Podcasts about Pharisees

When asked to give a sign to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus cites the prophet Jonah and calls us to repent of our sins. (Lectionary #395) July 21, 2025 - Cathedral Rectory - Superior, WI Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com  

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Matthew 12:1-8 - Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "See, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." Memorial of Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest Saint Camillus, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2) Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen,'s powerful lecture on the Holy Eucharist 3, 4) What 10 Saints said before going to Heaven https://tfpstudentaction.org/blog/what-these-10-saints-said-before-death-will-inspire-you

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Matthew 12:38-42 - Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here." Memorial of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church Saint Lawrence, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Paul List on his book: Mount Doom, The Prophecy of Tolkien Revealed

Gospel Matthew 12:38-42 Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.” Reflection Jesus' response to the Pharisees who ask for a sign is an indication of the disposition of the Pharisees. They didn't want to see what God really wanted to show them through Jesus, because it was too frightening to them. Because what Jesus is revealing is the power that he has is the transformation that he can affect within human beings. The transformation, say, of Jonah and that work of Jesus is the greatest of the miracles. Closing Prayer Father, there's a way in which we can expect a miracle in our life, where all of a sudden the thing that we can't do, is given to us the power to accomplish things. It's not that simple. We're not here to be powerful human beings, but to be ministers to one another and to be transformed into service, and not positions of authority. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve ever wrestled with how your personal faith connects with the pain and injustice in the world, this episode offers a path forward, not in politics or performance, but in deep spiritual formation. Alan sits down with transformation life coach and ministry leader Brenda Renderos for a tender, honest conversation at the intersection of soul care and justice, especially racial justice. Drawing from her years of experience walking with individuals toward greater wholeness, Brenda shares how a deeply rooted faith can lead to healing, redemptive engagement with our neighbors. Together, they explore: How inner transformation and outward justice are connected Why justice isn’t about guilt or shame but about love and presence What to do when justice work feels overwhelming or exhausting And how to take one Spirit-led step forward at a time This episode invites you to slow down, listen deeply, and consider how Christ might be forming you for justice that flows from the heart. Brenda’s Invitations to Dig Deeper: The prophets call out religious devotion that ignores justice (Isaiah 58, Amos 5). Jesus admonished the Pharisees for tithing religiously but neglecting 'justice, mercy, and faithfulness' (Matthew 23:23). Is my spiritual life making me more just? And is my work for justice making me more Christlike? What is shaping my view of justice? Am I looking at it through a cultural lens, a political lens, or a biblical lens? A great way to begin is by simply sitting with scripture. Read passages like Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, or Luke 4:18-19, and ask: What does God say about justice? What does this reveal about his heart? What is his invitation for me in this season? What is one small way I can stay engaged this week, even if it feels slow? And trust that even the small things matter in God's bigger story. ______________________________________________________ Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

When I lived in the New York area, I occasionally spoke for the New York Giants, and the New York Jets, and the Yankees, and the Mets, and some of their visiting teams. Now, when people heard about that, guess what their first question usually was? Well, of course, they said, "Ron, what scripture verse did you speak on?" No! What they asked was, "Who was there? Who did you meet?" And they wanted to hear who attended and who I got to shake hands with. People got excited because I had been with some star they knew about. But much more frequently than those events, I've had the opportunity to be with some real VIPs, some real very important people. But you probably wouldn't recognize their names. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why the Little People Are the Big People." Ok, here comes our word for today from the Word of God. It's in the 10th chapter of the gospel of Mark. "Some Pharisees came and tested Jesus by asking, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?'" That's in verse 2, and this ongoing conversation continues with these very important people from Jerusalem. In the middle of all of that in verse 13 it says, "People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them." I think in the Greek it says, "Go away, kid!" Well, "When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them." Okay, here's the scene. Jesus is with the power brokers from Jerusalem, and then He's with these little kids crawling all over His lap. The question: when was Jesus with the VIPs? Not the big shots; not the power brokers. Oh, He was with the VIPs, He said, when He was with the children. The disciples got it wrong. Maybe they were running the nursery that day. Listen, have you ever been in the nursery when the pastor preached too long and the kids are going crazy? Well, the disciples are saying, "No, no, He's with important people now." Jesus said, "Uh-uh, these are the important people." You know, we have a tendency to really curry favor with the powerful, to oblige the rich, to try to get close to the stars in whatever our constellation is, whether it's business, or school, or church. But what Jesus models here is what I would call a VIP inversion. He says, "The little people are the big people to Him: children, the homeless, the hurting, the powerless, the misfit, the lonely, the excluded." Jesus gives prime time to those who can give Him nothing. He focuses on those who have no votes, no money, no favors to give. This must be a pretty important account, because it's recorded in three of the gospels. And we are told here that Jesus was indignant when the disciples made this values error. So, who do you think the VIPs are in your world? Well, if you see what Jesus sees, you'll know it's the little people. You'll know that you're becoming like Jesus when you start to lose your fascination with people who are powerful, or those who can do something for you. You're becoming like Jesus when you feel yourself wanting to be with the people He thinks are important, not the ones the world says are important. The ones the world sees as powerless and unimportant. See, when you get close to a little person, just ask Jesus, you are getting close to a real VIP.

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."He said to them in reply,"An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,but no sign will be given itexcept the sign of Jonah the prophet.Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earththree days and three nights.At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generationand condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;and there is something greater than Jonah here.At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generationand condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earthto hear the wisdom of Solomon;and there is something greater than Solomon here."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Thank you for joining me today and following us throughout Project 23. If you want to know more about this project click the link to learn more and partner with us. Our text today is Mark 12:13-17: And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him. — Mark 12:13-17 It's a trap disguised as a question. The Pharisees and Herodians, strange allies, join forces to corner Jesus. They ask about taxes. If he sides with Caesar, he looks like a sellout. If he sides against Caesar, they'll turn him in. But Jesus doesn't flinch at their political trap. He asks for a coin, points to Caesar's image, and delivers a mic-drop moment: “Render to Caesar what is Caesar's—and to God what is God's.” They came for a soundbite. What they got was a lesson on image, ownership, and ultimate allegiance. Because the coin may bear the emperor's image, but you bear God's. Jesus isn't just being clever. He's being confrontational. Caesar may own the coin, but God owns everything—including you. You're made in His image. That means every breath, every choice, every allegiance belongs to Him. That's not a political dodge—it's the deeper political tension. It's the political discussion most people won't have. God's image is the greater political image. And no matter where your passport says you're from, His image on your soul demands a higher allegiance. So yes—pay your taxes. Be a good citizen. Honor the laws of the land. But don't let politics become a spiritual escape. Don't let national loyalty replace kingdom loyalty. Because you can't truly render to Caesar what's his unless you've already rendered to God what's His: that's everything. #GreaterAllegiance, #GodsImage, #Mark12 ASK THIS: Why did Jesus ask about the image on the coin? What does it mean to bear God's image in daily life? How are you tempted to give your energy to earthly kingdoms over God's? What would it look like to truly “render to God” what is His? DO THIS: Ask: Am I spending more energy defending Caesar's image than reflecting God's? PRAY THIS: Father, you made me in your image. I don't want to give my loyalty to lesser kings. Help me live in a way that reflects your rule. Amen. PLAY THIS: “No Other Name”

In today's episode, we'll consider the seventh of seven signs in John's gospel: the raising of Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus hears the news that his friend is sick, he doesn't leave immediately, but instead, he waits to days before travelling to Judea to see him. Remember, they recently left Judea because the Jews tried to stone Jesus when he was in Jerusalem. Upon entering Bethany of Judea, Christ is greeted by Martha, and after a brief exchange, Jesus tells her that he is the resurrection and the life, and shortly thereafter, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. This undeniable miracle infuriates the Pharisees who convene and conspire to kill him.  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Everything is Awesome! James 5:10-20; St. Matthew 9:1-8 (Riffing on St. Peter Chrysologus) Over the last few homilies, I have tried to share an approach to living that looks for the good, and the beautiful, and the true in all things so that we might have joy in them and nurture them towards greater glory.  Today, I am going to continue this lesson by applying it to scripture.  Of course, in this case we are not nurturing scripture to greater glory, but we always grow in our appreciation of its goodness, beauty, and truth so that those virtues might grow within us. Let's go through today's Gospel reading. This story starts out so mundanely, with Christ entering the boat, crossing the sea, and coming to his town.  But even in, this there is something to learn, something that should leave us in awe. This is the God who has complete mastery over all the elements, over all of time and space.  Why does he cross the sea in this way – surely the hosts of heaven, at the very least, could have born him to his destination? As St. Peter Chrysologus teaches us the way that he juxtaposes the material with the spiritual and the mundane with the glorious; Christ came to take up our infirmities, and to confer his own power upon us; to experience human things, to bestow divine ones; to accept insults, to return honors; to endure what is irksome, and to restore health, because a doctor who does not bear infirmities does not know how to cure; and the one who has not been a fellow patient is unable to confer health. To summarize St. Gregory of Nazianzus; that part of humanity that God did not accept or assume, cannot be saved.  There were no shortcuts for our salvation.  God became man and lived according to our infirmity (in everything but sin). Therefore, he endured these limitations so that he would be shown to be true man by these human limitations. Do you see how much beauty here? We go on to read that he entered the boat. He entered a boat?  Sure you see where we are going with this!  We know these truths, but do we ever slow down and just bask in their glory? What is the boat but the Church?  Again, let's listen to St. Peter Chrysologus; Christ always enters the boat of his Church to calm the waves of the world, so that he might lead those who believe in him tranquilly across to his heavenly homeland, and make citizens of his own city those whom he made sharers in his humanity. Therefore, Christ does not need the ship, but the ship needs Christ, because without a Pilot from heaven the ship of the Church is unable to pass through the sea of the world amid so many grave perils and reach heaven's harbor. We have talked about the sea and the boat; what about his destination? How can we not be amazed that the Creator and Lord over all the cosmos, for the sake of our salvation; … began to have a human homeland, began to be a citizen of a Jewish town, and he himself the Parent of all parents began to have parents, in order that his love might invite, his charity attract, his affection bind, and his kindness persuade those whom his sovereign might had put to flight, dread had scattered, and the force of his power had made exiles. I cannot tell you how often I passed over these words as if they were filler between the really important things in the narrative.  How often do we do this not just with scripture, but with life?  Every moment, every detail of life is precious, brimming with meaning and potential.  But we skip over this invitation to joy, to glory, because we are looking or waiting for greater things.  My brothers and sisters, in a world that has been infused with the divine, everything is steeped in magnificence. And so, we finally get to the meat of the story; He came to his own town, and they brought him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, it says, he said to the paralytic: “Have confidence, son! Your sins are forgiven you” (vv. 1–2). While the point about God having the power to forgive sins, and Him choosing to exercise that power as man, as the new Adam, thus setting the scene for giving that power to us as the new humanity in Him; while all that may be obvious, or if not obvious, certainly provides the grist for most homilies on this passage…. There are details that we often pass over and that deserve our attention.  Jesus saw their faith… Their faith… not the faith of the paralytic.  St. Peter points out that the faith of the infirm is often unreliable – the mind of the infirm is often delirious – and so “he does not examine all the senseless desires of the infirm, but he comes to help thanks to someone else's faith, so that he may grant through grace alone, and not deny, whatever is of the divine will.” What a beautiful thing is the love of the Lord for all of us in our delirium!  And, when we are thinking straight, and thus concerned more for the ill and infirm among us as ourselves – he brings his mercy and forgiveness to those we bring to him!  Do you see how great this is?  When we pray for others, it does not fall on deaf ears but on ears that are always ready to hear and respond.  And who is more ill among us than the spiritually or even physically injured or dead?  And yet He teaches us, through this example from His life and from the way His Spirit has guided our worship and prayer to pray for all, and most especially for those who cannot pray or act for themselves.  Lord hear our prayer! And, just to make sure you appreciate the goodness evident here, take a moment to appreciate the paralysis and incapacitation of our own minds and thus appreciate why it is that the prayers of the prayers of the righteous avail so much!  They bring our paralyzed souls into the presence of God and plead for our healing before Him. And to all this, the Pharisees responded: He blasphemes: for who can forgive sins except God alone? (v. 3) 6. And when Jesus had seen their thoughts, it says, he said to them: “Why do you think evil in your hearts? What is easier to say: your sins are forgiven you, or to say: stand up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic: “Stand up, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he stood up and went home (vv. 4–7). Pick up your bed, that is, “Carry what used to carry you, reverse the burden, so that what is a testimony to your infirmity may be a proof that you are healed; so that the bed of your pain may be evidence that I cured you; so that the amount of its weight may attest to the amount of strength you have regained.” Go home, to the place that you belong – our heart's true home.  The place that is where we can grow in glory.  The place that is for the believer – every single place, because every single place, like every single moment, is connected with the divine source of all beautiful, good, and true.   Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons of Saint Peter Chrysologus, ed. Thomas P. Halton, trans. William B. Palardy, vol. 2, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 193–197.  

Monday, 21 July 2025   But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: Matthew 12:3   “And He said to them, ‘Not you read what he did, David, when he hungered, he and those with him?'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus' disciples, and thus implicitly He also, were accused of doing what was not lawful on the Sabbath. In response, Matthew records, “And He said to them, ‘Not you read what he did, David, when he hungered, he and those with him?'”   The Pharisees' accusation was of doing something in violation of the law that is not even recorded in the law. Only by a huge stretch of the imagination could what His disciples did even be inferred as wrongdoing. Rather than address the nonsensical legalism of the accusation, Jesus turned to Scripture, citing an account from the life of David.   The account is recorded in 1 Samuel –   Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” 2 So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.' And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” 4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.” 5 Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.” 6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. 1 Samuel 21:1-6   Jesus has given an example from the historical writings of Israel about a matter that arose. This matter could also be inferred as a violation of the law. This will be further explained in His continued words.   Life application: In a society, there has to be a basis for legal matters. In the US, for example, there is the prime basis for the workings of the government, the Constitution. This sets the basis for what is legal and what is not.   From there, the Constitution authorizes certain bodies to run the government, make laws, regulations, etc. There is a judicial system set forth to interpret the constitutionality of new laws, determine if violations of the law have been made, etc.   Lower governments likewise have the authority to make and enforce laws. The Bible is the governing authority for spiritual matters in the Christian faith. At times, from that springboard, many denominations and churches add books of rules for the governance of the body that they oversee.   These usually start out closely aligned with the Bible, at least someone's interpretation of it. However, such books of common order, discipline, and governance can be amended. As amendments take place, there is often a deviation from Scripture.   As an example, a church that once would not allow homosexuality in the congregation because it is contrary to the Bible may eventually change its written guidance to allow homosexuals to be members of the congregation. Later, the book is amended again to allow them to be deacons. From there, amendments are made to allow them to be ordained.   When a book of governance deviates from the Bible, the Bible is relegated more and more to a showpiece without any true authority. The best policy is to keep away from such books that can be amended and keep to Scripture alone as the basis for the faith.   Scripture cannot be amended by man. It is also not an organic document where its meaning changes over time. Rather, it is the fixed and unchangeable word of God. Within the Bible, there are dispensations which reflect the way in which God is working with man at various times in human history, but this is not something that changes set doctrine for a given dispensation.   Rather, it is what reveals doctrine for each outcropping of dispensations as God's word has unfolded in the course of redemptive history. Understanding this, keeping the interpretation of God's word in the proper context is the appropriate way of interpreting the Bible. Let us be sure to do this.   The word is precious, and it must be treated as such. Hold fast to it and let it be your guide for daily living and a right walk before the Lord at all times.   Glorious God, may our time in Your word be guided by You as You reveal to us what You intend for our lives. Help us to properly consider what it says and how it applies as we progress through it. May You help us to keep from faulty logic and faulty interpretation concerning it. Be with us as we engage with You through this precious word. Amen.

In Matthew 23 our Lord Jesus pronounced 8 woes, or curses, upon the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees. Indeed Jesus indicated that many of their instructions showed that they had perceived what God's law required of them, but they had failed to practise the law of their Sovereign. Verse 9 tells us that many churches act against Jesus' clear teaching to call no man father, since only One is our Father, God Himself, who is in heaven. Similarly none of us is to be called the Teacher; for Christ our Master is alone to be called that. Humility is the key ingredient for a disciple's life. Christ's outlining of the beatitudes of Matthew 5 stand in stark contrast to the 8 cursings in this chapter. For these reasons Jesus pronounced their house - that is the city of Jerusalem (compare these words with our Jeremiah readings) - desolate (just like the leprous house of Leviticus 14 verses 39-45). This state would continue until our Lord Jesus' second advent which advent would be heralded by the restoration of the state of Israel. Under the reign of Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ the nation will finally be healed - see verses 37-39. The take home message for all who would be God's children is in verses 23-24. The Pharisees were 'penny wise, but pound foolish'. If you wish to focus on minor matters then ensure that you don't impose your values on others and try to focus on the monumental matters. Read the words aloud and ponder their lessons for you.

About the series: Jesus encountered people who were skeptical of him as well as those who were deeply scarred by the pains from life on a fallen world. This is still true today. We will take a closer look at these stories of skeptics and scars from the Gospel of Mark and how they apply us today. About this week's message: Church hurt can produce scars. It can also turn people into skeptics. The Pharisees were not engaging in anything illegal or immoral within their leadership roles; instead, they were characterized by legalism, condemnation, and control. We'll cover how to respond in a healthy way to church hurt. Key Phrase: “Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.” Mark 3:2

Send us a textWhat happens when well-meaning believers start adding requirements to salvation by faith alone? Paul's letter to the Galatians confronts this dangerous tendency head-on, and his words remain just as relevant today as when they were first penned.The conflict centers on a simple question with profound implications: How are we justified before God? Paul makes his position crystal clear—"By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Yet the Galatian believers were being influenced by Judaizers who insisted that while faith in Christ was good, they still needed to be circumcised to truly be right with God.This struggle between faith alone and faith-plus-works continues to challenge Christians across denominations and traditions. Whether it's baptism, speaking in tongues, Sabbath observance, or dietary restrictions, many believers still feel compelled to add something to Christ's finished work. As one participant in our discussion noted, "When they start adding that 'but,' they don't know the gospel."What makes Paul's argument so powerful is his personal testimony. As a former Pharisee who understood the law better than most, he recognized its inability to justify sinners. The problem wasn't with God's law, which remains holy and good, but with human frailty. No one can perfectly fulfill the law's demands, which is precisely why salvation must come through another means—by grace through faith.When Paul writes, "If I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor," he's highlighting the danger of returning to a system he knows cannot save. Having abandoned law-keeping as the path to righteousness, any attempt to reestablish it would constitute a rejection of Christ's sufficient work.The simplicity of the gospel is both its beauty and its stumbling block. We're justified by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ—nothing more, nothing less. This message strips away human pride and religious performance, leaving us to rest completely in what God has done rather than what we must do. And that, perhaps, is why we find it so difficult to accept without trying to add our own contributions.Have you been complicating the simple message of salvation by grace through faith? What "buts" have you been adding to the gospel? The freedom Christ offers comes when we finally stop trying to earn what has already been freely given.Support the show

Read OnlineAt the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.” Matthew 12:42In this passage, Jesus refers to the Queen of Sheba who traveled about 1,400 miles from Southern Arabia, which was most likely located in either modern-day Yemen or Ethiopia, to meet King Solomon. The queen had heard much about Solomon, about his wealth and wisdom, and wanted to find out if all that she heard was true. So she made the long journey and stayed with him for about six months, according to tradition. After spending time with him, she was greatly impressed and bestowed upon him gifts of gold, spices and precious stones. She said to him, “I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes that not even the half had been told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard” (1Kings 10:7).This foreign queen was deeply impressed with Solomon. Her journey, gifts and words illustrate her deep respect for him and her admiration. Jesus uses this story to illustrate the simple fact that Jesus Himself is much greater than Solomon and that He should be treated in a way that far surpasses the way the queen treated Solomon. But Jesus also makes it clear that, at the Final Judgment, this queen will rise and condemn the scribes and Pharisees because they failed to see the wisdom and kingship of Jesus. Instead, they came to Jesus, seeking signs and proof of Who He was.In our own lives, the witness of the Queen of Sheba should be a source of true inspiration. She was someone who was powerful and wealthy herself, and yet she wanted to learn from Solomon and to benefit from his great wisdom which was given him by God. She should inspire us to do all we can to daily turn to our Lord and to seek His wisdom.Jesus's wisdom flows to us in many ways. The Gospels are especially important as a source of the most important lessons for life. Personal prayer, reading about the lives of the saints, and study of the teachings of our Church are also essential ways in which we receive the wisdom given to us by God. As you think about the many ways that are available to you to grow in the wisdom of God, try to use the Queen of Sheba as an inspiration. Do you have her same zeal? Are you willing to devote much time and effort to the pursuit of holy learning? Do you desire to journey to Jesus in the way that she desired to journey to Solomon?One of the greatest hindrances to this pursuit of holy wisdom is sloth, or laziness. It is becoming increasingly easy to engage our minds in mindless pursuits. Many people can easily spend many hours in front of the television, computer or mobile devices and waste precious time and energy. Zeal for God and the pursuit of the many truths of faith must become the cure for sloth in our lives. We must want to know. And we must do all we can to increase that holy desire within us. Reflect, today, upon the long journey made by this queen in pursuit of the wisdom of Solomon. As you do, examine whether you exhibit the same zeal that she had and how devoted you are to the pursuit of the wisdom of God. Where you are lacking, let her witness inspire you. Jesus is infinitely greater and wiser than Solomon, and we have been given full access to Him through prayer and holy learning. If you will make that holy journey to our Lord, with much determination, then unlike the scribes and Pharisees, your day of judgment will be a glorious one. My Lord of all Wisdom, You are infinitely greater than the wisest of kings and more glorious than anything I can imagine. Please fill me with zeal, dear Lord, so that I will fervently pursue You and daily journey to You. Please guide my prayer and my study so that Your wisdom and Your very Self will be bestowed upon me. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Jesus is invited to a meal with Pharisees and challenges them as they watch Him closely. He heals on the Sabbath, knowing that it would stir controversy, to show love, care, and humility. Christians are to serve those in need, the poor, the lame, the blind in order to be blessed. As we belong to God, may our lives be a reversal of worldly pursuits and accolades, but of selfless acts of faith.

This week, we share a “Space for God” devotional offered by Anglican Priest Chris Lugo. Chris guides us through John 9, a series of events flowing from Jesus healing a man born blind.  Chris unpacks how the reactions of the healed man, his parents, and the Pharisees to this miracle mirror many of the ways doubt and skepticism manifest in our own lives when we're faced with things we find difficult to explain. We hope you are blessed by Chris' thoughtful insights into this story!View Our Complete Archive of “Space for God” Prayer PracticesLearn More About Spiritual Direction through Coracleinthecoracle.org  |  @inthecoracleSupport the show

I'm going to say something that might shock you: Many of us — maybe even you — are far more prideful than we realize. You may be thinking, “Ryan, who do you think you are? You don't know me.” But take a moment and really think about it. None of us want to admit that deep down inside of us may exist something that says, “I don't need God” or “my way is better than His way.” Yet, that is what we are saying when we sin and decide to go against what God wants for us. When we sin, we consciously or subconsciously are telling God that our way is better than His, and this is pride. If we take an honest look at ourselves, we may realize that pride exists in many of us — to greater or lesser degrees.   This weekend we will dive into the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector where we are called to look inward at the posture of our hearts to see where pride exists. However, at the same time, in this parable we are shown what true humility looks like and invited to turn away from our pride and live as the humble sons and daughters who are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and saved from our sins. I would love if you would join us this weekend at Illuminate as we journey through this parable together. See you then! 

What does it really mean to be a person of grace? In this powerful message from our series "What Disciples Do," Pastor Mark explores Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14) to reveal how easily pride and judgmentalism sneak into our hearts—even when we think we're being faithful.With honesty, humor, and deep spiritual insight, this sermon challenges us to lay down our self-righteousness, remember how much grace we've received, and extend that grace to others. True disciples don't live from ego—they live from mercy.Whether you've ever struggled with judgmental thoughts, been hurt by a judgmental church, or just long for a deeper experience of God's love and humility, this message is for you.

Sunday, 20 July 2025   And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” Matthew 12:2   “And the Pharisees, having seen, they said to Him, ‘You behold! Your disciples, they do what it permits not to do in Sabbath'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus went through the grainfields with His disciples on a Sabbath day. While doing so, the disciples began to pluck heads of grain and eat. Having done this, Matthew next notes, “And the Pharisees.”   These folks show up constantly in the narrative, looking to find fault in Jesus and His ministry. It isn't known if they were walking with Him also, or if they were spying on Him stealthily, but this is a recurrent theme in the gospels. To be spied on by legalists is something that would plague even the church later –   “And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Galatians 2:4, 5   In whatever way the Pharisees happened to be present with Jesus and the disciples, they were certainly there to spy on them and find fault. As such, the narrative continues with, “having seen, they said to Him, ‘You behold! Your disciples, they do what it permits not to do in Sabbath.'”   A new word, exesti, impersonally or it is right, is introduced. It is derived from ek, out of, and eimi, to exist. It is generally translated as lawful, permitted, or may (as in “May I say a word...”). The Topical Lexicon notes that this word “exposes human motives, clarifies God's purposes, and delineates the boundary between true righteousness and mere legality.”   The Pharisees are making a claim that what Jesus' disciples were doing, and thus implying He bore guilt because of them, was outside of the boundaries of what God had allowed for Sabbath day observances. The law, as noted in the previous commentary, said –   “When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain.” Deuteronomy 23:24, 25   The Pharisees are either claiming that what is lawful on other days, which is to pluck and eat, is not allowed on the Sabbath, or that plucking and eating equate to work. The plucking is equated to harvesting while rubbing off the husks is equal to threshing grain. Alfred Edersheim in Life and Times of Jesus quotes the Talmud, saying –   “In case a woman rolls wheat to remove the husks, it is considered as sifting; if she rubs the heads of wheat, it is regarded as threshing; if she cleans off the side-adherencies, it is sifting out fruit; if she bruises the ears, it is grinding; if she throws them up in her hand, it is winnowing.”   This sort of niggling over minutiae is common with the rabbis of the Jews where, as Jesus elsewhere says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” Matthew 23:23, 24   They became so myopic in their pursuit of law observance that they were unable to discern between what is morally right and wrong. They had turned the Sabbath, which was to be a blessing for the people, into a day of misery where one could be stoned for doing something interpreted by others to be a violation of a law that may not have even addressed such a matter.   Life application: Think of the things you have encountered in churches that are contrary to, not in line with, or out of the bounds of biblical precepts. Taking a single example to understand, that of KJV Onlyism. It is claimed that no other Bible should be read than the King James Version.   This is contrary to Scripture because the KJV is a translation from other sources. This is not in line with Scripture because we are told to read and teach the word from the writings of Paul (e.g., 2 Timothy 2:15 & 2 Timothy 4:2), which predate the KJV by about 1600 years. This is out of the bounds of biblical precepts because there is nothing in Scripture that says this or even hints at it.   One can use this logic with any precept that is incorrectly taught. All three of these points may not apply to every situation, but if any of the three do not, it is to be understood that what is taught is incorrect.   Further, one must evaluate the precept based on proper context. Using a precept from the Law of Moses to make a claim about appropriateness is inappropriate. Jesus fulfilled and brought the Law of Moses to an end.   Some things merely describe a situation but do not prescribe anything. In such cases, they are not to be used for doctrine unless they form a normative precept. But even then, what is normative (such as baptism) must be understood from a thorough study and right application of what the Bible reveals.   The only way to do these things is to READ AND KNOW THE BIBLE. Please be sure to spend time, lots and lots of time, in this wonderful and precious word.   Glorious God, help our minds to logically process Your word, making right conclusions about what You are saying to us based on a contextually proper evaluation of it. May we carefully and rightly consider Your word at all times. Amen.  

In Matthew 22 verses 1-14 we have the parable of the wedding feast of the Kingdom, to which we all have been invited through the Gospel. Our Omnipotent King has provided the only garment needed for admission; the sin covering raiment of His ever glorious and pre-eminent Son. We put this garment on when we believe the gospel, repent and are baptised. The disciple must then live a life of faithfulness for our Father to graciously give us a place in His kingdom. A sobering note concludes this parable: "Many are called, but few are chosen". Then follow four questions, each one from each of the three main political parties in Israel and then unanswered question from the Lord to each of these groups. These answers provided incontrovertible proof from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Promised Messiah. Verses 15-22 addresses the unpopular subject of taxation. The tax here was the Roman tax which was even more hated because it maintained Roman armies in Judah's land. The Land that had been given to them by the Almighty. Jesus was asked: "Should we pay this tax? Or, should we not pay it?" If our Lord said - yes - then he lost popularity with his people. If he said - no - then he could be accused of treason against Rome. His enemies were sure Jesus was trapped. However he completely turned the table on his adversaries. He masterfully not only answered the question but also used the occasion to direct all the hearers to their responsibilities to their God. Our Lord asked for a denarius. Whose image and superscription is on this coin? Caesar's they replied. Then give to Caesar what is his and to God what belongs to Him. We have been made in the image and likeness of God. So our lives, minds and actions belong to Him. Verses 23-33 say that the Sadducees came to Jesus with a trick question relating to resurrection. This sect accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament - called the Book of Moses. They mistakenly believed that resurrection was not supported by these Scriptures. However Jesus proves from Exodus 3 verses 15-17 that the raising of the dead is proven by Yahweh saying that He is the God of Abraham, and God is the God of the living, for all live unto Him - not He was - therefore Abraham has a future after his being restored to life in the future. Their failure, Jesus declared , was in not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God (verse 29). Verses 34-38 Jesus is asked by Pharisee lawyer which is the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses. This topic was hotly debated among the religious leaders. Our Lord's answer is that it is very clear: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and mind and strength - Deuteronomy 6 verses 4-5. Jesus says that the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself: Leviticus 19:18; 1 John 4:7-13. The chapter concludes proving Jesus himself to be the divine son of David (after the flesh), but God's Son of the Father's right hand, as attested. In verses 39-46 Jesus asks his critics whose son is Messiah, his Lord? Easy they thought! The Old Testament tells us that Messiah is the son of David. If so, says Jesus, why then does David in Psalm 110 call Messiah his Lord? This was an impossibility in Jewish reckoning for a son to be superior to his father. The only way for this to be true is for Jesus to be the Son of God as well as being the son of David: Psalm 110 verses -2; 2 Samuel 7 verses 2-16, 2 Samuel 23 verses 1-7; Micah 5 verses 2-5. His opponents were left dumbfounded.

Jesus confronts the Pharisees on their misunderstanding and misapplication of the Sabbath - they fail to see Christ as who He is - the Lord of all.

     Knowing and doing the will of God starts with God. Biblically, there is only one God (Deut 32:39; Isa 45:5-7; 46:9), and He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them (Gen 1:1; Ex 20:11; Neh 9:6; Acts 17:24). Furthermore, God is not silent. He has provided general revelation about Himself through nature (Psa 19:1-2; Rom 1:20) and special revelation through His Word (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21),[1] and through His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-3; cf. John 1:1, 14, 18). Today, we have the written Word of God which provides the clearest revelation of His will. Apart from His Word, we have no clear understanding of who God is, what He is doing, or what He expects of us.      God's will is mentioned several times in the Old Testament (Deut 10:10; 23:5; 2 Ch 21:7) which uses the Hebrew word אָבָה abah, which means “to will, [or] be willing.”[2] Also, in other passages (Psa 40:8; 143:10), the Hebrew word רָצוֹן ratson is used, which refers to “what pleases the Lord.”[3] Some passages in the New Testament specifically mention God's will, where the Greek term θέλημα thelema is employed (i.e., Rom 12:2; Eph 6:5-6, Col 4:12; 1 Th 4:3; 5:16-18; Heb 10:36; 1 Pet 2:15; 4:19). God's will in each of these passages refers to “what one wishes to happen.”[4] This speaks of what God desires from people. Other passages employ the Greek word βούλομαι boulomai (Matt 11:27; Jam 1:18; 2 Pet 3:9), which denotes a “desire to have or experience something, with implication of planning accordingly.”[5] The latter term sometimes refers to what God brings to pass, such as when James writes, “In the exercise of His will [βούλομαι boulomai] He brought us forth by the word of truth” (Jam 1:18a). But sometimes it refers to what God wants, but makes contingent upon a human response of faith, such as when Peter writes that the Lord “is patient toward you, not wishing [βούλομαι boulomai] for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). Context always determines the meaning of a word.      Those who are positive to God desire to know Him, His Word, and to pursue His will.[6] Jesus said to fellow Jews, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” (John 7:17). Jesus explained that knowing God's Word is predicated on a desire to do (ποιέω poieo) His will. But some hearts are negative to God. And when the heart is negative, no amount of divine revelation will prove persuasive. For example, Noah preached to his generation for one hundred and twenty years, but they refused to listen (Gen 6:3; 2 Pet 2:5). Jeremiah spoke to the leaders of Israel, saying, “these twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened” (Jer 25:3). Preachers are responsible for the accurate output of the message, not the outcome of response. Jesus spoke to the hard-hearted Pharisees and said, “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word” (John 8:43). Jesus then gave the answer, saying, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:44). They could not hear His words because they were unsaved and negative to God. These were men who “loved the darkness rather than the Light” (John 3:19). Paul described them as ones “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). Paul also spoke about the unsaved person, saying, “But an unbeliever does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor 2:14). Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.   [1] God, on several occasions, commanded His prophets to record what He had revealed to them. He told Moses, “Write this in a book” (Ex 17:14), and “Write down these words” (Ex 34:27). To Isaiah He said, “Now go, write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll” (Isa 30:8), and to Jeremiah He commanded, “Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book” (Jer 30:2). [2] William D. Mounce, Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 788. [3] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1282. [4] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 447. [5] Ibid., 182. [6] For the Christian, this does not mean our sin nature is removed, nor that we are free from the sinful pressures of living in a fallen world. Paul said, “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom 7:21-23). This struggle with sin continues until we leave this world and enter into heaven. Until then, it is God's will that we remain in this world (John 17:15) as His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20).

Power Up: Luke 7:37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38 and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged., King James VersionIn this episode, we are seeking the Lord on behalf of several right now issues that we are facing on this earth. We are praying for our children, our parents, our loved ones that are suffering with sicknesses, and we are lifting up our leaders. Thank you for being a supporter of this podcast as I grow and learn things will become more like previous episodes, but I do not want to delay the podcast while I learn how to use the new format. Thank you for all of your support. Thank you for your shares. Thank you for joining your faith with my faith so that we can see God move upon the face of the earth if you have a prayer request, you can text 843-790-4229 or submit it by email to seeingwithoutseeing2020@gmail.com. Please put prayer request in the subject line. That email address can be used on Zelle and PayPal. If you desire to sow a seed, you can do that also on cash app at $seeingwithoutseeing. Thank you once again for your support please share this and believe God with us as we seek God.

As we explore Luke 18, we delve into two of Jesus' parables that challenge us to examine our prayer life and our humility before God.

Today's episode is built on a rivalry between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Pastor Al Dagel can't help but take sides!

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesusto put him to death.When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.Many people followed him, and he cured them all,but he warned them not to make him known.This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:    Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,        my beloved in whom I delight;    I shall place my Spirit upon him,        and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.    He will not contend or cry out,        nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.    A bruised reed he will not break,        a smoldering wick he will not quench,    until he brings justice to victory.        And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

Read OnlineThe Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. Matthew 12:14–16This passage goes on to say that Jesus withdrew to a more deserted place to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 42:1–4). That prophecy is the first of what is referred to as “The Songs of the Suffering Servant.” In these songs or poems of Isaiah, the Messiah is presented to us as one who would be sent on a mission from God, would suffer injustice for the sake of others, would be rejected, and ultimately be vindicated and exalted. The mission of the Suffering Servant was to bring justice and salvation to all, including to the Gentiles.At that time, the idea of a messianic king was still prominent in the minds of many. They anticipated the coming of a messiah who would be a political leader and would lead the people of Israel out of oppression, making them a free, prosperous and powerful nation. But Jesus acts in the opposite manner. Instead of raising up an army to combat the evil intentions of the Pharisees and to overthrow the Romans, Jesus withdrew from them and invited people to come to Him for healing and to receive His teachings.Jesus perfectly fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah by becoming the Suffering Servant. And because His messianic role was much different than what many people had anticipated, Saint Matthew points us to the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah as a way of clearly showing that Jesus truly was the promised Messiah. He was just not the form of messiah that many expected. He was One Who was humble and gentle of heart. He was One Who would redeem people by the Blood of His Cross. And He was One Who would extend salvation to all people, not only the people of Israel.One lesson this teaches us is that even today we can have false expectations of God. It is easy for us to set forth our own idea of what God should do and what true justice demands. But we also read in Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8–9).Just as it must have been difficult for the people of Israel to come to accept the promised Messiah as a servant Who suffers and Who redeems all people through that suffering, so it is often difficult for us to accept our Lord as He is. It is difficult to shed our own ideas of what we want God to do and this is especially difficult when He calls us to share in His own suffering and servanthood. To serve, suffer, sacrifice our lives, and the like can be difficult to accept. But this is the way of our Lord—it is the way of the Suffering Servant of God.Reflect, today, upon your own expectations of God. Do you have a long list of things that you think God should do? Do you pray for that list of your ideas, thinking that if you only ask enough, God will grant your requests? If your requests flow from His perfect will, then praying for them in faith will bring them about. But if they flow more from you and your own ideas of what God should do, then all the prayers in the world will not bring them to be. If this is your struggle, then try to start anew by turning your eyes to the Servant Who Suffers for the salvation of all. Reflect upon the fact that God's thoughts and ways are most often very far above your own thoughts and ways. Try to humble yourself before the Suffering Servant and abandon all ideas that do not flow from His Heart. My Suffering Servant, I thank You for Your suffering and death and for the redemption that flows from Your sacrifice of love. Help me to shed all false expectations that I have of You, dear Lord, so that I will be guided by You and Your mission of salvation alone. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via Pixabay.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Gospel Matthew 12:1-8 Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” Reflection I don't know if there's anything that I would pray the church would listen so clearly to this image. Jesus saying that he is here to inaugurate a kingdom that is not focused on law, but on the needs of individuals. Mercy, compassion, understanding. Every institution is caught up, in a sense, the weakness of overlooking the individual and just demanding rigid following of rules. Nothing is further from the truth when it comes to the work that God longs to do within us. It's personal. It's individual. It is honoring our unique situation. And blessed are those who find ministers in the church who do the same. Closing Prayer Father, so many are called to witness your presence. And when they do that, when they focus primarily on rules and regulations, they're robbing the individual of the experience of who God really is. Of course, laws and rules are necessary, but when it comes across that they're more important than the individual, then there is a vacuum of the very essence of God, the loving father, the caring friend, the person who is on our side. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost every Christian denomination accepts that God is sovereign--which is interpreted to mean that He always does precisely what He pleases, and everything that happens on earth has either His explicit or implicit stamp of approval. So when we find ourselves in a crisis--we or someone we love gets a terminal diagnosis, or we don't have enough money to make the mortgage and may lose the house, or we're in the direct path of a natural disaster, etc--we pray for a miracle, because we all know that God can do anything He wants. And who knows? Maybe He'll say yes. But if He says no, the common theology goes, it's because He sees the bigger picture. He knows more than we do, and we have to just trust that He knows best. That sounds so spiritual, doesn't it? Some believers manage to weather these trials of faith, pointing to Job as their example, when he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21) and "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15). (One side note. When you hear of a great saint who loses everything and yet clings to their trust in God anyway, certain that He has a greater purpose for their loss, does that inspire you to praise God--or to praise that great saint? Who actually receives the glory for that?) This theology has its roots in Calvinism, which espouses an extreme form of predestination (meaning that God chooses whether each of us will ultimately be saved, or damned, before we're ever born. He has to do this, they argue, because it is God who gives us the faith even to be saved, Eph 2:8-9, and if He withholds that faith, salvation for that individual is impossible.) So God, in this theological persuasion, decides a priori who will be saved and who will not, and then punishes those to whom He has not given the faith to be saved for their sins. They do have scriptures to back up their argument--if you take them out of context. One of the big ones is Romans 9:18-21, which says: "Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?' But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?'" In this passage, Paul was comparing Israel's hardness of heart in rejecting the Messiah to Pharaoh from the time of the Exodus (Romans 9:15-17). The reason it took ten plagues and the decimation of Egypt for Pharaoh to finally release the Israelites was because Pharaoh's heart was hardened, far beyond reason. Paul's point in this passage was that God did this so that He could display His power to the Israelites, delivering them with great signs and wonders (Romans 9:17). If Pharaoh hadn't resisted, it would not have taken great miracles to do it. (In the same way, Paul argues, the fact that Israel had rejected Jesus gave the Lord the opportunity to bring the Gentiles in to the New Covenant, too.) But if God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, is Pharaoh still responsible for his own actions? If we go back to the original source text, we can see that this isn't quite the whole story. God did tell Moses in advance that He would harden Pharaoh's heart before the plagues ever began (Ex 4:21, 7:3). But for the first five plagues, Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7). It was only by the sixth plague that the scripture says God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Ex 9:12). Pharaoh still made his own choice first; God just enforced it and used it for His own purposes. I love the analogy Charles Capps uses to explain this. If one sets clay and wax out in the hot sun, the sun will harden the clay, but melt the wax. The sun adds the same heat to both, but the substance (wax or clay) determines its effect. A potter chooses whether to make “noble or ignoble” vessels from clay not arbitrarily, but on the basis of the quality of the clay. If the clay is supple and pliable, it can be made into something beautiful; if it is brittle, it might not be fit to shape into something worthy of display. God works with what we give him. In the same way, in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), the sower sows the Word indiscriminately, but it is the condition of the soil that determines the harvest. Luke later writes that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and Peter writes that He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9, more on this later). Likewise, any reasonable person would have been terrified into obedience by the plagues, long before they progressed to the death of the firstborn. And some of the Egyptians did believe and take refuge in Goshen, and the final exodus included “a mixed multitude” (Exodus 12:38), meaning some of the Egyptians were convinced, converted, and left with them. God gave the Egyptians the opportunity to escape the plagues that might otherwise have caused death, telling them to pull their livestock and their servants inside before the hail (Exodus 9:19), and to paint their doorposts with the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:22-23), which was symbolic of and foreshadowing the blood of Christ. Again, the Lord is “not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He didn't want to harm the Egyptians, but neither did he want them to keep His people in bondage. So, did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Yes, but perhaps only in the sense that God performed the miracles, and Pharaoh’s heart was such that those miracles caused him to dig in his heels. We’ve all met stubborn people like this, with whom any direct attempt at persuasion will cause them to double down on their original position. God does not override our free will, so in this case, He worked with it, using it to His advantage. Our choices do matter. But He's so amazing that He takes those choices and still manages to work “all things together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). As a result of Pharaoh’s stubbornness, God’s people had a legacy of spectacular stories to remind their children and their children’s children of His might on their behalf. My point in saying all that is just that the argument that God sovereignly controls everything that happens is inconsistent with the overall teachings of scripture; even the individual verses that seem to suggest that don't stand up to scrutiny. But a larger problem is that, taken to its logical conclusion, the theological position that God's will is absolute, and will come to pass no matter what we do, leads to a sense of futility. Why pray--why even evangelize--if God is going to do what He's going to do, regardless? To their credit (though against logic), most Calvinist denominations recognize that the scriptures are very clear that we should still both evangelize and pray, and they therefore preach that we should do both, just because God said we should. (Sort of the equivalent of a parent saying, "Because I said so, that's why!") But historically, many Protestant denominations stemmed from or were heavily influenced by Calvinist doctrine. As a result, until about the late 18th and early 19th century, almost all missionary activity around the world came from the Catholic church, which I suspect was precisely because it held no doctrine of predestination, so they thought their efforts could make an eternal difference. Motivation matters. (Protestant missions largely date back to William Carey's work in India in 1793. The London Missionary Society was founded two years later, in 1795, and in 1810, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was founded.) Even if we're not ultimately each predestined for heaven or hell, God is still sovereign, though, right? He knows way more than we do. So doesn't that mean sometimes He'll say no to our prayer requests, and when we all get to heaven, we'll understand why? Yes, God is sovereign in the sense that He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing, but He is not all-controlling (and I covered this extensively in this podcast https://www.drlaurendeville.com/podcasts/why-bad-things-happen-from-a-biblical-perspective on why bad things happen, from a biblical perspective). God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; they did anyway. Was that God's will? Certainly not! He did everything He could to keep them from doing it, short of making them automatons, when He told them, don't do it. Likewise, any sovereign can set laws that his citizens may not necessarily obey. The US is a sovereign nation and in 1974 the administration set the "National Maximum Speed Law" of 55mph. But many drivers exceeded that speed limit daily. The New English Translation has the word “sovereign” appear more than any other biblical translation (368 times). Not one of the original Hebrew or Greek words connotes the idea that He controls everything that happens. Most of the time, "sovereign" is just the way they render God’s names. The word sovereign is often translated from Shaddai (meaning Almighty) when it’s part of God’s name (48 times in the OT). Other times it’s translated from ‘elohiym: supreme God, as a superlative, or ‘elyown, meaning High or Most High. Sometimes it's thrown in as part of the transition of ‘Adonay: an emphatic form of the Lord. Sometimes it's translated from tsaba’, also translated the Lord of Hosts, meaning one who commands an army. In some cases the word sovereign is used to describe God's characteristics, but in context, it doesn't mean what we typically mean by the word (that His will always happens). The NET version of 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "O LORD, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all." Only this translation uses the word sovereign; the others , translate it Head. This word connotes the idea of a supreme ruler, but not of one who always gets His way. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield (magen: shield, buckler, protector).” The same verse is translated in NET: "For the LORD God is our sovereign protector." Clearly the word magen does not indicate that He always gets His way, either. Sovereign power is also translated as holiness from qadash: "to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate." This word is used in Ezekiel 28:25: "'This is what the sovereign LORD says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power (or holiness) over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob." It doesn't mean supreme dictator there either. Micah 5:4 says, "He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the LORD's strength, by the sovereign authority of the LORD his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth.” Sovereign authority here is the words ga'own (exaltation, majesty, pride) shem (name, reputation, fame, glory): thus, it's better translated “in the majesty of the name” of the Lord. Not a supreme dictator there either. Habakkuk 2:14 says, "For recognition of the LORD's sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea." Sovereign majesty here is yada (to know, to perceive, to make known) kabowd (glory, honour, glorious, abundance), also translated “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.” Still not indicating ultimate control over everything that happens. Of course God's will does not always come to pass. As I mentioned earlier, the classic example of this is 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,” and 1 Timothy 2:4: “[He] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Matthew 18:14 also says, “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, not just those who are saved. 1 John 2:2 says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”, and 1 Tim 4:10 says, "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” This doesn't sound like a God who created anyone for the expressed purpose of eternal damnation to me. On the contrary, He did everything He could possibly do to save us all, short of making us automatons. But not everybody will be saved, because He doesn't force us to choose Him--nor does He make any of our other decisions for us, either. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." God wills it; He paid an enormous price for it; but He won't get all of us, because we get a choice. There are other verses that imply the concept of sovereignty as we typically define it (in the sense that when God decides to do something, He does it, and no one can stop Him). Here are a few of those verses: Job 42:2: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Isaiah 46:10: “I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” Romans 8:28: “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” (i.e. He can use bad and work it for good.) But these verses refers to God’s right and His power -- they say nothing about voluntary restrictions that God has placed upon His own power. Those limitations are defined by the covenants God had in place with mankind at various points in history. Once He gives His word that He will do this and not that, He cannot violate it--He exalts His word even above His name (Psalm 138:2). It's the integrity of His word that literally holds the universe together (Hebrews 1:3). Again, more on this in this podcast: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/podcasts/why-bad-things-happen-from-a-biblical-perspective and extensively more in "Blood Covenant Origins" and "Blood Covenant Fulfilled" from this book series: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/books/biblical-retellings). A quick overview, though: since God gave the earth to man in the garden, and man decided to obey Satan, God had to find a legal entry to get back in. That was the purpose of the covenants—first the Adamic, then the Noahic, then the Abrahamic, then the Mosaic, and now finally, the New Covenant. In the middle three there were stipulations of what we had to do, and therefore what God would do for us, if we kept up our end. But there were provisions for blessings even in those. For instance, a common Old Testament example I've heard preached to back up the idea that we never know what God's going to do, but we should have faith in Him anyway, is Daniel 3:18. Here's how that verse is preached: "If you throw us into the fiery furnace, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not save us, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." Except that's not what that verse actually says. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego, the Hebrew kids in Babylonian exile in that story, were under the Mosaic covenant, and they were on the right side of it--so they had a right to the blessings (Deut 28:7), and they knew it. They knew God’s promises. That’s why they were able to stand up to the king—just like David could call Goliath that “uncircumcised Philistine,” absolutely convinced of the outcome, because he had a covenant, and Goliath didn’t. In the story in Daniel, what the verse actually says is, “If you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” The Jewish captives respond saying, “If that is the case” (implying, if you will throw us in to the furnace, the subject of the previous verse). Then they say, “But if not”—and the Hebrew never qualifies if not what. People tend to assume they are saying “but if God doesn’t deliver us” (the end of the previous thought). But it could just as easily have meant, “If it is not the case that you will throw us into the fiery furnace,” just like it did in previous verse. This would change the entire meaning of the verse, and would be far more consistent with the rest of scripture. I can think of no instances anywhere in scripture where someone put faith in God’s covenant promises, and God did not come through. He can’t not come through—because again, He exalts His word above His very name (Ps 138:2)! In the New Covenant, Jesus paid to make sure we are always on the blessing side, having fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf, and become the curse for us (Gal 3:13). Because of that, every single promise is now Yes and Amen in Him (2 Cor 1:20). When Christ saved us, the word in Greek is sozo—that word appears 110 times in the New Testament. It includes spiritual salvation, but it also means physical healing, to rescue from physical danger, and to deliver from the penalties of judgment. All of these things are accessed by faith. Scripture doesn’t say that sometimes God says no to physical healing; on the contrary, every time someone came to Jesus for healing, they got it—and He was the exact image of the Father (Col 1:15), doing nothing but what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). He turned no one away, saying, “Nope, this one is God’s will for you, to bring glory to Himself.” What brings God glory is healing, not sickness (John 9:1-4), and the “fruit” of answered prayers (John 15:7-8). It’s the blessings of God on our lives that are supposed to get the attention of the world around us. So back to the issue of praying for miracles. The theological position of most Christian denominations is that God can do anything, but there’s no guarantees that He will. Because of course, we can look around and see so many good Christians (some of the best!) who pray, and don’t seem to receive. What are we to do with that? Shouldn’t we adjust our theology to account for all of these practical examples… no matter what the Bible actually says? My dad died of cancer when he was 48 years old. We had lots of people praying. I had several well-meaning believers after the fact try to console me with the idea that God “allowed” this to happen for some inscrutable reason of His own… maybe someone might come to the Lord as a result of our loss, someone suggested. (What actually happened was that I became a religious Pharisee for about 10 years, going through the motions, but I didn’t trust God at all. I figured, based on that theology, that God was like an army general who made sacrifices for the greater good, and sometimes—sorry!—it’s you. The effect on the rest of my family's faith and outlook on the world was similar to mine, or worse.) All of that is predictable in hindsight, because cancer and death are the fingerprints of the Enemy, not of God. The Enemy comes to “steal, kill, and destroy”—Jesus came that we might “have life, and have it more abundantly.” It’s very clear who does what. But the vast majority of the body of Christ today preaches this confused theology, attributing horrific things to God under the strange explanation that because God’s ways are higher than our ways, somehow from His perspective, bad is good, and wrong is right, and once we all get to heaven, we’ll understand. (No wonder I didn’t trust God anymore when I believed this. How could I trust a God like that?) I get why the Church at large preaches this—they’re trying to make the Bible fit our experience. God's supreme sovereignty is a nice, spiritual-sounding explanation which borrows from the long Calvinistic tradition, even if we don't take it quite to that extreme (though some denominations still do even that). But what finally set me free was when I realized that God’s definition of good and mine are actually the same. That my dad’s death at such a young age was never His will. That how God dealt with mankind at various times in history was dependent upon the covenants in place at the time--and today, we're under the best covenant of all, the one where all the curses for disobedience are paid for in full, and all that's left is the blessing, which we can receive by faith. Here's what that doesn't mean: it doesn't mean that faith is a new form of works, that God now watches to see if we reach the critical threshold of faith before He doles out our miracle... and if we don't quite get there, ah, too bad, try harder next time. No! He's not responding in real time to our faith at all, deciding which requests to grant and which to refuse. God already provided every blessing in spiritual form in Christ’s atonement, 2000 years ago (Gal 1:3, Isaiah 53:4-5, 1 Peter 2:24). We receive all of those blessings now the same way we receive salvation: by faith. It's "in your account" already, as it were, just waiting for you to make a withdrawal--just like salvation is freely available, waiting for you to accept it. But God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He doesn’t sovereignly say yes to one person and no to another for things that we know are in His will—if we know that we’re asking for something already in His explicit will, He hears us, and if we know that He hears us, we know we already have the requests made of Him (1 John 5:14-15). (That is the key, though--we can only have faith that we'll receive things that were already paid for in the atonement of Jesus. We can ask God for other things outside of that, but in those cases, God might say yes, or He might say no, for our own good--James 4:3. So it's quite useful to know scripture, so you can know for sure what you can stand on!) Back to my dad, and so many others besides. At that time, my family didn’t know any of this. We thought, we should pray, we should ask, and maybe God will say yes and maybe He will say no. But that’s not faith—that’s hope. And God didn’t say no—He said yes, 2000 years ago! Jesus paid an incredibly high price for God to say yes. Jesus also gave us the formula of how to receive in Mark 11:23-24: believe, and don’t doubt. If you do that, it’s as good as done. Unopposed faith (without doubt, James 1:6-8) is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). It’s cruel to tell people that they didn’t receive their miracle because they didn’t believe hard enough, or pray long enough, though. But the solution to that isn’t to blame God’s “sovereignty” instead! (That’s how people lose their faith—who wants to serve a God whom they believe “allowed” the Holocaust, or 9-11, or child trafficking, or etc to happen?) Rather, the solution is to understand that we’re in a war, and that Satan is seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). While he’s a defeated foe ever since the cross (Col 2:15), and we now have authority over him through Jesus (Matt 28:18, Eph 1:17-19), most of us don’t know it. We don’t know that, with the authority we now have, Satan’s only weapon against believers now is deception and fear (2 Cor 10:3-5)—and of course anything he can indirectly control against us that is part of the fallen world. But Jesus has already overcome the world on our behalf (John 16:33). And understanding God’s perfect love for us casts out fear (James 4:18). Because if He loves us enough to send Jesus, how will He not also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? But most of us are so focused on what we see, on the things this world says, that a cancer diagnosis, for example (or any other terminal doctor’s report, or insurmountable financial problem, etc), strikes fear into our hearts. Whatever we focus on, we magnify—and if we’re in a church that tells us maybe God will come through and maybe He won’t (for things that He’s explicitly promised in His word), then we’re standing on shifting sand. It’s hard enough to deal with our own doubt and unbelief, without being surrounded by the doubt and unbelief of others. But absolute trust God’s word—even if it means isolating ourselves from well-meaning believers who might cause us to doubt—is the only way. Jesus on numerous occasions got away from the crowds or put everyone out of the house except for his few top disciples before he performed a miracle. Abraham received because he did not consider anything except God’s promises (Romans 4:19). He didn’t have a contingency plan (or at least he didn’t anymore after the whole Ishmael thing was out of the way). Because he didn’t consider any of the natural circumstances, he didn’t waver in his faith. In the same way, today, our lack of fear of Satan’s schemes is proof to him that we’re going to win (Phil 1:28)—and if we stand firm (Eph 6:13-14) and resist the devil, sooner or later, he has to flee (James 4:7). We’ll win, if we don’t quit. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.His disciples were hungryand began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."He said to them, "Have you not read what David didwhen he and his companions were hungry,how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,which neither he nor his companionsbut only the priests could lawfully eat?Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbaththe priests serving in the temple violate the sabbathand are innocent?I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,you would not have condemned these innocent men.For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

Jesus often taught in parables, simple stories that illustrated a spiritual truth. Some of Jesus' most famous parables are unique to the Gospel of Luke. In what we call the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus describes for his followers who would be their neighbor and what it means to be a good neighbor. Telling the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector, he focuses on the condition of the heart and salvation by grace. Jesus' parables highlight a major theme in Luke: our call to discipleship. Throughout the book, we repeatedly find the invitation to follow Jesus Christ. Together, let's discover what Jesus teaches about the attitudes and hearts of his followers and discuss honestly what it costs to prioritize Jesus in our lives. 

Jesus has rebuked the Pharisees for being spiritually blind, though they claim to be the spiritual leaders of God's people. Jesus is not like these men: he is the good shepherd who knows his sheep, calls them by name, and lays down his life for them. During the Festival of Dedication, which we know as Hanukkah, Jesus is cornered by Jews who demand that he plainly say whether or not he is the Messiah. Jesus responds by saying that his sheep know his voice, and that they don't believe because they aren't his sheep. They try to seize him, but escapes their grasp and retreats across the Jordan where John had been baptizing. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

"Walking with the Master" Series Luke 18:9-14

Read OnlineJesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” Matthew 12:1–2When Moses gave the Ten Commandments to the people, there was a prohibition against working on the Sabbath. The Third Commandment said, in part, that “you shall not do any work” on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10). By the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had added much commentary to this law and expanded it to include as many as 39 different forms of work that they believed was forbidden. Included in their list were the practices of harvesting and milling of grain. For that reason, when the Pharisees saw that the disciples were picking heads of grain and rubbing the grain off the husks so that they could eat it, the Pharisees condemned them for violating what they interpreted to be an offense against the Third Commandment.The first thing we can note from this passage is that the disciples were hungry. They were exceptionally devoted to Jesus and had been traveling with Him from town to town so that He could preach the Gospel. They had given up occupation, home, family and income so as to be singly devoted to Jesus and His mission. And as a result of this, they were living in poverty and relying upon the generosity of others. It is in this context that they chose to eat the most humble of foods: grain that they picked as they walked. They didn't complain that there wasn't a hot meal waiting for them at their destination. They were accepting of the many long journeys by foot that they made. They were okay with the fact that they did not get to sleep in their own bed every night. But they did have the basic human need for food, so they picked this grain as they walked to fulfill this basic need of hunger.Though there are many lessons we can learn from this passage, one clear lesson is that of the temptation to judge and condemn others. When we fall into the trap of judging others, there are a few things that are common. First, judging and condemning often is based on perceived wrongs that are inflated and exaggerated. The Pharisees clearly inflated and exaggerated this “sin” of the disciples. In our lives, judgmentalness almost always makes the perceived sin of another far more serious than it is, if it is sin at all.Another common temptation that flows from a judgmental and condemning heart is the failure to even understand the condemned party. In this case above, the Pharisees did not even inquire into the reason the disciples were picking and eating grain. They didn't ask if they had been without food for some time or how long they had been traveling. It didn't matter to them that they were hungry, and most likely, very hungry. So also with us, it is common that when we judge and condemn another, we arrive at our verdict without even seeking to understand the situation.Lastly, it needs to be said that judging others is not our right. Doing so is usually reckless and caused by our own self-centeredness. God did not give the Pharisees the authority to expand the Third Commandment into 39 forbidden practices, nor did He give them the authority to apply those interpretations to the perceived actions of the disciples. And God does not give us the authority to judge others either. If another is clearly caught in a cycle of objectively grave sin, we must do all we can to help draw them out of that sin. But even in that case, we have no right to judge or condemn. Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have toward being judgmental and condemning of others. If you see this tendency within yourself, spend time thinking about the Pharisees. Their self-righteousness was ugly and damaging. The negative example they set should inspire us to turn away from such acts of condemnation and to reject those temptations the moment they come. My divine Judge of All, You and You alone know the heart, and You and You alone are capable of acting as Judge. Please exercise Your authority in my life so that I can perceive my own sin. As You do, please also free me from the tendency to judge and condemn. Fill me, instead, with a heart full of mercy and truth toward all. Jesus, I trust in You.  Image: Marten van Valckenborch, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

As Garrett is on paternity leave enjoy this top replay.Garrett reflects on Acts 5 and the timeless truth that what is of God cannot be stopped. Sharing from his own journey as a business owner, father, and follower of Jesus, Garrett encourages Christian agents to release the pressure of hustle and lean fully into obedience.Whether you're navigating doubt, failure, or the weight of decision-making in a tough market, this episode will speak peace into your process. You'll walk away reminded that if your work is from the Lord, it cannot fail—and if it isn't, His grace will redirect you.

Jesus performs the sixth of seven signs recorded in John's gospel by healing a man who was born blind. The disciples assumed that his blindness must have been attributed to sinfulness; in other words, someone must have acted sinfully, or else God would not have punished him so. Jesus dispels this assumption, simply saying that he is blind so that God's works might be displayed in him. Once he is healed, his neighbors notice and are confused about how something so miraculous could have happened. They take him to the Pharisees, and he testifies before them, calling out the foolishness of their conclusions as he does so. As a result they throw him out, but Jesus seeks him out and reassures him. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.Dico enim vobis, quia nisi abundaverit justitia vestra plus quam scribarum, et pharisaeorum, non intrabitis in regnum caelorum. 21 You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.Audistis quia dictum est antiquis : Non occides : qui autem occiderit, reus erit judicio. 22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.Ego autem dico vobis : quia omnis qui irascitur fratri suo, reus erit judicio. Qui autem dixerit fratri suo, raca : reus erit concilio. Qui autem dixerit, fatue : reus erit gehennae ignis. 23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee;Si ergo offers munus tuum ad altare, et ibi recordatus fueris quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te : 24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare, et vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo : et tunc veniens offeres munus tuum.

Send us a textThe simplest truths are often the hardest to grasp. At the core of Christianity lies grace—salvation freely given, not earned—yet believers continually struggle to embrace this fundamental concept without adding conditions.This thought-provoking conversation examines why the gospel of grace creates such cognitive dissonance, even for sincere Christians. We live in a merit-based society where everything is earned, making the unconditional gift of salvation feel almost uncomfortable. When someone gives us something valuable with no strings attached, our instinct is to ask, "What do I need to do in return?" But with God's salvation, the answer is nothing—and that's profoundly difficult to accept.The discussion explores Paul's unambiguous declaration in Galatians 2:16 that "no man shall be justified by the works of the law," analyzing attempts to categorize different types of law and why all such distinctions ultimately miss the point. When Jesus taught that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees—the religious overachievers of their day—He deliberately presented an impossible standard to demonstrate our absolute need for Him.Particularly compelling is the examination of how Christians, even when evangelizing, often feel compelled to supplement the simple gospel with additional requirements. We struggle with the pure simplicity of grace, wanting to add some element of human contribution to the salvation equation. As one participant powerfully states, "There is absolutely nothing you can bring to Him unless you count sin as an offering to be made, because that is all that you have."While giving space for Christians at different stages of understanding, the conversation maintains that clarity on salvation is non-negotiable. Our spiritual growth, relationship with Jesus, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit naturally flow from salvation—not as prerequisites for it.Have you fully embraced the radical simplicity of grace, or are you still trying to bring something to the table? Join us as we wrestle with Christianity's most beautifully difficult concept.Support the show

The Pharisees had one view of what God was looking for, and Jesus had another. So what was God really looking for? Let's find out together as we read Luke 16:14-18 and 1 Kings 16:15-28.

Angel Studios https://Angel.com/ToddJoin the Angel Guild today and stream Testament, a powerful new series featuring the retelling of the book of Acts. Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bioptimizers https://Bioptimizers.com/toddEnter promo code TODD to get 10% off your order of Berberine Breakthrough today.Bizable https://GoBizable.comUntie your business exposure from your personal exposure with BiZABLE.  Schedule your FREE consultation at GoBizAble.com today.  Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/toddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comHear directly from Zach Abraham as he shares insights in this FREE “Halftime” Webinar, THURSDAY, July 24th at 3:30 Pacific.  Register now at Know Your Risk Podcast dot com. Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddLISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeNancy Pelosi Loves Jeff Epstein's Ghost // That they not be judged … // God does not NEED you to do anything.NOW - Trump: "I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty boring stuff. I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going."NEW: Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”Cindy McCain admits: John McCain and the Neocon cabal knew about Jeffrey Epstein and his pedophile ring—but claims they could do nothing about it. No: They didn't WANT to do anything about it—so they could blackmail people into supporting the warmongers.FLASHBACK 2019: @ABC News SPIKED the Epstein story - “We would not put it on air…I was told “Who's Jeffrey Epstein”…She(Virginia Roberts) told me everything. She had pictures… unbelievable what we had…Prince Andrew…Clinton(Bill)…we had everything.”Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on five out of six counts of assisting Jeffrey Epstein to traffic young children.Distressed father appears emotional after revealing the General Manager of Cumberland Mall in Atlanta told him his wheelchair bound son with cerebral palsy had to leave the mall.Wow. Trump suggests Christ is the reason for America's greatness: “A nation that prays is a nation that prospers."  Glory be to GodWhat Does God's Word Say?Micah 6:8 NIVHe has shown you, O mortal, what is good.    And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy    and to walk humbly with your God.Matthew 9:9-13The Calling of Matthew9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In today's episode, Jesus continues conversing with the self-righteous Pharisees about his identity. He has told that them that he is the light of the world and has claimed that the Father has sent him. Some of those present believe in him, and today, he tells them that if they trust in him the truth will set them free. Confused, they press Jesus for answers, saying that their father is Abraham and they aren't enslaved. Jesus responds by saying that their father is not Abraham, but the devil. That doesn't go well, and they accuse him of having a demon. Jesus concludes by making a bold claim of divinity , saying that “…before Abraham was, I AM.” :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Daily Dose of Hope July 16, 2025   Scripture – Matthew 26:1-16   Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We are so amazingly grateful for your grace and love.  Forgive us for the many times when we fall short, when we betray you, when we fail to be loving or faithful.  We want to grow stronger, Lord, but we can only do so through your power.  Lord, help us hear your voice.  In the next few moments of silence, Lord, hear our prayers... In Jesus' Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts.  Today is Wednesday so it's Recharge day!  Yay!  Join us at 6:30pm in the Garage for fellowship, worship, prayer, and small community.    Today, we are starting Matthew 26.  This chapter is the beginning of the passion narrative. These chapters will start getting longer and they are certainly worth reading carefully. We start the chapter with Jesus once again announcing that he will be arrested and killed.  At the very same time, the Pharisees and the high priest are plotting his death. Matthew has done a good job here showing us that while the Pharisees think they are being sneaky, Jesus has been in the know the whole time.  He is God and he knows what to expect.   Immediately after, we find Jesus being anointed for burial but certainly not in the typical way. It would have been fairly normal, in first century Jewish society, to anoint a guest with oil when they came to your home for a meal or gathering. It was an act of respect. The host would typically use an inexpensive oil but in this narrative, we find the woman (other Gospels name her as Mary) uses a highly valued perfume. She obviously saw Jesus as a very, very special guest worthy of only the best. Remember, the word messiah means “anointed one” so there is symbolism going on here too.   The woman's act of devotion is lost on the disciples. They are rude and indignant. “Why this waste?” they ask. Giving the disciples the benefit of the doubt, we have to remember that they were very poor men .It also gave them a chance to sound pious, “This should have been given to the poor!” But Jesus knew all about the poor; he had been caring for the poorest of the poor throughout his ministry. The disciples weren't telling him anything he didn't already know.   But there is something going on here that goes much deeper than the disciples can even fathom. Jesus rebukes the men and says that what she did for him was beautiful; she was preparing him for burial. Of course, this is lost on them too. While it's possible that Mary had some insight into the danger that lie ahead for Jesus, it's clear that the disciples still do not understand what is to come. Mary's act was one of honor and devotion. Rather than being practical, she was extravagant toward her Lord and Savior.   How often do we act extravagantly toward Jesus OR are we more likely to simply be practical?   Our reading for today ends with Judas making the decision to betray Jesus.  Most likely, his mind was made already but here we see him finish the deal – he sells Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver.  I thought this might be a good time to do a deep dive into Judas himself, but what I learned is there are very few, if any, reliable sources that describe the life of Judas (there are plenty of fictional or questionable sources).  Besides his betrayal of Jesus and subsequent suicide, we don't know much about the man himself.    But we know that betrayal doesn't happen in a vacuum.  It got me thinking.  Was there a time when Judas genuinely wanted to follow Jesus?  At what point did he allow greed, selfishness, and evil, to take over?  What role did Satan play?  Was there a time when he had second thoughts?    At times, we are all Judas.  We have all betrayed Jesus, whether we like to admit it or not.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki    

To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ Get a copy of the MM Companion Journal: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/journal ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:13–17 - [13] And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. [14] And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” [15] But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” [16] And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” [17] Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him. (ESV) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate. To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ Get a copy of the MM Companion Journal: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/journal ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:13–17 - [13] And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. [14] And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” [15] But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” [16] And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” [17] Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him. (ESV) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate.

What's the difference between human forgiveness and divine forgiveness? Pastor Mike Fabarez tackles this crucial distinction as he continues examining what it means to stand before God's tribunal. Through the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, he reveals why admitting guilt opens the door to Christ's complete exoneration, offering profound insights into the true nature of gospel grace and divine justice.

Send us a textWhat is the difference between saving belief and insufficient belief? The answer is found all across the Gospel of John, and particularly in the story of the Pharisees approaching Jesus with a woman caught in adultery. Which one are you?The outline for that study:The Pharisees' Belief was in Vain- Believe in God and Scripture- Desired a Messiah of their Making- Resisted Jesus when He Opposed Them- Paraded a YOJ life, missing the Heart of TruthTrue Believers Know they Need Jesus- I have sinned and need help- I will compare myself to no one- My walk without Jesus leads to shame- Until I know I'm blind, I will never see LightJesus Blesses and then Challenges Believers- He freed her from condemnation- He challenged her to honor this gift- Her belief in His power to forgive was vital- Her changed life would demonstrate True BeliefOh, and here are the lyrics to IN NEED:In need of grace, in need of loveIn need of mercy raining down from high aboveIn need of strength, in need of peaceIn need of things that only You can give to meIn need of Christ, the perfect LambMy refuge strong, the great I AmThis is my song, my humble pleaI am Your child, I am in needIn need of grace, in need of loveIn need of mercy raining down from high aboveIn need of strength, in need of peaceIn need of things that only You can give to meIn need of Christ, the perfect LambMy refuge strong, the great I AmThis is my song, my humble pleaI am Your child, I am in needIn need of Christ, the perfect LambMy refuge strong, the great I AmThis is my song, my humble pleaI am Your child, I am in needI am Your child, I am in need   Daily Bible Devotional (Volumes 1 and 2):Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Sponsors:  Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial GroupWebsite:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   Phone:  205-326-7364Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide MortgageWebsites: https://statewidemortgage.com/https://tylercain.floify.com/Phone: 813-380-8487

Join Lisa and Laura for Unshakable Identity. During these four weeks we look at four different aspects of our identity as women and the corresponding characteristics of our feminine genius. As daughter, it's sensitivity. As sister, it's generosity. As bride, it's receptivity. As mother, it's maternity. Our goal is that as we explore each of these, we will gain a better understanding of our true identity. Today, Lisa and Laura dive into what it means to be a bride. In the Old Testament, God is referred to as Israel's divine husband, and in the New Testament, Jesus is described as the Church's bridegroom. What is experienced corporately, we can also experience personally, because of the intimate love God has for each one of us. Do you thirst to be loved? Of course you do! Grab a cold drink and settle in. Your faithful Spouse has a word for His bride (that's you!). Open your Heart to our key Scripture. Hosea 2:7–17 Open your Bible to other Scriptures referenced in this episode. 2 Timothy 2:13: If we are faithless, he remains faithful. Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Hosea 2:16: Therefore, I will allure her now; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak persuasively to her. 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Matthew 9:14–15: Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” John 3:29: He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. Invite Him in with this episode's questions for reflection. How have you experienced God protecting and providing for you as a loving Husband? In what ways might you spurn the love of Jesus? What pulls you away from Him? What tempts you to look elsewhere for help, hope, and fulfillment? Show mentions. Walking with Purpose offers many ways to gather to study Scripture. With 653 Bible study programs worldwide and virtual groups starting monthly, there's no reason for you to be alone—we've got a community for you. Find a group near you! Francine Rivers, Redeeming Love Lisa Brenninkmeyer and Mallory Smyth, Walking with Purpose, Passionate Discipleship God's Word Translation Kimberly Hahn, The Magnificat (July 2025 issue) Let's stay connected. Don't miss an episode. Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform.  Want to keep the conversation going? Join our private Facebook community. Stay in the know. Connect with us today.  We are committed to creating content that is free and easily accessible to every woman—especially the one looking for answers but unsure of where to go. If you've enjoyed this podcast, prayerfully consider making a donation to support it and other WWP outreach programs that bring women closer to Christ. Learn more about WWP on our website. Our shop. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Sunday July 13, 2025

Pastor Jonathan Laurie shares lessons from the story of Jonah, a reluctant evangelist who ran from God’s calling. Notes: Focus verse - Jonah 2 Matthew 23:25–27 (NKJV)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” Jonah 4:3 (NLT)“Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” #1 God Appoints Circumstances to Bring Us Back Sometimes we think God is punishing us. God paid Jesus back for our sin. Jonah was a historical, biblical character.2 Kings 14:25 Matthew 12:40 (NKJV)“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” God appoints circumstances and storms.Not to pay us back, but to bring us back. #2 God Still Sees in the DarkJonah 2:1 (NLT) Read: Jonah 2:1–9 (NLT) While Jonah sat in darkness inside the great fish, he prayed.God heard and delivered Jonah out of his fishy prison. Psalm 139:11–12 (NLT)I could ask the darkness to hide meand the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.To you the night shines as bright as day.Darkness and light are the same to you. Israel worshipped one God — the true Creator. Romans 12:1 (NKJV)I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Read: Jonah 2:10 –3:5 (NKJV) #3 Saved From and Saved For God rescued Jonah from darkness so Jonah could reach others in darkness. 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 (NLT) Mark 16:15–16 (NLT)And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Romans 10:14 (NLT)But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? Learn more about this year's Harvest Crusade! --- Learn more about Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries at harvest.org. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners. Support the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.