Podcasts about paul is

This week on Zed Games Paul, Tom, and Maylee all get fully sick with husky voices included before diving into the week in #GamingNews, Classifications, EU Kids and FoMO Crackdown, Game Informer Rebirth, and Bam Returns to THPS3+4. Paul Is forced to slow down and make tea in Wanderstop from Ivy Road, and Tom gets his Kerouac on for road trip nostalgia while playing Keep Driving from Y/CJ/Y Timestamps and Links: 01:52 - Gaming News 13:26 - Wanderstop from Ivy Road w/ Paul 24:45 - Keep Driving from Y/CJ/Y w/ Tom 35:16- Netherworld get's Poke-them'd 36:32 - Dirk Warhard Podcast Exclusive Extended Cut

Patrick begins with the complex international tensions surrounding Israel and Hamas, featuring insights from experts like Douglas Murray and Natasha Hausdorf. He then discusses the nuanced perspective on the ethics of euthanasia and its alignment with Christian doctrine. The conversation shifts to the importance of informed confession practices within the Catholic faith. Audio: Douglas Murray, “they don’t care about Palestinians, they hate the Jews” (00:53) Audio: British attorney Natasha Hausdorff stunned the audience by completely destroying the Palestinian narrative about the conflict (03:10) Paul - Is it legit to say when I am in a confessional that I am confessing my sins with a priest? (08:01) Michael - How can we get people to listen to other sources of news? Both sides are convinced they are true. (14:51) Audio: President Trump addresses the nation about last night’s horrible tragedy (19:17) Jane - People make out that assisted suicide is normal is bizarre (29:16) Tom - I don't see how euthanasia fits into Thou Shalt Kill. (37:55) Rose - I wanted to commend you on your calm approach to callers and how you respond to them. I appreciate it. (48:59)

Patrick tackles some fascinating questions about attending a Maronite Mass and the validity of their sacraments. He also delves into the history of the Church of England and King Henry VIII's departure from the Catholic Church.   Betty - Can I go to a Maronite Mass? (00:35) Barb (email) – My stream got cut off while you were talking about 9/11 Michelle - I came across a Satanist at my Walgreens. (09:45) Paul – Is the location of the tabernacle in a church important? (20:20) Lydia - What does 'Blessed' mean for someone in the process of canonization? (32:19) John – How can I help my friend who is skeptical about the Ascension? (43:01)

Episode 476 – Is Quitting Drinking Hard?   Today we have Tonya. She is 50 and lives in St Paul, MN. She took his last drink on August 21st, 2021.   Registration opens today for our annual retreat in the beautiful Rocky Mountains located outside of Bozeman, MT. This retreat is from Wednesday August 14th through Sunday August 18th, and it is going to be a blast! Click here for the full itinerary and to get pricing info.   Better Help:  www.betterhelp.com/elevator - 10% off your first month. #sponsored   [02:30] Thoughts from Paul:   Is quitting drinking hard? It can be, yes but if you have a drinking problem, quitting drinking is way easier than riding alcohol off into the sunset of self-destruction.    Here are some reasons why it can be a challenge:   1)    Your body has to detoxify itself form the chemical alcohol. 2)    You are going to have to learn some new routines and make new habits. 3)    You need to start building friendships where alcohol isn't the foundation. 4)    Accept that boredom is a normal and healthy life experience.   Here are some glorious truths about quitting drinking:   1)    After 14-21 days you are going to get out of the brain fog and want more of the new “good-feeling” thing. 2)    No more checking message to see what you said the night before, you'll remember the book you read, less sick days at work, and more money in your bank account. 3)    Your dopamine system rebalances. 4)    You are living life at face value and when we do that, we can start to build the life that no longer requires alcohol.   Go Brewing. Use the code ELEVATOR for 15% off.   [10:27] Kris introduces Tonya:   Tonya has been married for 21 years and they have two children who both attend the University of Minnesota. She recently left the corporate world to be an in-home professional organizer. She enjoys her work as well as cooking, tending her plants and in recovery she is always up for trying new things.   Tonya was born into a deeply religious family. They attended church daily along with going to school there. She says they were forced to pray for forgiveness everyday which left her feeling like a bad person.     Tonya didn't drink until college because she didn't want to be like her father who was an alcoholic. There was typical college-age partying, but Tonya says she always went a little further than everyone else. Some of her behavior led to losing friends and being seen as a liability on their travels. As she got older and wanted to get married and have kids, she was able to slow the drinking down a bit, but still drank heavily while out of town for work.   Having postpartum depression after her daughter was born, Tonya found she was using alcohol to cope with life. Over time her family started becoming concerned about her drinking, so she went to rehab for the first time. She didn't end up being able to quit and struggled with the AA program. She would attend rehab five more times and while she learned a lot about the psychology and science behind alcohol and addiction, she didn't actually quit.   Shortly after her 2nd DWI, Tonya lost her job for reasons that didn't include alcohol although she admits she was physically addicted and drinking on the job. Unable to find another job she ended up sinking into her drinking and says she spent a year doing nothing else. After nearly ending her life, she realized that she didn't want to do that to her daughter. She was at the end of her rope and ready to give recovery and AA another try. Tonya started going to different AA meetings and got a sponsor. She is grateful that she found community because she knows she couldn't have done it on her own.   Tonya's favorite resource in recovery:  Everything AA app, the AA and RE communities.   Tonya's parting piece of guidance: Time. Things will get better in time. One day at a time. Get involved in community.     Café RE – promo code OPPORTUNITY waives set up fee. RE merch Instagram   Recovery Elevator YouTube Sobriety Tracker iTunes      Recovery Elevator We all go home so we might as well go big. I love you guys.

"I pray to Jesus that I won't have nightmares"Paul Foot is a comedian and writer, known for his unconventional comedic style, which has earned him a dedicated cult following. He's performed at all the big comedy festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and has been a regular on TV shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News for You.Paul Is now back on tour, with his critically-acclaimed show, Dissolve, his most personal, surprising and ground-breaking show ever.You can get in touch with Dan Schreiber on Twitter and Instagram (@Schreiberland). In his bio, you'll find the link to our Discord channel - a global community of likeminded weirdos!

Our Outline Today:Paul's Testimony of the Working of the Spirit in Him Should Be CompellingThe Working of Grace in Paul Is for Our Glory and Demands Our AttentionFor Paul and for Us, Our Eternal Prospect of Glory Is Always Transforming!

Patrick starts this hour speaking directly to the serious sin of children who are hurting their parents by withholding love and time from them for petty reasons Kevin - How can we believe that Jesus is our friend and Lord at the same time during adoration? Warren 11-years-old - There is a Church in my state that only does Vatican I Mass. Can the priest consecrate the Eucharist? Noah - Why do Catholics believe that the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary are necessary for salvation? Patrick shares emails from listeners about adult children cutting their parents out of their lives Elise 13-years-old - Does Deuteronomy and Leviticus contradict when talking about taking a widow as your wife? Angela - Well done Patrick in answering the man about kneeling before God. One thing I would add is that in private prayer we can talk to him as a friend. Giovanni - If angels are outside of time and space, how was there a before and after with their decision to serve God? Paul – Is it okay to depict the face of Jesus? Peter - Is there a difference between being worthy of God's love and God seeing us as being worth sacrificing for? Ann - Because of your suggestion, I watched Shtisel and it was Great! Thanks for recommending it!

I’ve felt the tension that these elders feel. I know, “This person is here today, and they’re not going to like that person who I know will stand up and say such and so.” Or “Oh great, that person’s here today, and my sermon isn’t going to settle well with them,” and though Paul IS going to go to great lengths here to try - and fail we might add - nevertheless try to keep the peace, I wonder if sometimes Christ doesn’t bring peace, but a sword. And lo and behold, if Paul’s gospel is offensive, it’s not Paul’s fault, it’s the gospel’s fault.

In the second of four special bonus episodes, Helena looks back at GOLD's conversation with Paul Simms, CEO, Impatient Health. She considers some of the gold nuggets that Paul shared, including insights on the current state of pharma's reputation and the ways in which pharma can recover and bolster its reputation. If you're interested in learning more about the topic areas discussed in this episode, check out the following content: Paul's full episode: Unpicking pharma's reputation in pop culture https://www.emg-gold.com/post/podcast-unpicking-pharma-s-reputation-in-pop-culture Reframing Pharma's bad boy reputation https://www.emg-gold.com/post/reframing-pharma-s-bad-boy-reputation Hear more from Paul: Is the pharma rep at death's door? https://www.emg-gold.com/post/is-the-pharma-rep-at-death-s-door The reality of the metaverse https://www.emg-gold.com/post/the-reality-of-the-metaverse

Episode 405 – Ahead of the pack   Today we have Rachel.   She is 29, from Wisconsin, and took her last drink on September 4, 2022.   Registration for Restore opens December 1. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/restore/   Sponsor:  https://www.soberlink.com/   Highlights from Paul   Is there a stigma for those in recovery, or are we ahead of the pack? This past August, Paul invited Elaine Huang  mindfulness and spirituality teacher) to speak at the RE Bozeman retreat. Elaine shared with Paul that those ditching the booze are ahead of the pack. She never has to modify or simply her course content for Café RE members. Members of our group are advanced students; they are more resilient, elite, and have a greater capacity for love and a greater capacity for recovery after pain & suffering. Elaine referred to us as “old souls .”The recovery community has a greater capacity for survival, compassion, and love.    Elaine believes our population is part of the 1% of people who can achieve a higher level of consciousness, vibration, and frequency:  the frequency of love.   Feel free to watch this video from a neuroscientist, Dr. Joe Dispenza. https://youtu.be/Ov3aeqjeih0   Deepak Chopra says, “it takes as little as 1% of a population to create positive change, and I believe that if 100 million people underwent a personal transformation in the direction of peace, harmony, laughter, love, kindness, and joy...the world would be transformed.”   Transcendental Meditation teacher Maharishi Mahesh predicted that only one percent of humanity is needed to create enough good vibrations to usher in world peace.  (https://www.naturalawakenings.com/2018/11/30/224480/a-global-wake-up-call-collective-consciousness-nears-spiritual-tipping-point)   For more information on Elaine Huang:  Elaine Huang - Embodiment of Freedom: https://www.mayyouawaken.com/   Better Help:  www.betterhelp.com/elevator - 10% off your first month. #sponsored                                                                               [12:30]    Rachel has been sober for over thirty days. She is still struggling and hasn't experienced a pink cloud yet. She is experiencing a lot of depersonalization, but she is hopeful. She loves singing, live music, nature, hiking, and playing the ukulele. Rachel struggles with PTSD. She has a partner and two kids.    Rachel identifies with the gifted kid burnout syndrome. She excelled in school but struggled to embrace her feelings, given some of her struggles at home. She was high functioning in high school: in clubs and the National Honor Society. As a DARE kid, she was afraid of drugs and alcohol. She described having a second life and drinking to impress people. Rachel believed alcohol helped her to fit in. She graduated from high school early and traveled to India. She had to abstain in India. When she went to college, drinking was a social lubricant.   She went to work drunk and high. Rachel described drinking as letting out a sigh.    Pregnancies led Rachel to a sober stint. She was doing well until the pandemic hit. Rachel's rock bottom moment was blacking out while reading a bedtime story to her daughter. Since her father and grandfather struggled with addictions, she decided it was time for the addiction cycle to end.   Singing, yoga, and cold exposure spike Rachel's dopamine which helps her maintain her sobriety. Rachel is mindful of potential relapse and knows that self-compassion is essential.    [50:48] Paul's Summary   Paul wonders if the stigma exists. We yearn for authenticity, and when we connect, that authenticity is reciprocated. The stigma is often in our minds. People in recovery make lasting changes that can influence others to do the same.   Upcoming events, retreats, and courses: You can find more information about our events   Resources Connect with Cafe RE - Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee. Recovery Elevator YouTube - Subscribe here! Sobriety Tracker iTunes    Recovery Elevator- It all starts from the inside out. I love you guys.

This Episode has EVERYTHING!It's got:Sassy Beginnings!Loud Explosive Farts and Liquid Hot Magma!No Rings of Fire!Maude Flanders' Unflavoured Sitz Baths!Bea Arthur!Dave isn't Anti-Woke btw! He's Just an Asshole!Give People a Proper Raise!Death Taxes!Illegal Strikes!Drug Dealing Politicians!Solidarity Strikes!France Gets Angry!Agriculture Tonight with Dave and Paul!Record Profit Price Gouging!Beaver!AI Is Destroying Humanity!Please Don't Fuck up the Midterms, America!Piss Off, Elon Musk!Morale Fuckery!Fantastically Fun Fridays!Lots of Porn Questions Tonight!Food and Porn!Dave's 1-900 Experience!Sexy Recordings!How Can it Tell it's Dog Poo?!Paul Loves Diagonal Cut Sandwiches!Four Score and Seven Inches Ago!Lincoln Logs!Sexually Frustrated Ice Crunches!Gross Airplanes!Idiots from the 70s!Paul IS the Drama!Bottom Jokes!Hello, Vienna! Engage with us!Episode Links (In Order):Ronnie Vino - It's Friday Night!The Ford Family's History with Drug Dealing!"Dogma" Boardroom Scene!Centralia, PA - America's Burning Ghost Town!Use of N-Word up More Than 500% on Twitter Post-Musk!Stephen King Reacts to Twitter Verification Fee!"Avenue Q" - The Internet is for Porn!MUSIC CREDIT!Opening Music Graciously Supplied By: https://audionautix.com/ Visit Our Patreon! Email Us Here: Disturbinglypragmatic@gmail.comWhere To Find Us!: Disturbingly Pragmatic Link Tree!

Paul – Is there a difference between resurrection and risen from the dead? Eric - Pastor lets the Extraordinary ministers distribute communion while he sits. How can I address this? Trip - Where does the soul of an aborted baby go? Jean - Where do we draw the line of resistance against this culture when we allow this indirectly through our voting? Norma - How did salvation history unfold in the New Testament? During Conception, Human Eggs Emit Sparks Paul – I'm going to confession for the first time in 50 years. HELP!

Email Us Here: Disturbinglypragmatic@gmail.comWhere To Find Us!:  Disturbingly Pragmatic Link Tree!This Episode has EVERYTHING!It's got:Finger Blasting!Water Pistol Cat Frolics!The Challenger Disaster!Paul Was Once a Scrambled Egg!Blanche Makes Another Appearance!More Australian Accents!Paul's Conditioning!Paul's Gonna Fuck Dave!ALL The Masks!Apple Reviews Are Broken!We Ranked In Hong Kong!True Crime Cat Lawyer!1980s Movie Trivia!Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon's Penis!Dave Worked with Mickey Rooney!Paul Is a Picky Bitch!Dutch Ovens!Beuks!Paul Channels RuPaul!UK Drag Race vs. The World!Dave Loves Paul!Paul's Anger Is Hilarious!Farting Rainbows!Leonard and Lilly!Funny Hedgehogs!You Can't Do That On Television!Episode Links (In Order):The Challenger Explosion!The Challenger Wiki!True Crime Cat Lawyer - Elyse and Winston!Winston The Cat's Instagram!Mary Margaret O'Hara Sings at John Candy's Memorial!Kevin Spacey's YouTube Channel!"Little Britain" Political Apology Video!Joshua Ryan Evans' Gravesite - Finding Gravesites With Steve!An Episode of "You Can't Do That On Television"!MUSIC CREDIT!Opening Music Graciously Supplied By: https://audionautix.com/

Email Us Here: Disturbinglypragmatic@gmail.comWhere To Find Us!:  Disturbingly Pragmatic Link Tree!This Episode Has EVERYTHING!It's got:We Finally Figure Out Our Podcast Name!Sassy Braziers!Sugar Sandwiches and British Teeth!Don't Use the Word "Goof" to a Former Convict!Paul Teaches Dave about "Kawaii"!Paul's Shocking Use of the "F" Word!Paul's Single Boomer Anti-Vax Protester Experience!Dave's Controversial Opinions!WE'RE SICK OF SELFISH!It's Never OK to Be A Chad!Our Sexy First Date - Emphasis on Sex-Y!LUCIFER'S FINAL SEASON!We Both Have Platonic Love For Rachael Harris!  Hopefully She'll Hear This and Will Email Us and Be Our Friend! Amsterdam Has Fallen!Dwarves and Munchkins and Gnomes, Oh My!It's A Small World, INDEED!Paul IS the Lizard Queen!Dave Has ADHD and BPD, Yet is THERAPY FREE!People Suck and Make Us Mad!Paul's Apple Message Notifications Keep Us On Our Toes!MUSIC CREDIT!Opening Music Graciously Supplied By: https://audionautix.com/

Paul Is the head greenkeeper at Royal St George's and we've been excited about talking to him for a while. We cover the setback in 2020With the cancellation of The Open, as well as what preparation for a major championship looks like through the lens of the greenkeepers. It's really apparent the level of knowledge and care Paul brings to his job, talking about subjects we were WELL out of our depth in including ecology, rough management and grass regeneration! Hopefully this gets The Open vibes going a bit

UFCollins #4 Izzy vs. Jan B Bad judging Dominick Cruz calls out Hans Molenkamp Would you go to Askren v Paul Is a potential Izzy vs Jones ruined? Collins dream matchup: usman vs Izzy? What's next for Izzy? Till? Did this loss hurt Izzy's stock? Jan Blachowicz next move? 6 months off good or bad? Jan's magical rope Amanda Nunes v Anderson? Nunes the

Paul Is a well established Toronto based Production manager and events organizer. If you have been lucky enough to work with him you know It's going to be a great day full of laughs he knows how to turn even the shittiest of events into one of the funniest shows you've worked check out his Tik Tok, facebook or business page. https://www.facebook.com/paul.dolan.96 https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40dolan7469%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1QkHe2B4QH0t_TI8P52kp6E-eTD32ZmOA3mdFDtILxNxUtNeqddEbyX3E&h=AT2_Wemjp3OFhRD0KfUlrofXjJG6yJssrvU98dvOFjs-8zh5kU_YrCJHgn-Hj6lVLmzw8PWt0QiFHVsHRVi4_abF0FLCP31EvJLEQ95MDYHUYKF-dvPWAZzgXg3Os-e3ZdTf8zHyj2-AFXvyKlY https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flinkslivemedia.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3yat5dO4vuWjK28FsLxcKwggBpBrSNBsuzKgggyxQeL6G0rhL3ELAOK-s&h=AT1TIV3ojG_OiZLVxTDU795YyyjB99fMbGsboHc7NC1FHKK8c90hH75P-CQguCKOx9-85F2oNVCwp-Z95T1uya096h7IifgWmJUOJ6nnjdY54i2DboFzxbxkFLC-tED31yEyKWaB2hAKcirlJw

We're going to start a run on sequels by taking a look at the second chapter of the Friday the 13th saga. Is it better than the first? What the hell happened to Paul? Is there ever a hockey mask in this series?

This week on the P100 Podcast, of course, we had to address the sinkhole that shook Pittsburgh (and fueled a day’s worth of memes). We dig deep to learn how sinkholes form and consider ourselves grateful to be above ground (it was only a few blocks away from us). Elsewhere in the episode:Alexandra Loutsion, a soprano singing the lead role in Pittsburgh Opera’s “Florencia en el Amazonas,” stops by.Priya Amin of Flexable discusses her childcare solution for working parents and gives a preview of an upcoming webinar.A Veterans Day tribute to those who served.----more----This Episode is sponsored by WordWriteCenturies before cell phones and social media, human connections were made around fires as we shared the stories that shaped our world. Today, stories are still the most powerful way to move hearts and minds and inspire action. At WordWrite, Pittsburgh's largest independent public relations agency, we understand that before you had a brand, before you sold any product or service, you had a story.WordWrite helps clients to uncover their own Capital S Story. The reason someone would want to buy, work, invest or partner with you through our patented story-crafting process. Visit wordwritepr.com to uncover your Capital S Story.Here's the full transcript from this episode.Logan: You are listening to the P100 Podcast, the biweekly companion piece to the Pittsburgh 100 bringing you Pittsburgh news, culture and more, because sometimes 100 words just isn't enough for a great story.Paul: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the P100 Podcast, the audio companion to the Pittsburgh 100. I'm Paul Furiga, here along with my colleagues, Dan Stefano and Logan Armstrong.Dan: Hey Paul.Logan: How you doing?Paul: Guys, we have a great episode today. We're talking about big black holes.Dan: Everybody's seen the hole now, but yes.Paul: Yes, we are. Singing a little bit, accurate gentlemen, Pittsburgh Opera.Dan: That's true. Yeah. We're not singing, fortunately, but there is singing in this episode.Paul: We have a great guest on, who's going to talk about a really cool initiative called Flexable.Dan: Yeah, it's a company that is involved in instant onsite childcare and it's an issue that affects a lot of working parents and I think you want to hang on for that interview. It's definitely interesting.Paul: And we're going to be talking about Veterans Day.Dan: Absolutely.Logan: Finish it off strong.Paul: That's right.Dan: Yeah. That's the way we love Veterans Day, actually, it's a great holiday.Logan: It's also (beep) birthday.Dan: Hey, that's supposed to be ... That's spoiler alert there, we don't want to talk about that.Paul: Is that how that wound up in this episode?Dan: I know. I can't do another little ... Maybe the last five minutes is just a celebration of (beep), or maybe it isn't. I don't know. We all have to hang on.Paul: I don't think so, folks.Dan: No.Paul: Stay tuned.Paul: All right, now we want to talk about holes, sometimes black holes, sometimes big holes, sometimes big holes, small holes.Dan: Sometimes famous holes.Paul: Sometimes famous holes. All of them, sinkholes.Dan: I feel like I've seen that in the news lately. I don't know.Paul: Yeah, something about a bus downtown, Dan, going into a hole somewhere.Dan: Bus, Dan, in the sinkhole.Paul: Dan, means the up streets [crosstalk 00:02:12].Dan: Well, you got to work on your [inaudible 00:02:15] accent, but you're getting-Paul: I don't think so.Dan: Yeah.Logan: The Cleveland is showing.Dan: Yes, exactly.Paul: All right, so, holes. I have a word for you gentlemen. You ready?Dan: Got you.Paul: This is not a Pittsburgh ethnic food, although it sounds like one. Karst. K-A-R-S-T.Dan: Yeah. I need a definition.Paul: All right. Karst, occurs in bedrock, that’s primarily limestone and it's like an underground cave system that water rushes through. The most common form of sinkholes is caused by karst. We don't really know yet which caused the sinkhole that happened downtown, what we do know is that the Allegheny River has a limestone bed. That is why the water in the Allegheny River is clear, whereas the water in Monongahela is brown because that's more of a mud bottom.Dan: You and I have varying definitions of clear, but yes, it is definitely cleaner than the stuff in the Mon.Paul: If you go upstream…Dan: Yeah. Oh, now like elegant Armstrong County.Paul: Yes.Dan: Beautiful.Paul: It is beautiful.Logan: Here's the thing, are we sure the Mon is only dirty because of the mud?Paul: I didn't say, only dirty because of the mud, I do know it has a mud bottom.Dan: Like, 40, 50 years ago, it was definitely ... I can only imagine how dirty it was.Paul: Guys, that's how that airplane disappeared into the Mon however many years ago.Dan: Correct.Logan: Oh yeah.Paul: Right into the Mon.Dan: Maybe it went down a sinkhole.Paul: Yeah. Okay. Paul: Back to karst, which is not like pierogi or kraut or any of the great ethnic foods we have in town here. That's the main reason in Pennsylvania that we have a lot of sinkholes and there are a lot of sinkholes in Pennsylvania. There's another reason. Mining. There's a lot of unchartered mines. We really have had an epidemic lately of things collapsing. The sinkhole that occurred in the South Hills. Big water main break.Dan: That's affected my house.Paul: Yes. That's another reason that sinkholes happen. Underground infrastructure. That might be the case here, we really don't know.Logan: Yeah. Either way, Pittsburgh, as you said, has had quite a history of some interesting sinkholes and there've been multiple cases in the past few years that have been documented. Around the world too, there have been houses that have been swallowed by sinkholes, but specifically here in Pittsburgh, an interesting story that I found just the other day, was a man who was actually just walking, and this has happened a few years ago, was walking underneath an underpass and just all of a sudden a sinkhole opened and he fell 10 feet into the ground.Dan: Where was this? What neighborhood?Logan: That happened in Glassport, he had to call 911 using his own phone and they came and rescued him an hour later when he was sitting 10 feet underground.Dan: You probably got a bad signal when you're in a sinkhole … no bars.Logan: I would think that was a prank call.Paul: One bar, which when they arrived they probably thought he'd been in a bar before he fell in the hole.Dan: Paul, I think you have some more insight though, right?Paul: This is such a big problem. There are two Pennsylvania state government departments, the department of natural resources and also the department of environmental protection, that have massive micro-sites including interactive maps all about sinkholes. So it's not your imagination, sinkholes are a real problem here. In fact, there is an Instagram account devoted to sinkholes in Pittsburgh. It's unofficial @pwsasinkholes, all one word. @pwsasinkholes on Instagram. Check it out, the bus picture's there, but so are a lot of other very interesting ones. I don't think the one from Glassport made it though.Logan: That's a shame. It might just be within city limits but-Paul: Might be.Logan: It would take quite a sinkhole to top what we saw last week.Dan: Oh it was incredible. Fortunately no one was hurt so we were able to make memes and social media was able to go crazy over this.Paul: Made the national news, international news.Dan: Right. It also reminds you though that it could have been a lot worse and that this is something that needs to be figured out. Infrastructure in Pittsburgh and all over Pennsylvania and the Northeast, it's just old.Paul: Your average water distribution system in an urban area like Pittsburgh is easily a hundred years old, so that may well be the cause. We don't know. One thing we do know, according to our government, our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the average sinkhole in Pennsylvania is four to 20 feet in diameter. This is 75 to a hundred feet, so it's not your imagination, that is one big hole.Dan: For this next segment, we're going to be talking about childcare in the workplace. We have a really interesting guest here with us. It's Priya Amin. She's one of the co-founders of Flexable.Priya: Thanks for having me.Dan: Absolutely. We also have Keira Koscumb. She's one of our fellow WordWriters, and childcare is very important for her because…Keira: I'm pregnant.Dan: Okay. It's super exciting. Yes. Keira, you’re due in January, and this is definitely something we've talked about in the office, just important stuff about childcare here, the cost of it, the availability of it. Priya, can you tell us a little bit about Flexable and just what you guys do there?Priya: Yeah, so Flexable was launched in 2016. It was born out of necessity, quite honestly. My co-founder, Jessica Strong and I, we both have five kids between us, ages four all the way up to 12, almost five up to 12 and we both had professional careers prior to being entrepreneurs, but the common thread that we shared was that childcare was always getting in the way of our professional development. First off, I was a brand manager at Nestle for years. I ended up leaving my career because I just couldn't find the balance between traveling all the time and seeing my children. I felt like my husband and I were ships passing in the night and we barely got to see each other, let alone our kids. So I ended up leaving my career and moving to Pittsburgh and I started a consulting company here and it was great.Priya: It was going really well and I had my second child and unfortunately I kept running into the same issue, which was, I couldn't do this. I could not go to a podcast recording in the morning. I couldn't meet with a client. I couldn't go to networking events because I had a three year old and a baby in a pumpkin seat. It was distracting and it was unprofessional and it was just really stressful for me. So that kind of planted a seed in my head to say, how can I create something that marries work and life together? How can I fit life and work together better? That was the start of Flexable.Priya: Flexable provides on demand onsite childcare at offices, conferences and events to help parents, to help women be able to have a seat at the table, to not miss professional development events, to miss work or to even miss doctor's appointments. We have some really great strategic partnerships with some large organizations around town, but the pinnacle partnership that we have is with Allegheny Health Network. We provide childcare at their women's behavioral health clinic to help patients get the therapy that they need specifically for postpartum depression care. We're affiliated with the Alexis Joy D'Achille Postpartum Depression Care Unit, and our caregivers go and provide childcare so that women can get the care that they need and not put childcare ahead of their own needs.Priya: We employ 32 highly vetted caregivers. These are people that have background checks, clearances, first aid, CPR, and they pick up shifts pretty much like any other gig economy job. So it's similar to Uber or Lyft from that perspective. A caregiver goes onto our system, finds a job that's on a Wednesday afternoon, picks up that shift. They have all the supplies that they need. They have all the play supplies, games, toys, crafts, all of that stuff, but they also have all the safety supplies. So corner guards, outlet covers, first aid kits, rubber gloves, Clorox wipes, all of that. So they arrive on site, they set up, they take care of kids, they clean up and they leave.Dan: That's fantastic. Keira, I know that's got to be something that sounds pretty interesting for you. Once maternity leave ends for you, I know your husband, he's got a full time job that's pretty important. Yourself, you need to go on a lot of client calls and meetings outside of the office. How does something like this sound to you?Keira: It sounds great. Daycare is expensive, you're on a waiting list. I think this evolution has happened with companies where in the past, maybe 10 years ago, I always viewed being somebody that wasn't planning on getting pregnant anytime soon, single and working. I viewed the companies as the enemy, they won't let me do these things, they won't let me be flexible with my kids when it's really not that way anymore. Companies are willing to pony up and be flexible, but it is just a time thing for parents. You know what I mean? You have stuff to get done at your job and you're responsible for things. So how you balance that guilt of, not letting your co-workers and your company down, with spending time with your family and kids and your husband and making sure that, what's the point of having this kid if you're just going to shell out a bunch of money for them to be sitting in a daycare or sitting with a nanny?Keira: So, this is definitely something that's attractive. I guess my question for you would be is, it doesn't sound like this is ever permanent. It's more like a temporary thing. It's not like WordWrite could ever hire Flexable to have a daycare that, Dan or me or whoever could bring our kid in every day.Priya: You could. Right now though, the best scenarios that we've seen with organizations is having childcare when it's needed, so at events or at a conference or on that one specific day, if it's election day, for example. We're also a relatively new company and I think that's one of the reasons why we haven't had these long-term commitments with organizations, but we're starting to see that. Amazingly, we have a 100% contract renewal rate with all of our customers because they see that once they have our caregivers at one event, parents keep asking for it and they're like, why can't we have this during these days or whatnot? So that's what we're working towards. We're working towards creating more of a more, not permanent footprint, but definitely a more regular footprint in some organizations so that it becomes synonymous with the company's culture, with their benefits, for example, just something that is a part of their inclusivity package. So it just helps people be more productive and just be there.Dan: Priya, for our listeners at home here, they can hear more from you. You have a webinar coming up later in the month on November 21st, can you give us a little preview of what that's going to be about?Priya: Yeah, so with the GPMP, we have a webinar coming up later this month on childcare as an inclusivity driver in the workplace. We see that when parents take time off to take care of their children, actually roughly $6 billion hit to the workforce, the American workforce, and unfortunately the majority of that is women. It's about 75% of the women who have left the workplace because of childcare reasons, only about a quarter of them even come back and even those that do take time off of work, there is such a hit to their personal finances but also to the greater economy as well. So we'll be talking about some of that. We'll be also talking about how things like childcare could potentially help drive productivity and inclusivity at work and give some best in class examples of those, not only in Pittsburgh but across the country as well.Dan: That's great. We're looking forward to hearing more about that then. For everybody who is interested in that webinar, we'll be sure to include a link in the show summary and in the Pittsburgh 100 that's going to drop on November 7th, and again that webinar is on November 21st so plenty of time to sign up. If you want to hear more about Flexable, you can find them at flexablecare, all one word, .com and even if you need to hire somebody for some childcare, it's a great place, but Keira and Priya, I really appreciate you guys coming in and just this is a great conversation.Priya: Thanks so much.Dan: Thanks a lot.Logan: Centuries before cell phones and social media, human connections were made around fires as we shared the stories that shaped our world. Today, stories are still the most powerful way to move hearts and minds and inspire action. At WordWrite, Pittsburgh's largest independent public relations agency, we understand that before you had a brand, before you sold any product or service, you had a story. WordWrite helps clients to uncover their own Capital S story, the reason someone would want to buy, work, invest or partner with you through our patented storycrafting process. Visit wordwritepr.com to uncover your Capital S story.Dan: All right. Hey everybody. As promised in the introduction here, we've got a pretty special treat for you here and we're bringing a little bit of culture to the 100 today too. We're here with Alexandra Lucian of the Pittsburgh Opera. She's in town for a new show that's just starting this week.Alexandra: Thank you so much for having me.Dan: Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be exciting for you coming back because you're a local, right?Alexandra: I am a local. I'm born and raised in Canonsburg, PA. Went to Chartiers Houston high school and so it's always a joy to come back to my hometown.Dan: Great. Can you tell us a little bit about the show that you're going to be on?Alexandra: Yes. The show that we're doing at Pittsburgh Opera right now is called Florencia en el Amazonas, which translates to Florence on the Amazon. Basically, it is a Spanish language opera, which is the first that Pittsburgh Opera is producing. The piece itself, it's a very unique opera because first of all, it's very short. It's two hours with intermission. So it's kind of the perfect step into opera if you've never checked it out before. The music itself is almost like a Disney movie. It's very cinematic and lush and the setting is in South America, so it sounds very tropical and very accessible and very easy to listen to. It's very beautiful.Alexandra: The story is basically about Florencia, who is a famous opera singer actually and left her hometown of Manaus in Brazil a long time ago to pursue an opera career and 20, I think it's about 20 years or so, and 20 years later she's now coming back because she feels like her life hasn't fully been fulfilled. Part of the reason is because she left her lover behind and his name is Cristóbal, and she wants to come back and find him again and reunite with him.Dan: Right. You're playing the lead role of Florencia, right?Alexandra: Yes.Dan: Okay, that's awesome. One thing that's interesting, and again, I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to opera, but one thing that I find interesting about it, is it seems like there's always is a mix of fantastical and some grounded maybe romance that's involved. Do you see those big themes in a lot of operas?Alexandra: Absolutely, yes. There's a lot of fairytales in opera, I'd say, and kind of larger than life stories and sometimes stories that don't make a lot of sense. But the cool thing about this piece is that it really ... It was written by a Mexican composer and a Latin American librettist. They really wanted to celebrate their own culture, and a big part of that culture is magical realism, which is basically magic that kind of takes the form of something real. So, we're sitting in the studio, it would be like, if one of us started to levitate in that world, that wouldn't be anything weird because that's what magical realism is.Logan: That's very cool. As a musician myself, I know from a pretty young age, I really wanted to do something in music and I was always very entranced by it. Was that kind of your same experience? Did you always know that you wanted to do something in opera or at least musical or did that come a little later?Alexandra: Yeah, I always sang. I drove my parents nuts actually, because I would sing around the house and I would also sing in church with my dad, and basically they got to the point where they were like, we need to do something with this kid or else she's going to drive us crazy. So I auditioned for what used to be called the Children's Festival Chorus in Pittsburgh and is now the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus. I sang with them for six years, and that was the first spark of really being into classical music and singing. So I did that. I did high school musicals. I did the Junior Mendelssohn choir also. So all of these things, led me in this direction because I started singing in foreign languages from the time I was eight years old.Dan: Oh, wow.Alexandra: I also grew up Greek Orthodox, so we sing in Greek too in church. So I was kind of surrounded with that. So for me, I started to take voice lessons and I realized that I didn't sound like any of the people on the musical theater recordings, I sounded like the opera recordings, so I went to Pittsburgh Opera to check out an opera when I was 15, which was Turandot and I completely fell in love with it, and then almost 20 years later, I sang Turandot here two years ago. So yeah, it's been a cool journey.Dan: Well, something about that journey then, in my thinking, I would just assume that, a singer stays with the same company for a while or you're contracted or something. But looking at your history here, you've been all over. That's Minnesota, Chicago, Canada, New Orleans, pretty much anywhere and everywhere. This has got to be like ... It's quite the career I imagine, it takes you a lots of cool places.Alexandra: Yeah, opera is very unique in that way, in this country in particular. In Europe it's a little different, but here we are freelancers and basically we have managers mostly, but we're kind of our own entity. So this year I'm in Minnesota, here, Palm Beach, Chicago twice and then Austin, so yeah, you just kind of bop around and you get used to traveling and meeting new people every time, new cast, new company, and then sometimes you get to come back to old favorites, like here.Dan: Right. Is it exciting to come back to Pittsburgh then? Do you get a lot of friends and family in the crowd?Alexandra: Oh yeah. It's really great. I have a really supportive community. I'm very lucky and Pittsburgh Opera also has been very generous in working with me, in bringing in my community, which is the Greek community here. Last time for Turandot and this time they are doing a Greek night for all of the Greeks in the area, they're-Dan: Quite few.Alexandra: Yes, exactly. There's some ticket discounts for opening night and some backstage tours and things like that.Dan: Someone who isn't familiar with opera like myself, probably other people in this office and it's something that sometimes it might feel like it's inaccessible, like in my head I say, well I don't know these languages, but ... Why would you recommend someone who hasn't experienced it to just try it out, get to a show?Alexandra: Yeah. I think that first of all, you'll never be lost in the story, because there's always English super titles that are projected above the stage. That's first and foremost. So you were not just going to go in and hear the story and be like, what the heck are they saying? Because you'll know. We try to also provide synopsises and stuff, but the super titles are a huge help. I also think that in our digital age, we hear a lot of music through our computers and through our phones, but the cool thing about opera I think is that, it's like music in its purest form. We don't use any microphones, and that is something that's really cool. We're singing, like the opera I just did was a 90-piece orchestra and I did not use a microphone in a 2,500 seat hall.Alexandra: That's what we're trained to do and it's pretty cool to hear the raw human voice singing like that in a big space. The Benedum's almost 3,000 seats and it's kind of a way to bring all of the pieces together of lots of different art forms. So you've got singing, you've got instruments, you've got set design. This one has projections, so there's kind of like a movie going on behind the sets. There's costuming. So there's something for everybody, which I think is really neat. If you're into seeing interesting costumes, you can check that out. If you're into singing, you can check that out. If you're into the symphony, you can check that out. So it's kind of something for everyone.Dan: One thing that we'd be remiss to not point out here is that these shows are coming up here, going to be on November 9th, 12th, 15th and 17th you can still grab tickets at pittsburghopera.org. They're all going to be at the Benedum Center, which is an awesome venue, I imagine a lot of people have been there, but if you haven't, it's really great to see, and do you enjoy playing there as well?Alexandra: Oh yeah. It's so beautiful. It's one of the most beautiful venues in the city I think, and there's so much of our history as Pittsburghers in that venue, thinking of it as like a movie house back in years and years and years ago and then a performing venue. It's really amazing, and when you think about all of the different shows that have been on that stage, it's really cool to be able to share the stage with that kind of history.Dan: Alexandra, last thing we're going to ask you, can you hit a note for us?Alexandra: Sure. Okay. Let's see. (singing)Dan: I don't think we can end this segment any better than that. Alexandra, thanks for being here, and everybody try to get to the opera. At some point here for Florencia en el Amazonas or they've got a lot of great shows coming up in 2020 too, so thank you again Alexandra.Alexandra: Thank you guys so much.Dan: OK guys, we have another important holiday coming up here. Within the next week we'll be at Veterans Day, which is the day that obviously, we celebrate all our servicemen and women about, just the people who are serving and making big sacrifices for us here. Unlike Memorial Day, which is another important one, I think Veterans Day is an important one because it's about the living too.Paul: That’s right Dan, absolutely.Dan: Yes, and Paul, you just had an interesting experience though. You were over in the UK and you had a chance to really learn about how people over in Europe feel about our veterans.Paul: That’s right. I think this is really an important way to look at Veterans Day, Dan, because, given the geography of the United States, with the exception of the terrible 9/11 attack, we've never really been invaded or bombarded in the way that Europe was during the Second World War. Those events are fading further and further into history. We're coming up next year on the 75th anniversary of the end of that war, so it was surprising to me, as you mentioned, a group of about 40 of us from the States went over to my dad's old airbase and my dad was in the Eighth Air Force. He was a bombardier navigator, and of this group of 40 there were three veterans, each one of them, 96 years old. Two of them brought their significant others who were also not spring chickens, and then the rest of us were mostly kids of World War II veterans or in some cases grandkids.Paul: We had a few who were nephews and nieces as well. It was a very interesting group. So 75 years ago, 1944, was a time period when my dad's airbase was really up and running and my dad was actually there. I think that different perspective, and I did one article about this, I'll probably do another one in the 100, we went to the cemetery at Mattingly, which is the only cemetery in the UK that has American war dead from World War II, and there's 3,800 graves there and there's another 5,000 memorialized who are still missing 75 years after the end of the war. As you said, really Veterans Day is more about the living. Memorial Day is about those who lost their lives defending the country.Paul: The thing that was really interesting to me, Dan, about this whole trip was the way people overseas view what we as Americans did through our military service. There was a group of people, and I don't mean people who are like our veterans in their '90s, I mean people in their '50s, '60s, '40s, '30s, teenagers, that we met, who care about what happened 75 years ago. And the reason is, as one of the people said to me when he kept profusely thanking me for my dad's service, he said, "No, you don't understand. If your dad and his fellows didn't do what they did, we'd all be speaking German."Dan: To those three men you were there with, right?Paul: That's right. So I came away with this experience of understanding that, it's not just another day to put the flag up out front, it's not just another day when the post office is closed or governments or whatever are not at work. It's a day to celebrate what Americans can do in service of our country and also in service of democracy around the world.Paul: One of the other things I learned, there's a cemetery as well in Holland, there's a four year waiting list for volunteer families, guys, to take care of American servicemen's graves. Again, these ain't people who are 90 years old, we're talking about, families with teenagers, et cetera, et cetera. As we approach this Veterans Day, I think it's a very important perspective to understand that the service of our veterans, it's not just an American thing, it's something that extends far beyond our borders.Dan: That's awesome. That's great to hear. Again, talking about, you can help memorialize our war dead, which is fantastic, but again, Veterans Day and pretty much any day of the year is a day to support and recognize our current veterans. I've got two of my best friends, two friends who were in my wedding are veterans who served over in the Middle East, and I respect the hell out of them for being able to do that. I know for a fact that each of them saw things that I can't even imagine. That's going to have effects on them for the rest of their lives, and so it's important, whether you can find some support online, whether you can maybe donate to causes for veterans or just, hey, pat someone on the back and every now and then give them a call and make sure that they're feeling all right. That's important stuff. I can't say that I served, but what I can do is I can support my friends who did and try to do what you can to make these people recognized, let them know that we care about their sacrifice.Paul: And really, that's kind of, Logan, what I would say to people this time around and certainly, Logan, people in your generation are the people who are overseas right now, doing multiple tours. Again, more than the flag, more than the day off, is doing something to say thank you to veterans.Logan: Yeah, I totally agree. As you said, there's a couple of people I know that are deployed right now overseas. My dad's also a 10-year veteran of the air force. So I completely agree and I think it's very important to recognize both the Memorial and Veterans Day and as you guys both said, just do what you can to support and let them know that we do appreciate all the things that they've done for our country and that things might be very different if they weren't all there, similar to the story that, that gentlemen over in the UK told you. They do a lot of things for us that sometimes go, it can be out of sight, out of mind, because we don't always see them, obviously they're not fighting here on the homeland, but yeah, I think it's very important to recognize and to appreciate them for Veterans Day and every day.Dan: Right. Yeah. So we are very thankful to them, and to be a little tiny bit selfish, I would also say that Veterans Day is my birthday.Paul: Dan, I knew that that was why we really were talking about this day.Dan: It's awkward to bring up because if I'm at a restaurant or something, and they get free entrees, I can't ask for the free dessert or else then I'm just a jerk.Paul: Well, Dan, happy birthday. We'll buy you some ice cream and let's remember our veterans on Veterans Day.Logan: And we are well beyond 100 words today. Thank you for listening to the P100 podcast. This has been Dan Stefano, Logan Armstrong and Paul Furiga. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to p100podcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Twitter @pittsburgh100_, for all the latest news, updates and more from the Pittsburgh 100. 

This week, Roger & Paul talk about "The secret about being genuinely attractive in business." Roger found the marketing "Holy Grail" in a video. He reveals the three secrets of food marketing - while describing "The Secret" as a "vile book". Is the secret tongue-in-cheek, or genuine? You decide. Here's the secret to successfully marketing food: (1) Say how food is produced - "farm fresh" - "grass-fed" (2) Say that food production is "cutting-edge", "scientific" - like "super food" However, these two things pale into insignificance alongside (3) Find customers who don't care - about misleading advertising & chemicals in food. You hear Paul say "Roger you've been abusing language". "You're twisting words". 'I've found a nest of deceit & lies" admits Roger. Have we uncovered a major difference between Roger & Paul? Is the future of the podcast precarious? You'll have to listen to the whole podcast to find out...

Fancy a bit of rock'n'roll? If you're like us, the answer is yes. Join us as we walk through Paul's live albums and performances. Please note, this episode is an overview and is not intended to be definitive. This episode is very fun, and you will not want to miss it. Paul IS live, Jack!Click here for the Episode 32 topic list.Email us: takeitawaypodcast@gmail.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We call ourselves “Christians,” but what’s in a name? In this powerful message, Jacqueline Rose-Tucker, of the North Georgia Area of the United Methodist Church, uses the words of Haggai the prophet, the Apostle Paul, and the book of Hebrews to show how when we claim the name of Christ, we must remain obedient to Him as we move from fear to faith.  (VOICED BY PROFESSIONAL TALENT) FULL TRANSCRIPT 00:04     When women come together, there's nothing we cannot do. Welcome to the Wellspring's Journal podcast, where you will hear from women who have been called by God into lives that speak grace and compassion, that share pain and anger, and that dance life's joys and laughter. Inspiration to call forth your creative spirit await. Listen now. 00:40     What's In A Name by Dr. Jacqueline Rose Tucker. Our theme points us to the urgency of claiming who we are in Christ as others have cried out over the centuries. We too are living in critical times. The world has been hit by natural disaster after disaster. How are we, as clergy in general, clergy women in particular, to respond to world conflicts and threats, increase in poverty and suffering worldwide, shootings, violence, mistrust of authority, and lack of moral leadership at every level of those who are charged with our care and safety? 01:22     Perhaps it is a matter of identity. So I ask this question, what's in a name? HAGGAI It might be helpful to look at the time of Haggai, the prophet, to help us make a positive impact in our communities. The Prophet Haggai's name is derived from a word that means a festival. Other scripture tells us more about him. Haggai is mentioned twice in Ezra, where he is called the prophet, and is connected with Zachariah helping to motivate the people to rebuild the temple. 01:59     Just to be clear, we start with Haggai chapter one, verse one. In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the Prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. The economic conditions were so horrible that the task of rebuilding was dropped and not taken up again for a number of years. Around 522 B.C., when Darius, who was the king of Persia, ascended the throne, war broke out in many sections of the empire. 02:41     After two years of strenuous fighting, peace again reigned. It was at this time that Haggai encouraged the people, under the dual leadership of the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, to begin rebuilding. Haggai spoke at a time when the identity of the [inaudible 00:03:02] community was in jeopardy. The people were a part of a vast empire and could have followed the path of others who had lost their distinctiveness and drifted into the forgotten pages of history. 03:14     However, God had something better for the Israelites. The way out of the crushing poverty that sapped their communal life was not the neglect of their religious duties, but the performance of them. The people who had placed economic security and wellbeing ahead of their obligations to Yahweh way had to reassess and change their values. Haggai speaks during the Feast of Tabernacles, which recalled the wilderness wanderings of Israel when God continuously provided for the people. The feast also celebrated the gourd and vineyard harvest in remembrance of the fruits of the land for which the conquest under Joshua's leadership was carried out. 03:57     Haggai aptly addresses the complaints of the people with three rhetorical questions. Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Some people were grumbling that the community was not economically able to finish the temple in the same decadent style as Solomon who had used fine woods and gold to decorate it. In verse four, Haggai three times encourages the leaders and people to be strong. This dialogue is similar to that found in the Lord's command to Joshua on the eve of the conquest. 04:38     This is found in Joshua chapter one, verses six through nine. Haggai intentionally reminds the people of lessons from the Feast of Tabernacles. Israel would have perished in the wilderness or failed in the invasion if God had not been with her. What guaranteed success was not the people's ability, but God's presence. Similarly, he was now present with them to complete their task. They possessed adequate resources for God was among them. The temple would be rebuilt if only they did not lose the inner drive to complete the task. The question was not one of resources, but one of faith. 05:23     Haggai concludes his message with an appeal to the future by reminding the people of the previous acts of God, that once again, the Lord of hosts will shake the heavens and the earth. The metaphor of an earthquake is extended to describe another political upheaval similar to when Darius took the throne. In a future shaking of the nations, God will cause the wealth of the nations to flow into the temple so that it might be decorated in a manner more splendid than Solomon's. The desire of all nations means the precious things or silver and gold of the nations. 06:03     The Kerygma of this prophetic book falls in the presence of the Lord Almighty or Yahweh Sabaoth, which is Haggai's favorite name for God, so much so he uses it five times in chapter two. In the epistle to the Hebrews, we find these words. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, disregarding it shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. HEBREWS 06:52     The book of Hebrews is one of the least used texts in the church today. However, it is the most highly stylized Greek text in the New Testament which formulates for the church at Rome an inspirational exhortation to the passionate faith. The original hearers were probably Hellenistic Jews, meaning they were influenced by the Greek culture of their day and very knowledgeable of the Hebrew text. This book quotes more Old Testament passages then does any other New Testament text. 07:25     Although we are not sure of the writer, he or she is writing to a church that has grown lax in worship, attendance, and apathetic to the Christian message. They have forgotten the true experience of worship and what it is to come into the presence of God with awe and gratitude. They sound a lot like the church today. PAUL Is what the writer of Hebrews and the Apostle Paul said some 2,000 years ago relevant to us today? Indeed. First, we have to decide within ourselves that God truly knows more than we do and trust God completely with our lives. 08:06     When we accept Christ as Messiah, we become part of what Paul speaks as a justified community that lives its life on the basis of its shared belief in Jesus as Lord. Until the fellowship of faith matches and embodies the religiousness of faith, we must claim the name of Christian. How do we accomplish this? In the words of Stanley [Howiss 00:08:30], " The cross is not a sign of the church's quiet suffering, submission to the powers that be, but rather the church's revolutionary participation in the victory of Christ over those powers." 08:45     The Cross is not a symbol for general human suffering and oppression. Rather, the cross is a sign of what happens when one takes God's account of reality more seriously than Caesar's. The cross stands as gods and our eternal no to the powers of death as well as God's eternal yes to humanity, God's remarkable determination not to leave us to our own devices. What's in a name? In claiming the name Christian, we must first be authentic in our belief that the Lord Almighty, Yahweh Sabaoth is with us. 09:24     From the book, Not Safe For Church, comes these pointed words. We want all of the benefits, but none of the responsibility of being a part of the body of Christ. Christ demands signs of authenticity in our sanctuaries and on our subways, in our Sunday school classrooms and in our church council boardrooms, at home and at work, with the people we love and with the people we hate. To be one called Christian and one called a member of a community of faith demands tangible evidence of the presence of God in the whole of our lives. It's not enough to say you believed the gospel of Christ. You must live it. 10:09     This is what people of the current age demand and need in the sea of fake news, fake churches, and faith leaders. People are watching us not only because of the Prophet Haggai's message, but because we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. What's in a name? When we claim the name, we move from fear to faith, not basing our giving or our living on economics, but understanding that God will cause blessings to flow to us and we will have more than we need. 10:45     The earth is shaking. The world is quaking. Terrorist about, political ground is moving. We live by faith, not fear. The Lord Almighty is with us, Yahweh Sabaoth. In this, we are encouraged. WHAT'S IN A NAME? What's in a name? When we claim the name, we must be obedient, worship the Lord our God, and continue to build God's body of faith. The Lord Almighty is with us. Yahweh Sabaoth, become obedient to God. Not our will, but thy will be done. The foundation of all Christian obedience is that those in Christ indwelt by the spirit are to offer ourselves to God. In true sacrificial worship, the whole self is presented to God. 11:38     Finally, what's in a name? We must claim the name. As we read in Acts chapter 17, verse 28, in Christ we live and move and have our being as even some of your own poets have said, for we too are his offspring. We trust that Christ will bring the harvest. I implore you to listen to the words of Paul and accept the promises of God. From Second Thessalonians chapter two, verses 13 through 17, but we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation, through sanctification, by the spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose, he called you through our proclamation of the good news so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 12:35     So then brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. 13:01     Thank you for listening to the Wellsprings Journal podcast. Be sure to visit wellspringsjournal.org to find more resources for the journey.

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. I wish I had a cute story to introduce this message.  I just don’t.  There is nothing cute about what’s happening in our country right now.   I really do try to remain neutral when it comes to politics and political things.  In all things, I fully believe that the life a Christian should lead doesn’t run parallel to the secular world, it also doesn’t run counter or perpendicular to the secular world.  It runs in, through, around, about, in spite of, and apart from the secular world.  Disciples of Christ march to the beat of a different drum than that of the world around them.  That does not mean that we ignore what’s happening, rather it means that we live our lives the way God calls us to and when that call comes into contact with the world around us (hint hint…everyday), then the life that we lead brings life to the surrounding world.  This is the pattern of life and health that Jesus sets for us—filth does not overcome cleanliness, cleanliness overcomes filth…darkness does not overcome light, light banishes darkness…death does not reign over life, life has defeated death.  Our Christian life and witness transforms the world around us by our presence, the world does not force us to conform to it (sound familiar?).   So, I trust that faithfully following Christ will produce fruit in the world that leads people to knowing Jesus on a deeper level, and as the pastor of a church, therefore, I don’t need to make comment on every little things that comes up in the political world, specifically, around us.   Today is different.   As I’m sure most of you know, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made this comment on Thursday, “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” Sessions said. “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”  End quote.   Wow.  I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to stomach that Paul would have written those words to justify the separation of 1,995 children from their families from April 19-May 31.   And if I’m being honest, I think we can prove that today.   There’s just so much that we need to unpack here, because, quite frankly, Mr. Sessions is proof-texting (pulling a text out of its context).  One of my seminary professors, Dr. Dongell, used to be very strict with us in our Bible Study classes by telling us that a “text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want it to be.”  We CANNOT ignore the context of this verse.   What Paul IS saying: Pay your taxes. Paul is writing to the Romans around the year 55AD….They had just been allowed to come back into Rome after a period of exile, along with the rest of the Jews.  The Emperor was Claudius (not Nero).  It was a time of ambivalence toward the Jewish and Christian faiths.  Paul is encouraging the Christians in the Roman Church that they are present at a time when God has set up the Roman authority, so they should do as little as possible to rock the boat and therefore keep their position in the mission field of Rome.  He sums up his instructions about living life under the Roman authority in verse 7: Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.  So, here in this portion of Romans, Paul IS encouraging the ROMANS, present in the Church in 55AD, to submit to the Roman authority. More significantly, Paul is telling CHRISTIANS to SUBMIT voluntarily to the just actions of their government.  HE IS NOT CONDONING THE ACTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT…HE IS TELLING THE DISCIPLES TO HONOR GOD BY HONORING THE GOVERNMENT. What does the immediate context of Romans 13 say? Live a life of non-conformity to the religious spirit and secular pressures of the day: Romans 12:2 Live in humility and unity with the whole church 12:3-8 After a discussion of various gifts in the body of Christ, Paul calls on the Christian community to practice a radical, genuine form of love that corresponds to the love they have received from God in Christ. This includes hating what is evil and practicing the good; showing hospitality to strangers; loving enemies; weeping with those who weep; associating with the lowly; blessing persecutors; not repaying evil for evil; practicing peace toward all; not seeking vengeance for harm done; and overcoming evil with good. 12:9-21 This is the ethic and framework for life that Paul is instructing the Romans to live according to, immediately before his words in 13:1-7 Immediately after 13:1-7, Paul finishes this ethic by again calling us to radically love our neighbor, for love (of the other) is the fulfillment of the Law. Further, it should be noted that Paul was eventually trialed and later executed for civil disobedience (preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ).   So, if it’s wrong to use this verse to justify what’s happening at the border, what does the Bible have to say about this? Exodus 23:9 You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt Leviticus 19:33-34 When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God Deuteronomy 10:17-19 The LORD your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt Deuteronomy 24:19-21 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have finished paying the entire tenth part of your produce on the third year—that is the year for paying the tenth-part—you will give it to the Levites, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows so they can eat in your cities until they are full Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin Jeremiah 7:5-7 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever Jeremiah 22:3 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place Ezekiel 22:4, 7 You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment [because] father and mother are treated with contempt, and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you Zechariah 7:10 Don’t oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; don’t plan evil against each other! Malachi 3:5 I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,’ says the LORD of Hosts Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me’ Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.   Y’all, we are far removed from what’s happening on the border and at immigration centers around the nation.  But let me tell you that what’s happening is wrong, we have a responsibility to do something about it.  Now, I’m going to encourage you to start with something that has gotten a LOT of backlash from political activists in the past few years….I’m going to ask you to pray.  Don’t hear me encourage you to respond to the next facebook post with “thoughts and prayers!”….I’m encouraging you to actually get down on your knees, fall on your face, and beg God to come and intervene in the lives of the fathers and mothers that have been separated from their children, pray for the children that are being put into Prison Walmart until something can be decided, pray for the ICE and other agents that have no option but to obey the orders that have been given them, pray for Mr. Sessions who is enforcing and pushing these policies, and pray for President Trump and those in his leadership circle that they would change their policies.   For those of you who have started with prayer already and want a next step…here it is: these policies aren’t just being enforced on our southern border, they’re being enforced right here in Ohio.  ICE conducted a raid 12 days ago in Castalia and Sandusky, OH that imprisoned over 100 workers, leaving many children (including infants and toddlers) without their parents.  Childcare providers are caring for these children right now, but they can use help.  One of our sister churches is organizing and donating items to provide for these children.  If God is tugging at your heartstring today, please consider donating to this cause, we’ll send whatever money we collect to the church later this week.   Church, this is one of those times, one of those moments, that the world is looking at us keenly to see what we’ll do.  Are we going to sit still and let Mr. Sessions speak for us and by our inaction signal our compliance, or are we going to stand up and speak the truth that resonates so firmly in us…that we love all people, that we fight for and protect families, and that these practices of our government do NOT reflect Christianity and certainly not us?   Let’s pray.

A collection of seemingly jumbled scenes collide in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. It is one of the more modern movies on the AFI 100. Will its antics and quick-paced dialogue be enough to interest Paul? Is the fusion of old and new just right or a bad mix? Listen in as Greg and Ihsan's inner fan boys come out like Marvin's brains as they discuss whether it is truly one of America's top 100 movies of all time. filmaddictspodcast.com

Fellow Welshmen Paul AKA Mr Gay Wales, Joins Scott To Chat The Process Of Being Crowed Mr Gay Wales 2016 AND Mr Gay Universe.... Paul Is Also Well Known For Presenting LGBT Shows " Pinksixty News" & "OUT TV".... Paul Speaks About Coming Out, Pride Cymru, Wales, Fellow LGBT Stars Danny Beard & Jordan Gray PLUS... Find Out Which Sex And The City Girl Scott and Paul Is... Will It Be Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda???

Garrett, with 16 days since his last drink, shares his story   SHOW NOTES   [ 9:15 ] Paul Introduces Garrett.  I’ve had stretches of sobriety, I had 14 months, and I’ve had 3 years.  I live in Southern California, in Santa Clarita.  I work in outside sales, which is a non-structured job perfect for an alcoholic with hangovers.  I’m 43, married, like going to Dodger Games.  I have 2 kids, 1 in high school, and one in junior high.     [10:45] Paul- What was the impotence behind you quitting alcohol for 3 years, and then for 14 months?   Garrett- The hangovers for me are the body’s way of saying you’ve put a bunch of poison willingly in your body, and this is the result of it.  I would be laid out for a full day.  Thinking in the moment there is no possible way this could happen again.  The feeling in my stomach, I can’t move, or get out of the bed until 4:00 or 5:00 in the evening.  One of those times I stopped for 3 years, didn’t go to any program.  I lost weight, and started drinking again without any reason.  I would romanticize drinking, and once I got the buzz, there was no way I could stop now.  I would have to drink to continue with only a short window of feeling good.  The cost of that was being completely laid out the entire next day.   [13:35] Paul-  What was it like when you first drank after 3 years? Do you remember the first night?  Did you pick up right where you left off?   Garrett- No, not really.  It was a gradual thing, a slow buildup.  My elevator is kind of chaotic; it’s like the elevator at the tower of terror at Disney world.  At that point it was gradual.  I would wait for people to go to sleep, get a six-pack, and when that was gone, drunk drive to the liquor store and buy some more.  I would start with a bottle of wine, then I would go back to the store for tall boys.  I don’t know how many I would buy, but I would wake out, the room would start completely shaking, I would close my eyes, and that would be it.   [15:45] Paul-  Garrett you mentioned a word earlier that I would like to explore- Fascinating. You would tell yourself I’m only having a couple, but then just game on.   Can you tell me more about that fascinating part for you?   Garrett- It was complete and total amnesia every single time.  Forgetting the hangovers.  The amount of times I would lose not doing the things I wanted to do because I would be hung-over.  Because I’m not a bum in the street, I didn’t feel I was a true alcoholic.   [19:30]  Paul- Was there a rock bottom moment 16 days ago?   How come you quit drinking?   Garrett- It wasn’t a single rock bottom.  I have season tickets for the Dodgers.  If there was ever a sport made for sitting and drinking beer it is baseball.  The beer vendor at the stadium recognized me; I would have to go different vendors because I was embarrassed.   The drunk driving home from the games, then going to bars, then drunk driving home again.  I dented the garage with my car, and realized with a moment of clarity that this sh#t has got to stop.   [22: 01] Paul- Before I hit the record button you mentioned you felt like you were ping ponging back and forth between:  Am I an alcoholic?  Do I have a drinking problem?  Tell us more about that.   Garrett-  It was a stretch of a few days where I would just continually have a few days (of sobriety), and then I would be like “I’m not” because I would have a few days and that proves it.  The hangover goes away and I would think I’m not (an alcoholic) again.    [ 24:00] Paul- Is it harder this time around, do you remember?   Garrett- This time I’ve got 16 days.  I’m trying to arm myself with some resources.  I’m in a Pink Cloud at the moment.  History does repeat itself, and I have a plan to address what I know is going to start coming down the road.  The key thing is accountability.  I never had accountability with another person.  I think if I were not anonymous, I wouldn’t have taken that first drink on the New Port Harbor cruise after 14 months of sobriety.   [27:57] Paul- You mentioned you had a bad experience with AA, tell me more about that.   Garrett-  I was raised Christian evangelical, about 10 years ago I broke with that, and I am an atheist now.  I saw a lot of the judgment, dogma and there was trust that was broken in AA.  That combined with the God thing I’m still wrestling with.  I need to focus on the positive.  I’m ready to explore going back to AA, maybe a different meeting time.     [30:14] Paul-  With 16 days of sobriety, what have you learned most about yourself?   Garrett-  This time around is more of a sense of inner peace.  What I’m realizing now is that I don’t have to keep living the way I was living.  There’s no reason I have to pick up a drink again.  My life does not have to be how it’s been.  I’m choosing not to drink.  When cravings strike, I’ve been setting a timer on my apple watch to allow the 20 minutes to pass.   [34:10] Rapid Fire Round What was your worst memory from drinking?  Waking up and having to tell my wife that I was too hung-over to go down to my mom’s house for Easter.  Then spending the entire day in a state of despair. Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment?  Back in college when I just got too hung-over and missed a final.  That was the first “oh-shit” moment. What’s your plan in sobriety moving forward? Accountability.  Reaching out and talking to other alcoholics, and seeking ways to help each other. What’s your favorite resource in recovery? Podcasts, Recovery Elevator, and the big book on my kindle. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? You don’t ever have to drink again if you don’t want to. What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking?  If you were thinking about getting sober… I would say: Do it, you’ll never feel better. You might be an alcoholic if:  Every night after you down many many bottles of beer, that you put those bottles of beer in a trash bag, put them in your trunk, and then the next morning drive them to a dumpster so that your wife doesn’t find out that there were all these empty bottles of beer in the trash can. Resources mentioned in this episode: Recovery Elevator Retreat Connect with Cafe RE- Use the promo code Elevator for your first month free Sobriety Tracker iTunes Sobriety Tracker Android Sober Selfies! - Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com     “We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up, we can do this!”  

Death wishes! Hugs! Poison! Third wheels! Women’s roles in Fremen society! The penultimate episode! Things are ramping up before the big battle show down. PLUS our hosts ask all the hard-hitting questions like: How do sand worms move? How big of a jerk is Paul? Is everyone in Dune hot?

The apostle Paul is upset with the Corinthian church, and is afraid that when he comes to the church he will be grieved by the congregation. What is the issue that will grieve the apostle Paul? Is it that they have slandered him? Is it that they have turned from Paul? How can Paul be […] The post What's So Grievous? (2 Cor. 12:11-21) appeared first on Covenant United Reformed Church.

Introduction: “Is that a fact?” Well, it's a delight to be with you today as we continue our series in Romans Chapter 9. We come to some incredible verses that you've now heard and read twice. One of them in Indonesian and one in English. It reminds me of the two years that I spent with my wife, and our two older children, who were born at the time in Japan. And it says in 1 Corinthians 14 speaking in tongues, if they're not interpreted, our mind is unfruitful. Well, I was at least having some fruitful thoughts, as I was listening to these dear brothers read and to pray in their native language, speak in their native language, and that is how great is God to reach out to so many different people with the same Gospel. Amen? So that's a delight and we're so glad that all of you who are our international friends are here to worship with us today, we're looking today at the issue of the justice of God in unconditional election. And we're asking the question about unconditional election, and the question that comes to us in the text has to do with Is God unjust, in choosing people unconditionally. But before we even ask that question we have to ask a prior question, is it truth? Is it a fact that God has done this? Is it a fact that God has chosen people from every tribe and language and people and nation, irrespective of anything he saw in them, but just for His own sovereign purposes, is it true? Spurgeon had an incredible story, an illustration that I thought was remarkable and he was talking about the story of King Charles the second of England, and the philosophers. And they were getting together to discuss some things and King Charles asked one of them "What is the reason why, if you had a pail of water and weighed it and then put a fish into it and weighed it again, that it would weigh exactly the same." Well, the philosophers debated, and they discussed back and forth, Why this would be so. And they had various theories and they were elaborate and they went on and on trying to determine the reason why, and one of them kind of emerged as the best theory on why this was so, but finally, one of them asked a simple question. Well, is it true? And so they got a pail of water and they weighed it and they put a fish into it, and weighed it again and lo and behold, it weighed the same plus the additional weight of the fish. It was not, it simply wasn't true. Overwhelming Scriptural testimony to Unconditional Election And so I think before we go on and on debating and discussing and trying to determine about unconditional election, we should ask is it so? Has God actually done this? What does the Bible say? Does it reveal that God has chosen people to be His own? Now, I say to you that the biblical evidence for unconditional election, is overwhelming. There's not a little amount of information about this, there's a lot. Look right at the verses that precede the ones that were read this morning. Look at verses 10-13. "Not only that, but Rebecca's children, had one and the same Father, our Father, Isaac, yet before the twins were born or have done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works, but by Him who calls she was told the older will serve the younger just as it is written. Jacob, I loved and Esau I hated." Well, that would be evidence enough, but God doesn't stop there. There's actually a wealth of evidence that God has in fact elected people. In Romans 8:33, it says, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect. It is God who justifies who is He that condemns?" Or in Romans 11:5, it says "so too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace and if it is by grace, it's no longer by works…" a remnant chosen by grace or again in that same chapter, Romans 11:7. "What then? What Israel sought so earnestly, it did not obtain but the elect did the rest were hardened…" Or again in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 "For we know brothers loved by God that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you. Not just with words, but with a power with Holy Spirit and deep conviction…" All of that proved to Paul That the Thessalonians, were elect. Or he says in 2 Timothy 2:19 "Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm sealed with this inscription 'The Lord knows those who are his.'" And in another place, John 6:70 after the “eat my flesh and drink my blood” teaching and most of the disciples abandoned Jesus that day, and he asked the 12. What, do you want to go away too? And Peter said, "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…" And Jesus's answer to that was, "Have I not chosen you? The Twelve and one of you is a devil." Very clear on the issue of election. Jesus also in John 13:18. He said at the time of the last supper, "I'm not referring to all of you. I know those whom I have chosen." And he says in in John 15:16 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." And then again in that same chapter, John 15:19. "If you belong to the world it would love you as its own as it is you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." You know, we really could go on and on. There's not a small amount of evidence that this is so. So it's not like the philosopher debating why if you add a fish to a pail of water it weighs the same as before, it simply isn't so in that case, but this is biblically so. Now an unbeliever will not accept the biblical evidence, but we're not speaking as unbelievers here this morning, are? We're accepting biblical evidence and it's overwhelming that God has chosen people. Is God Unjust in Unconditional Election? Now the second question that's before us is, is God unjust in doing this? Now, Spurgeon says, concerning the fact of election, he puts it this way, "What, then, is the use of our discussing any longer? We had better believe it, since it is an undeniable truth. You may alter an opinion, but you cannot alter a fact. You may change a mere doctrine, but you cannot possibly change a thing which actually exists. There it is — God does certainly deal with some men better than he does with others. I will not offer an apology for God; he can explain his own dealings; he needs no defense from me, “God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain;” but there stands the fact. Before you begin to argue upon the doctrine, just recollect, that whatever you may think about it, you cannot alter it; and however much you may object to it, it is actually true that God did love Jacob, and did not love Esau." It's a fact. The question is, as we look at this fact we react to it and we begin to ask the question and the question emerges Is God unjust in doing it, and that's the issue that's in front of us in the text today. The very issue that Paul takes up in the passage. Look at verses 14-18. "What then shall we say Is God unjust? Not at all for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore depend on man's desire or effort but on God's mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh. I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden." Okay the issue of God's un-justice is in front of us and it's going to take us perhaps as much as three weeks to answer the question. It may actually take you your whole lifetime because, you know, you get to the third question. First of all, is it a fact? Is it a biblical fact that God has unconditionally elected people? Secondly, is it unjust? We're going to be looking at that this morning and over the next few weeks. But the third question is, "How do I feel about it? Can I accept it? Now obviously, it will not change a thing, in the universe if you can't. It won't. It won't change the fact whether God's done it or not, if you can't accept it now you may say I can't believe in a God like this, you have that right. You have that power to say that. I remember earlier in the church, when we were going through a difficult time working on a doctrinal issue I thought it was appropriate to bring in the evidence from scripture that we do not as a church have the right to grab hold of the church, and do whatever we want with it, we need to follow God's rules in the Bible. And a good example of that is the whole story, of Uzziah? You remember how the ark was put on a cart, contrary to the word of God, they should have been carrying it with poles, and so they put the ark up there on the cart and as they're going, the oxen stumbled and Uzziah reached out and grabbed hold of the arc. And at that moment, you know, he was just trying to help it seems, at least God struck him dead. David was shocked and it says he was actually angry in the account but I remember we were sitting there in a group of deacons who were trying to discuss something, and one of them had the Bible open and just recoiled like a... You know, when he brings two positive poles of a magnet together just and then he gestured down at the open Bible and said, I cannot believe in a God like that. I found the statement with the gesture together very significant. I can't believe in a God like that. That's really pretty big isn't it? When you say that, that's really shocking, the fact is, God is like that. If it's written in the account that way, he is like that. Now, we may have a hard time understanding why he did that David finally learned the lesson oh, acacia wood poles through the loops on the side. That's how you carry it. God told us what to do, but the fact is, as we read the Scripture, and we see right in the account, what it says that God... God does, we're at a fork in the road and are we going to get to the point where we say, "I can't believe in a God like this?" And if you do, what have you now? You don't have the bible anymore, all you have is what you can or will or will not believe about it. And that's the whole issue. So ultimately for you personally, it's very important whether you can accept this biblical teaching very important now as people have wrestled with the structured history they have had a variety of emotional responses to it. John Wesley gives us a good example of a great man of God, who did many, many things for the kingdom of God. Led many into faith in Christ. when he died, I think he held the record for most miles on horseback, something like that. He may hold it still, I don't know, 25,000 plus miles on the back of a horse constantly reading the Bible. He was, as I said, so saturated in the scripture that his blood was Biblean, whatever that means. But anyway just if you cut him he just bled Bible, okay. But in this one matter when he came to Romans 9, he simply could not accept what was plainly written there and he preached a rather shocking sermon against his good friend George Whitfield who did believe what the scripture taught on this. And then this sermon on free grace given in Bristol 1740, he talked about the issue of predestination and election, this is what he said. "This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible decree of predestination! And here I fix my foot. On this I join issue with every assertor of it. You represent God as worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust. But you say you will prove it by scripture. Hold! What will you prove by Scripture? That God is worse than the devil? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture proves, it never proved this; whatever its true meaning be. This cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, "What is its true meaning then?" If I say, " I know not," you have gained nothing; for there are many scriptures the true sense whereof neither you nor I shall know till death is swallowed up in victory. But this I know, better it were to say it had no sense, than to say it had such a sense as this. It cannot mean, whatever it mean besides, that the God of truth is a liar. Let it mean what it will, it cannot mean that the Judge of all the world is unjust." Well, our good brother John Wesley’s doctrine is straightened away now, praise God. and I look forward to my doctrine being straightened away too when I see Jesus, because there are flaws in my doctrine I look forward to getting them fixed. I'd fix them today if I knew what they were. All I'm doing is I continue to read the scripture and keep testing, my doctrine against what the Bible says, but if I were talking to our brother John, I'd say "John, it seems that you have some presuppositions, as you enter Romans 9 that are being challenged. Maybe you ought to challenge them, look again." But I know this, God is not unjust and that is the issue that's in front of us today, the issue of the justice of God. I. Why the Question “Is God Unjust?” Comes Here Now, why does it come up at this point? Well, let's understand our context let's try to understand how this statement fits in verse 14. Realize that Paul is addressing a problem in Romans 9. And the problem has to do with the Jews as a whole, as a nation generally rejecting the gospel. Paul is going from place to place preaching the Gospel, in synagogue after synagogue, they are rejecting the Gospel, they are not accepting it for the most part there are some that are accepting as Paul himself did, but for the most part, they're rejecting. Now, why is this a problem? Well, it's certainly a problem for them individually, but it's a special kind of problem in that the Jews were God's special people, they had been given the special privileges which Paul enumerates there in Romans Nine, at the beginning, they were given these blessings and so it seems as though God's word to them his promises to them has failed God's Word has failed because these Jews are rejecting the Gospel and that my friends is a crisis. If God's word to the Jews has failed. How do you know it's not going to fail toward you? We don't know? And so therefore, this is a crisis of the first magnitude. Paul answers it in verse 6, go ahead and look at it. But there in verse 6, it says, "It is not as though God's Word has failed." Why not Paul? But here's his doctrine, "for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." There is a larger group of the biological descendants of Abraham or Israel, but then there's a smaller group of spiritual Israel, to whom the promises were made in the center there, and so God never promised that every single physical descendant of Abraham or Isaac, or Jacob would most certainly be forgiven of all their sins and end up in Heaven through receiving faith in Christ. He never promised it. And therefore God's word has not failed and he gives two case studies, of course, Isaac and Ishmael, both of them physically descended from Abraham, but only Isaac, the child of the promise, a picture of God's supernatural work in all of his children. We are born again by the power of the Spirit we are children of the promise, but Ishmael is a child born in the natural way he's a child of the flesh. And so, you have Isaac and Ishmael, an example of what Paul Is talking about. Then he brings in a better even better case study, case study number two. And that is Jacob and Esau. Because an astute Jewish objector would say, "Isn't it obvious the different between Isaac and Ishmael? Isaac's mother was Sarah, but Ishmael's mother was Hagar, a Gentile? So that's the whole problem there. Alright, well, what are you going to say now, as we look at the case of Isaac's wife Rebecca, she has twins born, in one act of marital relations. Absolutely, at the same moment you've got these two boys Jacob, and Esau born of the same father, same mother in the same womb before the twins were born, hadn't done anything good or bad, "in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works, but by Him who calls she was told the older will serve the younger just as it is written. Jacob, I loved and Esau I hated." Very, very strong statement on unconditional election. So therefore, not just that God's Word has not failed and that He never promised the whole nation of Israel to receive the blessings of the Gospel, but he actually goes beyond it in Romans 9, to talk not just about a true spiritual Israel, in the center but how they got to be in that set and how the others got to be in the other set, and that's where the rub is. How do the individual destinies, get settled of who is in what category? And so He's going beyond to discuss that in this doctrine, of unconditional election. Now, this election of Jacob and not Esau was done according to Romans 9:10-13 without any reference whatsoever to anything in Jacob or in Esau. He's not looking inside them for their works, he's not looking down the hazy corridors of time in the future for future works. He's not looking at faith he's not looking at anything in Jacob or in Esau. He looking within himself this is a sovereign thing that he does, he alone. Now as we are looking at this, if this is the proper interpretation a question is going to pop up into your human mind isn't it now that's unfair, it seems in-just there's this matter of injustice with God. And so I think as we look at the questions that are rising up against the interpretation we're given it's good to see if our interpretation is accurate, and so the question floating up at this point actually proves that we've been tracking because you know something, we human beings are used to merit rewarded aren't we? We know that it's called an employer employee relationship. If the employer meets the conditions they're going to get the reward if they do such and such, they get this and there's no injustice there and so that makes perfect sense, but if this is the case, then that's something we don't have a way to understand, we don't know how that works. And so, the question floating up at this point, verse 14, "Is there any just injustice on God’ part?" actually proves the interpretation that we've been giving. Also, the same question, verse 19, look down and further in the account. "One of you will say to me. 'then why does God still blame us for who resist his will?'" That floats to the surface when you have a sense of God's sovereignty and his power. And he said, "Well if God can save everybody, why does He find fault with anybody because he could be exerting His will to save them all, that's the question that floats up there. But we don't have to deal with all of them today. Praise God. We'll get to that one in due time. But this question is the matter of injustice. So, the question kind of proves the acts of Jesus. Now, this is Paul's usual pattern, he will tell us something in Romans he'll bring up a doctrine and then he will turn around and ask a question against his doctrine. Do you know where I think that came from? I think it came from just years on the road. I mean, evangelizing in place after place, in Greek towns in Jewish synagogues these questions came to him. And he said, "Okay one of you will say to me, now at this point, such and such," because he's been doing this for so long, he knows exactly what people are going to say at these key moments. For example, if you look back earlier in Romans 5:20, Paul has been talking there about the doctrine of God's free, and unconditional grace. We're not justified by works but by grace through faith in Christ. And all of this, and then he makes this wonderful statement that I think about probably every day, and that is "where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more", Romans 5:20. Well, what's going to pop into your devious little tricky mind at that moment? Well, how about Romans 6:1 is a good statement of what might pop into your devious, tricky little mind at that moment. "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Doesn't that make sense? He's arguing against this doctrine, and then he's got to deal with the idea, alright if sin abounds, then grace abounds all the more. Let's have lots of grace then, right? And then he deals with sanctification in Romans 6, or again, he'll do the same thing when he treats about the law. Look at Romans 6:14, He says, "For sin shall not be your master, because you're not under law, but under grace." And so you say, "Oh okay, I know if we're not under law now, then, we can sin as much as we want right? Verse 15, "What then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace?" How does he answer, "may it never be!" You see Paul's ordinary method here, he'll give you doctrine, and then he will anticipate the questions you are going to think about. Raise them up in his text, write the question and then answer it. And he's doing that exact same thing here, he does it 10 times brothers and sisters. Ten times in Romans. He raises up a question, then answers it with something like "may it never be," or refutes that question now here, and that way you can see the question then becomes a kind of a backward insight into the text. We have to come up with an interpretation in Romans 10-13 that will lead to the question of verse 14, of injustice and that's exactly what's happening here. Martin Lloyd-Jones put it this way, whatever it is the apostle has been saying from verse 6-13, about God's purpose and the way in which he carries it out, it must be something that on the surface at any rate, makes some people think that God has been unrighteous, and that he is unfair. So in other words, if you're feeling like this is unfair, then we're right on schedule. Alright, we're right on track. And so it comes up this issue of injustice and why, because it seems unfair, it seems in-just... Unjust that God would, just for his own purpose's, chose some and not others. That's the very issue. Now, how does he answer it? That's what's in front of us now. II. Paul Reasserts the Doctrine... as an Answer? How does he answer this question of injustice? Well, it's kind of an interesting mystery. Look at verses 14-15. "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? May it never be!" Or "not at all." Verse 15 is the beginning of his answer, "for He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." And you say, wait a minute, that seems to me like a restatement of the same problem, how is that an answer? How does that solve the problem? That's the very thing I'm asking, how you have mercy on some and compassion on... How does that work? And so we wrestle with this we try to understand, how does verse 15 answer the question of injustice? All it seems like he's saying is I have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I have compassion on whom I have compassion. We want to say, "but that sounds unjust." How have we answered the question? And He states it again very clearly in verse 16. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort but on God's mercy. Now, John Piper, he's a pastor in Minneapolis, who I've read a number of his books and some of you have as well. In 1979 a sabbatical year was coming up for him at Bethel Seminary there in Minneapolis and he wanted to take a sabbatical and go to Germany. He wanted to study something in the New Testament, and his supervisor asked him, "Well, what are you going to study?" He said, "I'm going to study one word." "Well what word is it?" "Well it's the word 'for' in verse 15 of Romans 9. I want to understand how 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion,' answers the question of an injustice and unconditional election. I just want to know that little word F-O-R, for, at the beginning of verse 15." Now you say "I have never taken a three letter word that seriously, in all my life, to spend almost a year of my life studying to understand how verse fifteen lines up with verse 14." Well, John Piper did, and I actually think that we should take the word of God that seriously, shouldn't we? We should try to understand the flow of argumentation here. I want to know, how is God's statement here in verse 15 an answer to the problem, can we follow his argumentation? Now, what I have done and what we plan... I plan to do this morning for the rest of the morning is just to take a step back and look over the next number of verses, at the array of answers that God gives on this question of injustice. III. The Six Reasons There's an array of them, I perceive six. There may be more, but there's an array of issues that float to the surface in these verses, and I think they absolutely deal forever with the issue of injustice with God. And those six reasons are, the nature of God, the nature of justice, the nature of mercy, the nature of sovereignty, the nature of self-revealed glory, and the nature of humanity. These six work together in my mind, at least in my heart, to answer the question I have concerning injustice. I hope they'll do that for you. Now, what I want to do is just for the remainder of the brief time that we have left this morning, go over these six very quickly, so that you understand what they are. I'm not going to support them with scripture. I'll try to tie them to Romans 9, 14 and following, but I'm not going to bring in other scriptures, at this point to support them biblically. I'm going to do that, I think, God willing in two weeks, next week, if the Lord wills. We'll kind of go together and in our minds and hearts to the top of Mount Sinai where Moses met with God, and made this incredible request, "show me your glory." And that's the foundation of this statement, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy," and we will understand what happened between Moses and God on the top of Mount Sinai to answer this question of injustice. We're gonna get some of those themes a little bit this morning, and then we'll come back to these six more fully in two weeks and then answer them with supporting scriptures. Okay? That sound good? I hope so, because that's what we're gonna do. But anyway, we're going to work together and in this way I hope after the three weeks, we'll have forever a sense laid to rest that God cannot and is not unjust in this matter. The Nature of God Let's start with the first one. And that is the nature of God, the New American Standard Bible in verse 14, has it this way. "What shall we say then, there is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!" Now, I like that translation because the Greek form of the question, and expects the answer no. In other words, there can't be any injustice with God, can there be? May it never be so within that we have a sense of God and who He is concerning this matter of injustice. Let's put it, this reason, this simple way, God is not unjust in unconditional election, simply because God cannot be unjust in anything he does, everything God does is just. Everything he does is righteous. God's passion for justice, burns brighter than the sun. And let me tell you, if you have a sense of justice, God gave it to you, because you're created in the image of God. But your sense of justice is like a lit match compared to the raging inferno of the sun. God has that much concern over justice infinitely more than you. So if you are concerned about justice, how much more that God who created you? Can it possibly be that God would be unjust? Is it even in the realm of possibility to consider that the God who has so clearly revealed himself in the Bible could be unjust for even a moment? And what are God's credentials? We'll talk about that in two weeks, but let's bring you to the highest and greatest credential. The cross of Jesus Christ. Some have said that the cross is a measure of God's love and so it is Romans 5:8, God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. But let me tell you, friends, that was not the only thing God demonstrated at the cross. There was another issue, and the issue was justice. And I mean not the justice of the reprobate, those suffering in hell. Oh no, the issue is the justice of people like David who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Bathsheba's husband murdered to cover up his sin. How does a guy like that get into heaven? Now that's a question and we could say this: on the love side, God loved us so much that he would rather His son die then that we who are his own, not spend eternity with Him. Amen and it's true. But let me say to you another way, God loves justice, so much that he would rather slaughter His own Son, as our substitute, than let any of us get to Heaven without our sin paid for. How can a God like that, who is so passionately committed to justice. Be unjust about anything? On to the next one. The Nature of Justice The nature of justice itself. Is God unjust? Another translation would be unrighteous. Well, what is justice anyway? What is righteousness? What is the sense of fair play, where does it come from? Can I tell you that God Himself, alone, is the ultimate standard of justice in the universe? Basically, if God does something, it is by definition, just simply because He did it. God is not subject to some higher standard of justice and righteousness that he needs to obey and follow. All words and deeds, intentions, plans and motives are brought up against this one standard of righteousness who is God Himself. If it lines up with God, it is just and righteous, if it does not line up with Him, it is not just or righteous. And righteousness (and this is from Piper's study, and I think it's true), righteousness consists in valuing properly what is most valuable in the universe. If you value a human life than we need laws to protect it. If we value property we need laws to protect it. What is the most valuable thing in the universe? God's name. His glory. His honor and God values his name, His glory, and His honor above all things, in the matter of unconditional election. We'll talk more about that one. John Piper put it this way. "God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is most valuable, and what is most valuable is his own glory. Therefore God’s justice, his righteousness, consists most fundamentally in doing what is consistent with the esteem and demonstration of his name, his glory. God would be unrighteous if he did not uphold and display his glory as infinitely valuable." We sinners, you know what we've done? We've stripped God of His glory. We exchanged His glory for man made or human things for idols for all have sinned and what? Fall short of the glory of God, God will have His glory reestablished. And so, unconditional election does that. The Nature of Mercy Thirdly, the nature of mercy. This one, you can read right out of the text, but you have to notice what's happening. "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? May it never be! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have…'" Whoa, wait a minute. That was a switch. Just a moment ago, we were talking about justice and now you're talking to us about Mercy? Exactly how does this argument work? Well, we speak in plain terms. Can you imagine standing on Judgment Day and demanding from God, justice? I want justice for what I've done, I want justice for my life. I don't want any handouts. I don't want any grace, I don't want any mercy, I just want justice, so just give me what I truly deserve and I'll be on my way. Is that what you want? We who are Christians have come to realize that that's not what we want. Justice will condemn us, if not for Christ and His cross. What do you want from God? I want grace. I want mercy. Now let me ask you a question. Can a rebellious sinner, a flagrant transgressor stand in front of a just court and demand mercy? Can you do that? Do you not, kind of throw yourself on the ground and plead for it, beg for it. You beg for mercy you don't demand it. This is not, then ultimately, a matter of justice, this is a matter of mercy, if it's justice than it's hell but if it's mercy than it's given or it isn't, and that's how it works, the nature of mercy we'll talk more about that one. The Nature of Sovereignty Fourthly, the nature of sovereignty. Our God is God. He sits on a throne. He's a king. He's not a president, He's not a Prime Minister, He is not subject to cyclical elections, He doesn't care about popularity polls He's never going to send an angel to ask your advice on a matter of state or kingdom, I guess would be the right word. He's not going to ask for that, because He's a king, He's sovereign and the glory of His sovereignty is in making decisions after his own council within Himself, and not surrendering control to created beings. Look what He says in Verse 15, "He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy…" That is sovereignty speaking, and "I will have compassion on whom I have compassion," verse 16. "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort but on God's mercy." And again in verse 18, "Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden." Unconditional election then, is not unjust because it best accords with God's proper position in the universe as creator and ruler over all that He's made by electing based on his own internal prerogatives God is upholding His right to reign absolutely over all things. His name is, "I am who I am, I will be what I will be, I will do what I will do I will have mercy, as I will have mercy, I will harden whom I harden, I will have compassion as I will have compassion, I am who I am." That is the God we worship. Amen and amen. He is a sovereign king, and we honor Him and we worship Him as such, the nature of sovereignty. The Nature of Self-Revealed Glory Fifth, the nature of self-revealed glory. This is a new one that I thought about and it came to me. What did Moses ask God for on the mountain? Show me your glory. Do you not realize that's probably the boldest request in the history of humanity? Here is a sinner, a murderer standing up in front of a Holy God and saying, show me yourself. Reveal yourself to me. So, I got to thinking about self-revelation. I got to thinking about friendship. I got to thinking about marriage. Could you imagine a suitor going up to a young lady and saying, "Show me yourself. Reveal yourself to me." She'd probably call the cops. On a more kind of reasonable level as their courting they agree at some point when they stand before God, that they're going to reveal themselves to each other. It's given or it isn't. It's true at a lower level for friendship, right? Can you demand friendship from somebody? Can you go to another person and say "Be my best friend?" It's not going to work, that's not how friendship works. That's not how relationships work between persons. My friends, if we who are dust, sinners have the prerogative to befriend or not befriend, to marry or not marry, to reveal or not reveal. How much more the God of the universe has the right to deny this request that Moses made? Moses made a request, God could have said no way am I going to show you that. But instead he says, "I'll give you what you asked. I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy." We'll talk more about that next week. God is willing to reveal Himself to you, isn't that incredible? He's willing to open himself up in Christ but he does that at his sovereign prerogative. It cannot be demanded. The Nature of Humanity The sixth and final one for today is the nature of humanity. Now, who are we talking about that's got this claim on God? Are the angels asking, is there any injustice with God? No. We are the ones asking. Who is asking this? We human beings, we created ones. Now, there's two different ways to look at it. First, Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes, some common use. What does he call us then? We are the clay He's the potter, He shaped us and made us. Do we have the right, as created beings, to look up to our creator and say, "Why did you make me like this?" No, so just even if we were sinless, friends, if we were perfect could we look at something God's done and say, that's unjust? No, you know why because God's ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways. Do we understand all that God's doing? How much less than could we created beings, to assess him properly, even if we were sinless, assess Him properly, and understand everything He's doing and be in a position then to judge it or assess it? We never will be, he's the creator we are the created. But that's not the case. We're sinners, actually. How's your sense of justice is it good? Would you put it up there and say I have a perfect sense of justice. I would think not, I would think that we sinners, our justice has actually been somewhat corrupted our sense of fair play, has been somewhat corrupted. We are therefore like blind people who are going to be judging a painting exhibit. We're like deaf people who are going to be judging a piano recital. I think the first one did really well. How can we sinners judge God's justice? How could we possibly do it? Isn't it better for us who are being redeemed and transformed and made more and more like Christ say, "Someday I'll understand this, but I know that when I end up there, I will end up saying, God is just in everything he does." Amen and amen. IV. Application Now what application can we take from these six that we looked at quickly? Well, first of all, I hope that what I've been preaching about has kindled inside of you, a sense of worship and awe for our eternal God. God does all of this for the praise of His glorious grace. He does all of this in a magnificent way that He would be honored and glorified. Then worship Him today. Honor Him today. Don't honor the created thing. Don't honor your own reason and your own sense of justice. Honor God, the God of the Bible, worship Him and praise Him. Secondly, resist all temptation that the devil hands you today or any time to feel inside you that God is unjust. We're going to talk more about that in the future, but things may happen to you, you may lose people or possessions that are valuable to you and you may be tempted by the devil, to say God is unjust in this. It's unfair what he's done. Don't do it. God is always just. He's always righteous in everything He does. The third one I want to end with today is the issue of missions and evangelism. Will you take a minute and look with me at 2 Timothy 2:10? I'll finish up there. 2 Timothy 2:10. We are about in a few moments, to commission the Haiti mission team and I'm excited about that. I'm grateful for these brothers and sisters that they are going to be going forth from our body to minister in Haiti. Now let me tell you something, Haiti is one of the most tragic countries I've ever seen in my life. It's very, very tough. There's a darkness over Haiti. A spiritual oppression. Voodoo. Political forces. Evil things swirling around in Haiti. Now, my question is, with what kind of boldness and confidence, will these missionaries go forth apart from God's sovereign grace? Look, what Paul says, Therefore in 2 Timothy 2;10, "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." That is Paul's secret of staying power in tough ministry. I'm putting up with anything and everything being chained being beaten everything taken from me for one purpose. And what is that? That God's elect might be saved with eternal glory, He says that right there. Now, when we send this mission team out they're going out to do a certain thing, it's sure and certain absolutely secure, they're going out that God's elect may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Isn't that marvelous? There's no uncertainty to it, but if it were based on their efforts and based on the free will and the response of those listening, what are their odds of success? Instead they're going out on a certain errand. Amen. So they're going out with courage, they are willing to endure anything, disease and danger and all kinds of things. They're going to one of most dangerous places in this hemisphere that they might take the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they're going with confidence, I hope that Romans nine, tells them that there's some of God's elect in ever tribe, and language, and people, and nation. Let's go find them, they're worth suffering for. Close with me in prayer.