Podcasts about Old Testament

The Wilderness E4 — After God delivers the Israelites out of Egypt, he tells Moses to lead them to the promised land—through the wilderness. This is perplexing because a much shorter, safer route existed along the coast. So why does God lead his people along the longer, harder way? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore Israel's wilderness tests, reflecting on God's plan to create a new people through a relationship of radical trust and dependence.CHAPTERSRecap and Setup for the Israelites in the Wilderness (0:00-10:05)God's Intentional Path Into the Wilderness (10:05-27:11)Three Wilderness Tests in Exodus (27:11-47:28)Seven Wilderness Tests in Numbers (47:28-1:02:23)OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTView this episode's official transcript.REFERENCED RESOURCESYou can view annotations for this episode—plus our entire library of videos, podcasts, articles, and classes—in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.Check out Tim's extensive collection of recommended books here.SHOW MUSIC“Blue Sky ft. TBabz” by Lofi Sunday“Mist Of Blessing ft. Marc Vanparla” by Lofi Sunday“Chilling In London” by Lofi Sunday, Just DerrickBibleProject theme song by TENTSSHOW CREDITSProduction of today's episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today's episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Powered and distributed by Simplecast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

God promised a home to faithful eunuchs in the Old Testament, but what about childless believers today? Pastor John sees three enduring blessings.

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with lawyer, lecturer, and author James Kimmel, Jr. about our primal desire for revenge against the people we feel have wronged us. James shares the science behind the belief that revenge is an addiction tied to gratification, and offers alternative strategies to break the revenge cycle and move towards a forgiveness-oriented approach to living. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-65-james-kimmel-jr-this-is-your-brain-on-revenge/  Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/qqlsFUf9hJ8 This episode is brought to you by Upper Room. Have you ever opened the Old Testament and felt more confused than inspired? You're not alone. In his new book, Sacred Tension: Embracing Dissonance and Dialogue in the Old Testament, biblical scholar William P. Brown invites us to stop searching for one tidy, uniform voice in Scripture—and instead, discover the beauty in its complexity. If you love the Bible but aren't afraid to wrestle with it, pick up Sacred Tension today—and save 20% off with promo code NORMAL at Store.UpperRoom.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, friend. I hope you're doing well. A quick note before we get into today's episode, particularly if you listen in the car or where younger ears can hear. This message includes the reading of a painful story in the Old Testament and some pretty blunt language about the dangers of pornography. Consider this a heads-up if you want to adjust when or where you listen.

"Why does Matthew refer to the prophets so much? What is the significance this Old Testament usage by Matthew? In today's episode, Will McIlroy talks with Watemark member, Christine Saso about Matthew 1-4 and talk through the geneology of Matthew 1, the temptation of Jesus, and why the use of the Old Testament was significant to the people who would have read it in Jesus' time. Additional References: Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14; If you're a student, join us for Shoreline on October 1st! https://www.watermark.org/ministries/shoreline You can also check out the Join The Journey Jr. Podcast: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/join-the-journey-junior/id1660089898 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6SG7aaE1ZjjFkgB34G8zp3?si=c960a63736904665 Check out the Join The Journey Website for today's devotional and more resources! https://www.jointhejourney.com/ Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Watermark-Community-Church/author/B0BRYP5MQK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1755623322&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=8aeeec3b-6c1c-416d-87ae-5dfbbb6981df"

Josh Monday Christian and Conspiracy Podcast Ep. 300How to Support the ministry: $5.99 a monthpatreon.com/JoshMondayChristianandConspiracyPodcastJoin the Patreon here: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Joshmonday_podcastIf you want to donate to the Ministry CashAPP:https://cash.app/$JoshmondaymusicNew affiliate: https://wsteif.com/ Paul and Crystals links: https://thetinfoilhatfactory.com/Flat Earth Books by Sakal Publishing Affiliate Link: https://booksonline.club/booksonlinecYoutube: ⁠ @joshmondaymusicandpodcast ⁠ Tips for the show to Support our Ministry: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joshmondayCoffee Mug Is Available email me your mailing address Joshmonday⁠@rocketmail.com ⁠ Please subscribe to our Spotify and You Tube Channel Joshmondaymusic and Podcast and help us grow so we can keep on spreading the good news.To all of our current and future subscribers thank you for your time, we appreciate you. Please do us a favor subscribe to our You Tube Channel, hit that bell, share, like and comment below on our You tube. Please leave us a 5-Star review on Apple and Spotify.Check out my new show Sunday Service and Wednesday Brought to you by Cult of Conspiracy Podcast. On Cult of Conspiracy Spotify, Patreon and Apple Podcast Channel.Join the study as I go deep into the Bible. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/josh-monday-christian-and-conspiracy-podcast--6611118/support.

Many Christians casually refer to Sunday as "the Sabbath day," but is this biblically accurate? Pastor Heath Lambert examines what Scripture actually teaches about the Sabbath and reveals why this common assumption needs correction.Timestamps0:00 - Introduction and physical book reveal1:36 - The question: Is Sunday the Sabbath day?2:50 - Why we need Scripture to answer this question3:04 - The fourth commandment and Sabbath timing (Exodus 20)3:24 - The Sabbath is on the seventh day (Saturday)4:02 - Roman influence on day names4:40 - God's rest on the seventh day4:55 - New Testament worship patterns5:20 - What the New Testament calls Sunday5:36 - The "Lord's Day" in Revelation 1:106:04 - Final answer: Sunday is not the SabbathKey Topics Covered- The Fourth Commandment Foundation - Understanding what Exodus 20 teaches about Sabbath timing- Biblical Day Counting - How the seven-day week originates from Scripture- Historical Context - Roman influence on modern day names and Saturday's etymology- Old Testament vs. New Testament - The shift from Sabbath worship to first-day worship- Terminology Matters - Why the New Testament uses "Lord's Day" instead of "Sabbath" for Sunday- Common Christian Mistake - Why pastors and authors incorrectly use "Sabbath" for SundayScripture ReferencesExodus 20:8-11 - The Fourth Commandment and Sabbath dayRevelation 1:10 - The Lord's Day referenceActs and 1 Corinthians - New Testament worship patternsAbout The Ten Commandments BookHeath Lambert's new book, "The Ten Commandments: A Short Book for Normal People," releases September 30th. This accessible guide explains how God's commands apply to modern life without requiring theological education. Perfect for personal study, evangelism, or gifts to friends, neighbors, and family.Pre-order and download a free chapter at fbcjax.com/tencommandmentsHave a question you'd like answered? Send it to markedbygrace@fbcjax.com

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles, Chapter Three.

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles, Chapter Two.  

The Old Testament sacrificial system pointed forward to the time when the ultimate sacrifice would be made by Jesus Christ.

Hi, friend. I hope you're doing well. A quick note before we get into today's episode, particularly if you listen in the car or where younger ears can hear. This message includes the reading of a painful story in the Old Testament and some pretty blunt language about the dangers of pornography. Consider this a heads-up if you want to adjust when or where you listen.

Psalm 109:21-31, Isaiah 52:7-15, 53:1-6, Ephesians 1:3-23. In Christ, you have received ‘*every spiritual blessing*' (Ephesians 1:3) All of the blessings, including those that the Old Testament speaks about, are yours in Christ

Psalm 109:21-31, Isaiah 52:7-15, 53:1-6, Ephesians 1:3-23. In Christ, you have received ‘*every spiritual blessing*' (Ephesians 1:3) All of the blessings, including those that the Old Testament speaks about, are yours in Christ

Although some Jews accepted Jesus, the vast majority were blinded to spiritual truths because they rejected Christ as the promised Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. In today's message, Pastor Dan explains this blindness and the hardening of their hearts. He also clarifies the term "mystery" in Scripture. There are truths hidden in the Old Testament that are revealed in the New Testament. It is not that these truths were unknown; rather, they were simply explained more fully in later years.

"What happens in between the Old Testament and New Testament? How does this time period set the stage for Jesus' birth? In today's episode, Emma Dotter and Join The Journey summer intern, Evelyn Parsley, walk us through the political and cultural events that lead up the start of the New Testament and the birth of Jesus Christ. You can also check out the Join The Journey Jr. Podcast: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/join-the-journey-junior/id1660089898 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6SG7aaE1ZjjFkgB34G8zp3?si=c960a63736904665 Check out the Join The Journey Website for this week's devotionals and more resources! https://www.jointhejourney.com/ Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Watermark-Community-Church/author/B0BRYP5MQK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1755623322&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=8aeeec3b-6c1c-416d-87ae-5dfbbb6981df"

Waiting for what's next isn't always easy. You might want answers, direction, clarity—anything to move forward. But waiting isn't always a waste of time. God is shaping your story, even before you can see it unfold.

The central theme of the Book of Hebrews is the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all Old Testament figures and systems. He is greater than angels, prophets, Moses, and even the Old Covenant itself. Jesus offers a superior rest, assurance, faith, and life. Ultimately, He is revealed as the founder and perfecter of our faith, the fulfillment of everything the Old Testament pointed toward. Speaker: Brad Bell

Officiant: Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Psalm(s): Psalm 93, 96, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:8–37, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 16, New Testament: Acts 9:10-31, Fr. Andrew Armond, Second Canticle: 21, Gospel: Luke 3:7-18, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Antonio Allegretti, used by permission.

Sep 21, 2025  GRAND PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCHNeil McClendon, Lead PastorGrand Parkway Baptist ChurchDo you think living by the Ten Commandments is enough to be right with God? What about the other 603 laws in the Old Testament? In this powerful message, Pastor Neil McClendon unpacks Jesus's statement that He came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The sermon reveals how a "rules-based" relationship with God will always leave us condemned, and how true righteousness comes only through Jesus ChristThis message will help you understand:  • Think Properly (v. 17)  • Understand Deeply (v. 18)  • Teach Rightly (v. 19)  • Hear Clearly (v. 20)To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here

Officiant: Fr. Wiley Ammons, Psalm(s): Psalm 34, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:8–37, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 15, New Testament: Acts 9:10-31, Fr. Andrew Armond, Second Canticle: 17, Gospel: Luke 3:7-18, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Laura Ammons, used by permission.

Waiting for what's next isn't always easy. You might want answers, direction, clarity—anything to move forward. But waiting isn't always a waste of time. God is shaping your story, even before you can see it unfold.

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles, Chapter One.

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, Chapter Twenty-Five.  

In this powerful episode, Pastor Johnny Ova sits down with Prof. Steven Mann, chair of the seminary at Azusa Pacific University and a leading expert in speech act theory, Old Testament theology, and biblical narrative. Together, they explore how God's words throughout Scripture are not just spoken statements but active forces that create, command, bless, warn, and transform.Prof. Mann explains how the lens of speech act theory helps us understand the Bible on a deeper level. From Genesis 1 to Jonah, from covenant to correction, from prophecy to poetry, this conversation unpacks how divine speech functions across the Old Testament. You will never read “And God said…” the same way again.We also explore how this theme connects to the New Testament and the identity of Jesus as the Word made flesh, offering a full-picture view of how God's speech is both consistent and redemptive across the entire biblical arc.

The central theme of the Book of Hebrews is the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all Old Testament figures and systems. He is greater than angels, prophets, Moses, and even the Old Covenant itself. Jesus offers a superior rest, assurance, faith, and life. Ultimately, He is revealed as the founder and perfecter of our faith, the fulfillment of everything the Old Testament pointed toward. Speaker: Brad Bell

In this message, Minister Mark Ashton explores the book of Exodus through four powerful themes: I Am, the Lamb, the Ten, and the Tent. From Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, to the blood of the Passover lamb, to the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and finally the Tabernacle where God's presence dwelt among His people—every moment points us to Jesus. Discover how God delivers His people from slavery, reveals His holy standard, and dwells with them through His presence. This message will help you see the Old Testament with fresh eyes and understand how it connects to the life and mission of Jesus today.

Officiant: Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Psalm(s): Psalm 93, 96, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:8–37, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 16, New Testament: Acts 9:10-31, Fr. Andrew Armond, Second Canticle: 21

Jesus, The King of Kings | Matthew 26:17-35

If you know anything about the Bible stories in the Old Testament, then you know that the existence of the Jewish people today is a miracle. The history of Israel as a nation is one of a people who have faced near extinction over and over again, but God… In today's message, Pastor Dion points you to Israel as a sign of the times you're living in. The very fact that Israel is living in their land today proves that God's still on the throne. God's Word is true, and every prophecy within Its pages will come to pass.

Introduction: Signs That You are Self-Deceived (Matthew 7:21-23) You profess the truth without being CHANGED BY THE TRUTH. (Matt 7:21) Romans 10:9 – Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You point to your works rather than CHRIST'S WORK. (Matt 7:22) Isaiah 64:6 – All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. You presume that you know Jesus but JESUS DOES NOT KNOW YOU. (Matt 7:23) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead Matthew 7:21-23What was your big take-away from this passage / message?How can you evaluate if you are self-deceived and lack self-awareness of who you are and whose you are?How has the truth of the gospel changed you? In what areas do you need to be further changed?What is the difference between knowing a lot about Jesus and knowing Jesus?Why do you love Jesus?BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT Please turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.Matthew chapter 7.Have you ever met a person who thought they had a certain skillthat they actually didn't possess?Have you ever been that person?You were convinced that you had this talent, you had this ability.But then someone came along to burst your bubble,or you put yourself out there and you embarrassed yourself big time.I can think of no better example than this than American Idol.Who's watched American Idol at some point in their lives?I don't know about you, but I've never watched an entire season of American Idol.I always turn it off after the first round.Because what happens after the first round,all the terrible singers are sent home.And maybe this tells you something about me,but I love to watch those horrible auditions of those people who think they can sing,but they can't carry a tune in a bucket.They confidently stand before Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowellto claim that they are phenomenal singers.And then they belt out the most wretched noises imaginable.Today, I will sing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."And I will always love you.Thank you.You'll never know if that's my real singing voice or my fake singing voice.After giving it their all, these individuals are absolutely shocked at the judge's reactions.They weep as Paula Abdul lets them down gently.Their jaws are on the floor as Randy Jackson gives his patented "pfft" to know from me, dog.And they fight back in Simon Cowell when he says something horrible like,"That was absolutely dreadful."And as you watch it at home, you can't help but think to yourself,how do they not recognize that they sound horrible?How do they not realize that they are terrible singers?Do you know the answer to those questions?The answer is self-deception.Self-deception.They are clueless to who they actually are.They are lying to themselves.Their view of themselves has no basis in reality.They lack self-awareness.And it's so easy for you and I to sit in our couches and pass judgment on these individualsas their delusions go before our eyes.But never forget an important truth.You too can be self-deceived.You too can lack self-awareness.You may not truly understand who you are and whose you are.Your self-deception may be far worse than believing that you're a world-class vocalist.Your self-deception may have eternal consequences.What if you think you're a Christian but you're actually not?What if you confidently believe that you are a child of God but you're actually a son or daughterof the devil?What if you believe that you are heading to heavenwhile you're on the path to hell?We're in the final section of the Sermon on the Mount, the heart ready for judgment.It's been made abundantly clear that Jesus is not going to pull any punchesas he rounds out his most famous sermon.Two weeks ago, Pastor Jeff unpacked the really tough truth that the gate to everlasting life is what?Narrow. And few people go that way because it is hard.While the gate to never-ending punishment is wide, it is massive.And most people go that way because it is so easy.And last week we learned that there are so many false teachers pointing to the wide gate.And it's obvious who they are because of the fruit that they produce.Maybe you heard those messages and even agreed with those messagesbut you didn't internalize what was said.You didn't truly evaluate your heart to see if you're on the narrow path or the wide pathto see if you are falling for false teaching.Well this morning, Jesus is going to tighten the net even more.The walls are going to be closing in on you so that there's no more wiggle roomto escape what the Lord has to say about judgment.Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23 contain the most chilling words in the entire Bible.And for me, there isn't a close second.Jesus says that many are self-deceived in this lifeand they will be shocked that they won't end up in heaven someday.I want to encourage you, please do not tune out and think,"Well, there's no way Jesus is talking about me so I can just kind of daydreamand plan out the rest of my week."No, tune in and ask yourself, "What if Jesus is talking about me?"What if I am self-deceived?What if I am lacking self-awareness of who I am and who's I am?So before we continue, let's go the Lord and ask for His help.I ask that you pray for me.Are we faithful in proclaiming God's Word?And I will pray for you that you are faithful to receive it.Father, we come to you and we ask that your spirit will bring clarity,that He would bring illumination, that He would bring conviction and challenge.Lord, in the past 13 years of preaching, I don't know if I ever felt more inadequateto proclaim a text than this one.But I thank you in advance that you will preach a much better sermonin people's hearts than I ever could with my mouth.Show up in a great mighty way, Lord.Come to seek and save the lost.And for the rest of us, Lord, help us to be blown away by your awesome love.And we ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.Signs that you are self-deceived.Sign one, you profess the truth without being changed by the truth.You profess the truth without being changed by the truth.Let's read chapter 7 verse 21.This is the Lord Jesus speaking."Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."In this verse, Jesus talks about the here and now as well as the there and then.According to Jesus, what you say about who you are here and now may be proven to be wrongthere and then at the final judgment.What you profess to believe with your mouth here and now may be proven to not be a genuinereality in your heart there and then as you stand before Jesus.You can be confident here and now that heaven is in your future,but then be banned from heaven when that future finally arrives.You can call Jesus Lord, Lord, which means that you claim him as God.You can even claim Jesus as your God.You can say all the right things about Jesus, but still not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.Isn't that terrifying?You may be thinking to yourself, "Taylor, how is that possible?"I thought it's all just about believing and confessing.That's it.Well, the combination of belief and confession is absolutely essential and you cannot be savedwithout it.Paul backs this up in Romans 10, 9, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordand believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."What a glorious truth that you should cherish, memorize, and hold on to.But unfortunately, so many people misuse and abuse that verse.Well, as long as you pray the prayer, as long as you say the right words, you're good to go.God has stamped your one-way ticket to heaven.Doesn't really matter what you do or how you live from now on.Once saved, always saved.But people who say that miss a key word in this verse, heart.Believe in your heart.This belief in Christ must take root at the deepest level of who you are.This belief in Christ must take over every single aspect of your life.True belief isn't a mere acknowledgement of the facts.It is an act of faith that transforms you from the inside out.Some who say, "Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven because they were transformed by theirbelief." Many others who say, "Lord, Lord will not enter the kingdom of heaven because they werenever transformed by their belief." It is possible to profess the truth without being changed by thetruth. And if you have not been changed by the truth of the gospel, then let me tell you,you have not truly believed in the truth of the gospel.So how can you tell if you have been changed by the truth or not?It's a very simple test according to Jesus. He says, "You don't just say, 'Lord, Lord,' you dothe will of your Father who is in heaven. You say and you do."Last week, Pastor Jeff said that false teachers are revealed by their words and their actions.The same is true for followers of Christ. Genuine faith is proven by believing and confessing theright things, but that can't be the only standard according to our Lord. Genuine faith is also provenby doing the right things. Doing the will of your Father in heaven means that you obeyHis word. You have an internal desire to do what God says, and then you act on that desire.You act on what you say you believe. You say that you should passionately pursue after the Lordand His word and in prayer. So you do passionately pursue after the Lord in word, in His wordand in prayer. You say that you should daily repent and turn from your sin, so you do dailyrepent and turn from your sin. You say that you should share your faith more and make disciples,so you do share your faith more and make disciples. What you say carries no weightif it doesn't line up with what you do.I want to make something crystal clear to avoid being misunderstood.You are not saved by what you do. You are not saved by what you do, but what you do revealsif you are saved or not. What you do reveals if you are saved or not.You know, almost 20 years ago, I took the written test to get my learner's permit.I studied that PA Driver's Manual inside and out. I knew all the right answers about driving,and I could regurgitate them on a test. Let me ask you, did passing that 18 question permit testmake me a driver? No. For a number of years, I went to seminary. I went to a number of classes,read a countless number of books, listened to so many lectures, and I learned about what a pastorshould be, what a pastor should do. In 2020, I was given my Master of Divinity. Let me ask you,did receiving that piece of paper in the mail make me a pastor? Not one bit. You can get 100%on your permit test and still not be able to enter a car and drive it with any level of competency.You can get the best theological training in the world and still not be able to enter into a churchand be its pastor. You can ace a Bible Pop quiz and still not enter the kingdom of heaven.Do not be deceived and think that you're safe and sound just because you grew up in a Christianfamily and went to church when you were younger. Do not be deceived and think that you're safe andsound just because you fill a seat on Sunday mornings. It is not enough just to have thecorrect facts stored in your brain. The correct facts must change who you are.Signs that you are self-deceived. Sign number two, you point to your works rather than Christ's work.You point to your works rather than Christ's work.Let's read verse 22. On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your nameand cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?"Once again, Jesus is taking us into the future. He fasts forward the movie of life to show uswhat the final judgment will look like. As we've already seen, some who say, "Lord, Lord, willenter the kingdom of heaven." But many others who say, "Lord, Lord, will not enter the kingdom ofheaven." And that second group is the focus of this verse. In verse 21, "Lord, Lord was a professionof belief, but in verse 22 it is used as a desperate plea." This is a Hail Mary pass. It is a one lasteffort to avoid judgment. This is an attempt to convince Jesus that a mistake has been made.Lord Jesus, I know you have a lot of people to see and judge today. It makes sense that a fewpeople are going to fall through the cracks and a few mistakes are going to be made. Let me remindyou of who I am. Let me remind you of all the things I've done for you. Here's my resume.It's a really impressive resume, isn't it? Casting out demons,prophesying, doing many mighty works in miracles. You may look at this list and think,"How could someone with this resume not enter the kingdom of heaven? How could someone like thisnot be saved?" Well, there are three possible explanations that lead to the same sad result.Option number one, these mighty works are done by the power of the evil one.These mighty works are done by the power of the evil one.Pastor Jeff talked about this in depth last week, but Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,Christian TV stations are filled with corrupt and dishonest pastors who claim to proclaim the wordof God and do many mighty miracles in the name of Christ. They look really great with their threepea suits, their expensive sneakers, their luxurious jets and fancy cars, but they are nothing butfrauds and workers of Satan. They are not in ministry for you. They are not in ministry for Jesus.They are in ministry for themselves. They are after power, money and public adoration.At the very least, they operate in their own power, or at the very worst, they operate by the power ofSatan himself. And you may be thinking, "Taylor, you seem to be a bit too tough on these guys."Well, Pastor Jeff, I'm simply applying your message from last week. I'm evaluating the fruitsthat these false teachers produce. Could it be that you don't like what I'm saying because youare being fooled? Because you are being led astray. Could it be that you're mistaking their bad fruitfor good fruit? Option number two, these people are making false claims.Have you ever interviewed someone who patted out their resume with accomplishments they didn'tactually accomplish, with awards they didn't actually win? What leads a person to lie aboutthings they're so easily fact-checked in 2025? Once again, the answer is self-deception.There's no way I'll get caught. I can get away with it. They try to puff out theirchest and make themselves look better than they actually are. They polish their imaginary trophies.Is it a good idea to lie to your potential employer? Let me ask that again so you can wakeup a bit. Is it a good idea to lie to your potential employer? Is it a good idea to lieto Jesus Christ? Maybe you don't worry about where you'll end up in eternity because you have a highopinion of your ability to sweet talk your way into things or sweet talk your way out of things.I spoke into a lot of guys in the past that, "Yeah, I'm not worried about the afterlife.God and I will have a conversation at the pearly gates and he'll see why I should be in there.I'll be just fine." That is a horrible plan. That plan is foolishness. You cannot smooth talk Jesus.He knows everything and he sees everything. He knows what you've done and he knows what you haven'tdone. He sees right through your flimsy resume of fake accomplishments. Third option, God allowsphony believers to accomplish amazing things for his kingdom and glory. God allows phony believersto accomplish amazing things for his glory and kingdom. Let me just think about the storylineof Scripture and how this plays out in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God put hisown words in the mouth of a dirty donkey and then in the mouth of a wicked false prophet.The high priest Caiaphas who hated and opposed Jesus unintentionally prophesied that Jesus woulddie for the nation. In Philippians, the apostle Paul rejoices in the truth that men with horriblemotivations can truly proclaim the good news of Jesus. Let's step away from biblicalillustrations for a second and hit a bit closer to home. You can take the preaching class atharvest and deliver a killer sermon while you are engaging in a secret affair that you have no plansto confess or end. You can teach kids back at Harvest Academy while you mistreat your ownchildren at home. You can go on mission trips overseas and help a ton of people over therewhile you defraud and deceive your clients over here. You can be the number one most dependablevolunteer at harvest while being the most loyal customer at your local liquor store.God can use whoever he wants, whenever he wants to accomplish whatever he wants.God can use those who are walking in holiness and he can use those who are not walking in holiness.God can use those who truly belong to him as well as those who don't truly belong to him.Listen, you can keep yourself busy with religious activities while you destroy yourself behindclosed doors and travel down the highway to hell. Serving your church, serving your community aregood and godly activities, but those good and godly activities cannot save you. Only Jesus Christcan save you. Rip up your religious resume because I promise you it is not as good as you think itis. Even your best efforts are stained by sin, pride, and mixed motivations.Isaiah gives us a reality check about this when he says all of our righteous acts are like filthyrags. What are filthy rags good for? What's the answer? Nothing. Filthy rags should be thrown away.I assume that some of you will be going to a restaurant after church today with family andfriends. Imagine trying to pay the bill with garbage that you found in the dumpster outside therestaurant. Would your server and the manager be very pleased with you? Why? Because you're offeringthem worthless garbage. Trying to hand God your religious resumes that you can be saved is likehanding him trash and expecting that he'll be impressed. At this point, you may be kind ofconfused. Taylor, you spent a long time talking about the importance of doing the right things,but now you're kind of acting like doing the right things. Isn't that important?Well, again, I want to emphasize that good works must flow out of your salvation,but good works cannot contribute to your salvation, even a tiny bit. Salvation is 100%the work of God and 0% you. Some of you are operating as if you're responsible for half.25%, 5%, 2%, even 1% is too much. It's all of Jesus Christ.Listen, your resume stinks while Christ's resume soars. Your resume is imperfect whileChrist's resume is perfect. You are a loser on your own while Christ is a winner.But the good news is you can share in his victory by letting go of what you have to offerby grabbing a hold of what he has to offer. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life you could never live.He succeeded in every single way that you have failed. He then died the death that you deserve to die.He rose again to give you the new life that you can never work your way towards. Do not be deceivedand rely on your own goodness and track record. Do not rest your eternal destiny on yourself.Rest in Christ's work, not your own. Place your trust in Christ alone becauseHe alone can give you what you need, both now and forever.Signs that you are self-deceived, final sign, and this is the hardest one of them all.You presume that you know Jesus, but Jesus does not know you.You presume that you know Jesus, but Jesus does not know you.So after the religious resume has been read, Jesus gives the most devastating response.And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.Can you imagine anything more terrifying than hearing that from the most important personin existence? Get away from me. I want nothing to do with you.You are nothing but an unrepentant lawbreaker and evildoer.Does that response shock you? You may be thinking, but how could Jesus say something so harsh?Isn't He the definition of love and forgiveness?Well, what's the reason He gives in the text? You are acting like you know me, but I don't know you.You know, as a preacher, I enjoy listening to a lot of preachers. I'm somewhat of a pastoral nerd.I follow a lot of pastors on social media. I have a list of my favorites that I've listened to some for decades.And I learn about their personal lives. I learn about their ministries and their messages and their books,and it can really feel like I know them. But do I actually know them?I know a lot about them, but I don't know them. There is no relationship. There is no back andforth. There is no give or take. It's just a one-sided admiration from afar.Imagine I drive across the country to the house of my favorite online preacher.I show up on his doorstop at 10 o'clock at night and I knock on his door,keep ringing the doorbell. Eventually, his poor preacher shuffles the door and his bathrobe and his slippers, the toothbrush in hand.As soon as he opens the door, I launch into, "Hey, man, it's Taylor. I got a lot of problems right now.I really need your advice. Can I come in and chat?" How do you think he's going to respond?Dude, you're acting like you know me, but I don't know you at all. You are a total stranger.My wife and kids are at home and they're sleeping. I'm not just going to invite you in. You need to leave right now.Is that an appropriate response? Yes, that's how he should respond. I should be turned away from him in that moment.Let's change up the scenario a bit. At 10 o'clock tonight, I show up on Pastor Jeff's doorstep.Knock on the door, ring the doorbell. He opens it and I give him the same exact spiel.Will there be a different outcome? Will there be a different response? Why?Because I don't just listen to Pastor Jeff from afar. I don't watch him on a screen.We've been close friends for 13 years and he is my pastor.I know Pastor Jeff and Jeff knows me. I don't just know a lot about him.Do you know a lot about Jesus or do you know Jesus?Does Jesus consider you a stranger or does he know you as his close friend,his faithful follower, his blood-bought brother or sister?Does he really actually know you?Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Well, how can I know if I know Jesus and he knows me?What's the test of that?" Well, years ago, I heard a pastor say something in a sermon thatnever forgot sense. He said, "You can tell a lot about a person by how they respond to a simplequestion. Why do you love Jesus? Why do you love Jesus?"He said, "You'd be shocked by how many people have no idea how to answer that question."Because their intellectual knowledge of Jesus has not created affection for Jesus.Friends, why do you love Jesus? If you can't think of anything, that's a huge problemand you shouldn't ignore it. Imagine pulling me aside for a service and saying, "Taylor,what do you love about your wife?" And I respond, "What does that tell you? I don't have a personaland in-depth knowledge of my wife. I don't love her like I presume to. I should say, "Hey,do you have a couple of days because my list is very, very long. There's not just one thing aboutmy wife that I love. There's a countless number of them. My wife has my heart, so my list of whyI love her is very long. But how much longer should your list be in my list be when it comes to JesusChrist and why we love Him? Life is too short to plumb the depths of His awesomeness. Why do youlove Jesus? I love Jesus because He died for me when I wanted nothing to do with Him. I loveJesus because He loves me no matter what I do. I love Jesus because He is not ashamed to call meHis brother despite all the ways that I fail Him. I love Jesus because He cares about everythingthat I go through. And He sympathizes with all of my weaknesses. I love Jesus because right nowHe is interceding for me in heaven before the Father. I love Jesus because all the promises ofScripture find their yes in Amen in Him. I love Jesus because He is always with me and He willnever forsake me even to the very end. I could keep going and going and going. Could you?How can you say that you love Jesus if you don't even know why you love Him?How can you expect that you'll worship Jesus for all of eternity if you can't think of a singlereason to worship Him right now? Do not be deceived. Heaven is not a place for fans and admirers ofJesus. Heaven is a place for those who love Christ with a full heart. If you don't know Jesusbefore your life comes to an end, Jesus will deny knowing you in the next.For years, I used to laugh at the nickname that the Apostle John gave himselfin his own Gospels. Does anyone know what his nickname he gave himself was? The disciple whomJesus, what? Really, John? Ask him the nickname you gave yourself, the one whom Jesus loved.And for years, I thought John was saying, "Yeah, you know what? I was Jesus' favorite.Peter may be the most popular, but what can I say? Jesus loves me more."Recently, I've come to the realization that's not at all what John had in mind. John is claiminghis identity by saying, "I am the one whom Jesus loved." He was saying the love of Jesuswas the most important thing about him. It doesn't even matter what my name is. What matters is thatJesus loves me. The love of Jesus was the foundation of who he was and the motivation for all that hedid. How do you identify yourself? Do you primarily identify yourself as someone who has all the rightanswers and says all the right things? Do you identify yourself as a good person who has animpressive religious resume of good works? Do you identify yourself as someone who knows a lotabout Jesus? All of those identities are deceptive and destructive. All of those identities willlead you to everlasting destruction. If those are your identities, you are self-deceived. You lackself-awareness. I beg you to reject those identities and grab ahold of the love of Jesus Christ.Embrace who he is and what he wants to give you. Give your life to him and Christ will become yourlife. Give your identity to him and Christ will become your identity. You can be known as the onewhom Jesus loves by bowing the knee to him in unending submission. Make the love of Jesus Christthe foundation of who you are and the motivation for all that you do.It's so easy to lose sight of these spiritual realities in a physical world, isn't it?In His infinite grace, God has chosen to give us a physical picture of His love in the Lord's Supper.As we come to this meal together, we are graphically reminded of how Christ has shown His lovefor us. He took our place on the cross. He died for us and He took upon Himself the wraththat you and I deserve. Our worship leaders and communion servers can now make their way forward.You don't need to be a member of Harvest Bible Chapel to take part in communion,but you do need to be a member of the family of God.Communion is only for those who know Christ and are known by Christ.If you want to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we're going to have two individuals back in guestreception, Pastor Jeff and Lexie Cole. They would love to talk and pray with you.And please just look at me for a minute. Please do not pass up this opportunity.The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not a great day for salvation.Next week is not a great time for salvation. When it's more convenient, it's not a great time forsalvation. Today is a great day for salvation. Jesus is commanding you to know Him today,to love Him today, to trust in Him today. So please push aside your pride, push aside anyembarrassment you may feel. And go talk to Pastor Jeff and Lexie in the back. They would love topray for you and point you to Jesus and what next steps with Him looks like.

You have hopes and dreams for your family. But the truth is, we’re all broken, dysfunctional people. On this Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author and Bible teacher, Erin Davis looks at the life of an Old Testament family. Things were messy in their interactions. There was deceit and a lot of pain. But God was at work in the middle of the imperfections. Hear the encouragement for your family on Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. Featured resource: THE STORY OF JOSEPH: HOW GOD CAN REDEEM IMPERFECT FAMILIES - AN 8-WEEK BIBLE STUDYDonate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/buildingrelationshipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT) Over the next few days, we’re going to address some frequently asked questions about the Christian faith. It’s likely that none of these questions will be new to you. You’ve probably heard them—or maybe even asked them yourself—more than once. I want to emphasize that these questions are valid. They often indicate a thoughtful approach to the Christian faith. But sometimes questions are nothing more than a smokescreen—a way of deflecting the truth of the gospel. They are excuses for not making a decision for Christ. With that in mind, let’s proceed. In Isaiah 1:18, God says, “Come now, and let us reason together” (NKJV). Christianity is a logical faith. It was only after I became a Christian that the world began to make sense to me. Prior to becoming a believer, I thought that mankind was basically good. And I really struggled with the horrible things that people did to people. But after I became a believer and discovered that the Bible teaches that mankind is sinful, I began to understand. I also discovered that God can change the human heart. Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean you have to check your brain at the door. Bring your questions, even the tough ones. Find out what God says in His Word. Of course, if we’re going to search for answers in God’s Word, we need to be able to trust it. So, our first question is: How do we know the Bible is true? We can point to its amazing origin. The Bible is actually sixty-six different books written over a span of 1,500 years by some forty different authors from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars. Yet every one of them wrote about the same theme, God’s redemption of mankind. Because God Himself directed their words. We can point to archaeology. For many years, scholars used archaeology to argue that the Bible was unreliable. They could find no evidence of certain names, places, and events mentioned in Scripture. As archaeologists uncover more and more of the ancient world, however, they are discovering that the Bible is quite accurate. We can point to prophecy, specifically prophecies about the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies—including being born of a virgin, being born in Bethlehem, and being crucified—centuries after the prophecies were made. Perhaps most importantly, we can point to what the Bible says about how to know God and how to live in these troubled, crazy times. It’s the only book that speaks with authority in this realm. And it’s the only book whose promises resonate deep within us. Ultimately, the best way to discover that the Bible is true is to experience its truths in your own life. Reflection question: How have you experienced the Bible truths in your own life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Missionary Evangelist Robert Breaker talks about the 7 things that Paul tells us take place at salvation, and now they are different than what happened in the Old Testament to those saints back then.

Officiant: Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Psalm(s): Psalm 75, 76, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1–18, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 12, New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-7, David Sibley, Second Canticle: 19, Gospel: Matthew 5:17-20, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Antonio Allegretti, used by permission.

Show notes will be posted upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

Officiant: Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1–18, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 9, New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-7, David Sibley, Second Canticle: 15, Gospel: Matthew 5:17-20, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Laura Ammons, used by permission.

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, Chapter Twenty-Four in its entirety.  

Steve Wiggins of GroundworksMinistries.com is sharing a devotional from the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, Chapter Twenty-Three.  

Welcome to Lesson 80 Heart Dive's Heartbeat of God, where we are finding how God's heart beats throughout His Word so we can see Him in the world. Today, we are studying Deuteronomy 30-31 in the Old Testament.00:00 - Opening 05:57 - Beginning Prayer 07:55 - Deuteronomy 3031:39 - Deuteronomy 3150:51 - Closing Prayer53:22 - Salvation PrayerVISIT OUR SHOP: heartdiveshop.com2024 videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdqyC_w_7Gwgd93fCHH-OZdxB3fYuPXIW&si=nvsUzGRu71ISQ8bsFREE RESOURCES: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/mobile/folders/1Tvms_gB-OWMum61DiCXvFV8R8jKXpIVIMy Bible Notes: https://heartdive.org/daily-notes-with-kanoe/2025 Digital and Print Planners: heartdiveshop.comFacebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/heartdiveAmazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/shop/kanoegibson/list/1ED3COSB79TAQ?ref_=aipsflistLOGOS Software affiliate link: http://www.logos.com/heartdiveFree Reading Plan and Daily Newsletter sign up: http://heartdive.org/newsletterLink to recommended Bibles: https://heartdive.org/recommendations/ Support the Ministry: https://heartdive.org/support/ 

There is just no possible way the main character is getting out of this mess. Despite racking your brain, doom is pretty much guaranteed. But then, the most unlikely solution pops up, surprises everyone, and our hero drives away. There are a number of instances where the Old Testament character Samson fits this model. We'll look at one of those in this study. Judges 14:1-20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Officiant: Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Psalm(s): Psalm 75, 76, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1–18, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 12, New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-7, David Sibley, Second Canticle: 19

A Gaslit Nation listener once asked me: What's the canary in the coal mine for American democracy? My answer: when they come for the comedians. Because when authoritarians kill the jokes, they kill the dissent. Look at Russia. In Putin's early years, Kukly, a wildly popular political satire by smack-talking puppets, mocked him mercilessly. One of his first moves? Force media consolidation. Suddenly, the show vanished. Fast forward 25 years to today, you can't hold an anti-war sign in Moscow without being arrested.  As The New York Times reported back in 2000: “‘Kukly' is political satire. But that is like calling an ermine a rodent. By turns vicious, obscene, hilarious and knowing, it has long been the most popular television show in Russia. At 10 p.m. on any given Sunday, more than half the nation's sets are riveted on the program.” [Emphasis mine]. Now it's happening here. Trump and the far-right are consolidating media ownership, especially local stations, while evangelicals push their “Seven Mountains Mandate” to seize control of religion, family, government, business, education, arts, and, of course, media. Trump is their “God's imperfect vessel"–like many strongmen featured in the Old Testament, bulldozing what's left of democracy in a white-rage backlash to the Civil Rights movement. Formerly “woke” Disney CEO Bob Iger, who previously denounced Trump's Muslim ban and Florida's anti-gay laws, is now in the crosshairs, pressured by Nexstar and Sinclair, Republican-aligned networks with monopoly-level reach. But Disney did this to itself, and the country, by giving a convicted felon a $15 million “charitable contribution” to his “presidential library” to settle a defamation suit. That surrender paved the way for the widespread mainstream media capitulation helping Trump consolidate power.  Jimmy Kimmel has now been silenced for saying what Gaslit Nation also pointed out: Charlie Kirk's killer came from the same white, male, MAGA gun culture that empowered Trump. That truth cost Kimmel his platform, so far, but thanks to you, our listeners, we can keep saying it. So who rescues us as Trump tries to turn America into Russia? Enter KPop Demon Hunters. Netflix's massive hit–its most watched film–is a reminder that the free market still caters to the people. America's greatest export isn't oil or weapons. It's culture, humor, art. Our comedians are resistance fighters with punchlines. Which means one of the best ways to fight fascism is simple: dictators hate truth and humor. Every single one of us pointing out the truth, and having a damn good time while doing it, will break the fever of this dystopian feverdream. Because pay attention to Kimmel's monologue that got him pulled from air: he goes into length on Trump's Epstein cover-up. Listen here for yourself or in the end of this week's bonus show. Like Gaslit Nation warned, Charlie Kirk's murder is being used as part of the larger Epstein cover-up.  For our Patreon members, this week's lively salon has already been posted, along with the Zoom link for next week's salon. You can find that here. See you Monday at 4pm ET. If you would like to join our weekly hang outs and help support our independent journalism, get all episodes add free, bonus shows and more, be sure to join our community of listeners at Patreon.com/Gaslit. Thank you to everyone who supports the show–we could not make Gaslit Nation without you! Show Notes: ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump's presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit https://apnews.com/article/abc-trump-lawsuit-defamation-stephanopoulos-04aea8663310af39ae2a85f4c1a56d68 Trump Celebrates Kimmel Suspension As Right Rages Over Charlie Kirk Killing: Live Updates https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-king-charles-live-updates_n_68c80c2be4b0642964ce9b92 Seven Questions with Perry Sook https://rbr.com/seven-questions-with-perry-sook/ TV's Impious Puppets: On Kremlin's Hit List? https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/world/tv-s-impious-puppets-on-kremlin-s-hit-list.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate' and how is it linked to political extremism in the US? https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/07/10/what-is-the-seven-mountains-mandate-and-how-is-it-linked-to-political-extremism-in-the-us/ 1990 report: Ivana Trump told her lawyer Donald Trump kept Hitler speeches beside bed https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/12/18/donald-trump-campaign-rhetoric-cnc-vpx.cnn Clip: https://bsky.app/profile/rbreich.bsky.social/post/3lz5hoh3dip23 Clip: https://bsky.app/profile/jamellebouie.net/post/3lz5faps5tk2g Jimmy Kimmel Surprised That Bombshell Jeffrey Epstein Tapes About Trump Friendship Aren't Getting More Attention https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-jeffrey-epstein-tapes-trump-friendship-1236200783/ Jimmy Kimmel's Epstein monologue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHT7ICvMtlA&t=573s

Hey y'all ! Welcome to another Friday with CWCOI ! In this week's episode, our host, Ally Yost reads the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. We read chapters 1 through 9 which encompass the story of God and all of His creation. Despite humanity's sinfulness, God is faithful and refuses to abandon us. Let us know if you'd like us to continue reading Genesis in our next episode! "When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Genesis 9:16 ☆ REP CWCOI MERCH ➤ https://allyyost.com ☆ MY BIBLE (code ‘ALLYYOST' at checkout) ➤ https://hosannarevival.com/collections/beautiful-bibles/products/nlt-notetaking-bible-versailles-theme  ☆ TUMBLER LINK ➤ https://allyyost.com/products/travel-tumbler ☆ JESUS FREAKS | OFFICIAL TRAILER ➤ https://youtu.be/DbbJHm0WfJg?si=ErjC8Z9_TmC5VLar ☆ EARLY ACCESS TO EPISODES AND BONUS PERKS ➤ https://patreon.com/CWCOI  ☆ GIVE TO CWCOI ➤ https://www.paypal.me/CWCOI _____________________________________________  Connect further with us ! TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@christwithcoffeeonice  Instagram ➤ https://instagram.com/christwithcoffeeonice _____________________________________________  Connect further with Ally !  TikTok (2M) ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@ally_yost  Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/ally_yost/  ShopMy ➤ https://shopmy.us/allyyost Pinterest ➤ https://www.pinterest.com/ally_yost1/_created/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chapter 23 of Heroes in the Bible: David with Dr. Tony Evans is inspired by 2 Samuel 8-10. Strength & Love - David rises to a new level of power, influence, and favor. He truly is living like a man after God’s own heart… But sin is always lurking in the shadows, awaiting a moment to strike. Today's opening prayer is inspired by Romans 15:13, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to some of the greatest Bible stories ever told and make prayer a priority in your life by downloading the Pray.com app. Sign up for Heroes in the Bible devotionals at https://www.heroesinthebible.com/ Learn more about Dr. Tony Evans at https://tonyevans.org/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Old Testament, God challenged false gods to prove themselves by predicting the future—and of course, they can't. But the Bible does! Thousands of times!

In this solo episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal tackles the concerning theological trend of "Divine Council Theology" and its recent resurgence within Reformed circles. He offers a critical analysis of Michael Heiser's influential work and its problematic popularization by Reformed figures like Doug Van Dorn and John Moffitt. Tony demonstrates how redefining the biblical term "Elohim" to include both God and created spiritual beings in the same ontological category fundamentally undermines the creator-creature distinction essential to Christian orthodoxy. Through careful examination of systematic theological categories, communicable and incommunicable attributes, and implications for Christology, he reveals why this seemingly academic redefinition poses serious threats to biblical monotheism and classical Reformed theology. Key Takeaways Divine Council Theology, popularized by Michael Heiser and now being promoted within Reformed circles, attempts to redefine "Elohim" as a functional category that includes both God and created spiritual beings. This theological trend commits an etymological fallacy by redefining the predominant usage of "Elohim" (which refers to the God of Israel in ~2,300 of 2,600 occurrences) based on minority usages. The approach dangerously blurs the fundamental creator-creature distinction that is essential to Christian monotheism and orthodox theology. Proponents incorrectly classify divine power as a communicable attribute rather than recognizing omnipotence as an incommunicable attribute that cannot be shared with creatures. The theological system makes problematic analogies to the incarnation, showing a confused understanding of the hypostatic union and potentially opening the door to Arian implications. This theology represents a concerning return to concepts the early church fathers fought against when confronting pagan Greek thought, rather than a retrieval of biblical teaching. Departing from the "pattern of sound words" handed down through church history in favor of novel interpretations should raise significant warning flags. Key Concepts The Creator-Creature Distinction The most fundamental division in Christian theology is not between spiritual and material beings, but between the uncreated Creator and everything else that exists. Divine Council Theology dangerously undermines this distinction by placing God and created spiritual beings in the same category of "Elohim." While proponents acknowledge God as the uncreated Creator, they nevertheless insist on categorizing Him alongside angels, demons, and other spiritual entities based on shared attributes of power or function. This categorization system parallels pagan worldviews more than biblical theology, where God exists in a class of one. By defining "Elohim" as a functional category related to spiritual power rather than an ontological one, this approach inadvertently returns to a hierarchical view of spiritual beings with God merely at the "top of the totem pole" rather than in an entirely separate and unique category of existence. This framework subtly but significantly undermines biblical monotheism by suggesting God shares a fundamental nature with His creatures. Communicable vs. Incommunicable Attributes Divine Council Theology mishandles the traditional theological distinction between God's communicable and incommunicable attributes. In classical Reformed theology, communicable attributes (like love or wisdom) can be shared with creatures in a limited, analogical way, while incommunicable attributes (like omnipotence, eternality, or divine simplicity) belong exclusively to God and cannot be shared without making the creature into God. Proponents of Divine Council Theology erroneously suggest that the power denoted by "Elohim" is a communicable attribute that God shares with spiritual beings, rather than recognizing omnipotence as properly incommunicable. This misclassification creates theological incoherence: if God could truly share His omnipotence with creatures, those creatures would effectively become equal to God in power, creating the logical impossibility of multiple omnipotent beings. This confusion of categories demonstrates how this theological system fails to maintain proper distinctions that are essential for preserving the uniqueness and transcendence of God in Christian theology. Memorable Quotes "Christianity and biblical Judaism—the primary distinction is not between spiritual and matter... The primary distinction when we're talking about the most absolute line is the distinction between the uncreated creator and his creation." "Rather than rely on the safe time-tested words and concepts that have been proven and validated, and attacked and defended and have been victorious for hundreds and thousands of years... Moffitt and Van Dorn think it is smarter and safer to depart from the pattern of sound words rather than to keep the pattern of sound words because they think that they are able to look at the Bible the way basically no one ever has in the 2000 years of the church and find something they haven't." "These teachings are pagan. This is talking about returning to a world populated by spiritual beings, and God is kind of just on the highest part of the totem pole... We're just returning to something that the early church fought hard to get rid of when they came out of their pagan culture." Resources Mentioned Reformed Arsenal article series on Divine Council Theology Full Transcript [00:00:24] Introduction and Episode Setup Tony Arsenal: Welcome to episode 461 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I am Tony, and today it's just me. Hey, brothers and sisters. We had a little bit of a scheduling conflict this week, so Jesse is taking the week off and uh, it gives me an opportunity to talk about something that I've been doing a little bit of research on. [00:00:47] Affirmations and Denials Tony Arsenal: Hopefully the listener has noticed that Jesse and I have been trying to keep our affirmations and denials a little bit tighter so we can get into the meat of the episode a little bit quicker. But occasionally we do run into a denial, usually a denial, but we run into a denial that, uh, we often say this could be an episode of its own. And so today is one of those episodes. So I'm not gonna give you my normal affirmation or denial. I'm just gonna jump into it. Now this is gonna be a little bit off the cuff. I've been doing some research, so I may not have as much of the receipts as the kids say, um, as I normally would. But I am writing a series of articles on this issue over@reformedarsenal.com. I'll make sure to put the link to the first article in the show notes. All of the receipts are there, all of the timestamps for the podcast episodes that I'll be. Discussing your critiquing. Are there citations for research work that I'm doing? All that stuff is there. So if you're interested in digging into the meet and you're the kind of guy who, or girl who likes to nerd out in the footnotes, then head over to uh reformed arsenal.com. You'll find the series pretty quick. [00:01:56] Introduction to Divine Counsel Theology Tony Arsenal: What I wanted to talk about today, and I'm glad we have kind of a whole episode, uh, to talk about it, is a movement, uh, that has some foothold in reformed theology. Uh, it's not new, uh, it didn't start in reformed theology, but for some reason, uh, those who are within our orbits tend to be a little bit enamored by this kind of theology. I'm not exactly sure why. [00:02:19] Michael Heiser's Influence Tony Arsenal: This theology is often called Divine Counsel Theology, and it was really, um, you know, it's not entirely new even with, with this figure, but it was really made popular and sort of, um, spread about and made accessible by the late Michael Heiser. Um, part of this is because he was just a very winsome, uh, guy. He took. Sort of highfalutin academic concepts and was able to bring them down to, uh, to an understandable level, including things like ancient near Eastern context, biblical, you know, ex of Jesus Hebrew language, other ancient near Eastern languages, which of course, that's that kind of stuff is what this podcast is all about, taking difficult, sometimes technical concepts. Talking about them, translating them into kind of the language that everybody else speaks. So that project was fine. The issue is the direction that he goes with a lot of the theology. So Michael Heiser writes a book called Unseen Realms, which is seen as kind of a retrieval of the supernatural mindset and worldview of the Bible. Uh, there's a lot to be commended about that, uh, enterprise, about that intention. I do agree with part of what he has to say when he says that we've lost a lot of the supernatural context of the Bible. Um, but I think where he goes with it is a direction that we really ought not go and we'll dig into it. [00:03:43] Critique of Reformed Fringe Podcast Tony Arsenal: The reason this is coming up now is because recently there's been a series of articles and podcasts put out by a show called The Reformed Fringe. Uh, some if you're in the Telegram chat, which you can join at, uh, t Me slash Reformed Brotherhood. You've already seen some of this stuff. We've already talked about it a little bit. But the Reformed Fringe is a podcast that sort of tries to fill a space that's something like Haunted Cosmos, which we've talked about before. Um, fills sort of looking at the weird fringe kind of things in the world. Ghosts, paranormal activity, trying to explain it through a biblical, uh, lens or worldview. Again, that's a commendable. Effort. There are strange things that happen in our world that are not easily explainable or at all explainable by natural, uh, naturalistic means. And so coming to those things with the Bible as our, uh, rubric to instruct us on how the world works is a commendable thing. But again, this project, which is by and large, um, and we'll get into maybe, but by and large is just an extension of, um, Heiser's project really goes in directions that cause all sorts of problems down the road. So the podcast is, uh, run by a guy named Doug Van Dorn, who most of the audience probably hasn't heard of. I have had run-ins with Doug over the years. Um, the last time I ran into him actually was revolving around similar kinds of issues that I'm gonna be calling out today. Um, and it, it ended up with him kind of having to depart from the reform pub, uh, maybe to put it a little bit politely and, um. You know, he has, he has taken, he's theology, which was not explicitly reformed. Heiser was not a reformed guy. He had no claims to be a Calvinist in many ways. Uh, he was sort of anticon confessional in, in that he opposed not the idea of a faith statement, but he sort of purported to come to the Bible with no biases, with no tradition. He wanted to approach what he called the Naked Bible. That was actually the name of his podcast before he died a few years ago. And so what Doug Van Dorn is, has done who, uh, Doug is a claims to be a 1689 Reformed Baptist. He's a pastor in Colorado, I believe. Um, he has tried to take this divine counsel theology and bring it into the reformed world. So he comes at it with a, a slightly different angle, but for the most part, his conclusions are the same. And in many cases he just straight up steals ER's work and doesn't cite it, doesn't do much to, uh, articulate that this is not his original research. Um, so he's taken that and he's trying to bring it into the reformed world. And Heiser himself was actually quite influential when I was a, an admin in the reform pub. We would run into lots of, lots of young reformed guys. Who were really enamored with this and they really saw, he's project as sort of a return to a pure form of exo Jesus that really got at what the Hebrew was saying. And it tickled, I think, kind of an intellectual, uh, an intellectual itch that a lot of those guys had combined with sort of this desire for the new and novel, um, which is in itself can be pretty dangerous. To sort of make things a little bit more pressing, Heiser has teamed up with John Moffitt, who many of our listeners may know. Uh, he's one of the co-hosts and founders of the podcast, Theo Cast, uh, which otherwise is a perfectly fine podcast. Um, he's also a 1680 or claims to be a 1689 Reform Baptist. He's a pastor. Um, their podcast is sort of what you would get if you had, uh, and I don't mean this to be pejorative, although maybe it is a little pejorative. Theo cast is what you would get if you took r Scott Clark. Uh, you made it much less intellectual and careful, and then made it Baptist. And what I mean by that is Scott's whole project. In large part is to recover and to emphasize the law gospel distinction. Theo cast has taken that and sort of cranked it up to 11. Uh, and they have um, they have sort of moved away from a lot of the classical reform distinctions of the law itself, so they don't full on deny the third use of the law. But in practice they would say that, um, good works is no kind of evidence whatsoever for your, um, for your faith. It's no kind of evidence of your, your salvation, which of course are confessions themselves. Um, say that there is a kind of evidential value to assessing our good works within certain reason and con. So the show is otherwise orthodox. You know, I I, I recall hearing episodes where they were refuting things like EFS, um, but because of that, Moffitt brings with him sort of an air of credibility and an error in orthodoxy that, um, the show itself probably hasn't merited. If Doug just recorded, pushed, play and put it on the. I don't think there would've been too much, uh, too much of a following. He would've probably, you know, grabbed a couple people who heard it and thought it was interesting. But because Moffitt has such a following on Theo cast, he brings with him a large audience, and that makes it particularly dangerous because his name attached to it makes it more widespread. It makes it feel like it's safer. And so I think a lot of people, uh, assume that what he's saying is orthodox and good. And I think what we'll find out is, is that it's not. So I think that's enough ProGo. [00:09:10] Elohim and Its Implications Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna go ahead and, and jump into explaining kind of what the theology that we're talking about is and, and what the problems are. So this all started kicked off, uh, with a series of podcast episodes and the first episode, and again, I don't have the specific titles here. I'll put a bibliography in the show notes on this one just so you have links to all the relevant episodes. Um, this all kind of kicked off with a podcast episode called something like The History of the Word God, or something like that. And, um, basically what Moffitt and Van Dorn want to do is they wanna look at the word Elohim in the Bible, which of course is a plural noun. Uh, in Hebrew, the, the suffix, just like in English, we might add an S or an ES, um, to a word to make it plural. Or in Greek, it's usually, if it's a masculine, uh, noun, it's, it's an oi or an omicron iota that sort of always sound at the end. Um, or when we, we talk about Latin, you have, you have like, um, you add the I at the end, so we say octopi instead of octopuses or something like that. Cacti instead of cactus. Although both of those are kind of pig Latins, um, in, in Hebrew for, uh, for masculine nouns. The suffix that you add to make it plural, is that eam sound. It's a, it's an Im if you transliterate in English. So the word Elohim is a plural of the original noun El which is a proper name for a eury deity. But it came to just be the singular word for, for God. Um, and, and in non-biblical language, we would say in a God. Um, and we do see in English, there are in, in Hebrew, in the Bible, there are places where we see the singular of this. It's kind of an older form, so it doesn't show up as much. Um, but by and large when we see the word Elohim in the Bible. Something like, uh, outta 2,600 references or more than 2,600 references in the Bible. Um, the word Elohim is associated with a single, a singular noun, and it only refers to the God of Israel. What Moffitt and Van Dorn want to do is they want to take this word and they wanna define it based on the abnormal. Uh, use of it. So the vast minority, minority of cases in the Old Testament, the word Elohim refers to the gods or to a non, like what we might say is lower G God, either like the God, Baal, or some sort of collective reference to the gods, the gods of the nation, or something like that. They wanna take the fact that there is this variation in the way the word is used and sort of radically redefine how the Bible uses it. And this, this is what I call and what a lot of people would call an etymological fallacy. So what they're doing is, instead of, uh, looking at the word and defining it based on how it's used in an, in an overwhelming fashion, they're looking at sort of the etymology of the word. And then they're using the fact that there are, uh, some pretty Dr. Dramatically minority cases where the word is used in a different way and they wanna redefine it and say, in, in all or most cases in the Bible actually. This is what the word means. So they look at the word L, which from its root has something to do probably with the, with the word for power or something like that. Um, they wanna look at it. And, you know, if you read someone like Vos in Reformed dogmatics in his volume one, he talks about how when we see the name Elohim for God, it denotes or, or refers to his sort of power, his omnipotence, which is all good and fine, just like we would say Yahweh. Uh, as a proper name refers to God sort of in his covenant role. It's his covenant name, his, his intimate, familial name that he shares, uh, with his people or he reveals to his people. Elohim is a more abstract name and it refers to God's power. Usually we see it in relation to his cre creation. So in Genesis one, um, when it's God created, it's Elohim created, which is also important and relevant for, for later. So what they wanna do is they want to say that Elohim actually. What Act Elohim actually means is it's a reference to a class of beings, spiritual beings, and that that it means sort of any spiritual being that has some type of supernatural power or enhanced power, some sort of spiritual power. They do this by saying that the noun is not an ontological noun, it's actually like a noun of function. Um, so like we would say a, a good example in English would be a painter that's a noun of function. It's a title of function. It any person could be called a painter if they engage in the verbal action of painting. And so what they're saying is that any being that engages in the action of having power. Is, uh, is an Elohim. And so that would include, in narrating at least, it would include angels, demons. Uh, I, you know, I don't know that they've said this explicitly, but I, I think Heiser would've included things like ghosts, disembodied spirits, um, humans in sort of the intermediary state might be considered Elohim humans in the, in the, um, this. Life are called Elohim, uh, in some instances. So, so this is where the Divine Council theology comes from, and that comes from Psalm 82, I think, where there's this council of Elohim that, that Yahweh seems to be speaking to and deliberating with. Or you look at Joe, where the sons of God come and they sort of pulled court in God's heavenly presence. So he would say those are examples where the, the collected Elohim. God being one of the Elohim are somehow gathered in this heavenly divine counsel. Now what this does is just devastating to Christian theology is it takes God who exists in a class of one. The, the, the God of the universe is, is the only uncreated entity in all of of the world. And so when we start to talk, and this is ironic, when we start to talk about the ways to divide up the world, the ancient world, the, the pagan world tended to divide the world between, um. Between spiritual and material. So think of g Gnostics where matter was bad and spirit was good. Or even think of something like, um, the Greek pantheons, the Greek, um, Greek religion, like ancient Greek mythology. You have sort of the spirits and the spiritual world and the gods inhabit a spiritual, have a spiritual existence for the most part. And then you have the physical world where kind of people live, uh, at least while they're alive. Christianity and, and Judaism, at least Biblical Judaism. On the other hand, the, the primary distinction is not between spiritual and matter. There is of course that distinction. There are humans, which are spiritual and material. There are animals which are entirely material, and then there are angels which are entirely spiritual. And so we would say that God is spiritual. So that is a distinction in the world. But the primary distinction when we're talking about the most absolute line is the distinction between the, the uncreated creator and his creation. So what Moffitt, Moffitt and Van Dorn do is instead of observing that biblical distinction, which really all of Christian theology and Christian monotheism rests on, they wanna say that instead, the distinction is between the. Um, is between the Elohim as the sort of spiritual beings and then sort of everything else of the created world, and so they wouldn't deny that God, that Yahweh is. The uncreated creator of all things, but they would say he's an uncreated Elohim and that there is a class of created Elohim. So I don't, I don't think you have to go too far down this road to see what this does. It puts God on the same level as his creatures in at least one way. Um, and I think we'll find out later, uh, as we talk through this, actually it does it in a couple ways that are really, uh, really can be problematic as we go. And so, uh, just let me be clear if all that, if all that Moffitt and Van Dorn were saying, if, if all they said was, um, we can use the word Elohim to describe any creature. Or God that doesn't have a body. Elohim is a synonym for the word spirit. Um, that wouldn't be the wisest way to speak, I don't think. It wouldn't be the, the most, um, felicitous or safe way to talk about the distinction. But it wouldn't be controversial. There'd be nothing wrong with that. It'd just be using a different word. It'd be like if I said, well, instead of the word spirit, I'm gonna use the word bibly bop, you know? So we have. We have God who is bibly bop, and we have the angels who is bibly bop, and humans are biblio bop. And also material, again, not the safest way to talk. There's no reason to use that alternative language when the Bible gives us perfectly legitimate language. Um, but it wouldn't be a problem. But Moffit and Van Dorn go. Way past this and maybe they don't realize it. I've asked them on Twitter, I asked them to clarify. I didn't get a response. So if they are hearing this, which maybe they will, maybe they won't. If they're hearing this, I would really love to get some clarification on some of these questions because I would love nothing more than to be able to say that this was all a big misunderstanding and that actually all they're saying is that there is this spiritual existence. That, um, we can put all things that are spirit without a body or spirit with a body. We can put all those in the same category and call that category Elohim. Again, I don't think that's safe, but if that's all they were doing, that would be fine. But we see in their episodes, and I'm gonna try to grab some quotes, um, from, from some of the articles I've written. But again, go read the articles because this goes way more in depth. It's got timestamps of it. It's got links to their episodes. Don't take my word for it. Go listen to their. Words and, and check, you know, check my math on this. But what they do is they actually start to, in, in an attempt to justify why it's okay to put God in the same category as his creatures. Um, and in at least one way, they start to make some weird statements that have a lot of systematic theology, um, implications that are, are just really, really risky. So, for example, one of the ways that they try to kind of explain this, I'm gonna pull, pull the article that I wrote up here. So, great podcasting. [00:19:34] Communicable vs. Incommunicable Attributes Tony Arsenal: Um, one of the ways they start to try to do this is again, they, they wanna say they use this distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes, right? So in, in Christian theology, classically speaking, a communicable attribute of God is an attribute that he shares or could share with. A creature and primarily we're talking, you know, we're talking about attributes that he shares with his image bearers. So something like, um, love. Love is a communicable attribute. Our love is different than God's love, but when we say love, we're talking about the same basic category of things God loves differently than we do. But love and in a human sense, and love in a, in a divine sense, are still talking about the same thing. There's a point of contact there. Um, an incommunicable attribute would be something like, um, something like eternity. Right. Eternity is not just an extended infinite sequence of time. If it was, he could share that with us. Um, but eternity or infinity is an entirely different way of existing than a creature could ever, could ever exist in divine Simplicity is another example. Um, God could not make humans simple because simplicity entails all sorts of things like infinity. Um, eternality. Um, you know, omnipresence, omni, potent, all of these things are entailed by simplicity. So God could not make a creature infinite because in order for it to be infinite, it would have to be God. Uh, God could not make a creature simple, uh, in the, in the sense of no composition of parts. Uh, because that would mean that that creature is actually God and has no composer. So, so those would be the classic, uh, incommunicable attributes and omnipotence. Is considered, although it's a little bit weird, it sort of crosses the line in some ways. But omnipotence is considered. An incommunicable attribute. God cannot share his omnipotence with a creature because you can't have two omnipotence. Um, if you have two omnipotence, then those two omnipotence cancel each other out in some sense. If God, and, and, and he has a will, God wills one thing, and then I as a creature, if he shared his omnipotence with me, somehow willed a different thing, then we would no longer be, neither of us would be omnipotent. Where this goes sideways with Moffitt and Vandorn is rather than respect omnipotence as a an incommunicable attribute, they say that the attribute or the word Elohim denotes power or might, and that is a communicable attribute. So God does give us a certain level of power. He allows us a certain level of agency. He grants that to us. Again, I'm not even sure that we would call that an an. A communicable attribute. Um, but in a sense, I guess it is. And so they say here, um, Elohim does not mean omnipotent. It means power. It's not an incommunicable attribute. It's a communicable attribute that all kinds of entities could possess. So they're saying that the word, um, the word Elohim, uh, in the Bible denotes that a. A, an entity possesses a certain kind of power or acts in a certain role of executing a certain kind of power. And that doesn't mean omnipotence. It means it means potence. It means some sort of power. And so that that wielding power attribute that. Uh, being a, being that wields power, that attribute, whatever we want to call it, however we want to phrase it, that is a communicable attribute that God shares. He communicates that attribute to all other beings in the class of Elohim. Now, let's just back that up for a second. Um, this still would mean that God has to be the creator and they don't deny that, but it would still mean that God, prior to creation. Was an Elohim in a category of one, and then somehow he created a class and because he's extended. This attribute of wielding power, say power wielder, to try to make it actually more of an attribute. He's extended this attribute of power wielder to uncreate or to created angels, demons, human spirits, whatever other spiritual entities there might be. They would bring in things like principalities, powers, they have a whole, in other, other contexts, they'll talk about this whole different bifurcation of types of spiritual beings that I think is a little speculative, but not a big deal. He extends this power wielder attribute to these created categories. And instead of this now creating a separate category of power wields who are not God, it now is uh, he expands this category of one to now include all sorts of other things, which again, as you can, you can imagine, just runs into problems. And so the, again, this, this word Elohim appears over 2,600 times, and of these instances, 230 of them refer to the God of Israel. So the idea that that. This word is not used specifically as a reference to the God of Israel, or should not be thought of as uniquely titling or almost exclusively titling God. The God of Israel just doesn't really match the data, but it's also just really poor Exogenic method. So rather than take the predominant usage and look at the context. Understanding that the predominant usage is the predominant usage. Instead, we're gonna go back and say, well, these, these minority, these 300 or so cases outside, and not even all 300 of them are used the same way, but these 300 or so cases of them not referring to the God of Israel, we're gonna use that to redefine the word. Its entirety. It's just poor. It's just poor scholarship. It's overly speculative. Um, I haven't read much of. He's work on this in the primary sources. Um, I, I would venture a guess that Heiser makes a much more robust argument than this. And this is part of the problem. When you take an already speculative, already dangerous theology and you try to pop popularize it when you just don't have the same chops that he did, uh, you end up really making some crass, simplistic arguments that just make you look a little silly. To think we can take 200 or 2,600 instances and redefine 2 20, 300 of them. By the way, it's used 300 of the times Just doesn't make any sense. So it again, if, if all we are saying is that God is spiritual and angels are spiritual and so there is some point of affinity between the two, then that would be okay. That wouldn't be a problem. Again, there's some risk in using the word Elohim in that. Sort of placeholder, but, um, that would be a semantic discussion. What they're doing is far, far deeper and far more problematic than that. [00:26:30] Systematic Theology Concerns Tony Arsenal: And so the, the other thing they do, um, that I think is really dangerous, and I don't have all of the, I haven't finished this article yet, so I don't have all of the timestamps in front of me to, to, to get there, is in attempting to justify this Moffitt, uh, in, in one of the other episodes, he turns to the incarnation as a sort of model. And so he'll say that, you know, the son of God is divine, but he's also human. And the fact that he's human, uh, doesn't therefore mean he's not also uniquely the uncreated creator. I would assume everyone hearing this who listens to this show, uh, which has done many, many episodes on Christology, it's one of our pet projects, is just throwing their listening device across the room because what Moffitt seems to miss entirely is that Christ is not, the sun is not in the category of human. Uh, sort of in a simple sense, Christ is in the category of human because he assumes to himself a second created nature. So what, what the, the analogy he's trying to draw is if the sun can be human without ceasing to be the unique one, uncreated God, then so also can, the whole trinity, I guess, can also be Elohim without ceasing to be the one uncreated God. He even goes so far as to say that there is Uncreated Elohim, and then there is created Elohim, and they're all in the category of Elohim, but because there's this commonality, we should still consider that class. And he draws that distinction or he draws the implication that. Um, there's somehow uncreated humanity in Christ, which is a whole different ball of worms that we won't get into. But in, in drawing this analogy, he sort of shows that he really doesn't understand the hypostatic union. He doesn't understand the incarnation, or if he does, he's really making a poor comparison because in the hypostatic union it's not as though the son, uh, as divinity, the son, as the one uncreated. God simply adds to himself in a raw sense and merges. Uh, he doesn't become part of the category of human without taking on a second nature. And then now we are even getting into some inconsistencies. Is human an ontological category or is that a category of function? Are there other categories of function, uh, other creatures in existence that the category of function human might fit? So I think you can see that this just is not a self consistent. Um, a self-consistent system and it leads to all these weird implications. Um, you know, and then they'll even go on to talk about how the Son is the angel of the Lord. I'm not gonna get into a lot of it here, and I agree with that thesis that the, when we see the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, in the vast majority of cases, we're probably seeing a pre-incarnate appearance of, um, of the second person of the Trinity. They go so far as to say that this is actually a sort of. Incarnation or a sort of hypostatic union of the Elohim nature. So they, they, they draw this distinction, or they draw this parallel between created Elohim and Uncreated Elohim, and they, they argue again, I think implicitly, but in some instances it's almost, it's almost explicit that the son in, in being the angel of the Lord, takes on the uncreated or takes on the created Elohim nature. It's, it's really, um, it's really problematic. So now we have the son who is, uh, sort of hypostatic united to the unc, to the created Elohim nature, and then also is hypostatic united to the human nature. Um, it, it really just gets messy and it confuses categories in a way that is not helpful. And if I'm just being frank, a lot of the younger reformed guys. And when I say younger, I'm talking, maybe I'm projecting back to when I was a younger reform guy, um, I'm talking about people in their mid twenties to maybe early thirties, right? The, the people who were maybe the second or third generation of the young restless reform guys, they didn't necessarily learn, uh, ref young restless reform theology directly from RC Sproul. You know, they weren't the first generation. Um, and, and maybe their pastors weren't the first generation, but, but maybe their pastors were the second generation and now they're learning it from their pastors. So you might think of 'em as like the third generation, to be frank, they don't usually have a great grasp on some of these systematic theology categories as part of why. Jesse and I do this podcast, and part of why we cover the same topic over and over again, part of why we're gonna go through this parable series. But when we're done, we're probably gonna go back and start over with systematic theology. We're gonna go back, we're gonna go through another confession. That's why we spent, we spent like six years going through systematic theology. And almost immediately went back to the Scott's confession and did most of it all over again because these truths need to be taught again and again and again. This is part of what Jude is talking about when he says, we have to contend for the faith. It's not just fighting with people online. It's not just polemics or apologetics. It is reteaching and handing down the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Again, and this is perhaps, and this is the last point I'll make. This is perhaps the most. Telling a reason we should be weary and suspicious of this theology. Paul, in, uh, one of the letters to Timothy, second Timothy, maybe he says, follow the pattern of the sound words that you heard from me. He's not talking about the scriptures. He doesn't say follow the sound words that I'm writing to you. He's referring to a body of doctrine sometimes. The Bible calls it the faith, right? Jude says to contend for the faith. There's this body of doctrine that is the teaching of the apostles, and it is encapsulated in this sort of set pattern of words. Erin A is called it the rule of faith or the regular fide, right? This is where we get things like the Nicean Creed or the Hanian Creed. Why we have creeds and confessions is because we don't need to reinvent the wheel and rather than rely on the safe time-tested words and concepts that have been proven and validated, and attacked and defended and, and um, have been victorious for hundreds and thousands of years, rather than rely on those. Moffitt and Van Doran think it is smarter and safer to depart from the pattern of sound words rather than to keep the pattern of sound words because they think that they are able to look at the Bible the way basically no one ever has in the 2000 years of the church and find something they haven't. I don't wanna be too bombastic. Um, I don't, I don't know either of them. Well, um, from what I can tell, what I've heard of their professions of faith, uh, they're, they're Christian believers. They love the Lord and are very confused. But these teachings are pagan. This is, we're talking about returning to a world of, of populated by spiritual beings. And God is kind of just on the highest part of the totem pole, and maybe there's a firm line between his place on the totem pole and the, the next level down. Maybe there is, um, gets a little bit less firm of a line when we're talking about Jesus, right? So there's some potential Arian implications there that the son, uh, is not the highest deity he is. He's like the father in some ways, but he, you know, in his sort of original form is like creatures in other ways. Um, we're just returning to something that the early church fought hard to get rid of when they came out of their pagan culture. When we started to see Greeks convert to Christianity, they had to figure out how do we come out of our polytheistic culture, and this is where we get the best defenses of monotheism. Jewish Christians didn't have to argue for monotheism because all the Jewish Christians already were monotheists in a biblical sense. The Greek Christians had to fight this stuff. Justin Martyr had to fight this stuff. Athanasius and the Cappadocian fathers had to fight this stuff constantly pushing back against the background Greek culture. And Moffitt and Van Dorn wanna point to that and say, see, really, they're just Greeks in disguise and in the reality is Athanasius and the cap oceans, were fighting against the theology that is making a resurgence in this divine council theory. [00:34:55] Conclusion and Call to Action Tony Arsenal: So I think that's enough for now. Please. Again, I'm writing a long series on this. I don't know how long it's gonna take. I think it's gonna be probably 10 or 13, 10 to 13 articles. It's, it's gonna be a pretty extensive project. But go read them. Go look at them, listen to their episodes, read their articles, and then you compare that to the word of God, has what I said made more sense or does what they make more sense. So I'll leave you with that. The dog is losing her mind. And uh, with that honor, everyone love the brotherhood.

Ezra and Nehemiah were some of the final leaders in the Old Testament. They brought people back to Jerusalem, but also brought them back to God through the renewal of the covenant. As a scribe and teacher, Ezra models the ministry of Jesus in the New Testament. As he led the people, the backdrop for the first century began to take shape. 

Officiant: Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Psalm(s): Psalm 69, Fr. Wiley Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 1:2-17, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 10, New Testament: 1 Corinthians 3:16-23, David Sibley, Second Canticle: 18, Gospel: Matthew 5:11-16, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Antonio Allegretti, used by permission.

Officiant: Fr. Wiley Ammons, Psalm(s): Psalm 73, Laura Ammons, Old Testament: 2 Kings 1:2-17, The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, First Canticle: 13, New Testament: 1 Corinthians 3:16-23, David Sibley, Second Canticle: 17, Gospel: Matthew 5:11-16, Mtr. Lisa Meirow. Logo image by Laura Ammons, used by permission.

Well hey there, hello to ya today. Welcome to this special episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, the podcast that takes God at His word, encourages listeners as they walk with the Lord, and boldly proclaims that all God's promises prove true. This is something of a re-launch of the podcast, as I have not recorded a new episode in about five months.  A lot of varying reasons for the long break, but now the show is back. So, let's jump right in!   We're living in an era when believers need a whole lot of encouragement, and when those who are considering Christianity want an honest look at what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus. This episode is aimed at both of those goals. Followers and curious seekers alike. Let me read from the New Testament book of Luke, chapter 13, about four verses. Starting in verse 23, through verse 28. I'm reading from the Amplified Bible, so you can compare it to your preferred translation or read along in your Bible or in case you want to make note of different translations and versions and do some Bible study on this passage later on. All of those are really good things, by the way. Don't just take someone's word for it when it comes to what the Bible says, and of course that includes me. Read it for yourself anytime you want to, fact check me like crazy. Let God be true and every man, every woman, every person be a liar, Romans 3 verse 4 says. When it comes to teaching the Bible, we should be very comfortable having our sources checked. If anyone teaching God's word is not comfortable with that, something is very, very wrong. And in those situations, you may want to … run. (Not really kidding around with that advice.)    Here's what this passage says, verbatim, in the Amplified Bible:   Luke 13:23-27 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition 23 And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved (rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, and made partakers of the salvation by Christ)? And He said to them, 24 Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! He will answer you, I do not know where [[a]what household—certainly not Mine] you come from. 26 Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. 27 But He will say, I tell you, I do not know where [[b]what household—certainly not Mine] you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!   Okay, so if you're not familiar with the Amplified Bible, it is wordy. Because the Greek and the Hebrew of the New and Old Testaments often carry a depth of meaning in each word that is tricky to fully convey in the English language, different translations word things differently. The Amplified basically takes all the meanings of the text in the original language and adds them, usually in parentheses, which is why what I just read to you may have sounded choppy. Also, the Amplified capitalizes words like He, Him, Mine, etc. when it is talking about the Lord. And there are a few capitalized words in the text I just read.  Were I to leave out those extra words that are in parenthesis, it would read like this: And someone asked Him (that's a capital, so someone asked Jesus this question.) Lord, will only a few be saved. And He said to them, Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the Master (and that is capitalized, so it's talking about the Lord) of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open up to us! He will answer you, I do not know where you come from. Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. But He will say (again, He is capitalized, so the Lord will say), I tell you I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!    This is weighty. This is no joke. Jesus' answer to the question He was asked is heavy. This is serious stuff! “Will only a few be saved?” was the question. The ESV says, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Kind of a yes or no question. But Jesus was so good to expound upon this, to go beyond the short answer and give us all this important information as His answer. Now, back to studying the Amplified (and yes, it does require studying. Not sure when Bible “study”, in air quotes, began to not be studious. Study, the word tells us that it takes some effort, focus, and intention. If your Bible study group is not studying the Bible, you could be a person to kind of change that, to step off the merry-go-round of quick and easy answers, making a joke instead of really digging into the text, leading a group that goes through the Bible and studies it rather than maybe a small group that gets gossipy and talks about fashion and somewhat trashy shows on streaming. Y'all know what I'm talking about, and if you are new to Christianity and are shocked that I'm saying this, that's okay. A faith that can't hold up to some examination is, well, perhaps more cult-like than faith-in-Jesus like. Women's small groups are notorious for not doing enough actual Bible studying. New believers, keep searching for groups that do real Bible study and if you can't find a group, start a group.) So as we study this text in the Amplified, we find the Greek for the word saved in verse 23 has some depth to it. Lord, will only a few be saved? Rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, made partakers of the salvation by Christ. Yeah, a lot more depth there. This is about the very end of time, the last judgment. And that day, it's coming for all of us. If we say we love Jesus but we live like we're never going to stand before Him and have our lives examined, then we're probably not living for Him in our everyday lives. And notice it says made partakers of THE salvation by Christ. That little three letter word T-H-E…there is only one salvation and it is by Christ. That is almost certainly the most important thing I will ever say on the podcast, honestly. When it says strive to enter by the narrow door, the Amplified gives added depth by saying force yourself through it. Force yourself through the narrow door, the doorway to eternal salvation. Force yourself through it! Maybe, just maybe, this concept of raising your hand from your seat during a mega-conference altar call and then never opening your Bible, spending time in prayer, following Jesus as His disciple, just maybe that is nothing like forcing yourself through the narrow door. You know, we live in the very era when Jesus' return is at hand, and forcing ourselves through the narrow door that makes us partakers of THE salvation by Christ is the clarion call for this hour. Now is the time, my friend. This decision for Jesus should not be put off until another day. It shouldn't be put off for another hour! This is the time!  In this passage, when Jesus describes them knocking at the door again and again, like they are trying to beat that door down, the same narrow door that they did not force themselves through when they had the opportunity, trying to gain entry by incessant pounding on that door…and what will He say on that day? How will He respond to their knocking again and again? He'll say He does not know where they come from - from what household, because it's certainly not His. That's repeated twice, in verses 25 & 27. And in between, in verse 26, they implore Him by stating that they ate and drank in His presence…oh this is very convicting. How often are we “in His presence” and thinking that's good enough? They'll say, “You taught in our streets.” Is it going to get Him to open the door if you remind Him that He was taught about in your local church? Think about what this passage means for your own life. Are you ready for this day? Because it's coming, ready or not. I've said before that we need to get ready, be ready, and stay ready. Force yourself through that narrow door. Be on the inside when He shuts that door tight.    Just a few more thought I'd like to share on Luke chapter 13.  Verse 23 makes it super clear that this is about where a person will spend eternity. How many people in the year 2025 never even give a single thought to their eternal destination? We've been so desensitized, so conditioned to only think about this life, the here and now, focus on immediate gains, quick fixes, the current struggle and how to make that struggle end, and our own selves and “living in the moment” that thinking about forever does not really happen for so many people. Are you living for the moment, or are you living for forever? Does anyone stand on their platform, or ask their loved ones, if they know for certain they will be rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, made partakers of the salvation by Christ? Do I do that? Lord, what do You want to change in my heart, mind and life so that my focus turns from the temporal to the eternal, and so that I speak life - eternal life - over others?    Jesus' reply here,  and He minces no words, as was His norm, is: “Strive to enter by the narrow door”. I'm hitting on this again to share something that is important. The definition of strive is to “make great efforts to achieve or obtain something” - “struggle or fight vigorously”. It implies great exertion against great difficulty and specifically suggests persistent effort. Synonyms include “labor, toil, struggle, compete, exert oneself, and endeavor”.  Even a quick evaluation of those words reveals the heart behind Jesus' answer to the critically important question asked by an unidentified person in the thirteenth chapter of Luke. The Lord is telling us that getting on and remaining on the narrow road is anything but easy-street. And yet, is that what American Christianity so often teaches? Don't they make it seem as if a five-second prayer is all it takes in order to enter into eternal life with Jesus (think of those “Every head bowed and eye closed, and raise your hand and pray along with me if you want to be saved today” kinds of church moments…). But what if that's not exactly true? What if that is, say, step one of a long walk on the narrow road? And if the door itself is narrow, and we must force ourselves through it, as the Amplified says in verse 24, is that happening for most of us? Are we being discipled, are we discipling anybody else, are we students of the Word of God, are we spending time in prayer and listening for what the Holy Spirit might say to us? Have we forced ourselves through that narrow door? Have we encouraged anyone else to force themselves through the narrow door? Do we know the signs of the times well enough to recognize that there are just a few grains of sand left in the hourglass of all time?    Let me read this to you: Luke 14:25-35 New Living Translation The Cost of Being a Disciple 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.  28 “But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it!' 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. 34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”   Have you thought of discipleship like this? That being Jesus' disciple means you hate everyone else by comparison? This is serious stuff. Far more intense than is normally spoken about by pastors or preachers or speakers or the books down at the Better Book Room (Wichitans, you remember the BBR?) Do we hate our own life in contrast to being His disciple? Thinking about these words of Jesus' is a good reset for me. Why am I so continually concerned about my issues, my fears, my life, my stuff? It's just gross, and it is not fitting for a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Because if I don't hate my own life by comparison to being His disciple, then I cannot be His disciple. Point blank frankness right there. And if I do not carry my own cross and follow Him, I cannot be His disciple. So, how am I doing at hating my own life by comparison to His discipleship and am I carrying my own cross and following Him? It's a self test we all need to take every day.  Jesus says not to begin the path of being His disciple until we count the cost. Shouldn't that be mentioned during the altar call? I don't exactly know what this should look like, in every church or at every event, but I know enough to know that most of what takes place absolutely does not fit the model Jesus laid out for us here. We're getting it all wrong! And if we tell people it's all good, you raised your hand and never forced yourself through the narrow door, never counted the cost, never hated your life, never picked up your cross to follow Him…we are lying to them! He says we cannot become His disciple without giving up everything we own. I no longer have ownership rights over my life or my stuff or my health or my money or over people. Because I've giving all that up to become His disciple. Salt is good for seasoning, Jesus says. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? How salty are you? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil or the manure pile. Am I salty or am I not? Lord, give us ears to hear, so that we can listen and understand! Am I a student, a learner of Jesus? Do I understand that it's more than a head nod, a hand raised decision to follow Him - it's more than saying yes to His invitation. It's picking up my cross and following Him after saying yes. It's moving onward with Him, it is not standing still while He moves onward.  Think about carrying your cross. I think, maybe here in western culture, we don't exactly get the implication. It's difficult. It costs us something, every day that we carry it. But where are we carrying it to? Where is this carrying of my cross leading me? To a crucifixion, that's the only logical end point. Am I crucifying my flesh? Am I dying to myself, daily, of my own willing choice and volition, of course depending on the Spirit of the Living God within me because no one can do that on their own, but am I willing, does it ever even cross my mind? Am I picking up my cross today, carrying the heavy and thing closer and closer to my own death to self? Or am I not? Anybody that ever said Jesus' teachings were easy, well, they need to read the words in red again. Taking up our cross is a one-way journey. It's forcing ourselves through that narrow door.  Jesus carried a cross, and so do His disciples, His followers.  What kind of follower am I? Am I following but ready to peel off and go my own way when it gets uncomfortable for me personally? Have I counted the cost and decided that yes, I really can afford to follow Jesus?  In the following, the Lord does the fixing and the cleaning up of our lives. This is not Jesus saying we need to get it together before we follow Him. He says what He says, and it's not that. He simply needs His followers to know it's not the easy way out, the life of Christians. But He'll do His work of making us new as we follow Him day by day. It's costly either way, right? Follow Jesus? There's a cost. Reject Jesus? Oh, there's also a cost. That choice, well, it costs a pretty penny. Let Him become the owner of all we have. Our children, our finances, our health, all of it. It's only safe with Him anyway, so it's the best available choice, but we still need to make the choice consciously, weighing it out, understanding it. Let's not be like slimy used car salesmen who get people to pick up what we're laying down based on implications that this is the easy way to live out your days and then, wham, the bottom falls out and they feel like they got sold a lemon.  And if you say you follow Jesus, you profess to follow Him, but you lose your flavor somewhere along the way…you are no longer distinct enough to be clearly known as one of His disciples, well, that's the time you're fit for nothing but to be thrown out. A Christian should look like, think like, speak like, behave like, have the nature of Christ. Salt ought to be salty. A Christian ought to be like Christ Jesus.    The promise in Luke 13 and 14 is so worth it, though, isn't it? It's eternal life for now and forever. It's being on the inside when the door is closed. It's knowing that life, it's going to be hard at times, especially as we get nearer to the return of Jesus, it's going to get more intense, and following Him with saltiness may come with some costs that are not common to us here in America, but are becoming common at an astounding rate. But the hard life that ends in death without Jesus, that's the wide road, the wide door. The road ends somewhere for all of us. It's His promise that by picking up our cross, carrying it daily as we follow Him, staying salty all the way until the end, we get to go through the narrow door. Carry your cross today. Force yourself through the narrow door. Because He'll keep all His promises, and what's coming is going to knock your socks off. “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” Those are Jesus' words to us in Matthew 24:13. Indeed, that's a promise He's going to keep.   Thanks for joining me for this re-launch episode. I'm so grateful to be back on the podcast, and if this encouraged you or challenged you, would you share it with someone today? Lord bless you, and I'll see ya back here next time. Bye bye.