Podcasts about reckon

Reckon with Your Past. When you encounter Jesus, he goes straight to the heart of the problem. The healing he offers could be physical, or emotional, or spiritual. You have to be ready for him to clean things up, re-order your psyche, put you back together from the inside out. How do we partner with Jesus in this self-rehabilitation? What about therapy as a spiritual practice? To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Barra had a big night, first with the announcement of AC/DC hitting town and then the excitement of Minjee Lee’s Women’s PGA Championship win. The trophy makes her the third Australian golfer to win three majors. In AFL news, Eagles fan favourite Jeremy McGovern has now medically retired, and Barra had nothing buy respect for the player saying it took true courage to step away. Speaking of the Eagles, Barra reckons it could be tough for the team to beat Collingwood this week. Barra didn’t have much to say about the Dockers, they safely in the Top 9 for the time being. West Coast Fever continue their winning streak with Barra describing the team as blue hot. Plus, Perth airport has been busy with rugby union’s British and Irish Lions and the Matildas hitting town. Keep your eyes peeled for the players across Perth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spanners and Trumpets go old school as they work their way through the sharp end of the news and listener views in this, the latest episode of Missed Apex Podcast! Come Join us Live in Milton Keynes! July 5th at 7 pm!https://missedapexpodcast.com/liveshow/missed-apex-british-gp-meet-up-july-5th-7pmGive us a shout on WhatsApp! save 0044 79 4747 1840 if you are interested in calling into a show or sending us things you reckon!Ways To Support Missed Apex:✅ Join our Patreon to gain access to our exclusive Patreon Only Discord Chat + Bonus ContentWe Only Exist Due to Our Patron Support https://www.patreon.com/MissedApex✅ Leave a tip https://missedapexpodcast.com/tipjarOn Tonight's Show:⭐Missed Apex Tik Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@missedapexf1⭐ Spanners https://x.com/SpannersReadyhttps://bsky.app/profile/spannersready.bsky.social⭐ Matt Trumpets https://x.com/mattpt55https://bsky.app/profile/mattpt55.bsky.socialCheck out Meg and Spanners reviewing the F1 Academy documentary!https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Mt7RwwqLF1dey0Bio7QtG Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesus Delivered Us (audio) David Eells – 6/22/25 Father, fill us with faith as we discover what has been accomplished for us by the sacrifice of Jesus. How that he bound the strong man and delivered us from evil. Give us understanding that we be not ignorant of satan's devices. Help us to stand on Your Word and swing our sword of the Spirit which the fallen angels cannot resist. We ask for your grace and power to open up Your Word to our hearts and minds and make us all the spiritual warriors You have called us to be. The enemy fears those who know their rights. Saints, I'm going to talk to you today about what Jesus provided for us and our deliverance from the demonic hoards. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, He replied, (Luk.11:19) And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. (20) But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. (21) When the strong [man] (The word “man” is actually not in the original; it was added-in later. Jesus was calling the devil “the strong” when He was spoiling his kingdom.) fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: (22) but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. (23) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. So it actually reads, (Luk.11:21) When the strong fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace. These “goods” Jesus is talking about are the things that the devil, “the strong,” has been given authority over in this world, and the “court” here represents his kingdom where he, “the strong,” rules and reigns. (Luk.11:21) When the strong  fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: (22) but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him (That was Jesus who overcame him!), he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted. Did you know that the devil has no armor? His kingdom has no armor. He and his demons have no armor if we believe it. They have no protection against the authority that God has given to us. The protection has all been taken away from them. His “whole armor” has been taken away since it is God in (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. And He gave us authority in (Luk.10:19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. This is something that has already been accomplished; it isn't something that we have to accomplish. God has given us authority to partake of everything that Jesus did for us at the Cross. (Col.1:12) Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet (The Greek there is “made us competent or able.”) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Whatever a saint walking in light is entitled to, God made us able to partake of that, so if you think that you lack ability, you are just wrong and you need to study the Scriptures. For example it says in (Eph.6:13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God (So we have been given God's armor and the devil has none), that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (16) Withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]. So, through faith in this Word we can cast down all of his weapons against us. We are invincible. And in (Php.4:13) I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me. Jesus made us able to be a partaker in whatever we need. He made us able to plunder the devil's kingdom, and the devil's kingdom is wherever the devil rules or his curse reigns. Wherever the devil has ability, we now have the ability to take it away from him. The devil has no power if we believe this. Do you remember when Joshua and Caleb were seeking to bring the children of Israel into the Promised Land? After spying out the land, these two said that their enemies' defense was removed from over them. We read this in (Num.14:9) Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. The demons and the people they use are the ones who should fear us. All that the other ten spies could see were the giants, but Joshua and Caleb saw that the enemy had no armor. That's the way we have to see the enemies of God's Kingdom. It makes no difference whether those enemies are the lusts of the flesh, works of darkness, demons, the devil, or whatever. Their defense is removed from over them. They have no power against the Word of God. Jesus was the “Stronger” Who came and took away their whole armor (Luke 11:22). Praise be to God! So Jesus has already divided the spoils for us. Those “spoils” of the devil's kingdom are all the places where he has taken advantage of your life or taken authority over the things or circumstances that God has put in your hands. All these add up to “spoils.” When Jesus went about doing good and “healing all who were oppressed of the devil” in (Acts 10:38), He was spoiling the devil's kingdom. If you are being oppressed of the devil, Jesus destroyed this oppression. He broke this power everywhere He went. Whether it was hunger, sickness, demonic possession, or mental need, it didn't make any difference; Jesus broke the oppression and He told us to do the same thing because (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. The devil's power over God's people rests in the fact that God's people don't know that his power has already been broken, and they don't know the authority that's been given to them. Although the Word speaks it plainly, it still has to be a revelation that you pick up and use like a sword. The Bible says of Jesus in (Col.2:15) Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. He already made spoil of our eneies. “Triumphing” is not the victory. “Triumphing” is celebrating the victory that has already been won. Jesus triumphed over the devil and He rubbed the devil's nose in what He had accomplished on the Cross. The victory was at the Cross; what came after the Cross was the triumph, which is our responsibility. (2Co.2:14) But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place. We are to simply celebrate His victory. Hallelujah! What we need to do is repeat what the Word says about our circumstances or situation, and we do that by stating what the Word says about our authority and righteousness. All we have to do is believe that. The devil wants us to look at ourselves and our failures and the curse around us, but we just need to remember that we have authority over that curse. We've been crucified with Christ and we're not alive anymore; now it's Christ Who lives in us. (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. When we remember what the Word of God says about us and about our circumstances, we can celebrate the victory. When we are praising God for what He has done, this is triumphing over the devil; it's celebrating the victory! Praising God is not necessarily singing songs, and some songs that you sing in church don't really praise God. Many songs don't even confess the Word of God. They don't celebrate the victory, and as a matter of fact, a lot of them just confess the problem. We are not under the curse anymore because (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (He became accursed for us so that we could have Abraham's blessings.) So, how was Abraham blessed? (Gen.24:1) … And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. (Gal.3:15) Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto. (16) Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (17) Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect. (18) For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise. So, now we are celebrating the victory that He has already accomplished. Jesus said in (Joh.16:33) … In the world ye have tribulation: be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. And He said in (Joh.19:30) … It is finished… That's what we have to remember when we look around us and, instead, we see the very opposite. If we apply the Word to the problem, we are going to spoil the principalities, the powers, and the rulers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). The Bible says when Jesus took away the devil's armor, He divided the spoil. (Isa.53:12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death… Jesus said in (Luk.11:23) He that is not with me is against me… He's talking there about those who are dividing or plundering the spoils. If you are with Jesus, then you are going to do what He did, and what He did was plunder the devil. All of His physical life, He plundered the devil, and by His victory over the devil, He made it possible for us to plunder the devil's kingdom too. We should be spoiling the devil's kingdom; we should be destroying the curse around us. We should be bringing people into victory by putting faith in their hearts. We should be delivering those who are captive by casting out demons. And we should be delivering those who are oppressed of the devil by healing the sick. We should be doing everything our Lord Jesus did. Jesus went on to say, (Luk.11:23) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. So you are either going to be “gathering” or you are going to be “scattering.” That means you are either going to be on the attack or you are going to be on the run. You're going to be doing one or the other, and sad to say, most Christians are on the run because they don't understand what Jesus did. They don't understand what the Word of God says. They don't understand what their position and calling is in this world. As believers, we are on the attack. We are going into the Promised Land to take this land for Jesus Christ, and not a man there can stand before us. The Lord said in (Jos.1:5) There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Most Christians don't understand that the victory has already been given to us. We are not supposed to go in there and lose people; we are supposed to go in there and conquer the enemy. It's been given to us to conquer the enemy. Jesus said in (Joh.20:21) … as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. God did not send Jesus to fail. He sent Him with the Word of God and He sends us with the Word of God too. He says in (Eph.6:17) And take the … sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We have to take the Sword of the Spirit and we have to fight, because if we don't fight, we are going to lose. If we are not plundering, if we are not gathering the spoils, we're being scattered. The word “scattereth” there is from the Greek word skorpizo, and this is where we get the English word “scorpion.” It's from the same root as the Greek word skorpios, meaning “to penetrate and to put to flight.” When a scorpion stings with its tail, it penetrates and puts to flight because of the pain and misery it inflicts. Jesus spoke about scorpions. (Luk.10:19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. In the kingdom of the devil, scorpion spirits are tormentors. When a scorpion spirit stings you, just as with a real scorpion, it hardly ever kills, but it's very painful. Scorpion spirits can torment your body with sickness and pain, and they may also torment you with fear. (1Jn.4:18) …fear hath punishment… If you are not plundering, the devil is going to penetrate you with one of these spirits, causing you to flee. If you are not plundering, then your thinking is contrary to the Word of God and you are not going to stand up to the devil. (Luk.10:18) And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. (19) Behold, I have given you authority… If your Bible says “power” instead of the word “authority,” then it has the wrong word because the Greek there is exousia, and it means “authority.” “Authority” is the “right to use power.” You have been given the right to use God's Power. (19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (Now that word is the Greek word dunamis, meaning, “power.”) of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. (20) Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you… This is talking about serpent and scorpion spirits. These are different kinds of spirits and they have different works. In the kingdom of the devil, the serpent spirits have authority. While the poison a scorpion inflicts is in its tail, the poison that the serpent inflicts is in its head, and as the saying goes, it's the head that wags the tail. The Bible says in (Deu.28:13) And the Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God… You are going to be above and not beneath; you are going to be the head and not the tail, just as Israel was supposed to be the head and not the tail. The tail reveals something about the head in most of God's creatures. For example, you can tell a dog's attitude when you look at its tail. If his tail is standing up in the air and wagging back and forth, you know that dog is happy and content, not fearful. But if his tail is tucked down between his legs, you can tell he's feeling guilty or fearful. You can read his mind by looking at his tail. The superior authority is always the head and not the tail. And the serpent's poison being in the head symbolizes that the serpent spirit poisons the mind. The job of the serpent spirit, mostly, is not to bring about torment, but to change your mind. Their job is to deceive, as the Bible says in (Gen.3:1) Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He was subtle. He was crafty. He was wise in an evil way. (2Co.11:3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness (So the “serpent” is a beguiler.) your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ. Serpent spirits beguile. They are deluding spirits and deceiving spirits. They want to change your mind, just as the serpent changed Eve's mind, because he wanted to pervert her knowledge. He wanted her to partake of knowledge that was forbidden. (Gen.2:17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it… He wanted her to partake of knowledge that wasn't legal. Scripture tells us about different ways we can receive things through the spirit realm that are illegal. Let's go to (Deu.18:9) When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. (10) There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, (11) or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. (12) For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. (13) Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. (14) For these nations, that thou shalt dispossess, hearken unto them that practise augury, and unto diviners; but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. (20) But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. (21) And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? (22) when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him. You see, there is false or deceptive knowledge. Going to consult familiar spirits or deceiving spirits, even if they claim to be prophets, is illegal. Going to consult wizards or necromancers is not allowed. All these operate in forbidden knowledge. But the devil wants to give you forbidden knowledge because he wants to delude you. He can make the “tail” do whatever he wants if he can change your mind, if he can change the knowledge that God has given you. If he can do that, then he's got you. That's why these serpent spirits have been given authority in the devil's kingdom. They are higher spirits than scorpion spirits because their primary purpose is to deceive you. Some of these “serpents” are “seducing spirits” that operate by giving you false doctrine. (1Ti.4:1) But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. They seduce you by giving all kinds of flesh-pleasing reasons why it is advantageous for you to believe their doctrines. There are seducing spirits forbidding you to eat meats, or to marry (as in this context), and so on, because if you have a false doctrine, that head is going to wag that tail. The devil knows the rest of the body is going to follow. The most important thing for the devil is that you accept the spirits that work in your head; that's the way he can control the rest of your life.  Remember, we are not to receive forbidden knowledge. Instead, we're supposed to be (2Co.10:5) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. You'll win the battle if you start with the head, but if you have spirits of rejection, fear, anxiety, condemnation, or guilt, then the devil has a stronghold in you. If you have anything that he can use against you, then you've got a “spy in your camp”. And the devil has rights now, because one demonic spirit can open the door for other demonic spirits so that you won't be able to stand up against the devil, who is looking to destroy you. We read in (Mat.12:43) But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. (44) Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. (45) Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. The devil's seducing spirits are “double agents.” They talk in your mind as if they are your friend and as if they belong to you, but whatever is speaking in your mind that's contrary to the Word of God is a stronghold of the enemy by which he can conquer you. You have the authority to cast it out. Get rid of it! Father, continue to grant us repentance as You bring to our attention where we have read or listened to things that are not according to Your Word and accepted those things we might have once believed as true that were not. Lord, help us to search our hearts and minds for any past church doctrines or religious beliefs that are not true. We only want what is True to be what we base our faith in. Father, help us to discern and destroy the strongholds we may have and get rid of them! Amen. Thank You Lord! The Bible says in (Rev.9:1) And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth (That's speaking of Satan.): and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. (2) And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (3) And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (4) And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. (5) And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. As we've learned, the tormenting spirits are scorpion spirits. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:23-35, the Lord says that He will turn you over to the tormentors until you should pay what is due (Matthew 18:34), and those tormentors are these scorpion spirits. Nobody is ever going to see with their physical eyes the creatures described here from the bottomless pit, because they're coming to the second heaven. It's like the angel here in (Rev.14:6) And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven (The Greek word means “middle heaven.”), having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; (7) and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. “Middle heaven” means the angel is in the second heaven. That means you don't see him, although the angel is right here with us in the devil's kingdom and he's preaching the Gospel. We can see what's in the first heaven, but the second heaven is a different realm, a “twilight zone,” if you will. And so this scorpion spirit of Revelation 9 has been given five months to torment those people who don't have the seal of God on their foreheads, but they are not able to see this spirit that came out of the bottomless pit. Satan has authority to loose these angels that the Bible says were held for the end of time, for a time and a season when God was going to judge the earth. (Rev.9:1) And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.) (Rev.13-15) And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, (14) one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. (15) And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.) Satan was given authority to loose them when he was cast out of heaven, and that's what is happening here. The Bible says, (Rev.14:11) And the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. As we read, both smoke and torment are also mentioned in Revelation 9. Out of the smoke came tormenting spirits that were like locusts and like scorpions, and we've seen that these are demons with the authority to penetrate and to put to flight. Other demons are mentioned often in the Scriptures. For instance, (Rev.16:13) And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: (14) for they are spirits of demons… People who have a gift of discerning of spirits have seen frogs in the spirit realm, and those frogs were evil spirits, just as the scorpion spirits are evil. You know, the devil always sends his “big guns” after you when you get into a deep trial, a heavy trial that will have a really terrible outcome if you lose it. The Bible says in (1Jn.4:18KJV) … Fear hath torment… During a battle or a trial, you may have suddenly felt a spirit of fear just come down on you. That's another one of the devil's “big guns,” and if you listen to it, if you give in to it, you are going to run from the devil. Now we are commanded in Ephesians 6 what we should do! (Eph.6:11) Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. (13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  We should put up a shield of faith to quench those “fiery darts” of the wicked one. What does a fiery dart do? Just like the tail of the scorpion, it's made to penetrate and put to flight. It's made to conquer you, but with the shield of faith, you can quench rejection, fear, depression, anxiety, condemnation, or any other of these fiery darts, which are tormenting spirits that come against you, because they can only come against you if your mind isn't right. But if you have faith in your mind, how is it possible for fear to come into you? If you have faith in your heart, how is it possible for depression, or anxiety, or any of these other spirits that seek to take hold of you, to conquer you? Remember what the Scripture says about you. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Don't ever think that whatever the spirit may be that's coming against you, is you. When these kinds of deceiving spirits speak into your mind, that's when you have to use the armor and put up your shield of faith. Don't accept those thoughts as yours. They're not coming from you, and they don't belong to you. There's a doctrine in the apostate church about the “holiness” of oppression, the “holiness” of sickness. They want you to believe that this martyr's syndrome is good for you, but you know if God promised you an “egg,” He's not going to give you a “serpent.” (Luk.11:11) And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? (12) Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? The serpent and scorpion represent doctrines of death, but an egg represents life. What some churches have is actually a doctrine of death because they think that God is going to send them a “scorpion” or some other curse. And as for sickness, they think they are going to have to put up with it but Jesus and the apostles didn't. They claim that Paul's “thorn in the flesh” was sickness, but it never was, and Paul even said it wasn't sickness. (2Co.12:7) And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. I am not stating that there was a demon inside of Paul, but an angel of Satan was humbling him. The word “messenger” in the Scriptures, 181 of 183 times, is translated as “angel,” so an angel of Satan was sent to buffet him, and the word “buffet” means “to beat or strike repeatedly.” Paul was not talking here about an infirmity or sickness; only the KJV says that Paul's “thorn in the flesh” was an “infirmity.” No Bible derived from the ancient manuscripts has this translation because that's not the word “infirmity”; it is the word “weakness.” Scripture says that Christ was crucified through weakness. (2Co.13:3) Seeing that ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me; who to youward is not weak, but is powerful in you: (4) for he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. This same Greek word asthenes translated as “weakness” in 2 Corinthians 13:3 by the King James, is what the King James in 2 Corinthians 12:9 claims is “infirmity.” Paul did not have an infirmity. The Bible says, (Psa.103:2) Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits: (3) Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases. God is not going to turn around and say, “No, Paul, you keep this disease. It's good for you.” This is not our God. Those churches claim that it was sickness in order to make a person who is going through sickness and suffering feel righteous, but most of the suffering that God's people go through is because they don't believe the Word. God promises an egg while the devil wants us to settle for a scorpion, and it's sadly true that for most people, what's ruling their life is a scorpion. If you listen to rejection, anxiety, fear, or guilt, you are being ruled by the devil. If you listen to shame or unbelief, you are being ruled by the devil. (Rom.6:16) Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves [as] servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? You can't listen to what God says and listen to what the devil says at the same time. (1Co.10:21) Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons. You can't partake of the Lord's Table and the table of demons at the same time because everything demons will feed you is contrary to the Word of God. God promised us in (Exo.23:27) I will send my terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. (28) I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. A hornet is like a scorpion, because it also penetrates and puts to flight. It's a little bitty thing, but it can move a great big man. So you see, God can make our enemies fear us, and they do fear us if we know our authority.  If we know what the Word of God says and we step out and swing that Word of God like a sword (Ephesians 6:17), they fear us. Our daughter had a dream once about five chickens that represented five evil spirits that were bothering my mother. Well, those chickens were “chicken,” because just as soon as we gave them the Word, they ran. Evil spirits do fear us, but they recognize whether or not we know the Word of God. And they know whether or not we're standing on the Word of God, but they'll try to bluff us as long as they can. The devil wants us to fear him, and he is constantly trying to make us fear the “fiery darts” of the curse that he administers. But we know the Word of God says we've been delivered from all that. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; (14) in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. And the Bible tells us who we are in Christ. (Rom.6:11) Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. (18) And being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. Now that's a sword. That Word is a sword for you to use against the devil's lies. The devil wants you to act on what he says, but the Lord wants you to know who you are in Christ and act on what He says about you. If you don't act on what the Lord says, you don't get anything, because (Jas.2:17) Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. The devil's kingdom operates the same way. He can come by and put a little thought in your mind, but if you don't accept or act on it, if you don't chew or meditate on it, you are not guilty. The devil can put these little thoughts in your mind but you can reject them, and if he gets a little stronger, you can get a little stronger. You can speak up and just rebuke him! You can throw the Word of God into his face as Jesus did! Our faith and understanding of what Jesus did for us make us free from being fearful of any weapon the devil has.  Remember, we read that Christ took away the devil's “whole armor” (Luke 11:22). He took away all of his power (Matthew 28:18). He delivered us out of the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13). All of this is our shield, and you need to use this knowledge. You don't fear the devil when you know who you are and that you don't have to give in to him. However, many people do give in to the devil; they give in to the spirits he sends against them, because they don't believe they have any other choice. Well, there's a reason that the Gospel is called the “Good News.” We do have another choice; we have authority over the devil. He has to move when we say, “Move!” If we step out and exercise that authority over him, he has to move. Thank you Father! As we've seen, the word skorpizo, refers to scorpion spirits, and the devil comes to scatter. Jesus said in (Joh.16:32) Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered (That's the word, skorpizo.), every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Fear scattered the disciples when the men came for Jesus in the garden (Matthew 26:50-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47- 53; John 18:1-14). They were afraid the same thing was going to happen to them, but we know that (Joh.3:27) A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. The devil sent a spirit there to put fear in them so they would just abandon Jesus in his affliction. To be perfectly just, He had already told them that this is what He came for, so what could they do? The devil also comes to divide. There's another word used in the Scriptures, which is diaskorpizo, and it means “to scatter and separate.” A good example of that is, (Joh.11:52) And not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God that are scattered abroad. That means not only are they scattered from their land, but they are separated from each other, and the devil did it through those scorpion spirits. They divided, they separated, and scattered the Body of Christ, just as God warned us through the apostle Paul. He said in (Act.20:29) I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; (30) and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. All of God's people are supposed to be coming out of the bondage they're in and back to this one land. Do you know what that means? It means that we are supposed to be one. Jesus said, (Joh.10:16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. This is what the Tribulation is going to do. God's people are going to become one Flock with One Shepherd, but for now they are diaskorpizo, they are “scattered abroad,” separated. They wanted to hang out at Jerusalem and have Church but the persecution scattered them to spread the gospel. Scorpion spirits separate the Body, separate the Flock, and they do this with false doctrine, false understanding, and false thinking. I've heard people say about our teachings, “Well, aren't you doing the same thing?” No, and when you look around us, you see people from all different backgrounds here. We all get along very well. We want the Flock to be one, but there is only one way the Flock is going to be one, and that's to give up sectarianism, because sectarianism is a work of the flesh. Let's read that in (Gal.5:19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties (The three Greek words there mean “contentions,” “dissentions,” and “sects.”), (21) envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Demon spirits come in to make you believe the lie that you are something great, or that you have everything you need without the rest of the Body, but the Bible tells us in (1Co.12:13) For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit. The Body needs to be one, because the Body has different parts of God's knowledge and different parts of God's gifts. When all are put together, the Body is edified, it's “built up.” (Eph.4:15) But speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ; (16) from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. God wants His Flock to be one, and we want His Flock to be one, but the devil is warring against this unity. The devil knows that when God's Flock is one, it's going to be a powerhouse, and so we want to learn not to be separate from our brethren. We want to know what it is that has deceived our brethren to make them separate from us. Babel always seeks to be one but their motives were evil and God scattered them, most likely with scorpion spirits.. The mind-deceiving serpent spirits deceive different members of the Body in different ways to keep them from knowing the truth. Since the head wags the tail, the rest of that body, whether it's one person or a group of many people, is going to follow whichever way the head leads. That's the job of the serpent spirits, but other demon spirits do the same thing. They sow their seeds of fear, doubt, unbelief, anger, lust, and so on, and if you receive their seed, your flesh will take on their nature. Your flesh will take on the nature of these demonic “gods” of the lusts of the flesh. Now Jesus sows a Seed, too, and if we believe and act on and live on it, we take on His Nature. The Spirit of Christ is come in order to sow His Seed in our hearts so that our hearts take on His Image. What's an “image”? Well, it's an imagination. The Bible says, (Rom.1:21) Because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings… In other words, they “became vain in their imaginations.” So, what is a “vain” imagination? The Scriptural word for “vain” is mataioo, and it means “aimless, foolish, futile, without purpose.” A “vain” imagination is not doing what it's supposed to do; it's not working for God anymore. Your imagination was created to do something for you on this earth for God. If it's not fulfilling that purpose, then it's fulfilling another one, and it is vain. (Rom.1:21) Because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. If you become vain in your imagination, if you have the kind of imagination that, for instance, brought the Flood (Gen.6:5-7) And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them.), then your senseless heart is being darkened, because those imaginations are evil; know that the gods of the lusts of the flesh are taking advantage of you through this ground that they've gained in you. We need to be (2Co.10:5) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This is talking about re-taking the ground, these high places, that those spirits have taken from us. Anywhere you are being ruled by any lust, there's a demon around. He doesn't necessarily have to be on the inside; he might be on the outside, but he's still there. You can rebuke him, and when you rebuke him, he has to leave. If you know who you are in Christ, if you know the authority you have in Christ, and if you repent and believe it, when you rebuke the demon, he has to leave.  So whatever problem you may have or situation you may currently be dealing with, you don't have to keep it. You don't have to be ruled by it any longer. You can take the authority you have in the Name of Jesus, and it has to leave. Any stronghold in your thoughts, or evil imaginations that the devil has used against you, you bring them into the obedience of Christ and cast them all away. Amen. Now, I want to remind you that the most important thing is to submit yourselves unto God. (Jas.4:7) Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We do this by repenting and believing what the Word says about us. “Resist the devil, and he will flee” is a promise to us from the Word of God. If we submit to God and resist the devil, he has to flee, but the devil's not going to tell us that. He's going to try to convince us that he doesn't have to leave. He's going to try to convince you that you're in bondage to this lust. No, we're not in bondage to this lust. We've been set free from that bondage because Jesus bound the strong man and then He plundered him. Jesus crippled the devil.  In the animal kingdom, when the mothers want to teach the babies how to hunt, the predator mother cripples the prey first. It may be a bird or a rabbit, and she sends the cub after it. She's teaching that cub how to be a predator. We need to understand that's what our Lord did for us. He went and crippled the devil. And not only that, He also took away his armor. Our Lord made it possible for us “little cubs” to run out there and jump on that old, mean devil. We can see a parable from God when we look at the animal kingdom. So now the devil is crippled, he has no armor and he's defenseless before us, but we have to know it and we have to believe it. We have to speak the Word of God; we have to swing the Sword!  Now I'd like to share with you the following testimonies:   God's Word Gave Faith for Deliverance From Ten Afflictions - Anonymous Wonderful things have taken place in our lives since reading “Sovereign God, For Us and Through Us.” We have been delivered of Asperger Syndrome (autism), bipolar disorder, asthma, sinus infections, food allergies, acid reflux, esophagitis, lacking a thyroid, broken toes, and smoking, over less than a five-month period through faith in the Word. My oldest son, at eleven years old, has been healed of Asperger Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism, and bipolar disorder. Since my faith was awakened, I took courage in the promises of God and took him off of all his medication, which amounted to seven pills a day. He had been taking pills for five years to control behavioral problems. We were able to finish the school year with minimal problems, he had absolutely no withdrawal symptoms. By faith I called the school to tell them we were taking him off of all his meds because we had prayed and believed that God had healed him. It was a great opportunity for his teachers to see a miracle. Since then, we have had trials of our faith. The symptoms tried to come back. But I had already been through “hell on earth” from this demonic activity that we had earlier mistaken for mental illness. There was no way I was going to accept it back, once I knew the truth! The medications that he had been taking made him a zombie! They took away his personality and stunted his growth. Now he is happy, with an animated personality. He is able to eat and has gone through a big growth spurt! My middle son, aged five years, was healed from severe asthma! He was taking two inhalers twice a day, Singular pills, and Nasonex nasal spray for chronic sinus infections. In addition, he had to have nebulizer treatments. He has not had to take any of it since we stood on faith for his healing! We have had trials of our faith for him also. Twice it tried to come back, but I rejected it and cast it out again. He runs around and jumps on the trampoline and doesn't have problems breathing or being out of breath or with chronic sinus infections anymore! My youngest son, at age three years, has been healed from food allergies and severe acid reflux. He had been allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. Every time he would eat these foods he would have constant reflux and esophagitis so bad that he would almost lose his voice and would wake up crying all night. We stood on faith for this also. He has not had any problems with reflux or allergies to foods since. Again, when we were tested on this, we stood firm on God's promises. The symptoms left very quickly. My husband was healed from severe acid reflux disease and has not had to take Nexium for four months now! He can eat whatever he wants without any trouble. My son had also recently broken two toes on his right foot, so we prayed over them. They were completely healed within two days! He is able to fully bend them and move them now. He had injured the same foot years ago by dropping a weight on it and had not been able to bend those toes for years. But since God healed them, he has regained the motion in his toes on that foot!  God delivered me from smoking, too. The thing that seemed like such a mountain to me just six months ago is just a side thought now. I had tried to quit smoking once, but had done it with more of a white-knuckle approach. I mostly went about it through my own willpower. Satan would tempt me often to start again. I would be jealous when I saw others smoking because I still wasn't depending on God for strength. I needed my crutch back. I started smoking again. Later while reading Sovereign God, I knew I needed to forsake this idol for good. This time I prayed to God to take the desire away for smoking. If any part of my deliverance came from my flesh, it would be another struggle, and possible failure again. After I prayed to God to deliver me, I knew instantly that I was delivered. I still had some cigarettes that I finished up, but I realized that the desire to smoke had left me. When the last one was gone, I knew I would never again want another. (Note: It might have been better to throw that partial pack away, but, thank You, Lord, for my deliverance.) It has been that way ever since – like I've never smoked a cigarette in my life! Praise God!  These deliverances all happened simultaneously once I realized what Christ really did at the Cross. He still offers the same healing today that He did during His ministry on earth!  I have received a tremendous miracle. Ten years ago, I had my thyroid removed because of a cancerous tumor that had been growing in it. Since then I had taken total replacement hormone for my body systems to function. If I missed more than two or three days in a row of taking it, I would not be able to hear my alarm to wake up in the morning or to think clearly that day.  The doctors had told me that I could not live without this replacement hormone – the body cannot function without it indefinitely. All the body systems would shut down and I would eventually slip into a coma and die. About a year ago the doctors kept having to retake my thyroid blood levels and adjust my prescription dosage down. Every six weeks, when I would go in to have the blood level drawn again, it would still be too high! Because I didn't understand what was happening at the time, I was becoming frustrated at the lab and the doctor. After I read “Sovereign God,” I realized that God had been growing my thyroid back all this time in preparation for the coming wilderness time ahead! I reached up to my neck and felt around the scar. Sure enough, there was something there again!   I had wondered about this situation in a wilderness-type environment, with no access to meds or health care. Now I don't have to be concerned about it anymore because I have received a tremendous miracle. I have been off my thyroid replacement meds for three months now. I feel more energy now than while taking it. God is good! He truly will meet all our needs even before we ask or before we have come to fully know the truth! God has wonderful things for me to serve Him with in the near future. I won't leave this earth until He is finished with me. Thank You, Father, for Your gifts! Another testimony:   Set Free from Unforgiveness by A.L. I had unforgiveness in my heart toward someone. The Lord said it was time to be delivered, and He started working with me. This took about one year. It was rough at first. The enemy didn't want to leave, trying several times to keep me from forgiving. I put up a wall when this person was around. It was my way to keep from being hurt anymore. Some encounters were better than others, but the more I prayed, the better they got. Oftentimes, my memory would be flooded with all the hurtful things that I had buried inside. But I would cry out to the Lord and ask Him to forgive me for holding onto them and to please take them. He always did. There were times that I would be mad or aggravated with this person and would start ranting about what they had done. These rantings, the out-loud ones, were always to my mom. The rantings in my mind were to the Lord. He would always settle me down and take that memory so that it would be gone. My mom would very gently and lovingly look at me and tell me to let it go and remind me that I had to forgive this person. Most of the time it worked, but a few times I would fire back at her out of frustration and tell her, “I know. I'm working on it, but it doesn't go away overnight.” My mom prayed for me a lot, probably more than I realized.  During this time, the Lord had me listen to the audio of “The Curse of Unforgiveness” series. [This is also in book form and available at no charge from ubm1.org as a PDF.] I downloaded it to my iPod and would go for a walk and listen to it. I listened to it several times. The more I prayed and overcame, the more layers the Lord peeled off.  During the winter months, I like to stand or sit in front of the fire to pray. It's always quiet and peaceful. One night, the Lord put this person in my mind, so I started to pray. As I was praying, I asked the Lord to forgive me for having unforgiveness, anger, hurt, and bitterness in my heart. I asked Him, “Would You please take it?” As soon as I said those words, I felt it all come out of my chest. It was gone. I can't explain, but the feeling was great! I started praising the Lord with tears streaming down my face. I was free!  The next night I was in my same spot, praying. The Lord brought this person to my mind again, only this time, I had to ask for love. I told the Lord, “I don't love this person. Would You please forgive me and give me love for them?” As soon as I said those words, I felt the love of God go right in through my chest. This feeling is indescribable – a hundred times better than the night before. I stood with tears streaming down my face, praising the Lord for His grace to get me through to the end.  I love this person now and pray for them. I can be around them without it bothering me. There are no more buried memories. The Lord tilled up all of the roots so they could be plucked up and He could plant His Seed. Whenever I am delivered of something, I ask the Lord to fill that spot with something from Him. Thank You, Heavenly Father for Your grace to get me through to the end.  We learn that it is the Father Who turns people over to the tormentors. Scripture consistently tells us God uses demons for chastening (Matthew 18:34). When we want to take away a demon's authority, we need to make sure that the groundwork has been done first so that we have the legal right to take away his authority. We must forgive. Jesus tells a story of a master who had forgiven his servant a great debt, but this servant went out and would not forgive his fellow servant a much smaller debt. Jesus said that His Father would turn that unforgiving servant over to the tormentors until he should pay what was due.  Let's read that parable. (Mat.18:21) Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? (22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven. (23) Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would make a reckoning with his servants. (24) And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, that owed him ten thousand talents. (25) But forasmuch as he had not [wherewith] to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.  (26) The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (27) And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. (28) But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took [him] by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest. (29) So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee. (30) And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due.  (31) So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. (32) Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: (33) shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? (34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. (35) So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. The Lord said He will turn you over to the tormentors until you pay for what you have done because if you don't forgive, you are not forgiven. The devil knows when he has this right. He knows when you are not forgiven and he torments you, and his demons will continue to torment you, until you take that right away from him. This is necessary because you can't be saved while you are holding on to unforgiveness. If you don't forgive, you are not forgiven, which is the very foundation of salvation. If you want to take away the demons' rights over you, you need to forgive and you need to believe that Jesus delivered you from them at the Cross. That's the key. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us (it has already been done) out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love.  Like this person's testimony, if you will be sure to forgive everyone and exercise your faith toward God's promises, you will be a new person who is free to love and to associate with good people. I say that because so many of these people don't feel comfortable around good people and don't associate with good people. When they're around good people, they feel convicted. In my experience most demonic torment and much sickness is based in unforgiveness. See - The Curse of Unforgiveness

Given the Australian media's obsession with the housing crisis, it would come as a shock to many that the share of after-tax disposable income spent on rent by renter households is lower in 2025 than it has been for most of the last decade.But that's what ANU Professor Ben Phillips found in his latest research on rental affordability (you can find it here or download it below).In today's FET video podcast, I chat with Ben about this surprising data and how we can make sense of it in light of current housing “crisis” debates. A key part of the story is this chart. It shows the share of disposable income (after-tax) income spent on housing for renter households. Notice that the most unaffordable period by this metric was 2012-2018.The situation is not great for renters on the lower incomes. There are people struggling at the bottom of the income distribution to keep up and rent where they previously could. But they are struggling to compete with those household who can pay higher rents. One interesting part of our discussion was the big difference between the price growth in rent advertisments and price growth of rents paid by all renter households. The chart below, from Ben's report, shows that advertised rents (in this case using Corelogic's data) diverge from rents paid by all renters in a cyclical way, and by a surprising amount, with advertised rents being between 10% and 40% higher than rents paid by all renters. Currently, the gap is near record highs. The existence of a gap comes from the fact that turnover in the rental market is about 2.5% per month, or 30% per year, and the distribution is such that some properties turnover more than others and hence appear more regularly in the advertised rental figures. But why is the gap so cyclical?We also chat about the fierce media debate playing out around the proposal to increase tax on the gains in superannuation accounts for the marginal amount over $3 million, which is just the top 0.5% of accounts. This has been a hot topic online. We chat about the feverish and unhinged reaction to what is a minor tightening up of an overly generous tax break that affects very few people. And if you missed my recent deep dive into why scrapping superannuation could make us all better off, try this article. As always, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. Thanks for your support. You can find Fresh Economic Thinking on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Theme: Happy Swing by Serge Quadrado Music—Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0Interested in learning more? Fresh Economic Thinking runs in-person and online workshops to help your organisation dig into the economic issues you face and learn powerful insights. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe

6/1/25 Sunday Morning message

One of us hated the new Mission: Impossible - One of us liked it! Any guesses? What was wrong with this new release? What was right with it? Eric and Curtis smoke the AJ Fernandez Enclave Eladio Diaz and talk about all things Mission Impossible. AJ Fernandez Eladio Diazhttps://oakglentobacconist.com/product/aj-fernandez-enclave-eladio-diaz-toro-6x54/Sign up for the OGT Cigar Society Subscriptionhttps://oakglentobacconist.com/product/ogt-monthly-subscription/

Another week, another issue gets released.  The Nerds are back for the second to last issue of Year 4, and they bring with them their thoughts on Andor.  The highly regarded Return of the series Strikes Back and brings about a New Hope for the fans wanting more from the franchise.  Alongside more Nintendo news, Avatar and IronHeart discussions, Issue 248 is packed to the brim with entertainment.     Like the intro music? Go check them out!  "90s TV Sitcom Themes - John Bartmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3xt1u3C1M8 Robots a Cometh - Dan Lebowitz   This Issue is Brought to You by: Bryan Quevedo, Rene Bravo, Sean Rodriguez & Nick Valero   Podcasts can also be found here! YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y6luw7uq Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/y4q64run Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/y4ztkn2o   Follow us on our socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepingwiththenerds/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeepitNerds Ask us questions and leave us a like and comment! Don't forget to subscribe and leave a follow!

PLS NOTE: There is some swearing in this episode and it is not one that is suitable for children.What's it like to be the no.1 12U player in the World? To be the youngest player ever to be signed by the IMG management company. To win a full scholarship to one of the most famous tennis academies in the World.Reckon the future for that player and his family was bright? Fame and riches around the corner?Today's guest, Todd Ley who hails from Adelaide in Australia, was in exactly that position. And has written all about that part of the journey and what happened next in a searingly honest book called Smashed.As you'll hear today, what happened next was not fame and fortune. What came next was darkness and at times despair. A chapter which Todd is now moving on from as he rides the rollercoaster of life working in the world of coaching - and I hope setting down what happened in the book will help him do just that. It has certainly helped me think about the journey we are on as a tennis family and why we are on it. It has helped me gain perspective of what is important and for that I thank Todd.Today's episode may not be easy listening at times, you might not agree with everything Todd says, but do take a listen because Todd's story and messages will I think help our family and our tennis journeys and I hope it will maybe help yours too.Visit Todd Ley's website to find about more about the book and BUY A COPY OF SMASHED NOWThanks to FeedSpot for naming My Tennis Journey as a Top 5 UK tennis podcast - much appreciated! You can see the list here: https://podcast.feedspot.com/uk_tennis_podcasts/MUSIC CREDITSEarth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyadenCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

5/18/25 Sunday Morning message

As a new book about former President Joe Biden's cognitive health steamrolls its way through the Washington conversation, a new litmus test is emerging for Democrats with national ambitions: Did Biden, in fact, decline in mental acuity while in office?  National politics correspondent and contributing Playbook author Adam Wren joins Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to talk it through. Plus, President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East trip, and the GOP mega-bill is teetering as hard-line conservatives force Speaker Mike Johnson to entertain major changes to the legislative package.

5/11/25 Sunday Morning message

The Raiders are flying this season despite (or maybe because of?) Michael Carayannis tipping them for the wooden spoon. Ahead of the top of the table clash against the Bulldogs, Canberra CEO Don Furner (19:58) joined Andrew Moore, Luke Lewis and MC to explain the culture at the club. Furner reckons that due to the difficulty they have in luring players to the Nation's Capital they rely on developing from within and that you'd have to go back 39 years to the arrival of Mal Meninga to find the last established top player they signed. He also gives updates on Josh Papali'i, Tom Starling and a new stadium for Canberra. Plus you can hear all the latest NRL News (and speculation) in MC's Hammertime (44:11).

The Holy Spirit has been given to you as a tool to help you resist the enemy's temptation in this world. Just like you rely on manmade tools to overcome simple obstacles in your life, you can rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Put your trust in Him to help you overcome temptation and the desires of your flesh, and you will find it easier and easier to make those decisions over time. Pastor Jeff teaches you that trusting in the Spirit is like exercising a muscle: you need to do it over and over again to see results.

What is freedom? We often follow our hearts to find our destiny. This sounds nice initially because we get what we want, but we miss that this is slavery. Living under this belief, we enslave ourselves to the power of our desires. But thankfully, Jesus died and rose again so that God could declare us righteous in Jesus. We now can live Jesus' righteousness in our bodies to the glory of God.

Are you living in the freedom that grace offers, or are you still bound by the chains of your past? Join us as we explore Romans 6:15-23 and discover how God's grace empowers us to live a life of true freedom and righteousness. Learn how to redirect your loyalty from death to life and experience the transformative power of grace. 

How many ancient Roman buildings are still standing today? Unfortunately, many of those buildings have crumbled away and had new construction done on top of the old sites. Buildings and cities rise and fall, and Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the desires of your flesh are just as fragile. Nothing that your flesh desires will last forever, and you can't take anything with you when you go into the next life. But the things of God, those things that produce good spiritual fruit, will last forever.

This is week two in our Easter Series, "The Risen Life." Reckon means to believe to be so. Pastor Brad explains how we must reckon ourselves dead to sin.This message is from 4/13/25

Barra was in studio this morning with Smiley after a huge weekend in sport. The Dockers had a win in the Gather Round, while the Eagles had yet another loss. Barra also gave his thoughts on the Gather Round moving from Adelaide to Perth. He also chatted about Oscar Piastri's big win at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Rory McElroy finally winning the Masters and the Aussie running sensation that is Gout Gout does it again but now there's confusion over how to pronounce his name.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria Esguerra escaped the Children of God at the age of 22 with her two children who have disabilities. Maria's firsthand experience drives her passion to support fellow survivors of cults and institutions, advocating for specialised understanding, interventions and access to governmental schemes such as Redress. Maria has actively engaged in media and advocacy efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by people escaping coercive environments. She founded a support group for second and multi-generational survivors (also referred to as SGAs or MGAs) from all cults. It addresses the devastating impacts from these groups, including abuse, denial of basic rights and forced labour. Maria is also a psychologist and the founder of Assessable.Links:Maria Esguerra — LinktreeMaria Esguerra — Director at AssessableDecult profile — Maria's information at the recent Decult ConferenceI lived under the so-called 'law of love' and it was terrifying – cult survivor — by Ryan Boswell, 1News, 17 October 2024CIFS Australia — Cult Information & Family SupportThe Olive Leaf NetworkEscaping Utopia — by Janja Lalich & Karla McLaren, Routledge, 2017The Strange Situation Experiment — more about Mary Ainsworth's work on attachment theoryErikson's stages of psychosocial development — more about Erik Erikson's workMake it Meaningful: How to find purpose in life and work — by Debbie Haski-Leventhal, Simon & Schuster, 2023Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse: A Workbook for Recovery and Growth — by Gillie Jenkinson, Routledge, 2023Stop Religious Coercion Australia — Advocacy group started by a former Geelong Revival Centre memberWriting to Reckon — Gerette Buglion's workshops, retreats, journal, and moreYou can support us on Patreon. Sarah Steel's book Do As I Say is available on audiobook. Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Europe's hard-right politicians, Donald Trump's second White House bid looked like validation and opportunity. Now that he is in it, the tensions and trade-offs are becoming clear. The Houthis' grip over Yemen and the Red Sea is only strengthening, even as other Iranian proxies are waning (10:03). And a look at the boom in Christian entertainment (15:51).Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Europe's hard-right politicians, Donald Trump's second White House bid looked like validation and opportunity. Now that he is in it, the tensions and trade-offs are becoming clear. The Houthis' grip over Yemen and the Red Sea is only strengthening, even as other Iranian proxies are waning (10:03). And a look at the boom in Christian entertainment (15:51).Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Gerette Buglion holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education, and earned her ‘Master's Degree' in cult awareness education from the school of life. She emerged from her 18-year cult odyssey in 2014 at age 52, and asked herself, "How did I, an educated, caring mother, wife, and business owner become that lost and for that long?" Gerette then set to work studying cultic dynamics, while reclaiming her autonomy with the help of a supportive family, therapy, and countless hours immersed in nature and writing.Gerette's memoir An Everyday Cult was published in 2021, and followed by her second book, Writing to Reckon Journal – for Survivors of Spiritual, Religious, and Cultic Abuse. She is the founder of Living Cult Free, a nonprofit supporting the creative expression of survivor stories and empowering advocacy through education.Links:Gerette Buglion — Gerette's websiteAn Everyday Cult — by Gerette Buglion, 2021Writing to Reckon Journal — by Gerette Buglion, 2023 (PDF version for US$5 here)Writing to Reckon — Gerette's workshops, retreats, journal, and moreLiving Cult Free — 501c3 nonprofit empowering and educating cult survivors and advocatesLiving Cult Free: the podcastDr Dan Siegel — executive director of the Mindsight Institute and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLAGentle Souls Revolution — Esther Friedman's websiteFaith Jones — author of I Own Me and Sex Cult NunBeth Matanaer — Finding the Path Within You (or as Beth says, "You are your own expert")You can support us on Patreon. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now. Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special re-release of an episode featuring guest host Jackson Kroopf speaking with the incomparable Kimberly Ann Johnson and Stephen Jenkinson. We're bringing this conversation back to let you know about something special happening this weekend from Stephen Jenkinson and the Orphan Wisdom School: Sanity and Soul: Die Wise 10 Years. Taking place on March 15th and 16th at 10am Pacific, this 6-part online event is a deep dive into the wisdom of death, grief, and the soul, 10 years after the publication of Stephen's transformative book Die Wise. You'll get to experience the depth of Stephen's work in a pretty unique way: through 4 recorded grief counsel sessions with dying people, hearing Stephen practice, in 2025, the kind of work described in Die Wise. Plus, he'll be joined by two brilliant colleagues—a neuroscientist studying human consciousness and a filmmaker exploring the afterlife—to discuss the lasting impact of Die Wise on grief counseling, death doulas, and the way these ideas continue to shape our world. If you want to learn more and register, visit orphanwisdom.com/events. But now, enjoy this conversation from March 2023, following Reckoning at Mt. Madonna. Please do consider gifting yourself or a loved one this upcoming offering, Sanity & Soul that promises to provide some ceremony in these  troubled times in ways only Stephen and the Orphan Wisdom School can. Link: https://orphanwisdom.com/event/die-wise-sanity-and-soul-ten-years-on/   What You'll Here in this Episode: Reflections on witness from retired birth and death workers The value of disillusionment The power of loneliness The proliferation of self pathologizing The complex politics of feelings The religion of western psychology Adolescents grabbing for pop psychology labels The respect in not offering solutions The eagerness to escape from pain while grieving Is love dead? Blessing not as approval but the emergence of something new Marriage as both celebration and loss Matrimony between cultures An only child and single parent inviting in a new husband Building an escape route as you enter a union The no-go zone of contemporary western marriage 15 minute weddings, 15 minute funerals, 15 minute births The cultural casualties of uniformity Being healthy enough to tend to home and neighbor   Links ig @reckoning live Sanity & Soul Sign-Up https://orphanwisdom.com/event/die-wise-sanity-and-soul-ten-years-on/

On this week's episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, Crouchy, Chris, and Sids diveinto one of football's biggest challenges… longevity.What does it take to keep playing at the highest level for years? Is it down to fitness,mentality, or just plain luck? The lads break down the secrets behind long careers,from training regimens to dressing room power struggles. They also reveal the telltalesigns that a player's time is up, plus the legends who somehow defied the clock.And of course, there are plenty of ridiculous stories along the way. If you think footballers have it easy, this one might change your mind.Be at your best. Consider therapy with our paid partner, BetterHelp. Click https://betterhelp.com/CROUCH for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy[00:00:00] – What does longevity mean?[00:05:30] – The biggest factor for a long career[00:10:15] – The players who defied time[00:20:20] – The modern approach to longevity[00:25:50] – How football veterans stay motivated[00:30:00] – Dressing room dynamics[00:35:45] – Knowing when it's time to retire[00:40:10] – Is longevity harder now?[00:47:00] – The key to a long football careerSubscribe to / @thatpetercrouchpodcastFollow our Clips page / @thatpetercrouchpodcastclipsFor more Peter Crouch:Twitter - / petercrouchTherapy Crouch - / @thetherapycrouchFor more Chris StarkTwitter - / chris_starkInstagram - / chrisstarkFor more Steve SidwellTwitter - / sjsidwellInstagram - / stevesidwell14#PeterCrouch #ThatPeterCrouchPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melissa Chen on X: "Five years ago, this was the last normal week of our lives It’s been half a decade you guys" / X You Will Have to Reckon with Despair He Befriended His Family’s Murderer Dolly Parton's husband of nearly 6 decades, Carl Dean, dies Robert Sterling on X: "Reminder: There’s no such thing as a “work family.” You can enjoy your job. You can even love your coworkers. But your company isn’t a family. You are a resource to your employer—a vendor supplying labor under a commercial agreement—and management won’t hesitate to let you go https://t.co/UrR0exDmJY" / XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6-Year-Old Math Genius Jeeyansh Gupta Is A Force To Reckon With

Spanners responds to things you reckon about F1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MOST LOVED THROWBACKS - Nat's What I Reckon, Dani Vee and James Layton

Reckon you're bad at spelling? No way near as bad as Joel. Have a L.I.S.T.E.N. to this!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Israel and Hamas enter into a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, members of Kansas City's Jewish and Palestinian communities reflect on what a chance for peace means after more than a year of bloodshed.

If someone takes a substance or engages in an activity that provides temporary pleasure, but it becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, he or she is said to be an addict. Addictive behavior is widespread and is one of the reasons people turn to Christ. But even those who follow Christ can tend toward addictive behavior. We were born with a sinful nature. When we're born again and have a new nature, sometimes the battle is fiercer than ever. How can we find help?I. We Have a StandardII. We Face a StruggleIII. We Use a Strategy  A. Reason  B. Reckon  C. Resist  D. ReplaceTalk with God: Identify a sin you're struggling with and ask the Spirit to intercede for you “with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).Talk with others: If you're struggling with addiction or addictive behavior, ask a pastor or trusted believer for ongoing prayer and spiritual encouragement as you go to battle with that addiction.Talk with kids: How has God rescued us from sin?

Also...does time in the booth possibly give us a "kinder, gentler" version of Nick Kygrios? We're about to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about time with this study.

At the end of season 1 JW recounts some tales he forgot along the way.

Charles in Charge now. 2025 Predictions. Sonny Mayo!!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justified By Faith (Audio) David Eells 12/11/24 Saints, I know you know this but it is often forgotten because the devil fights against it with all he has. Listen carefully to (Rom 4:2-8)  2  For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward God.  3  For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.  4  Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt.  5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.  6  Even as David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works,  7  saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered.  8  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin. Do you believe in the midst of your failures that Jesus took away your sins and nailed them to the cross and you have them no more? Then you are accounted righteous before you are manifestly delivered from them. (Rom.1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel (the “Good News”): for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.... The Good News is a powerful revelation and when we exercise faith in it, God imparts His power to us, to save us in all things. We know “salvation” in the New Testament is the Greek noun soteria and the verb of that is sozo. It has a wonderful meaning in scripture of deliverance, salvation, preservation, healing and provision. God has already provided our every need, according to Scripture. (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I remember when we once asked a local man, who was Greek, what soteria meant to him and he said, “It means, all of my needs supplied, like a little baby.” I've never forgotten that and as I researched the Scriptures, I found out that's exactly what it means – “all of our needs supplied” and it's to the believers. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. (Rom.1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is revealed a righteousness.... This is because we are “counted righteous” by our faith. People who walk by faith are the ones who are justified because “counted righteous” means “justified.” (Rom.1:17) For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live from faith. The literal translation there is “from faith” and not “by faith.” God puts a high premium on people who believe and act upon His Word. (Jas.2:17) Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. (18) Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from [thy] works, and I by my works will show thee [my] faith. People who act on what the Word says will see results. They will receive power from God. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live from faith: And if he shrink back (Through unbelief), my soul hath no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition.... “Perdition” is “destruction” and everyone who shrinks back from the walk of faith is being destroyed. They're under the curse; they're subject to all the things that faith delivers us from. (Heb.10:39) But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul. When you first receive salvation, it's not your soul that gets saved; it's your spirit that is saved and as you continue to walk after the Spirit, you bear fruit in your soul. Walking by faith brings us the manifestation of God's salvation in our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions. And having our mind, will and emotions in tune with Jesus Christ is what this salvation is all about. (Heb.11:1) Now faith is assurance of [things] hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. Some translations say, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for while the evidence is not seen.” The power of God to save you in every circumstance and every situation, which is the Gospel, comes because of faith. It comes when you believe that you have already received these things, which you do not yet see. I want to prove to you and encourage you that you don't have to talk God into anything. He has already made provision for you. It's a free gift that He puts into your hand. He gave it to you 2000 years ago and He will not take it back. You can give it up by not walking by faith, but He won't take it back. Our faith stands in as the “substance” of the thing that we need and the thing that we need in every circumstance is salvation in all its forms. (Heb.11:2) For therein the elders had witness borne to them. (3) By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. Science has proved this is quantum faith. The smallest unseen particles become what we want because we believe before we see as Jesus said, Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (Numeric) them, and ye shall have them..   The Word of God has framed the world by the faith of God. God Himself creates through faith and, if we are going to be a son of God, we have to do the same thing. Our words will bring forth the creating power of God through us into every situation and every circumstance. But we need to give God the “substance” of the thing hoped for and that's our faith (Heb.11:6) ... without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. Jesus also said, (Mat.9:29) ... According to your faith be it done unto you, and (Mat.8:13) ... As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. He constantly made faith the requirement. We, like God, learn to (Rom.4:17) ... calleth the things that are not, as though they were, and our faith has the power to create all of our needs. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. We know that grace is unmerited and unearned. It's a free gift, so you can't work for it. It can only come by faith. This is past tense, it says, “have you been saved” because salvation was accomplished at the cross. And it also includes your soul, your body and your circumstances, so that all your needs are met, completely. (Eph.2:9) Not of works, that no man should glory. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (And that's the works of the Lord, not the works of the flesh.), which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. Again in (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved… Remember that this word “saved” used in other places in the Bible, has already been done and it's only going to manifest through faith. “By grace have ye been saved.” God wants us to believe the promises in order for us to have the manifestation of that salvation in our life. There are also “catch-all” verses, such as Mark 11:24. When you receive this revelation and start acting upon it, you have a miraculous life. It is basically saying that salvation covers everything you need. Salvation has already been done and all of it has been provided, as Jesus said. (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (Numeric pattern. Even the Received Text has this as a Greek note.) them.... Note that you are supposed to believe you have received it in the physical realm. Because Ephesians 2:8 says, “by grace have ye been saved,” and “saved” covers everything that we need, through faith. We have a complete agreement here. So “all things whatsoever” have been provided because He tells you, no matter what it is, believe you received. And He tells you that because it was all provided at the cross, turn around and look behind you. This is what faith is. (Rom.4:16) For this cause [it is] of faith, that [it may be] according to grace... (17) [even] God who ... calleth the things that are not, as though they were. It's past tense. It has already been done. Everything about salvation has been completed. If you're waiting for God to do it, you have no faith, or you're not exercising faith and you're not claiming the promise. That's why many people are not growing up in the Lord. If you really believed that you have received it all back there at the cross, what do you think you would say? What do you think you would do? What do you think your imagination would be like? This is a really good exercise. Practice meditating on what you would say and do if you have already received a healing, a deliverance, a provision, a protection, or so on. In other words, practice believing that it's already yours! Faith without works is dead it says in (Jas.2:26) For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. Many people say, “I believe I received,” but everything else about them is totally backward to what they would be doing if they really believed. Their imagination is only imagining the things of this world, which is the curse and everything negative, and yet they are trying to believe they have received. But a whole part of their being is warring with them because we are kind of a schizophrenic being. We're flesh and we're spirit. However, because we are born-again, we have the power to cast down these vain imaginations. (2Co.10:5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We cast down these vain imaginations, we begin to speak in agreement with the fact that we have received, we act as if we have received, we imagine we have received. We have been made in the image of our Father and our imagination is very powerful when mixed with our faith to do miracles. Believing you have received should take over your whole being from your mouth to your eyes to your feet. Everything that you do should be in agreement with the fact that you have already received. Now if you need a healing for instance, we have this scripture (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare (past tense) our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed (past tense). So, we believe we were already healed at the cross. (Col.1:12) Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet (or “able”).... We can thank the Father that He made us able through His gift of faith that He has given to us. (2Th.3:2) ... For all have not faith, but He has given to each one of us, that is, to God's elect, the measure of faith. (Rom.12:3) … God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith. So He made us able. (Col.1:12) Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. “The saints in light” means the saints who walk in light. We are able to partake of everything that the saints who walk in light are capable of partaking in. (Col.1:13) Who delivered (it's past tense again) us out of the power of darkness.... He has already delivered us, it's already been accomplished. When the devil tells you he has you in bondage, just remember you were already delivered so don't buy the lie. Accept the Good News that sets free and is the power of God to save you. If you do not agree with the Good News, God cannot bring it to pass. People live under the curse all their life, but the Lord delivered us. You're not under the power of the devil. The devil has deceived many people into believing that he has legal power over them, but he doesn't have any power because Jesus told us in (Mat.28:18) All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go ye therefore.... So He sent out His disciples to exercise that same authority over the devil's kingdom. (Col.1:13) Who delivered (past tense) us out of the power of darkness, and translated (past tense) us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; (14) in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. We already have our redemption. “Redemption” is the Greek word apolutrosis and it means “a release on payment of a ransom.” A ransom is paid when a person is being held captive because of sin and the ransom sets them free. The price has already been paid by our Lord Jesus Christ for us to be set free from bondage to the devil, set free from bondage to the flesh, and set free from bondage to the curse. You can't earn your redemption. Our redemption, our release from bondage, and the forgiveness of our sins have already been accomplished at the cross. Praise be to God! Now, something even greater that we should know about is in (2Co.5:16) Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know [him so] no more. And why is that? It's because “after the flesh” is like walking by sight. Now, instead, we know people by faith; we know ourselves by faith; we know the people for whom we have prayed by faith. (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away.... They are gone; everything that we have known ourselves as, in the flesh, is gone. All that we have known about ourselves in the flesh is over. We know no man after the flesh anymore. (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. (18) But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself.... So everything has become new because of what Jesus did at the cross. That was when He provided everything new for us. He provided our life, our deliverance, our healing, our provision, our protection, and on and on. We should see ourselves in the light of what the Bible says about us, which is that all things are new. Going on in (2Co.5:18) But all things are of God, who reconciled us.... Now “reconciled” there is the Greek word katallasso and it means Jesus made an exchange at the cross. He took all of our curse and gave us all of His blessings. He took all of our lack and gave us all of His provision. (Php.4:19) My God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He has already given us all of our needs because He made an exchange at the cross. And what He took from us is everything we don't want and that we can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven with. Everything has already been accomplished! (2Co.5:19) ... That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The Lord is not reckoning to us, not attributing our trespasses to us, and He has given us the opportunity to share with other people that God has reconciled them, too. When we give them this Good News of reconciliation and when they become believers in what God has already accomplished, then they can start having miracles, also! That's our ministry that the Lord has called us to. Here's another awesome revelation: (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. You don't have to worry about your “old man” anymore. But think more like this: You have already been crucified. The old you doesn't live anymore. (Rom.6:11) Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. This is because it was accomplished at the cross. If you exercise faith in that, the Lord will bring your crucifixion to pass. If you try to do it yourself, you'll be trying to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and you will constantly fail. You will fall short of the glory of God. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me ...” Since you're dead and He lives, the reconciliation, the exchange, was accomplished at the cross. You were crucified and Christ is now given to you as the gift of God. Christ is manifesting in you and you are entering into the rest, by resting from your own works through your faith in the promises. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest.... You are entering into that rest; God is giving you the promise. The Land of Rest was also called the Promised Land because that's where all the promises are fulfilled. So we've been crucified with Christ and we don't live anymore. He lives in us and we're justified by faith in this promise. (Gal.2:16) Yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ.... “Justified” means “accounted righteous.” When you believe these promises that are contrary to your senses, contrary to your eyes, contrary to the things around you, that is when God says you're righteous. …that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And in (Gal.3:6) Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Abraham was justified because he believed God and he was reckoned righteous. So when we believe the Good News, we are reckoned righteous and we receive these benefits because we are righteous. It's the unearned favor of God. (Gal.3:11) Now that no man is justified by the law before God, is evident: for, The righteous shall live by (literally, “from”) faith.... Our life is going to proceed from the gift of faith which God has given to us. But we need to remember how to exercise our faith because this is very important. (Gal.3:12) And the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them. In other words, if you're going to try to obtain righteousness by your own works, by doing the works of the Law, then have at it, but God is not going to be in it. Remember in (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us .... “Redeemed” is again past tense. It's the Greek word exagorazo and it means “to buy out” or “to purchase a slave with a mind to set him free.” We were slaves of the curse, of the devil, of the flesh and slaves of our circumstances, but the Lord redeemed us. He set us free from that. Do you really believe it? Well, if you do, you're accounted righteous. And if you believe, then that's the power of God unto salvation and God will bring it to pass for you. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Glory be to God! I especially like, (Rom.3:4) ... Let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. We know that the judgment of this world is the curse and we want to prevail every time we come under the judgment of a curse, no matter what the cause. Whether it comes as a trial to build our faith, whether it comes as a chastening for sin, or whatever, we want to prevail when we come under the curse. And God says that there's only one way to prevail: we have to “Let God be found true, but every man a liar.” God is birthing sons of God, the spiritual, born-again man on the inside who is being created in the likeness of Jesus Christ. This is the man who speaks the words and believes the thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the righteous man before God. It's very important that we are justified in our words. Without being accounted righteous, we are not able to partake of the benefits of the Kingdom. Jesus said, (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. If we claim to be Christians but we let that old man speak, he can bring us into an awful lot of judgment and wrath because we are not justified. We have to be careful that we are agreeing with God's Word and trusting in what He says so that we can be justified in our words. When our words agree with God's Words and we confess our faith in every situation, then we're coming into the renewed mind of Jesus Christ, and we are being transformed by that renewed mind. We are coming into His image and we're prevailing when we come into judgment. (Rom.5:1) Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; (2) through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace (unmerited favor) wherein we stand.... Now that's very clear. Our words of faith and actions of faith give us access to the grace and favor of God. We stand in the favor, benefits and blessings all because our faith gives us access. (Rom.5:2) Through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and let us rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (3) And not only so, but let us also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness.... The word here for “stedfastness” is also translated as “patience.” Many times we don't want to wait and trust in God or we don't want to endure the struggle or the pain in order to see the manifestation. This is an “instant gratification” society. We want to believe and then see something happen immediately. But if we stand in faith, we have access to His grace, His grace enables us to stand and we eventually receive the thing we are believing for. (Rom.5:3) And not only so, but let us also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; (4) and patience, approvedness.... The word “approvedness” is a word for “character.” This is the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are called to come into His Image. (Rom.8:29) For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. If we want His character, we have to walk patiently in our faith. Don't give up! Many people do and it's sad that this is such a major problem among Christians. They don't keep the Word of God before their eyes and the Word of God in their thoughts; they do not pray to God for mercy to write this Word upon their hearts. They are just useless in their faith. We're called to be warriors for the Lord Jesus Christ and warriors for our brethren around us who need the benefits of God's Kingdom. In order to do that, we have to be like Jesus and His disciples were and that is a warrior through faith. We have to be someone who walks justified before God because we speak faith in agreement with the Word of God. (Rom.5:4) And patience, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: (5) and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us. How do we know we have the love of God in our hearts? According to this, those who are patient in their faith have hope and that hope does not put them to shame. Some people think that “the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts” means “the love that God has for people,” but also I think it's talking about “the love that we have for God.” A person who wants to please God walks by faith because we know (Heb.11:6) without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]. So the people who want to please God are the people who love God. These are the people who are struggling to be patient in their faith. They are justified because it is important to them to endure the trial of their faith. We have proof about the meaning of “the love of God” in verse 5 because it's also found here: (Jas.1:12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation....  This is spoken of in Deuteronomy 28, where the one who is blessed is the one who “hearkens unto” the voice of the Lord, the one who hears and acts upon the voice of the Lord. The people of faith hear His voice and they act upon it, they speak in agreement with it and their feet prove it. (Jas.1:12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved (There's that “approvedness” again; we endure temptation in order to be approved of the Lord.), he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love him. Notice that the people who endure temptation are the people who love Him and want to be well-pleasing to Him. They want to be called “righteous” because they walk by faith and faith is submitting humbly to the Word of God, agreeing with the Word of God, speaking the Word of God. These are learning to walk as sons of God in the Kingdom of God. And we read in (Jas.1:2) Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations (or “trials”); (3) knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. (4) And let patience (which is so well-pleasing to God) have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. The person who patiently endures the trial of their faith lacks nothing. Most people will not endure to the end. They endure to somewhere down the trial and then they decide that God's not quite right about this, that He really hasn't answered their prayers. They decide that they can't believe that they have received because their eyes tell them the truth and that God's Word has not told them the truth. They're proving themselves to be unbelievers. They have an “evil heart of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:12) which we all must war against. The person who is patient in their faith will be perfect in their entirety, lacking nothing, so you see how important it is to endure the trial of our faith. (Jas.1:5) But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (6) But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; (8) a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways. You can feel the Lord's feelings about people who are double-minded, those who cannot ask without doubting. Now we all have thoughts that come through our mind that are of doubt, although those are not necessarily our thoughts, but if we give into them and act upon them, then we have doubted. (Heb.10:36) For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. Everyone starts out asking God and believing, but they don't all endure in their patience to receive the promise. The people who have learned patience are people who have lived miracles. They see answers from God and they awe everybody with their faith. It's not necessarily that their faith is any stronger, but it's that they don't give in to doubts or unbelief. They cast these imaginations down when they come into their mind. They're well-pleasing to God and accounted righteous because they are patient in their faith and they will receive the reward. (Heb.6:11) And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope (The word “hope” here means “firm expectation.”) even to the end: (12) that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Obviously, if God speaks so much about this, it must be what is dear to His heart because it is His joy to see His people receive the benefits of the Kingdom. I've had many trials of my faith that I can share with others and I know that the Lord brought me through these things so that I, myself, would learn patience and faith. Some of these were enduring trials that took a while and a lot of wrestling to receive answers. They were a warfare of casting down reasonings, imaginations, dreams and revelations, and these things that are contrary to God's promises. Now, something else that we need to do consistently is, (Jas.5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.... Now we know that Jesus said, (Mar.11:24) All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them, and that's exactly right, but we also know that if our sins are against us, then we're not going to be bold toward God. (1Jn.3:21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; (22) and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Confession is a way to get rid of your unbelief because your conscience is right with God. It's not that God wouldn't heal you. In the Scriptures Jesus healed every single one of those Jews who came to Him because it was a benefit; Jesus called it “the children's bread” in Matthew 15:26. In cases where He wasn't sure if the people had faith, He tried to draw faith out of them, such as with the Syrophoenician woman and with the centurion. Jesus said things to make them speak words of faith because He knew that this person had to agree with Him. In His own hometown, (Mat.13:58) ... He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief, so we know that Jesus didn't heal because of people's unbelief. Confessing our sins is very important. It's humbling before God and it's necessary in order to get rid of double-mindedness, which is caused by a conscience that's not right before God. We don't know how much we suffer in our faith because of our conscience. (Psa.32:1) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. (2) Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile. (3) When I kept silence, my bones wasted away (I believe they knew back then that a person's blood which, according to Leviticus 17:11, is “the life of the flesh,” is created in your bones.) Through my groaning all the day long. (Psa.32:4) For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me (Notice it was God Who sent the curse in order to motivate man to repentance, as it says in Deuteronomy 28.): My moisture was changed [as] with the drought of summer. (Psa.32:5) I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine iniquity did I not hide: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. (6) For this let every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found (That is, before it's too late. Confessing your sin quickly will keep you out of a lot of the curse.): Surely when the great waters overflow they shall not reach unto him. The waters, which represent the curse of the world, will not reach unto this person because he has confessed his sin and so he is accounted righteous and entitled to the benefits of the Kingdom. (1Jn.1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Here is a person who has confessed his sin and is entitled to the benefits of the Kingdom. Now we can partake of the benefits of God because we have faith. The devil tries to sidetrack us from that faith because we are justified by our faith. He is always accusing us of something, but if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; (1Jn.3:21). The Lord knows that you have to have faith to overcome. He does not want you to waste any time with condemnation when it's not necessary. He doesn't want you to condemn yourself because you cannot have condemnation and faith at the same time, and faith (1Jn.5:4) Is the victory that hath overcome the world. Condemnation does come because of willful disobedience, but not for ignorance or for failure. Through the commandments of God in the New Testament, we come to a revelation of what sin is and now we start being held accountable for it. It says in (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. The Bible says in, (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. So a person does not have a blood covering for wilful sin and judgement comes.

Megyn Kelly is joined by Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch, hosts of The Fifth Column podcast, to discuss continued fallout from President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter, how this is just the latest lie in his lengthy career of lies, the spin from the corporate media and Democratic elite, ridiculous spin from the New York Times about how Biden "changed his mind" on the Hunter pardon on Saturday in Nantucket, Dave Portnoy's rant on how the Democratic party needs to be blown up, Chuck Todd brutally turning on Biden, Don Lemon's bizarre legal advice and attacks on Trump supporters, Kamala Harris' video message to her campaign in which she seemed tipsy, slurring her words and leaning on her usual talking points, why the Democrats might have released this, the international conflicts Trump is inheriting in Ukraine and Syria, Trump's threat to Hamas to release the hostages before he takes office January 20, the continued smear campaign against Pete Hegseth, the overreach of #MeToo, and more.More from The Fifth Column: https://www.wethefifth.com/Prager U: Join PragerU's fastest-growing podcast. Subscribe to Real Talk with Marissa Streit on your favorite podcast platform or watch at https://PragerU.com/RealTalkCozy Earth: https://www.CozyEarth.com/MEGYN | code MEGYNTax Network USA: https://TNUSA.com/MEGYN Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow

The Aussie ETF market is booming! With over 50 new ETFs launched in 2024 and nearly 400 in total now available, it's easy to overlook some great options. Don't miss out—this episode is your shortcut to discovering the hottest new ETFs on the block.We cover:2024 highlights; a snapshot of this year's new arrivals.Community favourites; The most popular new ETFs among the Equity Mates communityTop performers: A round up of best-performing new ETFs.Our picks: The new ETFs we're most excited about adding to our portfolios.Links:Check out our episode on the new defence ETFsMorningstar listETFs: LEND, GARP, GHHF, VBTC, GXLD, G200, FCAP, PAVE, BSUB, BTXX, DAVA, MTUMJoin our discussion group on Facebook!Have a question? Reckon we do ETF hottest 100? Let us know.—------Sign up to our daily news email delivered to your inbox at 6am every weekday morning. Short, sharp, to the point, it'll get you up to speed in less than 5 minutes.—------Want more Equity Mates?Listen to our original podcast: Equity Mates Investing (Apple | Spotify)Watch Equity Mates on YouTubePick up our books: Get Started Investing and Don't Stress, Just InvestFollow us on social media: Instagram, TikTok, & LinkedIn—------In the spirit of reconciliation, Equity Mates Media and the hosts of Get Started Investing acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people today. —------Get Started Investing is a product of Equity Mates Media. This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes. Any advice is general advice only, and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances, needs or objectives. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement. And if you are unsure, please speak to a financial professional. Equity Mates Media operates under Australian Financial Services Licence 540697. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is no disputing the sweep of Donald Trump's White House victory. But, there are many unanswered questions about the road ahead and serious concerns about how he will lead the nation. Trump's win of the popular vote for the first time is prompting Republicans to claim a mandate to carry out Mr. Trump's most aggressive items on his America first agenda.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon chat with the hilarious and multitalented Samantha Irby, author of multiple wickedly funny essay collections, as well as writer for multiple television series. Samantha talks about her own confidence and how she's able to write guiltless memoir pieces. She distinguishes between the experiences of watching what she's written versus reading what she's written. Has she bougie-ed out of her past? And, of course, what are the ins and outs of comedy-writing? Can it be taught? What are the industry-wide issues with gatekeeping? And who do you write to?  Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned bitches gotta eat! (Samantha Irby blog) “My Mother, My Daughter” (Samantha Irby, The Rumpus 2012) We Are Never Meeting In Real Life (Samantha Irby) Meaty (Samantha Irby) New Year, Same Trash (Samantha Irby) Wow, No Thank You (Samantha Irby) Quietly Hostile (Samantha Irby) Watch List: Shrill And Just Like That: Sex and the City Tuca and Bertie Atlanta Mea Culpa Paul Mooney Mike Epps Mo'Nique Shirley Hemphill Nell Carter Listening List: “Upgrade U” (Beyoncé) More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.  Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon dig into a classic essay by Toni Morrison, “The Work You Do, the Person You Are,” published in The New Yorker in May 2017. They talk about labor and self-identity — how our feelings of worth can become so closely tied to the work we do, in ways that can become unhealthy, both in the corporate world and in the art we create.  Kiese Laymon: “Without labor and work, I don't know who I am. And I think that's terrifying.”  Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned “The Work You Do, the Person You Are” Toni Morrison (The New Yorker, 2017) Daddy Was a Number Runner (Louise Meriwether, 1970) “On Writing and the Business of Writing” (Carmen Maria Machado, 2022) Playing in the Dark (Toni Morrison, 1992) "The Cask of Amontillado" (Edgar Allan Poe, 1846) More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) City Summer, Country Summer (Kiese Laymon & Alexis Franklin) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.  Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa

On the latest episode of Reckon True Stories, Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon are joined by MacArthur Genius and National Book Award Winner Dr. Imani Perry to discuss genre, personal stories and the ethical commitment to those we write about, the utilization of craft to bring the reader close to the experience and the body, the body as political, Black women and silence, mobility, music, and mothering.  They ask the question of what we owe of ourselves as writers — and particularly Black writers— to our audience, and they explore what it looks like to maintain boundaries, to self-preserve, and to rest. In Kiese's words, he calls it learning “the art of not just no, but not now.” Kiese praises Dr. Perry on how she has never written the same kind of book twice, and in this episode, she talks about her inspirations, how she chooses what to write towards, and what questions she is consistently leaning into in her work. Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned South to America (Imani Perry) Breathe: A Letter To My Sons (Imani Perry) Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop (Imani Perry) Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry (Imani Perry) May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (Imani Perry) Percival Everett A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain (Imani Perry) Alice Walker Nikky Finney “She Changed Black Literature Forever. Then She Disappeared.” (Imani Perry, New York Times 2021) “‘Palmares' Is An Example Of What Grows When Black Women Choose Silence” (Deesha Philyaw, Electric Literature 2021) Palmares (Gayl Jones) Robert Stepto Hazel Carby Zora Neale Hurston Katherine Dunham Moms Mabley 1000 Words (Jami Attenberg) Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against “The Apocalypse” (Emily Raboteau) How To Live Free In A Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir (Shayla Lawson) A Mercy (Toni Morrison) Listening List: Nina Simone Miles Davis “Nobody's Supposed To Be Here” (Deborah Cox) More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) City Summer, Country Summer (Kiese Laymon & Alexis Franklin) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.  Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa