Podcasts about Mount

Today's Scripture passages are Job 42 | Psalm 6 | Psalm 37 | Proverbs 6:1-5 | Matthew 5:1-26.Read by Christina Edmondson.Get in The Word with Truth's Table is a production of InterVarsity Press. For 75 years, IVP has published and created thoughtful Christian books for the university, church, and the world. Our Bible reading plan is adapted from Bible Study Together, and the Bible version is the New English Translation, used by permission.SPECIAL OFFER | As a listener of this podcast, use code LAUNCH30 at checkout for 30% off the ⁠Get in The Word with Truth's Table Video Bible Studies!Additional Credits:Song production: Seaux ChillSong lyrics written by: Seaux Chill, Ekemini Uwan, and Christina EdmondsonPodcast art: Kate LillardPhotography: Shelly EveBible consultant: JM SmithSound engineering: Podastery StudiosCreative producers: Ekemini Uwan and Christina EdmondsonAssistant producer: Christine Pelliccio MeloExecutive producer: Helen LeeTo reach the IVP podcast team, please use this form.Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

5pm - I WAS THINKING:  Does George Washington Want to be Celebrated? // No, George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth. Yes, he led the Siege of Boston // THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 1923 - Archaeologist opens tomb of King Tut // 1959 - Fidel Castro sworn in as prime minister // Frustration, Despair Mount in Tucson Over Nancy Guthrie’s Disappearance

There will be another mountain after this one. We're rejoining Jesus, Peter, James, John, Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. There will be One more joining us. And then we'll make our way down to the challenges of our daily lives. And we'll face away from this mountain, and toward the much less impressive hill called Golgotha, or Calvary - only 777 meters high. Here's Jim with the final segment of his message, The Transfiguration. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS02172026_0.mp3Scripture References: Mark 9

Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!"We sat on a rock in the driveway, stared at the car, and thought: What did we just do?"

How One Virginia Town is Reinventing Community Commerce During Its Bicentennial Mount Jackson, Virginia, is having a moment. During a recent Tourism Tuesday episode of The Valley Today, Town Manager Olivia Hilton sat down with host Janet Michael to share an ambitious slate of initiatives transforming this small Shenandoah County community. From quirky farmers markets to business incubators, Mount Jackson is proving that small towns can think big—and get a little weird while doing it. Honoring History First Before diving into future plans, Olivia highlights the town's commitment to preserving its past. On February 28th, Mount Jackson will host "Roots and Resilience," the finale event for Shenandoah County's Black History Month programming. The event features historian Rosemary Wallinger, who will discuss the CCC camp at Wolf Gap and her work revitalizing the Mount Jackson Colored Cemetery, which was recently added to Virginia's historic registry. Notably, the town plans to record Wallinger's presentation so descendants living in other states can participate virtually, demonstrating how Mount Jackson balances heritage preservation with modern accessibility. Junk and Jams: When Markets Get Funky Starting in April, Mount Jackson launches what might be the region's most creative take on the traditional farmers market. "Junk and Jams" reimagines the second Saturday market experience by pairing music genres with seasonal themes, creating what Olivia describes as a "funky" alternative to larger regional markets. The concept emerged from a brainstorming session—or perhaps a dream—by Assistant Town Manager, Greg Beam, who texted Olivia a flurry of ideas one morning. Rather than competing with established markets in Harrisonburg or Winchester, Mount Jackson decided to embrace its quirky side. Each month features a distinct theme: April kicks off with "Retro and Roots," a 1950s greaser aesthetic meets spring cleaning, complete with retro kitchen kitsch, greenhouse starts, and farm-fresh eggs. May transitions to "Floral and Fiddles," while August brings "Sunflowers and Southern Rock" during the town's yard crawl weekend. Beyond the alliterative themes, Junk and Jams incorporates interactive elements that set it apart. A Model T club will demonstrate disassembling and reassembling vintage cars. The local museum plans a "Price is Right" style game featuring historical products. Vendors will demonstrate kombucha brewing and tea making. Meanwhile, the town is developing a digital cookbook to tie into the bicentennial celebration, weaving history into every program. Importantly, vendors don't need to match the monthly theme—the music and decor create the vibe while crafters, farmers, and vintage sellers bring whatever handmade, homemade, or antique goods they offer. At just $10 per market or $60 for all six events, the barrier to entry remains intentionally low. As Olivia jokes, even if only she and Greg show up, "we're gonna have the time of our lives." The Nest: Incubating Main Street's Future Perhaps Mount Jackson's most ambitious project is The Nest, a retail incubator opening this spring in a renovated 1930s hardware store on Main Street. The concept addresses a common small business challenge: entrepreneurs who aren't quite ready for their own brick-and-mortar location due to full-time jobs, health insurance needs, family obligations, or simple uncertainty about whether their hobby can become a viable business. Thanks to two years of grant funding from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development totaling $125,000 distributed among 11 businesses, Mount Jackson created this shared retail space. Four "nesters" from the Mount Jackson Five business program will anchor the location: Joyce Kelly with Two Turtle Doves, Ryan Peters with Home Revival & Decor, Mike with Poppy's Dust, and Alex and Abby with Sunbliss, a healthy prepackaged meal service. However, The Nest won't resemble typical booth-style antique malls. Instead, Olivia envisions one cohesive boutique experience where established businesses like Jon Henry's, Clementine Vintage, and Nana's Blue Greenhouse occupy corners alongside the newer entrepreneurs. The space will even incorporate display pieces from other downtown businesses like Mount Jackson Thrift & Gift and Search, with commission-based sales creating a truly collaborative downtown ecosystem. Currently, the town's public works team is renovating the space, leaving Olivia with what she calls "the most stressful choice of my life"—picking paint colors. Meanwhile, Alex from Sunbliss, who happens to be a talented artist, will create a 2.5-by-25-foot mural inside, possibly featuring a woodpecker doing woodwork. As Olivia puts it, "Whatever you wanna do, you're the artist." The nesters will contribute volunteer hours as part of their learning experience, while the town navigates various business models including consignment, wholesale, and commission arrangements. The goal remains clear: give entrepreneurs one to two years to test their concepts before they "fly the nest" into their own storefronts. Nights at the Nest: Midweek Main Street To launch The Nest and activate downtown during typically quiet evenings, Mount Jackson introduces "Nights at the Nest" beginning in May. Every second Tuesday from 4 to 8 PM, the retail space stays open late while a food truck parks in the grassy pocket park between Search Thrift and The Nest. The town plans to string bistro lights between buildings, book live music, and transform an underutilized green space into a gathering spot. As Olivia notes, "Nothing to do on a Tuesday? Come on out and shop a little bit, maybe do some live demonstrations." It's another example of Mount Jackson creating its own social scene while supporting local businesses. The Vintage in the Valley Question The conversation took a bittersweet turn when discussing Vintage in the Valley, Strasburg's beloved festival that was canceled for 2025. Olivia expressed frustration that a community with such dedicated volunteers—including Cath from Lydia's, Sue at Clementine, and the Emporium team—couldn't secure municipal support to continue the event. While she quickly dispelled rumors that Mount Jackson would simply absorb the festival (she clarified that the heart of Vintage lies with its volunteer committee, not just a location), she revealed that discussions are underway for a potential "Vintage Through the Valley" concept that would spread the event countywide. This approach would preserve the Emporium's central role while preventing the complete loss of a cherished regional tradition. Janet admitted she may have started the Mount Jackson rumor herself, though Olivia acknowledged the temptation was real. Instead, she's been reaching out to former Vintage in the Valley vendors, inviting them to try Junk and Jams as an alternative. A Town Creating Its Own Social Life Throughout the conversation, Olivia's enthusiasm and self-awareness shine through. She jokes about "creating my own social life in Mount Jackson," acknowledges when she loses naming debates (she advocated for "Citrus and Soul" in September but conceded to "Apples and Americana" for proper alliteration), and celebrates the "you're changing the world" text messages she receives from Rosemary Wallinger. This personal investment reflects a broader truth about small-town revitalization: it requires passionate individuals willing to take risks, embrace quirkiness, and build community one event at a time. Mount Jackson isn't trying to become Harrisonburg or Winchester. Instead, it's carving out its own identity as a place where vintage meets vegetables, where business incubators share space with established retailers, and where a Tuesday night can become a destination. Looking Ahead As Mount Jackson celebrates its bicentennial, the town demonstrates that honoring 200 years of history doesn't mean living in the past. By supporting entrepreneurs, creating unique market experiences, preserving important heritage sites, and fostering collaboration across the downtown business community, this small Shenandoah County town offers a blueprint for rural revitalization that other communities might study. Whether you're interested in retro kitchen kitsch, healthy meal prep, vintage treasures, or simply supporting a town that's willing to get funky with its farmers market, Mount Jackson invites you to be part of its story. Just follow Town of Mount Jackson on Facebook and Instagram, or check out The Nest's new social media managed by Black Valley Creative. And if you see Olivia recording a podcast from her parked car before class, know that she got there early just to share Mount Jackson's good news. That's the kind of dedication that's making this small town's big year possible.

Mark Harmsworth of the Washington Policy Center writes that recent discussion around Senate Bill 6347 and other tax proposals signals concern over high-net-worth individuals and businesses leaving Washington state amid cumulative tax burdens including estate, capital gains, and payroll taxes. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-democrats-signal-retreat-on-the-death-tax-as-exodus-fears-mount/ #MarkHarmsworth #WashingtonPolicyCenter #DeathTax #MillionairesTax #EstateTax #SmallBusiness #WashingtonState

In one of the most action-packed weekends of ultrarunning in recent memory, we followed Tarawera, Black Canyon, and the Barkley Marathons as they unfolded simultaneously. Jeff Colt joins the show to break it all down. We also cover the PTRA's advisory vote on pacing at championship-level races, crowdfunded prize purses, Outside Interactive's profitability, the 603 Endurance sale to Marathon Sports, Mount to Coast's pro team announcement, and Broken Arrow's Trail Futures initiative.Timestamps:00:00 Black Canyon 100K + 50K Highlights04:04 Tarawera 102K Insights08:06 Barkley Marathons Update12:08 Crowdfunded Prize Purse Initiative15:54 Pacer Vote and Its Implications19:58 Outside Interactive's Profitability23:57 603 Endurance Acquisition25:46 Mount to Coast Team AnnouncementPartners:Precision Fuel and Hydration - use code SINGLETRACK at checkout for 15% off your next order (https://www.precisionhydration.com/planner/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=singletrack)Norda - check out the 005: the lightest, fastest, most stable trail racing shoe ever made (https://nordarun.com/)Raide - Making equipment for efficient human-powered movement in the mountains (https://raideresearch.com/singletrack)Janji - premium trail running apparel (https://janji.com/pages/singletrack)Support the show

Five months after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, a wave of lawsuits reveals how Americans were investigated, fired, and in one case, arrested for their online reactions to his death. NPR's Martin Kaste reports. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Preaching: Mike RothToday is Transfiguration Sunday. This special feast commemorates the miraculous change in Jesus' appearance when he unveiled his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. As the fulfillment of Epiphany's longing, the transfiguration reveals not only the glory of Jesus' way of life in the world, but it also casts vision for all that we can become, in the midst of what we are. Pearl Church exists to express a sacred story and to extend a common table that animate life by love. A primary expression of our sacred story is the weekly sermon. If our sermons inspire you to ponder the sacred, to consider the mystery and love of God, and to live bountifully, would you consider supporting our work? You can donate easily and securely at our website: pearlchurch.org. Thank you for partnering with us in expressing this sacred story.

On Transfiguration Sunday, the lectionary paired Exodus 24:8–18 with Matthew 17:1–9—Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. But did those readings really belong together, or did the lectionary simply place them side by side and invite us to imagine a connection?

On Transfiguration Sunday, the lectionary paired Exodus 24:8–18 with Matthew 17:1–9—Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. But did those readings really belong together, or did the lectionary simply place them side by side and invite us to imagine a connection?

In this episode, Brian continues reading from his upcoming book The Sheriff of Bigfoot Country, picking up with Part Four as the story reaches a turning point that changes everything. The classified Mount St. Helens documents reveal the full scope of Project Vulcan, a secret government operation to recover the bodies of creatures killed in the 1980 eruption. Military teams moved in under the cover of legitimate rescue operations, extracting remains before civilian responders could find them.Medical reports describe three survivors, including one creature that lived for nearly three weeks before giving up and dying in a government facility. The autopsy findings are staggering, pointing to a species with cranial capacity far exceeding modern humans and brain structures suggesting complex language and abstract reasoning.Four witnesses who were there in 1980 finally break their silence. A county sheriff who watched them load bodies onto helicopters. A helicopter pilot who flew the remains to a facility in Nevada. A trauma surgeon who held the hand of a dying creature she called George. A Forest Service employee who saw a massive hand slip from beneath a tarp. Each one was threatened into silence for forty years. Each one is done carrying that weight.The documentary gets picked up by a major streaming platform, and then gets killed two weeks before air when shadowy forces pressure the network into pulling it. Brian and Amanda fight back by releasing everything online, piece by piece, and the response is overwhelming. Millions of views. Hundreds of new witnesses stepping forward. The cover-up begins to crumble.But being sheriff has become impossible. The county commissioners question Brian's sanity. The hate mail piles up alongside letters from grateful witnesses across the country.And on a rainy Tuesday night, Daniel suggests something that will change the course of Brian's life: a podcast. That conversation leads to the birth of Sasquatch Odyssey, and the beginning of a new chapter.This is where the badge meets a bigger calling, and Brian has to decide which fight matters most.Email BrianGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260215dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:1-2 Jesus Alone is Your Savior It was late summer, a little more than half a year until Jesus’ crucifixion. We don’t know exactly what mountain this was, but since Jesus and his disciples had just been near Caesarea Philippi on the slopes of Mount Hermon, it is likely that this was the Mountain of the Transfiguration. Jesus took three of his disciples up the mountain with him. These three were his inner circle of friends who were privileged to witness an amazing scene—Jesus was transfigured before them. The appearance of his face and clothing changed. For a brief time, those three disciples saw the unveiled divine glory of Jesus, the bright glory that is his from eternity as the Son of God. In a few short months, these same disciples would witness the deepest point of Jesus’ humiliation on earth—his bitter suffering and death on a cross. The vision of Jesus’ divine glory on that mountain helped prepare the disciples for what they would see their friend go through at the hands of his enemies. The transfiguration of Jesus assured them that he is the Son of God whom God the Father appointed and sent to earth to be the world’s Savior from sin. With that firm conviction, Peter later preached, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus alone is the world’s Savior—your Savior! Prayer: Jesus, glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration as the eternal Son of God, you went on to deeply humble yourself as my Savior on Calvary's mountain and die to take away the punishment for my sins. Lead me to always honor you as my Lord God and love you as my only Savior. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260215dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:1-2 Jesus Alone is Your Savior It was late summer, a little more than half a year until Jesus’ crucifixion. We don’t know exactly what mountain this was, but since Jesus and his disciples had just been near Caesarea Philippi on the slopes of Mount Hermon, it is likely that this was the Mountain of the Transfiguration. Jesus took three of his disciples up the mountain with him. These three were his inner circle of friends who were privileged to witness an amazing scene—Jesus was transfigured before them. The appearance of his face and clothing changed. For a brief time, those three disciples saw the unveiled divine glory of Jesus, the bright glory that is his from eternity as the Son of God. In a few short months, these same disciples would witness the deepest point of Jesus’ humiliation on earth—his bitter suffering and death on a cross. The vision of Jesus’ divine glory on that mountain helped prepare the disciples for what they would see their friend go through at the hands of his enemies. The transfiguration of Jesus assured them that he is the Son of God whom God the Father appointed and sent to earth to be the world’s Savior from sin. With that firm conviction, Peter later preached, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus alone is the world’s Savior—your Savior! Prayer: Jesus, glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration as the eternal Son of God, you went on to deeply humble yourself as my Savior on Calvary's mountain and die to take away the punishment for my sins. Lead me to always honor you as my Lord God and love you as my only Savior. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

'He is the Maker of the Bear Or of Leo and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. ' Job 9:9-10

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260215dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:1-2 Jesus Alone is Your Savior It was late summer, a little more than half a year until Jesus’ crucifixion. We don’t know exactly what mountain this was, but since Jesus and his disciples had just been near Caesarea Philippi on the slopes of Mount Hermon, it is likely that this was the Mountain of the Transfiguration. Jesus took three of his disciples up the mountain with him. These three were his inner circle of friends who were privileged to witness an amazing scene—Jesus was transfigured before them. The appearance of his face and clothing changed. For a brief time, those three disciples saw the unveiled divine glory of Jesus, the bright glory that is his from eternity as the Son of God. In a few short months, these same disciples would witness the deepest point of Jesus’ humiliation on earth—his bitter suffering and death on a cross. The vision of Jesus’ divine glory on that mountain helped prepare the disciples for what they would see their friend go through at the hands of his enemies. The transfiguration of Jesus assured them that he is the Son of God whom God the Father appointed and sent to earth to be the world’s Savior from sin. With that firm conviction, Peter later preached, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus alone is the world’s Savior—your Savior! Prayer: Jesus, glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration as the eternal Son of God, you went on to deeply humble yourself as my Savior on Calvary's mountain and die to take away the punishment for my sins. Lead me to always honor you as my Lord God and love you as my only Savior. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Sermon Overview: To the average person, the ice skating, bobsledding, and downhill skiing in the Winter Olympics looks the same. You might be able to notice an athlete going a little faster or performing a little better. But there really isn't much difference in what you're seeing. If you witnessed the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics, you noticed something quite different. Even if you didn't understand the symbolism, you knew and felt that something was off. The two athletes used the torch to light the cauldron. The cauldron lit up with a pentagram. The star is an ancient symbol of Christianity - like the star of David or the star the Magi followed. The inverted or upside-down star is a pentagram. This is an equally ancient symbol of paganism and the occult. The Devil always takes what is good and godly and inverts it, twists it, and perverts it for his evil purposes. There is always a lot of symbolism in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. What we witnessed was not accidental. The organizers knew what they were portraying. Remember, the Olympics were originally created as games to celebrate their pagan Greek gods. The first ancient games were held in 776 BC as part of a religious festival dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. So, it isn't surprising that people today will use ancient pagan and occult symbolism to celebrate their false gods while at the same time mocking the one true God. Remember, nothing in this world is neutral. It is either a celebration of the true God and Creator or it's a celebration of false gods - demons - and creation. While humanity will consistently attempt to remove glory from the true God, St. Peter writes about the glory of God he personally witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter declares that he, James, and John were eyewitnesses of Christ's majesty. Peter writes, "To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). Peter is referring to Christ's transfiguration Matthew that wrote about in our Gospel. Apparently, some people thought Peter, James, and John made this story up. I recently learned that it's been 25 years since the first of "The Lord of the Rings" movies were released in theaters. I'm rewatching the extended versions of the movies, listening to the books, and watching the extras on the DVDs. Peter Jackson, the director of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy mentioned in the extras that J.R.R. Tolkien had so much information in his books that it seemed like this really happened, that it was really part of England's history - and not a made-up story. You know something can be fake when a person is keeping the details vague and blurry. I'm confident Peter could give sharp, specific details of everything that happened that day on the mountain. This was no make-believe story. The glory of the Lord must have been burned into his retinas and memory. This mountain-top experience led Peter to realize that Jesus was who he said he was - the glorious Son of God humbly wrapped in human skin. Peter witnessed Jesus' face shining like the sun and his clothing becoming as white as light (Matthew 17:21). Peter also heard the divine voice of God the Father calling from the bright cloud that enveloped them. Peter writes, "For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:17-18). Everything came full circle. At the beginning of his ministry, the Father says at his Son's Baptism, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him" (Matthew 3:17). Now at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, the Father gives the same heavenly testimony. This is what Peter's persecuted readers needed to hear. They worshiped the genuine article. Jesus, Peter, James, and John, Moses and Elijah were enveloped by a bright cloud (Matthew 17:5). This reminds us of the Glory of the Lord - a combination of fire and smoke - which appears throughout the Old Testament. God appeared as the Glory of the Lord in the burning bush when the Angel of the Lord first spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:2). God appeared as a pillar of cloud and fire that led the Israelites through their wilderness wandering (Exodus 14:19). Moses wrote in our Old Testament lesson, "Moses went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The Glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. The appearance of the Glory of the Lord looked like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel" (Exodus 24:15-17). The enemies of Christ always oppose this Glory of the Lord. That's why you'll see ceremonies like in the Olympics, rioters disrupting Christian church services, or Christians arrested while praying outside of abortion clinics. People would never mock Buddhism with their ceremonies or bust into a Jewish synagogue or arrest Muslims while their praying. That's because all these pagan religions are different forces within the same spiritual army. They are all soldiers of Satan. Their gods - Buddha, Allah, Jehovah without Jesus - are all demonic. They may not get along ... I can't imagine demons like each other. But they all unite in opposing Christ and Christ's followers. They give glory to their pagan gods. We give glory to the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those pagan religions have their own "scriptures" - their "holy" writings. We are blessed as Christians to have God's Scriptures - his holy writings, the Bible, a completely reliable prophetic word (2 Peter 1:19). Peter states that the origin of the Bible is not "the will of man [man's ideas], but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). God is the source of Scripture. The Bible is God's Word. God's prophets, evangelists, and apostles were divinely inspired by the Spirit so that the thoughts and words they wrote were the exact words and thoughts that God wanted them to record. The Holy Spirit also used each man's unique style, experiences, and audience to shape the words they wrote. The men did not choose what to write on their own, but the Holy Spirit guided their words, so they were God's words. Divine inspiration is extremely important for us as Christians. If human writers wrote the Bible, then there will be mistakes, arguments, and contentions. The world is always changing and becoming more confusing. We live in a culture that can't define what a woman is; has little concept of borders; questions laws; mistrusts the media; mistrusts politicians even more; and wants to figure out how to artificially have babies in space while killing babies here on earth. We need something constant and unchanging and clear. That's the Bible. It is the divinely inspired, inerrant words of the almighty God. It tells us that God made man and woman. It defines how to treat citizens and foreigners. It reminds us that laws, leaders, and governments come and go. It celebrates children and gives us the command to be fruitful and multiply after marriage. The eternal Word of God is the only constant we have in an ever-changing world. For a brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus gave a glimpse of his glory. For a short time, we witness Jesus' heavenly glory in earthly time. For an instant, we see Jesus' glory in the midst of his humiliation of God becoming man. Jesus revealed the glory that was always his as the Son of God. But in his state of humiliation, he did not make full and constant use of his divine glory and power. How did this transfiguration strengthen Jesus' disciples? The disciples remembered this event later and knew they were in the presence of God. How did the transfiguration strengthen Jesus? Jesus, who was in the middle of his humiliation and would soon suffer and die, saw the glory that was his and that would be given him after he completed his Father's will. The author to the Hebrews tells us what to do with our eyes that have witnessed Jesus' glory. "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne" (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus and his disciples also heard the Father put his divine stamp of approval on his Son's work. The disciples would need to remember this vision of Jesus' full glory because shortly after they walked down the mountain, they would be walking into Jerusalem. They would be eyewitnesses of Jesus' deep humiliation. They would see their Master arrested, tried, beaten, spat upon, mocked, scourged, crucified, and dead. The disciples would be told that the corpse of their Messiah was laid in the dark tomb. In this time of their Messiah's humiliation, it would be the responsibility of Peter, James, and John to remind the rest of the disciples about the shining glory they witnessed upon the mountain top. We will continue to see the world worship their false gods and denigrate the true God. That's nothing new. It's been happening since the Fall into sin. The Devil will continue to invert, twist, and pervert what is good and godly. What should you do? Return repeatedly to the Scriptures. St. Peter advises, "You do well to pay attention to [the Scriptures], as to a lamp shining in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19) What does that light do? It guides us through the darkness of life. It cheers us up when the darkness threatens to envelop us. It illumines our hearts by enabling us to understand God's forgiving love. It makes sense of an inverted, twisted, and perverted world. The Transfiguration indicates that, although Jesus was a man, he was also far more than a man. In him dwells the fullness of the deity in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). He is the only begotten Son of the Father from eternity. Jesus is both God and man in one person (Romans 9:5). The Transfiguration was a reminder of the full glory that awaited Jesus after his suffering and death. It was as if Jesus lifted the veil and gave humanity a peek of who he truly is. He does this to encourage us when we need it most, for he would go on to face the cross and tomb. He does this to encourage us, for we are called upon to take up our cross and follow Christ unto death. On this last Sunday in the season of Epiphany, Christ gives us one more epiphany of who he really is. Jesus is the God who makes his humble majesty visible in lowliness and servitude. He is the God who is so poor that he must borrow a donkey to ride into Jerusalem. He is the God who slaves away at washing his disciples' dirty feet. He is the God who gives his cheek to the betraying lips of Judas, to the slapping hand of the high priest, and to the spit of the Sanhedrin. He is the God who gives his head to the thorns, his feet to the spikes, and his side to the spear. He is the Christ whose Majestic Glory is hidden upon the bloody cross and buried deep within the tomb. He is the glorious Lord who revealed his glory once again on the third day as he rose from the dead and then forty days later ascended to his rightful place at God's the Father's glorious right hand. On that Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples were eyewitnesses of Jesus' glory. They needed this vision of glory to make sense of Christ's humiliation they would witness in a few weeks. They also needed to be eyewitnesses of this majesty during their years of persecution. We are heading into Lent in a few days with our Ash Wednesday service. Here, our worship will be muted, somber, and repentant. Out there, we will continue to endure persecution and mockery for our Christian faith. This may come publicly for all the world to see. This may also come privately that very few will see. As we enter Lent and endure mockery, humiliation, and persecution, it's important to remember Jesus' humiliation in the manger, in the desert, and on the cross. But we also remember his glory revealed on the mountain, out of the grave, and upon his heavenly throne. For we are eyewitnesses of his majesty. Amen.View this sermon (with video and/or audio recording) on our website: https://www.casperwels.com/sermons/eyewitnesses-of-his-majesty/

It was almost without peer the single most authoritarian and capricious executive action ever taken against our economy. The Obama era "Endangerment Rule" was rolled back by President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and predictably all the right heads exploded. Daniel Turner from Power the Future explains what it was and why it must never be allowed to return. This also gives Stigall the chance to revisit what you've likely heard before. "Trump's a fascist! Trump's an authoritarian!" It's worth remembering words matter and so do resumes. You'll want to hear this one to arm yourself the next time you hear those charges. Speaking of Obama, don't look now but his top White House attorney was VERY VERY cozy with ol' Jeffery Epstein. So much so she's just stepped down from her current job. The AG of Minnesota gets raked over the coals in the Senate. And as usual, the Democrats are WAY too left leaning for the American pubic. The new polls are in. Speaking of polls - they're mostly dead. It's about tracking real time moods online now. One of the early adopters of the technology explains how the game has changed in political messaging and public sentiment measuring. -For more info visit the official website: https://chrisstigall.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisstigallshow/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisStigallFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.stigall/Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/StigallPodListen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/StigallShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Deepika Chopra to talk about what real optimism actually means — and why it's so different from toxic positivity. We unpack the science behind resilience, curiosity, and staying open when life is hard, and we get practical about how to grow your “optimism muscle” in everyday moments. We talk about language shifts (like the power of “never” and “always”), parenting through low-capacity seasons, rituals that ground families, and why affirmations and manifestation don't always work the way we think they do.I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! Order your copy of The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans Here: https://bit.ly/3rMLMsLSubscribe to my free newsletter for parenting tips delivered straight to your inbox: https://dralizapressman.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram for more:@raisinggoodhumanspodcast Sponsors:Quince: Go to Quince.com/humans for free shipping on your order and 365-day returnExperian: Get started with the Experian App now!Little Spoon: Get 30% off your first online order at littlespoon.com/RGH with code RGHOneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code RGH at https://www.oneskin.co/RGH #oneskinpodMonarch: 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code HUMANSSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's Headlines: Congress is scrambling to keep up with Europe's Epstein accountability push. Rep. Ro Khanna publicly named six men he says were “likely incriminated” in the Epstein files, including retail billionaire Les Wexner, UAE hotel developer Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, an Italian politician, a Russian author, a former NYPD detective tied to an escort ring, and one largely unknown figure. Lawmakers say more names are coming. Members who reviewed the files also claim there are over a million mentions of Trump, documents contradicting his claim that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago, and evidence showing Trump called Palm Beach police in 2006 to report Epstein — portraying himself as disturbed and uninvolved. It was a packed day on Capitol Hill. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted he did visit Epstein's island with his family after previously denying any social contact. Immigration officials testified ahead of a possible government shutdown, defending ICE while refusing to directly address the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. Lawmakers also learned only about a quarter of ICE agents have body cameras, ICE wants more funding, and the agency plans to operate at the 2026 World Cup. In related news, ProPublica reported more than 18,000 habeas petitions filed this year by immigrants alleging illegal detention — driven by mass detention policies rather than allowing people to remain in their communities during proceedings. Elsewhere, Trump's DOJ asked the Supreme Court to overturn Steve Bannon's contempt conviction, while a Trump-appointed judge blocked the administration from forcing states to hand over voter data. Trump also criticized Netanyahu's West Bank settlement expansion — while simultaneously floating another aircraft carrier deployment toward Iran. In election news, progressive organizer Analilia Mejia won New Jersey's 11th District Democratic primary, defeating an AIPAC-backed field. And in Nebraska, lawmakers capped things off by passing a bill cutting minimum wages for teenage workers. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: NYT: Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress Politico: House Dem identifies ‘wealthy, powerful men' DOJ redacted in Epstein files - Live Updates NYT: Former Palm Beach Police Chief Said Trump Told Him ‘Everyone' Knew About Epstein in 2006 ABC News: Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary, says he visited Epstein's island Axios: ICE director grilled over Trump's immigration crackdown Axios: ICE will be at the World Cup, director says  ProPublica: Habeas Petitions Filed in Second Trump Term Hit Historic High WaPo: DOJ seeks to undo Steve Bannon's conviction for defying Jan. 6 subpoena NYT: Michigan Judge Rebukes Justice Department's Effort to Obtain Voter Data Axios: Exclusive: Trump says he opposes Israeli annexation steps in West Bank Axios: Exclusive: Trump says he might send second carrier to strike Iran if talks fail  NYT: New Jersey 11th Congressional District Special Primary Election Results 2026 Nebraska Public Media: Legislature passes minimum wage decrease for teen workers Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Become a Distance to Empty subscriber!: https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!Check out Mount to Coast here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use code DISTANCE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Janji.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select 'podcast' > 'Distance to Empty' on the post purchase "How did you hear about Janji" page. Thank you!This episode delves into the themes of the film 'The Cutoff,' which focuses on the experiences of runners at the back of the pack during the Cocodona ultra marathon. The filmmakers, Dylan Harris and Jamil Coury, discuss the emotional and physical challenges faced by these participants, the misconceptions surrounding cutoffs, and the storytelling approach that highlights the human spirit in ultra running. They emphasize the importance of relatability and community in the sport, as well as the unique filming strategies employed to capture the essence of the race.

The Straight Bible series begins with Episode 1 breaking down one of the most important teachings in all of Scripture — The Sermon on the Mount.In this episode, we dive deep into Matthew chapters 5–7, starting with the foundation of Jesus' most famous sermon and what it reveals about the culture of the Kingdom of God. Many people misunderstand who Jesus was actually speaking to and how these teachings apply to disciples versus the crowds watching from the outside.We examine the historical context leading up to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' rising influence through miracles and healing, and how the Beatitudes define the values of true Kingdom living. This episode also explores modern misunderstandings about Christian identity, cultural Christianity, and what it truly means to follow Christ's teachings in today's world.If you've ever wanted a deeper, verse-by-verse breakdown of Jesus' most revolutionary sermon, this series is designed to walk through it in clear, practical, and uncompromising biblical context.

MARIO OLMEDO Y GRETA GARCÍA ARRASAN + CALENDARIO GOLDEN | FIND YOUR EVEREST PODCAST by Javi Ordieres Este programa está patrocinado por MERRELL y por el nuevo modelo Agility Peak 6: https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-merrell-agility-peak-6-burlap ️ En este episodio del Find Your Everest Podcast hablamos de: Hablamos con Mario Olmedo sobre su victoria en el Trail del Meridiano y sobre su fichaje por Mount to Coast. Greta García Morán arrasa este fin de semana, ganando tanto sábado como domingo. Analizamos el calendario 2026 de las Golden Trail World Series. Eurafrica Trail abre el periodo de preinscripción: https://eurafricatrail.com/ En la sección la superpop del trail, ¿que corredor eres según tu horóscopo? SECCIÓN DE MATERIAL TRAIL RUNNINGAnalizamos novedades y productos destacados: ADIDAS Zapatillas Adidas Agravic Speed 2: https://findyoureverest.es/products/z... Zapatillas Merrell Agility Peak 6 https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-merrell-agility-peak-6-burlap Salomon Ultra Glide 4 https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-salomon-ultra-glide-4-black-white Salomon Areo Glide 4 https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-salomon-aero-glide-4-grvl-mujer-stormy-weather-lichen-vanilla-ice Salomon Genesis https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-salomon-genesis-edicion-equipe-surf-the-web-fiery-red Salomon Aero Blaze 3 https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-salomon-aero-blaze-3-grvl-vanilla-ice-ojos-del-salar-black Mochilas Salomon https://findyoureverest.es/collections/salomon-mochilas Bastones Salomon https://findyoureverest.es/products/bastones-salomon-s-lab-ultra-carbon Adidas Evo SL Woven https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-adidas-adizero-evo-sl-woven-core-white-core-white-halo-silver ON Cloudhorizon 2 https://findyoureverest.es/products/zapatillas-on-cloudhorizon-2-pearl-fog Joma: https://findyoureverest.es/collections/joma Adidas: https://findyoureverest.es/collections/adidas-textil Coros correa Kilian Jornet https://findyoureverest.es/products/correa-coros-nylon-22-mm-kilian-jornet-azul DICCIONARIO FYE En esta edición hablamos de los bastones. ------------------------------- Somos Find Your Everest, tienda especializada en Running y Trail Running. Aquí os dejamos los links de las diferentes categorías: Zapatillas Trail Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Zapatillas Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Textil de Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Electrónica deportiva: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Nutrición deportiva: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Nuestra línea casual: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-... Además, si quieres pasar a vernos en nuestra tienda física, os esperamos en: C/Matemático Pedrayes 21, de Oviedo. Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NkeWy2P6m9h2M... ------------------------------- Somos Find Your Everest, tienda especializada en Running y Trail Running. Aquí os dejamos los links de las diferentes categorías: Zapatillas Trail Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/running/zapatillas/zapatillas-trail-running/ Zapatillas Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/running/zapatillas/zapatillas-asfalto/ Textil de Running: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/running/ Electrónica deportiva: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/electronica/relojes-deportivos-y-gps/ Nutrición deportiva: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/nutricion-deportiva/ Nuestra línea casual: https://findyoureverest.es/categoria-producto/lifestyle/ Además, si quieres pasar a vernos en nuestra tienda física, os esperamos en: C/Matemático Pedrayes 21, de Oviedo. Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NkeWy2P6m9h2MRtu8

Most STR hosts misunderstand influencer marketing — and it's costing them bookings.In this episode, Madison Rifkin breaks down what actually works when partnering with content creators, why follower count is a useless metric, and how STR operators should think about social media as a long-term control channel — not a quick ROI play.We also go deeper into founder identity, building brands that can be sold, and the mistakes operators make when they tie everything to themselves.If you want more direct bookings, stronger brand trust, and a business that isn't dependent on Airbnb alone, this episode is required listening.Inside the episode: • Why follower count doesn't matter anymore• How to vet influencers the right way• The real way to think about ROI from content creators• Why social media is your only true control channel• Content ideas that work even without a “viral” property• Founder identity mistakes that kill exits• How to build a brand that survives without youTimestamps:00:00 – Why Influencer Marketing Is Broken for Most STR Hosts03:20 – Madison's Journey Building Mount and Entering STRs06:40 – Why Follower Count Is a Terrible Metric10:10 – How to Vet Influencers Based on Brand Alignment13:30 – The Truth About ROI in Influencer Marketing17:10 – Why Social Media Is a Control Channel, Not an Ad20:00 – Content That Works Without a “Viral” Property23:10 – Founder Identity and Why It Hurts Exits26:30 – Building a Brand That Isn't Tied to You30:45 – Lessons From Selling a Company and Starting the Next ChapterGuest Bio:Madison Rifkin is the Founder and CEO of Mount where she finds the world's best hidden gems. She connects STR hosts and local businesses to local influencers and travel content creators so travelers can discover these hidden gems. She's rooted in the Short Term Rental Industry where she's won the Rising Star Award in 2022 and 2023.Guest links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-rifkin-23037712a/Get FREE Access to our Community and Weekly Trainings:https://group.strsecrets.com/

The Sermons on the Mount and on the plain formed a Christian constitution: what they were supposed to do and say. It still applies today!

In this message from the Sermon on the Mount, Executive Pastor, Glenn Goldsberry walks through Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 7:7–12 to ask, seek, and knock, showing that prayer is not a formula to get what we want, but a relationship built on trust in a good Father. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking—not because God is hard to convince, but because He is good to trust. Renaissance Church - Richmond, Texas ren-church.org #alloflifealltheearth #walkgrowlive #askseekknock

Most STR hosts misunderstand influencer marketing — and it's costing them bookings.In this episode, Madison Rifkin breaks down what actually works when partnering with content creators, why follower count is a useless metric, and how STR operators should think about social media as a long-term control channel — not a quick ROI play.We also go deeper into founder identity, building brands that can be sold, and the mistakes operators make when they tie everything to themselves.If you want more direct bookings, stronger brand trust, and a business that isn't dependent on Airbnb alone, this episode is required listening.Inside the episode: • Why follower count doesn't matter anymore• How to vet influencers the right way• The real way to think about ROI from content creators• Why social media is your only true control channel• Content ideas that work even without a “viral” property• Founder identity mistakes that kill exits• How to build a brand that survives without youTimestamps:00:00 – Why Influencer Marketing Is Broken for Most STR Hosts03:20 – Madison's Journey Building Mount and Entering STRs06:40 – Why Follower Count Is a Terrible Metric10:10 – How to Vet Influencers Based on Brand Alignment13:30 – The Truth About ROI in Influencer Marketing17:10 – Why Social Media Is a Control Channel, Not an Ad20:00 – Content That Works Without a “Viral” Property23:10 – Founder Identity and Why It Hurts Exits26:30 – Building a Brand That Isn't Tied to You30:45 – Lessons From Selling a Company and Starting the Next ChapterGuest Bio:Madison Rifkin is the Founder and CEO of Mount where she finds the world's best hidden gems. She connects STR hosts and local businesses to local influencers and travel content creators so travelers can discover these hidden gems. She's rooted in the Short Term Rental Industry where she's won the Rising Star Award in 2022 and 2023.Guest links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-rifkin-23037712a/Get FREE Access to our Community and Weekly Trainings:https://group.strsecrets.com/

February 9, 2026 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, February 9, 2026, and this is episode #2 in Series 2026. This episode is titled, “The Great Deception.” Some of you may know that I am an author as well as a blogger. Recently in the publishing world, writers have reported a phenomenal increase in fraudulent offers promising wealth and fame for varying amounts of money. I myself have received several of these offers. All of them were generated by people using Artificial Intelligence. All of these offers were deceptive. Deception has taken over the world. But to the Christ-follower, this is not a surprise. Jesus Himself predicted that deception would abound in the last days. While Jesus was on the Mount of Olives with His disciples one day, they asked Him what would be the signs of the last days. Listen to His reply, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 24, verse 4. Jesus said, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” I find it quite interesting that the very first sign of the last days that Jesus mentioned was deception. He warned His disciples not to be deceived. In other words, Jesus foretold that deception would be the major signpost of the closing age of human history. In case you don’t know, my friend, we are living in that closing age today, and, just as Jesus predicted, deception is rampant. Fake videos depict fake images of celebrities speaking things they never said. These fakes, called deepfakes, clone human voices, alter human faces, and change written content to serve purposes that are deceptive, if not downright sinister. It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the truth and the lie. So, what are we to do? Let me answer by telling you a story. Years ago, I spoke with a friend of the family who was an executive at a local bank. I asked him how bank tellers recognize counterfeit money. His response surprised me. He said that in their training program, bank tellers never handle counterfeit money. They handle only real money. And they handle real money so well and so thoroughly that when a counterfeit bill passes through their hands, they immediately recognize it as counterfeit. Bottomline, the bank tellers first had to recognize real money in order to recognize counterfeit money. They had to know the truth in order to recognize the lie. The same principle applies regarding deception. In order for us to recognize deception—or the counterfeit to the truth—we first need to be able to know and recognize the truth. The problem is that today, few people know the truth, although most think they do. You may be asking, “So, Dr. MaryAnn, what is the truth?” Contrary to popular opinion, the truth is a Person, and His Name is Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus made this profound statement: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus identified Himself as the Truth. From this it logically follows that to know the Truth, one must know Jesus, and unless one knows Jesus, one cannot know the Truth. Sadly, most of the world today does not know Jesus. Hence, they do not know the Truth. When one does not know the Truth, one ends up, by default, believing and embracing the Lie. The Lie is what Satan peddles in order to steal, kill, and destroy you. When one believes the Lie, one loses his ability to think straight. The Bible tells us as much in Romans 1: 28: “. . . since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind . . . .” A debased mind is a mind that has lost its ability to think logically and truthfully. A mind that easily succumbs to deception. “Well,” you might say, “I have my truth. You have yours. What’s the problem?” Consider this. Suppose you hired two men to build you a tool shed. One man believed that a foot was twelve inches long while the other man believed that a foot was nine inches long. Each man was adamant that he was right. Do you think they’d get very far in building your shed? Moreover, logically speaking, both of the men could not be right. If you yourself did not know for sure that a foot consists of twelve inches, you wouldn’t know which man was right. You would not be able to determine who was telling the truth and who was not. Building a shed may not be a life-or-death matter, but knowing the truth is a life-or-death matter when it comes to your eternal destiny. For if you do not know the truth about what happens after death, you could spend forever in Hell instead of Heaven. So, “What is the Truth?” Simply put, the Truth is what God has said it is. And what God has said is the Truth is found in the Bible. Plain and simple. Because God alone is God, He alone has the right, the authority, and the wisdom to determine what is true and what is not true. We humans do not have that right. Nor do we have the authority and the wisdom to determine what is true and what is not true because we are not as smart as God. He is the Creator; we are the created ones. The created ones are not smarter than the One who created them. Now, most people don’t want to hear this. Why? Because they don’t want to be subject to a higher authority than themselves. Most people don’t want anyone telling them what truth is because most people don’t want anyone telling them what to do. Most people want to make up their own rules and live by them. Why? Because they want to continue in their sin. They want to set their own standards for right and wrong so that when they do wrong, they won’t feel guilty and condemned. But God has set the standards for right and wrong, and those standards will never change, no matter how much man tampers with them. Why won’t they ever change? Because they are the Truth, and Truth never changes. You see, my friend, we can reject the Truth, we can rebel against the Truth, we can mock the Truth, but we can never change the Truth. A foot will always equal twelve inches. Two plus two will always equal four. Good will always win out over evil. And Truth will always overcome the Lie. You can try to change this until you are blue in the face, but it will never work. Oh, it may look as though it’s working for a while, but in the end, Truth will overpower the Lie because God, Who is Truth, is more powerful than Satan, who is the Lie. Perhaps you’ve been living in your own self-made concept of truth. How is that working for you? You may say, “It’s working great.” But, friend, I will tell you that one day, you will discover it no longer works. At some point, the foundation of your life will crumble because it is built on a lie. Only a life built on the Truth will last. Only a life built on Jesus Christ will bring you true life. If you have never had an encounter with Jesus Christ, Truth Himself, I invite you to meet Him now. Pray this simple prayer with me: Lord Jesus, I want to know You because I want to know Truth. I’ve been living a lie, and it has gotten me into places where I don’t want to be. So I choose now to turn away from the lie and to embrace You. I invite You into my life and receive You as Truth, as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for saving me. Thank You for revealing to me that You are Truth. In Your Name I pray. Amen. If you sincerely prayed this prayer from your heart, you are now a born-again child of God. Welcome to the Family of God! Write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com, and I will send you a free PDF e-booklet titled After You're Born Again. In case you are not aware, I write heart-mending fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. In my stories, you will find characters just like you who struggle with what seem like impossible problems and situations. Check out my books at my online bookstore at https://maryanndiorio.com/bookstore. That's https://maryanndiorio.com/bookstore.My featured book for this week is a story about the overcoming power of truth titled In Black and White. It is the love story of a young white woman and a young black man trying to sustain their love in the whirlwind of racism, prejudice, and family tradition. First Place Winner in Historical Fiction in the 2020 Christian Indie Book Awards Contest, In Black and White reveals the power of truth in overcoming the lie. Get your copy at one of the links in the show notes. Winning with the Word is available on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast venues as well as on YouTube. Check out my YouTube channel at youtube.com/drmaryanndiorio. Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are. Yet He doesn't want to keep you there. As you live in Him, He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.________________________________ Copyright 2026 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved. Featured Book for This Week:IN BLACK AND WHITE – A Gripping Christian Historical Romance First Place Winner in Historical Fiction – 2020 Christian Indie Awards A Forbidden Love. A Divided World. A Redeeming God. In Black and White is a poignant and powerful Christian historical romance that dares to explore the depth of love between two souls separated by culture, color, and the crushing weight of racial prejudice. Set against the backdrop of academic life and ancestral heritage, this award-winning novel weaves faith, endurance, and restoration into a story that transcends time and speaks to the heart of humanity's greatest struggles—and God's greatest triumphs. PRINT EBOOK _____________________________________________SUBSCRIBE HERE to Winning with the Word VISIT MARYANN'S ONLINE BOOKSTORE « Older Entries

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? ...Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know, (Jeremiah 32.27, 33.3, NKJV). The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah whilst he was shut up in prison, ‘Thus saith the Lord, the Maker – that formed Heaven and earth – to establish it, “Call unto Me and I will answer!”' Come on! So many pray in doubt… Remember how amazed the disciples were when Jesus cursed the fig tree and it died from the root? Jesus explained to them in Mark 11.22-24, “If you will speak to this mountain (the Mount of Olives) and command it to be cast down into the sea (the Dead Sea), if you speak it and believe in your heart without doubt, what you say will be done!” It's time today, in the 21st century that we believed that God will honour His Word and do what He says!

Audio Transcript All right, well, beautiful singing. So I’ve not met you. My name is Aaron and I’m the preaching pastor here. And we’re glad you’re with us. I know sickness is kind of spreading around right now, and so I’m glad that you’re well enough to be with us this morning. So if you have a Bible with you, could open up to the Gospel of Luke. Our texture study today is going to be Luke 6, 2020. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are pew Bibles kind of scattered throughout if you want to find your way there to Luke 6. Also, the word should be on the screen on either end of the stage if you want to follow along there. And if you’re visiting, if you open up your Bible, please do keep them open. So we do a style of preaching here. Actually, we talk about this in a sermon called Expository Preaching. So I’m going to read the passage, we’re going to pray, and then I’m going to walk us right back through the text. And so please do keep your Bibles open in this time. So Luke 6 starting verse 20. So please hear the words of our God. So Luke wrote, and he lifted up his eyes on disciples and said, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. So that’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me? Lord, thank you for your word. And Lord, please help me to be a good communicator of your word today. Please give the congregation ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. I pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, so if you’ve been around here, you know every story starts out, at least for mine. So there we were. So there you were, myself and a man from our home church in Greenway, Wisconsin, and we’re getting together for breakfast. And this is Shortly before my wife, Tia and I were about to move to Louisville, Kentucky for seminary. Now, the man I got breakfast with that morning from our home church is actually a very influential, strong leader in his field. Before he retired, actually, he was the CEO of one of the largest and most profitable companies in the state. Over 7 billion in annual sales. And we got together that morning for breakfast. My friend had a bit of a surprise for me that was very much tied to sobering encouragement that he wanted me to have. Surprise he had for me was an autographed baseball. A baseball that I actually received through some personal connections to a legendary player who signed it for me, a former player, an all time great player named Hank Aaron, who played a good portion of his career for the Milwaukee Braves before that team relocated to Atlanta and then finished up his career for my beloved Milwaukee Brewers. And Hank Aaron not only is one of the greatest players of all time, but he also was my dad’s favorite player when he was growing up. A player that he just adored when Aaron played for both the Braves and the Brewers. In fact, my dad loved Hank Aaron so much that I was born. He named me Aaron after him. And this is something actually my friend knew, and this is one of the reasons why he got this autographed baseball for me, because he knew that it meant a lot to me to have that ball. It’s a pretty sweet gift, pretty thoughtful. But what made that ball even more sweet, even more thoughtful was the sobering encouragement tied to the ball that my friend also wanted to pass on to me. And that sobering encouragement from my friend was reminded me of a different man named Aaron. Not his last name, but his first name, Aaron. Aaron from the Old Testament, who was the brother of Moses. You may remember that now if you remember Moses. So he’s a great leader and prophet, but he also had a stuttering problem. So much so that Moses actually pleaded with the Lord to provide someone who could speak on his behalf, which ended up being his brother Aaron. As Moses spoke on behalf of, or as Aaron spoke on behalf of Moses the prophet who was speaking on behalf of God himself. And for my friend, his sobering encouragement to me through this ball, as I was about to head off to seminary to hopefully get trained to be a preacher, was that every time I look at this baseball, which is currently sitting amidst all my sports treasures in my basement ball, that I see often, by the way, college students, if you’re planning to come to my house next week for pass the pass pastor’s house, I’ll show it to You. But as I look at this baseball with the name Aaron on it, my friend hoped I had the sober encouragement that as I preach like Aaron for Moses, as I preach, I’m speaking on behalf of God from His perfect holy word. Now, obviously, I’m not a prophet like Aaron was as a preacher, but preaching still is speaking God’s word to his people, which, my friend, he wanted this to be a sobering truth for me, sobering as I went to seminary to study there, to study hard, to put forth my best effort in that seminary experience. You also want to be sobering for me one day as I write sermons, as I prep for sermons the way I should, to never cut corners, to give my best effort each sermon I write. You want to be sobering for me as I deliver sermons every time I stand behind the pulpit, that there should be a real, sober sense of what I’m doing, because the weighty responsibility and privilege it is to communicate God’s word. Now, I tell you all this this morning, so sobering this should be for me every time I do this, but maybe even more sobering for me this week, because this week and actually the next couple weeks, my assignment is to preach you from God’s perfect holy word on a passage that is often viewed as the greatest sermon of all time. Meaning my attempt is to give you a sermon from the greatest of all sermons, a sermon that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ, one that he actually gave on more than one occasion. If you’re with us, last week Wes actually mentioned this. I’m going to mention it again today. The sermon we’re about to go through is often referred to as a sermon on the plain, as we learned in our text last week. Verse 17. If you want to take your eyes there, that Jesus gave this sermon, he was standing on a level place. And this sermon on the plain that Luke records is very similar in content to perhaps the most famous of all sermons, that Jesus gave, the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in Matthew 5, where Jesus gave that the side of a mountain. Now, I will mention that for some, the Sermon on the Plain here in Luke 6, as well as the Sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. Some believe this actually is like the same event of the exact same sermon. So perhaps there was maybe like a little bit of a plateau on the mountain that gave a level ground for Jesus to preach. And while it is possible that Matthew 5 and Luke 6 record the same event, the exact same sermon, there’s enough little details between the Sermon on the Mount and the sermon on the plain that led many, myself included, to believe these are actually two different events where Jesus preached to two different people, but basically gave the same sermon two different times. You know, as mentioned, to two different people groups, which, by the way, this is actually not a problem. Jesus gave the same sermon at least two times, so. So in this time frame, rabbis are annoying, giving like the same teachings on multiple occasions throughout history, church history, many pastors, myself included, have preached the same passage more than once, where the sermons are very similar. In fact, maybe the most famous sermon, at least in our culture here, that God used to help ignite the Great Awakening first Great Awakening, the sermon titled Sinners in the Hands of Angry God. Maybe you heard that one by Jonathan Edwards. He actually preached that on multiple occasions. So it’s not an issue that Jesus preached the same basic sermon more than once. In fact, knowing that Jesus preached this same basic sermon more than once probably just highlights how important of a message this was from our Lord, which for me further underscores why this is often viewed as the greatest sermon of all time. Okay, now before we get to the text, the sermon that Luke records, just a few things, just a reminder where we’ve been the last few weeks. So. So the ministry of Jesus is now very much in public view. He’s become like the trending topic all over the region, leading more and more to come to him as great crowds were forming around our Lord. And from these crowds included some who Jesus uniquely called to himself to be his disciples, which included some fishermen who we met in chapter five, a despised tax collector who we met in the beginning of chapter six, as well as those listed in our text. Last week, in the middle of chapter six, where none of the disciples seem to be like popular people or influential people, rather they just seem to be like normal, everyday common people like you and me. Yet in his grace, in his wisdom, that is who the Lord Jesus called uniquely to himself, where he’d use these men to become his apostles that in time would like, he would use to completely set the world on his head. Furthermore, as mentioned in previous sermons, but I wanted to mention this again here, as the public ministry of Jesus is in full swing, as the crowds of people are coming to Him. No doubt a large part were coming because of the signs and wonders that Jesus was performing through various healings as well as like exorcism of demons. But the primary reason why the crowds were forming around Jesus because of the primary ministry he had, was actually preaching and teaching, which by the way, would also be the primary ministry that his disciples would have as disciples would be used by God, as mentioned, to turn the world on his head through preaching. So all the different things happening around Jesus, all the things signs he was performing, yet preaching, teaching, giving sermons like the one that we’re about to look at in the text, this is at the center, this is at the focal point of Jesus’s ministry. Which actually leads to the second thing I want to mention here this morning as it relates to sermons and the sermon on the greatest of all sermons of Jesus. The main focus I have to you this morning is to communicate to you from the text, what does the text say? However, as we work through this sermon, the sermon on the plane, I also want to just give you something that I did for myself personally this week was to try to pull insights from the sermon when it comes to preaching. So this is actually a good exercise for me this week as one who preaches often and I thought it would be a good exercise for us as a church as a whole today just to kind of help us think about preaching. What does it look like? What does that mean? Why is it so important mentioned? This is at the heart of the ministry of Jesus and hopefully it means it’s at the heart of our ministry here at Red Village Church as well. We desire preaching and teaching to be the focal point of our church. Not that other things in church life are important, but the pulpit is to me remains central. Many others throughout church history have said as the pulpit goes, so does the rest of the church. So as members, yes, pray for sermons, keep the pulpit accountable. And for some, you at some point you maybe are moving out of Madison. You have to look for another church. Unite to. There are many factors for you to consider discern as you’re trying to find a church. But the pulpit, the sermons really ought to be at the top of your priority list where there’s a steady diet of expositional Christ centered preaching. I hope I do feel for us in this time. So if that is a little bit longer intro, look back with me in the text on the sermon on the plain, they would be looking at just the start of the sermon, verses 20 through 26. So verse 20 we see in the passage that as Jesus stood on the level place, the plain, we see in the text that he began the sermon by lifting up his eyes on his disciples. Okay, not ready. Just a couple things. So first the lifting up of eyes. So commentary is read this week signified from Jesus that there’s like resolve in him, like he has resolve as he’s about to speak mean this is going to be some type of like casual conversation from his pulpit on the plane. Rather, Jesus is about to speak in ways that carried weight significance. Let’s go back to the story I began the sermon with. That’s what my friend was trying to impress upon me. When it comes to preaching, there ought to be a real weight significance that preachers are to understand as they communicate God’s word. By the way, as a church, this is why we pray for those who fill the pulpit, myself included, the preachers will preach with like resolve, resolve to you, the congregation that you have resolve. Actually you take in sermons, right? This should not be something that’s like casual lackadaisical for any of us. A lot of different points. The sermons can have some light hearted elements tied to them, but overall the tone, the tenor should have like sober minded resolve. That’s what Jesus has as he looks up as the disciples. Second, the sermon that Jesus was about to give was primarily meant for his disciples, those he named, verses 14 through 16 that Wes gave us last week. Now I assume other people are there who are listening in. In fact we get the sense when we get to verse 24 does seem like Jesus changes the primary audience that he’s talking to for just a bit there. But the first primary audience of this sermon was to disciples, those who were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the risk of trying to push this too far, but unless the sermon is clearly intended for those who are not Christian, with some type of evangelistic thrust to it, which Scripture tells us is a thing, sermons, particularly in church life, the primary audience is meant for disciples to teach disciples of Jesus, those who are trusting in him, what it looks like to joyfully follow and obey him, which is certainly the case in this sermon that Jesus gave on the plane, right? This is not a sermon on how one becomes a follower of Jesus, which comes through repentance and faith. Rather, this is a sermon for those who are disciples, those who have repented, who have trusted in Jesus, as Jesus is going to help them to know how to live out their faith in ways that honor him. As Jesus looks at his disciples, we see him begin the sermon, which in our time today this will be in two parts. So the first part will revolve around the blessings that comes by faithfully following after him. Which by the way, this is why this sermon started. It as well as the Sermon on the Mount is often referred to as like the Beatitudes of Jesus with the beatitude word for like blessing. So the first part of the sermon are blessings from Christ. But then the second part, this is a series of woes, strong rebukes for actually not following after him. And we get to the woes. This is the section where I think there’s a little bit of a change in who Jesus is communicating to, as the woes have actually a bit of evangelistic thrust to them, to those who are on the plane who are not yet disciples of Christ, as Jesus is warning them that if they do not repent and believe in him, what would happen? Let’s go back to the blessings, and I want to say I’m going to read them as a whole again with the hopes of like kind of rereading these as a whole. Just capture some of the weight, momentum that I think is there in the sermon of Jesus. And after rereading it again, let me just point out a few things. So look back with me again. John, verse 20. He, Jesus told them, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry, for you should be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you should be satisfied. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, and when they revile you and spur your name as evil on account of the Son of man. Verse 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did so, for the fathers did so to the prophets. Okay, now just to break this up, a few things I want to point out. So first, just this term, blessing or blessed. So this is a term or phrase that’s actually scattered throughout Scripture, particularly in the Old Testament, where the word blessing is often correlated with wisdom, particularly wisdom in this life. Now, this week I thought about Psalm 1, and I did kind of wonder if Jesus maybe had this passage in mind as he gave this sermon. So in Psalm 1, so blessed or happy is the man who walks in this life in the wisdom of God, where this blessed happy one in this life does not associate with evil. Rather, the blessed happy man is the one who delights in God’s word and obeying God’s word, what plants him like a tree by streams of water. And while the sermon on the plain, this teaching of Jesus on wisdom certainly is tying to some stuff in this life. But it’s a little different in that Jesus connects the ultimate blessing, the ultimate happiness, not in this life, which so much of the Old Testament is, but rather in the life that is to come, the eternal life that Jesus would usher in. So look back with Me again just to see the forward pointing blessedness that Jesus preached on that was to come for his people. So verse 20. Yes, you’re poor now, but for yours is the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of God that is, yes, here, now. But a kingdom, the fullness of, of it is still yet to come. And when the fullness of kingdom comes, that’s where the fullness of blessedness, happiness will be found, in the life that is to come. Verse 21. Sure, you are hungry in the here and now, but look ahead, you will be satisfied. The future will come and you will be satisfied. Yes, in the here and now, in this life you weep, but in the future, there is a time that is going to come that you will laugh. Yes, in the here and now, in this life there might be people who hate you and exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil because of your faith in Christ. But look ahead to the future, you will rejoice, you will leap for joy, because in heaven there awaits a reward for you. And for us, this is actually really important for us as we think about being disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, in this life we live with wisdom, but we do so even more with our eyes towards that which is to come. That is where wisdom is set to faithfully live out this life with an eye towards that which will last forever. And this is actually so much of the teaching and preaching of Jesus on, on the better country that is to come, the heavenly one, as Jesus reminds us, the scripture reminds us that we’re simply sojourners, pilgrims headed to the promised land. And that’s where the blessedness will fully be experienced, this eternal reality that waits God’s people. Which by the way, this is why we strive to seek up, to store up treasures in heaven. This is why we poured our lives as offering, as an offering to service to God and others. This is why we’re even willing to suffer in this life for the cause of Jesus. Because we know that our suffering is not in vain. To know that one day our eyes will be our tears and our eyes will be dried. That this will all be temporary. And as that day comes, we’ll be replaced with blessedness, with joy, with rejoicing. Second, in this sermon, Jesus is helping his disciples understand the reality that as we live out our faith like in this life, it might bring some painful, unpleasant realities that we’ll have to endure. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus talked about the reality of potentially being poor. In the Sermon on the Mount speaks Of being poor in spirit, which is tied to humility and as maybe this is what Jesus is referring to here, the sermon on the plain. But to me this actually feels like Jesus is speaking towards like financial poverty of being poor. Where many throughout church history, including the 12 disciples falling after Jesus in his life, would bring like financial hardships for a host of different reasons which because of financial hardships at times in this present life, in this sermon, God’s people had to battle real physical hunger. Although we mentioned here, the hunger here could also be a hungering for righteousness with the sermon the Mount speaks to. However, I do think that Jesus is actually speaking towards like physical hunger here where plenty throughout church history, including his disciples. They didn’t always know where their next meal might come from, which adds meanings to like the Lord’s Prayer and give us our daily bread. Furthermore, in this life many Christians have faced hardships for being disciples of Jesus. Hardships that even the prophets had to endure. Hardships in the text has caused many to weep. Weeping that has come because of others have hated them or excluded them from certain things. Weeping because of how their name has been reviled and spurned as evil simply because of their faith in Jesus, the Son of Man. Yes, as a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, we live with the joy of eternal life that is to come, which is a joy that we can even experience in different measures in this life. However, that being said in this sermon, for disciples of Jesus, if we faithfully live out our faith, pain, difficulty, hardships, they can be a reality. A reality is part of the cost of following after Christ. A cost that we must count. A cost that many throughout history, including many today face. For us, this is like a hard truth that Jesus is giving to his disciples in this sermon on the plain. This is not like an easy thing for them to hear or for us to hear, which by the way also should be part of what preaching should have. Where at times, as the text calls for it, hard things need to be said, hard things need to be heard. Scripture warns us that sermons just can’t be there just like to tickle our ears, to just maybe tell us what we want to hear. Rather to tell us the hard truth like this, the sermon that we need to hear. As you keep going. As hard as it would have been for disciples to hear this, how being a disciple could bring a lot of hardships towards them in this life, hard things could come their way, but it actually would have been a harder truth for those who are like listening in, who are not yet his disciples, which, by the way, I do recognize might be somewhat true for some of us here this morning. That you’re here, we’re grateful you’re here, but you’re here, you’re not yet a follower of Christ. So in this sermon, after the four blessings, blessings that come for those who by faith follow him, we see in verses 24 through 26, we now see Jesus pronounced four woes, woes that come for not following him. Woes. If you’re not a Christian, I actually want to plead with you to hear hears. It’s almost like ice water, like running down your back, back that causes you to like to wake up and to by faith run to Jesus and the blessedness that he is. So let’s read through the woes again. I want to read them the same way I read through the blessings and ways that hopefully create some momentum and weight that the sermon Jesus had. And then I want to circle back to give some details, details on the Wo. So verse 24 says, but woe to you who are rich, for you received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did, the false prophets. Okay, now a few things here. So first, the four woes, these obviously stand in sharp contrast to the four blessings that Jesus started his sermon with. And this woe here, this is actually used by Jesus in very forceful ways where he’s still having like, resolve in his eyes as he communicates these woes, where through these woes, Jesus communicated like a declaration of like, judgment and misery from God on those who reject him. So I mentioned this in the past, but I want to mention this again. So in Scripture, there’s. There’s really only two ways that one can live. There’s a blessed way that comes from following Jesus, that will result in eternal life with him. But then there’s the woeful way of judgment and misery that will come with eternity apart from Jesus. Since Scripture does not give us some type of middle ground option, yes, this is a hard but important truth for us to hear to understand. This life is headed to two different, very different realities. The blessed way, the woeful way. Second, this word woe is actually something we also see throughout the Old Testament, much like we see the word blessing throughout the Old Testament, where throughout the Old Testament there’s actually woes given to God’s people for entertaining false prophets. What the sermon speaks upon and for us, I think maybe a little bit more subtle ways. So Jesus was giving his sermon here on the plain. This is like a sermon based on scripture, as Jesus is expounding, expositing scripture in light of himself. And this is actually one of the main reasons why we believe expository preaching is so important. If Jesus preached God’s word, should not every preacher and every sermon preach God’s word? Third, do you notice how the four woes, like the four blessings also are grounded in what? That. That which lies ahead. We’re in the kingdom of God as it fully comes. Like everything’s like turned around. We’re in this life. For the Christians who are suffering through hardship, in the end they’re going to be rewarded with blessing upon blessing, the fullness of joy and happiness for all eternity as you get to be with Jesus. But for those who reject God, who might be like receiving some benefits here and now, but in the end, not only will those benefits be removed, but with misery that will never wane. So back to the text. So sure, in this present life one can get rich without God in their life and enjoy some of the temporary benefits that wealth can offer. Where yes, those riches you can use to fill up your stomach. Where yes, in this life one can laugh it up and receive some type of like worldly praise. But if that’s all you have in this life, that’s all you have without God. In the end, not only will those things all vanish, but as mentioned, they’ll be replaced with misery. A couple things just on this back to winter earlier. So poor and hungry. This is why I think real physical poverty. Hungry is what Jesus is speaking to here. Not speaking about some type of poor in spirit or hunger and righteousness. This is how the rich and the full are used. So I think it’s meant to be. In contrast, second, having wealth, a full belly, laughter, reputation, others admire. So none of those things are wrong in themselves in this life. Okay, so don’t be mistaken there. In fact, in this life, those things actually be like blessings from, from God. In this life, the problem lies if we have those things apart from Christ, where these things almost become like idols to us that we’re putting like our hope and our trust in like wealth or reputation. That’s the problem, A problem that we actually must be warned of because those idols in the end will be idols that proved to be vain, where in the end they will not satisfy you, they will not in the end make you happy, they will not deliver to you what you need, which is forgiveness of sin and eternal blessedness of heaven. Only Jesus can offer those things through his death, through his resurrection from the dead, right? Those things in himself are not wrong. In the end, if you do not have Jesus, they’re in vain. They will not satisfy. They will lead you to misery. Which, by the way, kind of on that note, this is why every sermon should point us to Jesus Christ as the only one who will satisfy, as the one that we do desperately need, the One who loves us in such a way that he would die for us to take on all of the woes of God on the cross, where Jesus bore all of the misery, eternal misery upon himself to bear the punishment of our sin, so that through him we could find forgiveness and eternal life and joy forever and ever. Which leads to the conclusion of our sermon today. So let me just get a couple just summary thoughts on this greatest of all sermons of Jesus. So the first two will just be from the text and the last one is just from sermons. So first let God’s Word teach us that which is true. This is why the preaching and teaching was at the center of Jesus’s ministry, right? Jesus is the the way, the truth and the life. And he came to teach us the truth so that by the truth, the truth of God’s Word, that’s how we can be set free. So that by the truth we could have life, abundant life, both now and in eternity. While a sermon might be hard for us to digest, maybe some of the truths here in this passage might be hard for us to digest. These are truths that we need to hear, truths that we need to know, truths we need to believe in, truths we must obey, right? These hard truths are connected to the blessings of God. These harder truths are also connected to the woes of God. So we must hear that which is true. Second thing to where these truths of this text are pointing us to is we’re to live our life in light of eternal life that is to come and the kingdom of God that Jesus promises one day to usher in. So if this is it, just like just this life, nothing more, then sure, eat, drink, be merry, live for self, enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. But Scripture is so clear, including the sermon here from Jesus. The truth is, there’s so much more than just the here and now. There is an eternal life that is to come that for those who have faith in Christ will be the blessed life. Living with Christ in the heavenly places, experiencing the fullness of his joy in the new heavens and new earth. Let’s say it again. For those who reject him, there’s a life of eternal misery and judgment of sin for us. We must live our life in light of this eternal reality that is to come. Even though there could be a great cost in this life for doing so. Cost like suffering and pain. However, we must trust what our suffering that we might suffer for our faith in Christ and eternal life. Not only will Jesus fully comfort us in the text, he will even reward us when the sermon says even a great reward which reward whenever suffering we have in this life. As we get that rewards we’re with Jesus. Any suffering will feel slight and momentary in comparison to the weight of glory that awaits. And by the way, if you’re looking for some help on maybe how to think ahead, like how to live your life with an eternal like view. So there’s great ministry that is called Eternal Perspectives and I find it pretty helpful. So established by a former pastor named Randy Elkhorn who wrote one of my favorite books. I haven’t mentioned this in a little while, so I’ll mention it again. Book called Heaven. And so if you’d want some help to try to think through, you know, how do you live your life in ways that’s looking ahead, you know, I would look to eternal perspective ministry. Read the book on heaven. Especially now if you’re looking to try to read a book for the stretch run of winter that we have left, that’s one I’d recommend. Okay, last one. So be sober minded about preaching. Which brings us back to the start, what my friend wanted me to have as a preacher. But it’s actually not just preachers who are to be sober minded when it comes to preaching. The congregation should as well. Now, when it comes to preaching, obviously none of us can preach a sermon like Jesus. In fact, even the Apostle Paul referred to his preaching as folly, which is true for all preachers. Even more so, right? None of us are apostles like Paul was. It’s folly. Folly where every sermon is like soon forgotten. Almost like a meal that we consume. Soon forgotten. However, scripture tells us that it’s through preaching. That’s how God chooses to manifest His Word in ways that through His Holy Spirit he speaks to his people in ways that we can see. The Lord Jesus Christ that God is using preaching to bring people to faith, to grow us in our faith, to sustain us in our faith, to persevere us in our faith all the way to the life that is to come. So be sober minded when it comes to preaching. If a preacher should have resolve in his eyes, a congregation should have resolve in your ears. So say it again. Please pray for the preaching here at Red Village that God would use it to communicate truth, even hard truth. Please keep the pulpit here at Red Village like lovingly accountable that the word is preached in season and out of season. As a congregation, we never settle for anything less than God’s words exposited in ways that point us to Christ, who he is, what he’s done for us. Have a longing in your heart to hear the word preached. We’re actually seeking to prepare your own heart to receive sermons. By the way, this is also one of the reasons, maybe a primary reason, why we hope you’re actually here every Sunday to take in a steady diet of the word preached. I say it not to guilt you or shame you. Things can happen. But just imagine if you went weeks without feeding your physical body or if you just happen to feed your physical body just like every so often as is kind of convenient, just imagine how weak, how malnourished your body would be. As important it is to feed your physical body to the steady diet, how much more important to feed your souls week in, week out with God’s Word. Yes, most sermons are like meals. You consume them and you forget them. But yes, say it again. That is how God is revealing himself to us, to grow us, to sustain us, to persevere us in the faith. So church, whether you’re preaching God’s word or taking it in, may we all be sober minded when it comes to the word that is preached. Knowing that in the grace of God, the preached word is a pretty sweet gift, a pretty thoughtful gift from a kind and generous God. Let’s pray. Lord, I do pray that you’d help us to not only hear your word but heed to it. Lord, please help us to live rightly in ways that you defined are true for blessedness. God, help us to live in light of that which is to come. I pray for those who might be here this morning, who are not yet disciples of Christ, that today you would open up their eyes to see the beauty of Jesus, that they would turn into him. And Lord, I do pray just for just this pulpit, the sermons that come from it, whether it be me or others. Lord, please help us to rightly divide the word of truth. And Lord, please bless the preaching of your Word for our good and your glory in Jesus name, Amen. The post The Greatest Sermon of All Time – Luke 6: 20-26 appeared first on Red Village Church.

Matthew 5-7

Sermon Notes: John 1:19-34 (I Am Not, but He Is) Please turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. We'll be considering verses 19-34 this morning. As you are turning there, let me say that the Gospel of John is a beautiful literary work. Greek scholars marvel at its elegance. Its words are simple, yet it has a depth of poetic beauty in how its themes are interwoven. And because of that, the Gospel of John speaks to both those with little or no background in the Christian faith as well as to those who have studied the Scriptures their whole lives. ·      On one level, the apostle John makes clear who Jesus is, what he has done, and why it matters. ·      And on another level, we are given profound theological insights in a rich literary form. We'll continue to see that as we work our way through the book. As I read, you will hear about John in these verses. This is referring to John the Baptist, not the apostle. Reading of John 1:19-34. Back in first grade, I was asked to give the opening comments for our first-grade play. That involved standing in front of the big curtain. I had a script which welcomed everyone, thanked the teachers, and gave a brief highlight of what they were about to see. The drama teacher told me multiple times to talk slowly and to keep my hands out of my pockets. Which of course, I forgot to do. But nonetheless, I did my part, and then the curtain opened and the play began. Well, the opening 18 verses of John's Gospel are like the prologue to a play. They set the stage for what is to come. We're given the book's background and themes and we're introduced to the main character. As we've studied, verses 1-18 speak of Christ's divine nature as creator and as the light of the world. We were also introduced to John the Baptist who bore witness to the light. We were told of what it means to believe. And then last week, we learned that the Word of God has come to us in the flesh, in the person of Jesus. And when he came, God displayed his glory and grace. All of that was introductory. And as we now get to verse 19, the curtain opens. We don't just hear about Jesus, but we are given story after story of his life and ministry. To say it in another way, verses 1-18 are the theological treatise for the book… and verses 19 to the very end are the historical witness of the book. John makes the upfront argument that Jesus is God in the flesh and that salvation is found in him, and then from verse 19 on, he shows us that this is true by showing us Jesus' life and ministry. Speaking of a prologue, that was my prologue for this sermon. Two points this morning. You can see them in your bulletin. Point number 1: I am not …and point number 2: But he is I am not, but he is. John the Baptist very clearly states that he is not the Christ, but he, that is Jesus, is. 1. I Am Not So, #1. I am not. Let me begin with a little context. It mentions here that John the Baptist was in the town of Bethany… specifically it's just beyond the Jordan River. This is a different town than the other Bethany which was near Jerusalem just over the Mount of Olives. This one was much farther away. It would have taken a day or two to travel there by foot. And in Bethany, John had attracted a crowd and a following. And one of the things he was doing was baptizing. Well, despite the distance, that caused a stir in Jerusalem. News reached the ears of the Jewish leaders, and so, as we read, they sent a delegate. They had two main questions: who are you? (verse 19) and why are you baptizing (verse 25)? John does answer both questions, but he does it in a way that redirects them away from himself and to Christ. I learned something interesting this week. There are people today who believe that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet. They not only venerate John the Baptist, you know, worship him in a way… but they also reject Jesus as the Messiah. Now, it's a relatively small group, several thousand. They live on the border of modern day Iraq and Iran. Their recorded history goes back to the 300s, so they've been around a while. And it's very possible that their roots go all the way back to the 1st century when this book was written. You see, one reason why the apostle John writes these things, is to make absolutely clear (1) who John the Baptist was and wasn't and (2) who Jesus is. And he quotes John the Baptist's words. ·      He was not the prophet Elijah. Yes, he came in the spirit of Elijah – but he was not Elijah in the flesh. The Jews expected Elijah to return. ·      He also makes clear that he was not “the prophet.” That is likely a reference to Moses or even the greater Prophet who was to come after Moses, namely Christ. John denies that as well. But most importantly, in verse 20 – he states unequivocally that he is not the Christ.  He is not the promised Savior who was to come. In the Greek, it's the phrase “ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ χριστός.” I am not the Christ. By the way, “ἐγὼ εἰμὶ” in the Greek is the phrase “I am.” It's the same Greek words that Jesus used in his “I am” statements throughout the book. I am the light of the world. I am the vine. I am the great shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, etc. And so when John the Baptist says he is not the Christ, it is in part setting up the rest of the narrative in the book. Who is Jesus? He is the Christ - the promised Savior. A few years ago, a friend of mine passed away. He had a sudden heart attack. He was a single guy in his 40s, so he wasn't that old. Vocationally he was a nurse, but interestingly he had also been to seminary. He was a great guy. He loved to participate in ministry and mission work including medical missions. He also had a great Scottish accent. He was originally from the Isle of Skye. As one of his pastors I went to the funeral home shortly after they received his body. I was there with a close friend of his. And I learned something about him that I didn't know before. On his chest, he had a tatoo. It was a Greek phrase. “ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ χριστός.” I am not the Christ. You see, he had been so moved by this verse in John 1, that he wanted to remind himself each day in the mirror who he was not and to whom he should direct people. He was not the Christ… he was not his own savior nor a savior for others, but he had a savior who has come. That is what John the Baptist was doing in these verses. He was redirecting people away from himself and to Jesus. I count 6 times in these verses where John redirects people away from himself and to Christ. No, I am not him but let me tell you and show you who he is. A couple of examples are found in his further answers to the delegation. By the way, they were very persistent, as we read. They asked him, ok, then if you are not Elijah nor the prophet nor Christ, then who are you and why are you baptizing? ·      First, John answers who he was. He quotes the prophet Isaiah. He says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,'” You see, Isaiah had prophesied that one would come. This prophet's very purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah. John was saying that he is that one. His whole ministry was to direct people to Christ. It was to prepare the people for the arrival of the Lord. ·      And second, John answered why he was baptizing. His answer also revealed Christ. Verse 31 makes that clear. John said, “I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel.” Here's what that means. John's baptism was about calling people to repentance and warning them about judgment. The water symbolized the cleansing that they needed. It showed them that they needed God to truly cleanse them… and it reminded them that a Savior was promised who would bear their judgment. By the way, this is why we don't connect John's baptism with the baptism that Jesus established. ·      #1, John's baptism was a ceremonial cleansings from the old covenant. That's why the delegate was asking him why he was baptizing since he was not Elijah nor the prophet. ·      #2. John's baptism was not done in the name of Jesus nor the Trinity as Jesus directed. It was very different. ·      #3 …perhaps the clearest reason. In the book of Acts, chapter 19, some of John the Baptists disciples were living in Ephesus. They had only been baptized into John's baptism. The apostle Paul explained to them that John's baptism was only a baptism of repentance. So, John's disciples were then baptized into Jesus' baptism – that is, into the new covenant baptism in Jesus' name. To say it again, John's baptism was to prepare the people's hearts for the coming of Christ. They needed to see their need for a Savior and repent. Ok, to summarize main point #1: John's identity in these verses is directly related to Christ, both in the negative and the positive. The negative - I am not him. And the positive - the very purpose of my life is to point people to him. And point to him, he does. 2. But He Is Which bring us to #2. But He Is John is not the Christ, as he says, and implicit in that statement is that the one to whom John directs people is the Christ. Look at verse 29. This is a new subsection. We read that it's now the very next day. The previous day, John had been answering the delegation about who he was not and that his purpose was to direct people to the Lord. But now, Jesus has come to John. And with absolute clarity, John gives witness to who Jesus is. Look how John describes Jesus in 29. He says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Remember, the apostle John's primary audience was Jewish. When they read or heard this, they would have no questions about its meaning. Jesus is identified as the sacrificial lamb, whom God sent to atone for the sin of the world. Sacrificing lambs had been part of their annual Passover celebration. Back when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, the very last command that God gave them was to sacrifice a lamb. They were to put its blood over their doorpost. And if they did that, the angel of death would pass over them and spare their firstborn. And the angel did spare them. But the Egyptians were not spared. And so Pharaoh released the Israelites from their bondage. Every year they were to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt by sacrificing a lamb. It was both a remembrance of God's deliverance out of Egypt, and a foreshadowing of the deliverance from sin that God would accomplish for them through the Messiah. So here, John the Baptist testifies that Jesus is that sacrificial Lamb – He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world… Now, you may be asking, Why is a Lamb of God needed? Why a sacrifice? That is a critical question. As we work our way through the book, the answer will become clear. But in the meantime, let me try to briefly answer. You see, in the heart of each and every human is a rebellion against God and against our fellow man. We see and experience this every day. We see and experience deceit, and anger, and betrayal. Evil exists in many forms – oppression, rape, and murder. And truthfully, if we just search our own hearts, we know our own selfishness and bitterness and desires for that which is not ours. All of those things fall under Scripture's category of sin. Over the years, I've had conversations with friends and family about the truth of Christianity. They've brought up good questions. For example, they've asked, if God really exists or if Christianity is really true, then why is there so much evil in the world. It's a very important question. I've usually respond that Christianity's view of the world includes a very clear understanding of evil and sin. I believe Christianity is true, in part, because it answers the questions of evil… it answers other life questions as well like meaning and morality and existence… including the difficult things in life and our rebellious hearts. Sometimes that will be followed up with the question. But if God is as you say he is, then why doesn't he do anything about it? About the evil and sin… He has. He's sent a Lamb. And that Lamb is Christ, and as John the Baptist says in verse 34, he is the Son of God. He sacrificed himself to deliver us not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the bondage of sin and the corruption of the world. The reason that a sacrifice was necessary goes all the way back to the beginning of the Bible. The very first command that God gave was to not eat of that which was forbidden. And the consequence of doing so was death. We cannot escape the consequences of sin. Those consequences include death and separation from God and his judgment. But God sent his Lamb to be sacrificed on our behalf. As the author of Hebrews puts it, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. And so, when John sees Jesus, he calls him the Lamb of God and as the Son of God. John furthermore testifies that even though he came before Jesus, yet Jesus ranked before him because Jesus was before him. John had said earlier that he was not even worthy to untie Jesus' sandals. That was one of the most lowly of jobs reserved for a servant. John was saying that he wasn't even worthy to do that. Jesus' worthiness so far exceeds our unworthiness. Yet he has come to us. Let me note one more thing about John's testimony. These verses say that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, but Jesus' baptism is a baptism of the heart. By the way, this is talking about true baptism – not the outward sign like you saw earlier this morning, but baptism of the heart when we receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. And the reason that we can receive the Spirit of God from Christ, is because God's Spirit remains on Christ. Did you notice that phrase used twice? The Holy Spirit descended and remained on him. It indicates God the Father anointing Jesus as King. In the Old Testament, God's Spirit would rest upon God's anointed kings. But God's Spirt would leave when that King departed from God's way, like he did for King Saul. That is why King David prayed in Psalm 51, Lord, take not your Holy Spirit from me. In other words, do not remove your hand of Spiritual blessing on my kingship. May your Spirit remain on me as king of your people despite my sin. By the way, this Holy Spirit anointing of kings is different from the Spirit's work in the hearts of believers… old and new. I just want to be clear about that. What John the Baptist was witnessing in verses 32-34 was God the Father anointing his Son through his Spirit. When it says that God's Spirit remained on Jesus, it was indicating Jesus' eternal kingship. Next week we'll see that title King given to him. And let me mention one more thing about chapter 1. Every single title for Jesus in the entire book of John is introduced in chapter 1. Jesus is the Word of God. He is Christ, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, He is Rabbi (which means Teacher), King of Israel, and the Son of Man. Some of those we'll come across next week. In other words, this whole chapter bears witness to who Jesus is. Besides John the Baptist and the apostle John, God the Father and the Holy Spirit also bear witness to him. He is the Christ - Lamb of God and Son of God who takes away the sin of the world. I am not, but he Is. Application and Conclusion In Southern California, there's a very interesting solar power facility. It's in the Mojave Desert. It's different because it does not use a single solar panel. No, instead, this facility uses mirrors that direct the rays of the sun to central boilers. The boilers are super-heated by the sunlight reflected off of the mirrors. That causes the water boil, which creates steam, which then turns turbines, and which then generates power. There are 347,000 mirrors there. And as the sun moves across the sky, they all reposition themselves to keep the light shining on one place. Friends, you and I are not the Christ. No, but we are to reflect him and direct others to him. Like John the Baptist, we are to believe the Lamb of God for others to see. We are to testify that he has come to take away the sin of the world. We are to exalt Christ, witnessing to him in all the ways highlighted here. We are in a sense to be like mirrors that direct others to Jesus. And when we all work in concert, God is glorified and Christ is exalted. When people see us individually, they see him. And when people see a church whose members reflect Christ, they will see him. I would argue that our number one responsibility is to show forth Christ. It's tempting to have our number one focus be on other things. I am not saying that we should not have careers or serve our communities in different ways or have opinions about important matters. But if any of that puts the spotlight on us rather than Christ or if it overshadows our witness to him, then we are not fulfilling our responsibility to reveal him. So, May we each recognize that we are not our own savior, nor the savior of others. We are not the Christ… but Jesus is.  May we, like John, direct others to him, the Lamb of God, who is the Son of God and Savior of the world. Amen

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11Sermon Series: The Mount #22Sermon Discussion Guide:Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/43173/note-258202.html

Is there such a thing as a natural monk? Saint Luke was born in 896 to pious parents who came from Aegina but were forced to settle on the Greek mainland due to Saracen raids. From his earliest years, he showed a desire for a life of ascesis and contemplation usually only found in seasoned elders. He abstained from all flesh, cheese, eggs, and delicacies, drank only water, and kept a total fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. While herding cattle or tilling the family fields, he would often give away his food and even his clothing to the poor, returning home naked. When his father died, he abandoned farm work to devote himself entirely to prayer, making such progress that he was often lifted above the ground while praying. After a time he secretly left home and entered a monastery in Athens (he was now only fourteen years old), but the abbot sent him home after seeing his mother every night in dream, tearfully calling for her son. He returned home for a while, but when he had obtained her permission to leave once again set out upon the monastic life. He traveled widely, living as a hermit in various places, sometimes attached to a monastery and sometimes not. Often he would be forced to move by the number of visitors who learned of his holiness, no matter how secretly he tried to live, and came to him for prayer or a word of counsel or prophecy. Once he lived for three years on the island of Ampelon; his sister would occasionally bring him some bread, but he gave much of it away to the needy or to passing sailors. Finally, his health damaged, he returned to the mainland at the entreaties of his disciples and settled at a place called Stirion (which may be a corruption of Soterion), where he built a hermitage.   Saint Luke fell ill in his seventh year at Stirion. Embracing his disciples, he asked them to pray for him, prophesying that the place where he died would someday be the site of a great church and monastery; he then reposed in peace and joy.   His tomb exuded a fragrant oil which was collected and burned in a lamp, and many miracles and healings were wrought at the tomb. As the Saint had predicted, two churches and a monastery were built there, and the monastery of Hosios Lukas became a great place of pilgrimage, as it remains to this day.

David meets up with Oliver Schurmann in the old abandoned quarry that's the new home for Mount Venus nursery. After 25 years in a walled garden, the new location is a magical place reclaimed by nature. Adam Frost chooses his bulb of the month (Crocus tommasinianus) and a dream comes true for some residents in Culmore near Derry as a brand new allotment site gets going. Also on the programme, Amy Kelly on getting your seeds going early and Colin Agnew joins David in studio to talk about creating a home for alpines and they answer listener questions. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

In this solo episode, I'm diving into 10 practical tips to help make listening and cooperation with your kids easier. I'll walk you through straightforward strategies for strengthening connection and communication, plus I'll share a quick mindfulness exercise to keep you feeling centered, even on the toughest days.I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! Order your copy of The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans Here: https://bit.ly/3rMLMsLSubscribe to my free newsletter for parenting tips delivered straight to your inbox: https://dralizapressman.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram for more:@raisinggoodhumanspodcast Sponsors:Quince: Go to Quince.com/humans for free shipping on your order and 365-day returnWayfair: Head to wayfair.comBrodo: Head to Brodo.com/HUMANS for20% off your first subscription order and use code HUMANS for an additional $10 offPique: Secure 20% off your order and begin your intentional wellness journey today at Piquelife.com/humansBetterHelp: Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/humansFora: Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/HUMANSSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Become a Distance to Empty subscriber!: https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!Check out Mount to Coast here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use code DISTANCE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Janji.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select 'podcast' > 'Distance to Empty' on the post purchase "How did you hear about Janji" page. Thank you!In this episode, Michael McKnight returns to discuss his journey in ultra running, focusing on his identity as a 200-mile runner, the challenges of recovery from injury, and the mental shifts necessary for success. He reflects on the emotional toll of burnout and the importance of redefining personal goals beyond placement. Michael also shares insights into his new race, the Old Ephraim 200, and the motivations that drive him as he prepares for the upcoming season. The conversation emphasizes the significance of mindset in overcoming obstacles and finding fulfillment in the sport.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Create a Linux kiosk at your library Start without a guest account The first few steps of this process don't actually require a guest user directory to exist, so do NOT create your guest user account yet. However, you do need to choose what your guest user account is going to be called. A reasonable account name for Don's purposes is libraryguest. On my personal computer I call my guest account guestaccount, and I've used kioskguest on some installations. I avoid just the name “guest” because in modern computing the term “guest” gets used in a few other ways (such as a “guest operating system” in a virtual environment), and it's just easier to find something unique in logs. Choose a unique name for you guest account, but don't create it yet. For this article, I'm using libraryguest. Create the PostSession script By default, GDM recognises several states: Init, PostLogin, PreSession, and PostSession. Each state has a directory located in /etc/gdm. When you place a shell script called Default in one of those directories, GDM runs the script when it reaches that state. To trigger actions to clean up a user's environment upon logout, create the file /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default. You can add whatever actions you want to run upon logout to the Default script. In the case of Don's library, we wanted to clear everything from the guest's home directory, including browser history, any LibreOffice files or GIMP files they may have created, and so on. It was important that we limited the very drastic action of removing all user data to just the guest user. We didn't want the admin's data to be erased upon logout, so whatever rule we added to /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default had to be limited to the guest user. Here's what we came up with: #!/usr/bin/sh echo "$USER logged out at `date`" >> /tmp/PostSession.log if [ "X$USER" = "Xlibraryguest" ]; then rm -rf "$HOME" fi exit 0 The first line is for logging purposes. The /tmp directory gets cleared out on most distributions automatically, so we weren't worried about creating a file that'll grow forever and eventually crash the computer. If your distribution of choice doesn't clean out /tmp automatically, create a cron job to do that for you. GDM knows what user triggered the logout process, so the if statement verifies that the user logging out is definitely the libraryguest user (that's the literal name of the user we created for library patrons).Note that the whitespace around the square brackets is important, so be precise when typing! As long as it is libraryguest, then the script removes the entire user directory ($HOME). That can be extremely dangerous if you make a mistake, so do thorough testing on a dummy system before implementing a script like this! If you get a condition wrong, you could erase your entire home directory upon logout. In this example, I've successfully limited the rm command to a logout action performed by user libraryguest. The entire /home/libraryguest directory is erased, and the computer returns to the GDM login screen. When a new user logs in, a fresh directory is created for the user. You can put any number of commands in your script, of course. You don't have to erase an entire directory. If all you really want to do is clear browser history and any stray data, then you can do that instead. If you need to copy specific configuration files into the environment, you can do that during the PreSession state. Just be sure to test thoroughly before committing your creation to your users! What happens when the guest doesn't log out At this point, the computer erases all of the user's data when the user logs out, but a reboot or a shutdown is different to a logout. GDM doesn't enter a PostSession state after a reboot signal has been received, even if the reboot occurs during an active GDM session. The easiest and safest way to erase an entire home directory when there's a cut to system power is to use a temporary RAM filesystem (tmpfs) to house the data in the first place. If the systems you're configuring have 8 GB or more, and the system is exclusively used as a guest computer, you can probably afford to use RAM as the guest's home directory. If your system doesn't have a lot of RAM, then you can use the systemd work-around in the next section. Assuming you have the RAM to spare, and that your systems are supported by a backup power supply, you can add a tmpfs entry in /etc/fstab. In this example, my tmpfs is mounted to /home/libraryguest and is just 2 GB: tmpfs /home/libraryguest tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,size=2G 0 0 That's plenty of space for some Internet browsing and even a few LibreOffice documents to be saved while a user works. Mount the new volume: $ sudo mount /home/libraryguest Next, you must create the libraryguest user manually in a terminal.The useradd command creates user profiles: $ sudo useradd --home-dir /home/libraryguest libraryguest useradd: warning: the home directory /home/libraryguest/ already exists. useradd: Not copying any file from skel directory into it. Because you've already created a location for the home directory, you do get a warning after creating the user. It's only a warning, not a fatal error, and the guest account is automatically populated later. Create a password for the new user: $ sudo passwd libraryguest That's it! You've created a guest account that refreshes with every logout and every reboot. You can skip over the next section of this article. Using systemd targets instead of a ramdisk Assuming you can't create a ramdisk for temporary user data, you can instead create a systemd service that runs a script when the reboot, poweroff, and multi-user targets are triggered: [Unit] Description=Kiosk cleanup [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/kiosk-cleanup.sh [Install] WantedBy=poweroff.target reboot.target multi-user.target Save the file to /etc/systemd/system/kioskmode.service and then enable it: $ sudo systemctl enable --now kioskmode The script, like the GDM script, removes the libraryguest directory. Unlike GDM script, this one must also recreate an empty home directory and grant it user permissions: #!/usr/bin/bash rm -rf /home/libraryguest mkdir /home/libraryguest chown -R libraryguest:libraryguest /home/libraryguest Grant the script itself permission to run: $ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kiosk-cleanup.sh Now the libraryguest user data is erased after: Logout Reboot Shutdown Startup Essentially, no matter how the computer loses its session or its power, the libraryguest account starts fresh when a new session is started. Security and privacy Using systemd to erase data at shutdown and startup isn't strictly as secure as using a temporary ramdisk for all user data. Should the computer lose power suddenly, all saved user data in the libraryguest account is present during the next boot. Of course, it's erased as soon as multi-user.target is called by systemd, but it is technically possible to interrupt the boot process and mine for data. You must use full drive encryption to protect data from being discovered by an interrupted boot sequence. Why not just use xguest On many Linux distributions, the xguest package is designed to provide the Guest account, which resets after each logout. It was an extremely useful package that I installed on every machine I owned, because it's handy to be able to let friends use my computer without risking them making a mess of my home directory. Lately, it seems that xguest is failing to launch a desktop, however, presumably because it relies on X11. If xguest works for you in your tests, then you may want to use it instead of the solution I've presented here. My solution offers a lot of flexibility, thanks to GDM's autodetection of session states. Kiosks in libraries Privacy and personal information is more important than ever. Regardless of how you setup a kiosk for your library, you have an obligation to your users to keep them informed of how their data is being stored. This goes both ways. Users need to know that their data is destined to be erased as soon as they log out, and also they deserve to be assured that their data is not retained. However, it's also your responsibility to admit that glitches and exceptions could occur. Users need to understand that the computer they're using are public computers on a public network. Encryption is being used for traffic and for data storage, but you cannot guarantee absolute privacy. As long as everyone understands the arrangement, everyone can compute with confidence. Linux, GDM, and systemd are great tools to help libraries create a sustainable, robust, honest, and communal computing platform. Show notes taken from https://www.both.org/?p=13327

On a national holiday five kids headed out to play with their friends. Their parents assume they're out in the neighborhood like any other day. Yet, by the next day, an entire nation is searching for children who seem to have vanished. This is the story of the Frog Boys and of how sometimes a normal day can quickly transform into decades of unanswered questions.The five boys were Woo Cheol-won, Jo Ho-yeon, Kim Young-gyu, Park Chan-in and Kim Jong-sik.Sources:Wikipedia, Reddit, Channel News Asia, Korea Joongang Daily, Criminally IntriguedSupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at offthetrailspodcast@gmail.com  Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

On this episode:Riverside girls use late free throws from senior Niahla Duncan to knock off Maur Hill-Mount Academy while the Cyclones boys hold off a stiff Raven charge to remain unbeaten in NEKL play. Hear from both coaches and Duncan after the games.Tuesday Scoreboards Wanna thank all of our great Sponsors who make all of this possible.Tolly & Associates Little Caesars of St. Joseph John Anderson Insurance, Meierhofer Funeral Home & Crematory HiHo Bar & Grill Barnes Roofing Jayson & Mary Watkins Matt & Jenni Busby Michelle Cook Group Russell Book & Bookball 365 The St. Joseph MustangsB's Tees KT Logistics LLC Hixson-Klein Funeral Home James L. Griffith Law Firm of Maysville Toby Prussman of Premier Land & Auction Group, HK Quality Sheet Metal, Redman Farms of Maysville, Melissa WinnHenke Family Farms, Green Hills Insurance LLC., Cintas, Thrive Family Chiropractic, IV Nutrition of St. Joseph, Roth Kid Nation Serve Link Home Care out of Trenton, Barnett's Floor Renewal LLC., Balloons D'Lux, B3 Renovations, The Hamilton Bank member FDIC, Wompas Graphix & Embroidery of LibertyEllis Sheep Company of Maysville, Bank Northwest of Cameron, Akey's Catering & Event Rentals, Brown Bear of St. Joseph, Wolf Black Herefords, The KCI Basketball Podcast Jacob Erdman - Shelter Insurance of Rock Port, Rob & Stacia Studer, Green Family Chiropractic , Annie & Noah Roseberry of Re/Max Professionals, Moseley Farms, Jake Anderson of Shelter Insurance A slice & a swirl of Maysville Adkison Barber ShopMoyer Concrete of Maysville Cody Vaughn Wealth Advisor with ThriventGallatin Truck & Tractor Grandmas Gun Shop in Agency Nash Gas in Dearborn Accurate Appraisal in St. Joseph Ryan Meyerkorth SeedB.W. Timber of Bethany Mosaic Medical Center of Maryville Exclusive P.R. of Chicago Great Than Financial Hogue Lumber Company of Albany Stifel in ChillicotheUnited Cooperates, INC out of Osborn & Pattonsburg MP and Sons Contracting in Maysville JA White Construction in Maysville BTC Bank Seth & Marcie Davis of the Fitz Group Home and LandGRM Networks Perry Plumming & Septic LLC of Rock PortCitizens Bank and Trust of Rock Port C&M Business Machines Deal Travel and Cruises LLCKovacs FireworksBray Farms of Cameron The Drug Store in Cameron Pettijohn Auto Center in Bethany Terry Implement Co., INC. Of Gallatin Re/Max Partners of Cameron- Dan & Staci Early The Bunker Club of Savannah North Central Missouri College in Trenton & SavannahCooters Plumbing in Lathrop Wigfield Farms in Chillicothe

I pulled questions and comments from popular social media clips with tens of thousands of views and brought on Dallas Mount, owner of Executive Link and the Ranching for Profit School to address them. We discuss a wide range of topics from people management, succession planning, analyzing return on investment and much more!Interested in easy care sheep raised on pasture and crop residue. Reach out to Matthew Grimes at 402-432-5124If you are looking to add somebody to your team to help with your farm or ranch numbers, check out John Haskell and his team at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.ranchrightllc.com/⁠⁠⁠.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.pharocattle.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information on how to put more fun and profit back into your ranching business! As always, check us out at Ranching Returns Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at ⁠www.ranchingreturns.com⁠.For Ranching Returns shirts, hats, and sweatshirts check out https://farmfocused.com/ranching-returns-merch/

In this powerful teaching from the Mount of Olives, Rabbi Schneider unpacks a profound truth from James 2. Discover why James, the half-brother of Jesus, calls believers to walk in authentic faith, a faith proven by works and marked by compassion.

NHL Stadium Series First: Goalie Fight!! Lightning stage epic comeback to win outdoors in Tampa vs. Bruins, Magic game was delayed by several hours, and they still lose on the road to The Spurs, NASCAR Clash has now been delayed until Wednesday because of the heavy snow in North Carolina

In this solo episode, I talk directly to parents about how to show up for our kids when the world feels heavy and unsettling—without turning the conversation into politics. I share what research tells us about stress, co-regulation, and why our kids absorb our emotional state even when we think we're hiding it. I also offer practical guidance for talking to children at different ages, setting healthier boundaries around the news and doom scrolling, and staying grounded so we can provide safety, connection, and hope while raising compassionate, resilient humans.I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! Order your copy of The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans Here: https://bit.ly/3rMLMsLSubscribe to my free newsletter for parenting tips delivered straight to your inbox: https://dralizapressman.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram for more:@raisinggoodhumanspodcast Sponsors:Experian: Get started with the Experian App now!Bloom: Get Bloom's best offer by visiting bloomnu.com and using code HUMANS at checkoutKa'Chava: Go to kachava.com and use code HUMANS for 15% offOneSkin: 15% off when you use code RGH at oneskin.co/RGHSkims: Go to skims.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2026 is: preeminent • pree-EM-uh-nunt • adjective Preeminent is a formal word used to describe someone or something more important, skillful, or successful than their counterparts or peers. It is used synonymously with outstanding and supreme. // She's the preeminent chef in a city renowned for its cuisine. See the entry > Examples: "In this warmly engaging intellectual biography, [author Paul R.] Viotti traces the life and ideas of Kenneth Waltz, a preeminent figure in post–World War II international relations scholarship." — G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025 Did you know? What is noteworthy about the following sentence? "Mount Kilimanjaro is a prominent eminence on the Tanzanian landscape." You very likely recognized two words that are closely related to preeminent: prominent and eminence. All three words are rooted in the Latin verb stem -minēre, which is taken to mean "to stand out" though there is no record of its use without a prefix. Mount also deserves an honorable mention: it comes from the Latin mont- or mons, meaning "mountain," which is understood to share a common ancestor with -minēre. Mount leads us in turn to paramount, a word closely related in meaning to preeminent.

Do let us know what you want from the souped-up brand new Abroad In Japan podcast, coming soon! AbroadInJapanPodcast@gmail.com for all your stories and questions... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the midnight visit from the men in black, Brian is left with a choice—back down, or push forward and risk everything. There's no middle ground anymore. Daniel, uneasy but resolute, agrees to stand with him no matter what comes next. Every document is copied. Multiple backups are created and hidden in separate locations. If the evidence disappears, the truth won't disappear with it. As the pressure mounts, Zach makes contact with an underground network of researchers who have been operating in the shadows for decades—people with their own stories of intimidation, silencing, and government interference. They know the rules of this world. They know how to survive it.Then an opportunity arrives they never anticipated. Documentary filmmaker Amanda steps forward, determined to tell the story. She's meticulous, credible, and unafraid of the implications. Once she's in, there's no turning back. The crew arrives in November. Interviews begin. Physical evidence is examined and verified by independent experts. But it quickly becomes clear they're not alone. A break-in at the rental house leaves one thing missing—documents. Nothing else is disturbed. Days later, a tracking device is discovered beneath a crew member's car. The message is unmistakable: we see you, and we can reach you whenever we want.They keep filming anyway. Two weeks before Christmas, the phone rings. The same calm, practiced voice from that first encounter delivers a final warning. But this time, something slips—something unintended.“The creatures are just one piece of a much larger puzzle. ”Brian refuses to back down. On the other end of the line, the voice sounds almost regretful.“Then I'm sorry for what's going to happen. ”As tensions rise, Zach uncovers the existence of Project Threshold—a classified Department of Defense operation launched in 1962. The revelation is staggering. The government hasn't merely covered up the existence of these creatures. They've been managing them. Containing them. Controlling them. For decades—possibly since the 1940s. And buried even deeper is something else. Something far more dangerous. Something they fear more than the creatures themselves.Then, just before dawn, there's a knock at the door. No one is there. Only a manila envelope resting on the doormat, stamped with a single word: TRUTH. Inside is a file marked Project Vulcan. Dated May 18, 1980—the day Mount St. Helens erupted.In the chaos following the eruption, military recovery teams entered the blast zone. What they retrieved was never meant to be known: seventeen dead specimens. Three critically injured. One survivor. The photographs are impossible to deny. A massive, seven-foot-tall creature lies strapped to a stretcher, its body scorched, its hair burned away, surrounded by men in hazmat suits. The conclusion is unavoidable. The United States government didn't just know these beings existed.They've been studying them—for over forty years. Next episode: The truth comes out—and the consequences begin.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.