Podcasts about The Reverend

Hurricane Melissa: Concrete Kingston Spared, St. Catherine's Suffers Utter Devastation Guest: Reverend Bill Develin Reverend Bill Develin reports from Kingston, Jamaica, describing Hurricane Melissa as an "unbelievable storm" that surpasses others he has experienced. The Category 5 hurricane features incredible winds reaching 185 mph and torrential rainfall, creating a "toxic mix and meteorological disaster." Develin, located in Kingston on a hill in a concrete home, did not need to evacuate and notes that Kingston has "definitely been spared," though power has been out in his neighborhood for approximately 12 hours and half of New Kingston's business district remains in darkness. In stark contrast, St. Catherine's Parish, approximately 120 miles to the west, has experienced "utter and complete devastation." This underserved, rural, and impoverished area is largely constructed of wood structures with zinc metal roofs, making homes highly vulnerable to the storm, comparable to the poorest parts of New Orleans during previous hurricanes. St. Catherine's Parish was on a mandatory evacuation list of 25 areas; fortunately, though the state public hospital's roof was ripped off, all patients and staff had been evacuated the day before the storm. The government of Jamaica, including Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Office of Disaster Preparedness, performed exceptionally, establishing 880 safe shelters across the island and maintaining overall preparedness. The Ministry of Transportation hopes the airport will reopen within 48 hours to allow relief flights carrying humanitarian aid from organizations like Samaritan's Purse, the International Red Cross, and the European Union Humanitarian Relief Effort. Despite these efforts, devastation across western Jamaica from May Pen to Montego Bay—where 25,000 tourists shelter—will require massive cleanup efforts lasting at least a year, constituting a "double whammy" for communities still recovering from Hurricane Barrel, which struck over a year prior with similar force. Hurricane Melissa is expected to travel north through Montego Bay, then turn obliquely eastward toward Cuba, barrel into western Haiti, pass near the Bahamas and Bermuda, and eventually dissipate into the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline reveals, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men aged 18 or older have experienced domestic violence. “Closer Look” program host Rose Scott talks with Reverend Raushanah N. Butler, a Doctor of Ministry student and the director of alumni engagement for the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She addressed the role and responsibility religious leaders and faith organizations have when it comes to addressing domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs assistance, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Plus, more than 1.4 million Georgians are at risk of not receiving their monthly benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as the government shutdown continues. We hear from Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who says the federal government has a $5 billion contingency fund that could be used to fund the SNAP program.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, our Prevention and Education team bring on the Advocacy Center's very own, Dr. Kerry Burkley. Tune in to hear more about Kerry's (various) roles in our community, what masculinity means to him, and how he encourages other men to be better...Kerry's recommendation: Men should practice being intentional about being vulnerable..Access the episode transcription at the link below!https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gChcQo-t0P88Fb5_a6ui0r33xGZJastuAdvocacy Center Crisis Hotline (254) 752-7233 or (888) 867-7233.Follow us on Instagram at @ACCVC_Prevention to connect with us and for more great content!

Reverend Bill Devlin Braves Category 5 Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica Guest: Reverend Bill Devlin Host John Batchelor interviews Reverend Bill Devlin, who is in Kingston, Jamaica, facing Hurricane Melissa, described as a rare Category 5 storm. Melissa is the strongest storm on the planet this year, featuring winds of 150 mph with expected gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane is anticipated to make landfall on Jamaica's southern coast, passing through May Pen toward Montego Bay. Devlin is sheltering on a balcony overlooking Kingston, which is experiencing torrential rains and gale winds. Despite local catastrophic flooding, Kingston appears well-prepared, as the overwhelming majority of homes are concrete structures with secured, tiled roofs. Devlin reports no catastrophic damage in the city thus far. All three Jamaican airports closed starting Sunday night, October 26, 2025, with all flights canceled until Friday, October 31st. Melissa has already caused fatalities in Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. The guest expresses particular concern for the middle and rural regions of the island, which are still recovering from Hurricane Barrel, which struck over a year ago. 1900 TYPHOON ON GUAM

Teatime with Miss Liz, October 28th, 3 PM EST Serves Reverend Kaleel Sakakeeny: Pet Grief Animal Talks TopicHow to Cope with the Loss of a Pet Title“A Big, Big Love: Reverend Kaleel Sakakeeny on Pet Loss, Grief, and Healing” Tagline“Honouring the animal-human bond and guiding hearts through the grief of losing a beloved companion.” DescriptionReverend Kaleel Sakakeeny is an ordained pastor, animal chaplain, and grief counsellor who founded Animal Talks, a Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting people grieving the loss of a beloved pet. Inspired by his own heartbreak after losing his cat, Kaleel created one of the few organizations in the U.S. offering specialized grief support for pet parents. Through one-on-one counselling, online support groups, and educational resources, he provides comfort and tools for navigating the unique and often overlooked pain of losing an animal companion. Introduction: Teatime welcomes Reverend Kaleel Sakakeeny, founder of Animal Talks and one of the few ordained animal chaplains and credentialed grief counsellors in the country. After experiencing the devastating loss of his own beloved cat, he transformed his pain into purpose—creating safe spaces for others to grieve, heal, and honour the sacred bond with their pets. With compassion, spiritual insight, and lived experience, Kaleel helps us understand that grieving an animal companion is not only valid but deeply human.Reverend Kaleel Sakakeeny will remind us that love has no boundaries—and neither does grief. By creating Animal Talks, he has given voice to the silent sorrow many endure when losing a pet. His work honours the profound bond between humans and animals, offering healing, validation, and hope for broken hearts everywhere.Reverend Kaleel Sakakeeny is an ordained animal chaplain, grief counsellor, and founder of Animal Talks, a nonprofit supporting those grieving the loss of a pet. Inspired by his own heartbreak, he now guides others through the pain of loss, honouring the deep bond between humans and animals with compassion and care.#ReverendKaleelSakakeeny#AnimalTalks#PetLossSupport#GriefHealing#AnimalHumanBond https://www.animaltalksinc.com/

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Reverend Cody Carroll preaches "Born to be a Winner" at Mission Point!Click to donate to Mission Point!Click to find a podcast app for your computer, phone or tablet.Find us on:SpotifyApple PodcastsPodcast IndexRSS FeedAmazon Music

Reverend Allan Shalm preaches "Time to Stretch" for the first night Men's Conference/Samuel Summit 2025.Click to donate to Mission Point!Click to find a podcast app for your computer, phone or tablet.Find us on:SpotifyApple PodcastsPodcast IndexRSS FeedAmazon Music

Reverend Daniel Bernard preaches "When God Eavesdrops" at Mission Point.Click to donate to Mission Point!Click to find a podcast app for your computer, phone or tablet.Find us on:SpotifyApple PodcastsPodcast IndexRSS FeedAmazon Music

Join us as we explore the playful, sparkling energy of Archangel Raziel. Known as the keeper of divine secrets, Raziel brings laughter, lightness, and healing sparkles to lift our vibration. In this episode, we share stories, visions, and a guided meditation to help you release heaviness and invite divine helpers into your life.What if your guides for the guided meditation had no idea where Spirit was going to be leading them? Join Dr. Ruth Anderson and Teri Angel as they explore a spirit-inspired and spirit-led meditation. Enjoy the journey with them as they open their hearts, minds, and awareness to whatever the learning might be. Join us in this alternate form of meditation. What message is waiting for you? Nope, this is not your Mama's meditation.Teri Angel is an International Peace Ambassador and the founder of the nonprofit corporation, Angelspeakers Inc. Teri is an angel messenger, spiritual coach and teacher, and energy healer. She has been communicating with angels her entire life. Teri is currently on a Peace On Earth Tour, spreading the message of peace throughout the country. She can be reached at https://www.angelspeakers.comDr. Ruth Anderson, the founder of Enlightened World Network, is a Reverend of the Church of Inner Light. She is an author, producer, and a conduit for the Spiritual Divinity sharing their teachings in an authentic and open matter. Her desire is for others to know oneness with the spiritual divinity, Divine Mother, and the archangels and to know divine love as she has been able to experience it.Enlightened World Network is your guide to inspirational online programs about the spiritual divinity, angels, energy work, chakras, past lives, or soul. Learn about spiritually transformative authors, musicians and healers. From motivational learning to inner guidance, you will find the best program for you.Enlightened World Network is now available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Podbean, Spotify, and Amazon Music.Check out EWN's website featuring over 200 spirit-inspired lightworkers specializing in meditation, energy work and angel channelinghttps://www.enlightenedworld.onlinePlease consider donating to support the work of the EWN https://www.paypal.me/EnlightenedWorld.Enjoy inspirational and educational shows at http://www.youtube.com/c/EnlightenedWorldNetworkTo sign up for a newsletter to stay up on EWN programs and events, sign up here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FBoFQef/webLink to EWN's disclaimer: https://enlightenedworld.online/disclaimer/meditation

Today, Thursday, October 23 on Urban Forum Northwest:*Reverend Dr. Leslie D. Braxton, Senior Pastor, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship (NBCF) Kent WA is seeking answers from the Washington State Congressional Delegation regarding the last Thursday morning occupation of the church's property by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and the Renton Police Department without the church's permission. Stephen Gray, NBCF Chief Operating Officer (COO) requested information from the DEA agents and was ignored.*Lekha Fernandes, Director, Washington State Office of Minority & Women Business Enterprise (OMWBE) comments on the restrictions being placed on certified minority & women owned businesses by the federal government.*Hayward Evans, Co Convener, Seattle King County Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Committee comments on the Opportunity Fair that's one of the events sponsored by the Seattle King County MLK Organizing Coalition. Last year over fifty agencies and businesses participated in the event bringing information about employment and training opportunities.*Saul Patu, former professional football player and a youth coach and advocate and Rita Green, NAACP Youth Council Adviser comments on the double standards of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA). They express their dismay as to why private schools have different rules than Washington state public schools playing in the same league.Urban Forum Northwest streams live at www.1150kknw.com. Visit us ay www.urbanforumnw.com for archived programs and relevant information. Like us on facebook. X@Eddie_RyeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Way - Reverend Jonathan Imogu by Victory Inheritance Ministries

Tasha and Phil talk about how being "spiritual but not religious" has been the mainstay of religious shifts for the last 30 years but that mainstay seems to be shifting again. Generation Z appears to show themselves as a group who are interested in having both authentic faith and being a part of an authentic community.

In this episode of The Curious Realm, host Christopher Jordan welcomes author and experiencer Reverend Michael JS Carter to discuss the recent fervor and hyped fear within the UFO/UAP communities regarding the arrival of Comet 3i Atlas…the 3rd interstellar object detected by the ATLAS telescope array. How has the slanted media coverage as well as the trove of fake AI generated images adversely affected the public view of the approaching object, and how can this event be used as an opportunity to open a greater conversation of understanding the divisions both political and religious within the UFO/UAP communities-at-large? In the second part of the episode, we welcome Mike Turber, lead investigator and founder of 5x5 News to discuss the latest developments which came to light during the recent Congressional UAP hearings. From more whistleblower and witness testimony, to the controversial “hellfire missile video”, how do these hearing impact the world of UFO Disclosure as we know it, and what might we takeaway that can leave us hopeful for the future for large scale Disclosure? Join the Curious Realm as we delve into the topics of 3i ATLAS hyped fear with Reverend Micheal JS Carter and the Congressional UAP Hearing with Mike Turber of 5x5 News. Curious Realm is proudly distributed by: Ground Zero Media &  KGRA, APRTV and the official Curious Realm ROKU App! Curious Realm has teamed up with True Hemp Science, Austin, TX based suppliers of high-quality full spectrum emulsified CBD products and more. Visit TrueHempScience.com TODAY and use code Curious7 to save 7% off your order of $50 or more and get a free 50mg CBD edible! Intro music “A Curious Realm” provided by No Disassemble find more great music and content at: NoDisassemble.com.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/curious-realm--5254986/support.

In this episode of The Curious Realm, host Christopher Jordan welcomes author and experiencer Reverend Michael JS Carter to discuss the recent fervor and hyped fear within the UFO/UAP communities regarding the arrival of Comet 3i Atlas…the 3rd interstellar object detected by the ATLAS telescope array. How has the slanted media coverage as well as the trove of fake AI generated images adversely affected the public view of the approaching object, and how can this event be used as an opportunity to open a greater conversation of understanding the divisions both political and religious within the UFO/UAP communities-at-large? In the second part of the episode, we welcome Mike Turber, lead investigator and founder of 5x5 News to discuss the latest developments which came to light during the recent Congressional UAP hearings. From more whistleblower and witness testimony, to the controversial “hellfire missile video”, how do these hearing impact the world of UFO Disclosure as we know it, and what might we takeaway that can leave us hopeful for the future for large scale Disclosure? Join the Curious Realm as we delve into the topics of 3i ATLAS hyped fear with Reverend Micheal JS Carter and the Congressional UAP Hearing with Mike Turber of 5x5 News. Curious Realm is proudly distributed by: Ground Zero Media &  KGRA, APRTV and the official Curious Realm ROKU App! Curious Realm has teamed up with True Hemp Science, Austin, TX based suppliers of high-quality full spectrum emulsified CBD products and more. Visit TrueHempScience.com TODAY and use code Curious7 to save 7% off your order of $50 or more and get a free 50mg CBD edible! Intro music “A Curious Realm” provided by No Disassemble find more great music and content at: NoDisassemble.com.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/curious-realm--5254986/support.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

On this episode of The Authority Company Podcast, Joe Pardavila sits down with Reverend Kevin T. Taylor, pastor, C-suite executive, and author of A Charge to Keep: Immutable Leadership Lessons from the C-Suite to the Pulpit. Reverend Taylor shares how lessons from the pulpit and the boardroom overlap, offering practical guidance for leaders navigating change, tough decisions, and the growing empathy deficit in today's world. He unpacks the importance of forgiveness and redemption, balancing faith-based values with real-world leadership challenges like layoffs, and why intentional diversity drives stronger outcomes. The conversation also highlights personal stories from his journey, including the $6,000 “miracle check” that saved a church from foreclosure, the realities of change resistance in academia and organizations, and the role of consistent character in both private and public life. Whether you're leading a business, a nonprofit, or a congregation, Reverend Taylor's timeless leadership lessons will help you lead with purpose, principle, and compassion.

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

In this episode Ruth and Terry share messages from Spirit on staying centered in times of distraction. Through visions, guidance from Jesus and Divine Mother, and reflections on compassion, they remind us to show up, love deeply, and keep our hearts focused on what truly matters.Teri Angel is an International Peace Ambassador and the founder of the nonprofit corporation, Angelspeakers Inc. Teri is an angel messenger, spiritual coach and teacher, and energy healer. She has been communicating with angels her entire life. Teri is currently on a Peace On Earth Tour, spreading the message of peace throughout the country. She can be reached at www.angelspeakers.comDr. Ruth Anderson, the founder of Enlightened World Network, is a Reverend of the Church of Inner Light. She is an author, producer, and a conduit for the Spiritual Divinity sharing their teachings in an authentic and open matter. Her desire is for others to know oneness with the spiritual divinity, Divine Mother, and the archangels and to know divine love as she has been able to experience it.Enlightened World Network is your guide to inspirational online programs about the spiritual divinity, angels, energy work, chakras, past lives, or soul. Learn about spiritually transformative authors, musicians and healers. From motivational learning to inner guidance, you will find the best program for you.Enlightened World Network is now available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Podbean, Spotify, and Amazon Music.Check out our website featuring over 200 spirit-inspired lightworkers specializing in meditation, energy work and angel channelingwww.enlightenedworld.onlinePlease consider donating to support the work of the EWN https://www.paypal.me/EnlightenedWorld.To sign up for a newsletter to stay up on EWN programs and events, sign up here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FBoFQef/webLink to EWN's disclaimer: https://enlightenedworld.online/disclaimer/#Guidedmeditation #meditationsforspiritualjourney#ArchangelMichael#lightworker#Angelicguidance

In episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb explore Jesus's parable of the wheat and tares (weeds) from Matthew 13. This thought-provoking discussion examines Christ's startling teaching that good and evil will always coexist within the visible church until the end of time. The brothers carefully unpack the theological implications of Jesus's command not to separate wheat from weeds prematurely, challenging our natural tendency to judge others while offering wisdom about God's sovereign plan for final judgment. This episode wrestles with difficult questions about church purity, assurance of salvation, and how believers should approach the reality of false professors within Christ's church—providing biblical guidance for faithfully enduring in a mixed communion. Key Takeaways The Coexistence of True and False Believers: Jesus teaches that the visible church will always contain a mixture of genuine believers and false professors until the final judgment. The Danger of Premature Judgment: Christ explicitly warns against attempting to completely purify the church before the harvest (end of age) because doing so would damage the wheat (true believers). Proper Biblical Interpretation: Unlike some parables, Jesus provides a detailed allegorical explanation of this parable—the sower is Christ, the field is the world, the good seed represents believers, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The Challenge of Discernment: One of the most difficult theological pills to swallow is that it's often impossible to perfectly distinguish between true and false believers. Final Judgment as God's Prerogative: The separation of wheat from weeds is reserved for the angels at the end of the age, not for current church leaders or members. The Reality of False Assurance: Some professing Christians may have false assurance of salvation while genuinely believing they are saved. The Importance of Theological Integrity: Public theologians and pastors have a moral responsibility to be transparent about their theological convictions and changes in their beliefs. Deeper Explanations The Difficult Reality of a Mixed Church Jesus's teaching in the parable of the wheat and weeds directly challenges our natural desire for a perfectly pure church. By instructing the servants not to pull up the weeds lest they damage the wheat, Christ is establishing an important ecclesiological principle that will hold true until His return. This means that no matter how rigorously we apply church discipline or how carefully we examine profession of faith, we will never achieve a perfectly pure communion this side of eternity. The visible church—which can be understood as those who profess faith and are baptized—will always include both true and false believers. This reality should cultivate humility in how we approach church membership and discipline. Jesus isn't suggesting that all attempts at church purity are wrong (as other Scripture passages clearly call for church discipline), but rather that perfect purification is impossible and attempts at achieving it will inevitably damage true believers. This teaching directly refutes movements throughout church history (like Donatism) that have sought absolute purity in the visible church. The Problem of Discernment and Assurance One of the most challenging aspects of this parable is Christ's implicit teaching that true and false professors can appear nearly identical, especially in their early development. Like tares growing alongside wheat, false believers can profess orthodox doctrine, participate in church life, and exhibit what appears to be spiritual fruit. This creates profound implications for how we understand assurance of salvation. As Tony notes, while "assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian," there's also the sobering reality of false assurance. Some may sincerely believe they are saved when they are not, raising difficult questions about self-examination and spiritual discernment. This doesn't mean believers should live in perpetual doubt, but rather that we should approach assurance with both confidence in God's promises and healthy self-examination. True assurance must be grounded in the finished work of Christ rather than merely in our experiences or behaviors, while false assurance often lacks this proper foundation. The brothers wisely note that final judgment belongs to God alone, who perfectly knows who belongs to Him. Memorable Quotes "The visible church is set before us as a mixed body. Maybe everybody else's churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion." - Jesse Schwamb "I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is at equal points totally sensible. And other times we would think, 'well, surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people?' ...and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus is essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church." - Jesse Schwamb "I'm affirming that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Guess what? It looks like you and I are taking another trip back to the farm on this episode. Tony Arsenal: Yes. For a couple episodes. Jesse Schwamb: For a couple episodes. Yeah. [00:01:01] Exploring Jesus' Parables in Matthew 13 Jesse Schwamb: Because what, Jesus will not stop leading us there. We're looking at his teachings, specifically the parables, and we're gonna be looking in Matthew chapter 13, where it seems like, is it possible that Jesus, once again has something very shocking for us to hear? That is for all the ages. 'cause it seems like he might actually be saying, Tony, that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church until the end of the world. Like in other words, that the visible church is set before a mixed body. I mean. Maybe everybody else chose churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion. Could that possibly be what Jesus is saying to us? I don't know what we're gonna find out. Tony Arsenal: We are. We are gonna find out. Jesse Schwamb: It's gonna be definitive. And if now that makes sense. If you don't even know why we're looking at Jesus' teachings, you could do us a favor even before you go any further. And that is just head on over in your favor, interwebs browser to or reform brotherhood.com, and you can find out all of the other episodes, all 464 that are living out there. There's all kinds of good stuff, at least we think so, or at least entertaining stuff for you to listen to. And when you're done with all of that in a year or two, then we'll pick it up right back here where we're about to go with some affirmations or some denials. [00:02:39] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: So Tony, before we figure out what Jesus has for us in Matthew 13, in the parable of the weeds, or the tears, or the tears in the weed, what gets all of that? Are you affirming with, are you denying against, Tony Arsenal: I am denying. First of all, I'm denying whatever this thing is that's going on with my throat. Sorry for the rest of the episode, everyone. Um, I'm denying something that I, I think it is. How do I want to phrase this? Um, maybe I'll call it theological integrity, and maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not. So the listener who's been with us for a little while will remember that a while back. Um, you know, we've, we've talked about Matthew Barrett and he was a Baptist, uh, who's heavily involved in sort of the theology, proper controversies. He wrote Simply Trinity, which is just a fantastic book. He was a teacher or a professor at Midwestern, um, Baptist Theological Seminary. And he recently, um, uh, converted is not the right word. I hate calling it a conversion when you go from one faithful Bible tradition to another. But he recently, um, changed his perspective and joined the Anglican Church. And at the time I kind of, you know, I kind of talked about it as like, it's a little bit disappointing, like the reasons he cited. [00:03:57] Theological Integrity and Public Disclosure Tony Arsenal: Where I'm bringing this into a matter of sort of theological integrity. And it's not, it's not just Matthew Barrett. Um, there's other elements of things going on that I'll, I'll point to too is it's often the case when someone who is in some form of professional theological work or professional vocational ministry, that as they start to change perspectives, um, there comes to be like an inflection point where they should notify whoever it is that they are accountable to in that job or vocation, uh, uh, and then do the right thing and step down. Right? And so with Matthew Barrett, um. He continued to teach systematic theology at a Baptist Theological Seminary, which has a faith statement which he was obligated to affirm and hold in good faith. He continued to teach there for quite some time, if, you know, when he, when he published the timeline and he's the one that put all the timelines out there. So it's not like people had to go digging for this. Um, he continued to teach under contract and under that, that faith statement, um, for quite some time after his positions changed. I remember in college, um, sim very similar situation, one of my professors, um, and I went to a Baptist college. It was a General Baptist college. Um, one of my professors became Roman Catholic and for quite some time he continued to teach without telling anyone that he had converted to Roman Catholicism. Um. And I think that there's a, there's a, a level of integrity that public theologians need to have. Um, and it, it really makes it difficult when something like this happens to be able to say that this is not a moral failing or some sort of failure. Um, you know, James White has jumped on the bandwagon very quickly to say, of course we told you that this was the way it was gonna lead. That if you affirm the great tradition, you know, he was very quick to say like, this is the road to Rome. And I think in his mind, um, Canterbury is just sort of one, one stop on that trip. Um, it becomes very hard after the fact to not have this color and tarnish all of your work before. 'cause it starts to be questions like, well, when, when did you start to hold these views? Were you writing, were you, were you publicizing Baptist theology when you no longer believed it to be the truth? Were you teaching theology students that this is what the Bible teaches when you no longer thought that to be true? Um. Were you secretly attending Anglican services and even teaching and, and helping deliver the service when you were, you know, still outwardly affirming a Baptist faith statement. And the reason I, I'll point out one other thing, 'cause I don't want this to be entirely about Matthew Barrett, but there's a big, uh, hub glue going on in the PCA right now. Um, a guy named Michael Foster, who some of our audience will probably be familiar with, um, he and I have had our desktops in the past, but I think he and I have come to a little bit of a, of a uneasy truce on certain things. He, uh, went to work compiling a, a list and there's some problems with the data, like it's, it's not clean data, so take it for what it's worth. But he compiled a list of. Every publicly available church website in the PCA. So something like 1800 websites or something like that. Huge numbers. And he went and looked at all of the staff and leadership directories, and he cataloged all the churches that had some sort of office or some sort of position that appeared to have a, a woman leading in a way that the Bible restricts. And that more importantly, and starting to say it this way, but more importantly, that the PCA itself restricts. So we're not talking about him going to random church websites and making assessments of their polity. We're talking about a, a denomination that has stated standards for who can bear office and it's not women. Um. So he compiled this and people in the PCA are coming out of the woodwork to basically defend the practice of having shepherdess and deacons. There was one that he cataloged where, um, the website actually said, uh, that was the pastor's wife and the title was Pastor of Women. Um, and then as soon as it became public that this was the case, they very quickly went in and changed the title to Shepherd of Women or Shepherdess of Women or something like that. So it's, it's really the same phenomena, not commenting, you know, I think we've been clear where we stand on the ordination of female officers and things like that, but not that all that withstanding, um, when you are going to be a part of a body that has a stated perspective on something and then just decide not to follow it, the right thing to do the, the upstanding morally. Uh, in full of integrity move would be to simply go to another denomination where your views align more closely. PCA churches, it's not super easy, but it's not impossible to leave the PCA as an entire congregation and then go somewhere like the EPC, which is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which still on the spectrum of things is still relatively conservative, but is in general is in favor of, uh, female officers, elders, and diegans. So I, I think, you know, and you see this with podcasters, there was the big, there was a big fu and Les became a Presbyterian, and then when Tanner became a Presbyterian on the pub, I think it is, um, incumbent on people who do any form of public theology and that that would include me and Jesse when our views change. There comes a point where we need to disclose that, be honest about it, um, and not try to pretend that we continue to hold a view that we don't be just because it's convenient or because it might be super inconvenient to make a change. I don't even want to pretend to imagine the pressures, uh, that someone like Matthew Barrett would face. I mean, you're talking about losing your entire livelihood. I, I understand that from an intellectual perspective, how difficult that must be, but in some ways, like that kind of comes with the territory. Same thing with a pastor. You have a Baptist pastor or a Presbyterian pastor. It can go both ways, I think. I'm more familiar with Baptist becoming Presbyterians. I don't, I don't see as many going the other direction. But you have a, a Baptist pastor who comes to pay to Baptist convictions and then continues to minister in their church for, I've, I've seen cases where they continue to minister for years, um, because they don't, they don't have the ability to now just go get a job in a Presbyterian context because there's all sorts of, um, training and certification and ordination process that needs to happen. Um, so they just continue ministering where they are, even though they no longer believe the church's state of, you know, state of faith statement. So that's a lot to say. Like, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and when we really all boil it down. So I think that's enough of that. It, it just sort of got in my craw this week and I couldn't really stop thinking about it. 'cause it's been very frustrating. And now there are stories coming out of. Doctoral students that, um, that Barrett was teaching who have now also become Anglican. Um, so, you know, there starts to be questions of like, was he actively pros? I mean, this is like Jacob Arminius did this stuff and, and like the reform tradition would look down on it, where he was in secret in like sort of small group private settings. He was teaching convictions very different than the uni. I'm talking about Arminius now. Not necessarily Barrett. He was teaching convictions very different than the, the stated theology of the university he taught for, and then in public he was sort of towing the line. You have to ask the question and it is just a question. There's been no confirmation that I'm aware of, but you have to ask the question if that was what was going on with Barrett, was he teaching Baptist theology publicly and then meeting with, with PhD students privately and, and sort of convincing them of Anglican theology. I don't know. I'm not speculating on that, but I think it, the situation definitely right, brings that question to mind. It forces us to ask it. Um, and had he. Been transparent about his theological shifts sooner than that may not be a, a question we have to ask. Um, the situation may not be all that different, but we wouldn't have to ask the question. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's totally fair. I mean, disclosure is important in lots of places in life and we shouldn't think that theological dis disclosure, especially like you're saying among our teachers, among our pastors, it is a critical thing. It's helpful for people to know when perspectives have changed, especially when they're looking to their leaders who are exhibiting trust and care over their discipleship or their education to express that difference. If there's been a mark, change it. It's worth it. Disclose, I'm guessing you don't have to over disclose, but that we're talking about a critical, we're talking about like subversive anglicanism, allegedly. Yeah. Then. It would be more than helpful to know that that is now shaping not just perspective, but of course like major doctrine, major understanding. Yeah. And then of course by necessary conviction and extension, everything that's being promulgated or proclamation in the public sphere from that person is likely now been permeated by that. And we'd expect so. Right. If convictions change, and especially like you're talking about, we're just talking about moving from, especially among like Bible believing traditions, just raise the hand and say loved ones, uh, this is my firm conviction now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I think if someone walks up to you and says, do you think that we should baptize babies? And you're like, yeah, I think so. Then you probably shouldn't be teaching at a Baptist seminary anymore. Like, seems like a reasonable standard. And that seems to be what happened, at least for some period of time. Um, you know, and, and it, that's not to say like, I think, I think there are instances where the church, a given church or um, or a university or seminary or, or whatever the situation might be, can be gracious and recognize like, yeah, people's perspectives change and maybe we can find a way for you to continue to finish out the semester or, you know, we can bridge you for a little while until you can find a new, a new job. Um, you know, we'll, we'll only have you teach certain courses or we'll have a guest lecturer come in when you have to cover this subject that is at variance and like, we'll make sure we're all clear about it, but it doesn't seem like any of that happened. And that's, um, that's no bueno. So anyway, Jesse. What are you affirming and or denying Tonight? [00:13:43] Music Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm just gonna go with something brief. I suppose this is an affirmation of me. I'm saying that like somewhat tongue in cheek, but maybe it's, wait, I'll rephrase. It's because this will be more humble. I'm affirming getting it right, even more than I thought. So I'm just gonna come back to the well and dip it into something that I mentioned on the last episode. So the keen listener, the up-to-date listener might remember. And if you're not up to date, uh, just let this be fresh for you. It'll, and I, it's gonna be correct because now I have posts, you know, I'm on the other side of it. I've clear hindsight. I am affirming with the album Keep It Quiet by Gray Haven, which I affirmed last week, but it came out on the same day that the episode released. And since you and I don't really like record in real time and release it like exactly as it's happening, I only did that with some, a little bit of reservation because I only heard they only released three songs in the album. And I thought I was overwhelmed that they were, they were so good that I was ready to jump in and loved ones. Oh, it, it turns out. I was so correct and it was, it's even better than I thought. So go check it out. It's Grey, GRE, YH, and they are, this is the warning, just because I have to give it out there and then I'll balance it with something else for something for everybody here today. So, gr Haven is music that's post hardcore and metal core. You're getting two cores for the price of one, if that is your jam. It has strong maleic sensibilities. It's very emotional, it's very experimental. But this new album, which is called, um, again, keep It Quiet, is like just a work of arts. It real like the guitar work is intricate haunting, lovely, and it's bold, like very intentional in its structure and very el loose in its construction. It's got hook driven melodies and it's got both heart and soft. It really is truly a work of art. So if you're trying to, to put it in your minds, like what other bands are like this? I would compare them to bands like, every Time I Die, Norma Jean, let Live Hail the Sun. If you just heard those as combinations of words that don't mean anything to you, that's also okay. No worries. But if you're looking for something different, if you're looking for something that's maybe gonna challenge your ear a little bit, but is like orchestral and has all of these metal core post hardcore, melodic, textured movements, there's no wasted notes in this album. It's really tremendous. If that's not your thing. I get, that's not everybody's thing. Here's something else I think would be equally challenging to the ear in a different way. And that is, I'm going back to one other album to balance things out here, and that's an album that was released in 2019 by Mark Barlow, who I think is like just. So underrated. For some reason, like people have slept on Mike Barlow. I have no idea why he put together an album with Isla Vista Worship called Soul Hymns, and it's like a distinct soul and r and b album of praise with like these really lovely like falsetto, harmonies. It's got these minimalistic instrumentation, warm keys, groove oriented percussion, like again, like these false soul driven melodies. It's contemplative. It's got a groove to it. This is also equally a beautiful album for a totally different reason. So I think I've given two very book-ended, very different affirmations, but I think there's something for everybody. So my challenge to your loved ones is you gotta pick one or the other. Actually, you could do both, but either go to Gray Havens, keep it quiet, or go to Mike Bellow's Soul hymns. I do not think you will be disappointed. There's something for everybody on this one. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, it was funny because as you were saying the names of those bands, I literally was thinking like Jesse could be speaking Swahili and I wouldn't know the difference. And then you, you, you know me well, yeah. Uh, I haven't listened to Gray Haven. Uh, I probably will give it a couple minutes 'cause that's how it usually goes with songs that meet that description. Uh, I can always tell that the music that Jesse recommends is good from a technical perspective, but I never really, I never really vibe with it. So that's okay. But I mean, lots of people who listen to our show do so check that out. If, if you ever. Want a good recommendation for music. Jesse is the pers so much so that he can recommend amazing music before it's even available and be a hundred percent correct, apparently. That's right. So Jesse Schwamb: affirm with me everybody, because turns out I was right. Uh, it was easy to be correct when of course I had all of that fair sightedness by being able to listen to those. Yeah, those couple of songs, it, this is a kind of album. Both of these, both of these albums. When I heard them, I reacted audibly out loud. There are parts of both of 'em where I actually said, oh wow. Or yeah, like there's just good stuff in there. And the older you get, if you're a music fan, even if you're not, if you don't listen to a lot of music, you know when that hook gets you. You know when that turn of melody or phrase really like hits you just, right. Everybody has that. Where the beat drops in a way. You're just like, yes, gimme, you make a face like you get into it. I definitely had that experience with both of these albums and because. I've listened to a lot of music because I love listening to music. It's increasingly rare where I get surprised where, you know, like sometimes stuff is just like popular music is popular for a reason and it's good because it's popular and it follows generally some kind of like well established roots. But with these albums, it's always so nice when somebody does something that is totally unexpected. And in these, I heard things that I did not expect at all. And it's so good to be surprised in a way that's like, why have I never heard that before? That is amazing. And both of these bands did it for me, so I know I'm like really hyping them up, but they're worth it. They're, they're totally worth it. Good music is always worth it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I think that is a good recommendation. I will check those out because, you know, you're a good brother. I usually do, and I trust your judgment even though it, you'll like the second one. Yes. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: You'll like the second one. Second one is like, just filled with praise and worship. And like, if, if you're trying to think, like say, here's how I'd couch the proper atmosphere for Mark Barlow's soul hymns you're having, you know, it's, it's a cold and chilly. A tal evening, the wind is blowing outside. You can hear the crisp leaves moving around on the pavement and the sun has gone down. The kids are in bed, the dinner dishes are piled up in the sink. But you think to yourselves, not tonight. I don't think so, and you just want that toneage to put on. You want that music as you dim the lights and you sit there to just hang out with each other and take a breath. You don't just want some kind of nice r and b moving music. You don't want just relaxing vibes. You want worshipful spirit filled vibes that propel your conversation and your intimacy, not just into the marital realm, but into worship and harmony with the triune God. If you're looking for that album, because that situation is before you, then sol hymns is the music you're looking for. Tony Arsenal: See, I'm gonna get the, I'm gonna get the recommendations backwards and I'm gonna sit down with my wife with a nice like evening cup of decaf tea and I'm gonna turn the music on. Yes, it's gonna be like, yes. That was me screaming into the microphone. That was not good for my voice. Well, the good news is it's gonna, it's gonna wake the kids up. That's, I'm gonna sleep on the couch. That's, it's gonna be bad. That's, Jesse Schwamb: honestly, that's also a good evening. It's just a different kind of evening. It's true. So it's just keep it separated again, uh, by way of your denial slash affirmation. Tony disclosure, I'm just giving you proper disclosure. Everybody know your music KYM, so that way when you have the setting that you want, you can match it with the music that you need. So it's true. Speaking of things that are always worth it. [00:21:30] Parable of the Weeds Jesse Schwamb: I think the Bible's gotta be one of those things. Tony Arsenal: It's true. Jesse Schwamb: And this is like the loosest of all segues because it's like the Sunday school segue into any topic that involves the scriptures. We're gonna be in Matthew 13, and how about we do this? So this is one of these parables and in my lovely ESV translation of the scriptures, the, we're just gonna go with the heading, which says the parable of the weeds. You may have something different and I wanna speak to that just briefly, but how do we do this, Tony? I'll hit us up with the parable and then it just so happens that this is one of the parables in the scripture that comes with an interpretation from our savior. It's true. How about you hit us up with the interpretation, which is in the same chapter if you're tracking with us, it's just a couple verses way. Does that sound good? Tony Arsenal: Let's do it. Jesse Schwamb: Okay. Here is the parable of the weeds. Jesus puts another parable before them saying The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sewed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sewed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bork rain, then the weeds also appeared, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? Then he said, no. Lest in gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them, but let them grow together until the harvest and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: Alright, so then jumping down. To verse 36. We're still in Matthew 13, he says, then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angel. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age, the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom, all that, all causes of sin in all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. It is that in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears let him hear. Jesse Schwamb: So let me start with just like a little bit of language here, which I've always loved in this passage because where else in like the contemporary context, do you get the word tear? Yeah. Aside if you're like using a scale, and that's a totally different definition. I like this. I like the word tear. It force, it forces to understand that what's common to our ear, why that's being used, it often is translated weed. Here's just like my, my little like linguistic addition to the front end of our discussion and is the reason I like it is because here does have a specific definition. If like you were to look this up in almost any dictionary, what you're gonna find is it's like a particular type of weed. It's actually like an injurious weed that is indistinguishable in its infant form from the outgrowing of green. So I like that because of course that is exactly why. Then there's all this explanation of why then to not touch anything in the beginning because one, it causes damage to it looks like everybody else. I just thought I'd put that out there as we begin our discussion. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, yeah. You know, I, um, I am a homeowner and I don't own the land that I'm on, but I'm responsible for the land that I'm on. And we have this really gnarly weed problem. There's this, uh, sort of floor growing, uh, carpeting weed called, uh, I think it's called like a carpeting knob, head weed or something like that. Some really descriptive thing. And I went out there the other day and there's really nothing you can do about this other than to rip it up. But I went out there the other day to start to pull some of it up and it totally wrecks the yard. Like it totally pulls up the grass, it destroys the sod. And when you're done, this is why it's kind of nice that I don't have, I'm not responsible for the land as I'm not gonna have to pay to resod the land. But when you're done pulling up this weed, you have to resod the whole place. You have to regrow all the grass because it, first, it takes over for the grass, and then when you rip it up, it rips the roots of the grass up as well. And so this parable, um, on one level is immediately obvious, like what the problem is, right? The situation is such. That the good, uh, the good sower, right? He's a good sower. He knows what he's doing. He understands that simply ripping up the weeds. Even if you could distinguish them right, there's this element that like at an early stage, they would be very difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from, uh, from wheat. Even if you could distinguish them, you still wouldn't be able to pull up the weeds and not do damage to the grain. And so we, we have this sort of like, um, conflict if you wanna follow like literary standards, right? We have this conflict and as we come to sort of the climax of this, of this plot is when all of a sudden we see that, that the problem needs a resolution and there is a resolution, but it's not necessarily what we would think it would be. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is that like equal points or equal times totally sensible. And other times we would think, well why surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people, the very people that you're assembling together, the chief of which is Christ and the apostles being the building stones and Christ of course being the cornerstone. And I, I think that's what I find and I wonder the people hearing this, if they thought like, well, surely Lord, that not be the case like you are bringing in and ushering in this new kingdom. Isn't this new kingdom gonna be one of absolute purity? And, and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even like the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church. The same state of the things that's existed in that is in the time of the early fathers. In the first century, and the church as it stands right now in the land and the time of the reformers, and of course with the best ministers at this hour right now and on your next Lord's day, and everyone after that, there is always and ever will be a visible church or a religious assembly in which the members are not all wheat. Yeah. And then I like what you're saying. It's this idea that. There's a great harm that's gonna come about if you try to lift them up because you cannot tell. So, and this is what's hard, I think this does influence like how we interact with people online. Certainly how we interact with people in our own congregations, but we are going to have no clear convicted proofs. We might only have like probable symptoms if we're really trying to judge and weigh out to discern the weeds from the weeds, which at most can only give us some kind of conjectural knowledge of another state. And that is gonna sometimes preemptively judge cause us to judge others in a way that basically there's a warning against here. It, it's, it's not the right time. And ba I think mainly from the outside where I find like this parable coming together, if there's like maybe a weird Venn diagram of the way Christians read this and the way unbelievers hear this, the overlap between them is for me, often this idea of like hypocrisy and you know. When people tell me that the church is full of hypocrites, either like Christian or non-Christian, but typically that's a, a, you know, statement that comes from the non-Christian tongue. When people say that the church is full of hypocrites, I do with a little bit of snark, say it's definitely not full of hypocrites. There are always room for more in the church and, and there's like a distinction of course between the fact that there is hypocrisy in the Christian or whether the Christian is in fact or that person is a hypocrite. So like when I look through the scriptures, we see like Pharaoh confessing, we see Herod practicing, we see Judas preaching Christ Alexander venturing his life for Paul. Yeah, we see David condemning in another, what he himself practiced and like hezeki glorifying and riches Peter. Doing all kinds of peter stuff that he does, and even all the disciples forsaken Christ, an hour of trouble and danger. So all that to say, it goes back to this like lack of clear, convicted proofs that I think Jesus is bringing forward here, but only probable symptoms. And I'm still processing, of course, like the practicality of what you're saying, Tony, that in some ways it seems like abundantly clear and sensible that you should, you're, you're gonna have a problem distinguishing. But our human nature wants to go toward distinguishing and then toward uprooting sometimes. And the warning here is do not uproot at the improper time. And in fact, it's not even yours to uproot because God will send in the laborers to do that at the time of, of harvest. And so there will be weeds found among the wheat. It's just like full stop statement. And at the same time it's warning, do not go after them now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, I'm sure this, um, I, I'm sure this will spill over into a second conversation, but we, I think we have to talk a little bit about the interpretation here before we, before we even like talk more about the parable itself, because if you're not careful, um, and, and. I need to do a little bit more study on this, but it, it's interesting because Matthew almost seems to want you to sort of blend these parables together a little bit. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. These, these, there's three, um, there's three, maybe four if you count the parable of the treasure in the field. But there's three agricultural parables that have to do with sowing seed of one, of, one way or another. And in each one the seed is something different. And I, it almost seems to me. And then on top of that, the parables are like interwoven within each other. So like right smack in the middle of this, we have the parable. Uh, is given. Then the next parable of the mustard seed, which we're gonna talk about in a future episode, is given, and then the explanation of this parable of the tears is given. Um, and so we have to talk a little bit about it and sort of establish what the seed is, because we just spent three weeks talking about the seed in the par of the sower. Um, or the parable of the, of the soils. And in that parable, the seed was the word of God in this parable. And this is where I think sometimes, um, and again, this is like the doctrine of election in parable form, right? Yes. I think sometimes we read this and we, we misstep because the seed is not, uh, is not the word of God in this. The seed is the believers. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. So the good seed is sewn into, uh, into the field, which, you know, I think maybe there'll be some, we, we can save this for, for next week. But a little sneak peek is, it's not always clear exactly what the field is. Right. And I think we often, we often talk about the field as though it's the church that doesn't necessarily align a hundred percent with how Christ explains the parable. So we'll have to, we'll have to talk through that a little bit. I affirm that it is the church in, in a, a broad sense. Um, but, but the, the way that Christ explains it slightly different, but the, the seed is sewn into the world. The sons of the kingdom of heaven are sowed into the, into the world. And then the seed of the enemy, the bad seed, is the sons of the devil that's also sewn into the world. And so these two seeds grow up next to each other. If we think about the seed here as though it's the word of God, rather than the, the actual believers and unbelievers that elect in the ate, we're gonna make some missteps on how we understand this because we're not talking about, um, the, the seed being, you know, doctrine being sewn into the world. And some of it grows up good and some of it grows up bad or good doctrine and bad doctrine. We're talking about the believers themselves. Sorry, Jesse is mocking my rapid attempt to mute before I cough, which I, I did. That was pretty good. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that was, that was pretty good. Listen, this is real. Podcasting is how it goes. Yeah, I'm with you. Thank you for pulling out that distinction. 'cause it is critical. We, we have some overlap of course, with Jesus being really ascribed as the farmer, the son of man, right. He's sowing this good seed, but not the word. It's believers or the sons of the kingdom. And it is into his field, which is the world. Part of that world of course, is necessarily the church, right? But while everybody's sleeping, this enemy, the devil, he comes, he sows weeds or unbelievers, the sons of the evil one among this weed, they grow, go up together. And of course, like if I were servants in this household, I'd ask the same thing, which was like, should we get the gloves out? Yeah. Just pull those bad boys out. Like and, and so again, that's why I find it very so somewhat shocking that. It's not just, you could see like Jesus saying something like, don't worry about it now because listen, at the end of all time when the harvest comes, uh, I'm gonna take care of it. Like it's just not worth it to go out now. Right. That's not entirely The reason he gives, the reason is lest they uproot the wheat by mistake. So this is showing that the servants who are coming before Jesus in the parable, in this teaching here to really volitionally and with great fidelity and good obedience to him to want to please him to do his will. He there, he's basically saying, you are not qualified to undertake this kind of horticulture because you're just not either skilled enough or discerning enough to be able to do it right. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I think, um. Maybe just a word of meth methodology too. Um, this parable also flies in the face of all of the, like, parables are not allegories, kind of kind of people. Um, and this is, we talked about this in our introductory episode. You have to take each parable for what it's worth, this parable very much is explained like a traditional allegory, right? Right. [00:35:39] Understanding the Parable's Symbols Tony Arsenal: It's got, it's got several different elements and Christ goes through and the first thing he does is tell you what each element represents, right? The sower is the son of man, the field is the word. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom of the weed. It's like, he's like clicking down all of the symbols and then he explains how all of it works together and like a good, all like a good allegory. Once you understand what each element and each symbol is, the rest of it actually is very self-explanatory, right? When you understand who's what in the parable. The outcome and the sort of the punchline writes itself as it were. And I think this is one of those parables that we would do. [00:36:18] Challenging Our Sensibilities Tony Arsenal: I think we would do well to sort of let marinate a little bit because it does challenge a lot of our sensibilities of what, um, what is real in the world, what is real in terms of our interaction with the world, right? What's real in terms of the role of unbelievers in the life of a Christian, um, whether we can identify who is or isn't an unbeliever. Um, I think we, you know, I, I'm not one of those people that's like, we should assume everyone's a Christian. And I'm certainly not one of those people who's like, we should assume nobody is a Christian. But I think there are a lot of times where we have figures either in public or people in our lives. Like personal acquaintances that have some sort of outward appearance. And, and that's like the key here that that distinction between weeds is a, is not a great translation as you said. Right. Because right. That distinction between wheat and weeds, to go to my analogy, like it's very clear what is grass and what is this like carpeting, knob weed. Like there's no, there's no doubt in my mind, which is the weed and which is the grass. Um, that's not what we're talking about here. And so it does, it does say here, I mean, it implies here that it's not going to be easy to distinguish the difference between exactly. The, a son of the kingdom and a son of the evil one. And I think that's a, that's a. A theological pill that is very difficult to swallow. Yes. [00:37:43] Personal Reflections on Identifying Christians Tony Arsenal: Because a lot of us, um, and this goes back to like what I, what we were saying in the last, the last parable, A lot of us were reared in our Christian faith on sort of this idea that like, you can check your fruit or you can check other people's fruits and you can determine, you can easily identify who's a Christian and who's not. I remember when I was in high school, you know, I got, I was converted when, when I was 15 and, um, I got to high school and it felt very easy to me to be able to identify the people who were play acting Christianity and the people who were real Christians. That felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. Um, it, it's an interesting story, but one of the people that I was absolutely sure was not a Christian. That he was just doing kinda civic Christianity. He was in confirmation 'cause his parents wanted him to. Um, and I had good reason to believe that at the time he was very worldly. He, he, um, did not seem to be serious about his faith at all. There was good reason to make the assessment that I did. And then I ran into him on Facebook like 15 years later and he's a pastor at the Lutheran Church and he's, you know, he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And he would not explain it as though he had a later conversion story. It's not as though he would say like, well yeah, in high school I pretended to be a Christian. And then, you know, I got through college and uh, I really became like I got converted. He would, would grow this, or he would explain this as slow, steady growth from an immature state that knew the facts of the gospel and in a certain sense trusted that Jesus was his savior and didn't fully understand the ramifications of that. I mean, who did at 15 years old? Mm-hmm. Um. And, and that it was a slow, steady growth to the place that he's in now. [00:39:21] The Difficulty of Distinguishing Believers Tony Arsenal: So I, I think we should take seriously, and maybe this is the takeaway for this week at least, and we can, we can talk about it more, is we should take seriously the fact that the Sons of the Kingdom and the Sons of the evil one in this parable are not only inseparable without doing damage, but in many ways they are not easily distinguishable. Jesse Schwamb: Right. On. Tony Arsenal: Um, and that, that's a baked into the parable. And I think we do spend a fair amount of time and I, I'll. I'll throw myself on on this. You know, this, we, I'm not just saying we, um, we as a genuine statement, like I have participated in this. I'm sure that I still do participate in this sometimes intentionally. Other times, uh, subconsciously we spend a fair amount of time probably in our Christian lives trying to figure out who is a Christian who's not. And it's not as though that is entirely illegitimate, right? The, the, as much as we kind of poke at the, the, um, workers in this who sort of are kind of chumps, right? They're sort of like the idiots in this. They, they don't seem to know how this happened. They propose a course of action that then the master's like, no, no, that's not, that's not gonna work. They can tell the difference, right? They can see that some are weeds and some are are weeds, and they're asking, well, what do we do about it? But at the same time he is saying like, you're not really competent to tell the difference, Jesse Schwamb: right? On Tony Arsenal: a good, uh, a good. Competent farmer could probably go out and take all the weeds out. Just like a really good, I dunno, landscape technician, I'm not sure what you would call it. I'm sure someone could come into my yard and if I paid them enough money they could probably fix this knobby grass, weed, whatever it is. Um, infestation. They could probably fix it without damaging the lawn. Like there are probably people that could do it. I am not that competent person and the workers in this are not that competent person. And I would say by and large in our Christian life, we are not that competent person to be able to identify who is and who isn't, um, a Christian who is or isn't a son of the kingdom versus a son of the devil. Jesse Schwamb: And there's sometimes like we just get history reprised, or it's like, again, the same thing microwaved over and served to you three or four times as leftovers. So it's also gonna remember like any as extension that like any attempt to like purify the church perfectly, and this has happened like donatism in the fourth century I think, or even like now, certain sectarian movements are completely misguided. Yeah. And Jesus already puts that out ahead of us here. It's almost like, do not worry what God is doing because God again is, is doing all the verbs. So here's a question I think we should discuss as we, we move toward like the top of the hour. And I think this is interesting. I don't know if you'll think it's interesting. I, I kind of have an answer, but I, I'll post it here first. [00:42:01] Visible vs. Invisible Church Jesse Schwamb: So the setup like you've just given us is two things. One, we got the visible church, we talk about the visible church. I think a lot across our conversations. Yeah. And we might summarize it, saying it's like the community of all who profess faith, maybe even the community of all who are baptized. Right. Possibly. Yeah. And it's going to include then necessarily as Jesus describes it here, true and false believers. So that's one group. Then we've got this invisible church, which as you said is the elect. Those who are known perfectly to God. So the good seed is those elect true believers. The weeds, then the weeds to me, or the tears, even better, they sound a lot like that. Second and third soils that we talked about previously to some, to some degree. I'm not, I'm not gonna lump them all in because we talked about receiving the word and it taking root, all that stuff, but to some degree, and also probably like a soil one. But here's, here's the way I would define them up and against or in contradistinction to the elector believers. They're the reprobate. They're false professors or they're children of the evil one. Now here's the question, Doni, Alex, I, I think this is very interesting. I'm trying to build this up for like more dramatic effect. 'cause now I'm worried it's not that good. The question is, I'm going to presume that this good seed, the elect, true to believers, the confidence of perseverance of the saints, the justification in sanctification of God's children is in fact though we at some points have our own doubts, it is made fully aware and known to the good seed. That is, we should have, as you and I have talked about before, the confidence that God has in fact saved his elect. So the question that on the other side is for the ta, do the tears always know that they are the tears? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think, um, I've said this before and I, I mean it, and I think it takes probably more. More discussion than we have time for tonight. And and that's fine because we can do as many episodes on this as we want to. 'cause this is our show and you can't stop us actually. Jesse Schwamb: Correct. [00:43:56] Assurance of Faith and False Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, I've said before that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Amen. Tony Arsenal: Right. So I, I am not one to say that the technical terminology is that assurance is not of the essence of faith. Um, I think we have to be really careful when we say that it's not, but we have to be equally careful when we say that it is. Because if we say that assurance is of the essence of faith, then what that means is someone who doesn't have assurance, doesn't have faith. Um, the reason I say that we can say that is because there's a sense that that's true, right? If you don't believe you're saved, then you don't believe you're saved and you don't trust that you're saved. But that doesn't mean that you always have full awareness of that confidence. And, you know, I think, um, I think. I think you're, you're right that, um, it may not always be, let me put it this way. I, I think that we have to consider the entire life of a Christian when we're, when we're making that analysis. And in a certain sense, like, I'm not even sure we should be making that analysis. That's kind of the point of the, the, um, the parable here, or at least one of the points. But, um, when that analysis is made, we'll, we'll channel a little bit of RC sprawl. It's not as funny when he's actually, uh, gone. I don't really mean channel RC sprawl. We will, uh, speak in the tradition of RC sprawl, um, in the final analysis, whatever that means. Whenever that is. You have to consider the whole life of a Christian, the whole life of a believer. And so there may be times in the life of a believer where they don't possess that full assurance of faith or that that full assurance is weak or that it seems to be absent. But when we look at the entire life of a believer, um, is it a life that overall is marked by a confident trust, that they are in fact children of God? Um, that a confident, uh, a confident embracing of what the spirit testifies to their spirit, to, to borrow language from Romans, I think in, in the life of a true elect Christian, um, that with the perseverance of the saints, uh, with the persistence of the saints and the preservation of the saints, um, I think that yes, those who are finally saved, those who are saved unto salvation, if you wanna phrase it that way. They finish the race, they claim the prize. Um, that assurance will be their possession in their life as a Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Right on. Tony Arsenal: All of that to say, I think there are, are, there's a good case to be made for the fact that there is also people who have false assurance, right? And this is where it takes a lot more, you know, finagling and jockeying and theological explanation of how can we know we have true assurance versus false assurance. You know, it's kinda like that question, like, does an insane person know they're insane? Well, does a false, does someone with false assurance know that their assurance is false? I don't think, I don't think so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be false assurance. Um, if they knew it wasn't real assurance, then they wouldn't have any kind of assurance. So I, I think I agree with you at least where, where I think you're going is that we do have to, we do have to make some judgements. We have to look at our own life, right? Um, there is an element of fruitfulness in this parable, right? We'll talk about that. I, I think we'll get into that next week. But it's not as though this is entirely disconnected from the parable of the soils. Both of them have a very similar kind of. End point. [00:47:20] Final Judgment and Eschatology Tony Arsenal: At the end of all things, at the end of the harvest, when the end of the age comes, and the reapers, the angels are sent, what they're gathering up are fruitful Christians, right in the parable, he sends out the, it's funny be, I love my dispensational brothers and sisters, but in this parable, like the rapture is the rapture of the unbelievers, right? The angels go out and reap the unbelievers first. The, the weeds are bundled up and thrown into the fire, and then the, the fruitful wheat is gathered into the barns. Um, there is this delineation between the fruitless weeds and the fruitful wheat or the, the grain that has borne, you know, borne fruit. That is part of what the, the outward. Elements of this parable are, so we should talk about that more, of what is this trying to get at in terms of not just the difference between weeds and wheat and how that maps up to those who are in Christ versus those who are not in Christ, but also like what is this telling us about the, the end of the age eschatology. All of that's baked in here and we haven't even scratched the surface of that Jesse Schwamb: yet. Yeah, we, we, I, and we just can't, even on this episode, probably, you're right, we're gonna have to go to two so that, I guess it's like a teaser for the next one. I'm told they're with you. It's interesting. I've been thinking about that, that question a lot. And I do like what you're saying. You know, at the end here, it's almost as if Christ is saying at the time of harvest, things become more plain, more evident In the beginning. The chutes are gonna look really, really similar, and you're gonna go in and you're gonna think you're guessing properly or using your best judgment, and you're gonna get it wrong in the end when he sends out those who are harvesting. I liken this passage here in the explanation as you read to us starting in verse 36, how there's this comparison of heat and light. And so there is the heat and light of the fiery furnace into which, as you said, all of those who are the children of the enemy will be gathered up and burned. And then there's that contrast with in verse 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. So there is like a reward that comes from the bearing of the fruit and that made evidence by a different type of heat and light. So I do struggle with this question because. It's easy to answer in some ways if we're defining the weeds in pirate or the tears in pirates as false professors typically. Let's say false professors of a nefarious kind, then it seems pretty plain that somebody, right, that the enemy has implanted certain people to stir up trouble with the intention to stir up trouble that is in fact their jam. Or they know that even if they're putting on heirs, that they're in fact play acting that the hypocrisy is purposeful and that it is part of like the missional efforts that they're doing to disrupt what God is doing in the world. So I might think of somebody like when we go, when we're looking in, um, Exodus, and we find that at least to some degree, all of Pharaoh's magicians can replicate everything that Moses is doing. Moses doing that by the power of God. But the magicians are so good and whatever means they're using, but they know, I presume they know they're not, they're not using Yahweh, they're not drawing their power or their influence from Yahweh. Tony Arsenal: Right? Jesse Schwamb: But it's so convincing to the people that Pharaoh is like, eh. Obviously I've seen that before because we just, we just did that here. Come back with your next trick until God flexes his mighty muscles in a really profound way, which cannot be replicated. And at some point there's a harvest that happens there. There's a separation between the two, those who are truly professing, the power that comes from God, the one true God, and those that are just replicating the cheap copy, the one that's just pure trickery and smoke and mirrors. So. That's an easy category. I'm with you. And I'm not saying that this is an invitation to bring the kind of judgment here that we've just spoken against. I'm not condoning this. What I do find interesting though is if the enemy is crafty, is it possible that they're always going to be forms of terror in the world that do feel that they have very strong conviction and belief about biblical things? Maybe there's, there's strong hobby horses or there are misguided directions here that pull us apart, that become distractions. Or maybe it's just even attitudes, uh, things that can be divisive, disruptive, derogatory that again, pull us away. For making the plain things, the main things and the main things, the plain things, which in some ways draws us back to like the whole purpose of you and I talking every week, which is we wanna get back to what the scripture teaches. We wanna follow the our Lord Jesus Christ very, very closely. I'm gonna clinging to the hymn of his rob as we walk through life so that we do not fall to those kind of false convictions. So I'm not, please hear me, loved ones. I'm not trying to call into question your faith as Tony just said. I am saying that there, this is kind of scary, just like we talked about. There are elements of the parables of the, of the soil that were equally scary. And so it's just in some ways to say, we gotta keep our heads not theological, swivel. We, we gotta be about the Lord's business, and we gotta be about understanding through prayer and study and communion with him, what it is that he wants to teach us in the purest way, knowing that the church itself and the world, of course, is never going to be entirely pure. At the same time, it is our responsibility to, as you already said, test for ourselves to understand what is that true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because some tears are going to be maybe easy to identify and with without, you know, throwing too much shade or. I was gonna say spilling the TI don't think that works here, but I'm not young anymore, so I'm trying to use or or put on blast. Yeah. I'm looking at you Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses. Like it's, it's easier there to be like, yeah, right, this is wrong. It is a false profession, but we've just gotta be careful even in our own hobby, horses not deviates into ground. I think that doesn't preclude us from being children of the light and children of the kingdom, but can still be disruptive or uh, you know, just distracting. But either way, yeah. I think what's scary to me about this is exactly what you said, Tony, is, is could it be that there are people that are very sincere about the Christian faith, but are sincerely wrong? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And what does that mean for God's elected purpose? What does that mean for our understanding of how to interact in our churches in the world? Does that make sense? Tony Arsenal: It does. And I'm not sure whether you were trying to set up the, what might be the first genuine reformed brotherhood cliffhanger, but you did. Because we're on minute 54 of a 60 minute podcast, and, uh, there's no way we're gonna get into that and not go for another 60 minutes. So, Jesse, I, I'm, I'm glad that we are taking our time. Um, I know that sometimes it's easy when you put out a schedule or you put out a sort of projected content calendar to feel like you have to stick to it. But I wanna give these parables, the time they deserve and the effort and the, uh, the, uh, study and the discussion that they deserve. And I think the questions you're posing here at the end of this episode are really, really important. And they are questions that this parable forces us to ask. Right, right. It's not as though we're just using this as a launching pad. Um. If the workers can't tell the difference between the, the seed and the, or the, the weeds and the weeds, it's reasonable to think that the weeds themselves may not be able to tell the difference. Right? The sons of the evil one, um, are probably not in this parable, are probably not the people like in the back, like doing fake devil horns, right? And like, you know, like there's, there's probably more going on that we need to unpack and, and we'll do that next week. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. So we've got some good stuff coming then, because we've gotta, this is like, do you ever remember when you were in, uh, you know, doing your undergraduate postgraduate work, you'd get like a topic or an assignment or a paper and you'd be super stoked about it and you start reaching it, be like, okay, researching it. And you'd be like, all right, I've got some good topics here. And then you get into it, you're like, oh, but I'm gonna have to talk about this. And Oh, like before I could talk, I'm gonna have to explain this. Sometimes when we get into these, as you and I have been talking, that's what it feels li

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Rev. Elizabeth Garnsey explores how gratitude is more than good manners—it's medicine for the soul. Modern neuroscience confirms what Jesus taught centuries ago: gratitude heals us and makes us whole. When we live with thankful hearts, we shift from isolation to interdependence, from scarcity to abundance, and from fear to love. Discover how daily gratitude can rewire your heart and reconnect you to God, others, and the gift of life itself.

When Reverend Wendy Yacboski left the corporate world, she wasn't chasing a calling, she was just searching for a better life.What she found was transformation.In this soulful conversation, Wendy and I unpack how confidence is built through action, how spiritual growth often begins with resistance, and why true stability comes from trusting the unseen.We talk about shifting from intellect to embodiment, the courage to speak your truth, and how the subconscious mind supports lasting change.If you've ever wondered what it really looks like to “become more you,” this episode will remind you that the path to purpose is rarely linear, but always guided.

JOYRIDE LIVE EXPERIENCE 2025 IS FINALLY HEREEEE!!!! After 3 years, we will be taking the stage again at Jain Bhavan Loresho on Nov 22 2025.Grab your early tickets here:https://thejoyridepodcast.hustlesasa.shopIn today's episode, we're joined by our very own Rev. George Macharia, Lead Pastor at City Lighters Church We dive into a conversation that challenges the stereotypes around masculinity “Soft Men, Strong Homes.”

In this episode we interview Reverend Darren who is a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA in Wisconsin.  This conversation started as a text and google doc exchange around the story of Amalek within the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible. We talk about how we should understand the relationship between these biblical stories and documented history, their relationship to the Gaza genocide, and how we might fit our analyses of these narratives into the relationship between US imperialism and zionism. Along the way, Darren engages with questions of faith practice, the relative absence - and silence - of particularly Euro-American liberal Christian congregations among those standing in defense of Palestinian lives, and Palestinian sovereignty. Darren also discusses how the gears of US fascism - called for in documents like Project 2025 and Project Esther, and being enacted through the Trump administration - are being lubricated by the absurd and ethically vacuous nature of US liberalism.  A couple things to mention, this conversation was recorded 10 days ago, so the 8th year anniversary episode we mentioned is currently out on our YouTube channel. In addition to reflections from Josh and myself, it featured special appearances from Stefano Harney, Renee Johnston, Fred Moten, Sina Rahmani, and Lara Sheehi This episode was also recorded before the 2nd anniversary of Tufan Al Aqsa and before the ceasefire agreement. We have episodes on the YouTube channel about those developments as well, one putting Abdaljawad Omar and Lara Sheehi in conversation together and the other with Nora Barrows-Friedman from Electronic Intifada and Sina Rahmani from the East is a Podcast. As always the absolute best way to support us and to help us continue to sustain our work and hopefully grow as a project is to become a patron of the show or support us through our BuyMeACoffee page. Shout-out to all the people who gave us a little something for our 8th anniversary. Related conversations: "The Book of Genocide" Nick Estes w/ Justin Podur  "The Crusades: Then & Now" MAKC with Adnan Husain "Christian ZIonism & Zionist Settler Colonial Ideology" MAKC with Adnan Husain The original cover image (slightly re-colored) is available here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Phillip_Medhurst_Picture_Torah_423._Joshua_fighting_Amalek._Exodus_cap_17_vv_10%2613._Galle.jpg

Should politics be off-limits in church? Reverend Clay Stauffer doesn't think so. Two months after a member of his congregation was killed in The Covenant School shooting, Rev. Stauffer invited his community to gather in their sanctuary for a discussion about gun violence — a conversation most churches would rather avoid. Host Julie Rose talks with him about what compelled him to do it, why he believes churches should be “big tents” where people with different views can still talk and stay connected, and how avoiding politics in church might actually make divisions worse. They also explore why people of faith might be especially equipped to lead with empathy and peace. Clay Stauffer is the senior minister at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville, professor of moral leadership at Vanderbilt University, and author of “What the World Needs Now: Virtue and Character in an Age of Chaos.” Learn more about Dr. Stauffer's work at https://claystauffer.com/. What do you think? Should faith and politics mix or stay separate? Tell us in the comments, connect with us on social media, or share your thoughts at uncomfy@byu.edu. Episode transcript - https://uncomfypodcastbyu.blogspot.com/2025/10/should-political-conversations-be.html CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Meet Reverend Clay Stauffer 01:13 The Role of Church in Political Conversations 02:34 Addressing Political Violence and Incivility 06:15 Gun Violence and Community Safety 08:59 The Intersection of Faith and Politics 10:58 The Rise of Political Partisanship 12:58 Finding Solutions in Faith 14:11 Conclusion

13 OCT 25

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Scripture Luke: 17:11-19

What if the simple joy of a laugh, the glow of a sunset, or even the petals of a daisy carried divine messages just for you? Discover how Archangel Jophiel's symbols—like nectar from flowers—can lighten your spirit, release hidden limits, and remind you of your wings to fly free.What if your guides for the guided meditation had no idea where Spirit was going to be leading them? Join Dr. Ruth Anderson and Teri Angel as they explore a spirit-inspired and spirit-led meditation. Enjoy the journey with them as they open their hearts, minds, and awareness to whatever the learning might be. Join us in this alternate form of meditation. What message is waiting for you? Nope, this is not your Mama's meditation.Teri Angel is an International Peace Ambassador and the founder of the nonprofit corporation, Angelspeakers Inc. Teri is an angel messenger, spiritual coach and teacher, and energy healer. She has been communicating with angels her entire life. Teri is currently on a Peace On Earth Tour, spreading the message of peace throughout the country. She can be reached at www.angelspeakers.comDr. Ruth Anderson, the founder of Enlightened World Network, is a Reverend of the Church of Inner Light. She is an author, producer, and a conduit for the Spiritual Divinity sharing their teachings in an authentic and open matter. Her desire is for others to know oneness with the spiritual divinity, Divine Mother, and the archangels and to know divine love as she has been able to experience it.Enlightened World Network is your guide to inspirational online programs about the spiritual divinity, angels, energy work, chakras, past lives, or soul. Learn about spiritually transformative authors, musicians and healers. From motivational learning to inner guidance, you will find the best program for you.Enlightened World Network is now available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Podbean, Spotify, and Amazon Music.Check out EWN's website featuring over 200 spirit-inspired lightworkers specializing in meditation, energy work and angel channelingwww.enlightenedworld.onlinePlease consider donating to support the work of the EWN https://www.paypal.me/EnlightenedWorld.Enjoy inspirational and educational shows at http://www.youtube.com/c/EnlightenedWorldNetworkTo sign up for a newsletter to stay up on EWN programs and events, sign up here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FBoFQef/webLink to EWN's disclaimer: https://enlightenedworld.online/disclaimer/#Guidedmeditation #meditationsforspiritualjourney#ArchangelMichael#morningmeditations#meditationsforhealing

11 OCT 25

Cathy explores Sam's fantasies, and some of her own as well. By Liminally Spaced. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories. This story is a derivative of Sex Ed. Lessons, a 21-part tale at Explicit Novels podcast. Cathy had done her share of kinky things before meeting Sam, the highlight of which coming fairly early when she blew a guy at a frat party who asked to sniff her panties while she sucked him, and then keep them when they were finished. The novelty of his fetish, and the considerable size of his cock turned her on enough to oblige him, even if she did wonder exactly how she had ended up there as she swallowed down pump after pump of fresh cum.He was a nice enough guy, and she felt bad afterward when he said she was the only girl he had met at school who wasn't weirded out by his request, so they became a semi-regular thing. She swallowed lots of his cum, and he left with lots of her panties. It was fun, but it only lasted a short while once she realized the pleasure was only going to be going one way. But that's what college, and being young, was all about; having fun; and it turned her on intensely to see how aroused stories of her experiences made Sam. She used to be embarrassed of her pre-Sam sexual history, feeling bad that she had experience where Sam had been a virgin, but now that history had become an exciting part of their lovemaking. Just the other night, while Sam gently fingered her, she breathlessly whispered into her ear he wanted her to tell him about a time she felt really naughty. She smiled, and told him of the time where, in the heat of passion, her then-boyfriend slipped his saliva-slick thumb into her ass while he fucked her from behind. It was the only time it ever happened, and the surprise of the sensation triggered a body-shaking orgasm like she had never experienced. "It was so intense, so hot," she said, "that he completely forgot to pull out." She felt Sam's cock twitch against her leg. She smiled. She continued to tease him. "I knew I shouldn't have let him, but I didn't care; I wanted it all. It was the first time I ever let a man cum inside me without a condom." Sam growled into her ear. Shortly after telling the story, Cathy found herself on her hands and knees in her marital bed, bracing against the headboard, this time her husband Sam the one briskly pushing into her from behind. The story was fresh in both their minds, the sex was hot and passionate, and her body was abuzz with anticipation, wondering if he was going to reenact her story, wondering if he was going to slip his thumb into her ass. She could feel his hand dancing around her cheek and lower back, this thumb edging ever so close to her puckered hole, but never making contact. Penetration or not, the tease sent her into overdrive and exploded her body in orgasm. The story had the same effect on Sam, his cock seemingly harder than iron, vibrating with pleasure in each thrust into his wife's exceptionally wet cunt. The teasing was no coincidence. The story at the forefront of his mind as well, he danced his thumb around her rear entrance, wondering if he could, wondering if he should. Ultimately he ran out of time, as the heightened arousal of his wife's past (and potentially future) digital anal penetration became too much. He barely got his cock out in time before exploding, spraying his thick, lurching seed all over his wife's folded, gasping body. Cathy sat at her desk, sopping wet, replaying all these things in her mind, but there was an underlying frustration there as well. It was Wednesday, that was true, but Sam had a church meeting to go to that night, which meant date night was going to be delayed, if not postponed entirely. She knew their life couldn't just be non-stop fucking at all times, but it still was annoying. Cathy got up and carefully made her way toward the bathroom; she was still at work, after all, and needed to focus on the tasks at hand, not the sex she wished she was having, and after all those daydreams, she needed to tidy herself up. "Hey Cath, what's good?" the voice came arcing over her from behind. She stopped, she sighed, she rolled her eyes. Roger. "Hi Roger," she said with a sigh. Roger was her co-worker, and a constant annoyance for her. "I noticed you haven't been working late much anymore; got a busy social life these days?" "Yeah, you know how it goes," she said dismissively. "Big plans tonight?" "No, Sam has a meeting, nothing exciting." "So you're saying you're free tonight?" He said with a big, shit-eating grin. She knew Roger wanted her, and Roger knew she was married, but he was nothing if not persistent. He had never truly crossed a line with her, but he liked to flirt, and always managed to get himself on projects with her, always managed to work the same late nights she had. Cathy would never admit it to anyone, let alone Roger himself, but at the lowest, darkest point of her sex-less era of marriage, she had given passing thought to giving in and going home with Roger. It was a fleeting thought born from despair, and it was gone from her mind almost as soon as it entered. An exasperated eye roll and a "goodbye, Roger," later, Cathy brushed by him and into the ladies' room. Addressing the wetness in her panties, she was doing her best to get her thoughts back on work and off her husband's cock, but then a finger brushed her clit, and sent a bolt of electricity through her body. She was still horny. She was still wet. She thought about her husband, thought about his stories, thought about him shooting his cum all over her, and then thought about the emptiness of the bathroom, and how he was going to be home late tonight. No one was in there, no one needed to know. Peeking over the top of the stall to make sure she was alone, Cathy leaned against the door, braced herself on the small cube, and slipped her fingers into her panties. She gasped when she felt how wet she was. Quickly she found her clit, closed her eyes, and began slickly stroking herself. Immediately, visions of her husband, hard and ready, appeared in her mind. He was lying on their bed, she was lying in between his legs, and then all at once his thick, proud cock was in her mouth. Cathy sucked and slobbered on her husband's cock like a common whore. She'd never sucked his cock like this in real life; she never had the nerve to let herself go quite this much. But this wasn't real life. This was a fantasy after all, and she was going to indulge herself. Thick saliva ran down lewdly over his shaft and her hands, making him glisten as she slurped at his erection. His hand was in her hair, gripping it tightly, directing her. Using her. Showing her how he wanted it. He'd thrust at her, and she'd feel his tip tapping the back of her throat. He'd push, she'd feel him in her throat, feel his balls pressing against her chin. She was such a whore. She was his whore. Cathy's fingers raced over her clit, her body on fire. It wouldn't take long now, the extra dirty fantasy sending her into overdrive. But then something happened. Something wholly unexpected. Suddenly, in her fantasy, there was another man there. Her dirty mind was racing a mile a minute, generating erotic situations for no reason other than to get her to cum as quickly as possible. She was barely in control, barely conscious of the fact that there was now another man present in bed with her and her husband. Another man sidling up behind her bet over body while she sucked Sam's cock. Another man gripping her flared out ass. Another man pushing into her. Another man fucking her. Cathy's breath started to get short and ragged as she tumbled down this fantasy path. Her cunt was throbbing. Fingers sped over her clit. She reached up and pinched a nipple through her clothes while she pictured this man fucking her from behind while she sucked Sam's cock like a wanton slut. The thought of taking two cocks at the same time was turning her on so much; she had never even considered it before, even in her wilder, younger days, but here she was, stroking her clit, body buzzing, careening toward orgasm on the wings of the fantasy of getting spit roasted. Oh, to feel two thick, hard cocks entering her body from either end, pushing and pulling at her in unison. And then, to feel Sam's cock pulse and spasm, filling her mouth with cum while another man fucked her, Her Fantasy raced on. Cathy swallowed and sucked all the erupting jizz her husband was giving her. Fingers gripped her ass as this mysterious second man fucked her harder, more erratic; he was going cum too. Cathy's body seized and shook. She bit her finger. Right there in the bathroom at work, Cathy started to cum. There she was, in her mind, swallowing her husband's spurting seed, while cumming on the cock of another man who was bursting inside her at the same time. Cathy's body convulsed, pleasure ripping through her at light speed while she did her best to keep quiet. Her unexpected fantasy had fully taken over her body. Her fantasy of another man fucking her while she sucked her husband. Only then, in the midst of her orgasm, did Cathy realize who it was fucking her in her fantasy: it was Roger. Her eyes burst open. Fantasy shattered, Cathy rode out the rest of her intense orgasm in the real world, satisfied, albeit very confused. She stood there in her own afterglow trying to figure out where this threesome fantasy had come from, and more importantly why it involved Roger of all people. "Gross" she mumbled as she tried to shake the thought. Why him? Why not anyone but him? She was not attracted to him at all. And yet there he had been, fucking her, sending her into orgasmic bliss. If she had wanted to be dirty in her fantasy, mission fucking accomplished. The post-cum clarity and the amount she had disturbed herself was enough to get her mind off sex and back on her work for the rest of the day. Still, every time she saw Roger across the office she felt a shiver up her spine, and a faint tingle between her legs. But still, her fantasy life was generally left unexplored, and as she drove home, she wondered if that needed to change. She wondered about Sam's fantasies. What did he have hidden deep down inside? Unfortunately, she would need to wait till another night to find out. Sam got home late from the church meeting, and was clearly tired and hungry. Cathy sat with him on the couch as he ate and they shared a drink, spending their date night connecting verbally, instead of physically. That was nice too, she thought, and equally as important. She was that much more thankful she decided to take care of herself at work, even if the images that played in her mind had been questionable and unexpected. Cathy asked about the meeting, how it went, who was there. Sam told her the usual suspects were all rounded up; the church board of elders, the music director, and Ginny. In fact, as he told his wife about the events of the meeting, there was one name that kept coming up, with stories attached to it he was happy to tell: Ginny. Cathy knew it wasn't that out of the ordinary, she was new, after all, and still getting the hang of everything, but still, it started to seem like her husband Sam might have a bit of a crush. She smirked slightly at the thought, filed it away, and went back to the conversation. Noting the time, the two realized they'd blown right through date night, but agreed they had enjoyed the time talking together. Then, finishing his drink, Sam made a suggestion. "You know, Christine IS staying over at her friend's house this Friday,” he said with a sly smirk. "Oh yeah?" she said, shifting excitedly in her seat, returning his smirk, "what'd you have in mind?" "Rain check?" "I think that can be arranged." They leaned in and kissed. "And the house will be empty, so you can be as loud as you want." his sly smirk returned. She matched it once more. They kissed once more. She couldn't wait for Friday. Cathy barely made it through Thursday, and Friday seemed to go by slower molasses as she patiently waited out the clock, desperate to get their date night started. But mother nature had different plans. "I'm sorry, sweetie, you know how I feel about it," Cathy said, legitimately bummed out. "But it doesn't matter to me, I'm fine with it!" Sam said in response, trying his best to be accommodating. He had just gotten out of the shower and stood nude and drying before his wife, who wore only a big t-shirt and some sleeping shorts. "I know you are, but I'm not. It's just not something I prefer." "I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sam said, "it's your body, I respect that." "Thanks, sweetie," she said, kissing him on the cheek. Cathy had spent the whole week practically dripping in anticipation for the next time she and Sam were going to make love, so much so that she almost didn't notice earlier that day when she got her period. She silently cursed from the bathroom stall at the timing; she didn't like to have sex on her period, at least not in the early days. She never had. She had done it once, and it was a complete disaster, so she said never again. "But that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy ourselves," she said, biting her lip playfully, and drawing a finger down his naked chest. "Oh yeah?" he smiled. His cock twitched. "Yeah. Go lay down, I'll be right back." She turned him around, playfully swatted his cute ass, and watched him excitedly pad off toward the bed. Sam got comfortable, and Cathy slipped out of the room and headed toward the kitchen; she had an idea, another thing she hadn't done since before she met Sam. Sex may have always been off the table, but she had never shied away from wanting to please her man, but with Sam she couldn't remember a time they ever fooled around during her period. It just became another reason for them not to have sex, just another excuse. Opening the kitchen cabinet she thought back to the fun she had had with other men, and being surprised how many different parts of the body could make someone cum if lubricated well enough. She shamed herself at the thought. Not for reminiscing about sex with other men, but for the fact that she and Sam had spent so many years without exploring yet another facet of each other's pleasure. That changed tonight. Padding back into the bedroom, Sam couldn't help but notice the Cheshire smile on his wife's face. "What've you got there?" he inquired, cocking his head toward her hands that were behind her back. Cathy just smiled and slid into bed next to her nude husband. She couldn't help but notice his cock had a pleasant anticipatory chub to it already. "Getting started without me?" she said with a big grin, dancing a finger around the top of Sam's thigh. "A man can't help where his mind goes when he's waiting for a beautiful woman," Sam said, returning her smile. "Well why don't you tell me about it?" She said, tickling his full balls with the tip of her finger, "I want to learn where your mind goes." She cupped his balls completely, squeezing gently. Sam moaned. Cathy sat up, and presented the hidden item she brought back from the kitchen: a full jar of coconut oil. Sam's cock twitched as he watched his wife unscrew the lid and reach in to retrieve a chunk of the slippery white solid. He knew she liked to cook with it, but he never for a second considered its other uses. "You've done this before, haven't you," he said without a hint of jealousy. "Once or twice," she said with a sly grin. She rolled it around in her hand, and Sam watched it dissolve into a slick clear liquid. "Now just relax," she said, cuddling close to him, close enough that he could feel her breath on his neck, "and talk to me." "About what?" Sam whispered, feeling Cathy drip the warm liquid onto his thickening member. "About your dreams," she said, trickling the last of the lubricant over his tip, "about your fantasies." "What kind of fantasies?" He said, fully knowing the answer. "I think you know what kind," she smiled, drawing a slippery finger over his juicy tip. "I, I don't know if I have any," he melted, her fingers starting to dance across his sensitive skin. "You don't have any fantasies?" she cooed. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or playing with her. "I don't really know," he said, pausing to enjoy his wife's touch before dropping his follow up, "do you?" Cathy smiled. Of course. She was learning just how much of a voyeur her husband was, of course that's where he'd go. It was a fair question, and it was only fair she be as open with him as she was asking "Sure," she said with a syrupy lilt, "do you wanna hear one?" He sighed loudly and nodded. His cock flexed hard. She smiled again. "I imagine I'm waiting in a hotel room," she began, teasing his cock with the tips of her fingers, "I'm sitting on the bed, waiting for a man. I'm wearing the dress he wants me to wear, the lingerie he wants me to wear. I'm waiting for my man to come in and tell me what to do. I'm waiting for him, to use me." She felt a flutter in her stomach as she shared something with Sam she had never shared with anyone. "Use you how?" Sam said through a strained breath. His cock was pointing straight up now, her slickened fingers teasing him deliciously. He had never thought of his wife in such a lewd, erotic way, but it was certainly having an effect. He needed to know more. "However he wants," she said languidly, her mind starting to drift into her fantasy, "I want to be his slut, I want to be his whore." "Oh my God,” Sam hissed through gritted teeth. Cathy smiled. "I want him to take his pleasure from me however he wants, wherever he wants, and I want him to know I'm happy to accommodate, and to receive." Sam groaned again. Cathy had yet to fully envelope his straining cock with her hand. She wanted to tease him, to prime him for the main event, and his labored breathing and beet-red tip told her it was working. Sam wasn't the only one enjoying the story though; Cathy's cunt had become delightfully moist as she confessed her secret desires to her husband. But what got her even wetter was knowing what she didn't tell Sam: she mentioned not a single thing about the other man in her fantasy; the one fucking her sopping cunt from behind while Sam used her mouth. She didn't tell him about Roger. "What about you, sweetie?" She said, desperate to change the subject away from Roger's mental intrusion, "what do you secretly want?" "I, I don't know,” he stammered as her pressure on his cock increased, making the teasing even more torturous. "No?" Cathy didn't know if he was lying, telling the truth, or just overwhelmed by the situation, but she had some thoughts on where to steer things. "You know, I noticed you've been coming home later than usual when you have a meeting at church lately, any reason for that?" "Have I? I guess it's, we all get to talking, and,” Sam's eyes drifted shut as Cathy began to stroke the firm underside of his cock with two slippery fingers. "Um hmm," she cooed, smirking at his discomfort, "I know what you're up to, all you boys vying for the attention of one pretty girl,” "I don't know what, what you're,” "I bet you keep hoping everyone else will leave, don't you? That one night it'll be just you and her, you and, Ginny." Cathy cupped Sam's balls firmly as she said the young youth pastor's name. Sam moaned. Cathy smiled. "No, it's not like that, oh, God,” "She's a beautiful girl," Cathy said, drifting her hand slowly up to Sam's aching shaft, "I can't say I blame you,” Her fingers closed lightly around him and slowly, tantalizingly began to slide up and down. "I bet she's got an amazing body underneath those modest clothes she wears, don't you?" "I don't, oh, Lord,” "I bet her tits are nice and perky, just like her ass,” Sam began to twitch and wriggle slightly as her stroking continued, "and those lips, don't you just wish you knew what those lips were capable of?" "I can't, I'm not supposed to,” Sam gasped as his wife tortured him with pleasure. The truth was he had thought about those things; all of them. He tried his best to keep his thoughts pure, but Ginny couldn't help but slip in there. His wife had him dead to rights; he did enjoy staying late to talk to Ginny. Her smile was infectious, and her energy was contagious. And it was true that on the drives home sometimes he'd wonder. Sometimes, he'd wonder. "It's ok, sweetie, that's what fantasies are for," Cathy smiled and kissed his neck just below his ear as she slowly stroked him. "Tell me. Tell me what you want to do to our youth pastor." "I want, I want,” Sam couldn't get the words out, either through nervousness or sheer arousal impeding his speech function, so Cathy decided to help. "I bet you want her alone with you up in your office, don't you?" she floated on hot breath into his ear. "Hmm." a low grunt was all he could muster. "I bet you want to sit in your big chair while Ginny gets on her knees in front of you, don't you? Another grunt and gasp was the best he could do. Cathy's stroking increased in speed and pressure. "I bet you want her to take your big, thick cock between her wet lips and suck it, don't you?" Her stroking continued its maddening pace and Sam's chest sucked and heaved as she drove his ship "Is that it, sweetie? Do you want our youth pastor Ginny to suck your big cock?" Sam shuddered at the thought, the image racing across his mind. Like an eruption from inside his chest a sound shot up out of his throat; one word, long and loud: "Yes!" "Oh yeah, I know you do, baby," Cathy dripped through a Cheshire grin, her hand slipping up and down her husband's turgid member, "I bet it's been so long since she's sucked a cock; I bet she doesn't suck cock for her husband. I bet she'd go crazy on your perfect cock. I bet she'd even take it into her throat; is that what you want?" "Uh-huh," Sam lurched out of his throat. He did wonder. What did Ginny do behind closed doors? Did she suck her husband's cock? What would it be like if she sucked his? Oh God, what would it be like? "Oh yeah," Cathy continued, stroking him long, stroking him good, "and when you're nice and hard I bet you'd push her naked body back onto your desk, wouldn't you? And then I know you'd taste her sweet, perfect cunt, wouldn't you? Because you're a good boy, aren't you?" Only a nod between gasps this time as Cathy sent shockwaves of pleasure through Sam's body with each slick stroke. "Yeah, you would," Cathy smiled at her husband's delicious admission, "I bet she'd be so wet for you, honey, I bet she'd taste so sweet,” She was turning herself on now as she fabricated this impossible scenario. "And then I bet she'd beg for your big cock; she'd beg you for it, and you'd give it to her, wouldn't you, baby? Right there on the desk you'd push all the way into her; all the way into Ginny's sweet, sweet cunt." "Oh my God," Sam gasped as his wife expertly pleasured his mind and his body simultaneously. He felt so awful, so wrong, picturing the new, young youth pastor splayed out on his desk, writhing and moaning as he fed her body his hard cock, but it's like Cathy said; it was just fantasy. A fantasy he was sharing with his wife. It felt wrong, but oh so right. "And then you'd fuck her, wouldn't you? You'd fuck her hard, you'd fuck her good, .you'd fuck her better than her husband," Cathy's whispers grew more and more sultry as her slippery fist moved faster and faster. "That girl would be so wet for you, and you'd give her everything she wanted. Would she cum for you? Would you make sure that tight cunt spasmed and squeezed on your big cock, honey?" "Yes, oh god, yes!" Sam was racing toward the edge, his breath coming heavy and fast. Cathy's hand was like lightning on his cock, summoning the white hot boil in his loins to the surface. "And what about you, baby? Are you gonna cum? Are you gonna give Ginny your hot, sweet cum?" "Uh-huh," he gasped, "uh-huh!" "Where are you gonna give it to her, baby? Are you gonna cum in her sweet cunt? Or maybe on her perfect tits? Or maybe.." Cathy bit Sam's earlobe as she went in for the kill, "maybe our sweet youth pastor Ginny wants you to cum all over her face!" "Oh Jesus!" Sam shouted as the image sped through his body like a bolt of lightning "Yeah, that's it; on her knees, those big eyes looking up at you, and that's when she says 'do it, Sam, cum for me; cum all over my face!'" White light exploded behind Sam's eyes, and his whole body tensed and spasmed. Cathy cooed into his ear but kept her deliberate stroking pace as she felt his cock flex hard in her hands, his balls jump, and then the first thick, white rope leapt excitedly from his tip. "Oh yes, baby, that's it!" Cathy couldn't stop smiling as her husband moaned and wailed. Cathy continued to milk his throbbing member, and he poured and sprayed his hot cum up out of his cock, splattering on his naked body and dripping down her stroking, loving hand. She loved it when he orgasmed. She loved making him orgasm. Cathy slowed her stroking as Sam started to return to earth. "Oh my God, babe, Oh my God," he started laughing through deep breaths, overwhelmed by the pure sensory overload. "That was a good one, wasn't it, sweetie?" She cooed, kissing him gently on the neck. "I'll say," he chuckled again before letting out one final, big exhale signaling his completion. "Let me get you a towel," she said with a kiss, then slinked to her feet. Before she turned away, she made sure Sam saw her raise her cum-covered hand up to her mouth and lick at his thick juice like an ice cream cone. Sam's cock bounced with a thick throb. She winked and reached down for a towel to clean him up. Even in her big t-shirt she looked so sexy to him. He could see her hard nipples forcing their way through the fabric, and sighed at the heart shape her ass formed when she bent down to retrieve the towel. Sam admired her as she lovingly wiped his cum off his body; he couldn't believe this was his wife. He couldn't believe the pleasure she'd been bringing him lately, the pleasure they'd been bringing each other, or that they were sharing such new amazing experiences this deep into their marriage. He couldn't believe how freely she dictated a fantasy involving someone they both knew. A fantasy that ended with him spraying cum all over the new youth pastor's face. A fantasy he couldn't admit he didn't have. Suddenly a thought came to him "That was amazing, Cath," he said as she finished him up, "but I want you to know, I've never, I mean I would never,” Even after all they had just experienced, saying the words felt awkward and difficult. "I know, Sam," she said with a smile; she knew exactly what he was getting at, "that's why it's a fantasy. It's all safe. It's all pretend. It's all ok." What a woman. "I love you," Sam said with a big, bewildered smile. "I love you too," she said, cuddling next to him to kiss him. They held each other there for a moment in silence, until curiosity got the better of Sam. "That fantasy of yours was pretty sexy," he said, curling her long brown hair in his fingers. "Mmm, not as sexy as yours," she said with a cute chuckle. "Who was the guy?" he nervously inquired, "The guy?" "The guy in your fantasy, the guy using you?" Cathy pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked at her husband with her smoky eyes. A sultry smirk pulled at her lips. He was so cute. "Just a fantasy." She leaned in and kissed him. "I'm gonna go clean up." She padded off to the bathroom, dropping the soiled towel in the hamper on the way. Looking back at Sam, he was already starting to drift off to sleep. It was all just a fantasy, she thought as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Nipples hard, cunt soaked, she thought back to her daydream of being used like a slut by her husband, by Roger, by both of them. Her hand dipped down into her underwear, finding her throbbing clit almost immediately. Bracing herself on the bathroom sink she began to touch herself, lighting her body up with shockwaves of pleasure She was so wet, but tonight it wasn't just the fantasy that drenched her, it was sharing it with Sam, seeing him throb and ache as she told him. It was the thought of Sam sitting in his church office chair getting a sloppy blowjob from Ginny the twenty-something youth pastor. It was the thought of him pushing his thick, perfect cock into her tight, young cunt, fucking her right there on the desk. Cathy shuddered at the thought of how tight Ginny must be. It was the thought of Ginny on her knees, mouth open, happily accepting volley after volley of Sam's hot cum onto her pretty face. Cathy wondered if anyone had ever cum on Ginny's face, if her husband Todd did it. How often did she let her husband cum on her face? Did she like it? Did she beg for it? But most of all it was the way Sam's cock lurched and throbbed in her hand as she painted the lewd picture to him. She knew he would never dare do something untoward with Ginny for real, but the way he pulsed, the way he throbbed, he clearly had thought about it. Facials weren't something she and Sam had ever tried, but based on how hard he got in her hands, and how intensely he came at the mention of it, how much thick cum he spurted into the air, it might be something they would need to explore. Cathy thought about the last guy to cum on her face; the only guy, the only time; and her body shivered. She thought about Sam fucking Ginny. About him cumming on Ginny's face. She thought about being used by Sam. By Roger. She thought about how fucking hard Sam pulsed when he shot off. When he shot off for her. All for her. Cathy gripped the sink hard, hung her mouth open in a silent scream, eyes scrunched shut, and felt her body contort and spasm as she came. All just a fantasy. All just a fantasy. Cathy regained her composure, leaned over and started up the shower. As the warm water cascaded over her messy body, she couldn't help but wonder what other fantasies Sam would be willing to share with her, and if she'd ever be ready to share the full truth about hers. By Liminally Spaced for Literotica.

Help us expand our Muslim media project here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membershipDonate to our charity partner Baitulmaal here: http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim Much of the support for Zionism in the United States stems from an Evangelical Christian background. Our guest today is the Reverend Robert Smith, a lecturer and religious thinker. We examine Christian Zionism and its fundamental principles in depth. He contends that Zionism is deeply connected to the story of America and indeed the story of modernity.You can find Rev. Robert O. Smith here:Website: https://www.revdrrobertosmith.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/robertowensmithBecome a member here:https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membershipOr give your one-off donation here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/donateListen to the audio version of the podcast:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7vXiAjVFnhNI3T9Gkw636aApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-thinking-muslim/id1471798762Purchase our Thinking Muslim mug: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/merchFind us on:X: https://x.com/thinking_muslimLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-thinking-muslim/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Thinking-Muslim-Podcast-105790781361490Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingmuslimpodcast/Telegram: https://t.me/thinkingmuslimBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thinkingmuslim.bsky.socialThreads: https://www.threads.com/@thinkingmuslimpodcastFind Muhammad Jalal here:X: https://twitter.com/jalalaynInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jalalayns/Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.comWebsite Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.comDisclaimer:The views expressed in this video are those of the individual speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the host, producers, platform, or any affiliated organisation. This content is provided for lawful, informational, and analytical purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice. Viewer discretion is advised. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On our latest edition of The Bible Study, The Reverend and his guests, DeVaughn Taylor (Specter Cinema Club & Tainted Love Podcasts) and Jaylan-Salah Salman (Jay Days YouTUbe Channel) take a deep dive into the 19th chapter from the digital copy of Django Unchained. Along the way they discuss the use of a pseudoscience to justify slavery, DiCaprio's performance as Calvin Candy, Was that really Leo's blood that he wiped all over Keri Washington's face and wether or not if Calvin knows how to count.DeVaughn Taylor:Listen to The Specter Cinema Club: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/specter-cinema-club/id1516917857⁠Follow The Specter Cinema Club Podcast on their Socials:FB - @bloodybluntsccInstagram & Twitter - @SpecterCinemaLetterbox - @_daddydiscoListen to Tainted Love Podcast:⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tainted-love-podcast/id1785523436⁠Follow Tainted Love Podcast on their socials:Instagram & Blue Sky - @TaintedLovePodJaylan-Salah Salman:Jay Days YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jaylansalahsalmanIn Session Film: https://insessionfilm.com/?s=jaylan+salah&post_type=postCinema Recall (Reservoir Dogs Audio Drama): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reservoir-dogs-the-audio-drama/id1477731497?i=1000675494348Follow Jaylan-Salah on her Socials:Instagram - @jaylansalmanX (Twitter) - @jaylan_salahLetterbox - @jaylansalmanBecome a member of The Church of Tarantino:Follow us on our socials:Facebook / Instagram / Threads / Blue Sky & Letterboxd: @ChurchOfQTPodEmail: TheChurchOfTarantino@gmail.comWe're also on the Rabbit Hole Podcast Network: https://rabbitholepodcasts.com/the-church-of-tarantino/

In this episode of Personally Speaking Msgr. Jim Lisante is joined again by Reverend Russell Levenson. Reverend Levenson has been an ordained Episcopal priest for over thirty years. He officiated and preached at the state funeral for President George H.W. Bush and he also officiated and preached at the funeral for First Lady Barbara Bush. His latest book is titled, “Witness to Belief: Conversations on Faith and Meaning” which includes interviews with twelve renowned people of various Christian faiths including, Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Ambassador Nikki Haley, actor Denzel Washington and Dr. Jane Goodall.Support the show

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. What if faith as small as a mustard seed could move more than mountains — what if it could move your ego? In a world obsessed with image and achievement, Fr. John invites us to rediscover who we really are — not our false selves shaped by comparison and pride, but our true selves, alive in God.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Old Testament Reading: Joshua 24:14-28 Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-3

Don D and Bigg Doom are Back With Another One! We Are Joined By Dijuan. First, We Start with When Females were Females, Favorite Lingo for them, From Vine to IG, Crying Because of Your Mama, and Everybody Skits are the Same! Then, We Move On To Comedic Influences, Falling in Love With Your First Eater, Chuck E Cheese. We End With UY Scuti, & More!To See More of Our Guests, You Can Follow Dijuan @throwedoffjuan!

03 OCT 25

Earlier this week The Boston Globe became the first major American newspaper to call for the former guy's criminal prosecution. Michael deconstructs Trump's pants problem and whether or not he wears a diaper. Finally, Reverend Al Sharpton joins Mea Culpa to discuss the ongoing threats to Black voting rights and a lifetime battling Donald Trump.    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices Earlier this week The Boston Globe became the first major American newspaper to call for the former guy's criminal prosecution. Michael deconstructs Trump's pants problem and whether or not he wears a diaper. Finally, Reverend Al Sharpton joins Mea Culpa to discuss the ongoing threats to Black voting rights and a lifetime battling Donald Trump. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices