Podcast appearances and mentions of river ganges

Today, an episode where I walk with my guest along the paths of Greenham Common in Berkshire, England. We explore how photography, adventure, and purpose can align to become one path. Photographer Tom Warburton retired early and, rather than settle into a slower pace, decided to walk the length of the River Ganges, over 1,100 kilometres from the glacier source in the Himalayas to its confluence with the Yamuna near Prayagraj. It was a journey fuelled by curiosity, a love of walking, a desire to see life away from the main roads, and to photograph people and culture with care and respect. Tom had long held an interest in photography, but like many, life's other responsibilities often came first. So with time finally on his side, he went in search of something deeper, not just images, but understanding. The result? A slow, human journey through rural villages, pilgrimage sites, nature reserves, and towns where he was often the only outsider for miles. In today's episode, we walk and talk about what it means to truly travel with intention, to go off the beaten path, to connect with strangers, and to find portraits in moments where trust is built, not taken. This is a story of walking for photography, walking for perspective, and walking, quite simply, for the love of the road. As the walk draws to a close, Tom arrives in Prayagraj just as the Maha Kumbh Mela begins, a once-in-144-years gathering of extraordinary scale and spirit. On the biggest days, over 40 million people converge: sadhus, pilgrims, Naga ascetics, all drawn to the sacred waters where the Ganges and Yamuna meet. And there's Tom, camera in hand, somehow slipping through the crowds and into the press areas, ready to capture it all. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to Arthelper, who sponsor this show, plus our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available here.

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 10 "Yoga of the Opulence of the Lord" Verses 30, 31 & 32 The lecture discusses examples of the great devotee Prahalad, the Time, the King of Jungle Lion, and the King of Birds Garuda as the manifestations of all-pervading God. It also outlines why the River Ganges represents the perennial knowledge flowing from teacher to student and Krishna's repeated assertion that he is the cause of this creation, the beginning, middle, and end of everything. Moksharthi - Please visit YouTube for Bhajans by Neil Bhatt - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8jOW56VdfinQGoaP3cRFi-lSBfxjflJE  

George Black is a writer, journalist, and editorial consultant living in New York City. His latest book, The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam, was published by Knopf on March 28, 2023, and coincided with the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last American combat troops from Vietnam. He is the author of seven previous books on subjects ranging from the Chinese democracy movement to the River Ganges, from conflict in Central America to the 19th century exploration of the American West, as well as many long-form magazine articles on international politics, culture, and the environment. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and dozens of other publications. Both his books and his magazine work have won numerous awards and honors. In addition to an abiding passion for rivers, mountains, and faraway places, he has been struggling for the past decade with a serious case of addiction to Southeast Asia. Despite traveling to more than 50 countries and spending most of his adult life in the United States, part of his heart remains in his native Scotland. He is married to the writer Anne Nelson. They have two children, David and Julia. View 'The Long Reckoning' on Legacies Library! Theme song by Lao Jazzanova

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” ― William Blake / the Ganges originates at the feet of Lord Vishnu / every living being can purify his mind by touching it's water / Dhruva accepts the Ganges on his head and feels devotional ecstasy / the Santa Rishis keep the water on their heads and practice Bhakti / the water flows thru the heavens / Lord Shiva's prayers to Vishnu SB 5.17.1-20

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” ― William Blake / the Ganges originates at the feet of Lord Vishnu / every living being can purify his mind by touching it's water / Dhruva accepts the Ganges on his head and feels devotional ecstasy / the Santa Rishis keep the water on their heads and practice Bhakti / the water flows thru the heavens / Lord Shiva's prayers to Vishnu SB 5.17.1-20

Shoes don't belong in the River Ganges. Even if they're filled with funeral pyre sludge. Ethan and I start with a deep dive into whether or not all roads lead to home. Then, he jogs along the Ganges with a broken toe and ends up hip-deep in sludge. Oops.Participate in the 100 Ways Community:Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Send a voice message: Click Message button on this pageSupport our show or book a reading! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100ways Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast Thank you, Ethan!!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100ways/message"Everything is right the way it is right now," is a quote by Jared, who texted that to me one night.Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay Participate in the 100 Ways Community: Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Support our show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100waysBook a session: https://buymeacoffee.com/100ways/commissions Facebook: https://facebook.com/laurachristine808Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast

Zaib un Nisa Aziz (University of South Florida, Tampa) speaks at the Oxford South Asian Intellectual History Seminar on 13 March 2023. For queries, please contact seminar convenor at saih@history.ox.ac.uk At the turn of the twentieth century, the global imperial order was in peril. In cities across the world, revolutionary factions emerged where nationalists deliberated radical, even violent paths to a post- imperial world. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin belonged to and wrote of this world – a world primarily defined by the crisis of the imperial order and the looming question of the future of national communities. As Lenin along with his compatriots seized power in Moscow in October 1917, he announced the dawn of a new era where the empires of the world would eventually fall in the throes of the impending world revolution. My talk, based on my first book project, shows how that his call resonated with all sorts of imperial decriers who saw, in his victory, the possibility of a new world. From Rio Grande to River Ganges, anti-colonialists turned to Moscow to help realize their own political visions. Encouraged by the triumph of Lenin and his party, anti-colonialists tied the end of imperialism to the revolutionary end of global socioeconomic hierarchies. This historical narrative responds to recent scholarly provocations to study decolonization in connected rather than discrete terms and to employ the methodological tools of global history to write new historical accounts, which attend to the ends of empire as a global phenomenon. One of my key intellectual objectives is to think of Asian, African, and Caribbean anti-colonialists not only as itinerant revolutionaries and campaigners but as intellectuals, thinkers, and writers. I demonstrate the many ways in which anti-colonialists interpreted, built on, modified, and otherwise responded to Lenin's critique of imperialism. For many, anti-imperialism now not only meant opposition to foreign rule but also a wholesale rejection of the prevalent global economic order. Hence, inequality and development became an inextricable part of visions of a postcolonial global order. Moreover, this presentation highlights how the inter-war period marks a decisive shift in the intellectual history of decolonization. Zaib un Nisa Aziz is a historian of global and imperial history, with a focus on the British Empire and Modern South Asia. She is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of South Florida, Tampa. In her past and present research, she seeks to push the geographic, temporal and thematic boundaries of the historical study of the end of empire and its aftermath, and is particularly interested in histories of decolonisation, labour and internationalism. Her current book project, tentatively titled ‘Nations Ascendant: The Global Struggle Against Empire and The Making of our World', traces the origins and politics of an international community of colonial activists, thinkers and campaigners, and shows how they came to share ideas about universal decolonisation and the end of empires.

Zaib un Nisa Aziz (University of South Florida, Tampa) speaks at the Oxford South Asian Intellectual History Seminar on 13 March 2023. For queries, please contact seminar convenor at saih@history.ox.ac.uk At the turn of the twentieth century, the global imperial order was in peril. In cities across the world, revolutionary factions emerged where nationalists deliberated radical, even violent paths to a post- imperial world. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin belonged to and wrote of this world – a world primarily defined by the crisis of the imperial order and the looming question of the future of national communities. As Lenin along with his compatriots seized power in Moscow in October 1917, he announced the dawn of a new era where the empires of the world would eventually fall in the throes of the impending world revolution. My talk, based on my first book project, shows how that his call resonated with all sorts of imperial decriers who saw, in his victory, the possibility of a new world. From Rio Grande to River Ganges, anti-colonialists turned to Moscow to help realize their own political visions. Encouraged by the triumph of Lenin and his party, anti-colonialists tied the end of imperialism to the revolutionary end of global socioeconomic hierarchies. This historical narrative responds to recent scholarly provocations to study decolonization in connected rather than discrete terms and to employ the methodological tools of global history to write new historical accounts, which attend to the ends of empire as a global phenomenon. One of my key intellectual objectives is to think of Asian, African, and Caribbean anti-colonialists not only as itinerant revolutionaries and campaigners but as intellectuals, thinkers, and writers. I demonstrate the many ways in which anti-colonialists interpreted, built on, modified, and otherwise responded to Lenin's critique of imperialism. For many, anti-imperialism now not only meant opposition to foreign rule but also a wholesale rejection of the prevalent global economic order. Hence, inequality and development became an inextricable part of visions of a postcolonial global order. Moreover, this presentation highlights how the inter-war period marks a decisive shift in the intellectual history of decolonization. Zaib un Nisa Aziz is a historian of global and imperial history, with a focus on the British Empire and Modern South Asia. She is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of South Florida, Tampa. In her past and present research, she seeks to push the geographic, temporal and thematic boundaries of the historical study of the end of empire and its aftermath, and is particularly interested in histories of decolonisation, labour and internationalism. Her current book project, tentatively titled ‘Nations Ascendant: The Global Struggle Against Empire and The Making of our World', traces the origins and politics of an international community of colonial activists, thinkers and campaigners, and shows how they came to share ideas about universal decolonisation and the end of empires.

February 3: Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr c. Early Fourth Century Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of wool combers and sufferers of throat diseases The memory of an obscure bishop-martyr endures A secularist does not evaluate religion on its own terms but on its practical benefits. Is a religion true? It doesn't matter. But if you can prove that empty stomachs are now full, that malarial fevers are cooled, and that formerly dusty roads are now paved due to religion, then religion is indeed useful and good, all truth claims aside. Religion's role in physical healing would be another proof of its great good, if not its truth. For all the incontestable progress of medicine, cancers still spread, tumors still grow, and infections still poison. Even the most modern of moderns, in a state of total vulnerability, understands in his deepest of deeps that physical healings surge from sources other than modern science. PhDs wash in the River Ganges, rocket scientists lower their bodies into the cool baths of Lourdes, and surgeons spread sacred oil on their skin hoping against hope for a cure that has eluded medicine. The memory of Saint Blaise, a man of obscure origins, stands behind one of the most enduring healing traditions in all of Christendom. In the holy name of Blaise, two candles are crossed, X-shaped, and pressed against the neck to ward off and cure diseases of the throat. Oils and relics, candles and flames, bread and wine, words and blessings. God's face does not appear in the ash cloud rising from a volcanic eruption or in a golden pile at the end of a rainbow. The Christian believes that God's salvation and healing power come through His Holy Mother, through His saints, and through the creation He molded in His own hands. A believer doesn't believe in belief, any more than a soldier loves patriotism. A soldier loves his country, and a believer loves God. And because the believer loves God, he loves a someone, not a something, and waits in line and shuffles forward, step by step, to the priest holding those X-shaped candles on today's feast. Because it is usually winter, the believer adjusts his jacket collar, feels the milky wax candle against his tender throat, closes his eyes, and prays that the cough disappear, that his voice remain strong, or that the faintest lump turn out to be nothing at all. Saint Blaise is primarily a “Northern” saint invoked to remedy mostly cold-climate ills. Details of Saint Blaise's life are difficult to verify. Some traditions, dating from centuries after he lived, state that he was a bishop in Armenia, east of modern-day Turkey. His reputation for holiness drew people to him in search of a cure for their infirmities. It is said that Blaise was tortured and murdered in an anti-Christian persecution. Every saint, no matter how remote his life or obscure his story, casts some light on the truths of our faith. The life of Saint Blaise and the tradition of throat healing that still surrounds him tell us that holy lives have power. His life tells us that holy people intercede for less holy people, and that the less powerful, the less wise, and the less good depend on the strong, the intelligent, and the virtuous in order to leave their state of dependence, ignorance, and sin. In the same way that salvation is mediated, healing is as well. Whether through the skilled hands of a surgeon, the chemicals of a drug, or the intercession of a saint, healing comes. The many channels branch out from the one source who is God. We, the faithful, when fragile and afraid, patiently sit in the doctor's office for our name to be called, wait at the pharmacy counter for the prescription to be filled, or line up in church for the candles to rest softly on our clavicles. Healing is on offer, we are ripe to be cured, and any sacred intervention is welcome, no matter whence it comes. Saint Blaise, many centuries ago you suffered for the same faith we now share with you. May we be ever united to you in our common Church, and may we be healed of all infirmities of the throat through your heavenly intercession.

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight ask whether giving legal rights to things like rivers and forests changes how we think about the world that lives around us.The Whanganui River, in New Zealand, is a legal person in the eyes of the law. It is legally defined as a living whole, from the mountains to the sea, and two local Maori tribe members speak on its behalf as its legal representatives. Other nations have had similar thinking: the Amazon rainforest in Columbia, one of the Great Lakes in the US, and the River Ganges in India all have legal personhood, as does land in Ecuador and Bolivia, where Mother Earth is recognised as a legal person. Assigning personhood to non-human things is not a new idea. Since the late 1800s, corporations have been granted legal personhood, giving them the rights to hold property, enter into contracts, and to sue or be sued. Then in 1972, Christopher Stone, himself a Professor of Law, published the essay ‘Should Trees Have Standing?', arguing that if corporations can have personhood, why can't natural entities?Does the act of doing this reframe our relationship to the natural world, as something which lives not just for us, but alongside us in its own right? And as the law extents rights to nature, does that - in turn - extend our empathy towards the more-than-human world? Featuring Dr Rāwiri Tinirau, advisor on Māori and Indigenous human rights, and Anna Grear, Professor of Law and Theory at Cardiff University and founder of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.

Saint Blase, Bishop and Martyrc. early Fourth CenturyFebruary 3—Optional MemorialLiturgical Color: RedPatron Saint of wool combers and sufferers of throat diseasesThe obscure memory of an early bishop-martyr enduresA secularist does not evaluate religion on its own terms but on its practical benefits. Is a religion true? It doesn't matter. But if you can prove that empty stomachs are now full, that malarial fevers are cooled, and that formerly dusty roads are now paved due to religion, then religion is indeed useful and good, all truth claims aside. Religion's role in physical healing would be another proof of its great good, if not its truth. For all the incontestable progress of medicine, cancers still spread, tumors still grow, and infections still poison. Even the most modern of moderns, in a state of total vulnerability, understands in his deepest of deeps that physical healings surge from sources other than modern science. PhDs wash in the River Ganges, rocket scientists lower their bodies into the cool baths of Lourdes, and surgeons spread sacred oil on their skin hoping against hope for a cure that has eluded them.The memory of Saint Blaise, a man of obscure origins, stands behind one of the most enduring healing traditions in all of Christianity. In the holy name of Blaise, two candles are crossed, X-shaped, and pressed against the neck to ward off and cure diseases of the throat. Oil and ashes, candles and flames, bread and wine, words and blessings. God's face does not appear in the ash cloud of a volcanic eruption or in a golden pile at the end of a rainbow. The Christian believes that God's salvation and healing power come through His Holy Mother, through His saints, and through the creation He molded in His own hands.A believer doesn't believe in belief, any more than a soldier loves patriotism. A soldier loves his country, and a believer loves God. And because the believer loves God, he loves a someone, not a something, and waits in line and shuffles forward, step by step, to the priest holding those X-shaped candles on today's feast. Saint Blaise is primarily a “northern” saint called upon to remedy mostly cold climate ills. Because it is usually winter, then, the believer adjusts his jacket collar, feels the milky wax candle against his tender throat, closes his eyes, and prays that the cough disappear, that his voice remain strong, or that the faintest lump turn out to be nothing at all.Details of Saint Blaise's life are difficult to verify. Some traditions, dating from centuries after he lived, state that he was a bishop in Armenia, east of modern day Turkey. His reputation for holiness drew people to him in search of a cure for their infirmities. It is said that Blaise was tortured and murdered in an anti-Christian persecution. Every saint, no matter how remote his life or obscure his story, casts some light on the truths of our faith. The life of Saint Blaise and the tradition of throat healing that still surrounds him tell us that holy lives have power. His life tells us that holy people intercede for less holy people, and that the less powerful, the less wise, and the less good depend on the strong, the intelligent, and the good in order to leave their state of dependence, ignorance, and sin. In the same way that salvation is mediated, healing is as well. Whether through the skilled hands of a surgeon, the chemicals of a drug, or the intercession of a saint, healing comes. The many channels branch out from the one source who is God. We, the faithful, when fragile and afraid, patiently sit in the doctor's office for our name to be called, wait at the pharmacy counter for the prescription to be filled, or line up in church for the candles to rest softly on our clavicles. Healing is an offer, we are ripe to be cured, and any sacred intervention is welcome, no matter whence it comes.Saint Blaise, many centuries ago you suffered for the same faith we now share with you. May we be ever united to you in our common Church, and may we be healed of all infirmities of the throat through your heavenly intercession.

Superbugs develop their resistance to antibiotics by mixing and mingling with each other. Many superbugs travel on and in our bodies as we go back and forth overseas. But that isn't the only way they move. In this episode we find out how superbugs spread in surprising ways and are found in the most remote locations. We find out why some countries are hotspots for resistance and what happens if you become infected with a superbug while travelling.Have a look at ResistanceMap, where you can see interactive world maps of antibiotic resistance by pathogen and antibiotic use by type in every country.Here is a link to Dr Isabel Frost's study:Isabel Frost, DPhil, Thomas P Van Boeckel, PhD, João Pires, PhD, Jessica Craig, BA, BS, Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, Global geographic trends in antimicrobial resistance: the role of international travel, Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 26, Issue 8, 2019, taz036, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taz036This article from 2019 in the New York Times about superbugs in India's River Ganges, using powerful photography to capture this issue.Read about the Beach Bums Survey on antibiotic resistant E. coli in the guts of surfers versus non-surfers here.Find out why antibiotic resistance is a particularly big challenge in remote Indigenous communities in this article in The Conversation.Interviewees in this episode:Surfer Ian Cohen, who is also a climate change activist and speaker on environmental issues.Dr Isabel Frost, who was working in India for the Centre for Disease Dynamics and Policy, and is now working as a consultant for the World Health Organisation. She's also part of the Antimicrobial Resistance Fighter Coalition.AMR activist David Mateo Ricci, who also wrote this piece about his experience contracting a resistant infection in India.Chennai-based infectious diseases specialist Dr Abdul Ghafur, coordinator of the Chennai Declaration on antimicrobial resistance in developing countries.Gomis Rugamba, a documentary photographer and visual artist born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, grew up in Rwanda and now living in Australia.Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Picture yourself standing on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi.  The river laps against the boats. A fire burns. Relax and close your eyes. Let the hum pull away your anxiety. Focus on the hum. Your heart rate slows. Everything is calm and serene. Why I made this soundscape: I never made it up north to Varanasi. For some reason I thought traveling around India would be a breeze. But as soon as I landed in Mumbai things started to sink in. The vastness of where I was became apparent. I quickly changed my plans from circling the country on trains to staying down south for the duration of my trip. So, I may not have seen the River Ganges, but based on my trip to India this is what I image it sounds like. I hope by listening to this soundscape you find happiness and calmness. Photo by Kreactiva:

Maria Coffey is the author of twelve internationally published, award winning books, the co-owner of an adventure travel company and an adventurer in her own right.   Growing up in England, Maria always dreamt of having a freewheeling life, with no real idea of how she could make that happen. In her twenties she fell in love with an elite Himalayan mountaineer, Joe Tasker, and her adventures became vicarious ones, as she waited at home during his long expeditions. When Joe disappeared on the NE Ridge of Everest, in 1982, Maria was devastated. “His death blew my life apart,” she says, “but ultimately it jolted me alive.” A few years later she moved to Canada. She met a man who shared her dream of travelling the world, and together they began to make it a reality.   Shortly after marrying Dag, Maria wrote her first book, Fragile Edge: Loss on Everest, an account of her relationship with Joe Tasker and her own journey to Everest in the wake of his death. The writing was pure catharsis, an untangling of emotional knots in her past so that she could move into the future. Originally published in 1989, Fragile Edge became a classic in mountaineering literature and has won several prizes. Years later Maria wrote Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow: The Dark Side of Adventure, about the emotional toll of climbing, which won the Jon Whyte Literature Prize at the 2003 Banff Festival and a 2004 National Outdoor Book Award. She completed what she calls ‘an unintentional trilogy' with Explorers of the Infinite, an examination of the link between adventure and spiritual experience. For these three books she was awarded the 2009 American Alpine Club's H. Adams Carter Literary Award.   In the meantime Maria was publishing books about her exploits with Dag. Throwing up secure careers, they became expedition kayakers and a writer/photographer team. They paddled through the Solomon Islands, down the River Ganges, up Lake Malawi, and around Vancouver Island. They travelled the length of the coast of Vietnam on local boats and bikes. Dag, who is a large animal vet, did seasonal work in rural areas of Wales and Ireland, and they were head-hunted by a US travel company to develop international kayaking trips. In between all this kaleidoscopic activity, their home base was a tiny island in British Columbia, from where they commuted to the nearest town by kayak.   In 2000 they set up Hidden Places, a boutique adventure travel company, taking small groups of like-minded travellers to remarkable corners of the world. When they weren't leading trips, they were still exploring themselves. After Dag had a life-changing experience with an elephant in Rajasthan, they established Elephant Earth, advocating and fundraising for elephant conservation and welfare in Africa and S.E Asia.   After Explorers of the Infinite was published, Maria took a break from writing. She is now back in her author's skin, working on a memoir about choosing to be an adventurer instead of a mother. In the growing body of literature about the childfree choice, her book will fill an important niche, giving the perspective of an older woman – Maria is in her late 60s - who has led, and is still leading, an extraordinary life.   When they are not travelling, or sailing aboard their tiny boat, Maria and Dag divide their time between downtown Victoria, BC and a medieval village in Catalonia, Spain.   New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don't miss out.    The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.     Show notes Who is Maria? Moving to Canada in the 1980s Giving up her teaching career in her early 30s to lead a life of adventure Writing 12 books and being the co-owner of an adventure travel company  Her early years and having a very sheltered childhood in Wolverhampton Being the youngest of 3  Having different dreams from an early age Being inspired by Alice in Wonderland Going to Liverpool University  Finding a teaching job  Trying to figure out how to have a life travelling the world Longing for a bigger life Being drawn to people who were leading adventurous lives Getting involved in the mountain climbing community  Falling in love with a big mountain climber called Joe Tasker Dealing with grief and loss when there is no body Being supported by the adventure community Not knowing how to rebuild her life Wanting to live intensely  Having a near drowning experience at 21 in Morocco Deciding to move to Canada on a teacher exchange experience Meeting a Dag and sharing the same dream The life as a supportive partner to an adventurer Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure   Becoming super independent  Getting married to Dag Taking a year out to go travelling on a massive adventure in 1981 Role models and figuring out how to make a freelance lifestyle work Being a pioneer in expedition kayaking  Planning Vs being flexible  Being determined to be on the river Creating Hidden Places in 2000 Heading to Vietnam in 1994 Being adaptable to changing plans Becoming part time kayak guides by accident  What adventure means to Maria Choosing to be an adventurer instead of a mother The childfree choice Looking for a publisher Turning back to writing after taking a break Final words of advice   Social Media   Website www.hiddenplaces.net     Instagram @insidehiddenplaces    Facebook   @hiddenplaces  @maria.coffey.370    Twitter   @BooksCoffey  @hiddenplacestvl

Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets into Israel and Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on Gaza. We hear from the Israeli Defence Force and a man being bombed in Gaza City. Also: bodies wash up along India's River Ganges as crematoria struggle to keep up with Covid 19, and the Brit Awards are back in London with a live audience.

Episode 13 of Travel Bubble is with Jake Lawrenson, a photographer, documentarian and good friend of the show. He is a seasoned traveller with early experiences of holidaying on the back of a Harley Davidson in America and road-tripping around Europe. More recently, when not travelling with work, Jake and I have been known to explore a number of places across the globe together, with a few memorable tales shared on this podcast. Food is a hot topic in episode 13, from where to get the best egg butties in the world, to grilled Kit Kats, Mars bars on the Great Wall of China, and the now-infamous monkey arm tale from episode one getting a mention again. We also chat about men carrying goats, mourning monks, almost being stranded on an island, wandering the streets of Asia for the best photographs, impressive funerals and losing your passport You can find more information about Jake’s photography at his website -JakeLawrensonPhotography.com. You can watch is latest documentary The Story of The Rufford Printing Company here. Spoilers for Jake's choices below. . . . . . Country No.1: India Activities: Rent a scooter and explore Hampi. Witness a funeral procession on a boat on the River Ganges in Varanasi Food: Pani Puri Country No.2: Japan Activity: Walk around Osaka – street photography Food: Egg butty, dry shredded squid, various types of Kit Kats Follow @kuri_kuri_kuri_ on Insta for your Fuji fixes Country No. 3: Thailand Activity: Eat street food and visit local markets – Chatuchak, Bangkok. Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai Food: Jack’s Bar – Pad See Ew with a kai dao (fried egg) Wildcard: South Africa Top Travel Tip: Document your trip - take photos/ write down each day what you’ve done Best Souvenir: A plastic, gold Chairman Mao statue Travel Bubble Film Club Oleg, Latvia (2019) Available on Mubi, sign up through this link and get a 30-day free Mubi trial. Thanks for listening. Follow us on Travel Bubble Facebookand Instagram @TravelBubblePodcast. Follow and subscribe so you never miss out on an episode. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/travelbubblepodcast/message

When it comes to making an impact on the environment, there are very few brands that step up and take the initiative of doing their bit. Especially when you're starting something new. The one brand that has been taking active strides towards doing their bit is Phool. Phool was born out of the want to reduce temple waste in India. From what started as a conversation by the Ghats of the River Ganges, Phool turned into a venture that worked towards upcycling temple flowers that were otherwise dumped into water bodies, into consumer products. Based out of Kanpur, India, Phool decided to work with the locals to get temple flowers together and turn them into incense sticks and cones. In this episode, we're talking to Apurv Misal, the Head of Marketing and Sales of Phool.co on how the brand educates their audience, keeps them engaged, uses organic strategies on social media to grow. Tune in to get some intel into some of the best strategies that lifestyle brands can use to reach their audience.

While the iconic Taj Mahal, incredible Amber Fort in Jaipur and holy River Ganges in Varanasi easily find their way to the top of every traveler's wish list, there's so much more to see and do in India that often gets forgotten. Start planning your off the beaten track adventure to India now and discover gems for yourself. Topic: Making sense series. Show notes: https://namaskarindia.live/episodes/s01ms03.html Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aduppala/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/namaskarindialive Twitter: https://twitter.com/AradhanaDuppala Website: https://namaskarindia.live/ --------- Guest info --------- Listen to the podcast Travels, Tales and Takes with Preethi at https://anchor.fm/preethi-parthasarathy Instagram: www.Instagram.com/peppytravelgirl Website: www.peppytravelgirl.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/namaskar-india/support

The most auspicious holy water is Gangajal. It is preferred to keep it in a Metallic container instead of a Plastic container. Watch here

The seventeenth chapter of the fifth book, or Canto, of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, also called the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. It was written by the Vedic sage Śrī Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsadeva and is about the life and times of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the most renown avatar of India who spoke the Bhagavad Gītā. Text at: http://bhagavata.org/canto5/chapter17.html --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bhagavata/message

Story of Andhanan and his wife who fell in the River Ganges and how Vikramadithya Maharaja rescues him. Subscribe to get notified of the latest episodes. Like and share your feedback on Facebook: Umavudan Kadhai Neram Follow on Instagram for updates: Umavudan Kadhai Neram Follow in Twitter: Umavudan Kadhai Neram

If you are a follower of one the main religions, it is more than likely that you will have undergone a bathing ritual. Cleansing with water is an integral part of Christian Baptism, Muslim Prayer and Jewish purification. Hindus aspire to bathe in the waters of the River Ganges. Why are rituals in water important to so many faiths? What do they mean? And how do they differ from religion to religion? Joining Ernie to discuss ritual bathing are Dr Diana Lipton (teaching fellow in the department of biblical studies at Tel Aviv University), Sudipta Sen (professor of history at the University of California, Davis and author of 'Ganges: the Many Pasts of an Indian River') and the Venerable Peter Robinson (Dean of Derby whose doctoral thesis was on Christian Initiation focusing on Baptism). Producer: Helen Lee

If you are a follower of one the main religions, it is more than likely that you will have undergone a bathing ritual. Cleansing with water is an integral part of Christian Baptism, Muslim Prayer and Jewish purification. Hindus aspire to bathe in the waters of the River Ganges. Why are rituals in water important to so many faiths? What do they mean? And how do they differ from religion to religion? Joining Ernie to discuss ritual bathing are Dr Diana Lipton (teaching fellow in the department of biblical studies at Tel Aviv University), Sudipta Sen (professor of history at the University of California, Davis and author of 'Ganges: the Many Pasts of an Indian River') and the Venerable Peter Robinson (Dean of Derby whose doctoral thesis was on Christian Initiation focusing on Baptism). Producer: Helen Lee

DW viewer Norris Pritam from New Delhi sent a video of his vacation in Varanasi on the banks of the River Ganges.

Did you know that some facts about climate change in the history of the past and the present are not widely reported on the Internet today? Since, it is said ,that history repeats itself, we thought it is important to provide you with facts from independent scientists, because with knowledge comes a plan! Today, we will talk about Little Ice Age. In recent history, we have already seen how people in North America, Canada and Western Europe encountered severe climate abnormalities. The summer of 1816 never came for residents of these regions, in July there was frost and it snowed in August, which resulted in that year being called “The Summer that Never Happened, The Year Without a Summer, eighteen hundred and frozen to death”. Some scientists tried to reason this phenomenon with an eruption of the Mount Tambora volcano in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and others speculated that it was due to collision of the earth with a meteorite, which spawned a nuclear winter in these parts of the planet. This event resulted in hunger and population migration. In India, the delayed summer monsoon caused late torrential rains that aggravated the spread of cholera from a region near the River Ganges in Bengal to as far as Moscow This crisis was a serious test for people of that time. How would you overcome this climate disaster? Would you help others and solve problems peacefully? About how to stay calm and help others in difficult situations read in the Report “On the Problems and Consequences of Global Climate Change on Earth and Effective Ways to Solve These Problems “ https://geocenter.info/en/pages/clima... Please like , share and subscribe Already now we can see abnormal phenomena such as snow in the Sahara desert, polar cold in Spain at the end of March, and heavy snowfalls in some cities of Russia, Europe and the USA that are absolutely not peculiar for the month of May! Nature is trying to tell us something! But what ? Have you ever thought that your thoughts can influence the world around you ? This phenomena was discovered by Dr. Masaru Emoto. He discovered that our thoughts and words can change the water forming crystals. Oh, and by the way... the average human body is 60% water! So let's stop for a minute and think about the consequences our thoughts have on our body and the world! In a next program we will take a closer look at the research of Dr. Emoto. But for now for fun keep track of your thoughts and share if you had more positive or negative thought throughout the day .

Starring: Neena Gupta, Aqsa Siddiqui, Rudrani Chhetri, Rajeshwar Khanna Synopsis: The Last Color is a story of empowerment and friendship. Nine-year-old flower seller and tightrope walker Chhoti (Aqsa Siddiqui) befriends Noor (Neena Gupta), a 70-year-old widow living a colorless life of abstinence. Both outcasts yet vastly different people, Chhoti and Noor touch each other’s lives in profound ways. Chhoti promises hope to Noor as this poignant story of love, friendship, commitment and victory of the human spirit unfolds on the banks of River Ganges.

Ganga aarti is a spiritual song sung in praise of Goddess Ganga, also affectionately referred to as Maa Ganga, Goddess of the most holy river, River Ganges in India. Every evening, as dusk descends, Ganga Aarti is performed at the three holy cities of Haridwar, Rishikesh and Varanasi in India. It is a very powerful and uplifting spiritual ritual. This aarti is also offered in respect to Lord Shiva, as it is believed that the Ganges flows from Lord Shiva's hair.  Aarti is a Hindu religious ritual of worship, a part of puja, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee or camphor is offered to one or more deities. Aartis also refer to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when lamps are being offered.

Food Scientist, Kriben Govender (Honours Degree in Food Science & Technology) and James Shadrach (Honours Degree in Psychology) have a wide-ranging discussion with Citizen Scientist Keith Bell on Microbiome stool testing, strategies to modulate gut bacterial composition for optimal health, epilepsy, gut-brain axis, rain forming bacteria, the importance of viruses, gut centric remedies for anxiety and depression, microbiota - mitochondria interaction, kefir and much more   Bio:    Keith Bell is a citizen scientist particularly interested in gut-brain connection including the gut origin of seizure, underdiagnosed in epilepsy. Published articles include topics such as microbial predisposition, fetal colonization, microbe translocation and vaccine safety. He's founder of Sanitation Circle and 25 year veteran of the recycling industry with interest in sanitation and health. During the 1980s, he was a UNICEF radio spokesperson in Chicago for the annual release of State of the World's Children Report. He believes "Sanitation is Sanity" and that microbial balance is an internal and external environmental issue of the highest order. Keith founded The Gut Club in 2016 to create awareness about the importance of intestinal health to general health and provide support for treatment and prevention of metabolic disease.   Topics discussed:   The Glut Club - the hub of microbiome citizen science Analysis of stool test results Microbiome differences across the world Geography, diet and microbiome diversity Allele Microbiome Stool testing Obesity- Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes The immune response guidance by microbes The function of Peyer’s Patches Vaccine response in high Bacteroides cohort Obesity and Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) Persia the Cradle of Bacteroides Prevotella- Fibre eater Microbiome changes after migration Consequences of a shift from Prevotella to Bacteroides The Gut - Could it be the Environmental Issue of our time The Gut and Epilepsy  Rain Making Bacteria and Fungi (see laboratory experiment) https://youtu.be/SenJud3cHLc CO2 sequestering by microbes Exchange breathing method for seizures Diets for Epilepsy Forum The impact of Metformin on the microbiome Bacteriophages (viruses) and early infancy immunity The River Ganges - bacteriophages Personalised medicine via stool test charts Shifting the gut microbiome Autoimmune and Bacteroides dominance Keto, Paleo, Low carb and Carnivore Diet benefits and flora shift The Microbiome and Mental Health Kriben’s struggle with anxiety and depression Environmental factors that cause depression The Gut-Brain Axis The Impact of Stress on Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli Lactobacilli, Oxytocin and empathy Oxytocin, autism, eye contact and touch Clostridium, serotonin and tryptophan metabolism Amino Acids neurotransmitter balance and microbes Serotonin Syndrome SSRIs Gut, Brain and Heart connection GAPS Diets- Natasha Campbell McBride Kefir Fermentation time and Lactobacillus domination  Fibre, Butyrate production, oxygen, microbiome modulation The importance of the mucous layer Acacia, Partially Hydrogen Guar Gum- Prebiotics Inulin and bloating Fasting and Microbiome Composition Gut Club Stool Testing Discussion Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheGutClubStoolTestDiscussionGroup/ The citizen science of sharing microbiome stool charts Autism and Stool test results Faecal Microbiome Transplants Probiotic enemas Breastfed baby poop- untapped medicine Infant stool History in China Bacteroides dominance The impact of excess Bifidobacteria and Akkermansia Race, Gender and Geography of Microbiome Diversity Microbiome and Mitochondrion interaction The impact of antibiotics on mitochondria and ROS production Keith’s top gut health tip Microbial modulation of Vitamin D Dr Jack Kruse interview - Light and the Microbiome https://podcast.nourishmeorganics.com.au/dr-jack-kruse-on-light-and-the-microbiome Brought to you by:   Nourishme Organics The Gut Health Superstore   Shop Gut Health here:   https://www.nourishmeorganics.com.au/   Use code guthealthgurus for 10% off        Allele Microbiome- Australian Provider of World Leading Metagenomic Whole Genome Stool Testing   Learn more about Metagenomic DNA based Stool Testing:   https://www.allele.com.au/collections/frontpage/products/gut-microbiome-analysis       Connect with Keith Bell   Website- https://thegutclub.org/       Connect with Kriben Govender:    Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/kribengee/ Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/kribengovender/ Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/c/Nourishmeorganics?sub_confirmation=1 Gut Health Gurus Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nourishmeorganics/ Mito Wellness Support Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/347845406055631/   Download links                 If you enjoyed this episode and would like to show your support:   1) Please subscribe on Itunes and leave a positive review     Instructions:   - Click this link  https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/gut-health-gurus-podcast/id1433882512?mt=2   - Click "View in Itunes" button on the left-hand side - This will open the Itunes app - Click the "Subscribe" button - Click on "Ratings and Reviews" tab - Click on "Write a Review" button   Non-Itunes users can leave a Google Review here: https://goo.gl/9aNP0V     2) Subscribe, like and leave a positive comment on Youtube   https://www.youtube.com/c/Nourishmeorganics?sub_confirmation=1   3) Share your favourite episode on Facebook, Instagram, and Stories 4) Let your friends and family know about this Podcast by email, text, messenger etc   5) Support us on Patreon for as little as $5 per month and get same day, early access to our latest podcasts (typically around 4 to 6 weeks earlier than the general public) https://www.patreon.com/nourishmeorganics     Thank you so much for your support. It means the world to us.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another five-year term after winning a landslide general election victory. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament, in what Mr Modi hailed as "a historic mandate". Fergus Nicoll has travelled to Mr Modi’s constituency at Varanasi on the River Ganges in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Modi promised to clean up the river after decades of pollution. Professor VN Mishra has strong words for the Prime Minister on what needs to be done to save the river and modernise an outdated sewerage system. Outside the city, we meet the farmers for whom Modi has created a model village, complete with solar-powered street lights - and the farmers who are about to lose their fields to a big truck park. There are hundreds of thousands of workers who have concluded that their best prospects lie abroad, most often in the Gulf. It is a mixed prospect, with the promise of money to send back home, but prolonged absences can bring great strain to families Stephen Ryan speaks to Professor Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies in Trivandrum, the lawyer and writer Smitha Girish whose husband has lived in Dubai for the last 15 years, and VK Mathews, who set up his own business when he returned to India. (Picture: Voters lined up at a polling station in Varanasi, India. Picture credit: Madanmohan Sharma)

In this episode, Sandip speaks to author and journalist Aatish Taseer about his experiences writing The Twice Born: Life and Death on the River Ganges.

It’s a highly dangerous undercover mission never attempted before – create a fake elephant tusk destined for the black market, decked out with a state of the art GPS tracking device. It will be used to go to the front line of the war on wildlife crimes and catch the violent King Pins of the illegal Ivory trade. Adventurer and Award Winning documentary filmmaker J.J. Kelley often ventures way off the beaten pass, deep into the heart of a country, putting his life at risk to cover stories focusing on wildlife crime and conservation. This small town boy, is also a bad ass explorer who conjures up some crazy journeys just because he can. J.J. has canoed 1,400 miles from Alaska to Seattle in a homemade kayak, navigated the full length of India’s River Ganges using only paddle and peddle power, hiked 2,300-miles along the Appalachian Trail, and biked 1,300 miles along the path of the Alaskan Pipeline. J.J. Kelley has an amazing ability to blend these two worlds into his life and career -- the hard hitting and sometimes hard to hear stories, with the adventures he often is making up as he goes along.

Aired Thursday, 12 April 2018, 7:00 PM ETFinding Joy, Love and Answers On The Sacred River Ganges with Ray BrooksIt is widely thought that finding peace, happiness and freedom requires tremendous effort – that in order to achieve a state of contentment and harmony in life, a journey must be taken, or someone or something must be awakened or overcome.After a chance encounter with an extraordinary Anglo-Indian man on the ghats of the sacred River Ganges, author and speaker Ray Brooks discovered through the course of nine conversations that his quest for wholeness had been futile: no such journey was necessary, and, just like a shadow that seeks the sun, he had been searching for a self that had never been lost in the first place.Says Brooks, “No new knowledge required or acquired. No transcendental experience or higher consciousness needs to be achieved. When the recognition of what you are is seen – nothing at all happens. Why would it? You simply find yourself as you already are.”The Shadow That Seeks the Sun is a fascinating book that offers no systems of belief or promises, but rather, presents an uplifting story of spiritual awakening that reveals simple yet profound truths about our natural state of being.About the Guest: Ray BrooksRay Brooks is a British author and public speaker on the subject of non-duality. He has given private and group talks throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, India and Canada, sharing his direct experience of the “natural state” through simple self-inquiry. Ray is also the author of Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life, a musician and recording artist who is internationally respected in the world of shakuhachi music. He has studied with many great shakuhachi masters and performed throughout Japan and overseas. Sharing a passion for travel and adventure with his wife Dianne, they have explored the world together and spend most of their winters living in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.Website: www.raybrooks.org

While travelling in India I meet three vitalistic chiropractors from the USA who are on a series of 'mission trips' to bring pain relief and good health to all who need it. I sat down with Doctors Navit Zuckerman and Gary Wilson next to the River Ganges at Rishikesh to talk with them about the wisdom and intelligence of the body, and to ask them about how the sense of service underpins their travel and their work.Links Mentioned In This Podcast:Authentic Livingwww.authenticliving.lifeAuthentic Living's Patreon Pagewww.patreon.com/authenticlivingNavit & Gary on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/evol.v.loveNavit & Gary's Blogevolvblog.com

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 10 “Yoga of the Opulence of the Lord” Verses 29,30 & 31 Lecture discusses examples of Ananta Nag, Varuna, Aryama, Lord of death Yama, Great devotee Prahalad, Time, King of Jungle Lion and King of Birds Garuda as the manifestations of all pervading God. It also discusses why River Ganges represent the perennial knowledge flowing from teacher to students.

Namaste from India! This is my first in a series of international interviews, and I’m excited to bring you more shows during my international adventures in India and beyond! Today’s guest is Vedic Meditation teacher Light Watkins. Light has been been operating in the meditation space for over 15 years. He’s based in Santa Monica, CA, and travels the world teaching everyone from bankers, artists, and politicians, to CEOs, caretakers, and comedians how to meditate in a self-sufficient way. He’s also an author and currently working on a series of books called The Inner Gym book series, the first of which is available now, under that title. He’s a regular contributor to mindbodygreen.com, a TEDx speaker and he founded an alcohol enterlightenment event, as in entertainment meets enlightenment, in La Called The Shine Movement. I interviewed Light sitting on the banks of The River Ganges, affectionately known as Ma Ganga here in Rishikesh India. As you’ll hear, the interview starts out peacefully and toward the end, the very real and vibrant sounds of India invade our conversation. I urge you to stick through it and hear a gem of perspective that Light shares at the end. Enjoy and Namaste!  Show Notes: Light’s Website: http://www.lightwatkins.com/ Light’s Retreats http://www.beginmeditating.com/ LIght’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Gym-Workout-Strengthening-Happiness/dp/B00SW0FJBA Light on mindbodygreen.com http://www.mindbodygreen.com/wc/light-watkins Light’s Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xco3UjLLvGo If you’re enjoying this content, please consider supporting the show with a small monthly donation on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/visionarylifestyle

Global insight and colour. In this programme: Russians or locals? Gabriel Gatehouse goes to meet some of those still occupying government buildings in the east of Ukraine. Lives and jobs start to disappear in South Africa as a bitter mining dispute continues amid a mood of deepening disenchantment, a despatch from Hamilton Wende; On one of Rome's holiest weekends of the year, Alan Johnston's been to a non-Roman Catholic corner of the eternal city which enchanted the poets Keats and Shelley; Carrie Gracie starts her new job as the BBC's China editor with a list of hard-to-answer questions while Owen Bennett-Jones is down on the banks of the River Ganges wondering how a journalist can sort facts from fiction. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Paul Mason meets protesters in Spain finding new ways to signal their worries and anger about how their government's tackling the financial crisis. Lucy Hooker declines to join the stampede of foreign customers in the gem markets of Rangoon in Burma. Rana Jawad contends that while Libya's in a state of 'civilised anarchy', its people believe near-anarchy now might be the price to pay for the tyranny of the Gaddafi years. As some European footballers have been taken to visit the site of Auschwitz in Poland, David Shukman has retraced his own family history in a nearby vilage. And Anu Anand went a good deal further than the Internet to delve into the roots of her family tree. Finding out about ten generations of Anands involved a trip to the River Ganges, special priests and a search for an ancient banyan tree.

"That's nobody's business but the Turks'." A quote from one of several songs which feature Turkey which are in turn quoted by Kevin Connolly as he talks about why the country remains keen to join the EU despite the Union's problems with debt and insecurity. Hugh Sykes is in Rome as prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's reported to be on the verge of resignation - he wonders why a country which does so many things so well, and manufactures so many goods coveted worldwide, can find itself in such trouble. A new property law's been introduced in Havana - Peter Day tries to answer the question: does this mean the grip of Castro-style Communism is being relaxed? Justin Rowlatt sends a despatch from Varanasi in India where the traditional practice of cremating bodies continues by the River Ganges. And you have to be fit to trek across the Pyrenees. We find out how Edward Stourton got on as he retraced the wartime route of the hundreds who used that route to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe.

Two men on a remarkable journey high in the Himalayas investigate threats to global water and food supply.Seventy-five percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glaciers, but scientists predict climate change will cause some of the world's largest glaciers to completely melt by 2030. What effect will this have on our daily lives, especially our water and food supply? With global warming falling low on a national list of American concerns, it's time to take a deeper look at what could be a global calamity in the making.In a special one-hour NOW on PBS, David Brancaccio and environmentalist Conrad Anker -- one of the world's leading high altitude climbers -- adventure to the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayan Mountains, the source of the Ganges River, to witness the great melt and its dire consequences first-hand. The two also visit Montana's Glacier National Park to see the striking effects of global warming closer to home and learn how melting glaciers across the world can have a direct impact on food prices in the U.S.Along the way, Brancaccio and Anker talk to both scientists and swamis, bathe in the River Ganges, view a water shortage calamity in India, and see with their own eyes and cameras the tangible costs of climate change."We can't take climate change and put it on the back burner," warns Anker. "If we don't address climate change, we won't be around as humans."

Introduction: The world is full of all kinds of worship We are looking now at Romans 12:1-2. We’re going to spend two weeks on it, this time and the next time that I preach on Romans. The outline is balanced. You see, presenting your soul, presenting your body, presenting your mind, presenting your will. That's what we're looking at, but I'm not really going to be talking much about presenting your mind or your will this time, that'll be next time. We're going to focus on the first, namely presenting our bodies. And as we do, we come again to the question of worship. We did it last week when we looked at the doxology, which is the greatest doxology in the Bible, what an incredible section of Scripture. And how it began with that little word, "Oh" which shows the depth of Paul's emotions. His feeling inside his heart about all the doctrine that God had taught him and through him had given to us. And that's the first part of worship. It's an internal moving within our hearts, a moving of delight, and of passion, and of love, and of faith. We believe what we've heard is true, but that's not all, it moves us, doesn't it? It makes us joyful, it moves us emotionally. That's the inside. But now as we get to Romans 12:1-2, and really Romans 12-16, now we're asking the question, What should we do with our bodies? How can we live? And worship is both of those, isn't it? God has revealed himself to us in the Word, and then there's an internal transformation of joy and faith, and then there's an external pattern of life, and all of that is worship. Now, we live in a world full of worship, don't we? People are naturally going to worship something. We're religious, by nature. I know that there are some that have been trained in the halls of academia and higher education that claim to be atheists, and I think they are just aggressively suppressing the truth and unrighteousness within themselves that there is a great and a powerful spiritual being, God the creator. For the most part, human beings are religious, and around the world, they're going to find some way to express worship. Now these are, for the most part, man-made expressions of worship, aren't they? You look for example at the Hindus that travel as pilgrims to the River Ganges, which is a really foul place, it's been polluted, and yet that has specific religious significance and they're willing to go in and wash in the River Ganges because it's an act of their Hindu faith. Along the way, they're going to be doing little acts of worship and sacrifice called pooja to some of the millions of Hindu deities. They are religious people. The Muslims, for example will, five times a day, pray toward Mecca in a certain pattern, whether standing, kneeling, lying prostrate back up, and patterns of prayer that they learn from an early age. Once in their lifetime, they hope to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. And there, sometimes you've seen pictures of Muslims bowing down in concentric circles around the Kaaba stone, which is a stone that Muslim faith says came down from heaven pure white, but then was turned black through human sin. In the remote jungles of Irian Jaya, there are stone age tribes that worship their multiple deities, along the patterns that they learned from their ancestors, handed down from generation to generation. So, we human beings, we are religious. Even when in Christian circles, there are all different kinds of worship. Orthodox churches are filled with ornate and beautiful paintings, there are icons covered in gold which they say help them to worship. Roman Catholic worship focuses on the mass, the sacrifice of the mass, and the focal point is the taking of the Lord's supper. Lutheran services look somewhat similar to Roman Catholic services but they focus on the preaching of the Word. The Anglican services follow a pattern laid down by the Book of Common Prayer. Pentecostal services, if you've ever been to one, are exciting, stimulating times in which the gifts of the Spirit are being used. So they teach in open ways the speaking of tongues, dancing in the aisles. If you like to do that while I'm preaching, feel free. I don't think... You'd be the first in years here, but that's the kind of worship they do there.There's all different kinds of Christian worship. I'm not going to join you if you do that, but I will watch. Is that alright? But all different kinds of worship and there are different patterns of worship, even within the evangelical movement, there are seeker sensitive churches that use contemporary music and other types of patterns to make the service attractive to unbelievers, all the way to perhaps another extreme of folks that would only sing psalms without musical instruments. All of these within the array of evangelical faith. There are all different kinds of worship, but I say to you that as we look at the doxology last week with the "Oh," that Paul says, the deep passion for God and for doctrine, and the God of the Bible, combined with what we have in Romans 12:1-2, we have here, I believe, the highest expression of Christian worship you will ever find, and everything else pales in comparison with what Paul tells us to do here in Romans 12:1-2, this is worship. Paul says, "I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercies, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will." I. The Application of Christian Doctrine Now we have had 11 chapters of some of the deepest doctrine you will ever hear. Now, Martyn Lloyd-Jones is one of my heroes, he preached 297 sermons in those 11 chapters. I'm less than that. I know some of you don't believe that, but it's true, fewer than that, but still a lot of foundation has been laid. Along the way, as you'll read in Romans 1-11, you will not see a lot of commands. From time to time, there are some commands right in the middle of chapter 6 or some other places, there'll be some commands. But for the most part, Paul has just been laying out what is, what is the truth, what has Christ done, what is the significance of it, who are we in Christ, how are we saved. These are just truths, it's doctrine, it's a foundation. But now we come to that great question that Francis Schaeffer asked so many years ago, How then shall we live? Now as a preacher who has been preaching in Romans, I couldn't wait till chapter 12 to answer that question. So every sermon, I tried to stop and say, "Okay, based on what we've learned, how then shall we live?" Some sections of Romans, it's harder to do than others. Some are just very theological and theoretical and it's hard to know exactly how we're to live. But Romans 12-16 is Paul's application to the Christian message. This is his answer to the question of, "How shall we live?" Now, the beautiful thing here as we look at it, Christianity is not merely a way of thinking, neither is it merely a way of living. It is both, friends. It is both. And the pattern that Paul sets for us is, first, we must understand then we can live. It's not a kind of a cut flower morality or ethical system, which isn't connected or rooted to anything. Like for example, Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. I love Benjamin Franklin, what an interesting man living in the 18th century. He was a printer by trade and he printed something called Poor Richard's Almanack and in it were little proverbs of practical wisdom. You know probably many of them by heart. "A stitch in time saves nine." In other words, try to address a situation before it gets worse. "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." These are just basic everyday life ethics, but it's not connected to the system of doctrine that Christianity is. He was not a believer in Christ and was not trying to connect his ethical approach to the Christian message. Well, Paul doesn't do that. There's a lot of moralistic systems. Even now, you can listen to business speakers or head coaches that win championships, giving you the top 10 tips on practical daily living, that kind of thing, and people will flock to listen to these folks, and they can command $10,000 or more to tell you how to live your lives. I think we've got it for free here in the Bible, let's just read it. Read 11 chapters of Godly doctrine and then he'll tell you what to do. It's going to get very practical. Romans 12, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, treat your enemies in this way, do this with government. He's just going to be going through all of these topics. Romans 12-16, He's going to be telling us how we should live, and so therefore, I'm advocating today a balanced Christian life. And by that, what I mean is, we should not be concerned with doctrine apart from application and nor should we be concerned with application apart from the doctrinal base. Let's follow what Paul has done, 11 chapters of basis now gives way to some of the most practical insights you'll ever have on how to live your life everyday. So, here we get where the rubber meets the road. Romans 12:1-2, He's going to be starting the whole thing off with this issue of presentation, presenting yourself, and that's what we're looking at this week and the next time as well. Presenting yourself body, soul, mind, will, everything; presented to Christ, presented to God. In Romans 12:3-8, He's going to be teaching us about spiritual gifts. That's going to be an incredible study. I believe everybody is given a spiritual gift and you've got a role to play in the body of Christ. We'll be talking about that. Romans 12:9-21 is just, as I said, very practical applications on how to live your life, a life of love with others, even with your enemies, how to live with others. Romans 13:1-7, that's going to be the Christian and government. Payment of taxes. What is government ? How do we submit to government? He'll be talking about that. The rest of that chapter is again this issue of love for others, with a special application on personal holiness. Personal holiness. Chapter 14 and on into chapter 15, very important chapter on Christians getting along with each other in the Christian body and not dividing over debatable issues, learning to accept somebody else's servant if he has a different conviction on a debatable issue. Very important in the Christian life. We'll be looking at that in chapter 14 and on into 15. Chapter 15 and the rest of that chapter, He's basically talking about the Jew-Gentile unity issue and how Jews and Gentiles together can be an offering up to God, a sacrifice of praise for him. Chapter 16, a bunch of greetings to people, you probably have never heard of, some of them you have, that is as practical and beautiful as you can imagine, and there's lots of truth there in chapter 16. Friends, this is where the rubber meets the road, and we begin with Romans 12:1-2, the most important of them all. II. You Already Presented Your Souls... Or You Can’t Proceed Now, I want to start from this place. The whole thing is a presentation. If you don't get anything else, get this, God is calling on you to present yourself to Him and He's calling on you to do that everyday. He's calling on you to do that in every way. He's calling on you to present yourself completely to God. That's what He's calling on you to do. Now, I say you must have already presented your soul to Christ or you can't go on. None of the rest of it will matter, you have to have presented your soul to Christ and that is, I believe, in Paul's view when he says, "Therefore brothers," speaking to brothers in Christ, "Therefore brothers, in view of God's mercies," what God has already worked in your life, the central mercy of God, the central mercy of God is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The central mercy of God is the forgiveness of sins through repentance and faith in Christ. It says in Romans 9:15-16, he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort but on God's mercy, and it is the mercy of God in saving our souls that I have in mind. Now, Romans 12:1, it doesn't come across in all the translations but it is plural. For example, the ESV says, "I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God." It's not just one mercy, it's a whole rainbow of mercies, a whole array of mercies that God has given us and is giving us. But the central is, that the human soul corrupted by sin, enslaved to sin can actually be forgiven in the sight of Almighty God and restored into a right relationship with Him. We call that justification. We think about what Jesus taught, concerning this matter. In Luke 18, he said the tax collector stood at a distance and he would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "Be merciful to me, a sinner." "And I tell you, [Jesus said] that this man rather than the other went home justified by God." So we were talking about justification by the mercy of God, and in that you presented your soul by faith, and you are in a right relationship with God. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't that beautiful? To just know that God is at peace with you through Jesus Christ, that there's no outstanding debt to be paid, that your sins are forgiven. That is the central mercy of the gospel. Now at that time, you presented your soul to Christ. Jesus said, "What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" You don't want to lose your soul so you entrusted it to the Savior, and he the Savior of your soul took your soul at that moment, it is his. And at that moment, your soul became his possession and that gladly, you were glad to have it because he made it. He's the one that gave it to you. By faith, you were saying, "My soul is your possession forever." Friends, you do this once for all time, there's no need to do this in an ongoing sense you need to be saved. You need to repent and trust in Jesus. You need to present your soul to Christ. And that's once for all time. I think, however, there is an ongoing motivation in the Christian life here as well. All it says is, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God." Here's the thing. I think we have already received mercies from God, haven't we? If we're Christians, we have already received mercies from God. But my question is, is that it? Are there any more mercies yet to come? I would say yes and yes and yes, everyday a display of the mercy of God. One of my favorite verses about this, I just love, is Lamentations 3:22-23. It says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." And so, I think this is the foundation. We expect to get more mercy. Sometimes we feel like, "God why would you want my body? I'm defiled, I'm sinful." And you need to have confidence that God will, in an ongoing sense, be merciful to you so you can present yourself to him, that there's more mercies yet to come. So yes, look back at the mercies you've already received. Rejoice in them, delight in them, but there's still more mercies yet to come. And I believe God's going to be raining and showering mercy on you as a Christian from now until the day you die, and that mercy is going to get you all the way to heaven. And so in view of God's mercy, confident in God's mercy, he then gives us this command. III. Present Your Body Now what is the command he gives? Well, he tells us that we should present our bodies. "I appeal to you brothers, in view of God's mercies, present your bodies" he says. Now this is amazing! We believe in a spiritual God, He's not made of material stuff. Jesus told us, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. You might think what does this body of mine have to do with worship? Some people are proud of their bodies. A vanishingly small number of people are proud of their bodies. The rest, not so much. And you may think why would God want this thing? Why would he want my body? But God does want your body. Oliver Cromwell who was the Lord Protector of England in the 17th century was sitting for a portrait, and apparently he was not a handsome man. He had pronounced warts, for example, and the painter said, "We can do amazing things with paint, like just not paint certain things." He said, "No, paint it all, warts and all." It's a very famous saying, "Warts and all." So you may say, "Does God really want my body, warts and all?" I say to you, he does. He wants you to present your body to Him, warts and all, everything. Now, Scripture has a remarkable ambivalence about our bodies. By that I mean there are some things very negatively said about the body and some things more positively said. Our bodies were originally created in the image of God, holy and blameless before the fall, but they were corrupted by the fall badly. They are headed for the grave where they will meet corruption head-on. And we know that. Our bodies are programmed by habits of sin, and so we can talk about this body of sin or the body of death, and that's a big problem. Paul says he beats his body and makes it a slave so He's almost suspicious of his body, it's a problem for him to some degree and yet he says in another place, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And they are the only vehicle we have to serve Christ in this physical world. And so there's an ambivalence about our bodies. There are problems, but then there are these blessings. God wants us to present our bodies to him. Present: To Put at One’s Disposal Now, what does that mean, present? What does it mean to present your body? Romans 6:13-14 already covered this, and just listen to the verses, you can study it another time, but Romans 6:13-14 says, "Do not offer," or "do not present," "the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." That's the same teaching, we have here. There's a direct connection between what's taught in Romans 6 and what's being taught here in Romans 12. It's the idea of presenting your body, specifically presenting the members of your body, the parts of your body to God. Now, I think the best picture I've ever found of this, and it's stuck with me ever since the day I learned it, and I hope it'll help you, is the picture we get the night that Jesus was arrested. In Matthew 26, the account is told of Jesus being arrested and they send a detachment of soldiers, that may have been as many as 600 soldiers, to go arrest Jesus with torches, lanterns and weapons. You know that just at the moment that he was about to be arrested, Peter tried to save Jesus's life. What an interesting moment. When I get to Heaven, I'll say, "Peter, what were you thinking?" Of course He's going to say to me that about a thousand times more than I'm going to say it to him, so fair's fair, but I think I'm willing to pay the price to ask him. What were you thinking? And Jesus deals with Peter and you remember he says an array of things, but it culminates in this, he says this. "Do you think I cannot call on my Father," listen, "And he would at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels." That's the exact same Greek word we've got here, 12:1. "Put at my disposal," Jesus said. Now, let me ask a question. With what attitude would the angels come down from heaven, if Jesus had asked for them? Would they not come and say, "Reporting for duty, sir, what do you want?" "See those 600 men over there? They're a problem to me." "No problem to us, Lord, we'll take care of them." Would they question the Lord in any way? They would be ready to do gladly anything Jesus commanded them to do. They are servants, they are ready to serve. And the angels are always like that. It wouldn't have been unusual in the garden in Gethsemane. They are always ready to serve even in the Book of Revelation, when it involves pouring out bowls of wrath and a third of mankind dies. They will do anything God tells them to do because they totally trust Almighty God, and well they should. He is a perfect being, righteous in all he does. And so the angels are ready to obey all the way, right away, with a happy spirit. That's what they do. And they would have come, and been put at Jesus's disposal. In other words, the Father would have said, "Jesus, they are yours to command, whatever you say they will do." That is what Paul is urging us to do with our bodies, present them to Jesus for his command, offer them to him as your personal commanding officer. Now, you might say, "How do I do this?" Well, I think you ought to begin every day in your quiet time, with a simple prayer like this, "Lord Jesus, I am yours. You bought me with the price of your blood. I belong to you, I am under obligation to you. I am yours." And that's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Isn't it beautiful to say to Jesus, "I am yours, you bought me." "I am a bond-servant of Christ," as the Apostle Paul said. You present your whole self and I think you should do it every morning in your quiet time. You offer your whole self to him. But I actually think you ought to go beyond that and you ought to offer the parts of your body to him in prayer as well. I don't think you have to do this every day, but I think it's helpful to say, "Lord, my mouth is yours, I pray that I would speak words that only glorify you, and build the body of Christ up today. Lord, my hands are yours, I pray that they would only do things that I'll be glad they did on Judgement Day. I want my hands to be instruments of righteousness, not of wickedness. I want my feet to carry me in the places where you want me to serve, that's where I want to walk, nowhere else." You're just presenting the parts of your body. And there's nothing strange about this, the Lord made it. Remember what we learned in the doxology, from him and through him and to him are all things. Those parts of your body, they belong to him anyway, you're just offering to him, what's already his. Say, "Lord, I want my ears to be yours today, I want to listen to the Word of God. I want to listen to other people talk so carefully that I can discern what their needs are, and find out how I can minister. I want my ears to be yours, Lord. I want my fingers to be used, I want my stomach only to be used for your glory, I don't want my stomach to be my god, my appetites to be my god, I want everything in my body to be yours for your glory." I think this is exactly what Frances Ridley Havergal did in her hymn Take My Life and Let It Be. She goes through every part of her life and just offers it up to God, as a sacrifice to him. Now, notice that it says "living sacrifices." Have you wondered what that means to offer your body to him as a living sacrifice? Well, we know that sacrificial imagery is powerful throughout the Bible. I mean, right from the very, in my opinion, right from the very beginning when sin entered the world, so did sacrifice, right away. Because God clothed the naked Adam and Eve with animal skins that he got from what I believe is the first sacrifice. Then Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did, it was an animal sacrifice. Noah offered some of those seven clean animals that he took on the ark, and God smelled the fragrant aroma after the flood and swore in his heart, "Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. We know the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they set up altars wherever they went, and they offered up sacrifices. We know that God commanded Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, so we understand sacrifice. Now, I've taught before here that the sacrificial system is one of the clearest ways of understanding what Jesus did on the cross. There are lessons of the sacrificial system that lead you right to the cross of Jesus Christ, don't they? All sin deserves the death penalty. The death penalty can be paid by a substitute and the substitute cannot be an animal. We're waiting for Jesus. And then Jesus comes and John the Baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," all of that points to the cross. But I'm saying to you now that the sacrificial system teaches us also how we live after we've come to faith in Christ. We are to see our lives as a sacrifice, we are to offer a sacrifice to God. A Living Sacrifice Now, what is a living sacrifice? Well, the animals were put on the altar and they were killed once and that was it, you gave them once, they died once and that was it, it was finished. God is actually commanding us to something even higher here, you are to kind of go on being a sacrifice the rest of your life. It's kind of like a constant death and life issue. We're constantly giving ourselves over to death so that we may live with God every moment. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, think about what Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24, Jesus said to them all, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." So there's an ongoing living pattern of, "Not my will but yours be done, Lord. I'm willing to die." He tells you to go witness to somebody and you don't want to do it and He's like, "Oh, it's so tough, you die to yourself, you take up the cross, you're a living sacrifice, you go." He wants you to put a certain pattern of sin to death, it's hard to do, it hurts, it's difficult. He wants you to die to yourself and to do what God calls you to do. He calls on you to fast and pray for some issue. It's hard for you to do. All day long, you feel those hunger pains, but you're dying to yourself, you're a living sacrifice, taking up your cross and following Jesus. Amy Carmichael, the great missionary in India, who worked with young girls that she was helping to rescue from temple prostitution, working with orphans in India did a great work. Her biography was written by Elizabeth Elliot, entitled A Chance to Die. And I think Amy Carmichael and all the missionaries that worked, and she had a rigorous application process. If you wanted go work with Amy Carmichael, you had to go through lots of process to join her in her work. She basically only wanted people there that saw the ministry as exactly that, a chance to die. A chance to die. And what I say is that every morning, God's mercies are new, but so also are the opportunities to die to yourself and live for God. And if you do that, if you will be a living sacrifice, you will find your life, but if on the other hand you refuse, you shrink back, you will lose your life. That's what the Apostle Paul said, that's what Jesus said, that's what we're learning here. A living sacrifice is much more costly than a dead one, isn't it? Well, that's once and you never see that animal again. It might have hurt a little bit, said, it's a sacrifice, like David said, "I will not offer to God a sacrifice that costs me nothing," but even a bull, you just pay it once and it's done. He's asking for an ongoing gift of yourself to him every moment. And he says it must be holy and pleasing to God, without blemish, pure and holy. We have to free our bodies from everything that defiles and contaminates them. It's got to be holy and pleasing to God or we cannot offer them, I think about 2 Corinthians 7:1, it says, "Therefore since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." You got to detoxify yourself. We are surrounded by spiritual and physical toxins, and we are to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. I think it's not long before any of us thinking about this topic knows that we're at least talking in part about sexual purity. We live in a sex-crazed culture. There's internet pornography, there are movies and there are just images around all the time, that pull us toward immorality. We are called on to be holy, holy in our bodies, holy in our minds and that's what he wants, living sacrifice, and he calls it our spiritual act of worship, this act of worship is the basic act of worship that God is calling on you to give. Now, believe me, I am not minimizing what we come to do here on a Sunday morning. Not at all. It is so important what we do, the singing we do, the listening to the Scripture, the prayers, everything, even now, the hearing of the Word, all these things are important. But if you want to ask, "How can I worship God," Romans 12:1-2 is telling you how to do it. Present your body to him, that is worship. Spiritual Act of Worship Now, it says your spiritual act of worship, the Greek word is interesting, it's related to the English word "logic," and sometimes it says "reasonable act of worship" or a "logical act," other times, "spiritual act." Basically, I think the idea is that this is what makes sense in the spiritual realm, this is the sacrifice that makes sense for you as a Christian. That is your spiritual act of worship. Now, behind all of this is a phenomenal concept that has not been well understood for most of the history of the Christian church, but I think the Reformation made a major shift and helped us to understand, and that is this basic idea, this is huge. All of life is sacred. There's not a difference between things that God cares about and things he doesn't. Things that are more holy to God than other things. All of it is sacred. No, don't misunderstand, I'm not saying there's no sin in the world, I'm just saying that there's no forum or no place where you can't be sacred in that forum. All of it is a possibility. Now, in ancient Israel, you know that the 12 tribes entered the Promised Land and each one of those tribes got a physical inheritance, a chunk of land that would be their inheritance, except one. Do you know what tribe did not get a physical inheritance? It was the tribe of Levi, the Levites. What did they get? They got the sacrificial system, that was their inheritance. They got to offer the sacrifices, they got to eat the meat that came with that, they got small parts of land that they could live on, but they didn't get a chunk of inheritance the way everybody else did. And that was considered an honor, that the Levites got the sacrificial system and within them, the line of Aaron, they were the high priests and they got to offer up the sacrifices, but the Levites as a whole, their inheritance was this act of worship, this sacrificial system. But from that, came a bifurcation in Israel between the sacred and the common. And therefore those that were involved in holy pursuits, reading the scriptures, praying, offering sacrifices, they were at a higher plane spiritually than the common folks. You see this attitude in John's Gospel when the Jewish leaders are saying something like this, "This mass of people that knows nothing about the law, there's a curse on them." They looked on themselves as higher and better. In Roman Catholicism, medieval Catholicism, that got embraced. There was the priestly class, you had priests, nuns, monks, and all that. They would separate themselves out from everyday life, and they would live in monasteries or they'd live in cloisters and they would live out their holy lives in that way. The medieval Roman Catholic historian Eusebius said it this way. "Two ways of life were given by law of Christ to his church. The one is above nature and beyond common human living. Wholly and permanently separate from the common customary life of mankind, it devotes itself to the service of God alone. Such then is the perfect form of the Christian life and the other more humble, more human permits men to have minds for farming, for trade and for other more secular interests as well as for religion, and a kind of secondary grade of piety is given to them." Do you see the difference? You got your really holy people, the priests, the nuns, the monks, all the way up to archbishops and the popes and all that, and then you got everybody else, and they're at a lower level in terms of spirituality. That is not in the Bible. If God wants you to present your physical body as a living sacrifice, that means that everything your body is involved in can be worship. All of it. I would argue it must be worship. In those cloisters, the monasteries and all that, they divided up the tasks between the sacred and the profane. There were the sacred tasks, reading the scripture, chanting, prayer, the Lord's supper. The profane tasks, common tasks, were farming, washing the dishes, preparing meals, eating, all of those things were lower. Even worse were those people that spent their whole lives doing those things, they were profane people, common people. The Reformation came along and said, "Enough of that. It's not biblical." Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, they recovered this vision. Look at this, William Tyndale said this, "If we look externally, there is a difference betwixt washing of dishes and preaching of the Word of God, but as touching to please God none at all." That is powerful, that's powerful. Williams Perkins put it this way, "The action of a shepherd in keeping sheep is as good a work before God as is the action of a judge in giving sentence or of a magistrate in ruling or a minister in preaching." That means everything in life can be sacred, everything you do can and should be an act of worship to God. The key verse for this, in my opinion, is 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says there, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." Now, my friends, I'm going to get as practical as I possibly can get. Can you eat a ham sandwich to the glory of God? Can you do it? Go on, nod or shake, what do you think, yes, or no? Is it possible to eat a ham sandwich to the glory of God? I say it is. As a matter of fact, if you're going to eat a ham sandwich, go ahead and do it to the glory of God, or don't do it at all. Can you wash the dishes to the glory of God? Yes. Does everyone who wash his dishes do so to the glory of God? I myself have washed dishes, not to the glory of God. It can be done, but I have done it the other way, occasionally. Ask my wife, or don't. I mean, she'll tell the truth, sometimes I wash dishes to the glory of God, and sometimes I don't, but I can do it always to the glory of God. I can cut my finger nails to the glory of God. Not right now, but I can do it at other times. I can dust a book shelf to the glory of God, I can make a phone call, I can pay a bill, I can put a vacuum cleaner away to the glory of God, I can get my tires rotated to the glory of God, I can exercise to the glory of God, I can go on a diet to the glory of God, I can eat a Thanksgiving feast to the glory of God. I can do all of these things to the glory of God, because there's not a separation between the sacred and the profane. It doesn't exist. There's just a difference between whether you're doing something to the glory of God or not. You are to be constantly a living sacrifice. Now, what's the key? IV. Present Your Mind The key has to do with the mind and we don't have time today. I decided a while ago we had to do it in two messages. You have to do it by presenting your mind. It's the way you think, it has to do with the way you think, and we're going to talk about that next time. You've got to present your mind to God, and it has to do with what's affecting you. You can either present your mind to the surrounding culture and be polluted by it, or you can present your mind to God through his Word and be transformed by it. But it's the presentation of the mind, and from that comes a presentation of the will. I will choose to do what God wills for me to do. V. Application: Are You Presenting Yourself? Okay, so we come to the application of the sermon, that means we're done. Because I've done nothing but application this whole time. Well, let me ask a basic question, "Are you doing this? Are you presenting your bodies as living sacrifices? Are you presenting every moment of your life, are you presenting your hands, your mouth, your eyes, everything to God as a living sacrifice, are you living this kind of a life? Are you spending your money to the glory of God or not spending it? Are you praying to the glory of God or not? Are you interacting with other people to the glory of God or not?" Everything can be his. There's no such thing as sacred or profane. Offer yourselves to him, as those who have been brought from death to life and offer every part of your body to him as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master, because you're not under law, but under grace. Close with me in prayer.

I. Introduction: The Quest for the Holy Grail Isn't it great to be a Christian? Isn't it great to be saved by grace? Aren't you glad that you are saved by a free gift and not by some great achievement you have to earn? And the text talks about that today, a righteousness that is by law, contrasted with the righteousness that is by faith. And I started thinking about the great things that people would be willing to achieve to save their souls. What great thing would you be willing to do to save your soul? I was thinking about that when I came across a story found in the New York Times, November 2001, and I was just amazed by this, listen to this, the story goes like this, "The snows had scarcely melted last June, when 24-year-old Joama and her three male cousins, yak herders in the remote mountains of Northern Tibet, embarked on the most sublime journey of their lives. Their departure was not marked by any ceremony. "We just started out," she recalled. The four began mumbling mantras and raised their hands to heaven. They dropped to their knees and flung their bodies forward, fully prone against the damp earth, then they stood up, took three small steps forward, and repeated the entire sequence." "For more than five months now, they have prostrated themselves this way, all day every day, inch-worming their way to Lhasa and its holy sites. They slowly made their way through more than 100 miles of some of the world's harshest terrain, starting from above 14,000 feet, and then followed a highway 200 more miles into Lhasa. They reached the city in early November. These days, they are inching their way along busy sidewalks in the city as they follow the three hallowed circuits around the Jokhang Temple, the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism, in advance of praying at its inner shrines. Only here, it seems safe to say, could such a roadside spectacle attract little notice. Thousands of Tibetans undertake similar pilgrimages each year, not to mention the far greater numbers who reach holy sites by bus, tractor or ordinary treks of weeks or months." What great thing would you do to save your soul? These people are willing to throw themselves on the ground for months and months, inching their way forward to save their souls. Religions around the world have an amazing, an astonishing array of answers to this question. Frankly, the more costly, the more fascinating, the more difficult and the more bizarre, the better. In Islam, Muslims are commanded, once in their lifetime to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and many do so at great cost. In Hinduism, people make extraordinary efforts to travel to the River Ganges, one of the holy rivers of Hinduism, to wash in its supposedly holy waters. We had a testimony a couple of Sunday evenings ago from Timothy, who told us a heartbreaking story of a Hindu woman who drowned her infant to atone for her sins. She came to faith in Christ and then wept and said, "Why couldn't you have come here a day earlier?" Because it was the day before she had done that. Medieval Europeans, under the superstitious system of medieval Catholicism, made long pilgrimages to Rome and crawled up the staircase of Pilate on their knees, uttering prayers on every step, in an effort to save their souls. Also, during this time, the dark ages of Europe, a legend arose concerning the Holy Grail, which was the cup that Jesus supposedly drank from at the Last Supper. And the Knights of the Round Table went out on a quest to find this Holy Grail, because if you drank from it, you could have eternal life. And they were willing to basically spend their entire lives in this quest for the Holy Grail. What great thing would you be willing to do to save your soul? Now, this theme is touched on in 2 Kings, interestingly, when a pagan military commander named Naaman desired to be healed from leprosy. He was urged by his Jewish slave girl to go see the prophet Elisha, Elisha told him to wash seven times in the Jordan River and he would be healed. At this point Naaman became irate. He said, "The rivers back in my home country are better than this one," and then his helpers came and said this interesting thing to him. "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, you would have done it." That's the aspect of the human soul I'm latching on to here today. If we could save our souls by doing some great thing, we would do it. Suppose salvation were a scavenger hunt of incredible achievement. Suppose immortality awaited anyone who did each of the following tasks: Suppose you had to climb a sacred mount in Tibet and pick a pink and white flower that blossomed there once every seven years, and then after that, you had to go and gather a vile of water from the Nile River and bring it to an Aborigine in the Australian Outback for him to drink, and then you had to rescue an orphan from the street of Calcutta and get them enrolled in a private school, and then you had to earn $10,000 by making something with your own hands and giving it to the poor, and then, finally, you had to go up to the Arctic and cut a block of ice from a glacier and transport it, without melting, down to the South Pole. Would you do it? Aren't you glad you don't have to? Praise God that salvation is not a scavenger hunt of astonishing achievements that God looks to see on your resume at the end of life, and sees if you are righteous enough to enter. But instead, we have a righteousness that is ours simply by faith, and that's exactly what Paul is talking about here in Romans 10:5-10. "Moses describes in this way, the righteousness that is by law: 'the man who does these things will live by them.' But the righteousness that is by faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, "who will ascend into the heavens?" That is, to bring Christ down, or, "Who will descend into the deep?" That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.' But what does it say? 'The Word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart,' the word of faith that we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with the mouth that you confess and are saved." II. Righteousness By Law: What Seems Possible is Impossible (verse 5) And so we have two different kinds of righteousness here in the text. We have a righteousness that is by law and we have a righteousness that is by faith. Now first, this righteousness that is by law, I describe it this way: What seems possible is actually impossible. Look what Moses said in verse five, "Moses describes in this way, the righteousness that is by law, 'the man who does these things will live by them.'" Well, what are these things? They're precepts of the law, the rules and regulations that God gave through Moses. If you do these things, you live by them. Well, live by them doesn't just mean live your life by them, it doesn't just mean pattern your lifestyle or organize your life by means of these laws. What does it mean? It means you will live eternally by them, you will go to heaven by them eternally. Leviticus 18:5, the Lord said, through Moses, "Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them; I am the Lord." But history proved that no human being, other than Christ, no human being could fully obey the law. Peter, in the council in Jerusalem, in Acts 15, said, "Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?" None of them could bear the yoke of the law. They couldn't do it, and so it seemed possible, but it actually was impossible. First Problem: Obedience Must be Perfect Why? Well, the first problem is, your obedience must be perfect, must be comprehensive and perfect. God intends that all of his law be kept. In James 2:10-11 says, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you've become a law breaker." So you have to keep the whole law. Well, how often do you have to keep the whole law? Well, you have to keep it all the time. That's the second aspect of this problem. You have to keep all of the law, all of the time. It says in Galatians 3:10, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone [listen] who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law." So you can't have your good days and your bad days under the law, it's impossible. Not and be saved by it. God intends heart obedience to the law, so you have to keep all the law, you have to keep it all the time, and you have to keep it from the heart, not just external regulations and ceremonies, you have to keep it from the heart. It says in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength," and then he says, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." It's a heart obedience. For example, in the 10 Commandments, he required that the Israelites not covet. He said, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, or his property, or his manservant or maidservant, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Now, one of the things about making a law is, that it has to be enforceable. I'm telling you, No Congress, no state legislature, no parliament will ever make a law against coveting. You know why? Because they can't enforce it. "Oh, you were coveting, I saw it right there. 30 days in jail." How can we read hearts and minds? But God can, and so he put it in his law. It's invasive, it invades your heart and your mind. It says, "You shall not think these thoughts, you shall not set your desire on it," says in Deuteronomy, "Anything that belongs to your neighbor." Only God can enforce that law. It's a heart obedience. Second Problem: Extra Credit Impossible The second problem, as we've mentioned before, is that extra credit is impossible and unavailable. You can't get a 105% on the test and then take that 5% and put it toward your bad day. Is it possible, on any given day, to do more than this? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Can you do more than that on any given day? So there is no extra credit possible. Third Problem: No Atonement for Past Sins And thirdly, there's no therefore atonement for past sins, you can't use present righteousness to atone for past sins. Imagine a criminal standing in front of a judge, saying, "I know I committed murder, I admit it, but from now on, I won't murder anybody." "Oh, well, great! Go home. I am so glad to hear that, from now on, you will not break the law." No judge will say that. We can't use future obedience to pay for past disobedience. We are stuck, and therefore, there can be no salvation by the law. Now Jewish legalists, like the scribes of Pharisees, set up a system of human traditions, and they lowered the standards of the law, and they figured that God would be gracious to cover the rest, and figured that, by the law, they had righteousness. This is the very problem that Jesus had with them. And what ends up happening when you do that, is it leads you to either hypocrisy or despair. Hypocrisy, in that you lower the standard and think you've met it, and then put up the front that you really are righteous and you don't need a savior. That's what the Pharisees did. Or it leads to despair. Or, along the road to despair, insecurity, perhaps? Like the rich, young ruler, remember him? Rich, young ruler comes to Jesus and says, you remember the question he asked at the... Upfront? "What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?" That's the question before, it's right at the beginning of this sermon. "What good thing must I achieve to inherit eternal life?" Do you remember what Jesus did with him? He handed him the law first. He said, "What do you read? What about the commandments? Have you obeyed the commandments?" He said "Yes," and he listed, Jesus listed five of them, and two of them were, "Honor your father and mother," and "love your neighbor as yourself." I tell you that positive commands are harder than negative ones. It's harder to honor than not to dishonor. It is harder to love than not hate. You have to be active, you have to be out doing things, it's an energetic life. And do you remember what the rich young ruler said? He said, "All these I have kept from my childhood," and yet he came to Jesus, didn't he? You know why he came to Jesus? Beause he's insecure. He's not sure he's going to heaven. He's insecure, and so he says, "What good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Because he's not sure yet. And so, that whole life does not work. The insecurity. And it's built into the system. Recently, we saw a movie about the 1980th Olympic hockey team, and it's called Miracle, it's a great movie, we enjoyed watching it. And the coach in it, Herb Brooks, a true story, Herb Brooks was a tough, tough man, tough coach, he was a whip-cracker. And after the initial tryout, he already had knew the players that he wanted for his first 25. He sat them down and he said "I'll be your coach, but I won't be your friend." Whoa! Alright. Well, decidedly, he's not going to be their friend, and he said, "There are 25 of you sitting here, 20 of you will go to the Olympics. If you give 99%, you'll make my job very easy." And what is he doing? He's holding the ultimate prize over them as a motivator, so that he's driving them by it. That is the righteousness that is by the law. Another illustration is a story that Christie and I have enjoyed, is Anne of Green Gables. And this young orphan girl comes to live with a family that didn't want her there, hoping to get a boy to help with the chores and then, instead, they get a girl. And she's a handful, to say the least. And so she lives there under probation, she's on trial. Not really adopted. Maybe someday she'll be adopted, but she's on trial, and she just can't seem to ever do the right thing, she just goes from one trouble to the next. Do you wanna live before God like that? Maybe some day you'll be adopted, if you're good enough? That's the righteousness that is by the law. And thanks be to God, I don't stand before you today and none of you Christians who have trusted in Christ stand before God in that kind of righteousness. Amen. We stand before God in a righteousness that is a gift, a righteousness that is by faith. III. Righteousness By Faith: What Seems Impossible Has Been Accomplished Already (verses 6-7) That's the second part, and this is what Paul says in verses 6 and 7, "The righteousness that is by faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" That is, to bring Christ down. Or, "Who will descend into the deep?" That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.'" Now, the righteousness that is by faith is exactly the opposite. What seems impossible has actually already been achieved. Now these two commands, these two kinds of life are contrasted. You've got the life of righteousness by works, or by law, and then that is by faith, by grace, by gift. They're contrasted here. And there are two key verses that support them in the Old Testament. Leviticus 18:5, "The man who obeys them will live by them." That's Leviticus 18:5. Then you've got Habakkuk 2:4, "The righteous will live by faith." The two are mutually exclusive, you can't have both. They're at odds with each other, they're opposite. It says in Galatians 3:12, "The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, the man who does these things will live by them." They're two different ways of approaching salvation. From the very beginning of Romans, Paul has been commending the righteousness that comes by faith. He says "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith, for faith. Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith." There's a righteousness that is by faith. It's a simple gift of God, that's what he's been preaching all through the Book of Romans. Now, Paul decides to talk about what's impossible for man. He says, "Do not say in your heart, "Go up the heavens, go up to the heavens and get it."" Or, "Go down to the depths," these are impossible things, it's the language of impossibility. Now he's reaching for Deuteronomy 30, in which Moses was talking about the law, and there in the law, in Deuteronomy 30, it says this, verse 11 and following, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It's not up in the heavens, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascended into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us, so we may obey it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?' No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it." Now, Moses was saying, "You Jews didn't have to go up to heaven, scaling heavenly Olympus to get the 10 Commandments, to get the law, God has come down to where you are and has given you the law. You didn't have to go any great distance, God brought it right to you." But notice what Paul is doing here; he takes this Deuteronomy verse and he applies it to Christ. You see, the law came down and was right there, but it was in their face, it wasn't in their heart, it hadn't transformed them, it couldn't save them, it gave them no life. So actually, though the written code was near them, it wasn't in them. But Paul is talking about a word from God, that is Christ, the Living Word, who is more than just near you, he is in you. And so he takes it and mixes in Christ into the Deuteronomy quote. "The righteousness that is by faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" That is, to bring Christ down. Or, "Who will descend into deep?" That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.'" You see how he mixes in the Gospel with the law. These were impossible things, but what is impossible for us has actually been achieved by Jesus. Christ has done it. Christ has given us a perfect achievement. Now listen, if you wanted to try to persuade Jesus to come to the earth, first of all, you couldn't get where he lives. He says, "I live in a high and holy place, a high and lofty place." You can't get there. Man tried by building a tower of Babel to scale to the heavens, couldn't make it. You can't get there, and if he were not inclined to come to the earth, you could not have persuaded him to do it. He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. You couldn't have done it. Two Central Doctrines: Incarnation and Resurrection It was impossible for you, but what was impossible for you, Christ has done. He has come down from Heaven to Earth, that's the doctrine of the incarnation. In the fullness of time. He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, he came down from Heaven to Earth. He says this again and again, "I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me, and this is the will of whom he sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day." That's why Jesus came down, he came down. And the second doctrine that is to bring Christ up from the dead is the resurrection. We could not have made Christ be incarnate and we could not have made him rise from the dead. What is impossible for us, however, Christ has achieved. By the way, these are the very two doctrines that Paul says are essential to your salvation, that if we confess with our mouths Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. When you confess with your mouth Jesus that is Jesus of Nazareth, the human being, he's actually Lord, he is God, you're confessing the incarnation. That Jesus is God will talk more about this next time I preach on Romans. It's the doctrine of the incarnation, you must believe it that Jesus is God, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. These are the two doctrines, that he gives to us. And therefore Christian salvation, is essentially simple. IV. The Simplicity of Salvation Look what he says in verse 8 and 9. He says you don't have to ascend into the heavens, you don't have to go down to the depths. "What does it say? 'The word is near you. It's in your mouth and in your heart,' that is the word of faith that we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." The simplicity of salvation. Now listen our salvation was immensely difficult for Jesus. Immensely costly to him. Don't ever say that salvation was free. It's free for you but for him it was costly. But he's paid that price so that we wouldn't have to. Our salvation cost him everything he had. He stood day after day under the full weight of the devil's temptations. And under the full weight of the Law of Moses and bore it all perfectly never sinned, and even more on the cross, when he was nailed to the cross and He shed His blood, He bore our sins in His body on the tree, so salvation was immensely difficult for Christ. But for us, it is simple. We're not on a scavenger hunt of righteousness where you have to go day after day and seek your own justification day after day, seeking to do something that will be righteous enough for you to go to heaven. You don't have to do that, you don't have to go on a pilgrimage kneeling up the stairs of Pilate muttering a prayer every step. You don't have to do what they're doing in Lhasa. So, taking months and months to travel, inches at a time to some shrine. You don't have to go to some filthy river in India and bathe in it, so that you can be cleansed and reduce your karma or whatever it is they believe. No single righteous work or deed or action is justifiable in God's sight, it is not our righteousness. Now, many good works flow from saving faith. We'll talk about that, God willing, next time. And so there's a whole righteous life that flows but none of those justify us. We stand in Christ's achievement and therefore for us justification is simple. You believe in Christ and that's all. Paul is stressing here, therefore the incredible simplicity of salvation, just as Jesus did. There's a day in Matthew 18, it's recorded a day when the disciples came to him and they were arguing about which was the greatest in the kingdom. I'm always amazed at what the disciples had done to think they were even in the running. Do you ever wonder that? I mean they're arguing about which of them was the greatest. They were just fishermen and tax collectors and other things, they were just ordinary people. But after a couple of years with Jesus, they started thinking very highly of themselves. And so they're having an argument about which was the greatest. And Jesus, it says, calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly I say to you, [unless you are converted] unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." That's incredible, the astounding range of the Gospel. We just got done with what I would think is one of the hardest chapters in the entire Bible to understand, Romans 9. The depths of it is so amazing that Paul himself says in Romans 11, "O the depth of the riches, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor," the deep things of God, and they are deep. But here, we have the simplicity of God. That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved. It's a simple Gospel that we preach with incomprehensible depths behind it. It is so simple a child could understand it, frankly, it's so simple Jesus said that unless you become like a child, you'll never accept it. It is that simple. The Word is near you, that's what he says. God is bringing salvation right to you. Right to where you live, right to your heart, right to your mouth. He's come down from Heaven to do it. That's what he is doing. Right to where you live, right to this room today, he's bringing it right to you. You don't have to travel to him, he's seeking you and he's bringing the Word right to where you live. Now later in this chapter, he will advocate, why preachers need to go because they're going to fulfill that very thing. The preacher will go to bring the Word of God, right to where those folks live but he's bringing it right to where you live. Emmanuel, it means God with us. John's version of this is so beautiful. John 1:1, it says "In the beginning was... " What? "The Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Verse 14, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we beheld his glory, glory, the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus took on a human body and just brought the word salvation, right to us. God is proclaiming a word of faith to the human race and that Word is Jesus, that is the word he's saying, he is Hebrews 1, God's final Word to the human race, it is Jesus Christ, the word of faith that we are proclaiming. V. Why God Made Salvation Simple Now, why did God make salvation simple? Next time we're going to talk God willing, about these great verses, verses 9-10, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." There's a lot in there friends, and God willing when I get back from vacation, we'll talk some more about it. It's going to be an incredible time. Saving faith is deep and these verses are deep, we're going to talk more about it. But there's an essential simplicity here. And I want to ask a question, why did God make it so simple? I think there are two reasons I want to consider with you. First to destroy all human pride. Suppose God had given you that scavenger hunt of righteousness. God Made Salvation Simple to Destroy Human Pride Suppose you had gone to the ends of the earth for righteousness. And suppose you'd achieved it. Do you know what you'd spend eternity doing? Boasting in your achievement or comparing stories. "How did you get that block of ice from the North Pole to the South Pole?" "Well, this is what I did, wasn't I clever?" "How did you get that vile of Nile River water down to the aborigine in the Outback?" And we'd be boasting at each other. God doesn't want it, he doesn't want it. And so to cut the root out of all human boasting, to destroy pride in knowing deep thoughts. To destroy pride in achieving great achievements. Instead, he made a salvation like this in which he does all the impossible things and we do the simple thing. We just believe in Him, and we just trust in Him. The message of the cross destroys all boasting, it says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." And again, it says in 1 Corinthians 1:29-31, "So that no one may boast before Him, therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." God Made Salvation Simple to Save All Kinds of Sinners The second reason he made salvation simple is to save all kinds of sinners. To save all kinds of sinners. Friends, most of the people in the world are simple people. Most of the people in the world are basic thinkers. Simple people. God knows that they're not going to spend lots and lots of hours doing the deepest theological pondering. They will live simply, they will eat simply they will love simply, they will work simply and they will die simply and they'll be buried simply and within three generations, no one will know where they are buried or what that marker is except God. And so God wanted to save simple people. As a matter of fact, God delights in saving simple people. And so it says in 1 Corinthians 1, the fuller passage, it says, "Brothers think of what you were when you were called not many of you were wise, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong, he chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus." Ponder that. "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us, wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore as it is written, 'Let him who boast, boast in the Lord.'" Having chosen many simple, humble, folk to be his own, he crafted a saving message they could understand just as they are and then published it abroad to the ends of the earth, that's what he's doing. VI. Application Now, application for us. First of all, friends, your quest for self-righteousness ends here, drop it. God doesn't honor it, it's not possible. It seems possible but it isn't, so drop it, rather simply humbly come to the cross of Jesus Christ, simply humbly say that is my righteousness. His death atoned for all of my transgressions, his righteous life has become my righteousness simply by faith. Don't despise the simplicity of the Gospel. It's right here, in two verses, don't despise it. He's made it so simple a child can understand it. Don't despise that. And along with that may I urge you, preach the Gospel to children, share the gospel with your own young children, and if you're grown share them with somebody else's young children. Little children, you don't have to work to get them to be like little children, older people, you have to work on them. Like Jesus' disciples. He said, "Unless you turn and convert and become like little children," the little children are already there. They're teachable, they're leadable, they're ready to believe. Share the gospel with children. Conversely, don't despise the complexity of Christianity because this very same one who gave us a simple Gospel gave us a deep Gospel and you'll be the rest of your life pondering it's depths. Ponder away, but realize you are saved the moment you believe this simple message that Jesus died for me. Close with me in prayer.