Podcasts about Puritans

In this episode of the Expositors Collective podcast, Mike Neglia is joined by Shane Deane for a wide-ranging conversation on Puritan preaching, with particular attention to William Perkins' The Art of Prophesying and the Puritan emphasis on application.Rather than treating the Puritans as mere historical figures or quotable voices, this discussion explores how their preaching method remains deeply relevant for modern pastors. Shane helps unpack why clarity, structure, and especially wise application were central to Puritan preaching, and how these convictions can shape Christ-centred exposition today.The conversation also turns to the often-neglected practice of pastoral prayer in gathered worship, drawing on Puritan theology and practice to show why public prayer is not filler, but a vital act of shepherding the congregation before God.Topics CoveredShane's first sermon and how his preaching has developed over timeWhat first drew Shane to the Puritans and their preaching methodThe danger of treating the Puritans as “quote machines”William Perkins' The Art of Prophesying, with a focus on Chapter 6The fourfold Puritan preaching pattern:Reading the textExplaining its meaningDrawing out doctrineApplying truth to the hearersWhy Perkins warned against cluttering sermons with excessive citationsWhy application was the heartbeat of Puritan preaching“Discriminating application” and addressing different kinds of hearers in one sermonPerkins' categories of hearers and how they challenge one-size-fits-all preachingThe Directory for Public Worship and its heavy emphasis on applicationThe six Puritan “uses” of application:InformationRefutationExhortationAdmonitionComfortTrial (self-examination)Why pastoral prayer belongs at the heart of gathered worshipHow public prayer functions as shepherding, not transition timeThe connection between preaching, prayer, and spiritual formationWhich Puritan habits could most immediately strengthen modern preachingHow studying the Puritans has shaped Shane's own preachingA closing “quote machine” segment featuring memorable Puritan linesKey TakeawaysPuritan preaching was deeply pastoral, not merely academicApplication is not an appendix to exposition, but its goalStructure serves clarity and freedom rather than rigidityToo many quotations can obscure rather than illuminate ScripturePastoral prayer is a theological act that teaches, shepherds, and forms a congregationPreaching and prayer together shape the spiritual life of the churchAbout the GuestShane Deane earned his PhD in Expository Preaching from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also holds an MDiv in Pastoral Studies and a ThM in Practical Theology. Shane serves as one of the elders at Passage Baptist Church in Passage West and works with Irish Baptist Missions.Shane was born in Cork, where he met and married his wife Luana, who is originally from Brazil. They have three children, two girls and one boy. Shane also lectures at Munster Bible College, helping train future pastors and Bible teachers.Featured links: Passage Baptist Church: https://passagebaptistchurch.ie/Munster Bible College: https://www.munsterbiblecollege.ie/ Preparing to Preach and Pray - Pat Quinn interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuNYKI34YrU Praying in Public - https://www.crossway.org/books/praying-in-public-case/ The Art of Prophesying Audiobook - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkSiqZPTp1M Joel Beeke - Reformed Preaching - https://heritagebooks.org/products/reformed-preaching-beeke.html?srsltid=AfmBOoonvFHUOEdlM1s07w2yI_5LoW_oj5bFWuWhnGS4I-2DBWCm1Rq9For information about our upcoming training events visit ExpositorsCollective.com Join our private Facebook group to continue the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExpositorsCollective

On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sat down with historian Bill Federer for a two-part Christmas holiday special unpacking the true history of St. Nicholas and the origins of many beloved Christmas traditions. In Part 1, we trace St. Nicholas from real-life ministry and persecution to stockings, “Xmas,” December 25th, and how Christmas customs formed across Europe. In Part 2, we explore why the Pilgrims and Puritans rejected Christmas, how Dutch “Sinterklaas” shaped modern Santa, and how culture, literature, and advertising reshaped the story over time.On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sat down with historian Bill Federer for a two-part Christmas holiday special unpacking the true history of St. Nicholas and the origins of many beloved Christmas traditions. In Part 1, we trace St. Nicholas from real-life ministry and persecution to stockings, “Xmas,” December 25th, and how Christmas customs formed across Europe. In Part 2, we explore why the Pilgrims and Puritans rejected Christmas, how Dutch “Sinterklaas” shaped modern Santa, and how culture, literature, and advertising reshaped the story over time.TO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.com TO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.com Follow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow Follow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow To Schedule A Time To Talk To Dr. Dr. Kirk Elliott Go To To Schedule A Time To Talk To Dr. Dr. Kirk Elliott Go To ▶ https://flyovergold.com▶ https://flyovergold.comOr Call 720-605-3900 Or Call 720-605-3900 ► Receive your FREE 52 Date Night Ideas Playbook to make date night more exciting, go to www.prosperousmarriage.com► Receive your FREE 52 Date Night Ideas Playbook to make date night more exciting, go to www.prosperousmarriage.comBill Federer is a nationally known historian, speaker, and bestselling author who documents America's historical and faith foundations through his American Minute work. He has written numerous books on U.S. history, culture, and worldview, and is recognized for connecting overlooked historical events and primary-source references to present-day issues. Federer is also the author of There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas and Christmas Holiday Traditions and other works available through AmericanMinute.com.Bill Federer is a nationally known historian, speaker, and bestselling author who documents America's historical and faith foundations through his American Minute work. He has written numerous books on U.S. history, culture, and worldview, and is recognized for connecting overlooked historical events and primary-source references to present-day issues. Federer is also the author of There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas and Christmas Holiday TrSend us a message... we can't reply, but we read them all!Support the show► ReAwaken America- text the word FLYOVER to 918-851-0102 (Message and data rates may apply. Terms/privacy: 40509-info.com) ► Kirk Elliott PHD - http://FlyoverGold.com ► My Pillow - https://MyPillow.com/Flyover ► ALL LINKS: https://sociatap.com/FlyoverConservatives

Author Jay Rogers unpacks the impact the Puritans had on the cultural and spiritual formation of America, and their importance in retrieving their influence. https://www.forerunner.com/store/puritan-storm-rising-book

On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sat down with historian Bill Federer for a two-part Christmas holiday special unpacking the true history of St. Nicholas and the origins of many beloved Christmas traditions. In Part 1, we trace St. Nicholas from real-life ministry and persecution to stockings, “Xmas,” December 25th, and how Christmas customs formed across Europe. In Part 2, we explore why the Pilgrims and Puritans rejected Christmas, how Dutch “Sinterklaas” shaped modern Santa, and how culture, literature, and advertising reshaped the story over time.On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sat down with historian Bill Federer for a two-part Christmas holiday special unpacking the true history of St. Nicholas and the origins of many beloved Christmas traditions. In Part 1, we trace St. Nicholas from real-life ministry and persecution to stockings, “Xmas,” December 25th, and how Christmas customs formed across Europe. In Part 2, we explore why the Pilgrims and Puritans rejected Christmas, how Dutch “Sinterklaas” shaped modern Santa, and how culture, literature, and advertising reshaped the story over time.TO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.com TO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.com Follow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow Follow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow To Schedule A Time To Talk To Dr. Dr. Kirk Elliott Go To To Schedule A Time To Talk To Dr. Dr. Kirk Elliott Go To ▶ https://flyovergold.com▶ https://flyovergold.comOr Call 720-605-3900 Or Call 720-605-3900 ► Receive your FREE 52 Date Night Ideas Playbook to make date night more exciting, go to www.prosperousmarriage.com► Receive your FREE 52 Date Night Ideas Playbook to make date night more exciting, go to www.prosperousmarriage.comBill Federer is a nationally known historian, speaker, and bestselling author who documents America's historical and faith foundations through his American Minute work. He has written numerous books on U.S. history, culture, and worldview, and is recognized for connecting overlooked historical events and primary-source references to present-day issues. Federer is also the author of There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas and Christmas Holiday Traditions and other works available through AmericanMinute.com.Bill Federer is a nationally known historian, speaker, and bestselling author who documents America's historical and faith foundations through his American Minute work. He has written numerous books on U.S. history, culture, and worldview, and is recognized for connecting overlooked historical events and primary-source references to present-day issues. Federer is also the author of There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas and Christmas Holiday TrSend us a message... we can't reply, but we read them all!Support the show► ReAwaken America- text the word FLYOVER to 918-851-0102 (Message and data rates may apply. Terms/privacy: 40509-info.com) ► Kirk Elliott PHD - http://FlyoverGold.com ► My Pillow - https://MyPillow.com/Flyover ► ALL LINKS: https://sociatap.com/FlyoverConservatives

Author Jay Rogers unpacks the impact the Puritans had on the cultural and spiritual formation of America, and their importance in retrieving their influence.Puritan Storm Rising BookWatch all of our videos and subscribe to our channel for the latest content >HereHere

Author Jay Rogers unpacks the impact the Puritans had on the cultural and spiritual formation of America, and their importance in retrieving their influence. https://www.forerunner.com/store/puritan-storm-rising-book

In 1647 Christmas vanished by the decree of the Puritans who ruled Britain. But not everyone complied. Families lit candles behind closed doors, whispered carols, and held secret services. And protestors in Canterbury launched the infamous "plum pudding riots". This was more than a fight over festivities; it was a struggle over power and belief.Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Prof. Mark Stoyle to explore how the war on Christmas revealed a deeper contest between authority and resistance, godliness and joy, and how echoes of it can even be found in the works of C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens.MORE:Tudor Christmas CarolsListen on AppleListen on SpotifyTudor Ghosts and Angels: Spirits of Christmas PastListen on AppleListen on SpotifyPresented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Max Carrie and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcastSign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you grow up learning about Bible stories through Sunday school felt boards while holding your storybook picture Bible? Does your grandmother have a picture of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jesus hanging in her home? Have you watched Mel Gibson's The Passion or Dallas Jenkins' The Chosen and felt as if it helped you to better connect with Jesus' humanity?In this episode, we dive deep into the scope of the Second Commandment - "You shall not make for yourself an idol" - exploring both what Scripture has to say and how it was viewed historically. From Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 4, we unpack God's prohibition against fashioning representations of Himself, including the two-fold command against making and worshiping them. We trace the regulative principle of worship through church history: from early Christian symbols to the Roman Catholic veneration of images, the Reformers' ban under Calvin and the Puritans, and its modern relaxation.Drawing on the golden calf in Exodus 32, we see how "good" intentions don't excuse transgression, as God declares His jealousy and promises blessings for obedience (Exodus 20:5-6). God's holiness (Leviticus 19:2) and invisibility (Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15) demand faith in the unseen (Hebrews 11:1), not visual aids.We address common concerns: intentions of the heart, classical art, teaching children about Jesus, and more, all while affirming the Westminster Larger Catechism's clear stance against any depiction of the Godhead. Whether you're Reformed or curious, join us for a Scripture-saturated discussion on worshiping God as He commands, especially in the season celebrating the Incarnation.Keep Up with Reformed Faith and Family in the Following Ways:Never miss an episode, article, or a new FREEBIE by joining our weekly newsletter here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/subscribe/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Build your library with our recommended resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/recommended-resources/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the latest articles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/blog/⁠⁠⁠⁠Download your FREEBIES in our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/educational-resources-store/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out the Gift Shop: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/gift-shop/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Dog Bible Rebinds: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/good-dog-designs-and-rebinds/⁠⁠⁠⁠WE HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK! If you are excited about our mission at Reformed Faith and Family to guide men and women as they seek to learn more about Reformed theology and equip families as they disciple their children, then please leave our podcast a 5-star review and share it with a friend. We appreciate each one of our faithful listeners, but we also depend on you to help us get the word out. Thank you for your continued support!

Think Christmas has always been wholesome and holy? Think again.In A Very Pagan Christmas, we rip the halo off the holiday and dive headfirst into its messier origins — from the boozy chaos of Saturnalia, to bonfires, goat symbolism, and the general “let's survive winter” vibes of Yule. We even take a detour into the nightmare fuel that is Perchtenlauf — because nothing says seasonal cheer like demon masks and public terror.We unpack how Christianity quietly rebranded all of this into Christmas, why the joy-killing Puritans literally banned the holiday, and how the Victorian era dragged it back from the dead, added mistletoe, and told us all to behave.It's festive. It's forbidden. It's historically unhinged — and it'll make you question everything you were taught about Christmas.EXCLUSIVE FEED Spotify subscribers get ad free content, early access and exclusive bonus episodes .Paid supporters on Patreon, Join us for Macabre Movie Nights and Game Nights :⁠⁠ Macabre Patreon⁠⁠Send in your stories for a future listener episode!Email us at thatssomacabre@gmail.comJoin our private Facebook Group at :⁠⁠ MacabrePodcast⁠⁠Get Macabre Exclusive Merch @ www.gothiccthreads.comSOURCES:

Why Dec. 25? Why so much Christmas conflict & controversy in Christianity's history? Why is Christmas so important to Christianity? And to America? In this episode, I ask my guest, Dr. Carey Roberts, the following questions: ►Why is Christmas such a grand celebration? What does this tell us about Christianity? ►Did it take a while for Christmas to take a central role in Christianity►What's the difference between recognition and celebration of Christmas►Did Christmas piggyback on existing Roman pagan traditions? ►How did Christmas enter America's culture? If not the Puritans, then which immigrant group introduced Christmas to America? ►Were there any regional differences in the celebration of Christmas?►When did U.S. businesses begin to capitalize on Christmas? ►Would President Grant have witnessed a similar Christmas celebration in Boston and Savannah? ►Would George Washington recognize our Christmas? How about Andrew Jackson? Abraham Lincoln? Teddy Roosevelt? ►What happened to Christmas after WWII? ►Is it a bad thing that non-Christians and/or non-practicing Christians celebrate Christmas? ⁠

In this special edition of Counsel the Word Pastor Keith Palmer does a book talk with Dr. Stephen Yuille on his new book The Heart Taken Up: 90 Days with the Puritans.You can purchase Stephen's book at Reformation Heritage Books

The people of East Haddam have lived with a problem most towns never have to think about: the ground itself screams. For centuries, residents around Mount Tom and Moodus have reported sudden, deafening booms that shake houses, topple stone walls, and roll across the Connecticut River Valley like artillery fire from an invisible war. The Wangunk called it Machimoodus - “the place of bad noises.” The Puritans blamed God. Later generations blamed witches, alchemists, and even buried gems glowing in the dark.But the real story is stranger. And much louder.In this episode, we trace the history of the Moodus Noises, from Hobomock and the Wangunk origin story, to Reverend Hosmer's terrified letters, the legendary “surgery” of Dr. Steele and his Great Carbuncle, the summer resorts that turned the booms into a tourist attraction, Lovecraft's Dunwich connection, the nuclear plant built alarmingly close by, and the modern seismologists who tried to pin it all on shallow, stressed bedrock… only to have the noises keep coming anyway.A tale of geology, religion, folklore, cosmic horror, and what happens when the loudest voice in town belongs to the earth itself.hauntedamericanhistory.comPatreon- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/hauntedamericanhistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKS FOR MY DEBUT NOVEL, THE FORGOTTEN BOROUGHBarnes and Noble -   https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forgotten-borough-christopher-feinstein/1148274794?ean=9798319693334AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQPQD68SEbookGOOGLE: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=S5WCEQAAQBAJ&pli=1KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-forgotten-borough-2?sId=a10cf8af-5fbd-475e-97c4-76966ec87994&ssId=DX3jihH_5_2bUeP1xoje_SMASHWORD: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1853316 !! DISTURB ME !! APPLE - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disturb-me/id1841532090SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/show/3eFv2CKKGwdQa3X2CkwkZ5?si=faOUZ54fT_KG-BaZOBiTiQYOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/@DisturbMePodcastwww.disturbmepodcast.com TikTok- @hauntedchris LEAVE A VOICEMAIL - 609-891-8658  Twitter- @Haunted_A_HInstagram- haunted_american_historyemail- hauntedamericanhistory@gmail.com  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I have angels in my comment section who report when commenters lose their cool and fly off the handle at me. Most of the time, I delete them. Sometimes I don't. This one sailed through my inbox, and it will finally get this person banned after almost 6,000 comments in three years, and he's not even a paid subscriber. Please excuse the profanity:I can't lie and pretend to be excited for Supergirl. It's not a movie made for me, and I'm not sure I can handle one more girl boss movie, especially one whose tagline is “Truth, justice, and whatever.” Maybe my daughter will like it. But let's move on to the red meat of this, shall we? What is this “non-stop hate binge” I've been on lately? It's true, I have been out in force on X, fighting the wave of what I would define as “hate” aimed at Erika Kirk and Turning Point. It's not something I could or ever would ignore. I'm not built that way, which is how I got into this mess in the first place. I'm Gen-X. We tend to say what we really think. We're not good with the comfortable lies, and we weren't raised to shrink back from conflict.And, like Trump, I have a bit of an impulse control disorder when it comes to social media. If I didn't, my life would never have changed the way it has. I began fighting the Left when I saw how they were dehumanizing the Right, Melania and Ivanka Trump, MAGA supporters, and even Trump himself. It cost me almost everything. Smarter people know how to shut up. They know how to keep their heads down and go along to get along. I've never been that way. I've been online for 30 years of my life, entirely too long. I've wasted years arguing pointlessly on X or Facebook. It is spitting in the wind. It does nothing to change anyone's mind, and it only makes me unlikable and a target. But I can't help it. I don't know how any reasonable person could not be thoroughly disgusted and horrified by Candace Owens and how she has exploited the murder of Charlie Kirk. It's not only dividing the Right, undoing so much of what Charlie did, but it's exposing ugliness and dehumanization on the side I have always defended.I can't help but think Candace is jealous, not of Erika, but of Charlie, his reach and popularity, how beloved he was and is, especially in the wake of his death. So she just decided to steal from him - his legacy, his reputation, his movement, his influence. She did this by co-opting his story and spinning a delusional yarn about what is a fairly open and shut assassination case, one that pins the blame on the fanatical Left. She doesn't need the money. Her husband, George Farmer, is worth between $180 and $200 million, not to mention how much Candace is making by spinning tall tales to feed her audience of mostly bored women who need drama in their lives. Lifetime movies don't cut it anymore because they, like everything else in Hollywood, went “woke.” Even psychological thrillers and romance novels have gone “woke,” as have true crime podcasts. So instead, they follow the snake oil salesman, the huckster, the Barnam and Bailey lying YouTuber down any rabbit hole she chooses to offer up, anything to make it seem like they're involved in some gossipy, dirty, evil secret, that they know something no one else does. It's easier to believe we can control inexplicable horrific tragedies, whether it's the Democrats always blaming guns or it's a faction of the Right always blaming Israel.No, Candace is not doing this for money. She's doing it for that insidious word for the internet age: clout. As long as they're talking about you, as long as you're a trending topic, your clicks and views will rise. You will be highly ranked on the podcast charts, and you'll see that as a success. At least, until it isn't. Who could resist what it must feel like to have millions of people tuning in to hear what scandalous thing you'll say next? How could anyone not become addicted to it and constantly feed the beast, hungry for more? The algorithms have ravaged our brains and nervous systems, and in Candace Owens's case, her morality.True, she needs a new narrative to wipe off the sticky scum of humiliation now that her “Brigitte Macron is really a man” conspiracy collapsed. What better way to pivot away from that and redefine CANDACE? The hatred, bullying, and ugliness aimed at Erika Kirk come from both the Left and the Right. Each side has its reasons for wanting to destroy her and Turning Point. On the Left, it's obvious. Even Barack Obama called Charlie a racist, more or less, in the wake of his death. They can't abide a movement like his that was attracting so many young people. They couldn't just accept the death of Charlie. They had to work every day to kill off his legacy, and that meant going after his widow, Erika. If some on the Left have abandoned their decency and humanity to stay in power, some on the Right are doing it out of a deep-seated hatred of Israel and distrust of the Jewish people. There is no other way to say it. That is the stinking rot that lies in the soul of Candace Owens, what drives her popularity on YouTube and social media, because Jew hate is global. And yes, it's also banal, as Walter Kirn explains here with Matt Taibbi on America This Week. I know what Jewish hate feels like. I am half Jewish on my dad's side, which meant I was never technically Jewish but Jewish enough for the camps. My sisters and I knew that we felt some hesitation saying we were Jewish around some people. It was just something we grew up knowing. What Candace is doing, what so many of her minions are doing, is in service of what I believe is evil and ugly. I don't even think the recent massacre on Bondi Beach would pull any of them out of it, Left or Right.Standing up to Candace Owens and her mob of psychos and sociopaths is no easy task. Almost everyone is afraid of her because she brings out the knives, and she goes for the jugular. Her army of minions will do her bidding like the monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. She will destroy you if she can. Lucky for me, I'm so insignificant she wouldn't bother. But Tim Pool is not insignificant. He has a large platform, and he put it all on the line to stand up and do the right thing. He let her have it in a well-deserved viral rant.He then went on Piers Morgan and explained it even further:Another brave voice is Matt Walsh, who gave, I think, the best and most passionate explanation of why these conspiracy theories are hurtful and damaging to not just Erika Kirk and Turning Point, but to the country, because this madness threatens to destroy the MAGA movement. No one has said it better.I would never have guessed that the two heroes to emerge from this mess would be Tim Pool and Matt Walsh, but here we are. These kinds of moments test all of us. That's not to say people can't criticize Israel, or that the United States should fight Israel's wars or give them money. But this goes deeper, and making this MAGA's biggest political issue is a losing proposition. Here is Carl Cannon of RealClearPolitics, along with Tom Bevan and Andrew Walworth, on the Megyn Kelly show. The “Woke Mind Virus” destroyed the Left, and the “Woke Right Mind Virus” threatens to destroy MAGA if it keeps heading in this direction, as Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi discuss on America This Week. As I watched the video on Bondi Beach, I thought about Ana Kasparian saying on X, “I would never step foot in Israel.” I think about how Candace Owens will spin this as some false flag operation, and I worry for what's coming next.Humans have been at war for over 90% of our existence. It is in our nature. We will go to war whether it's on social media or in Gaza or Bondi Beach. To fight any war requires dehumanizing the enemy. Once you get there, where even a shot in the neck that kills a husband and a father, makes no difference to you whether you are on the Left or the Right, then you are beyond saving because you have lost your humanity, like the Good Germans in World War II, like the Good White People in the South after the Civil War, like the Puritans in Salem. The Left mocked these Trump supporters for showing empathy and solidarity to Trump after he was shot. They said it was a cult. They laughed at them. But I saw the decent people I've come to know over the past decade. That's the kind of humanity we need. These past ten years have taught me that I will never go along with dehumanizing other people. I'd rather lose everything. The reason I'm here on Substack is the same reason I will lose subscribers for this post. I couldn't do the other thing. I couldn't shut up. If that makes me a “bitter old woman,” then so be it.Here is Frank Turek:We must be brave. We must be decent. We must hold the line. ///Tip Jar This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.sashastone.com/subscribe

The Junto and Puritan Influence in Parliament: Colleague Jonathan Healey describes the political geography of London, introducing the "Junto," a reformist party coordinating between Parliament's houses, analyzing the influence of Puritans and key opposition figures like John Pym and Mandeville who strategically challenged Charles I's authority regarding church reform and arbitrary taxation. 1649

SHOW 12-12-2025 THE SHOW BEGINS IN DOUBTS ABOUT 2026.2 Las Vegas Venues, California Rail, and Disney's AI Investment: Colleague Jeff Bliss reports that Las Vegas's Allegiant Stadium is now a top-grossing venue while many resorts are dropping unpopular fees, discussing California's new rail line to Anaheim, mismanagement of the Pacific Palisades fire, and high gas prices, additionally covering Disney's investment in OpenAI and its new luxury community, Cotino. Nvidia's Jensen Huang and the AI Revolution: Colleague Brandon Weichert praises Nvidia's Jensen Huang as a pivotal geopolitical figure driving the AI revolution, comparing AI's growth to the railroad boom and predicting long-term economic benefits and massive opportunities for construction and energy sectors as the US builds infrastructure to support data centers. Business Resilience and AI Tools in Construction: Colleague Gene Marks reports on business resilience in Austin despite tariff concerns and describes a safety conference in Fargo where AI tools were a focus, explaining that AI and robotics like Boston Dynamics' Spot are supplementing rather than replacing workers in construction, helping address severe labor shortages. Health Reimbursement Arrangements and AI's Economic Potential: Colleague Gene Marks advocates for Health Reimbursement Arrangements, noting they allow small businesses to control costs while employees buy their own insurance tax-free, also discussing AI's potential to double economic growth and advising businesses to ignore doomsday predictions and embrace tools that enhance productivity and daily life. Lancaster County's Economic Divide and Holiday Retail: Colleague Jim McTague reports from Lancaster County, highlighting the economic divide between flush Baby Boomers and struggling younger generations, observing strong holiday retail activity exemplified by crowded venues like Shady Maple and a proliferation of Amazon delivery trucks, suggesting the economy remains afloat despite challenges. La Scala's Season Opening and Milan's Christmas Atmosphere: Colleague Lorenzo Fiori describes attending the season opening at La Scala, featuring a dramatic Russian opera that audiences connected to current geopolitical tensions, also noting the festive Christmas atmosphere in Milan and Prime Minister Meloni's continued, albeit non-military, support for Ukraine. SpaceX IPO Rumors and EU Space Regulations: Colleague Bob Zimmerman discusses rumors of a SpaceX IPO and new scientific strategies for using Starship for Mars exploration, reporting on the Pentagon's certification requirements for Blue Origin's New Glenn and critiquing proposed EU space laws that could impose bureaucratic hurdles on international private space companies. Mapping the Sun's Corona and Rethinking Ice Giants: Colleague Bob Zimmerman details scientific advances including mapping the sun's corona and rethinking Uranus and Neptune as having rocky interiors rather than just ice, mentioning discoveries regarding supernova composition, the lack of supermassive black holes in small galaxies, and new images of Mars' polar ice layers. "The Incident" of 1641 and Charles I's Failed Plot: Colleague Jonathan Healey narrates "The Incident" of 1641, a failed plot by Charles I to arrest Scottish Covenanter leaders, explaining that the conspiracy's exposure and Charles's subsequent denial destroyed his political standing in Scotland, forcing him to concede power to the Scottish Parliament and weakening his position before the English Civil War. The Prelude to the English Civil War: Colleague Jonathan Healey discusses the prelude to the English Civil War, detailing the power struggles between Charles I and the Commons and Lords, explaining the execution of the King's advisor Strafford, noting Charles's regret and the rising influence of reformists who feared royal tyranny and supported impeachment. The Junto and Puritan Influence in Parliament: Colleague Jonathan Healey describes the political geography of London, introducing the "Junto," a reformist party coordinating between Parliament's houses, analyzing the influence of Puritans and key opposition figures like John Pym and Mandeville who strategically challenged Charles I's authority regarding church reform and arbitrary taxation. The Grand Remonstrance and Popular Politics: Colleague Jonathan Healey explains the "Grand Remonstrance," a document used by the Junto to rally public support against the King, highlighting how rising literacy and the printing press fueled popular politics in London, while also discussing Queen Henrietta Maria's political acumen and Catholic faith amidst the growing conflict. Critiquing Isolationism and the Risks of Disengagement: Colleague Henry Sokolski critiques isolationist arguments, comparing current sentiments to pre-WWII attitudes, warning against relying solely on missile defense bubbles and discussing the distinct threats posed by Russia and China, emphasizing that US disengagement could lead to global instability and unchecked nuclear proliferation. Saudi Uranium Enrichment and Proliferation Risks: Colleague Henry Sokolski discusses the risks of allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, fearing it creates a bomb-making option, warning that making exceptions for Saudi Arabia could trigger a proliferation cascade among neighbors like Turkey and Egypt, undermining global non-proliferation efforts amidst rising tensions involving Russia and NATO. The Historical Context of Humphrey's Executor: Colleague Richard Epstein analyzes the historical context of Humphrey's Executor, explaining how the administrative state grew from the 1930s, detailing FDR's attempt to politicize independent commissions and the Supreme Court's justification, arguing that while constitutionally questionable, long-standing prescription has solidified these agencies' legal status over time. Presidential Power and Independent Agency Dismissals: Colleague Richard Epstein discusses current Supreme Court arguments regarding presidential power to fire independent board members, referencing actions by both Trump and Biden, critiquing the politicization of agencies like the FTC under Lina Khan and warning that unchecked executive authority to dismiss advisory boards undermines necessary checks and balances.

The Devil didn't confine his shenanigans to Salem Village or even the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1600s. A penchant for hanging and persecuting those believed to be in league with him swept through the colonies in those days, leading to many tragedies and deaths. But the madness the Puritans introduced in that period drained America of its lust for religions mania and fanaticism for many years to come. The hardship, brutality, and war that followed over the next century and a half sent the broken and the disillusioned in search of enlightenment. In the 1820s and 1830s religious excitement began to sweep the country, and soon new churches, sects, and cults began to emerge. This new age would be dubbed “The Great Awakening” and while none of these new groups would compare with the strictness of the Puritans, a devout belief in the works of the Devil remained.As did an unhinged belief in doomsday, the Antichrist, and the end of the world.Our Sponsors:* Check out CBDfx and use my code HAUNTINGS for a great deal: https://cbdfx.com* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/HAUNTINGSSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/american-hauntings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

December 10th – Show 1097The ChatThe group discussed various personal updates, including T’s illness and Snug’s 55th birthday celebration, which was marred by a poor dining experience at a pub. T shared her experience of losing her voice and recovering, while Snug described the challenges faced during his birthday dinner due to poor service and management at a pub called the Red Lion. Lee and the others expressed concern over the pub’s practices. The group also discussed Christmas crackers and Mince Pies with B expressing that they are more enjoyable when made at home rather than buying expensive ones. They shared memories of Ronco and K-TEL products from the 1970s and 1980s, including music albums and novelty items. Emergency Questions: What is the most that you've ever spent on Christmas Crackers? Were you ever given (or did you ever give) a Christmas present made by Ronco or K-Tel? If the Puritans got back in charge and banned Christmas again, would you secretly celebrate,  or be quite pleased that you didn't have to do this any more? What would be on your Mount Rushmore of Mince pies? TV & MoviesIT Welcome To Derry Escape! with Janet Varney Fisk Weeds Dear Santa Linktree Discord: https://discord.gg/7ndTXDhNC5 a Facebook message A blog comment below @ us on Twitter Why not surprise us with an MP3 in an email to twoguys@snugradio.co.uk Please take some time to show us your love by reviewing us on ITunes. We welcome ALL comments The Snug is an affiliate of Amazon Music   Snug StatsMusic This ShowElf Maf & Lee – Lonely This Christmas Tamara Writes & AI Sings – Grandpa's Brain Farts Cover Version SandwichThe Christmas Waltz Join us every Wednesday from 18:30 (UK time) See you then…and have a Snuggly week.

Martha's Vineyard. You know it now as a summer retreat for the wealthy, a place of pristine beaches and celebrity sightings. But between the late seventeenth century and the middle of the twentieth, something happened there that challenges everything we think we know about disability, about language, about what it means to belong. It began with a gene. Families from the Weald, a forested region in Kent, England, emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s. They were Puritans seeking religious freedom, and they carried with them, unknowingly, a recessive genetic trait for congenital Deafness. In 1694, a carpenter and farmer named Jonathan Lambert arrived on Martha's Vineyard with his hearing wife. Two of their seven children would be born Deaf. They were the first, but they would not be the last.

The Remnant coup d'état continues as Kevin Williamson sits down with journalist Colin Woodard to talk about our country's most deeply seated cultural divisions. Woodard and Williamson cover Texas, the Puritans, Appalachia, Donald Trump's ethnonationalism, regional Covid-19 trends, and shifting party geography. Shownotes:—Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America—American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America—Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647—J.D. Vance's Claremont speech—Homeland Security “a heritage to be proud of” tweet—Kevin on John Brown for The Dispatch—The Pell Center Nationhood Lab—“Nationhood Lab: The Story of America” report The Remnant is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch's offerings—including access to all of Jonah's G-File newsletters—⁠click here⁠. If you'd like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The providence of God is His working and sovereign control over our lives as Christians and the world, along with its nations as well. We often don't realize or overlook His workings and sovereign will over all things. Knowing this, we should take comfort that even in the greatest of trials and crises in our lives, God is there. He sees, He rules, and whatever He ordains is right. This episode of 2Days Denarius focuses on how God's providence and our prayers work together as found in the devotional "Everyday Prayer with the Puritians" by Donald McKim. It's based on the story of Abraham sending his servant to his former country to find a wife of his son, Isaac. It's found in Genesis 24:42-49 and it puts God's providence and a man's prayer working together at a critical point in history. This is a great way to start your week that will help listeners, perhaps, see more clearly how God watches over and guides the circumstances in our lives often when we call upon Him in prayer.Material used for commentary and education in this episode comes from the excellent devotional: "Everyday Prayer with the Puritans" by Donald McKim, published by P&R Publishing, Philippsburg, NJ, 2021. This devotional is highly recommended to listeners of 2DaysD!Theme song “Holy Is the Lord” is used by permission of songwriter/performing artist Pastor Steve Hereford of the Changed By Grace Church in Jacksonville, FL. His inspirational Scripture songs may be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and many other web streaming services. Search “Steve Hereford.”Your comments are welcome! Send a text my way!2Days Denarius is a Bible believing teaching ministry devoted to the inerrancy, infallibility, and authority of Scripture as our only rule of faith and practice. It also holds to the doctrinal tenets of the London Baptist confession of 1689. This ministry may be reached at 2daysdenarius@gmail.com Ron Thomas (MDiv, RBC) is an ordained minister with 25-plus years of ministry experience, 22 serving as an active duty chaplain in our armed services. Material used in this podcast are provided under the educational and commentary provisions of Section 207 of the Fair Use Act of 1976.

In this month's episode, Dr Thomas Fretwell provides cultural commentary from a biblical perspective. Looking at current events and culture through the lens of scripture.

The terrible incident at Salem was not the last American witch hunt. It was also not the end of Puritan oppression in the region. They would leave a last impact on both New England and American history.And no aspect of the Puritan experience remains as vivid in American memory as their fear of monsters, specifically the fear of witches that led to the trials of hundreds of settlers during the 1600s. For most of us today, the witch trials seem to be a brief flirtation with an irrational past. But there was nothing irrational about Salem to the Puritans. They hunted monsters for a generation before Salem, believing that strange creatures lurked in the “howling wilderness.” They imagined their religious experience as a war with monstrous beings birthed by the Devil. It was a struggle with the forces of darkness that turned the New World into a place teeming with such monsters in the minds of the Puritans.Our Sponsors:* Check out CBDfx and use my code HAUNTINGS for a great deal: https://cbdfx.com* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/HAUNTINGSSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/american-hauntings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this theologically rich episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Jesse and Tony delve into the Parable of the Lost Coin from Luke 15:8-10. They explore how this parable reveals God's passionate pursuit of His elect and the divine joy that erupts when they are found. Building on their previous discussion of the Lost Sheep, the brothers examine how Jesus uses this second parable to further emphasize God's sovereign grace in salvation. The conversation highlights the theological implications of God's ownership of His people even before their redemption, the diligent efforts He undertakes to find them, and the heavenly celebration that follows. This episode offers profound insights into God's relentless love and the true nature of divine joy in redemption. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Lost Coin emphasizes that God actively and diligently searches for those who belong to Him, sparing no effort to recover what is rightfully His. Jesus uses three sequential parables in Luke 15 to progressively reveal different aspects of God's heart toward sinners, with escalating emphasis on divine joy. The coin represents something of significant value that already belonged to the woman, illustrating that God's elect belong to Him even before their redemption. Unlike finding something new, the joy depicted is specifically about recovering something that was already yours but had been lost, highlighting God's eternal claim on His people. The spiritual inability of the sinner is represented by the coin's passivity - it cannot find its own way back and must be sought out by its owner. Angels rejoice over salvation not independently but because they share in God's delight at the effectiveness of His saving power. The parable challenges believers to recover their joy in salvation and to share it with others, much like the woman who called her neighbors to celebrate with her. Expanded Insights God's Determined Pursuit of What Already Belongs to Him The Parable of the Lost Coin reveals a profound theological truth about God's relationship to His elect. As Tony and Jesse discuss, this isn't a story about finding something new, but recovering something that already belongs to the owner. The woman in the parable doesn't rejoice because she discovered unexpected treasure; she rejoices because she recovered what was already hers. This illustrates the Reformed understanding that God's people have eternally belonged to Him. While justification occurs in time, there's a real sense in which God has been considering us as His people in eternity past. The parable therefore supports the doctrines of election and particular redemption - God is not creating conditions people can move into or out of, but is zealously reclaiming a specific people who are already His in His eternal decree. The searching, sweeping, and diligent pursuit represent not a general call, but an effectual calling that accomplishes its purpose. The Divine Joy in Recovering Sinners One of the most striking aspects of this parable is the overwhelming joy that accompanies finding the lost coin. The brothers highlight that this joy isn't reluctant or begrudging, but enthusiastic and overflowing. The woman calls her friends and neighbors to celebrate with her - a seemingly excessive response to finding a coin, unless we understand the theological significance. This reveals that God takes genuine delight in the redemption of sinners, to the extent that Jesus describes it as causing joy "in the presence of the angels of God." As Jesse and Tony note, this challenges our perception that God might save us begrudgingly. Instead, the parable teaches us that God's "alien work" is wrath, while His delight is in mercy. This should profoundly impact how believers view their own salvation and should inspire a contagious joy that spreads to others - a joy that many Christians, by Tony's own admission, need to recover in their daily walk. Memorable Quotes "Christ love is an act of love and it's always being acted upon the sinner, the one who has to be redeemed, his child whom he goes after. So in the same way, we have Christ showing the self-denying love." - Jesse Schwamb "The coin doesn't seek the woman. The woman seeks the coin. And in this way, I think we see God's act of searching grace... The reason why I think it leads to joy, why God is so pleased, is because God has this real pleasure to pluck sinners as brands from the burning fire." - Jesse Schwamb "These parables are calling us to rejoice, right? Christ is using these parables to shame the Pharisees and the scribes who refuse to rejoice over the salvation of sinners. How often do we not rejoice over our own salvation sufficiently?" - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript [00:00:08] Jesse Schwamb: There still is like the sovereign grace of God who's initiating the salvation and there is a kind of effect of calling that God doesn't merely invite, he finds, he goes after he affects the very thing. Yeah, and I think we're seeing that here. The sinner, spiritual inability. There's an utter passivity until found. The coin doesn't seek the woman. The woman seeks the coin. And in this way, I think we see God's act of searching grace. It's all there for us. And the reason why I think it leads to joy, why God is so pleased is because God has this real pleasure. To pluck sinners as brands from the burning fire. Welcome to episode 472 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. [00:00:57] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. [00:01:01] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. [00:01:02] Jesus and the Parable of the Lost Coin [00:01:02] Jesse Schwamb: So there was this time, maybe actually more than one time, but at least this one time that we've been looking at where Jesus is hanging out and the religious incumbents, the Pharisees, they come to him and they say, you are a friend of sinners, and. Instead of taking offense to this, Jesus turns this all around. Uses this as a label, appropriates it for himself and his glorious character. And we know this because he gives us this thrice repeated sense of what it means to see his heart, his volition, his passion, his love, his going after his people, and he does it. Three little parables and we looked at one last time and we're coming up to round two of the same and similar, but also different and interesting. And so today we're looking at the parable of the lost coin or the Lost dma, or I suppose, whatever kind of currency you wanna insert in there. But once again, something's lost and we're gonna see how our savior comes to find it by way of explaining it. In metaphor. So there's more things that are lost and more things to be found on this episode. That's how we do it. It's true. It's true. So that's how Jesus does it. So [00:02:12] Tony Arsenal: yeah. So it should be how we do it. [00:02:14] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Yeah, exactly. I cut to like Montel Jordan now is the only thing going through my head. Tell Jordan. Yeah. Isn't he the one that's like, this is how we do it, that song, this is [00:02:28] Tony Arsenal: how we do it. I, I don't know who sings it. Apparently it's me right now. That was actually really good. That was fantastic. [00:02:36] Jesse Schwamb: Hopefully never auto tuned. Not even once. I'm sure that'll make an appearance now and the rest, somebody [00:02:42] Tony Arsenal: should take that and auto tune it for me. [00:02:44] Jesse Schwamb: That would be fantastic. Listen, it doesn't need it. That was perfect. That was right off the cuff, right off the top. It was beautiful. It was ous. [00:02:50] Tony Arsenal: Yes. Yes. [00:02:51] Affirmations and Denials [00:02:51] Jesse Schwamb: I'm hoping that appearance, [00:02:53] Tony Arsenal: before we jump into our, our favorite segment here in affirmations of Denials, I just wanted to take a second to, uh, thank all of our listeners. Uh, we have the best listeners in the world. That's true, and we've also got a really great place to get together and chat about things. That's also true. Uh, we have a little telegram chat, which is just a little chat, um, program that run on your phone or in a browser. Really any device you have, you can go to t Me slash Reform Brotherhood and join that, uh, little chat group. And there's lots of stuff going on there. We don't need to get into all the details, but it's a friendly little place. Lots of good people, lots of good conversation. And just lots of good digital fellowship, if that's even a thing. I think it is. So please do join us there. It's a great place to discuss, uh, the episodes or what you're learning or what you'd like to learn. There's all sorts of, uh, little nooks and crannies and things to do in there. [00:03:43] Jesse Schwamb: So if you're looking for a little df and you know that you are coming out, we won't get into details, but you definitely should. Take Tony's advice, please. You, you will not be disappointed. It, it's a fun, fun time together. True. Just like you're about to have with us chatting it up and going through a little affirmations and denials. So, as usual, Tony, what are you, are you affirming with something or are you denying again, something? I'm, I'm on the edge of my seat. I'm ready. [00:04:06] Tony Arsenal: Okay. Uh, it is, I thought that was going somewhere else. Uh, I'm, I'm affirming something. [00:04:13] AI and Problem Solving [00:04:13] Tony Arsenal: People are gonna get so sick of me doing like AI affirmations, but I, it's like I learned a new thing to do with AI every couple of weeks. I ran across an article the other day, uh, that I don't remember where the article was. I didn't save it, but I did read it. And one of the things that pointed out is that a lot of times you're not getting the most out of AI because you don't really know how to ask the questions. True. One of the things it was was getting through is a lot of people will ask, they'll have a problem that they're encountering and they'll just ask AI like, how do I fix this problem? And a lot of times what that yields is like very superficial, basic, uh, generic advice or generic kind of, uh, directions for resolving a problem. And the, I don't remember the exact phrasing, 'cause it was a little while ago since I read it, but it basically said something like, I'm encountering X problem. And despite all efforts to the contrary, I have not been able to resolve it. And by using sort of these extra phrases. What it does is it sort of like pushes the AI to ask you questions about what you've already tried to do, and so it's gonna tailor its advice or its directions to your specific situation a little bit more. So, for example, I was doing this today. We, um, we just had the time change, right? Stupidest thing in the world doesn't make any sense and my kids don't understand that the time has changed and we're now like three or four weeks past the, the time change and their, their schedule still have not adjusted. So my son Augie, who is uh, like three and three quarters, uh, I don't know how many months it is. When do you stop? I don't even know. When you stop counting in months. He's three and a quarter, three quarters. And he will regularly wake up between four 30 and five 30. And when we really, what we really want is for him to be sleeping, uh, from uh, until like six or six 30 at the latest. So he's like a full hour, sometimes two hours ahead of time, which then he wakes up, it's a small house. He's noisy 'cause he's a three and a half year old. So he wakes up the baby. The baby wakes up. My wife, and then we're all awake and then we're cranky and it's miserable. So I, I put that little prompt into, um, into Google Gemini, which is right now is my, um, AI of choice, but works very similar. If you use something like chat, GPT or CLO or whatever, you know, grok, whatever AI tool you have access to, put that little prompt in. You know, something like since the time change, my son has been waking up at four 30 in the morning, despite all efforts to the contrary, I have not been able to, uh, adjust his schedule. And so it started asking me questions like, how much light is in the room? What time does he go to bed? How much does he nap? And it, so it's, it's pulling from the internet. This is why I like Google Geminis. It's actually pulling from the internet to identify like common, common. Related issues. And so it starts to probe and ask questions. And by the time it was done, what it came out with was like a step-by-step two week plan. Basically like, do this tonight, do this tomorrow morning. Um, and it was able to identify what it believes is the problem. We'll see if it actually is, but the beauty now is now that I've got a plan that I've got in this ai, I can start, you know, tomorrow morning I'm gonna try to do what it said and I can tell. The ai, how things went, and it can now adjust the plan based on whether or not, you know, this worked or didn't work. So it's a good way to sort of, um, push an ai, uh, chat bot to probe your situation a little bit more. So you could do this really for anything, right. You could do something like I'm having, I'm having trouble losing weight despite all efforts to the contrary. Um, can you help me identify what the, you know, root problem is? So think about different ways that you can use this. It's a pretty cool way to sort of like, push the, the AI to get a little deeper into the specifics without like a lot of extra heavy lifting. I'm sure there's probably other ways you could drive it to do this, but this was just one clever way that I, that this article pointed out to accomplish this. [00:08:07] Jesse Schwamb: It's a great exercise to have AI optimize itself. Yeah. By you turning your prompts around and asking it to ask you a number of questions, sufficient number, until it can provide an optimize answer for you. So lots, almost every bot has some kind of, you can have it analyze your prompts essentially, but some like copilot actually have a prompt agent, which will help you construct the prompt in an optimal way. Yeah, and that again, is kind of question and answer. So I'm with you. I will often turn it around and say. Here's my goal. Ask me sufficient number of questions so that you can provide the right insight to accomplish said goal. Or like you're saying, if you can create this like, massive conversation that keeps all this history. So I, I've heard of people using this for their exercise or running plans. Famously, somebody a, a, um, journalist, the Wall Street Journal, use it, train for a marathon. You can almost have it do anything for you. Of course, you want to test all of that and interact with it reasonably and ably, right? At the same time, what it does best is respond to like natural language interaction. And so by turning it around and basically saying, help me help you do the best job possible, providing the information, it's like the weirdest way of querying stuff because we're so used to providing explicit direction ourselves, right? So to turn it around, it's kind of a new experience, but it's super fun, really interesting, really effective. [00:09:22] Tony Arsenal: And it because you are allowing, in a certain sense, you're sort of asking the AI to drive the conversation. This, this particular prompt, I know the article I read went into details about why this prompt is powerful and the reason this prompt is powerful is not because of anything the AI's doing necessarily, right. It's because you're basically telling the AI. To find what you've missed. And so it's asking you questions. Like if I was to sit down and go like, all right, what are all the things that's wrong, that's causing my son to be awake? Like obviously I didn't figure it out on my own, so it's asking me what I've already tried and what it found out. And then of course when it tells me what it is, it's like the most obvious thing when it figures out what it is. It's identifying something that I already haven't identified because I've told it. I've already tried everything I can think of, and so it's prompting me to try to figure out what it is that I haven't thought of. So those are, like I said, there's lots of ways to sort of get the ais to do that exercise. Um, it's not, it's not just about prompt engineering, although that there's a lot of science now and a lot of like. Specifics on how you do prompt engineering, um, you know, like building a persona for the ai. Like there's all sorts of things you can do and you can add that, like, I could have said something like, um. Uh, you are a pediatric sleep expert, right? And when you tell it that what it's gonna do is it's gonna start to use more technical language, it's gonna, it's gonna speak to you back as though it's a, and this, this is where AI can get a little bit dangerous and really downright scary in some instances. But with that particular prompt, it's gonna start to speak back to you as though it was a clinician of some sort, diagnosing a medical situation, which again. That is definitely not something I would ever endorse. Like, don't let an AI be your doctor. That's just not, like WebMD was already scary enough when you were just telling you what your symptoms were and it was just cross checking it. Um, but you could do something like, and I use these kinds of prompts for our show notes where I'm like, you're an expert at SEO, like at um, podcast show notes. Utilizing SEO search terms, like that's part of the prompt that I use when I use, um, in, in this case, I use notion to generate most of our show notes. Um, it, it starts to change the way that it looks at things and the way that it, I, it responds to you based on different prompts. So I think it, it's a little bit scary, uh, AI. Can be a strange, strange place. And there's some, they're doing some research that is a little bit frightening. They did a study and actually, like, they, they basically like unlocked an AI and gave it access to a pretend company with emails and stuff and said that a particular employee was gonna shut out, was gonna delete the ai. And the first thing it did was try to like blackmail the employee with like a risk, like a scandalous email. It had. Then after that they, they engineered a scenario where the AI actually had the ability to kill the employee. And despite like explicit instructions not to do anything illegal, it still tried to kill the employee. So there's some scary things that are coming up if we're not, you know, if, if the science is not able to get that under control. But right now it's just a lot of fun. Like it's, we're, we're probably not at the point where it's dangerous yet and hopefully. Hopefully it won't get to that point, but we'll see. We'll see. That got dark real fast, fast, fast. Jesse, you gotta get this. And that was an affirmation. I guess I'm affirming killer murder ais that are gonna kill us all, but uh, we're gonna have fun with it until they do at least. [00:12:52] Jesse Schwamb: Thanks for not making that deny against. 'cause I can only imagine the direction that one to taken. [00:12:57] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. At least when the AI hears this, it's gonna know that I'm on its side, so, oh, for sure. I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords. So as do Iye. [00:13:05] Christmas Hymns and Music Recommendations [00:13:05] Tony Arsenal: But Jesse, what are you affirming or denying today to get me out of this pit here? [00:13:09] Jesse Schwamb: So, lemme start with a question. Do you have a favorite Christmas hymn? And if so, what is it? [00:13:16] Tony Arsenal: Ooh, that's a tough one. Um, I think I've always been really partial to Oh, holy Night. But, uh, there's, there's not anything that really jumps to mind my, as I've become older and crankier and more Scottish in spirit, I just, Christmas hymns just aren't as. If they're not as prominent in my mind, but oh, holy night or come coming, Emanuel is probably a really good one too. [00:13:38] Jesse Schwamb: Wow. Those are the, those are like the top in the top three for me. Yeah. So I think [00:13:42] Tony Arsenal: I know where you're going based on the question. [00:13:44] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, we're very much the same. So, well maybe, so I am affirming with, but it's that time of year and people you, you know and love and maybe yourself, you're gonna listen to Christian music and. That's okay. I put no shade on that, especially because we're talking about the incarnation, celebrate the incarnation. But of course, I think the best version of that is some of these really lovely hymns because they could be sung and worshiped through all year round. We just choose them because they fit in with the calendar particularly well here, and sometimes they're included, their lyrics included in Hallmark cards and, and your local. Cool. Coles. So while that's happening, why not embrace it? But here's my information is why not go with some different versions. I love the hymn as you just said. Oh, come will come Emmanuel. And so I'm gonna give people three versions of it to listen to Now to make my list of this kind of repertoire. The song's gotta maintain that traditional melody. I think to a strong degree, it's gotta be rich and deep and dark, especially Ko Emmanuel. But it's gotta have something in it that's a little bit nuanced. Different creative arrangements, musicality. So let me give two brand new ones that you may not have heard versions and one old one. So the old one is by, these are all Ko Emanuel. So if at some point during this you're like, what song is he talking about? It's Ko. Emmanuel. It's just three times. Th we're keeping it th Rice tonight. So the first is by band called for today. That's gonna be a, a little bit harder if you want something that, uh, gets you kind of pumped up in the midst of this redemption. That's gonna be the version. And then there are two brand new ones. One is by skillet, which is just been making music forever, but the piano melody they bring into this and they do a little something nuanced with the chorus that doesn't pull away too much. From the original, but just gives it a little extra like Tastiness. Yeah. Skill. Great version. And then another one that just came out yesterday. My yesterday, not your yesterday. So actually it doesn't even matter at this point. It's already out is by descriptor. And this would be like the most chill version that is a hardcore band by, I would say tradition, but in this case, their version is very chill. All of them I find are just deeply worshipful. Yeah. And these, the music is very full of impact, but of course the lyrics are glorious. I really love this, this crying out to God for the Savior. This. You know, just, it's really the, the plea that we should have now, which is, you know, maranatha like Lord Jesus, come. And so in some ways we're, we're celebrating that initial plea and cry for redemption as it has been applied onto us by the Holy Spirit. And we're also saying, you know, come and fulfill your kingdom, Lord, come and bring the full promise, which is here, but not yet. So I like all three of these. So for today. Skillet descriptor, which sounds like we're playing like a weird word game when you put those all together. It does, but they're all great bands and their versions I think are, are worthy. So the larger affirmation, I suppose, is like, go out this season and find different versions, like mix it up a little bit. Because it's good to hear this music somewhat afresh, and so I think by coming to it with different versions of it, you'll get a little bit of that sense. It'll make maybe what is, maybe if it's felt rote or mundane or just trivial, like you're saying, kind of revive some of these pieces in our hearts so we can, we, we can really worship through them. We're redeeming them even as they're meant to be expressions of the ultimate redemption. [00:16:55] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, I, um, I heard the skillet version and, uh, you know, you know me like I'm not a huge fan of harder music. Yeah. But that, that song Slaps man, it's, yes, [00:17:07] Jesse Schwamb: it does. It's [00:17:07] Tony Arsenal: good. And Al I mean, it, it also ignited this weird firestorm of craziness online. I don't know if you heard anything about this, but Yes, it was, it was, there was like the people who absolutely love it and will. Fight you if you don't. Yes. And then there was like the people who think it's straight from the devil because of somehow demonic rhythms, whatever that means. Um, but yeah, I mean, I'm not a big fan of the heavier music, but there is something about that sort of, uh. I don't know. Is skill, would that be considered like metal at all? [00:17:38] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, that's a loaded question. Probably. [00:17:39] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. So like I found, uh, this is, we're gonna go down to Rabbit Trail here. Let's do it. Here we go. I found a version of Africa by Toto that was labeled as metal on YouTube. So I don't know whether it actually is, and this, this version of skill, it strikes me as very similar, where it's, ah, uh, it, it's like, um. The harmonies are slightly different in terms of like how they resonate than Okay. Other harmonies. Like I get [00:18:05] Jesse Schwamb: that [00:18:06] Tony Arsenal: there's a certain, you know, like when you think about like Western music, there's certain right, there's certain harmonies when, you know, think about like piano chords are framed and my understanding at least this could be way off, and I'm sure you're gonna correct me if I'm wrong, is that um, metal music, heavy metal music uses slightly different. Chord formations that it almost leaves you feeling a little unresolved. Yes, but not quite unresolved. Like it's just, it's, it's more the harmonics are different, so that's fair. Skillet. This skillet song is so good, and I think you're right. It, it retains the sort of like. The same basic melody, the same, the same basic harmonies, actually. Right. And it's, it's almost like the harmonies are just close enough to being put into a different key with the harmonies. Yes, [00:18:52] Jesse Schwamb: that's true [00:18:53] Tony Arsenal: than then. Uh, but not quite actually going into another key. So like, sometimes you'll see online, you'll find YouTube videos where they play like pop songs, but they've changed the, the. Chords a little bit. So now it's in a minor key. It's almost like it's there. It's like one more little note shift and it would be there. Um, and then there's some interesting, uh, like repetition and almost some like anal singing going on, that it's very good. Even if you don't like heavier music. Like, like I don't, um, go listen to it and I think you'll find yourself like hitting repeat a couple times. It was very, very good. [00:19:25] Jesse Schwamb: That's a good way of saying it. A lot of times that style is a little bit dissonant, if that's what you mean in the court. Yeah. Formation. So it gives you this unsettledness, this almost unresolvedness, and that's in there. Yeah. And just so everybody knows, actually, if you listen to that version from Skillet, you'll probably listen to most of it. You'll get about two thirds of the way through it and probably be saying, what are those guys talking about? It's the breakdown. Where it amps up. But before that, I think anybody could listen to it and just enjoy it. It's a really beautiful, almost haunting piano melody. They bring into the intro in that, in the interlude. It's very lovely. So it gives you that sense. Again, I love this kind of music because there's almost something, there is something in this song that's longing for something that is wanting and yet left, unresolved and unfulfilled until the savior comes. There's almost a lament in it, so to speak, especially with like the way it's orchestrated. So I love that this hymn is like deep and rich in that way. It's, that's fine. Like if you want to sing deck the Holes, that's totally fine. This is just, I think, better and rich and deeper and more interesting because it does speak to this life of looking for and waiting for anticipating the advent of the savior. So to get me get put back in that place by music, I think is like a net gain this time of year. It's good to have that perspective. I'm, I'm glad you've heard it. We should just open that debate up whether or not we come hang out in the telegram chat. We'll put it in that debate. Is skillet hardcore or metal? We'll just leave it there 'cause I have my opinions, but I'm, well, I'm sure everybody else does. [00:20:48] Tony Arsenal: I don't even know what those words mean, Jesse. Everything is hardcore in metal compared to what I normally listen to. I don't even listen to music anymore usually, so I, I mean, I'm like mostly all podcasts all the time. Anytime I have time, I don't have a ton of time to listen to. Um, audio stuff, but [00:21:06] Jesse Schwamb: that's totally fair. Well now everybody now join us though. [00:21:08] Tony Arsenal: Educate me [00:21:09] Jesse Schwamb: now. Everybody can properly use, IM prompt whatever AI of their choice, and they can listen to at least three different versions of al comical manual. And then they can tell us which one do you like the best? Or maybe you have your own version. That's what she was saying. What's your favorite Christmas in? [00:21:23] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And [00:21:24] Jesse Schwamb: what version of it do you like? I mean, it'll be like. [00:21:28] Tony Arsenal: It'll be like, despite my best efforts, I've been un unable to understand what hardcore and medical is. Please help me understand. [00:21:37] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, we're gonna have some, some fun with this at some point. We'll have to get into the whole debate, though. I know you and I have talked about it before. We'll put it before the brothers and sisters about a Christmas Carol and what version everybody else likes. That's also seems like, aside from the, the whole eternal debate, which I'm not sure is really serious about whether or not diehard is a Christmas movie, this idea of like, which version of the Christmas Carol do you subscribe to? Yeah. Which one would you watch if you can only watch one? Which one will you watch? That's, we'll have to save that for another time. [00:22:06] Tony Arsenal: We'll save it for another time. And we get a little closer to midwinter. No reason we just can't [00:22:10] Jesse Schwamb: do it right now because we gotta get to Luke 15. [00:22:12] Discussion on the Parable of the Lost Coin [00:22:12] Tony Arsenal: We do. [00:22:13] Jesse Schwamb: We, we've already been in this place of looking at Jesus' response to the Pharisees when they say to him, listen, this man receives sinners and eats with them. And Jesus is basically like, yeah, that's right. And let me tell you three times what the heart of God is like and what my mission in serving him is like, and what I desire to come to do for my children. And so we spoke in the last conversation about the parable lost sheep. Go check that out. Some are saying, I mean, I'm not saying this, but some are saying in the internet, it's the definitive. Congratulation of that parable. I'm, I'm happy to take that if that's true. Um, but we wanna go on to this parable of the lost coin. So let me read, it's just a couple of verses and you're gonna hear in the text that you're going to understand right away. This is being linked because it starts with or, so this is Jesus speaking and this is Luke 15, chapter 15, starting in verse eight. Jesus says, or a what woman? She has 10 D drachmas and loses. One drachma does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls together her friend and her neighbors saying, rejoice with me for I found the D Drachma, which I lost in the same way I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. [00:23:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. On one level, this is, uh, again, it's not all that complicated of a scenario, right? And we have to kind of go back and relo through some of the stuff we talked about last week because this is a continuation of, you know, when we first talked about the Matthew 13 parables, we commented on like. Christ was coming back to the same themes, right? And in some ways, repeating the parable. This is even stronger than that. It's not just that Christ is teaching the same thing across multiple parables. The sense here, at least the sense I get when I read this parable, the lost sheep, and then the prodigal, um, sun parable or, or the next parable here, um, is actually that Christ is just sort of like hammering home the one point he's making to the tax collectors and or to the tax collectors or to the scribes who are complaining about the fact that Christ was eating with sinners. He's just hammering this point home, right? So it's not, it's not to try to add. A lot of nuance to the point. It's not to try to add a, a shade of meaning. Um. You know, we talked a lot about how parables, um, Christ tells parables in part to condemn the listeners who will not receive him, right? That's right. This is one of those situations where it's not, it's not hiding the meaning of the parable from them. The meaning is so obvious that you couldn't miss it, and he, he appeals, we talked about in the first, in the first part of this, he actually appeals to like what the ordinary response would be. Right? What man of you having a hundred sheep if he loses one, does not. Go and leave the 99. Like it's a scenario that anyone who goes, well, like, I wouldn't do that is, looks like an idiot. Like, that's, that's the point of the why. He phrases it. And so then you're right when he, when he begins with this, he says, or what woman having 10 silver coins if she loses one, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until he, till she finds it. And of course, the, the, the emphasis again is like no one in their right mind would not do this. And I think like we think about a coin and like that's the smallest denomination of money that we have. Like, I wouldn't, like if I lost a, if I had 10 silver coin, 10 coins and I lost one of them, the most that that could be is what? 50 cents? Like the, like if I had a 50 cent piece or a silver dollar, I guess, like I could lose a dollar. We're not really talking about coins the way we think of coins, right? We're talking about, um. Um, you know, like denominations of money that are substantial in that timeframe. Like it, there was, there were small coins, but a silver coin would be a substantial amount of money to lose. So we are not talking about a situation where this is, uh, a trivial kind of thing. She's not looking for, you know, I've, I've heard this parable sort of like unpacked where like, it's almost like a miserly seeking for like this lost coin. Interesting. It's not about, it's not about like. Penny pinching here, right? She's not trying to find a tiny penny that isn't worth anything that's built into the parable, right? It's a silver coin. It's not just any coin. It's a silver coin. So she's, she's looking for this coin, um, because it is a significant amount of money and because she's lost it, she's lost something of her, of her overall wealth. Like there's a real loss. Two, this that needs to be felt before he can really move on with the parable. It's not just like some small piece of property, like there's a [00:26:57] Jesse Schwamb: right. I [00:26:57] Tony Arsenal: don't know if you've ever lost a large amount of money, but I remember one time I was in, um, a. I was like, almost outta high school, and I had taken some money out of, um, out of the bank, some cash to make a purchase. I think I was purchasing a laptop and I don't know why I, I don't, maybe I didn't have a credit card or I didn't have a debit card, but I was purchasing a laptop with cash. Right. And back then, like laptops, like this was not a super expensive laptop, but. It was a substantial amount of cash and I misplaced it and it was like, oh no, like, where is it? And like, I went crazy trying to find it. This is the situation. She's lost a substantial amount of money. Um, this parable, unlike the last one, doesn't give you a relative amount of how many she has. Otherwise. She's just lost a significant amount of money. So she takes all these different steps to try to find it. [00:27:44] Understanding the Parable's Context [00:27:44] Tony Arsenal: We have to feel that loss before we really can grasp what the parable is trying to teach us. [00:27:49] Jesse Schwamb: I like that, so I'm glad you brought that up because I ended up going down a rabbit hole with this whole coined situation. [00:27:56] Tony Arsenal: Well, we're about to, Matt Whitman some of this, aren't we? [00:27:58] Jesse Schwamb: Yes, I think so. But mainly because, and this is not really my own ideas here, there's, there's a lot I was able to kind of just read and kind. Throw, throw something around this because I think you're absolutely right that Jesus is bringing an ES escalation here and it's almost like a little bit easier for us to understand the whole sheep thing. I think the context of the lost coin, like you're already saying, is a little bit less familiar to us, and so I got into this. Rabbit hole over the question, why would this woman have 10 silver coins? I really got stuck on like, so why does she have these? And Jesus specific about that he's giving a particular context. Presumably those within his hearing in earshot understood this context far better than I did. So what I was surprised to see is that a lot of commentators you probably run into this, have stated or I guess promulgated this idea that the woman is young and unmarried and the 10 silver coins could. Could represent a dowry. So in some way here too, like it's not just a lot of money, it's possible that this was her saving up and it was a witness to her availability for marriage. [00:28:57] The Significance of the Lost Coin [00:28:57] Jesse Schwamb: So e either way, if that's true or not, Jesus is really emphasizing to us there's significant and severe loss here. And so just like you said, it would be a fool who would just like say, oh, well that's too bad. The coin is probably in here somewhere, but eh, I'm just gonna go about my normal business. Yeah. And forsake it. Like, let's, let's not worry about it. So. The emphasis then on this one is not so much like the leaving behind presumably can keep the remaining nine coins somewhere safe if you had them. But this effort and this diligence to, to go after and find this lost one. So again, we know it's all about finding what was lost, but this kind of momentum that Jesus is bringing to this, like the severity of this by saying there was this woman, and of course like here we find that part of this parable isn't just in the, the kingdom of God's like this, like we were talking about before. It's more than that because there's this expression of, again, the situation combined with these active verbs. I think we talked about last time that Christ love is an act of love and it's always being acted upon the sinner, the one who has to be redeemed, his child whom he goes after. So in the same way, we have Christ showing the self-denying love. Like in the first case, the shepherd brought his sheep home on his shoulders rather than leave it in the wilderness. And then here. The woman does like everything. She lights the candle, she sweeps the house. She basically turns the thing, the place upside down, searching diligently and spared no pains with this until she found her lost money. And before we get into the whole rejoicing thing, it just strikes me that, you know, in the same way, I think what we have here is Christ affirming that he didn't spare himself. He's not gonna spare himself. When he undertakes to save sinners, he does all the things. He endures the cross scor in shame. He lays down his life for his friends. There's no greater love than that. It cannot be shown, and so Christ's love is deep and mighty. It's like this woman doing all the things, tearing the place apart to ensure that that which she knew she had misplaced comes back to her. That the full value of everything that she knows is hers. Is safe and secure in her possession and so does the Lord Jesus rejoice the safe sinners in the same way. And that's where this is incredibly powerful. It's not just, Hey, let me just say it to you one more time. There is a reemphasis here, but I like where you're going, this re-escalation. I think the first question is, why do the woman have this money? What purpose is it serving? And I think if we can at least try to appreciate some of that, then we see again how Jesus is going after that, which is that he, he wants to save the sinner. He wants to save the soul. And all of the pleasure, then all of the rejoicing comes because, and, and as a result of that context. [00:31:22] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. [00:31:23] Theological Implications of God's People [00:31:23] Tony Arsenal: The other thing, um, maybe, and, and I hope I'm not overreading again, we've, we've talked about the dangers of overreading, the parables, but I think there's a, and we'll, we'll come to this too when we get into the, um, prodigal son. Um, there is this sense, I think in some theological traditions that. God is sort of like claiming a people who were not his own. Right. And one of the things that I love about the reform tradition, and, and I love it because this is the picture the Bible teaches, is the emphasis on the fact that God's people have been God's people. As long as God has been pondering and con like contemplating them. So like we deny eternal justification, right? Justification happens in time and there's a real change in our status, in in time when, when the spirit applies, the benefits that Christ has purchased for us in redemption, right? But there's also a very real sense that God has been looking and considering us as his people in eternity past. Like that's always. That's the nature of the Pactum salutes, the, you know, covenant of redemption election. The idea that like God is not saving a nameless, faceless people. He's not creating conditions that people can either move themselves into or take themselves out of. He has a concrete people. Who he is saving, who he has chosen. He, he, you know, prior to our birth, he will redeem us. He now, he has redeemed us and he will preserve us in all of these parables, whether it's the sheep, the coin, or as we'll get to the prodigal sun next week or, or whenever. Um. It's not that God is discovering something new that he didn't have, or it's not that the woman is discovering a coin, right? There's nothing more, uh, I think nothing more like sort of, uh, spontaneously delightful than like when you like buy a, like a jacket at the thrift store. Like you go to Salvation Army and you buy a jacket, you get home, you reach in the pocket and there's like a $10 bill and you're like, oh man, that's so, so great. Or like, you find a, you find a. A $10 bill on the ground, or you find a quarter on the ground, right? Yeah. Or you find your own money. Well, and that that's, there's a different kind of joy, right? That's the point, is like, there's a delight that comes with finding something. And again, like we have to be careful about like, like not stealing, right? But there's a different kind of joy that comes with like finding something that was not yours that now becomes yours. We talked about that with parables a couple weeks ago, right? There's a guy who finds it, he's, he's searching for pearls. He finds a pearl, and so he goes after he sells everything he has and he claims that pearl, but that wasn't his before the delight was in sort of finding something new. These parables. The delight is in reclaiming and refining something that was yours that was once lost. Right? That's a different thing. And it paints a picture, a different picture of God than the other parables where, you know, the man kind of stumbles on treasure in a field or he finds a pearl that he was searching for, but it wasn't his pearl. This is different. This is teaching us that God is, is zealous and jealous to reclaim that which was his, which was lost. Yes. Right. So, you know, we can get, we can, maybe we will next week, maybe we will dig into like super laps area versus infra laps. AIRism probably not, I don't necessarily wanna have that conversation. But there is a reality in the Bible where God has a chosen people and they are his people, even before he redeems them. [00:34:52] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. [00:34:53] God's Relentless Pursuit of Sinners [00:34:53] Tony Arsenal: These parables all emphasize that in a different way and part of what he's, part of what he's ribbing at with the Pharisees and the, and the scribes, and this is common across all of Christ's teaching in his interactions and we get into true Israel with, with Paul, I mean this is the consistent testimony of the New Testament, is that the people who thought they were God's people. The, the Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the, the sort of elites of, uh, first century Jewish believers, they really were convinced that they were God's people. And those dirty gentiles out there, they, they're not, and even in certain sense, like even the Jewish people out in the country who don't even, you know, they don't know the scriptures that like, even those people were maybe barely God's people. Christ is coming in here and he is going, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like you're asking me. You're surprised that I receive sinners and e with them. Well, I'm coming to claim that which is mine, which was lost, and the right response to that is not to turn your nose up at it. The right response is to rejoice with me that I have found my sheep that was lost, that I have reclaimed my coin that was lost. And as we'll see later on, like he really needles them at the end of the, the, uh, parable of the prodigal son. This is something I, I have to be like intentional in my own life because I think sometimes we hear conversion stories and we have this sort of, I, I guess like, we'll call it like the, the Jonah I heresy, I dunno, we won't call it heresy, but like the, the, the like Jonah impulse that we all have to be really thankful for God's mercy in our life. But sort of question whether God is. Merciful or even be a little bit upset when it seems that God is being merciful to those sinners over there. We have to really like, use these parables in our own lives to pound that out of our system because it's, it's ungodly and it's not what God is, is calling us. And these parables really speak against that [00:36:52] Jesse Schwamb: and all of us speak in. In that lost state, but that doesn't, I think like you're saying, mean that we are not God's already. That if he has established that from a trinity past, then we'd expect what others have said about God as the hound of heaven to be true. And that is he comes and he chases down his own. What's interesting to me is exactly what you've said. We often recognize when we do this in reverse and we look at the parable of the lost son, all of these elements, how the father comes after him, how there's a cha singer coming to himself. There's this grand act of repentance. I would argue all of that is in all of these parables. Not, not to a lesser extent, just to a different extent, but it's all there. So in terms of like couching this, and I think what we might use is like traditionally reformed language. And I, I don't want to say I'm overeating this, I hope I'm not at that same risk, but we see some of this like toll depravity and like the sinner is lost, unable to move forward, right? There still is like the sovereign grace of God who's initiating the salvation and there is a kind of effect of calling that God doesn't merely invite, he finds, he goes after he affects the very thing. Yeah, and I think we're seeing that here. There is. The sinner, spiritual inability. There's an utter passivity until found. The coin doesn't seek the woman. The woman seeks the coin. And in this way, I think we see God's act of searching grace. It's all there for us. Yeah, it's in a slightly different way, but I think that's what we're meant to like take away from this. We're meant to lean into that a bit. [00:38:12] Rejoicing in Salvation [00:38:12] Jesse Schwamb: And the reason why I think it leads to joy, why God is so pleased is because God has this real pleasure. Jesus has this real pleasure. The Holy Spirit has this real pleasure. To pluck sinners as brands from the burning fire. You know, it was Jesus, literally his food and drink like not to be too trite, but like his jam went upon the earth to finish the work, which he came to do. And there are many times when he says he ammi of being constrained in the spirit until this was accomplished. And it's still his delight to show mercy like you're saying He is. And even Jonah recognizes that, right. He said like, I knew you were going to be a merciful God. And so he's far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved. But that is the gospel level voice, isn't it? Because we can come kicking and screaming, but in God's great mercy, not because of works and unrighteousness, but because of his great mercy, he comes and he tears everything apart to rescue and to save those whom he's called to himself. [00:39:06] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I love that old, um, Puritan phrase that wrath is God's alien work. And we, you know, like you gotta be careful when you start to talk that way. And the Puritans were definitely careful about everything. I mean, they were very specific when they spoke, but. When we talk about God's alien work and wrath being God's alien work, what we're saying is not, not that like somehow wrath is external to God. Like that's not what we're getting at of Right. But when you look at scripture and, and here's something that I think, um. I, I don't know how I wanna say this. Like, I think we read that the road is narrow and the the, um, you know, few are those who find it. I think we read that and we somehow think like, yeah, God, God, like, really loves that. Not a lot of people are saved. And I, I actually think that like, when we look at it, um, and, and again, like we have to be careful 'cause God, God. God decreed that which he is delighted by, and also that which glorifies him the most. Right? Right. But the picture that we get in scripture, and we have to take this seriously with all of the caveats that it's accommodated, it's anthropopathism that, you know, all of, all of the stuff we've talked about. We did a whole series on systematic theology. We did like six episodes on Divine Simplicity and immutability. Like we we're, we're right in line with the historic tradition on that. All of those caveats, uh, all of those caveats in place, the Bible pic paints a picture of God such that he grieves over. Those who are lost. Right? Right. He takes no delight in the death of the wicked. That's right. He, he, he seeks after the lost and he rejoices when he finds them. Right. He's, his, his Holy Spirit is grieved when we disobey him, his, his anger is kindled even towards his people in a paternal sense. Right. He disciplines us the way an angry father who loves us, would discipline us when we disobey him. That is a real, that's a real thing. What exactly that means, how we can apply that to God is a very complicated conversation. And maybe sometimes it's more complicated than we, like, we make it more complicated than it needs to be for sure. Um, we wanna be careful to preserve God's changeness, his immutability, his simplicity, all of those things. But at the end of the day, at. God grieves over lost sinners, and he rejoices when they come back. He rejoices when they return to him. Just as the shepherd who finds his lost sheep puts that sheep on his shoulders, right? That's not just because that's an easy way to carry a sheep, right? It's also like this picture of this loving. Intimate situation where God pulls us onto himself and he, he wraps literally like wraps us around himself. Like there are times when, um. You know, I have a toddler and there are times where I have to carry that toddler, and it's, it's a fight, right? And I don't really enjoy doing it. He's squirming, he's fighting. Then there are times where he needs me to hold him tight, and he, he snuggles in. When he falls down and hurts his leg, the first thing he does is he runs and he jumps on me, and he wants to be held tight, and there's a f there's a fatherly embrace there that not only brings comfort to my son. But it brings great joy to me to be able to comfort him that that dynamic in a, uh, a infinitely greater sense is at play here in the lost sheep. And then there's this rejoicing. It's not just rejoicing that God is rejoicing, it's the angels that are rejoicing. [00:42:43] The Joy of Redemption [00:42:43] Tony Arsenal: It's the, it's other Christians. It's the great cloud of witnesses that are rejoicing when Aah sinner is returned to God. All of God's kingdom and everything that that includes, all of that is involved in this rejoicing. That's why I think like in the first parable, in the parable of the lost sheep, it's joy in heaven. Right? It's sort of general joy in heaven. It's not specific. Then this one is even more specific. It's not just general joy in heaven. It's the angels of God. That's right. That are rejoicing. And then I think what we're gonna find, and we'll we'll tease this out when we get to the next par, well the figure in the prodigal son that is rejoicing. The one that is leading the rejoicing, the chief rejoice is the one who's the standin for God in that parable. [00:43:26] Jesse Schwamb: Right, exactly right. So, [00:43:27] Tony Arsenal: so we have to, we have to both recognize that there's a true grief. A true sorrow that is appropriate to speak of God, um, as having when a sinner is lost. And there's also an equally appropriate way to speak about God rejoicing and being pleased and delighted when a sinner returns to him. [00:43:53] Jesse Schwamb: That's the real payoff of this whole parable. I think, uh, maybe all three of them altogether, is that it is shocking how good the gospel is, which we're always saying, yeah, but I'm really always being moved, especially these last couple weeks with what Jesus is saying about how good, how truly unbelievable the gospel is. And again, it draws us to the. Old Testament scriptures when even the Israel saying, who is like this? Who is like our God? So what's remarkable about this is that there's an infinite willingness on God's part to receive sinners. [00:44:23] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:44:23] Jesse Schwamb: And however wicked a man may have been, and the day that he really turns from his wickedness and comes to God by Christ, God is well pleased and all of heaven with him, and God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, like you said, but God has pleasure and true repentance. If all of that's true, then like day to day, here's what I, I think this means for us. [00:44:41] Applying the Parable to Our Lives [00:44:41] Jesse Schwamb: Is when we come to Christ for mercy and love and help and whatever anguish and perplexity and simpleness that we all have, and we all have it, we are going with the flow. If his own deepest wishes, we're not going against them. And so this means that God has for us when we partake in the toning work of Christ, coming to Christ for forgiveness, communing with him despite our sinfulness, that we are laying hold of Christ's own deepest longing and joy. [00:45:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And [00:45:10] Jesse Schwamb: Jesus is comforted when we draw near the riches of his atoning work because as his body, even his own body in a way is being healed in this process. And so we, along with it, that I think is the payoff here. That's what's just so remarkable is that not only, like you're saying, is all heaven kind of paying attention to this. Like they're cognizant of it. It's something worthy of their attention and their energies and their rejoicing. But again, it's showing that God is doing all of this work and so he keeps calling us and calling us and calling us over and over again and just like you said, the elect sinner, those estr belongs to God and his eternal purpose. Even that by itself, we could just say full stop. Shut it down end the podcast. Yeah. That's just worthy to, to rejoice and, and ponder. But this is how strong I think we see like per election in particular, redemption in these passages. Christ died for his chief specifically crisis going after the lost coin, which already belongs to him. So like you were saying, Tony, when you know, or maybe you don't know, but you've misplaced some kind of money and you put your hand in that pocket of that winter coat for the first time that season and out comes the piece of paper, that's whatever, 20 or whatever, you rejoice in that, right. Right. It's like this was mine. I knew it was somewhere, it belonged to me, except that what's even better here is this woman tears her whole place apart to go after this one coin that she knows is hers and yet has been lost. I don't know what more it is to be said. I just cannot under emphasize. Or overemphasize how great God's love is in this like amazing condescension, so that when Jesus describes himself as being gentle and lowly or gentle and humble or gentle and humiliated, that I, I think as we understand the biblical text, it's not necessarily just that he's saying, well, I'm, I'm displaying. Meekness power under control. When he says he's humble, he means put in this incredibly lowly state. Yeah. That the rescue mission, like you're saying, involves not just like, Hey, she lemme call you back. Hey, come over here, says uh. He goes and he picks it up. It's the ultimate rescue, picks it up and takes it back by his own volition, sacrificing everything or to do that and so does this woman in this particular instance, and it should lead us. I think back to there's this virtuous cycle of seeing this, experiencing this. Being compelled by the law of Christ, as Paul says, by the power of the Holy Spirit and being regenerated and then worshiping, and then repenting, and then worshiping, and then repenting, and then worshiping. Because in the midst of that repentance and that beautifulness recognizing, as Isaiah says, all of these idols that we set up, that we run to, the one thing they cannot do for us is they cannot deal with sin. They cannot bring cleanliness and righteousness through confession of sin. They cannot do that. So Christ is saying, come to the one you who are needy, you who have no money. To use another metaphor in the Bible, come and buy. And in doing so, we're saying, Christ, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. And when he says, come, come, I, I've, I have already run. After you come and be restored, come and be renewed. That which was lost my child. You have been found and I have rescued you. [00:48:04] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And these, these are so, um, these two parables are so. Comfortable. Like, right, like they are there, there are certain passages of scripture that you can just like put on like a big fuzzy warm bathrobe on like sn a cold morning, a snuggy. Yeah. I don't know if I want to go that far, but spirits are snuggy and, and these two are like that, right? Like, I know there are times where I feel like Christ redeemed me sort of begrudgingly, right? Mm-hmm. I think we have, we have this, um, concept in our mind of. Sort of the suffering servant, you know, like he's kind of like, ah, if I have to do it, I will. Right, right. And, and like, I think we, we would, if, if we were the ones who were, were being tasked to redeem something, we might do it. You know, we might do it and we. We might feel a certain sense of satisfaction about it, but I can tell you that if I had a hundred sheep and I had lost one, I would not lay it on my shoulder rejoicing. I would lay it on my shoulder. Frustrated and glad that I finally found it, but like. Right. Right. That's not what Christ did. That's right. Christ lays us on his shoulders rejoicing. Right. I know. Like when you lose something, it's frustrating and it's not just the loss of it that's frustrating. It's the time you have to take to find it. And sometimes like, yeah, you're happy that you found it, but you're like, man, it would've just been nice if I hadn't lost this in [00:49:36] Jesse Schwamb: the That's right. [00:49:37] Tony Arsenal: This woman, there's none of that. There's no, um, there's no regret. There's no. Uh, there's no begrudging this to it. There's nothing. It's just rejoicing. She's so happy. And it's funny, I can imagine, uh, maybe, maybe this is my own, uh, lack of sanctification here. I can imagine being that friend that's like, I gotta come over 'cause you found your coin, right? Like, I can be, I could imagine me that person, but Right. But honestly, like. This is a, this is a situation where she's so overcome with joy. She just has to tell people about it. Yeah. She has to share it with people. It, it reminds me, and I've seen this, I've seen this, um, connection made in the past certainly isn't new to me. I don't, I don't have any specific sorts to say, but like the woman at the well, right. She gets this amazing redemption. She gets this, this Messiah right in front of her. She leaves her buckets at the well, and she goes into a town of people who probably hate her, who think she's just the worst scum of society and she doesn't care. She goes into town to tell everybody about the fact that the Messiah has come, right? And they're so like stunned by the fact that she's doing it. Like they come to see what it is like that's what we need to be like. So there's. There's an element here of not only the rejoicing of God, and again, like, I guess I'm surprised because I've, I've, I've never sort of really read this. Part, I've never read this into it too much or I've never like really pulled this out, but it, now that I'm gonna say it, it just seems logical, like not only is God rejoicing in this, but again, it should be calling us to rejoice, right? Christ is. Christ is using these parables to shame the Pharisees and the scribes who refuse to rejoice over the salvation of sinners. How often do we not rejoice over our own salvation sufficiently? Like when's the last time? And I, I don't want to, this is, this can be a lot of loss. So again, like. God is not calling every single person to stand up on their lunch table at work, or, I don't know if God's calling anybody to stand up on the lunch table at work. Right. To like, like scream about how happy they are that they're sick, happy, happy. But like, when's the last time you were so overcome with joy that in the right opportunity, it just over, like it just overcame you and you had to share it. I don't rem. Putting myself bare here, like I don't remember the last time that happened. I share my faith with people, like my coworkers know that I'm a Christian and, um, my, they know that like, there are gonna be times where like I will bring biblical ethics and biblical concepts into my work. Like I regularly use bible examples to illustrate a principle I'm trying to teach my employees or, or I will regularly sort of. In a meeting where there's some question about what the right, not just like the correct thing to do, but the right thing to do. I will regularly bring biblical morality into those conversations. Nobody is surprised by that. Nobody's really offended by it. 'cause I just do it regularly. But I don't remember the last time where I was so overcome with joy because of my salvation that I just had to tell somebody. Right. And that's a, that's a, that's an indictment on me. That's not an indictment on God. That's not an indictment on anyone else. That's an indictment on me. This parable is calling me to be more joyful about. My salvation. [00:52:52] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. One of the, I think the best and easiest verses from Psalms to memorize is let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Yes. Like, say something, speak up. There's, there's a great truth in what you're saying. Of course. And I think we mentioned this last time. There's a communal delight of redemption. And here we see that played out maybe a little bit more explicitly because the text says that the joy is before the angels, meaning that still God is the source of the joy. In other words, the angels share in God's delight night, vice versa, and not even just in salvation itself, but the fact that God is delighted in this great salvation, that it shows the effectiveness of his saving power. All that he has designed will come to pass because he super intends his will over all things that all things, again are subservient to our salvation. And here, why would that not bring him great joy? Because that's exactly what he intends and is able to do. And the angels rejoice along with him because his glory is revealed in his mighty power. So I'm, I'm with you. I mean, this reminds me. Of what the author of Hebrew says. This is chapter 12, just the first couple of verses. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses in this communal kind of redemption of joy surrounding us. Laying aside every weight and the sin,

After the Hoover Applied History Working Group book-launch seminar on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, Hoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson interviewed Molly Worthen the author of Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump. Watch the full book-launch seminar here: https://youtu.be/bXkccTi7ZDE

The Hoover Applied History Working Group hosted a special book-launch seminar: Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.  What happens when Americans lose faith in their religious institutions—and politicians fill the void? Please join us for a seminar that will discuss the forces that create leaders and hold their followers captive. Everyone feels it. Cultural and political life in America has become unrecognizable and strange. Firebrands and would-be sages have taken the place of reasonable and responsible leaders. Nuanced debates have given way to the smug confidence of yard signs. How did we get here? In Spellbound, Worthen argues that we will understand our present moment if we learn the story of charisma in America. From the Puritans and Andrew Jackson to Black nationalists and Donald Trump, the saga of American charisma stars figures who possess a dangerous and alluring power to move crowds. They invite followers into a cosmic drama that fulfills hopes and rectifies grievances—and these charismatic leaders insist that they alone plot the way. The story of charisma in America reveals that when traditional religious institutions fail to deliver on their promise of a meaningful life, people will get their spiritual needs met in a warped cultural and political landscape dominated by those who appear to have the power to bring order and meaning out of chaos. Charismatic leaders address spiritual needs, offering an alternate reality where people have knowledge, power, and heroic status, whether as divinely chosen instruments of God or those who will restore national glory. Worthen's centuries-spanning historical research places a crucial religious lens on the cultural, economic, and political upheavals facing Americans today.

Cotton Mather is known for his part in the Salem Witch Trials -- or is he? Join us this week as Joy takes us to school on one of history's most infamous Puritans! The post are you wrong about Cotton Mather? appeared first on Sheologians.

Romans 8:28-30 — The Lord Jesus Christ said there will be those who will say they are His followers but the end will prove otherwise. The Bible warns about false professions, or as the Puritans called it, “temporary faith.” How does one understand the warning passages in light of Romans 8:28–30 where God is said to be in complete control over the Christian's salvation from beginning to end? More importantly, perhaps, is how does one respond to the truth of false profession of faith? In this sermon on Roman 8:28–30 titled “Warning Passages,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes up these questions and others as he continues in his examination of the doctrine of final perseverance of the saints. He first outlines his interpretive principles, noting the important distinction between the visible and invisible church. The writings of the Bible are written to the visible church, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, and one must remember that the visible church will be a mixed community of true and false professions. Second, he says, the primary purpose of the warning passages is to test one's profession of faith in order that they may know whether it is true or false. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones not only identifies the true nature of the warning passages, but offers the church comfort, encouragement, and the God-ordained means to test oneself. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting The First War On Christmas   We're off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so in honor of Christmas here's a tale about a group of Grinches who hated the holiday. The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th Century, people like Governor William Bradford and Reverend Increase Mather, hated Christmas so much that they chose to ban it.     Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff #rulapod    

In episode 471 of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Jesse Schwamb and Tony Arsenal begin a multi-part series on Jesus's parables of lost things in Luke 15. This first installment focuses on the Parable of the Lost Sheep, exploring how Jesus uses this story to reveal God's disposition toward sinners. The hosts examine the contextual significance of this teaching as Jesus's response to the Pharisees' criticism of his fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. Through careful analysis of the text, they unpack how this parable not only rebukes religious self-righteousness but also reveals the active, seeking love of Christ for His own. The discussion highlights the profound theological truth that God's joy is made complete in the restoration of His lost children. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Lost Sheep demonstrates Christ's heart for sinners, showing that seeking the lost is not exceptional behavior but the expected norm for those who understand God's character. Jesus positions this parable as a direct response to the Pharisees' criticism, turning their accusation ("he eats with sinners") into an affirmation of His mission and identity. The lost sheep represents those who belong to Christ but have gone astray; the shepherd's pursuit illustrates Christ's commitment to recover all whom the Father has given Him. God's rejoicing over one repentant sinner reveals a profound theological truth: divine joy increases in the act of showing mercy and restoring the lost. The shepherd's willingness to leave the 99 to find the one reflects not recklessness but the infinite value God places on each of His children. Regular worship practices, including family worship and congregational singing, reflect the same disposition of praise that heaven displays when sinners return to God. The parable serves not only as a comfort to sinners but as a challenge to believers to adopt God's heart toward the lost rather than the judgmental attitude of the Pharisees. Understanding the Shepherd's Heart The central focus of the Parable of the Lost Sheep is not simply God's willingness to receive sinners, but His active pursuit of them. As Tony Arsenal points out, Jesus presents the shepherd's search not as an extraordinary act of sacrifice, but as the obvious and expected response: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost?" Jesus frames this as the normal behavior that any shepherd would exhibit, making the Pharisees' lack of concern for "lost sheep" appear not just uncompassionate but utterly irrational. This reveals a profound truth about God's character: He is not passively waiting for sinners to find their way back to Him; He is actively seeking them out. As Jesse Schwamb emphasizes, "Christ's love is an active, working love." The shepherd does not merely hope the sheep will return; he goes after it until he finds it. This reflects God's covenant commitment to His people—those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world. The parable thus powerfully illustrates the doctrines of divine election and effectual calling within a deeply personal and relational framework. The Divine Joy in Restoration Perhaps the most striking element of this parable is the emphasis on the shepherd's joy upon finding his lost sheep. This isn't merely relief at recovering lost property, but profound celebration that calls for community participation: "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Jesse highlights Thomas Goodwin's profound insight that "Christ's own joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased and enlarged by his showing grace and mercy." This suggests something remarkable about God's relationship with His people—that in some mysterious way, God's joy is made more complete in the act of showing mercy and restoring sinners. The hosts point out that this doesn't imply any deficiency in God, but rather reveals the relational nature of His love. When Jesus states that "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance," He's indicating that divine celebration isn't prompted merely by moral perfection but by restoration and reconciliation. This understanding transforms how we approach God when we've strayed. As Jesse notes, "Jesus is never tired, flustered, or frustrated when we come to him for fresh forgiveness or renewed pardon." Our repentance doesn't merely avoid punishment; it actually brings joy to the heart of God. This is a profound comfort for believers struggling with sin and failure, assuring us that our return is met not with divine disappointment but with heavenly celebration. Memorable Quotes "This parable of the lost sheep gives us the beating heart of God, his normative disposition toward his children. It's really an exceptional and special window into God's design, his loving compassion for us, his heart of ministry and seeking for us, for his children who are lost." - Jesse Schwamb "He wants us to draw on his grace and mercy because it is inherently who he is. And he drew near to us in this incarnation so that his joy and ours could rise and fall together, which is insane that God would come and condescend to that degree that in his giving mercy and in ours receiving it, Christ gets more joy and comfort than we do when we come to him for help and mercy." - Jesse Schwamb "Christ's love is an active working love. Just as the shepherd did not sit still, wailing for his lost sheep, so our blessed Lord did not sit still in heaven pitying sinners. He comes to us, he came to us, and he continues to draw to himself those who are sheep, who hear his voice." - Jesse Schwamb Host Information Jesse Schwamb and Tony Arsenal are the hosts of The Reformed Brotherhood, a podcast that explores Reformed theology and its application to the Christian life. With a blend of theological depth and practical insight, they examine Scripture through the lens of historic Reformed doctrine, offering accessible teaching for believers seeking to grow in their understanding of the faith. Resources Mentioned Scripture: Luke 15:1-7, Matthew 18, John 10 Worship Resource: Sing The Worship Initiative (sing.theworshipinitiative.com) Theological Reference: Thomas Goodwin's writings on Christ's joy in redemption Brad Kafer and Michael Lewis, The Theocast Tragedy, episode 75, with guest Jeremy Marshall, November 16, 2025, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reclamation-podcast/id1747221237?i=1000736883898. Joshua Lewis and Michael Rowntree, The Theocast Split: Examining Christian Unity and Theological Differences, November 11, 2025, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-remnant-radios-podcast/id1392545186?i=1000736293538. Daniel Vincent, Fallout of Theocast, November 15, 2025, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-particular-baptist-podcast/id1512601040?i=1000736872315. Tony Arsenal, "A Refutation of Reformed Fringe," Reformed Arsenal, November 2025, https://reformedarsenal.com/category/a-refutation-of-reformed-fringe/. Tony Arsenal, "The Quest For Illegitimate Religious Gnosis: How 'Fringe' Theology Deforms Christology," Heidelblog, November 24, 2025, https://heidelblog.net/2025/11/the-quest-for-illegitimate-religious-gnosis-how-fringe-theology-deforms-christology/. Full Transcript [00:00:08] Jesse Schwamb: And what's special about the series? Parables that we're about to look at is it gives us the beating heart of God, his normative disposition toward his children, which is not like, we haven't seen some of that already, but this is, I think, really an exceptional and special window into God's design. His loving can compare for us, his heart of ministry and seeking for us for his children who are lost. It's really unequal in all the parables and probably among some of the most famous, Welcome to episode 471 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. [00:00:56] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. [00:01:01] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. You know, it seems like sometimes we could just summarize the teaching of Jesus like this. You get a parable and you get a parable, and you get a parable, and we've already, by looking at some of these parables, gotten to see what the kingdom of God means. The kingdom of God is Jesus coming in His power. It's here, but also not yet. The kingdom of God is the judgment of God. The kingdom of God is a blessing of God. The kingdom of God is the treasure of God. And what's special about the series? Parables that we're about to look at is it gives us the beating heart of God, his normative disposition toward his children, which is not like, we haven't seen some of that already, but this is, I think, really an exceptional and special window into God's design. His loving can compare for us, his heart of ministry and seeking for us for his children who are lost. It's really unequal in all the parables and probably among some of the most famous, and I think we'll probably have some maybe like semi hot takes, maybe some like mid hot takes as the young kids say. [00:02:07] Tony Arsenal: Mid hot takes. [00:02:08] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. [00:02:08] Tony Arsenal: So like [00:02:09] Jesse Schwamb: lukewarm takes, well my thought is like, what is a hot take that's not heretical? Do you know what I mean? So it's gotta be, yeah, [00:02:16] Tony Arsenal: there you go. [00:02:16] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. That's what I'm saying. It's like, listen, we want to be orthodox in our approach here, but I think we gotta, we gotta chew these up a little bit. Like we gotta digest them, we gotta move them around in our gut and really take everything that we've, we thought we knew about these, we just heard and they've been written on cards or postcards or crocheted into, I guess you're not crocheting bible verses, but like cross stitching Bible verses on pillows and really go deep because I think there's so much here for us, and if this were like for, for everybody that wants to say that, sometimes we take a little bit too long with our series. Again, I do have a question, simple question for all of those people. And that question is how dare you? And the second thing I would say is, you're lucky that you're not listening to a Puritan podcast. Maybe you never would, like at the Puritans in a podcast, the series would never end. They'd start with like a single verse and be like, we're gonna do two episodes on this. And then they'd be getting to the like, you know, 4 71 and they still wouldn't have left like the, the first five words. [00:03:11] Tony Arsenal: It's true, it's true. We move a little bit faster than that. Pace. Not much. Yeah. Way, [00:03:15] Jesse Schwamb: listen, way faster. By like Puritan standards, we are cruising. Like we're, we're just like NASCAR going through these parables. And to that end, I'll try to keep us moving though. I've already delayed us already because we're, we're late for affirmations. [00:03:30] Affirmations and Denials [00:03:30] Jesse Schwamb: Denials. The time is ripe. It is Now. The fields are gleaning with affirmations and denials. So let's, let's bring them in. Tony, are you denying against, are you affirming with something? [00:03:40] Tony Arsenal: It's a little bit of both, I guess. Um, do it. [00:03:44] Controversial Theology Discussion [00:03:44] Tony Arsenal: A little while ago, uh, it was maybe back in September, I did an episode on, uh, some theology that was being propagated by a podcast called Reformed Fringe. Um, it was a solo episode, so if you haven't listened to it, go back and listen to it. The affirmation here comes in, in, uh, the form of a show called, I think it's called The Reclamation Cast. Um, there are a series of podcasts that have addressed some of the same issues. For those who haven't been following it, which I would assume is probably most of you, the issue is kind of blown up online. Um, Theo Cast, which was a pretty big a, a really big podcast in the, uh, sort of reformed ish, particular Baptist world. Um, they actually split because of this. And so John Moffitt was one of the hosts. Justin Perdue was the other. And then John was also on this show called Reform Fringe with Doug Van Dorn. So I'm affirming some of these other podcasts that have covered the same issue, and I would encourage you to seek them out and listen to them. I can can pull some links together for the show notes today. Um, more or less the, the issue that I identified, um, is beyond just sort of what's known as Divine Counsel Theology, which was made, made, really made popular by, um, Michael Heiser. I don't know that he would, we could say that he was necessarily like the. Architect or inventor of that. I'm sure there are people who've had similar thoughts before that, but he's really the main name. Um, he's passed on now, but, um, Doug Van Dorn was a, uh, he's a Baptist pastor outta Col, uh, Colorado, who took his views and actually sort of like cranked him up and particularly. Uh, troubling is the way he handles, um, the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament. Um, I won't go into all of the details, but he wants to argue and he has argued in writing actually, and he, he published the paper first in 2015, and then again in 2024, he published it again, uh, with very minimal changes and nothing substantial. It was really kind of contextual stuff. Um, he actually argues that in the Old Testament, when we see the angel of the Lord, it's not just, not just God appearing as an angel, it's God actually becoming an angel. And in his paper, at least, he argues, um, more or less that this is a sort of hypostatic union. It's not just a temporary taking on of some sort of like outward appearance. Um, it's an actual, uh, uh, assumption of properties into the person of the sun. And the whole reason he makes this argument, which is why it's a little disingenuine, that now he's saying that's not what his argument was. He makes this argument in order to make it so the angel of the Lord can genuinely suffer, experience passions, change his mind, um, enter into covenant, come to know new knowledge, like there's all sorts of things that he wants the angel of the Lord to be able to actually do, not just accommodated, but actually. Experience. Um, and he does that by having the angel of the Lord be an appropriation of angelic properties into the person of the sun, what we would call a hypostatic union. And in his paper, he actually says like, I would want to use all of the same language of, uh, of this union as I do of the incarnation. He intentionally uses the words image and form kind of drawing from Philippians two. So the, the affirmation comes in and there are other podcasts that have identified this. So it's not just me. I would encourage people to go find them. Where the denial comes in is, um, there have been many people, including myself, who have attempted to engage with Doug Van Dorn, like publicly, directly, um, through private messaging. There are many people who've tried to reach out to him, and he has just sort of waved all of them away. Which is one thing, if like you just say like, I don't really care to interact with you. I don't really care to have this discussion. But then he is also presenting the situation as though he, he is totally open to having these conversations and nobody is trying to reach out to him. So I would encourage everyone, you're all reasonable people, search the scriptures, read what he has to say. The paper that he wrote is called Passing the Impassable pa or impassable Impasse, which is hard to say, but it's a very clever title. Um, and it was, it actually was written, I don't know a lot about this controversy and maybe I need to do a little bit more research. It was actually written during a time where, um, the particular Baptist conventions that were out out west where experiencing a lot of internal controversy regarding impassability, and this was his proposal for how, how biblically you can still maintain the divine attributes of changeness and impassability all these things, uh, without compromising the real, the real passable, um, appearance that we see of the, of God in the Bible. So. I don't wanna belabor the point. This is not the point of the show. We, I already did a whole episode on this. I've published, I wrote many blog articles. There's a lot that I've, I've put out on this. Um, so check it out, look at it. Wait for yourself. Um, the only reason I've been, this has come up in our telegram chat. People have encountered this theology. Um, one, one guy was asking about it, 'cause I think like his mom or his aunt or someone close to him had, has been sort of reading Michael Heider's work. Michael Heiser was very instrumental at logos. He was on staff at Logos for quite a while. So a lot of their, um, more speculative theological articles that you might find on their website are written by him. Um, he was a, one of the main people behind the sort of proprietary translation that, um, Laro uses the Lham, um, English Bible. So. It's not a neutral point. Pretty significant theological consequences if, uh, if our reading of what Doug is saying is correct. Um, and there doesn't seem to be any real openness to discussing that. He has to be fair, he has published a series of affirmations and denials, um, affirming his a his orthodoxy saying he affirms the change changeness of the son. He denies that there was a hypothetic union. So that's encouraging. It's great to see that when it comes down to it. He's willing to make affirmations, uh, of orthodox things and to deny unorthodox things, but it doesn't really help the situation when those things and those affirmations, denials are still at very least difficult to reconcile with what he wrote. I think in point of fact, they're actually contradictory to what he wrote. So the, the proper course of action would be for him to say, well, no, that's not what I meant. Or, or, yes, I wrote that, but that's not what I believe. Um, rather than to just try say, trying to say like, well, you all got it wrong. There's a lot of people reading these papers looking at it going, Ooh, it sure seems like the sun took on an angelic nature, even if that was temporary. That's, that's got some pretty weird consequences for your theology. And one of the shows I was listening to made this point that I thought was interesting and a little scary is this is like an utterly new theology. Um, no one that I've talked to who is aware of this, who studied these issues. Is aware of anyone ever saying anywhere that the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament was some sort of like assumption of actual angelic properties into the person of the sun. Almost everywhere that you read. It's either a manifestation view where the sun is kind of appearing as an angel, um, but it's not actually becoming an angel. It's, it's sort of taking on created medium, uh, in order to reveal himself or an instrumental view, which would be something like there's an angel that is used instrumentally by the Lord, and so we can say that it the angel of the Lord is the Lord in an instrumental sense, kind of like saying like if I pick up a hammer. Use that hammer for as long as I'm using that hammer. The hammer is actually sort of an extension of me. I'm moving it, I'm motivating it, I'm controlling it, it's connected to me, and then I put it down when I'm finished. Those are kind of the two main views that people, people would argue in the Old Testament, if they want to even say that the angel of the Lord is a Christoph, it would either be this manifestation view or this instrumental view, this sort of weird novel assumption of properties view. I'm, I've never encountered anything like that and I've studied this, this, this particular issue at some length. So check out the other episodes, I'll pull together some links, uh, of ones that have done it, both that have been, uh, critical of Doug's position. And also there was one, um, on remnant radio, which I never heard of, but, um, that was acknowledging that there are some question marks, but sort of saying like, this really is an overblown controversy. Um, and then I'll link to Doug's podcast too, so you can listen to his own words and, and sort of think through it yourself. [00:11:51] Jesse Schwamb: Some point I have this volition, you know, places, organizations, groups might have like FAQs, frequently asked questions. I have this idea to put together for us, like a frequently discussed topic. This would be one of them. We've talked, or we co we've come back to this idea of like the molecule way, the messenger of the Lord many times. Yeah. In part because I think there's a good and natural curiosity among many when you're reading the scriptures and you see that's the angel of the Lord and you're trying to discern, is it Christoph? And in some cases it seems more clear than others. For instance, the Maia appearing to, you know, Joshua, or, you know, there's, there's all kinds of instances in the scripture that draw us into this sense of like, well, who is it that is being represented here? And the funny thing about this though, and I agree with you, that like makes it. Puts it in like, I would say contradistinction to like just kind of innocently wanting to understand is that there's a lot of theological gymnastics happening here, like a lot and two, it seems to me that he's kind of trying to create a problem to find a solution on this one. Yeah. And so it should give everybody that sense that we always talk about where like the red light goes off, the flags get thrown up, that when you hear that, you're just like, well, something is not right about that. And the thing that's not right about it is one, it doesn't subscribe to, like you're saying, any kind of historical orthodoxy. And two, it's just funky for funky sake. It's, there's really a lot that's happening there to get to some kind of end, and it's better to know what that end is. I'm glad you brought that up. So I think you can, everybody who's listening can weigh, like, if you. Don't wanna weigh into that, or you don't really need to solve the problem that's being created here, then don't bother with it altogether. Yeah. Uh, it's just not worth your time. But people, this is the hide thing. Like when, when we are challenged to be discerning people, when we are challenged to take scriptures at face value, there is always a tendency for us sometimes to go too deep, to get too wild with it, to try to turn around and bend it to, to answer all in every single question. And even the reform tradition doesn't attempt to do that. So here, there is something that's beautiful about these certain mysteries of God and to take him at his face, to trust him in his word, we should seek, seek out many things. Some things are just not worth seeking out. So, you know, the Internet's gonna internet and people are gonna, people and theologians are gonna theologize. And sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not that productive. [00:14:08] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I think to be as charitable as I possibly can be, I think, um, Doug is, has identified a legitimate. Question about the Old Testament, right? Right. The, the Bible appears when we read about God in the Old Testament. He appears to do things like change his mind, suffer yes. Grieve experience passions. Right. Um, and, and so that's a real, um, question that needs to be answered as you read the Old Testament. Um, and the two options of course, or the two primary options of course, are either that God actually suffers, he actually experiences those things, in which case he wouldn't be a changeless God. Um, he wouldn't be a perfect God because there's these, these modes of change within God. The other option would be that there's some sort of appearance of suffering or appearance of, of change or passions that is not actual, it's not real in the sense that he's not God's lying. It's not that God's lying to us, of course not. But that these are appearances for our sake. We would say that's, we call that the doctrine of accommodation. Right. Um. What Doug tries to do is actually exactly what the church did in trying to understand how it could be that the second person of the Trinity suffered. Uh, why, why we can genuinely say that God suffered. Um, we can say that and that the answer was the hypothetic union, and this is where it really kind of like jumped into full relief for me is Doug has the same answer for the Old Testament, but instead of an incarnation of humanity, I don't know what you would call it, an, an evangelization or a, something like that, um, he would probably call like a, some somatization. Um, he uses the difference between Soma and sars as though that somehow answers the question. He says it's not a, an incarnation into sarks. It's a, an assumption of properties in da Soma. But in either case, like his answer is the same answer. That the way that the angel of the Lord suffers in the Old Testament is not according to his divine nature. It's according to these angelic properties that are assumed into his person well. Okay, so like you get the same conclusion. There needs to be some explanation now of like, well, why is it a hypostatic union when it's the human nature, but it's not a hypostatic union when it's the angelic nature or angelic properties. Um, and I think the, the real answer is that when Doug wrote those papers, he just didn't realize those implications. Um, Doug is a sharp guy, like, don't get me wrong, he's a smart guy. Um, I think he's got a pretty good grip on Hebrew and, and a lot of this too is, um. Not to make this more of an episode than it is, but, um, this Divine Council worldview at first feels like not that big of a deal when you, when you read about it the first time. Um, or when you read sort of like popular treatments of it. Um, the real problem is that this divine council worldview, um, which I'm not gonna define again, you can look, I'll pull the radio episode or the other podcast episodes, but this divine council worldview becomes like the controlling meta narrative for the entire scripture for these guys. And so if, if the son is to be the sort of lead Elohim on this divine council besides Yahweh himself, then he has to become an angel. He has to become a one of the sons of God in order to do this. Sort of almost ignoring the fact that like he already was the son of God. Like, it, it just becomes, um, this controlling meta-narrative. And if all that this, all that this divine council worldview is saying is like, yes, there's a class of creatures. Um, that are spiritual in nature and the Bible uses the word Elohim to describe them and also uses the word Elohim to describe the one true God who's in an entirely different class. And it just happens to use the same, the same word to describe those two classes. Okay. Like I would find a different way to say that that's maybe not as risky and confusing, but that would be fine. But this goes so much farther than than that. And now it has all these weird implications. He actually did a five, five-part sermon series at his church where his argument is essentially that like this. This overarching narrative of the Sons of God and, and the 70 sons of God. Um, that that's actually the story that explains how salvation functions and what we're being saved to is we're not being swept into the life of the Trinity, which is kind of the classic Christian view, the classic orthodox view that because, because of who the son is by nature, in reference to the father, when we're adopted, we gain that same relationship with the father and the son and the spirit. Um, he's, he's wanting to say, it's actually more like, no, we, we we're sort of brought onto this divine council as, as creator representatives of the cosmos. So it's, it, there's a lot to, it's, um, again, I, I don't want people just to take my word for it. I'm gonna provide as many receipts as I can, um, in the, the, um, show notes. Um, but yeah, it's, it's weird and it, it's unnecessary and [00:18:57] Jesse Schwamb: that's right. [00:18:58] Tony Arsenal: It made a lot of sense to me when Michael Heiser went down these routes, because his whole program was, he had a, a podcast called The Naked Bible, and the whole idea was like he interprets the Bible apart from any prior interpretations, which of course we know is not possible. But that was sort of his plan was he's. It wasn't necessarily anti cre, anti-real or anticon confessional. He just thought you needed to and could come to the Bible without any sort of pre interpretive, uh, positions. Um, so it made a lot of sense to me when he was like, well, yeah, this isn't the way that the historic tradition isn't understood this, but that doesn't matter. But then you have someone like Doug Van Dorn come around who claims to be a 1689 Confessional Baptist. This is like radically foreign to that system of doctrine. So it's just a weird situation. It's kind of an abandonment of the pattern of sound words that handed down to us, the ages. Um, and it does have all these weird implications, and I'm not hearing loud and clear. I am not saying Doug Van Dorn is not a Christian. Um, I do think that the implications of what he's teaching are heretical. Um, but we've made the distinction before that like, just because you teach something heretical doesn't mean you're a heretic. Um, that's a, that's a formal proclamation that the church officially makes not some dude on the internet with a podcast. But the, the implications of his teaching are quite dangerous. So. Check it out. Read it with caution and with discernment, um, and with, you know, a good systematic theology that can help kind of correct you in your hands. And the creeds and the confessions. But dude, check it out. You, you're reasonable people. Look at the scriptures yourself and make your own decisions. I don't expect anybody to ever just take my word for any of this stuff. [00:20:25] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's right. Or like you said, don't bother with. Yeah. Or don't bother. Just read the confessions. Unaware of it. Yeah. That's also, okay. Stick to the, the, hopefully the good local preaching and teaching that you're receiving and just hang out there. Yeah. And that's also okay. The internet is a super strange and weird place. Yeah. And that includes even among well intentions. Theology, sometimes it just gets weird. And this is one of those examples. [00:20:51] Tony Arsenal: It's true, it's true. I often tell people that my, my goal in any sort of public teaching or podcasting or blogging or when I'm preaching, uh, my goal is to be as like vanilla reformed as I possibly can. Like that's what I'm saying. There, there are times where like some of the stuff that I be, like, I, I'm not like straight down the middle on every single thing. There are things that I would, you know, like my view on, um, state relations with church like that, that's not exactly run of the mill vanilla presbyterianism. Um, so there are definitely things where I'm, I'm sort of a little off center on, um, but I try to be like right down the middle of the vanilla, vanilla aisle here with maybe a little bit of chocolate sauce here and there. But it's, it's pretty, uh, my reform theology is pretty boring and I'm fine with that. I love [00:21:35] Jesse Schwamb: it. I love it. It's okay to be boring, isn't it? Like boring? It's is for the most part, right. On the money. Because often when we do take our views and we polarize them to some degree, we know that there's a greater probability propensity for the errors to lie there if you're always hanging out there. Yeah. But especially in this, again, you've said all the right things it, it's just one of those things. But it's a good mark for all of us to understand that when we move so far away from orthodoxy that we're just kind of out on the pier by ourselves and you're looking around, you ought to ask what happened that you're out there so far. [00:22:05] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Well, Jesse, save us from this train of thought. What are you affirming or denying today? [00:22:10] Jesse Schwamb: I hope I have something that's exactly the opposite. As you know, Tony, not all affirmations especially are created equal because sometimes we throw one out there and it's, it's good. We think it's great. Maybe not for everybody. It doesn't resonate. It doesn't hit. This is not one of those, this is for everybody. [00:22:24] The Importance of Daily Worship [00:22:24] Jesse Schwamb: I'm coming in with a hot, strong affirmation, and that is one of the things you and I have promulgated for so long is the beauty, the necessity, the responsibility, and the joy of regular daily worship, and that can look. Lots of ways, but I think you and I have tried in our own lives and we've spoken a lot about the high conviction that we have that that kinda worship should be participatory and it can involve reading the scriptures, praying, singing this spills over into convictions about family worship, leading our families, and that kinda experience, even if it's just a little bit every day and even if it's, we give it our best efforts, this is not like a kind of legalistic approach. And so I just came across something that I think I've been testing for a while that I think is faab fabulous for everybody, could be helpful to you in daily worship. And I'm just gonna give you the website first and explain what it is. Secondly, so the website is sing the worship initiative.com. That's sing dot the worship initiative.com. You can find it if it's easier. Just search the Worship initiative. What this is, is it is. Once you sign up for this, you'll actually get a text. It's a daily text, and that text will be a link in a browser every day. So it's not a podcast, but it comes through a browser every day. It is a time of, I would say, I'll use the word colloquially, it's a time of devotional with singing led by Shane and Shane and some of their other musicians and their friends. And this is glorious. It's no more than 15 minutes, and it's purposely orchestrated to lead you or whoever's listening with you in singing, including in the app or rather in the browser. They will give you the words for the songs that they're gonna sing that day. And one, Shannon and Shane are fantastic musicians. You wanna listen to this with a good speaker or set of, uh, earbuds because, uh, the music is great and it's very stripped down. It's just, it's just piano and a little bit guitar generally. Uh, but the speaking of the theological pieces of what's in these songs is fantastic. And this just past week, they've done songs like Crown Hit with Many Crowns. Um, in Christ Alone, he will hold me fast, he will hold me fast, is an incredible piece of music and a piece of worship. So I'm just enjoying, they are using rich deeply theological songs to speak rich, deep theological truths, and then to invite you into a time of singing, like along with them. It's as if like they were just in your living room or in their kitchen and said, Hey, you got 15 minutes, especially start the day. Why don't we gather around this table and why don't we worship together? So I haven't found something quite like this where it's like an invitation to participate, both by being active listeners into what they're saying, but by also singing together. So I. Can only come at this with a really hot affirmation because I'm being blessed by it. And this rhythm of somebody like leading you daily into song, I'm finding to be so incredibly valuable. Of course, like we can find song in lots of places. We may lead ourselves, we may rely on the radio or a playlist to do that, but this kind of unique blend of a time that's being set apart, that's organized around a theme and then brings music into that as a form of meditation and worship is pretty singular. So check out, sing the worship edition of.com and especially if you're a fan of Shane and Shane, you're gonna slide right into this and feel very blessed because they're talented musicians and what they're bringing, I think is a, is a rich theological practice of actual worship, not just devotionals of some kind, but like actual participatory worship of, of in spirit and truth. [00:25:53] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I just signed up for this while you're talking. It took about a minute. It's super easy. So, um, and I'm sure that they have a way to opt out. If you start it and you hate it and you want to just stop getting text messages, I'm sure you can just respond, stop. Um, so there's really nothing to lose. There's no gimmick. They don't ask for a credit card, anything like that. Um, and I, I'm with you, like I love me some Shane and Shane music, and I do like some Shane and Shane music, um, that, that like takes me way back. Those, there are a lot of singers who've been at this for a long time. Yes, Shane and Shane was like. A really like popular band when I was in like, like upper high school. Oh yeah. So like, we're talking about a multi-decade career, long career doing mostly worship music, like they're performers, but they have entire, they have entire, many entire, um, albums that are psalms, um, entire albums that are worship choruses or what you might think of as chorus singing. Um, so yeah, I think this is great. And I'm always looking for new ways to integrate worship into my life. So this could be something as simple as like, maybe you're not gonna be able to sing out loud, but you could listen to this on the bus on the way home. Or you could put in your air, your ear pods, uh, when you're, you know, doing the dishes and instead of just listening to another podcast. I recognize the irony of saying that on a podcast that you may be listening to while you're doing the dishes, but instead of just listening to another podcast, you spend a little bit of time thinking about meditating on God's word. So that's great. I think that's an awesome, awesome information. A little [00:27:20] Jesse Schwamb: bit like very casual liturgy, but you're right, they've been around for a while and this, the content that they're producing here strikes me as like very mature. Yeah, both like in, of course, like the music they're doing and how they're singing, they're singing parts, but also just what they're speaking into. It's not just like kind of a, let's let tell you how this song impacted my life. They're, they're pulling from the scriptures and they're praying through. They're giving you a moment to stop and pause and pray yourself. There's a lot that's, that's built in there. And can I give like one other challenge? [00:27:47] Encouragement for Family Worship [00:27:47] Jesse Schwamb: This, this came to me as well this week and I know we've had some conversation in the telegram chat about like family worship, leading our families in worship about somehow how do we model that? How do we bring that together? And music often being a part of that. And I think that it's especially important for families to hear their. Their fathers and their husbands sing, no matter what your voice sounds like. Can I give a, a challenge? I think might sound crazy. This might be a hot, hot take. And so you can bring me back down instead of a mid hot take. If it, yeah, if it's a little bit too hot. But I was reading an article, and this is really from that article, and it, it did challenge me. And the article basically challenged this and said, listen, most people are actually far more musical than they understand themselves to be. And that might just not be in the instrumentation of the voice, but in other ways. And so the challenge was if you're a, a husband, a father, maybe you have some proclivity of music, maybe you have none. The challenge was basically, why don't you consider. Learning a musical instrument to lead your family in worship. And, and the challenge was basically like, pick up a guitar and, uh, see if you can eke out a couple of chords. Work through that just for the sole purpose of if nothing else, but saying like, I want to participate in something differently in my home. And maybe that's getting a keyboard and just, just trying it there. If I can play the guitar, anybody truly I think can play the guitar. It's, it's not really that difficult. I just found this captivating that this guy laid down the gauntlet and said, maybe you ought to consider doing that if only to be a model of worship in your own home throughout, throughout the week. And I just thought, you know what? That's something we're thinking about. I think all of us have something there. And that might be for some, like, maybe it means strengthening your personal prayer closet. So like your example in time of, of corporate worship of your family is stronger. Maybe it means your study of the scriptures, not just of course for like pure devotional life, but to instruct or to practice that scripture for your family. So I, I take this point of, it's not just about the music, but it could be if you're, if you're looking and saying like, man, I wish that we had some music. Um, you, you possibly could be the music. And it's just something to think about. [00:29:47] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I'll say this. Uh, it's not that hard to play guitar, but Jesse is actually quite a talented guitar player, so even though he's right, it's not that difficult. Uh, Jesse is, uh, is much better than he's letting on. But yeah, I mean, most modern worship songs, um, you can get by, you might have to like find a version online of it in this key, and you might not be able to sing it in this key, but like GC, D and E Minor. Yeah, that's right. We'll get you, we will get you basically every major worship song that you're used to singing. And those are all very easy chords to play. Yes. Um, there are difficult chords and some, some worship songs are more difficult or the, the tone is more difficult. Um, but even, even something like that, or get a keyboard and just do, you know, you can just pluck out notes, right? You can write on the notes what the, what the name of the notes are and just pluck out notes so people can sing with it. Um, there are lots of ways you can do, get a kazoo. You could lead music, you could lead your, that's your family in worship with a kazoo, um, or get the Trinity Salter hymnal app. Like, it's, yes, there are many ways that you could incorporate music in your family devotions and your personal devotions that, um, are not that challenging and, uh, really do add a lot. Now, I know there are some, there are probably a few people in our, our listening audience that are acapella only people. And I respect that perspective and, and I understand where it comes from. But, um, even then, like this might also be a little bit of a hot take. I'm not an excellent singer. I'm not a terrible singer, but, um, I could be a better singer if I practiced a little bit. And with the, with the ease of finding things like YouTube vocal coaches and right, just like vocal lessons and techniques and practice. Cool. Like, you could very easily improve your ability to sing and your confidence to sing, right? And that's only gonna help you to lead your family. I'll even throw this in there. Um. I'm in a congregation with lots and lots and lots of young families. There are five pregnant couples in our church right now. Wow. And our church, our church is probably only about 70 people on an average Sunday. So five pregnant, uh, couples is a pretty high percentage. Um, what I will tell you is that when the congregation is singing, we have lots of men who sing and they sing loud. But when the children are looking around at who is singing, they're not looking at the women, they're looking at the men. Right. Um, and you know, we're not, we are not like a hyper-masculinity podcast. We're not, you know, this isn't Michael Foster's show, this isn't the Art of Manhood. Um, but we've been pretty consistent. Like, men lead the way. That's the way the Bible has, that's way God's created it. And that's the way the Bible teaches it. And if you're in the church. You are commanded to sing. It's not an option. [00:32:28] The Importance of Singing in Church [00:32:28] Tony Arsenal: But what I will tell you is that, um, singing loud and singing confidently and singing clearly and helping the congregation to sing by being able to project your voice and sing competently, uh, it does a lot for your church. Yes. So it's never gonna be the wrong decision to improve your ability to sing and your confidence to sing. So I think that's great. I think the whole thing is great. You can learn to sing by listening to Shane and Shane and singing with them, and you can Yes. Invest a little bit of time and maybe a little bit of money in, in like an online vocal. I mean, you can get something like Musician or something like that that has guitar, but also you can do vocal training through that. There's lots of resources out there to do that. So yes, I guess that's the challenge this week. Like, let's all get out there and improve our singing voices a little bit and, and see if we can, can do this together. [00:33:14] Jesse Schwamb: I love it. I, I don't wanna belabor the points. [00:33:16] Encouragement to Learn Musical Instruments [00:33:16] Jesse Schwamb: I only bring it up because there might be somebody out there that's thinking, you know, I'd like to do more of that. And I say to you, well, why not you? It's okay. Like you could just go and explore and try get or borrow a relatively inexpensive guitar. And like you said, you don't need to learn to read music to do that. You're just kind of learning some shapes and they correspond to certain letters in the alphabet. And in no time at all, you could be the person that's strumming out, eking out some chords and you're doing that at home. And that might be a great blessing. It might change your life. It might change the trajectory of how you serve in the church. And you might find that God has equipped you to do those things. Yeah. And wouldn't it be lovely just to try some of those things out? So whatever, whatever they are, it's certainly worth trying and, and music is a big part of, I know like your life. Mine and it is someday. Tony, we have to do the sing episode. I don't know that we've actually done that one, right? We just talk about what it like, is it a command that we sing and why I think we've [00:34:08] Tony Arsenal: done that. I think we did have, we, it's early on in the episode on our views. Might have changed a little bit. So we maybe should um, we should loop back to, I'm sure we talked about 'em when we were going through Colossians as well. [00:34:17] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I think we did. I just dunno if we did, like, we're, we're just gonna set a whole hour aside and for us, that's definitely not an hour, but, and just talk about this in particular and like what, why do we sing and what, why does guy command this? And then why our voice is different and why do some people feel this, you know, sense of like why don't have a good voice and you know, we, you always hear people say like, well make a joyful noise. And I think sometimes that falls flax. You're kinda like, yeah, but you don't know the noise I'm making you. That's kind of the response you hear. So some someday we'll come back to it, but I'm gonna make a prophetic announcement that there is no way we're going get through this one parable. No already. So. [00:34:55] Introduction to the Parable of the Lost Sheep [00:34:55] Jesse Schwamb: Everybody strap in because we'll do probably a part one. And if you're curious about where we're going, we're moving just away from Matthew for now, we're gonna be hanging out in Luke 15. We've got a trio of parables about lost things. And again, I think this is gonna be very common to many people. So I encourage you as best you can, as we read these to always start our conversation, try to strip away what you've heard before and let's just listen to the scripture. [00:35:20] Reading and Analyzing the Parable [00:35:20] Jesse Schwamb: So we're gonna start in Luke chapter 15 in verse one. I'm not even gonna give you the name of the parable because you will quickly discern which one it is. So this is the Luke chapter 15, beginning of verse one. Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to him, and both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable saying. What man among you, if he has 100 sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. And when he is found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repentance than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. [00:36:19] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And yeah, this, this will definitely be a multi-part episode. And, and part of that is we just spent a half an hour talking about affirmations and denials. I think we probably should have a podcast called Belaboring The Point, which is just us talking about other random stuff. Fair. [00:36:33] Comparing the Parable in Luke and Matthew [00:36:33] Tony Arsenal: But, um, the other part is that this parable is, um, slightly different in Luke as it is in Matthew. [00:36:41] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:36:41] Tony Arsenal: Um, and also it's positioning in the narrative and what comes immediately following it is different. And I think that's worth unpacking a little bit as we talk about it this week, next week and, and probably maybe even into a third week. Um, but the, the parable here on, on one level, like most parables is super, super straightforward, right? Like right. This is God's di, this is God's demeanor, and his disposition is that he seeks that which is lost, um, which is good news for us because all of us are lost. There's only lost people until God finds them. Right. Um, and find again, of course, is an accommodated way of saying it's not like God has to go out searching for us. He knows where we are and he knows how to find us. Um. But this is also a different format for a parable, right? He's, he's not saying the kingdom of heaven is like this. The parable is what man of you having a hundred sheep? Like the parable is a question Yes. Posed to the audience, and it, it is in the context here, and this is where, this is where looking at the parallels between different, different gospels and how it's presented and even the different variations here shows you, on one level it shows you that Jesus taught these parables in multiple different contexts and different occasions. Right? In this occasion, it's he's sitting down, he's with the tax collectors and the sinners. They're grumbling. They're saying, this man eats with sinners. And receives them in, um, in Matthew, it's slightly different, right? He's in a different context and sit in a different teaching context. So the way that we understand that is that Christ taught these parables multiple places. And so we should pay attention to the variation, not just because there's variation for variation's sake, but the way that they're positioned tells us something. So when he's telling the account in Luke, it's told as a corrective to the tax collectors and the um. Right on the Pharisees, um, who are, sorry. It's a, it's a corrective to the Pharisees and the scribes who are grumbling about the tax collectors and the sinners drawing near to Christ. And so he speaks to the Pharisees and to the scribes and is like, well, which one of you wouldn't go seek out their lost sheep? Like, it's this question that just lays bare. They're really sinful. Ridiculous Jonah. I just invented that. Like Jonah I perspective that like, oh, exactly how dare God go after how dare Christ eat with sinners and tax collectors? And he says, well, if you love something. If you love your sheep, you're going to go after your sheep. [00:39:03] The Deeper Meaning of the Parable [00:39:03] Tony Arsenal: You're not going to just abandon, uh, this sheep to its own devices, even though there is, and again, this is a, a comedy way of talking about like, even though there's some risk associated with going after the one sheep, because you do have to leave the 99, he still is saying like, this is the character. This is my character speaking as grace. This is my character. This is the character of my father. And there's this implication of like, and it's obviously not the character of you. So I think this is a, this is a really great parable to sort of highlight that feature of parables when they're repeated across different, um, gospels. We have to pay attention, not just to the words of the parables themselves, but what the teaching is in response to what the teaching like proceeds. We'll see when we look at Matthew, there's a very, there's a, a different. Flavor to the parable because of what he's going to be leading into in the teaching. So I love this stuff. This has been such a great series to sort of like work through this because you, you really start to get these fine details. [00:39:59] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. This parable of the lost sheep is I think on the face straightforward, like you said. But it is actually complex. It's complex in the argumentation and the posturing Jesus takes here, like you said, he's binding the pharisee. This is condemning question of like which one of you, like you said. So there's that, which is slightly different element than we've seen or covered so far. There's also the context, like you said, in which it happens and I think we need to think specifically about. Who is this lost? Who are the 99? Who are the ones that Jesus is really trying to draw in with conviction, but also, again, what is he saying about himself? And it's way more, of course, like we're gonna say, well, this is again, that default, that heart posture. Even those things are more cliche than we mean them to be. Yeah. And we need to spend some time, I think, on all of these elements. And it starts with, at least in Luke, we get this really lovely context about when the teaching unfolds. And even that is worth just setting down some roots for for just a second. Because what I find interesting here is I think there's a principle at play that we see where. Everything that everything gives. Jesus glory, all the things give him glory, even when his enemies come before him and seek to label him. It's not as if Jesus appropriates that label, repurposes, it turns it for good. The very label, the things that they try to do to discredit him, to essentially disparage him, are the very things that make him who he is and show his loving and kindness to his people. And I think we'll come back to this like this, this sheep this, these are his children. So these words that it starts with, that were evidently spoken with surprise and scorn, certainly not with pleasure and admiration. These ignorant guides of the Jews could not understand a religious preacher having anything to do with what they perceive to be wicked people. Yeah. And yet their words worked for good. I mean, this is exactly like the theology of the cross. The very saying, which was meant for reproach, was adopted by Jesus as a true description of his ministry. It is true. He's the one who comes and sits and subs and communes and touches the sinners, the ugly, the unclean, the pariahs. It led to his speaking three of these particular parables in Luke in rapid succession. For him to emphasize that he's taken all of what was literally true that the scribes of Pharisees said, and to emphasize that he is indeed the one who received sinners. It's not like he's just like saying, well, lemme put that on and wear that as a badge. He's saying. You do not understand God if you think that God does not receive sinners, to pardon them, to sanctify them, to make them fit for heaven. It's his special office to do so. And this, I think therein lies this really dip deep and rich beauty of the gospel, that that's the end that he truly came into the world. [00:42:47] Christ's Joy in Finding the Lost [00:42:47] Jesse Schwamb: He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came to the world to safe sinners, what he was upon Earth. He's now at the right hand of God and will be for all eternity. And he's emphatically the sinner's friend. And without this reproach from the Pharisees, like we don't get this particular teaching and what they intended again, to be used to really discredit God, to say, look, how can this be the son of God? What we get then for all of eternity is some understanding of Christ. And even here now with his word, we have this sense like, listen, do we feel bad? Do we feel wicked and guilty and deserving of God's wrath? Is there some remembrance of our past lives, the bitterness of sin to us? Is there some kind of recollection of our conduct for which we're ashamed? Then we are the very people who ought to apply to Christ. And Christ demonstrates that here, that his love is an act of love. Just as we are pleading nothing good of our own and making no useless delay, we come because of this teaching to Christ and will receive graciously his part in freely. He gives us eternal life. He's the one who sinners. I'm so thankful for this parable because it sets up very clearly who Jesus is, and this is where we can say he is for us. So let us not be lost for lack of applying to him that we may be saved. This text gives us the direct inroad to apply for that kind of healing and favor of God. [00:44:08] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And, and I love, um, there is such a, um, subtle sort of SmackDown that Jesus does. Like, yeah. I, I think, um, just speaking on a purely human level for a second, like Jesus is such a master re tion. Like he is so handy and capable to just dismantle and smack down people who, and I obviously, I don't mean that in like a sinful way. Like he just puts down the argument. He just gets it done with, and even the way this is phrased, right, they come, they're grumbling, this man receives sinners and meets with them. So he told them this par ball, what, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lost one of them, doesn't leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost, right? So he's saying like, he jumps in right away, like. This is just the obvious answer. This is just the obvious state, like who would not go after their sheep. I think we hear this, and again, I'm not an expert on like first century sheep herding practices, right? But like we think of it, I look at it, I'm like, actually, like that seems like a really bad investment. Like it would be really bad idea to go after the one sheep and leave your 99 in the open country. That seems like a silly answer. That's my error. That's me being wrong because he's saying that as the obvious answer. Right? I think we sometimes, um, I've heard, I've heard sermons that preach this, that make it almost like this is a super reckless. You know, abandonment. Like he's so enamored with us that he leaves the 99 and he goes after the one, and he's taking such a huge risk. But the way that this is presented, this is the obvious thing that anyone in their right mind would do if they lost a sheet. Right? For sure. Right? It's not an unusual response. Yes. There's an element of risk to that, and I think that's, that's part of the parable, right? There's a, there's a riskiness that he's adding to it because, um. Again, we wanna be careful how we say this. Um, God's love is not reckless in the sense that we would normally think about reckless, but it's reckless in the sense that it, it es assumes sort of ordinary conventions of safety. Right? Right. That's not really what's at play here. Like the, the fact is Christ presents the scenario where you, you go after one lost sheep and leave your 99 in the open country or in Matthew, it's on the mountains. Like that's the normal expected course here, such that if you are the person who won't do that, then you are the one that's out of the ordinary. But then he goes on to say, and this is where, where I think he's just such a master, he's such a master at setting a logical trap. Here he says, um. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost. And again, this is the expected answer. This is not some unusual situation where like people are like, oh man, he like, he had a party 'cause he found a sheep. That's strange. This is what, what would be expected, right? This would be the normal response. But then he says, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. He is able, in the course of like. 30 words, like this is a short, short response. He's able to show them that their response to, to sinners is totally out of the ordinary. Like it's a, it's sort of an insane response. Um, he positions going after the one sheep and leaving the 99 as the sane response and leaving the, you know, leaving the one to be lost, leaving the sinners and tax collectors to be lost. That's the insane response. Right. That's the one that like, nobody would do that though. Why would anybody do that? But then he goes to show like, but that's exactly what you're doing. [00:47:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. Right. And he [00:47:56] Tony Arsenal: says, what you should be doing is rejoicing with me for, I found my lost, she. Right. He shifts. He shifts. He's now the man in the parable saying, um, not just, uh, not just rejoice or not just I'm rejoicing, but he's summoning them to rejoice with him over the salvation of these lost sinners. And that is the normal expected response. And then he, he shows like there will be this rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents more so than if there was a, but, and we should address this too. He's not saying that there is a such thing as a righteous person who needs no repentance. Right? He's saying like, even if there were 99 righteous people who need to know repentance, even if that was somehow the case, there would be more joy. There is more joy, there will be more joy over the sinner who repents than over a hun 99 people who didn't need to be saved. Right? He makes the sin, the, the, um, Pharisees and the scribes look like total chumps and totally like. Totally self-absorbed and turned inwards on themselves in this tiny little master stroke that you wouldn't even, you wouldn't even think that that was part of the point. If it wasn't for the fact that it was positioned right after verse 15, one and two. You just wouldn't get that from this parable. That there is this sort of like rhetorical SmackDown going on that I think is, is important for us to, to latch onto a little bit here. [00:49:18] Jesse Schwamb: Uh, why is our podcast not three hours? Because there's so much I want to say, so. I'm totally with you. I like what you brought up about this recklessness of God, and I'm with you. We shouldn't define that in the same way. Maybe we can modify it. I might say like His love is recklessly spend thrift. That is, we see when Paul says like God has lavished his love on us, like these big verbs that they are real. Yeah. It's not just hyper rip hyperbole or just like flowery language. And I think as you're speaking, what really occurred to me, what really kind of came through with what you're saying is, okay, what is this cost? Why is he so particular to go after this one? And I think it's because it's, he's looking for his sheep. So these are his children. Yes. It's not just, I think Christ is out in the world because he will find his children. He will find the one who is. His own. So he is looking for his own sheep. One of his, one of his fold. So like the sheep I might find in the world is the one that God has been seeking to save, even one of whom knows his name. That's like John 10, right? So one of, I think our problem is understanding this parable has to do with the when of our salvation. You know, we generally think it's at the time that, you know, we believe. The people are those given to God before the foundation of the world. And God sees us as his people before we were ever born, even before the world began. And when we believe it is just our Lord finding us as his last sheep and we're returned to the fold. So he always goes after that one. So we'll learn more. Like you said, when we look at Matthew's account about who are those other 90 nines. So we can set that aside, I suppose, for now. But it really is a matter of our status before Adam, before the fall, and then after Adam, after the fall, while all men fell with Adam. So also did God's people, which he had chosen before time began. And so this idea of going after the one is bringing back into the fold that who is his child though, who he has made a promise, a covenantal promise to bring into the kingdom of heaven. I was thinking as well of this amazing quote and like, what that all means about God's love for us, which again, is just more than like, isn't it nice that when you are out in

English Puritans were Protestants who wished to reform England’s state religion of Catholic influences. Their efforts met with stiff resistance. Escaping religious persecution, they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to make a new life in the New World. E284. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/KruDo99XKfw which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. Puritans books available at https://amzn.to/3SorIa5 Martin Luther books available at https://amzn.to/45n2zlx Protestant Reformation books available at https://amzn.to/3MmaQgT ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credit: The History of the Christian Church podcast with Pastor Lance Ralston (episode 112). Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Pilgrims were reform-minded Protestants Puritans who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices. Who were these Pilgrims and why did they cross the Atlantic Ocean to come to America starting in 1620? Were they really escaping religious persecution to establish a new life in North America? E283. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/eUCgCc-FSJQ which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. Puritans books available at https://amzn.to/3SorIa5 Martin Luther books available at https://amzn.to/45n2zlx Protestant Reformation books available at https://amzn.to/3MmaQgT PLEASE help us get to 10,000 subscribers! ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credit: The History of the Christian Church podcast with Pastor Lance Ralston (episodes 111 & 112). Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jay Milbrandt shares his research about the Pilgrims’ journey from England to North America as they fled religious persecution. As a descendant of two early immigrants on the Mayflower, Milbrandt was curious about what the true story was behind their ocean voyage. He describes the harsh conditions that the Pilgrims and Puritans endured, as they barely survived the first couple of years, with the help of an Indian named Squanto and the native Wampanoag tribe, explaining how festivals in Plymouth, Massachusetts became connected to our modern-day Thanksgiving. He also shares about the significance of the Mayflower Compact, which in some ways laid a foundation for the U.S. Constitution. Receive Jay Milbrandt's book They Came for Freedom for your donation of any amount! And when you give today, your support will be DOUBLED to Give Families Hope! Get More Episode Resources If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Happy Thanksgiving! As you gather with family and friends today, we hope your hearts are filled with gratitude to God for His many blessings. While Thanksgiving is a treasured tradition for us, its roots stretch back more than 4 centuries. Who gathered at that first feast in 1621? Why were they there? And what exactly were they giving thanks for?Let's take a closer look at the remarkable story of the Pilgrims—one of enduring faith, sacrifice, and God's gracious provision.Who Were the Pilgrims?Most of us learned in grade school that the Plymouth Colony—located in present-day Massachusetts—was founded in 1620 by a group we know as the Pilgrims. These settlers, also called Separatists, longed to break away entirely from the Church of England, believing it had drifted from biblical teaching. Their commitment to worship according to Scripture set them on a courageous journey toward religious freedom.Nearby, the Puritans would establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. While they shared many beliefs with the Pilgrims, their approach differed. The Puritans remained within the Church of England, seeking to reform it from within. Though their strategies diverged, the stories of these two groups are deeply intertwined in the early chapters of American history.The Pilgrims faced significant persecution in England for worshiping outside the established church. Holding fast to the Bible as their ultimate authority made them targets. In 1609, seeking refuge, they fled to Leiden, Holland. Yet even there, challenges persisted—some were arrested, and the freedom they sought still felt out of reach.Recognizing Europe would not offer the spiritual liberty they longed for, they made a bold and costly decision: to sail to the New World. About 120 men, women, and children boarded the Mayflower. While some passengers—known as “adventurers”—joined the voyage for economic opportunity, the Pilgrims' primary aim was clear: to worship freely and build a life rooted firmly in their faith.Hardship Upon ArrivalTheir journey across the Atlantic was long and brutal. Delays meant they arrived in November—not summer—leaving no time to plant crops. That first winter, remembered as “the starving time,” was devastating. Nearly half the group died from disease and lack of food.Still, in God's providence, the Pilgrims formed a gracious relationship with local Native Americans. A Native American named Squanto—who had learned English years earlier—became a critical ally. He taught them how to plant corn, where to fish, and how to survive in an unfamiliar land. His guidance helped bring the colony through that difficult first year.With Squanto's help, the Pilgrims planted crops in the spring of 1621 and harvested enough that fall to sustain their small community. To honor God for His provision, they invited their Native American neighbors to join them in a feast of thanksgiving.By that point, only 22 men, four married women, and 25 teenagers and children remained from the original group. Their guests nearly doubled the gathering, bringing food and friendship—resulting in what may have been America's first potluck meal. Together, they celebrated survival, provision, and the kindness of God expressed through unexpected relationships.A Legacy of FaithYears later, Plymouth's longtime governor, William Bradford, reflected on their experience in Of Plymouth Plantation, quoting Hebrews 11:13–16 to describe the Pilgrims' faith:“All these people were still living by faith when they died… They were looking for a country of their own… longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”For the Pilgrims, this passage captured the heart of their journey. They understood that their true home was not a piece of land or a colony—they belonged to God. Their courage, perseverance, and gratitude were expressions of that eternal hope.As we celebrate Thanksgiving today, may we remember this story of faith under pressure, resilience in hardship, and gratitude rooted in God's unwavering provision. The freedoms we enjoy—especially the freedom to worship—come through the sacrifices of those who came before us.From all of us at FaithFi, we wish you a warm, joyful, and grace-filled Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with gratitude for God's goodness and confidence in His faithful care.On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:My question is about the so-called ‘Dollar 2.0' and the new S.1582 bill. How might this impact our currency? I'm retired and concerned about my savings.My dad recently passed away and left me and my siblings money in an IRA. We're being told we need to set up inherited IRAs to receive it. What exactly is an inherited IRA, and is that our only—or best—option?I run a construction company and also helped start a nonprofit. Can I legally pay myself a salary from the nonprofit? And can the nonprofit hire my construction company for its projects?Resources Mentioned:Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner)Sound Mind Investing (SMI)Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on MoneyLook At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and AnxietyRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA)FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every workday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1649, an English act of parliament had a significant impact on the spread of the gospel in New England along with the execution of King Charles I in 1649, which led to the establishment of the Commonwealth of England, that Puritan Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. E352. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/6WQQ5HUvLIk which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. 5 Minutes in Church History podcast at https://amzn.to/3BoedCq 5 Minute Biographies podcast https://amzn.to/3zCy3t3 Oliver Cromwell books at https://amzn.to/4gxPZpd King Charles I books at https://amzn.to/47AAoRH English Civil War books available at https://amzn.to/3ztpFvL ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio Credit: 5 Minutes in Church History podcast with Stephen Nichols (Episode 24jul2024: A Book and an Act of Parliament, 1649; and, Episode 27nov2019: Thanksgiving); 5 Minute Biographies podcast with Wayne Armstrong (Oliver Cromwell, 24jul2024). Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us on this extra special FRIENDSgiving episode of BFGE where Sarah and Emma break ground by inviting their XY-chromosome'd friend Andrew over to watch the 1996 American classic, "The Crucible."  Join us as:- Emma explains the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans, while Andrew teaches about the bureaucracy of the actual Salem witch trials.- Sarah fights for #justice4abigail, a teenager who was immediately discarded like a used cumrag after married middle-aged John Proctor had sex with her once, maybe twice.- Was Arthur Miller kind of a shitbag? -  Emma loses her cool; Sarah needs the sex wheat.- Chekhov's heiferLike our stupid lil movie parties? Please drop us a rating on spotify/apple and follow us on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/brutalfilmgirlpod/

On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Kevin Slack, associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, joins Federalist Senior Elections Correspondent Matt Kittle to discuss the role faith played in the colonists' first Thanksgiving and analyze how that monumental event paved the way for the American Revolution. Check out the six-part “Colonial America: From Wilderness to Civilization” educational series here. If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.   

In this special two-part Thanksgiving bonus episode, Blake and Jack take listeners on a fast-moving, 30,000-foot flyover of the wild, chaotic, and faith-shaping events that led to the Pilgrims boarding the Mayflower and eventually celebrating what we call the First Thanksgiving. Before the Mayflower ever touched the shores of the New World, England endured a century of political turmoil, religious reform, royal power struggles, public executions, and theological awakening. From Henry VIII's messy pursuit of an annulment, to Edward VI's Protestant reforms, to the brutal burnings under Bloody Mary, to Elizabeth's uneasy religious compromise, and finally to King James and his push for conformity—this episode explores the real forces that shaped the Puritans and the Separatists, and ultimately birthed the Pilgrim story. This episode aims to help you see Thanksgiving with fresh eyes and a deeper appreciation for the believers who risked everything to pursue biblical worship.   Connect Website & Blog: www.chorusinthechaos.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chorusinthec... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chorus_in_the_chaos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chorusnthechaos Intro/Outro Music (by our good friend Nick Illes): https://open.spotify.com/artist/7tnsQ... Email: chorusinthechaos@email.com Generations Be sure to visit our friends at Generations.org! They've built an incredible library of Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, books, and podcasts — all designed to help your family apply the Bible to every area of life. History, science, worldview, you name it — it all points back to Christ. Use the code CHORUS at checkout for 15% off your order.

Learn that the idea of gratitude and giving thanks is an ancient concept for mankind and is expressly elevated in the Bible.Review how days of thanksgiving were originally commemorated in the English colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts, with the English dissenters, the Pilgrims, having the most influential celebrations.In the colonial era, Thanksgiving celebrations were centered on specific events and circumstances and accordingly occurred at different times.As Americans united against British tyranny, they made continental-wide proclamations through the Continental Congress, but again, they were tied to specific events and times.President George Washington issued the first two Thanksgiving Proclamations under the Constitution.Sarah Josepha Hale's drive to create a uniform, nationwide celebration was embraced by Lincoln and his successors, and it became firmly fixed to the Fourth Thursday of November under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.Feasts, running, football, parades, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday all flow from this powerful day of gratitude.Highlights include the Bible, Thessalonians 5:16-18, Colossians 2:7, Psalm 100:4, Colossians 4:2, Psalm 92, Philippians 4:6, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth Anne Boleyn, Church of England, John Calvin, Puritans, Common Book of Prayers, King James I, Pilgrims, Mayflower, Plymouth England, Plymouth Harbor Massachusetts, Mayflower Compact, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Samoset, Squanto, Wampanoag, William Bedford, Thanksgiving commemoration, Melanie Kirkpatrick, Thanksgiving The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience, William Bradford, Berkeley Plantation a/k/a Berkeley Hundred, The Margaret, John Woodlief, Jamestown, the Starving Time, Chief Opechancanough, Massacre of 1622, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Amsterdam, First Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress, Day of Humiliation Fasting and Prayer (1776), Henry Laurens, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (1777), Battle of Saratoga, Thomas McKean, Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer (December 18, 1781), George Washington, James Madison, Elias Boudinot, Aedanus Burke, Thomas Tudor Tucker, Federalist Party, Anti-Federalists, Peter Silvester, Roger Sherman, Articles of Confederation, Continental Association, Constitution, William Samuel Johnson, Ralph Izard, Washington Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (October 3, 1789 for November 26, 1789), Whiskey Rebellion, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Letter, James Madison, First Amendment, War of 1812, Abraham Lincoln, Sarah Josepha Hale, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Northwood: A Tale of New England, Vassar College, domestic science, Ladies' Magazine, Godey's Lady's Book, Civil War, William Seward, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln Thanksgiving Proclamation (October 3, 1863 and October 24, 1864), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt a/k/a FDR, National Retail Dry Goods Association, Franksgiving, Allen Treadway, Earl Michener, FDR Thanksgiving Speech (1938), President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Johnson Thanksgiving Speech (1963), President John F. Kennedy, President Ronald Reagan, Reagan Thanksgiving Speech (October 19, 1984 and 1986), President Barak Obama, Obama Thanksgiving Speech (2009), President George W. Bush, President Bush Thanksgiving Day visit to the troops in Iraq, President Donald Trump, Trump Thanksgiving Day visit to troops in Afghanistan, Trump Speech to troops on Thanksgiving, President Bill Clinton, Clinton Pardoning of Turkey Speech (1997), Presidential Pardons of Turkey, Thanksgiving Dinner & Feast, Thanksgiving parades, Grumbles, Macy's, Hudson's, Turkey Trot, National Football League (NFL) Thanksgiving Games, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Walter Camp, Collegiate Football Thanksgiving Games, George A. Richards, The Chicago Bears, Saturday Night Live (SNL), Black Friday, Giving Tuesday, Henry Timms, Cyber Monday, and many others.To learn more about America & Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org.

Happy Thanksgiving! How about a bit of seasonal American history you probably didn't learn about in 2nd grade? Author of Cults Like Us, Jane Borden and I delve into the connections between cult dynamics and American culture, particularly through the lens of the Puritans and Pilgrims. Jane explains how these early groups set the stage for modern consumerism, the psychological impacts of cult-like thinking, and the prevalence of such dynamics in contemporary society, including the rise of influencers.Plus, Mr. F tries to make me a Trekkie.Show NotesAmok TimeThe Enduring Legacy of TrekkiesConnect with Jane : Instagram | TikTok | WebsiteCults Like Us by Jane BordenPlymouth Colony WikiThe Influence ContinuumOut of MLM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The BITE Model⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LAMLM Book Club⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MLM Dupes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How can you help?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MLM Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Report Fraud⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Truth in Advertising⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Report to your state Attorney General's office!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Not in the U.S.? No Problem!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the Podcast!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Buy Me a Taco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merch!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Life After MLM is produced by Roberta Blevins. Audio editing is done by the lovely⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Kayla Craven⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, video editing by the indescribable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ RK Gold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Michelle Carpenter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is our Triple Emerald Princess of Robots. Life After MLM is owned by Roberta Blevins 2025.Music : Abstract World by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alexi Action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*Some links may be affiliate links. When you purchase things from these links, I get a small commission that I use to buy us tacos.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A war raged in the Puritan New England of the 1600s with both the indigenous people who first settled the land and against the “Spirits of the Invisible World” who used “horrid sorcerers and hellish conjurers who conversed with demons” to torment and persecute the faithful. It was a time of sin, suspicion, wild accusations – and witchcraft. Those who had made pacts with the Devil were intent on the destruction of the “purified” world that the Puritans had created – and they would do anything to stop it.Our Sponsors:* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntingsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/american-hauntings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss an article from Kevin DeYoung for some helpful tips on preaching from the Puritans. Puritan preaching was characterized by these markers: Expository Doctrinal Orderly Plain Focused on Christ Resources Related to this Episode: “5 Preaching Tips from the Puritans” by Kevin DeYoung

Yes, Emily wrote another book. Yes, it's getting obnoxious. And yes, we're talking about it anyways. But, we're also talking about aging and traveling and beer and Puritans and holiness and toxic teas and a whole lot more. It's a great conversation, and we're happy to have you join us for another episode of Visitation Sessions. This episode of Visitation Sessions is brought to you by Select International Tours, winner of an innovation award from the Faith Travel Association for their Food and Faith pilgrimages. If you are a foodie or a wine connoisseur, who is looking to make a pilgrimage, check out the pilgrimages offered by Select International Tours.Show Notes: Sacred Wine: The Holy Heritage and History of Catholic Vintners“Why Doesn't Anyone Want to Make French Wine Anymore” by Josephine de La Bruyère“Why the Germans Are Falling Out of Love With Beer” (The Economist)Franciscan University Austrian Summer ExperienceShop the Chapman's Online Bookstore This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

This episode shows how the church moved from state-controlled religion to voluntary, Scripture-governed communities—and how the Baptists, Congregationalists, Evangelical Free, and eventually Methodists emerged.--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you're looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --How England's Reformation Took a Very Different PathWhile Luther and Calvin led theological reform on the continent, England's story began with politics.Henry VIII wanted a male heir, the Pope refused to annul his marriage, and the king broke from Rome.The Act of Supremacy (1534) created the Church of England—but it simply replaced the pope with a king. It wasn't a movement of revival; it was a power play.After Henry, England spun between Protestant and Catholic identities depending on the monarch. Edward VI pushed Protestant reforms, Mary I violently restored Catholicism, and Elizabeth I settled for a middle-way Anglicanism. The constant whiplash raised a crucial question:If kings can change doctrine overnight, where does true faith come from—crown or conscience?Puritans, Separatists, and the Search for a Church Governed by ScriptureTwo groups rose in response:Puritans — Anglicans who wanted deeper biblical reform.Separatists (Pilgrims) — Puritans who believed the system was beyond repair.King James I shut down most Puritan reforms (except authorizing the King James Bible). He made Anglican worship mandatory by law, and that pressure pushed both groups out of England.The Separatists, who fled first, would shape the future of the church in profound ways.The Birth of the Baptists and CongregationalistsThe Gainsborough Group escaped to Amsterdam and encountered the Anabaptists—believers who rejected state-run religion and emphasized personal faith. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys embraced these ideas and in 1609 founded the first Baptist church. They insisted:Faith must be personalBaptism belongs to believersLocal churches should govern themselvesGovernment must never control conscienceHelwys returned to England in 1612 and founded the first Baptist church on English soil, writing boldly to the king, “You have no power over the souls of your subjects.”Another group—the Scrooby Separatists—fled to Holland, then boarded the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. Their self-governing church became the root of Congregationalism, shaping early American values of freedom, conscience, and community.Europe's Crisis and the Rise of PietismMeanwhile, Europe erupted into the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) over forced religion. Millions died. When the war finally ended, the dream of a unified Christendom...

It's almost Thanksgiving, and we usually hear two different types of stories about the early European settlers in America. Some are about a group of pious and peaceful Pilgrims who came to find religious freedom. The others are about greedy Europeans who used Christianity to take advantage of Native Americans. Join Trinity, Sean, and Grace as they explore the true story of the relations between Puritans and Native Americans with their guest, Dr. Matthew Tuininga, Professor of Christian Ethics and the History of Christianity at Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan, and author of the book, The Wars of the Lord, The Puritan Conquest of America's First People.   Show Notes: Here is a link to Dr. Tuininga's book if you'd like to find out more about this fascinating topic!

Every November we hear the cozy legend of the First Thanksgiving—Pilgrims, turkey, and a peaceful feast in the New World. But the real story behind Thanksgiving is much darker. Long before it became a holiday, the land around Plymouth was a plague-ravaged, haunted wilderness, where the Pilgrims saw the Devil in every tree… and the Wampanoag saw spirits in every swamp.This is the terrifying true story behind the celebration we remember every Thanksgiving.In this Thanksgiving horror history episode of Terrifying & True, we go back to 1620–1630, when the Mayflower arrived in a New England already emptied by a mysterious European plague. The Pilgrims believed God had “cleared” the land for them. The Wampanoag wondered if the strangers from across the sea carried a curse. As November winds howled and crops failed, both sides read every storm, comet, and sickness as a sign from the spirit world.We'll walk into Hockomock Swamp, the “place where spirits dwell”, where the Wampanoag said the powerful manitou Hobbamock gathered souls in the mist. We'll stand with the Pilgrims on a freezing night, hearing “hideous and great” shouts in the darkness and wondering if it's an attack—or a demon. We'll sit inside Massasoit's lodge as the Wampanoag sachem lies near death in 1623, while powwaws chant, English prayers rise, and a strange alliance is sealed when he survives.This is the side of Thanksgiving you don't hear about in school: secret midnight burials on Cole's Hill, raided cornfields, rumors that the English kept plague in barrels, and a fragile peace that led to that famous 1621 harvest feast—a celebration held under a sky both peoples believed was full of omens and spirits. The Pilgrims saw themselves as a chosen people in a howling wilderness. The Wampanoag lived with a new fear: that a foreign God might be stronger than their own.From these first Thanksgiving-era encounters grew a legacy of paranoia that reaches all the way to the Salem witch trials and King Philip's War. The Pilgrims' Thanksgiving miracle stories, the Wampanoag's spiritual world of Kiehtan and Hobbamock, and the brutal reality of disease and hunger combined into one of America's earliest haunted holiday tales. This year, as you carve the turkey, remember: the road to that “peaceful” feast was paved with ghost stories, curses, and fear.Inside this episode:The real first Thanksgiving: How a fragile truce, a desperate harvest, and a haunted landscape created the feast we still celebrate every November.Pilgrims in a howling wilderness: Why early settlers believed New England was a devil-haunted forest and read every disaster as God's judgment.Wampanoag spirits and Hobbamock: The Native cosmology of Kiehtan, Hobbamock, manitous, and powwaws—and why English colonists called it “witchcraft.”Plague, providence, and plague barrels: The 1616–1619 epidemic, empty villages, and rumors that the English stored disease as a weapon.Omens, comets, and curses: From strange lights in the sky to disturbed graves, how both sides believed the land around Plymouth was full of warnings.Miracle rain and a dying sachem: The 1623 fast and gentle rain, Massasoit's near-fatal illness, and the moments both peoples thought their gods had spoken.From feast to war: How this haunted decade laid the spiritual groundwork for Salem, King Philip's War, and centuries of Thanksgiving myths.If you're looking for a Thanksgiving episode that digs into the true horror behind the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, this is your haunted holiday history—the dark story hiding behind the turkey and the pies.Support the show AND get delicious coffee for a creepy night in at 25% off using code “SPOOKY”https://savorista.com/discount/SPOOKY

This episode shows how the church moved from state-controlled religion to voluntary, Scripture-governed communities—and how the Baptists, Congregationalists, Evangelical Free, and eventually Methodists emerged.--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you're looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --How England's Reformation Took a Very Different PathWhile Luther and Calvin led theological reform on the continent, England's story began with politics.Henry VIII wanted a male heir, the Pope refused to annul his marriage, and the king broke from Rome.The Act of Supremacy (1534) created the Church of England—but it simply replaced the pope with a king. It wasn't a movement of revival; it was a power play.After Henry, England spun between Protestant and Catholic identities depending on the monarch. Edward VI pushed Protestant reforms, Mary I violently restored Catholicism, and Elizabeth I settled for a middle-way Anglicanism. The constant whiplash raised a crucial question:If kings can change doctrine overnight, where does true faith come from—crown or conscience?Puritans, Separatists, and the Search for a Church Governed by ScriptureTwo groups rose in response:Puritans — Anglicans who wanted deeper biblical reform.Separatists (Pilgrims) — Puritans who believed the system was beyond repair.King James I shut down most Puritan reforms (except authorizing the King James Bible). He made Anglican worship mandatory by law, and that pressure pushed both groups out of England.The Separatists, who fled first, would shape the future of the church in profound ways.The Birth of the Baptists and CongregationalistsThe Gainsborough Group escaped to Amsterdam and encountered the Anabaptists—believers who rejected state-run religion and emphasized personal faith. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys embraced these ideas and in 1609 founded the first Baptist church. They insisted:Faith must be personalBaptism belongs to believersLocal churches should govern themselvesGovernment must never control conscienceHelwys returned to England in 1612 and founded the first Baptist church on English soil, writing boldly to the king, “You have no power over the souls of your subjects.”Another group—the Scrooby Separatists—fled to Holland, then boarded the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. Their self-governing church became the root of Congregationalism, shaping early American values of freedom, conscience, and community.Europe's Crisis and the Rise of PietismMeanwhile, Europe erupted into the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) over forced religion. Millions died. When the war finally ended, the dream of a unified Christendom...

"In the fall of 1620, the Mayflower embarked on a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Over the next nine weeks, its passengers and crew battled fierce storms and rampant illness. They had left England dangerously late in the season, and provisions ran low. In the ship's cramped cabins, the Puritan Separatists shared close quarters with a group known as “Strangers” who did not share their tight bonds or religious beliefs. When strong gales blew the ship off course, tensions between the Puritans and the Strangers exploded, threatening to tear the colony apart before they even set foot in the New World.Be the first to know about Wondery's newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Puritans called the Lord's Day "the market day of the soul," when God's people are strengthened and refreshed on their journey toward heaven. Today, Derek Thomas explores John Bunyan's illustration of the Delectable Mountains. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

From the Puritans to QAnon, strange thinking has shaped America more than most of us realize. Natalie Robehmed talks with author Jane Borden about why our culture keeps breeding new cult-like organizations, and how to recognize the signs before it's too late. Check out Jane's book, Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America. Click ‘Subscribe' at the top of the Infamous show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts  Read Vanessa's book, Blurred Lines: Sex, Power and Consent on Campus, and check out Natalie on Instagram at @natrobe To connect with Infamous's creative team, join the community at joincampsidemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices