season? LET'S CONNECT! Did you like this episode? Let us know and leave a review on itunes or share it with a friend. Or message us on Instagram – we'd love to hear from you! Get the Daily Dozen Checklist -12 habits that will immediately make you happier and healthie

In this week's episode of the podcast, Head Coach Kevin DeWall '00 breaks down the heartbreaking overtime loss at nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon and looks ahead to the program's first ever meeting with Moravian. The Hobart Football Podcast is recorded weekly during the season.   The podcast is available on HWSAthletics.com, Amazon Music, and Spotify. To help support Hobart Football, please join the Statesmen Athletic Association. Find Hobart Football on Twitter: @HobartFootball; Facebook: facebook.com/HobartStatesmen; and Instagram: @HobartFootball.

It's Thursday, August 29th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Ukraine bans religious groups with ties to Russia Last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky  signed a bill into law that bans religious groups with ties to Russia. The legislation targets the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which has historical ties to Russia. Ukraine has prosecuted over 100 of its leaders. Religion News notes, “Anyone concerned with freedom of conscience and belief can find legitimate reasons to condemn criminal charges over opinions expressed on social media or from the pulpit, which has been the case of many Ukrainian Orthodox Church clerics jailed since the invasion.” Australia becomes hostile to religious freedom Faith groups in Australia have been calling for more protections for religious freedom. They warn that people are facing increased discrimination for their religious beliefs. A proposed Religious Discrimination Act would have protected religious freedom. However, the government announced it is scrapping the measure. It is even considering removing religious freedom protections in the current Sex Discrimination Act. Monica Doumit with the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said, “It is disappointing that there remains very little protection against discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity.”  New York censors abortion pill reversal information In the United States, New York has been trying to silence pro-life groups, like Heartbeat International, from sharing information about abortion pill reversals. In response, Alliance Defending Freedom is supporting pro-life groups against the state.  A federal court ruled the pro-life groups can keep sharing life-saving information as the case proceeds. The ruling noted, “The First Amendment protects Plaintiffs' right to speak freely about [abortion pill reversal] protocol and, more specifically, to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use in consultation with her doctor.” Proverbs 24:11 says, “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” U.S. fertility rate drops again The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the U.S. fertility rate continues to drop. The fertility rate fell 3% last year to 55 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. That amounted to 3.6 million babies who were birthed last year, down 68,000 compared to 2022. The fertility rate has been falling for decades, especially since the 2008 Great Recession. The rate increased slightly in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has continued to fall since then.  Male voters prefer Trump; Female voters prefer Harris The New York Times released polling data from battleground states this month. The poll noted a gender gap in political preference, especially among young people. Men tended to support former President Donald Trump, while women tended to support Vice President Kamala Harris.  Among people aged 18 to 29, women favored Kamala by 38 percentage points, and men favored Trump by 13 points. That's a 51-point gender gap, up from a 39-point gap when President Joe Biden was still in the race for the White House.  Tulsi Gabbard: Kamala Harris is “afraid to debate Donald Trump” Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, who just endorsed Trump for president on Monday night, talked to David Webb on the Sirius XM Patriot channel Tuesday to explain why she thinks Vice President Kamala Harris is “afraid” to debate Trump. Listen. GABBARD: “Donald Trump's campaign and Kamala Harris's campaign agreed to this debate on September 10 to the same rules that applied during the Trump-Biden debate on CNN that we already saw. “Now all of a sudden, we're just two weeks out this debate that they already agreed to, and Kamala Harris is trying to change the rules. She wants it to be a debate where they allow the mics to be live the entire time, where she can bring her notes in to the debate with her, and where they will be seated for the entire debate. “President Trump's position has been pretty clear. Where he says, hey, look, we already agreed to the terms of this debate. We should stick with those terms, which is the same rules that he debated Joe Biden under. The fact that Kamala Harris is trying to change the rules here now, just days out from when this debate is supposed to occur, I think it, to me, it says that she's afraid. She's afraid to debate Donald Trump. Her wanting to bring notes into this debate reinforces what we already know to be true, which is she absolutely struggles if she is not using a script, if she is not using a teleprompter. “If she can't debate Donald Trump on the issues, on her record and his record, frankly, without notes in front of her and without sitting down, she's got much bigger problems!” Florida's law banning transgender procedures for minors given green light The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Florida law can go into effect that bans transgender procedures. The law prohibits doctors from offering puberty blockers and body-mutilating surgeries to minors.  Republican Governor Ron DeSantis commented previously on the case, He said, “These procedures do permanent, life-altering damage to children, and history will look back on this fad in horror.” At least 26 states have passed laws to protect children from transgender procedures.  Chick-fil-A adds entertainment to menu Chick-fil-A has been America's favorite fast food restaurant for nearly a decade.  Now, the company is adding entertainment to the menu as it prepares to launch its own streaming service. The entertainment platform would focus on family-friendly content. Chick-fil-A's CEO Dan Cathy has previously spent millions of dollars transforming over 700 acres of farmland in Georgia. It's now home to the largest movie studio outside of Burbank, California.  100-year-long prayer chain launched hundreds of missionaries And finally, this week is the anniversary of when a Christian community in Herrnhut, Germany began a round-the-clock “prayer chain.” The community started after Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf opened his estate to Protestant refugees. On August 27, 1727, dozens in the community committed to pray in turns every hour of every day. The prayer chain reportedly lasted over one hundred years. The Moravian community went on to send hundreds of missionaries around the world, becoming the spearhead of Protestant missions.  Colossians 4:2 says, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, August 29th, in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

In this week's episode, Evangelist Chance Walters gives us the significance of August 13, 1727 in which many scholars call, The Moravian Miracle. We hope you enjoy the program and please share with a friend! 

In this episode, we explore the profound impact of prayer as the driving force behind transformative movements. Discover the story of the 1700s Moravian prayer movement, where 24 men and 24 women committed to round-the-clock prayer, leading to a century of relentless missionary work. We'll discuss the essential elements of the Lord's Prayer and its role in aligning our hearts with God's mission. Through prayer, we can embrace God's priorities, from the holiness of His name to the coming of His Kingdom and the provision for our daily needs. Learn how Jesus' own prayer life and the practical application of the Lord's Prayer can revolutionize our approach to spirituality and community. Join us as we challenge ourselves to integrate prayer into our daily lives and see God's power transform our world. Let's make prayer the lifeblood of our faith journey and witness the extraordinary results it can bring.

Dr. Riddick Weber, Moravian professor extraordinaire, stops by to discuss an observation he's made about deconstruction journeys, and how they are less about theology and more about soteriology(doctrine of salvation). 

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 25th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of John 15:7: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Wow! That is a beautiful promise from the Lord, but the key there is abiding in Him. Philippians 4:13 - we know that scripture so well: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Its Christ Jesus, folks, it is not our own efforts. Jesus spent thirty years with His Father, His Heavenly Father, in the carpenter shop for a mere three years of ministry, thirty years of preparation for three years of ministry. The devil wants you and I to rush, rush, rush. He keeps us off balance all the time, running, running, running, so that we cannot spend time with the Lord. But Jesus is the opposite. He is never in a rush and He is never late. Remember, He came to the tomb of Lazarus, His friend, 4 days after He had been summoned by Mary and Martha, Jesus' friends. But what happened? A miracle took place. Lazarus was raised from the dead. The main objective of the believer is to spend time with Christ and to allow His strength to flow through us. Then, there shall be nothing too hard for us. Nothing is too hard for us when the Lord Jesus Christ is flowing through us, absolutely nothing. Remember the story I told you before about one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America? Abraham Lincoln was asked, “If you were given six hours to cut down that large tree, what would you do?” “Well,” he said, “I would spend four hours sharpening the axe.” Now, I cut trees and I split wood, I want to tell you, that is profound. There is nothing more sad for me to see than a man trying to cut a tree down with a blunt axe. It doesn't work.John Wesley went across to Europe to meet with a very special man of God, Count von Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian church. Do you know what happened? This man, John Wesley, had an MA in theology, and von Zinzendorf made him work in the garden for months. He was so offended. What was he doing? He was trying to get Jesus into the man of God, and out of that, started one of the greatest revivals that the world has ever known. Today, spend time in His presence. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

In March 1782, American militia destroy a Moravian Christian community of white settlers and Indians living in Ohio. Blog https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com includes a complete transcript, as well as pictures, and links related to this week's episode. Book Recommendation of the Week: David Zeisberger: A Life Among the Indians, by Earl Olmstead (borrow on Archive.org).  Online Recommendation of the Week: Zeisberger, David Diary of David Zeisberger, a Moravian missionary among the Indians of Ohio, Vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/diaryofdavidzeis01zeis_0 and Vol 2: https://archive.org/details/diaryofdavidzeis02zeis_0 Join American Revolution Podcast on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmRevPodcast Ask your American Revolution Podcast questions on Quora: https://amrevpod.quora.com Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/132651894048271 Follow the podcast on Twitter @AmRevPodcast Join the podcast mail list: https://mailchi.mp/d3445a9cd244/american-revolution-podcast-by-michael-troy  ARP T-shirts and other merch: http://tee.pub/lic/AmRevPodcast Support this podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/AmRevPodcast or via PayPal http://paypal.me/AmRevPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently returned to my old hometown, Winston-Salem, NC, for a live podcast at Lot63 in Old Salem. There, I was joined by two of my old Profs at Wake Forest University Divinity School, Dr. Bill Leonard and Dr. Craig Atwood,  the brand new Dean of the Divinity School, Dr. Corey Walker, and music from a fellow alum Kyle Caudle. In this half of the live show, I talk with my former historical theology Professor, Craig Atwood. Not only did I take historical theology with him, but he facilitated one of the most fun and intense independent studies on the thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Dr. Craig Atwood is the premier Moravian historical theologian. He is best known for his books Community of the Cross: Moravian Piety in Colonial Bethlehem, which won two major awards, and Theology of the Czech Brethren from Hus to Comenius. He is also the author of over 50 academic articles, chapters in books, encyclopedia articles, book reviews, and church publications.  If you're considering a future in theological education, Wake Forest University's Divinity School is a top choice. My family and I are proud alumni, and we all cherish the education and experiences we gained there. With the dynamic leadership of Corey Walker as the new Dean, the future of the school is bright! If you live in Winston-Salem, you can join us LIVE at Lot 63 for a zesty podcast recording. Info here. JOIN our current class, GOD AFTER DECONSTRUCTION with Thomas Jay Oord Come to THEOLOGY BEER CAMP. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to our 22nd episode of Life Between The Notes, the podcast that delves into the lives and experiences of talented musicians from south central Pennsylvania. In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome the immensely talented horn player, Shari Gleason-Mayrhofer! As a busy freelance musician and dedicated teacher in the Lehigh Valley-Berks County area, Shari brings a wealth of insight and stories to us, including anecdotes about legendary horn players such as Bill Vermeulen and Barry Tuckwell, offering a unique perspective shaped by her own experiences in the collegiate world. Throughout our conversation, Shari opens up about the challenges and rewards of a musician's career, shedding light on the highs and lows of navigating the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry. From her esteemed role as the Executive Director of the Friends of Chamber Music of Reading to her positions on the faculties of Kutztown, Moravian, and Lehigh Universities, as well as Muhlenberg College, Shari's dedication to music education and performance shines through. We also explore the invaluable role of private lesson teaching, touching on its profound impact not only on individual students but also on the broader musical community. Whether you're a fellow musician seeking inspiration, a music enthusiast eager to learn more about the lives of performers, or simply someone who appreciates engaging conversations, this episode is sure to resonate with you. So sit back, relax, and join us as we navigate the fascinating world of music with the remarkable Shari Gleason-Mayrhofer on Life Between The Notes. Don't forget to subscribe for more enriching discussions with talented musicians. #SouthCentralPA #LocalMusicians #PAartists #MusicScene #PennsylvaniaMusicians #PodcastLife #MusicalJourney #MusicianStories #PApodcast #LocalTalent #MusicCommunity #BehindTheMusic #MusicCulture #PodcastLife #LifeBetweenTheNotes #LBTN #horn

News; State-owned forest company opens first plant for wild game; Thousand-year-old bone skate discovered in Moravian city of Přerov; From Czechia, to Toronto and Japan, the Brady family leaves a legacy

In this episode Ryan introduces six core principles directly related to seeing mission mobilization movements happen within our individual local ministries and even across entire denominational structures. To do this we look at the example of the Moravian community at Herrnhut in the 1700's as a representation of these six principles of mobilization movements.

John and Cindi live to see God's kingdom come and true worship arise from the “uttermost parts of the earth.” They had the privilege of serving for 15 years among an unreached people group in the Himalayas where they brought God's kingdom in love, truth, and power. Passionate about missions, the Taylors continue to raise up national leaders in emerging indigenous churches—equipping, empowering, and sending them out as burning ones into the darkness. Out of a deep heart for the oppressed and the poor, they birth and provide mentorship for transformational businesses, which carry the kingdom into all facets of society. As arsons of the heart, the Taylors are mobilizing a fresh, Moravian-like movement of flaming arrows to go to the least-reached peoples and the most Gospel-neglected places on the planet. They long to see the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His sufferings amongst all peoples.

In the second of this two-part podcast, Phil Anderson, author of Lord of the Ring, considers how we can take the vibrant spiritual and practical lives of the Moravian missional communities as a model for OMS communities in the 21st century.

Are you one of the many thousands tuning into the Netflix series The Chosen? The multi-season series tells the life and ministry of Jesus and the people he encountered throughout his life. Set in the times of Roman oppression in Palestine, we learn about Mary Magdalene, Thaddeus, Little James, the fishermen, Simon, Andrew, Big James and John; who they were and who they became when they followed the Messiah. Season 4 is out now to widespread acclaim and that led us to think, what impact, if any, do great Biblical dramas have beyond their entertainment value or are they a priceless way to propagate the Gospels in a modern age? From the 10 Commandments, Jesus of Nazareth to the Greatest Story Ever Told, there's a plethora of great and not so great cinema and tv dramas - so do they make a difference? Presenter Claire Graham in conversation with academic Dr Leon Litvack from Queen's University, avid filmgoer Liz Kennedy, Moravian minister Reverend Dr Livingstone Thompson, and situation comedy writer and lay preacher James Cary.

You know that feeling when you get to hang out with a friend that fills your cup? And y'all could be just chillin' yet you're still having a major blast? Well today we get to hear from one of those people. Trent Howard is a friend, a business owner, and he stood next to me in my wedding. Just like the X-Men, Trent has a super power of his own - community. With a background in petroleum engineering, he decided to take his talents away from the sure-fire financial security of sitting on some oil rig in Oklahoma and move with six friends to the busy metropolis of DFW. Together, he, Carson Kidd, and Joel Agimudie began building a business, now known as Moravian Coffee. Moravian is a coffee roastery that connects people around the world with specialty coffee. If you're familiar with the podcast, you know that I love CONNECTION. Connection is the beginning of opportunity, and opportunity creates connection. In this episode, expect to hear: why young adults often move away from friendshow a lucrative job can sometimes derail our life goalsabout a helpful framework to navigate conflictwhen Trent decided to drop the cheddar and build a businesswhat it's like to be an entrepreneur with your best friendsthe main reasons why people choose to live away from communitywhether being a good friend helps you with being a husband/wifethe story of how we first met and the oddball nature of itwhen prioritizing community can elevate your entrepreneurial pursuitThis is the first IN-PERSON conversation of 2024! It was an orchestra of fun. I'm counting each minute as a blessing and I'm excited to see what other conversations are in store for this year. Thanks for following along!MORAVIAN COFFEE - this is some of the best coffee in the world!https://www.moraviancoffee.com/Connect with Trent: https://www.instagram.com/trenthoward15An easy way to send me a message? Click the link here.Have you enjoyed the podcast? If so, follow it, rate it, and share it with three people: Follow on Apple Podcasts Follow on Spotify Follow on Instagram Subscribe on YouTube If you want to share feedback, have a great idea, or have a question then email me: talktopeoplepodcast@gmail.comProduced by Capture Connection Studios: captureconnectionstudios.com

We're back on the Unknown Nations podcast, and Greg Kelley is taking the lead in a Bible Teaching episode. Diving into Acts 1:8, Greg unpacks the significance of Jesus' last words before ascending into heaven. Join him as he shares the historical account of Moravian missionaries in the 1700s and provides valuable insights into the simultaneous journey of following Jesus. Then stay tuned for stories from the unknown as Greg shares about the Koma Nation being reached with the gospel for the first time. Learn more at unknownnation.com.

Want to change your look completely in 2024? Feeling the need to makeover your outer and inner world? In this podcast episode, Kimberly Spencer chats with Magnetic Stlisy and Energy Master, Jenn Koch, founder of Stylegasm, to discuss the profound influence of personal style on self-confidence and growth. They explore the journey of self-acceptance, particularly post-pandemic and post-parenthood, emphasizing the need to embrace one's current self. Jennifer shares insights on individualized styling, closet purging for identity alignment, and the emotional aspects of wardrobe choices. They address style as self-care and self-expression, and the role of energy mastery in embracing style changes. The conversation underscores style's role in personal development and navigating insecurities with professional guidance. About Jenn Koch, Founder of Stylegasm: Jenn Koch worked in the fashion industry for over 15 years including working in Paris, France, and starting a bespoke women's clothing brand in Bali, Indonesia. She evolved into styling after realizing she didn't enjoy making products but instead loved the deeper interactions with her clients around style. She is the creator of the world's first Style Oracle deck and is also an Energy Mastery teacher. Using these tools combined with her background in fashion, Jenn helps women get in touch with their unique style expression, from the inside out. Connect with Jenn in all the places: Email: yes@haveastylegasm.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haveastylegasm/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haveastylegasm LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermariekoch/ What You'll Learn: The transformative power of style What impact of style provide in an ROI of personal growth and confidence How to embrace a unique style How to overcome shame and insecurities When you can use style for self-expression and empowerment What to do when you don't currently love your body (or how clothes fit) Closet cleaning and letting go of clothes tips How to style as a form of self-care and self-expression When Jealousy as a tool for identifying the desired style The Role of energy mastery in style transformation Links + Mentions: "Hello My Name is Awesome" by Alexandra Watkins: 00:07:20 "Style Oracle Decks": 00:03:49 "Energy Mastery Workshops": 00:09:27 "Energy Mastery": 00:43:53 "Professional Organizers": 00:41:51 "Personal Stylist or Style Coach": 00:38:52 "Purging in the closet": 00:40:53 "Awareness": 00:39:48 "Energy Mastery": 00:44:07, 00:46:02, 00:47:58 "Timeline Therapy": 00:46:02 "Jeannie Mai": 00:52:05 "Hot Water with Lemon": 00:51:04 "Meditation": 00:52:05 "Salt Bath": 00:52:54 "Stylegasm Instagram": 00:54:55 "Workshops and Closet Tours": 00:54:55 Moments of Note: Barbie Dressing Days (00:00:00)Kimberly recalls her childhood fascination with dressing up Barbies and the enduring impact of style on her life. Awakening to Authentic Style (00:01:19)Kimberly discusses her journey to embracing her authentic style and the role of style in her business transformation. Leveraging Style for Transformation (00:02:31)The significance of style in external and internal transformation, according to the Moravian communication model, is highlighted. Jennifer Marie Koch: The Stylegasm Queen (00:03:49)Introduction to Jennifer Marie Koch, her background in the fashion industry, and her unique approach to personal styling. The Power of Style Oracle Decks (00:05:00)Jennifer explains the deeper aspects of style, including energy mastery and inner transformation, and the use of style oracle cards in her work. Bold Branding: Stylegasm (00:06:10)Jennifer shares the inspiration behind naming her brand "Stylegasm" and the importance of a bold, impactful business name. The Essence of Style (00:07:20)Jennifer delves into the deeper meaning of style, emphasizing its role in reflecting the true soul expression of an individual. Forgiveness and Transformation (00:14:29)The discussion centers around the profound card "forgiveness" from the style oracle deck and Jennifer's personal journey of forgiveness and transformation. Overcoming Shame and Insecurities (00:18:53)Both speakers share their experiences of facing shame and insecurities related to their personal style and body image, highlighting the unlearning of societal programming. Step by step journey (00:22:12)Kimberly discusses guiding clients through a personalized style journey, addressing sensitivities and individualized steps. Embracing one's unique style (00:23:04)The importance of embodying one's true self through style, leading to confidence and self-acceptance. Closet cleaning and attachment to clothes (00:25:03)Discussion on the symbolic and energetic aspects of closet organization, including letting go of old identities and memories attached to clothes. Investment with own energy and style (00:37:42)Exploring the concept of personal style and the impact it has on self-perception and confidence. Jealousy as a starting point (00:40:53)Using jealousy as a tool for identifying style aspirations and desires, and the importance of seeking professional guidance in the style journey. Addressing physical limitations (00:42:53)Incorporating energy mastery to help clients embrace and work around perceived physical limitations in their style journey. Energy Mastery (00:44:07)Discussion on the transformative power of energy mastery in styling, including the process of cleaning up energy and its impact on clients' lives. Results of Energy Mastery (00:46:02)Exploring the positive impact of energy mastery on clients, such as overcoming grief and starting new relationships and businesses. Style and Energy Cleansing (00:47:58)Connecting style with energy cleansing and the emergence of one's true self, leading to a deeper connection with personal style. Favorite Female Character (00:49:08)Jennifer shares her admiration for the character Emily in Paris and the influence of cheerful and optimistic fashion on her. Morning Routine and Energy Maintenance (00:51:04)Jennifer's morning routine, including energy grounding exercises and meditation, and the importance of energy maintenance throughout the day. Building Her Kingdom (00:53:57)Jennifer discusses her ongoing rebranding and the concept of her kingdom as represented by her new website and online presence. Crowning Yourself (00:53:57)The significance of wearing something fabulous to feel empowered and confident, creating a ripple effect throughout the day.

Pastor Andy Davis traces the angelic worship of Christ throughout the whole of scripture. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT- On May 21st, 1738, Charles Wesley lay seriously ill in bed fearing for his life. But as he lay there fearing for his life, he feared more for his eternal soul because at that point he had no assurance of salvation. He and his brother John, had been pursuing a religion of Christianized good works and morality. They were part of a group called the Oxford Holy Club, and they sought to earn their salvation by good works, by mission trips, by other things, but they had no assurance of salvation. They only had ever-increasing anxiety about eternal hell and destruction. For almost two years they sought this assurance. John and Charles Wesley had been on a mission trip to the New World and on the way back, they were in a serious storm with a group of Moravian believers. They saw the supernatural joy and peace and confidence even in the midst of that storm that those Moravians had. They had absolutely no fear of death, but that could not characterize the Wesleys at that point, so they began to study the religion of the Moravians who often spoke of the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the soul of a genuinely converted person. The Wesleys had seen that supernatural peace during that storm, and they longed to know it, a total freedom from death. The Moravians linked that sense of assurance to the promise in Romans 8:16, the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children, but they had not experienced that testimony, that assurance at all. If anything, things just seemed to get worse and worse for them until that day, May 21st, 1738 for Charles Wesley, ironically, Pentecost Sunday, Pentecost Sunday commemorating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church. Charles Wesley had been fighting for his life against his illness, but also pleading with God for assurance of salvation. As he lay alone in his bed between visits by his brother John and doctors and well-meaning friends, Charles had a personal encounter with God through the out-poured Holy Spirit that changed his life forever. Assurance flooded into his soul. He felt strange palpitations in his heart, and he cried aloud, "I believe, I believe." He wrote in his journal that day, "I have now found myself at peace with God and rejoiced in the hope of loving Christ." Now his more famous brother John Wesley would soon have his own conversion experience at a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street there in London. Though John Wesley would become the leader and driving force of the movement known as Methodism, Charles Wesley would become the movement's poet and hymn writer. He wrote over 6,000 hymns seeking to put the theology of Christianity in lyrics that illiterate people could understand easily. Seven months after his conversion, Charles Wesley was walking through the streets of London on Christmas day. The bells were ringing, celebrating the birth of Christ. He hurried home and wrote the poem that would become arguably the most celebrated Christmas song of all time, now known as Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. The original poem that Charles wrote was, "Hark! How all the welkin rings. Glory to the King of Kings." Welkin means “heavens.” A number of years later in 1753, the greatest Methodist preacher of them all, George Whitfield changed the lyrics to what we know today, "Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mile God and sinners reconciled.” That improvement is well appreciated. It's already a challenge to have one obscure word, hark meaning “listen,” and even more obscure archaic word, “welkin,” would probably have sunk him for good. The heavens were indeed ringing with the praise of angelic army the night that Jesus was born. We can obey the word “hark" to listen to their celebration only by faith. Faith in the word of God. There is a listening of the soul with the ears of faith that we must do to be able to listen to them celebrating. There's a seeing to see the incarnate Christ laying there. There's a seeing we can only do by faith, faith in the word of God. I. Angelic Worship of Christ The call to listen to the angelic praise is a doorway into my Christmas meditation with you today. I want to trace out over all of redemptive history, even before history began, angelic worship of Christ. Angelic worship of Christ. My purpose is not that we will merely hark to angelic worship of Christ, but join with them in understanding the greatness in the majesty of Jesus Christ and that God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven through that worship. Hebrews 1 makes it plain. When God brought his son into the world, He wanted the angels to worship him. Hebrews 1:6 says, "When God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him.’" This is an amazing statement if you think about it. It's an open claim to God of God concerning the deity of his son. The scripture makes it plain that God commands all worshiping beings, angels and humans to worship him and serve him only. Worship is reserved for God, and yet here's God calling on the angels to worship his son when He brings him into the world. That is proof that the Son of God, the birth of Jesus is a matter for worship. This is deity coming into the world, and the angels complied. "The scripture makes it plain that God commands all worshiping beings, angels and humans to worship him and serve him only. Worship is reserved for God, and yet here's God calling on the angels to worship his son when He brings him into the world. " I want to trace out more fully the history of angelic worship of the second person of the Trinity and follow it in historical order in nine steps. First, angels worship the pre-incarnate Christ. Second, angels announced the coming Christ. Third, angels celebrated the birth of Christ. Fourth, angels protected the newborn Christ. Fifth, angels strengthened Christ in his weakness. Sixth, angels announced the resurrected Christ. Seventh, angels celebrated the heavenly ascension of Christ. Eighth, angels assisted in the spread of the gospel of Christ's kingdom. And then ninth, angels will celebrate Christ's glory for all eternity. II. Angels Worship the Pre-Incarnate Christ First, angels worship the pre-incarnate Christ. Christ alone of all human beings that's ever lived, made a voluntary choice, a willing choice to enter the world as a human being. He's the only one that that is true of. He made this assertion to Pontius Pilate when He was on trial before Pilate in John 18, “Jesus said to Pilate, ‘You are right in saying that I'm a king. In fact, for this reason I was born and for this, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’" In other words, "I chose to enter the world and I chose to enter the world to build a kingdom based on truth and to invite people into that kingdom of truth." That was a choice that Jesus made. He's the only human being that ever was pre-existent before He took on a human body and chose to enter the world, and that is to build a kingdom of truth. So also this statement in John 6, Jesus said, "I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life and I will raise Him up at the last day." It is the same thing. "I chose to enter the world not to do my will, but to do the will of the Father. And this is the Father's will that I save all the elect that He has given me." Philippians 2 makes it plain that Jesus shared eternal glory with God on a heavenly throne of glory before He entered the world. He had equality with God, a radiant glory with Him. That's what Charles Wesley meant when he said, "Mild he lays his glory down, born that man no more may die." Before Jesus was born, the angels saw that glory and they worshiped him in his glory. Two key passages show this in the Old Testament, Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1. First, Isaiah 6:1-3 says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs. Seraphs each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another. 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.'" The Lord the seraphim worshiped was Jesus. John 12:41 makes it plain that Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. The seraphs are angels, an order of angels, the spirit beings of the word. The Hebrew word literally means “burning ones.” They're like on fire. They're brilliant, they're bright. This lines up with the statement made of them in Hebrews 1:7 in speaking of his angels, he says, "He makes his angels winds as servants, flames of fire." The seraphim are burning ones, they're on fire, a holy fire. This fiery terminology also lines up with the vision in Ezekiel 1 of cherubim, fiery beings that could almost defy description and who move mysteriously below a throne of glory. Ezekiel 1 says this, "I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north, an immense cloud with flashing lightning surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in that fire was what looked like four living creatures." Picture a cloud that is radiant and bright and in the center of it, it's on fire, a fiery cloud. In the center of that are these four living creatures called cherubim. These cherubim have four faces and two sets of wings, and there are these high mighty, awesome glorious wheels under them. Wheels sparkling like diamonds and the cherubim move like lightning with fire flashing back and forth among them. Ezekiel 1:13-14, “The appearance of the living creatures were like burning coals of"fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures. It was bright and lightning flashed out of it." The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. It's energetic, crackling with energy, crackling with light and fire, and that the cherub had moved north, south, east, and west with lightning speed and whatever direction the spirit moves them. High above those cherubim sat the enthroned pre-incarnate Christ. Ezekiel 1:22 and following, "Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice and awesome like a barrier, like a ceiling. And under the expanse, their wings were stretched out, one toward the other and each had two wings covering its body. And when the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings." This is awesome. They stood quiet under the voice of the one seated on the throne. There's a reverence that they have and a quietness. They lower their wings and they wait to hear him speak. They're ready to do His will. They're motionless, they're reverent. They're waiting on the voice of the pre-incarnate Christ. This is the description of that glorious throne, Ezekiel 1:26-28, "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like glowing metal as if full of fire. And that from there down he looked like fire. And brilliant lights surrounded him like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day so was the radiance around him." This was the appearance of the likeness, of the glory of the Lord. ‘And when I saw it,’ says Ezekiel, ‘I fell face down.'" You have this angelic activity moving wheels within wheels that just defies description, and brightness and loud noise and power and then a barrier and then high above that a throne and one seated on it. That barrier represents the infinite gap between creator and creature. It's an infinite gap between God and the highest archangel and all creatures below. That gap represents that difference, the holiness of God, God, the creator over all creation. They recognize it, and they're quiet under it. Ezekiel the prophet was granted this vision of the pre-incarnate Christ on the throne of heavenly glory. This is the glory that Jesus laid aside when He entered the world and was born of the virgin and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. This is the glory laid by, this is the glory you wanted back at the end of his ministry. When He said in John 17:5, "And now Father glorify me with the glory I had with you before the creation of the world,” it's a glory He deserves. A radiant display of his greatness, which He laid by. Before Christ was even born, the angels in various orders of various types worshiped and served him. III. Angels Announced the Coming Christ Secondly, the angels announced the coming Christ. The word “angel “is just a transliteration of a Greek word, which means “messenger.” Those that are dispatched with a message from God to earth. God regularly in the Old Testament dispatched angels to bring messages from God. At the time of Christ being conceived, the angel Gabriel was dispatched. The angel Gabriel told in his encounter with John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, he said "I'm Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God." He has the honor of proximity, of closeness to the throne of God. That's Gabriel. He was sent also to the Virgin Mary with the most amazing message that any angel has ever carried to any human being. In Luke 1, he said to Mary, “'Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You'll be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be’, Mary asked the angel, ‘since I'm a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high wall overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.’" This is a message that Gabriel spoke to Mary, the deepest theology ever communicated in the pages of scripture. “Mary, you'll have a baby and the baby will have no human Father. He'll be conceived miraculously by the power of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit will overshadow your body and that's where this baby is going to come from. This baby will be the Son of David. He'll have a genealogy through you and also through Joseph, and he will be rightly called the Son of David. He'll be human because he is your baby and also descendant of David of the house and lineage of David. But he will also be divine because he's called the Son of God.” This is the mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of the virgin birth. It's central to our faith. Jesus Christ was born in the normal way, looked like any other human baby that was born, but He was conceived by the supernatural power of God on a virgin's body. And so this doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus as being fully God, fully man is central to the Christian faith, was initially announced by an angel, announced by an angel to Mary. The angel was also dispatched in a dream to Joseph, the guardian of that Holy Family to give him a different version of the same message. Matthew 1, “Joseph, Son of David, ‘Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She'll give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.” The angelic message to Joseph concerning this baby's mission is a little bit different, but easily harmonizeable to Mary.’s The child born is going to reign on a throne forever. To Joseph, He's going to save His people from their sins and we know that that's by His death, His bloody death on the cross, but the theology of the essential nature of who this baby is is the same. I mean fully God, fully man is wrapped up in the word Emmanuel, “God with us”, conceived in a human mother by the power of the Holy Spirit. The angels were dispatched to carry this message and the theology of Jesus Christ to Mary into Joseph. IV. Angels Celebrate the Birth of Christ Third, angels celebrated when this baby was born, they were there to celebrate the birth of Christ. This is the most famous angelic involvement. Angels were sent to Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born, and they were sent to worship Him. This is the direct and obvious fulfillment of God's command in Hebrews 1:6, when God brings his firstborn into the world, He says, "Let all God's angels worship Him." They came to do that in direct obedience to the command of God. First an angel, a single angel, is dispatched to the shepherds on the hills outside Bethlehem, as we’ve already heard. “There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks. At night, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. And this will be as sign to you. You'll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Again, angels are given a role of dispensing theology to human beings. But this time it's simple working-class shepherds who are just out there at night watching over their flocks in the hills surrounding Bethlehem. Suddenly an angel comes with heavenly glory, a radiant display. This is one of the key texts for me. Understand that glory involves sometimes physical light, a radiant display. And so it is. This angel came with the glory of the Lord that shone around there at night, and it caused instant terror. The angel gives the message that Christ the Lord is born in Bethlehem. He is Christ, He is Lord, He's Savior. These terms are initially understandable. They immediately take root in the heart of any believer, but they will take all eternity to unpack in their fullness. The shepherds understood these words. The simple proof of the angel's words was the oddity of seeing a baby wrapped and laid in a feeding trough for animals. That's highly unusual. So when you go down and you see this baby wrapped up in swaddling clothes, that will be a sign that our words are true. “Then suddenly a huge multitude of the heavenly host appears. A great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests." This must have been what Charles Wesley and George Whitfield had in mind when they wrote, “Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King." God told them to do it. It says, "Let all God's angels worship Him,” and they did it with gladness and with powerful voices. I want you to understand a word that is easy to misunderstand and that is the word “host.” I asked some people earlier this week, "What is a heavenly host?" And they said, "Well, when you host somebody, you're opening up your home, you're welcoming them." Friends, that is not what host means here. It's not like the angels are saying, "Hey, you all come." I know I'll never say it like you guys do, "Y'all come," saying, "I want you to come and enjoy." That's not what's going on. It's not what the Greek word means. The Greek word is “stratia”, which is a military term. This is an army, a huge army. Imagine how that would've looked to us rebels against heaven to have a heavenly army arrayed in military weaponry surrounding us. It really would be terrifying. It's not a choir of angels, it's an army of angels. If you want to see the kind of damage they can wreak on planet Earth, read the Book of Revelation. The kind of damage that they wreak gladly when God tells them to do it, pouring out wrath on the ecology and on the people of Earth before the Second Coming of Christ. It's an heavenly invasion. But not that night, though they could have done that kind of damage because we all deserved it. We're all rebels against the throne of God. They were there to celebrate the birth, effectively, of our and God's champion who came to fight on our behalf. They're there to celebrate as He went forth, as David did in the day when he defeated Goliath. He is the representative of heaven and of us, the people of God to fight our battle for us. They're there to celebrate, and there's lots of them. It's not a little, it's a huge army. They're not there to invade rebellious Earth and destroy it like we all deserve, but they're there to proclaim, "Glory to God and peace from God to those on whom his grace or his favor rests." That's the message. This is the same army of angels that will be dispatched in waves in Revelation to destroy all sinners at the end of the world. But at this point they're there to celebrate the birth of the Savior forth. V. Angels Protected the Newborn Christ God also dispatched an angel to warn Joseph in a dream to flee the murderous King Herod and his killing soldiers. Matthew 2, “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the Land of Israel for those who are trying to take the child's life are dead.’ So he got up and took the child's mother and went to the Land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judean places, his father Herod, he was afraid to go there having been warned in a dream. He withdrew to the district of Galilee and went and lived in a town called Nazareth.” An angel was dispatched to Joseph in a dream to say, "Get up and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you." They escaped just in time before the soldiers came and killed all the boy babies two years old and under. Then later, once Herod was dead and the danger had passed, the angel came and told Joseph to bring the child back. Certainly angels protected Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus at that point, but I'm certain that angels protected Jesus throughout the 30 years that He was growing up. The demons knew who He was. Satan knew who He was, and yet He lived a normal upbringing. He grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God. When He grew up, He was a carpenter. When the time came, He was revealed out of obscurity by John the Baptist. But in all of that, there must have been a wall, an angelic wall of protection, around Jesus as He was growing up. Revelation 12 depicts the devil as a dragon ready to devour the male child who will rule over all the world the moment it was born, but he couldn't do it. VI. Angels Strengthened Christ in his Weakness Fifthly, during Jesus' life on earth, He was subjected to all the same weakness that we are— pain, weariness, hunger, thirst. At two key moments in Jesus' weakness, his physical bodily weakness, angels were dispatched to strengthen the King of angels. First, after his temptation by the devil in the desert. In Mark 1:13 it says, "He was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels attended him." It's an amazing thing how Jesus, the infinite King of glory, was so weakened by his fasting that God had to send angels to keep him alive and to feed him out in the desert. Second, in his agony in Gethsemane, in Luke 22 it says, "An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him and being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." We cannot fully understand what was happening in Gethsemane as Jesus was fully aware that He was about to drink the cup of God's wrath in our place on the cross and to shed His blood in our place. God, I believe, mysteriously revealed to Jesus' human mind what it would be like to be under the wrath of God and it just about killed Him, dropping Him to the ground, and He was growing faint. An angel was dispatched in some mysterious way to strengthen Him to survive that moment in Gethsemane as great drops of blood were pouring from His face. It is a marvelous and an amazing thing that this infinite King of glory needed help, physical help from angels at those two times. VII. Angels Announced the resurrected Christ After Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, angels were sent from heaven to tell his followers that Christ had risen just as He had predicted. In Matthew, an angel came down and rolled back the stone and sat on it. I've always loved that picture. He's very comfortable in the presence of Roman soldiers. He's not afraid of them at all. They're terrified of him and he just easily rolls a massive boulder and sits on it. It's just a beautiful picture. But he's there announcing the resurrection. The same thing in John's Gospel. You have two men dressed in white sitting in the empty tomb where Jesus' body had been. One at the head, the other at the feet. In Luke's gospel, the same thing as women went to finish the burial rituals that had been hurried because the Passover was coming. It says in Luke 24, "Suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the men said to them, 'Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen just as he said.'" Angels are not usually dispatched to proclaim the facts of the gospel of Christ's death and his burial and his resurrection, though they would do an amazing job, ordinarily not. But here at the very beginning of the spread of the Gospel, after the resurrection of Christ from the dead, angels are dispatched to tell his immediate inner circle of followers what had happened. VIII. Angels Celebrated the Heavenly Ascension of Christ Seventhly, angels celebrated the heavenly ascension of Christ. After Christ rose from the dead, He spent forty days with His disciples, giving them many convincing proofs that He was alive.He was training them and teaching them and getting them ready for the spread of the Gospel worldwide to the ends of the Earth. After that, after He had given all of that proof, at the end of that time, forth days, He ascended from the surface of the Earth up through the sky, through the clouds, and ultimately into the heavenly realms. The Book of Hebrews tells us that He passed through the heavens, plural, through circles of heavens, so higher and higher. First, the atmosphere, and then beyond all the physical realms of heaven, what we call sky and outer space and beyond that into the circles of heaven, the heavenly spheres of existence in the spiritual realm. He passed through all that. The author of Hebrews gives us the language of passing through, and the scripture reveals that as He did, the angels celebrated his passing as a triumphant conqueror. In Psalm 47, it says, "God has ascended amid shouts of joy and the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets, sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our King, sing praises." It's a marvelous picture we get of the angels celebrating the accomplishment of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. I also think it's interesting the angels were dispatched to tell the disciples to move along now and get on with their lives as they're standing there outside Jerusalem with their heads craning up, looking and waiting for the Second Coming of Christ 2000 years ago. God sent two angels to say, "Time to move along." “They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going when suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, ‘Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you've seen Him go into heaven.’” IX. Angels Assisted the Spread of Christ's Kingdom Eighth, as I just said, Scripture does not assign to angels the work of evangelism and missions. The ministry of reconciliation has been entrusted to us, the followers of Christ. That's our job. It is our work to go to the ends of the earth and to proclaim the gospel. As the scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?" But it's not angels that do it. However, angels have consistently assisted that spread as they were dispatched from heaven to do. For example, in Acts 8, an angel working along with the Holy Spirit told Philip the Evangelist where to go so he could proclaim the Gospel to an Ethiopian eunuch. We can see angels dispatched to guide evangelism and missions in Acts 8. So also God dispatched an angel to rescue Peter and the Apostles from prison in Acts 5, and also Peter from prison in Acts 12, causing chains to fall off and making the twelve soldiers guarding him to fall into a deep sleep. Also an angel is dispatched to Cornelius the centurion, to tell him to send men to Joppa to find a man named Peter who would bring a message by which he and all his household would be saved. The angel was not dispatched to give the message. He could easily have done it, but instead to send messengers to get Peter to come and do it. So it was angels that did that. "The ministry of reconciliation has been entrusted to us, the followers of Christ. That's our job. It is our work to go to the ends of the earth and to proclaim the gospel." In heaven, we're going to find out throughout thousands of years of redemptive history, how active the angels have been in the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. As the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 1:14, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" They have helped the spread of the gospel for 2000 years. X. Angels Will Celebrate Chris’s Glory for All Eternity Ninth and finally, angels will celebrate Christ's glory for all eternity. As I said before Christ was born, angels worshiped and celebrated all along. As redemptive history has unfolded, we are told that angels were learning. "They long to look into these things," Peter tells us. 1 Peter 1:12, “Even angels long to look into these things.” They weren't omniscient. They didn't know where all this was heading. They were learning as events were unfolding. As we see for example in Daniel 12, one angel asks another angel about timing and timetable. They don't know when the timing is going to be for all of these things. They're eager to learn, and they are learning as events unfold on planet Earth. As those events unfold, they celebrate them, like the birth of Christ. They're celebrating. It's not like they didn't know it was coming, but now it's broken into history and they are celebrating. They're tracking events unfolding, and they're learning and they're celebrating with pure hearts. I believe that they're going to celebrate when all is said and done for all eternity. They're going to celebrate what was done to rescue a multitude of sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation. They're going to celebrate what God has done through the second and the third person of the Trinity. By the working of Jesus' bloodshed on the cross, by His resurrection and by the outpouring Holy Spirit on the people of God, the spread of the Gospel, the angels are going to celebrate every detail of what happened for all eternity. In Revelation 5:11-12, it says, "Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000, 100 million angels. They encircle the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice they sang, ‘Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.’" So there's 100 million angels celebrating the Slain Lamb, who by his blood rescued people for God. Just as it said earlier, "You are worthy because you were slain and with your blood, you purchase people for God from every tribe, language, people and nation." You're going to celebrate that, that radiant glory for all eternity they're going to celebrate. We wouldn't even know about it except that God had dispatched an angel to John to write the Book of Revelation. As it says in Revelation 1, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John." An angel was entrusted with the Book of Revelation to bring down to John and the island of Patmos. Then He says, at the end of Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and I'm the bright and morning star." Angels will be worshiping and celebrating Christ's victory at the cross for all eternity. Revelation 7 says, "After this, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the lamb. They're wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands and they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne to the lamb.'" The next verse, "All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, they fell down on their faces before the throne. And they worship God saying, 'Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.'" The angels are celebrating a redemption they didn't need. It wasn't for them that Christ became incarnate. Surely it is not angel He helped but the sons of Abraham, us, flesh and blood, and yet the angels are celebrating with every bit as much joy as if it had been them. They're going to celebrate it for all eternity. So what about you friends? What about you? We here at First Baptist Church do not believe in a secular Christmas. We believe in Christ at the center of it. We want to join in that angelic worship and celebration. We want to see who this child is, this incarnate son of God, and we want to join the angels in celebrating. What about you? What about you? I understand at Christmas time it's a time for people to go to church maybe with family and friends. My desire is that there'd be no person listening to my words today, who would be in a lost, dying state. All you have to do is hear all of this truth that you've been listening to of who Jesus is, of why He came. Of what He did at the cross and of how God raised him from the dead, and understand it is by simple faith in that story that you will be forgiven of your sins. There is no reason for anyone in this room to end up perishing eternally. To be terrified when that army does invade and punishes the rebels who never would yield to God and to Christ. There's no reason for that. All you need to do is cross over from death to life is simply listen and hear like, "Hark, the herald angels sing." What are they singing? "Glory to the newborn King." See this incarnate deity laying there. See in that, your own salvation. If you are already a Christian, I want to wish you all a wonderful merry Christmas. You're going to enjoy time with your family tomorrow, but as you do so, let's bring Christ right into the center of that time. I don't know what your traditions are, what your habits are, but in our family, we love to read scripture as part of our celebration, to talk about the actual facts of the birth of Christ, of the gospel. Choose some Scripture and read it together with the people that you're with. Make Christ the center of your celebration. Close with me now in prayer. Father, we thank you for this time of year in which we get to focus on a vital detail of our Christian faith, and that is the incarnation of Christ, the giving of the God man, the birth of Jesus as the savior of the world. We needed Christ. It was a rescue mission. As the angel said to Joseph, "You'll give him the name Jesus, because he will save His people from their sins." Lord, we need that. We thank you. I pray, oh Lord, that you would be working deeply in the hearts of people who hear this message that they would believe and trust and follow you. And for all of us who years ago did, Lord pray that you'd renew our faith and help us to celebrate as the angels did In Jesus' name, Amen.

T. C. Moore is a graffiti artist and theology nerd. He's the lead pastor of Roots, a Moravian community, and serves court-involved youth and young adults with restorative justice practices. Since Jesus liberated him from gang-life as a teenager, T. C. has developed mentoring programs, planted churches, and worked in community-based nonprofits all across the country for over two decades. He's a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston and he lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota with his wife, Osheta, and their three children.

On Christmas Eve, 1741, a small group of Moravian settlers gathered together in a house at the confluence of the Monocacy & Lehigh rivers in what was then the colony of Pennsylvania. It was on that night that their leader, Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf decided to name their new home “Bethlehem”, after the birthplace of Jesus. Over the years, the Moravian settlement grew into a thriving religious and economic community that eventually became known as “Christmas City”. In this episode of Your History Your Story, our guest is Craig Larimer. Craig is a lifelong resident of Bethlehem and a member of the Central Moravian Church, where he serves on the church's communications committee. Craig will talk about Bethlehem's rich history and why his home town means so much to him. He will also tell of the many sites and events that make Bethlehem, Pennsylvania a wonderful place to visit, especially at Christmastime. Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man Photo(s) and songs: Courtesy of YHYS Support Your History Your Story: Please consider becoming a Patron or making a one time donation via PayPal. - THANK YOU!!! YHYS Patreon: ⁠CLICK HERE⁠ YHYS PayPal: ⁠CLICK HERE⁠ YHYS: Social Links: ⁠CLICK HERE⁠ YHYS: Join our mailing list: ⁠CLICK HERE⁠ #yhys #yourhistoryyourstory #history #storytelling #podcast #njpodcast #youhaveastorytoo #jamesgardner To learn more about this episode, check the links below: Central Moravian Church Historic Bethlehem Moravian University

The vast Moravian plains near the town of Austerlitz became the battleground for one of Napoleon's finest ...

News; books are the inspiration for a major new exhibition at Prague's Kunsthalle; a Chicago opera company takes on Janáček's Jenůfa; Discover Czechia's regions: the Moravian city of Olomouc

Strap in for a blood-chilling journey back to the golden age of slasher movies with a deep dive into the classic horror film, Friday the 13th. Want to know if it still holds the same terror after all these years? Or perhaps you're curious to hear about the time Flea, Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts, and Angela Lansbury shared a birthday with the infamous Zap? Well, leave your lights on and keep your eyes peeled, because we're about to unmask the real horror behind Friday the 13th. Pull up a seat as we explore the film's budget, locations and influential cast. We'll be spilling some behind-the-scenes stories and sharing our hair-raising memories of watching this cult classic for the first time. We'll dissect the fashion choices of the 80s, the special effects that made us jump out of our seats, and the iconic ax to the face death scene. From the mystery of the Moravian cemetery and the puzzling identity of the Jeep driver, to the thrill of the final fight between Alice and the killer, you're in for an unforgettable fright night.Finally, we'll take a trip down memory lane, recalling a time when instant coffee ruled the roost and cigarettes could be bought from vending machines without a second glance. We'll compare notes on Alice's hair, the concept of Strip Monopoly, and of course, the film's haunting soundtrack. Get ready to see Friday the 13th in a whole new light as we reveal its connection to other timeless classics like Halloween. So grab your popcorn, extinguish all hopes of a quiet night, and join us as we brave the terror-filled world of Friday the 13th.Support the showSounds:https://freesound.org/people/frodeims/sounds/666222/ Door openinghttps://freesound.org/people/Sami_Hiltunen/sounds/527187/ Eerie intro music https://freesound.org/people/jack126guy/sounds/361346/ Slot machinehttps://freesound.org/people/Zott820/sounds/209578/ Cash registerhttps://freesound.org/people/Exchanger/sounds/415504/ Fun Facts Jingle Thanks to The Tsunami Experiment for the theme music!!Check them out hereSUPPORT US AT https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984311/supporters/newMERCH STORE https://ol-dirty-basement.creator-spring.comFind us at the following https://oldirtybasement.buzzsprout.com WEBSITE ...

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (08/22/23), Hank answers the following questions:What is your view on the rapture? (1:13)Why do some Christians fail to follow all of the Ten Commandments by worshipping on Sunday rather than Saturday? (4:04)Luke 3:6 teaches that salvation is for both Jews and Gentiles. Was Luke a Gentile? (6:00)Can you tell me what the Moravian church teaches? Are they similar to Unitarians? (8:12)My manager is a Muslim. How can I show him that Jesus is more than just a prophet? (15:40)What does the Bible say about how we should punish pedophiles? (20:34)Why do you think Christians today don't believe in the tithe? (22:07)

In this episode, I chat with Paulina Porizkova about her book No Filter, The Good, The Bad, And The Beautiful, living in an all-male household, crazy weather, and receiving a call from Maria Shriver.Paulina Porizkova is a Czechoslovak-born writer. A former model, she was the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1984. In 1988 she became one of the highest-paid models in the world as the face of Estee Lauder. She has starred in 16 movies and a slew of TV shows as an actress, and she has served as part of the judging panel on Cycle 10 of America's Next Top Model.  Paulina Porizkova was born in Olomouc in 1965 and grew up in the Moravian town of Prostějov, a city dating back to 1141 in what was, at the time, Czechoslovakia. In 1968, during the wake of the Soviet-led invasion, Paulina's parents escaped Czechoslovakia and settled in Sweden, leaving her behind with her grandmother. Her mother went back to Czechoslovakia to get her daughter, only to be captured and taken to prison, where, because she was pregnant, was put under house arrest with Paulina and her grandmother and soon-to-be-born brother for three years. Amid media coverage, Paulina, her brother, and her mother were later allowed to enter Sweden. However, the rest of her family remained in Czechoslovakia.  Her debut novel, A Model Summer, was published in 2007, and her memoir, No Filter, The Good, The Bad, And The Beautiful, was published by The Open Field in 2022. No Filter: The Good, The Bad, And The Beautiful, Paulina PorizkovaI've Been Thinking, Maria Shriver Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

In 1682, the first Assembly of Pennsylvania and the Delaware counties met in Chester, Pennsylvania, and adopted “the Great Law,” a humanitarian code that guaranteed the people of Pennsylvania liberty of conscience. “The Great Law” created an environment that not only welcomed William Penn's fellow Quakers to Pennsylvania but also created space for the migration of other unestablished religions, such as the Lutherans, Schwenkfelders, and Moravians. Paul Peucker, an archivist and the Director of the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, joins us to investigate the establishment of the Moravian Church in North America. Paul is the author of many articles, essays, and books about the Moravians and their history, including Herrnhut: The Formation of a Moravian Community, 1722-1732. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/356 Join Ben Franklin's World! Subscribe and help us bring history right to your ears! Sponsor Links Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Eddie Arning: Artist Exhibition at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg Complementary Episodes Episode 025: Jessica Parr, Inventing George Whitefield Episode 075: Peter Drummey, How Archives Work Episode 134: Spence McBride, Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America Episode 135: Julie Holcomb, Moral Commerce Episode 173: Marisa Fuentes, Colonial Port Cities and Slavery Episode 214: Christopher Grasso, Skepticism & American Faith Episode 311: Kate Carte, Religion and the American Revolution Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Amazon Music Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin's World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter

To this day, if you walk around the city of Bethlehem, PA, you will find churches and schools named after the Moravians. Today, Dr. Stephen Nichols tells us about the influence that Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf had on the Moravian church. Read the transcript: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/zinzendorf/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/donate/