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Now amazing, the place we pick up in Luke 12:22-29, seemsto specifically be for our family during a time like this! Remember Jesusbegins this chapter telling His disciples to “beware of hypocrisy” (vv. 1-12).Then Jesus tells them to “beware of covetousness” (vv. 13-21). You might havenoticed like me, that in verse 22, this is the second time Jesus specificallyaddresses His disciple in this chapter. In verses 1 and 22, we read, “…Jesussaid to His disciples”. Now, In verse 22, Jesus basically is saying to them,and to us, “beware of worry”. Jesus had just told the story of the rich farmer who was afool, not because he was rich, but because he forgot to consider God and eternity.The rich farmer worried because he had too much, but the disciples might betempted to worry because they did not have enough! They had given up all theyhad in order to follow Christ They were living by faith, and faith is alwaystested. First, we should remember that worry is destructive.The word translated "worry" in Luke 12:22 (or “anxious” in othertranslations), means "to be torn apart," and the word “anxious”,translated "doubtful mind" in Luke 12:29, KJV, ASV, means "to beheld in suspense." It is the picture of a ship being tossed in a storm.Our English word worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means "tostrangle." "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow," saidCorrie Ten Boom; "it empties today of its strength." Someone said, “Worryis like being in a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but won'tget you anywhere”. It will emotionally wear you out! Worry is also deceptive. It gives us a falseview of life, of itself, and of God. Worry convinces us that life is made up ofwhat we eat and what we wear. We get so concerned about the means that wetotally forget about the end, which is to glorify God (Matt. 6:33). There is agreat difference between making a living and making a life. Worry blinds us tothe world around us and the way God cares for His creation. God makes theflowers beautiful, and He even feeds the unclean ravens who have no ability tosow or reap. He ought to be able to care for men to whom He has given theability to work. Jesus was not suggesting that we sit around and let God feedus, for the birds themselves work hard to stay alive. Rather, He encourages usto trust Him and cooperate with Him in using the abilities and opportunitiesthat He gives us (2 Thes. 3:6-15). But worry even blinds us to itself. We can get to the placewhere we actually think that worry accomplishes good things in our lives! InLuke 12:25, Jesus pointed out that our worries do not add one extra minute toour lives (Ps. 39:5) or one extra inch to our height. The rich farmer'sfretting certainly did not lengthen his life! Instead of adding to our lives,our worries take away from our lives. People can worry themselves into thehospital or into the grave! Once again, Jesus argued from the lesser to thegreater. If God feeds the birds, He will surely feed His children. If Hebeautifies the plants that grow up one day and are cut down the next, surely Hewill clothe His own people. The problem is not His little power, for He can doanything; the problem is our little faith. The emotion of worry should be like an alarm clock to us.It warns and alerts us that we are looking and thinking more about our needs,and focusing on them, rather than our great God who loves us and cares for us, andis more than sufficient to meet those needs. May the Lord often remind us of His cure for worry in Philippians4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer andsupplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; andthe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts andminds through Christ Jesus.” God bless!

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2025 is: ruminate • ROO-muh-nayt • verb To ruminate is to think carefully and deeply about something. // We ruminated over the implications of our decision. See the entry > Examples: “Most of the songs bear the name of a store you'd see in every mall in the United States before they became sad ghost towns, air conditioning and smooth jazz blasting in the emptied, echoing caverns of capitalism. ... The trio uses nostalgia as a tool of examination, ruminating on the not-too-distant past in order to process the funny and sometimes heartbreaking process of getting older together.” — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 8 July 2024 Did you know? When you ruminate, you chew something over, either literally or figuratively. Literal rumination may seem a little gross to humans, but to cows, chewing your cud (partially digested food brought up from the stomach for another chew) is just a natural part of life. Figurative ruminating is much more palatable to humans; that kind of deep, meditative thought is often deemed quite a worthy activity. The verb ruminate has described metaphorical chewing over since the early 1500s and actual chewing since later that same century. Our English word comes from and shares the meanings of the Latin verb ruminari (“to chew the cud” or “muse upon”), which in turn comes from rumen, the Latin name for the first stomach compartment of ruminant animals (that is, creatures like cows that chew their cud).

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about what they think the future of ESL entails.00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with.00:00:52JackMy co-host social.00:00:53JackAnd today, we're doing a topic talk episode and we're talking about the future of ESL or the future of EFL English as a second language or English as a foreign language.00:01:05JackAnd UM.00:01:06JackI've got a lot of opinions about this social because my job is here in Korea. I teach at the university and so I'm always listening and and trying to predict what the the future of the industry might be.00:01:25JackBecause it kind of greatly affects my my livelihood, my ability to have a job and earn an income.00:01:34JackAnd.00:01:36JackI've I've got my opinions about it. What do you what are your opinions about the future of ESL? What do you what do you think the the future might might bring?00:01:44XochitlUhm, you know, I haven't been in the industry nearly as long as you have, Jack. So like, I kind of, I feel like by the time that, you know, because of my age, I'm I'm younger and everything. By the time I graduated college and everything like.00:02:01XochitlThat that the industry was already taking the nosedive while I was, you know, in college, I would say. And, you know, the writing has been on the wall for a while, that there's especially during with the pandemic and a lot of people.00:02:11JackYeah.00:02:21XochitlI mean the no mad lifestyle and teaching classes online and then there were certain difficulties with getting visas and staying in different countries.00:02:31XochitlDuring the pandemic and there were, you know, a lot of complications because of COVID that created a ripple effect of a lot of systemic changes that were, I think, already kind of on the on the fringe before, but definitely.00:02:46XochitlKicked up uh during and after the pandemic and uh, how do I say this? I'm I'm not really sure about the future. I do know that.00:02:57XochitlIt's not as lucrative a business, you know, as it used to be. I would say definitely people who are in ESL now, it's kind of like a.00:03:06XochitlA labor of love and it used to be that, you know, 20 years ago, you're starting pay in in a job like what you would get paid in Korea was the same as what you get paid now. And of course it went a lot farther 20 years ago. Yeah.00:03:19발표자Right.00:03:22JackYeah, yeah, things are more expensive now. Inflation has basically cut that by 1/3.00:03:29JackYeah.00:03:30발표자Hmm.00:03:31JackYeah.00:03:32XochitlThe buying power of that same quantity, it's just not what it used to be.00:03:36JackThread.00:03:38XochitlSo I don't know and I think that also displayed some people from, you know taking the route of moving to another country because it takes a lot of money which a lot of people also aren't aware of to to move out to another country. Yet in Korea like you get an apartment provided.00:03:57XochitlAnd you get a lot of benefits, but just the visa process alone, plus they reimburse you for your flight ticket after like a year of contract, but you have to pay the money.00:04:06XochitlFront and and a bunch of those related charges. You know, we're talking about hundreds or over $1000 and then.00:04:15발표자MHM.00:04:19XochitlYou know your pay is just so. So I think it makes a lot of people question whether they want.00:04:24XochitlTo be like.00:04:26XochitlWork to the bone in some of these jobs. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it, I think on both ends, both for, you know, schools that are hiring teachers from outside of the country when they. I think it's also become a thing of why should I go through the hassle of.00:04:43XochitlHiring someone from outside of my country and paying for their health check and paying for their visa sponsorship and all. And you know, making sure they are who they say they are doing background check and receiving all these documents and processing them like why should I go through all this trouble when I can get someone in my own country with thanks to globalization and better education tools they might.00:05:03XochitlSpeak, you know perfect English and I can just get someone who already knows the culture as well and who I won't have to worry about like.00:05:11XochitlHolding their hand and walking them through the process of moving to a new country and from the teachers perspective, it's like why should I uproot my whole life? I mean, a lot of people do anyway because of the adventure.00:05:15발표자Yeah.00:05:23XochitlAspect.00:05:24XochitlBut at the same time it's like.00:05:27XochitlWhy should I uproot my whole life to make minimal pay? You know, when I could just.00:05:34XochitlVacation there instead. Or you know whatever. So I think both of those things have a are having an impact on the current market. What do you think?00:05:44JackYeah. No, I think you're right on. I think you're on target there on the mark, there's a couple. There's kind of two different.00:05:53JackBoxes that I am thinking about, the two two kind of category.00:05:58JackWorries the first one is what you were talking about. It's like there's plenty of capable people in Korea and Japan and and China who speak English, just who speak English very well, who can teach, who are who are Chinese, or who are Korean, or who are Japanese they can.00:06:18JackTeach people in their own country you know, they're like, why do you need to bring in an expensive?00:06:26JackUh foreigner to teach English when you can get.00:06:33JackJust the same quality from someone from your country, and it's probably much cheaper to.00:06:41JackYou know you you you can avoid all the other expenses. You know the the travel expenses and the the bonuses and stuff like that, that they have to offer to attract people from other countries to come here.00:06:53JackAlso, I think the the fascination with like English is starting to wear off a little bit like it's not.00:07:01JackUM, I I don't know. It's it's, it's not as.00:07:07JackHow can I say it's?00:07:10XochitlPeople are thinking like it's not, like, indispensable now that you know English.00:07:16JackYeah. Yeah, right. It's it's, it's not. It's not as special as it maybe once was or.00:07:23JackAnd.00:07:24JackYou you know, I mean, I I think it's it's more of a I think people are learning it because English is still the the de facto international business language like that's the way companies or people and companies will communicate with each other internationally they'll use English as the.00:07:44JackThe is the the common language, but that takes me to the other side of the of the issue. The other part of the issue, which is the technology you know you can you could write a form letter in seconds using chat EPT in perfect English.00:08:01JackWhereas before you used to see really hard and understand all the grammar and then write the letter yourself, you know now you can, it'll just spit out a perfect English form letter or any letter for you immediately if you just type in a few prompts.00:08:20XochitlGoodnight.00:08:20JackAnd UM.00:08:22JackAnd that's a big change. That was a big game changer, I think. And the other thing is I think the technology is going to get better like.00:08:33JackApps like Papago or Google Translate are able to take a foreign language and and translate it into English in a very almost perfect manner. Like it's it's quite accurate and.00:08:52JackIt used to be really not inaccurate. It used to used to be nonsense. It was really funny actually, when I would read essays that were translated through Google Translate because.00:09:05XochitlWait.00:09:06발표자You know.00:09:07JackYeah.00:09:07XochitlIt was so obvious.00:09:08JackRight. You were. So yeah, it was like something like, you know, I don't know. It just just bizarre, crazy things that I that I that I that I read there and now you now now it's much it's much more accurate. So you've got tools that are that are getting better and better.00:09:29JackFor for people to translate.00:09:31JackAnd then finally the you know in the future I think you know it's going to be to the point where you might be able to put like an air pod in your ear and and speak your native language and the other person that you're talking to is going to hear English in their earpiece and then they'll speak into.00:09:52JackTheir device and the other person will hear their native language, and so conversations will be totally.00:10:02JackCapable or possible between two people who don't speak any common language. You might not be smooth, you know, as smooth as doing it in real, real time. But as the technology gets better, I think you know it might become seamless. Where?00:10:22JackThe conversation is very easily had between two people.00:10:27JackUsing just using technology, but I still think there's going to be a desire among a certain group of people to learn the language. Uh the old fashioned way just for their own.00:10:43XochitlSelf Improvement company.00:10:43JackShall we say?00:10:44JackLike edification, you know their own satisfaction of, of being able to say I'm a bilingual person, I speak English and I speak Chinese or or Spanish or or Japanese or whatever.00:11:01JackAnd they'll be able to. They'll get better positions in companies, I think because they'll be able to sit down and have a negotiation, a conversation in English with with someone and that that would be, it'll still be a benefit for people, but there's going to be other avenues that people can use other.00:11:20JackMethods that are going to be.00:11:23JackAnd not as good as, as uh as learning the language but still allow them to communicate on some level. And so the more that these this technology gets better and advances, the less you need there is for, you know foreign.00:11:43JackImported foreign teachers.00:11:46JackTo teach English in countries like Korea and China and Japan. And so I just see I see it becoming less and less necessary between having local people do it and then also using the technology as it gets better. And you put the comp, you combine those two together.00:12:06JackAnd it's to me, it's like bye bye birdie. You know, like goodbye.00:12:13JackTo my job, you know? So I I worry about that. Not not that much, because I'm already, you know, almost 50 years old. So the age of retirement is not far away from me, really. So I think I'll be able to hang in there for the for the, you know. But I think I I got lucky.00:12:32JackJust.00:12:33JackI'll be one of the last of the groups of of people of my generation. My generation will be the last group that kind of does it this way and they'll some new model and some new method is going to emerge and I'm not sure if that will include foreign English teachers.00:12:53JackOr not. You know, I'm not sure. No one can tell the future, but I'm just a little bit concerned for young people teaching English in Korea, whether they're still gonna have a job 5/10/15 years from now, I'm not sure.00:13:08XochitlAre you?00:13:10XochitlUM.00:13:12XochitlHow do I say this? Are you?00:13:17XochitlAre there are these positions like the one that you have? Are they tenured positions like is there like?00:13:23JackNo, we we're contract workers, you know. So we, yeah, we we get two year contracts and so that you know we keep signed resign and re sign and resign 2 year contracts. So yeah there's no there's no guarantee for me that you know these if if it goes away.00:13:27발표자Oh.00:13:44JackI have to.00:13:46JackYou know, and I'll be. I'll be be kind of old to be looking for a new new career. You know, it would be very difficult for me to find another job. I'm not. I don't think I'm suitable, really. For anything else other than teaching English as a second language. To be honest, it's all I've done for the last 2020 years.00:14:08XochitlRight. Yeah, geez, that's absolutely wild to think about. It's like I didn't. I didn't really realize that the positions were like, like, So what? What do you mind me asking? What position? Like what is it called like? Are you are you like a professors aide or are you like a?00:14:10JackI'm scary.00:14:28XochitlOK.00:14:28JackOhh yeah, so my official position is professor, associate professor.00:14:35XochitlOK, so you're an associate professor, so.00:14:36발표자Yeah.00:14:37JackYeah.00:14:39XochitlThat's wild to me that you would have an associate professor on a two year.00:14:44XochitlContract.00:14:46JackYeah, yeah, there's a lot of contract workers. Yeah, 10 years, really. You know, for the PHD's, you know, people who are doing research, you know, I'm not a research. I'm not a researcher. I'm a basically a a teacher. You know, I mean, I.00:15:05JackI don't even like the word professor. You know, in America we don't.00:15:11JackIf you teach at a university, you are a professor. I mean, that's basically the way that works.00:15:17JackWe just have one word for it here. You know, in a lot of countries, they have a lot of different names for the different levels and I don't know what all those are in Korean, but I know that my level is not, you know, it's not the high up level, it's it's a.00:15:34JackIt's it's just a, you know, I'm a contract worker. Uhm uh. But you know it's the contract has always been guaranteed, you know, so I've never worried about not getting another contract. The The what I worry about is, are those things that I was talking about before, is that when it gets to the point where we're no longer needed.00:15:56JackAnd the school really has to, you know, assess whether this is even necessary anymore given the new technology, given the the skills of of current teachers here in Korea, you know, do do we need these foreign?00:16:15JackThis foreign faculty and that that is, you know, and I don't blame I I don't blame them either, you know, I mean, it's just like.00:16:23JackThe way things progress and and things happen, you you become you become redundant. As we say in English, there's just no it's. You're not needed anymore because there are other other things or other people that can do the same thing that you're doing. And so you become kind of.00:16:43JackOn uh, uh. What's the word I'm looking for? You become unnecessary, I guess.00:16:54XochitlYeah, but uh.00:16:58XochitlWell.00:17:00XochitlI have a counterpoint actually to this thought process I that I just thought of as I was listening to you talking to this. Mm-hmm. I think as someone who grew up as a balanced bilingual, I think the language like, even if we get AI to perfectly, you know, simulate language and have a a seamless conversation between two people.00:17:20XochitlLanguage.00:17:21XochitlIs so.00:17:22XochitlSo.00:17:23XochitlCultural there's so many cultural aspects to learning a language, and I think those will always be important to experience and master on so many levels on economic skill because like, if you're working in business or client relations or whatever, you're going to have to know about the other.00:17:42XochitlPerson's culture.00:17:44XochitlUM, as an appreciative measure, so you can truly understand the culture on a different level, like on a deeper level. There's so many reasons why I think the.00:17:54XochitlThat that learning language is it has a deeply cultural component that's important, that can't be replicated through AI, and that won't be able to be replicated through a.00:18:06XochitlA person like for example a a Korean person or a Chinese person teaching English. Just like when I was in college and I was learning Mandarin Chinese, we had a professor from China visiting professor from China every year and they would have two year contracts as well and they would be part of our.00:18:27XochitlUh, class structure and I think it was really important because they brought cultural knowledge, cultural components. They brought expressions that were only used that like our professor, who wasn't Chinese, wouldn't have like, really known. Like, he's still completely fluent Chinese. You know what I mean? But he still wouldn't have had that cultural component.00:18:48XochitlAs he didn't grow up in the culture, even though he had lived abroad, even though he spoke perfect Chinese, he was lacking those cultural components that we got and appreciated so much from the visiting professor from.00:19:02XochitlI know.00:19:04JackYeah, that's a good point that that's a great point, yeah.00:19:04XochitlAnd.00:19:09XochitlSo I'm hoping I'm hoping that there will still be institutions that value that you know because, you know, I'm kind of thinking about getting back into the ESL game. I mean, I'm, I'm still in it. I haven't loved it because we do the podcast and we have the English corner. But just getting back into it as a full time job just because.00:19:15발표자Yeah.00:19:30XochitlWe we talked about this many times before, but you know, a job in Korea is like life in a bottle and there's so many benefits that are hard to come by in a job in the.00:19:38XochitlThat's like great healthcare, the pension things that are just kind of becoming obsolete as benefits in any position in the US, whether it be entry level or even further up the ladder. It's like those kind of benefits were for Gen. X's and older and you can't get them really anymore as a.00:19:58XochitlMillennial or Gen. Z entering the workforce. And so I think that's something that's very attractive to me as someone looking to.00:20:07XochitlGo back to teach English. You know, full time in a foreign country. There are so many benefits that would be hard to come by here.00:20:16발표자Yep.00:20:17XochitlAnd yeah, so it's definitely something that I'm interested in. And so I'm hoping that that aspect, the cultural aspect and the the aspects of language that can't be replicated through. I I'm hoping this.00:20:28XochitlWill still be valued.00:20:30XochitlYeah, I can keep a job, you know.00:20:33JackYeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, and I think that you might be right. You know what? Because we do the idiom Academy. I mean, how are you going to? How are you going to explain how is AI going to understand the all the nuances of the of the language when you know and translate it in a way that's going to capture the nuance?00:20:51JackYou know, a lot of the times when I explain an idiom or a phrasal verb meaning to a student, I have to explain the context of like the culture and say like well, in American culture we do this. And so because we do this, we say this.00:21:08JackAnd because, uh, this thing that we do kind of relates to what you're trying to describe, you know, metaphorically we we say this, but I mean that's a lot that's a lot of that's a that's a lot of frog leaping from.00:21:08XochitlYep.00:21:28JackThe actual you know expression to the meaning and I'm not sure the. I'm not sure that there's any AI or at least right now any any translation device that's able to really cap.00:21:43JackSure. You know specifically the nuance of the of the meaning or the context of the meaning necessarily and that might be the thing that saves us, is that, yeah, the culture that that you're, you're not just teaching the language, you're teaching the culture and the two are.00:21:57XochitlHopefully.00:22:05JackAre kind of woven together like a like a rug. You know, it's you can't separate them.00:22:12XochitlThere's a a language is just a rich tapestry that weaves together so many things. It's it includes culture, history, expressions and so much of language is also physical. Like there's so many gestures that are unique to, you know, different countries and different languages, like in in Spanish.00:22:32XochitlIn Mexico specifically, I don't know about other Spanish speaking countries, but when we're agreeing with someone while they're talking, a lot of times you like replicate and head nod with your index finger. And so when foreigners see that, they're like, what is that gesture to explain. Ohh. They're agreeing with them, but they don't want to interrupt or whatever. So they're.00:22:47JackYeah. Yes.00:22:52XochitlYou know, and similar like in Korean culture. When you hand things to an elder, you use both hands, cause that's respectful. There's so many tiny nuances, I think it would take it's.00:23:00발표자Yeah.00:23:04XochitlTo take at least another like 100 years for AI to get all of that down, I think so.00:23:10JackI hope so. Yeah, that would be great. That would give me enough time, plenty of time to finish my career at the same institution.00:23:13발표자Yes.00:23:22JackYeah, I mean I that that is that's the. That's the counterpoint. I mean that that, you know, I think in for simple sentences and easy stuff it's going to be the translation tools are good. But when it comes to.00:23:35JackThe you know the the particular, you know, context and the nuances, I don't know if there's any AI that can really capture that properly. And so yeah, that may be the the one saving grace for for our jobs.00:23:56발표자Yeah.00:23:56XochitlYeah, well, let's hope that it is, and I'm curious to hear from our students this time. I really, really want to know what you guys think about the future of ESL, because you guys are.00:24:09XochitlStudents of you know English as a foreign language. A lot of you guys are in our English corner. Which shameless plug here. Our English corner runs Monday through Friday for an hour a day and we have a lot of. We have a lot of discussions like this. This may actually be an interesting discussion to posit in English corner. Actually I'm I'm very curious to know what you guys think.00:24:25JackYeah.00:24:31XochitlSo make sure you leave us a comment down below at 8 OS englishpodcast.com shoot us an e-mail at podcast@gmail.com Jack and I really love to get your emails and make sure you join the WhatsApp and we took group to join the conversation. And again, if you're interested in our.00:24:47XochitlEnglish corner. Make sure that you message Jack or I or the A-Z English broadcast only chat or WhatsApp and we will make sure to get back to you with more information about that and I'll see.00:24:56XochitlYou next time. Bye bye.00:24:58JackBye.Podcast Website:Topic Talk | The Future of ESL – A to Z English (atozenglishpodcast.com)Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week's Out Now with Aaron and Abe supports those who put their face on a t-shirt. Our English correspondent and co-host of Deep Blue Sea - The Podcast, Jay Cluitt, is on hand to talk all about Twisters with Aaron and Abe. Hear what the group has to say about director Lee Isaac Chung's blockbuster upgrade from Minari to a huge disaster flick. Plus, there's plenty of time for other movie chatter, including trailer talk, games, and listener thoughts. Tune in for Out Now Quickies™ (10:35), Trailer Talk for Captain America: Brave New World(31:00), the main review (40:35), Games (1:31:10), and Out Now Feedback (1:43:02). So now, if you've got an hour or so to kill… Get yourself a free audiobook and help out the show at AudibleTrial.com/OutNowPodcast! Follow all of us on Twitter: @Outnow_Podcast, @AaronsPS4, @WalrusMoose, @LifeVsFilm Check out all of our sites, podcasts, and blogs:  TheCodeIsZeek.substack.com, Why So Blu?, We Live Entertainment, Deep Blue Sea - The Podcast, Life vs. Film Read Aaron's review for Twisters Trailer: Captain America: Brave New World Next Week: Deadpool & Wolverine

If thee is using a smart phone, tablet or other SMS supported device, click here to send us a text message. Unfortunately we cannot send a text reply, so if thee would like to converse include thy email address.Show notes #09 1 John 4:2-6This wide-ranging podcast opens with a quick review of session eight concerning 1 John 4:2. The podcast then continues with a reexamination of 1 John 4:2-6, which is an additional exploration of biblical translation and interpretation.Interwoven through the rest of the podcast are points on the linguistic and grammatical structure of English in the King James Bible (KJV), contrasted with English today. For instance, the KJV use of a then grammatically correct expression “He is come”, would today be, “He has come.” Regarding 1 John 4:2, one of the basic understandings of early Friends (different from most other Christians) relates to the phrase Jesus Christ has come “in the flesh”. Most Christians see that verse referring to Jesus' being physically in the world, “in the flesh.” However, early Friends understood that phrase “in the flesh” to mean that Jesus had come in our flesh . . . in the believer's flesh. He was, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)This session moves freely, between verses, as questions arise regarding individual verses. The notes below are largely presented in the order in which they come in the podcast: Verse 4“Nikaō” is translated “overcome, conquer”. Early Friends emphasized the concept of Christ being in the follower of Jesus, underscored in: “Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world.”   Verse 6“Alētheia”, (“truth”) is important in this verse, but should be “Truth” (with a capital “T”), a synonym for “messiah” / “Christ”. Verse 1“Pneuma” (Greek:  breath/wind, i.e., “a moving current”, “movement”) can include these: “the spirit of satan”, “the spirit of the devil”, “the lying spirit”, or “the spirit of the world” (in the negative sense of “world/worldliness”.   Verse 2“Spirit” is frequently capitalized in English when it is referring to God's Spirit. Ancient Greek had only uppercase letters. Lower case letters were introduced only several centuries later.  Verse 6 “Planē” frequently translated “falsehood” in Greek has a basic meaning of “error”, “deceit', “delusion”, “lie" and “deception”.“Martus” means witness, and subsequently also martyr. Our English word, “martyr” is borrowed from it. We cannot gloss over the total commitment of the early church (and also of early Quakers) to be witnesses for Christ, even to the point of a painful, physical death as a martyr.   The advice in our introduction is from page 30 of the Ohio Yearly Meeting's Book of Discipline.Visit us on our website at ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at OYMConservative@gmail.com.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness… (2 Peter 1:5a). We are saved by grace through faith. Full stop. Read Ephesians 2:1-10 for the most pointed Biblical word on that. But grace does more than save, it also sanctifies. And sanctification requires our partnership. That is the way of God's economy. We have been given everything we need for it. Not that we will become perfect in this life, but we will make progress, that is, if we put effort into it. As Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit, so Peter writes about these virtues. It is worth noting that the goal of these virtues is love, which is the most eminent Christian virtue binding the others together. Love is not primarily a feeling, even though it surely includes that. It always includes action, as in “this is love…God loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Paul wrote, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). This is Peter's version. This is our goal: love. Of course, we shouldn't say that we can wait until the end to love. These virtues work to strengthen our ability to love. Here, Peter begins with ‘goodness'. What does this word mean and why is it first? Our English word ‘good' or ‘goodness' is used to translate two different Greek words. The one word describes good actions like feeding the hungry and helping an elderly neighbour mow their grass. The other Greek word describes who a person is. Jesus had this to say, “No one is good—except God alone” (Mark 10:18). This is the word Peter uses here. God's goodness has context. In Exodus 33, Moses asks God to reveal his glory. After some back and forth, God says, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you” (19). So, God's goodness is connected to his glory. In his reflections on this story, Paul writes that we “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This, I think, is why Peter begins here. That we participate in the divine nature, that we become like God, that our character becomes good like his. Let me offer some suggestions to add goodness to faith. First, worship God. Greg Beale wrote “What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or for restoration”. We might also say, we worship what we love; so, love God and become like him. The challenge is that for many of us, worship is passive. We sit and receive what the leaders have to offer. How will you actively worship God? Second, examine. The dictionary defines this: “to look at or consider a person carefully and in detail in order to discover something about them”. Christians have long practiced self-examine for the discovery of sinful habits and tendencies. The practice has been used to kill off the ‘earthly nature' (Colossians 3:5). Of course, this is done under the guidance of God (Psalm 139:23-24). This is time consuming. And speaking of God's guidance, a third bit of advice in our effort towards goodness: follow the Holy Spirit. Jesus named the Spirit, our counsellor, our guide. Paul said we are to walk in step with him. The Spirit will guide us away from our earthly nature, towards the goodness of God. That is the Spirit's job: “to transform us into God's image with ever-increasing glory”. Will we follow? All the gifts are here. Let's use them. So, as you journey on: Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Amen! (2 Peter 1:2; 3:18).

Help inspire the future of With & For! Click here to take our short survey! Four respondents will get a special box of goodies from the Thrive Center!“People who are patient are not less assertive, they are not passive, and if anything they actually achieve their goals more successfully. Anything worthwhile, you'll have to wait and you'll have to suffer. And so we need patience to be able to suffer well. Patience is not an eradication of emotions. It is the ability to feel those emotions, but to stay level headed to regulate through them. As a virtue, patience, I see as doing that for something beyond the self. So patience is really staying engaged continuing forward and pursuing the good.” (Sarah Schnitker)We live in a high-speed, high-efficiency, get-it-done-yesterday society. Why would we talk about patience? But the old adage, “Patience is a virtue” is true. A core ingredient to our spiritual health in our frenetic modern world is the ability to live fully in the moment, exercise control and stability through arduous or challenging (and even traumatic) circumstances—doing so with poise and style.Research psychologist Dr. Sarah Schnitker of Baylor University has pioneered the scientific study of patience among the virtues, exploring the physical, emotional, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions of this timeless and timely virtue. She defines patience as the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity and suffering—being able to wait well and not become inordinately overwhelmed by anxiety or sorrow.Patience makes us ask not just “What's worth waiting for?”, but “What's worth suffering for?” Our English word for suffering comes from the Latin word for “enduring suffering.” And Sarah Schnitker brings theologically rich dimensions to her psychological study of patience.In this conversation with Sarah Schnitker, we discuss:The definition of patience as a virtueThe essential role patience can play in our pursuit of meaning and purposeThe connections between waiting and suffering—and the theological and spiritual context for patienceHow patience is related to goal-setting and complementary to courageAnd Sarah offers guidance for how to cultivate patience in our own lives, using a research-backed strategy to identify, imagine, and think.Show NotesLearn about Sarah Schnitker's research on virtue and character development on Science of Virtues Lab.Pam King introduces Sarah Schnitker (Baylor University)Biblical concept of patience as “long-suffering”David Bailey Harned—eradicating problems and losing faith in patience“Anything worthwhile you'll have to wait and you'll have to suffer.”“I think many people don't have that clarity about what it is in their life that they are willing to suffer for. So I think that search for meaning and purpose involves that.”Patience as a “beyond the self” virtueDefinition: “the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity, suffering, and waiting”“It's not that you don't get emotions. It is the ability to feel those emotions, but to stay level headed to regulate through them.”Patience and goal-settingPatience and self-control as different but working together“Patience is really part of that facilitation of adaptive goal pursuit, which is really cool to find and also to show that meaning really matters too. That meaning pushes you to be more patient.”Telos: “the intersection of our goals, our roles, and our souls”Patience and courageHabits to help us reappraise meaning and purpose in the world“This moment is not forever…”Kendall Bronk on patience in emerging adultsPatience as “the ability to stay calm, but actively engaged in the face of frustration or suffering.”Depression, mental healthMark Labberton's story of allowing the rituals and habits of Christian sacraments and liturgy to calm and regulate and provide meaningAutopilot as the virtueGratitude and patience as a communal practice—what is communal patience?What is your gratitude? What is your growth?Virtues help us as a fuel system and guidance systemPatience in Sarah Schnitker's personal lifeCyclic Vomiting SyndromeVirtue Ethics and Greek philosopher AristotleThe “Golden Mean” of virtuesImpatience is too little of the virtue of patience (the vice of deficiency)Passivity (or the spiritual vice of “acedia”) is too much of patience (the vice of excess)Weaponizing patience is not a virtue.How patience pairs well with courageWhen you have both patience and courage, that's when you're pursuing your goals well and loving boldly, seeking justicePatience and loving your enemyPractical Steps: How can we become patient?Identify, Imagine, and SyncIdentify your emotions, notice what you're feeling, developing a larger emotional lexiconImagine, think about things differently, think differently, reappraisal to bring down the emotion, perspective takingSync, moving forward with a goal based plan connected to meaning and purpose“Patience is a whole-life game.”Patience and the Muslim practice of RamadanMeasuring the impact of fasting during Ramadan on the cultivation of patienceUnderstanding the sacred practice of spiritual fasting and its connection to virtue developmentPatience increased significantly during RamadanPracticing patience as a spiritual communityHow practices connect us to our bodies, purposes, and beliefsSarah Schnitker on “What is thriving?”Loving God and loving others for the sake of justice in societyPam King's key takeaways:Waiting is not easy, but in our fast-paced world, we need to slow down and cultivate the timeless virtue of patience.Patience helps us both to regulate and reappraise our emotional life, helping us deal with really difficult situations.We can learn and cultivate patience in a variety of contexts in the family, school, work, and its uptake is enhanced when supported by a spiritual community.When paired with courage, patience has the potential to make us truly resilient.Patience is transformative for our thriving and deeply connected to our pursuit of meaning and purpose.About Sarah SchnitkerSarah Schnitker is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. She holds a PhD and an MA in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in Psychology from Grove City College. Schnitker studies virtue and character development in adolescents and emerging adults, with a focus on the role of spirituality and religion in virtue formation. She specializes in the study of patience, self-control, gratitude, generosity, and thrift. Schnitker has procured more than $3.5 million in funding as a principle investigator on multiple research grants, and she has published in a variety of scientific journals and edited volumes. Schnitker is a Member-at-Large for APA Division 36 – Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, is a Consulting Editor for the organization's flagship journal, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, and is the recipient of the Virginia Sexton American Psychological Association's Division 36 Mentoring Award. Follow her on Twitter @DrSchnitker. About the Thrive CenterLearn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter About Dr. Pam KingDr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking. About With & ForHost: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.

And [Jesus] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'” (Luke 13:6-9) Jesus had just finished clearing up that “karma” isn't a thing, but that those who don't repent will perish. This continues that thought train with this parable. The man and the vinedresser are God. This may seem a little odd, but remember that the Godhead is Father, Son, and Spirit so a conversation between them is normal. We see this throughout the Bible, from the very beginning when God says, “Let Us make man in our image” or in places like Isaiah when God says, “Who will go for Us, whom shall we send?” God Seeks Fruit In this parable, the man came seeking fruit from the fig tree planted in his vineyard. God does all the work of salvation for us and in addition to the justification He provides through Jesus, He does a lifelong work of sanctification in us in which He expects fruit to be produced. What fruit is He seeking? There are verses that give us insight into that, such as Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Notice this though - The fruit of the Spirit is singularly love. Our English translators didn't get that grammar wrong when they translated it to “the fruit of the Spirit is” because in the Greek it is indeed a singular verb. Otherwise, it would have been translated “the fruits of the Spirit are”. Yes, there are other attributes that are manifest in that fruit of the Spirit, which are listed in this verse, but the fruit that those attributes are produced from is the singular fruit of love. And remember, God is love (1 John 4:8). Therefore, a true believer who has God the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them will produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. Another form of fruit is found in good works. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So while our works have nothing to do with us receiving salvation, it is evidence of our salvation in which we were created in Christ Jesus for. Our fruit is the evidence that our root is firmly grounded in Christ Jesus and God seeks out our fruit. God is Patient When the man says, “‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none” we can see the vast patience He has for us. He doesn't wait a week after we have made an acknowledgement of accepting Christ and then expect juicy fruit to pop up instantly. He gives time for His Spirit to work in our hearts and do the necessary heart work of cutting away the things of our old self and nurturing the new creation we are in Him. We often can get impatient with ourselves and others as we watch life unfold, but God is patient for a reason. 2 Peter 3 gives us insight into this where it says, “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:3-4,9) It's because of God's will of not wanting anyone to perish but that all would repent and turn to be reconciled to Him that He is patient. God is just and the day of judgment will come eventually, but He is also patient, which is an attribute that we see listed as part of the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. It's God's great love for us that yields His patience toward us. God Provides Growth Opportunities Notice the response the vinedresser gives here – “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.” God doesn't just seek out fruit from us, He is willing and active in helping us grow in order for us to produce fruit. Any good gardener will tell you that manure is an excellent way to help plants grow. In all reality, manure is poop and being surrounded by it stinks really bad sometimes. God may put someone in a season of digging around them and adding a manure treatment for their good, but the reality of living in a season surrounded by crap is hard. But much like James tells us, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:3-4). The reality is, the fruit that can be produced from a tree that has gone through a season of manure treatment can be ever so fruitful! God has good in mind, even when by the world's standards it just stinks. God's Judgment is Coming This parable ends with the vinedresser saying that if the care and nurturing and patience doesn't yield the fruit, that the tree will be cut down. This is the final judgement. Either we have the good soil in our hearts that yield a fruit producing tree, of which we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and submitted to Him in obedience as our Lord, or we don't. And if we don't, the coming judgement will cut us off with one fell swoop. This may seem like a harsh reality, but in light of the patience God demonstrates, in light of the ever so many opportunities He gives for those salvation seeds sown to reap the fruit of righteousness and love, it is the just consequence. This is a call to inspect our own fruit production. Is God reaping fruit from the tree of our life? Are we tuned in to the Spirit, letting the steadfastness that the testing of our faith is producing to have its full effect in our lives? Or do we push back against God's attempts to grow us? Yes, we want to avoid the coming judgement, but there's also the aspect that we have God, the owner and vinedresser of the vineyard that we're planted in, who loves us, tends to our needs, and looks after our growth, who is seeking fruit from us. We want that love that He has sown into our hearts to produce an abundant outflow of fruit in our lives because He is worthy of it! I'll leave you this week with a question to consider in your own life – Is God reaping the fruit He is seeking in your life?

  In this podcast, Henry devotes most of his attention to 2:28-3:3, with the last several minutes devoted to some linguistic issues found in 1 John 3:4-10. 1 John 2Verse 28        The Greek word “ean” which is typically mis-translated as “when” in verse 28 is more correctly translated, “if ever”. The change to “if ever” enhances the other often mis-translated word (Greek: “parousia”), usually translated “coming”, should, instead be translated “presence”. Thus, the more correct interpretation of this verse would be: If ever He is being present to us [manifesting Himself in us], we should not shrink back at that presence, but live in it. There is a sweetness in His presence of which we need not be ashamed. 1 John 3Verse 2          The above word, “parousia” in this verse has a similar meaning as the word “coming” in verse 28. The Greek word, “phanerothe” (from phanerao) does not really mean “appeared.” Rather, a better translation of the word is “to make apparent/made obvious/manifested”. Thus, when paired with the Greek word, “ean”, the meaning becomes: if ever Christ makes Himself apparent in the follower of Jesus. The implication is not that we are waiting for a second physical coming of Christ, but rather, we are waiting for an inner realization that He is already within one, making Himself apparent. Verse 3Regarding the Greek word, “hagnos” instead of being translated “pure”, it has a more accurate meaning: of “holy” . . . being inwardly holy. Verse 4“Lawlessness”: For a Jew, the Law was everything. To talk about lawlessness was to disregard the Law of Moses. “Cardia”: “heart”. However, in the Greek, the word, “cardia” would today be understood as “conscience” in modern-day English. In the early 17th century, the words “consciousness” and “conscience” began to be separated, developing very different meanings. Verse 7 “Dikaios”: means “righteous”, or “upright”. Verse 9“Sperma”: means “seed” or “semen”. Our English word, “sperm” is derived directly from the Greek.  The quote in our introduction is from the Sixth Chapter of George Fox's Journal.Visit us on our website at ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at OYMConservative@gmail.com.

The Tower of Babel narrative is well known even in modern pop culture, but do you know the details of the story? "Babel" in Babylon means "gate of God", in the Hebrew context of the Old Testament it means "to mix" or "confuse", but in English we use babel to mean "confused noise". Our English understanding of the word most likely comes from this passage in Genesis 11, but did you know that this narrative also has a connection to the surrounding genealogy passages?

Our English word dynamite comes from the Greek word, dunamis. In the New Testament, dunamis describes the supernatural, resurrection power of God's Spirit that broke into the world not only at Jesus' resurrection, but again and again throughout the New Testament, transforming peoples' lives. In this devotional, Sue Nilson Kibbey and Rosario Picardo challenge us to open ourselves to God's dunamis Spirit, allowing it to transform our lives, and then through us, the world.

Our English word dynamite comes from the Greek word, dunamis. In the New Testament, dunamis describes the supernatural, resurrection power of God's Spirit that broke into the world not only at Jesus' resurrection, but again and again throughout the New Testament, transforming peoples' lives.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 10, 2023 is: berserk • ber-SERK • adjective Berserk generally means “markedly out of control due to intense anger or excitement.” It is often used in the phrase go berserk, which can mean either “to become very excited” or “to become very angry and often violent.” // The crowd went wild with berserk fans screaming as the main act finally hit the stage. See the entry > Examples: “The actor made his nightly entrance at the Roxy from the lobby to the stage, belting out the signature tune. … ‘Tim's entrance was phenomenal,' recounts David Foster, the Grammy-winning composer and producer, who early in his career was the show's pianist. ‘The place just went berserk because, of course, he was so much bigger than life.'” — Steve Appleford, The Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2023 Did you know? Combine a bear with a shirt and what do you get? A cuddly, honey-loving, ursine pal, perhaps. Combine the words bear and shirt however, at least in Old Norse, and you get something quite different. Our English word berserk comes from the Old Norse noun berserkr, which is likely a combination of ber- (“bear”) and serkr (“shirt”). According to Norse legend, berserkers were not ones to say “Oh bother” when faced with sticky situations—they were warriors who wore bearskin coverings and worked themselves into such frenzies during combat that they became immune to the effects of steel and fire. Berserk was borrowed into English (first as a noun referring to such a warrior) in the 19th century, when interest in Scandinavian myth and history was high. It was considered a slang term at first, but it has since gained broader use.

Our English word ‘love' is how translators typically translates each of four Greek words: philia, eros, storge and agape. This fourth is often, though not exclusively, used of God's love, and this is the word for Christ's love. 

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2023 is: pundit • PUN-dit • noun A pundit is someone who is usually considered an expert on a particular subject and who shares their opinion on that subject in a public setting (such as a television or radio program). // Grandpa likes watching liberal and conservative pundits spar about the issues of the day on the Sunday morning talk shows. See the entry > Examples: “… the family film quickly fell flat at the box office in the latest blow for the storied animation studio. Many pundits worry that original animated IP [intellectual property] is no longer a theatrical proposition.” — Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2023 Did you know? It's no hot take to say that the original pundits were highly learned scholars and teachers in India; it's just a statement of fact. Our English word pundit comes from the Hindi word paṇḍit, a term of respect (and sometimes an honorary title) for a wise person, especially one with knowledge of philosophy, religion, and law; its ultimate source is the Sanskrit word paṇḍita, meaning “learned.” English speakers have used pundit to refer to sages of India since the 1600s, but as is typically done with English, they eventually pushed the word into new semantic territory. By the late 1800s, pundit could also refer to a member of what is sometimes called the commentariat or punditocracy—that is, the collective group of political commentators, financial analysts, and newspaper columnists often paid to share their views on a variety of subjects.

On this weeks episode of The Real Smoke the guys have special guest Lorin. Our English vs proper English on this weeks episode. We get to hear some great stories from both sides of the pond. So as always quit faffing around, light one up and enjoy the show! The strain of the day is Gorilla Glue

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.Harsh treatment of women, children, and the vulnerable in OT times: infanticide, abortion, disrespect of women.Divorce was easy and favored the man.Worse, abandoned women could be "reclaimed" by their husbands.In the Middle Assyrian laws, a woman abandoned could remarry, but only after a 5-year wait.The 1st century world of the Roman EmpireDivorce (divortium) = separationRemarriage was a duty / expectationRoman law, 18 BCAugustine's laws, the Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus (i8 a.c.F..) and Lex Papia Poppaea Nuptialis (9 s.c.E.), which were later merged into a single text (Lex Julia et Papia).Made it a duty of all Roman men age 25-60 and Roman women age 20-50 to be married. Widows could remain unmarried for two years, and divorcees for 18 months, but then they were expected to remarry.Extent of enforcement outside of Rome, Italy, or Roman cities and colonies?Laws concerning remarriage were strikingly different in JudaismThere was is no time limit, making it far easier for the wife to find security in another husband.Jewish men write out a divorce certificate (Deut 24). This created greater rights for women with respect to marriage and remarriage, especially because of the clean break provided by the divorce certificate. The wording of this document ended: "You are now free to marry any man you wish."Note: The OT assumes polygamy and divorce, and neither is criticized.Four Jewish expectations that went beyond the demands of the TorahAll must marry.Marriages must result in offspring. If not, the man could divorce his wife and try to reach this end through a new wife.Those widowed or divorced had to remarry. As in the Roman world, except for the aged, remarriage was an expectation.Divorcing one's spouse was required if he or she was involved in sexual scandal.SourcesThe Bible3 or 4 OT passagesA handful of passages in the gospels, plus one chapter in 1 Cor.The Bible doesn't actually provide a comprehensive teaching on divorce and remarriage – nor on many topics we would be interested in better understanding.Extra-biblical sourcesOver 200 Aramaic, Greek, and Latin marriage and divorce papyri.Samaritan marriage contracts.Newly discovered divorce certificates—written by a Jewish man in Masada in 72 AD, and by a woman c.125 AD.Dead Sea Scroll fragments dealing with divorce.The publication of marriage and divorce documents from geniza of the Cairo Synagogue.Extensive rabbinic evidence from the 1st C.VowsMarriage historically understood as contractual. Failure to feed, clothe, love = unfaithfulness marriage vows.Expert Davis Instone-Brewer: “Marriage in the ancient Near East was contractual, involving payments, agreed stipulations, and penalties. If either partner broke the stipulations of the contract, the innocent partner could opt for a divorce and keep the dowry. Exact parallels to these practices are found in the Pentateuch."The vows are reflected in biblical passages, such as Eph 5 (Christ as groom, church as bride) and Ezek 16.Our English marriage vows have hardly changed for 1000 years. I, N, take you, N, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.”Broken vows are grounds for divorce.Most conservative Protestant churches: 2 grounds for divorce (adultery or desertion by nonbeliever)— otherwise no divorce and remarriage, except in the event of the death of the spouse.Catholicism: Millions are trapped in abusive or hopeless marriages. Augustine formulated the doctrine of annulment, 350 AD.Yet the strictest view isn't always the most holy view.Pharisees made it very hard on some peopleSince the 2nd century, in many parts of the Christian church extremely strict rules have been created.Jesus' yoke is easy, and his burden light (Matt 11:30).Exod 21 and Deut 24—four grounds for divorce, as we will see in our second talk.These grounds are reflected in wedding vows.God divorces Israel (Jer 3:8), 8th C. BC and Judah (Ezek 16), 6th C. BC.God kept all 4 of his marriage vows to Judah: love, food, clothing, faithfulness.Instone-Brewer: “In contrast, Judah broke all four of her vows: she did not return God's love; she committed adultery with idols; she presented idols with the food that God had given her; and she decorated idols with the clothing and jewels with which God had honored her” (Ezek 16, esp. vs.8-13, 15, 19, 16-18).Divorce wasn't immediate. Much grace was extended, but eventually enough was enough.When God divorces Israel, the sin isn't the divorce, but the covenant infidelity leading to divorce.Marriage: permanent and indissoluble?Matt 19:5-6: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”Yet Jesus didn't say no one can break the marriage bond. Must not put asunder isn't the same as cannot.This commonly cited passage does not affirm that marriage necessarily obtains until the death of a spouse.Let's look at four more claims about the indissolubility of marriage.“Marriage not a contract, but a covenant.” Actually, it is both."One flesh" means lifelong marriage?Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh” (1 Cor 6:15-16).Being “one flesh” doesn't mean the two spouses are inseparably connected, any more than prostitution creates a permanent one-flesh relationship.Rom 7:1-3: Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.The passage concerns our relationship to the Law, not marriage.Besides, Paul doesn't say she is no longer married to him only if her husband dies.He was keeping his illustration simple, not writing a full doctrine of remarriage.“Sacrament” as in CatholicismOrdination (priesthood). Even an immoral priest remains a priest (!).Marriage too—therefore no man or woman can dissolve it.None of these five claims about the permanence of marriage is biblical!ConclusionWe are not mystically or sacramentally married until death. Some marriages end before either spouse has died.Most marriages can be healed, if both partners are willing.But broken vows will eventually kill a marriage.Background information

The Hebrew word for a fool is the word “bellows.” Our English equivalent would be “windbag!” The fool has said in his heart, “there is no God.” We have degenerated into a generation of blind rebellion against God that we have stepped into a new era of perversion and woke-ism. What does the Bible have to say about those people who believe God does not exist? And what are believer's to do? Check out the Life Recovery Store. "Because There Is A War For Your Soul"  www.liferecovery.com

This week we start a new series called Cardio. Our English word cardio comes from the Greek word "kardia," which means, you guessed it, heart. In our vernacular cardio is a word we use for exercise that strengthens your heart. What resistance training is to your biceps and glutes (ow ow), cardio is to your heart. When the scriptures speak about the heart, they aren't talking about the organ in your chest, but about the deepest part of who you are. It's the you-est part of you there is. In this series we are going to be talking about exercises and practices that can strengthen our hearts and quite honestly, save our lives.

“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) Our English word “visit” has come to mean a social call, bu... More...

“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) Our English word “visit” has come to mean a social call, bu... More...

When you come together Talk 8   Paul's Teaching on Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 So far in this series we have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 should be taken as a serious indication of what God desires when we meet for worship, and we have been looking at chapters 12 and 13 to see how they might influence our understanding of this verse. In chapter 13 Paul has demonstrated the futility of spiritual gifts unless they are exercised in love. He now goes on to give practical instructions concerning the use of the gifts in public worship. The underlying theme of the chapter is edification, which must be the basic motive for the exercise of spiritual gifts. Prophecy is seen as the most appropriate means of edifying both believers and unbelievers. The New Testament believers' meeting was a time when all should participate with a view to edifying the church (26). In this talk we'll be considering what Paul teaches in chapter 14 about speaking in tongues. In following talks we'll consider what he says about interpretation of tongues and prophecy, as they are all mentioned in verse 26 and much of the rest of the chapter is taken up with these themes. As we do so, we will discover what Paul has to say about the value, purpose, and use of these gifts. In the final talk we'll be looking at some of the key principles which underlie his teaching, such as edification and the need for intelligibility, variety, order, and balance in our meetings. Handling things in this way will mean that we will not be moving through chapter 14 verse by verse, as Paul's teaching on each of these themes is scattered throughout the chapter. Today we will seek to answer three questions: ·       How does Paul describe speaking in tongues? ·       What is the purpose of speaking in tongues? ·       How is speaking in tongues to be used in church? How does Paul describe speaking in tongues? Perhaps the first thing to say is that Paul uses exactly the same Greek expression as is used by Luke when he describes the events that took place at Pentecost. Acts 2:4, when literally translated, reads: They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages… I have translated the word for tongues here as languages for two reasons. First, because the context clearly shows that the disciples were speaking the languages of the people in the crowd, and secondly, because tongues is in fact just another rather old-fashioned word for languages. Our English word language is derived from the French word langue which can mean either tongue (the thing in your mouth you speak with) or language (the thing you speak). The words used by both Luke and Paul are laleo (speak) and glossa (tongue or language). So when Paul talks about speaking in tongues he is referring to the same phenomenon as took place at Pentecost when the disciples spoke languages they had never learned. However, at Pentecost there were people present who recognised the languages the disciples were speaking, whereas usually there is no one present who will recognise the language we are speaking. This is probably why in 1 Corinthians 14:2 Paul says: For the person speaking in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him, but he is speaking mysteries with his spirit (my translation). Here Paul tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking to God. This is because, unless it's interpreted, as we shall see later, no one can understand us. We are speaking mysteries with our spirit. Indeed, we ourselves do not understand what we are saying. This is confirmed in verse 14 where Paul says: …if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So speaking in tongues is speaking a language we do not understand and which no one else can understand. When we speak in English we are speaking with our mind. We understand what we are saying. But when we speak in tongues we are speaking with our spirit, and we do not understand what we are saying. In verse 14 Paul has described speaking in tongues as praying with our spirit, but in verse 16 it's clear that it can also be praising: If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? So he also refers to it as thanksgiving and this is repeated in verse 17 when he says: You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. This is in harmony with what we read in Acts 2:11 when the bewildered crowd at Pentecost exclaimed: We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! This could either mean that the disciples were praising God in tongues or that they were proclaiming the gospel. The Greek word musterion which Paul uses in verse 2, which tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries, is used elsewhere in Paul's writings to refer to the gospel as a secret made known by God to man (my italics) through his Spirit  (e.g. Ephesians 3:4-5).  So Paul describes speaking in tongues as speaking with our spirit rather than with our mind. He uses verbs like speaking (2), praying (14), praising (16), and giving thanks (17). And, as at Pentecost, it can also be a sign for unbelievers (22). But this is something we will discuss in a moment. What is the purpose of speaking in tongues? The apostle Paul valued very highly his ability to speak in tongues. In verse 18 he says: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in verse 19 he adds: But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. This makes clear that, although he spoke in tongues a great deal when he was not in church – that is, when he was in private – he did not do so in public. In an earlier talk we have already argued that the distinction between the public and private use of tongues explains what Paul means when he says in 12:30, Do all speak in tongues? All may speak in tongues privately, but not all will do so publicly. But chapter 14 sheds light on both these uses. The purpose of private tongues is, as we have already seen, that we might speak with our spirit as distinct from speaking with our mind. This may take the form of prayer, or praise, or thanksgiving. Used in this way it is an important means of building ourselves up spiritually, as Paul says in verse 4, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. This is presumably why Paul valued so highly his personal use of tongues, and it may well be what he was referring to when he told Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that he had received when Paul had laid his hands on him (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Verses 14-15 reveal Paul's personal determination to do the same: For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. He is clearly recommending that we should do the same. And if we really want the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in our meetings, we will be willing to make time in private to pray, not only in English with our mind, but also in tongues with our spirit. Now with regard to the purpose of the public use of tongues, we have already mentioned the day of Pentecost, where the miracle of unlearned Galileans speaking languages they had never learned led to the conversion of some 3000 people. But his was clearly not the scenario Paul had in mind when he said to the Corinthians that tongues are a sign for unbelievers (14:22). It's clear from the next verse that, far from expecting unbelievers to come to faith when hearing speaking in tongues, he thinks it more likely that they will conclude that the Corinthians are out of their mind! So in what sense are tongues intended as a sign to those who do not believe? As we examine the passage in which he says this we find what at first sight appear to be two contradictions, one with regard to speaking in tongues and the other regarding prophecy: ·       Regarding tongues, in verse 22 Paul says that they are a sign for unbelievers, but in verse 23 he implies that it's not good to speak in tongues in their presence in case they think you're out of your mind. ·       Regarding prophecy, in verse 22 he says that it's not for unbelievers, but for believers. However, in verses 24 and 25 he says that if unbelievers come into a meeting where everyone is prophesying, they will be convinced that they are sinners and fall down and worship God. So how do we explain these apparent contradictions? Paul's instructions are fairly clear. He is continuing the theme he started at the beginning of the chapter that prophecy is preferable to tongues. It is more helpful to believers and now, he says, it is more helpful to unbelievers too. So if unbelievers come in, it's better to prophesy than to speak in tongues. But the argument he uses to back up this teaching is extremely difficult to follow. However, one possible way of resolving the difficulty is to begin by taking the reference to prophecy in verse 22 as referring, not to the gift of prophecy, but to the prophecy of from Isaiah 28:11-12 that he has just quoted. Abstract nouns like prophecy usually take the definite article in Greek, whereas in English we leave it out. So he propheteia can be either translated prophecy or the prophecy. In Matthew 13:14-15, for example, he propheteia is used to refer to a specific quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah. It is possible that Paul is doing the same here. Taken this way, verses 21-24 could be paraphrased as follows: 21 In the law it has been written that I will speak to this people in other tongues (even though they are an unbelieving people, as the context of Isaiah 28:11 makes clear) and yet they will not listen to me, says the Lord (Isaiah 28:12). 22 So, on the basis of the quote from Isaiah, tongues were and are given as a sign to unbelieving people. However, the prophecy (Isaiah 28:11-12) is not given for the benefit of the unbelievers but for us believers in order the we might act upon it in the following way: 23 (Because Isaiah's prophecy was written for us believers telling us that the unbeliever would not hear even the sign of tongues), when we gather together in worship we shouldn't speak in tongues when unbelievers are present, because it's a sign they will reject (and will only lead to their condemnation). 24 On the other hand, if we all prophesy the unbeliever will be convinced… Although we cannot be sure that I am right in understanding the passage in this way, this suggestion does overcome a notorious difficulty for which, in my view, no satisfactory explanation has been offered so far. But, even if it's correct, we still have the difficulty that Paul's warning that, if we all speak in tongues unbelievers will say that we are out of our mind, appears to be contradicted by events on the day of Pentecost. However, we need to remember that in Acts 2, when some 3000 people were added to the church, the first effects of the miracle of tongues were bewilderment (6), amazement and perplexity (12), and, on the part of some, cynicism (13). It was the preaching of the gospel by Peter that led to their conversion. So Paul's warning that speaking in tongues may lead to opposition, and his insistence that prophecy – speaking words that people can understand – is preferable to tongues, are not out of harmony with Acts 2. On the basis of all this, it's better, in my view, to consider the use of tongues as a sign to unbelievers as something exceptional [1]. We rarely, if ever, know that a language we may be speaking in tongues is going to be recognised by someone present and we must trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to speak that language if he so determines. He alone knows what impact it will have on the hearer. But this is by no means the only way that tongues may be used in public, as Paul makes clear in the opening verses of chapter 14, where he says: Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. The reference to interpretation of tongues in verse 5 makes clear the purpose of its use. It's for the edification of the church. Tongues are unintelligible unless they are interpreted and without interpretation the speaker is just speaking into the air (9).  But when interpreted they can fulfil a similar function to prophecy, which also edifies the church (4) bringing strengthening, encouragement and comfort (3). We will return to this in the next talk when we consider Paul's teaching on the gift of interpretation of tongues, but for now it's sufficient to note that the purpose of the use of tongues in church must surely be the same as that of the gift of interpretation – namely, the edification, strengthening, encouragement and comfort of believers. How is speaking in tongues to be used in church? Despite Paul's clear teaching that prophecy is preferable to tongues (1-5), he by no means discourages the use of tongues in church. Although in verse 5 he says that he would rather have them prophesy, he does say, nevertheless, I would like every one of you to speak in tongues. And we have already seen that he expects speaking in tongues to be a regular part of the worship of the church (26) and it is certainly not to be forbidden (39). However, the key to its use in church is that it needs to be interpreted so that everyone may be edified. In fact, in verse 28 he tells us that If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. This suggests that the personal use of tongues in church is not prohibited, but it must be done quietly as it will edify no one except the speaker (cf. 4). Speaking out loud in tongues, therefore, is to be strongly discouraged unless it is intended that it be interpreted, and that of course will require someone with the gift of interpretation to be present. This may, of course, be the person who has spoken in tongues, as in verses 12-13 Paul encourages those who speak in tongues to pray for the gift of interpretation: So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. 13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. But if a person who wants to speak in tongues does not possess the gift of interpretation, they must first make sure that someone is present who does, and if not, they must speak quietly to themselves and to God (28). However, if an interpreter is present, the speaker in tongues may  speak out loud with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church, subject to the conditions Paul gives in verse 27, where he says: If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at the most three, should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. This instruction is so clear that it hardly requires further comment, but we will discuss some of the practical implications in the final talk in this series. Conclusion In this talk we have argued that when Paul uses the term speaking in tongues, he is referring to the same gift as the disciples received on the day of Pentecost – the ability to speak languages they had never learned. We saw that tongues may be expressed in a variety of ways, including, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and declaring the wonders of God. We discovered that when we speak in tongues it's our spirit that is praying, not our mind. God gives us this gift to help us edify ourselves – to build ourselves up spiritually. It is also given so that when it's interpreted it will edify the church. It can also be used as a sign to unbelievers when, as at Pentecost, they understand the language that is being spoken.  Finally, we saw that Paul does expect this gift to be in operation in our meetings, but that it should be used quietly if it is not for interpretation. It must only be spoken aloud if an interpreter is present, and  it must be used only two, or at the most three, times in a meeting. We will consider this further in the next talk when we examine Paul's teaching on the gift of interpretation. [1] There are of course many documented cases of tongues being recognised as the language of someone listening. See two examples from my own ministry recorded in Signs from Heaven – Why I believe.

Divide and conquer is not only the modus operandi of warfare, but it is also the strategy of kids who know that if they can play parents against each other, or pit weariness against the single parent, they have won the battle. Our English word discipline comes from a Latin word, discere, which means to know, or, in the broader sense, to discern.

I recently read a pair of books by Arkady Martine, a writer who is new to Science Fiction. A Memory Called Empire (2019) and A Desolation Called Peace (2021), each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.I like Arkady Martine and I like her books. She is an extraordinary storyteller.But she is not yet a great writer.That was not intended as an insult. Dan Brown sold a staggering number of The DaVinci Code, but he is not yet a great writer, either. We tend to read the book of a great storyteller only once. Knowing the story, the magic is gone. This is why every thrift shop in the world is stacked with countless copies of 50 Shades of Gray and The DaVinci Code.But we read the works of great writers again and again. A great writer could write an instruction manual and make it captivating.Literary evaluation is wildly subjective, of course, so I owe an explanation to Arkady Martine and to you.I never read borrowed books because I intend to circle passages and make notes in the margins along the way. To deface my own books with circles and notes is a sign of respect for the author, but for me to deface the book of a friend would not be a sign of respect.I will not finish a book if the author is not a great storyteller. I will not circle any passages if the author is a not a great writer.The hope of every great storyteller should be to also become a great writer. To win the Pulitzer Prize or the Nobel Prize in literature, you have to be both.John Steinbeck was both.J.R.R. Tolkien was both.Tom Robbins is both.Bill Bryson is both.Barbara Kingsolver is both.I am currently on page 26 of Barbara Kingsolver's 546-page novel, Demon Copperhead,* and I have already circled 10 passages. Indy will transcribe those passages into the rabbit hole when I have completed the book. (The Random Quotes database is now 6,108 quotes and climbing. – Indy)The stories that comprise One Thousand and One Nights were compiled a thousand years ago. In one of those stories, Prince Husain travels to Bisnagar and buys a magic carpet. Do not let Disney mislead you. Husain's carpet is not a ‘flying' carpet that rides the air like a raptor. His magic carpet is like a good book. All you have to do is decide where you want to be, sit down, and you are there.Good writing engages all your senses as it moves you to another place, another time, another life.You are at a spongey 100-year-old seaside resort favored by the idle rich in the tropical south.“The air was heavy with oleander and sea mist colliding with mold and wood polish and hotel soap and the metallic vapor of Diet Coke and the alcoholic ferment of generations of cougars in Chanel No. 5.”– Olivia NuzziYou are now in the brittle north.“It's FREEZING cold; like the air is made of broken glass. Our English cold is all roly-poly snowmen and ‘woo-hoo! it's a snow day!' a hey-there friendly kind of cold. But this cold is mean…”“It's getting so hard to breathe, my lungs are filling up with ants and there isn't room for air any more. There's a monster made of cold, hard as the edge of a pavement, coming towards us in the dark and it's cutting through the windscreen and doors and windows and the only weapon against it is heat, but we don't have any heat.”“…she felt it now as vastly, cruelly impersonal; a frozen darkness absorbing you into itself. She felt it filling her hollow spaces, embedding itself as icy marrow in her bones and then consciousness seeped away from her into the Arctic blackness.”– Rosamund LuptonYou stood in the rain sixty-five miles north of Seattle.“And it rained a sickness. And it rained a fear. And it rained an odor. And it...

Pastor Bill: [2:04] Hello and welcome to season four, episode four of The Berean Manifesto; Faith, Hope, and Love for the Modern Christian. I'm Pastor Bill and I am joined by Pastor Newms. As always, Newms, how are you doing?   Pastor Newms: [2:22] I'm good, sir. How are you today?   Pastor Bill: [2:24] I'm well tonight. I'm well. How was your Christmas break? We took two weeks off the podcast.   Pastor Newms: [2:30] We did. We were busy between the two of us. Days that you weren't busy. I was, days that you were busy. I wasn't. And it made it very. It's no big deal. It's the holidays. I mean, I actually texted Mom. I was like, Hey, make sure Biggs is on right on time tonight because I had something funny. And she was like, I didn't know you guys were going live tonight. I was like, That's true. It is the first. So the way it fell, you know, it's a little different, but it's good. It's good. I had pretty, pretty good things. I worked. A lot. I've only had I had last Friday and then Monday, and then I have Monday off. So it was three, four-day weeks in a row. But I didn't take any additional time this year because I didn't do any traveling, so I saved my vacation for later. So. And Biggs is saying that you did your office is something different that I'm not noticing?   Pastor Bill: [3:48] Um, I don't know. I mean, we did. It is a recent redo, and then we did take a couple of weeks off, so. Maybe it's just hitting different.   Pastor Newms: [3:59] Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. How was your holidays?   Pastor Bill: [4:05] All right, So. There were holidays. You know, my sister Natalie flew in from California with her husband, Luke. We haven't seen them in three years, so we got to go spend some time with them. That was fun and games and whatnot over at my mom's house.   Pastor Newms: [4:28] Did you guys get any bad ice or anything?   Pastor Bill: [4:28] Christmas at the mother-in-law's. We got some cold, but there was no bad ice.   Pastor Newms: [4:36] That's good. There was snow on the ground near Christmas, but technically not a white Christmas this year. It was like.   Pastor Bill: [4:44] We got snow. But it didn't stick. So.   Pastor Newms: [4:49] And we had ice by the time it was Christmas.   Pastor Bill: [4:50] And then today. It was like 80 degrees with a nice breeze outside. I spent like 2 hours in the front yard laying on a comforter spread. Doing my last-minute study for tonight. Just enjoying the, you know, the nice temperatures.   Pastor Newms: [5:10] It's like sixties here now. Yeah. So.   Pastor Bill: [5:17] Cool. But as far as weeks go, it was just, you know, busy with a bunch of holidays.   Pastor Newms: [5:25] Yeah, I. I did something. I did something big in games, but not a huge deal outside of games. I completed the Pokédex for Scarlet Violet, minus one. Because you have to in order to get a tradable version of the legendary, you have to beat the game. And I haven't beaten Violet yet, so I don't have them right on. But I have every other Pokémon in my life decks. And so that was a thing that I did this week and then started playing a completely different game. So that was fun. Yeah, it was fun.   Pastor Bill: [6:06] Is the game called Your Chronicle?   Pastor Newms: [6:09] No, that's one of my idle games. Your Chronicle and idling to rule the gods are my two idol games that I play, so they're pretty much always up, and Discord just grabs whatever game was up last. I try to normally not play heavy. Lots of movement and sound games during.   Pastor Bill: [6:34] Service podcast.   Pastor Newms: [6:34] Sunday night. And yes, as Senior Poopie Bottom said, I, I did not know. Okay. So I just realized. Senior Poopy Bottom who Senior Poopy Bottom is. And I don't know if I knew who Senior Poopy Bottom was until just now.   Pastor Bill: [6:55] Who is a Senior Poopy Bottom? I do not know who it is. No.   Pastor Newms: [6:55] Have we talked about that? Senior Poopy Bottom. Did I know that you were Senior Poopy Bottom?   Pastor Bill: [7:05] Let the rest of us in on the secret, bro.   Pastor Newms: [7:08] Well, he's sitting on my couch, um, downstairs. Not. Not the dog right here. That'd be creepy.   Pastor Bill: [7:16] Not to judge the type.   Pastor Newms: [7:18] But that's actually. That's actually Mr. Groggy.   Pastor Bill: [7:24] That's Mr. Groggy. How many identities does that man have?   Pastor Newms: [7:25] Mr. Groggy. I don't know what I do. Oh. Well, that's why I was like, Wait a second. He was letting me play Violet. Yeah, I let him borrow Violet last week, which is why while he was borrowing Violet, I finished the Scarlet dex and then did a bunch of trades when he came in. You know, because he came to spend New Years with us, and we played Mortal Kombat 11 on the Switch all night till, like, one. And if she says anything, it's not true. Rayne did not beat me like four or five times in a row. That is fake news. If she tells you that it is, it is not true. Mm-hmm. I was not a happy person. She beat me so many times. Just over and over again. And. But anyway, it's. It's all good.   Pastor Bill: [8:31] So you got a venom thing? You showed us that. I got a pocket watch that I attached to a wristband. So I can just. Find.   Pastor Newms: [8:33] I did. Oh, that's. That's steampunk.   Pastor Bill: [8:48] So steampunk. I love it. It's great. So steampunk.   Pastor Newms: [8:48] It's so steampunk when you come out here to visit. There's this. And we decide to take everybody to Dollywood. There's down there in Gatlinburg, there's this place that is this thing that you do. I can't do it because it's. It's like 3D and stuff, but. The whole idea is that you're in the steampunk ship going around the world. And so, like in the gift shop, there's the steampunk hats and steampunk goggles. And I was like, Oh, Bill would love all this crap.   Pastor Bill: [9:26] Have to go just for the gift shop.   Pastor Newms: [9:28] Yeah, we will. We probably won't pay for everyone to do that because it's like, Yeah. That was part of the existing grandma. Gloria's Christmas to us was everything they paid for, for the girls you know how that is, with Six Flags often. And so it was like, oh no. And yes, because I do know how you felt all those times that I beat you now while my children beat me at games so. Mhm.   Pastor Bill: [10:00] The wheel of time turns.   Pastor Newms: [10:02] Yeah. Yeah.   Pastor Bill: [10:05] What else? I got money. I got some money. Um. A couple of shots, of Fireball.   Pastor Newms: [10:19] How's that? Okay. Okay.   Pastor Bill: [10:22] They sell those little bottles that are just a shot's worth.   Pastor Newms: [10:23] I. Yep. Now, I fully understand. It's just. That's an interesting Christmas present. I didn't. Didn't. Huh?   Pastor Bill: [10:32] That was one of my favorite stocking stuffers, actually.   Pastor Newms: [10:36] He. I can understand.   Pastor Bill: [10:41] So, you know.   Pastor Newms: [10:43] It's actually, the cinnamon is not that high in carbs. So.   Pastor Bill: [10:51] All right. And now it's time for Getting To Know The Pastors. Yep, it is. As I pack my deck. Now the. Yeah. Yeah.   Pastor Newms: [10:55] Is it your week? Yeah. Like a pack of cigarettes when neither of us smokes. Okay. That makes so much sense. Only. Hmm.   Pastor Bill: [11:07] Right. All right. Would you rather.   Pastor Newms: [11:11] I'm going to say something right now. If this card is terrible and we start the year off with an awful card out of your deck, I'm not going to be happy. Go. You did not just change the card.   Pastor Bill: [11:29] I'm thinking about it.   Pastor Newms: [11:39] Oh, man. Now just read it. Try to start the year off. Right.   Pastor Bill: [11:45] So. Yeah. It's starting off, right? I mean, come girl.   Pastor Newms: [11:56] Oh.   Pastor Bill: [11:59] Okay. I'm sorry. Would you rather. Be the best player on a horrible team or the worst player on a great team.   Pastor Newms: [12:14] See, that's really hard because here's the reason why I say that's really hard. So like, if you're the best player on the worst team. And you feel like you're. Like you're wasting your time and talents. And I take that from a team, sports or business. But if you're the worst, you're constantly worried you're about to get got. So. Oh, that's. That's rough. That one is rough. I prefer to be third on either side.   Pastor Bill: [12:58] I prefer just not to do team things. But just. Yeah.   Pastor Newms: [13:02] I prefer to be like the third or fourth smartest person in a room and the most efficient person in a room. And like the. Unless you get traded a week before the Super Bowl. Um.   Pastor Bill: [13:17] Oh, yeah, that would stink.   Pastor Newms: [13:20] But Biggs. So Biggs says the worst on a good team. Um, I. Oh, I would have to say probably. Think if I actually had the answer, I would say. I don't want to ever be the best because it just feels. Even being mediocrely above the medium feels terrible when you're doing when you feel like you're doing more than others.   Pastor Bill: [13:52] If I was the best, I'd always be worried about eighties montages. It's like if you didn't suddenly be like. You're the best around. And I'd be like, Oh, crap. I'm in a montage.   Pastor Newms: [13:57] She's not us. 30-second buffer, 30-second buffer, 30-second buffer, Pastor Bill started. Singing 80 songs. Hmm. For those of you who don't get that joke, come join us live. And you will. Oh, yes. So but you got to choose which one? Which one would you truly choose? I prefer to just be middle, but. I think I agree with Biggs.   Pastor Bill: [14:45] The worst.   Pastor Newms: [14:46] Yeah, I think it's just I think being the best at anything at any moment is just would be infuriating. Like, if you were.   Pastor Bill: [14:52] The worst on the team, I mean.   Pastor Newms: [14:54] Because if you're the best on a bad team, I mean, if you're like, yeah, if you're the best on a bad team, you're constantly you'd be constantly frustrated because you're failing, but you're awesome.   Pastor Bill: [15:08] I mean, you'd constantly feel like Judas, just like, Man, I am better than these. Oh, wait, That was just.   Pastor Newms: [15:14] That was just pride. That's different. That was just. That was just pride. I need a fidget. Okay. I got one. I got one. I just realized I'm fidgeting with an extremely sharp. Knife. And if I slip, I must cut a finger. Of course, that's a straight, like, straight-edge razor blade. That's what I'm looking for. So that should not be what we're fidgeting with.   Pastor Bill: [15:40] So. You know, there's a new doctor coming up for Doctor Who?   Pastor Newms: [15:44] I have heard. Mm hmm. Hmm. Hmm hmm. Even though I'm far behind. But. Yes.   Pastor Bill: [15:47] And David Tennant, David Tennant is now the 10th and the 14th doctor. And there wasn't supposed to be any kind of release this year. And the BBC made this big deal of something big is coming tomorrow. Right.   Pastor Newms: [16:08] Like tomorrow is and tomorrow or they made a big deal and it's in the past. Okay. Oh.   Pastor Bill: [16:08] And it was. No like. New Years Adam They made a big deal that New Year's Eve, they were going to drop something big. And everybody was like, Oh, we're getting a surprise episode. Some kind of short. It was a trailer for next year's special. They made a Big To-Do about releasing a trailer.   Pastor Newms: [16:35] Well, that's what a teaser is.   Pastor Bill: [16:36] Oh, people are livid.   Pastor Newms: [16:39] That's what a teaser is. It's teasing the fact that there's a trailer.   Pastor Bill: [16:40] That they made such a big deal about the trailer.   Pastor Newms: [16:45] But that's. They do that with movies. They do that with everything. Because you release a teaser that says that there's a trailer coming.   Pastor Bill: [16:46] Oh, people are upset. I'm upset.   Pastor Newms: [16:55] I mean, that's what a teaser is. A teaser teases the trailer.   Pastor Bill: [16:59] But they could have said, we're releasing a trailer. But they made it sound like they were releasing something real.   Pastor Newms: [17:02] No, that's no fun. That's not a teaser. Hmm. Well, it was real. It was real footage. It was. Does he look good as The Doctor?   Pastor Bill: [17:09] And then there was this very.   Pastor Newms: [17:19] Oh, David Tennant's the next special. Okay. I'm sorry. I thought the next. Oh, okay. I'm trying to.   Pastor Bill: [17:24] Gave it the next, like three specials. As the 14th doctor, and then he'll regenerate into the 15th doctor.   Pastor Newms: [17:32] I've. I've tried to not be to. Spoilery in the fact that I'm, you know, old dude before chick.   Pastor Bill: [17:44] Hmm. You're asking about Nick. Cute chee guy. How do you say his name?   Pastor Newms: [17:52] I'm not going to try. I can't speak English correctly. I'm not going to insult someone else.   Pastor Bill: [17:57] I didn't want to say it, but. The first Canon black doctor I was going to say is his name, but he's the first Canon Black doctor, which I think is great.   Pastor Newms: [18:08] Yes.   Pastor Bill: [18:11] We've always known the doctor could and in spoilers. We saw a previous incarnation of the Doctor that's never been released in Canon during Jodie Foster, Jodie Whittaker's time, and as a black woman doctor.   Pastor Newms: [18:26] Oh, interesting. Thanks for the spoilers.   Pastor Bill: [18:28] But she's not like canon at this point. You know she's, you know, and so it's exciting to see where this actor will take the doctor. But that's what you're asking about. And as far as how he looks. They have released what his costume is. And it's very. Different. Let's put it that way. You know, The Doctor has always been buttoned up in suits and, you know, blah, blah, blah. And this is more like a t-shirt with a blazer and, dress down. It's not now. It's like what we saw in Matt Smith's first promotional material.   Pastor Newms: [19:10] Mhm.   Pastor Bill: [19:11] Except they've actually said this is actually his clothing. Dr..   Pastor Newms: [19:14] Got it. Interesting. It'll definitely be interesting to see where he takes where they take it with him as the head and where the girls are actually trying to get caught up to then back to where we were. Since they're older now and actually like, you know, cause there was like three the last time we watched it. Um, no, she wasn't that. Who?   Pastor Bill: [19:39] Is he Scottish? Biggs, said Scottish black Doctor Who, But I don't think he's Scottish. I think he's.   Pastor Newms: [19:48] Mm hmm. I don't think he's Scottish. He's. Uh-hmm.   Pastor Bill: [19:51] Ughandan?   Pastor Newms: [19:54] Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm. I don't. I don't remember.   Pastor Bill: [20:00] I was thinking he was born somewhere else and then grew up and.   Pastor Newms: [20:03] Yes, that's what I believe. Because I like him a lot on another show.   Pastor Bill: [20:19] Oh, yes. The. The woman. From. Previously, she was Scottish while she sounded Scottish. But she wasn't. She's not officially canon.   Pastor Newms: [20:37] Right here. Yeah, and I have no idea. So he's were Rwandan Scottish actor.   Pastor Bill: [20:44] Rwandan.   Pastor Newms: [20:45] Yeah, he's Rwandan. And his, you know, rose to prominence as Eric on the Netflix show Sex Education. Which is a pretty funny show. It's interesting, you know. And he is. Yeah, It's an interesting show.   Pastor Bill: [21:07] I'll take your word on it, as soon as this thing and the BBC finish ironing out their deal to have the full catalog of Doctor Who on Disney Plus. I'll be able to go in and rewatch a whole bunch of stuff and catch back up myself before the new stuff drops.   Pastor Newms: [21:28] And. there is how to pronounce his full name, which I.   Pastor Bill: [21:37] All right, here we go.   Pastor Newms: [21:39] I'm not good with little symbols either. So he doesn't help me, but.   Pastor Bill: [21:43] And Cookie. Shoot t. Institute. Hi. Is pronounced Shooty. Okay. It says it's pronounced shooty, not okay. So N - C makes a sound. And his last name is got to. He prefers to go by his middle name professionally, which is shooting. Well, that's fine. I didn't. I've only ever seen his name written. I haven't actually heard anybody say it. So.   Pastor Newms: [22:35] I heard it. Once, but I can't remember it.   Pastor Bill: [22:42] Yes, because they're supposed to have the exam, which says all 50 years on Disney Plus is supposed to be ironing out that deal to bring. Everything, all of Doctor Who on Disney Plus this year. So all the way from number one, all the way up to all of Jodie Whitaker's tenure and everything moving forward, it's supposed to come out on Disney Plus as it's released by the BBC overseas. Because like, right now I can't watch Doctor Who anywhere unless I download it. I don't have anywhere that I can watch Doctor Who.   Pastor Newms: [23:33] Yeah. Right now it's on. I believe it's HBO, Max. And we get it through our AT&T. We have it through. Yeah.   Pastor Bill: [23:44] So. I have Hulu. With HBO, Max. But the HBO Max that's with Hulu doesn't include foreign productions. So you can't watch Doctor Who on Hulu with HBO, Max.   Pastor Newms: [24:12] Interesting.   Pastor Bill: [24:20] Esker Boro, Week three. Oh, it's. It's okay.   Pastor Newms: [24:21] Yeah, I already. I already deleted it.   Pastor Bill: [24:26] I thought he was saying you could go somewhere to watch Doctor Who, and I was a bit like, Hmm. But no, you're right. It's.   Pastor Newms: [24:30] Nope. Now it's gone. It's gone out of everywhere. But what you call it? Yeah. And it's about to be.   Pastor Bill: [24:49] Well, it's gone. Whoever got rid of it, it's gone. All right. So. If you haven't been following along in season four, then you've missed. Three episodes. But we didn't get very far in what we're currently talking about.   Pastor Newms: [25:06] Well. Well, I mean, we've gotten far. It's just we haven't gotten far.   Pastor Bill: [25:13] If we're marking distance by numbers of chapter and verse.   Pastor Newms: [25:17] Oh. Hmm. We haven't gotten far.   Pastor Bill: [25:20] And we haven't gotten very far.   Pastor Newms: [25:23] If you're basing it on that, we have not gotten very far now.   Pastor Bill: [25:25] Right. We haven't got to read the first verse, number, and verse. And so this week, first off. Merry Christmas. We are currently in the 12 days of Christmas. Today is what, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31. Is the eighth day of Christmas. I don't know why. I can't just remember which day is which when the eighth day of Christmas, we got Epiphany coming up. So that's fun. Epiphany is January 6th. The day when we celebrate the Wise men, the Magi, the men of Orient, the probably Zoroastrian individuals. Who brought gifts to Jesus with their caravans of camels and. And all the people that came with them. That's coming up. So that's exciting. That's not. I mean, not exciting, but it's exciting to me to mark those holidays, you know, for me personally. But I know a lot of people don't celebrate those things anymore. The commercialization of.   Pastor Newms: [26:35] Mm hmm.   Pastor Bill: [26:47] Christmas has proliferated greatly. I will just say it. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Any excuse to feel hope and inspiration and to reconnect with people that you haven't connected with in a while. And bury the hatchet and get rid of old grudges. Is a good deal. All right. The baby monitor was still on the receiver. Turn it off.   Pastor Newms: [27:25] So. Okay. I was wondering if and could hear Nibbles over here. Nibbles is very loud at the moment, and I just ask the girls to come get her because she is, loud this weekend.   Pastor Bill: [27:44] I don't hear the cat. Biggs says that he does.   Pastor Newms: [27:48] Yeah, that's Nibbles being a something.   Pastor Bill: [27:54] I don't hear it. So we started this.   Pastor Newms: [27:55] Well.   Pastor Bill: [27:57] We talked about Genesis one-one, and then we talked about Genesis one-two, and then we talked about John one-one, and then we talked about Genesis one-three and Genesis the first half of Genesis one-four. And we did all of that in the first three episodes, so. Where we pick up in this episode is the second half of Genesis one-four. And then we're going to go hopefully all the way through Genesis one-five. Although we may just burn right through this and be done early and be twiddling our thumbs.   Pastor Newms: [28:40] Mm hmm. I'm sure.   Pastor Bill: [28:42] Yeah. Genesis one-four. Last week we talked about God creating light and we talked about how it was less of the light to exist or light it exists and more of a light recognizing or calling out to the light. But we didn't really talk about it. Why we see it that way. Why we framed it that way. And where that comes from is here in verse five. So God creates the light. We're starting in the second half, of verse four. Yes.   Pastor Newms: [29:25] Well, are we going to start in four?   Pastor Bill: [29:31] So God sees the light that it's good. And then God separates the light from the darkness. Right. Now the word there is still gods. We're still talking about the plural. We're still using the plural for God, God's. And this word. Separated is. Is two words. It's. It's H914, which is baw-dal' and it is H996, which is bane. Okay. Now, baw-dal' is to distinguish as difference. To look at something and make a judgment and say the light and the darkness, we recognize them as two different things. And then, bane. Make sure I wrote this in my notes right.   Pastor Newms: [30:39] Me to read it, have it open.   Pastor Bill: [30:42] You don't have my notes open.   Pastor Newms: [30:44] No, but I have the thing open.   Pastor Bill: [30:49] And H996 is to declare a distinction between the two. Right. So he's making, God's making two statements here. He's declaring them as separate and seeing them as separate. So not only does God look at them and go, Well, you're two separate things, lightness and darkness. We talked about the light. There was that sentience of man. It was enlightenment, it was consciousness. And then that darkness was everything that's dark, right? It was misery and destruction and chaos. And all this stuff. And God is saying, well, these are two separate things. Two very separate things. Now, later. We're actually going to start calling those things good and evil when we get into chapter two. We're going to start using different terms. And the reason for the different terms is that like we talked about before. Genesis originally started with chapter two. And went on. And then when they went into captivity in Babylon, then they added chapter one, incorporating what the Babylonians knew about creation. Including those details into the story there at the beginning. And that's why there's this different viewpoint, different phrases for the same things. So this is the point where God is separating good and evil and saying these are actually separate things. These aren't just, you know, intermingled. And it's all it is what it is. It's not that's not what these things are. There is clearly good and there is clearly evil. And God can do that. Because God can deal in black and white. Pastor Newms, can you deal in black and white?   Pastor Newms: [32:57] I like Gray a lot, huh?   Pastor Bill: [33:00] I feel like the Sunday school teacher at this point. No, you cannot deal in black and white because you are human.   Pastor Newms: [33:04] I like. Yeah, Yeah, I like Gray a lot. Um, I pretty much live in gray.   Pastor Bill: [33:09] Yeah. Humans deal in gray. We do not deal in black and white. It is physically impossible for us to deal in black and white. They, God deals in black and white. God deals in pass or fail. So we see this in the character of God. We see this from the very beginning. Later on when we get to the ideas of salvation and we start talking about if you've broken one law, then you've broken all laws. If you're a sinner in one way, then you're a sinner. And always if you don't believe, then you're not saved. And it's a pass or fail. It's a yes or no. It's not a “Well, I was a good person” or “I went to church” or “I gave money to the poor,” and No, no, no. There was one answer. There was one question, and there was one answer. It was black and white. It was yes or no. It was not gray. There was no middle ground. We see that in the nature of God from the very beginning. Light and dark. Good and evil.   Pastor Newms: [34:22] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.   Pastor Bill: [34:26] That is the nature of God. That doesn't change. It doesn't. God deals. In black and white, right? Now. That's the nature of God. God also exists. In the business of mercy. Which is Jesus. We call that Jesus, right?   Pastor Newms: [34:51] Uh huh.   Pastor Bill: [34:52] Not just there's black and white. And humans are failing that. And then God goes, and I have an answer for it. And that's God's mercy. That's Jesus. And then Jesus offers salvation. And salvation is still this black and white. But it's being offered. When you haven't earned it, you don't deserve it. You're sitting over in the darkness and it gets off. It's still black and white, right? Impossible. And God says, Ha! But. I am Holy Spirit, too. I am the Comforter. I am the reminder. I can move in your life. And that's where we get that part of God, the Holy Spirit. And that gives us the grace to change. Right? And be worthy of the free gift that Jesus gifts. And we see all of that playing out. In that statement. God separated. The light. From the darkness. And so there's this great poetic thing going on here. And we're seeing the nature of God and we're seeing all this power of God. And we're only four verses in.   Pastor Newms: [36:31] Mm hmm.   Pastor Bill: [36:31] And this such as deep, deep, deep thing going on here. All right. And then we get to verse five. Okay. Now, you got to remember you're reading a poem. All right. Verse five. Is it? It's basically. I don't really know how to explain it other than to say if you reach out and you grab dough and you go to make a ball of dough and you go like this. And you squeeze that into the dough to make the finish off the ball. Verse five is that it's finishing off the ball of dough for this poem. That's a weird visual, but that's what I'm getting in my head. So.   Pastor Newms: [37:22] A.   Pastor Bill: [37:24] When you look at verse five. What you're reading is actually telling you what was happening in verses three and four. Okay. So this statement, God called the light day and the darkness he called night. That statement is what actually was seen to happen. And everything before that. This is the explanation of the nuts and bolts. Abatbrain on twitch. My wife says it is a bit odd. My little ball of dough thing.   Pastor Newms: [38:11] It is.   Pastor Bill: [38:11] But all of my analogies are odd, so I'm not surprised. Okay. So when we get to verse five, we see God and we're using the same still the plural for God's called. All right. And. And called there. We see that as God naming the lights. And it would be if this wasn't a poem. If this wasn't poetic, you know, wordplay. Right. But H7121 called. Which is kaw-raw'. A primitive route rather identical to H7122 through the idea of accosting a person met, to call out to that is properly addressed by name, but used in a wide variety of applications, and then gives you a list in the Strongs of all the different ways it's been translated. So what this is saying, this is actually showing you in verse four when God said, let there be light. That was them describing what God did. But what actually happened? Is God. Called out to or accosted the light by name like we were talking about in the previous episode. What actually happened is, is God went light, but he didn't because that's not the name of light. What is the name of light? The name of light is Yome or what we then call day. So in verse three, when he said, Let there be light. And the poem says, And God, you know, said, Let there be light. It's all wordplay for God addressing accosting, calling out to light as if it existed. And the name that it used for light was Yome. As if when Pastor Newms gives me a phone call. Like I said if it wasn't a weird thing for him to call me because he only calls me in emergencies. If he called me on a regular basis and he's my best friend, I saw his name on the phone. I would pick up the phone. I would go Newms! It's the same thing. God, said Yome. Called out to the light as if it already existed. As if it was an old friend. As if he already knew it. And at that point. It came into existence. It then existed. And then God compared. That, too. What was within himself? And then in verse. What is that verse four? No, where to?   Pastor Newms: [41:28] For us. It's good.   Pastor Bill: [41:33] Compare that saw. Compare that to what was within himself and declared it good. I see that within myself. That is good, right? And then. He did the same thing for the darkness. And he called the darkness. I think these are three different pronunciations of the same word. I don't think this is the actual word. It says lah'-yil, lale, and lah'-yel-aw. I think those are three diffeerent pronunciations. But he said that. And. And what that means is a twist away from the light or adversity. Right? So he addressed the night, the darkness as adversity, or a twisting away from the light, twisting away from life, twisting away from enlightenment, twisting away from, sentience, and all of that good stuff. The poet wrangles all that together. And says and the evening in the morning were the first day. Hey. God is talking and calls the light day. But it's not the word day. But that is what the humans then later called a day. They use that same word. Right. So we see the poet playing off of that wordplay. And using the word in both places. Because that's what God called it. And then he calls upon that in the same verse and says, Well, the first day. It's a different day. This is a human day now. Right. And we only have an evening and a morning. Because. God. Separated. The light from the darkness. So the poet's working on several levels. Here is the cosmic level where he's talking about good and evil, and then he's using wordplay to relate that to the reader the difference between sunshine and darkness and where those two meet in the evening and the morning. Which is the gray area. Where we live. Where we exist. Right. In that evening and in that morning. That's where we exist. We exist somewhere in between those light, and that darkness. And that was the first day. And so then when we looked back and we were talking about. The first day didn't end until the first day ended. Right. And well, and what we meant by that was we don't know when the first day began. For God, there could have been. Millions and millions of years. We talked about it in the first verse, God created the heavens and the earth we were talking about. That's a hands-on word, hands-on action, where you're building something up, using the baser elements. And we don't know how long in God's perspective that took. But there was no time yet. There was no marking of what we think of as time. There was no turning of day and night in seasons. And so we don't know how long. There was from the moment that God created the heavens and the earth, right? Started that work. The evening and the morning existing. To create the quote-unquote, first day. It's all very deep and very involved. And I encourage everybody to go back and reread those verses. Go back and listen to the first three episodes of season four. And. Let's back up. Now that we know we've worked through the holidays. We're settling down. We're ready to get things going. Make if you're going to make a New Year's resolution, make a resolution to be in. Right. So we say be very in. Because when we go to Acts, we find people fleeing from one place to another. And he goes to a town called Berea, and when he gets to Berea, he starts preaching. And the believers in Berea, not just the believers, but also the. The Jewish men, they refused to believe anything Paul said until they were able to go and find it themselves in the scriptures. They wanted to be able to go and own what Paul was preaching to them or, have grounds to dismiss it. They didn't want to just receive it. And Paul praised them as being more worthy than the highfalutin Jews over in Jewtown. He didn't use those words, but that was the equivalent of what he was saying. You guys are more worthy than the snooty guys over there. That's awesome, guys. Because they refused to believe what he was saying until they proved it for themselves. So if you're going to make a New Year's resolution and the last episode we talked about, a lot of people start in January, they're going to read the whole Bible in a year. And we talked about how I don't recommend that because it loses a lot of that deep study time because people don't read with intention. They read to just I got to get my daily reading done so I can make it through the year. Resolve to be buried. Go back. And look at these verses in the deep poetic terms that they are intended to be. Cross-reference that with the other parts of Scripture. And let what is one of the deepest chapters in the Bible speak to you, and revolutionize the way you think about this Sunday school topic of creation. You know, like it is. So there's so much there. And. Yeah, that's what I had for tonight. Look at that. 7:25.   Pastor Newms: [49:22] It means you're 3 minutes early.   Pastor Bill: [49:22] But we'll be whittling.   Pastor Newms: [49:26] Right. We have 3 minutes to twiddle now.   Pastor Bill: [49:29] We don't have to twiddle. We can.   Pastor Newms: [49:34] Why are you playing with a grippy thing?   Pastor Bill: [49:38] A clamp. It's a clamp.   Pastor Newms: [49:40] I know. I forgot what the word clamp was for a minute, but I know its purpose.   Pastor Bill: [49:50] Well, I know its purpose. It clamps.   Pastor Newms: [49:51] It's one of those it's it's one of those where we weren't clever. Our English definition of explaining things was not clever. What is what does it do? It holds other things. It clamps one thing to another. What are we going to call it? A clamp.   Pastor Bill: [50:08] From the clamp.   Pastor Newms: [50:12] Let's like, call a vacuum. A vacuum? Why? Because it vacuums. Well, because it creates a. Yeah.   Pastor Bill: [50:17] Because it uses a vacuum to suck things.   Pastor Newms: [50:21] And.   Pastor Bill: [50:25] Yeah. Did you have anything you wanted to add to any of that?   Pastor Newms: [50:28] No, I mean, I think.   Pastor Bill: [50:30] I didn't really stop and give you time to interject at any point, did I?   Pastor Newms: [50:33] I think it's important as we look at these types of things, to think about the fact that, you know, it is not a simple aspect. And so often we look at it as such. And so it's good to take time to dig in and actually understand what the words mean and actually understand what. You know, is being said not just what is written, because it is definitely. English is not as we were just saying, you know clamp is clamp-like if it's not clever it is not pick up the artistry of other languages. Well.   Pastor Bill: [51:16] It was clear.   Pastor Newms: [51:29] You know, So I think it's one of the reasons why studying is so important.   Pastor Bill: [51:35] It's hard enough to understand poetry in English. And then you take some other cultures, poetry, and you translate it to three different languages and then try to transliterate that in English.   Pastor Newms: [51:52] It is complicated.   Pastor Bill: [51:59] Yeah. All right. This podcast comes out every week on Wednesdays. Wherever you get your podcasts, if you found this, I don't know. Helpful, entertaining, funny, and inspiring. Or you think somebody might benefit from it, then like, follow share. Tell people we exist. And also, if you'd like to join us live and be a part of the conversation where you can type out your message and then we can respond and we can, you know, get a deeper explanation going on. If you have a question or something like that, then we do that on Sunday nights at 6:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. You can go to our website www.ekk.house to find out which Twitch which YouTube and which Facebook that we are live on, where you can catch that video and participate in the chat. As always, we are glad to have our listener base. And as we go into 2023, that hasn't changed. We're in season four, which means we're many, many, many episodes and several years into this thing. And we're quite thankful to just. I don't know. I guess I'm more thankful to have you Pastor Newms in my life than the platform itself.   Pastor Newms: [53:29] It's the people that we interact with is more important than the.   Pastor Bill: [53:30] You know.   Pastor Newms: [53:36] Following, because that's not what's important.   Pastor Bill: [53:37] Yeah, I mean, I know, I know. It's important to, you know, get the stuff out there and, and, you know, help people and make a difference in the world, but. You know, I'm not immune to the benefits of. What this does for me. So thank you, sir. For your part in my life. All right. Okay. So if you're with us live now, we have to do this thing that, you know, streaming some.   Pastor Newms: [54:07] No, you didn't say. You didn't say and the next time and all that other stuff. So that way I can then say, be safe. You skipped all that. Go back and do it correctly.   Pastor Bill: [54:19] I love you guys have a great week.   Pastor Newms: [54:20] Be safe out there.   Pastor Bill: [54:23] And until next time.

Our English friend with his sexy Eastern European wife write back in to catch us up on what's been going on.. Slut Wife E's husband confesses his desires might just align with what she has been up to in her down time. If you have any erotic fantasies you want to share or even if it is to say hello please feel free to send them to Nikky@dearnikky.comor anonymously DearNikky.com/confessions By submitting a confession and/or question you certify the following stipulations to be true: You are the sole creator of the submission; You are 18 years of age or older and legally able to write, submit erotic or pornographic material Stories including Bestiality, Incest and Incest Fantasies, Underage Role-Play, Rape Sex, Rape Fantasies or other non-consensual content or Racial slurs will not be aired. We reserve the right to change names or other identifiable information. I am releasing all rights to this creation Dear Nikky: Sex Confessions From People Just Like You is out now!! Want to have a drink with me? Book Krazy Summer Nightsbefore it's sold out.. I'll be there. Check out my show on Smuttyflix. Want to be on the show. You can email me at Nikky@dearnikky.comor dearnikky@smuttyflix.com. You can find me also a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Smuttyfy. If you liked the show leave a positive review on any platform you listen to the show on. You can send me confessions directly to my P.O. Box. 1750 Jefferson St. #104674 Jefferson City, MO 65109 You can find me Dear Nikky: https://dearnikky.com Patreon: Dear Nikky Spotify: Dear Nikky iTunes: Dear Nikky --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dearnikky/message

1 John 2:1-6Rev. Erik Veerman11/20/2022 Knowing that You Know Him: the Obedience TestOur sermon text this morning is from 1 John chapter 2, the first 6 verses. Page 1210 in the pew Bible.This is our third sermon in 1 John. The book opens with the apostle John establishing his credibility and emphasizing Jesus. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who has been made manifest. He is, in fact, the foundation to this whole letter. John then turns his attention to the matter at hand: authentic faith. He makes a clear delineation that there is true belief and false belief. True living and false living. He calls his readers and us to be on the right side of the line – walking in the light of true faith in Christ.And that brings us to chapter 2. John goes a level deeper. He begins a series of tests to determine whether your faith is genuine.So, let's come now to God's Word.Reading of 1 John 2:1-6PrayerIntroductionIn a 2017 article about religion, an author wrote these stinging words: “Ahhh, Christianity in America. Or should I say, the single greatest cause of atheism today. You know who I'm talking about, right? The type of people who acknowledge Jesus with their words, and deny him through their lifestyle.”Or take these thoughts written earlier last week. “Dear American Church… you are slowly dying. If you are paying attention, you probably realize that. Your buildings are slowly clearing, your pews gradually emptying, your congregations visibly aging away, your voice carrying less resonance than it used to. There are many complicated and interconnected reasons for this,” he wrote. This author then went on to identify what he believed was the number one reason. He wrote, “You are dying because of your hypocrisy.”By the way, while it's true that church attendance in the United States has been slowly declining, it's not actually true for Gospel-centered churches. The opposite is happening.But nonetheless, it's generally true. And many outside the church see the church as full of hypocrites - people who believe one thing, but their words and actions betray their belief. According to a recent study, 55% of people outside the church see people inside the church as hypocrites.Now, some of that is a perceived hypocrisy. That's because sometimes the ethical standards used to evaluate the church and Christians are different than the ethical standards that the Scriptures teach. We'll get into that later.But some of the hypocrisy is real. You know this. Many high-profile pastors and Christian leaders have been “disgraced” so to speak. The reasons include infidelity, bullying, or extravagant lifestyles. And that's just some well-known leaders. Real hypocrisy is seen and experienced at all levels. Some of you have been deeply hurt by similar hypocrisy.We need to be honest, each of us has areas in our lives that don't line up with what we believe. Sometimes we're blind to it, but sometimes we know it yet stubbornly persist in our hypocrisy.And what the apostle John is teaching us here is that our lives need to reflect our beliefs. Our words and actions cannot be disconnected from our relationship with God. Part of knowing God is pursuing his commands. If you look at verse 3, that idea is right there. “…we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” It's talking about knowing Christ - knowing him and his commandments. And do you see that layered use of the word “know?” “We know that we…. know him” It does not say, “we know him if we keep his commandments.” In other words, keeping his commandments is not how you come to know God in Christ. It's not the basis for your knowledge of God. Rather, keeping his commandments demonstrates that you have indeed come to know God. It's a confirmation.The end of verse 5 and into 6 is very similar “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” It's speaking of Jesus. We know we are in him if we walk as he walked… meaning the manner in which we live reflects the manner in which Jesus lived.I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my sermon titles and I usually don't mention them. Sometimes, in fact, I wish I could change them. This morning, though, I want to point out my title because the next three 1 John sermons will have similar titles. My title this morning is “Knowing that You Know Him: The Obedience Test.” Next week will be, “Knowing that You Know Him: The Love Test.” The sermon after that, which will be in January, “Knowing that You Know Him: The World Test.” And after that, “Knowing that You Know Him: The Doctrine Test.” So, the obedience test, the love test, the world test, and the doctrine test.One of the key phrases in 1 John is the phrase “by this we know” or “by this we may know” Verse 3 is the first time that it's used. And we'll see it 7 other times in the book. And it's connected to how we know…. How we know that we truly know God. How we know that he abides in us. How we know what we believe is true.. It's the idea of assurance. Helping us to have confidence in our faith in Christ… or actually moving us to true faith in Christ. And John does that by giving us different tests to check the authenticity of our faith. Again, the obedience test, the love test, the world test, and the doctrine test. That's where we're headed this morning and the next three 1 John sermons.If you remember from last week, John's message was framed in general terms. Sin in general terms. Walking in the light and walking in darkness in general terms. He was drawing the line for us, telling us that there is a line between true faith and false faith. And now in chapter 2, he gives us these specific tests.Before we go there, though… before we jump into the test of obedience, let's consider 2 things:• First, sin and redemption. That's the focus of verses 1 and 2.• And second, the word “know.” That word is used over and over throughout the book, so it would be helpful to understand it.Sin and RedemptionBut first, in the beginning of chapter 2, John continues his explanation of sin. At the end of chapter 1, if you remember, John rejected any notion that sin is no longer present in the Christian life. No, even though we are redeemed, in this life we still struggle with sin. We can't reject sin's continued presence. John says in chapter 2 verse 1, “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” In those few words, it's a recognition both that sin still is present in the Christian life, but that we can pursue holiness and righteousness. He continues, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is a great word of reassurance for the Christian. If you are truly in Christ, when you do sin, Christ is interceding for you, continually. He is your advocate.But how is that so? That's what verse 2 answers: “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” That word “Propitiation” is a big word, isn't it? It essentially means to satisfy a demand. Our sin deserves punishment and judgment, but Jesus is our propitiation. He satisfied God's wrath against sin. It does not mean that God the Father is the angry one and Jesus, the Son, is the loving one. No, not at all. God the Father loved us so much that he gave his Son to be the propitiation for sin. To satisfy divine justice. In essence, that's the Gospel. That's where John wants us to begin.To say all of that in another way, redemption in Christ is the foundation to knowing God. The life tests that John is going to apply are to validate that you know God… that you truly have the Gospel hope of Christ. That's why John begins with the Gospel in verses 1 and 2.Let me make a brief side note. When it says that Jesus is the propitiation for “the sins of the whole world,” it does not mean that every person in the whole world is saved through Jesus. Some people have claimed that it means that. But that makes no sense when you consider that the entire book of 1 John is clear that there is true faith and false faith, true belief and false belief. Those who truly believe and demonstrate that by their lives, have this redemption in Christ. Those who do not have true faith, do not have redemption in Christ, but need it. What it means for Jesus to be the propitiation for the whole world, is that true faith in Christ is for people of every tribe, language, and nation – the whole world, in that sense.To KnowAnd that bring us to a second important consideration. What does the word “know” mean? We see it multiple times here. It's the Greek word “ginosko.” That word can be applied in different ways. For example, when it's applied to a relationship, it implies a very deep and personal relationship. Our English understanding of the word “know” when applied to relationships doesn't really capture that. For us, when we know someone, it could just be an acquaintance. But John's readers would understand that it's a lot deeper. When John talks about “knowing him” he's not talking about knowing of Jesus. He's talking about faith and trust in him. Furthermore, back to verse 3, the second use of the word “know” (“to know him”) is an active perfect tense. It indicates a present relationship with Christ, that began in the past, but is ongoing. Someone who truly knows Christ has that kind of relationship with him. It's similar to the word “abiding” in verse 6. Abiding in Jesus means living in or living with him in a permanent sense. And to say it again, that knowing and abiding in Jesus comes through the Gospel.Besides the word ginosko/ (“to know”) applied to relationships, it's also used here in a general sense. In verse 3, the phrase “by this we know” is speaking about knowing something. In fact, those uses are similar to knowing about something in English. That use of “know” is pretty straight forward. So, to put it all together, verse 3 is saying this: “…we have a clear understanding that we have come to a genuine personal ongoing relationship with Christ, if we keep his commandments”You may have figured this out already, but the word ginosko is where the word gnostic comes from (g-n-o-s-t-i-c). Last week I mentioned that John's audience was dealing with very early forms of Gnosticism. Even though he doesn't name this false teaching, John uses language that they would have used. The Gnostics were all about knowing God. And because he uses the word ginosko over 30 times in the book, his readers would have been keen to hear how to truly know God. You see, there's no problem with the goal to know God. We all want to know God, but some of John's audience (who were being affect by this early expressions of Gnosticism) either rejected the basis for knowing God, which is faith in Christ … or they rejected the implications of truly knowing God, which includes obedience.Here's how one commentator described this influence. He writes, “Like an infection in the Christian community, this virus urged that the pathway to salvation did not depend on freedom from sin, but rather freedom from ignorance. If esoteric mysticism opened the way to God, then other mundane matters, such as earthly obedience and morality could easily be swept aside.”He's saying that this hyper spiritualism was disconnected from sin and redemption in Christ. It therefore ignored the moral implications connected with knowing Jesus.Ok, let's take a time out here! We've just gotten into some weeds – words, definitions, philosophies. Some of you may be tracking along, but it's a lot to take in. Let me try to summarize it, then we'll get into the obedience test.• First, the foundation to knowing God is found in the Gospel – the redemption of Christ through the cross. That's the first two verses. • Second, the people to whom John was writing, were dealing with a grave misunderstanding of how to know God and the implications of knowing him• And third, in response to the misunderstandings, these verses are part 1 in a series of practical tests that the apostle is giving. These tests are not telling you how to know God intimately. Rather, they are telling you how to know that you know God intimately.The Test of ObedienceAnd that (finally!) brings us to the test of obedience.To put it simply, John is answering the lingering question from chapter 1: If true faith is demonstrated by walking in the in the light, and false faith is demonstrated by walking in the darkness, how do we know what those walks of life look like? Because if I say to you, “walk in the light” and I leave it at that, you could respond, “ok, great. I can do that. And by the way, I think that walking in the light means this or that.” For example, some have said, “there's no problem sleeping with my girlfriend or boyfriend. That doesn't reflect on my Christian walk. After all, we're committed to each other.” Or “I'm not affecting anyone else, when I watch pornography.” Or, “the tax laws in our country don't matter to my Christian beliefs. I can fudge my write offs. Afterall,” as some think, "taxation is theft.”But you see, those are examples of coming up with your own morality. It's not what the apostle John is saying. Rather, he's putting a flag in the ground. He's saying, knowing God in Christ is tested by your obedience. Not an obedience that you define, where you decide what is right and wrong. Rather, it's tested by your desire to pursue what God has commanded.You see, what John's readers were dealing with is different from what we are dealing with. Yes, there are some gnostic influences out there, today, but the bigger issue for us is moral relativism. Or its counterpart, ethical relativism. • Moral relativism says: “what is right and wrong is not dependent on some objective standard out there. Rather you, the individual, determine what is right and wrong based on your own feelings and intuitions.” An example of moral relativism in our culture is the area of sexuality. The growing trend is seeing sexual identity and sexual practices as an individual choice, not something where there's an external standard of right and wrong. • And similarly, ethical relativism says: “what is right and wrong are not determined either by an individual nor some objective standard for everyone. Rather what is right and wrong are determined by the society in which you live.” For example, take honor killings. In some middle eastern cultures, in order to preserve the honor of a family, it is acceptable in certain circumstances to kill someone. If someone commits adultery and shames the family, the family is justified to take the life of that individual. Someone who subscribes to ethical relativism would be fine with that. To them, it's a standard that the broader community has determined. But the Scriptures teach neither moral relativism nor ethical relativism. Rather, they teach that God has a standard for all humanity. His laws and commands are transcendent.God has given us his law – the moral law. It's summarized in the 10 commandments. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he explains and applies God's law to different situations. Jesus also reveals that obeying God's law begins in our hearts and minds. Furthermore, God has written his law on the hearts of all humanity, but we suppress that truth in unrighteousness.But when we come to truly know God, to truly believe in Christ, God gives us a desire to pursue his commandments… to love him, to worship him alone, to love our neighbors. And the place we go to know his commandments, to know how to worship him, to know how to love our neighbor… is His Word.That's the emphasis of verses 3-5. Keeping his commandments, verses 3 and 4. Keeping his Word, verse 5. It's not seeking to keep my personal beliefs of what is right and wrong. Neither is it seeking to keep my community's beliefs of what is right and wrong (in moral categories) but rather it's seeking God's standard. Part of what it means to keep God's commandments, is recognizing that his law is the only true standard of right and wrong.So, the first test of whether you truly know God is the test of obedience. That means your heart's desire is to know and keep his commandments…. your heart's desire is to live a life honorable to him in those those commands… and your heart's desire is to grow in your understanding of God's Word and mature in keeping it.That's the positive side of the test. Verse 4, on the other hand, is the negative side: “Whoever says ‘I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” In some sense, that is what hypocrisy means. Saying you believe but not demonstrating that you believe. And let me make a distinction. John is talking about a capital “H” hypocrite. Someone who says they have faith in Christ, but there is no evidence in his or her life of repentance… no desire to know or pursue God's commands. That's different than say a lowercase “h” hypocrite. Someone who has some inconsistencies in their life between their faith and their living. Because at one level, we are all hypocrites. The difference is, are we striving to grow and mature in our obedience… or are we living a lie, as John puts it.I want to make sure that something is really really clear. That word “perfected” in verse 5… it does not mean perfection in you. Rather it means that that God's love for us is demonstrated to be true or proven to be true when we are pursuing his Word. In that sense his love for us is perfected. Verses 3-5 do not teach that a true Christian no longer sins. John has already clarified that in chapter 1. And verse 2 of this chapter also makes that clear. We do sin. The test of obedience is whether we are seeking to know and keep his commands. And when we do fail and break his commands, whether we feel convicted about that and have a renewed desire to keep them.You may be struggling with an addiction, and while there may be times when you have victories, you may also experience setbacks. Times when that temptation gives way to that sin… in the moment, you are pulled in. The test here is how you respond in those times. Are you grieved but renewed in the grace of God in Christ… with a desire to press on in pursuing obedience? In those cases, run to verse 1 – “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.” Run to him. Your strength in keeping his commandments, after all, is not in yourself, it is in him.Jesus is the one to whom we all need to turn. The reason he's called “the righteous” in verse 1 is because he is the only one who perfectly obeyed the law. Jesus was the only true non-hypocrite. He never thought or did one thing that violated God's commands. He never acted in a manner contrary to God's will. He is the only one who knows God perfectly and has kept his commands perfectly. He's the embodiment of the law and the word. As John puts it in chapter 1, he is the Word of Life.And to that end, Jesus is the perfect model for us. He is the one to whom we can turn as we seek to keep God's commands. Through him we can seek to walk in the same way as he walked (as it says). And in him, we can truly know God.So as you search your hearts, and as you apply the test of obedience, may you realize that you passed the test, knowing that you know him. Pursuing his commands… not in your strength, not to be saved, but because you have been saved. You are living out that salvation because you know him. May that be the testimony of your life. And if it is not, may you come to know him… may it become your testimony.

Welcome to my podcast. My name is Kathrin Wersing, I live in Germany and I started this podcast 2 years ago because I was diagnosed with Parkinson's at the age of 40. Since then I have been looking out for people with positive stories. Isn't it strange that we remember negative stories easily while positive ones seem hard to find? But actually there are so many encouraging and positive stories out there that show us how people cope with life despite Parkinson's. And these wonderful stories I did not only find in German speaking countries but also in many other places around the world. Today in my special series "Parkinson's around the world“ I virtually traveled to Denmark and met Elisabeth Ildal. You'll hear it right away - we had an incredible amount of fun during our interview and laughed a lot, but we also focused on serious facts of Parkinson's. Elisabeth has been living with PD for almost 10 years and has overcome many challenges during that time. In the beginning she hid the disease from nearly everyone but later she spoke frankly from one day to the next and since then she has been tirelessly involved in helping people with Parkinson's. She is a courageous, strong but above all fun-loving woman and I am very happy that I can share her story with you today. Our English is colorful and not perfect but that's how I think life should be! I hope you enjoy this interview. If you want to learn more about Elisabeths numerous activities have a look at the following links: https://www.ittffoundation.org/news/details/if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-do-it-elisabeth-ildal https://www.tv2bornholm.dk/artikel/parkinsonpatienter-spiller-bordtennis-paa-bornholm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U25VRK7X-fM https://www.ittffoundation.org/news/details/if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-do-it-elisabeth-ildal https://www.tv2bornholm.dk/artikel/parkinsonpatienter-spiller-bordtennis-paa-bornholm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U25VRK7X-fM https://tv2bornholm.dk/artikel/bordtennis-hjaelper-paa-parkinsons-sygdom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dg7ioNzC_U&list=PL5L2xv6Yv4xV2Fqxd6-I08A45HhksRFV1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FYrf1LRXwo&list=PL5L2xv6Yv4xV2Fqxd6-I08A45HhksRFV1&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBqv5t5hPrc&list=PL5L2xv6Yv4xV2Fqxd6-I08A45HhksRFV1&index=4 I appreciate your feedback on this podcast episode. Feel free to write to me: kontakt@jetzt-erst-recht.info

From the title we know that David is the writer of this Psalm. The dedication to the Chief Musician stands at the head of fifty-three of the Psalms, and clearly indicates that such psalms were intended, not merely for the private use of believers, but to be sung in the great assemblies by the appointed choir director. Not only did the ancient Church chant hallowed doctrine and offer prayer amid her spiritual songs, but even the wailing notes of complaint were put into her mouth by the sweet singer of Israel who was inspired of God. According to Paul instructions to the church in Colossians 3:16, we are to, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” This is not so much a “praise” Psalm as it is a song to be sung to teach and admonish us to not go down the path of becoming a “Practical Atheist”. “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." Did you notice that the fool does not say out loud that there is no God. He says it in his heart, in his mind. In other words, he denies the existence of God so he can do what he wants to do and never have to give an account before a holy God one day in judgment. The real reason that a person claims there is no God is not because of a problem with their intellect or reasoning ability as they are surrounded by evidence of a Creator God, but because of the “filthiness and corruption of their own heart and their abominable deeds”. Years ago, I heard someone say that “A person's theology will be determined by their morality.” These verses seem to bear witness to the truth of that statement. Our English word "fool" comes from a Latin word that means "bellows," suggesting that the fool is a person "full of hot air." In the Hebrew language, there are three basic words for "fool": kesyl, the dull, stupid fool; ewiyl, the unreasonable and perverted fool; and nabal, the brutish person who is like a stubborn animal. Nabal is the word used here in 14:1. Remember it was the name of a man who was brutish and refused to help David (1 Sam. 25). Nabal fools are self-righteous and don't need or want God. They want to live their own lives the way they please. Their problem is willful ignorance and not lack of normal intelligence (2 Peter 3:5; Rom. 1:18-28). But this decision causes sad consequences in both their character and their conduct. By leaving God out of their lives, they cause their inner person to become more and more corrupt. The Hebrew word “corrupt” means "rotten, putrid, decayed." When God looks down to investigate (Gen. 6:5, 11-12; 11:15; 18:21), He sees people who are filthy (v. 3), a word that describes milk that has become rancid. "Gone aside" means they have turned their backs on God (Jer. 2:21) and refuse to fulfill the purpose for which they were created—to glorify God. This indictment is universal: all people, individually or all together, cannot do anything at all that is good enough to merit heaven—"no one, no, not one”. Paul quotes from this passage in Romans 3 as part of his proof that the whole world is guilty before God and can be saved only by the grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:9-26). Human depravity doesn't mean that all persons are as wicked as they can be, or that all are equally bad, or that no man or woman can ever do anything good (Luke 11:13). It simply means that all have a fallen nature they cannot change, and that apart from the grace of God, none can be saved from eternal judgment. Despite the foolish and corrupt character and nature of people and leaders around us, we should remember that one day God will restore the fortunes of His people and we should rejoice and be glad (v. 7)! God bless!

In the Bible, we see that God is at work in the world, and he wants us to join him. After the resurrection, the Gospel of John says Jesus appeared to the disciples to show them he was alive, to dispel their fear, and to then commission them with his Spirit to carry on his mission. Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Our English word mission comes from the Latin word missio, which means ‘to send.' As the Father sent him, now, Jesus sends us into the world to be his representatives and to carry on his work. As was shared in the message this week, taking up Jesus' mission as our mission is a ‘command,' not a suggestion (Matthew 28:18-20). God's Word tells us that our mission in life is to be a continuation of Jesus' mission and has eternal significance. The cost of embracing God's mission for our life here on earth is abandoning our own agenda and accepting God's agenda. It requires a shift from self to others, from thinking just locally to globally, and from being focused on only the now to a more eternal perspective. Together, let's embrace Jesus mission!

CHURCH AND DISPUTES OF FAITH  Romans 14:1 Accept and receive those who are weak in the faith, though not with a view to settling disputes. Don't criticize them for having different ideas from yours about what is right and wrong. When Paul wrote his only letter to the church in Rome he had never been there and didn't get to go there for many years to come. The Roman church was a mixture of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians and there were disputes between the groups about how to honour God. The Jewish Christians believed that they had to stay faithful to the Old Testament food laws about abstaining from meat and to the observance of all the Jewish Sabbaths, while the Gentile Christians were growing in a robust New Testament faith with freedom in the simplicity that was in Christ.  Each group had a differently developed conscience regarding the rights and wrongs of the practice of Christianity and harsh and unloving judgement of one another was going on between them. Paul had been among the most learned of Jewish teachers and was also the one that God had given revelation to concerning the Gospel of Christ as the Saviour of the whole world, so he was the one chosen by God to address these critical issues of religious division. Paul wanted to see the Jewish Christians become stronger in faith in the simplicity of Christ, and he wanted the Gentile Christians to not boast about their stronger faith but to exercise faith that worked through love (Galatians 5:6). Romans 14:2 For instance, don't argue with them about whether or not to eat meat that has been offered to idols. You may believe there is no harm in this, but the faith of others is weaker; they think it is wrong and will go without any meat at all and eat vegetables rather than eat that kind of meat. Those who think it is all right to eat such meat must not look down on those who won't. And if you are one of those who won't, don't find fault with those who do. For God has accepted them to be his children. They are God's servants, not yours. 4. They are responsible to him, not to you. Let him tell them whether they are right or wrong (the work of the Holy Spirit). And God is able to make them do as they should (Philippians 2:13). Paul believed and preached the simplicity of Christ and that the Old Testament rites and ordinances were just shadows of the reality that was Christ. He himself came under criticism from both sides of these disputes because he had freedom in his faith to both comply with the Jewish rites or to discard them. He said he had become all things to all men that he might win more people to Christ ‘I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings (1Corinthians 9:1). Paul lived a life of faith that worked though love. He taught that the old life of limited human effort passes through the cross and is resurrected into a new living work of the Spirit of God within us. God commends the work of faithfulness, but he empowers the work of faith. Romans 14:5 Some think that Christians should observe certain days as special days to worship God, but others say every day alike belongs to God. On questions of this kind everyone must decide for himself in his own mind (nous) This word nous is a description of the conscience, and it is described as the intellectual understanding and reason as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of perceiving divine things, and of recognising good and evil –- The other Greek word for conscience in the Bible is sunedeisis which means to perceive a notion of something in dialogue with one's own mind).  Romans 14:6 If you have special days for worshiping the Lord, you are trying to honor him so you are doing a good thing. So is the person who eats meat that has been offered to idols; he is thankful to the Lord for his provision and he is doing right. And the person who won't touch such meat, he, too, is anxious to please the Lord, and is thankful. We are not our own masters to live or die as we ourselves might choose. Living or dying we follow the Lord. Either way we are his. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he can be our Lord both while we live and when we die. You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God and will give an account of himself to God. (And the inner motivation of the hearts will be revealed - 1Corinthians 4:5) The Jewish Christians observed the Old Testament Commandment of Sabbath days of gathering together as a time of resting from all worldly labour and effort in order to honour God.  The Gentile Christians mostly observed Sunday for gathering together to worship and share fellowship in the breaking of bread and the preaching of the Word because Sunday came to be called the Lord's Day by the first Christians in the Book of Acts (Ch.20). It replaced the Jewish Sabbath to honour the day that Jesus rose from the dead, on the first day of the week, and it was the day on which Paul directed them to give their tithes and offerings to the lord (1Corinthians 16:2). Paul would preach in the synagogues on the Saturdays whenever he had an opportunity in his travels, and he would gather with Gentile Christians on a Sunday.  But Paul really saw every day as a Sabbath day of resting in the finished work of Jesus by living to the Lord and with the Lord day in and day out, not for just one seventh of the week.  Romans 14:13 So don't criticize each other anymore. Try instead to live in such a way that you will never make your brother stumble by letting him see you doing something he thinks is wrong. As for myself, I am perfectly sure on the authority of the Lord Jesus that there is nothing really wrong with eating meat that has been offered to idols. But if someone believes it is wrong, then he shouldn't do it because for him it is wrong. And if your brother is bothered by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you go ahead and eat it. Don't let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Don't do anything that will cause criticism against yourself even though you know that what you do is right. For, after all, the important thing for us as Christians is not what we eat or drink but stirring up goodness and peace and joy from the Holy Spirit. If you let Christ be Lord in these affairs, God will be glad; and so will others. In this way aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. The word for conscience is a word of significant meaning for our inner life. Our English word derives from two words, con=with, and science=knowledge. This knowledge stems from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the management of knowing good from evil differs with each individual. We noted earlier the other Greek words for conscience in the Bible, nous and sunedeisis. The conscience is a spiritual sensibility about what is right and wrong that God places in each person's heart, then as children we are taught what is right and wrong by parents according to their religion and culture and community values, and some children develop a more moral sensibility than others.  Romans 14:20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. The conscience for Israel was formed by the Ten Commandments and provided the most complete and most comprehensive fountain of the wisdom and knowledge of God's nature which was designed to bring them to maturity individually and as a community. The Commandments express God's ideology of relational integrity between us and God and between us and one another. Under the New Covenant the wisdom and knowledge of God contained in the Commandments is written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. In this way we become led into all truth, directed, guided and steered as the Holy Spirit arranges learning events for us so that we come to know God and become known of God.  The story of the Apostle Peter is an example of this journey of transformation from a constricted Jewish religious conscience into a clear and strong Christian conscience. His first lesson was when he argued with God about having to eat with and visit with a Gentile Centurion which was strictly against Jewish Law, but this Gentile wanted to hear the Gospel. God won the argument and the Centurion and his household were saved. Peter was even rebuked by Paul in front of the other Apostles for causing division in the Gentile church at Antioch. Peter had been eating freely with the Gentile Christians for some time but when a group of Jewish Christian leaders were sent from Jerusalem to check out the church Peter refused to eat with the Gentiles and caused much division and offense. He learned many lessons the hard way and his transformation of conscience was accompanied by a transformation from his ethnic and religious identity into his true eternal and spiritual identity in Christ. It is on this journey where we all come to find our true identity which was created by God in our spirit in eternity before we were born. As we grow in the freedom of faith and love through the grace of God, we ultimately become the real self that can be expressed through our transformed soul each day of our life.      

Mark Three: A Biblical Understanding of the Gospel by William Klock Faithful preaching of God's word is the first mark of a healthy and faithful church.  These last two Sundays we've begun to explore what that looks like.  First, we saw that we must preach the word in such a way that we give it priority and let it be our guide, and that means that we commit ourselves to preaching expositionally.  And last Sunday I talked about the importance of allowing the Bible, as we preach it and immerse ourselves in it, to shape and define our understanding of God.  The Bible is, after all, his revelation of himself to us.  We cannot know him apart from his word.  And that leads us to today's topic: A healthy church will have a Bible-informed understanding of the gospel.  Now, no one ever sets out deliberately to preach an unbiblical gospel, but that doesn't mean such things aren't preached.  Sometimes we unwittingly allow unbiblical cultural ideas, values, and philosophies to colour our gospel.  Sometimes, when the Church is beset by controversy over gospel issues, we can over-react to one error by falling into its opposite.  Sometimes the errors are small, but sometimes they're great—to the point of apostasy.  The antidote, Brothers and Sistes, is to preach God's word faithfully and systematically. So what is the gospel?  Our English word “gospel” is from Old English god spel, literally meaning “good news”.  The Greek word used by the New Testament writers and the ancient Jewish translators of the Old Testament is euangelion.  Originally euangelion was the reward that was given to someone for bringing good news, but by the time the Bible was written it had come to mean the good news itself.  The related verb, euangelizo, means to proclaim this good news.  This is where we get the English word “evangelical”.  We are people of the good news.  This is a good place to start.  The gospel is good news.  For example, think back to the death of Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel.  David mourned their deaths and the messengers came with the news, he said: Tell it not in Geth, and proclaim it not in the exits of Ascalon…lest daughters of the uncircumcised exult. (2 Samuel 1:20 NETS) In the Greek Old Testament, when it says “proclaim”, it's using this word for proclaiming good news.  The Philistines would take the death of Saul as good news.  When the messenger brought this news to David, he thought it was good news, too.  David's enemy had been defeated.  Now, for personal reasons David didn't take it that way.  To him it was bad news, but he knew that to everyone else it was good news—a victory had been won and that victory meant things were about to change.  And, notice, the natural thing to do with good news is to proclaim it.  The heralds were ready to do just that until David told them not to. Or think of Isaiah.  Israel had been defeated, but he saw a vision of Jerusalem as the herald of good news.  The Lord would come and deliver his people from their exile. Go on up to a high mountain,          O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength,          O Jerusalem, herald of good news;          lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah,          “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9) And Isaiah uses this concept as he envisions the messenger, running across the mountains with this good news: How beautiful upon the mountains          are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,          who publishes salvation,          who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7) Something was about to happen.  The Lord was going to act and he would act in such a way that things would never be the same.  God was finally going to take up his throne as King.  This is exactly what Jesus had in mind when we read Mark's account of him saying: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) The Lord was about to act.  Specifically, he was about to act as King in such a way that everything was about to change.  And Jesus isn't just saying that people in Judea needed to “believe” in the sense of giving their intellectual assent to some new theological truth.  When “good news” happens, it's a world-changing event.  To “believe” means to change one's life in order to take part in what's about to happen and be part of its benefits.  In Jesus, God was becoming king—as he had promised so long before.  To refuse to believe, to refuse to recognise this change and this new reality is, at best, to be left behind and, at worst, well…it wasn't good.  Let's look at how the Greeks and Romans used this term, “gospel”. If you're familiar with Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra or Mankiewicz' 1963 Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, you know something about the aftermath of the Roman civil war.  On the death of Julius Caesar the Empire was plunged into conflict.  On one side was Caesar's heir, Octavian, and on the other his friend, Mark Antony.  Octavian defeated Antony in a great naval battle at Actium.  Antony fled to Egypt, where he eventually committed suicide with Cleopatra.  Octavian was enthroned as Caesar Augustus and euangelion—the good news—was proclaimed throughout the empire.  Augustus had defeated the enemies of Rome.  He had brought peace at last and, with it, prosperity.  He even started using the title “son of God”.  He was the saviour of the empire. Now, what did this good news mean to the people of the empire?  Imagine if you'd been a local official or ruler and you'd been a firm supporter of Mark Antony during the war.  The good news about Caesar Augustus meant that everything had changed and you had to make a choice.  There was no continuing on supporting the losing side.  That was treason and it would lead to only one thing: execution.  This was the choice King Herod faced when this good news reached him.  He'd backed Antony.  He was no dummy.  Hearing the news, he went straight to the new Caesar and pledged his loyalty.  The world had changed and he committed himself to the side where he got to live—and keep his throne. So, now, think about “good news”.  It means that something has happened—or is happening or is about to happen—something that changes everything.  Nothing will ever be the same again and, in light of it, everyone has got to make a choice.  There's no fence sitting.  And there are consequences if you make the wrong choice.  If Herod, for example, had continued to back Antony's forces it would have meant the end of Herod.  In Jesus, Israel's God has become King and he calls for our allegiance—to him, to his kingdom, to everything it stands for.  Sin and death are defeated and everything about the world that was shaped by them is being undone by Jesus and his act of new creation.  The gospel calls us to make a choice, to announce our allegiance.  Do we continue to give our allegiance to—as we say in our baptism—the world, the flesh, and the devil, or to Jesus, his new creation, and the Holy Spirit? And this points to something else important about the gospel.  Good news isn't quietly whispered.  It's always proclaimed.  It's announced with great fanfare.  The announcement that Jesus is Lord, that in him the God of Israel has come as King, that's not some private truth to keep to ourselves or to whisper to our friends.  But that's not far off from how many people treat it.  Something changed in the first half of the Twentieth Century and we started talking about “sharing” the gospel.  Christians had never used that kind of language before.  But it goes along with a shift that slowly took place over the last two hundred years or so.  Instead of seeing the gospel as good news, we started treating it instead like good advice.  We've made this shift subtly in how we do evangelism.  We often present the gospel—the good news about Jesus—as if it's just another offering on the religious or philosophical smorgasbord and suggest that people give Jesus a try. Maybe they'll like him and believe—or maybe they won't, which would be sad, but…whatever.  But, Brothers and Sisters, the gospel is not good advice.  It's not like a stock tip or a life hack or a new recipe.  It's good news.  It's not just a message that will change your life.  It's a message that will change your life, because it's a message that in Jesus the whole world has changed. Consider Peter's sermon on Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2.  He starts out: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. (Acts 2:14) I think we pass over this introduction too quickly in order to get to the meat of his sermon, but notice how he proclaims this good news like the royal herald that he is.  This isn't a good piece of advice.  It's not a pro tip.  It's not something that might be worth giving a shot.  It's good news.  It demands action.  And Peter goes on, reminding the people of the promises the Lord had made to Israel—promises to set things to rights by sending his King.  He tells them: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:22-24) “You killed him,” Peter says, “but God raised him up.”  What does that mean?  Peter, again, looks back to the promises God had made to Israel—particularly through David.  For Peter, Jesus' death was vitally important, but the crucifixion of Jesus wasn't the thing that changed the world.  Ultimately, it was his resurrection from the dead that did that.  In his resurrection, Peter says, God has loosed the pangs of death.  By his resurrection, he says, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God and given to his people the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus has fulfilled all the Lord's promises.  But Peter ends with the most powerful note of all in verse 36: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and [Messiah], this Jesus whom you crucified.”   By raising Jesus from the dead, God has declared him to be Lord and Messiah—to be not just any king, but to be the King—the one who will set all to rights—not just his people, but eventually the whole of this broken creation. The crowd, Luke says, were cut to the heart and asked Peter what they should do.  In other words, they knew this good news meant that the world has changed and they wanted to know what they had to do to in response.  And Peter says to them in verses 38-39: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”   Luke says about three thousand were baptised that day.  But what did Peter mean by “repent and be baptised”?  To repent is to turn around.  The good news is the announcement that in Jesus the world has changed, there's a new King, and God's kingdom is breaking in.  The good news calls us to turn aside and to leave behind the old regime, the old order—our rebellion, our sin, our idolatry—and to take hold of the new King and his kingdom in faith.  In Jesus, God has become king.  Peter's sermon is incredibly important, because in it he reminds us of what the Lord had promised to Israel, and then he explains that it has all been fulfilled or is in the process of being fulfilled by Jesus—and those promises point to what the good news is all about.  The promises remind us that what Jesus has done is far bigger and all-encompassing than what we often think.  It's about all of creation being set right and made new.  It's about Jesus binding the devil and triumphing over the powers and principalities that have corrupted this world.  It's about the old gods being cast down and the true God being raised up.  It's about humanity being made right with God to finally live in his presence and to take up our vocation again—the one that Adam and Eve rejected—to be his image-bearers, the priests of his temple, as we steward his creation.  It's about heaven and earth, about God and man finally being reunited. Jews knew that one day God would set things right and that when he did so he would judge—and destroy—everything and everyone who was opposed to him.  They called that day “the day of the Lord”.  Throughout his ministry Jesus warned that it was coming—and soon.  When he warned about the easy way that leads to destruction and urged people to follow him on the hard and narrow way that leads to life, that's what he was talking about.  He was pointing to the events we read about in our study of Revelation when Jerusalem and the temple were thrown down by the Romans as an act of judgement by God on his unbelieving people—much as he'd done six centuries earlier, although that time it had been the Babylonians.  Jesus wasn't warning about some event thousands of years in the future.  He was warning of a judgement that was just around the corner.  That judgement certainly foreshadows that last great day of final judgement when every last enemy of God will be wiped from creation.  But Jesus—and Peter—were focused on Israel and her near future.  Again, Peter's hearers were cut to the heart, because they realised that this is what Peter was talking about too.  They wanted to know how to escape the coming judgement and to be part of God's new people in the age to come. If people thought the victory of Octavian over Antony was a world-shaking event—so much so that King Herod went to grovel before the new emperor that he might have a place in it, imagine how much greater, how all-encompassing this good news about Jesus is.  If the Lord was going to come with both salvation and judgement to set Israel to rights and to deal with the unrepentant in her midst, one day he will surely do the same for the whole world. This ought to put our attention on another aspect of the good news.  Herod could only speculate about where he stood with Octavian.  He could very easily have gone home headless.  By his resurrection Jesus has inaugurated God's new world, and Brothers and Sisters, by his death he has shown his mercy.  We need but repent—to turn aside from the old gods, the old ways, the old systems—to believe—to take hold of him in faith and to give him our allegiance, and we can be sure of where we stand before him.  The first step we take after repentance is to be baptised.  The waters of baptism hold his promise of forgiveness and new life and as we pass through them in faith, he washes us clean and fills us with his Spirit.  He makes us his own.  As St. Paul writes in Romans: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  (Romans 8:15) Jesus' Father becomes our Father and he loves us as he loves his own son. But speaking of Paul…  How do the Gentiles find a place in this good news.  Jesus was Israel's Messiah.  He came in fulfilment of the Lord's promises to Israel.  Even in his death by crucifixion, he died the very death that the unbelieving Jewish rebels would suffer a generation later when God's judgement fell on Jerusalem.  Jesus and the good news are integrally tied to Israel and to Israel's story.  How is it good news for the rest of the world?  We see the struggle in Acts.  The Spirit all but summoned Peter and John to Samaria.  The good news had reached people there and they believed, but—a mystery to the apostles—they did not receive the Spirit.  The apostles had to go and lay hands on these new non-Jewish believers.  It was a not-so-subtle hint from the Spirit that the good news was for everyone.  An angel directed Philip to his meeting with a man from Ethiopia.  The Spirit had to convince Peter, against everything he thought he knew was right, to go to the home of Cornelius, a gentile centurion.  And what was to be done with these gentile converts?  Did they have to become Jews first?  Be circumcised, keep the law, and all of that.  And then along came Paul.  Or, more precisely, along came the risen Messiah to meet Paul on the road to Damascus. Maybe more than anyone else, Paul realised just how much the resurrection of Jesus changes everything.  C. S. Lewis famously wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen.  Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  The resurrection of Jesus was just like that for Paul.  And Paul realised that if the Lord's promises to Israel were fulfilled in Jesus, in his resurrection, and in the outpouring of the Spirit to create this new people of God called the Church, then all of this was for the gentiles too.  Israel had always been called to be a light to the nations and so too must this new Israel.  Paul thought back to the Lord's deliverance of Israel in the Exodus—something that shaped Israel's identity and is there behind so much of Paul's writing.  The Lord delivered his people from their bondage and in doing so, he made his might and his glory known to the nations—especially to Egypt.  Her king and her gods were exposed for the powerless frauds they were.  And yet there was no mass conversion of the Egyptians in the wake of the Exodus.  The whole thing was an embarrassment that they expunged from their records so that they could continue in the idolatry. But Paul recognized that in Jesus and in this new exodus, there was a new element that had been missing in the old and that was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Paul knew that this good news about a crucified Messiah was, as he writes to the Corinthians “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23).  A crucified Messiah was blasphemy to the Jews.  And it was just stupid nonsense to the gentiles.  Paul knew this first hand.  The Jews stoned him for the things he said and the Gentiles threw him in jail.  “But,” he goes on in that same verse, “to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah—the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  That was the key—those who are called, those in whom the Spirit of God is at work. How does the Spirit work?  It seems like it's different for everyone.  For Paul it was the realization that Jesus really had risen from the dead and that that truth changed everything he'd ever known.  He had to go off by himself for a few years to work it all through, but work it through he did.  For others it was simply the realization that in Jesus the God of Israel was truly at work.  This time the Gentiles saw the God of Israel in this mighty act of redemption that proved his faithfulness to his promises and instead of forgetting about it like the Egyptians had so long ago, they recognized the living God and they threw all their idols away.  For others it was the fact that in Jesus, God drew near.  By his Spirit they somehow knew him and experienced him—something that never happened with the pagan gods.  Paul recognized that this good news was for everyone.  As he wrote to the Galatians: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Jesus the Messiah. (Galatians 3:28) This time the gentiles saw the mighty and saving deeds of the God of Israel and they believed—because of the Spirit—and they were welcomed into this new people of God to share in the forgiveness and the new life and the future hope that Jesus had given them. But, in closing, what's the significance?  Where does the good news take us?  What are we supposed to do with it?  If we understand that the death and resurrection of Jesus give us a place in the renewed people of God and that Jesus is setting everything to rights, that itself should point us in the right direction.  The problem is that in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, liberal Protestants largely turned the gospel into a message of good works—and then, gradually, those good works became more and more like the values of secular culture and Leftist politics and Jesus became nothing more than an example.  In response, fundamentalists and evangelicals rightly re-emphasised the personal and spiritual nature of redemption and the forgiveness of sins, but often over-reacted when it came to the good works.  We've made the gospel a message very narrowly of forgiveness of sin and restored fellowship with God.  Salvation should result in a changed life and good works, but we've stressed—wrongly—that those good works are the fruit of the gospel, but not the gospel itself.  So on one side the gospel is proclaimed as a message of public welfare and on the other as a personal or private spirituality.  Then, throw into that mix the misconception that the end goal of all of this is someday to leave this world behind so that we can live a kind of disembodied spiritual existence in heaven, and we make a right mess of the gospel. Brothers and Sisters, this is why we've got to preach the scriptures—so that we remember the big story.  This is what Peter did on Pentecost.  And when we do that we find that this faithful God we spoke about last Sunday has been working all along not to give us a plan to escape this fallen Creation, but rather a means to set this fallen creation to rights and us along with it.  We're creation's stewards—or at least that's what we were created to be—but we rebelled and made a mess of everything.  And so the Lord has called a people through whom he will work, and he's sent his Messiah to set us to rights, to fill us with his Spirit, and to get us back on task: to make him known, to do justice and mercy in this world, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and to proclaim his King in the knowledge that the same Spirit who is in us, is also working in the hearts of men and women around the world, men and women just waiting to hear our proclamation of the good news about Jesus.  Men and women read to believe, to repent, to be baptised, to join in the life and work of the kingdom—they simply need to hear our proclamation of this good news.  It is a stumbling block and it is foolishness to many, but to those who are called, to those in whom the Spirit is at work, it is the power of God—for our salvation and for the salvation of the whole world. As we've seen recently in Revelation, Jesus has prepared the way.  He has bound the devil and brought low the principalities and powers that once held this world captive.  This is the good news: that Jesus died for our sins and was raised by God, victorious over sin and death.  He is the Messiah—the Lord, the King—and he is making all things new.  This new creation, our hope is summed up in those words of the Lord's prayer: on earth as in heaven.  Those words ought to shape us as gospel people.  Don't just pray them.  Live them.  For the sake of the world, lift the veil and show the world a glimpse of God's new creation.  And while you do it, remember that we are royal heralds of the King, commissioned to proclaim this good news to everyone around us. Let's pray: Merciful Father, we thank you this morning that you have made Jesus your King.  By his death you give a means of forgiveness and reconciliation and by his resurrection you've restored to us the life we had once rejected in our rebellion against you.  We thank you for those in whom you have worked by your word and Spirit who proclaimed this good news to us.  And we pray that your word and Spirit will now be at work in us to make us the gospel people you desire us to be.  Renew our hearts.  Turn them ever more towards you.  Strengthen our allegiance to Jesus and fill our heats with love for you.  Make us a people full of life and of hope, a people of mercy and love and grace, a holy people—an on-earth-as-in-heaven people eager to show the world your kingdom and to proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord.  Through him we pray.  Amen.

Today's Reading: Luke 17:11-19Daily Lectionary: Nehemiah 1:1-2:10; 1 Timothy 1:1-20And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Our English translations have to make a couple of interpretive choices when they translate Luke 17:19. Jesus literally says, “Arise! Journey!  Your faith has saved you!”First, how do you translate “saved”? Obviously, Jesus saved this man from his skin disease. The ESV translates it this way: “Your faith had made you well.” However, Jesus did more than just heal his disease. He saved him from the state of exile caused by his impurity. An incurable skin disease would prevent anyone from entering a holy space, such as the temple. Also, in extreme cases you would be excluded from society, lest you pass your impurity to them. Jesus healed this man's disease, but He also healed both the rift between this man and God and the rift between him and his fellow men. Jesus saved him!Second, when Jesus tells this man to get up and journey, what does He mean? The ESV assumes that Jesus is telling this man to move along—to go back home and to normal life. This is possible, but it is also possible that Jesus is inviting this man to journey with Him—to follow Him as a disciple and travel with Him to Jerusalem. That second interpretation certainly fits the theme of this Sunday. The Propers for this Sunday emphasize that after Jesus purifies you of your sins, you must follow Jesus and remain with Him. Thus, Proverbs 4:10-23 invites us to stay on the way of wisdom and the path of righteousness. In Galatians, Paul encourages us to walk by the Spirit, which means to crucify your flesh and to produce the fruit of the Spirit. The Introit speaks of dwelling with the Lord in His house.You are pure in the eyes of God as long as you are in Christ. He is your righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). In Christ you find the grace of God. To leave Christ is to leave God's grace. Salvation is not a one-time event that occurred in the past. It is a reality that you live in. You were baptized into Christ. In Him you must stay. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O Lord, keep Your Church with Your perpetual mercy; and because of our frailty we cannot but fall, keep us ever by Your help from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the 14th Sunday after Trinity)-Pastor Alexander Lange is pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Albany, Oregon.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane BamschStudy Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

The Christian Standard Bible version of 1 Samuel 30:8 declares... “and David asked the Lord, “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them? ”The Lord replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.” The ASV of 1 Samuel chapter 30 verse 8, says…“David inquired of Jehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And He, God answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and shall without fail recover all.” Our English definitions of the word recover mean to get back, to regain. Or when you recover from an illness or an injury, you become well again. The word recover in the original Hebrew means “rebuild, repair or restore.” Encourage means to put or add courage in. As seen in 1 Samuel 30:6, one of the passages for this revival, “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” This word encourage in the original Hebrew can be translated as prevail, to be recovered, repaired, strengthened, and conquered. There are those in your family, possibly on your job or even in your church that have never learned how to encourage themselves in the Lord and is held captives of their own minds. As it was with David, so it is with you and I. God has commissioned us to pursue those that have been taken captive by the enemy and as God said to David, we shall recover all. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dr-gregory-l-cruell/support

Romans 5:3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 1.    V-3 We are able to Glory or rejoice in Tribulations through the Strength of God: We will have troubles because we are believers. Our troubles in life as believers allow us to not only endure trials but grow stronger through themIt is strange that Paul should move from the brightness of our future hope to the darkness which so often envelopes our present circumstances. But he may have done this in order to counteract Jewish antagonists who denied that Christians enjoyed the justified life now since they are still struggling with suffering and problems. Paul contradicts this thesis by showing that the present in no way jeopardizes the future (5:5). Whatever the particular reason was that Paul decided to talk about our present experience, one should not fail to see the implied comparison with Abraham in 4:19-21 and his hope in the midst of hopeless circumstances. Even though we as Christians are in the midst of enormous trials, and we believe in hope against hope, as it were, we like Abraham will overcome and we will see the promise of our glorification realized (Rom 8:30).John 16:33b In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.·         Psalms 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. SelahRo 5:4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.2.    V-3-4 We have Perseverance (patience or endurance), Character, and Hope from God:2corinth 12:9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.·         Our Character is tested and proven by trials. The word character should be translated proven character and it is the word that means a metal purified by fire.Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.The Divine design, in this life, is to fit us for the next by enlarging our present spiritual capacity for hope!"Our English word 'tribulation' comes from a Latin word tribulum. In Paul's day, a tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff.""The newborn child of God is precious in His sight, but the tested and proven saint means even more to Him because such a one is a living demonstration of the character developing power of the gospel. When we stand in the presence of God, all material possessions will have been left behind, but all that we have gained by way of spiritual advance will be retained."Ro 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.3.    V-5-8 We have the Love of God poured out in our hearts:Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us aliv

IELTS speaking practice, for people targeting band 7 and above. For those who don't know what IELTS is, well it's an internationally recognised English testing system that assesses your English language skills in four areas: speaking, listening, reading and writing. They give each of these skills a band score between 0-9, 9 being the best you can get. IELTS Speaking Practice for Band 7 and Above ✔Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-speaking-practice-ielts-band7/ Now this might all sound very specific to a test you have no intention of taking. You would be WRONG. You need exactly the same sort of English speaking practice to hold a normal everyday English conversation, test or no test! The good news is our lesson content is interesting, and you would probably listen to it anyway. So there is no downside. For the people who are looking for help with the IELTS speaking test, which is what we are going to help you with today. The IELTS speaking assessment looks for fluency, grammar, pronunciation and the depth of your vocabulary understanding. I will cover these things in today's lesson, and better still, all of our English speaking podcasts are excellent practice for you. Our English speaking podcasts will help you learn how to: Speak on an interesting topic, without needing to pause or hesitate Be clear in what you say and be understood Have an excellent range of vocabulary, idioms and collocations If you repeat listen with our Adept English English lesson content enough times, you will automatically avoid speaking errors. Hear when grammar is being used in-correctly understand how and when to use intonation to make your conversations sound more engaging. All things you would want to speak English fluently. So test or no test, this sort of listening practice is definitely worth listening to. Learn more about our courses here: https://adeptenglish.com/language-courses/ Adept English is here to help with FREE English lessons and language courses that are unique, modern and deliver results. You can learn to speak English quickly using our specialised brain training. We get straight to the point of how you should learn to speak English. We teach you in a fun and simple way that delivers results. If you want to learn to speak English, our approach to learning through listening will improve your English fluency.

Babylon the Great Revelation 17 by William Klock You've all seen Pinocchio, haven't you?  It wasn't by any means my favourite kids' movie.  I think I must have been about seven years old the one and only time I saw it.  I don't remember much about it beyond the general idea of the puppet who wanted to be a real boy.  But that was because one scene terrorised me and has stuck with me all these years.  Do you remember “Pleasure Island”?  An evil character called the Coachman rounded up bad little boys with a promise of fun and took them to an amusement park on Pleasure Island.  There they could eat and drink and smoke and indulge themselves in all the things that bad boys like to do but usually get in trouble for doing.  It was the ultimate good time.  But there was a catch, as there always is with that sort of “fun”.  Once they boys spent enough time on Pleasure Island, they'd start growing ears and tails, they'd lose the ability to talk, and they'd eventually turn into donkeys.  Then the Coachman would sell them to work as slaves, hauling carts in the saltmines.  The moral of the story was simple: act like a jackass and you become a jackass!  The book of Proverbs says something very similar—but Proverbs never gave me nightmares!  Der Struwwelpeter, the famous German moralising storybook for kids, wasn't half so terrifying.  At least in Der Struwwelpeter the bad kids died.  That wasn't nearly as bad as being turned into a donkey for life. As I began last week to think about today's text, I couldn't help but think of Pinocchio, having a good time and suddenly horrified to discover he'd grown donkey ears and a tail.  When Carlo Collodi wrote the story, he had an age-old lesson in mind.  It's one that goes back to Proverbs—and to Jesus and to St. Paul and to St. John.  Sin is enticing because it is so often deceptively attractive, but in the end it will eat us alive and spit us out.  It brings us inevitably to judgement—and we see this in Revelation 17 and 18 as the Lord's judgement falls on Rome.  It's yet another warning against the deceptive attractions of sin and of worldliness.  But it's also, along with the rest of the book, an exhortation to the Church.  Keep the themes of Revelation in mind: tribulation, perseverance, and kingdom.  Jesus' people will find themselves opposed—even to the point of martyrdom—by the wicked of the world, by its corrupted values and its sinful systems.  And the situation may look hopeless.  Back in Chapter 13 the nations marvelled at the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”  Those silly Christians?  What did they think they were doing?  What do they think they'd accomplish standing up the beast?  And yet Revelation was the promise to those people—even as they were fed to the lions—that Jesus is Lord, that he has and he will defeat the beast, and that his people will be vindicated.  It's, as St. Paul wrote, foolishness to the gentiles.  But if you'd heard and believed the good news that Jesus was crucified and rose again, conquering death itself, it all makes sense.  We just need to be reminded now and again to keep this gospel, this cross-centred, this Easter perspective. And so John goes on at length about the judgement about to fall on the enemies of Jesus and his people.  It begins with Jerusalem, but when Jerusalem has been judged, the Lord's justice then confronts the Greco-Roman world.  It goes hand in hand with the commissioning of the disciples by Jesus: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  God's judgement pave the way and goes before the powerful proclamation of the gospel.  In Chapter 15 John saw the beast's judgement prepared as heaven sang God's praises—just as Israel had sung his praises at the fall of Pharaoh, his false gods, and the Egyptian army.  In Chapter 16 we saw the bowls of judgement poured out on beast.  This language of the “beast” is drawn from Daniel, where four ferocious beasts represent various empires, so we know the beast here represents the current great empire of John's day.  The beast is, on the one hand backed by the power and authority of the dragon—of Satan—and himself backs the second beast who causes the nations to worship him.  John, in his symbolic language, made it clear that this beast is Rome, headed by its Emperor who claims divinity and has an entire cult devoted to spreading his false gospel.  John has already given us a sense of why judgement had to fall on Rome, but now he goes into detail.  Look at Chapter 17. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.  And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.”  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.   Pleasure Island was an age-appropriate—well, almost—story for kids about the deceptive attractiveness of sin.  John writes to adults—and adults who lived in a world as of yet untempered by the gospel.  He writes far more graphically.  The debauchery of the ancient world is, I think, hard for us to imagine.  Today's decadent, debauched, and obscene celebrations of “pride” begin to come close to daily life in the pre-gospel world.  The Romans were the moralistic prudes of the Mediterranean world, but even in Rome prostitution and sodomy, sexual abuse of children and slaves, infanticide, and even sometimes human sacrifice were the rule of the day.  As much as we grieve the moral sewer that our culture has become, the ancient world was far worse. And Rome sat on top of it all.  One of the angels from the last chapter whisks John away to the wilderness to show him the subject of the judgement that has been poured out.  John sees a woman arrayed in fine clothes.  Purple and scarlet dyes were very expensive to produced and usually reserved for royalty and the very wealthy.  She is beautifully and extravagantly adorned in jewellery.  Everything about her has the look of success, of wealth, and most of all, desirability.  And she's ready to party.  She holds a chalice and reels drunkenly.  But her chalice doesn't hold wine.  Her wine, the wine with which she entices the nations, the wine with which she makes them drunk, John writes, is sexual immorality.  John says the cup is full of “abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality”.  Our English versions are somewhat restrained in their translations here.  “sexual immorality” is the Greek word porneia.  It's the word for illicit sex and for prostitution.  The words for abominations and impurities refer to things and to acts that are deeply vile, disgusting in every way, that defile and degrade, and that not only merit, but cry out for judgement and condemnation.  Inside the cup the cup are filth, excrement, disease—to tip it would be to release a sewer, both literally and metaphorically. The woman is stunningly beautiful to look upon, she is fabulously weathly, and she is full of promises.  But it's all a lie.  She sits astride the beast—seven heads and ten horns, the servant of Satan, whom John earlier identified as the Emperor and his emprie—and, he writes, despite her appearance, she is really “Babylon, the mother of prostitutes and earth's abominations”.  It's imagery from the Old Testament.  Babylon was not only the place were the great tower was built in humanity's attempt to reach heaven in our own power, but the city that would became the enemy and eventually the conqueror of Israel.  Babylon represents everything that stood opposed to the Lord and to his people.  And this new Babylon is even worse.  She sits astride the dragon, reeling, drunk on the blood of Jesus and his people.  Again, she is beautiful and sits there welcoming the nations with a promise of wealth and a good time, but it's all built on wickedness.  The underlying reality—strip off the make-up, the jewellery, the expensive clothes, pour out the cup—and what you find is vile, disgusting, utterly stomach-churning. There's a reason John uses this imagery of a prostitute to depict the enemy of God's people.  Revelation is about God and his people, whom we see at the end as the lamb and his bride.  The story culminates with the marriage of the lamb—husband and wife are joined and their relationship is characterized by faithfulness.  The prostituted represents the polar opposite. This imagery goes back to the Old Testament and to Israel and the Lord.  Israel was his bride, but she was repeatedly unfaithful.  Think of the prophet Hosea, who used his own marriage to a prostitute, as a prophetic image of Israel's rejection of the Lord as she ran after foreign gods and idols.  Babylon was the epitome of idolatry in the Old Testament, but now the Greco-Roman world has taken up that torch.  The nations worship false gods, whose idols and temples are beautiful and full of promises, but who cannot deliver.  And now, Caesar himself, claimed to be divine and with that claim, has gathered the peoples and tongues of the earth under his banner.  The devil had deceived the nations and now empires like Rome and kings like Caesar enticed the world away from God.  Babylon all over again. And, of course, prostitution is a fitting metaphor for every form of statism.  Rome—not to mention our own contemporary nations—offer us security, well-being, and wealth—only submit, and it's all yours.  And just as certainly as one is trapped by the false promises of prostitution and pornography, so Caesar traps, ensnares, and enslaves.  And the foolish would rather go along with the lies than walk away from what they've already lost.  I can't think of a better real-life illustration than what the Finance Minister said this week with regard to more government spending on more programs in an attempt to save us from the results of the previous two years' government spending and programs.  The only way out of our economic predicament is austerity, but the State has promised prosperity and prosperity she must deliver.  The cup is full and inviting, but inside is abomination and impurity—or, at least in this case, stagflation and all the misery that comes with it. These systems, whether Babylon, or Rome, or Washington, or Ottawa derive their power from the beast.  John goes on in verses 7 and 8:   When I saw her, I marveled greatly.  But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel?  I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.  The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.   Again, John is reminded not to be deceived by the woman.  She is backed by the beast.  But then the beast itself.  John was clear before that the beast represents the Roman Emperor—that was currently Nero at John's time of writing.  This bit about “was, is not, and is about to rise…and go to destruction” isn't the easiest thing to parse out, but seems, I think, to be referring to the chaos into which the imperial throne was soon to fall with the suicide of Nero and the “Year of the Four Emperors” that followed.  However we work out the specifics, the angel's point is that the Emperor stands under God's judgement and he warns: Even as the empire descends into the chaos of this judgement, the people of the earth—at least those who do not belong to Jesus and whose names are not recorded in the book of life—instead of seeing what's happening, repenting, and turning to the Lord, they will double-down on their commitment to the beast.  They would rather continue in their idolatry than admit that the Lord is God.  And Jesus' people need to be prepared, because this is why the beast goes after the saints: They are the only ones who stand as witness to the falsity of his claims at divinity and the truth that Jesus is the risen Lord.  This is why the woman who sits astride him has made herself drunk on their blood. Now, in verses 9-18 the angels explains all of this further. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.  As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.  And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.  These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.  They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”   The angel's explanation probably seems more cryptic than helpful to us.  To John and his readers it would have been clear.  Not all of it is difficult for us, though.  That this woman is seated on seven mountains or hills would have been, to anyone in the First Century and still today, an unmistakable reference to the city of Rome.  The seven horns of the beast are relatively clear, too.  The angel says they represent seven kings—or seven different caesars.  At the time of writing there have been five.  That would be Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.  One is.  That's Nero.  The seventh who must remain a short while could refer to Galba, who reigned a short seven months after Nero, but probably sums up the year of chaos in which there were four rival claimants to the throne, none of which lasted.  That would make the eighth, who is like the seven, Vespasian, the founder of the Flavian Dynasty that followed.  He was enough like the earlier emperors that he was just as deserving of destruction.  I think there's something fairly obviously symbolic about these numbers as well.  The seven emperors give to the empire a false appearance of and the eighth, parodying Jesus who rose on the eighth day, will have appeared to have cleaned up the mess, dealt with the chaos, and led the empire into a new and better day, when the fact is that, just like his predecessors, he is leading the empire straight into the Lord's judgement.  I think this is the real message those early believers needed to hear.  Again, they were mocked.  “There is none like the beast!  Who would be foolish enough to rise up against him?”  And here, again, John is reminded that even though the beast and his empire have the appearance of might and perfection, even though they appear impervious to defeat, it's all going to come falling down under its own corrupt weight.  Look at verses 15-18: And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.  And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute.  They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.  And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”   Again, the details here point unmistakably to the city of Rome as the prostitute.  She had dominion over the kings of the earth.  Nothing else fit that description in John's day.  The ten kings represented by the beast's ten horns seem to refer to kings or other rulers within the empire—rulers of the nations over which she has dominion.  But in the end, Rome will devour itself.  The great prostitute will be stripped naked, her flesh devoured, and finally burned with fire.  The rulers whom she robbed blind in exchange for false promises will turn on their mistress and destroy her.  That said, even as they bring justice to the prostitute, they are part of the same system represented by the beast.  They may be through with their mistress, but they are just as intent on making war on the Lamb—as John writes in verse 14—as the beast ever was.  If nothing else, John's vision here and the angel's explanation sounds an awful lot like Nero's burning of Rome—setting fire to the city so that he could build his new palace on top of the devastation—and then blame the fire on Christians. But verse 14 is, again, an exhortation to persevere in the midst of tribulation.  The Lamb will conquer, because he is, after all, “King of kings and Lord of lords” and those who are with him are called “chosen and faithful”.  Again, it all looked like so much foolishness to people invested in the beast's system, but to those who knew the reality of the cross, it all made sense.  They just needed to be reminded.  Jesus has conquered by his blood and the Church—those whom Jesus called to take up our crosses and to follow him—will conquer through our own self-sacrifice, as we give our all—even sometimes our own blood—for the sake of the gospel. Brothers and Sisters, that's the heart of the lesson here.  The who's who of the symbolism is important too and we need to get it right, because it's important to our understanding of the story we tell and our place in it, but I think the really important, the critical truth for us here is much the same as it was for those Asian Christians in the First Century: Don't fall prey to the lies of the prostitute.  The systems and philosophies of the world make us promises galore: promises of wealth, promises of security, promises of self-discovery and identity.  But those promises are empty snares and behind them all lies the dragon, the devil, who has been telling lies to humanity from the beginning.  He tempts us to give ourselves over to wealth.  He tempts us to submit ourselves body and soul to the State.  He temps us to find our worth in material goods.  He entices us to satisfy our appetites with gluttony and with illicit sex.  He tells us that we will find satisfaction in identity, whether that's race or sex or sexual orientation.  He undermines marriage and the family and then holds out the State and sexual immorality as substitutes.  His agents in this world hold out a golden chalice, to all appearances filled with wine, but inside is abomination and filthiness.  Inside is idolatry that ensnares, entwines, corrupts—and ultimately leads us away from Jesus and straight to destruction.  Brothers and Sisters, stand firm and look to Jesus for your security and for your identity.  We will find ourselves caught up in the battle and when we do, John reminds us that this is no accident.  We are soldiers of the Lamb, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and we will conquer by his blood and by the word of our testimony.  Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again. Let's pray: Our Father, in the Collect we acknowledged that we are weak and that you are our source of strength.  Again, we ask for the help of your grace that we might stand firm in faith against the enemies of the Lamb, and as your Church advance the cause of the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Patreon Exclusive Episode! Today, Jarrod and Olivier discuss The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Beloved by Jarrod, the book changed his life:When I was working in Kyoto as an English teacher, I was employed by the terribly bureaucratic and rule-ridden Kyoto City Board of Education. Arbitrary regulations meant that I was often sitting in the teacher's office with no work to do, no classes to teach, and no agency in my lesson planning. Our English supervisors even once used an entire seminar to provide ideas on how to make good use of your free — how pathetic is that?Living my desk job nightmare, I spent much of my time reading profusely, hoping that personal development might ease my sense of stagnancy and worthlessness at work. I came across the 4-Hour Work Week, triggered (like most) by the title. What followed were rational and tangible answers to my existential work-related questions. I read it in one day.The book has since influenced many of the decisions and habits I make and maintain in my life today. It is not without its flaws. But the book has ultimately rewired my brain to view retirement, not as a life goal, but as a last resort. It helped push me to pursue entrepreneurship over academia or public sector work. As I look back at my time as a millennial in Japan, I can confidently and unapologetically say that stumbling upon the 4-Hour Work Week presented me with a crossroads and helped me to change my life trajectory.Today, we walk through the 4 main arguments made in the book and reflect on the good (and controversial) ideas in the book. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!Website: Makers on a Mission PatreonLinks to Resources: English Teaching in Japan The 4-Hour Work Week The Tim Ferris Show How to Write a Dreamline Pareto Principle Stolen Focus by Johann Hari Venywhere: Work From VeniceFollow us on Instagram at @makers_on_a_mission!Visit Makers on a Mission to explore more.

Jesus illustrated great truths with human interest stories. One of them involved a wealthy man who turned over his estate to three men, entrusting each with a certain amount of wealth. Today we use dollars, yen, pesos or euros (depending on who has issued the currency) to measure wealth, but in Jesus' day the unit of measurement was a talent.  Our English word for talent is a transliteration of the Greek word, the one Jesus used, which was talanton.  A single talent in Roman days represented the equivalent of a working man's salary for a period of fifteen years.  Thus, a talent represented a lot of money in any currency.

Our English lesson today has to do with climate change and science. The topic is ‘Solar Geoengineering'. Study with the script to this video: https://www.englishforeconomists.com/solar-geoengineering

Divine Mercy Sunday Hello St. Mary Magdalene,  Happy Divine Mercy Sunday. What a beautiful devotion we celebrate this weekend. Our English word "mercy" comes from the Latin word "misericors" which means "to pity the heart." Practically this term refers to when another person enters into the brokenness of another and thus share their burden. Christ therefore does just that, He enters our brokenness in order to set us free.  So, on this weekend let us recall Our Lord's desire to enter our brokenness and show us His grace in a particular way. Lord may your mercy be on us as we place our trust in you!  God bless,   Fr. Chris Visit us: https://www.smarymag.org Donate online: https://membership.faithdirect.net/AZ754

With so many wars in the world, I thought today we should have an English listening podcast about kindness, compassion and the goodness in people. Lots of English listening practice will help you build confidence, improve your listening comprehension, and train your brain for faster, more natural language acquisition. You'll notice a difference in the way you think and feel as your English improves in only a few episodes. The Best English Listening Practice Podcast You're Not Listening To ✔Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-listening-practice-war-is-bad/ As we learn a new language, we hear new things and want to use them in conversation. However, we aren't always sure how to use these unfamiliar words and expressions. Our English lessons are better than standard textbooks or lectures because they help improve natural, everyday spoken language. The type of English you will need to sound fluent and take part in everyday English conversations. With downloadable audio available in MP3 format and transcripts available in PDF format, each of our English listening practice podcasts offers both aural training and parallel reading practice. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ⭐ Albert Einstein Whether you're a student of English as a foreign or second language or an adult speaker looking to improve your verbal communication skills in English, we definitely have an English listening podcast for you. Learn more about our courses here: https://adeptenglish.com/language-courses/ Adept English is here to help with FREE English lessons and language courses that are unique, modern and deliver results. You can learn to speak English quickly using our specialised brain training. We get straight to the point of how you should learn to speak English. We teach you in a fun and simple way that delivers results. If you want to learn to speak English, our approach to learning through listening will improve your English fluency.

Welcome to the PokeGuardian Podcast. This is the 26th episode. The hosts of the show will be Taj from PokéTaj, Zakariya (PrimalLugia), the webmaster of PokeGuardian. Dialga? Palkia? We will talk all about their Origin Formes in the upcoming set Time Gazer and Space Juggler. Our English equivalent has seen a partial reveal too with Astral Radiance. Let's talk all about it. And in this episode we have a returning guest all the way from England on our episode: Ryan from Braysh Gaming and co-owner of Kādo Collectables.  Read more on PokeGuardian http://www.pokeguardian.com/podcast/860785_pokeguardian-podcast-26-time-gazer-space-juggler-astral-radiance-lost-abyss-giratina-set-

Welcome to the PokeGuardian Podcast. This is the 26th episode. The hosts of the show will be Taj from PokéTaj, Zakariya (PrimalLugia), the webmaster of PokeGuardian. Dialga? Palkia? We will talk all about their Origin Formes in the upcoming set Time Gazer and Space Juggler. Our English equivalent has seen a partial reveal too with Astral Radiance. Let's talk all about it. And in this episode we have a returning guest all the way from England on our episode: Ryan from Braysh Gaming and co-owner of Kādo Collectables.  Read more on PokeGuardian http://www.pokeguardian.com/podcast/860785_pokeguardian-podcast-26-time-gazer-space-juggler-astral-radiance-lost-abyss-giratina-set-

--Story-- (Story written by me! Inspiration for this soundscape was taken directly from Part 2 of my two part one-shot titled "Mysteries and Confessions!" For more backstory on the story below, check out my Marvel Imagines book on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1175061136-marvel-imagines-pt-1-mysteries-and-confessions) **** "Our English paper is due tomorrow morning," You state with a yawn as Peter ushers you inside through his bedroom window for the second time in an evening, his costume-clad figure following closely behind and shutting the glass pane with such quietness you didn't even know was possible. "Yeah, I know," He groans, stumbling towards the bathroom, a fresh pair of clothes being bundled in his arms. "Think we can get it done before we both collapse from pure exhaustion?" "Ask a stupid question!" Your boyfriend hollers in reply, a much cleaner, more relaxed version of himself appearing moments later, a determined grin plastered on his features. "Of course we're getting it done." Mirroring his grin with one of your own, you kick off your shoes and pull your laptop from your backpack, settling in on Peter's bed, back against the wall. With a shared chuckle, you and both delve head-first into your work, vowing not to fall asleep until the whole thing is done. But before either of you can get too far into the task at hand, a soft knock sounds from the door, followed moments later by the squeak of its opening, earns a wild eyed glance in Peter's direction. “What are ya doing up here?” The familiar voice of Peter's Uncle questions, a surprised look appearing upon his features at the sight of you sitting in front of him. “I'm… uh…” Your boyfriend muses, exchanging a nod with you before turning to face his Uncle. “Homework.” With an awkward smile and hello being exchanged between you and the newcomer, the door is quickly closed, it's squeaking still very much so evident. Sighing with a shake of his head, you watch silently as Peter swiftly flicks the switch on a remote sitting off to the side of his desk, the whine of the rather jerry-rigged locking device meeting your ears. Once more sharing a determined smile, the clacking of keys, muttered sighs, stifled yawns and practically incomprehensible chatter fill the small space the pair of you are sharing, the numbers on the digital clock beside Peter's bed continuing to turn deeper and deeper into the night. And soon enough, you find yourself drifting in and out of sleep with your boyfriend at your side, his fingers dancing over the keys of your laptop, his own desktop now powered off and sitting silent. Soft music is also playing from somewhere you can't quite pinpoint, but you don't mind - it's quiet enough that it doesn't bother you. Time continues to pass and as it does, the clicking of keys and scribbling of pen against paper finally vanishes and is instead replaced by Peter's soft snores, following you into a well-deserved slumber. --Info-- I own no rights to any sounds used in this video! I simply just compiled them into this soundscape! The image is also not mine! --My Socials-- My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Kaila_Falcon

What is worry? Our English word "worry" comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means "to strangle"; worry certainly does strangle people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Bible term "be careful" or "be anxious" means literally "to be torn apart."

The fear of speaking in a second language or in public can be crippling. That knot that pushes your words further down into your chest. Do you know it? We often think about these things as if they are OUR OWN issues. OUR problems, OUR English. But what if English is just a manifestation of something bigger that prevents us from speaking? What if our tendency to mute ourselves is not just English but something generational, that unless we break the chain, we will keep passing it onward? In this podcast I share with you some of the struggles I've been facing recently around creating content during uncertain times, and how I found inspiration in an unexpected place – My ancestors. I recorded this podcast, after listening to Amanda Gorman's Ted talk called Using Your Voice is a Political Choice. Watch it here: https://bit.ly/3bcuKbz Share your story on my website: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/103/ Send me a DM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hadar.accentsway/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://theaccentsway.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://theaccentsway.com/mispro-signup/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/

The fear of speaking in a second language or in public can be crippling. That knot that pushes your words further down into your chest. Do you know it? We often think about these things as if they are OUR OWN issues. OUR problems, OUR English. But what if English is just a manifestation of something bigger that prevents us from speaking? What if our tendency to mute ourselves is not just English but something generational, that unless we break the chain, we will keep passing it onward? In this podcast I share with you some of the struggles I've been facing recently around creating content during uncertain times, and how I found inspiration in an unexpected place – My ancestors. I recorded this podcast, after listening to Amanda Gorman's Ted talk called Using Your Voice is a Political Choice. Watch it here: https://bit.ly/3bcuKbz Share your story on my website: https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/podcast/103/ Send me a DM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hadar.accentsway/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://theaccentsway.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://theaccentsway.com/mispro-signup/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom." (James 3:13)This book was almost certainly written by Jesus' brother and guess what? His name wasn't James! The original language reveals that his name was actually Jacob. Our English versions refer to him as James because our first translation was authorized by King James who, for what it's worth, allegedly requested to see his name in the Bible. But back to Jacob or James. He didn't always believe that his brother Jesus was the Messiah until Jesus resurrected from the dead. That'll do it! Years later, James wrote these words to the Jewish members of the early church encouraging them to walk in meekness and honor. James hadn't always done that, but truly knowing who Jesus truly is has a way of humbling us. He's the one who should be exalted and He's where the joy is!

Our English-speaking & Spanish-speaking services came together as one whole Church for our worship service on Sunday, December 17th.