Podcasts about Christians

What if the battle shaping our world is happening in a realm most people never see? Billy Hallowell joins Tony Merkel for a gripping conversation on spiritual warfare, angels, demons, deliverance, miracles, UFO disclosure, and AI. Billy shares personal encounters that forced him to confront the reality of the supernatural and rethink how Christians should understand the unseen realm. Together, they expose why the modern church must wake up to the spiritual battle described in Scripture. This episode is a powerful call to discernment, bold faith, and truth in an age of deception.If you're able, consider helping the Merkel family with medical expenses by donating to Lindsay's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/b8f76890

Fr Carlos Martins has been on the spiritual front lines for decades, and today he is here to teach us everything we need to know about spiritual warfare. Do generational curses exist? Can Christians become possessed? And how can we offer prayers of deliverance? These and more are answered in today's fascinating discussionFr Carlos' Book: https://amzn.to/4vFEMu0NEW: Check out our Merch store! https://shop.lilaroseshow.com/Join our new Patreon community! https://patreon.com/lilaroseshow - We'll have BTS footage, ad-free episodes, and early access to our upcoming guests.A big thanks to our partner, EWTN, the world's leading religious network! Discover news, entertainment and more at https://www.ewtn.com/ Check out our Sponsors:-EveryLife Women: https://www.everylife.com/lila Buy diapers and women's health products from an amazing company and use code LILA10 to get 10% off!-Seven Weeks Coffee: https://www.sevenweekscoffee.com Buy your pro-life coffee and Save up to 25% with promo code 'LILA' & get a free gift: http://www.sevenweekscoffee.com-Presidio Healthcare: Healthcare and doctors who share your values. Visit: https://www.presidiocare.com/lila -We Heart Nutrition: https://www.weheartnutrition.com/ Get high quality vitamin supplements for 20% off using the code LILA. 00:00:00 - Intro00:01:10 - Craziest thing you've ever seen?00:04:35 - Does the demonic ever start out innocently?00:07:33 - What does 'possession' actually mean?00:10:55 - The New Orleans possession00:14:08 - All Hell Broke Loose00:17:08 - Do True Crime podcasts lead to the demonic?00:18:57 - Why are people so interested in exorcism content?00:20:50 - The two extremes of demonic conversations00:25:27 - Possession vs Obsession00:27:09 - How to tell if someone is demonically oppressed?00:31:07 - How some people fake demonic possession?00:35:21 - How does healing happen? How to kick the devil out00:37:51 - Why does God allow evil to happen?00:40:18 - Why Catholics baptize babies:00:41:17 - Generational Curses: Should we pray over our family?00:44:09 - What does a renunciation prayer look like?00:48:45 - Praying against past family sins?00:52:00 - Praying for the dead00:54:01 - Lila's dream about purgatory00:55:20 - Does su*cide send people to hell?00:58:27 - Praying against the sins of past family members?01:01:08 - Is there an accurate movie about exorcisms?01:02:21 - Reacting to “Witchcraft TikTok” (WitchTok)01:05:53 - Is social media leading to occult activity?01:06:44 - 2 most common ways people access the demonic01:07:53 - Is there “harmless” occult activity?01:08:34 - How should Christians approach AI?01:10:07 - Can the devil use isolation?01:12:41 - Are we in a time of unprecedented danger?01:15:36 - How the devil uses abortion:01:18:32 - Are there enough exorcists out there?01:19:19 - Can non-Catholics cast out demons?01:21:35 - Can Christians become possessed?01:23:32 - #1 Thing Christians Can Do To Resist the Devil01:24:38 - What to do if you've been involved with dark things?01:25:46 - How to know if a generational curse is broken?01:26:39 - Is it okay to dive deeper in to spiritual warfare?01:27:21 - Can demons mess with children?01:35:23 - Are UFOs demonic?01:39:32 - Why can't lay people be exorcists?01:41:25 - Can Japanese swords be cursed?01:41:49 - Can you lay hands on people while praying?01:42:24 - Dealing with demonic infestations in apartments?01:43:04 - How to move on after removing demons?01:45:11 - Are near death experiences real?01:45:34 - Family that dabbled in dark things?01:47:02 - Can demons enter a blessed home?01:47:59 - Does time exist in heaven?01:48:48 - Can we joke about the demonic?

Today's episode is basically us sitting down and shooting the sheesh

How optimistic are you about the future? Today, Barry Cooper examines one of the main views Christians have held about the end of the world, the glory of God's kingdom, and the reign and return of Christ. Read the transcript: https://ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put/postmillennialism/ Study Reformed theology with a free resource bundle from Ligonier Ministries: https://grow.ligonier.org/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://donate.ligonier.org/ Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

In this episode of Pray the Word on 1 Samuel 3:10, David Platt urges us to listen to God's Word and walk in step with his Spirit.Explore more content from Radical.

If you've searched for “affordable relationship counseling near me,” it’s important to know these five things before you schedule an appointment. FIVE THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE SCHEDULING AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME 1. A RELATIONSHIP COUNSELOR PROBABLY WON’T TELL YOU THEY CAN’T HELP YOU Most relationship therapists genuinely want to help, and they believe they have the right training and tools to help you. If helping couples overcome issues is their business and livelihood, it's natural they don't want to turn people away. However, many relationship counselors don’t really understand how emotional abuse works and how to screen for it. No matter what they do to help you, it will not help, and that lack of clarity can keep you in harm’s way longer, which benefits the counselor and the abuser…not you. So it’s really important to learn about emotional abuse first. 2. A RELATIONSHIP COUNSELOR WON’T TAKE SIDES, EVEN IF ONLY ONE PERSON IS THE PROBLEM A core part of relationship counseling ethics is that the counselor is not supposed to take sides. And that makes sense. But if your husband is abusive then it’s unethical to treat this as a couple problem when it’s not.  Even if the therapist says, “This is emotional abuse and I can still help you.” That’s not a thing. Because if he’s lying, he’s going to use those couple sessions to continue to lie and manipulate. 3. TALK THERAPY WON’T HELP IF HE HAS A HISTORY OF LYING OR MANIPULATION If your husband is lying, deflecting, or rewriting reality then, therapy is just gonna be more of that. There’s no way to convince somebody not to lie and manipulate, and you won’t know they’re doing it. Stay to the end—I'll show you what the women in our community say they wish they’d known sooner. 4. MANY, MANY WOMEN HAVE BEEN HARMED BY “AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME” After more than a decade of doing this work and hearing from hundreds of women who started by searching “affordable relationship counseling near me” or were referred by a friend, a clear pattern shows up. Many, many women have been extremely harmed by couples therapists who did not know that they witnessed emotional abuse inside their offices. In some cases, what the women shared in sessions was later used against them at home or in court. 5. PROGRESS CAN BE MEASURED BY YOUR FEELINGS, NOT BY HIS CHANGED BEHAVIOR  Therapists rely on what they’re witnessing inside of that session. So if your husband says he’s improving, if he says he gets it, if he says he’s sorry, then the therapist is like, “Look, he’s sorry.” They can’t witness his behavior over time, like you do at home. So you know more about this than they do, and you can trust your instincts about it. To find out if your husband is using any one of the 19 different types of emotional abuse, take my free emotional abuse test. In this interview, Aliya shares what it looked like when the “expert” she trusted blurred lines in ways that felt increasingly difficult to make sense of. TRANSCRIPT: ONE WOMAN’S STORY OF UNETHICAL AFFORDABELE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME Anne: We have a member of our community on today’s episode. We’re gonna call her Aliya. A so-called domestic abuse expert exploited her. Welcome, Aliya. Aliya: Thank you. Anne: Let’s start with how you met him. Aliya: I met him online through his network, taking classes and such. After I took a couple of classes with him, I started splitting time with him or co-counseling with him. Which was designed to help people discharge emotion. So if you have stuck trauma or PTSD experiences, you can get with a co-counselor and listen to each other, and hopefully discharge all that stuck trauma by crying, laughing, screaming or trembling. Anne: Were you paying for his services? Aliya: There was no payment. No, not at all. In fact, the attitude was, “I am doing you a favor. You’re the special chosen one. You get to help me. Everybody would love to be with me, but I chose you.” Anne: Oh, so he chose you to be his client? But you didn’t have to pay him and you were special, and so you also got to work for him. HE SAID, “I’M THE BEST CO-COUNSELOR HE HAS EVER HAD” Aliya: At first, I was co-counseling with him as though he were a counselor, but I was also taking turns as the “counselor”. Ultimately, I ended up moving to the state where he lives. There were supposed to be a lot of in-person events. Started helping him teach these classes and do administrative tasks and things like that, in addition to now co-counseling in person. And that’s where things got a little weird for me. Anne: So there’s a double relationship happening here where you’re working for him, but he’s also your counselor in this arrangement. Aliya: Exactly. Anne: In therapeutic circles, this is called a dual relationship. It’s unethical. It’s against the therapeutic ethics rules and is something people need to know before they search for affordable relationship counseling near me. But in his case, he’s not a therapist. This marriage therapy isn’t working. Can you talk about how like it first felt? Aliya: Sure, it felt great at first. Here’s this guy with all this knowledge and expertise, and he’s flattering me. He’s doing the love bombing thing, although we’re not in a romantic relationship. He is telling me how smart I am, and how inspiring it is to know me and all those kind of things. I’m just wonderful and can do no wrong. And I’m the best co-counselor he has ever had and all that. He would reach out and touch my hair and tell me how great my hair looks, and say, “Any excuse to come over and see you.” When he would come over to work on administrative stuff. So there were some double messages. “My life is so much better now that you’re in it,” things like that. HE STARTED CROSSING MORE ETHICAL BOUNDARIES Aliya: It felt very personal. He was constantly flattering me and complimenting me. A male friend had to point this out to me. “When was the last time I reached out and casually touched a man’s hair? Never.” And if I did that to him. He would’ve been offended, because now I crossed a boundary. But it was okay for him to do that to me. And then it got really hairy for me, because we started cuddling. We were on the couch together a lot and I was soaking up all this affection and warmth, and that worked on me emotionally. Anne: I am so, so sorry. He’s the expert, preying on vulnerable women. To hear that he’s cuddling people, that he’s doing pseudo professional coaching slash therapy. It sounds like a mess. I am so sorry. This is definitely affordable relationship counseling near me gone wrong. There were lots of signs of an abusive therapist in this situation. Aliya: When things took a turn, it was subtle at first. He used a few subtle put downs, and then not show up on time or cancel. Anne: Just for our listeners, so that they can hear what maybe a subtle put down might sound like, can you think of any examples? Aliya: The first one that came to mind, we served on a committee with one other person. She was on Zoom, and we were here in my house. and I said, “I’m getting milk to put in my tea.” I used Muscle Milk. He gave this disgusted look and went. “Well, is it even milk?” Just things like that. Why are you sitting over there instead of over here with us? I mean, things of no consequence whatsoever. But he felt the need to say something. I COULD FEEL THE SHIFT IN AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME Aliya: One time when I said something to him, he got very distracted and started looking at his phone and doing all kinds of things that typically abusive men would do. That he had never done before. So I could feel it shifting a little bit at that point. I was still co-counseling with him, and we co-counselled just about every single Friday. I helped him teach classes, helped him do his calendar and plan for the future, and maybe do a retreat. There was supposed to be a retreat, twice a year. I think there was one retreat in two years. So none of it was really panning out. There was not a single in-person event for two years. That was the administrative work. But during sessions, we would typically take 45 minutes each and take turns talking. And there’s a no advice rule, so you don’t give anybody any advice. But he would encourage me to get in touch with the pain, trauma and fear. And it could get pretty intense at times. I felt like he was getting bored with me. This affordable relationship counseling near me wasn’t feeling good. EVERYONE IN HIS ORGANIZATION IS VOLUNTEER Anne: How soon did you see that his actions and his words didn’t match? Aliya: He maintained his facade for maybe five or six months. And then it was, “Oh, I’m busy. Oh, I’m going to be late. Oh, I have to cancel, et cetera.” There was a time when the other person on this administrative committee with me, we were meeting every week supposedly. But he canceled at least half the time. And she said, “Why don’t we just meet once a month? Why don’t we schedule it differently?” And he got angry about that. He wanted us to be available every single Tuesday. In case he felt like showing up. Anne: So when he starts to be like, maybe you should get another co-counselor. So you would start paying this new co-counselor, or is everything in his organization volunteer and nobody pays anybody anything? Aliya: It’s all volunteer. It’s peer counseling. You’re doing it together. Everybody’s supposed to be equal. And no power hierarchy, although that’s a false premise. Because he’s somewhat of a well-known guru, and lots of women look up to him. He said he wanted a different co-counselor. Like he was done with me. He was gonna look for somebody else. But he didn’t actually address that properly. In fact, we did not stop co-counseling for at least another year after that. IT’S A LITTLE CULTISH Anne: It sounds very wishy washy. If someone isn’t paying for services, there’s no professional relationship in terms of the exchange of a fee is it like a church? What’s going on? Aliya: And it’s not well defined. That is the problem. I mean, you’re paying with your time, so you get 45 minutes. I get 45 minutes. If we have to cut it short on your turn, then I owe you the remainder of the time. Everything has to be equal in that regard. And nobody gets to dominate the conversation. Nobody gets one way time unless you agree to make it up later. It’s not well-defined. Anne: Which is hard because if you’re not paying them, how would you define that relationship? It kind of sounds a little bit commune-ish. Did it feel like that? Aliya: It’s a little cultish. And I think that’s his desire is to have a commune, really. Anne: Oh really? Aliya: Yeah. Anne: Living in a place where someone else made me dinner, but they didn’t necessarily live in my house. Doesn’t that sound good to everyone in some ways? WHEN AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME IS CENTERED ON THE “EXPERT” Anne: So because you were in administration, was it working for other people? I’m assuming most of the “co counselors” volunteering in this network were women co-counseling other women. Was he the only man? Aliya: There were two or three other men. One who was pretty consistent, because he was doing all the IT stuff for free also. And there was one other guy that just came and went. But yes, 99% of the participants are women. He is a harem builder. Anne: If you didn’t have him as your co-counselor and you had another woman. Was it working out for everybody else? Was this affordable relationship counseling near me benefitting others? Aliya: I did co-counsel with a woman for a while, and yeah, I think some people were benefiting from it, but at the same time have to understand, these are just lay people. It’s not necessarily safe for people. And so it’s a little iffy, And I think sometimes it just devolves. Anne: From your experience, what warnings would you have for people when they’re looking for a resource? Aliya: Pay attention to your gut, of course. There were moments along the way when I thought to myself, this is not gonna end well for me, because I noticed him treating other people poorly. HE’S ROLE PLAYING Aliya: I just blindly trusted this person. His written work was so impressive. It had helped me so much that I couldn’t believe he could be a perpetrator. Anne: Yeah, I’ve recommended books in the past. Then we heard back from women who went to that author for services. It surprised me because their services didn’t seem in line with what was on the page. And of course, it is hard for me because this is what I do. And I’m not perfect. So people could meet me and be like, oh my word, she was not as nice as I thought or something. Maybe ’cause I had a stomach ache. You never know. There’s that saying, “Never meet your heroes.” Because the written word is edited, it’s different than meeting someone in person. I guess what I’m asking is in meeting him, was it a feeling like he didn’t understand his own stuff? Does that make sense? Did it feel like there was a disconnect that he was play acting what he knew was the right answer? Aliya: That’s a good description actually: he’s role playing. So he can be very empathic and know all the right things to say. But there’s no depth to it. As long as it doesn’t require anything of him, he can be kind and supportive because he doesn’t have a dog in the fight. It’s only when there’s a conflict with him that his true colors come out. MAKE SURE BOUNDARIES ARE CLEARLY DEFINED Anne: Well, and if you’re in a commune, I’ll call it that. There’s gonna be some conflicts. If you don’t set it up as like, “Hey, I am a professional. You’ll be paying me for my services. This is how long our sessions will be.” That’s how it’s set up here at BTR. There’s no one with a dual relationship. Accredited coaching schools train our coaches. Plus divorce coaching certifications and all those certifications that our coaches have here. They are the best emotional support groups online. There’s some clearly defined boundaries. So if someone’s setting it up as a friendship or a relationship of equals, that’s a different situation. That means he’s not in charge. It means he can’t call the shots because of the way it’s set up. Even though it’s affordable relationship counseling near me. Aliya: Right, theoretically. Yes, we’re all supposed to be equals. Anne: I think this is a lesson for women in terms of their spouses. Is that you can go to couple therapy with your spouse. You can get them all the right information. They can regurgitate the right information back to you, supposedly understand all of the principles of abuse. They could understand the principles of healthy living. But then not actually believe it or use it. I think that’s surprising to people. AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME: HE’S DOING IT ON PURPOSE Anne: Like with my ex, he went to therapy for a long time. He could talk about addiction recovery, recite the 12 steps. He knew it very, very well. And really acted like he was in recovery. So the difference between knowing something and either believing it or using it or having it in Christian terms, sort of written upon your heart. Sometimes Christians use that terminology. I think it’s surprising to people that somebody can live in those two worlds. Especially, like a lot of Christians come to BTR for help, knowing that their husband reads the Bible, goes to church or purports to be a Christian. He knows everything, but he doesn’t do it. It’s shocking. Aliya: It is shocking to realize that he wrote that book, which is so well known and so helpful. I still say the book helped me tremendously, even though I now consider it more of an autobiography. Yeah, it’s a weird disconnect. That if you have a conflict with him, he starts demonstrating all the abusive tactics he wrote about. And I even think it’s a little more sinister than that. I think he knows what he’s doing, and he’s doing it on purpose because he enjoys it. So he gets women to come to him, surround him, help him with his work, engage with him, display all their emotional wounds to him, and then it’s fun for him to do the big discard. Yeah, very hurtful. WHEN THE “EXPERT” DOESN’T VALUE PEOPLE Aliya: I talked to five or six other women who have worked with him and not been paid. Or maybe gone out with him a couple of times and had it end badly. He doesn’t value people. People are interchangeable to him. It could be me one day and somebody else the next day. That’s what I didn’t understand. How can you sit and open your heart to somebody, and really to them, you’re still a nobody? He could just replace you. I noticed too late that in the process of co-counseling with him for two years, my mental health was declining. I was starting to feel more depressed. And I was wondering, is he gonna cancel this week or is he not? I was new in the area and he wouldn’t introduce me to anybody, because that was against his rules because he was absolutely adamant that we could not be friends. So I had to listen to him talk about his friends and activities around here, and though we have things in common, he would never introduce me to anybody. So I felt dependent on him, and he knew it and encouraged it. I was trying to run it for him. Me and another woman were trying to run it. He just had other things he would prefer to do. But most people in the organization were there to see him, because he’s the famous author with a head full of knowledge. So it died down quite a bit. And then we had a big fracture, he and I did. Because I started to feel suicidal. HE WASN’T THERE FOR ME WHEN I REALLY NEEDED HIM Aliya: He offered me a safe word to use in case I was really distraught. I could text him this word and he would know, and he would respond, and we could split some time together. Well, a few months went by and I used the word. He said he didn’t feel well and needed to cancel. That was for Friday. So I said, okay. He said, “We’ll do it Monday”. And I said, okay. Then on Saturday he changed the time for Monday. And then on Monday he told me he was feeling a lot better. So he would get back to me after he went and hung out with his friends. And he would let me know if he was available. And at that point I said, “No, thank you. I’m good. I don’t need to talk to you.” Anne: That’s very strange, that someone would not be like, okay, here’s the suicide hotline or something. Just putting you off rather than an actual suicide service. Or even say to them, “You know what? Suicide is not my area of expertise. I’m worried about you. I hope you can find the resources you need.” Even a frank, “This is outside of my scope of knowledge.” At BTR, because of confidentiality reasons, we don’t ever call any hotlines for anyone. But we would encourage someone to do it themselves. Like, you might be searching for affordable relationship counseling near me and need something outside of our scope. But to be like, I’m the end all, be all for everything. I’m so sorry, that’s wrong. AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME: I THINK IT WAS A SETUP Aliya: I think it was a setup in a way. It was his idea to have a safe word, and then he didn’t honor it. That caused a rift in the organization, because I was front and center in the organization. I answered his emails, helped him with his classes, and started groups for him. The one woman on the committee with me said, “Oh my gosh, wolf in sheep’s clothing. This is awful. I can’t believe it. I’m so sorry.” And the people started to think, well, where’s Aliya? What happened to her? Why isn’t she here? People wondered what happened. And I didn’t give a lot of details. I just said, “It’s not working for me. I’m moving on.” I thought it would be easy for him to generate a whole new group. And he has, they’ve started new classes. It sounds like they’ve had a retreat. The other woman on the committee with me called me and said, “Where are you?” Why aren’t you here?” And I was crying. I told her. She says to me, “Listen, I can’t fault him for something I didn’t witness.” I just said, “Do you really think he would behave that way if there were a witness?” And yeah, she didn’t respond to that. He’s so skilled at manipulating people. She’s a professional in some capacity who works with abused women too. It was horrifying. The betrayal in this affordable relationship counseling near me was amazing. So now she’s taken over most of my positions with him. The part that adds insult to injury is that he flipped the whole thing, blamed the whole thing on me. IT’S NOT MY FAULT HE’S NOT TRUSTWORTHY Aliya: I ended up feeling like it was my fault. Then I started to realize, wait a minute, this guy does not practice what he preaches at all. I just thought I could trust him. Like if you can trust anybody, it would be him, you know? And he knows that. Yeah, it’s not my fault that he is not trustworthy. He’s extremely good at his game. He’s so good. Anne: I’ve had other women who have been abused by therapists come on to talk about it. And the patterns are they’re not paying them or they’re not requesting pay. The sessions go longer than they’re supposed to. Physical contact, contact outside the session. It’s become like your social network. It kind of has a feeling of a church. ‘Cause it’s not like you’re paying and you’re all working together instead of professional services in this type of affordable relationship counseling near me. So those are some of the red flags. Aliya: Yeah, I agree. We did plenty of that, like emailing, texting, and things. So it wasn’t clean in any way. There were no well-defined parameters. I couldn’t tell, are we friends? Are we just working together? I’m working for him, but he is not paying me. We’re counseling together as peers, but I’m making myself vulnerable. He’s really not. That slowly dawned on me that he would stick to the same surfacey topics over and over again. HE’S A BAD ACTOR Aliya: Although he fancies himself an actor. If he wanted to cry, he got a photograph and sat down and looked at it and made himself cry. All just really weird stuff. Snuggling on the couch, even lying down on the couch a couple of times. Which was really strange for me, because I have a history of childhood sexual abuse, and it is bringing up a lot of stuff for me. But he takes it as, “Well, you know, it’s easier to cry it all out if you’re being held.” Very confusing, yeah. Like I know one woman who worked with him collaborated with him. So she asked him out, and he flew into a rage over it. When things go south like they did with me, he’s gonna say one of two things, either. Well, she just couldn’t accept that I wouldn’t socialize with her. He said that about me. Anne: This is someone who’s, sorry, I just have to interrupt and say, says someone who will snuggle with you on the couch. Aliya: Right. Yeah, and then the other thing that he always says is, “I’m a little concerned about her mental health.” So he said that about me too. He wasn’t really that concerned. Anne: He caused your mental health issues. Aliya: It was a huge betrayal. Like an arsonist, set a fire, and then run and hide in the bushes and sit and watch when the firetruck comes. ‘Cause he wrote the book, and then he gets everybody to trust him, and then he does what’s in the book. AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME: ABUSERS DO NOT LIKE STRUCTURE Aliya: Imagine the power he gets out of that, it’s sick. I use the word evil because I didn’t think of another word. It’s really sinister. Anne: The whole situation is sinister because of the lack of boundaries and the lack of structure. They do not like structure, because then they can’t do what they want, when they want it. So while it is affordable relationship counseling near me, there’s a huge emotional cost. And they have a hard time with divorce decrees, for example. And they have a hard time with things like what does the Bible says about divorce. They want her to follow rules to the T but they don’t mind just doing whatever they want. So having the structure of his organization be so wishy-washy and structureless, he gets to do whatever he wants in whatever way he wants. And if someone isn’t paying to have him be there at a certain time, he can cancel. Aliya: Yeah, and he still thought I would do administrative tasks for him after all this happened. Anne: I’m so sorry that this happened to you, and especially on top of your own story, which we haven’t talked about, that you went through abuse with your husband and then had this experience on top of it. When your husband is abusing you and you don’t recognize it, and finally you do, and you try to go for help. But it’s another thing when the people that are supposed to help you, it could be a therapist, clergy or abuse specialist, worsen things. You don’t know what is happening. THIS BETRAYAL WAS WORSE THAN MY HUSBAND’S Aliya: Yeah, they felt so different. Because with my ex-husband, as you said, I didn’t really notice or realize what was happening at first. And then when I did, I made a clean break from him. But this person was touting himself as a champion of women and a great support and totally understands what you’ve been through. And that betrayal felt worse to me, because he totally does understand. He’s written about what it does to women psychologically and emotionally, and how devastating it is. He knows full well what he is doing, and that to me is worse. Anne: Well, thank you for coming to talk about your experience with affordable relationship counseling near me. This is really important. I do wanna stress that unsafe resources can come from women, they can come from men. They can come from anyone. In the court system, for example, we have victims who are dealing with super abusive guardian ad litems who are women and men. That’s hard too, realizing that any resource could be unsafe. And then knowing what to look for so that you can find safe support. I think the other part is making sure that if you’re isolated and everyone who has been through abuse is isolated. That you are also creating friendships besides the professional support you’re relying on. So finding a quilting group, a church, or a hiking group, or some outside resource is really important as well. That can keep you grounded and help you heal. Cause I think abuse victims can heal in any way. And they find their voice after emotional abuse. SAFE CONNECTIONS MATTER Anne: But having a friend who cares about you, who you can talk to every day and go for a walk with and go to a movie, is really important. We should not underestimate real life connections with real people who are our friends and family over professional support, over affordable relationship counseling near me. And that’s the hard part. So many people don’t understand abuse. There are so many victims who can’t think of anybody in real life that they trust. I talk about this in the Living Free Workshop. If you have no one you can trust, coming to BTR. Going to our Betrayal Trauma Recovery group sessions, going to betrayal trauma individual sessions is great. I think it’s very important that things are defined clearly. That’s something here at BTR we take very seriously. So our group sessions have a hour and a half time limit, and our individual sessions have a 50 minute time limit. Women pay for services. We are all paid. That’s one reason why BTR does not recommend other resources. It’s not that an other resource couldn’t be amazing, it’s just that we don’t actually know what happens behind the scenes. And then also hopefully starting to make friends in your area somehow some way. I know that’s hard and overwhelming, but that’s gonna make a big difference. Being able to have people in real life who are your actual friends to support you. Did you find that after falling out with him, because a lot of your friends were part of the organization, that you were then isolated? Aliya: Yep, definitely. FINDING A SAFE AFFORDABLE RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING NEAR ME NETWORK Aliya: I lost friends in the organization for sure. But I have also made some friends here, so I’ve got a little network. I’ve only been here two years, so it takes awhile, but I feel like I’m making friends. One of my friends back home called it way before it came to a head, and she said, listen, if you wanna hang in there with him, I still love you. I’m not judging you, but you just need to know it’s not gonna end well for you. And she was right, and she still loves me. She’s not judging me, she’s still my friend. So I actually appreciate honesty like that. Anne: We stand with you, having been through it myself with my ex and other exploitative people who have exploited me, been dishonest in other areas of my life. It’s really shocking and hard to realize that there are people like this everywhere, and to know that manipulative people prey on vulnerable people. And so when you’re in this vulnerable state, which is natural for you to be in, learning some safety strategies to navigate that time is important. HOW TO MAKE STRATEGIC DECISIONS Aliya: That makes total sense. And most of the women that come to that network are just coming out of abusive relationships. So they’re vulnerable. Anne: Yeah, the Living Free Workshop, that I wrote, has that built into it. How to determine who’s safe and who isn’t safe. When is affordable relationship counseling near me safe? How to make decisions, so that the decisions you’re making, as you recognize this is abuse, can be strategic as you move forward. So if you’re listening and you’re like, “oh man, I’m worried about that,” then check out the Living Free Workshop. Aliya, thank you so much for sharing your story today. Aliya: Thank you.

Is Islam really benevolent towards Christians? Allie debunks Tucker Carlson's guest, JD Hall, who stated that the Ottoman Empire didn't tax Christians, rebuilt Christian holy sites and were generally kind towards Jesus-following subjects. Allie also uncovers some disturbing IVF stories, including the tale of a white couple who had a South Asian baby and two couples who accidentally raised each other's biological children. Finally, Allie gives a viewer some encouragement after her miscarriage. Do you have a question for Allie? Leave a voicemail at 844-755-5252 Share the Arrows 2026 is on October 10 in Dallas, Texas! Tickets are on sale now at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sharethearrows.com⁠⁠⁠ Share the Arrows is sponsored by: A'del Natural Cosmetics: AdelNaturalCosmetics.com Range Leather: RangeLeather.com/ALLIE We Heart Nutrition: WeHeartNutrition.com Buy Allie's book "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.toxicempathy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – Time Codes 0:00 Introduction 5:21 The Soft Peddling of Islam 25:20 Tucker's Guest's Past & Pro-Islam Motivations 35:24 IVF Mix Ups & Consequences 51:21 The Moral Case Against IVF 1:00:45 Allie Gives Advice – Today's Sponsors: We Heart Nutrition | Check out We Heart Nutrition at ⁠⁠⁠WeHeartNutrition.com⁠⁠⁠ and use the code ALLIE for 20% off. Alliance Defending Freedom | Every dollar you give to ADF by March 31 will be doubled by a special matching grant, only while matching funds last. Go to JOINADF.com/ALLIE or text ALLIE to 83848 to have your gift matched to protect brave Americans. A'del | Visit AdelNaturalCosmetics.com and enter promo code ALLIE for 25% off your first-time purchase. Good Ranchers | If you go to ⁠⁠⁠GoodRanchers.com⁠⁠⁠ and subscribe to any box of 100% American meat, you'll save up to $500 a year! Plus, if you use code ALLIE, you'll get an additional $25 off your first order. EveryLife | Visit EveryLife.com and use promo code ALLIE10 to get 10% off your first order today! Episodes You May Like: Ep 1347 | Going Soft on Islam? The Right's Shifting Views Explained | Jeremy Boreing https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1347-going-soft-on-islam-the-rights-shifting-views/id1359249098?i=1000767965230 Ep 1041 | Granger Smith on Suicide, Self-Love & IVF | Guest: Granger Smith https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1041-granger-smith-on-suicide-self-love-ivf-guest/id1359249098?i=1000663716233 --- ► Buy Allie's book, "You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love": https://alliebethstuckey.com/book ► Subscribe to the podcast: iTunes: https://apple.co/2UVssnP Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2FwkXxj ► Connect with Allie on Social Media: https://twitter.com/conservmillen https://www.instagram.com/alliebstuckey/ https://facebook.com/allieBlazeTV/ ► Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Bob and Monét discuss whether it's strange to have several straight men at the house, Monét's enthusiasm for karaoke, and put their geography knowledge to the test. They share their thoughts on traveling, discuss whether everyone sees colors the same way, whether eye transplants are possible, and why some Christians refuse organ transplants. Bob shares his thoughts on spirituality and whether everything really happens for a reason. They plan out God's stadium tour, how He would make His entrance, where they'd want to sit, and how they each picture God. Take the first step. Visit WaldenU.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when Christians start chasing conspiracies instead of truth? Pastor Phil Hopper joins me for an honest conversation about Iran, the growing divide inside the conservative movement, the rise of the "woke right," and why biblical discernment matters now more than ever. We also talk about Israel, end times, and how followers of Christ can stand firm without living in fear. If you've been trying to make sense of the headlines, this episode will challenge and encourage you.Chapter Medicare AdvisorsChoosing Medicare shouldn't feel overwhelming. Chapter compares every available Medicare plan to help you find the coverage that best fits your needs—not someone else's. Learn more at http://askchapter.org/realhelp .Show mentions: http://heidistjohn.com/mentionsWebsite | http://heidistjohn.comSupport the show! | http://donorbox.org/donation-827Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohnYoutube |    / @‌heidistjohnpodcast  Instagram | @‌heidistjohnFacebook | Heidi St. JohnX | @‌heidistjohnFaith That Speaks Online CommunitySubmit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | http://heidistjohn.com/fanmailfriday

How can Christians act in obedience when they face a life-changing cost? Grace can sustain us through the painful consequences of following God.

Today On The Eric Metaxas Show, Eric talks with Glenn Beck about America's covenant with God, the Christian roots of the American Revolution, George Washington, George Whitefield, the Black Robe Regiment, and why America must remember the faith that made liberty possible. They also discuss Glenn's upcoming speech in England with Tommy Robinson, the threat of Islamism in Europe, why the West cannot survive without God, and what Christians must recover if the republic is going to be kept. Subscribe for clips from The Eric Metaxas Show to hear politics and culture from a Christian perspective.⭐ FREE SLAVES with CSI: https://csi-usa.org/metaxas/⭐ PRE-ORDER TODAY:Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World

Segment 1 • Dr. Jason Lisle explains on his In the Beginning podcast how dinosaurs actually fit the Bible's timeline. • What surprising discoveries inside dinosaur fossils are challenging millions of years of evolutionary assumptions? • Could creatures like Behemoth and Leviathan actually describe dinosaurs? Segment 2 • Is America really experiencing a spiritual revival, or are the headlines overstating what's happening? • Why are more young people saying religion matters while fewer are actually attending church? • If people are becoming more open to faith, how should Christians respond? Segment 3 • Phil Johnson announces his retirement after more than four decades at Grace to You. What does his legacy teach about faithful ministry? • Is the church experiencing a changing of the guard as influential Christian leaders pass the baton? • Why should every Christian care more about their local church than celebrity ministries? Segment 4 • A pastor beat up a young man, then defended his actions from the pulpit using Scripture. Can the Bible really justify violence? • What does this incident reveal about the dangers of taking justice into our own hands? • What qualifications should every pastor meet before stepping into the pulpit? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

What happens when a well intentioned evangelism tool starts shaping the way we think about Jesus? In this episode of the 9941 Podcast, Granger Smith, Parker, and AntMan tackle the growing trend of the “Little Jesus” figurines and ask an important question: Are we unintentionally reducing the majesty of Christ to something small and sentimental? The conversation explores the biblical gospel, why our view of Jesus matters, and how Christians can faithfully share their faith without compromising the message. The episode also discusses the importance of belonging to a local church, receiving biblical accountability, and keeping Christ at the center of our lives. If you’re looking for thoughtful, Scripture based conversations that challenge popular Christian culture while pointing people back to God’s Word, this episode is for you. Follow the show: Instagram - https://www.Instagram.com/9941thepodcast Facebook - https://www.Facebook.com/9941thepodcast YouTube - https://www.YouTube.com/@9941ThePodcast Online - https://www.9941ThePodcast.com Shop - https://yeeyee.com/collections/faithSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A common and quietly damaging misconception in the Christian life is that holiness means being voiceless, that servanthood means accepting mistreatment, and that Jesus modeled silence in every situation. He did not. Yes, there were moments Jesus chose not to defend Himself. But He also corrected the Pharisees, stood up for Himself when criticized, and questioned those who treated Him wrongfully. The cross was not the story of a doormat — it was the story of the Son of God who laid down His life of His own accord, by His own authority, according to His Father's will. John 10:18 makes that unmistakably clear. There is a straight line from Jesus' example to our own: we are not bad Christians for having a voice. We are not unloving for saying "you hurt me," or "I will speak with you again when you can be respectful," or simply "no." God entrusted us with decision-making. Wisdom, dignity, and worth are not the enemies of humility. They are part of bearing the image of the One who was powerful, purposeful, and deeply worthy. Today's Bible Verse "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."— John 10:18, NIV Ponder Today Jesus was not a doormat — and His example does not call us to be one either. He corrected, questioned, and spoke up when it was right to do so. Holiness is not the same as silence, and servanthood is not the same as accepting abuse. The cross was an act of sovereign power, not passive suffering. Jesus laid down His life of His own accord, by His own authority. That is not weakness — it is the most powerful act in human history, chosen freely out of love. Ask God for discernment about when to speak and when to be still. Jesus operated according to the Father's will, not the pressure of those around Him. That same Spirit is available to guide us in knowing when to speak a brave word and when to remain quiet. A Prayer for You Today Father, I want to thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ — the perfect example He is to me, and for the cross, which is not an endorsement of abuse but a picture of One freely laying down His life for us. It is the ultimate gateway to salvation, and we thank You for it. Teach us when to speak up and when to stay silent. Show us when to act and when to be still. Give us discernment in our knowing and going. In Jesus' name, Amen. Don't Miss an Episode If today's prayer helped you remember that your voice matters and your worth is real, we'd love to stay connected. Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and more content to strengthen your identity in Christ every day. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

When Christians come together to worship the Lord, they aren't the only ones gathering. Today, R.C. Sproul addresses the spiritual communion we share with all of God's people in all ages, assembling as one body in the heavenly sanctuary. Read the transcript: https://ligonier.org/podcasts/ultimately-with-rc-sproul/worshiping-in-the-heavenly-sanctuary/ Study Reformed theology with a free resource bundle from Ligonier Ministries: https://grow.ligonier.org/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://donate.ligonier.org/ Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

What does the Bible say about patriotism?As Americans celebrate Independence Day, many Christians find themselves reflecting on an important question: How should believers balance love for their country with their ultimate allegiance to the kingdom of God?In this episode of Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, Dr. David K. Bernard explores the relationship between patriotism and Christian faith. Drawing on biblical principles, he explains how believers can appreciate and support their nation while ensuring that their highest loyalty remains with Jesus Christ.Dr. Bernard discusses the difference between healthy patriotism and misplaced devotion and offers practical guidance for navigating the tension between national identity and heavenly citizenship.Whether you are celebrating Independence Day, wrestling with questions about faith and politics, or seeking a biblical perspective on Christian citizenship, this episode provides thoughtful and balanced insight grounded in Scripture.Apostolic Life in the 21st Century is the weekly podcast where Dr. David K. Bernard answers questions about Scripture, theology, Christian living, and current issues from an Apostolic Pentecostal perspective.Visit PentecostalPublishing.com to shop Dr. Bernard's full catalog of published works. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10 percent on your order.If you enjoy this podcast, leave a five-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with family and friends.

CrossPolitic 1v1 — Show Notes: Andrew Crapuchette, CEO of Red Balloon On this episode of CrossPolitic 101, the Waterboy sits down with Andrew Crapuchette, CEO of Red Balloon, to talk about what happens when merit replaces DEI in hiring — inside corporations, inside the military, and now inside the U.S. Department of State. Andrew breaks down Red Balloon's acquisition of MilitaryHire.com, their new contract as the official recruiting arm for Foreign Service Officers, and why getting 500 to 1,000 cleared patriots into the State Department could have a generational impact on America and the world. Plus: why you should consider taking the Foreign Service Officer Test — and how classical education might be exactly the preparation you need. Timestamps 00:00 — Intro & sponsors — Classical Conversations and Red Balloon Recruiter 02:22 — Red Balloon acquires MilitaryHire.com — why veterans keep getting rejected by AI gatekeepers 04:01 — Humans are made in the image of God — why AI shouldn't make hiring decisions 05:16 — New contracts: ICE, Border Patrol, and now the U.S. Department of State 06:53 — Rubio's State Department: less than 10% voted for Trump, DEI recruiting, and the house cleaning 09:37 — What a Foreign Service Officer actually does — and why it's one of the most influential jobs in government 11:41 — Why Christians should be applying: language intensives, global assignments, family-friendly benefits 13:31 — The FSO Test: 1–3% pass rate, how it works, and how to practice without burning your shot 15:40 — 17 specialist tracks for those who don't pass the general test 17:32 — What's next for Red Balloon — VA contract, new DC projects, and moving into the CrossPolitic building Connect with Andrew Capshew Company: Red Balloon Website: redballoon.work Military Hiring: militaryhire.com FSO Recruiting: Department of State via MilitaryHire — link in show description Fight Laugh Feast 2026: Holy Wars Join us October 1–3 in Franklin, Tennessee at The Factory in Franklin for the Fight Laugh Feast Conference. This year's theme is Holy Wars — Just War, the Crusades, and the Christian Life. Featuring Doug Wilson, Joe Boot, George Grant, Jared Longshore, Joe Rigney, Ben Merkel, and the CrossPolitic crew. Early Bird pricing ends July 1st — nearly halfway sold out. Tickets: https://tickets.flfnetwork.com/holy-wars-conference This Episode's Sponsors Classical Conversations Homeschooling with a classical Christian model that teaches students how to learn and think — not just what to memorize. Join over 50,000 families in 60 countries who have chosen Classical Conversations. Website: classicalconversations.com/flf Red Balloon Recruiter The right employee can grow your business by 5, 10, or even 25%. Red Balloon's personalized source-and-screen process connects business owners with top talent — increasing revenue and reducing cost. Website: redballoon.work About CrossPolitic CrossPolitic exists to put Jesus over Politics and reclaim the public square through bold, joyful, biblically grounded media. We confront the chaos discipling America and build the next generation of Christian media infrastructure. Our mission is simple: all of Christ for all of media for all of America. Mainstream media is collapsing. Eighty-seven percent of journalists identify as progressive, and even many conservative outlets prioritize profit over principle. Meanwhile, billions of hours of digital content are discipling the world every day. CrossPolitic stands in that gap, producing courageous, entertaining, truth-filled media for households, churches, and leaders across the nation. Become a CrossPolitic Club Member Support the mission and unlock exclusive content, behind-the-scenes shows, and theology series. https://pubtv.flfnetwork.com/menu/checkout Subscribe & Share! Every like, comment, and share helps push Christian media back into the algorithm where it belongs. Follow CrossPolitic YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CROSSPOLITIC X: https://x.com/CrossPolitic Facebook: https://facebook.com/crosspolitic Instagram: https://instagram.com/crosspolitic Join our Email List: https://crosspolitic.com/ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NRBTV, DirecTV, Dish, and everywhere podcasts are found. #CrossPolitic #RedBalloon #MilitaryHire #ForeignServiceOfficer #ChristianBusiness #Hiring #Meritocracy

What if much of what you've been told about America's founding isn't the whole story? As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Pastor Josh Howerton sits down with historian Tim Barton to examine six of the most common myths surrounding the nation's history. From Christopher Columbus and the Founding Fathers to Christianity's influence on America's founding and the role of believers in public life, this conversation dives into original documents, historical evidence, and firsthand accounts that challenge popular narratives. Whether you're passionate about history, faith, or understanding the foundations of our culture, this episode will encourage you to think critically, seek truth, and engage the world through a biblical worldview. In This Episode: • Was Christopher Columbus really a genocidal colonizer? • Were the Founding Fathers mostly deists? • Was America founded as a secular nation? • Is America's story defined entirely by slavery? • Did settlers commit genocide against Native Americans? • Should Christians stay out of politics and public life? History matters. Truth matters. And as followers of Jesus, how we understand both can shape how we live today. Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

You can't earn your salvation. So why does so much of Christian culture make you feel like you have to?In this episode of the Stress Less series, we look at Philippians 2:12-13, one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" has been used to load young Christians with anxiety and the constant question, "Is God disappointed in me today?" But Paul isn't telling you to earn anything. He's telling you to live out what God has already done.We talk about why a small view of Jesus produces a small reverence for Him, how the enemy's plan isn't to make you doubt Jesus exists but to make you think He's small, and how a big view of God leads to the freedom of a stress less life. Plus, why "it is God who works in you" is the cure for comparison, grind culture, and chasing social currency.After the Amen question: Where do you see God at work within you?Watch the full Philippians "Stress Less" series here on our channelSupport: amenpodcast.com/donateStudy Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nF99NLglCf7vD2Em9WadvCLmWOzDzfV-/view?usp=sharing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amenpodcast.substack.com

Many Christians spend their lives measuring themselves by whether or not they are obeying all the rules. That's not what Jesus intended.

Christians are commissioned to seek the lost and tell them about Jesus. Often, though, preoccupied by physical needs and daily routines, we miss Gospel opportunities right in front of us! On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg examines a wake-up call from Jesus. ----------------------------------------- • Click here and look for "FROM THE SERMON" to stream or read the full message. • This program is part of the series ‘A Light in the Darkness' • Learn more about our current resource, request your copy with a donation of any amount. • Do you benefit by learning from Alistair? Your learning is made possible by another's generosity whose giving covers the cost of this daily podcast. Will you consider paying their generosity forward? When you give $20 or more monthly, you can request both our book selections and build a great library of 24 theologically rich books each year! ‘Visit truthforlife.org/truthpartner.' •For most people, true contentment is elusive. But it is possible to find it! Discover how. Subscribe to the free 4-day email series titled "Unexpected Riches." ‘Unexpected Riches.' Helpful Resources - Learn about God's salvation plan - Read our most recent articles - Subscribe to our daily devotional Follow Us YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter This listener-funded program features the clear, relevant Bible teaching of Alistair Begg. Today's program and nearly 3,000 messages can be streamed and shared for free at tfl.org thanks to the generous giving from monthly donors called Truthpartners. Learn more about this Gospel-sharing team or become one today. Thanks for listening to Truth For Life!

“What makes Isaiah’s prophecies unique?” Isaiah’s writings from the 700s B.C. present some of the first clear and explicit predictions of the Messiah, including titles like “Wonderful Counselor” and “Prince of Peace.” Additionally, the discussion touches on how Daniel 7 influenced Jewish expectations of the Messiah and addresses objections regarding Jesus’ fulfillment of these prophecies. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 00:30 – You point to Isaiah, writing in the 700s B.C., as providing the first clear and explicit prophecies of the Messiah: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” What makes these passages different from what came before? 20:15 – Some Jews read Daniel 7 and concluded that the Messiah would be a heavenly “Son of Man,” hidden with God before creation. That later became Jesus' favorite title for himself. What would that title have communicated to his original audience? 34:00 – One major Jewish objection is that Jesus did not establish universal peace, restore the Davidic throne in Jerusalem, or complete everything associated with the messianic age. How can Christians say he fulfilled the prophecies? 42:45 – A skeptic might respond that Jesus intentionally acted out certain prophecies or that the Gospel writers shaped their narratives to make him appear to fulfill them. How much of the evidence can those explanations account for?

David Mathis | What happens when believers meet together? Christians both give and receive grace from the God who gathers them in true fellowship.

Maya and her husband were constantly under pressure from police in Turkmenistan. Then her husband was thrown in jail. Maya says many times she questioned God. "So many times I prayed to God and asked, 'Why is this happening in our lives? We've done so much to serve you!'" Amid her questions, Maya sensed a challenge:  she needed to surrender her thoughts to God and go back to his Word. Listen as Maya shares how she and her husband met, how the Lord changed her husband's heart after he began to follow Jesus, and how she came to know Christ after six years seeing her husband live out God's love. You'll hear how her husband, Ilmurad, abused her and struggled with addiction before he knew Christ, and how Christ changed him so radically that friends and neighbors asked, "What happened to you?!" Because of his Christian ministry, Ilmurad was sentenced to four years in prison. However, he viewed his time in prison as continued ministry as he led other prisoners to follow Christ. While in prison, Ilmurad was listed on The Voice of the Martyrs' letter-writing website, www.PrisonerAlert.com. Though he was never allowed to see or read incoming letters, a prison custodian told him he was receiving mail from all over the world. Ilmurad knew he was not forgotten and that Christians were praying for him. "I was surprised and encouraged to hear that people outside our country were praying for us," Maya says. "I'm so appreciative that you didn't forget us when we had trouble." Since her husband's death from illness in 2024, Maya continues serving as a gospel worker among women in Turkmenistan. Please pray for her ministry and her health. You can encourage persecuted Christians in prison—just like Ilmurad and Maya were encouraged—when you write letters through PrisonerAlert.com. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

John Luke's attempt to turn a four-foot rat snake into a calm teaching moment for campers goes sideways fast, leaving the kids panicked and John Luke woozy at the sight of his own blood. Al, Zach, John Luke, and Christian use Augustine's story to dig into why modern people are so restless, why getting what we want still doesn't satisfy us, and how our appetites quietly train our hearts. The guys contrast Augustine's confession of sin with today's culture of self-worship. Al points to history's examples of Christianity's tendency to bring order, healing, and hope out of cultural chaos. In this episode: Romans 7, verses 21–25; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 9, verses 24–27; Philippians 2, verses 5–11; Genesis 1, verse 31 Today's conversation is about Lesson 11 of Ancient Christianity taught by visiting Hillsdale Professor of History Kenneth Calvert. Take the course with us at no cost to you! Sign up at http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/. More about Ancient Christianity: Christ entered the world during the reign of Caesar Augustus. The tensions between Christianity and the Roman Empire shaped the daily practice of the Christian faith and led many Romans to distrust and persecute the early Christians. But Christianity also benefitted from the Roman world. And when Rome collapsed in the West, Christianity provided the hope for preserving civilization. In this free, eleven-lecture course, Professor Kenneth Calvert will explore: How the Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures all contributed to preparing the world to hear the Gospel. Why many Romans distrusted and persecuted the early Christians. The inspiring stories of Christ, His apostles, and faithful ones throughout the first four centuries of Christianity. The arguments of key early Christian apologists—Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin, Athanasius, and more—who defended and defined the Christian faith amidst the animosity of the Roman world. The conversion of Constantine and how he brought stability to Rome, and how the rivalry between his sons almost returned Rome to paganism. How Augustine's writings helped preserve the message of Christianity during the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. You will discover the uncertainties, trials, and triumphs of the earliest Christians as they confronted controversies within the faith and persecutions from outside it. Join us today to discover the improbable and miraculous story of Christianity. Sign up at ⁠http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 Summer Camp Chaos & ER Trips 05:54 Everyone Wants a Beach Photo 10:43 Augustine's Influence on the Church 16:10 Augustine's Wild Past and Conversion 22:23 The Beach Ball Picture of Human Design 29:11 Appetite, Discipline & Reordered Desires 35:05 Augustine vs. Rousseau on Human Nature 43:10 Christianity Brings Order to Chaos — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

St Paul School Board member Chauntyll Allen advise dog owners to have their dogs pee on white Christians. After months of hard work, the Mpls city council finally delivered a vote to create bathhouses and sex venues in the city. Johnny Heidt with guitar news. Heard On The show:University of Minnesota approves 3.8% tuition hike amid millions in budget cutsState Rep. Elliott Engen pleads not guilty to charges in DWI arrestVenezuelans race to find survivors, foreign rescuers join search as frustration mountsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You have freedom to enhance intimacy in marriage, but be careful where your satisfaction is really coming from. It becomes dangerous when a device starts replacing your spouse rather than serving your relationship. Like seasoning on a steak, it should enhance the experience — not become the meal itself. _______________ We want your marriage to thrive! Learn more at http://xomarriage.com Dave and Ashley Willis spent thirteen years in full-time church ministry before devoting their work entirely toward the global mission of building stronger, Christ-centered marriages. Their marriage-related books, blogs, podcast, speaking events and media resources have reached millions of couples around the world making Dave and Ashley one of the most recognized and trusted couples in marriage ministry. Dave and Ashley partnered with XO Marriage in 2018. XO Marriage is the nation's largest marriage-focused ministry. The Willis family includes four sons and a rescue dog named "Chi Chi." When Dave and Ashley aren't writing and speaking, they love hanging out with their family, watching movies and going on long walks which is also where they develop many of their marriage ministry content ideas. Learn more about Dave & Ashley at daveandashley.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Can historical evidence prove Jesus as Messiah?” This question opens a discussion on the differing claims of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam regarding Jesus. The conversation also touches on the expectations of the Messiah in Judaism at the time of Christ and the significance of the Davidic covenant in shaping messianic hope. Additionally, the role of Isaiah’s prophecies in this context is examined. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 02:00 – Jimmy, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all make different claims about Jesus. Christians say he is the divine Messiah. Judaism does not accept him as the Messiah. Islam calls him the Messiah but denies central Christian beliefs about him. Can historical and biblical evidence help us determine which view is correct? 06:20 – In the introduction, you lay out the book's argument in four steps . . . Give us the thirty-thousand-foot view of that case. 07:20 – Before we examine Jesus, what did Judaism at the time of Christ actually expect the Messiah to be and accomplish? 19:30 – Everything in the messianic hope seems to hinge on King David and the promise God made him in 2 Samuel 7—that his throne would be established forever. Tell us about the Davidic covenant and why it matters so much. 36:15 – Then came the Babylonian exile, and suddenly there was no son of David on the throne. How did the Jewish people get from that apparently failed promise to the expectation of a future Messiah? 49:25 – You point to Isaiah, writing in the 700s B.C., as providing the first clear and explicit prophecies of the Messiah: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” What makes these passages different from what came before?

Christians often find peace and comfort in the words of Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God." However, this verse doesn't mean what many people assume. Today, R.C. Sproul explains this passage and its teaching about the power of God. Read the transcript: https://ligonier.org/podcasts/ultimately-with-rc-sproul/be-still-and-know/ Study Reformed theology with a free resource bundle from Ligonier Ministries: https://grow.ligonier.org/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://donate.ligonier.org/ Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

On In The Market with Janet Parshall this week, Joe Dallas, a former gay man, explained how he told his parents, how God led him out of that lifestyle and what parents can do to help their children struggling with same-sex attraction. Dr. Andrew Ollerton explained the different genres of the bible and the 7 toughest topics. Christians are facing opposition like never before and Natasha Crain encouraged us with clear strategies for standing for righteousness in a culture increasingly hostile to God’s ways. We updated you on the Iran peace deal and lengthened your prayer list for the persecuted church. Once again we are using God’s straight stick of truth to examine some of the most challenging headlines of the week.Become a Parshall Partner: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/inthemarket/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, David applies the Apostle Paul's declaration that true wisdom and knowledge are found in the revelation of "the mystery of God, of the Father and of Christ (Colossians 2:3) to a famous sentence sentence in the Declaration of Independence often quoted by Christians. Does that statement contain a clue that the signatories had been taken captive by the vain philosophies of men? Today he sets the stage for the concluding answer he will release tomorrow. Don’t miss either episode.

What Americans Think When No One is Watching: Scott and Rick analyze "The Honesty Project" by The Free Press, highlighting the stark contrast between what Americans tell pollsters publicly versus what they actually believe in private. Gen Z and Risk-Taking: Discussing an article on Gen Z's "great retreat from risk," Scott and Rick look at why fewer young adults are driving, dating, or working, and how a Christian worldview replaces fear with faith. High Schoolers and Turning Point USA: Scott and Rick look at an article from The New Yorker exploring the organization's growing presence in public schools, sparking a deeper discussion on how tricky it is to define a "Christian nation". Hidden Awareness in Vegetative States: Scott and Rick examine a neuroscientific study revealing conscious awareness in some coma patients and discuss the profound ethical implications for end-of-life care. Audience Questions: Why Young People Are Attracted to Liturgical Services: Scott and Rick explore why many young Christians are moving away from modern, entertainment-driven church models in favor of the historical roots, structure, and deep reverence found in traditional liturgical services.Audience Question: Doing Good to All People: Answering a listener's query, Scott and Rick explain that despite the complexities of personal responsibility or societal expectations, the biblical mandate is that everyone is due Christians doing good to them when it's in their power.==========Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California.   Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically.   To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.  

Hey y'all ! Welcome to another Friday with CWCOI ! In this week's episode, our host, Ally Yost reads through the book of Revelation in chapters 1 through 3. Revelation can be a book we are intimidated or overwhelmed by. Although, it was originally written to offer hope and encouragement to early Christians and it is just as relatable now as it was then. This episode is the start of a four part series that we will continue reading over the next few weeks until we finish Revelation completely. So grab your Bible if you're able to and let's dive deeper into what God has for us today. "God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near." Revelation 1:3 _____________________________________________ ☆ OUR NEW MERCH IS LIVE! SHOP AT: https://allyyost.com ☆ Give now to end hunger ➤ FeedingAmerica.org ☆ Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University ➤ GCU.edu ☆ Download the FREE Upside app now to find out how much money you could earn. Use code 'ONICE' to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas ➤ https://www.upside.com ☆ MY BIBLE (code 'ALLYYOST' at checkout) ➤ https://hosannarevival.com/collections/beautiful-bibles/products/nlt-notetaking-bible-belfast-theme ☆ TUMBLER LINK ➤ https://allyyost.com/products/cwcoi-glass-tumbler-white _____________________________________________ Connect further with us ! TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@christwithcoffeeonice  Instagram ➤ https://instagram.com/christwithcoffeeonice  _____________________________________________ Connect further with Ally ! TikTok (2M) ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@ally_yost  Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/ally_yost/  ShopMy ➤ https://shopmy.us/allyyost  Pinterest ➤ https://www.pinterest.com/ally_yost1/_created/

Click here to receive today's free gift on the Radio Page:  Bible Promises – Throughout the Bible, God encourages us to bring before him our worship and praise, confession, thanksgivings, intercessions, and petitions. As Christians grow in the discipline of praying, it becomes clear that there is always more to learn. Joni Eareckson Tada shares insights and personal stories that will hone your skill of including scripture in your prayers. Use the coupon code: RADIOGIFT for free shipping! *Limit one copy per person* --------Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org. Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

  What happens when culture starts preaching louder than the Bible? Are Christian men standing firm—or slowly drifting with the current? In this week's expert interview, Jim Ramos talks with pastor and author Aaron Graham to talk about the subtle lies pulling Christians away from biblical truth. Aaron explains how faith rarely collapses overnight, and how we can engage culture without compromising truth.  Check out Aaron's new book, 'Unshakable Faith'! (https://tinyurl.com/unshakable115) Want to protect your marriage? Get our free ebook: 7 Guardrails to Protect Your Marriage Before It's Too Late. Has Men in the Arena helped you make a change in your life, small or large? We want to hear your impact story! You can start a ministry to father the fatherless in your church! Learn how with our sponsor, Kids Outdoor Zone at https://kidsoutdoorzone.com/arena.

On this season finale of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen and Gerry discuss the hectic weeks before Pope Leo's summer vacation. First they recap the pope's trip to Pavia to visit the remains of St. Augustine and the home of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, his speech to the World Food Program and the Vatican's denial of the German bishops' request to allow lay people to preach homilies. They also look ahead to this week's consistory of cardinals, the illicit ordinations planned by SSPX, the pope's address to Americans on July 3 and his trip to Lampedusa July 4, along with how Leo plans to spend his summer vacation. In this episode, Gerry also breaks the news of how many days Pope Leo will spend in Argentina, Peru and Uruguay this fall. 0:00 Intro 1:17 Pope Leo's visit to Pavia and Cabrini's hometown 4:52 Breaking News - Pope Leo's agenda for Latin America 5:44 Pope Leo's visit to the World Food Program 10:50 Vatican says no to lay homilies during Mass 11:35 Meeting of continental synod leaders at Vatican 16:38 Consistory of cardinals on war, AI and the synod 23:49 Cardinals could discuss SSPX at consistory 28:44 Pope Leo's address to Americans July 3 34:06 Pope Leo's July 4 visit to Lampedusa 34:53 What we know about Pope Leo's summer plans 39:22 Please fill out our listener survey! Links: Pope Leo XIV exalts first American saint Cabrini as a model for Christians for her care of migrants Pope Leo: War is ‘fed more easily' than the hungry Vatican to German bishops: No lay people preaching homilies at Mass SSPX stands firm against Vatican II in open letter to Pope Leo Extraordinary consistory signals Pope Leo's push to work with cardinals on global challenges Fill out our Listener Survey! Follow Gerry on X: @gerryorome  Follow Colleen on Instagram: @colleendulle  Support Inside the Vatican by becoming a subscriber to America Magazine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

>>> First, grab the guide I told you about in this episode: How to become a millionaire even on an average salary A few years ago we sold off some Tesla stock to pay off our second house. If you run the math on what that stock would be worth now, the result is honestly brutal. But I felt the Lord tell me clearly to do it. And looking back, I think I see exactly why He said what He said. In this episode Linda and I walk through five biblical investing secrets most Christians have completely missed: the verse Solomon wrote down 3,000 years before a man named Harry Markowitz won a Nobel Prize for the same idea, why God rebuked a servant in Matthew 25 for playing it too safe, the Bible verse that describes Warren Buffett's entire patient-compounding strategy, the move every wealth advisor still preaches that came straight from Joseph in Genesis 41, and the generational vision in Proverbs that reframes a lot of what most Americans get wrong about money and family. If you enjoyed this, we'd love to send you a free copy of our book — you just cover shipping. It has over 1,000 5-star reviews on Amazon. Grab it at seedtime.com/free.   WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE Here's a little of what we cover in this episode: Why God rebuked a servant in the Bible for NOT investing (and most Christians have missed it) The investing principle Solomon wrote down 3,000 years before Wall Street figured it out Why "boring" is the actual investing strategy (and the lottery winner stat that proves it) The Bible verse that describes Warren Buffett's entire investing strategy The Joseph blueprint that every wealth advisor still preaches today The "vitamin K on day 8" principle that shows how specific God's instructions really are The Tesla stock decision Bob can't undo (and why he is at peace with it anyway) Why generational wealth without character is dangerous (and how to do it the other way)   BIBLE VERSES MENTIONED Matthew 25 (Parable of the Talents) Luke 19:23 Ecclesiastes 11:2 Proverbs 13:11 Genesis 41 (Joseph and the seven years) Proverbs 13:22   RESOURCES MENTIONED 10x Investing (use code PODCAST for a discount) Grab the guide I told you about in this episode: (How to become a millionaire even on an average salary)   DISCLAIMER Obligatory legal disclaimer: I'm a financial educator, not your financial advisor, investment advisor, tax pro, or lawyer. This channel is for general education, not personalized advice, and nothing here should be taken as a recommendation to buy, sell, or use any specific investment, account, or financial product. I'm just sharing what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and what I find interesting. Markets can be humbling. Investing involves risk, including the risk of losing money, and my results are personal, may not be typical, and are not guaranteed. Do your own research, use wisdom, and talk with a qualified professional before making financial decisions. Some links are to our resources and some are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That helps keep the lights on around here, so thanks for the support.

In a world descending into moral insanity, believers must possess truth and discernment in an age of confusion to faithfully navigate culture. This compilation episode equips Christians to maintain a biblical worldview through presuppositional apologetics, warning against the dangers of culturally driven churches that prioritize human preference over Christ. By trusting the word of God and the absolute sufficiency of scripture, we can apply biblical truth to our daily lives and avoid the dangerous snare of speculating beyond what God has plainly revealed.

“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” (Titus 3:4–7 NLT) Self-righteous people don’t think they need forgiveness. Self-righteous people don’t think they need Jesus. A self-righteous person will say, “You go preach that gospel in the prisons and on the streets and to the criminals. But don’t bother with me. I’m an educated and intelligent person. I’m a moral person. I don’t need it.” The Bible takes a different stance on the matter. The apostle Paul wrote, “When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” (Titus 3:4–7 NLT) Self-righteous people are different from what I would call garden-variety sinners. Self-righteous people are kind people. They are considerate people. They volunteer and help wherever they’re needed. They do benevolent things. We all know people like this. In fact, I’ve met some non-Christians who are nicer than some Christians I know. It isn’t wrong to say that there are some relatively “good” people from a worldly perspective, because there are. The Bible acknowledges that, in a human sense, some people appear more moral than others. But the Bible does say that no one is good enough to get to Heaven. We don’t get to Heaven based on niceness. Heaven is not a place for near-perfect people; it’s a place for forgiven people. We see classic examples of this in John’s Gospel. In John 3, we’re introduced to Nicodemus, who was an upstanding, respected, religious, moral guy. In John 4, we’re introduced to a Samaritan woman, an immoral person who was living in sin. What do these two have in common? They both encountered Jesus. And they both were confronted with their need for Him. Their encounters remind us that everyone needs Jesus—both the moral and the immoral, both the down-and-outer and the up-and-outer. That message is at the center of our Harvest Crusades. It’s why we do what we do. Look around at the people in your life. Every one of them who hasn’t received Christ as Savior and Lord needs Him, whether they realize it or not. Your mission is to help them recognize that need and then lead them to the One who can fulfill it. Will you accept that mission? Reflection question: How can you convince an unbeliever of their need for Jesus? Harvest Crusade tickets are fully claimed—but it’s not too late to participate and witness what God does on July 11. Invite your loved ones to watch online with you and make sure you join the waitlist in case more tickets become available. — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal walks through Jonah 1–2, focusing on the remarkable prayer Jonah offers from the belly of the great fish. Far from a simple morality tale, the Book of Jonah presents a complex, deeply theological portrait of a disobedient prophet who nonetheless clings to the Lord in his darkest moment. Tony explores the Hebrew literary features that shape how we read Jonah's prayer, the doctrine of divine sovereignty as it operates through human agency, and the rich typological connections between Jonah and the death and resurrection of Christ. Most importantly, the episode grounds Jonah's experience in the Westminster Confession's teaching on sanctification — offering genuine hope to believers who feel buried under besetting sin, assuring them that salvation, from beginning to end, belongs entirely to the Lord. Key Takeaways Jonah is not the hero of his own story — he functions more as an anti-hero whose failures actually make him a more useful and relatable example for ordinary believers. Divine sovereignty operates through, not apart from, human agency — the sailors freely threw Jonah overboard, and yet Jonah rightly says God cast him into the deep; both are simultaneously true. The sequence debate in Jonah 2 matters theologically — whether Jonah prayed before or after being swallowed affects how we read the book; reading it as a strict cause-and-effect sequence risks turning the gospel into a quid pro quo transaction with God. Jonah's "yet I will see your holy temple" is a confession of eschatological faith — in the midst of near-certain death, Jonah expresses confidence not merely in earthly rescue, but in his ultimate destiny as one of God's people. The deep is a Genesis image — Jonah's descent into the primordial waters deliberately echoes the formless void of Genesis 1 and the undoing of creation in the flood, placing his experience within the grand arc of biblical cosmology. Jonah is a prophetic type of Christ's death and resurrection — his three days in the belly of the fish, his descent into the pit, and his emergence onto dry land anticipate and foreshadow the resurrection, as Jesus himself confirms in Matthew 12. Sanctification is real but imperfect — drawing from Westminster Confession Chapter 13, Tony argues that the up-and-down nature of Jonah's spiritual life is not an aberration but a description of the normal Christian life, in which the flesh and spirit remain in perpetual war until glory. Key Concepts Eschatological Faith in the Pit One of the most striking moments in Jonah's prayer is his declaration in 2:4 — "Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple." Tony argues that this is not merely a hope of physical rescue and a return to Jerusalem. Jonah believed he was dying. The waters had closed in to take his life; he was being dragged into underwater trenches that the ancient Semitic mind associated with the very gates of Sheol. In this context, Jonah's declaration is better understood as eschatological faith — a confession that even if God takes his life in judgment, he will still see the Lord face to face in the heavenly temple. It mirrors Job's cry, "Yet in my flesh I shall see God," and anticipates the kind of faith that says, with the father in Mark 9, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." Sovereignty and Human Agency Working Together Tony uses Jonah's descent as a teaching moment on the Reformed doctrine of concurrence — the truth that God's sovereign decree and human free will are not in competition but operate simultaneously on different levels. The sailors made a free, agonized decision to throw Jonah overboard; and yet Jonah rightly attributes his casting into the sea to God himself. Tony draws the parallel to Joseph's words to his brothers in Genesis 50: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." This is not a philosophical sleight of hand. It is the consistent testimony of Scripture that God governs all things — including the underwater currents that dragged Jonah to the ocean floor — without reducing human beings to puppets or eliminating their moral responsibility. Sanctification Is Real, Imperfect, and Guaranteed Perhaps the most pastorally significant thread of the episode is Tony's application of Westminster Confession Chapter 13 to Jonah's experience. Jonah makes genuine progress in faith — his prayer is theologically rich and demonstrates real trust in God — and yet he almost immediately slips back behind the curve, making vows the sailors had already made before him, and later in chapter 4, sulking over a dead plant. Tony refuses to read this as a failure of the text. Instead, it is the text faithfully portraying the reality of sanctification: real throughout the whole person, yet imperfect in this life, with an irreconcilable war between flesh and spirit. The hope is not that we will finally overcome that war on our own, but that through the continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part will overcome. Salvation — including sanctification — belongs entirely to the Lord. Memorable Quotes Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. All outside visible indicators said he was going to die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again. God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire. Full Transcript [00:00:08] Tony Arsenal: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. For their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.  [00:01:24] Storm and Sailors [00:01:24] Tony Arsenal: But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god. Perhaps the god will give us a thought that we may not perish." And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. [00:02:36] Cast Into Sea [00:02:36] Tony Arsenal: He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to the dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, "O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood. For you, O Lord, has done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. [00:03:15] Fish and Prayer [00:03:15] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the dep-- into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me. All your waves and billows passed over me." Then he said, "I am driven away from your sight. Yet I shall look again upon your holy temple. The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." At the root of the mountain I went to the land, whose bars closed upon me forever. Yet you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When I-- when my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord.  [00:04:23] Jonah Not the Hero [00:04:23] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land Jonah is an interesting book because, as I commented a year ago, Jonah is not necessarily the hero of the story. Uh, if anything, he is kind of the villain in, in some senses. But nevertheless, I think as we'll see today, Jonah still gives us a good example to follow in a sense, and that I think is really the centerpiece of this prayer, is that even as Jonah's going through all of this, his prayer is still remarkably filled with faithful sayings and trust in the Lord. We learned early on in Jonah that Jonah was a prophet during the time of the kings. Uh, he, uh, he seemed to have been a sort of a court temple. He was in the presence of the kings in Jerusalem itself, and he received a calling from the word of the Lord, and this phrase, "the word of the Lord," seems to imply a pre-incarnate, uh, visible manifestation of the second person of the Trinity. So we're not just talking about a, a disembodied voice. We're not just talking about some sort of sense or impression, but the word of the Lord itself, himself, came to give Jonah this mission, to give Jonah this task, to commission him as a prophet to Nineveh. And Jonah gets up and says, "No, thank you," and he goes the opposite direction. We see in that first section there the repeated phrase, "He goes to Tarshish. He boards a ship in Tarshish." The author here, who we, we think is Jonah, is hammering that he did not go where he was supposed to. He went the opposite direction. He went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, which is 180 degrees the other direction from, uh, from Nineveh on the map. And he boards the, he boards the ship in order to flee the presence of the Lord. He pays, probably buys out the entire ship itself. He pays the fare for the whole ship, and the Lord hurls a great wave, uses the language of weapons. He hurls this storm like a spear. He weaponizes nature itself to correct and chastise and judge Jonah for his disobedience We get to verses seven through 17, and everyone on the boat is crying out to their chosen deity except Jonah. Jonah is asleep in the hold of the ship, oblivious to everything, totally dead to the world and dead to his Lord. The sailors begin to seek divine li- divine wisdom after they wake Jonah. He comes to the deck of the ship, and they cast lots to identify by divine, uh, revelation, sort of a strange practice in the Old Testament or the old, uh, world. Divine revelation that shows them Jonah is the source of this wickedness that is being wrought upon them, at least their impression of it. So they ask Jonah, "Who are you? Tell us who it is that has caused this great calamity." And he says emphatically, "A Hebrew am I." He identifies himself with God's people, and he says, "The Lord is my God, and he made the heaven and the earth and the sea." There's no small amount of irony, and it explains why the sailors are so afraid when he says that God created the heavens where the storm was. He created the sea where they were about to die, and he created the dry land where they were trying to get to. And so this one phrase that Jonah uses almost casually demonstrates that the Lord has total and utter sovereignty over what is going on, which is a theme that we'll see come back again and again through the book The sailors say, "Well, what do we do about this?" And Jonah says, "Throw me into the ocean, because I know that if you do so, then the storm will calm down and you will be saved." Whether he knew this because he's a prophet and it had been revealed to him, or whether he just was surmising that this was the case, we don't know. But the, uh, sailors are hesitant to do so, and we talked about how it was a little bit strange that these, uh, pagan sailors from cultures that d- had no qualms about human sacrifice were suddenly, uh, unwilling to throw Jonah over the sea a- as a, an appeasement offering to this Lord. And we came to the conclusion that they had been regenerated. They had come to faith in this God who created the heavens and the sea and the dry ground. And so they knew intrinsically that this was wrong, that there was a moral imperative not to do this. So they tried to row back to the land. They jettisoned all of their, uh, all of their goods, all of their cargo. They were making for land as best they could, and when it finally became clear that they couldn't do this, they sought the Lord's mercy in saying, essentially, "We don't understand how this is, but please don't put this man's blood on us, because you, Lord, have done as you please," right? The sovereignty of the Lord again comes to the forefront. They finally cast Jonah into the sea, and this is, this is important. They cast Jonah into the sea, and then they worship, they vow vows, and they vow to sacrifice. They offer sacrifices. They seek the Lord, they acknowledge his s- his sovereignty, and they worship him with what they have left. And then rounding out the chapter, the Lord appoints a great fish to come and swallow up Jonah. And we talked about how this, this swallowing of Jonah, although our popular children's books and VeggieTales and other stories we might read to our kids paints the fish often as the vehicle of judgment, it's actually a vehicle of deliverance for Jonah. There's this interesting grammatical feature that happens where in 1:17 the fish is masculine. The, the, the gender of the word is masculine, and then when we get to 2:1 it switches over to the feminine, almost as if to indicate that the whale was pregnant with Jonah, that Jonah was in the whale and was about to be reborn into the world in a new way And that brings us to our passage here today.  [00:10:21] Sequence Debate [00:10:21] Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna read, uh, 1:17 even though that's a little bit outside of our scope. I'm gonna read it along with 2:1 to, to make the point here. It says, "The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the whale, of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish." When you look at the Hebrew text, 1:17 is actually verse 2:1 and 2:1 is then 2:2 and so on and so forth. In the original Hebrew mindset of how this book goes together, these two things were linked together, him being swallowed by the whale and being in the belly of the fish and then him praying was linked together in this sequence. There's a feature in the Hebrew that's called a vav consecutive. You don't need to remember that. Nobody is gonna care about that. But it's, it's a little grammatical feature where it adds this little character to the front of the verb and it indicates a sequence. It's the narrative storytelling. When you look at Genesis 1 it's, "And then God said, 'Let there be light,' and then there was light." It tells you the sequence of events. Sometimes it indicates that it is a strict sequence of events. This happened and then that finished and then the next thing happened and then that finished. And many of the commentators use this passage to justify a perspective of Jonah where Jonah is this rebellious, stubborn prophet who holds out his stubbornness until the very last minute. He's swallowed by the whale, he's getting digested by stomach acid and he sort of finally relents to the Lord and cries out for deliverance and the Lord acquiesces in response to his prayer. That's certainly a possible interpretation. There's lots of good reasons in the, the text here to think Jonah was kind of a chucklehead and was not paying too much attention to what the Lord had for him The other option is to see this as a way for the author of the text to situate this prayer in contrast to other prayers that are not necessarily talked about directly in this text. And I'm gonna take that later view here, and I think it's important. This makes good sense of the text, and we'll explain exactly why that is when we get to the next little section here. But it also protects us theologically if we understand it this way. Jonah is already a book, uh, as I've alluded to, that tends towards a sort of crass moralism or fabulism. We tend to read it as sort of an allegory of if you do the wrong thing, God punishes you, and when you finally do the right thing, He blesses you. And there's a certain level of common grace wisdom to that approach, right? The whole book of Proverbs is-- are these proverbial sayings that if you do this, then the God-- then God will do this. If you raise up your children in the way they will go, they will not depart when they are older. But we also learn in the Book of Job and the Book of Ecclesiastes that those proverbial sayings, although generally true, it's not a magic formula. And so we have this tendency to read Old Testament literature as though it was this sort of like equation, that God punishes us when we're bad. He, uh, He relents from His punishment when we say we're sorry, and we have to be careful about that. If we understand what I'm about to teach from the next section here, that this is not a strict sequence of events, that Jonah began praying before he was swallowed by the whale, and this is simply recording the prayer that was actually within the whale. It helps protect us from seeing Jonah in this sort of quid pro quo, this for that kind of thing. I think we should simply understand this as saying Jonah was in the water, he got swallowed by the whale, and then when he was in the whale, he prayed. It doesn't say anything about whether he was overly stubborn or whether his stubbornness held out. It simply tells us that he was in the pray-- in the whale when this prayer occurred [00:14:23] Sheol and Descent [00:14:23] Tony Arsenal: He says in verse two, he calls out to the Lord out of his distress. He, and God answers him. Out of the belly of Sheol, Jonah cries, and God hears his voice This here tells us that he began praying, right? He was in the water, he was in the deep. All of this descriptive language we're gonna see later on about how deep he was, how quickly the current took him. He was wrapped up in seaweed, his life was fading from him. It was in the midst of all of that that he cries out in his distress. It's a pretty distressing situation. And Jonah, like all of us would, like even most atheists would, cries out to the Lord, even just out of instinct. I think it's kind of crazy for us to think that this man who's now been cast overboard and is being swept to the bottom of the ocean is sure he's gonna die. Somehow, he overrides all of his instinct and his entire life teaching and refuses to pray to the Lord. It just doesn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense of what the text presents here Jonah was in the belly of Sheol. He was in the very, the very womb of Sheol. And there is this interesting contrast that he goes from the belly of Sheol into the belly of the whale. This phrase, the belly of Sheol, is probably roughly equivalent to our phrase about being at death's door, right? It, it may or may not come from some sort of Mesopotamian, um, mythology. It may be a phrase of sort of co-opted into Hebrew, kinda like our phrase at death's door is actually co-opted in from Greek mythology, where there were actually literal doors to the underworld, and people would go there and when they were about to die. Jonah's point is that this was not a small thing. When we watch VeggieTales, he gets thrown in the water, and, like, 13 seconds later, the, the whale comes up and takes him. Jonah was swept down into the water almost supernaturally quick. He was drawn down to the very bottom of the ocean. We talk about the miracle of him surviving in the whale, and it was miraculous for sure, but the miracle of him being swept to the bottom of the ocean and not being crushed by the weight of the water, by the pressure, is equally miraculous. It's no more difficult for God to do that than it is for Him to preserve him in the whale or to raise Jesus from the dead or to create everything from nothing He finally starts to catch up with the pagan sailors. A theme in Jonah is that everyone around Jonah who shouldn't know any better somehow gets to the right conclusion before he does, right? The sailors begin to worship the Lord. They recognize this is divine wrath while Jonah is still asleep in the hold. Later, we'll see that, uh, the, the Ninevites recognize God's mercy and grace and thank Him for it, and Jonah is still mad because the plant he was sitting on d- uh, dies, right? Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. [00:17:34] Sovereignty Explained [00:17:34] Tony Arsenal: He recognizes that it was God who cast him into the depths. This teaches us something about the doctrine of sovereignty and how it relates to human freedom, right? We, we often ask the question, what, what causes rain? Well, you can answer that by saying tiny particles of dust collect water in the air, and once they have enough weight, they fall out of the sky 'cause the air can't hold them up anymore. That's true, and it's good, and that's what nature teaches us. It's also equally true that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike, and those two things are not contradictory. So when Jonah says, "You cast me into the sea," he's recognizing, like Joseph does in the Book of Genesis, that what the sailors in this case meant for good but what the brothers meant for evil, God purposed and caused for good. What the sailors did by their own volition, their own free will, they exercised their own, uh, autonomy in the, the horizontal sense to cast Jonah into the sea, God also cast him into the sea As I said, the text here uses language that we may not catch in our English translations to indicate that it's not just the sea here that's the problem. God's sovereignty continues to affect and act on Jonah. The word that we read here as the, the water or the flood, other places refers to the current of a river. The, um, the Euphrates itself is sometimes referred to this, the large- sort of the largest river apart from the Nile that the Egyptian or the, um, Israelite mind would have is the Euphrates, right? This underwater river, this underwater current, the undertow sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. It's like if you're swimming at the beach at the ocean and you get caught in the undercurrent. There's not a lot you can do about it. Y- sometimes even the strongest swimmers can't overcome this, and Jonah in all of his Middle Eastern robes, all of this stuff, probably with all of his baggage, his, his own equipment, things he had on him, is caught in this undercurrent that sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. And it's not just below the surface of the water. He's dropped down into the heart of the sea, the very core. We're seeing this language of him being pulled to the depths. In, in chapter one he goes down, down, down, and now he's being drawn into the belly of the ocean, into the pit of Sheol, into the heart of the waters The picture here is that Jonah doesn't just get thrown in the water and sink. He is actively pulled down to the bottom. This is not just a judgment where perhaps he can swim to the top. Just as the mariners hopelessly tried to reach land, Jonah would've been hopelessly trying to swim against this. We don't actually have any indication he tried, but had he tried, there would've been no chance He goes on to say that the God's breakers and his waves roll him. This is the picture we see if you ever watch surfing competitions on the ocean, where a surfer will get hit by the wave and he just gets rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and it can be incredibly dangerous. That's why they have like the little lifeguards on the jet skis that zip out there to get them. Because when you get caught in that breaker, you just get rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and soon you lose track of which direction is up, and even if you did, you couldn't get out This process is not just the forces of nature doing what they do. This is, again, the Lord weaponizing the forces of nature to execute judgment on Jonah This tumultuous and supernatural rapid descent showed Jonah that this is not only the moment in which God wanted to take his life, but was actively casting him away from the g- from the presence of the Lord [00:21:47] Yet I Will See [00:21:47] Tony Arsenal: It says here, um, in verse four, Jonah says, "I am driven away from your sight If you do a word study on this, you start to see that Jonah is pulling language from the creation account. He's pulling language from the fall. He's pulling a lot of language from Genesis itself. He's also pulling from the Psalms, which are pulling from the Genesis account. This word driven away could also be tran- translated as banished. He's cast out of the presence of the Lord. Just as in Genesis 3, we read, "God drove the man out at the east of the Garden of Eden. He placed cherubim and flaming swords." He drove the man out. Genesis 4:14, Cain says, "You have driven me away from the ground." And in Jonah 1:3, we see that Jonah was trying to get away from the presence of the Lord. And I wonder if there was this moment where he goes, "Ooh, I guess I got what I was looking for." Now, the second half of Jonah f- 2:4 here does something a little bit weird, and it's hard to translate. I think we should be honest at times. Hebrew is a language that in some senses is mysterious to us at times. There are still parts of the Hebrew Bible that we're not always 100% sure of. This verse here could be translated... In, in Hebrew it's just a statement. It's, "I, um, I shall again see the holy temple, or your holy temple." How that fits into the text itself is tricky. Some read it as, uh, as a question. "How shall I see your holy temple?" It's actually a statement kind of reaffirming the doubt and the fear and the idea that God was banishing him Most translations translate it as sort of a contrast. He says, "I was driven away from your sight, yet I shall again look on your holy temple." The force of this is even though you're driving me away, even though you're casting me out of your presence, I have faith, I have confidence that I will again see your holy temple The question here, and this is where I think Jonah becomes our example It's certainly possible that Jonah was asserting his belief that he would be rescued from this calamity and he would make his way back to Jerusalem and he would return to the holy temple. I think that what he says in the rest of this, he's recounting what he was praying. What he was praying in this context is not that he would return to the temple. He was confident God was taking his life. He says in verse five, "The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." The other way that the phrase holy temple is used in the Old Testament is to refer to the place that God lives in heaven. Jonah was asserting faith that even though he was being cast out of the presence of the Lord in this life, even though he was being justly punished for his sin, even though he was about to enter the belly of Sheol and to enter the pit, the very abyss, that he would see God again in His holy temple. This is a statement of Jonah's belief in his own destiny as one of God's people, destined to be saved by faith in God. In this moment, Jonah trusts the Lord despite all of the appearances that God was out to get him It's not all that different than when we read in Mark chapter 9, where this father brings his, uh, demon-possessed child to Jesus, and Jesus says, "I can heal him." And he says, "If you can do anything, Lord," I'm paraphrasing here. He says, "If you can do it, please, Lord." And he says, "If? All things are possible for me." And the father desperately cries out, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." It's this raw, unfiltered statement of just the human condition on this side of glory, right? I believe in the Lord, but there's always that little part in the back of my head that isn't sure, because we're never going to be perfect. Now, I've said before, and, and this is becoming my new catchphrase, I think, I'm not here to rob you of your assurance of faith. Our, our confession, the Bible, this church, our Reform, broader Reform tradition, the assurance of faith of the Christian is the rightful possession inheritance of every person in this room who trusts the Lord. But it is a reality that at times that assurance is shaken. And if there's ever a time for your assurance to be shaken, it's when you're being dragged to the bottom of the ocean, right? One of the words in here, I don't have it-- I don't actually have it in my notes for some reason, but one of the note, words here, uh, s- about the roots of the mountain, I believe, in the next verse. It's not just that he was dragged to the bottom of the ocean. This word root of the mountain is like the word that's used to cut. He's not just being dragged to the bottom of the sea, he's being dragged to the bottom of a deep sea crevasse. He's literally being pulled into the pit, right? Many, uh, in the ancient Semitic world would have seen these underwater pits. They would have theorized or thought about these underwater crevasses as the actual entry into Sheol. And Jonah sees himself being drawn down into these things. Yet, he believes he will see the good presence of the Lord We read a similar statement, I won't, uh, I won't make us go there for time. We read a similar statement in Job. Job goes through this long speech about all the things that God has done to him, and at the very end of it, he says, "Yet I will see the Lord with my eyes, and he will stand up next to me on, on the earth." Right? Even though Job was going through this unimaginable grief, and we know that Job didn't deserve it in the strict sense, he still was saying, "I'm gonna be destroyed. God is shooting arrows at me," right? "His sword is in my side. He's targeting me. He's sending hornets after me." All of these terrible, vibrant images that he's using to show what God is doing to him, and yet he still trusts. I would say that he trusts that he would see the Lord in the flesh. This is not only Jonah's faith, it's a-- or Job's faith, it's a prophecy of Christ This is alien to our modern mindset. We've been talking about this in the Psalms. Weston's been leading us through the, the lament Psalms We often think that suffering and trials and difficulties are the opposite of blessing and favor. And we might recognize that in some sort of way that in God's economy, one thing leads to another. And again, there's an element of truth to that. James says, "Count it all joy when you face trials of every kind." He's not saying that the trials you're facing are in themselves joyful. You don't have to love when you get sick. You don't have to, you don't have to man up and put a smile on or s- pull yourself up by your bootstraps or whatever analogy you wanna use. It's okay to be sad when bad things happen. It's actually good, right? If we're to weep with those who weep, there's an element of sadness that must come with that, not to mention the one who's weeping is not chastised. But the idea that that only leads to this, that that's just one step in the chain, that's not really the mindset the Bible has. All across the Psalms, in the lament Psalms, all across the prophetic literature, the Book of Lamentations, Habakkuk has this long prayer at the end that's very similar, the entire Book of Job, suffering and sanctification, trials and joy and restoration, they're all sandwiched right there, and there is usually this statement in the middle of it that God will do what is right This is Jonah's example for us, and what an example it is. We'll talk in a little bit about all the ways that this whole scenario is typological of Christ. We'll, we'll get to that. But just for a minute in the middle of this book, Jonah is not such a bad guy. And it's because he still has all his faults that he can be this example for us [00:30:26] Genesis Deep Imagery [00:30:26] Tony Arsenal: As though it wasn't clear enough, Jonah in verse five says that the purpose of the waters closing over him was explicitly to take his life. He's now in the belly of the sea. He's being dragged down to the very roots of the mountain, to the very core of the earth in his mind. He, he thinks he's going to hell in the, the Hebrew mind. There's both this idea that God is dragging him to hell in a very real sense. The Hebrew mind, Sheol was a physical place that people went to, and we learn more about it and that becomes clarified as revelation is progressive, not contradictory, but as, as it's clarified But he uses this word deep, and this is where he's drawing again from Genesis. Genesis 1:2, he says, "The earth was without form and void. The darkness was over the face of the deep." The deep is this sort of like unformed chaotic water. It's what exists before God makes everything orderly and good. And in the fall, and especially in the flood in chapter seven, uh, chapter seven verse 11, the f- the flood itself is a sort of undoing of the order. God opens the floods from beneath, from the bottom of the earth, from the wellspring of the deep, as well as the chaotic waters from outside the firmament, and it all pours back in together and the entire world becomes again this deep, primordial, chaotic water And just as in Genesis God separates the land, in, in Genesis 7 or in Genesis 8, he separates out the land by drying it up, drying up the water. We also see that Jonah has this trust that he will return to the dry land. Again, he's the God of heaven and sea and dry earth. We could even read this phrase, depending on the context, as the abyss, which is this, a- again, is some borrowed language from Greek here that the Hebrews use. But it's this deep, watery, murky place th- full of shadows and darkness. Sounds familiar, I think, right? Christ says that those who are apart from him who refuse to obey will be cast into the outer darkness. This is the imagery that Jonah is seeing. All outside visible indicators was that he was gonna die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again Apart from God's gracious intervention, Jonah was right. So although God is the one that's bringing him to the depth, bringing him to the pit, dragging him down, using the very currents of the sea, weaponizing these underwater currents that only thousands of years later do we understand, and even then only this much, he also graciously rescues him from this by miraculously appointing a whale or a great fish who comes and swallows Jonah, takes him whole, and keeps him there in his own belly, keeps him there in her own womb when we get to chapter 2. In chapter six, or in verse six, Jonah makes this pivot. Again, he says he's brought to the very bottom of the sea, to the roots of the mountain, which is these deep underwater trenches. He conceptualizes himself now in this locked city behind bars. Again, this jail imagery, this pit imagery, it's all meant to evoke this idea of the final punishment of the wicked. This place of murky, gross water, this place of darkness and, uh, limitations of freedom, he's being taken there. This is the section here where people would actually argue that Jonah dies. He actually dies and is resurrected when he's swallowed by the whale. This comes from language where it says God does not prevent him from going to the pit. God actually draws him to the pit and then raises his life up from the pit. Now, I'm not convinced, um, that we should think that Jonah actually died. I don't, I don't think that the text fully supports that. But it certainly is using this imagery [00:34:45] Christ Typology [00:34:45] Tony Arsenal: This is where we get to some typology about Christ. This is where Jonah really shines as a prophet. Sometimes people wonder why the Book of Jonah is considered a prophetic book, and this along with it is part of that. Jonah, although the sign of Jonah in Matthew and in the other Gospels refers to the belly of the whale, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so also Christ will be in the heart of the earth, the pit, for three days and three nights. When we're talking about typology, we can't get too tripped up on the details. We're not talking about strict allegory where this figure is that person and this signpost represents that thing. This isn't Pilgrim's Progress or Chronicles of Narnia, which is not allegory, but it's similar. Topology functions often on sort of these big picture concepts, right? Although there are some typological references that are super detailed, there are also some that are just sort of evocative The idea that Jonah died and was raised to life and sort of incubated in the earth, in- incubated in the whale and sort of reborn into the world, that certainly sounds a lot like a picture of the resurrection And I think we should see it that way. When Christ says that the sign of Jonah is roughly His resurrection, He is tying it to the three days and three nights, but He's not limiting to that Jonah comes to this pivot, and now he starts to reflect on the context of his deliverance. This whole s- this whole prayer should be seen sort of in the light of the thanksgiving psalms. There's a situation in which Jonah is in, and then God rescues him, and he begins to praise him for it. There's elements of lament, but it's really a thanksgiving psalm that he's drawing on here or that he's, he's writing In 2:7, Jonah is either dead or he's actively dying. I don't know about you, but if you've ever, uh, dove into a pool and got a little deeper than you thought you were, and you-- there's that, like, two seconds before you get to the top where you're sure the lights are going out and you've really only been underwater for, like, 45 seconds, but everything in you tells you if you don't get there, you're gonna die. Every instinct you have is to scramble for the surface. Think about how long it took Jonah to be dragged to the bottom of the ocean. Even at this accelerated pace, we're talking about a long time. And we have no reason to believe, and lots of reasons to think otherwise, Jonah was not preserved from the pain and the terror and the difficulty of feeling like you're drowning because he was drowning. He was without oxygen. His life was fading away. And it is in this context of him being on the brink of death, at death's door, in the belly of Sheol, being drawn into the very pit itself, that his prayer reaches the Lord in His holy temple. Right? This gives further evidence to the thought that Jonah is not talking about the temple in Jerusalem. There was, there was theology, and I, I think it's fine theology, that God lived in the temple in a special way. This is the reason that Daniel faces Jerusalem when he prays. There is a sense in the Old Testament that God's special place of presence is the temple in Jerusalem, and that the prayers of the people physically go to that place to be received by God. But Jonah doesn't know which direction the temple is. He's underwater. He's been tossed around by breakers. He has no sense of geography at this point He knows that his prayers are reaching the Lord in his heavenly temple. And they reach him in his heavenly temple just as his life is being lost in the pit. And it is from this moment that God raises him to life, or preserves his life, depending how you read it, and appoints the well to come reach him And some read this next verse as a little bit of a step back for Jonah, and it may be.  [00:39:02] Vows and Idols [00:39:02] Tony Arsenal: He reads, "Those who pay vain regard to i- regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. And what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord." Jonah didn't see the sailors on the ship vow their vows and offer their sacrifices. That happened after they threw him into the pit and the current sucked him under So we may read this with a little bit of a, "Thank God I'm not like that tax collector," kind of a lens. And there's probably some wisdom for us in that, to recognize that Jonah still hasn't quite gotten there. But it's also very common in the Old Testament to recognize that God treats His people differently because they are different. God brings people to a place of sanctification, and through that process of sanctification, they cease to worship vain idols. And it is absolutely true that those who worship vain idols forfeit their hope of steadfast love from the Lord. That's straight out of the Ten Commandments, right? He visits the iniquity of, specifically of idolatry. He visits the iniquity unto the children to the third and fourth generation. But for those who love the Lord, He loves them with a steadfast love unto thousands We can recognize in Jonah that although he had made great progress in faith, that he still wasn't there yet. And we can recognize that in him because we can recognize that in ourselves. Jonah is the example in this because he is not perfect, because he has not arrived, 'cause he doesn't do a 180 about-face and get everything right going forward We can read this in light of Jonah in chapter four, where he takes big steps back Or we can read this as the regular up and down progress of sanctification in the life of all believers everywhere It is also ironic again, we're back now to Jonah being a little bit behind the curve. He was sent to Nineveh to evangelize the heathens, some of the worst enemies that Israel was going to face, and he ignores that call. And he, instead of going to Nineveh, he goes to Tarshish. He goes the opposite direction, and he does something that would be unthinkable to most Israelites. He goes out on the open ocean. That's just insanity to someone living in the ancient world He should have recognized that the sailors were fearing the Lord when they refused to throw him overboard. I think we all have a sort of innate sense when someone's behavior suddenly changes, and I think most of us, and not in some sort of strange, kooky, charismatic sense, but I think most of us can sort of go, "I think I know why that is." Right, when you, when you see someone at work that suddenly stops lying about everything and stops backbiting and stops taking credit for other people's work, and then you find out a little while linger- longer that they've come to faith in Christ, if we're being honest, we're not all that surprised. But Jonah doesn't get it. Jonah here promises the same things that the sailors already did, so now we're again back behind the curve [00:42:37] Sanctification Confession [00:42:37] Tony Arsenal: To wrap this out, I, I wanna, um, I wanna ground this in something that I think is really vital for us to understand. As I said, Jonah is an example to us because he demonstrates the limited nature of sanctification, but he also demonstrates in a certain sense the fact that sanctification is real and has real effects. So this is a little out of the ordinary, but grab your Trinity Hymnal from the pew in front of you. If you happen to have a copy of the Confession, you could use that if you'd prefer. But open with me to page 927 I have, um, I've been, uh, broadly Reformed most of my Christian life and didn't realize it until I got to seminary. And since I discovered the Westminster Confession of Faith a decade ago, it's not new, uh, not new to me, um, I realized how valuable this resource was. This is essentially a search engine without the internet. And so I wanna just read a little bit out of chapter 13 here, which is our Confessions chapter on sanctification. I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but the, the first, uh, the first section here essentially says that sanctification is real, and it happens throughout the whole person. We talk about total depravity, and there is a sense in which the Christian remains totally depraved after regeneration, in that there still is, there still is corruption within our entire being, uh, that is depraved. There's also an equal sense in which we can say we are totally sanctified in Christ because sanctification is throughout the whole man in which we are renewed after the image of God. So that's section one. And then section two says, "This sanctification is throughout," again, throughout the whole man, "in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abiding still some remnant of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irre- irreconcilable war, the flesh left lusting after the spirit, and the spirit lusting after the flesh." Now, that may feel like just a crushing burden if you stop reading there, but it lines up with our experience, right? This is Paul in Romans 7, "The good things I wanna do, I do not, and the bad things that I, I kn- I do not want to do, I somehow do. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." We shouldn't read that as though somehow our spirits are purified entirely and our bodies are what's really causing us to sin. This is a picture of the spirit being, uh, our, our spiritual part of us. The part of us that's regenerated is willing, but the part of us that remains corrupt is our flesh And our confession goes on to say, "In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctification- sanctifying spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome." And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is revolutionary in our broader evangelical world. The storybook Bible, Jonah did a bad thing and he gets punished, and he did a good thing and so he gets better, cannot understand this concept. This is why I think we have to be so careful when we choose what books to give to our little ones, right? I, I make jokes about VeggieTales. I loved VeggieTales when I was in VeggieTales age range. I probably would sit down and watch VeggieTales with Augie when he gets old enough. But we have to be so careful not to let those messages come to our children, or to ourselves for that matter, uninterpreted by the scriptures first and foremost, and our Reformed tradition that we all believe. Amen.  [00:46:49] Assurance in the Pit [00:46:49] Tony Arsenal: This is vital for us When all is said and done, salvation, whether we're talking about justification, sanctification, glorification, resurrection, all of the different stages and phases of our salvation, it is entirely of the Lord. And it's for this reason that Jonah says, "I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay." Salvation belongs to the Lord So this is the application of the sermon, loved ones. No matter how close to or actually into the pit itself we have fallen The, the chapter on assurance of faith, I won't go there, but the chapter in our confession on assurance of faith is very honest with us that our assurance will be shaken, and at times we may not feel as though we have any assurance at all But even when we have fallen that deep into the pit of despair, even when we feel as though we are in the very depths of hell No matter how much our spiritual or physical life is fainting away as we starve for spiritual breath, as we feel that impulse in us that recognizes we're moments away from losing the faith entirely. No matter how much the remnants of corruption in every part swirl around our heads like seaweed, how often do we feel wrapped up in sin? Whatever it is, I don't need to get specific 'cause I'm sure all of you are thinking of something in your head right now that has been swirling around you for years. Maybe it's months, maybe it's years. Maybe you've never felt, since coming to Christ, you've never felt like it wasn't wrapped up around you like seaweed. Besetting sin is something that we need to be serious about, and it's a good cause for us to think hard and deep about our status as Christians, and to go to our pastor and seek the elders' assistance in this. But besetting sin is not, is not a mark that excludes you from, from Christianity. Right? We're justified by faith alone, in Christ alone, by His grace alone. Not because we've overcome our besetting sin alone, right? That's not one of the five solas God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire And though it is the case that we often are shaken, and at times God, just as he let Jonah, he let Jonah go to Tarshish. God had every ability to stop him from doing a stupid thing, and sometimes he does that, right? I'm sure there's plenty of times we can think about in our lives where we were heading towards sin and God just pulled a U-turn on us, and we are thankful for that. But there are times that he does not, and he lets us, he lets us do that. He lets us suffer the consequences, and he does that to chastise us and bring us back to him And even in the context of that, it is through this continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, right?  [00:50:19] God Beautifies His Bride [00:50:19] Tony Arsenal: Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit from the womb beyond measure. That's in the Book of John. There was never a time where Christ did not have the totality of the infinite sanctifying Spirit of the God, of God. We do not have the totality of the sanctifying Spirit of God. Now, we can get into a discussion after the service about divine simplicity and all the complexity of that, but the reality is that God sanctifies us more and more and more, and He does it by giving us the Spirit more and more. Might be more accurate to say He gives more of us to the Spirit. He gives us to the Spirit more and more. He gives us to Jesus more and more. We are Christ's inheritance. We are His bride. And just as the bride, as they're approaching the wedding, is made more and more beautiful, they start their, their beauty treatments weeks and months ahead of time, right? They're already making their hair appointments. They're already doing what they need to do to feel as beautiful as they can and to be as beautiful as they can on their wedding day. If that's the way we treat human weddings; guys do it too, just not as much. If that's the way we treat human weddings, how much more does God treat the heavenly wedding of His Son to His beloved bride? He's beautifying us, Church. Doesn't always feel like it. Doesn't always look like it, but He is. 

Faith can sometimes feel difficult to hold onto, especially during seasons when God’s presence feels distant or circumstances seem overwhelming. Yet Scripture reminds us that God remains our refuge and strength, even when we struggle to recognize His work in our lives. Doubt does not mean God has abandoned us. Many believers experience moments of uncertainty, questioning, or spiritual exhaustion. In those seasons, God invites us to return to Him through prayer, Scripture, and a deeper understanding of His character. He is not only present in the moments when we feel strong in faith—He is faithful when we feel weak. Highlights: Seasons of doubt can become opportunities to rediscover God’s faithfulness God remains present even when His work is difficult to see Our faith is rooted in Jesus, not in the actions or failures of others Prayer and Scripture help rebuild trust in God’s character and promises God is our refuge and strength when life feels uncertain or overwhelming Join the Conversation: Have you ever experienced a season where your faith felt distant or difficult to hold onto? What helped you remember that God was still present and faithful? Continue the conversation with the Crosswalk community here: https://forums.crosswalk.com/ Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: Finding Faith AgainBy Vivian Bricker Bible Reading:“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-3). Most of us have had times when we doubt our faith. We doubt if we are truly saved or if anything we do truly matters. While I have never doubted God’s existence, I have doubted His goodness and provision. In retrospect, I can now see God has provided for me even in the darkest of times. However, during trying times, it can be hard to see God. We automatically blame God and reason that He is why we are going through challenging times. Since God is ultimately in control, we question why He is not bringing us deliverance. As someone who has been in this place many times, I can attest to just how much God is present when we think He is not. God is always with us, even if we do not realize it. A particularly tough time for me was when I was in England. I was serving on a mission trip, and there was only one other person and me. I struggled as this was my first time away from home, and I missed my family. I struggle with social anxiety, and it was challenging to be around people I didn't know very well. The host families I stayed with were all supportive, but a few profoundly changed my life. They helped me to know that I matter and that God has plans for my life, even if I could not see them right away. Although my faith struggled at times during this mission trip, I left England with a stronger faith than I had before. I knew God would be with me through everything, even if I had doubted Him. An Ever-Present Help in Trouble The Bible tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-3). While many people believe only David wrote the Psalms, others wrote them as well. Another writer was the Sons of Korah, who wrote Psalm 46. The Sons of Korah lived during a time of exile. They longed to return to Israel and yearned for the day when God would deliver His people. Despite what they saw each day, they knew God was their refuge, strength, and an ever-present help in trouble. By studying Psalm 46:1-3 and applying it to our lives, we will slowly begin to trust God again. We will realize that He is also our refuge, strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Although the earth may give way and the mountains will fall into the sea, we will not fear because God is with us. He is our mighty protector, and He will keep us safe from all harm. If you need to find your faith again, start talking with the Lord in prayer today. Read the Bible and study what it has to say for yourself. Rather than relying on other Christians or a church, seek out matters for yourself. Sadly, many of us struggle with our faith because of a negative experience with a Christian or a church. Try to remember at these times that our faith is in Jesus, not in other Christians or a church. These individuals will fail us and might even cause us much harm, but the Lord never will. He will always fight for us and be on our side. Even as everything else in our lives falls apart, Jesus will stand by our side (Hebrews 13:5-6). We can have faith in Jesus because He is our mighty Savior and the One who has redeemed our souls. Praise God for such a wonderful blessing in the Lord. Intersecting Faith & Life: Have you ever struggled with your faith in Jesus? What did this look like? Why do you think most Christians struggle with their faith at times? How might Jesus help you in the journey of finding your faith again? Further Reading: Psalm 23:1-6 Exodus 14:14 2 Timothy 4:18 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

On today's program, a former Truett McConnell president is suing, claiming the university breached his employment contract when it fired him amid claims that he mishandled sexual abuse allegations. We'll take a look. And, Ed Young retired as pastor of Second Baptist Church of Houston after nearly 50 years. Now, he's launched a new teaching ministry drawing from his decades of sermons and writings. But church members say the new ministry's formation raises questions about who controls the church's assets. We'll have details. Plus, former Iranian prisoner Saeed Abedini — an international symbol of a Christian being persecuted for his faith — is being accused of abducting his 5-year-old daughter.  But first, Barnabas Aid — a ministry that serves persecuted Christians around the world — is now under direct oversight by regulators in the United Kingdom. The Charity Commission of England and Wales appointed two interim managers on June 19th — removing the charity’s trustees from governance entirely. The commission named Edwina Turner and Catherine Gibbon of Anthony Collins LLP to the role. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today's program include Kim Roberts, Henry Durand, Tony Mator, Bob Smietana, Christina Darnell, and Jessica Eturralde. A special thanks to The Christian Index for contributing material for this week's podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.

Many Christians are unaware that God has a purpose and plan for the Arab nations, and that they will have a place in Olam Haba (“the World to Come”). To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

Christians have a free ticket to go all the way to heaven. What some of us don't know is what is included in the price of the ticket. In this message, Pastor Lutzer proves how salvation is entirely of God, even raising us up to reign with Him. We can't imagine all God has prepared for those in Christ.  This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at https://offerrtw.com or call us at 1-800-215-5001. Moody Church Media [https://www.moodymedia.org/], home of "Running To Win," exists to bring glory to God through the transformation of lives. Erwin W. Lutzer is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church in Chicago, where he served as Senior Pastor for 36 years. He is a prolific author of over seventy books. A clear expositor of the Bible, he is the featured speaker on "Running To Win" and "Songs In The Night," with programs broadcasting on over a thousand outlets in the U.S. and across more than fifty countries in seven languages. He and his wife, Rebecca, live in the Chicago area. They have three grown children and eight grandchildren.   SUPPORT: Tax Deductible Support: https://www.moodymedia.org/donate/ Become an Endurance Partner: https://endurancepartners.org/   SUBSCRIBE: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoodyChurchMedia Daily Devotional and Weekly Digest: https://www.moodymedia.org/newsletters/subscription/

Segment 1 • James Talarico calls himself "a Christian who hates Christianity." • Can you redefine Christianity and still call it biblical? • Why progressive theology is far more dangerous than progressive politics. Segment 2 • Can politics actually save America? • The surprising reason America is losing its shared identity. • Why the answer isn't legislation—it's something far deeper. Segment 3 • What declining support for Israel reveals about America's spiritual condition. • If you could rebuild a nation from scratch, where would you start? • Why Christians may be fighting the wrong battle. Segment 4 • What falling birth rates, marijuana, and homeschooling all have in common. • Why changing laws will never change hearts. • The one mission Jesus gave the Church that still changes cultures today. ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

A spectator mindset has quietly crept into modern Christianity, leaving many believers watching the mission instead of participating. Ray, E.Z., Mark, and Oscar challenge listeners to examine whether they have become passive observers rather than active followers of Christ. The guys explain that there is no such thing as a spectator Christian because every believer has been called to make disciples, serve the church, and engage in the work of the gospel. Too often, Christians excuse themselves from evangelism or ministry, believing those responsibilities belong to someone else. The conversation emphasizes that following Jesus requires action, obedience, and a willingness to step onto the front lines of spiritual battle.The guys then explore how consumerism has shaped the way many people view the local church. Rather than seeing the church as a covenant community where believers serve one another, many approach it with the mindset of a customer evaluating a product. This perspective turns worship, fellowship, and discipleship into something to consume rather than something to contribute to. The guys explain that believers have been freed by the gospel not merely to attend church but to actively participate in God's unfolding story of grace.The conversation also addresses practical barriers that keep believers from engaging in ministry. Fear, social anxiety, comparison, and distraction often prevent Christians from sharing the gospel or using their gifts. The guys discuss how technology has weakened many everyday interactions that help people build confidence and form meaningful relationships. Yet God has uniquely equipped every believer with gifts and opportunities to serve. Rather than comparing themselves to others, Christians are called to faithfully use whatever gifts God has provided and to trust that every member of the body plays a necessary role.Finally, the guys focus on the Holy Spirit's empowering work and the practical steps believers can take to become more active in their faith. The same Spirit who empowered the early church continues to guide, strengthen, and equip believers today. The guys encourage listeners to put down distractions, invest their time intentionally, arrive ready to serve, and look for opportunities to share the gospel. In the end, the Christian life is not about watching others live for Christ but about actively participating in His mission, trusting that God uses ordinary obedience to accomplish extraordinary things.Send us Fan MailThanks for listening! If you've been helped by this podcast, we'd be grateful if you'd consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at podcast@livingwaters.com. We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro

“Is Catholicism a false church?” This question opens a discussion on the validity of Catholicism compared to Eastern Orthodoxy, particularly regarding changes in liturgy and fasting rules. The conversation also addresses whether first-century Christians prayed to saints and explores what Catholics believe about salvation in contrast to the “once saved, always saved” perspective. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 04:35 – Considering Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. If the majority of bishops left the RCC, is that a sign they are a false church? Also, if Catholics changed liturgy/fasting rules while EO have been consistent, is that a sign they are a false church? 20:30 – How to Respond to the claim. Did first-century Christians pray to the saints? My protestant friend says it started in the third century. 31:05 – What do Catholics believe they have to do to be saved, and how do I respond to the once saved always saved belief? What are simple verses to refute that? 42:22 – Agnostic Brother Asked thinks Christianity is too Anthropocentric. He has a hard time believing that the universe was made for human beings primarily. 47:20 – Best Friend and brother want to convert to EO because of the filioque. How can I respond?

If He did not rise, then as the apostle Paul noted, we Christians are the most pitiable creatures ever (1 Cor. 15:19). If He did rise from the dead, then He is the promised Messiah that the entire Old Testament was pointing toward. That would make the Jews the most to be pitied. This would mean that the ingenuity of a thousand rabbis can't put the Old Testament jig saw puzzle together . . .For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

In this episode of Pray the Word on Judges 21:25, David Platt encourages us to do that which is right in God's eyes.Explore more content from Radical.

Leslie continues the Overcoming series with a powerful reminder that this world is not our home. When we study the lives of historical Christians, one of the most important lessons we can learn is what it means to endure, to stay the course, and to not grow weary in well doing. In this episode, Leslie offers stories, Scriptures, and principles that illustrate the fact that we are not home yet. No matter how overlooked or under appreciated we may feel in our journey here on this earth, we have an exceedingly great reward awaiting us. If you are feeling weary or discouraged, this episode can inspire and uplift you with a Heavenly perspective.For more resources from Leslie, visit https://setapart.org/. To learn about our 2026 Set Apart Conference, visit https://setapart.org/2026-set-apart-conference/. To learn about our 2026 Ellerslie Discipleship programs, visit https://ellerslie.com/be-discipled/. To support Set Apart Ministries, visit https://setapart.org/support/.