Podcasts about Ordinary

Nard hates his first airplane ride, but God's plan for him might change his mind about the “giant metal bird.” Uniting kids with the good news of the Gospel through adventures and foundational, biblical truths. Subscribe to the U-Nite Radio Podcast, so you don't miss any of our episodes! U-Nite TV Uniting kids with the God's Word in a fun, engaging way to help kids understand and apply biblical truths to their lives. Stream animated adventures, music videos, missionary stories, and more! Available on Android, iOS, Android TV, and Apple TV. https://www.cefonline.com/unitetv/ Copyright © 2026 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Description:For twenty years, one question has followed Jen everywhere she goes: what am I supposed to be doing with my life? It comes in the comments, the voicemails, the line after every event. And for a long time, Jen answered it like a career question, as if somewhere out there was a slot with her name on it and her only job was to find it and climb inside.In this solo episode, she puts down the word calling and picks up a different one: assignment. Not the thing waiting for you in the future, but the work already in your hands, in this season, on this street, with these people. Jen untangles work from worth, names the theology a lot of us absorbed that rewarded us for burning out, and shares the questions she uses to tell the difference between an assignment that is actually hers and one that is simply available. She also talks about the assignments that end, and why finishing one well is its own sacred work.Ordinary, faithful, unglamorous work is not the consolation prize for people who never found their capital C calling. It is the actual thing.This episode kicks off September's theme, Sacred Work, here on the show and over in the AWAKE Collective.Thought-provoking Quotes:"I have stopped asking what my calling is altogether. I started asking what my assignment is." - Jen Hatmaker"Sacred work is not a waiting room for a more important life that hasn't started yet." - Jen Hatmaker"The paycheck is not the assignment. The paycheck funds the life where the assignment happens." - Jen Hatmaker"Burnout is not evidence that you are on assignment. More likely it is evidence that you have taken on someone else's assignment." - Jen Hatmaker"A real assignment will cost you something. But an obligation costs you yourself. That's not the same bill." - Jen Hatmaker"Something does not have to be bad for it to be over." - Jen HatmakerResources Mentioned in This Episode:This month's Sacred Work lineup: Priya Parker, Dr. Marisa Franco, Zibby Owens, plus encore conversations with Barbara Brown Taylor and Mary PipherWorth by Dr. Marisa FrancoThe AWAKE Collective monthly reflection guide. September's writing prompt: The work that is mine right now is...Your challenge this week: name one assignment you are actually on, then do the very next small thing it requiresLeave Jen a voicemail: https://jenhatmaker.com/podcastTake the AWAKE Quiz: JenHatmaker.com/quizConnect with Jen!Jen's Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmakerJen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmakerJen's YouTube -

Ordinary situations can become terrifying without warning. In tonight's episode, three people find themselves caught in dangerous encounters where trusting the wrong person, or making one wrong turn, could cost them everything.Turn off the lights, get comfortable, and enjoy these true scary stories. Follow the show for new episodes every week.Linktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepyStory Credits:►Sent in to https://www.justcreepy.net/Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:00:18 Story 100:35:59 Story 200:59:51 Story 3Music by:►'Decoherence' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.auBusiness inquiries:►creepydc13@gmail.com#scarystories #horrorstories

There is a quiet pressure that exists almost everywhere we look.It does not usually announce itself loudly.It whispers.It whispers through advertisements that promise a more extraordinary life.It whispers through social media, where every moment appears exciting, every vacation appears perfect, every achievement appears effortless, and every success seems to arrive just a little faster than our own.It whispers through conversations about productivity.About influence.About becoming exceptional.About standing out.About making an impact.About leaving a legacy.None of these ideas are wrong.There is nothing wrong with ambition.

Caption: 1521 PERSIATONIGHT CONTENTS THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW 8-31-2026Tehran Under Siege: Sanctions, War Fatigue, and the Credibility Crisis of the UNEdmund Fitton-Brown details the bleak economic reality for citizens in Tehran living under severe economic sanctions and a low-intensity conflict. Ordinary residents are reduced to driving for ride-sharing apps like Snapp and begging for food due to skyrocketing prices of staple goods like yogurt. While the regime's elite remain insulated, sanctions have severely strained the general population without driving systemic behavior changes. Furthermore, the discussion examines the declining global credibility of the United Nations. The organization has abandoned its neutrality by focusing excessively on targeting Israel and prioritizing humanitarian relief, which frequently ends up diverted to empower oppressive regimes. (1)Demographic Doom: How the One-Child Legacy and Youth Cynicism Threaten China's FuturePiero Tozzi explores China's severe demographic crisis resulting from the legacy of the totalitarian one-child policy enacted in 1979 and officially lifted in 2015. Despite transitioning to a three-child policy, fertility rates continue to plummet due to youth disillusionment. The gender imbalance has catalyzed widespread female trafficking from neighboring countries, while a high proportion of single-child soldiers in the military creates unique domestic vulnerabilities in conflict scenarios. Young Chinese citizens are increasingly opting out of intense economic exploitation through passive resistance movements like "laying flat" and "letting it rot," directly challenging propaganda regarding national rejuvenation. (2)The Domestic Surge: AI Infrastructure, Aerospace Recovery, and US Manufacturing RenaissanceAlan Tonelson highlights the significant manufacturing revival currently taking place in the United States, driven by key sectors like aerospace and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Boeing's resolution of safety and production issues has revitalized aerospace, while a massive buildout of AI data centers has boosted demand for semiconductors, steel, and electronic equipment. Although trade tensions with Canada persist, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement protects most trade, rendering short-term disruptions minimal. Furthermore, while widespread local protests against data centers have emerged across various states, they have not yet slowed down the overall rapid pace of construction. (3)Middle East Realignment: Iranian Devaluation, Turkish Expansion, and Mediterranean Defense PartnershipsMalcolm Hoenlein covers shifting geopolitical and economic dynamics across the Middle East. Inside Iran, severe inflation, food shortages, and medicine price hikes are suffocating the middle class, prompting harsher internal crackdowns by the regime. Meanwhile, Omani channel shipping flows have partially improved following US-led mine sweeping efforts. In Syria, Turkey is pursuing a quiet military takeover, a move contested by Israel. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is utilizing pipelines to bypass shipping threats, and Finland has joined other nations in defunding the corrupt Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA. Finally, Greece and Israel have solidified a historic $3.5 billion multi-level defense agreement. (4)Cult of Rebellion: Understanding the Resilient and Hostile Ideology of the HouthisEdmund Fitton-Brown chronicles the history, structure, and ideological motivations of the Houthi movement in Yemen. Emerging in the mid-1990s as a Zaydi revivalist cult modeled after Lebanese Hezbollah, the group adopted a highly hostile five-part slogan ("the scream") emphasizing anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel vitriol. Over decades of conflict, they waged multiple rebellions against former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh before forming a tactical alliance with him to seize power. Known as relentless fighters who are always up for a battle, the Houthis harbor expansive territorial ambitions in southern Saudi Arabia, aiming to control the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. (5)Tehran in Limbo: Evaluating Sanctions, Bureaucratic Alienation, and Paths to Regime ChangeJanatyn Sayeh addresses the psychological state of "no war, no peace" in Tehran a year after the September 2025 conflict. The population faces deep war fatigue, compounded by blockades and new sanctions. While sanctions alone cannot topple the regime, they successfully alienate key socio-economic groups. Specifically, lower-level administrative bureaucrats and ideologues are losing their financial incentives and faith in the regime's competence. True systemic change will not happen overnight, but dragging out the process and bringing civil unrest into urban streets could break pro-regime morale and dismantle the kleptocratic elite's hold on power. (6)Deterrence and Covert Diplomacy: Analyzing CIA Trip to Moscow and the North Korean AllianceJohn Hardie analyzes CIA Director John Ratcliffe's unexpected visit to Moscow. Speculation suggests the trip aimed to deter Russian sabotage against NATO, push for a diplomatic settlement in Ukraine, and pressure Moscow to limit support for Iran. Although Russian leader Vladimir Putin remains convinced of victory and resistant to compromises, maintaining deterrence remains critical. Simultaneously, military intelligence reports that North Korea has supplied dozens of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, with thousands of combat troops potentially deployed, further complicating the global security landscape. (7)A Shift in Rules: IDF's Aggressive Gaza Targeting, Tunnel Demolition, and West Bank Air PowerSamuel Ben-Ur highlights a shift in Israeli military operations. Following a ceasefire, the IDF returned to pre-agreement rules by striking an active Hamas militant at a Gaza bakery. The military has destroyed roughly half of Gaza's tunnels, with operations continuing on the Hamas-controlled side. Additionally, Israel executed a rare West Bank airstrike to eliminate Kais Betawi, a high-value financial and military operative, signaling strength ahead of upcoming elections. Finally, the discussion outlines the total exclusion of the heavily compromised UNRWA from future Gaza recovery efforts, noting that the United States and Israel will sideline the agency entirely. (8)Higher Education in Crisis: Rising Debt, STEM Brain Drain, and Political PolarizationTom Katsouleas critiques the declining public trust and degrees in American higher education despite high spending. Driven by cost, value, and inclusion issues, students face massive debts that delay major life milestones like marriage and housing. Public universities have increased tuition to compensate for shrinking state budgets, while investing in luxury facilities and high-end services. In graduate education, US research programs depend heavily on international students—primarily from China—for STEM fields. However, rising immigration hostility and aggressive geopolitical competition are reversing this brain drain, while perceived progressive bias further polarizes public trust. (9)The Strategic Vanguard: Hezbollah's Regional Reach, Ceasefire Probing, and Lebanese Shia PoliticsDavid Daoud outlines the strategic dynamics of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah is currently launching pinprick probing attacks to test Israel's rules of engagement under ceasefire constraints and US pressure. Within Lebanesepolitics, the Shia community remains structured around a symbiotic relationship between the nationalist Amal movement and Hezbollah, preventing any independent Shia opposition from gaining ground. Beyond Lebanon, Hezbollah acts as the tip of the spear for Iranian expansionism, training regional proxies in rocket, tunnel, and propaganda warfare. This veteran, transnational expertise makes Hezbollah an indispensable regional asset that Iran would find impossible to replace. (10)The Silent Drip: Structural Remedies for America's $40 Trillion Debt CrisisThomas Savidge addresses the economic implications of the United States crossing the $40 trillion national debt threshold, fueled by pandemic spending and mandatory entitlements. This massive debt competes with private capital, driving up consumer borrowing rates and depressing real wages through inflation. To halt this slow economic drip, Savidge proposes a "fiscal constitution." This includes strong constitutional amendments, Colorado-style spending caps tied to population growth and inflation, a silent-approval budget commission to enact spending cuts, and strict regulatory limits on the scope of government authority to prevent accounting tricks. (11)

A Different Approach and Other Stories by Alex Grant https://www.amazon.com/Different-Approach-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B0FF3PZ1QT What happens when the ordinary turns disturbingly extraordinary? A Different Approach and Other Stories * is a darkly compelling collection of thought-provoking tales from author Alex Grant—stories that twist the familiar, challenge perception, and expose the fine line between normality and madness. Each story explores the unsettling undercurrents of human nature and modern society. From moral experiments gone wrong to eerie childhood memories and the consequences of casual cruelty, Grant’s writing balances sharp satire with haunting realism. These are not tales of monsters—but of people, choices, and systems pushed to their logical extremes. In this captivating collection, you’ll encounter: A chilling new form of justice where punishment truly “fits the crime.” A council worker who signs a seemingly routine contract with horrifying consequences. A man haunted by a childhood vision he cannot explain. Ordinary lives unravelling in unexpected, often darkly comic ways. Grant’s stories are unnervingly plausible—anchored in everyday details yet spiraling into moral and psychological unease. Witty, unsettling, and profoundly human, A Different Approach and Other Stories invites readers to question not just what happens—but why. If you enjoy the moral unease of Black Mirror, the dark irony of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, or the quiet dread of Ian McEwan’s early works, you’ll be riveted by Alex Grant’s unforgettable short fiction. About the author Alex loves reading novels, but having grown up in the punk era, he also values writing that is sharp, direct, and entertaining. However, his stories are far from the literary equivalent of a simple three-chord thrash. Instead, they are layered and thought-provoking, inviting multiple readings to fully appreciate their depth and complexity. An economist by profession, his interests span the criminal justice system, the spiritual dimension of life, and playing bass guitar. He also enjoys the croquet game as quintessentially English as it is vicious.

What if we expanded our view of medicine as something that's practiced outside of clinics and beyond prescriptions, and began to view it as something that surrounds us every day?   In this episode, Geeta Maker-Clark, MD, makes the case that healing is far bigger than healthcare as we traditionally know it. She talks about the medicines hiding in plain sight — from breath to movement to nourishing meals — and why she prescribes them to all her patients. She explores what it really means to cultivate vitality through small, ordinary, daily practices.   Find the episode highlights, get related resources and view the transcript for this episode at https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/podcast/the-ordinary-medicines-found-in-everyday-life-with-geeta-maker-clark-md   Have thoughts you'd like to share or topic ideas for future episodes? Email us at lttalks@lt.life — we'd love to hear from you!   Follow us on Instagram: @lifetime.life   The information in this podcast is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program. 

CAPTION: ARTAXERSES OF PERSIAEdmund Fitton-Brown details the bleak economic reality for citizens in Tehran living under severe economic sanctions and a low-intensity conflict. Ordinary residents are reduced to driving for ride-sharing apps like Snapp and begging for food due to skyrocketing prices of staple goods like yogurt. While the regime's elite remain insulated, sanctions have severely strained the general population without driving systemic behavior changes. Furthermore, the discussion examines the declining global credibility of the United Nations. The organization has abandoned its neutrality by focusing excessively on targeting Israel and prioritizing humanitarian relief, which frequently ends up diverted to empower oppressive regimes. (1)

In Part 6 of the Varela Contemplative Science Retreat, Roshi Joan Halifax leads a guided sitting before turning to what she calls the four often-conflated categories of contemplative experience: mystical states, insight, awakening, and realization. Drawing on her own decades of exposure to entheogens and psychedelic research, she distinguishes intensity from accuracy — mystical experience is a… Source

Get your copy of our 2026 Annual Read: Tozer on the Son of God by A.W. Tozer.First Time?Start Here: https://bit.ly/MarinersconnectcardCan we pray for you? https://bit.ly/MarinersPrayerOnlineYou can find information for all our Mariners congregations, watch more videos, and learn more about us and our ministries on our website https://bit.ly/MarinersChurchSite.FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marinerschurch• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinerschurch• Twitter: https://twitter.com/marinerschurch• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinerschurchSupport the ministry and help us reach people worldwide: https://bit.ly/MarinersGive

In Chinese, the cardinal directions are woven into everyday language in ways that often go unnoticed. Ordinary expressions carry traces of an older worldview, one that assigned meaning to every point on the horizon. These are not random quirks, but remnants of a way of thinking that has endured for centuries. / How does a nap right after work sound to you (18:07)? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan

Pastor Bryan continues our series through Acts, preaching from Acts 4 and reminding us that God isn't waiting for us to be extraordinary—He's looking for us to be available. If we use “ordinary” as an excuse, we'll never step into anything extraordinary for God. You can be extraordinary and still miss God moments because it's not the extra that makes it happen—it's our willingness to be available.

Taken from Episode 512 of Something For Everybody  Episode 512: https://everybodyspod.com/envy/ - This Episode Brought To You By…  Shop For Everybody  Use code SFE10 for 10% OFF

Where is God when you can't see Him working? We often look for spectacular signs, but God usually accomplishes His purposes through ordinary people, everyday circumstances, and promises that don't depend on what we can see. In this message from Acts 23:12–35, discover how to recognize God's hidden care, trust Him with what you cannot control, and find lasting confidence in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

The promised land of intimacy is not a quiet house. It is a payout. You walk in looking for the land of milk and honey embodied within a person. Someone to end the wandering. Someone to cash the check the first house bounced. Metaphorically speaking, Egypt is or was that first house. First deep love and first fracture in the same hands. Parental potters, works in progress, missing chances to love on you and tend what you needed. You loved them and quietly loathed them in the same breath. You lowered the price of being shaped. The labor was the cost of the strategy you had to develop, which let you keep the love for the parental potter's hands while surviving the mess their brokenness created within the environment and within your chest. Canaan is the fantasy that one later body will be the exodus. Disney named it happily ever after. Spacious. Sweet. Rest from that labor. Needs that no longer have to go on sale. No more exposure. No more self-knowledge. Happily ever after shirks the responsibility of a holographic relational environment. That environment is a crucible. Psychological nudity. Being known without a costume. The credits roll so you never have to stand in that. Inheritance, as if a vow sworn to a people could be performed by a spouse. You call that chemistry, destiny, finally. Intuition says I can rest now. Ask which climate trained that rest. The potter's house or here. Authority sold you settlement as love, then sold you the ending. Reason says one finite person cannot flow with milk and honey on command, and cannot cancel the crucible. Canaan in a couple is destination-logic, not peace-logic. In the text the land is sworn possession, deliverance into fruit after barrenness, pasture after scarcity, rest from war. Cities you did not build. Wells you did not dig. Vineyards you did not plant. Eat, be full, do not forget. That cargo gets dropped on a lover and renamed happily ever after. They will see you so the first invisibility dies. They will stay so the first leaving gets reversed. They will tend what the first potters missed. Conflict then feels like eviction from the land. Ordinary human limit feels like exile, like having to raise the price of yourself again. Peace becomes a product you buy with silence, sex, image, or church. You were not relating. You were occupying. The land already had people in it. Promise arrives with contest. Spies taste the fruit and still panic at the giants. Watch what you do after closeness. That is the empirical test. Do you soften into here, or do you scan for proof the giants are gone, the old quota is canceled, and the story has finally gone to credits. Their actual life becomes what must be driven out so your hunger can settle. A healthy bond is the anti-promised land because it refuses to hire one nervous system to finish the potter's job and refuses to play happily ever after with a human being. Presence is not a refund for Egypt. Relating is not collection for missed tending. Happily ever after is how the mask avoids psychological nudity. A kiss cannot annex a past. A vow cannot unwrite a childhood. The vows you can keep are smaller and harder. Tell the truth. Do not vanish. Do not turn their life into your territory. Stay in the exposure. Stay in the crucible. Covenant in the book can be lost. Exile sits in the same library as milk and honey. So can the marriage that was asked to be Canaan. The mask that will fight this hour is simple. I am the one who is owed rest from the labor of being shaped. I am the one who is owed a land that flows and a story that ends. If I drop that, I do not know who I am. Name one result that would change your mind. If you cannot, you are not inquiring. You are defending the deed. Are you with them in this room, or are you occupying them as the last Canaan that might still make you whole, waiting for them to keep a promise they never made, in a land they are not.

The promised land of intimacy is not a quiet house. It is a payout. You walk in looking for the land of milk and honey embodied within a person. Someone to end the wandering. Someone to cash the check the first house bounced. Metaphorically speaking, Egypt is or was that first house. First deep love and first fracture in the same hands. Parental potters, works in progress, missing chances to love on you and tend what you needed. You loved them and quietly loathed them in the same breath. You lowered the price of being shaped. The labor was the cost of the strategy you had to develop, which let you keep the love for the parental potter's hands while surviving the mess their brokenness created within the environment and within your chest. Canaan is the fantasy that one later body will be the exodus. Disney named it happily ever after. Spacious. Sweet. Rest from that labor. Needs that no longer have to go on sale. No more exposure. No more self-knowledge. Happily ever after shirks the responsibility of a holographic relational environment. That environment is a crucible. Psychological nudity. Being known without a costume. The credits roll so you never have to stand in that. Inheritance, as if a vow sworn to a people could be performed by a spouse. You call that chemistry, destiny, finally. Intuition says I can rest now. Ask which climate trained that rest. The potter's house or here. Authority sold you settlement as love, then sold you the ending. Reason says one finite person cannot flow with milk and honey on command, and cannot cancel the crucible. Canaan in a couple is destination-logic, not peace-logic. In the text the land is sworn possession, deliverance into fruit after barrenness, pasture after scarcity, rest from war. Cities you did not build. Wells you did not dig. Vineyards you did not plant. Eat, be full, do not forget. That cargo gets dropped on a lover and renamed happily ever after. They will see you so the first invisibility dies. They will stay so the first leaving gets reversed. They will tend what the first potters missed. Conflict then feels like eviction from the land. Ordinary human limit feels like exile, like having to raise the price of yourself again. Peace becomes a product you buy with silence, sex, image, or church. You were not relating. You were occupying. The land already had people in it. Promise arrives with contest. Spies taste the fruit and still panic at the giants. Watch what you do after closeness. That is the empirical test. Do you soften into here, or do you scan for proof the giants are gone, the old quota is canceled, and the story has finally gone to credits. Their actual life becomes what must be driven out so your hunger can settle. A healthy bond is the anti-promised land because it refuses to hire one nervous system to finish the potter's job and refuses to play happily ever after with a human being. Presence is not a refund for Egypt. Relating is not collection for missed tending. Happily ever after is how the mask avoids psychological nudity. A kiss cannot annex a past. A vow cannot unwrite a childhood. The vows you can keep are smaller and harder. Tell the truth. Do not vanish. Do not turn their life into your territory. Stay in the exposure. Stay in the crucible. Covenant in the book can be lost. Exile sits in the same library as milk and honey. So can the marriage that was asked to be Canaan. The mask that will fight this hour is simple. I am the one who is owed rest from the labor of being shaped. I am the one who is owed a land that flows and a story that ends. If I drop that, I do not know who I am. Name one result that would change your mind. If you cannot, you are not inquiring. You are defending the deed. Are you with them in this room, or are you occupying them as the last Canaan that might still make you whole, waiting for them to keep a promise they never made, in a land they are not.

What was everyday life like in Salem in 1692? In this episode, we look beyond the witch crisis to explore the work, routines, and relationships that shaped the people at the center of the storm.

Thought to share? Send me a text...Have you ever wondered why, if God is growing you or calling you toward something, your life still looks so ordinary?When you're raising kids, caring for family, managing responsibilities, or simply waiting for what's next, it can feel like the meaningful parts of your life have been put on hold. You may sense God stirring something in your heart while wondering why there doesn't seem to be room to pursue it.But what if this ordinary season isn't an interruption at all?In Luke 2, we get the Bible's only glimpse of Jesus as a boy. At just 12 years old, Jesus demonstrated an awareness of His unique relationship with His Father. Yet instead of rushing into public ministry, He returned home to Nazareth, lived in obedience, and grew.His example offers a powerful reminder: knowing doesn't always mean going.In this episode, you'll discover:Why seasons that feel ordinary or “on hold” can be significant seasons of spiritual formation.How Jesus' years in Nazareth can help you trust God's timing instead of rushing toward what's next.How to recognize what God may be growing in you as you faithfully serve Him right where you are.Press play to discover how Luke 2 can help you stop seeing your ordinary season as wasted time and start recognizing how God may be using it to deepen your faith and prepare you for what comes next.New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.To connect with Betsy for speaking, resources, or curriculum head to https://betsymarvin.com/contact-me/For access to past podcasts and transcripts, head tohttps://betsymarvin.com/podcasts/A Christian podcast centered on Jesus, the Bible, and God explores faith through the Old Testament and New Testament, sharing Bible stories and Bible explained insights to help women of faith and Jesus followers grow in faith, strengthen their relationship with God, and know God more deeply through Bible study, women Bible study, and practical Christianity, all while encouraging spiritual growth, understanding identity in Christ, and learning to understand Bible teachings to become closer to God.

Nard is finally able to read the Bible in his own language, but the story is nothing like he expected. Uniting kids with the good news of the Gospel through adventures and foundational, biblical truths. Subscribe to the U-Nite Radio Podcast, so you don't miss any of our episodes! U-Nite TV Uniting kids with the God's Word in a fun, engaging way to help kids understand and apply biblical truths to their lives. Stream animated adventures, music videos, missionary stories, and more! Available on Android, iOS, Android TV, and Apple TV. https://www.cefonline.com/unitetv/ Copyright © 2026 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Nigel Denning joins us to talk about his work with altered states of consciousness, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and holotropic breathwork. In each of these cases, integration is an important part of the experience, and is an ongoing process with multiple aspects that can unfold over time. We also talk about the therapist's role, including the need for presence, minimal intervention, and how to support people without imposing a fixed interpretation.Key TakeawaysNigel Denning is a counseling psychologist with nearly 40 years of experience in psychedelics, non-ordinary states of consciousness, and psychedelic-assisted therapy.Holotropic Breathwork: A method of entering altered states, developed from Stanislav Grof's LSD psychotherapy work, that does not involve any substances at all, but uses accelerated breathing, music, and supportive bodywork.Integration of Non-Ordinary States: A triphasic model that involves first capturing the experience, then translating it into language and story, then finding meaning — which often happens over time, in tandem with traditional therapy.Chapters00:00:00 - Podcast Opening and Guest Intro00:05:15 - Nigel's Psychedelic Beginnings00:17:55 - What Is Holotropic Breathwork?00:24:24 - The Symbolic Mind00:30:56 - Rethinking Psychedelic Integration00:53:00 - The Triphasic Integration Model01:00:48 - Rapid-Fire Reflections01:06:20 - Psychedelic Futures in AustraliaRead the companion article at psychedelicpassage.com.This podcast is edited by Chad Eschman. Our music is by Mic Coats. Psychedelic Passage is your partner in safe, supported, and effective psychedelic journeys. As the first concierge service in the U.S., we connect you with vetted facilitators who value integrity and expertise.Start your free Match Making Process, join our Online Learning Community, and explore a range of educational articles at psychedelicpassage.com.

Ordinary companies chase quarterly earnings. Legendary companies play an astonishingly long game.Amazon's Jeff Bezos insisted that decisions must make sense 5–7 years out—not just next quarter. In a Bain & Company survey, 81% of top-performing firms said they tie major initiatives to long-term value creation, not just near-term KPIs. These companies innovate patiently, hire strategically (you can't have an A-grade business with C-level players right?), and invest like they'll own the future.Not only that, the best firms get that “when you take care of the relationship the money takes care of itself.” So they are obsessively relational versus merely transactional.My latest book “The Wealth Money Can't Buy” is full of fresh ideas and original tools that I'm absolutely certain will cause quantum leaps in your positivity, productivity, wellness, and happiness. You can order it now by clicking here.FOLLOW ROBIN SHARMA:InstagramFacebookYouTube

Join us for Episode #4249 as Rev. Carla Jones Brown, Designated Pastor of Oxford Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, brings us "Holy Ground, Ordinary Shoes," a sermon on Exodus 3:1-15. Preaching on Moses and the burning bush, Rev. Jones Brown explores what it means to turn aside and notice the sacred breaking into an ordinary day, and how God calls people with no standing to carry extraordinary purpose. As the church moves through the season after Pentecost, this sermon invites us to ask where holy ground might be waiting, right where we are.

Text me!In this episode, travel expert Jen Barnes shares insights on planning trips for different seasons, the impact of climate change on travel, and the benefits of working with a travel concierge. Discover how personalized travel planning can enhance your travel experience and make it more memorable.Takeaways Include: Best travel seasons for different destinationsImpact of climate change on travel planningAdvantages of working with a travel conciergeTraveling with family and multi-generational groupsTraveling solo and destination recommendationsHow climate change affects seasonal travel patternsThe rise of travel budgets among younger generationsBenefits of personalized travel experiencesYou can find her on IG @jenbarnestravel or LinkedIn HERESupport the showLINKS TO FREEBIES BELOW: WEEKLY NEWSLETTER where I share all the tips and tricks on how to grow organically online HERE If you are interested in sponsoring the show, send me a DMABOUT THE HOST: Former Executive Recruiter turned Digital Marketing Expert & Entrepreneur.  I'm here to show you that you can do it too! I help small business owners to start, grow and scale their personal brand and business online through social media. In 2021 I launched ChilledVino, my patented wine product and in 2023 I launched The Caroline Pennington Show Podcast and in 2025 I launched my Digital Marketing Agency called CPM. I live in South Carolina with my husband Gary and 2 Weimrarners, Zena & Zara. This podcast is a supportive and inclusive community where I interview and bring women together that are fellow entrepreneurs and workplace experts. We believe in sharing our stories, unpacking exactly how we did it and talking through the mindset shifts needed to achieve great things.Let's connect further!!LinkedIn HERE IG @cpennington55 FB HEREChilledVino HERE

Pastor James continues our series, Gather to Go, walking through the book of Acts. This week we looked at Acts 18:1-22 and saw that God wants to use ordinary people in everyday life to bring Gospel restoration.

Thought to share? Send me a text...What if God is at work in your ordinary day today—but you're moving too quickly to notice?When life feels busy, repetitive, disappointing, or far from what you expected, it can be easy to wonder where God is—or simply stop noticing His presence altogether. But what if some of God's most meaningful work is happening right in the middle of your ordinary, faithful life?In this episode of Everyday Faith for Her, we're looking at Luke 2 and what Simeon and Anna can teach us about staying spiritually attentive. After years of waiting, loss, worship, prayer, and faithfulness, they recognized Jesus when others may have simply seen another baby entering the Temple.Through their story, you'll discover:How faithfulness can position you to recognize what God is already doing around you.Why seasons of waiting, disappointment, and ordinary routines don't mean God has stopped working.How to become more spiritually attentive so you can notice God's presence and activity in your everyday life.Press play and discover how staying faithful and spiritually attentive can help you recognize the profound ways God may already be working in the ordinary moments of your life.New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.To connect with Betsy for speaking, resources, or curriculum head to https://betsymarvin.com/contact-me/For access to past podcasts and transcripts, head tohttps://betsymarvin.com/podcasts/A Christian podcast centered on Jesus, the Bible, and God explores faith through the Old Testament and New Testament, sharing Bible stories and Bible explained insights to help women of faith and Jesus followers grow in faith, strengthen their relationship with God, and know God more deeply through Bible study, women Bible study, and practical Christianity, all while encouraging spiritual growth, understanding identity in Christ, and learning to understand Bible teachings to become closer to God.

South Africa's growth challenge is shifting from reform to delivery. Tourism is part of that test. International arrivals rose 12.3% in the first half of 2026. And phase III of the government-business Partnership now puts the sector firmly on the growth agenda, with a focus on air access, visas, safety and infrastructure. On No Ordinary Wednesday, Jeremy Maggs and Investec economist Lara Hodes examine what it will take to turn that momentum into investment, jobs and sustained growth. Read more on www.investec.com/now Investec Focus Radio SA

Marilyn “Niqui” McCown vanished from Richmond, Indiana, on July 22, 2001, just weeks before her wedding. The 28-year-old was last seen on security video at a convenience store near a local laundromat. Months later, the GMC Jimmy she had been driving was found in Dayton, Ohio; her laundry was found folded inside the vehicle.  Dateline's Josh Mankiewicz speaks with Niqui's sister, Michelle McCown-Luster, and Niqui's daughter, Payton Johnston, about their long search for answers. Josh also speaks with WDTN co-anchor Kelley King, who has followed Niqui's case for years. Also featured is Richmond Police Department Detective Mike Wright, who continues to investigate Niqui's disappearance. Niqui was 5'3” and weighed 115 pounds at the time of her disappearance with brown hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink top, biker shorts, and sandals. She would be 53 years old today. Anyone with information about Niqui's case is asked to call the Richmond Police Department at 765-983-7247. Get more information and see pictures of Niqui McCown here: https://www.nbcnews.com/datelinemissing Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The gift already in YOUR hands was never just for YOU.That is the part most people never realize. YOU look at what YOU have — YOUR skill, YOUR resources, the ability that comes so naturally YOU barely think of it as special — and YOU assume it is just YOURS. Something to use for YOUR own life, YOUR own provision, YOUR own comfort. And because it feels ordinary to YOU, YOU have never once considered that God may have placed it in YOUR hands for a purpose far bigger than YOU.Exodus 25 and 35 reveal exactly how that works.There was a moment when God asked His people to bring something to build a place where His presence could dwell. And what is stunning is what they built it with. They did not go find special, sacred materials. They brought what they already had — the very things they were already carrying, the very skills that were already in their hands. Ordinary people reached into what they possessed, and it turned out to be the exact raw material God had been waiting to use.Here is what most people miss.The gold and treasure they gave was not something they earned in that moment. It was something they had carried out of a season of hardship — wealth that came out of the very place that once held them captive. What they thought was simply their blessing, their reward, their possession, turned out to be the material for something far greater than personal wealth. The thing in their hands had a destiny attached to it that they could not see when they first received it.And it was not just the wealthy who had something to give.There were people — ordinary people — whose only offering was a skill in their hands. The ability to make something, to craft, to work with what they had. It was not flashy. It was not the kind of gift that turns heads. But when they brought that ordinary ability and offered it for something bigger than themselves, it became essential to the entire work. What they thought was just a common skill was actually a God-given assignment.There is a specific detail in these passages about who was moved to give and what stirred them to do it — a condition of the heart that unlocked the whole thing — that reveals exactly how God activates the purpose sitting dormant in YOUR life right now. Because the gift is not the whole story. What YOU do with it is.Where did the materials come from? What did the ordinary ones bring? And what has God placed in YOUR hands that has a greater purpose than YOU ever assigned to it?

This week on the pod, it's a big-time Tennis Report: Maya's tennis team is the USTA Northern Section Champions! Next stop: USTA Nationals, babeeeee! Her prize? A T-shirt! LOL. Can we at least have a ribbon, people? Amy recaps her horrible work trip in Bozeman, MT. Next, business drinking is completely out of control. Off topic, Amy definitely wants to see a grizzly in the wild. Kevin Bacon didn't love his “ordinary person” disguise. 

We love competition. Or at least some of us do.We compete to win, to get ahead, and sometimes simply to prove that we matter. But Romans 12 gives us a surprising, even strange kind of competition: “Outdo one another in showing honor.”What if, instead of competing to be noticed, we became people who noticed, valued, and lifted up others? In this sermon, we'll explore the next brushstroke in this portrait of God's extraordinary grace: Humble Honor. We'll see how Jesus, who humbled himself to lift us up, frees us from the need to prove ourselves so that we can freely honor others.

Rev. David Stippick, Pastor of Community at Peace of Christ Church, preaches from Romans 12:9-21 about Ordinary love.

Central Christian Church is a non-denominational church in Wichita, KS. We are happy to share the teaching of our pastors and friends with you through this podcast. If you have any questions or want to know more about us, visit https://www.ccc.org/ Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49653421 1 Corinthians 16:1-11

I think so many of us are longing for a faith that meets us right where we are. A faith that we can practice in school car line. At work. On a hospital bed. During a pandemic. A faith that is not merely escapism or triumphalism but a real faith in Christ that works not for the benefits it gives us, but for the ways it opens us up to the mystery of God. A faith that leaves room for questions, doubts, and one in which we don't have to perform to perfection. That's why I love the writing of Tish Harrison Warren. Listen to these book titles: Liturgy of the Ordinary. Prayer In The Night. And her most recent, What Grows in Wearly Lands: On Christian Resilience. Tish formerly wrote a weekly newsletter about faith for The New York Times. She serves as the C.S. Lewis Theological Write-in-residence at Truett Seminary's Anglican Episcopal House of Studies. She is a senior fellow with the Trinity Forum and an assisting priest at Immanuel Anglican Church. In this conversation we talk about Christian resilience, what we can learn from the first thousand years of church history, the writings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and Tish's spiritual journey from the Southern Baptist Church to the PCA to now becoming a priest in the Anglican Church. Topics Covered: Writing in the midst of a busy life The frustration of writing and how to get it done Writing to teach ideas vs writing to convey beauty Reflections on evangelicalism in Tish’s early years Tish’s journey to becoming an Anglican priest Why we need the first 1000 years of the church Who the Desert Fathers and Mothers are and what we can learn from them Resources Mentioned: What Grows In Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience by Tish Harrison Warren Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices In Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren Advent: The Season of Hope by Tish Harrison Warren Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark: Mysticism, Art, And The Path of Unknowing by James K.A. Smith Desiring The Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, And Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K.A. Smith Liturgies of the Wild: Myths That Make Us by Martin Shaw Show Sponsor: Planning Center This episode is brought to you by Planning Center, helping you sync all your ministry details across your whole church. Planning Center has become so essential to how I manage a team, that it's almost impossible to consider local church ministry without it anymore. Today, I want to leave you with a PCO pro-tip. Does this sound like a familiar situation? It's the end of the week. You're about to leave the office when you suddenly think: Did all of our volunteers confirm for Sunday? You scroll through the schedule and sure enough—there's a gap. Instead of allowing yourself to spiral into a panic, try this: In Services, Planning Center has gap alerts. Turn them on, and you'll get a heads-up days before service if positions are still unfilled or unconfirmed. No more end of the week scrambling. Speaking of less scrambling, did you know you can access everything you need for rehearsals right from the Service media player on your phone? Lyrics, chord charts, arrangement notes—it's all right there, so you're not hunting for files in the middle of hitting those power chords. To see what else you can do to make your Sundays easier, go to planningcenter.com/blog. The post #398: Christian Resilience, Women In Ministry, And The Attractiveness of Anglicanism With Tish Harrison Warren appeared first on Beyond Sunday Worship.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark sits down with Christian Ray Flores to talk about career transitions, the "competence trap," personal branding, and what happens when your expertise becomes so familiar that you stop seeing its value.They discuss why starting as a generalist can be useful, how skills from seemingly unrelated experiences can transfer into new industries, and why your differences, failures, preferences, and perspectives can become part of your personal brand.The conversation also explores how focusing your expertise into central ideas and pillar concepts can help you create content more consistently.

OVERVIEW Most of us know the big story of the Bible: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. The harder part is remembering that story when we are tired, anxious, sitting in a waiting room, cleaning the kitchen, or wondering whether the work in front of us matters at all. Because whether we realize it or not, we are always interpreting our lives. A hard season can start to feel like the whole story. A disappointment can begin to shape what we believe about God. Even our exhaustion can expose the stories we are telling ourselves about who we are and what depends on us. So put your earbuds on and come back to what is true. In this episode, Betsy takes the great story of redemption and brings it into the ordinary places where we live, asking how creation, fall, redemption, and consummation help us understand what is right in front of us. Be encouraged to lift your eyes, remember where your life fits within God's greater story, and see the life in front of you in light of Christ and the promise that He is making all things new.   HIGHLIGHTS “The truth of God's Word is the ultimate authority in our lives. It shapes how we see God, how we understand ourselves, and how we interpret the life right in front of us.” “Sometimes on Monday morning we need to remember what we confessed on Sunday.” “The story began by His will and for His glory. That puts our lives in their proper place. There is a center, and we are not it. God is.” “Ordinary life was never an obstacle to the glory of God.” “The value of your life does not depend on every task feeling exciting.” “No need is too ordinary for our High Priest.” “Christ's ascension does not mean that he has become distant from our ordinary lives.” “A day is coming when work will have no thorns, our relationships will have no sin, and our bodies will have no death.”   DIG DEEPER What ordinary circumstance feels especially heavy to you right now? What have you begun to believe about God, yourself, or your life because of it? What does creation help you remember about God's good design, your purpose, and your limits? Where can you see the effects of the fall in this situation? How do the life, death, resurrection, and present reign of Christ change the way you see what is in front of you today? What does Christ's promised return and the promise that He will make all things new give you hope for? What is one concrete response the gospel is calling you to today: rest, repentance, gratitude, asking for help, serving, or simply remaining faithful Who could you invite into this conversation this week?

In this message from our “Sacred Ordinary” series, we explore worship as more than songs on a Sunday. Drawing from Romans 12 and Jesus' teaching on worship in spirit and truth, we unpack how every part of our everyday, ordinary lives—our work, relationships, service, and small acts of love—can become a loving response to a loving God. Learn how a bigger view of God's mercy transforms backyards, school hallways, and even simple errands into sacred spaces of worship.

Nard skips school to help Richard Roe learn new words in his language. Meanwhile, Piper and Logan keep learning more in their class. Uniting kids with the good news of the Gospel through adventures and foundational, biblical truths. Subscribe to the U-Nite Radio Podcast, so you don't miss any of our episodes! U-Nite TV Uniting kids with the God's Word in a fun, engaging way to help kids understand and apply biblical truths to their lives. Stream animated adventures, music videos, missionary stories, and more! Available on Android, iOS, Android TV, and Apple TV. https://www.cefonline.com/unitetv/ Copyright © 2026 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In this second part of a two-part set of talks, we first review briefly last week's talk, including the three traditional areas of training--in wisdom, meditation (including the development of concentration, mindfulness and insight, and the heart practices), and ethical practice. We then identify two further contemporary areas of practice: Psychological work of different kinds (including psychotherapy, various forms of "shadow" work, examination of one's social conditioning) and social engagement that extends ethical practice. We also identify some of the deeper dimensions of traditional practice, including the deepening of concentration practice in the jhanas, the three modes of liberating insight--seeing impermanence, reactivity (or dukkha), and not-self, the opening to non-dual awakened awareness, practices transforming the body (as in tummo practice), and the resting in non-doing. The talk is followed by discussion.

In this episode of Business Your Way, host Caryn Gillen sits down with Jessica Freeman – the founder of Jess Creatives and The Ordinary Business Network – to break down the results of her third annual State of Online Business Survey, based on responses from 475 service providers.They get into:- The crucial difference between revenue and profit- The surprising gap between people's public success stories and what the data actually shows- What remains people's number one lead source, three years running- The thing that actually generates clients- What nearly every respondent is walking away from and prioritizing this yearcan use it to build your business around what's actually working in 2026. Or, do as Jess does, and use the data to support your own marketing and sales pages! View the State of Online Business Survey 2026 results here: https://theordinarybusiness.com/state-of-online-business-survey-2026/Book your Checkpoint Session here:https://caryngillen.com/checkpoint-----** If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to hit that subscribe button, share it with a friend, like and/or leave a comment. I appreciate each one! **-----Jess Freeman is the founder of Jess Creatives and The Ordinary Business Network. While she designs for health and fitness experts, The Ordinary Business Network is for all types of service providers who want to focus on becoming better, not bigger. Learn more about and connect with Jess at:theordinarybusiness.comjesscreatives.com-----To learn more about and connect with host Caryn Gillen, visit: https://caryngillen.com/Caryn is a Master Leadership and Business Coach who asks really great questions to help people clarify their next move, holding space for them as they do it.-----Tags: online business survey, online business owner statistics, state of online business, business strategy, business coaching podcast

Iranian War: A Tiny Waterway with a Huge ImpactEpisode DescriptionWhat does a narrow waterway thousands of miles away have to do with your gas bill, grocery budget, and everyday expenses?In this episode of Being Blunt, we break down the growing tensions involving Iran and explain why the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most important waterways on the planet. While many people have never heard of it, this small passage serves as a critical gateway for global oil shipments, making it a key factor in energy prices and economic stability worldwide.We'll explore the conflict, the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, and how events in the Middle East can directly impact families, businesses, and consumers here at home.Quick. Powerful. To the Point.In This EpisodeWhat is happening between Iran and its regional rivals?Why is Iran such an important player in global energy and Middle East politics?What exactly is the Strait of Hormuz?Where did the Strait of Hormuz get its name?Why do so many of the world's oil shipments pass through this narrow waterway?How can tensions in the region affect global oil markets?Why do gas prices often rise during periods of uncertainty?What impact could disruptions have on transportation, shipping, and consumer goods?How do everyday people in Iran experience the effects of conflict and economic instability?What should consumers watch for if tensions continue to escalate?Key Takeaways

In this message, we step into the story of Joseph. As we've learned throughout Genesis, unhealthy patterns of favoritism and envy lead to challenging circumstances. Pastor Brian Caplinger walks through the beginning of Joseph's story and how God was working in the midst of it.August 2, 2026

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In this second part of a two-part set of talks, we first review briefly last week's talk, including the three traditional areas of training--in wisdom, meditation (including the development of concentration, mindfulness and insight, and the heart practices), and ethical practice. We then identify two further contemporary areas of practice: Psychological work of different kinds (including psychotherapy, various forms of "shadow" work, examination of one's social conditioning) and social engagement that extends ethical practice. We also identify some of the deeper dimensions of traditional practice, including the deepening of concentration practice in the jhanas, the three modes of liberating insight--seeing impermanence, reactivity (or dukkha), and not-self, the opening to non-dual awakened awareness, practices transforming the body (as in tummo practice), and the resting in non-doing. The talk is followed by discussion.

8/23/2026 REBROADCAST 555: Proper 16A (August 27, 2023) Hello and welcome to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, the lectionary podcast for preachers, seekers and Bible geeks. This is episode 555 for Sunday, August 27, 2023, Proper 16, Ordinary 21, Year A. Matthew 16:13-20 Who do you say that I am? Exodus 1:8-2:10 Shiphrah, Puah, and Miriam Romans 12:1-8 Living sacrifice with Robin Lovett-Owen

We're cutting through the marketing fluff to decode five popular copper peptide serums! In this episode, we analyze the formulas, active ingredient combinations, and clinical data behind products from the Remedy, COSRX, Dr. Reju-All, The Ordinary, and Peach & Lily. We break down what these serums intend to treat, highlight potential formula overlap (like sneaky niacinamide and bakuchiol), and discuss the layering rules you may need to consider for your routine. Hear the chemists' perspective on where peptides fit into a smart anti-aging strategy. Timestamps 00:01 | Copper Peptide Formula Breakdown Strategy 03:00 | Remedy Copper Peptide Complex Review 06:15 | COSRX Blue Peptide Bakuchiol Serum 15:39 | Dr. Reju-All PDRN Copper Peptide Serum 19:02 | The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 21:54 | The Orindary Copper Peptide Serum's Layering Restrictions 23:33 | Peach & Lily Copper Peptide Pro Serum 26:24 | Chemists Discuss Copper Peptide Category Efficacy 31:32 | Where Peptides Fit in Your Skincare Routine   #GHKCu #CopperPeptides #SkincareScience #FormulationScience #AntiAgingSkincare #SkincarePodcast #ChemistConfessions #30for30 #  

A Regnum Christi Daily Meditation. Sign up to receive the text in your email daily at RegnumChristi.com

In episode 501, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb dig into the parable of the watchful doorkeeper in Mark 13:32–37 — four tightly packed verses that Jesus uses to call his servants to alertness before his return. But this isn't a passage about spiritual caffeine and white-knuckling your way through the Christian life. Tony and Jesse unpack what "stay awake" actually means through the lens of Reformed theology: active, differentiated stewardship in the ordinary means of grace, faithful vocation in every sphere of life, and a corporate ecclesial readiness that belongs to the whole church, not just the individual. This episode reorients the familiar language of watchfulness away from anxiety and date-setting toward the sturdy, quiet confidence of a believer who knows who they are, whose house they serve in, and why that identity drives everything. Key Takeaways "Stay awake" is a command about identity, not performance. The doorkeeper doesn't do what he does to become the doorkeeper — he's already the doorkeeper. Christians are watchful because of who they already are in Christ, not to earn or secure that status. Vocation is not optional waiting — it's active, differentiated stewardship. Christ's ascension corresponds to the master's departure, and the interim period is characterized by each servant being given his own work, reflecting Calvin's doctrine of vocation and the Reformed insistence that the Christian life between the ascension and the Parousia is not passive. Watchfulness is corporate, not merely individual. The church, as the pillar and buttress of truth, is called to a collective readiness. In Presbyterian polity, every act of a valid church jurisdiction is an act of the whole church — meaning each member has a genuine stake in the faithfulness of the whole body. The ordinary means of grace are the means of watchfulness. Prayer, the Word, the sacraments, fellowship, and sitting under preaching are not supplementary to vigilance — they are the very instruments by which God preserves and prepares his people. Two errors must be avoided: speculative date-setting and practical indifference. Uncertainty about the hour of Christ's return is neither an invitation to calculate nor an excuse for carelessness. It is the very grounds for sustained, ordinary faithfulness. The warnings of Scripture are themselves a means of grace. Following Westminster Confession of Faith 17, the sobering warning of verse 36 is not a threat to the elect's final security but a pastoral instrument by which God preserves his people in living, active faith. The rooster-crowing language of Mark 13 anticipates the Passion narrative. The clustering of watchfulness, the night watches, and the crowing rooster in this chapter echoes the Garden of Gethsemane and Peter's denial — a connection particularly resonant given Mark's traditional association with Peter's testimony. Explanatory Paragraphs Vocation and the Active Interim One of the most theologically rich observations in this episode is the way Jesse frames the master's departure as corresponding directly to the ascension of Christ. The key phrase in verse 34 — "each one his task" — is not incidental detail. It reflects the Reformed doctrine of vocation at full strength: every believer, in every sphere of influence, has been given particular work to do on behalf of the Lord during Christ's bodily absence. This is not a passive waiting room existence. It is an active, differentiated stewardship that is deeply personal and yet accountable to the master who owns the whole house. The ascension does not mean abandonment, and the parable makes that clear by the fact that the servants are left in charge — trusted, commissioned, and expected to be about their work when the master returns. The Church's Corporate Readiness A standout contribution of this episode is Tony's move from the individual to the ecclesial. Drawing directly from OPC Book of Church Order, Chapter 3, he argues that church power is not vested in officers alone but in the whole body of believers. This means that when any legitimate church jurisdiction acts — whether in discipline, instruction, or governance — it is the whole church acting. The parable's doorkeeper is therefore not just a figure for personal piety; he is a figure for the corporate watchfulness that belongs to every member of the household. Tony's point is that a Christian who is disconnected from his local church, indifferent to what is being taught and decided elsewhere in the visible church, is not simply failing at individual holiness — he is failing to be awake in the fullest sense the parable intends. The Ordinary Means of Grace as Watchfulness Itself Perhaps the most pastorally stabilizing insight of the episode is Jesse's observation that watchfulness is not some extraordinary spiritual heroism layered on top of normal Christian life — it is normal Christian life. The ordinary means of grace are ordinary precisely because they are the regular, appointed instruments through which God delivers his grace to his people. Prayer, the Word, the sacraments, and fellowship are not preparatory disciplines that get you ready for the real work of being watchful. They are the work. Tony reinforces this by noting that a person who persistently refuses the ordinary means of grace is not simply being unwise — they are declining the offer of God's grace, which is a far more serious matter than mere spiritual lethargy. Memorable Quotes The doorkeeper doesn't do what he does to become the doorkeeper in this parable. He's already the doorkeeper, and the fact that he's the doorkeeper explains why he's given certain responsibilities and certain commands. That's the way it is for us as Christians. - Tony Arsenal The warnings of Scripture are themselves among the ordinary means by which God preserves His people... the sobering possibility of being found asleep functions pastorally not to threaten the loss of the elect, but to press home the seriousness of watchfulness as the fruit and evidence of genuine faith." - Jesse Schwamb When I go into a patient encounter at the hospital, or when I pull up to a red light, or when I order a sandwich at McDonald's and they get it wrong — I bring with me the fact that I am a Christian, the fact that I am a servant of Christ, that I am a doorkeeper in the house of the living God. - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: [00:01:00] Welcome to episode 501 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse.  Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony, and this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey, brother.  Jesse Schwamb: Hey, brother. Well, we've got some more kingdom teaching on tap right from the mouth of Jesus. We're going through all the parables, if you haven't been tracking with us so far, and we're finding ourselves in Mark chapter 13. And as J- only Jesus can do, packs four verses with all kinds of rich, robust theology, and it's all in this kind of strange setting, actually. A guy heads out of town. He hands his servants the keys. He tells the doorman, "Hey, watch the place," with the same kind of e- enigmatic and vague energy that I imagine, like, your cable internet provider gives you when they give you an arrival time between now and Friday. And then Jesus lists literally, like, every possible hour He might show up, evening, midnight, rooster clock, dawn. And all of this is for His glory and for our benefits. [00:02:00] And we're gonna somehow try to see if we can take all of these four verses, which are so jam-packed, and fit them into our conversation. That's our challenge, and it's gonna be yours to listen to. So welcome to this episode.  Affirm or Deny Segment Jesse Schwamb: But before we do all of that, it is everybody's favorite time. Well, except for Wicked Scriptures. That is really everybody's favorite time. Second favorite time is where we find something in our lives, Tony, that we either affirm with because it's awesome, it's exciting, want everybody to know about it, or conversely, we deny against something because it's just not that great. We don't like it. Don't waste your time with it. So everybody longs to know, in this conversation, are you affirming with or denying against?  Tony Affirms Psalm Music Tony Arsenal: I'm affirming something tonight. Uh, the listener might remember, I don't know, maybe a month and a half back, I affirmed a particular setting of Psalm 63 in the Trinity Psalter Hymnal. And as I was kind of, you know, looking around for, I wanted to find a track to sort of maybe add to the end of the episode just to sort of, [00:03:00] like, put a point on that. I stumbled on, um, a song, singer, I don't know if you'd call him a songwriter, 'cause he's mostly just writing song- psalms. But he's, he's arranging them. He's, you know, writing the guitar line for it or whatever. Uh, his name is Matthew David Montgomery. Uh, I don't know that you would know him from anywhere, but he's on, um- Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, wherever. Uh, he does an arrangement of O God Show Mercy to Us, which is Psalm 63, uh, setting A, I believe, in the Trinity Psalter hymnal. But, um, it's, it's in other hymnals, other psalters, uh, under the same name with the same tune. Uh, he has a beautiful singing voice. He does a lot of, uh, what's typically called, like, finger style, uh, guitar picking, uh, which is just very melodious and very gentle and soft. Um, it would be a great addition to, like, your morning devotional time to just, like, pick a psalm that he sings, that he's, he's recorded. Um, you can get most of his stuff for free on, uh, YouTube, or again, if you have Apple [00:04:00] Music or Spotify, it's available there. Uh, again, his name is Matthew David Montgomery, and he's got several, uh, several albums. He has ones that specifically is psalms called Psalms for Singing. Um, and then he has a couple finger style hymn songs, uh, hymn albums that are like, you know, like I don't know, more modern hymns, He Will Hold Me Fast, Only Holy God- Right kinda like Getty, um, Getty-style and City Alight songs, those kinds of sort of that complex of modern hymnody. Um, but he's excellent, and it's excellent theologically rich sound music. Um, I haven't listened to everything, but he seems like he's in kind of that, uh, sort of vein of worship music production producer peoples, um, that are just putting out good, accessible music. I know, like, a lot of small churches, uh, have in the past have had to resort to using tracks like this actually to sort of lead their vocal music. Um, that would be something to think [00:05:00] about. It's simple. It's arranged in a straightforward fashion. Many times it's arranged according to the psalters, which are by, almost by definition are designed for congregational singing. So it's good. It's great. Use it for family worship, listen to in your car. I don't know, workout music. I don't know if you would work out to this, but I guess you could try. Um- I love it ... but yeah, I usually, I usually listen to, um, Oh God, Show Mercy To Us probably, like, once a day. I listen to it usually in the morning to kinda center my day and get my head in the right space. Um, but yeah, it's just good stuff. David, um, Mi- Matthew David Montgomery, uh, the specific one was Psalms for Singing, but, um, all of his stuff is really great.  Jesse Schwamb: All right.  Jesse Affirms Hymn Devotional Jesse Schwamb: People are gonna think we're totally conspiring now, but I promise we're not. This is just how our minds work in collective fashion, that we never speak about stuff together. So my affirmation is right in the same vein. So I'm actually excited about this one because it might just be the golden age of daily books about, like, theological meditation. It might be. And [00:06:00] so this one is really good, and I'm super stoked because I'm kind of on the cusp of this one because I got an advance copy of this book, and it's just out now. It's called Awake My Soul, and it's daily readings, 365 hymn texts taken throughout church history from the Middle Ages to 1900. And each hymn for the day includes s- a suggested tune and then, like, a short historical slash, like, theological meditation. The beauty of this- Wow One, I'm learning all kinds of new hymns that are not my favorite. Two, you can either read them or... There's no music included in this, except that in the back there's an index that will give you... There's, like, a little code every day. This is like a s- it's your own treasure hunt. There's a little code on each day, and if you take that code and go back to the end of the book, what you'll find there is names of popular hymns or songs that you do know the, the tune to, and then you can take that same tune and use the same poetic meter that the hymn is in that you don't know, and guess what? You can actually sing it. So you're prepared every day to sing [00:07:00] music and to sing brand-new music with great confidence and high conviction. So this is, like, the bridge here. Go listen to some good music. And I would say if you wanna buy this, because it is brand new, go to hymnworks.com. It's by P&R Publishing. That's where you'll find the best price. It's, like, 25 bucks. It's a beautiful clothbound, like, handsome two-color printing with a ribbon. And also Passion Week and Advent are clearly marked and can be adapted for use in any calendar year. So there you go. Like, it's the double-barreled affirmation for good singing, good hymns. By the way, for all the brothers and sisters of exclusive psalmody, we see you raising your hands in the back. Actually, if you're doing exclusive psalmody, you're in the front. So we see you in the front, and this- And you're  Tony Arsenal: probably not raising your hands.  Jesse Schwamb: You're definitely not raising your hand. We see your hands  Tony Arsenal: in your pockets. Jesse Schwamb: We see you standing there  Tony Arsenal: stoically.  Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. We see your hands in your pockets, never coming out. That's fine. Yeah. Uh, this book also is for you because so much of it is actually just, uh, the psalms adapted for kind of [00:08:00] more, when I say contemporary, between the Middle Ages and 1900 worship. So, uh, there you go. I think this is lovely. Uh, we didn't plan it, but you've got two great resources for daily living and daily singing.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Building Daily Liturgy Tony Arsenal: And, you know, I think, um, there is sort of an element, and I'll be quick about this, where we are set up... We have such a, like, a dearth of riches in terms of accessibility to musical worship. And y- you know, used to think of it as, like, daily devotions, but I think the more, I think the more accurate and I think a, a more theologically rich term is a daily liturgy. Right. Um, you know, with books like Be Thou My Vision, um, by I think it's David Gibson, or, you know, he has, like, the Christmas version and the, um, I think there's an Easter version of it where it really walks you through a, a full daily liturg- liturgy with, like, a call to worship and a, a confession of sin. And, [00:09:00] um, and you could take these resources, whether it's an album like David, uh, or, like, um, David Michael Montgomery. That's a country singer, I think. Whatever the guy is that I recommend. I don't have his name in front of me. Uh, whether it's an album like that or whether it's- Right ... this resource Jesse's talking about, or like I've said before, like, just the trendy Psalter Hymnal app on your phone which will play the music for you and display the words. You can take this and there... I, I hate to say it this way because I know there's a lot of people that, that make good profitable use of sort of like evangelical, I would call it, like, fluffy devo kinda stuff. Uh, which ironically on my list of affirmations of things that are in the queue, there's, there's a devotional resource that even kinda falls into this category. Yeah, there is. But, um, there really is no good excuse for not having some sort of robust daily worship pattern. Right. Um, because you can, you can really make use of these resources to create a pretty cohesive, well put-together, pleasurable kind of [00:10:00] daily worship set or liturgy or experience, I don't know, whatever word you wanna slot in there. Um, a- and really get... Like, really just have an excellent experience out of it, really have good resources. So yeah, I'm, I'm on board. I think it's great. I would love to, I would love to be able to, uh, to take a look at that. So maybe next time we're in the same geographical location you'll have to show me. Jesse Schwamb: Oh, I'll bring it. We'll, we'll do it. It actually doubles as a hymnal because it's all indexed, so you can actually- Yeah ... just use it as a hymnal. I love books that give you two purposes. Oh, that's a double threat book right there. And that means, like, for the spaces taken up in your life and on your shelf it can do more than one thing. That's like having a kitchen appliance that, like, I don't know, is like an air fryer and it brews beer. Like, that's worth- Yeah ... the space all the time  Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, I just recently found out that they make washers that are also dryers, and they're in the same machine, and- Wow.  Jesse Schwamb: That's transformative ... I  Tony Arsenal: would feel like a millionaire if I had one of those- Reading Mark 13 Parable Jesse Schwamb: 'cause- Well, speaking of [00:11:00] feeling like a millionaire, and I think what you challenge us with is settling in some patterns of daily worship and living for God, it just so happens that Jesus has some instruction for us in that same way- Nice ... in Mark chapter 13. So let me start beginning in verse 32. And if you're tracking along or keeping score at home and you've gone to this chapter, what you're probably gonna find is we're actually in the, the parable of the fig tree, or just at the end. But w- we're not gonna touch that one, not yet, so don't get too excited. We're actually coming right at the end of that. So picking up in verse 32: "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Now, this is Jesus speaking: "See to it, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It's like a man away on a journey who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves, each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake – for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the [00:12:00] evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake." Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  What Stay Awake Means Tony Arsenal: Yeah, it's a good, uh, it's a good parable. And, you know, this is covering a lot of the same ground as other parables that we've, uh, approached. I think what's a little bit, uh, unique or different about this one is that some of the, some of the cautions that we, um, brought out with the other parables, because they were actually longer and had more details, um, some of those cautions don't necessarily apply the same way here. Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: Right? We, we talked about the parable of the 10, of the 10 virgins, or the wise and foolish virgins, whatever you wanna call it, and we talked a lot about how this language of, like, stay awake seemed to be misapplied, uh, as, like, falling asleep is foolish. Because in that para- that particular parable, [00:13:00] um, both the wise and the foolish virgins fall asleep. It's not the falling asleep that was the problem, it was the being prepared, um, for the master's return. Uh, in that case, having the proper equipment, having your, you know, your lamps trimmed, your oil ready, all that stuff. In this parable, um, it really is about being awake. Like, being awake is the task. Yes. It's the specific command. That's right. And so our task tonight is to unpack a little bit about what it even means to be awake, what does this parable say to us about that. Um, but I, I think this one falls a little bit more in line with kind of what we maybe... I know this is weird to say. It falls a little bit more in line with what we've been talking about as a, sort of like a little bit of a legalistic approach to some of the parables. This one really does have, I th- I think, has more to do with, uh, the, the sort of production that Christians are expected to have.  Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: The, the, the holiness, the good works we're expected to have, and how [00:14:00] that plays into kind of our alertness, our, our fittedness for service, uh, and, and maybe ultimately even the way that we're rewarded in the last, the last times or in, in heaven. All of that kinda plays in here, and this is kind of like Mark's equivalent to sort of like the eschatological parables that we talked about at, at the end of Matthew in, you know, Matthew 25 and, and sort of that area  Jesse Schwamb: I totally agree.  Vocation and Stewardship Jesse Schwamb: I think this bad boy, even just the first verse, it's like a compact statement of the doctrine of vocation and providence all wrapped into one. And it's easy to read it and just kind of fly by that stuff and say, "Of course, I need to be aware of what's going on. I need to be aware of God's presence or seek Him in worship." All that's true, but there's a lot in this because, of course, the master's departure here corresponds clearly to Christ's ascension. There's like a real bodily absence that nonetheless does not amount to like abandonment. And then to your point, what I think starts to differentiate us from some of like the [00:15:00] other parables where we've been very careful about parsing this, has been this assignment, each his own work. It's reflecting like a really traditional like Reformed, I think, emphasis, even from like Calvin's doctrine of vocation, that the Christian life between the ascension and the Parousia is not one of like passive waiting, but there is like an active differentiated stewardship, and it's every believer. And even though it's just a sentence, there's like a lot of particularity in this to remind us that each one has a task, and that task is something that you should undertake on behalf and for the Lord  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and this, um, the other element of this, um, that I think is interesting is, you know, we don't wanna, um We wanna be careful not to try to build entire theological, like edifices, edifices. I'm not sure which word is right. Edifice. We don't wanna build huge theological structures on top of like slight variations in words. And, and I know that, um, that can [00:16:00] sometimes be very popular in our circles and, and I'm, I s- absolutely support the grammatical historical interpretive method. I don't think it's the only el- only, you know, hermeneutic we should think about. But I definitely agree with the words matter and the meanings of the words matter. Right. But we can also go too far in, like, making an entire theological point hang on the particular choice of a verb pars- like a verb tense or mood or whatever. But I think it's interesting, um, w- the sort of what we might call the parable proper starts in verse 34, but in verse 33 it says, "Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come." That's not the parable. That's Christ giving a command to his immediate audience, and then I think vicariously therefore for us. When we get into the parable and it, and it says, uh, that the command for the doorkeeper, right? So the, he, he takes his servants, he puts his servants in charge, and I s- I take that to mean, [00:17:00] like, he leaves the house to them. Like, he leaves them to their task. They're, they're not, they're not having to report to anybody. They just manage the household- Right ... autonomously or independently. Um, each with his work, so there's this idea that, like, each of the servant has their own proper sort of realm of the house that they manage, right? The gardener's managing the garden, the, the house, you know, the, the, um, the, the person who's in charge of the money is managing that. And the doorkeeper, which is a particular role, his task, his charge, his, he is commanded to stay awake. Now, the phrase, the word for stay awake in verse 30, uh, 34 is not the same word that's used in verse 33. Now, I, I have not done the word study on this or, or the c- commentary work to know how significant that is, but we do affirm that the Holy Spirit inspires each individual word.  Jesse Schwamb: That's right.  Tony Arsenal: And I think we could make an argument that sometimes a word is just used, um, at least on a, on a [00:18:00] human level. It, it's just you don't wanna use the same word multiple times. Like, just like anyone writing any sort of pi- piece of work, you don't use the same word repetitively. You vary the words. You use, use synonyms to, to spice it up and to give it some variety. But also, I think there may be some significance in the fact that within the story, within the parable, the command to stay awake is a particular word, and then a different word to stay awake and to be watchful, and there's this repetition, "Be on guard. Keep awake." Like, those are parallel statements. Um, those, that's a significant thing that that word is different  Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. It's a huge, I think, reminder that there's all... The- even, again, I can't believe how much is packed. Now that I think about this, we start talking about it into, like, a single sentence. But every believer, like every servant in this house, has been given some kind of task suited to his place. I believe that's what Jesus is trying to impress us with. And that idleness is not an option countenanced by the text because the doorkeeper's [00:19:00] particular charge to watch, like you were saying, functions to me, I think, almost like a synecdoche. Like, it's f- for the whole- Yeah ... household's duty. His vigilance stands for what is in fact required of every servant, since verse 37 will then extend this command to, like, everybody. So just- Yeah ... within, like, this little space of writing or this little space of teaching, I think what we have here is, like, it's realistic for us to say we've got the twin realities that ground really biblical ecclesiology in the interim period. We have Christ's real absence, but that's, like, against, I would say, any collapsing of the already into a fully realized eschatology. And then you have Christ's ongoing ownership and authority over his house, which is the church, against any notion that the church is left to autonomous self-governance. So the house, in other words, re- remains Christ's, and the servants remain accountable to him, not to themselves, like you've just said, and each one is accountable to God in a unique way according to the task that he's given them. So again, this beautiful marriage of [00:20:00] both the responsibility, the providence, and the responsibility that we have before God in being responsible to him, but also that he is governing all things for his good and for his glory.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Doorkeeper Role Explained Tony Arsenal: And you know, I think, um, the word doorkeeper here too, uh, you know, as I peek at the Greek a little bit, the word doorkeeper is also a much broader term than, uh, it might seem. You know, like I think, you know, one of my kid's favorite shows is like Curious George, and there's a character in the, the story that's literally named Doorman, and he's just the guy that like opens the door in the apartment that- Right ... Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat. But the word doorkeeper in, uh, in the Greek here, when applied to a, a female, is understood to be like the janitor. So the doorkeeper might even be considered something more like the master of the house. Like think of like, um-  Jesse Schwamb: Lady's ...  Tony Arsenal: uh, like the, the head butler, right? In like if you think of like Downton Abbey, right? Right. The, the guy who actually like takes care of and like [00:21:00] runs, the house manager or something like that might be a better way to look at it. And I think you're right that his charge to stay awake, to keep alert, it does extend to the entire household, but it also is a particular command for that figure.  Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: Right? So yes, everybody is given their task. This, this person, this doorkeeper, he is, um, called out specifically, individually, right? It's not as though he's the only servant in the house. There's all these other servants, they each have their task, and they're all commanded to keep about their business. The doorkeeper, the master of the house, the, I don't know, head butler, the head ch- the chief janitor, I don't know what you would want, the head custodian of the house, um, and don't think of custodian or janitor in terms of like- Like the school janitor who like cleans the toilets and mops up after the kids throwing up and stuff. The, the janitor or the custodian of the house is really the person who kind of like runs the household, the sort of like head servant of the house. [00:22:00] His command to keep watchful, to be on guard or to be alert is because, um, the, the master's return is sudden and unexpected. Right. And so if the doorkeeper doesn't keep up with things, if he's not awake, if he's not running things, if he's not managing things, if he's not alert and awake, then not only does his task get, get, um, undone... And I think like we think of it like, "Oh yeah, be on guard." You sometimes hear this parable or, or variations of this parable taught as like you gotta keep the wolves out, like he's the guard at the door. Right. I don't think that's what this is getting at. It's really more like if this, if the doorkeeper s- falls asleep on the job, then the entire house falls into disarray, and you can't recover that when the master all of a sudden is at the gate. If you're just the guard, I guess you might be able to snap to attention and like, you know, pull your pole arm or whatever it is up. Like you might be able to snap to attention and kind of fake it. But if you're the guy who manages the entire household and the [00:23:00] whole household is in disarray because you've fallen asleep on the job, there's no recovering from that when the master taps you on the shoulder and says, "Please wake up, I'm home." You just can't recover from that. And so I think that's, that's the element of the story, the element of the parable that we probably need to think about a little bit more is, all right, w- no one of us is the doorkeeper of the church.  Jesse Schwamb: That's right.  Tony Arsenal: But also none of us are not the doorkeeper of the church. So like we all have a role and a responsibility in, in the church to sort of like be a part of, an active part of the church, an active part of God's kingdom, which is not, I'm not trying to say we're all gatekeepers, right? We're not all called to be r- to rule over the church. Like there's a particular office of ruling elder that I would say exists, uh, you know, that's codified in the OPC. But even within other kinds of s- setups, there's usually some sort of elder, you know, setup where there's elders that are not teaching elders. They're not there to like teach and minister and, and preach. They're there to [00:24:00] like govern the church and support the needs of the body spiritually. That's really, uh, you know, like a particular office, but that's also a task and a role that we all share as Christians is to, to sh- sort of, I almost said shepherd, but that doesn't feel right, but it also doesn't feel wrong. To sort of like manage the business of the congregation and the church- That's right ... and the, the invisible church as a whole. That's the task of every Christian, and that's really what this parable's getting at, I think.  Jesse Schwamb: I think so too. And I, I don't wanna, like, build too far a bridge away from that point. I think it's worth sitting there for a second because what occurs to me as you were saying that is I just happened to be reading Calvin's commentary this morning in 1 Corinthians 5, and he builds this whole theological argument around this idea that he, he basically is saying, "Why should the Corinthians mourn over one man's sin?" And he gives two reasons. First, as a consequence of the communion that exists among the members of the church, it's becoming that all should feel hurt at or so it's deadly if one of their members should fall. And the second is when such an erroneous sin is [00:25:00] perpetrated in a particular church, the perpetrator is an offender in such a manner that he pollutes the whole society. That is to say, I think it's kind of in line with what you're saying, that corruption in one place will affect the entire body. That is like falling asleep, pulling away from the mission Being found outside of the mission of God's, uh, for God's glory is something that hurts the church body. And we might ask, like if there is in our own lives a persistent sin, some kind of corruption, then we ought to ask, is there any form of corruption that we're contributing to the body of God? And I think those, these like real consequences of what it means to live in a way where we find ourselves, again, outside of what it means to worship whole heartedly, to worship with heart, soul, and mind, all of which we do imperfectly. Yet at the same time- Yeah ... are we being awake? Are we being made aware? Watchfulness and Rest Jesse Schwamb: I, I wonder if part of what's envisioned here and in view with Jesus' teaching is not just this idea... Almost like I think sometimes we, we say stay awake or we say be [00:26:00] watchful, and of course like I love that Jesus mentions like the four watches. Like that's, I think, like a distinctly kind of Roman division of the night into four three-hour segments. And of course it's gonna suggest to Mark's gentile audience that, and, and underscore this point, that it's not which watch, but that no watch may be presumed safe from the master's arrival. And so I think when we hear that stuff we think, "Well, this means like don't fall asleep." In other words, like there's going to be a test somewhere in your life or all of your life where you're going to be legitimately tempted to take a rest, and you can't take a rest. You gotta keep like just going thrust or no th- you, there's no other choice- Right ... but to give it your all. I think what's better here and what's in view is in all areas of life, are you awake to the reality that God has given you work to do in the spheres of influence that you have, in the particular place in which you live, among the church people whom He has given you to worship with? Are you aware that at all times you ought to be moving and working and for His glory, [00:27:00] even while you are literally sleeping in rest so that you might do those things for the next day? So I- Yeah ... I don't wanna get too hyped up on it's kind of like, again, what's the spiritual equivalent of always drinking Celsius and Red Bull and just like toughing it out- Yeah like with your eyes wide open. It's, it's way more than that.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, uh, this is gonna seem like a weird transition, but it's, it is but also isn't. Um, I, I saw an interesting video the other... I'm getting super nerdy here right now. But, um, I saw an interesting video on YouTube the other day that was talking about how strange it was that there is like a night shift on the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek Next Generation. But, but actually like- It, it demonstrated something to me that, like, even on a, you know, this is obviously a fictional television show, but, like, even on a spaceship where there is no sun, there is no actual reference- Right ... for what a day is, right? We think of a day, and, and rightfully so, it's locked into a 24-hour cycle because of the [00:28:00] way God has created the Earth to spin, and the sun, and the sunrise, sunset, et cetera. But in this fictionalized universe, in this fictionalized world, there's no sunset. There's no, uh, chronology, yet they still divide on, on this, they still divide the day into these three watches. And it's funny, 'cause they talk about how, like, well, there's, there's the day shift, there's the sort of like second shift, and there's the night shift. And they actually even, like, turn the lights down on the ship to simulate a day-night cycle. And, and what it got me thinking about, and I think in the parable, obviously, like, it's the four watches of the night. Um, I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and, like, when you're gonna do what's called a long rest, you have to determine who's gonna set a watch. If you don't set a proper watch, then the dungeon master may make it so monsters show up and you don't get your long rest. This idea that- Even resting is an appropriate and necessary execution of- Right ... the task to be watchful. That's right. Like, I think that's important. If you are, um, i- if you think of like, uh, Lord of the [00:29:00] Rings, right? And they set a watch. Uh, the responsibility of the people who aren't on watch is to make every, every use of that time to sleep so that if something happens, they're alert. And then when also when it's time for them to take watch, they're able to be watchful. And, uh, the other thing I wanna, wanna just comment really quickly on, because I, I, I didn't do a lot of prep for this episode. Big shocker. We don't prep a lot for these episodes. And this is another Markan parable that I'm not super familiar with.  Church Alertness and Power Tony Arsenal: But one of the things that as we're talking through it I'm, I'm becoming more convinced of, is this really is about not just any one individual being alert, although there is implications for us. It's really about the whole church being alert.  Jesse Schwamb: That's  Tony Arsenal: right. Like, the church is the, uh... I, I think it's in, I wanna say it's in Timothy, I don't know where, but the Church is the buttress and pillar of truth, right? So that's not to say we're the, we're the arbiter of truth, but I wanna read this. The... I don't know any other podcasts, although in our circles there [00:30:00] probably are other podcasts that you might hear someone reading out of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church book of Church Order, Form of Government, chapter three, verse, uh, passage one here. Uh, but this is, this is, as I said, uh, BCO chapter three, Form of Government. Uh, and this is, the chapter is titled The Nature and Exercise of Church Power. And when I was coming into the OPC, I don't think I was surprised, uh, in terms of like I thought the theology was different. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was articulated and how clearly it was articulated. So I'm just gonna read the whole section here. It says, "The power which Christ has committed to His Church is not vested in special officers alone, but in the whole body. All believers are endued with the Spirit & called of Christ to join in the worship, edification, and the witness of the Church which grows as the body of Christ, fitly framed and knit together through, uh, that which every joint supplies according to the working and due measure of each part." Sidebar commentary. The BCO doesn't [00:31:00] have proof text, but if they did, they would just be citing to Ephesians 5 here. Um, back to what the text says. "The power of believers in their general office includes the right to acknowledge and desire the exercise of the gifts and calling of the special officers. The regular exercise of oversight in a particular congregation is discharged by those who have been called to such work by the vote of the people." So just to summarize that, officers, at least in the OPC Um, ruling elders are nominated and voted into, into office and essentially, uh, given their powers, their official powers, their official responsibilities, not by the presbytery, uh, and not by some hierarchy, but by the congregation. They call from within.  Church Authority From Congregation Tony Arsenal: But that, that means that the power of the ruling elders, the, the authority of the ruling elders, is not derived from some hierarchy. It's derived from the [00:32:00] authority and the exercise of power of the whole church. And the other thing, I won't read this, but the other thing that I found, um, really interesting that I really like is in Presbyterianism, and, and I, I believe Presbyterianism is what the Bible teaches positively as a command. I know there are other church polities, and I know everybody is trying to figure it out, and we don't all agree. I think Presbyterianism is the right way.  Jurisdictions And Whole Church Acts Tony Arsenal: But either way, um Presbyterianism works on a s- sort of an idea of, uh, jurisdictions, right? And they're kinda concentric circles. They're not necessarily hierarchical, but it's, it's narrow jurisdictions and then broader jurisdictions. And the most narrow jurisdiction is the session of a local church over that congregation. But what's really interesting is that the, the Book of Church Order calls out that when any valid jurisdiction of the church is exercising its authority, it's not just that jurisdiction that's [00:33:00] acting. That's an act of the whole church, the entire Orthodox Presbyterian Church. So in a congregation where someone is in unrepentant sin and that, uh, session makes a decision, votes a decision to excommunicate that person, to remove them from the rolls, consider them to be an unbeliever, that's not just an act of that jurisdiction. I- i- as a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, when some church in Sacramento, California, I don't know if there's an OPC in Sacramento, I assume there probably is, but some church in Sacramento, California, the presbytery or the session excommunicates someone, I am e- I'm engaged in that act. That's an act of the whole church.  Watchfulness Beyond Personal Piety Tony Arsenal: And this, the, the only reason I go there and I bring, I kind of dive into that level of granularity is I actually think that this is kind of what this parable is teaching, is that as individuals, we need to be alert because the whole church acting is the whole church acting. So whether this takes the [00:34:00] form of me just being really un- un- like, locked into my local church and making sure that I'm active in my local church, or whether... And I think there are some of us who are called to this, um, and I think our, our podcast in some levels sort of takes this shape a little bit, are watching what other people in the church are doing and sometimes are offering corrections, right? It is not the case that an average blogger has ecclesiastical authority in the strictest sense, but when I see, or, or anyone who is sort of involved in online commentary, podcast, blogging or otherwise, I see someone in the church teaching something elsewhere and I call that out, that's me sort of fulfilling this command of Mark 13. I'm being watchful Because what that Christian says or does, if they're truly a Christian, actually does have something to do with what I believe. It actually does have something to do with me as a believer. That doesn't mean that you should get up in everybody else's business. That's not what I'm saying. Like, sometimes- Right ... the thing [00:35:00] that's going on in the church over there is just that thing that's going on over at the church there. But for example, there was a pretty high-profile, um, uh, ecclesiastical, I don't know if it was a trial, but like an ecclesiastical deposition, I guess, um, for a presbytery down in the Southwest, um, about some pretty gnarly things that were being said by an elder in the OPC church, and I wrote to that presbytery. They haven't sent it to me yet, but I wrote to that presbytery and said, "Hey, what you did at that meeting is an act of the whole church that I'm a part of. Can you send me the minutes?" And I have a right to do that, because I wanna see what's going on. I wanna understand what statements they're making on behalf of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of America. Or, I just combined like 1,000 different denominations- Yes, you did. ... into one sentence. But I, I think the point is clear, like the, the parable of the watchful doorkeeper or the porter is not about exclusively, I do think there's an element of it, but it's not about our individual piety. It's about the sort of readiness state of the entire church for [00:36:00] Christ's return, if you really boil it all down  Avoid Date Setting And Indifference Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, so we, I think before we leave verse 35, we, we are at least contractually obligated to say, though we've said it before, that there are two errors here that we should definitely seek to avoid. And because we're talking about, again, this idea that we do not know when the master of the house will come, that is the reason why we wait, and we are watchful, like you just said. But it means that the first is any kind of, like, speculative date setting, which is a fool's errand. We've talked about that at length. Yeah. The second one, again, I think we're contractually obligated to say, is a practical indifference, maybe sometimes dressed as, like, pious agnosticism, like treating the uncertainty of that hour as grounds for some kind of spiritual carelessness rather than heightened attentiveness. So I think where all this wraps up with what you said about one representing all, that, that is the church's responsibility. Yes, you're right. In Timothy we get the command that this is the center and the pillar. So I... That obviously all this coheres with just straight-up biblical [00:37:00] doctrine of assurance and perseverance, because the elect are kept by God's power through faith. So what that means is watchfulness is not some kind of, like, anxious uncertainty about final salvation, but instead it is, like, this disciplined fidelity in the means God has appointed. Ordinary Means Of Grace Jesse Schwamb: And what are those means? Like, I feel like this is where everybody just shouts back, "Ordinary means." You know what I mean? When I say means- ... you say ordinary. Means- Or I should, I should say it the other way around. Ordinary. But this idea that, like, what are those things God has put into our lives, has appointed for us to use, has commanded us to up- obtain for ourselves by his power? It's prayer, it's the word, it's the sacraments. It's a mutual watchfulness within that visible church like you were just describing, and it's precisely because the timing of Christ's return has been sovereignly withheld from creaturely knowledge. So there's actually a lot in this that I think assuages that, that really sensitive Christian conscience, which is like, "Well, are you telling me I have to do more?" That's not what we're saying at all. We're, we're saying, "Do the things which God has empowered you to do." And guess what? Those things [00:38:00] are just very chill, very ordinary things that take on extraordinary influence and power in our lives by the work of the Holy Spirit. So again, it's like this whole thing of saying, like, when we work, we work. When we pray, God works. It's the same kind of thing here. There is work to be done. There is a watchfulness to undertake in all the activities of our lives. But it is not like whatever the, again, the equivalent, like, is of, like, spiritual, I don't know, like shots of espresso and, and Celsius to just try to, like, by all accounts, by your own power, somehow just not sleep. Uh- Yeah ... not sleeping is not what this text is about. It's actually about being aware, worshiping in awareness around all the things, and then devoting ourselves to all the stuff that we keep talking about, to praying, to studies in the scripture, to having family devotions and time of worship, to baptism, and to the Lord's Supper. That's what watchfulness is all about.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:39:00] Yeah, and I, I think, um, you know, this is again I do think this parable has more to do with the idea of kinda getting after it. I, I think that's how we usually talk about it, like getting after holiness. Yeah, it is. Um, I, I think this parable has more to do with that than some of the other parables with similar language that we've talked about. But I, I also think, um, as Reformed Christians, uh, we get the, we get the cart before the horse if we think that even though that's what it's about, that that somehow places the onus on us to do the good works, right? Right. The good works are prepared for us in advance that we might walk in them. And, uh, i- it's not even right to say, like, our responsibility is to walk in them. That's not even quite right theologically. Like, we are going to walk in them. Like, that's, that's the thing, is the doorkeeper is given this charge. He's commanded to stay awake, and in good Augustinian fashion, it's really more along the [00:40:00] lines es- of the doorkeeper is made to stay awake because he's been commanded to. Jesse Schwamb: Yes, that's right.  Tony Arsenal: And I think that's, that's really key.  Fruit Checking And Assurance Tony Arsenal: And yes, there is some- something to say for, uh, fruit checking. And I, I know that there are probably some in our audience that just, like, threw up in their mouth a little bit when I said that. Um, but the, the reality is, a lack of fruit, uh, i- in our life, and by fruit I'm talking about good works. Primarily I'm talking about the ordinary means of grace, like you said. A, a person who is refusing to avail themselves of the ordinary means of grace, right? Right on. Regular church attendance, prayer- Right ... the sacraments, Bible reading, um, sitting under the preaching of the Word, fellowship with other believers. Um, I would even say to some extent regular s- regular financial support of the Church. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and I... There, there are times where that may not be, uh, the most feasible thing, and so that's a decision between you and the Holy Spirit and for you to discuss with your pastor. [00:41:00] But, but the reality is God has given us these ordinary means of grace as a gift and as a way to nourish and support us. When we refuse to take part in those, and I use the word refuse intentionally, when a person refuses to attend church, for the most part most of us who have had a season where we don't, don't attend church, and I, I had a long season when I was in college where I just didn't attend church. There was no good reason for it. I just didn't do it. And if I'm being really honest, it was 'cause at that time in my life I had some sinful patterns that I didn't wanna face up to, right? That's usually what it boils down to.  Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: Um, but for those of us who d- who refuse to, uh, take part and to avail ourselves of the ordinary means of grace, that should really cause us to question our salvation. Not because the ordinary means of grace cause our salvation, but because the ordinary means of grace are exactly as they're called. Exactly. They're the ordinary means by which God delivers His grace to us. So if we're refusing to receive God's grace, it means we're refusing to receive God's grace. And the only people ultimately who are not forgiven are [00:42:00] those who receive to ref- you know, refuse to receive God's grace. So I think this, this passage has more to do with us in an indi- sort of on the individual level, us being actively engaged and partaking in the, uh, the administration of the covenant of grace, to use a more technical term, right? The administration of the covenant of the grace are the visible means of grace. If we refuse to be baptized, if we refuse to partake of the Lord's supper, if we refuse to attend church and to sit under the preaching of the word and to pray, then we are, we are turning down God's offer of grace. That's right. We're taking the gift that He desires to give us, and we're saying, "No thank you." Well, when we phrase it that way, it's a flat rejection of God's grace that we're engaged in.  Church Mission And Readiness Tony Arsenal: But on a, on a sort of like big picture scale I think it has to do also along with these lines that I'm talking about of the Church itself being ready. Well, how does the Church prepare itself for Christ's [00:43:00] return? Again, the ordinary means of grace, right? We prepare ourselves by teaching and ministering, right? C- I think it's Colossians 1:28. If I was on Reformed Forum, I'd have this memorized 'cause it's their, like, theme verse. But, like, equipping every person for the ministry of Christ, equipping every person, making sure every person is, uh, mature and ready. Like, all of those things come together as the primary mission of the Church. And I know this is gonna trigger some people, but, like, evangelism is not the primary mission of the Church. The primary mission of the Church is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, which takes place mostly on the Lord's day. I think all of that, the personal dimension, the corporate dimension, all of that coalesces in this command to be watchful, to stay awake, to be on guard, to s- be about the task, to be in charge of the commands you've been given. All of those different concepts come together in what Christ is talking about here in verse 37 when He says, "I say to you, I say to all, [00:44:00] stay awake." Like- Right ... that's what we're talking about. So it's not as simple as personal piety. It's probably not as complicated as some sort of, like, I don't know, least of these, feed-the-poor schema that happens sometimes. All of that happens. It really is just about the Church being the Church and doing the things the Church does, both on the individual level, but also on the corporate level. Perseverance And Scriptural Warnings Jesse Schwamb: And that's why, as loved ones of God, then we can come to verse 36, which is the full warning, and we actually read it as a great comfort. So it says, "Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep." And after all we're talking about here, the way I read this warning against complacency is entirely consistent with, instead of being contradictory to, the doctrine of perseverance of the saints. Because perseverance is not fatalism, and I'm just... I'm still learning this, loved ones. Like, and even here, what I marvel at is the warnings of scripture are themselves among the ordinary means by which God preserves His people. So I go back to the Westminster [00:45:00] Confession of Faith chapter 17, which notes that, "Believers may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, fall into grievous sins, and so incur God's displeasure, even while never finally falling from grace." So that sobering possibility of, of quote-unquote being found asleep I think functions pastorally not to threaten the loss of the election, of the elect, but to press home I think, like, the seriousness of watchfulness as the fruit and evidence of genuine faith, which is what you're talking about. That, that's kind of like the Reformed theological jam in a sense, and that's why, where I think we'd anchor like James 2, Hebrews 3 and 4. There is, like, a call of the necessity of perseverance in the means as the mark of the true as opposed to be merely, of course, like some kind of profession of discipleship. The visible church, and we talked about this too, mixed as it is, is here warned that the formal membership in the household is no substitute for actual wakefulness. And so I hope we see that warning as not something [00:46:00] that's like, "Well, you gotta, you gotta check yourself every day 'cause if you just step out of line once, if you fall asleep at any little thing, then it just goes to show you that you weren't serious enough." Instead, it's like you said, Tony, like even the warning itself is proof positive that God will save, that He arrests, that He holds everything firm and secure, and that even the setting of the table or the preparing of the good works and then the way in which you walk in them, we might ask, how is it that you are even walking? Yeah. And so even this is all an act of God, whether we speak about that, uh, that justification, that initial positional sanctification, and even the progressive frame as well is all f- happens here because God is in fact doing that good work. So it's a good warning because it reminds us that what's, I think, the particular and special dispensation of the Christian is that in this falling asleep, as the Westminster Confession says, it may mean that we fall even into grievous sins. We're incurring God's displeasure. We're not disrupting our [00:47:00] identity in Christ, but we are disrupting our harmony with Christ. Yes. And so we always want to seek and to live in that kind of beautiful harmony where there is, I think, obedience for a word. There is a special fellowship that comes from being close to God in this way. We should always strive after that and want that very thing, but at no point does the Christian who even falls into grievous sins, as the Confession reminds us, fall outside of God's mercy and grace. Merely we fall outside of God's pleasure, and we r- we're finally returned to grace by His power in our lives, whi- which He Himself affects so that even in our fall, even in our death every day, there is a little bit of resurrection that restores us. Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Rapture Ready Misreadings Tony Arsenal: Yeah, another way, um, another way to put this, um, and I, I don't mean to trugger, trig- to trigger, uh, our dispensationalist friends and family who are listening to the show, um, there are I will speak from my own experience coming out of a dispensationalist framework when I was in [00:48:00] high school and early college. Um, there was a lot of focus on being, quote, "Rapture ready." And I, I think sometimes we can read parables like this to think that stay awake means be Rapture ready. And what that means is, like, in some forms of dispensationalism, and I think probably many forms of dispensationalism, there's this idea that, like, if you're not right with God in, in this sense you're talking about, if, like, you're in disharmony with God when the Rapture comes, you may ultimately be saved, but you're not gonna be saved by the Rapture, which means you're gonna have to deal with the tribulation, and that's no good. So, like, if your piety's not on point when the Rapture happens, all your friends are gonna be taken away, and you're gonna be left behind, right? I don't think it's too much of a characteristic- a caricature to talk about Left Behind when there's an entire dispensational book series about this, right? Right. The whole concept behind the Left Behind novel is that it's populated by people who thought they were Christians who weren't. Uh, and some of [00:49:00] those are because they had a false profession of faith. Some of them were just back- what, what a lot of people would just call backslidden Baptists or backslidden Christians who, who had a genuine profession of faith but just weren't living in a holy fashion. I think we can sometimes read this, whether we're dispensationalists or not, we can read these kinds of parables in light of Rapture readiness. I think it's, it's both more assuring and also infinitely more severe than that. Right. It's not about Rapture ready. It's about whether you're saved or not. Right. Whether you are in the kingdom of God, whether you are among the household of believers. All of the people in view in this parable are members of the master's household, right? Uh, they're all his servants. So it's not as though there are some who are, um, outside of his family that are be given, being given a command to be watchful. There's also no consequence implied for the doorkeeper if somehow he's not watchful. It's more along the lines of if you're in the faith, if you are the doorkeeper or a [00:50:00] doorkeeper in the g- in the king's house, then you ought to be watchful because that's what you do. And so there's no, like, implied consequence. There's no assumption that the doorkeeper somehow won't be watchful. So I think if there's any sort of, like, gut check, status check that needs to happen, it's really more along the lines of are we in the Lord's household or are we not? That's right. That's right. And I think that's, that's what you're getting at. If we're in the Lord's household, if we're members of his house, if we're servants in his kingdom, then we will be awake when the time comes. We will be awake when he returns.  Rooster Crow And Passion Echoes Tony Arsenal: And the other thing, and I'll just throw this out there maybe as a tease. I don't, I don't think there's enough here for us to come back to it next week, uh, although I've been wrong before, and sometimes Jesse and I have conversations right after that turn into the next episode. I think it's really interesting- I don't know if you ran into this when you were reading it, but- Yeah ... verse 35: "Therefore stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at [00:51:00] midnight or when the rooster crows," that's a very interesting phrase to me- It is, yeah ... "or in the morning." It's just another chapter or two when- Yeah ... we see the disciples fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, right? Gethsemane. Um, the disciples fall asleep. We see language of the watches, right? The, the hours that Christ is alive and dies on the cross are associated with the watches. Right. And then of course the rooster crowing. And it's a very well-known, um, uh, I, I don't wanna call it a fact 'cause that might be too strong, but it's a pretty accepted, uh, theory in, in the sort of, uh, academic understanding of the, the authors of the Gospels that Mark, uh, Mark actually represents Peter's testimony. That the sort of a- apostolic imprimatur of the Gospel of Mark is actually that M- John Mark, probably while he was ministering with Peter, was being told these, this account, and he's collecting Peter's, Peter's [00:52:00] statements on the events of the Gospel It is very interesting to me that this phrase about the rooster crowing associated with being watchful and ready in the service of the master- Yep would appear particularly in the gospel that's asso- associated with Peter. Right. And I'll throw that out there just as maybe food for a discussion- ... in our Telegram chat, but I do think e- even that is sort of for our benefit, right? Right. We're not talking about, uh, this isn't a parable about what happens when you betray Jesus and hang yourself with a rope, right? This isn't, this isn't Judas who never was a believer. If we're drawing this peril- parallel, this is a parable about Peter, or related to Peter's experience, uh, who was restored, who ultimately had a moment of sleepiness, I guess, both physically and, you know, spiritually here. Had a moment of, of sleepiness, but ultimately was awake when the master came. That's right. And I think, like, there's something there for us to tease out, and, and again, [00:53:00] maybe we'll leave that for the Telegram chat. Maybe that's just for your own personal study. I've done zero commentary work, so maybe this is a connection that I feel- ... is super novel, but actually everyone else makes. Um, but I just thought it was really interesting how closely that language, that sequence of the watchfulness, the watch, sleepiness, awakefulness, and the rooster crows, how closely that lines up to the events that w- would be if we were going through Mark sequentially- Yep ... we would be encountering in just a couple chapters, right? In just chapter 15. They're coming up. Um, we're talking about this exact thing. So it's very interesting to me, is it... The Holy Spirit is amazing in how He has put together this. Yes. Even if, even if that is a super tenuous connection, it's still a connection. And- Agreed ... I have a tough time thinking anyone who's familiar with the, the passion accounts would read this and not go, "Woo." That's a lot of language from the passion account. It's a lot of- Yes ... language related to what happened in just a few chapters.  Jesse Schwamb: Yes. I'm with you. Like we said, there's so much that's within these couple of verses, and you'd have to think if you were reading this with brand-new eyes, [00:54:00] with eyes that never seen this text before, and you were just going straight through, you'd come in just a few short chapters to that whole narrative in Gethsemane and be like, "What? Did he, didn't he just, didn't this guy Jesus just say to them- Like be watchful, stay awake. And here they're... Isn't that ironic? Here they are in the garden, and he said- Yeah ... to them again, "Stay awake." They fall asleep. He comes back, he's like, "Could you not watch for one

What if the goal today isn't to make your life extraordinary?What if it's to learn how to see the extraordinary gift hidden inside the ordinary?In this reflection on Psalm 104, John Ortberg explores how modern life has changed the way we see the world around us. We know more than ever about how nature works, yet we may have lost something along the way: our ability to experience creation as filled with meaning, wonder, and the presence of God.Drawing on Charles Taylor and Dallas Willard, John invites us to recover the eyes of "saints, poets, and artists" and rediscover what Willard called "the well-kept secret of the ordinary."Birds sing.Trees grow.Wild animals drink.Leviathan frolics.People go to work.And apparently God really likes hyraxes.Psalm 104 invites us to look again and recognize that ordinary creation is overflowing with the generosity, creativity, and goodness of God.In this episode:Psalm 104 and the wonder of creationCharles Taylor and the "immanent frame"Recovering the enchantment of realityDallas Willard and the secret of ordinary lifeWhy God made the hyraxSeeing creation as more than something to useThe love-letter analogyReceiving your life as a giftFinding God in everyday momentsScriptures:Psalm 104Genesis 1:26–27#Psalm104 #JohnOrtberg #DallasWillard #CharlesTaylor #Psalms #Creation #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #Wonder

What was Jesus writing in the ground when the Pharisees and scribes tried to accuse the woman caught in adultery? Pastor Adriel Sanchez discusses the passage of Jesus writing on the ground and how the Pharisees rejected him. Instead of their names being written in the Book of Life, they were written in the dust.  PARTNER WITH US Upon becoming a partner you will receive two incredible books: Ordinary and Core Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton. We believe these resources will serve as an aid in helping  you understand the core tenants of the Christian faith and find joy in your every walk with Christ. FOLLOW US YouTube | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter WHO WE ARE Sola Media serves today's global church by producing resources for reformation grounded in the historic Christian faith. For over thirty-five years, Sola has walked alongside Christians in their faith, pointing away from novelty and ourselves, and toward Christ and his gospel as proclaimed in the Scriptures, articulated in the ancient Christian Creeds, and summarized in the confessions of the Protestant Reformation. Learn more: https://solamedia.org/

Neal Schore: The 25th Hour Neal Schore is the founder and CEO of 25th Hour Group, an executive coaching and leadership events firm. Previously, he served as the founder, president, and CEO of Triton Digital, a global technology, data, and services leader in the digital audio and podcast industry. He is the author of The 25th Hour: How to Thrive (And Gain Ridiculous Amounts of Time) By Getting Out of Your Own Way (Amazon, Bookshop)*. No productivity approach can negotiate with physics. How we manage time is really how we manage ourselves. In this conversation, Neal and I explore a key question to help us shift from ordinary to exceptional. Key Points Swirling shows up for all of us when we ruminate on an interaction in a way that's not helpful. Most people don't think to ask about others' intent. The key question to shift our thinking: “What's the intent?” Ordinary thinking goes with the flow. Exceptional thinking pauses and allows us to consider the intent behind the interaction. To free time each day, pause before responding in a complex situation and ask yourself, “What's the intent?” This question becomes powerful when you can ask and answer yourself without needing to say it out loud. Resources Mentioned The 25th Hour: How to Thrive (And Gain Ridiculous Amounts of Time) By Getting Out of Your Own Way by Neal Schore (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590) How to Help Difficult Conversations Go Better, with Sheila Heen (episode 655) How to Take Back Your Evenings, with Guy Winch (episode 783) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.