Podcasts about next paul

1 Thessalonians 3 verses 1-5 Paul tells us of the sufferings that the Apostle experienced in Athens. Next Paul informs his readers of the great encouragement and comfort that Timothy brings him; and it is the news of the Thessalonians' magnificent response to the gospel. Note how the chapter finishes – read aloud verses 12-13 and pause, and ponder. Chapter 4 speaks of how pleased God and Paul are with the way that the believers are living their lives as a witness to their faith and to their trust in God and His Son. The love the Macedonian believers show to each other is evidence that they have learned what God's Word teaches. They needed to keep working until the Lord Jesus' return. These believers did, however, have a wrong view about the order of events after the Lord's return. The living believers will have no time advantage over those faithful who had fallen asleep in Christ ie died. Verses 13-18 describe what happens at Christ's return to the earth. Jesus will come with angels and the trumpet of God (1 Corinthians 15 verses 52-53). Those believers who are alive when he comes will be caught up together with those believers who have been raised from the dead, into a great cloud of witnesses (see Hebrews 12 verses 1-2). These believers will be caught into the air ie aerial, in the sense that, together with their Lord Jesus Christ, they will be the rulers (or those elevated to be in authority) over the people of the earth – ie the subjects of that coming kingdom. What a comfort to those who are now suffering persecution.

Joshua 2 describes Israel's spying out Jericho by the two spies that were sent by Joshua. Jericho was a fortified and powerful city and is the nation's first challenge in the conquest of the Promised Land. The spies select Rahab's house as their place to lodge and from there to conduct their reconnaissance. Rahab hid the two men among the flax on her roof when the king of Jericho sought their arrest. The city of Jericho was in a state of high alert with Israel's recent great conquests and the fact the city is likely to be Israel's next point of attack. Rahab feigns ignorance of the spies' whereabouts and tells the pursuers to swiftly pursue them that as have just left the city. In verses 8-11 Rahab tells of Yahweh's might and that without doubt He is the only true God. This she did prior to her hiding of the spies. Hebrews 11 verse 31 comments on her faith as the source for her motivation. James 2verse 25 says that her faith moved Rahab to act and by this she was justified. After the king of Jericho's men depart Rahab reminds the spies of the oath that they swore to her. A token of the covenant is the binding of a scarlet rope, by which the spies were let down the city's wall, being left suspended in Rahab's window. Follow the theme of the scarlet thread through the Bible and you will be amazed (start with Genesis 38:28). Rahab gives the spies advice on how to evade Jericho's hostile pursuers. For their part the spies declare that the oath will be honoured. The spies are greatly encouraged by the sign of victory that their mighty God has given them and they confidently say to Joshua that the LORD of hosts has given them the land Isaiah 8 tells of the prophet's wife bearing him a second son – Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz – whose name means: “in speeding to the spoil the enemy hastens against the prey”. This name spoke of the imminent Assyrian invasion of Immanuel's land. Isaiah says that when this happens and the mighty waters of the river will overflow and fill the breadth of the land almost swallowing the nation as those waters will be up to Judah's necks. In its path the Assyrian river would sweep away the kingdoms of Syria and Israel. Why would the Almighty bring such devastating destruction? It was because of Judah's refusal to heed the gentle and beseeching waters of Shiloah – meaning peaceful. Shiloah (and its variants) speak of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9verse 6; Genesis 49 verse 10). The New Testament instructs us to hear the voice of Jesus as the Father commands: “This is My Son, hear him”. Failure to hear will incur certain judgment as Isaiah 8:9-10 and Hebrews 2 verses 1-4 outline. Verses 11-15 encourage the remnant not to be overwhelmed by fear, but rather to trust in the living God who will deliver the faithful who revere Him. Verse 13 is alluded to by Peter who applies the words to the life and speech of the faithful pilgrims in 1 Peter 4verses 15-19. Verses 16-22 conclude Isaiah 8 by explaining the role of the disciple: to give heed to our Sovereign's Word and setting it as a seal upon our heart. Christ is our great example in this matter as John 6 verse 27; Revelation 14verses 1-5 teach us. Judah was a confused nation who were to their shame hearkening to the mystifying wizards who had no understanding in the matters that related to life and death. In listening to those whose teachings fog the minds of the children of God will lead to certain and deserved judgement. 1 Thessalonians 3 verses 1-5 Paul tells us of the sufferings that the Apostle experienced in Athens. Next Paul informs his readers of the great encouragement and comfort that Timothy brings him; and it is the news of the Thessalonians' magnificent response to the gospel. Note how the chapter finishes – read aloud verses 12-13 and pause, and ponder. Chapter 4 speaks of how pleased God and Paul are with the way that the believers are living their lives as a witness to their faith and to their trust in God and His Son. The love the Macedonian believers show to each other is evidence that they have learned what God's Word teaches. They needed to keep working until the Lord Jesus' return. These believers did, however, have a wrong view about the order of events after the Lord's return. The living believers will have no time advantage over those faithful who had fallen asleep in Christ ie died. Verses 13-18 describe what happens at Christ's return to the earth. Jesus will come with angels and the trumpet of God (1 Corinthians 15 verses 52-53). Those believers who are alive when he comes will be caught up together with those believers who have been raised from the dead, into a great cloud of witnesses (see Hebrews 12 verses 1-2). These believers will be caught into the air ie aerial, in the sense that, together with their Lord Jesus Christ, they will be the rulers (or those elevated to be in authority) over the people of the earth – ie the subjects of that coming kingdom. What a comfort to those who are now suffering persecution.

This week, Paul begins with a recap of Chinese box office phenomenon, Ne Zha 2, which has crossed 2B in revenue and sold 300M+ tickets in China. Next Paul and Mesh discuss the net churn impacting the most popular streamers, and how nearly 50% of subscribers who cancel their subscription re-subscribe within a year. Finally, they reflect on Stan Lee, the creative engine behind Marvel who is the subject of a to-be-completed documentary directed by Jon Bolerjack which presents a melancholy portrayal of how Stan was mistreated by his business partners in his final years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday's 7am hour of Mac & Cube began with a MAXX BALL recap of the AFC & NFC Championship Games; then, Paul Finebaum, from the SEC Network, tells us why the gap with the SEC has closed, who wins their first title next, and what winning it all means for Ryan Day's legacy; later, the guys debate which college coach wins his first national championship next; and finally, we lay out why, in our Top-3, these coaches get a title & a ring. "McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning" airs 7am-10am weekdays on WJOX-94.5!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acts 16:6 Next Paul and Silas travelled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. This is a remarkable moment. Paul clearly had a carefully worked out plan for his missionary journey but, at the same time, was intensely sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. Here we meet him in what we now know as central Turkey heading towards Ephesus, but then the Spirit prevented him from going in that direction. So, he then set off north until, in verse seven, the “Spirit of Jesus” told them not to enter Bithynia. We have no idea how Paul received this guidance. Perhaps it was through a dream or a word of prophecy. We don't know and, what is more, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Paul was ready to go wherever the Lord led him, and he was eager to respond immediately to the breath of the Spirit. Planning is good. It is wise to think through plans for the future whether we are thinking about family holidays, career, retirement or the mission of the Church. It is good to do thoughtful research and to talk with lots of people and, as a result, to devise a plan that makes sense and wins general approval. However, we still need to remain ready to adjust to new circumstances or the voice of God. During the pandemic we all had to adjust our plans to a huge extent. That didn't mean that our planning was wrong or inadequate. It just meant that we needed to reflect on our plans in the light of the new circumstances. And there will be times when, even though we have set our heart on something, we may suddenly lose a sense of God's peace about it. Guidance is often not neat and clear cut. It involves listening with all our attention to the voice of the Spirit and making sure that we stay light on our feet at all times. Question Has the Spirit ever said no to any of your plans? Prayer Lord God, thank you that you love me so much that you are willing to stop me going the wrong way. Amen

Title: God's Greatest Gift Text: Acts 13:27-41 FCF: We often struggle believing the good news of Christ crucified for sinners. Prop: Because God's greatest gift is a fulfillment of his promises leading to forgiveness and a right standing with Him in Christ, we must believe on Christ alone. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts 13. In a moment we'll begin reading in verse 13 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You follow along in whatever version you prefer. Last week, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Pisidian Antioch. Paul stands to preach in a synagogue on a Sabbath day and his entire sermon points to the faithfulness of God in spite of the faithlessness of Israel. Since their formation, God has walked with Israel providing for them every single step of the way. And now God has given all of them, Jews and Gentiles alike, the message of salvation… The Savior Jesus of Nazareth. But Paul still needs to prove that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Savior – for such a title can really only be applied to God Himself. Thus He must prove that Jesus is God. He must also prove that He was the Suffering servant from the books of prophesy. If He is to be the Messiah He must also be the descendant of David who will reign forever. Paul has a lot to prove. And although this is certainly Luke's Summary of the sermon, there are not many verses in which to do so. So, stand with me out of respect for and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: O God, do not keep silence; do not hold Your peace or be still, O God! Your people long to see You and hear Your voice. Visit us with Your Spirit's powerful presence and speak to us with Your Word of truth. In Jesus name we ask this… Amen. Transition: Let's not linger long in the introduction. Since this is part 2 of Paul's sermon, let's jump right back in. I.) God has kept all His promises, the greatest of which is the provision of Jesus His Son, so we must believe on Christ alone. (27-37) a. [Slide 2] 27 - “For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. 28 “And though they found no ground for death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. 29 “And when they had finished all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. i. Oh Israel Israel… why do you always do the opposite of what you should? ii. Just like the wilderness… Just like their need for a King… they did not trust the Word of the Lord their God. iii. Instead, they in blindness could not see Jesus for who He was. The Son of David, The Son of Man. The Son of God. No. They read those same prophets who described His coming. They read those same prophets who described his violent rejection and death, and not recognizing Him for who He was, they unwittingly fulfilled those prophesies. iv. But the problem was He was an innocent man. They could charge Him with nothing. So they got the Romans to do their dirty work for them. v. And when every last prophesy about His death was fulfilled, they took the Accursed One down from the tree of shame and buried Him in a tomb, thinking they had won. b. [Slide 3] 30 - “But God raised Him from the dead; i. Once again, IN SPITE OF ISRAEL, God is faithful to them. ii. He raises their Savior from the dead. iii. He rises victorious over sin, death, and hell. iv. Should He stay dead, He could not possibly be the Seed of David – But He arose. v. Therefore, there is no other option than He IS this One whom the Lord has prophesied about. vi. He must be who He claimed to be. He said, “I and the Father are ONE”. That is blasphemy if it isn't true… but if it is true… it is terrifying. Especially if you were the one putting Him to death. vii. But perhaps His resurrection cannot be validated? c. [Slide 4] 31 - and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. i. NO! NO my friends. ii. He appeared to many people for many days. iii. He went to those who knew Him best. iv. He proved to be alive. v. And now those to whom He appeared are preaching his name everywhere in the Empire. d. [Slide 5] 32 - “And we proclaim to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.' 34 “But that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and FAITHFUL lovingkindnesses OF DAVID.' 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE OVER TO SEE CORRUPTION.' 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised did not see corruption. i. Paul keys in on what seems to be a very important tactic of evangelism for Jews in the early church. ii. Jews obviously had great respect for Abraham, Moses, and David. These patriarchs come up often in the sermons and letters of the New Testament. iii. Here we find a similar apologetic as was given in Peter's Pentecost sermon. iv. Paul says that they are also among those witnesses who are now proclaiming to them, in this synagogue, the good news that God has fulfilled His promise to them by raising up Jesus. v. Paul then quotes three separate texts of the Old Testament as proof for this. How has God fulfilled His promise by raising up Jesus? And how is this a message of salvation to them? 1. First, he quotes Psalm 2. a. In this we must define what the word “begotten” means. i. Begotten, although oftentimes referring to the birth or product of having a child, speaks more to the establishment of a relationship than to the actual physical birth. ii. Since having a child begins at conception, such a child would not yet be begotten until they were born. Because that is the moment the relationship is established. b. In this psalm, God is referring to the establishment, or rather, the reestablishment of the relationship between Himself and David as the King. c. Rabbis had long thought of this psalm as conveying a particular Messianic flavor. Meaning it spoke to the coming of another who would fulfill this to a greater degree. d. However, if we think that Jesus' relationship with the Father was established upon his birth, baptism, or resurrection, as some early heretics and even some modern ones assume from this text, you would misunderstand what Paul is saying. e. The sonship of Jesus is eternal. There was… in effect… no beginning to His sonship. So His begetting is also eternal. The Nicene Creed highlights this. Christ's place in the Godhead has always been begotten Son. f. Paul's point is that that Sonship was made evident by the work of Christ on earth, which culminated in the resurrection proving beyond doubt that He is the Son of God. The ONLY Begotten of the Father. Meaning the Only one of His kind in a unique relationship to the Father. 2. Next Paul quotes Isaiah 55 a. In this quote, the word “you” is plural. b. Isaiah is not saying that God will give to Jesus… but to the people of Israel. c. What will He give? d. The holy or holy things and the hesed or lovingkindness which is the old Testament word for grace – the same lovingkindness that God gave to David. e. Paul quotes this to highlight God's promise to the people of Israel. f. He has promised to give them this same Holy One or Holy Things and loving-kindness that He showed to David. g. In this we see that not only is Jesus proven to be the eternally and uniquely begotten Son of God, but also God has promised to give the people the same holy things and grace He gave to David. h. So now for the final piece of the puzzle. 3. Riffing on the image of Holy or holy things, Paul now quotes from Psalm 16 where he says that God's holy One will not see corruption. a. Indeed, death and burial is a guarantee for corruption and decay. b. And as was pointed out in Peter's sermon, David did experience such decay. c. David's death and corruption proved that the promises that had been made to him and every subsequent generation were still awaiting the ONE who would not see decay. d. But Jesus, who was raised from the dead and ascended to the Father's side… did not see such decay. vi. All this proves the unique sonship of Jesus and His fulfillment of these promises of God to the people. vii. In His death and resurrection, He brings the same lovingkindness God gave to David, this same grace, to all His covenant people. viii. Jesus is Son of God, Heir of David, Savior, and God in flesh. e. [Slide 6] Summary of the Point: God continues to faithfully provide for His people. He gives them promises and then raises up people and events to see to it that those promises are fulfilled. In spite of Israel opposing and resisting, their opposition only served to fulfill and bring about the promise of grace. The same grace that was given to David is now offered to all people, Jew, Gentile, and God-fearer, through this One that did not see death. Now God has provided His greatest fulfillment to His promises by providing us with His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Although Paul has not quite gotten to the application yet, we can clearly see where he is going. Jesus is the fulfillment of all these glorious promises in the Old Testament. He is the Messiah. He is the answer. What must they do with Jesus? Believe on Him alone. Transition: [Slide 7(blank)] Being convinced that his proof and defense of Jesus as the Messiah is irrefutable… Paul moves to application. And his application is essentially 1 command with a second command if you should disregard the first one. II.) Through Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and a right standing before God, so we must believe on Christ alone. (38-41) a. [Slide 8] 38 - “Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and that in Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the Law of Moses. i. This first point, quite simply, is a natural conclusion to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised One that all of the Old Testament promises to Israel are fulfilled in. ii. That He is the seed that will crush the head of the serpent. iii. He is the prophet greater than Moses iv. He is the greater High Priest better than Aaron and in the line of Melchizedek. v. He is the Eternal King of David's line. vi. He is the Suffering Servant vii. He is the one who will bear our sins and sickness and by whose stripes we will be healed. viii. Because this is the Promised One… This must be true and these things we must believe. ix. First, that through God's Messiah, God has provided a way for sins to be forgiven. 1. Not forgiven in the sense that they are forgotten or ignored… but forgiven in the sense that they have been paid. 2. Paul is preaching to them the reality of Jesus providing a way for sins to be forgiven. Truly forgiven. Not covered. Not needing continual sacrifice. But truly and finally forgiven. 3. A true and effective atonement. A true and effective payment. 4. God's wrath extinguished and sin taken away. 5. Propitiation and Expiation. 6. NOT POTENTIAL… but ACTUAL. 7. Paul does not say that through Him there is forgiveness of sins available… but that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. It is. 8. My friends we do not believe in a potential atonement for sin in which we need to do something to apply it. Instead, we believe in an actual and effective atonement for sin through Christ. God unites us to Christ through faith. x. And Second, that in God's Messiah every single believing one not only inherits forgiveness of sins but is justified in all things. 1. That means we are treated as if we are perfect in all things. That we are fully righteous in the Lord's eyes. 2. The law of Moses could never do this. Why? The law of Moses assumes people will fail to keep the law. Not only that, but the mechanism to deal with these failures to keep the moral law, is a ceremony or picture of a greater sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. Not truly. 3. The law of Moses could never render anyone pleasing to God. For one would have to keep the whole law perfectly without ever failing once. The law was a schoolmaster designed to teach the Israelites that they were great sinners needing a greater savior. That in order to be acceptable to God they would need someone to make them acceptable. 4. Saying that the law of Moses could make you pleasing to God is like saying that an excellent teacher guarantees a proficient student, it is like saying guardrails and road signs will guarantee that you reach your destination. 5. The law is good, teachers who teach well are good, and guardrails and road signs are good. But so long as some portion of it depends on someone other than the lawmaker, the teacher, or the sign maker… so long as humans have a role, no law, no matter how perfect, could ever render men pleasing to God. Why? Because we are fallen. 6. But now not only has Christ provided a final atonement for sins… but those who trust in Him are also completely righteous. How? 7. He has learned everything the teacher said – because He is the teacher! He has become the driver. One who follows the road signs perfectly. 8. Or to put it in terms the bible uses, He has become our substitute. He is our mediator. He is our advocate. 9. Our standing with God can never be in jeopardy again. 10. Why? 11. Because we are now IN CHRIST. 12. He inherited our sins and paid for them. We inherit His righteousness and are counted only as obedient children. 13. When God sees those who are IN CHRIST, those who are believing… He sees someone who is righteous like His Son. 14. We are not made righteous in the sense that we never sin again, nor are we put in some kind of state of righteousness whereby we must perform good works to stay there… but we are made righteous in the sense that we are legally free from the law. It does not bind us any longer. Why? 15. We have been acquitted of every infraction and granted perfect obedience in Christ for every law. We have, through Christ, fulfilled the requirement of the law, forever. 16. There is a now, a new law written on our hearts. The law of Christ. xi. Right here in this text Paul, even this early, speaks to the double imputation in the work of Christ. We are forgiven and we are declared righteous. xii. Paul's first application is to believe the gospel. To receive the truth which He is speaking to them at this very moment. That In and through Christ they can be forgiven of sin and declared righteous in Him. b. [Slide 9] 40 - “Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD RECOUNT IT TO YOU.'” i. Paul's second application is for those who are tempted to not obey the first. ii. He issues a warning for those who refuse. iii. The prophet Habakkuk warned about a day that God would raise up the Babylonians to come and sweep them away. iv. Paul borrows this text not as a prophesy about the gospel per se, but to warn these Jews that just like the Jews before the Babylonian invasion were warned not to doubt what God could do and scoff at His plan, so Paul is warning of a greater plan and gift that God is giving. v. God is going to do a work that is unbelievable. A work that is too good to be true. A work that is truly good news. vi. And in that day, the warning is that though God demonstrates it clearly and though someone explains it to them plainly, they will not believe it. vii. Paul warns them not to be like the people of Judah and the nations surrounding them as God promised the rise of the Babylonians. viii. Do not be like the people of Jerusalem who put Jesus to death because they did not perceive who He was and unwittingly became the fulfillment of their own prophets. ix. Do not be like the people who did not trust God and wanted a King to be like the other nations. x. Do not be like the people who did not trust God and wandered in the desert for 40 years. xi. Do not walk away in disbelief. xii. Believe that God has sent His Messiah and that in Jesus of Nazareth, God has provided forgiveness and justification through Him. c. [Slide 10] Summary of the Point: Oh my friends! The greatest gift! In the previous point we saw that God has fulfilled His promises to His people by raising up Jesus from the dead. He has proven that HE is the eternal Son, the Messiah, promised to Eve that would crush the head of the serpent and be a second Adam for a new lineage of God's family. And Paul makes it quite plain in his application. Through Jesus there is both forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God to all who believe. The ones who are believing ones. The ones who trust in this Jesus… the ones who receive Him as the fulfillment of the Lord's promises… they are forgiven and they are justified. So, the application is simple. We must believe on Jesus alone for forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God. Conclusion: So, what have we seen today my friends? What should we learn and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 11] The teaching of this passage of scripture could not be more fundamental to Christianity. God is the faithful keeper of all His promises that He has made to His people since the beginning. He has promised an ultimate solution to the problem of sin and death. Though the law provided a temporary solution to sin, it could not defeat death. Death is only disastrous because all who are spiritually dead, or separated from God, when they experience physical death, remain in that state forever. And while the law could provide some check to sin running rampant. It could not find a solution for man's greatest problem. Separation from the life-giver. Paul, excellently, presents Jesus of Nazareth as the great answer to all of this. He is the one who has been proven to be in a special relationship to God the Father. He is the One to whom the great promises are either made or attached. And by Him, those wonderful promises of a final solution for sin and death… are fulfilled. His death has fully atoned for the sin of His people. His resurrection has de-toothed death for all who believe. His advocacy and mediatorial works continue to bring His people close to the Father. Our Salvation is by Him, and through Him. As those dead in our sins… to be revealed such truths, to understand them and perceive their meaning, we need grace from God to do something dead people cannot do…. Listen. And as those unable to be pleasing to God and atone for our sins we must receive what God has taught us here as a drowning man receives a life preserver. Is there really a choice to be made? My friends if God has given you grace to truly understand your predicament and what Jesus has done to save you from it… there is no choice to be made. Only those who are believing in Him will be accepted by God. It is by faith alone that we are declared righteous. You must believe. But let me expand upon this so that you can know exactly what we are getting at. But as I expand, I want you to notice that there is nothing that we can DO with the message today. Our hands, feet, and mouths can do nothing. All the applications must be for our mind. Our mind must grab hold of these things. Nevertheless, understanding them in our heads does not accomplish their work. For we must be born again. We must be given this faith by our Lord. But let me point out for our heads what we must receive and leave the actuality of your receiving it to God. 1.) [Slide 12] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false? ”We must turn from our sin and self righteousness. (Repent) a. Repentance is a change of mind. Repentance is a turning or rejecting of something. b. The gospel call requires all who would receive it to also turn from their own sin and self-righteousness. c. In fact, one cannot believe any of the gospel without also turning from sin and self-righteousness. d. Turning from sin is not saying I'm sorry. e. Turning from sin means that we have forever changed the way we view sin. We do not want it. We do not yearn for it. We desire its death in our lives. f. Turning from self-righteousness means we no longer think we are acceptable to God in our own performance of rituals or moral law keeping. g. For a person to truly be converted the grace of repentance must be an ongoing and continual process. h. Not that we repent every day of our lives in the sense that we sit down and list out every sin that we have ever done… i. But in the sense that we continually reject sin and self-righteousness as our pursuit or our desire. j. We abandon or reject forever the desire for sin or the belief that we can or have earned God's approval by our works. 2.) [Slide 13] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that Jesus was resurrected the third day, conquering death, and proving that He is the Eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, All God and Man. a. If we have truly believed the gospel of Christ, we must have received and placed all our hope in a number of key teachings that the New Testament makes clear to us. b. The first of these is that Jesus is the second person of the Godhead. That He is equally God as the Father and the Spirit, but in person is wholly distinct from the Father and the Spirit. c. The mystery of the trinity is not easily explained with any illustration known because there is nothing truly that is 1 thing in three persons. d. If you have heard of some illustration to help you understand the trinity, I can guarantee you it is a heresy that has been rejected by the church at some point. e. For instance, water – appearing in 3 forms as gas, liquid, and ice yet all being water. This is the heresy of modalism. That God exists in three modes at a time. f. Or the egg; that shell, white and yolk remain one egg. This is the heresy of partialism. That God is three parts of one whole. g. God exists as 1 God in three persons. God the Father is fully God. God the Son is fully God. God the Spirit is fully God. But God the Father is not the Son or the Spirit. God the Son is not the Spirit. And God is one. h. There is literally nothing on earth like this. So we must receive this teaching by faith. But to aid our faith the Father has given us the Son, who after dying was raised from the dead on the third day and was proven then to be the unique and eternally begotten Son of God. i. We also must confess that Jesus was Fully God and fully man. j. He did not empty out some Godness to pour in a little humanity. Instead, Christ has two natures. God and Man. They are joined together but not mixed. k. Much like man has body and soul. They are not mixed but they are joined. So also Jesus is God and man. And I say is… because He is still all God and All man. l. Jesus took a human nature and added it to His divine nature in order to save us… m. He did not recover from that. n. He is still a Man… acting as our High Priest, King, and prophet. o. In order to be a true Christian and receive true saving faith – you must be found believing all of this. p. The second teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 3.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that we are saved by grace alone. a. Grace is God's power to do in us something that we could not do on our own. b. The bible describes us as dead in sin. It describes us as lost. It describes us as blind. It describes us as crippled. It describes us as slaves to sin. It describes us as under wrath. c. In all of these analogies, there is but one consistent truth. There is nothing that we can do about any of these conditions. We are helpless. d. God describes what He does similarly in that they are things we cannot control or do. He describes it as wind. As new birth. As regeneration. e. This is a work of the Holy Spirit… and it must… by logical order… precede faith. f. Before we believe anything, God must have already opened up our hearts to believe it. g. When we get to Acts 16 we will actually see this spelled out quite clearly in the life of a woman named Lydia. h. God must save us by grace. And grace alone. i. Without His power to open our eyes, to wake us up, to go and find us… we are hopeless. j. And in order to be a true Christian and receive truth saving faith – you must be found believing this. k. The third teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 4.) [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that we are saved through faith alone in Christ alone. a. The bible uses language like receive faith or have faith. b. It tells us that faith is a gift. c. Friends saying, receive faith or have faith is a very odd expression. d. How can you hand someone faith? e. Yet we are told to have it. f. Even here Paul says those who are believing (already believing) are justified. He speaks of faith as something you either have or you don't. g. That is because even our faith is not something we conjure from within us. h. It is a gift of God which He offers of His own free will. i. We believe because He has given us the faith to believe. j. The way God joins us to the work of His Son, the way He puts us under His representation instead of Adam's is by first bringing us to life (for in Adam we are dead) and through faith he unites us to Christ and His work for us. k. We trust Him and what He's done because no works of our own add anything. In fact, they would only take away from His perfect obedience. l. So, those who have received this faith from God – lean in to that. Hard. m. Dressed in His righteousness alone – faultless stand before the throne. n. We have no work to offer… and God requires no work. Only trust. Only belief. Specifically, belief and trust in Christ's perfect obedience and submission to Him. o. And in order to be a true Christian and to have recieved true faith that unites to Christ – you must be found believing this. p. The final teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 5.) [Slide 16] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that Jesus was crucified as the penal substitute for our sin. a. Although the atonement of Christ no doubt accomplished a great many things. We must believe at least one thing about the atonement if we have truly received faith that binds us to Christ. b. We must believe that being all God He was able in His death to endure the full and complete wrath of God poured out on Him for every sin we have ever or will ever commit. That God cannot punish us for our sins any more because the punishment has been paid in full. Extinguished. Emptied. c. For those in Christ… there is no more wrath left. d. We also must believe that He was our perfect substitute, being all man so He could obey the law in our place and also die in our place. e. He now, therefore, stands like Adam as our representative but one who has endured. f. He kept the whole law and died to save many who didn't. g. And in order to be a true Christian and receive true saving faith – you must be found believing this. h. If we are found believing this… there is a teaching here which brings all true Christians great comfort. 6.) [Slide 17] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” We must rejoice anew in the gift of our salvation. a. Regardless of whether you are believing this for the first time or if you have believed for decades – LET THIS GREAT GIFT HIT YOU SQUARE BETWEEN THE EYES! b. Rejoice with me c. Hallelujah! d. What a Savior! e. My friends. I said to rejoice with me! f. Hallelujah! g. What a Savior! [Slide 18(blank)] Let me close with a Puritan's prayer. Author of all existence, source of all blessedness, we adore You for making us capable of knowing You, for giving us reason and conscience, for leading us to desire You; We praise You for the revelation of Yourself in the gospel, for Your heart as a dwelling place of pity, for Your thoughts of peace towards us, for Your patience and Your graciousness, for the vastness of Your mercy. You have moved our consciences to know how the guilty can be pardoned, the unholy sanctified, the poor enriched. May we be always among those who not only hear but know You, who walk with and rejoice in You, who take You at Your word and find life there. Keep us always longing for a present salvation in the Holy Spirit's comforts and rejoicings, for spiritual graces and blessings, for help to value our duties as well as our privileges. May we cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character. Help us to be in reality before You as in appearance we are before men, to be religious before we profess religion, to leave the world before we enter the church, to set our affections on things above, to shun forbidden follies and vanities, to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace, to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good. O God, make us worthy of this calling, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in us and we in Him. For it is in His name we pray this… Amen. Benediction: May the God who wipes out your transgressions, for His sake, And will not remember your sins, Continually set you free from the burdens common to men, That you might praise His name. And that the righteous may gather around the Lord, Who has dealt bountifully with you. Until we meet again… Go in Peace.

Oh, what a tangled web we Weavers! For this month's Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo trap Eric Sipple in their web once more, this time to discuss Simon Spurrier & Dylan Burnett's Lovecraftian mob story Weavers. Despite being big fans of Spurrier's (author of past FCF favorites Six-Gun Gorilla and The Spire), Paul and Arlo aren't quite sure what to make of this one, while Eric has some thoughts on why the book is an interesting failure. One thing they can all agree on is Burnett's vibrant, stylish art–and how it elevates everything else on the page.   NEXT: Paul and Arlo will return.     MUSIC “Itsy Bitsy Spider” by Itsy Bitsy Spider (2015) “Boris the Spider” by The Who, A Quick One (1966)     GOBBLEDYCARES National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/  Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/ Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/  National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/  Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/ Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/ Register to vote: https://vote.gov/  

Paul starts out the show by discussing some of the final decisions by top prospects who decided to enter the 2024 NFL Draft or return to school. He discusses Caleb Williams JJ McCarthy, Donovan Edwards, Jalen McMillan and more.  Next Paul discusses his early thoughts on the Top 10 of the 2024 NFL Draft. He goes through each team and discusses who may be in play and some options for each of those teams.  Lastly, he discusses Dane Bruglar's most recent two round mock draft and he discusses all of the offensive skill player prospects he had being drafted in the first two rounds and some surprises that stood out.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

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Paul starts out the show discussing the National Championship game and discusses the draft stock of Michael Penix Jr and JJ McCarthy. He also discusses some of the other top prospects in the game and whether they will declare and their projected rounds.  Next Paul discusses the decisions from some of the top prospects in the country about whether they have declared for the 2024 NFL Draft or decided to return to school. He talks about where they may be drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft or what a return to school may mean for their draft stock in 2025.  The remainder of the show Paul gives a detailed NFL Rookie Report for the entire 2023 NFL season. He goes through every relevant rookie quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end. He discusses their season, their dynasty value entering the offseason, whether he would be buying or selling and some value for them in trades.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

Acts 16 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, 3 so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day. 6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. 8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. 9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. 11 We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. 12 From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed. 16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters' hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, [...]

CHICOM SOLIDERS ENTERING AMERICA IN GREAT NUMBERS! WHAT'S NEXT- PAUL PRESTON

We are joined by the former NASA Aerospace Engineer, Paul Vallejo.   Paul is back on the show to give us a scientific data dump by stating a clear distinction between ‘narrative science' and actual science.   Paul starts by dispelling the ‘renewables cultism', by detailing the vast amounts of mining that is required to produce solar panels and wind farms. Paul also discusses the Earth's weakening magnetic field and the threat of another ‘Carrington event'.   Next Paul updates us on his research into vaccines, including the consequences of immune distraction and the inherent toxicity of antigens and adjuvants.   Finally, we discuss the return of Alex Jones to X and how he eventually overcame the censorship that he has endured. We also discuss some US politics, among many other issues such as the flat Earth theory, whether humans can adapt to AI and much more.     Please follow or contact Paul Vallejo at: https://www.facebook.com/paul.vallejo.33   SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for the X-Candidates at ‘Buy Me A Coffee' – Donate or Sign up for our Membership https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xcandidates   Hosted by: ·        Adam Zahra - One Nation candidate for Macarthur (Federal) and Campbelltown (NSW) https://www.facebook.com/adam.zahra.3 https://twitter.com/AdamZahra2023 https://www.instagram.com/zahra4campbelltown   ·        Steven Tripp – Former candidate for Warringah https://www.facebook.com/RealStevenTripp https://twitter.com/RealStevenTripp https://spectator.com.au/author/steven-tripp   Follow us on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GIXhHBogM1McL5EPGP3DT Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/ExCandidates Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XCandidates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theXCandidates Twitter: https://twitter.com/theXCandidates YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@XCandidates Gab: https://gab.com/XCandidates Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/XCandidates Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@ExCandidates Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ex-candidates/id1631685864   Please share and spread the word!   #AusPol #nswpol #interview #podcast #politics #commentary #australia #carrington #event #renewables #cobalt #mining #flatearth #ai #alexjones #elonmusk #vivekramaswamy #rkf #vaccines #diedsuddenly #nasa #science

Paul recaps week eight of the College Football season. He starts out with the NFL Draft Report. He shares the S2S first and second string teams of the week. He discusses one draft eligible quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end for both the first and second teams of the week and the impact of the 2024 NFL Draft. Then he discusses the struggles from a trio of top quarterback prospects this week in Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr.  Next Paul goes to the Devy Slant and discusses the performances from quarterback Drew Allar and running back Quinshon Judkins from this past week.  In the third segment, Paul delivers the NFL Rookie Report for week seven of the NFL season. He discusses some of the top rookie performances and its fantasy and real life impact.  Lastly, Paul closes the show with the NFL Fantasy Dynasty Stock report. He discusses the uncertainty and questions in dynasty rankings right now after the top eight quarterbacks, top 11 running backs and top 15 wide receivers.   To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

Paul recaps week five of the College Football season with the 2024 NFL Draft Report. He discusses the S2S first and second string teams of the week. He discusses one quarterback, one running back, one wide receiver and one tight end for both the first and second teams of the week that stood out during week five of the college football season.  Next Paul goes to the Devy Report and discusses some of the top underclassmen prospects from week five of the college football season that are not draft eligible.  In the third segment, Paul delivers the NFL Rookie Report for week four of the NFL season. He discusses some of the top rookie performances and its fantasy and real life impact.  Lastly, he closes the show with the NFL Fantasy Dynasty Stock report by discussing some of the biggest storyline from week four of the NFL season. He discusses who has seen their stock rise and fall after week four   To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.IntroductionAs we have learned, in Matt 19 / Mark 10 Jesus is weighing in on the Shammai-Hillel debate. He rejects the any-cause divorce of Hillel.Familiarity with this debate is crucial if we are to appreciate the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees.Yet Mark doesn't mention the exceptions. In Mark 10 it sounds like all divorce is wrong. (Which it is—often—but many times it's not the problem it's the solution.)Knowledge of the ancient world is essential for accurate translation of ancient languages, balanced and nuanced theology, and appreciation of the topography of scripture.By 2nd C, the interpretation of the House of Hillel rules. “Any cause” divorce is now the only kind among the Jews. The condensed language of the remarriage passages was no longer intelligible. Critical facts relating to divorce and remarriage were forgotten.But we're in a great position to be better informed. Since 1850 every major commentary on Matt has covered the S/H disagreement. Sadly, many scholars don't pass on this information to their church. Most predictably follow the party line of their denomination. Let's not do that. You can study the ancient sources and become informed. If you want to do some historical study, I-B's books are very helpful.Let's do our best to respect God's Word, taking into account these ancient sources. (As for 2nd-4th century Church Fathers, we will address these in the final talk.) By “ancient sources” I mean essential background information yielded by rabbinic Judaism, Roman law, and numerous M&D documents.2. Matt 5:31-32Jesus overstates (hyperbole) to grab our attention. Immorality wasn't the only ground for divorce in the Bible. Jesus is saying that divorce must be justified."Makes her commit adultery?" The woman becomes defiled, or adulterated—assuming she remarries; she isn't automatically an adulteress.Matt 5:32 literally understood directly contradicts Deut 24:1-4, which permitted remarriage after divorce.3. HyperboleCommon in Semitic speech and throughout the Bible. Examples: Hate your father and mother; everything is possible for the one who believes; speaking in languages of angels; faith moving mountains.This section of Matt 5: v.28 is full of hyperbole.Examples: lust is adultery in the heart (v.28); pluck out an eye (v.29); lop off a hand (v.30); remarriage is adultery (v.32).Elsewhere in Matthew, consider 6:3; 7:5; 19:24; and 23:24.Thus interpreting this part of Matt 5 figuratively is well precedented and exemplified.Non-literal interpretations don't necessarily weaken the force of Scripture, or make it impossible to settle on a clear meaning. Jesus clearly (and shockingly) teaches:Monogamy; divorce not compulsory in the case of adultery (“allowed,” not commanded”); marriage not compulsory for anybody; hence infertility is not a legitimate ground for divorce; divorce for "any matter" is invalid—and so remarriage after this divorce is adulterous; marriage to be lifelong—it's against God's will to break up a marriage.4. Jesus' positionHe's not saying:Divorce is always wrong—but there must be valid grounds.Sexual immorality is the only ground for divorce—only that this is the topic of Deut 24.Remarriage is wrong. Craig Keener: “If the exception [of Matt 5 and 19] permits divorce, the average first-century Jewish reader would ​assume that it permitted remarriage, unless explicitly informed otherwise; part of the very nature of the divorce document was to free the wife to remarry.”Divorced persons are still mystically bound to their ex-spouse, unless that person has died.Those remarried without proper grounds must return to the previous spouse.He doesn't tell the Samaritan woman to return to her first—or fifth—husband.Two wrongs don't make a right: breaking up remarriages based on any-cause divorce and requiring a return to one's original spouse. (This is actually forbidden in Deut 24:4.)We should disfellowship the divorcee, or glare at them disapprovingly.He is saying:Divorce for just "any cause" is invalid—and so remarriage after this divorce is adulterous.We should respect God's original plan: monogamy with fidelity.Celibacy is also good.Even if a divorce is justified, we should be slow to carry it out. Consider God's "divorce" of  Israel and Judah.Marriage is meant to be lifelong—it's against God's will to break up a marriage. Work at your marriage!5. ConclusionThere are some things in the Bible that we don't understand without some background information, or without the benefit of careful study.The ancient dispute: Is any-cause divorce legitimate, or are grounds necessary, as stipulated in Torah?Jesus' teaching turned popular teaching on D&R on its head—not because he was forbidding D or R, but because most religious teachers had drifted so far from God's holy standards.Next: Paul's on divorce and remarriage in 1 Cor 7. We depart from the Jewish world and enter the Greco-Roman world. 

Paul shares his 2023 tiered rooking rankings for dynasty rookie drafts. He first discusses his quarterback tiers, then his running back tiers, followed by his wide receiver tiers and lastly his tight end tiers.  He discusses why he has these prospects in specific tiers.  Next Paul shares his updated overall dynasty superflex big board for rookie drafts and discusses his changes after doing some of his own drafts. Lastly, Paul discusses where the value is in rookie drafts this year, where the talent level falls off and how he would be aggressive in making some trades during rookie drafts if possible.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2Sunday

You remind me of the pod…the pod with the geeks. Paul and Arlo fall down the rabbit hole of another Geek Challenge, this time pitting Jim Henson's 1986 cult classic Labyrinth against Jan Švankmajer's 1988 headtrip Alice. Henson's film finds Jennifer Connelly dancing with David Bowie and a variety of Muppets as she attempts to rescue her baby brother, while Švankmajer's finds Kristýna Kohoutová assailed by a variety of bizarre stop-motion creations and a taxidermied rabbit. It should be obvious who picked which movie. Topics of discussion include codpieces, sellouts, practical effects, and weird sex, among others.   NEXT: Paul and Arlo ride through The Last of Us' post-apocalypse with the inestimable Dale Guffey and Ensley F. Guffey     BREAKDOWN 00:00:52  -  Intro / Reminiscence on Vomit 00:42:07  -  Alice 01:19:20  -  Labyrinth 02:11:50  -  Outro / Next     LINKS To Solve the Labyrinth: An Essay Film About a Fantasy Film by J.D. Hansel INTERVIEW WITH JAN ŠVANKMAJER by Virginie Sélavy, Electric Sheep     MUSIC “Magic Dance” by David Bowie, Labyrinth (Original Soundtrack) (1986) “Alice” by Sisters of Mercy (1982) GOBBLEDYCARES National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/  Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/ Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/  US (877) 565-8860 Canada (877) 330-6366 National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/  Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/ Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/ Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

The first episode of the Jam & Cheese show is finally here! The boys discuss Brandon settling into Bondi, the Roosters recruitment drive, round 1 expectations & Brandon's future career in boxing.  Please let us know what you think and any feedback is always appreciated!  Help support the podcast by grabbing some merch from - https://thebyeround.com/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acts 28:30-31 For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.Acts 16:6-13 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.Acts 16:14-15 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.Practicing the ways of JesusA CONVERSATION STARTER WITH… God: How can I be more like Lydia, who offered her gift of hospitality to help others know Jesus.A PRACTICE: How can I be more of about “rolling out the carpet” and less of a “circling the wagons” as a Christ follower?

The 2023 Senior Bowl Week is here. Paul discusses his thoughts on many of the offensive skill players down in Mobile and some quick thoughts on the first day of practice reports.  Paul also discusses the prospects he thinks could see their stock rise from the event and use the week as a spring board to their draft stock.  Next Paul discusses all of the top offensive prospects from the 2023 Shrine Bowl as well. He shares his scouting notes and who could see their stock rise.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here.   Hosts: Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2Sunday

Paul starts out the show with the 2023 NFL Draft Stock Report following Championship Weekend. First he discusses the big names that have entered the transfer portal including DJ Uiagalelei, Devin Leary, Phil Jurkovec, Theo Wease and Dorian Singer. Next Paul discusses some of the major prospects who have decided to return to school or declare for the 2023 NFL Draft including quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr and Anthony Richardson and the stunning decision of Kayshon Boutte to return to college. Lastly, to conclude the NFL Draft Stock Report Paul discusses some of the top performances and things that stood out from Championship weekend. Some of the players discussed include Stetson Bennett, Deuce Vaughn, Josh Downs, Quentin Johnston and Darnell Washington.  In the Devy Slant, Paul discusses some of the top underclassmen in the country. This week he discusses how high the ceilings and upside are of two of the best players in all of college football in quarterback Caleb Williams and tight end Brock Bowers.  Next Paul delivers the NFL Rookie Report for week 13 of the NFL season. Some of the rookies discussed include Kenneth Walker, Zonovan Knight, Brock Purdy, Brian Robinson, Garrett Wilson, Drake London, Treylon Burks and Chris Olave.  Paul closes out the show with NFL Dynasty Stock Report for this week. Some of the players discussed include Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Deshaun Watson, Alvin Kamara, D'Andre Swift and Chase Claypool.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here.   Hosts: Matt Caraccio (@matty_S2S) Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2Sunday

Unexpected OutcomesThroughout many of our life experiences, we often encounter the unexpected. Unexpected outcomes may be a surprise to us, but we can live with confidence that they are no surprise to God. Relying on God's guidance throughout our life can help us to overcome challenges and take advantage of new opportunities to the glory to God. --- God can do amazing things through ordinary people who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit was given to all believers and the church was born. The church is God's chosen instrument in the world for sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. The book of Acts is all about the unhindered movement of God throughout the world as the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed through the church. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the early church was an unstoppable movement that proclaimed the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ as the only way to eternal life. Today, the church empowered by the Holy Spirit is called to continue God's redeeming work in the world by fulfilling God's mission of making Jesus known to the ends of the earth. Acts of the Apostles 15:36-41 NLTAfter some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let's go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord's gracious care. Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there. • • •Acts of the Apostles 16:1-10 NLTPaul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek. Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day. Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. • • •Sermon Points (Life Lessons from Paul's Journey):1. Not all endings are happy endings. (Acts 15:36-41)2. Invite others to be a part of your life. (Acts 16:1-5)3. Rely on God's guidance. (Acts 16:6-10) • • •Supporting Texts:2 Timothy 4:112 Timothy 3:14-17Philippians 2:3-4Romans 12:1-2 • • •Challenge: When it comes to following God's guidance, begin by obeying God's will for your life as revealed in the Bible. Make sure to pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and seek the wisdom and counsel of Godly people in your life. Yield your life to God, because going through life with God will always be better than going through life without God!

[Psalm 37:23] The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. God __________________ in opening doors for the godly to walk through. [Acts 16:6-9] Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. [7] Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. [8] So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. [9] That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" The __________________ of an open door does not __________________ you should go through it. Does the door go against __________________? [Psalm 119:105] Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. God will __________________ give you an open door that goes against His Word. [Proverbs 12:15] Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. Does the door bring __________________ to God or you? Do you have __________________ about walking through the door? [2 Corinthians 2:12-13] When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me. [13] But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn't yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him. God usually doesn't __________________ why a door closes. [Proverbs 20:24] The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?

How should Christians relate to beauty and ugliness? For that matter, how should followers of Jesus relate to truth and falsehood? To begin to answer these questions, I look to Philippians 4:5-9 where the Apostle Paul writes about what we think about and how we feel, as well as what our expectation of benefit should be when our hearts and our minds are oriented and calibrated correctly. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone," he says. And I take this as a mandate to reasoning and logic out loud and in the open. Next Paul reminds the church at Philippi that "The Lord is at hand," and to not be anxious. Instead, we are to present our requests to God "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." Then Paul says to think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. And what if we made the study of all these things a systematic and logical thing within the broader context of love for and devotion to the Almighty? As it turns out, I think this is precisely what historically happened, and that the same explains the rise of advanced sciences in the West in a way those pursuits and their codification did not happen outside the influence of Theology being "the queen of the sciences." Moreover, given such an origin story for the scientific method, the advanced sciences cannot long be sustained in a practically beneficial way except in the context in which they arose - love for God and love for our neighbor. But we must believe that truth, honor, justice, purity, and loveliness - also alternatively known as beauty - are real things that exist in order to think on them, much less make an orderly and productive study of them. This is just another way of saying that this presumption to God's glory is the root of scientific research. So also, what follows in Paul's letter to Philippian Christians about practicing what we have learned, received, and heard, plus the promise of the God of peace being with us, is the basis for practical sciences to the end of developing technology useful to craftsmanship and human flourishing. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/support

In our look at 1 Corinthians 3 we discuss: - The Spiritual Nature vs the Fleshly Nature: There is a vast difference between God and everyone else. He is higher and greater and above us all. Apart from Him, we are helpless and hopeless in our sin. However, Jesus and His Cross bring salvation to us all. In Him, we can be revived from sin and regenerated by His Spirit. Our fleshly nature still lingers, but if we rest in Christ and rely on Him alone we can overcome and thrive. - What is our most primal expression of our fleshly nature: In Corinth, the people were held back by their spiritual immaturity and lack of growth. This is why there was a great deal of jealousy, animosity, and competitiveness amidst the church. We discuss how it is from this place that our flesh stunts our growth the most. - What's Now impacts what's Next: Paul implores the Corinthians to rest firm on their one and only foundation, and build towards eternity. He breaks down how we will all be judged for what we did with our salvation. We will only make a difference for Christ with our lives, if He has first made a difference in our hearts. In the last part of this message, we discuss the judgement to come and the rewards/consequences for the lives we live.

This week the boys have Award Winning Director Matthew Mayer on to discuss his new short film "The Gift." The guys talk about the ins and outs of directing a film. Matt breaks down his journey through film school and how international movies have become a favorite for him. Next Paul talks about the beauty of the "one take," Ryan learns the difference between Score and Soundtrack and Matt emphasizes the importance of continuity in a film. This episode is filled with great conversations that you will not want to miss. As always, grab a beer and enjoy the show! #Movies #Entertainment #Filmmaking Get 10% OFF ScubaBeer with Promo Code "LIFESAPARTY" at Scubabeer.com Welcome to Life's A Party Podcast

Paul and Jeff are joined by special guest Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio. To start the show Matt talks about his process a little and how he adjusts it at times and how it naturally evolves.  Next Paul and Jeff ask Matt to elaborate on some of the 2022 quarterback prospects and he shares some of the strengths or concerns he has on Skyler Thompson, Carson Strong, Malik Willis and Desmond Ridder.  In the next segment, the guys discuss some of the 2022 running back prospects and the challenges of making an overall running back board when comparing certain running backs to others based on their skill set is not a fair comparison. Some of the running backs Matt shares his thoughts on include James Cook, Rachaad White, Isaih Pacheco, Kennedy Brooks, Keontay Ingram and Brian Robinson.  Following the running back discussion the guys discuss some of the 2022 wide receiver prospects. The first name discussed is Justyn Ross and Matt shares how he approached evaluating him considering the time he has missed over the last two years and the lack of production compared to his freshman year. Some of the other receivers discussed in detail include Chris Olave and Traylon Burks.  In the final segment, Matt shares his thoughts on some of the top tight end prospects and the process behind evaluating them. Some of the prospects discussed in detail include Charlie Kolar, Jeremey Ruckert and Cade Otton.  To purchase the S2S Premium Notebooks for $9.99 or to read the full descriptions of what is in each notebooks, click here. Sponsors: Scouting Academy Hosts: Matt Caraccio (@matty_S2S) Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Jeff Abercrombie (@theSofascout) Editor: David Nakano (@KawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

In the Second and final hour of Vanessa and Gallant, Paul begins the hour recapping the NCAA National Championship Game. Next Paul talks about The Masters and Tiger Woods saying he is gonna play after many injury concerns. To cap off the last hour of the show Paul asks listeners if they would go to The Masters. 

In the first hour of Vanessa and Gallant, Paul begins the show talking about the Kansas Jayhawks comeback against the North Carolina Tar heels in the NCAA National Championship Game. Next Paul gets into the MLB allowing players to use Anti-Sign-Stealing Devices during the regular season. To cap off the hour Paul talks about Houston Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks and whether the Houston Texans should trade him or keep him on the roster. 

Hot show this week as the boys welcome another guest to the set. Jake Perry joins the party, but comes bearing gifts, as the fellas start this episode by ripping some airplane Fireball shots. Next Paul breaks down how you guys can sign up to be a Patreon member and he then gives a sneak peak on some of the dope content that is now up and available exclusively for members only. So definitely check that out! Getting into the show, the boys debate whether they think Tom Brady is going to retire... lol (Well we know the answer now) and then talk about the cultural impact the NFL has on today's society. Then the fun really begins when the crew plays a game called "Truth or Drink." This game leads to some hilarious stories that well, maybe weren't even able to make the YouTube final cut for legal reasons. But you can check it out fully on Patreon if you want to hear the more detailed version. The stories are great and laughs are shared throughout the entire segment so you will want to stick around. Lastly Jake challenges Paul in a 1vs1 movie trivia contest and it's a a lot closer than you may think, so tune in and play along at home. Enjoy the show and make sure to give us a thumbs up on the video and subscribe! #NFL #Party #Trivia Get 10% OFF ScubaBeer with Promo Code "LIFESAPARTY" at Scubabeer.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifesapartypod/support

Episode 69! Kid's show... What a week the boys had!!! Yes, we talk about living life to the fullest but we are actually out here living it and we hope you guys are as well! Paul starts the show talking about his Disney trip for his birthday where he meets another influencer that he has watched from afar but now has connected with in person. Next Paul explains the best roller-coaster he has EVER been on! You do not want to miss it. Following Disney, Ryan breaks down his FIRST stand-up comedy gig at the #2 comedy club in New York City. Nerves were at an all-time high but Ryan talks about the experience of performing at the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC that he will remember forever. FINALLY the fellas dive into their review of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" * SPOILER ALERT!!! This show is full of content that you will not get anywhere else, so as always, grab a beer, relax and join the party!!! #Comedy #Disney #Spiderman Get 10% OFF ScubaBeer with Promo Code "LIFESAPARTY" at Scubabeer.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifesapartypod/support

[Acts 16:6-7] Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. [7] Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. God's “_______” is as good as His “_______.” God wants you to have joy _______ ______________ ________. [Philippians 1:3-6] Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. [4] Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, [5] for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. [6] And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. I can have joy knowing that God always ______________ what He ______________. A mark of a mature Christian is how we respond to ___________ ___________. Happiness is ______________, but joy is ______________. [2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV] Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Don't let the things you can't control, ___________________ you. [Philippians 1:12] And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. [13] For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. [14] And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. Happiness happens by ______________, but joy happens by ______________. [Psalm 119:143] As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Our joy is found in ______________ alone. [Philippians 1:20-23] For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. [21] For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. [22] But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. [23] I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. [24] But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Well hey there everyone  -  hello hello. Welcome to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - getting the promises of God into the people of God, one podcast episode at a time. This is episode number 77. And I am so glad you are here!    Today we are taking a look at a few verses from the NT.    Philippians 1:9-11 from the Amplified.   Let me read them to you:     And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more [displaying itself in greater depth] in real knowledge and in practical insight,so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent [identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences], and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin]; filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized].   Okay, wow so that is a lot, right? I mean, reading it was kind of like drinking from a fire hose. There is a whole lot here. How do we even begin to live this?  Well the answer, and you already know it, is we don't do it on our own. It is literally impossible to do life as a disciple of Jesus on our own. We must have, rely on daily kind of must have, the Holy Spirit leading us, correcting us, teaching us, giving us wisdom, providing all the fruits of the Spirit, doing His good work in us and then through us.  We will find Phil 1:9-11 becoming our reality by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Right there, right from the get-go, we have this instruction about how to become people whose love abounds more and more, love that keeps displaying itself in greater and greater depth - in real knowledge (like, is it practical as these verses say? What good is knowledge that just puffs us up? No good, as far as the Kingdom of God goes - and time is too short to dabble around in puffy uppy knowledge. NO, thank you!)   Let's just go through these verses one little step at a time and find the promises God has here for us. He is always speaking to us via His Word and that is not going to stop - so we need to get into our Bibles with a mindset that the Lord speaks through His Word. I believe we can expect that to happen.    First, make a plan to pray. And I mean, plan for prayer time. Don't just hope you can grab a bit of time here and there to pray. Yes, pray here and there and talk to the Lord all throughout the day - do that, but don't not do the other! And the other would be to have time to really just be with the Lord and pray. The kinds of things the apostle Paul was talking about here don't happen with flippant, just got a couple of seconds praying, right?    What did he teach us to pray for?  That our love may abound more and more. This is for all Christ followers, for the big C church every one of us. That our love will display itself in greater depth. OOH, that's good. And the reason it's good, is because it's gonna leave a mark. Like when one of your siblings pops you real good and another sibling laughs and says that is gonna leave a mark! Yeah, love that displays itself in greater depth will leave a mark. Will it sometimes be hard? Uncomfortable to love that? Sure. How did Jesus love us? He didn't stay in the comfortable lane, and so part of our sanctification, our becoming more and more like our Lord, will be uncomfortable.    Paul prayed for real knowledge and practical insight - this is for the real world, the walking around world, the nitty gritty world we live in every single day folks. Real knowledge will help you in your job - in your relationships - in your decision making - in your parenting - to know when to put down the phone and take a break from social media and when not to reply to somebody with that snarky comment. Practical insight. Next Paul says, so that you will learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent. What is excellent? Um, well, whatever God would qualify as excellent, that's also what we want to call excellent. Learn to recognize the goodness, the excellence, of God at work in this world, in your life. Learn. Look for it. Ask Him to make it clear to you. Expect Him to be doing stuff - because I promise you He surely is! And then, treasure those excellent things. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father, says the book of James. Every. No wiggle room there. Something good? Perfect? It's from the Father. Period.    The AMP clarifies a bit about excellence - it says identifying the best and distinguishing moral differences. Yes! When we can identify the best, wow, just think of what that does in our lives? Time isn't wasted so often because we can identify the best versus what's pretty good. And distinguishing moral differences - hey, there has possibly never been a time when we have needed this ability more than now! Things like everywhere are moral issues now - everybody has a moral stance on an issue of the day. And hey, surprise, not all their moral stances align with the Word of God. We need to know what God wants us to know in these days.    And that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.   I don't want anything getting in the way of my focus on having oil in my lamp, being fully ready when Jesus returns. And every day, every moment, literally brings us closer to His return. So, when I meet Him face to face, I want to be pure and blameless. But to be pure and blameless on that day, I need the Holy Spirit to help me be pure and blameless on this day and every day until that day. So yeah, praying these verses has an impact on my right now and on my last day. Thank the Lord He has given us His word and that we can learn from it, grow in it, believe it, pray that He will bring it to fruition in our lives. I am just so grateful for that! And I hope you are, too. God's Word is always, always bringing us hope.   But we must yield to the Holy Spirit! When He is leading, don't resist Him. Don't fight. Where He leads me, there I will follow. I'll go with, with Him all the way. He wants our lives to lead others away from sin. Sin has collateral damage. It just does. Jesus wants that collateral damage to be the absolute minimal it can be. He wants people out of sin. And He wants us to live lives that lead others out of sin - away from it. Far, far away from sin.   Filled with the fruit of righteousness - think of the fruit of the Spirit. Having lives marked by evidence of the Holy Spirit, so that people can actually see the difference Jesus makes in our lives. And in their lives! If I am living for the Lord, it ought to make an impact on somebody else, too!     To the glory and praise of God - so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized.   Now if you start praying this over your spouse - your kids - your co-workers - your local church and your small group Bible study - over what you post on social media - your free time - your neighbors. Ummm, can you even start to imagine what could happen?    A lot. A lot, that's what.   Also, if you would like to sign up for my email list at my website, I am going to start sending out more regular emails. Nothing overwhelming, our inboxes are so full already, but things like a Bible verse and a prayer and maybe the verse for the next podcast episode. I have seen my sign ups increasing the last few weeks and I think I should be better about encouraging listeners and readers with God's promises.   Pray big prayers based on the Word of God this week and expect to see God move in answer to your praying!   Praying Through the Storm online prayer retreat group  Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon Stay up-to-date and sign up for my email list at JanLBurt.com

Hunter and Brodie debate who would win the disc golf version of the Ryder Cup, should disc golf have bunkers or artificial obstacles and is there a better way for tee timesSUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3sUUCBuWatch the podcast: https://youtu.be/d6uSEAzpxasCheck out the Store: http://foundationdiscs.comJoin our Patreon to receive early access to disc drops, bonus YouTube videos, and the exclusive podcast, Bogey Banter: http://patreon.com/foundationdiscgolfFacebook: http://facebook.com/foundationdiscsTwitter: http://twitter.com/DebateNightPodTwitter: http://twitter.com/foundationdgInstagram: http://instagram.com/foundationdiscgolfDiscord: http://discord.gg/foundationdiscgolf

Onward Podcast Host, Emily Harman is coached by her guest, Paul Pettit, in a Mindfulness Based Life Coaching session. This is one of the practices Paul uses with clients. Every listener can participate, as Paul shows, rather than tells, you how you can become aware of the obstacles blocking your pathway to happiness. First, Paul shares an explanation of Knowing (about something) versus having Knowledge of (something). After that, he shares an explanation of Form & Formless (physical form) & (emotional formless). Next, he explains Subjective and Objective awareness as well as how they are interdependent, and create our emotional state-of-being. After that, Paul explains the multi-faceted thing we call Self. Finally, Paul coaches Emily. Listen, learn, and discover as Paul and Emily discuss what comes up for Emily during the session.  Episode Highlights: First, Paul Pettit and Emily prepare for the coaching session.  You can read a lot of books but experience is the best teacher. Also, Paul's specialty is Mindfulness Based Life Coaching. Furthermore, his coaching is about the mind and the brain. Emily has no idea how this session will go. We search for happiness but it's really about removing the barriers so we can remove them. Next, Paul explains the difference between knowing and knowledge. Paul says he's going to help Emily discover the formless parts of herself. Also, our thoughts create our feelings. And, our thoughts about circumstances create our reality. Next Paul says he'll help Emily become more aware of what's blocking her pathway. Paul asks Emily to name something that's bothering her. Emily's response is that she hates to make sales. Then, listen as Paul helps Emily uncover the reason.  Also, this is something Emily has only shared with a handful of people We're perfect in our imperfection. Your job is to be YOU! Finally, It's all about accepting yourself. Uniting the body, mind, and soul and love them. Resources Mentioned:  Take the opportunity to arrange a free 15 minute session with Paul Click here Connect with Paul on LinkedIn Visit Paul's website Check out Paul's Mindfulness Mondays Podcast and Books Onward Podcast Episode: Your Job is to Be You: How to Find Happiness with Paul Pettit Check out Onward Podcast Episode: Reduce Anxiety & Fear: 5 Simple Steps with Paul Pettit Onward Podcast Episode: Be Resilient and Set Yourself Up For Success Connect with Emily on LinkedIn  Emily Harman Mental Fitness Program  Onward Accelerator Coaching Program Onward: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Onward Movement Facebook Group | YouTube Schedule a Complimentary Coaching Call with Emily Soul Pajamas    

Title: Heritage of Faith Text: 2 Timothy 1:3-7 FCF: We often struggle courageously sharing our faith Prop: Because our faith has a great heritage, sometimes in blood and Spirit, we must thankfully pass on that heritage. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 2 Timothy chapter 1. Last week we only just began this second letter from Paul to Timothy. At our bible study this week, we noted some distinct differences between this book and the previous two pastoral epistles. The tone, themes, and scope of this letter seems to be slightly different than the previous two. I Timothy and Titus focused on the organization and construction of the church based on the gospel of Christ. That doctrine received in true faith produces people conformed to Christ. Therefore, the church is formed, shaped, organized and structured as one diverse but united body around the gospel of Jesus Christ. Certainly this remains true in 2 Timothy, but Paul has a different message, one that he sets out to convey to Timothy from the word go. He has already hinted at it in the first two verses and will continue to press it forward in the scripture passage today. Paul is nearing the end of his life and tenure on earth. He foresees that although he has been imprisoned several times, he will not be released this time. Whether by spiritual insight or sheer human observation, Paul knows that his life will be over soon. And so, he writes to Timothy, his dear, young, and true child in the faith. He writes, not because something is happening in Ephesus that needs correction, but because something will be happening in Rome soon and Timothy needs to be prepared for it. Paul writes to pass on the mantle of his calling to Timothy. All that Paul writes in this letter, is endeavoring to lead Timothy to these conclusions. He must endure and the church must endure with and for the sake of the gospel of Christ. So Paul begins his plea to Timothy. And part of that plea is to show Timothy that they are very similar. He begins revealing this in verse 3 of 2 Timothy chapter 1. I am reading from the NET today which you can follow on page 1342 in the pew bible. Transition: There are some language and logical difficulties to get to in this text, but by the end I hope you feel encouraged and empowered to do as Paul is asking Timothy to do. I know that at the end of my study I was greatly encouraged for a lot of reasons. I hope it is true for you also. Let's begin in verse 3. I.) Ancestral faith can be genuine, so we must thank the Lord for ancestral inheritance of faith. (3-5) a. [Slide 2] 3 – I am thankful to God, whom I have served with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, i. Verses 3-5 is one sentence in the Greek. Most of what has been translated as verbs, are actually participles linking all these thoughts together. ii. This is not uncommon in Greek – but for we English speakers it makes this sentence somewhat difficult to understand. Our primary struggle is knowing how each participial phrase links to the main verb and what is contributes to the overall sentence. iii. That is why every translation I read puts a period somewhere in here to help English speakers to sort out what is being said. iv. As we walk through this we will attempt to lace together the participles and best we can reconstruct the Greek thought and somehow get that into our English minds. v. Immediately Paul expresses that he has gratitude toward God. This is the main verb from which the entire sentence flows. We should keep this in our mind and try to connect each participial phrase to this main verb to see what function each phrase has. vi. For what is Paul thankful? We will have to wait for that – perhaps longer than you might think. vii. Next Paul says that he has served or rather that he is serving or serves God in the same manner that his ancestors did before. Namely, with a clear or pure conscience. viii. Certainly this does not contribute to the main verb so much as it expands on the God he is thankful to. But why Paul drags in his ancestors here is not readily apparent. ix. It also presents us with a difficult problem. To whom is Paul referring? x. He cannot be speaking about the Jews in general, for I think we can safely say that the vast majority of Jews did not serve God with a clear conscience. xi. He could be speaking about more recent ancestors such as his parents and grandparents – but this is not really what this word “ancestors” would refer to normally. xii. Perhaps we overcomplicate this discussion seeking to whom he is referring before we understand what it means to serve God with a clean or pure conscience. xiii. Serving God with a clean conscience when coupled with the teachings on the depravity of man and man's utter inability to please God without God interceding, can only lead us to one understanding of serving God with a clean or pure conscience. It is those who have been washed clean, forgiven, who have been given grace, and have trusted God and been counted righteous. Not a righteousness that is their own but one that is given. A foreign and perfect righteousness. xiv. Serving God with a pure conscience is serving Him faithfully and purely, which is impossible without God's intervention. xv. If we understand this – then the identity of those ancestors becomes apparent. Paul refers to True Israel. He refers to those within Israel that were actually real Israel. Not by blood only but by blood and Spirit. xvi. Again, we can only guess at this point why Paul brings this up – but as we keep going, we will see that Paul does have a reason for this, seemingly irrelevant detail. xvii. Continuing on we find the next participial phrase… b. [Slide 3] When I remember you in my prayers as I do constantly night and day. i. So to Greekify this up… ii. Constantly having remembrance concerning you in my prayers night and day. iii. So, we pick up the participle that begins this next phrase – constantly having remembrance. iv. What is clear is that this participial phrase does not tell us why Paul is thankful – but rather – when he expresses his thanks to God. v. It is in his prayers. The other words add more clarity. First, that he has remembrance concerning Timothy. This is a clunky expression in English but quite poetic in Greek. This having of remembrance is also done constantly. vi. Now there is some uncertainty as to whether night and day go with the next phrase or this one – but going along with “constancy” it seems like night and day go with his prayers. vii. This expression night and day with the word constant does not mean Paul is always praying, but rather, that there is no doubt a set time that he devotes to prayer (possibly evening and morning) in which he always has remembrances of Timothy, offering up thanksgiving to God for Him. viii. Let's carry on and see if we can find why Paul is thankful to God. c. [Slide 4] 4 – As I remember your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. i. This little verse has two participial phrases. ii. Longing to see you and remembering your tears. iii. So, what does this mean? iv. Most likely that Paul's last memory of Timothy was when they left one another at Ephesus. Timothy was no doubt crying as his brother left. This not only fills Paul's prayers and thanksgiving to God, but also fuels his longing to see Timothy. v. And nothing would or could make his joy more full than to see him one more time. vi. But neither of these thoughts express why Paul is thankful to God. vii. It is not until this next phrase that we find out why Paul is thankful to God. d. [Slide 5] 5 – I recall your sincere faith that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure is in you. i. So again, the Greek is cumbersome to our English minds. We are already stretched to put all this together – but now comes two lengthy participial phrases with many pieces. ii. Having taken remembrance of your sincere faith which inhabited first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, having been persuaded of that also in you. iii. Seeing this blend with the preceding statements – Paul's thankfulness to God is because Timothy's faith was real. iv. And here we find the secret to why Paul referenced his ancestors. Because here he references Timothy's lineage too. v. His grandmother had this faith. vi. His mother had this faith. vii. And the reason Paul is thankful, and hoping to be full of joy when next they see one another, is because he has been persuaded that Timothy has the same faith as his grandmother and mother. The same faith as Paul. The same faith as Paul's ancestors. viii. Paul in this book will go to great lengths to compare himself to Timothy in a flattering way to Timothy. No doubt to encourage him to take up Paul's mantle after he dies. e. [Slide 6] Passage Truth: Paul's teaching here calibrates a principle he points out in other letters. Paul has made the case in the corpus of his teaching that physical lineage does not equal spiritual lineage. Not all Israel is Israel. Not all children of Abraham are inheritors of the promise of Abraham. But in this text, we see the counterpoint to that teaching. Ancestral faith can prove itself to be genuine. f. Passage Application: And in those cases, as in all cases of genuine faith, there is joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for such a blessing. So, for Timothy, he should join with Paul in thankfulness to God for his heritage of faith, passed down from his grandmother and mother. g. [Slide 7] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the rest of scripture, we actually see how rare this heritage concept truly is. Indeed, there are many examples we have seen in scripture where a giant of the faith has children that are wicked and far from God. But when we see the entire story of the bible as the history of two families – the family of the serpent and the family of the seed – we see this heritage play out. Indeed, we who are true children of God, with sincere and enduring faith, have inherited a great heritage of faith. Sometimes by blood, but always by the Spirit of God. What a joy it is to share this common bond, and all the more when we are bonded in Spirit AND blood. h. Broader Biblical Application: And so, my friends, be thankful to God for the heritage of faith that you have. Look back at those who shared their faith with you, and gave you insight into the word. Although God is the one who brought you to life and gave you faith, those who taught you His truths played a part in God's work in you. Be thankful to God for His work and allowing them to help. Thank the Lord for your faith heritage and all the more for family who share this common bond with you. What a blessing that God does not always separate families, but adopts by His Spirit some who are already united by their blood. Transition: [Slide 8(blank)] So although faith does not automatically transfer to our families, it is a blessing from God when those in your family are granted grace and faith in Christ. For this Paul is thankful to the Lord – what a blessing, dare I say, even in addition to the blessing of salvation. To have those who are your Spiritual kin, also be your blood kin too. It is a blessing indeed. But does this heritage of faith impose upon us more responsibilities besides just thanksgiving to God? Indeed, it does. II.) Ancestral faith can be genuine, so we must prove this faith by stirring up our gifts in the Spirit. (6-7) a. [Slide 9] 6 – Because of this I remind you to rekindle God's gift that you possess through the laying on of my hands. i. Because of all of this. Because of his ancestry of faith and the certainty of it so much so that an apostle of God is convinced it is real. Because of all this ii. I am calling back to your mind Timothy. iii. Remember – to rekindle, to stir up, to rouse, to muster God's gift in you. iv. The gift that I saw to it that you received by placing my own hands on you in its gifting. v. So, Paul is very clearly telling Timothy to take the assurance of his faith and use that to encourage his own gift of God. vi. Some commentators suggest that Timothy must be lagging because of these statements. However, that pushes the text beyond what we are able to see. Not every command supposes a violation. Especially commands to continue doing something or to redouble something. vii. Given the context, we can see Timothy doing exactly as he has been commissioned in Ephesus, but because Paul will die soon – the need is great for Timothy to stir up or muster to a greater degree the gift of God. viii. But we are left to wonder what that gift is. ix. We know it is God's gift and that it was given in a specific ceremony of the apostle whereby he, and probably other leaders, did lay their hands on Timothy and he received this gift from God. x. But what is the gift. xi. Some say it is the Holy Spirit or grace, which means salvation. Some say this is the gift of pastor/teacher, the gift of teaching, the call to ministry and evangelism. xii. It could be any of these. Even in salvation, we see one perplexing and unique example in Acts where people received the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts when people laid hands on them. xiii. However, given the context and purpose of this letter, it seems to make most sense that Paul is talking about Timothy's pastoral giftings and call to preach the gospel. xiv. This is not without grace or the Spirit of God certainly – but based on what Paul will be pushing him toward in the following context (even beyond our text this morning) it seems best to speak of the ministerial call of Timothy. xv. However, this view is challenged in the next verse when Paul says… b. [Slide 10] 7 – For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control i. So our first question is what is this Spirit to which Paul is referring. Is he speaking to the spirit of man? ii. It could be that in a sense God did give all men spiritual natures. However, as this continues it expresses certain virtues and fruit that only come from a person who is a believer. And therefore, it cannot be talking of a general spirit given to all men but a specific spirit given to believers. iii. This could still speak of a disposition or an attitude- but at the end of this section in verse 14 Paul clearly speaks of the things entrusted to Timothy coming through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. iv. Therefore, I conclude that Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit here. v. However, this adds a wrinkle. Although we concluded that the gift that God gave Timothy by the laying on of hands is probably his call to minister, this verse makes it seem like it is his salvation – or the gift of the Spirit. vi. However, we can easily see how the gifting and calling of a man to preach the gospel, is related to this thought. Especially as Paul continues in verse 8 which we will get to next week, Lord willing. vii. The gift is indeed the call to preach but the relationship of that call to the exact identity of the Spirit that God has given us is… that the Spirit God gave Timothy comes alongside the gift of the call to preach so that it is a call full of power, love, and self-control – and not of fear. viii. Paul is not in this verse identifying the gift of God – but rather the reason his gift can and must be rekindled and stirred up. And the reason is, that the Spirit of God will not allow such a gift to hide in the shadows. ix. It will and must be stirred up to power, love and self-control. x. Timothy's timidness is challenged here. Not that he was a coward – but that he must speak boldly the truth and not allow himself to omit or exclude nor brow beat or destroy. He must speak the truth in power, in love, and in self-control. c. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: With this understanding that Paul presents, that He is convinced of Timothy's sincere faith passed down as his was also passed down, Timothy must do more than just be thankful to God. d. Passage Application: Timothy must continue to prove that faith genuine by cultivating and stirring up his spiritual gifts to continue to preach the gospel and continue that heritage. He must do this because the Spirit that gave these gifts, and is actively working through them, is not one who causes fear – but power, love, and self-control. e. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out, even though in the scriptures it is rare to find giants of the faith reproducing that in their children – that is not for lack of God commanding it to be so. God in many places expects His people to not only share their faith with everyone – but specifically – to train up their children in this truth. They are to pass on what they know to be true by the illumination of the Spirit. Only God can bring their children to life – but we can still teach. f. Broader Biblical Application: And so here at CBC, it is not enough for us to be thankful to the Lord for the heritage of faith that came before us. We must also look to the future and pass on that heritage. We must seek to replicate ourselves. Certainly, in our own families, but also outside of our blood. What shepherd would not leave 99 to find the one that is lost in certain peril. My friends, God has many who are His in this world. They are lost. They must needs be found. Does a shepherd stay and wait for a sheep to come home? No. Shall we stay here waiting for them to walk in? No. Conclusion: [Slide 13(end)] So what makes this so difficult for us? What is so problematic about replication? Evangelism? Witnessing? Soul-winning? Whatever you want to call it. Why is it so difficult? Paul hits the nail on the head. Fear. Could be fear of a lot of things. Probably the worst of them is fear of man. What will they think? What if they laugh at me? What if they argue with me? What if it changes our relationship? What if they get mad? What if they never speak to me again? Some fear being left with nothing to say. They fear that questions will be asked that they do not have answers to. They fear that they won't know enough or do enough to adequately lead someone to Christ. They fear that they will tell them something wrong and mess it all up. What if they are a different faith and I can't refute them? Some simply fear talking to people in general. Perhaps I'd speak to softly or too harshly. Perhaps I'd be too nervous to organize my thoughts. In this fear controls us. But Paul tells us what to do with that. My friends the Spirit that we have been given, the third person of the Godhead, the Comforter, the blessed Spirit of God, is not a Spirit that gives fear. He gives power. He gives love. He gives self-control. There are two components of the Spirit's work that help us. First, I think we have long been taught that it is up to us to convert people. Even the statements “lead them to Christ” and “soul-winning” convey that we have an integral part to play in someone's conversion. This lays such a weight on our shoulders. That we must convince people of the truth. What weights of burden this is. It makes us feel like we must be biblical scholars to confound the lies. But Paul says the opposite to the Corinthians. It was not by wise words but by the Spirit of God that you were saved. My friends – God doesn't need us to help him find His people. But He wants to use us to find them. Hear me now. It is not up to you to convince someone to get saved. All that is required is for you to bear witness to what God has done in your life. Certainly you should do this to the best of your ability. And certainly you should be as well versed in doctrine and faith as you can. But do you know how many people get into debates with Christians and by the skill of the Christian are convinced to convert? 0. None. How do I know that? All come by the regeneration of the Spirit and God giving them faith. ALL. What does that mean? It. Is. Not. Up. To. You. With that in mind. The Spirit we have within us to aid us in using our spiritual gifts to pass on this faith heritage, is a Spirit of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-CONTROL. You speak with boldness what God has done for you and in you. Knowing that He has done it all. Loving Him and His people enough to tell everyone you can, to eventually and hopefully find His people who are lost. And when you do face opponents – you control your tongue and gently refute their misunderstandings and misconceptions. This is the Spirit of God in us. And if, perchance, you do find someone whom God raises as you bear witness of Him – then you don't get any glory from that do you? No. You are just happy to be there. The tool God used to bring another wayward soul… home. The conduit to transfer truth from God to His newly born people. My friends, we have turned sharing our faith into such a chore – when it should be a great joy. We bear witness to the heritage of faith, and the mercies of God in the power, love, and self-control of the Spirit. It is not up to us. But He wants us to go and find His lost sheep. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. God's Spirit is in you, God's Son is with you, and God the Father will bear you up!

As Connecticut Today with Paul Pacelli heads towards the three-day weekend, we wanted to leave you with a nice parting gift to hold you over until Tuesday. First, Paul gave his thoughts on State Senator Chris Murphy teaming up with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in an attempt to unionize college athletics(0:43). Next Paul spoke with author Daniel Levin about his latest book, which talks about trying to find missing people in Syria (13:55). Bridgeport RTC Chair Anthony Minutolo called in to talk about absentee ballots in the City of Bridgeport (27:23). Finally, Paul spoke with State Senator Tony Hwang about an upcoming bill that has to do with early voting(33:41). Image Credit: Getty Images

A SEVENFOLD VIEW OF THE HOLY SPIRITJohn 16:13"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."There is a sense in which the Holy Spirit has always been in the world. For instance the Holy Spirit was in and worked in the lives of the saints in the Old Testament. David said in Psalms 51:11, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me." According to the way David prayed here, the Holy Spirit would come and go at will. He did not permanently indwell those who were permanently saved. So David prays, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”There when Jesus came and at the point where His public ministry began, He received the Holy Spirit without measure. John 3:34 says, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” Matthew 3:16 says, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:”I want us to get a sevenfold view of the Holy Spirit in this meditation.THE SPIRIT OF LIFERomans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” And we are told what this means practically and eternally. We are made free from the law of sin and death. This is in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ? I'm not talking about, are you in a Church? As important as church is in its proper place, the church cannot set one free from the law of sin and death. Only Jesus can do that. And the way He does that is first of all settle the penalty that was justly passed against us, i.e., death. This is the reason He came and died. He came and paid our sin debt in full. Next he sets us free from the law of sin and death by meeting the just demands of the law. The law no longer has a claim on us. Jesus has paid the penalty for us and the JUDGE has agreed that the payment He made for us satisfies His judgment against us. So, I am a sinner set free by grace as a gift to faith that will reach out and receive it as a gift. THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIPRomans 8:15, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."The words “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage. . .” translate “lambano” and means, “to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it.” It is an aorist tense verb which means a once-for-all act. Paul is saying that the gift of the Spirit was received at a time and place. The active voice means that a decision had to be made on their part. God forces salvation on no one. It is offered, and those receive salvation as a gift based on God's promise, come immediately into possession of eternal life. Eternal life is the present possession of the believer.When one is saved, he is indwelt from that time forward by the Holy Spirit which is the earnest of our salvation. The idea of the Spirit being the earnest of our salvation is for the purpose of assurance. How do I know I am saved? Because I already have the earnest of salvation and this earnest will never be taken away. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 1:22, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” The earnest is the down payment on and our guarantee of the completion of the transaction. The Holy Spirit is just a part of the whole that will be finished at the coming of our Lord. By this we know that God will finish what He set out to do. He will glorify us and take us as His bride and establish us in His eternal kingdom. He wants us to live on this earth after we are saved believing this. So He gives us the firm guarantee of the finished work. Salvation is God's work and you can be sure He will finish it.THE SPIRIT OF PROMISEEphesians 1:13 says, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," The steps are clearly set out in this verse. Paul says, “In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth.” There are two important steps spelled out here. First, one must hear the word of truth. It is not just any truth that one must believe to be saved. Second, he defines what word of truth He is speaking of. He spells it out, “the gospel of your salvation.” The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. This gospel is defined in 1 Cor. 15:1-3. Then it must be believed without mixture or error. It is not the death and resurrection plus something else like baptism or the Lord's Supper. These are great ordinances but they have no saving power. It is faith that what Jesus did on the cross completely satisfied the wrath of God against sin.I believe that and so does every saved person alive on this earth. If you are a church member and do not believe this, please go no further in your hypocrisy. It is not the brand that saves but the blood of the sinless Son of God that saves.The Spirit is the Spirit of promise. He is able to make a promise and keep it. This is what He did that sets us free. We have received the Holy Spirit of promise.THE SPIRIT OF POWER2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." We have not been given the spirit of fear. The word “fear” translates “deilia” and means, “timidity, fearfulness, cowardice.” The words “sound mind” translates “sophronismos” and means, “an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control.” Many believe Timothy was a timid person. And Paul used this to exhort him to boldness inpreaching the gospel. The word of God is, our authority. And when one teaches the Scripture he is not to do it apologetically. It is the word of God and once we are convinced of what it says, we are to preach with boldness.So Paul tells Timothy that God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Next Paul tells Timothy that the Spirit we received from God is,THE SPIRIT OF TRUTHThe Holy Spirit has nothing to do with wrong theology or wrong methods. Truth is the essence of the Holy Spirit's revelation. Thank the Lord we have His infallible illumination and his unfaltering guidance into all truth.Jesus deals with this in John 16:13, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."THE SPIRIT OF WISDOMThe Holy Spirit of wisdom is the Holy Spirit in essence. It is impossible for the Holy Spirit not to be wise. He has all the attributes of God because He is God. And God is Wisdom personified. There are many things said about the Spirit of wisdom in the Bible. Exodus 28:3 says, “And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.” God has given certain men the Spirit of wisdom to make the garments for the priest's office.James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and He is available continually. He indwells the believer supplying his every need. Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is knowing how to apply knowledge. Believers are pilgrims in a world that cares nothing for God. And we need the wisdom that God gives to make it in this world. There are the visas that missionaries have to get to enter the country of their calling. We definitely need the wisdom of God to give the right answers, to make the right statements, to be silent when we need to be silent, if we are going to obtain the legal status we need to enter the land. God alone can give the wisdom that we need. There are probably missionaries who will read this who could give testimony that they obtained a visa when it was said that it could not be done. But God . . .”I am sure that many have missed it because they did not find James 1:5 in time. God is so infinitely wise that He can give what is needed at the right time so that the people with whom we deal are surprised at themselves when they realize what they have done in granting certain things to the people of God. Only by God wisdom could it have been done. Then finally,THE SPIRIT OF GLORY1 Peter 4:14, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."As we are hated and reproached because of our identification with Christ and our love for Him, Peter says, “happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” And this likeness of Christ in suffering is a Divine enablement. God gives that special anointing so that the glow of God is upon the suffering saint, and the grace of God is manifest so that the observer sees that the reproached and suffering saint is getting power from another world. Manyhave been saved just by observing the suffering of the saints. How could this be? Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon them. It is unexplainable but also undeniable. May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.Don't forget to visit HardwareOnTheSquare.com and find out more about our amazing service and the only Pizza Restaurant in San Augustine Texas.

When we’re not contracting coronavirus, we’re contracting people to work on our houses. And sometimes those people, too, can be a plague. Paul and Arlo commiserate over uncomfortable contractor experiences, uncomfortable evangelicalism, and the uncomfortable intersection of those two very uncomfortable things. In other news, baby-faced Paul got his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and had to deal with some folks getting way too up in his personal space. Are we ready for a return to normal? No. No, we are not. Plus, we remember to talk pop culture and chat about the Oscar nominations.   NEXT: Paul decides on air during this very episode that next week will be this month’s Four-Color Flashback, discussing Vols. 1 & 2 of Daniel Warren Johnson’s Extremity.     MUSIC “Comfort Eagle” by Cake, Comfort Eagle (2001) “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues (1982)     GOBBLEDYCARES Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/ Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/ Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Today, Wednesday April 7 Romans 13:8-10 – Paying the Debt of Love “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. After Paul told his Roman readers to pay their taxes and keep all their bills and debts paid up, he instructs them to pay the debt that they owe to everyone and that is the debt of love. It is a debt that we can never end paying. We will owe this debt till our dying day. Remember Paul has been talking about our relationship and responsibilities with God, with other members in the Body of Christ, with our enemies and finally with the state. Next Paul enlarged the circle of responsibility by including other people besides government officials. "Love one another" is the basic principle of the Christian life. It is the "new commandment" that Christ gave to us (John 13:34). When we practice love, there is no need for any other laws, because love covers it all! If we love others, we will not sin against them. This explained why the Ten Commandments were not referred to often in the New Testament. In fact, the Sabbath commandment is not quoted at all in any of the epistles. As believers, we do not live under the Law; we live under grace. Our motive for obeying God and helping others is the love of Christ in our hearts. Paul now centers on the very heart of the problem—the human heart. Because the heart of man is sinful, God established government. But laws cannot change the heart; man's heart is still selfish and can be changed only by the grace of God. After we personally experience the love, grace and mercy of God through the cross of Jesus Christ ourselves we become a debtor to the love of God. And the only way we can continually pay this debt is to reach into God's limitless, endless reservoir of God's love and give His love to everyone around us. When we love others the way God loves us, we prove that we have experienced the reality of the love of God in Christ Jesus ourselves. And then, despite how we are being treated or persecuted, God's love will flow into us and through us. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5) God bless!

Dillon and Zach bring on another guest. Alex, an all time friend of Dillon, comes on and talks about his music. Tune in for a good cast. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dillon-moreth/support

Join Internationally Recognized Prophecy Expert, Minister, Speaker and Author, Paul McGuire as he analyzes current events through the lens of Bible Prophecy. Every Monday through Friday 4 - 6 PM Eastern Time. The Paul McGuire Report radio and television ministry is a ministry of faith and we are believing God each month to lay on the hearts of the listeners to support us if they are being blessed. We have asked, and are believing God, to touch the people of God, businesses and organizations to sow into this ministry that they also may be blessed! Your support enables us to stream Paul’s messages from God’s prophetic Word on Blog Talk Radio, PodBean, Brighteon.com, Odysee, Lbry.tv, YouTube, BitChute, SoundCloud, iTunes and various other podcast applications. With your help we are now broadcasting “The Paul McGuire Report” from our own TV and Production Studio on our Roku Channel as well as other channels as they become available. As we continue to trust in the Lord to build this ministry, HIS ministry, we believe He will lead us in the direction He would have us go. May the Lord bless you abundantly for responding to this call to action! Your gift makes it possible to continue our ministry work as together we share the Great Commission and point people to Jesus Christ. God works through your generous gifts to take the good news of Jesus Christ to millions of people worldwide! You can donate immediately by clicking HERE! Thank you for partnering with Paul McGuire Ministries sponsored by Paradise Mountain Church International! Your Brother in Christ Jesus, Paul McGuire WWW.PAULMcGUIRE.US  Music by Joseph Charles © 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Join Internationally Recognized Prophecy Expert, Minister, Speaker and Author, Paul McGuire as he analyzes current events through the lens of Bible Prophecy. Every Monday through Friday 4 - 6 PM Eastern Time. The Paul McGuire Report radio and television ministry is a ministry of faith and we are believing God each month to lay on the hearts of the listeners to support us if they are being blessed. We have asked, and are believing God, to touch the people of God, businesses and organizations to sow into this ministry that they also may be blessed! Your support enables us to stream Paul’s messages from God’s prophetic Word on Blog Talk Radio, PodBean, Brighteon.com, Odysee, Lbry.tv, YouTube, BitChute, SoundCloud, iTunes and various other podcast applications. With your help we are now broadcasting “The Paul McGuire Report” from our own TV and Production Studio on our Roku Channel as well as other channels as they become available. As we continue to trust in the Lord to build this ministry, HIS ministry, we believe He will lead us in the direction He would have us go. May the Lord bless you abundantly for responding to this call to action! Your gift makes it possible to continue our ministry work as together we share the Great Commission and point people to Jesus Christ. God works through your generous gifts to take the good news of Jesus Christ to millions of people worldwide! You can donate immediately by clicking HERE! Thank you for partnering with Paul McGuire Ministries sponsored by Paradise Mountain Church International! Your Brother in Christ Jesus, Paul McGuire WWW.PAULMcGUIRE.US  Music by Joseph Charles © 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Based on the following reading: “Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek. Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day. Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.” Acts of the Apostles 16:1-10 NLT https://www.bible.com/116/act.16.1-10.nlt

Today on Perry and Shawna Mornings it’s Freedom Friday and we’re celebrating the spiritual awakening that’s been going on in Israel since 2015!  One for Israel is among other things a media ministry that is producing videos the communicate the gospel in powerful ways to Hebrew speaking people in Israel and around the world.    Since 2015, their Hebrew speaking videos have been viewed 135 million times!  And with a world population of 7.5 million Hebrews speakers it’s safe to say that Hebrew speakers are hearing the gospel multiple times and many are coming to faith.  “Paul,” one of the producers of One for Israel joins the team today to sharing about this amazing awakening!    So, first Paul gives us the 30,000-foot view of what OFI is and what Jesus is doing among our Jewish friends.  Then Paul tells us about Dr. Aton Barr, an Israeli who heads the media ministry of OFI.  Dr. Barr’s background is advertising and he is using his amazing skills to produce state of the art, compelling “advertising” of the gospel!    Next Paul tells what the awakening looks like in Israel.  It’s essentially an underground virtual church of Jews who have embraced Jesus in the last 5 years.  Then, we have fun with this:  If you could receive $100 worth of something, what would it be?  Next Paul shares how their “Answering the Myths” video series has captured the attention of Jewish viewers and has created a conversation in Israel about Jesus that maybe hasn’t happened since the first century!    Then, Paul shares about how the name of Jesus is so controversial among Jews but how God in his plan is using this controversary to create curiosity!  Next, Paul shares how the Holy Spirit drawing Jesus of all kinds, from Orthodox to Atheist to non-religious Jews.  And we hear “Joshua’s” beautiful story of coming to faith, ( a non-religious Jew).    Then Paul shares how you and I can be involved in what Jesus is doing through prayer, with specific ways to pray into this.  And finally, Paul shares how Jesus gave him a passion to reach our Jewish friend with the love of Yeshua—in 2014 the Lord woke him up from sleep with the words, “A harvest is coming.”  And Paul believes that what we’ve seen is only the beginning!  Please share today’s show! 

The COVID-19 pandemic has largely been a story of numbers.Daily reports tell us the number of new cases, the number of hospitalizations, the number of outbreaks and the number of deaths.The numbers are a dispassionate, point-in-time measure necessary to track the footprint of the deadly coronavirus as it continues its advance into homes, businesses, churches, even hospitals.But they can't quantify the sense of loss that has pervaded life since the pandemic began six months ago — the loss of intimacy, tradition, confidence, and economic well-being.

Join Internationally Recognized Prophecy Expert, Minister, Speaker and Author, Paul McGuire as he analyzes current events through the lens of Bible Prophecy. Every Monday through Friday 4 - 6 PM Eastern Time. The Paul McGuire Report radio and television ministry is a ministry of faith and we are believing God each month to lay on the hearts of the listeners to support us if they are being blessed. We have asked, and are believing God, to touch the people of God, businesses and organizations to sow into this ministry that they also may be blessed! Your support enables us to stream Paul’s messages from God’s prophetic Word on Blog Talk Radio, PodBean, YouTube, Brighteon.com, SoundCloud and various other podcast applications. With your help we are now broadcasting “The Paul McGuire Report” from our own TV and Production Studio on our Roku Channel as well as other channels as they become available. As we continue to trust in the Lord to build this ministry, HIS ministry, we believe He will lead us in the direction He would have us go. May the Lord bless you abundantly for responding to this call to action! Your gift makes it possible to continue our ministry work as together we share the Great Commission and point people to Jesus Christ. God works through your generous gifts to take the good news of Jesus Christ to millions of people worldwide! You can donate immediately by clicking HERE! Thank you for partnering with Paul McGuire Ministries sponsored by Paradise Mountain Church International! Your Brother in Christ Jesus, Paul McGuire WWW.PAULMcGUIRE.US  Music by Joseph Charles © 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

It’s Freedom Friday on Perry and Shawna Mornings!  Today, the freedom of knowing God is with us in our pain, that he doesn’t condemn us for it or say, “Get over it!”  Pain is the path to getting more of Jesus, to becoming more like him,  and it’s the path to God pouring his power through us to heal the world.  Paul Newton of Grace Hispanic Baptist Bible Church in Grant joins the team to share about his life-long wrestling with loneliness and depression which is leading him into a faith that’s not just in his head, but deeply rooted in his heart.  So first we hear Paul’s back story, how he started following Jesus as a boy and we find out some of the root causes of his loneliness and depression.  Then, it was the hard times in Paul’s marriage and the grief of seeing his son walk away from the faith that was the catalyst to Paul getting brutally honest with God which created deep heart change.  Next Paul shares how close he was to tossing his faith because of the pain and how the gentleness of Jesus kept his faith alive.  Then, when the great prophet of God, Elijah was depressed and wanted to die, God didn’t rebuke him but spoke to him in a gentle healing whisper.  Then Paul shares the toughest message he’s ever had to preach—he got raw and real about his pain.  Most felt awkward as he finished, except one pastor who’s ministry was changed by that message.  And finally, perhaps we are most like Jesus, the man of sorrows, when we suffer.  Jesus sufferings were bursting with purpose, and so are ours!

Connecticut Today with Paul Pacelli rolled out the red carpet today for three guests! First, "The Ump" Vin Sarullo, host of High School Sports Showcase came on to talk about the CIAC resuming fall sports despite Zeke Emanuel's suggestion not to have sports in the fall. Next Paul spoke to Andy Mulvihill, the son of Gene Mulvihill who founded the infamous Action Park. He has a book that's come out, "Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park" and wanted the scoop and stories at the park. Finally State Senator Kevin Kelly called in to talk about the Police Accountability bill that was recently passed in the senate.

Join Internationally Recognized Prophecy Expert, Minister, Speaker and Author, Paul McGuire as he analyzes current events through the lens of Bible Prophecy. Every Monday through Friday 4 - 6 PM Eastern Time. The Paul McGuire Report radio and television ministry is a ministry of faith and we are believing God each month to lay on the hearts of the listeners to support us if they are being blessed. We have asked, and are believing God, to touch the people of God, businesses and organizations to sow into this ministry that they also may be blessed! Your support enables us to stream Paul’s messages from God’s prophetic Word on Blog Talk Radio, PodBean, YouTube, Brighteon.com, SoundCloud and various other podcast applications. With your help we are now broadcasting “The Paul McGuire Report” from our own TV and Production Studio on our Roku Channel as well as other channels as they become available. As we continue to trust in the Lord to build this ministry, HIS ministry, we believe He will lead us in the direction He would have us go. May the Lord bless you abundantly for responding to this call to action! Your gift makes it possible to continue our ministry work as together we share the Great Commission and point people to Jesus Christ. God works through your generous gifts to take the good news of Jesus Christ to millions of people worldwide! You can donate immediately by clicking HERE! Thank you for partnering with Paul McGuire Ministries sponsored by Paradise Mountain Church International! Your Brother in Christ Jesus, Paul McGuire WWW.PAULMcGUIRE.US  Music by Joseph Charles © 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

For the latest installment of this year’s spandex-free Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a big one: Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, still the only comic book ever to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Joining them to discuss Spiegelman’s harrowing account of his father Vladek’s time in the concentration camps of Nazi-occupied Poland--and Art’s own tense relationship with Vladek--is Broken Magic author and The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple. The gang discusses Spiegelman’s provocative choice to depict Jews as mice, Nazis as cats, Poles as pigs, etc.; how Spiegelman follows in a tradition going all the way back to Mickey Mouse; and why it’s specifically disturbing to read Maus in 2019.   Next: Paul and Arlo will return.   THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:32:45 00:01:52  - Intro 00:04:04  - Maus: A Survivor’s Tale 01:27:43  - Outro / Next

The Soul is Restless Until it Finds Christ So turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians Chapter 6. We continue to make our way through this incredible book 1 Corinthians. In the year 397 AD, Augustine, writing his confessions wrote these timeless words, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and the heart of man is restless until it finds it rest in you." Restless, un-quiet, discontent, roaming ravenous, like the devil in Job Chapter 1, roaming over the surface of the earth looking for something, some way to cause trouble. Or the demons that Jesus spoke of when he said that when the demon is set out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and doesn't find it. Or in Isaiah 57, it says, "The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 'There is no peace says' my God 'for the wicked.'" Restless. Sin is what we do when we're not at rest with God. We try to find rest in lawful pleasures, and we become addicted to them, to food, and to hobbies and other lawful pleasures and they ensnare our souls and make us idolatrous. Or we find rest in sinful immoral pleasures, illicit sex and other things, and we become enslaved by that. Sin is what we do when we haven't found rest in God. Now, here's the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And good news, hope is woven through the text that Alex just read. Some day every Christian will be perfectly at rest in God. Some day, we're going to be in a glorious world surrounded by the glory of God, we're going to be in the new Jerusalem, we're going to be in the new heaven, new earth, the glory of God will be freely revealed to us, and we'll be able to handle it, unlike Moses on that mountain when he said, "Show me your glory," and God said, "No one can see me and live." And as the apostle Paul said, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." We are not ready for a full display of the glory of God, but then we will be ready. And we will come into our Sabbath rest, our final perfect rest in Christ. There's a picture in my mind this morning from one of my mission trips. Shared with you before, but it's powerfully on my mind this morning, of a swim that I took in a Salt Lake in the Karakoram mountains in a very remote area in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, the most unearthly earthly place I've ever been in. Karakoram mountain is over 20,000 feet high, snow cap year round and we're floating in this salty lake. We were so... Our buoyancy was so powerful, we could barely stay submerged for a few seconds and we will be pushed back up. And I just picture myself floating in a sea of the glory of God in heaven. And all of the lusts that ensnared our souls in this world will be gone from me, cast into the lake of fire forever and I will be drinking in the Glory of God, so will you if you're a Christian. And the more you can by faith see that future day, the more powerfully you'll be able to fight your present sins. You'll be able to cast aside every sin that so easily entangles your feet and run with endurance this race marked out in front of you, as the author of Hebrews put it. As Satan cast nets around our feet every moment of every day, you'll be able to cast them aside if you have a vision of what you will be some day in heaven and through the Holy Spirit have a foretaste of that heavenly joy, and you will find your rest in God even today and sin will be nothing to you. A content person is as hard to tempt as an iron wall is to ignite with a flaming arrow. So to be totally content in Christ, but friends, we're not there yet, are we? We're not in Heaven yet, in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 speaks of the warfare that we have to fight, now, while we're in this present era, while we are assaulted every day by the world of flesh and the devil we have to fight for joy, we have to fight for holiness, we have to fight in order to be witnesses to the people around us who are not yet set free, they're dead in their transgressions and sins. And so the two journeys internal journey of holiness, external journey of Gospel advance are woven together throughout this book of 1 Corinthians. I. Our Sexual Crisis is Nothing New And as we read these Verses, we see that our sexual crisis is nothing new. The struggle that we are having, that's so evident, it's in the news of the church, sadly, it's in the news in the world. Much of it is tied to Internet pornography and to the allure, the continual allure and the enticements of those images, but it's not only that. The recent stories have exposed people's sexual immorality, their sexual abuse, the relentless disquiet that's in the hearts of individuals and they seek an outlet in illicit sex. Internet pornography is especially devastating. Statistics are terrible. 2.5 billion emails containing porn are sent or received every single day, 2.5 billion. 68 million search queries related to pornography. 25% of all searches are related to porn on the Internet. About 200,000 Americans are classified as porn addicts. One third of porn viewers are women, two-thirds are men. Beyond Internet pornography, there are there devastating statistics. 40% of kids in public high schools have had intercourse at least once, 40%. Half of the 20 million new STDs reported each year are among young people between the ages of 15 to 24. Back in 2002, an online dating agency called Ashley Madison was founded with this tagline "Life is short, have an affair." In 2015 hacker stole the customer data and some noteworthy Christian leaders who were found to have been enrolled in the service much to their shame and the shame of the Church of Jesus Christ. Overall 25% of those enrolled claim to be Christians. All this points to what I've been talking about the last few weeks, a devastating weakness of sexuality for us human beings, it's the weak part of our character, of our lives. And this has been so since Adam and Eve ate the fruit and their eyes were open, they realized they were naked, and they were filled with shame. So, our sexual crisis is nothing new and we read about it right here in the pages of this ancient epistle, 2000 years old. The Corinthians were involving themselves in illicit sex. It appears that some members of the Corinthian church were frequenting temple prostitutes. This was a regular part of the pagan religion and Corinth, and indeed around the pagan world. The natural drives of food and sex were woven together in a very satanic demonic kind of way, woven together and were harnessed in the service of pagan religions. Gods and Goddesses were worshipped in part by indulging these drives, especially the sexual drive, and also the desire to eat meat. This is the very thing that the Jews encountered when they entered the Promised Land with the Canaanites, and the religions that they had was the same kinds of things. Even worse, it seems that the members of this... Some members of the Corinthian church were arguing doctrinally for their right to frequent temple prostitutes. Basically saying, "We are people of the spirit, our faith in Christ has moved us to a higher plane, the grace of God has freed us from all guilt for sin. And what we do with our bodies is nothing, because our bodies are not important." So that's the doctrinal underpinning that Paul is seeking to address here. There is a false view of Christian freedom here in this slogan twice repeated in this text, four times in the epistle. "All things are lawful for me." And it shows a misunderstanding of Christian freedom. So Paul has to address this ethical problem, this moral problem doctrinally. He assesses false doctrine or addresses false doctrine about their bodies and about their freedoms. And a key text is in Verse 13, look at it with me Verse 13, it says, "The body was not meant, or is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body." That's an incredibly important statement. That's why I began with the Augustine quote. "You have made us for yourself." Our bodies are for Christ and He is for our bodies. They match together. This assertion is proved by the doctrine of the resurrection, both Christ's resurrection from the dead, His bodily resurrection, and our future bodily resurrection. If God doesn't care about the body then why was Christ physically raised from the dead. And why will he raise our bodies from the dead in the future? So, a Christian's body does matter. And what we do with our bodies matters. Next Paul goes arguing against temple prostitutes, frequenting temple prostitutes, the Corinthian church members failed to understand the true nature, both of sex, the two become one flesh and of Christian conversion. One is joined to the Lord, so we become one with Jesus spiritually, and therefore, you can't take Christ members and join them to a prostitute. Next, he directly forbids sexual immorality with a clear command, "Flee sexual immorality." Greek word is "porneia," flee, porneia, flee sexual immorality. And then he shows how sexual immorality is an assault, not only on our souls, but actually on our bodies as well. And finally, he roots all of this, and the fact that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, whom we have received from God. It's a very powerful argument here and he's speaking individually. We're going to unfold this. I'm just walking through the whole text now. We have received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, so our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And then he says very powerfully. You are not your own, you won't get to do whatever you want with your body. You have been bought at a price. This is the language of slavery. We are Christ's slaves, he bought us and therefore the culminating statement, so beautifully. Therefore, glorify God with your body. An incredible text and how much we needed to hear it. II. “All Things Are Lawful”: Christian Freedom Rightly Understood So let's just walk through it and it begins with this slogan in Verse 12, "'All things are lawful for me,' but not everything is beneficial. 'All things are lawful for me' but I will not be mastered by anything." So he's dealing here with the issue of Christian freedom and Paul is probably quoting some slogan here, some Corinthian slogan. That's why many of the English translations have it in quotation marks. Because he says it four times in 1 Corinthians, twice here in Chapter 6, twice in Chapter 10. And it seems that they are saying, "Look, now that I'm a Christian, anything goes. I can do whatever I want." So that's misunderstanding Christ freedom. Now, there is a powerful doctrine of Christian freedom, Romans 6:14 says, "You are not under law, but under grace." We have been set free from the law and its condemning power. The law has no power to condemn us to help. Christ drank in our condemnation at the cross. So we're set free from the law in that sense. Paul also taught that idols themselves are nothing. They're just chunks of material made of stone or wood or metal. So there's nothing in an idol in and of itself, and so, meat sacrifice to idols is still just meat. And so, he's going to unfold all this in Chapters 8 through 10, on meat sacrifice to idols. But they took this and they brought it too far, they applied it to something that they shouldn't have applied it to, and that was sexual immorality with the temple prostitutes. Well then, whatever they're doing down at the temple, we can do. He's like, "No, no, you're misunderstanding Christian freedom." So Paul restricts the slogan. "All things are lawful for me," or "Everything is permissible for me." In all four times that he quotes it, twice here in Chapter 6, twice in Chapter 10, he answers it back, restricts it. It's kind of like this, "All things are lawful for me, as you say, fine, but not everything's beneficial. All things are lawful for me. So you say, but I will not be enslaved by anything." He does it again in Chapter 10. So, true freedom there, Christian freedom is not doing whatever your flesh wants to do. If it feels good, do it. No, not at all. That's not what freedom is. True Christian freedom is being delivered from sin to serve God, that's what freedom is. As Psalm 119 says, "I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free." Jesus said in John 8, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin, but if the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed." Jesus by his life, by his demeanor toward his father defines freedom for us, in that same Chapter, John 8:29, he says, "I always do what pleases my Father," that's freedom. Jesus was the only truly free man that ever lived. And he was free to serve his father every moment of his life, that's freedom. Everything else is slavery. We are enslaved by hidden spiritual chains towards sin. That's not freedom. And so Paul says in Verse 12, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything [or enslaved] by anything." The image is definitely one of enslavement. We are mastered by anything we habitually do. We can't break the habit of that pattern. The drive of the flesh toward food and sex, and sleep, and pleasure, five cents pleasure is normal, but in sin, it's relentless and inevitably pushes across boundaries that God has set. So we're jumping fences that he's set up in his moral law. And as it pushes us towards satisfying those sensual desires, it also pushes us toward habits that end up in addictions. We end up being enslaved by what we do over and over. This is the essence of the flesh. It takes normal bodily desires and pushes them beyond boundaries and toward enslavement. So the Corinthians who are going to temple prostitutes were actually enslaved by their lusts and their habits. Paul addresses also the food aspect of it, the eating aspect of it. In verse 13 he says, "Food for the stomach, and the stomach for food, but God will destroy them both." Probably another slogan from the Corinthians, seems they had written him a letter and so he's addressing certain things, he's going to do the same at the beginning of Chapter 7, when someone said it's good not to touch a woman, and he's going to address that. They say things to him and he has to answer them back and give them a better understanding of what they're saying. It's like, food for the stomach and stomach for food seems to be something you're saying. Well, Paul sees that and would like to point to their fleshly mindset. It is true that the stomach and food were meant to go together, that makes sense, alright? God knows that we need food, he feeds us, because Jesus said he feeds the birds of the air, and he feeds us too, he feeds every living creature. He knows we need food. And not only that, he knows that he designed food to be delicious. There are different... So many different flavors. And so, the tongue with its taste buds was designed to sense the flavors that God put into food and to enjoy them. God knows that. But here's the point. We were not put on the planet to eat. That wasn't the reason God created us. Both food, and the stomach are temporary and neither one are the reason why God created you. They were a means to an end. And the end is to glorify God with your body. We were made for eternity, we were made for heaven, we were made for God. We were made to enjoy him, not to eat. So he's addressing this drive toward food. Now, at this point, I just want you to see the two different themes Paul's dealing with. There's one issue, and that's the enslavement of our habits and he just wants us to be free. Lawful Pleasures and Illicit Pleasures But there are two different types of habits that he's looking at: Lawful pleasures and illicit pleasures. Do you see them both in the text? You got the food aspect and the porneuo or the sexual immorality aspect. So I want to put two kind of substances in front of you: Honey and poison. So we're dealing with the issue of honey and the issue of poison. Why do I choose honey? Because the Book of Proverbs uses honey as a metaphor, a literal thing, true, but a metaphor for lawful pleasures, and it gives you kind of the rules of the road on honey consumption. The first time honey is mentioned in the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs 24:13, where we are told under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste." Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it. Honey is sweet, so you should eat some. It's right there in the word of God. So what is this saying? Well, I think symbolically what we're saying is we're not called on to an aesthetic life of denying physical pleasures. That's not the answer here is asceticism. We're supposed to enjoy the sweet things of life, but that's not all the Book of Proverbs has to say about honey, and the next three proverbs about honey are all restrictive, like Proverbs 25:16. "If you find honey, eat jut enough- too much or and you will vomit." Well, that's just good advice, friends. Don't glut yourself on honey or you'll throw up. Okay. And then Proverbs 27:7 says, "He who is full, loathes honey." So what's going on there? The more you partake of things you enjoy, the less you will enjoy them. All of this says let's not be ascetics, but let's live self-controlled, upright lives when it comes to lawful pleasures. And all of that is packed into this statement, certainly food for the stomach, but I'm not going to be enslaved by anything. I don't want to be enslaved by anything I do. American Christians are surrounded at all times by a sea of amoral pleasures more I think than any generation of Christians in 20 centuries of church history. We have lawful pleasures galore, food and drink and possessions, things you can buy on Amazon Prime, and you have movies that you can stream and music you can listen to and you're just... We are swimming in an Olympic-size swimming pool of honey, and the question is, "Are these lawful pleasures enslaving us? Are we enslaved by our habits by the things we say we can do?" One simple test: If any one thing is enslaving you is fast from it. Give it up for a time. The harder it is for you to do, the more you may suspect that you're enslaved. Let me give you an example. Let's talk about the smartphone. I got my smart phone right here. It's timing my sermon, 20 minutes and 27 seconds. I'm very well aware. But the smartphone is a marvelous thing. It's just staggering the technology in this thing. It's amazing. I've found that there are two words that sum up what it does for me: Tool and toy. Tool and tool. Tool, it helps me work. It helps me to be productive. Toy, not so much. So those would be apps, things you can stream, all that kind of thing. You know. Well, however you define toy, you know what I'm talking about. So, how can you tell whether you're enslaved to your smartphone? Well, if it's near you, can you avoid reaching out for it every 47 seconds? Someone once was talking quite recently, say, "Something's wrong with my hand. It just has... It just keep reaching for this thing and checking it." So try fasting from at least perhaps toy aspect of the smartphone. The harder it is for you to do, the more you may suspect that you're enslaved. Same thing for streaming videos or food. Try fasting. Try a day of the week for a month, let's say Tuesday, a Thursday, something like that, and just not eat and just spend the time praying. Fasting is a Biblical theme, but this is one way also a diagnostic tool to say, "Is food enslaving me? Am I living for sweets, or I'm living for meat or I'm living for something?" You're not put on the planet for that, and so a life of self-control, "I will not be mastered by anything. I'll not be enslaved by my habits." So that's the honey aspect. Now, let's talk about the poison aspect. It's like, "Oh, how much poison should I ingest and how much?" It's like that's the wrong question. The answer: None. None. So, he addressed his sexual immorality and there is an enslavement there too. Sex is a very powerful thing, and the allure through the eye, very attractive. Proverbs 7, for example, describes an immoral woman who uses alluring techniques to draw young men into committing adultery with her. And you know the account, and she's beautiful and she's dressed. It says like a harlot, and she speaks enticing, flattering words, and she is spreading a net around him. You can't see it, but that's what's going on. And then it says, "All at once, he turned and went in with her little knowing it would cost him his life." An arrow would pierce his liver and he would die. So there is that enslavement, and that's I think what's going on with internet pornography. There's just that enticing and that alluring that goes on and the beauty, and there's an attraction to it. So many people are addicted. They are enslaved by poison, and Christ has set us free. You're set free. If you're a Christian, you're set free. You're not a slave to sin. You don't ever need to sin again ever the rest of your life. Every single temptation that comes to you, you can see dead at your feet by the power of the Holy Spirit by specific Scripture, just like Jesus did in Matthew 4. You can kill every temptation. III. A Holy Understanding of Our Bodies You don't ever need to sin again. You're set free. So why be a fool and why allow yourself to go in for the poison that Satan's handing to you? We need to have therefore a holy understanding of our bodies. Look at Verse 13 and 14, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and by his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also." So God did not design us for food as we've been saying, but even more, he did not design our bodies for porneia, for sexual immorality. He built us for himself, for his own glory. Therefore, honor God. Glorify God with your body. The reason God will raise your body from the dead is he wants you to have a body in the New Heaven, the New Earth. He wants you to be physical. Like Jesus is right now, you will be conformed to his image in every respect, and you will be energetically able to serve him in that new world. He wants you to have a body. So we need to understand that. We need to understand our bodies are a marvelous gift from Almighty God, part of his redemptive plan. The Greek philosophers, in which these Corinthians were swimming in these mentalities, were very dualistic, many of them, and they looked on the physical body as not worthy of even being mentioned. They were wanting to ascend to a higher, mental, spiritual plane. And so, the idea of the resurrection from the dead make no sense to them. Why would you want to spend eternity in a body? And bodily processes were disgusting and repulsive to that Greek philosophical, dualistic mindset. But the biblical view is quite different. The biblical view says I will praise you. Psalms 139, "I will praise you for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made." So many marvelous things about the human body, like the fact that there're as many neurological interconnections in a single human brain as there are leaves in the Amazonian rainforest. It's incredible. 2The human brain is the most complex, physical thing God ever made. And then think about the hand. I used to be a mechanical engineer. First thing that I designed was robots. I worked on robotic things. There's nothing that we can make that even comes close to the marvels of the human hand, the dexterity, the gentle, skillful movements of the fingers, the powerful grip of the hand, the fact that fingers can play a sonata by Beethoven, where you could see a rock climber hanging by four fingers over the valley of Yosemite and his entire life is entrusted to the strength of his four fingers. It's incredible and in an incredibly small package. This is a very small area and this is what God has made. Or the ability of the ear. The ear is more remarkable than you might think. The fact is that you get, the ear is responding to pressure waves, and they become composite pressure waves. All the things are kind of summed up in one composite pressure wave, and then your ear sorts them out. So you can, for example, take a quarter and a dime and drop it on a hard surface like a glass countertop or something like that or a marble countertop and you can hear two coins, one large, one small... You could probably even say what the denomination is, quarter and a dime, and you can say how many there are. You can listen to instruments, a guitar and a piano playing the same note, different spaces in your ears just sorting that. Well, our bodies are amazing, fearfully and wonderfully made, and God intends for us to have for all eternity, only perfected. And so we are to celebrate that, and Christ's incarnation is proof of that. God wanted his son to be physical. And so, the second person of the trinity, the word, became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and he experienced a physical, fleshly life in this world. He knew what it was like to be hungry and then have his hunger satisfied by chewing and swallowing food. I'm getting that physically. He knew what it was like to have searing first when from the cross, he said, "I thirst." When they flogged him, he felt pain. When they crucified him, he died. He was physical. But that wasn't the end of his physicality. God raised him from the dead on the third day, and he took on a perfect resurrection body that you could touch. You could put your hands, your fingers, in the nail marks. He said, "A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." He was completely physical. And he is the first fruit from among the dead, so we're going to be conformed to him. We're going to spend eternity in physical bodies that you can touch and we'll spend eternity in that. And all of 1 Corinthians 15 deals with the doctrine of our resurrection from the dead based on Christ's resurrection. So what this means is in Verse 14, "By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also." So that means the body is a major part of God's salvation plan for us. The body matters. What you do with your body matters. So you should have a holy esteem for your body, and the doctrine that I would commend you is in Romans Chapter 6, Verse 13 and 14. Listen to this. This is exactly what I think Paul would say to the Corinthians. He doesn't say it here, but he says in Romans. "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master, for you are not under law but under grace." That's what you're supposed to do with your body as you'll say later in a recap, present your body to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. IV. Sexual Immorality Offends the Lord Jesus Now, sexual immorality offends God. It is offensive. Look what he says in verses 15-17, it offends Jesus. "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body, for it is said the two will become one flesh. But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit." So he expands the doctrine here. The body was made for the Lord. That means our bodies are members of Jesus Christ. Christ is intimately connected with our bodies. He is our head spiritually. We are his physical bodies here on earth. And so he uses our bodies to reach out and do things, controlling our minds and hearts by the Spirit, he uses your hands to reach out and care for the poor and needy, do acts of service to the sick and dying, to do actual things. He uses your actual physical feet to walk, beautiful feet to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I mean, he uses our bodies to serve him. We are one with Christ physically. And then he asked the question then, "If that's true, then how could I take the members of Christ and then unite them with a prostitute? Never!" There's a sense of horror here. It's not, "I'd rather not." It's not that at all. It's a sense of horror. Never, may it never be. It should be considered impossible. There's like an emotional reaction to this. How could we take this body which is consecrated in Christ and united immorally? It's kind of like the logic of James 3 where he's talking about our tongues. Remember how he says, "With the tongue, you praise our God and Father, and with it you curse men who have been made in the likeness of God, out of the same mouth come praising and cursing, my brothers. This should not be." We'll just take that and expand it to the whole body. With the body, we serve our Lord and savior, and with the body, we send sexually. How could this be? May it never be. And he says in Verse 16: "Do you not understand what's actually going on with the temple prostitute, what's actually happening when you're with her?" Look at Verse 16: "Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body for it is said the two will become one flesh." They were underestimating sex, underestimating the sexual union as we all tend to do, looking on as a casual thing, a physical function. Well, it's not. Our language tends to minimize it like an affair. An affair is just something that happens, right? That's what we use. The affair was a such and such affair like in history. This is not an affair or a fling or modern terms like hooking up. It's minimizing. But Paul says, going back to Genesis 2, "Do you not understand what's happening here with the act of marriage, the marital act?" Which is sexual intercourse, the actual act. "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." That's the exact same thing that Jesus quoted in Matthew 19 to talk about marriage, what marriage is. Paul applies it to the time you visited the temple prostitute last week. So you just in some sense married that girl. Do you not understand what's happening there? It's never casual. There's no such thing as casual sex. It's just not biblically true. It's significant what's going on. So we need to make our sexual lives then deeply connected to our lives as Christians. Verse 17, "But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit." Our union with Christ is deep and it is eternal. We tend to think that I'm with Jesus most of the day, but if he would just leave me alone for a while, and then you go do whatever you want to do and then get reconnected with Jesus later on, it's just not how it is. And it extends to imaginary union with pornographic images online. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said, "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And so he prescribed in the Sermon of the Mount radical measures. If your right hand causes you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away. "If your right eye causes you to sin, then gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." And you may say, "I don't need to think about hell. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Yes, that's true. For those who walk by the power of the spirit as described in the following verses in Romans 8, but if you're walking according to the flesh, you have no right to say, "I'm certain that there's no condemnation for me." So if you're enslaved to sexual sin, how do you know you're a Christian? That's the question. So Jesus does mention hell, and we need to fear it and flee to Christ. V. Sexual Immorality Offends Our Bodies Sexual immorality also offends our bodies. Look at Verse 18: "Flee sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sins sexually, sins against his own body." So here's the clear command. Flee. Run for your lives. As Greg said in his prayer, make like Joseph with potter for his wife. Remember that woman? She saw that he was attractive, was coming after him, and he wouldn't even talk to her or be with her, and then when she had orchestrated time for them to just be alone, he would not be in the house, but ran, left his garment in her hand and ran. So that's a physical thing that happened, but it's a metaphor also for us. We need to run. We need to escape, escape the temptation. So First Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, but with the temptation, will provide a way of escape so you can stand up under it." Now that's a strange image. Escape so you can stand. It's exactly what I'm talking about. Escape the temptation so you can stand spiritually in Christ still holy. So find the door, whatever door God opened up for you in that tempting situation, and run through it, and also pray, "Lead us not into temptation." Don't be a fool and lead yourself into tempting situations which you've already shown you can't handle. So escape. And he says... The reasoning here is that sexual immorality assaults the body. Now, it is true other sins hurt the body, no doubt about it. Overeating can produce heart failure. Drunkenness can produce liver failure, cirrhosis of the liver. There's no doubt about that. But Paul's saying there's a unique assault of sexual immorality on the human body and we're talking about clearly STDs, AIDS, HPV, chlamydia, syphilis. All of these terrible diseases assault the body and they're gained sexually. As it says in Romans 1:27, speaking there about homosexuality, but it's true also of illicit heterosexual sex, "Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." I think that's talking about the destruction of the body through sex. VI. Sexual Immorality Offends the Holy Spirit Sexual immorality also offends the Holy Spirit. Look at verses 19 and 20: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price, therefore honor or glorify God with your body." This is powerful. We've had many times, and I love the image in Ephesians 2, also in 1 Peter 2, of the whole universal church as a temple. And there's this massive architectural project going on. Living stones quarried out of Satan's dark kingdom put in the walls of this rising temple, and it's just awesome. Here, the image is totally individual. We are individually, individually temples of the Holy Spirit. And why is that? Because Jesus promised that the counselor, the Holy Spirit, would come and be with us and live in us. That's staggering. You have the third person of the trinity inside you if you're a Christian. The Holy Spirit is in you, and Christ promised, if we obey his teachings, he said, "My father will come to him and I will come to him and make our dwelling with him." So you have the trinity, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, dwelling inside you if you're a Christian. It's powerful. Powerful. So therefore, he says, "You are not your own." You don't get to do whatever you want with your body. You don't get to do whatever you want with your time. "You were bought at price." That's slavery language. We are... That's why Paul calls himself Christ's bondslave. I am a purchased slave. And so Jesus bought me with his blood and that means he gets to tell you what to do. Every single day, he can tell you what to do. So this is something that I am continually having to remind myself and learn. Don't just say, "Hmm, what shall I do today? What shall I do with my afternoon? What shall I do with Sunday after we go home from church? What shall I eat? Where shall we go?" I would say, "No, don't." Say, "Lord, what do you want me to do with my afternoon? How do you want me to spend my time? I'm not my own. I'm bought with the price of your blood." Therefore glorify God with your body. That's what you're called on to do. Use your body as a vehicle for the glory of God. VII. Applications Applications: first and foremost is the Gospel. I pray every week that God would bring people to hear the Gospel here to First Baptist Church. And if you are not yet a Christian, if you weren't a Christian when you walked in here, only Jesus Christ can set you free from sin. You can't set yourself free. There's not enough different 12-step programs for all the sins you're doing, and even then those resolutions could only make a temporary moral change in your drinking of alcohol or your sex addiction or whatever. The problem of sin is comprehensive and Jesus came. Our Savior died on the cross for sin universal and all of the individual sins that we committed. And so trust in Christ. Come to Christ and he will set you free and forgive you and make you his own. Now, if you're a Christian, you've already done that. The clear command here is be very careful what you do with your body. Are you enslaved to anything? Are you enslaved to any honey? Are you enslaved any poison? So look at your lawful pleasures. Are there things that you own that really own you? Are there things that habits that you do that are amoral, they're pleasures, but you can't seem to live without them? And frankly, you seem to do them more and more, but you enjoy them less and less. Is it food? Is it entertainment? Is it hobbies? What is it? So just look at that and say, "Am I enslaved to any of the honey here?" And then, even more deadly, "Am I enslaved to drinking poison? Is there any illicit sexual aspect of my life?" The answer this week is the same as it was last week. Put the sin to death by the power of the Spirit, death by starvation. The longer it's been since you last yielded to a lust, the weaker that lust gets. So put it to death by the Spirit. Close with me in prayer.

Matthew and DJ wrap up the book of Colossians. They talked about the false teachers and false teaching that was circling the church back then {and still does today!} Here is a quote from Bible teacher Myke Harbuck: "The Colossian heresy, as it is called by many, involved many false teachings at the church of Colossae. It was a mix of Jewish legalism, Greek philosophic speculation, and Oriental mysticism. It has been speculated that the location of Colossae played an important part in the mixed character of the false teachings in the church. This may be true since most of the beliefs and features appear later in Gnostic philosophy and in Greek and Oriental mystery religions. Paul uses the epistle of Colossians to combat this heresy and to set the church on the right track. One can conclude from the counter-emphasis of Paul that the Colossian heresy involved first the diminishing of the person of Christ. Paul countered this false teaching by stressing the preeminence and realness of Christ the person. In Colossians 1:15, Paul says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (HCSB). The next issue of the Colossian heresy involves the emphasis on human philosophy. Paul fought the human philosophy which taught that human speculation was divorced from divine revelation. Paul boldly and with accurate precision counteracted these human philosophies with Colossians 2:8, which says, “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on elemental forces of the world and not based on Christ” (HCSB). Paul also used Colossians to counteract elements of Judaism. These elements included circumcision, rabbinic traditions, dietary regulations, and Sabbath and festival observations. Paul addressed these problems by enlightening the Colossians on spiritual circumcision and spiritual liberty. Next Paul addresses problems of false humility and the worship of angels. Those who taught this false humility and angelic worship assumed that the angels were intermediaries between them and God. Paul commands against such a belief in a visionary realm and states that such a person does not “hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God” (Colossians 2:19 HSCB). Finally, Paul counteracts the idea that Christianity is exclusive or secret. Some of the Colossians flaunted an air or secrecy and of superiority. Paul emphasizes the all inclusiveness of Jesus and the gospel by stressing that Christ is all and in all." Check out a definition of Gnosticism on Wikipedia And even the Wikipedia for Colossians covers some interesting points.

2018/9/2 Pastor Richard Welsh 韋日卓牧師 Categories: Video: https://hongkong.mylifehouse.com/tv/message/godly-decisions Godly decisions 敬畏神的決定 1 Corinthians 16:5-7 NLT [5] I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. [6] Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. [7] This time I don't want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 哥林多前書 16章5-7節（NCV) 我現在正要路過馬其頓。過了馬其頓，我就會到你們那裡去。 我也許會和你們同住一些時候，甚至和你們一同過冬；這樣，我無論要到哪裡去，你們都可以給我送行。我不願意只是順路見見你們，主若許可，我盼望和你們同住一個時期。 Acts 16:6-10 NLT [6] Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. [7] Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. [8] So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. [9] That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" [10] So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. 使徒行傳 16章6-10節（NCV) 聖靈既然禁止他們在亞西亞傳道，他們就走遍弗呂家、加拉太地區。 他們來到每西亞邊境，想要去庇推尼，耶穌的靈也不許。他們經過每西亞，下到特羅亞。夜間有一個異象向保羅顯現：有一個馬其頓人站著求他說：“請你到馬其頓來，幫助我們！”保羅見了這異象，我們就認定是　神呼召我們去傳福音給他們，於是立刻設法前往馬其頓。 1 - Keep God first (His kingdom) 放神在首位（祂的國） Matthew 6:33 NIV [33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 馬太福音 6章33節 (NCV) 你們要先求他的國和他的義，這一切都必加給你們。 2 - Live with Godly character (His righteousness) 活出敬畏神的特性（祂的義） 3 - Step forward in faith and humility 踏出信心及謙卑的一步 2 Timothy 1:7 NLT [7] For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 提摩太後書 1章7節 （NCV) 因為　神所賜給我們的，不是膽怯的靈，而是有能力、仁愛、自律的靈。

Paul and Matt continue previewing the 2019 Quarterback class. In this episode they discuss their film analysis on an additional nine draft eligible prospects. They dicuss each quarterback's stregnths, weaknesses, arm talent, athletic ability, decision making, how they win, scheme fit, draft projection and more.  The nine prospects discussed include Daniel Jones (Duke), Brian Lewerke (Michigan State), Drew Lock (Missouri), Trace McSorley (Penn State), Shea Patterson (Michigan), Brett Rypien (Boise State), Jarrett Stidham (Auburn), Jordan Ta'amu (Ole Miss) and Clayton Thorson (Northwestern).  In the final segment, they give some additional draft eligible prospects plus some underclassmen that should be on your radar in this upcoming season. Next Paul unveils his top 13 QB prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft and breaks them down into tiers as well. Matt discusses his top 8 as well.  Sponsors: SquadQL TheQuantEdge- if you use the code S2SEdge, you can get 15% off your membership through 8/23 Scouting Academy Hosts: Matt Caraccio (@matty_S2S) Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Editor: David Nakano (@kawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

It's a long weekend (if you're in the UK) but that won't stop Luke and Oli sitting down to talk about the latest news! In this episode they talk about the news that Paul Heyman may be leaving WWE, and if Rey Mysterio and The Rock will show up. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Paul and Matt start the show discussing the major updates to their premium content. They discuss how the 2018 Scouting Notebook has been changed to a 2018 Draft Guide. They discuss that there are now separate tabs for the 2018 QB, RB, WR, and TE class, which covers over 95 player profiles. The next set of tabs include all of their other evaluation notes they took on other prospects that did not declare and then the last set of tabs are their underclassmen tabs with the notes from the summer. Next Paul and Matt finish their TierBuster Series, with the 2018 Tight End Class. They discuss how the tight end position is the hardest to evaluate due to what many of these prospects are or are not asked to do in college. They also discuss how of all the skill positions, at times there is a disconnect between NFL value (round projection) compared to fantasy value (dynasty round projection) because of blocking ability. They also discuss how their tight end tiers could shuffle more than other positions after the NFL Combine due to their athletic testing and how much it could impact their ability to impact the game as receivers at the next level. In the next segment, they go through what makes up their tiers and what prospects fall into each of the tiers.   To Purchase the Premium Content which includes the 2018 Scouting Notebook (Draft Guide), Rankings/Tiers Notebook, Freshman Notebook, and Draft Projections notebook, click here. Sponsors Reality Sports Online- use the code S2S to get 10% off your purchase Scouting Academy Hosts: Matt Caraccio (@matty_S2S) Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Editor: David Nakano (@kawikaNakano) Website: Saturday2SundayFootball (@s2sfootball)

Come on in; the water’s fine. Sarah Kosheff joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, freshly nominated for 13 Academy Awards. Del Toro’s girl-meets-fish romance is one of last year’s most ravishing, visually sumptuous films, and the gang discusses why exactly that is. (Spoiler: they don’t all quite agree.) Topics of discussion include Sally Hawkins’ and Doug Jones’ tremendous wordless performances; Alexandre Desplat’s beautiful score, and how music is an important mode of communication in the film; the importance of color, specifically green; and how the film is, in del Toro’s own words, about the “beauty of the other.” Plus, Paul has joined MoviePass just in time for it come under intense scrutiny. Next: Paul just wouldn’t shut up about The Greatest Showman, so first-time guest Nathan Curtiss will be joining the boys to discuss the Hugh Jackman-starring musical.   THE BREAKDOWN Intro / Banter (00:00 - 16:42) Main Topic NON-SPOILERS (16:42 - 35:38) Main Topic SPOILERS (35:38 - 1:45:15) Outro / Next Week (1:45:15 - 1:48:15)

No TV show is at its best seven seasons in, as Paul, Arlo, and special British guest Wesley “Wezzo” Mead can attest. The gang has just watched season 7 of Chris Carter’s seminal sci-fi series The X-Files, and they have questions: Why would anyone think that was a satisfying resolution to the Samantha Mulder storyline? Why is Dana Scully, one of the greatest female characters in all of genre fiction, consistently robbed of agency? Why is Chris Carter the worst writer on his own show? Why didn't the show just end here? In addition to lamenting the season's VR fantasmagorias and double scoops of Kathy Griffin, the gang does find praise for cast members going behind the camera and Vince Gilligan inching ever closer toward Breaking Bad. Plus, Paul continues to visit The Greatest Showman; Wezzo tells us of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Somebody Feed Phil, and Inside No. 9; and gosh, politics are just AWFUL. Next: Paul and Arlo dive into Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water.   THE BREAKDOWN Intro / Banter (00:00 - 32:14) Politics! (32:14 - 1:02:26) Main Topic (1:02:26 - 2:30:40) Outro / Next Week (2:30:40 - 2:35:17)

Paul recaps the first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings and discusses whether or not the committee chose the correct four teams, and who has the best shot of any of the remaining teams in the top 10 to make it to the playoff. Next Paul recaps Week 9 of the college season, focusing on the games and prospects fro Penn State vs Ohio State, N.C. State vs Notre Dame, TCU vs Iowa State, FSU vs Boston College, Georgia vs Florida and others. Some of the other prospects that he discusses from this past week include: Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Mason Rudolph, Khalil Tate, and others. Following the recap, Paul previews Week 10 of the season and discusses the top prospects and matchups to watch this upcoming weekend. To end the show, he delivers the NFL Rookie Report for Week 8, and discusses some prospects he would look to be buying when their value is still low. Hosts: Matt Caraccio (@matty_os) Paul Perdichizzi (@paulie23ny) Editor: David Nakano (@kawikaNakano)

The apostle Paul takes the time to unveil the significance of our salvation pictured and proclaimed in baptism for several reasons. He knows these truths will equip them to walk as Christians in a pagan society (6). He knows these realities will cause them to flourish in their spiritual growth (7). Finally he is confident in the power of gospel understanding to fortify the church against arguments and wold-views to the contrary (8). Next Paul reminds the church of the object of their faith, again with reference to 'Christ Jesus the Lord' in verse 9 and 10. Paul calls attention to the essence of Christ (9), our access to Christ (10a), and the sovereignty of Christ (10b). In Jesus, the second person of the trinity, the fullness of God dwells in man (incarnation, hypostatic union). God is not watered down in Jesus but fully revealed. More than this, by virtue of the believer's absolutely unique relationship with Jesus, we have been filled, indwelt, and transformed by the very Spirit of God. The effect of this salvation, this state of reconciliation with God, is powerful indeed! We needn't fear or be moved or deceived by anything less. Christ Jesus has absolute authority and dominion over all. Paul then further roots his readers in the truth by telling the church exactly what happened to them when they were saved, expounding the symbolic power of baptism.

People get old. Claws get rusty. Movie franchises get tired. After 17 years of real-world time and 150+ fictional years, the time has come for James "Logan" Howlett AKA Wolverine to take a bow. In Logan, the final film featuring Hugh Jackman in his iconic star-making role, we're introduced to a near-future bereft of mutants and full of sorrow. Logan's mind is a potent cocktail of regret, pain, and futility. When a young girl named Laura throws him back into action, he takes the nonagenarian Professor X on the road for one last adventure. Though "adventure" is not a word one would use to describe this brutal, melancholy film, about as far in tone as you could get from any of the nine previous installments in the X-Men series. Paul and Arlo discuss the film's worthiness as a swan song for Canada's most violent citizen, how it fits perfectly alongside Cop Land in director James Mangold's canon, whether or not the very R-rated violence is gratuitous, and if in a perfect world this should be the end of the X-Men's silver screen career.   Next: Paul and Arlo will be subjecting each other to yet another Geek Challenge. Paul must finally watch Tommy Wiseau's infamous 2003 cult classic The Room, while Arlo is tasked with Sidney Lumet's 1982 crime comedy Deathtrap.

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 3 February 2017The NSW Fabians are proud to host Paul Mason in conversation.Join us for what should be a fascinating discussion about Jeremy Corbyn, Brexit, the rise of the far right and the economic road ahead.Paul Mason is a writer and broadcaster on economics and social justice. He is a regular columnist for The Guardian and notable commentator on the future of the Left. His most recent book is 'PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future'.

Basecamp Brewers Paul Thurston and Ross Putnam Collabofest 2017 - Portland Beer Podcast Episode 21 Episode 21 of the Portland Beer Podcast is here! In this episode of the Portland Beer Podcast Steven Shomler visits with Basecamp Brewers Paul Thurston and Ross Putnam talking about Collabofest 2017. This episode begins with Paul and Ross talking with Steven about what Collabofest is, and why brewers enjoy doing collaborations so much. Next Paul, Ross, and Steven talk briefly about some of the beer collaborations that will be poured at Collabofest 2017 including: The Base Camp Brewing Co. & Baerlic Brewing's Honey Chestnut Pilsner and Sir Douglas MacStouterson. Gigantic Brewing Co. & Uptown Market Brewery's Nevørmind Oyster Stout and The Taming of the Shroom. Widmer Brothers Brewing & Culmination Brewing's Bashō IPA and Zen Wave IPA. This episode is closed out with Paul, Ross, and Steven enjoying Base Camp Brewing's 4th Anniversary beer – a barrel aged imperial saison and talking what is in the works for Base Camp's 5th Anniversary beer. For more information about Collabofest 2017 see this Portland Beer Festival article - www.portlandbeerfestivals.com/beer-festival-events/collabofest-2017/ Many thanks to Ken Wilson the Media Maestro for his amazing engineering and editing! The Portland Beer Podcast is brought to you by Portland Culinary Radio, and is recorded at Culmination Brewing Company. Steven Shomler is the host and creator of the Portland Beer Podcast.

Join Internationally Recognized Prophecy Expert, Minister, Speaker and Author, Paul McGuire as he examines current events under the lens of Bible Prophecy. Listener support is essential and we're eternally grateful for your prayers and contributions! You can donate immediately by clicking HERE.   PAUL'S WEBSITE | PAUL ON YOUTUBE | PAUL ON GOD.TV PAUL'S RESOURCE CENTER | PAUL'S NEWSLETTER PAUL'S FACEBOOK | PAUL ON TWITTER Music by JoeCharlesMusic.com © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV) 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.Acts 16:6-30 6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. 9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. Paul and Silas in Prison 16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters' hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The truth is out there: season 3 of The X-Files is the show's strongest season. That is, if you can trust Paul, Arlo, and the inimitable Wesley "Wezzo" Mead as they have another of their periodic discussions of Chris Carter's '90s masterwork. What makes season 3 work so well? It might have something to do with the series' expanded tonal range--a tense thriller in "Pusher," Satanic panic meetsHeathers in "Syzygy"--and the confidence with which it tackles both the monster-of-the-week hours and the increasingly complex (or is that convoluted?) mytharc installments. Then there are the Darin Morgan episodes ("Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "War of the Coprophages," and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"), which are something else entirely. Plus holy cow, UK politics have gotten super depressing since the last time Wezzo stopped by.   Next: Paul and Arlo return to Boneville, site of last year's Four-Color Flashback, for a look at the newly published Bone: Coda.

Ever gotten so low you've thought about building a machine that'll transport your consciousness inside a tricaster? Yes? Well then, buddy, have we got the movie for you. (And if you're asking yourself what a tricaster is, you also should watch this movie!) Joseph Lewis, original Gobbler and one-third of the Three Heathens, tells Paul and Arlo all about his feature film directorial debut A/V. The gang discusses production highs and lows, the challenges of fight choreography on a shoestring budget, what it's like to hand a copy of your movie to Kevin Smith, and how Arlo plays the most crucial role in the film. This heathen's made good.   Next: Paul and Arlo tune up for Kubo and the Two Strings.

After many months of mounting obsession, Paul and Arlo finally tackle Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway phenomenon Hamilton: An American Musical. (We hope you've been willing to wait for it.) Joining them is fellow Hamilton superfan Matthew Jackson, a contributing editor for Blastr.com and entertainment writer for Playboy.com. The gang discusses the impact Hamilton has had on them, its dizzying structure (both in terms of story and stage), the radical way it melds hip-hop with theater with history, and the potential it has for the future. Plus, there's a remembrance of the late, great comics artist and writer Darwyn Cooke.   Next: Paul and Arlo continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Matt Wagner's Grendel with "Devil's Legacy, Pt. 2," collected in Grendel Omnibus: Vol. 2, pp. 247-370.

Everyone has had to deal with a death in our lives. A close loved one or a distant relative, we have all experienced the sting of death. Death is part of our earthly walk. In our text, Paul tells us that he is persuaded that nothing, even death would separate him from the love of God. More precisely, not him for the love of God, but God’s love from him. Death was not intended to plunge us into a depression or to drive us away from God. Next Paul says life cannot separate us from the love of God. Life is full of misery and heartaches. He says these things will not separate us from the LOVE of God. There are times we may be separated from God, but the LOVE of God remains constant. God loves us and He loves us unconditionally. We have His promise right here in Romans 8:38: Paul goes on to say that things that are happening right now will not diminish God's love for us. Things that will come in the future have no impact on God’s love for us. We are thankful for the love of God.

  Power is the only thing of substance in this world. Well, that and Jeff Smith's Bone, which Greg Sahadachny of The Debatable Podcast joins Paul and AJ to discuss once more. This time, the gang scales the cliffs of Vol. V: Rock Jaw - Master of the Eastern Border. It's an imposing title for such a straightforward volume, not to mention the shortest of the series thus far. Yet the boys find plenty to talk about, including the introduction of new character Roque Ja, a smooth-talking feline whose name no one can pronounce; the moving tale of Smiley and Bartleby the rat creature cub; and whether or not Smith gets away with the dreamlike narrative. Next: Paul and AJ face the music with a new Geek Challenge. AJ must listen to Floodland by Sisters of Mercy, while Paul has to give John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band a spin.

  Not much in this world is surprising. The irony of this statement is that in order to tell you about how Paul surprises AJ in this episode, we have to give away said surprise: this is the one where Paul finally watches Breaking Bad. AJ remained in the dark the whole time, misled by Paul to think some ominous present was on its way; turns out the present is a discussion of Vince Gilligan's acclaimed morality tale, which long-time listeners will remember Paul refused to watch for years. What did he think of it? You'll have to listen for yourself. Featuring surprise guests K. Dale Koontz and Ensley F. Guffey, authors of Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad! Next: Paul and AJ continue their Four-Color Flashback look at Jeff Smith's Bone with Vol. III: Eyes of the Storm.

  Killer robots. Mind-controlling witches. Suits of armor from space. Dudes with frosted tips. All of this and so! much! more! is contained within Avengers: Age of Ultron, the highly anticipated sequel to Joss Whedon's 2012 extravaganza. The reception has been decidedly less rapturous than that which accompanied the first film, so Paul and AJ dig into what works about the movie, what doesn't, whether or not Whedon goofed up Black Widow, and just how much creative control a filmmaker can have over one of these things. Plus, AJ makes a case for a much smaller film, Seymour: An Introduction. Next: Paul got AJ a present. Ominous!

As our author interviews for The Deli Counter of Justice continue, editor-in-chief Arlo J. Wiley (or AJ when he's not being pretentious) finds himself in the hot seat. AJ discusses his short story "Innovation," about a D-list supervillain who starts frequenting the deli he doesn't realize is owned by his former archnemesis. Other points of discussion are AJ's history with screenwriting, how he learned to read in part from '70s and '80s superhero comics, and about his desire to take superheroes in a new direction. Next: Paul and Eric chat with "Delilah by Proxy" author Alyssa Herron.

Superheroes don't always slap on shiny spandex to soar the friendly skies. They also "lurk in the shadows and skulk in darkness," as Kitty Chandler puts it. Rashida, the young woman at the center of Kitty's The Deli Counter of Justice story "Calculated Risk," is one of those. She spends hours in her basement doing off-the-grid surveillance, dispatching nearby heroes to deal with crimes no one else is paying attention to...until one day, when things don't go quite as planned. AJ and Eric talk with Kitty about her previous experience with anthologies (including her own, Black Ice), her devotion to any and all X-Men comics, and how guidance from her "editrix" improves her writing. Next: Paul and AJ interview C. Gayle Seaman, one of two poets whose work appears in the book.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING IN PROPHECY?2 Tim. 3:1 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”The first thing we will look at in this passage is to,IDENTIFYING PERILOUS TIMESThe word  “know” is the translation of a word that means to come to know. It is a present imperative verb. Paul is saying that one needs to come to know right now. The imperative mood is a command  expressing  urgency. We can know something of the times in which we live because God has revealed them to us.Frankly, what modern man sees as perilous, does not harmonize with Scripture. Paul identifies perilous times. He says when “men shall be lovers of their own selves,” times will be perilous.  There are all kinds of self-help books designed to make man think more of himself. The fact is Christianity sees man as an utter failure. The Christian answer to man's utter failure is Christ. Paul says in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."The secret is the life which I now live is “Christ living in me.” It is not just Christ in me, but what is He doing in me. Is He in control? Have I lost control? No, I have simply learned that I am wrong and He is right and I voluntarily relinquish all to His lordship.The word “covetous” means a very strong craving for money and possessions. How would we apply this definition to people in the USA? I am afraid the word covetous is probably the most descriptive word in the English language. We can't get enough. The more we get the more we want. How many people do you know that are completely satisfied with what they have? I'm not saying that all are covetous, but if we really face the facts, more are than we want to admit. It  comes so close to us that speaking on the subject  makes us a little uncomfortable.The word “boasters” means “an empty pretender.” The word “proud” means “showing one's self above others, outdoing others, conspicuous above others, pre eminent.” This is an ego wrapped in skin. This is seen many times in Christian movements. There is  a struggle for power. Next Paul says, “disobedient to parents.” How many times have I seen children who were disobedient to their parents and were offended that their parents did not give them everything they desired. Then there are those who become violent when a godly parents make rules and enforce them in an attempt to get their children to live a good moral life. The children are violently opposed to any attempt of the parents to correct their prodigal life-style.The word “blasphemers” means, “speaking evil, slanderous, reproachful, railing, abusive.”  The word blasphemy describes a person who degrades others  without respect for those of whom they speak.  One hears God's name used  continually by man as a by-word. Man has no respect for God. Then the world is ready to attack those who have a true belief in God. Paul says when we see these things perilous times have arrived.Then Paul includes the word “unthankful.” This is a person who has no appreciation for things done for him. Then he adds “unholy.” The word unholy means, “wicked, impious.” This person cannot be reasoned with by the use of Scriptures. An unholy person is not open to holiness. Holiness comes about through a submission to the Scriptures. Holiness is a development in the life of one who recognizes the authority of the Bible.Next, “ Without natural affection.” This is a reference to an affection that even unsaved members of the human race would normally have. An illustration of this is the many babies who have been discarded in garbage dumps because the mother's do not want them. We must also point out the fact that the USA is financing the killing of the unborn. This is a blatant disregard for human life. This is not natural.

For their first interview with authors from The Deli Counter of Justice, Paul and AJ talk to the other man who makes up the Deli braintrust: Eric Sipple. Eric discusses his start writing SeaQuest fan fiction, his introduction to the world of superheroes via Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, how he created Carl Cook's daughter Tabitha for his story "Pixelated" (who may wind up becoming the anthology's Wolverine), and much more. Next: Paul and AJ sit down with Rahne Ehtar, the author of "Without Masks."

Before there was Juno, there was Alien, the ultimate film about unwanted pregnancy. Eggs shooting down throats, penile heads devouring yours, a brand new lifeform bursting forth from your body...Ridley Scott's 1979 classic pokes and prods you where you don't want to be poked and prodded. Paul and AJ kick off an epic podcrawl (see information on participating podcasts in the show notes) about the Alien and Predator films with a look back at the one that started it all, in all its psychosexual glory. Of course, there's more underneath its skin, including gorgeous photography, eerie sound design, slow-mounting tension, a realistic ensemble, and a star-making performance from Sigourney Weaver. But it's mostly about dicks. Plus, Gwen Stacy returns to the pages of Spider-Man comics in an unexpected way. Next: Paul and AJ continue the podcrawl on September 3 with a discussion of John McTiernan's 1987 classic (?) Predator.

Hello, Birmingham! Live from the Alabama Phoenix Festival, it’s Gobbledygeek! Paul and AJ returned to APF 2014 to host a series of panels about everything from summer movies to Orphan Black, and while they were there, they thought it’d be neat to record a live podcast. Joining them in the hot seat is Gobbledy-stalwart Kenn Edwards; in the audience, frequent guests/loved ones/freaks of nature Eric Sipple, Joseph Lewis, and Pam Smith. The gang talks to the crowd—including a man dressed as Casey Jones and two teenaged Bronies—about how the con’s going, why they enjoy the sense of community it provides, and that awful-looking Ninja Turtles movie. Next: Paul and AJ return to their boring, excitement-free home lives to discuss the original Japanese Godzilla. And I guess they’ll mention the new one too.

He's pretty spry for an old guy: Steve Rogers charges back onto the big screen with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and we're here to tell you if it's a worthy outing for the star-spangled boy scout. Joining Paul and AJ to disuss the film is friend/lover/ultimate Brony forever Eric Sipple (he also wrote a really cool book called Broken Magic, check it out). The gang talks about Winter Soldier's brutal hand-to-hand, whether or not the movie's political commentary works, the merits of Scarlett Johansson's badassery, and that Sundance Kid. Spoiler alert: this episode might contain the most agreement of any single episode of Gobbledygeek. Next: Paul and AJ talk about stuff! They don't know what! But something!

Gregory Sahadachny, host of The Debatable Podcast and all-around terrific tweeter, is in the Gobbledyhotseat this week. He discusses the price-gouging of collectibles and the divisiveness of Zack Snyder with the boys, which leads to some impassioned monologuing from all parties about elitism and the male gaze. Plus, Paul and AJ tell Greg which comics to read and the three of them eulogize Roger Ebert. Next: Paul and AJ get some much-needed alone time.

This week, Paul and AJ are joined by Eric Sipple, author of the new YA novel Broken Magic. Eric talks about what led him to write this story, the challenges of finishing a novel, adventures in self-publishing, and how much he loves Steven Moffat. Plus, the guys attempt to get out the vote and discuss why or why not Disney buying Lucasfilm is actually a big deal. Next: Paul will be a young Asian woman, AJ will be an Aboriginal hunter, but don't worry, it all makes sense; they'll be talking Cloud Atlas.