Podcasts about so jonathan

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 31 Psalm 31 (Listen) Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 31   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;    let me never be put to shame;    in your righteousness deliver me!2   Incline your ear to me;    rescue me speedily!  Be a rock of refuge for me,    a strong fortress to save me! 3   For you are my rock and my fortress;    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;4   you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,    for you are my refuge.5   Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. 6   I hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,    but I trust in the LORD.7   I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,    because you have seen my affliction;    you have known the distress of my soul,8   and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;    you have set my feet in a broad place. 9   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;    my eye is wasted from grief;    my soul and my body also.10   For my life is spent with sorrow,    and my years with sighing;  my strength fails because of my iniquity,    and my bones waste away. 11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,    especially to my neighbors,  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;    those who see me in the street flee from me.12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;    I have become like a broken vessel.13   For I hear the whispering of many—    terror on every side!—  as they scheme together against me,    as they plot to take my life. 14   But I trust in you, O LORD;    I say, “You are my God.”15   My times are in your hand;    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16   Make your face shine on your servant;    save me in your steadfast love!17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,    for I call upon you;  let the wicked be put to shame;    let them go silently to Sheol.18   Let the lying lips be mute,    which speak insolently against the righteous    in pride and contempt. 19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,    which you have stored up for those who fear you  and worked for those who take refuge in you,    in the sight of the children of mankind!20   In the cover of your presence you hide them    from the plots of men;  you store them in your shelter    from the strife of tongues. 21   Blessed be the LORD,    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me    when I was in a besieged city.22   I had said in my alarm,2    “I am cut off from your sight.”  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy    when I cried to you for help. 23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!    The LORD preserves the faithful    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the LORD! Footnotes [1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate [2] 31:22 Or in my haste (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 1 Samuel 20 1 Samuel 20 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.' But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.' 7 If he says, ‘Good!' it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,' then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Daniel 3 Daniel 3 (Listen) Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits1 and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. The Fiery Furnace 8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared2 to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.3 But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,5 their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside6 the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Footnotes [1] 3:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:9 Aramaic answered and said; also verses 24, 26 [3] 3:15 Aramaic lacks well and good [4] 3:17 Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king [5] 3:21 The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27 [6] 3:28 Aramaic and changed (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Luke 2:1–21 Luke 2:1–21 (Listen) The Birth of Jesus Christ 2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when1 Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,2 who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.3 The Shepherds and the Angels 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14   “Glory to God in the highest,    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”4 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Footnotes [1] 2:2 Or This was the registration before [2] 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married [3] 2:7 Or guest room [4] 2:14 Some manuscripts peace, good will among men (ESV)

With family: 1 Samuel 20; 1 Corinthians 2 1 Samuel 20 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.' But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.' 7 If he says, ‘Good!' it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,' then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV) 1 Corinthians 2 (Listen) Proclaiming Christ Crucified 2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 did not come proclaiming to you the testimony2 of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men3 but in the power of God. Wisdom from the Spirit 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,   “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,    nor the heart of man imagined,  what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.4 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Footnotes [1] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters [2] 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret) [3] 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women [4] 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual (ESV) In private: Psalm 36; Lamentations 5 Psalm 36 (Listen) How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD. 36   Transgression speaks to the wicked    deep in his heart;1  there is no fear of God    before his eyes.2   For he flatters himself in his own eyes    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.3   The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.4   He plots trouble while on his bed;    he sets himself in a way that is not good;    he does not reject evil. 5   Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,    your faithfulness to the clouds.6   Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;    your judgments are like the great deep;    man and beast you save, O LORD. 7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God!    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.8   They feast on the abundance of your house,    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.9   For with you is the fountain of life;    in your light do we see light. 10   Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,    and your righteousness to the upright of heart!11   Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.12   There the evildoers lie fallen;    they are thrust down, unable to rise. Footnotes [1] 36:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Jerome (compare Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart (ESV) Lamentations 5 (Listen) Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord 5   Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;    look, and see our disgrace!2   Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,    our homes to foreigners.3   We have become orphans, fatherless;    our mothers are like widows.4   We must pay for the water we drink;    the wood we get must be bought.5   Our pursuers are at our necks;    we are weary; we are given no rest.6   We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,    to get bread enough.7   Our fathers sinned, and are no more;    and we bear their iniquities.8   Slaves rule over us;    there is none to deliver us from their hand.9   We get our bread at the peril of our lives,    because of the sword in the wilderness.10   Our skin is hot as an oven    with the burning heat of famine.11   Women are raped in Zion,    young women in the towns of Judah.12   Princes are hung up by their hands;    no respect is shown to the elders.13   Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,    and boys stagger under loads of wood.14   The old men have left the city gate,    the young men their music.15   The joy of our hearts has ceased;    our dancing has been turned to mourning.16   The crown has fallen from our head;    woe to us, for we have sinned!17   For this our heart has become sick,    for these things our eyes have grown dim,18   for Mount Zion which lies desolate;    jackals prowl over it.19   But you, O LORD, reign forever;    your throne endures to all generations.20   Why do you forget us forever,    why do you forsake us for so many days?21   Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!    Renew our days as of old—22   unless you have utterly rejected us,    and you remain exceedingly angry with us. (ESV)

Great Bible Truths Episode 142 Lessons from their lives Talk 8: Jonathan - When God's people feel outnumbered and powerless   Welcome to talk 8 in our series Lessons from their lives. Today our subject is Jonathan. We'll begin by reading a selection of verses from 1 Samuel 13 and 14.   1 Samuel 13:5-7 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.   1 Samuel 13:19-22 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, ‘Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!' So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.   1 Samuel 13:23-14:16, 20-23 13:23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.  14:1. One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armour-bearer, ‘Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.' But he did not tell his father. …No-one was aware that Jonathan had left. On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff… Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, ‘Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.' ‘Do all that you have in mind,' his armour-bearer said. ‘Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.' Jonathan said, ‘Come on, then; we will cross over towards them and let them see us. If they say to us, “Wait there until we come to you,” we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, “Come up to us,” we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.' So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. ‘Look!' said the Philistines. ‘The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.' The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armour-bearer, ‘Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson.' So Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, ‘Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.' Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armour-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armour-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armour-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. Then panic struck the whole army – those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties – and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. Saul's lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions.   Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. So on that day the Lord saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.   Today we'll consider: A parallel with the situation today Five types of God's people The example of Jonathan   A parallel with the situation today God's people outnumbered The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.   God's people deprived of their weapons 1 Samuel 13:19-22 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, ‘Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!' So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. Our sword today is the word of God (Ephesians 6) The enemy has always tried to deprive God's people of access to it, by attempting to: Destroy it Discredit it Distract us from reading it.   Five types of God's people 1: Those who have gone into hiding When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.   2: Those who have gone over to the enemy 14:21. Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.   3: Those who were loyal, but afraid 13:7. …Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.   4: Those who were loyal and unafraid 14:7. ‘Do all that you have in mind,' his armour-bearer said. ‘Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.'   5: Those who were doing something for God Jonathan himself. Please note 6 things we can learn from his example.   The example of Jonathan He did not depend on the power or help of others. His sword was enough. Both Saul and Jonathan had swords, but only Jonathan had the courage to use it. If you have a sword, you have a responsibility to use it!   He recognised the true nature of the enemy The enemy was uncircumcised - was not in covenant relationship with God Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, ‘Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.'   He had faith in God's power to use him Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, ‘Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.'   He was willing to submit his plans to God's will Jonathan said, ‘Come on, then; we will cross over towards them and let them see us. If they say to us, “Wait there until we come to you,” we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, “Come up to us,” we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.'   He trusted God's leading implicitly Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armour-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armour-bearer followed and killed behind him. While he was doing so he would have had a limited access to his sword. He was trusting God to protect him.   He received supernatural help from God Then panic struck the whole army – those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties – and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

Proper 10 First Psalm: Psalm 37:1–18 Psalm 37:1–18 (Listen) He Will Not Forsake His Saints 1 Of David. 37   Fret not yourself because of evildoers;    be not envious of wrongdoers!2   For they will soon fade like the grass    and wither like the green herb. 3   Trust in the LORD, and do good;    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.24   Delight yourself in the LORD,    and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5   Commit your way to the LORD;    trust in him, and he will act.6   He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,    and your justice as the noonday. 7   Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,    over the man who carries out evil devices! 8   Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.9   For the evildoers shall be cut off,    but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. 10   In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.11   But the meek shall inherit the land    and delight themselves in abundant peace. 12   The wicked plots against the righteous    and gnashes his teeth at him,13   but the Lord laughs at the wicked,    for he sees that his day is coming. 14   The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows    to bring down the poor and needy,    to slay those whose way is upright;15   their sword shall enter their own heart,    and their bows shall be broken. 16   Better is the little that the righteous has    than the abundance of many wicked.17   For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,    but the LORD upholds the righteous. 18   The LORD knows the days of the blameless,    and their heritage will remain forever; Footnotes [1] 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet [2] 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 37:19–40 Psalm 37:19–40 (Listen) 19   they are not put to shame in evil times;    in the days of famine they have abundance. 20   But the wicked will perish;    the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;    they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21   The wicked borrows but does not pay back,    but the righteous is generous and gives;22   for those blessed by the LORD1 shall inherit the land,    but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23   The steps of a man are established by the LORD,    when he delights in his way;24   though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,    for the LORD upholds his hand. 25   I have been young, and now am old,    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken    or his children begging for bread.26   He is ever lending generously,    and his children become a blessing. 27   Turn away from evil and do good;    so shall you dwell forever.28   For the LORD loves justice;    he will not forsake his saints.  They are preserved forever,    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.29   The righteous shall inherit the land    and dwell upon it forever. 30   The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,    and his tongue speaks justice.31   The law of his God is in his heart;    his steps do not slip. 32   The wicked watches for the righteous    and seeks to put him to death.33   The LORD will not abandon him to his power    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. 34   Wait for the LORD and keep his way,    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;    you will look on when the wicked are cut off. 35   I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,    spreading himself like a green laurel tree.236   But he passed away,3 and behold, he was no more;    though I sought him, he could not be found. 37   Mark the blameless and behold the upright,    for there is a future for the man of peace.38   But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;    the future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39   The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.40   The LORD helps them and delivers them;    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,    because they take refuge in him. Footnotes [1] 37:22 Hebrew by him [2] 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain [3] 37:36 Or But one passed by (ESV) Old Testament: 1 Samuel 20:24–42 1 Samuel 20:24–42 (Listen) 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,1 and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap2 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.3 Footnotes [1] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [2] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [3] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV) New Testament: Acts 13:1–12 Acts 13:1–12 (Listen) Barnabas and Saul Sent Off 13 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,1 Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Footnotes [1] 13:1 Niger is a Latin word meaning black, or dark (ESV) Gospel: Mark 2:23–3:6 Mark 2:23–3:6 (Listen) Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of1 Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” A Man with a Withered Hand 3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus,2 to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Footnotes [1] 2:26 Or in the passage about [2] 3:2 Greek him (ESV)

Readings for Thursday, July 15, 2021 “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” -- Mark 2:27-28 Morning Psalm 97 1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side. 4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory. 7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him. 8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God. 9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name! Psalm 147:12-20 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. 14 He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat. 15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. 17 He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord ! Midday 1 Samuel 20:24-42 24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25 The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul's side; but David's place was empty. 26 Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, “Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; 29 he said, ‘Let me go; for our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, let me get away, and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan. He said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. 34 Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy. 36 He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not linger.” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'” He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city. Acts 13:1-12 13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. Mark 2:23-3:6 23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” 3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Evening Psalm 16 1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. 4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. 10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. 11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 62 1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken. 3 How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. 5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. 9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work. You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

Readings for Tuesday, July 13, 2021 “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.” -- Psalm 102:17 Morning Psalm 42 1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?” 10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. Psalm 146 1 Praise the Lord ! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord ! Midday 1 Samuel 19:1-24 19 Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul's son Jonathan took great delight in David. 2 Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; 5 for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?” 6 Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. 8 Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. 9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. 10 Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent messengers to David's house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David's wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed; she put a net of goats' hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. 14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats' hair on its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?'” 18 Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. 19 Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. 21 When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu; he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Acts 12:1-17 12 About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. 2 He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. 3 After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him. 6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel's help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” 12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. 13 When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. 14 On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” 16 Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, “Tell this to James and to the believers.” Then he left and went to another place. Mark 2:1-12 2 When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk'? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” 12 And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Evening Psalm 102 1 Hear my prayer, O Lord ; let my cry come to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call. 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin. 6 I am like an owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. 8 All day long my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. 9 For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink, 10 because of your indignation and anger; for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. 11 My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations. 13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come. 14 For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust. 15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory. 16 For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer. 18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord : 19 that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die; 21 so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem, 22 when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord . 23 He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days. 24 “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.” 25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away; 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end. 28 The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence. Psalm 133 1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore. You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 20–21 1 Samuel 20–21 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 David and the Holy Bread 21 8 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. 8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” David Flees to Gath 10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,   ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew [8] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:65–72 Psalm 119:65–72 (Listen) Teth 65   You have dealt well with your servant,    O LORD, according to your word.66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,    for I believe in your commandments.67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,    but now I keep your word.68   You are good and do good;    teach me your statutes.69   The insolent smear me with lies,    but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,    but I delight in your law.71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,    that I might learn your statutes.72   The law of your mouth is better to me    than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (ESV) New Testament: Galatians 1–2 Galatians 1–2 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—2 and all the brothers1 who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. No Other Gospel 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant2 of Christ. Paul Called by God 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.3 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,4 and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. Paul Accepted by the Apostles 2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Paul Opposes Peter 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.7 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Justified by Faith 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified8 by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness9 were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Footnotes [1] 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 11 [2] 1:10 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [3] 1:11 Greek not according to man [4] 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother’s womb [5] 1:16 Greek in [6] 1:16 Greek with flesh and blood [7] 2:12 Or fearing those of the circumcision [8] 2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17 [9] 2:21 Or justification (ESV)

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 20–21 1 Samuel 20–21 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 David and the Holy Bread 21 8 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. 8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” David Flees to Gath 10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,   ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew [8] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew (ESV) New Testament: Acts 9:32–43 Acts 9:32–43 (Listen) The Healing of Aeneas 32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Dorcas Restored to Life 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.1 She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics2 and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. Footnotes [1] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle [2] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:65–72 Psalm 119:65–72 (Listen) Teth 65   You have dealt well with your servant,    O LORD, according to your word.66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,    for I believe in your commandments.67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,    but now I keep your word.68   You are good and do good;    teach me your statutes.69   The insolent smear me with lies,    but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,    but I delight in your law.71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,    that I might learn your statutes.72   The law of your mouth is better to me    than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 16:4–5 Proverbs 16:4–5 (Listen) 4   The LORD has made everything for its purpose,    even the wicked for the day of trouble.5   Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;    be assured, he will not go unpunished. (ESV)

Morning: 1 Samuel 19–21 1 Samuel 19–21 (Listen) Saul Tries to Kill David 19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. 8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an image1 and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’” 18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!2 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off3 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May4 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.5 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,6 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap7 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.8 David and the Holy Bread 21 9 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. 8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” David Flees to Gath 10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,   ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Footnotes [1] 19:13 Or a household god [2] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [3] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [4] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [5] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [6] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [7] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [8] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew [9] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew (ESV) Evening: Luke 15:11–32 Luke 15:11–32 (Listen) The Parable of the Prodigal Son 11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to1 one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’2 22 But the father said to his servants,3 ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” Footnotes [1] 15:15 Greek joined himself to [2] 15:21 Some manuscripts add treat me as one of your hired servants [3] 15:22 Or bondservants (ESV)

Download I Samuel 17-20 We are in the Nation Stream today as we experience that classic story of David & Goliath. We are reading from the World English Bible. 7streamsmethod.com | #7Streams | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Lord, thank you for David's example here.  We can shine with you and walk with you no matter who is against us, or how fierce the attitude is against us or how bleak the odds seem against us.  You will always give us the human and spiritual comfort that we need.  Amen. David and Goliath - the battle seems to be a preview or a "trailer" of world history.  We've heard of this reference in so many contests.  Well the original story comes from here; I Samuel 17.  It is intriguing that historians of all stripes and creeds will confess that monotheism hung upon the outcome of this battle. Theologically, God is bigger than our perspectives, but for that assessment [the fate of montheism] to be attached to this David/Goliath showdown is impressive.  David's courage and confidence and skill; to be assured that he could drop this behemoth pagan goon in a single pop testifies to the fact that David was in touch with more than his dismissive brothers were aware of.  Saul tried to dress David in Saul's armor so that any victory would be associated with Saul.  David doesn't need it.  If David can take on a several hundred pound lion and a several hundred pound bear, then he can take on a several hundred pound man who lacks claws and teeth. Pastor Chuck Swindoll once called Goliath a "cross-eyed discus thrower" - he didn't have much talent or break many records, but he sure kept the spectators awake!   We know the story of the five smooth stones. Goliath did have four other brothers so if the Philistines wanted to break contract and charge them in, David was ready to drop them too. Analyze this fascinating story from any angle and the discussion of it remains endless 18 - Saul's character and paranoia are only further revealed in this string of stories. He treats David as an enemy AND has to hide that fact that he loathes him, is jealous, and scared of David.  David becomes all the more entwined in the Kingdom as Jonathan [Saul's son] and David become "friends for life". The chanting about David's prowess is making Saul crazy.  Still, Saul wants him close (like Mafia thinking that is determined to keep enemies close-by). He throws spears at him after using music to make David vulnerable  He mocks David in offering his daughter then revoking the deal. He sends David on a fool's mission to kill Philistines ... time and again Saul shows his vapid character and David shows his faithfulness. 19 - things only get worse for Saul as it turns out his own home is committed to David over Saul.  Jonathan is caught in a duplicitous position in his sonship to the king and his friendship to the future king who is hated by the present king; his father.  Jonathan becomes vital informant to David and is strangely yet secretly protected by Jonathan. Michal, Saul's daughter is Davids' wife and she is eventually protecting David against the king; her father.  Saul might do well to read into the obvious but the LORD had left him and he is too crazed to see reality anymore.  In his effort to apprehend David, the LORD God of Israel intercepts again and "slays" all Saul's messengers through using them to prophecy.  It's certainly an odd scene.  It seems to only prove the mangled hilarity of trying to fight God or anyone who is indeed on God's side. 20 - Then there's the dinner, and David's failure to appear for saying he was going to meet his family in Bethlehem, [remember I Sam. 18:2; Saul had forbidden this]. Jonathan's attempting to cover for David threw Saul into a manic rage and now he is throwing spears at Jonathan; his own son!  The scene with Jonathan and David meeting, the part of the little boy present as a decoy and informant during the "arrows routine" - of which the young boy is oblivious - all this is nothing short of clever.  It shows more of the same mind of David that would win him numerous other battles and verify why Jonathan and he are such dear friends.  This would seem to be the benediction put upon their friendship as Jonathan is now starkly aware of his father's hatred of David. Jonathan was a true hearted fellow and in his right mind, but he wasn't going to trigger an open rebellion against his own father; the King.  So Jonathan and David part company and it is a sad day for the both of them.  Their final encounter is in ch. 23, but this one here in ch. 20 feels like they are both bracing themselves emotionally to part company. The friendship between them had become so costly.  And this made it all the more dear.

1 Samuel 18–20 1 Samuel 18–20 (Listen) David and Jonathan’s Friendship 18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. Saul’s Jealousy of David 6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.1 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,   “Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands.” 8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on. 10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 11 And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. 15 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. David Marries Michal 17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18 And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. 20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,2 “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23 And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 24 And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” 25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. 28 But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, 29 Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually. 30 Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed. Saul Tries to Kill David 19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. 8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an image3 and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’” 18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!4 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off5 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May6 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.7 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,8 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap9 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.10 Footnotes [1] 18:6 Or triangles, or three-stringed instruments [2] 18:21 Hebrew by two [3] 19:13 Or a household god [4] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [5] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [6] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [7] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [8] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [9] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [10] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV)

1 Samuel 18–20 1 Samuel 18–20 (Listen) David and Jonathan’s Friendship 18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. Saul’s Jealousy of David 6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.1 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,   “Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands.” 8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on. 10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 11 And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. 15 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. David Marries Michal 17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18 And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. 20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,2 “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23 And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 24 And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” 25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. 28 But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, 29 Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually. 30 Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed. Saul Tries to Kill David 19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. 8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an image3 and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’” 18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!4 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off5 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May6 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.7 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,8 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap9 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.10 Footnotes [1] 18:6 Or triangles, or three-stringed instruments [2] 18:21 Hebrew by two [3] 19:13 Or a household god [4] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [5] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [6] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [7] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [8] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [9] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [10] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV)

Choosing our friends is something that mostly we don't think too much about. But it's something we ought to give quite some thought to. Because some people are going to be good friends … and others can tear us apart. So – how do you choose your friends?   Choosing a Friend Hey, it's great to be with you again this week on the programme as we are continuing our look at good and godly friendships in a series that I have called, “A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed”. And today we are going to take a look at the fact that, as things turn out, we actually do get to pick our friends. Now it's always fascinated me how people choose a marriage partner. What is it that clicks there? What is it that kind of gets that chemistry going? I was watching a TV special a few months back where a whole bunch of research has been done on exactly that. It was fascinating really, but despite all the research, they still didn't quite nail it. There is something incredible and special about how two people kind of choose one another to become life-long soul mates. It's one of God's great mysteries, don't you think? At the moment I locked my eyes onto the woman who is now my wife, Jacqui, there was no one else for me – not sure how it works but I'm really glad it does. But have you ever thought about how people choose their friends? I remember doing a series on air a few years back about relatives. It was called, "You Can Pick Your Friends but You Can't Pick Your Relatives". Boy, did that one get a great response! So this idea of picking friends, how does it happen? Because my hunch is that there are some people who, frankly, we wouldn't want as friends. There are some people who I know – I can picture their faces right now – who I have to tell you, would make terrible friends and so they don't become friends; I don't let them into that circle, because if I did, that relationship would damage me. I'm sure you can think of a few people in your life who are just like that. Now, in my own personal devotion time over the past few weeks I have been spending some time in the Old Testament Book of First Samuel. And I have to tell you, it is one of my favourite Books because you discover so much about whom God is and how He operates and how He thinks and how He reacts to things. Part of the story is that Israel demands a king. Up to this point their system of government has been a theocracy, with God as the Head of State. But they weaken and demand a king, just like all the other Nations around them as though, somehow, coming down to their level would be a good thing. So God gives them a king, King Saul, having warned the people that it wouldn't work out brilliantly in the end, but they still demanded the king. So they got what they deserved and surprise, surprise, surprise, things don't go well, to the point where ultimately, where God takes His hand and His anointing off Saul and He anoints this young shepherd, David, to be the next king, even while Saul is still on the throne. The problem is, with God's anointing on him, David becomes a strong and powerful and popular figure. And meanwhile, Saul is still the king and he becomes incredibly jealous of young David, so Saul, not once, but several times, sets out to kill David. Isn't that how it often happens? I have seen it several times in ministry – I have seen a man who has been anointed by God for a role but at some point it becomes obvious to everyone and sundry, that God has taken the anointing away. And at that point – I am thinking of one man in particular now – this man lashes out and tries to destroy the people around him that still have God's anointing on their lives. And so, David is in Saul's sights and in those days the king had the power of life and death over people – plain and simple. If the king decided you were going to die then, guess what, you were going to die. Let's have a listen. First Samuel, in the Old Testament, chapter 18, beginning at verse 10: The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was still playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he thought,”I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. David had success in all his undertakings; for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all of Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them. So, King Saul is still king in name only, but the anointing of God – God's power, God's favour to be king – has quite clearly passed from Saul to this young kid David. And Saul just wants to kill him. Well obviously, he doesn't because David goes on to become perhaps, the greatest king that Israel ever had. So who or what does God use to stop Saul from killing young David? Let's look at First Samuel chapter 19, beginning at verse 1: Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul's son Jonathan took great delight in David. Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on your guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you, if I learn anything I will tell you. Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; for he took his life into his hands when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all of Israel. You saw it and you rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent man by killing David without cause?” Saul heeded the voice of his son Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David before Saul and he was again in Saul's presence as previously.” See, it turns out that Saul's son – the very man who, according to human logic, would be next in line for the throne – Saul's son Jonathan, decides to save David's life. The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Why would he do that? Because as we read, “... Jonathan took great delight in David” in first Samuel chapter 9, verse 1. Something inside Jonathan kind of clicked – he could see what everyone else could see – he could see that the mighty hand of God was on David; he could see the power of God on David; the favour of God on David; he could see the humility and power; the goodness of this man David, who had been anointed to become the next king and so he chose to become David's friend. He stands up to his all-powerful father, King Saul and he defends David, as some risk to his own position, you would have to say; even to his own life. Remember Saul could have him struck down and killed – such was the power of the king. It seems the way Jonathan chose David as his friend was to see the goodness of God in him. Now, not all the people who would be our friends are perfect, are they? But a fantastic first criterion for choosing a friend: Is this a good person? Is this a godly person? Is this the sort of person that God would choose? Well, as it turns out, David was exactly the sort of person that God would choose. He had already chosen him to be king. And not according to the world's criteria of looks and outward success and presentation and physical strength and so on … How did God choose David? Well, here is what God said to the Prophet Samuel when he was sent to choose a king from amongst Jesse's sons who were David brothers. First Samuel chapter 16, verse 7: The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected this one; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. And can I suggest to you that when you and I are looking for good friends; friends who will stand up for us; friends who will be faithful; friends whom we can trust – we would do well to choose them as God does – to choose someone after our own heart; to look not on outward success; not on how good looking they are or how wealthy they are but on the character of the man or the woman who would be our friend. Imagine the choices we would make then … I mean, just imagine!   Honouring a Friend I always look forward you know, to the weekends. I guess it's a time for a bit of a rest for most of us; time to catch up perhaps, with some friends. And as much as I love doing what I do during the week – I really enjoy working hard in all that I do – I also look forward to the weekends because it's a time for catching up. Saturday mornings often, my wife Jacqui and I will head down to our favourite little cafe and just spend some time together, catching up, talking, reading the newspaper and then perhaps over dinner or Sunday lunch we will catch up with some friends. Friends are special people and that is why we have been talking about friendship over these past few weeks. Earlier we met young David before he became King of Israel, through God's account of his life in the Old Testament Book of First Samuel. And we saw how it was that a young man by the name of Jonathan chose David to be his friend – now that's okay, until you realise that Jonathan was King Saul's son. David was likely to take the throne away from Saul, so Saul was trying to kill him. And if you do that then Jonathan would likely succeed his father on the throne of Israel. Yet despite this, Jonathan befriends David; stands up for him and saves him, as we saw, from being killed by Saul. What we discovered was the reason Jonathan took this extraordinary step is that he was impacted by the godliness and the goodness of David. He saw into David's heart and was impacted by that – he chose David as a friend, the same way that God chose David as a friend. Not by assessing the outward appearances but by looking on his character and his heart. Now, as I have observed a few times during the course of this series, a friend in need is a friend indeed. In fact, that's the title of this series of messages. And David was definitely in need because each time God through Jonathan, saved him from being killed by Saul, Saul would again be attacked by an evil spirit and would again come after David. Remember he planned to kill David, so if ever David needed a friend it was now. And that friend was Jonathan, a man who, as we are about to see, was willing to put his very life on the line for David even though David was, effectively, his rival for the throne. Let's have a listen to the powerful impact of Jonathan's friendship for David. First Samuel chapter 20, beginning at verse 1: David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life? He said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!” But David also swore, “Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.' But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.” Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” Well, David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. If your father misses me at the dinner, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.' If he says, ‘Good!' it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?” Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?” Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But if my father intends to do your harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose this to you, and send you away, so that you may be in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.” If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord seek out the enemies of David,” Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life. Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there. I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. Then I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go and find the arrows.' If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them,' then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go; for the Lord has sent you away. As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.” And without going on to read the rest of the story, that's preciously what happened. Now the reason I share this with you is, earlier we saw how Jonathan spoke up for David and therefore, saved his life. But here … here Jonathan is taking a huge next step – he is actually prepared to work covertly against his father to save David's life and he gives himself only a fifty/fifty chance of making it through alive. Look again at verses 14 and 15: If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. Jonathan has seen the goodness of David's heart – he can tell that God has anointed David to be king – you just can, when the hand of God is on someone's life, can't you? So instead of fighting God the way his father, Saul, was fighting God by trying to kill David; instead of trying to hang onto the throne for himself, Jonathan lays down his needs and his wants and his priorities and his rights and puts his life on the line for David. Now, unless he had done that, David would never have become king. Had Jonathan not done what Jonathan did, the whole history of Israel would have changed. Jonathan is a friend; a true friend; a friend indeed, because not only does he speak well of David to his father – let's face it, talk is cheap – he is prepared to put his life on the line for his friend; he is prepared to sacrifice in order to honour his friend. And that … that right there is a true friend – someone who not only speaks well of you but who honours you through sacrificing for you. Over a thousand years later, the Apostle Paul put it this way. Philippians chapter 2, verse 3: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility, regard others better than yourselves, that each of you look not to your own interests but the interests of others. If you and I are looking for a friend, this is the sort of person we are looking for. And if you and I are looking to be a friend, this is the sort of person we are looking to be. The story of Jonathan's friendship for David is something of a "back story" if you like, to the main plot of what's going on here. In a sense, it's not the main thing; the main thing is that God has anointed David to be king and eventually, he becomes king. But God uses Jonathon's friendship; true friendship to make it happen. God has plans for thee and me as well. And don't be surprised if more often than not, He will bring a good friend alongside through whom He will make it happen.   What Am I Up For?  I guess I have thought a lot about this story of Jonathan's friendship for David. Right there at the outset something touched Jonathan deeply about this young David, who would be king. In fact, as many would go on to argue in hindsight, possibly the greatest king that Israel ever had, other than the King of the Jews, who found Himself nailed to a cross. Yes, something just kind of clicked inside Jonathan when it came to David. First Samuel chapter 18, verse 1: When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as he loved his own soul. And so out of his heart decision to be David's friend, Jonathan went on, time and time again, to save David's life at great risk to himself. And as we will see over the next few weeks, that is ultimately something that cost him his life. And this whole idea of loving your friends to death, literally, is a "Jesus" thing. Have a listen to what the Apostle John wrote some decades on, after Jesus had died and rose again and ascended into heaven. First John chapter 3, verse 16. John writes: We know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. And so the thing I really think about and contemplate in my heart before the Lord is this: Berni, are you prepared to do that for your friends? Are you prepared to put yourself out? Are you prepared to put it all on the line for them? Interesting in this day and age we are often even too busy to do the basics for our friends, let alone to put our lives on the line! Have you noticed that? So and so at the church is sick, really should cook a meal and take it over there – but it doesn't happen because, "Well, I'm busy and I'm tired and stuff is happening …" You know how it is – it's often how it goes. We just couldn't be bothered. That's how much we trivialise our friendships. That's how self-absorbed and self-centred we have become, because that's the culture we are living in. I kind of never quite expected this, but as I have been spending time in God's Word just learning and re-learning what He has to say about friendships, can I tell you, it's been a serious wake-up call for me. God is giving me a good shake and saying, "Bernie, do you get it? Do you see what I'm on about here when it comes to friendship?" How about you? Is He giving you a good shake too? I hope so, because sometimes you and I need to be shaken out of our complacency. Sometimes the world squeezes us into its mould and tells us that that's just the way things are. It's the way things have to be – got a mortgage, got to earn money, got to do this, got to do that, this that and the other and all those things rob us of good and godly friendships. And our enemy the devil, is sitting there rubbing his hands because he knows if he can isolate us then we will be weak and vulnerable – we will be in a place where he can readily attack us. But God … God doesn't want us to be squeezed into the world's mould; He wants us to feast on the bread of life; to drink the living water of His Spirit of wisdom and truth that are His Word and be forever changed. Romans chapter 12, beginning at verse 2: Do not be conformed to this world, (do not let the world squeeze you into its mould) but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may be able to discern what is the will of God – what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God. And so my encouragement to you today is to be rocked to the core by the story of Jonathan's friendship to David; be rocked to the core about the truth of choosing good friends; be rocked to the core as God challenges you as He does me, through His mighty and powerful call to be a "Jesus" kind of friend. We know love by this; that Jesus laid his life down for us, and so we ought to lay our lives down for one another. Be rocked to the core. Can I encourage you? Grab the Bible, read this story of Jonathan for yourself. It is in First Samuel – it is an awesome story. It goes on for a few chapters, it doesn't take very long at all to read. The story of Jonathan has really impacted me, not to say, I need to be like Jonathan, but to challenge me about what sort of friendships I am prepared to have. To challenge me about how much I am prepared to sacrifice in order to be a friend and to challenge me about the sort of friends that I choose. God has anointed some people in your life to be your friends, as He has done with me and there are some people who come as wolves in sheep's clothing who appear to be good friends but are just going to tear us apart. Let me encourage you to take friendship seriously because none of us was made to operate as a stand-alone unit. None of us was made to be alone. God made us to live in godly relationships with the other people that He set around us. That's His plan!!

Emil: Hey everyone. Welcome back for another episode of The Remote Real Estate Investor on today's episode, Michael and I are talking to Jonathan Barr, who is a friend of ours is also a local resident of Los Angeles like me. And in today's episode, he shares his journey as originally starting out as an investor in the Los Angeles area. And then over time realizing that he could get better returns in out of state markets. And we just talked to him about his journey, how he did it, and he shares a lot of the details so let's get into this episode.   Emil: Jonathan, welcome to the show, man. We're excited to have you.   Jonathan: Thanks guys. Happy to be here.   Emil: You are. You are another person that Michael and I have met on Twitter. You and I have had a couple calls and some stoked to have you on the podcast, man, to talk about.   Jonathan: Both LA Guys so.   Emil: That's right. That's right. LA shout out another LA guy investing out of state.   Michael: The tres LA Amigos on this one.   Emil: Yeah. Cool, man. Um, so before we get into what I really want to talk to you about, which is your out of state investing, just give our listeners a little background on you, where you're from, what you do and we'll take it from there.   Jonathan: Cool. I'm Jonathan bar, my company's JB2 investments born and raised in LA. Hablo espanol. So come from like immigrant parent background. I love LA for all the diversity and the different kinds of neighborhoods and the endless things to do here, even though we can't really enjoy it right now, obviously, and LA is so damn expensive, so it's hard to invest here as well. Right? I grew up in a real estate family and my parents been doing flips and involve in real estate. And my mom was a real estate agent showing houses with her being my daycare was basically her office.   So I've basically been around it all my life, but I started mainly my journey in high school. I got my real estate license when I turned 18. Didn't really use it at the time, but I'd go to like my parents' office after school every day and kind of learn a few things here. And there went to college, graduated 2008 after the great recession, not the best time to get a job. And so I couldn't find a job. My mom's like, come work for us. I was pretty reluctant to go because I wanted to do my own thing. Be independent, all that kind of stuff, but they also got hit pretty hard through the relapse recession.   So I kind of felt like a duty to my family to come help out, come rebuild. Folk came back, became an agent for a little bit, was working with buyers. I'm pretty terrible at it. Just wasn't confident, didn't know a lot. And I just didn't really like it, right? It's not really that fun. That part of the business is not fun. At least not for me. Right. And people just have crazy expectations. And so then we started getting into the trustee sales of foreclosure auction. So luckily my parents, you know, have some education there and they luckily had some connections to investors have capital. So we were able to raise some capital and go to the auctions.   And so at the beginning I was involved in everything. Like I was looking at the properties running title, I'm going to courthouse steps. And we were also a lot of times it was like breaking into vacant houses to try to get a look at the inside just because it made a huge difference. I mean, if you can get in doors and see like, Oh actually the kitchen is pretty nice. Oh, the bathroom's pretty nice. Oh, I can actually see that the electrical is done or like looking at old permits. And a lot of the times, like one of those properties were going to sale. They were bought in like, ‘04/05 So it was old, like MLS listings. I could kind of like, look at descriptions and look at old pictures and that kind of thing.   Emil: I was going to ask you to share one of your, when you're a crazy auction stories, hoping you would, uh, mentioned that. And that that's definitely a crazy auction story. I mean, yeah. It gives you a leg up because a lot of times you're going in blind and you don't even know what you're bidding on. Right?   Jonathan: Yeah. And, I remember the first house I bid on. I actually bid myself up cause I was so nervous, you know? Cause like, you know, you have, cause you have like the actual money orders, like in a envelope ready to pay for these properties. And I was like 24 at the time, my first time ever doing this and I was like, Whoa, this is insane. You know? Cause how they do it, they like, they're like, okay Jonathan, your bid. But when they say Jonathan, your bid, that means you're the highest bidder by thought he said, Jonathan, you bid. I was like, Oh yeah, I'll bid.   Michael: It's your turn to bid.   Emil: Oh man. I can't imagine how like adrenaline inducing an auction must be, especially the first time, like you said.   Jonathan: Yeah. We were bidding on like 10 different houses. On one point it was definitely like a rush like every morning was like a big rush analyzing all these deals. And you know, we were at a point where buying three, four homes a week at one point it was insane. One year we did 82 homes. Pretty crazy.   Michael: So Jonathan paint this picture for me, you know, listeners, right? I'm picturing a guy on a podium talking about, you know, property one, two, three, $5, $5. I hit $5. Right. And everybody's out there in the crowd, you know, bidding. Is that actually what it's like?   Jonathan: Yeah. But it's basically in front of the courthouse steps, super casual. And at that time there was only like 20 people going to the auction. So it wasn't a lot of people. And like we were so super focused in a certain neighborhood. So like we were the only ones that bought and these couple neighborhoods. And when you bid on those properties, people kind of knew to kind of back off. Cause we going to be the most competitive investors. And we were also doing like higher end kind of like trendy designs that a lot of people at that time weren't quite doing yet. So we were able to push the values on the properties that we're buying by, you know, 10, 15%. So we're able to kind of bid 10, 15% more than anyone else. So that's what allowed us to kind of buy these properties over other people. Knowing our pockets and knowing all that.   Michael: Knowing your market. Yeah.   Jonathan: Yeah. It makes a big difference.   Emil: These auction were around LA, right?   Jonathan: Yeah. They were mainly in Northeast LA. So if you're familiar with LA, Silverlake, echo park, Highland park, kind of like the hipster havens up that way, I guess you could call it, you know.   Michael: Now some of the most trendy neighborhoods in LA.   Jonathan: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And you can't find too much under a million dollars in those neighborhoods now. When we're buying properties at like 250, 300, 350,000, it was like crazy. Like these are like Midwest prices, you know?   Michael: Wow.   Emil: And now the hottest part of LA. So that's a good segue into like your, your beginnings and how you picked up your first couple of investment properties that we were talking about.   Jonathan: Yeah. So I luckily during like the 2010, 2012 period was able to pick up a few duplexes in that area. And one of which I lived in and basically how SAC, cause I rented a room to a friend and, and rented the back house and I was kinda like, Holy crap, these people that I'm renting this house to in the back or paying my mortgage, this is insane. I need to continue to do more of this. And like, all I gotta do is like, they call me every few months to get fixed some minor thing. And I just got to pay a few bills and put it on auto pay and we're good. Right. So that was kind of my aha moment. We also like around that time started getting into some development. So we're doing like small outs, subdivision developments, entitlements, and doing like townhouse style construction because the REO is, and all that stuff was kind of drying up. So that was, don't really want to do that anymore. It was a learning experience. We have a lot of NIMBYs in LA and for your listeners that don't know what an NIMBY is, not in my backyard. So that's a big problem we have here. And that's part of the reason of getting out of California was just all the rules, regulations and problematic things like that. Right.   Michael: Makes sense. Yeah.   Emil: How did you find that that first duplex is that auction?   Jonathan Yeah. That's an interesting story actually. So my mom's first broker she ever had in LA when she was, I don't know, 22, 23, like barely speaking English at the time was this like older, like lady that had been doing real estate, like maybe 10, 15 years before she even started working for, and she was still doing real estate at the time. And she had this listing that she wasn't able to sell. And we looked at it as actually buying it as a flip, but it didn't quite make sense, but I was looking at it and I was like, you know what? I would live here. And then I saw at the time silver Lake was still kinda like getting better. So it wasn't quite there yet. So, and then I saw some girl walking with her dog. I was like, well, this lady is walking with her dog here. It must be all right.   You know, but the thing is, the back house was like on its side. So I had to build a whole new foundation, the front, like it was a total fixer and, and luckily the foundation guy was this Jewish guy and I have a Jewish background. My dad's from Israel. So we had like some connection way and he had a lot of funds as well. So he's like, how are you funding this? I was like, well, I'm going to try to do like a 203K loan with which, for your listeners is basically like a FHA loan where they give you money for construction as well. He's like, well, I'll lend you that money at that same rate. And I was like, what? Like amortized and everything. I went to my mom and I was like this like good.   Like, like, should I do this? And she's like, yes, that's amazing. Like do that. Cause I thought it was like, I was like, there's gotta be something shady about this. Why is this guy trying to throw money at you? Right. So I went through with it and I fix up the property. He gave me the money for the construction. I paid him and then I refinanced it a couple of years later. So it was like blessing.   Michael: That's awesome. Did the foundation issue, I mean, clearly it didn't scare you away, but what were you thinking going into it? I mean, that sounds like a pretty big lift.   Jonathan: I mean, I think with the connections that I had, it wasn't a scary for me. I think for someone that's just starting, like, you probably don't want to get into something like that. Cause it was definitely more expensive, definitely more problems. And it was a headache, but that's like my focus, right. I know for your guys' listeners, they're buying, you know, like turnkey houses out of state and that's a good way to go and something that's already done that you just kind of plug and play and just make sure you manage the manager. Well, right.   Michael: Yeah. Yeah.   Emil: You had a background in real estate. So you'd been doing this for a while before. You're like, all right, I'm going to take something on like that, that is going to need a lot of work. It wasn't like the first, your first run with real estate. And you're like, I'm just going to take this massive project on.   Jonathan: Yeah. Usually the more work you need to do, the better deal you're going to get. But the more headaches you have to deal with.   Emil: Yeah, absolutely.   Jonathan: Yeah. If you have the time and expertise to do it, it works. But if you don't, then it could be a headache that ruins the deal.   Michael: Brain damage.   Jonathan: Or you just don't know what to do. And it ends up being a terrible deal. Right. Because you can get in the best deal in the world, but then if you're over construction by 200,000 and it takes you a year longer than you thought it could turn into a pretty bad situation, right?   Michael: Yes it can. So speaking from experience something, right. I talk a lot about the podcasts this vast development project. I'm working on it. It's like so over budget. And so over timeline, part of the issue is I had two fires in the building during construction, which halted everything.   Jonathan: What?   Michael: Yeah. And the ironic part is I used to work as a professional fire protection engineer. So the fact that I had to in a building that I owed is like, not only statistically impossible, but like the most embarrassing thing ever. So just dealing with the insurance headache is, has just been total joint..   Jonathan: Did you have tenants or was it just like a random combustion?   Michael: I have four tenants. And so one was started in a tenant space. We, the fire department wasn't able to put their finger on like, Hey you did it because they're pretty like blahzay about it. Oh the fire started. We're not willing to say who did it. And then the second was I was having a new roof put on and the fire started on the roof and I'm like, yeah, the roofer started the fire. But the, they weren't able to say conclusively, it was this, that or the other thing.   So which would have been so much easier for me. Cause then my insurance company could go subrogate. And if we're going to keep this in, but subrogation is basically someone's my insurance company going after a different person's insurance company to then recover their losses.   Jonathan: And they, they didn't want to accept that it was their fault?   Michael: Yeah, exactly. Of course. They're not going to be like, cause no, you can't prove it. It's, it wasn't our fault. This is our protocol and procedure for cigarette handling and butt butts and this and that. So they weren't able to, to pin it on anybody. So I had to deal with it.   Jonathan: Yeah. And that's why we have insurance, but that's why we have insurance.   Michael: Exactly. It could have been so much worse. Um, so I have to keep everyone posted on how the public adjustment process goes. Yeah. It's been over a year since the fires, but in any case. Yeah. So don't get into a project that's too, over your head. It can be a real, real pain in the butt.   Jonathan: Especially if you're out of state.   Michael: Especially if you'reout of state, it just makes it, it adds a layer of complication.   Jonathan: Yeah. Cause if you can't be there to be there, like at least once a week on a big project like that, it makes it difficult for sure.   Michael: It makes it tough for sure. Okay. So talk to us a little bit about what made you want to leave LA, what pushed you out of LA and where did you go from there?   Jonathan: Yeah. So like I said, I bought these few duplexes and like after the last recession and like 2018, 2019, I am, while the equity on these properties has grown like huge, like crazy. Right. And I started like, my cash on cash was good based on what I had actually invested in cash in these properties. I think a lot of people make that mistake. Sometimes they don't look at the full equity that's in their property. And so I started looking at what my return on the actual equity I have in those buildings. And it was like three or 4%. And I was like, I know I have to do better than this. Right. And so I started looking at LA because I know LA and I know all the vendors and you know, I feel comfortable there. I know it well. And the only thing I saw to do was buy a building that had tenants in it that I have to deal with rent control, relocations, all that stuff. And I've dealt with all of that stuff before, but it is a big headache.   You have to try to negotiate for them to move out and pay for them to move out. And it's like, I have a heart too, and it's hard for me to push people like that out. And I know they're going to leave and have to pay like $2,500 now and that's going to have a huge impact on their family. Right. And so I'd have to do that. And then also probably do a whole gut job just to get maybe like six or 7% return after that much brain damage, it's just not worth it. And so I think it was like Christmas 2017. I was in Kansas city with my wife and because she has family there and I was like bored one day. And I started looking at real estate in the area. Yeah. Real estate guy.   Michael: It's what we all do. It's like, well, what's your favorite pastime golfing now looking at deals, man.   Jonathan: And I just started like doing some math and I'm like, could be something here, you know? And, and then I just started reaching out to brokers and making some connections and doing some touring. And you know, there was kind of like these trendy areas, just like silver Lake echo park and all that.   Emil: Nice. All right. So you're looking around Kansas city. You said your wife's family's from there. So what made you finally pull the trigger?   Jonathan: Last summer? I finally decided to sell one of those duplexes and January of 2019, I'd been in Kansas city and I had toured a couple of properties. And so I called some of the brokers I had met with and toured properties with earlier that year. And one of the properties that I toured was like halfway done. And by the time I put my place on the market, they had finished that project and leased it up and they sent me the numbers. I did my numbers, I was already familiar with the building. So I was able to secure that off market. So put my duplex in escrow. And then probably two, three weeks later, I put that property in escrow before I even closed the other one because I was doing the 1031 exchange. So for me, it was kind of important to secure something because of time constraints and for your listeners to a 1031 allows you to, you know, move the gains from one property to another property without paying taxes.   But there's a 45 day window to select the property in 180 day deadline to close on that property. So a lot of people aren't successful because of those time constraints. But because I did a lot of work on the front end, I was able to secure something and kinda getting into it that way. And because I was in a 1031, they're motivated to work with me and not really push it to other people and kind of make it happen. And so far that property is doing about 10 to 15% better. And it kind of was just like that proof of concept for me that I could actually go out of state and do this successfully.   Micheal: I got to ask a quick question before the Lamarck is back on, why did you opt to do a 10 31 as opposed to a cash out refi and tap into that equity?   Jonathan: Because a cash out refi would limit the amount of cash that you can get. And I think I would have been more powerful that way and that I just kind of wanted it not be in that investment anymore. It was a small duplex and just made sense to kind of move into something bigger. Yeah.   Michael: Right on   Emil: With the cash out would have potentially made that duplex, like cashflow negative.   Jonathan: I think so that too. Yeah. Cause I was like making me be like 12, 1300 bucks a month before, and then I, I basically more than tripled that going into the new property.   Emil: Wow.   Michael: Awesome.   Emil: There you go. Proof of concept. How many units did you buy into by the way? So you sold the duplex?   Jonathan: 14.   Emil: Okay.   Michael: Holy crap. So a duplex in LA gets you a 14 unit anywhere else. Oh, that's fantastic.   Jonathan: I mean, I had a lot of cash to move over and that was part of it, but still yeah, for that. And I sold that duplex for around a million and bought the 14 unit for 1.6. I think. But I'd bought it for like 400. I think I bought it for that.   Michael: Good for you, man. That's awesome.   Emil: That is so awesome. Serious appreciation.   Jonathan: So like I'm not against investing in LA, but right now it's not the time. If you buy something right now, if anything, you might get the appreciation. Cause I think LA might take a hit with everything going on down the line.   Michael: Yeah. Jonathan circling back to a metric that you mentioned previously. It's not one that I think is talked about super regularly. So can you share with everybody what a return on equity is a measurement of?   Jonathan: Yeah, so like I bought this property for 400 and I probably put like a hundred K into it. So my cash was actually a hundred, but then the equity in it was the gain. So like it was worth a million dollars. Now, now I have in it, like let's say after closing costs and commissions and everything, my equity is like five, five 50. So it's the cashflow on the property divided by that equity gives you the percent return on that equity.   Michael: It's basically a measure of how hard your dollars the equity is working for you in that property. You could almost look at it.   Jonathan: Yeah. This is my actual cash in the property. And what's my return on that actual cash, even though it's not actual cash, but you could turn it into cash, which I did and moved it over.   Michael: It's lazy cash. Right? The equity is often lazy cash and it's not doing anything for you.   Jonathan: Yeah. And that's a thing like some people say I want to hold my property forever and I think that's good depending on the property, but a small duplex like that. Once you get to a certain point where you build up enough equity, it makes sense to kind of move it along at that point or do like a cash out refi, but sometimes depends on the bank and where things are at it'll depend how much, like maybe I only got 500 out, but if I did a cash out refi, maybe I would have when he got $300 and then I would have had to buy a different property.   Michael: Sure, sure. And when you sold your property, where you, your own agent,   Jonathan: I was so that   Michael: Perfect!   Jonathan: Now the 3% that saved me, like 30 grand.   Michael: Yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic. Okay. So the 14 unit was your first deal in KC, right. And where are you now? What's your next deal? What do you have your sights on for going forward?   Jonathan: So I could kind of explain like what we're doing now and where I'm at. So I bought that November, 2019 in January. I left the family business to just kind of that proof of concept just gave me the confidence that I could do stuff on my own. I also, with that cash flow on, I had another property. I was gaining cashflow from it. My wife has a full time job and we have benefits through that. So I was able to kind of leave that business and not get the salary I was getting there and surviving and all that. And so my brother and I both left at the same time to start our own business. And so I sold another duplex that I had that I lived in. So, and then my brother sold, just sold his duplex. And so we're looking for a larger deal, like 50 plus units either in KC or we open it up a few hundred miles from KC. So it was like Omaha st. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma city, Wichita, some of those kind of Midwest cities. And my brother connected with a property manager in Oklahoma city had a deal on. And then he connected separately with a broker that had that deal. And so that property manager kind of gave us credibility and kind of vouched for us, even though he didn't even know us, but he's still vouched for us.   He's like our age. And like, we kinda like sold them our story. And like, we were like, we want to keep on doing this. So he felt good with us. I guess you could say. So we put 72 unit deal under contract and we just closed two weeks ago.   Michael: Oh mazel tov   Jonathan: Yeah. Thank you.   Michael: That's awesome.   Jonathan: Thank you. Yeah. And it's not a traditional value add where we're doing a lot of work cause it's in pretty good shape. We're just kind of giving it our touch and doing some rebranding and we are changing management and reducing expenses by 25%. So that's our big value add right there. And it's actually, I think for COVID right now, it's the ideal value add where you're not like disturbing the tenants much. You're not pushing rents much. You're just like getting the operations to work better and be more efficient and less costly. Right.   Michael: So cool. A couple of questions. Did you and your brother do 10 30 ones for, for the duplexes that you sold best go around?   Jonathan: So the duplex that I sold since I lived there, half of it, I was able to keep tax-free and the other half I turned 10 31 and until the deal, then my brother, cause he lived in the other property, he was actually just able to move his tax free money over into the deal. And then we raised money from one other investor to raise the rest of the funds. And that's another thing we're working on is raising capital and talking to investors. And that's been tough because of COVID and also because it was our first larger multifamily deal. So everyone was kinda like, well invest in that. We want to see how you do on this one. I know that's the next one.   Michael: Nobody wants to be the pioneer.   Jonathan: We were able to kind of put it together, you know? Got it. And so that's what we're doing now. We're focusing on larger value, add 50 plus units in Oklahoma city or Kansas city. And we're looking to do three or four deals a year and we don't really have like a unit target. We have more like a cashflow target, but it'll end up being probably over a thousand units that we want to get to initially and then kind of see where it goes from there.   Michael: Right on. And so with the raising, the rest of the funds from the investor was a finance deal or it was all cash?   Jontahan: Financed. So we got a bank loan two and a half percent interest rate, which is insane. No reserves.   Michael: Who is this bank?   Jonathan: Bank of the West. Yeah. California bank.   Michael: That's fantastic.   Jonathan: But they're all they're nationwide. Like my banker was actually in Kansas city and that's how I got introduced to him through a broker that I know in Kansas city.   Emil: Okay. We always talk about that too like use the people, you know, to ask if they know other people in that area. Super good point.   Jonathan: Yeah. Yeah. That's a thing. And you start getting active in certain areas and with certain people and you're doing business with them, they'll refer you to people and it's just, everyone's like, it's kind of a small world and everyone's of interconnected. Right.   Michael: So you mentioned reducing the expenses on that building by 25%. And it's a question that I get all the time and I'm a multifamily guy too. So I talk about all the different levers you can pull, which is one of the reasons I love multifamily so much. So talk to us a little bit about what you're doing to reduce the expenses by 25% because that's huge.   Jonathan: Yeah. It's a hundred over a hundred thousand a year. So, um, 50,000 of it is, is marketing expense. They were like spending money in all these like different like marketing, like systems and websites that was like completely unnecessary. So we're basically, you're reducing that 50, 60,000 they're spending a year to like $3,600 a year for apartments.com and that's about it. So that's the main one. And then insurance costs where you to kind of tighten that up a little bit because our property manager owns and manages a couple of complexes nearby. We don't have to pay for it, leasing agent. They just have people kind of bouncing around. So we're kind of able to share resources a little bit as well. And they had a lot of turns that they did in the last T 12 basically. Um, and so we won't have as many turns we're going to have, we have a maintenance guy that's there full time to kind of reduce maintenance costs as well. So all that stuff combined is I think it ends up being like a $112,000 in savings in the first year alone.   Michael: So for those of our listeners that don't know what a T12 is shed a little light on that for us.   Jonathan: A T12 is basically just all the income and expenses for 12 months of the year. And it just details like if the rent income, if there's like a utility bill back income and like breaks down like insurance, property taxes, all the maintenance, everything all in one big spreadsheet. So you can kind of see get an, I get the whole story, you know? And like a lot of times with these bigger, um, apartments, you could get T12 like a few years back. So you can kind of see the progression of the whole story, the novel.   Michael: Right, right, right, right. Yeah. So the proforma is looking forward. This is how we projected the property to perform. And I think the T comes from trailing and it's the trailing 12 months looking backward. And how did it perform? So it can be really helpful. I love that. It's, it's a novel, it's the story of how the property.   Jonathan: Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess they couldn't make up those numbers, but they technically are not supposed to.   Michael: It's bad form.   Jonathan: Yeah. But that's why you back it up, you looked at like bank accounts, utility statements, rent, rolls, everything leases. And you kinda like look at everything. Like the due diligence process is huge and lengthy and if you're doing it right, you know,   Michael: If someone says it's easy, they're not doing it right.   Jonathan: Exactly.   Michael: Awesome. So what, having done it now, are a couple of different times, Jonathan, what would you say are some of your top tips for those who are just getting started investing out of state?   Jonathan: You mean like what to do when vetting vendors and that of thing, or just to do it in general?   Michael: Or it could be, it could be high level of like, Hey, you know what? I've invested, you know, I bought a house ‘cause I think a lot of investors on the marketplace own their own home. And so I understand what that process looks like, but I cannot imagine what it would be like to go buy a property out of state. I have no idea, conceptually, physically, emotionally, how that would work. How would it make me feel? What would you recommend it to those folks?   Jonathan: First? From my end, like it took me like two, three years to actually take the jump and go out of state and actually feel comfortable with that because I, you know, I'd done hundreds of deals in LA and I was like, I can't leave LA, this is crazy. Like, why would I ever do this? This is like the sure thing. Right? Yeah. You know, but like real estate, there's some inherent risks and you got to take the plunge sometimes. Right.   Emil: I'm always curious to know, like it's really hard to mentally get over that feeling of, okay, I'm going somewhere where I can't just drive to the property. And like you mentioned, you were already doing stuff locally. So I feel like that's a double mental barrier. I'm curious if there's like, what kind of just got you over the hump? Was it the, the potential reward and it was, you know, early enough in your career?   Jonathan: Yeah. I mean, another thing too is like in LA we have rent control and the cities, we don't have rent control. So you can, you could give someone a notice to move out in LA you can't just give someone a notice to move out. You kind of have to either pay for them to leave or you're stuck with them. So like for example, like I've just had a lot of like, like scariest situations with tenants, like psychopath tenants that call me for every smudge on the wall and I've come to my office and cuss me out because they're basically a psychopath. And I can't just tell this person to leave in 60 days. I literally I'm stuck with them and I'm like, I should have the freedom and the right to tell someone to leave if they're a pain in the ass. Right. So that was a big one. Um, so not having to deal with that, like in Oklahoma, the property manager basically said I can evict someone in 21 days. I mean, I'm not advocating for just throwing people out, but I'm just saying, if you have a problem person, you can get them out quickly.   And that, to me, that was important. I think the most important thing is just picking the right team, right. Picking the right property manager, picking the right contractor, the right broker is all that like vetting them, getting referrals, you know, like one thing I heard someone that they do is they pick like a lot of times that the property managers will have the buildings that they manage on the website. And you'll be like, I want to talk to the owner of that, building, that, building that building. And I want to talk to them to see how their experience has been. Right. So you get like a random, they can't just give you their best referrals that are going to talk the best about them. Right. And then also like shopping their existing listings. So like having like maybe like a burner email where you email a couple of their listings and see how quickly they respond.   Cause that's important. Like, I, she just did that with my property manager in Kansas city because they were having some trouble leasing, one of the units and I sent an email to the advertisement and they actually responded in an hour. I was like, wow. Okay. That's, that's, that's really good. You know, as long as they respond within 24 hours, I think that's really important because if you don't then you lose that person. Right. And then I think the other really important thing, like before I would buy anything, I mean maybe if you're buying like a single family home, it's not as big of a deal, but if you're doing like a larger investment, I would just go there, meet these people in person and actually get a feel for the area. Because like any big city, different pockets could be different from each other. So like, if you go North or West from a certain street or freeway, it could be completely different. And then over time, you'll kind of figure out the different areas that are the best and that will work. And that's why it's important to kind of focus on like one or two cities and not being like 10 different cities, I would say.   Michael: Yep. I love it.   Emil: These a solid, solid tips. I also, uh, I wrote this down. It's kind of a takeaway. I love that. You know, for you, you started small granted it's in Los Angeles, so it's a more expensive market, but you started small. You started with duplexes at the time.   Jonathan: At the It was an expensive market.   Emil: Yes, exactly.   Jonathan: When I first started, it was actually somewhat reasonable.   Emil: Yeah. Yeah. But you started small, you were in a good market, you know, you waited this, wasn't like a year down the road that you were able to leverage it. And some of these things…   Jonathan: We're talking like a decade here, you know, like I think that's also a big misconception people have. They want it like right now, they want to like have a, you know, and it just takes time. Like real estate takes time. You need to buy it, hold it for awhile. And then that's when the magic happens. Right. It doesn't happen overnight.   Michael; Wait, I'm forget this whole real estate thing. I'm out.   Emil: If you follow people on YouTube, certain gurus. Yeah. They'll tell you, you can be a millionaire in like six months, but don't listen to them.   Jonathan: Don't listen to them for sure. And that's another thing too. It's like a lot of people, another big misconception is you don't need money to do this. I mean, you could raise it from other people, but if you don't have experience or money, you kind of need one or the other, you know, like, it's good to work in a W2 for 10 years and really save up some capital and then get into it, you know? And you learn a lot in those businesses and companies and how the world works and whatever. Right.   Emil: A hundred percent couldn't agree more.   Michael: Yeah. Yeah. I'm right there with you.   Emil: All right. Michael, anything else you want to ask before we do the wrap up?   Michael: No, this has been killer. This has been killer.   Emil: Cool. So Jonathan, we'd like to kind of ask a random question on every episode, but before we get insurance, what is the best way that people can get in touch with you if they want to get in touch, chat with you?   Jonathan: Yeah, just go to my website. JB2investments.com or email jb@jb2investments.com.   Michael: And Twitter right?   Jonathan: And Twitter. Yeah. You look at me up on Twitter. That works too. It's just my name and then there's some numbers. I think if you go to my website, if you email me, that's, that's probably the best way.   Emil: Awesome. Yeah. Cool. Alright. So random question for you. What is something new that you've picked up during, since lockdown started since COVID hit something new real estate wise or, or any, it could be like, no, just in general, general habit. Yeah. Like, I don't know. One of our other coaches started slacklining at home. That was kind of his new thing during COVID.   Jonathan: What's slacklining?   Emil: Oh dude. It's, it's the best. It's a, where you tie a Slack line between two posts and then, you know, your people like walk across them and do like the balancing thing. You see parks and stuff.   Jonathan: Yeah. I've seen, I know we were talking about, I guess a lot of people have time on their hands. This person must not have kids or maybe they do.   Emil: He just had a kid. It was, it was when the baby was like brand new though.   Michael: So, you know, like before his baby could walk and crawl, you could just set it down and identify where it was going to be when he got off slackline.   Jonathan: Um, I think, I think what this time is, I guess taught me or, or maybe not something necessarily new, but just like patience, you know, because like, you know, we left the business in January and then basically started our business and then COVID hit and then we're like, Oh. You know, it basically put like everything on hold for like almost six months, you know? So like filling that time and being patient and keeping at it and knowing eventually it would happen and like taking incremental steps every day. I think that's a big part of being a real estate investor is like the psychological side of it because there's a lot of ups and downs and how to deal with that.   And like all the different things that you need to deal with and things that come up and you gotta be mentally strong to be able to handle those things. And so building that, this was a good time to really build that. I guess you could say.   Emil: Yeah. That is a very important skill that nobody talks about real estate investing is just having like mental fortitude because you're eating crap all along the way. Like there's just constant things and pain.   Jonathan: Yeah. The wins are like only every once in a while. Right. But when the wins happen, they're sweet and it makes it worth keeping going. Right.   Michael: Sometimes it's a fire hose of crap. Other times it's just a trickle from a garden hose. There's always something to deal with.   Jonathan: And you literally got a fire hose. Right.   Michael: That's so true. It's so true. I think a fire easier to clean up than all the water damage from the. It's crazy.   Emil: Jonathan. Thanks so much for coming on the show, man.   Jonathan: Thanks guys.   Michael: Thanks so much, Jonathan.   Jonathan: Thank you guys. It was fun.   Emil: Alright big. Thanks to Jonathan again for hopping on this episode with us. If you guys haven't already, I'm sure you're tired of hearing it from me, but please go subscribe to the podcast. Leave us a review. We always like to hear what you guys are thinking. Good, bad, ugly. Hopefully not too ugly, but all the good stuff. And we'll catch you on next week's episode. Happy investing.  

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 31 Psalm 31 (Listen) Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 31   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;    let me never be put to shame;    in your righteousness deliver me!2   Incline your ear to me;    rescue me speedily!  Be a rock of refuge for me,    a strong fortress to save me! 3   For you are my rock and my fortress;    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;4   you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,    for you are my refuge.5   Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. 6   I hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,    but I trust in the LORD.7   I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,    because you have seen my affliction;    you have known the distress of my soul,8   and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;    you have set my feet in a broad place. 9   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;    my eye is wasted from grief;    my soul and my body also.10   For my life is spent with sorrow,    and my years with sighing;  my strength fails because of my iniquity,    and my bones waste away. 11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,    especially to my neighbors,  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;    those who see me in the street flee from me.12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;    I have become like a broken vessel.13   For I hear the whispering of many—    terror on every side!—  as they scheme together against me,    as they plot to take my life. 14   But I trust in you, O LORD;    I say, “You are my God.”15   My times are in your hand;    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16   Make your face shine on your servant;    save me in your steadfast love!17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,    for I call upon you;  let the wicked be put to shame;    let them go silently to Sheol.18   Let the lying lips be mute,    which speak insolently against the righteous    in pride and contempt. 19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,    which you have stored up for those who fear you  and worked for those who take refuge in you,    in the sight of the children of mankind!20   In the cover of your presence you hide them    from the plots of men;  you store them in your shelter    from the strife of tongues. 21   Blessed be the LORD,    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me    when I was in a besieged city.22   I had said in my alarm,2    “I am cut off from your sight.”  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy    when I cried to you for help. 23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!    The LORD preserves the faithful    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the LORD! Footnotes [1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate [2] 31:22 Or in my haste (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 1 Samuel 20 1 Samuel 20 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Daniel 3 Daniel 3 (Listen) Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits1 and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. The Fiery Furnace 8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared2 to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.3 But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,5 their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside6 the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Footnotes [1] 3:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:9 Aramaic answered and said; also verses 24, 26 [3] 3:15 Aramaic lacks well and good [4] 3:17 Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king [5] 3:21 The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27 [6] 3:28 Aramaic and changed (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Luke 2:1–21 Luke 2:1–21 (Listen) The Birth of Jesus Christ 2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when1 Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,2 who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.3 The Shepherds and the Angels 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14   “Glory to God in the highest,    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”4 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Footnotes [1] 2:2 Or This was the registration before [2] 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married [3] 2:7 Or guest room [4] 2:14 Some manuscripts peace, good will among men (ESV)

With family: 1 Samuel 20; 1 Corinthians 2 1 Samuel 20 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew (ESV) 1 Corinthians 2 (Listen) Proclaiming Christ Crucified 2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 did not come proclaiming to you the testimony2 of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men3 but in the power of God. Wisdom from the Spirit 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,   “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,    nor the heart of man imagined,  what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.4 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Footnotes [1] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters [2] 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret) [3] 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women [4] 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual (ESV) In private: Psalm 36; Lamentations 5 Psalm 36 (Listen) How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD. 36   Transgression speaks to the wicked    deep in his heart;1  there is no fear of God    before his eyes.2   For he flatters himself in his own eyes    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.3   The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.4   He plots trouble while on his bed;    he sets himself in a way that is not good;    he does not reject evil. 5   Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,    your faithfulness to the clouds.6   Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;    your judgments are like the great deep;    man and beast you save, O LORD. 7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God!    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.8   They feast on the abundance of your house,    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.9   For with you is the fountain of life;    in your light do we see light. 10   Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,    and your righteousness to the upright of heart!11   Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.12   There the evildoers lie fallen;    they are thrust down, unable to rise. Footnotes [1] 36:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Jerome (compare Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart (ESV) Lamentations 5 (Listen) Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord 5   Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;    look, and see our disgrace!2   Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,    our homes to foreigners.3   We have become orphans, fatherless;    our mothers are like widows.4   We must pay for the water we drink;    the wood we get must be bought.5   Our pursuers are at our necks;    we are weary; we are given no rest.6   We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,    to get bread enough.7   Our fathers sinned, and are no more;    and we bear their iniquities.8   Slaves rule over us;    there is none to deliver us from their hand.9   We get our bread at the peril of our lives,    because of the sword in the wilderness.10   Our skin is hot as an oven    with the burning heat of famine.11   Women are raped in Zion,    young women in the towns of Judah.12   Princes are hung up by their hands;    no respect is shown to the elders.13   Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,    and boys stagger under loads of wood.14   The old men have left the city gate,    the young men their music.15   The joy of our hearts has ceased;    our dancing has been turned to mourning.16   The crown has fallen from our head;    woe to us, for we have sinned!17   For this our heart has become sick,    for these things our eyes have grown dim,18   for Mount Zion which lies desolate;    jackals prowl over it.19   But you, O LORD, reign forever;    your throne endures to all generations.20   Why do you forget us forever,    why do you forsake us for so many days?21   Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!    Renew our days as of old—22   unless you have utterly rejected us,    and you remain exceedingly angry with us. (ESV)

Show NotesAt the beginning of the episode Jonathan talks about watching Hamilton, which was recently released on Disney+. Here is a link to the streaming service and the filmed version of the original broadway.This episode delves into the design sprint that Two Story Robot led Clinnect through, we talk about the ups and downs and how valuable it was. Check out the blog post about design sprints and the design sprint we did with Clinnect.Find Us OnlineAngela Hapke - @angelahapke - https://www.clinnect.caJonathan Bowers - @thejonotron - https://www.twostoryrobot.comCreditsProduced by Jonathan Bowers and Angela HapkeMusic by Andrew Codeman (CC BY 3.0)TranscriptJonathan:  Can you do this? I can't do it just a second. I can get it.[00:00:04] Angela: sounded like a drip.[00:00:09]Jonathan: Yeah. It's, I'm not very, I'm not very good at.[00:00:12]Intro[00:00:12] Hi, I'm Jonathan Bowers.[00:00:17] Angela: And I'm Angela Hapke and you're listening to Fixing Faxes.[00:00:21]Jonathan: And I watched Hamilton this[00:00:24] Angela: was it?[00:00:26] Jonathan: so good.[00:00:27] Angela: watched it yet.[00:00:28] Jonathan: so good. It's it's so we've read a little bit about shaming for people who don't like it. Um, which I think is a little unfair. I mean, I enjoyed it a lot cause I like, I liked the style of music and it's really neat to see that in a musical also, we would never go see Hamilton.[00:00:49] Like, there's just no opportunity for us to go to Chicago or New York or London,[00:00:53] Angela: And especially right now.[00:00:55] Jonathan: Yeah. So it was really cool to watch. We had to watch it over two nights. Um, just cause it's, it's quite long, it's like two hours and 40 minutes. Um, but I didn't know. I didn't know that it was pretty much all rap and R and B and um, yeah, like it was really,[00:01:09] it was really cool.[00:01:10] Angela: well, I didn't know that either Brad will love it. I'm[00:01:14] Jonathan: It's so great. It's I really enjoyed it. It's very fast. It's hard to follow in ways because it's one it's like, it's just very quick. So you gotta, like, you have to be paying attention and it's a lot of American history, which I'm not, I don't, I don't know. I don't have any of the background knowledge for anyways[00:01:32] um, but it was still, it was, it was really cool. I really, I really enjoyed it.[00:01:35] Angela: Okay. I'm definitely going to check it out.[00:01:37]Jonathan:  one of the YouTube videos I watched said that if, if it was paced the same as a, a regular Broadway musical, it would have taken six hours because of how many words they cram into two hours and 40 minutes.[00:01:51] Yeah. It's very[00:01:53] Angela: Wow.[00:01:54] That's very cool.[00:01:55]We Launched The Podcast[00:01:55] Jonathan: We launched the podcast too, that has come out. Um, I've listened to it. I've listened to it a bunch of times. Cause I edited it edited. I listened to it a bunch of times because I edited it and then I listened to it when it came out and I've since listened to episode five, which we recorded last week with our new mics.[00:02:16] And I hate, I hate the first four episodes. I don't like that. Uh, I don't like the way they[00:02:22] Angela: of course not. Well, of course not,[00:02:23] Jonathan: but we have four, I think four five star reviews. Yeah. There's well, one from your husband.[00:02:32] Angela: I was like beyond my husband.[00:02:34] Jonathan: Yeah, I think there's, I think there's some other ones, because if I look at the average yeah, we've got an average of four stars and then that one, one star review that they didn't leave.[00:02:45] Yeah. They didn't leave a comment, your husbands and then some other five star reviews. Um, but have you heard any, have you got any, any feedback from people.[00:02:51] Angela: Um, yeah, so I, I. Put it on my Facebook, like, just like, Hey, we're we're doing this. Wow. I, so heartwarmed by everybody. And people I haven't talked to in years, like sometimes decades that, um, have gone, like have saw the post gone and listened to it and then come back to the post to write me something.[00:03:19] Jonathan: That's[00:03:19] Angela: so lovely and[00:03:22] Jonathan: creeping on your Facebook a little bit. I was a little jealous of how many people were commenting on your, on your post about it. Cause no, one's no, one's commented on mine at all. Uh, that's fine.[00:03:34] Angela: it is like, honestly, there's a lot of my mom's friends that are going.[00:03:38] Jonathan: Oh,[00:03:41] Angela: Yay. Thank you. Friends of mum.[00:03:44] Jonathan: that's great. Everyone's everyone's dream is for their, uh, for their friend's daughter to become a podcast host. I think[00:03:52] Angela: Yeah, right.[00:03:53] Jonathan: it's just a proud, just a moment of pride. That's so great. I love it.[00:03:57] Angela: It's been really cool. And then like just the engagement factor around that has been really, really fun. Um, so it's, I mean, mostly the people that are listening, um, as of today are really just friends and family.[00:04:10] Jonathan: Yeah. It's not a lot of, not a huge audience at the[00:04:13] moment. Um,[00:04:15] Angela: so, thank you. If you're listening to this and you've made it to episode, whatever this is six[00:04:20] Jonathan: Episode six, if you're just joining us though now, because he couldn't deal with the poor audio quality. Uh, we get it.[00:04:30] Angela: I'm glad you rejoined us. Ah, yes. So we we've launched the podcast. We've got some reviews, some listens more, probably more downloads than I thought we would have.[00:04:43] Jonathan: Um,[00:04:45] Angela: Or did you, or[00:04:46] Jonathan: I was kind of hoping for a bit more. We have a, I went in this morning, we have a hundred total downloads across both the team, the teaser, and the first episode, I think there's, uh, like 30 or 40 downloads for episode two. And, um, yes, 60 or 70 downloads for the teaser. Um, but it's, it's interesting.[00:05:04] The pattern is different. The, the pattern is more stable for episode two, whereas a big spike on day one for the, for the teaser, and then it quickly, quickly dropped off. So, but it's only been out a couple of days, so we'll see. We'll see what today[00:05:18] Angela: And it's so much easier to listen to a three minute a teaser than it is to commit to a half an hour.[00:05:24]Design SprintsJonathan: uh, so we were thinking about talking today about, um, some design stuff.[00:05:29]Angela:  before we started working with you, I had no idea what the design sprint was and I think that's, uh, it's super fun thing that we did. And I think we should talk about what that was and how we did it and why maybe what it was like from your perspective, my perspective and things like that.[00:05:51]do you want to talk about what the design sprint is to get us started?[00:05:57] Jonathan: Yeah. So a design well a sprint. There's this, there's this term that comes from agile product development and agile methods in, uh, software, but also other aspects of, of building things and this idea of a sprint. And it's this like short time window, sometimes two weeks, sometimes a week, sometimes a month.[00:06:19] It sort of depends on the project where you focus on a thing. And I don't love the term sprint. I think it, I think it connotes this idea that you are like constantly running the entire time. And then in, in the agile world, you sort of divide up your, your iteration cycles into sprints And so sprint one for focus on essence sprint two, we're focused on this and I've talked with people who kind of get the wrong idea and they think like, Oh, like, why isn't everyone just sprinting the entire time? All the time and I think, well, that's not sustainable. You can't, you can't, sprint every single day.[00:06:54]even sprinters, don't train by sprinting all the time.[00:06:56] Angela: exactly. Yeah, no, you're[00:06:58] Jonathan: So, um, anyway, so it's, it's a way of dividing up time. Um, and you kind of call it a sprint, but it's meant to be really focused on. You know, one thing or if there's a goal in mind. And so a design sprint, which I do like the term sprint for a design sprint, because it is it's short.[00:07:16]Um, it's a, it's a predefined time window. We don't do it like over and over and over again. We do one of them, maybe two of them. So our, our design sprint is. Basically three mornings. So usually Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. It's very, very intense. It's very structured. We have a script that we follow and it leads us through a bunch of exercises. Um, some of which is just to like get the creative juices flowing. So we've got some sketching exercises that we do. Um, this fun thing called crazy eights, where you take a piece of paper and fold it in[00:07:53] Angela: I remember that.[00:07:54] Jonathan: Until you get eight pages and then every minute you have to draw something new on each one of those panels. Um, we don't share that stuff, but it's, uh, it's just to like get the creative juices flowing, but the goal is to, um, bring together, you know, the I'm the product expert. So yourself, um, the people that would be responsible for building, building the product, uh, like, uh, our team on Two Story Robot and it cramp them in together into this quote unquote room. Cause we don't do it in a room. We do it remotely and forces, through very short time windows, to like be creative and come up with things. And it's a really good way of getting information exchange happening, back and forth. Um, so we, we can quickly learn a lot about the domain in three days, we've become, um, we don't, we don't become like your level of understanding at it, but we get really close.[00:08:49] And then as an. And as an output to this entire process, as we collect collaboratively design, a bunch of features and screens that we think are the most priority, highest priority things to work on. Um, and then, and then at the end, we have a design that we can kind of start implementing with, which is, which is really cool.[00:09:07] Angela: From a Clinnect perspective. Um, when we started out with the design sprint, um, what we had was simply an idea. We knew the features that we wanted to add in, but we had no idea what this would, this product would look like. Um, Jackie and I had kind of sketched out some ideas cause we're super visual.[00:09:29] The both of us, um, just to kind of get on paper, what we thought we might want to see. And then we headed into this design sprint, which I knew nothing about. I w uh, I was like, okay. Yeah. And I think you sent me an email and you're like, Hey, do you want to try this? I'm like, sure. Let's, let's try this. And it was like, you know, three full mornings.[00:09:52] And, and so from what I would say is from where we were on the Monday at say eight or nine o'clock to where we got by end of day, Wednesday was mindblowing. The amount of work that we were able to push out in that sprint and get our heads around was unreal. It was super high value from our perspective.[00:10:21] So that was really, really cool.[00:10:24] Jonathan: Yeah, we've had, we've had that feedback, uh, cause we've run them a few times now and the feedback has always been yeah um, surprise at the end of how, how much, how much value came out of it and just how much understanding and how much tangible, like tangible design came out of it. I mean, it doesn't come out with fully fleshed out really high quality designs they're, they're pretty rough, but the, the, um, like they're really good bones on the skeleton, and then we can, then we can take that and start adding, adding all the flesh to it and it's um, but it's yeah, it's in three days, um, a lot gets done[00:11:01] in three days.[00:11:02] Angela: So when coming into it in February, we had like ideas and little sketches and it was cute to nice. And then by the end, I was like, Oh my gosh, we have all of this, which helped us push for the next thing too.[00:11:16] Because we were able to do that so quickly. And then we're kind of a bit on a roll that I was like, okay, like, let's get this going. So that outside of just getting the tangible designs and things like that done, it also helped just fuel the, the builds for the, the product too, which I found super valuable also.[00:11:34] Jonathan: I mean, another thing that it helps do is it, it really ruthlessly prioritizes what needs to get done because you can't, you can't, he can't address everything in three mornings. So there's a bunch of things that we really want it to do. But, um, you need to focus on the things that are most important or have maybe the most uncertainty.[00:11:52] Angela: I think, and I think the other thing I wanted to mention too, is it is. It's exhausting. Like, I was really tired after all that. Love it. I mean, I also being like the quote unquote customer in this, um, my brain was tapped a lot, like, okay, Angela, what do you think about this? Does this make sense? That, and so it was making like really, really quick decisions, which for anybody.[00:12:19] Can be really exhausting. And so I know, I remember after the three days, it was really, really tiring, um, highly valuable, but it goes back to what you said about a sprint. Shouldn't be like, you know, it's not sustainable. And it was like, mentally, it wasn't sustainable for me at all.[00:12:37] Jonathan: It's exhausting. It's exhausting. There, it's a lot of demand on you as the, as the expert. Um, because we, you have to download a bunch of information. You have to think and respond quickly to questions because you kind of facing a squad of everyone else on the, on the sprint. I think there was six of[00:12:56] Angela: Yes, there was[00:12:57] Jonathan: Um, and so everyone has questions. You say something and it triggers thoughts in other people's minds. And so they have questions now. So you've got to respond to that. So there's a lot on you. Um, there's a lot on, uh, so myself and my Maja a facilitated it it's, it's really it's. It has to be a tag team in order to facilitate the thing.[00:13:15]Um, cause there's a lot of this, a lot of stuff happening all at once. One of us is writing notes. One of us is sort of leading and facilitating the discussion and leading through some of the exercises. We, you know, it's a bit of a production too, is we've got music that we're playing and,[00:13:28]Angela: Oh my goodness. The music.[00:13:30]There was so many, there was so much commentary on the music. So Jonathan decided he was going to be the DJ. I don't know. And, uh, there was, you got so much flack for the, for the music that you were choosing.[00:13:44] I think it was mostly from Chris and I, but.[00:13:46] Jonathan: Yeah, we have some playlists that we use and I think one of them doesn't resonate very well with, uh, with everyone.[00:13:53] Angela: I was one of those people. It didn't resonate. Well,[00:13:55] Jonathan: It's it, but interestingly, so it's, that process has spurred me to, um, change, the experience I'm trying to create in all of my Zoom calls now. So having, having facilitated a few, a few design sprints, um, and getting some really good feedback about the experience, obviously I'm not going to put that much energy into , every zoom call that I'm on, but I've got a new camera now.[00:14:18] I've got a good sound. I've got to figure it out how I can, how I can quickly add music to the call. Um, so, um, I'm not a DJ by any means. No, I just like go hit, play on Spotify, but sometimes I can, I can find a song that actually reflects the meeting well, and then I play it. I play it out. I play us out and I've gotten some good feedback on that.[00:14:38]Uh, it's been fun.[00:14:40] Angela: Is that going to be like a job in the future[00:14:42] Jonathan: I think it could be a job now, I think.[00:14:45] Angela: But yeah, what I mean, I guess future being now, because we're all can, you know, meeting via virtually is that that becomes a new, a new skillset.[00:14:57] Jonathan: Yeah, at our all hands meetings, we have like a question that we ask. And it's just a fun question to just think about and discuss and just create something else to talk about. Um, One of them was what, what's a thing you'd like to learn. And mine, I decided was improv. Yeah, because I mean, I had just finished watching a, that long format improv on Netflix, uh Middleditch and Schwartz, which I highly recommend. It's really funny. I've always enjoyed improv. And so I was reflecting a little bit on what the design sprint is and sort of running, running, engaging meetings.[00:15:34] And I was like, this is it's improv. Like, how can I, how can I be, how can I, how could I improve that? I could be an improvization person, an improv comedian, or[00:15:45] like an[00:15:45] Angela: improv artist.[00:15:47] Jonathan: An improv artist. Right. I could be an improv artist. I haven't taken any efforts to like go and do that because I don't have any time, but it's something that I think about a lot.[00:15:55] And I w I really wish there was a maybe like a podcast I could listen to, to like, help me become a better at improv.[00:16:04] Angela: I love it. So anyone listening that has suggestions on how Jonathan can become an improv artist, please message us.[00:16:15] Jonathan: I think it would be a cool skill to have. It would be great for interviews on the podcast for, yeah. Anyways, I I'm, I'm excited about the idea of it. I don't know what I'm going to find time to go and do it.[00:16:26] Angela: Oh my goodness. I love that.[00:16:30] Jonathan: the other thing that I wanted to like share about the design sprint process that we have is that it, it kind of only works remotely.[00:16:38] Angela: You know what I would agree at first I was very, and this is pre COVID, so we could have met in a room and thought nothing of it. And we all. Mostly, except for Maja who was in Poland at the time, we all actually worked in the same building. So it would have been very easy to do this. And, and, um, the old school part of me that like, you know, has spent years in healthcare where meetings are, um, at first it was a bit like, Oh, No.[00:17:07] I want to, like, let's all get in a room and let's do this together. And you're like, no Angela, this is all virtual. And at first I was like a little bit disappointed, but then once we got into it, I probably didn't tell you that at the time. Um, but once we got into it, I totally got why we were doing it virtually and it made a lot of sense and it worked out really well.[00:17:34] Jonathan: Yeah, there's, there's so many things that you can do when you don't have the constraints of a physical world. Um, we use, we use some tools that allow us to very, very rapidly work on the same thing at the same time. And it gets really messy. Like we do this, um, we do this organization process where you're. You know, you're putting virtual sticky notes on a whiteboard and then somebody grabs it and moves it on you to somewhere else. And you're like, okay, whatever. And it's really fast. And so we can take seven minutes and, and categorize and organize a hundred sticky[00:18:08] notes and, and surface some meaning out of that.[00:18:11] Angela: And there was, um, there was a lot of getting used to that.[00:18:17] Jonathan: Oh, yeah. Yeah. The tool, the tool is we're used to the tool, um, others, uh, when people use it for the first time, uh, it, it, it can be a bit overwhelming and it[00:18:27] Angela: It was a bit. Yeah, but it was quick to learn. So it was overwhelming at first, but quick to learn, but I think it was more like my, my own control issues where I'm like, Nope, I put that sticky note there. Why is it moving? Somebody is moving it. And, but as soon as I kind of lost that need for understanding everything, because you can't during this design sprint, especially as a newcomer to it, as soon as I kind of lost that need to.[00:18:56] Understand and control, then it worked really well, but it was hard for me at first, but it didn't take, like, I like you adapt really quickly. I guess.[00:19:07] Jonathan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a, it's a really messy. It's a very messy process. It makes people feel uncomfortable, especially. I think, I think you sort of hinted that you were a bit of a controlling, um,[00:19:22] Angela: Oh,[00:19:22] Jonathan: freak. You're just someone who likes to have control over things. And I remember thinking, I don't think she's going to like this very much.[00:19:32] Um, but like it's, it has to work this way. Like you can't control it because it's so it's, it's quite organic. Um, and it, it needs to be[00:19:39] Angela: And I think it's that, um, you know, we're talking a lot about this these days about leaning into uncomfortableness and that's where, um, beautiful, messy, creative things come from. And that's exactly what this design sprint was at first. It was, it was, it was a bit. Um, chaotic messy, but from it, if you just allow yourself to be uncomfortable and okay with being uncomfortable in that moment, you can create some really beautiful things.[00:20:06] And, um, that's where I think we were able to get. And I was probably one of the bigger barriers at the beginning to doing that. If I'm going to be perfectly honest with myself, but it was good.[00:20:20] Yeah.[00:20:20] highly recommended design sprint. Um, like I say, didn't know what it was, went into it unknowing definitely, you know, was, was pushing back at first and then so proud of what we came up with out of it.[00:20:35] Jonathan: Would you say it was fun,[00:20:36] Angela: Yeah. some of the best things are, you know, like they just. They tire you right out, but there's, there's fun. Um, yes, it was fun.[00:20:45] Jonathan: Yeah, I really enjoy them. They're they're so exhausting, but there's so much fun.[00:20:51]Angela: Um, so our software, uh, developer, Jackie, that, uh, works at Clinnect. Um, I remember at first she had a real hard time with it because she is the kind of person that loves things to be beautiful and nice and organized. And you can see it from, you know, she's a photographer and her pictures are gorgeous. Um, you should see your notebook.[00:21:16] It's.[00:21:16] Jonathan: Our notebook is[00:21:17] Angela: It's amazing.[00:21:19] And so then when you're doing this design sprint, like, and you talked about this, like the eight square, is that, what am I calling it? The crazy eights or something? Yep. Uh, Oh, Jackie hated that. I remember. She was so frustrated because you have to draw something in a minute and then you flip it over and draw something else in a minute and you kind of keep iterating on what you had drawn last and you get, you know, and it's, it's just, as Jonathan said, an exercise to start opening up your mind.[00:21:46] Well, I remember the grumbles so funny. Yeah. But because she's also this person who thinks about things and it's very particular. I also feel like she, once we kinda zoned in on what we were, what we were looking at a little bit more, she was able to take it to like a next level, because then she was able to focus in on those details and things like that.[00:22:10] And that's why it's so great to have a super diverse team when doing it and allow everybody to go through their grumbles and bumps and. It'll come out the other side better for it. . I had actually liked to do it again with something[00:22:28] Jonathan: What we had planned on, we have plans to do another one. Um, we had discussed it.[00:22:33] Angela: Oh, right. I forgot about it.[00:22:38] Jonathan: I don't remember what about, but we had identified something that we thought needed some additional,[00:22:43] Angela: Well, it's probably our premium features. No.[00:22:47] Jonathan: and I thought there was something else.[00:22:49]We are always looking for other opportunities to do design sprints, because they are so effective. They're really hard to describe though. Like they're almost impossible to describe to someone cause we say like, Oh, it's really, it's really weird.[00:23:02] It's really uncomfortable. It's very messy. And it's, it works really well.[00:23:07] Angela: Yeah. And people like myself are like, no, thank you. But I trusted you. That's actually, maybe the, maybe the piece that we haven't talked about is that trust piece is I trusted you to guide us through that. And I think you need to find a team that you, that you ha you have to have that trust there, or else that does not work.[00:23:28] I don't know. Have you ever had a, have you ever had a client where. It's like it went a little bit sideways.[00:23:35] Oh, that's nice. You must be so trustworthy. Everybody's just like, okay, Jonathan.[00:23:41] Jonathan: it's, it's always produced very good results and, and it's always, it's always. Kind of the same experience. So maybe that's just, we've like we have really great customers, um, which, which is true, but, uh, yeah, I don't know how much of it is because it just works or that we have customers that are sort of willing to work, willing to take that chance a little bit.[00:24:02] Angela: Probably a mix of all of it. Um, what we'll likely do in the show notes is link to maybe a little bit more information about design sprints.[00:24:12] Jonathan: Yeah, so we're doing, um, we're going to do a blog post on design sprints that this can, this can relate to, . Anyway, so, so hopefully we get to do another design sprint, um, on Clinnect, on whatever, whatever feature we think[00:24:24] Angela: Oh Lord.[00:24:25] Jonathan: What else is, what else is coming up? What else is next?[00:24:28] Angela: what's coming up. Uh,[00:24:32] Jonathan: Hopefully, well, hopefully, hopefully on the next recording, we're going to have Chris come in guest and explain to us how all this encryption stuff[00:24:44] Angela: Yes. Chris is wildly smart.[00:24:49] Jonathan: I'm very excited to hear you describe it as well, because I've, I've given you a, um, a metaphor or an analogy or a way of describing it, which you took, and I think you change to give to someone else. So I'm, I'm curious to hear all of it, all of it, and then do it in front of Chris for him to shake his head at and say no, no,[00:25:11] Angela: you have it all wrong. Yeah. That is a hundred percent what is going to happen? And I'm[00:25:16] Jonathan: Yeah. So you've been listening to Fixing Faxes, building a digital health startup. I'm Jonathan Bowers. My cohost is Angela Hapke. Music by Andrew Codeman. Follow us on Twitter @fixingfaxes. You can find us wherever you listen to podcasts. And please do us a favor. Tell a friend. Thanks for listening.[00:25:33]Camping with the Family[00:25:33] Angela: I'm taking my children camping in our new trailer for the first[00:25:38] Jonathan: You[00:25:39] Angela: weekend we bought a popup trailer, like[00:25:42] a, a tent trailer.[00:25:44] Jonathan: yeah.[00:25:45] Can you fit a family of four in that?[00:25:48] Angela: yes, apparently we bought a very large one. Yeah. I didn't have a clue. We really, we didn't know what we were doing when we bought it, but we bought it and our children are so happy.[00:26:01] Um, but they're so excited to take it. So we're going to take it four on Friday night for the first time. Wish us luck.[00:26:07] Jonathan: Uh, good luck.[00:26:11]

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 20–21 1 Samuel 20–21 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 David and the Holy Bread 21 8 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. 8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” David Flees to Gath 10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,   ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew [8] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:65–72 Psalm 119:65–72 (Listen) Teth 65   You have dealt well with your servant,    O LORD, according to your word.66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,    for I believe in your commandments.67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,    but now I keep your word.68   You are good and do good;    teach me your statutes.69   The insolent smear me with lies,    but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,    but I delight in your law.71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,    that I might learn your statutes.72   The law of your mouth is better to me    than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (ESV) New Testament: Galatians 1–2 Galatians 1–2 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—2 and all the brothers1 who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. No Other Gospel 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant2 of Christ. Paul Called by God 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.3 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,4 and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. Paul Accepted by the Apostles 2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Paul Opposes Peter 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.7 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Justified by Faith 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified8 by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness9 were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Footnotes [1] 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 11 [2] 1:10 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [3] 1:11 Greek not according to man [4] 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother's womb [5] 1:16 Greek in [6] 1:16 Greek with flesh and blood [7] 2:12 Or fearing those of the circumcision [8] 2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17 [9] 2:21 Or justification (ESV)

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 20–21 1 Samuel 20–21 (Listen) Jonathan Warns David 20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15 and do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May3 the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7 David and the Holy Bread 21 8 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. 8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” David Flees to Gath 10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,   ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,    and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness [2] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off [3] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may [4] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel [5] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up [6] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south [7] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew [8] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew (ESV) New Testament: Acts 9:32–43 Acts 9:32–43 (Listen) The Healing of Aeneas 32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Dorcas Restored to Life 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.1 She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics2 and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. Footnotes [1] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle [2] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:65–72 Psalm 119:65–72 (Listen) Teth 65   You have dealt well with your servant,    O LORD, according to your word.66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,    for I believe in your commandments.67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,    but now I keep your word.68   You are good and do good;    teach me your statutes.69   The insolent smear me with lies,    but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,    but I delight in your law.71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,    that I might learn your statutes.72   The law of your mouth is better to me    than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 16:4–5 Proverbs 16:4–5 (Listen) 4   The LORD has made everything for its purpose,    even the wicked for the day of trouble.5   Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;    be assured, he will not go unpunished. (ESV)

1 Samuel 19:1-7 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.” 4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?” 6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.” 7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before. 

Tips on how to successfully create and launch an online course with Jonathan Denwood: One of the great things about creating an online course is it's an opportunity for somebody to build a real business online, which is possible to do while still doing your day job. The main thing is not to make building an online course a daunting task. But a lot of people that do their first course, and this is totally understandable, is to prove that they're offering great value to their students, they feel that they've got to literally build War and Peace in a course format. But he was giving examples where he's had to adjust pricing, and adjusting pricing has made an enormous difference on a course that didn't seem to be selling. Then suddenly, and it wasn't always downwards. But as a way of building brand recognition, I think Udemy has benefits and it's great. But building a real business on somebody else's platform, especially with a notorious discount as like Udemy, it's not a great idea With WordPress for an online course because of the plugin construction, you can select plugins that are top of their product in that specific functionality that you're looking for.  But the future of actually learning, of people giving real value, and I can only see it getting bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter. And I think people more and more are going to expect their training online. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY CREATE AND LAUNCH AN ONLINE COURSE [just click to tweet] HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY CREATE AND LAUNCH AN ONLINE COURSE The main thing is not to make building an online course a daunting task. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Doug: Well, welcome back listeners to another episode of Real Marketing, Real Fast. Today we're going to talk about all things e-learning online courses and that whole industry. And joining me in studio today is Jonathan Denwood. He runs a company called WP-Tonic. He is a leading influencer in the WordPress space, and he's also a fellow podcaster with a focus on e-learning, entrepreneurship, and WordPress. He is a champion of e-learning and works with entrepreneurs who want to build substantial online businesses. Many people have great experience and a lot of knowledge to share in their fields, but we all get caught up in choosing and trying to choose and implement the right technology to get our first course out. So Jonathan is going to help us demystify that, and he's going to help us work through the process of getting over this hurdle so we can concentrate on marketing our courses to our target audience. Jonathan also helps those who have found themselves trapped in a SaaS platform, which they've outgrown, and they want to move to a more flexible and powerful WordPress platform where they can be in complete control of the design elements and the functionality of their online course. There are multiple balls for us to juggle when we're launching an online course and to manage a course successfully, and Jonathan has some great insights to help you get over those fears. So we're going to talk about what it takes to build your first online course, and what the difference is between WordPress and a platform such as Kajabi. So welcome to the Real Marketing, Real Fast podcast today, Jonathan. Well, Hey Jonathan, I'm super excited to have you on the Real Marketing, Real Fast podcast today. So welcome to the show. Jonathan: Oh, thank you, Doug. I really appreciate you having me on the show. Doug: Well, it's interesting looking at your background, because we're kind of kindred hearts in that we are both in the online space and trying to help our clients make a difference in the world and I'm in your camp. I'm a big WordPress fan. So do you want to share just a little bit of your background on kind of what you guys are doing and how you got there? Jonathan: Yeah, sure. I try and keep it as a not too big an intro as possible....

View the Bulletin for Wednesday August 7, 2019Service Time: 7:00 p.m.Bible Study Time: 7:35 p.m.Readings from Holy Scripture1 Samuel 20:24-42 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.1 Corinthians 1:1-25 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.For the word of the cross is folly 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 discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

In Episode 065 of the Pathway to Promise Podcast, Dr. Brad Miller interviews Jonathan Van Horn who is the creator of Project SHIFT which is a process to help professional athletes transition to life after their professional sports career comes to an end. The mission of the Pathway to Promise Podcast with Dr. Brad Miller is helping people overcome life’s adversity to achieve a promised life of peace, prosperity, and purpose. Dr. Brad Miller June 2019 http://jonathanvanhorn.com/ (http://jonathanvanhorn.com/) (#) Brad Miller 0:00 Today we have a special guest with us who is an athlete, and a coach and a director of helping other athletes in their life. His name is Jonathan Van Horn. And he is involved with athletes in action. He's a national director of pro soccer ministry for athletes and action. It also for services, the team chaplain for the Carolina rail hawks, which is a in a sl professional soccer team. And he lives in Cary, North Carolina with his wife, Rachel, and they have three daughters. And he has an awesome story to tell about his journey in the sport of soccer and faith. And now he is looking to be helpful to athletes and other people as a transition from one phase in life to another. Jonathan, welcome to pathway to promise. Jonathan Van Horn 0:47 Thank you. Appreciate you having me on today. Brad Miller 0:50 Awesome. We are so glad to have us with us to just today here on pathway to promise. So Jonathan, I just gave a little bit about your story there. But unpack it for me a little bit more. You grew up as a athlete and play college soccer and been about with the pro soccer for a while, just a little bit about that journey, and then how to transition now to basically a ministry or trying to help others who are transitioning. Jonathan Van Horn 1:11 Yeah, growing up, I'm actually originally from Michigan. And growing up, I grew up in an area where was a farming community. And it was one of those things where football, basketball and baseball were the force. And that was it like that's, that's what you played. And if you were fast, you also ran track. But for whatever reason I fell in love with this game, the game of soccer. And soccer was the sport that if you weren't good at anything else, then you play that sport. And for whatever reason, like said, I just fell in love with the game. And that really set the path that trajectory for where I'm at today. I continue to play growing up, traveled this and travel soccer, got seen by a scout for a university outside of Columbus, Ohio called Ohio Wesleyan University, and went on to have a successful four year career there. Well, in Columbus, the Columbus Crew was just getting started in the late 90s. And that's when I was first introduced to athletes and action in this in this whole idea of where does your faith fit into sport usually says your faith is one thing your sport is another thing, family different compartments. And this whole idea of integrating my faith into competition was was a new idea. And I was like, wow, that that sounds amazing. How do I how do I do that? What does that look like? And that was my first introduction to athletes in action. And now my wife and I have been on staff without the connection for over 17 years. And it's been it's been an amazing journey through the process. Brad Miller 2:38 It's awesome. And that's part of integrating faith into competition. Tell me about competition. How does competition help the idea of competition help you not only in sports, things like that. But in terms of overcoming and dealing with obstacles that people may find in life? Unknown Speaker 2:56 Yeah, competition is one of those just energizes environments in which you are pitted against someone else or an obstacle or something, a difficulty of some capacity. And it really begins to and in sports, specifically, we talked about how competition really begins to reveal your character...

This sermon by the Rev. Peter Moore was given at Greenfield Presbyterian Church, Berkley, MI. Based on Scripture taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible. 1 Samuel 20:12-23 12 Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die,[a] 15 never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord seek out the enemies of David.” 17 Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life. 18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. 19 On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there.[b] 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 Then I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them,’ then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go; for the Lord has sent you away. 23 As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness[c] between you and me forever.” Footnotes: [a] 1 Samuel 20:14 Meaning of Heb uncertain [b] 1 Samuel 20:19 Meaning of Heb uncertain [c] 1 Samuel 20:23 Gk: Heb lacks witness 1 Samuel 20:35-42 35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy. 36 He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not linger.” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap[a] and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more.[b] 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.’” He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.[c] Footnotes: [a] 1 Samuel 20:41 Gk: Heb from beside the south [b] 1 Samuel 20:41 Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain [c] 1 Samuel 20:42 This sentence is 21.1 in Heb

Jonathan Look turned 50 in 2012. After some soul searching he asked himself what made him happy. It wasn't the new cars, beautiful home or gated community. He was happiest while traveling, writing, making friends and having lots of adventures. So Jonathan took the leap few people take. He sold everything to be happy and travel the world.

Jake’s not here this week. So Jonathan is joined by Amr from AJ&Smart to talk about a little more about Apple (since they had their media event a couple weeks back); compare Apple’s leadership with Microsoft’s; and how to approach working on a “boring” product. Here’s a peek at the topics discussed in this episode: Innovators vs executors Has Apple become boring?  Who’s running product at Apple? How Steve Ballmer ran Microsoft How success can set you up to be disrupted  Microsoft is interesting now..?! Companies should focus on doing boring well How do you pitch a boring product? Innovation is overrated  The importance of framing in product design Links Amr Khalifeh on Instagram Amr Khalifeh on Twitter Daring Fireball Book: The Four Steps to the Epiphany—Steve Blank Book: The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses—Eric Ries Appl Still Hasn’t Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm—Joanna Stern—The Wall Street Journal Apple apologizes for continued reliability problems with its MacBook keyboards The MacBook keyboard fiasco is way worse than Apple thinks—DHH—Signal v Noise Steve Jobs joking about MobileMe Loom Camtasia  Book: Rework—Jason Fried & DHH Airtable Telegram Basecamp Book: Buy Sprint!

Day 91 of the podcast, reading 1 Samuel 18-20 NET, read along at: https://netbible.org/bible/1+Samuel+18-20/ This is day 91 of our journey. As David continues to grow in prominence among the people, he becomes the closest of friends with Saul's son Jonathan. At the same time, Saul's sanity begins to falter and his paranoia about David leads to multiple attempts on David's life. Jonathan shows the true love of a friend and sacrifices his own self interests (and his future as king of Israel) by passing information to David and sending him away in peace before the deranged King Saul can murder him. Join me in 1 Samuel 18-20 to see an example of true friendship. Key verses: 1 Samuel 18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,“Saul has struck down his thousands,but David his tens of thousands!” 1 Samuel 19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial for you. 1 Samuel 20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”(21:1) Then David got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city. All Scriptures are from the NET.

This week something cool is about to drop… and it’s not the theme tune to Fragil Rock. It’s that time for Apple’s special event - 2018. The invitations are out, but so are the rumours. This year also comes with a whole bunch of leaks (whoooo let the dogs out). So Jonathan chats to Jake via some crappy Skype phone sound (apologies) and go over the pre-event rumours and leaks, as they surface. We explore the 3 different iPhone models, possible iPad and iWatch improvements and what it means for this ‘Tick-Tock’ tock year. We also look at the flaws in Apples yearly improvements but the desire that captivates all Apple users to buy every year. Oh and some Yodelling… Find out more about the Master-Class here:

 AJ&Smart + Jake Knapp Official Design Sprint Master-Class: https://ajsmart.com/masterclass Links BOOK: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die | Amazon Buy Sprint! Buy Make Time! IDEO Apple’s next iPhone event will be on September 12th | The Verge Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar updated with ‘improved’ third-generation keyboard | 9to5Mac Exclusive: This is ‘iPhone XS’ — design, larger version, and gold colors confirmed | 9to5Mac Exclusive: Apple Watch Series 4 revealed — massive display, dense watch face, more | 9to5Mac Sign up for one of Jake’s upcoming workshops! Buy the AJ&Smart + Jake Knapp Official Design Sprint Masterclass! How to Run 13 Design Sprints at Once: Inside Maker Week at The New York Times | Jake Knapp | NYTimes The Hosts Follow Jake Knapp on Twitter: @jakek Follow Jonathan Courtney on Instagram or Twitter: @jicecream Write into the podcast: pbc@ajsmart.com Podcast editing by Jason Sanderson: PodcastTech.com Show Notes (fan made by @amrkhalifeh): https://medium.com/product-breakfast-club-links-unofficial

207: Jonathan Gilliam The Art of Awareness and Attack Survival Jonathan Gilliam is a Former Navy SEAL and FBI Agent. He currently hosts his own show, The Experts, simulcast on social media. Jonathan is a frequent commentator on many radio programs, including the David Webb show on SiriusXM, and a frequent fill-in host on The Sean Hannity Show. He is the author of the brand new book, "Sheep No More: The Art of Awareness and Attack Survival."   “Your mistakes become your masters degree.” - Jonathan Gilliam on becoming an entrepreneur 3 Years to Becoming a SEAL Jonathan’s career in the Navy lasted 5 years. For him, the journey began 3 years earlier when he made up his mind to be a SEAL. His last year of college he trained intensely to prepare himself.   Unfortunately, Jonathan was turned down for SEAL, Navy pilot and Marine Corps pilot. He simply did not know how to prepare his applications. So Jonathan trained harder and researched exactly what the SEAL’s looked for in a recruit. Dedication to His Goal He decided to try again and by this time, all of the pilot slots were closed and he was turned down by the SEAL’s again. Jonathan was not going to give up. He contacted the detailer in Washington DC who looked at his file and told him that all the slots for SEALs were closed and to come back in a year.   Jonathan was at the Pentagon a year later to the day with his file in hand. Finally he had made it. When he asked the detailer when he would get his official notice the detailed bellowed, “I am your official notice!”        To hear the full story and what he’s doing now, download and listen to Jonathan Gilliam The Art of Awareness and Attack Survival.   Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!   Check out these links from Jonathan Gilliam The Art of Awareness and Attack Survival:   Jonathan T. Gilliam website The Experts Simulcast Jonathan’s Book: ‘Sheep No More’ Email Jonathan   Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470. Guest Bio Jonathan Gilliam Jonathan Gilliam is a Former Navy SEAL and FBI Agent. He currently hosts his own show, The Experts, simulcast on social media. Jonathan is a frequent commentator on many radio programs, including the David Webb show on SiriusXM, and a frequent fill-in host on The Sean Hannity Show. He is the author of the brand new book, "Sheep No More: The Art of Awareness and Attack Survival."    Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!   Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship. The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.  

43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, â??Tell me what you have done.â?? So Jonathan told him, â??I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!â??

In this episode, we talk with Jonathan Friedman, the founder of an amazing new tool called "Reactful". It allows you to take advantage of the behavior your visitors are taking on your site and react to them in real-time, which of course boosts conversions. In this episode, we go deep into the psychology about why this approach works so well and how you can implement it into your business. Enjoy! Resources Mentioned * Reactful* Kinowear Want To Work With Me? Visit http://www.JeremyReeves.com or email me at Jeremy@JeremyReeves.com Enjoy! Transcript Hey guys and girls, this is Jeremy Reeves with another episode of the sales funnel mastery podcast and today we have on the line Jonathan Friedman and he is the founder and CEO of Reactful which you are going to find really, really interesting. Basically, I am going to let Jonathan kind of tell you exactly what it does, but just from my perspective basically what Reactful does is when people are on your website, when they are on your various pages, it does not matter what page, it could be your home page, your sales page, you know, whatever it is. You can set different triggers to happened when they do certain behaviors on your website. So you know, I am going to let him kind of explain the nitty-gritty details about that but everybody on this you know that is listening to me knows that I am a huge, huge, huge believer in behavior-based marketing and that is exactly what this is except now you can do it right on your website, you know, most of the stuffs that I talked about is doing it via email campaigns, you know, if they stay at certain pages or whatever, you send them into a certain you know, certain email sequence. With Reactful, you can actually do it based on like their behavior on the site whether you have their, you know, their email or not. So it is a really, really, really cool tool. I have been kind of playing around with it this morning. I am going to start my own test both on my own -- on jeremyreeves.com and then also my side businesses. I am going to start using it with some clients. It is a really, really cool tool and I want to have Jonathan to kind of tell you, you know, his story why they built it, what it does, you know, what it can do for your conversions and your site and yes, so let us get into it. So Jonathan how are you? Jonathan Friedman: I am doing well. Thank you Jeremy, thanks for having me. Jeremy Reeves: Sure, sure, sure, yeah. You know, when you reached out and I took a look at it, I always like to do kind of a test run, you know, I never want to recommend anything that I have not tried myself and I would not, you know, use myself and so I got into it this morning and it was just, it is amazing, you know, I was talking you know before we started the podcast that one of the big things that I like, you know, the whole what it does with this is I mean it is a complete no brainer because, you know, I mean it is almost impossible not to increase your conversions because you are showing people things based on their actual behavior, but what I really was, was happy to see, I am a huge, huge stickler with software that is easy to use like I never -- I guess I am just part of like just the apple thing like, you know, there is never instruction manuals with anything apple it is just you picked it up and it works and you know how to do it. And I was really happy that when I started kind of playing around with Reactful that is exactly how it was, like I did not have to look anything up. I did not have to figure out like okay, how does this work it just like -- it just popped up and you just, you know, you start testing stuff. So you know, good job on the -- you know, the design of everything, you know. But tell everybody, you know, give your own kind of summary of -- Jonathan Friedman: Your feel. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, your own feel of you know, tell us your story. Tell us -- first of all why you created Reactful and then also you know, what it does and how it can help people. Jonathan Friedman: Sure. Maybe I will start from why we actually started building this. Jeremy Reeves: Sure. Jonathan Friedman: So we started out -- actually, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs have stories where they said, yeah, you know, I was walking home and I could not find a -- I do not know a car so I build a car business. So for us it was not that way. Actually, I had started before. We sold software to HR. Eventually, I managed to sell it but it was not a huge success and what I said is okay, I want to do B to B but never sell to HR ever again. And we started looking up, okay, who would you want to work with and really quickly we saw that marketers and you know, the digital managers, the people that kind of tried to get the corporate message across with people who want to work with, they are agile, they are hip, they are friendly, everything we want to have and they have budgets and they want to work with them and get results and if you can them their results they will work with you. There was kind of (inaudible 11:46) and when we (inaudible 11:48) start talking to these people is that there was a huge, huge gap between what they were expected to do and their actual abilities. So you know if you are marketer somewhere and your boss says, Hey, get me a lot of leads and okay you need to start you know, often you do not know how to analyze data. You do not know how to program. You do not know how to design. You do not know how to kind of work your website in any such way. You need a lot of different people to kind of help you out and in order to do the smallest change and your website is usually your biggest legion (inaudible 12:21) machine. And when we saw that, we said, okay, there is a huge gap here of skills how could we make empower marketers and that is how we started building Reactful. Jeremy Reeves: Nice, nice, I like it. Yes, so tell everybody, you know, what is it actually -- and obviously, I already know, but you know, tell everybody what it does on your site kind of -- in your own words and kind of bring it back to like how it helps them you know, make more money, increase their conversions that kind of thing. Jonathan Friedman: Sure. So Reactful lets you react to your visitors digital body language on the site. So when your visitors are on there. They are touching website in all kind of ways. You know, they are scrolling, they are clicking somewhere, they are visiting different pages, they stay for different times, Reactful knows how to read all these subtle behaviors and interpret higher level human behaviors out of it. So for example, we can know if someone is hesitating, if someone is interested in reading a piece of ticks rather than skimming it. If someone is confuse, if someone is about to exit, if someone stopped the video in the middle. All kind of interesting things like that and not only do we inform the marketer about them, we also let you react and the reaction part is just a visual change that happens in real time. And then it can also be anything, it can be a button shaking suddenly when someone is confused. It can be a message coming up from the top, the bottom of the site. It can be highlighting a piece of ticks. It can be a folding the whole element in 3D and showing a message behind it. Different kind of visualizations. And then the system also test all these kind of reactions you set up and tells you if they were actually successful in helping you increase your conversion. So there are many scenarios you can work with. You can say, okay, if someone is confused on this part of my about page, I want to shake this buttons likely and have them notice that or if someone is about -- if someone stops my video on my you know product page, then I want to have a message saying, Hey, you know that what I want to say, you have a 10% coupon you know if you know, that is what I wanted to say, that is my bottom line. There are many, many scenarios you can enable based on your anonymous, the anonymous behavior of your visitors in real time. Jeremy Reeves: Nice, I love it. Yes, so 1 example of this I am -- you know, you guys know I have Kinowear, the site that shows guys how to dress better and we are in the process of testing the text sales letter versus the VSL to see you know which, you know, which one converts better. So one of the things that I am -- and this is just one idea of you know many that I have so far, but one of the things that we are going to try is play the video and you can actually -- there is all kinds of different triggers that you can use. So there is you know, timer, there is -- if they are idle on the page, if they complete a goal, if they are exiting the page, if you know, if they click certain thing, if they are you know, filling up a form and they leave it, if they -- you know, in my case, you can do things with video, right. So if they finished the video, you can have something happened, maybe it is a -- you know, maybe the form pops up or whatever or maybe it is something you have a button that pops up and says, you know, keep scrolling down or you know whatever it is. You can also do things if like once they actually play it and most importantly I think with video, this one is really cool is if they pause the video, you know. One of the scenarios that I am going to test you know, a lot of my audience they might pause it because, you know, they are watching the video maybe they get in, I do not know, 5 minutes and then they pause it because they get distracted, right. Well you do not want them to -- you do not want them to like be distracted for too long you know, maybe they are distracted only for a second you know, someone comes and ask them a question and then they go and hit play again, but you do not know if that is going to happen. You do not know why they are distracted, but you do know that they are distracted . So one of my ideas was to say, okay, well if they press pause, why do not we have a little form pop up that says, Hey you know, you may have gotten distracted, do you want us to just send you the text version of this video and then that way they can -- and you know, and will test with an opt-in form with just a button to see you know kind of which one does better but that way, you know, they are on the video and if they do pause it then -- like, you know in your head the kind of behavior they are taking is, well, they got distracted for some reason. So you do not want them to just kind of leave the page. You want to be able to follow up with them. So you could send them you know, the text letter. And that is just kind of one you know one idea of a lot that I have but it is really -- there is a lot of you know, kind of different triggers that you can do and there is a lot of ways, a lot of different things that you can test which is you know, which is really cool, you know. So why don’t you tell us about you know, some of the -- some of the things that you guys and your clients and stuff. Why don’t you tells us about some actual tests you know that people have been doing and some of the results that people are getting with it. Jonathan Friedman: Sure. So based -- the stuff you mentioned so for example someone pausing the video and someone you know, watching the video all the way to the end or if someone is starting to play a video and also all the other the confusion (inaudible 17:45) to idle. All these we create them to -- think about the physical world, if you were sitting in a store, imagine you can sit you know, kind of shrink yourself and sit on your site and watch every visitor as they go by and kind of strike a conversation with them based on what they are doing. So if they you know, take forever to move from 1 page to another you can say, Hey buddy is everything okay, you finding what you are looking for, and if someone goes straight to the check out page and starts saying up (inaudible 18:13) you know goes really quick, you can say, Hey great, do you want that as well because this is also something you might be interested in. So I mean this kind of conversation you can strike up with random and anonymous visitors in real life if you are sitting in the physical store. Those are 2 things you can do in digital store or digital site. And these are all kinds of things are customer test. For example, classic what we had is when a visitor is idle on the page and idle means if they are not touching their mouse or keyboard for certain amount of time or they are in different tab and they did not come back meaning that they are on your site but they are not really on your site I mean you know, with their mind. Jeremy Reeves: It is kind of like when you talk to somebody and your listening but you are actually thinking about something else. It is kind of the same thing. Jonathan Friedman: Exactly and you know and then what happens you know, if you are in kind of conversation like that and your friends suddenly says, you know, Hey Jim, and then you are like, wait, you know, you kind of wake up to it then you are back in the conversation. So same thing in the digital world, I mean that we idle, meaning the session does not flow like a normal session would. There is something, you know, there was a holdup, it does not mean it is a bad holdup necessarily, but it was one, and it is good to know and if you can react and kind of do something about it is even better. So classic one was reacting to all kind of visitors who are idle in different cases of your website. If they idle on your homepage maybe you know, maybe you do not want to do anything because it is such an early kind of page, look maybe if they are idle doing some kind of checkout flow maybe then you would want to do something. For example, one of our customers InsideView, they were testing just with idle visitors, they spotlighted a form that they have on the page. The used it on the direct (inaudible 20:12) with many pages and what they saw is that when people are idle on it when they came back and they highlighted just -- highlighting means that the form gets kind of light on it where everything else is slightly dim and they saw that little effect that almost looks, sound silly in the way, but that kind of refocuses people on the form and actually got a lot more. They have almost double the conversion rate just from doing that. And you know, on the directory, it was the case where you know, people come in and they usually they are like there and then they go out. It was not like you know a very clear flow on the main website. It was just directory which I used to kind of source people and people come in and out and if people are idle there you know, they go to the another page and get distracted and then they come back, they are like, what was I doing, never mind and they close and go away. Suddenly when they had like, Oh, okay, interesting then you know, (inaudible 21:09) continue and you can save some of these visitors and get them to sign up. Jeremy Reeves: Nice, I love it, yeah I mean -- it is very powerful you know, in what you can do you know, I keep saying that but it really is. I am so excited that there is you know, I have been telling people for years and years and years to do this type of stuff but the kind of the roadblock you know, the hurdle of it was the software you know, because it is only really like in the last I do not know, 6 or 12 months that like all these really cool kind of behavioral software has been coming out you know, I know HubSpot has some stuff but that is you know, tons and tons of money, I think it is like $15k or something like that. You know, it is just, things are getting better and better and better and the more you know it really comes down to the fact that the more that you can predict your customer, the higher conversions that you are going to be you know and you can kind of only go like I mean part of my job when I am writing copies is to predict what people are going to think you know what I mean. So the more that you understand the market, the higher your conversions it going to be you know on average. But what is really cool is you know with this you can do it based on like actual behavior they are taking you know what I mean, and it is -- I am really excited for it. I am trying to add it -- I was telling you I have a really short week this week because I am going on vacation but I am trying to add it to my to do list to get the test set up and started. So I am really excited to test it. Jonathan Friedman: What you are saying is completely true I mean we are merging more and more with our technology. We are using more and more I mean probably I do not know about you but you know me and my cellphone and I am guessing you as well probably most of the listeners. You know, you cannot live without your cellphone or your computer. Some part of your technology is really part of you and the better machines get understanding humans understanding behaviors and then they can predict what we want and give it to us the more human-like it will feel and that experience -- if you can do that for your, when you are trying to do conversion and you also can predict what your people are thinking you know, whether it is copy, whether it is using Reactful or almost anything if you can kind of make your -- well you can think about your site as kind of software, if you can make it more reactful I would say, it is just like -- we called it emotional intelligence sometimes. You can kind of understand humans better than, yeah, you can do a lot and you can surprise the visitors that you have and kind of get better conversations with them. That is what we are trying to be part of. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, yeah you know and I think, you know, you are on something good here you know. I was telling you if I own a SAS company and this is something along the lines of something that I would build myself you know what I mean. You know and I am not going to be competing do not worry, I have no plans you know, I have no plans in the near future to do any software. It is on my plate for sometime but I do not know what I can do yet. But I know this is like the type of thing that I would do so I am glad that, you know, that it is out there. So yeah, I mean, you know, if -- I am trying to -- I have a question, but I am trying to think of how to -- how to word it the right way. Where do you think is a good place for people to start, you know, like when they are looking at their conversions and you know everybody kind of goes and you know, you kind of have like your own you know theory of what is going to work and what is not. That is why I like in the conversion testing where it was like you know, you can come up with a hypothesis first and then you build a test around your hypothesis and all that fun stuff. But like when you are, you know, when you are thinking off so let us just say that is somebody is looking at you know they put in a code to start it. Do you have like any kind of you know process that you go through, because there are so many different like I have it up right now so I am just going to click getting reaction. So alright, so I have it up on my services page right now. So let us just say that you know, you pick a page on your site, you have the code on there and the -- I wish people could see it right now. Unfortunately, it is just an audio but you know, I have the software up and I am you know kind of in like okay, now what test do I make. You know, do you have any, any kind of advice for people on how to, how to choose what to actually do you know, like what to actually test you know because there are so many different options that a lot of times people get like kind of decision fatigue you know, they get paralyzed by so many different options they can take you know, do you have any advice for people on how to actually when you are looking and they say, okay, you know, here is what I am going to do first. Jonathan Friedman: Sure. That is a very, very good question. So when we build the studio, we called it (inaudible 26:18) reaction studio where you can actually program to trigger and then the reactions that will come and responds to these triggers. What we thought, it was very early on (inaudible 26:29) okay, great, look (inaudible 26:30) marked as a tool and they will build a great stuff and they do, but we thought the second question almost like when we came out there and showed it to the different customers. The second question was, but you have been doing a lot of (inaudible 26:44) right, can you tell me what they should do (inaudible 26:47) focus on so that was the main question and I wish actually I wish I could already show you the next version that is coming up next month. It is huge. It is a huge, huge, overall, the one of the major things that is going to come there is what we called revelations. So revelations, like you mentioned, there are tons and tons and tons of way to slice and dice your website information and your visitors information according to so many variables and different patterns, that it is sometimes hard to think okay what should I tweak, should I think about returning visitors, should I target confused visitors, should I target confused visitors from Australia you know, all these are valid questions you can easily kind of drown in the sea of information or data. You know the problem is not lack of data. There are tons of data out there and there are many, many, many tools that give you data. When we (inaudible 27:45) simplicity common from before is how to make it simple and easy. So the (inaudible 27:53) coming up there is a revelation section and the revelation is actually the system learning your site coming up with an interesting analysis, so saying, Hey look, people start filling out the form in your about page but 7.5% of them stop midway and then we also recommend how to react to that. We can tell you, Hey, you should react with a tooltip which is actually true, you should react with a tooltip that will show up in real time and tell them to continue and try that. And how do we know it works because we have tons of clients were they implemented this kind of reaction (inaudible 28:30). And then with 1 click you can click on react now and launch that reaction. So not only do we scan your sites to find interesting piece of data that you should probably kind of be interested to look at. You will be able to launch a reaction and fix it and measure it with 1 click. Jeremy Reeves: That is awesome. I like that. You know, that is -- yeah I mean I know -- I know just from coaching clients you know, and working with clients you know, both like the you know, the coaching side and the done for you side. I know that a lot of in action comes from not knowing how to prioritize you know what I mean because you know, a lot of, I mean there are so many like you know, everybody listening to this, think of your to do list you know, just in your head, at any given time, there is like 50 to 1000 different things you know, kind of rolling through your head all at the same time and that is because overwhelming. You are dealing with your employees, you are dealing with you know, your conversion rate, coming up with new products or email sequences, your pages, I mean it is like it goes on and on and on and on. So you know, a lot of like every pretty much every entrepreneur listening to this or I mean in the world knows that they should be testing different things you know. The problem is there are so many things to start with that so many people they do not start at all, you know what I mean. It is kind of like you know, when you started to diet, it is like, Oh my God, why do I have to change all these things. They just start with one thing you know, getting to nail that down and go to the next thing, nail that down and go to the next thing and all of the sudden, you know, you are in really good shape, you know what I mean. It is kind of the same thing with this. So I love that, that you are actually helping people like giving suggestions, you know what I mean. I have a whole system for you know, making decisions you know. I always narrow it down whatever it is at, whether it is 10 or 100, I narrowed it down to 3 and then I pit A against B and then the winner of that against C, you know what I mean. For me, that works really well rather than like okay, there is 10 things you know, which one do I want to go with and you are like, Oh my God, oh my God, you know, there is so many choices. Well if you just narrow that down to 3 which is pretty easy, it is really not that hard. You can usually pick like a top 3 that you know, that you think you would go with and then you just do one against one and then the winner of that one goes against the last one and then you have your winner, you know what I mean. Jonathan Friedman: It is smart. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, it works for me. Everybody has their own, you know, their own ways of doing things but that works well for me, but -- Jonathan Friedman: It is a real issue, I mean, I have seen a pep talk about it that when he said, the decisions actually that kind of freedom to decide and when you go to the supermarket there are million things there, million box of cereals that you potential could like. Actually makes you less happy with the cereal you end up choosing just because you are thinking about all the other cereals that you did not take. So it is kind of funny that you know, it kind of works the other way and especially with this stuff, you are right the marketers have so many things on their head. Their boss says that, Hey you got to do this, you got to do that and they know they head will roll if they won’t do everything and testing requires time, it requires sitting in front of data thinking, hypothesizing, putting it in, creating processes in a little time even if they can do it, they do not have the time and they do not have the kind of mental energy to start this kind of processes. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, yeah. I wonder if and maybe guys do this, but I wonder if it would be, I wonder if it would be useful to somehow link it to like analytics and I wonder if you can get ideas you know, from analytics you know, like you know, maybe time on page or I do not know, something like that, like get basically get information from analytics that would then kind of update in their suggested to do list, if you will. I wonder if that would be, because that is kind of how, that is how(inaudible 32:25) when I am making decisions either for one of my businesses or my clients or whatever, I always start with the data, you know, like what is the data say, you know, how -- if you are looking like if you are trying to test open rates will you go back and you look at you know, the past emails that you sent, okay well you know, which ones got the best open rates and what is the common theme in all these you know, and then you kind of just go like that. Same thing with you know, a lot of different page testing you know, (inaudible 32:52) you know, look at heat maps and look at videos of people going through the site and you know, and use that to make, to basically come up with a hypothesis which then you know, you come up with you know, whatever you are going to test. I wonder if you could, that would be interesting to kind of look at that. Jonathan Friedman: (inaudible 33:14) with Google Analytics but it is more for the reporting side meaning they get all the events and then we have plans to integrate and kind of grab past data and also get a lot of your goals so if you -- if it put in goals within your Google Analytics we could draw them in and kind of use them as well. So you are right, I mean, it is definitely -- I mean, if you want to do optimization, it is always the same flow, it is data insight change or action and then measurement and so yeah, the first obvious step is starting from data. A lot of times people (inaudible 33:52) run for a week just silent without doing any change or anything just to grab some data and then kind of see what they you know, different things they can test and try that. But the nice thing is because I mean, it is so easy -- I mean you can -- it is so easy to do and also there are so many false positive luckily you know where in the conversion space and not medical or anything. For false positives are not bad obviously you do not want a lot of them but if you start out with a few positives you had in your head you know, I think what, Hey, you know, this (inaudible 34:26) pages kind of confusing how about I launch a reaction to say give another message to people or confused you know ear. And if that does not turn up well it is okay you know, it might be that it is just does not even a negative consequences just neutral, so that is also not good but it is not, it did not destroy anything. So it is fine to (inaudible 34:46) start and also play around and you know, but if you have data, obviously start from that, that is the best way to start any optimization process. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, definitely. I actually got an idea -- there is so many God, there are so many different ways that you can use this like I just thought while you are talking, if you do your let us see, what it is called, it is called confused right. So you can just click on element and then confused and then put it like in you know, in a section where you are seen and you can you know, like going into the data first if you had heat maps or something you know, and you saw like a cold area you know, then just use this to highlight that cold area and do like the you know, confused element and then just have a little like pop up or something that comes up and says, Hey, you know, is this confusing to you, you know what I mean and then you just have people click yes or no and then you know, and then maybe the second part is if they click yes, you put you know what is confusing (inaudible 35:45) like what don’t you understand and then you get feedback you know, like real-time feedback from visitors and then you change it, you know what I mean. I think I am going to actually use that one. I am a big, big, fan of doing surveys on pages you know what I mean. Exit pops surveys or something like Hey why don’t you buy you know that kind of thing I mean people tell you, you know, they -- if people -- I am you know, one of my philosophies that is that you know, a lot of people kind of like (inaudible 36:16) you know, they are like afraid of selling and it is like look if people would not be on your site if they weren’t interested in buying you know, what you have or they weren’t interested maybe not buying what you have but they have a problem that they are trying to solve you know what I mean. In your case it is, you know, low conversions you know, in a lot of my case it is lower conversions you know. So that is the problem so it is like they have that problem so you know, if they read your page if they come and they have problem A and your solution solves problem A and for some reason they do not buy well that means there is a disconnect somewhere on the page you know, maybe they are just in the wrong you know, kind of (inaudible 36:58) whatever it is, but there is a disconnect somewhere so if you do surveys and you do things like this where you can actually ask them questions about why they did not buy well most people tell you, well not most people but you will find that like if you have enough volume, you will find, you will get really, really good answers. I have done this you know, all of my sites and you know, client sites and stuff like that. You get really good answers and people is like, Hey, you know, I was here to look and see if you could help me solve A well, you know, I read your page and it does not seem like you can so then they will tell you why, you know what I mean. Jonathan Friedman: What you call disconnect, we in Reactful internally we call the missing piece. So there is some kind of missing piece and exactly right, I mean, we call this the “maybes” so you know, you have maybes on your sites. You have people that buy, you have people that won’t buy because they are not interested in this problem but if you -- like you said the people that have this problem and they are looking at your site, they are the “maybes” they have high purchases but there is a missing piece if they do not end up buying and if you can identify what it is either with surveys or you know, different means and give it to them that works well. With Reactful we are (inaudible 38:10) real time. Real time is the best way to try to kind of (inaudible 38:15) the missing piece because every time afterwards yes you can get them back it is just harder I mean you work a lot with emails which is obviously a great way to get people back, but it is just you know, you need expertise, you need to do a lot of work which is great I mean, you should obviously use MeMail as well. Do not just use Reactful but if you can somehow fix it in real time you save people from entering that campaign if you get -- already kind of fix it already on spot. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah I mean I see, I see it you know, a ton of different ways that this can, this can help you but I know I am going to be using it. Is there anything else you know, that you think people should know before we you know, hop off. Jonathan Friedman: Well, we are launching a huge new version. It is coming up, it will come up end of April. You should definitely check it out. It has I think you know, we have been working for so long and the new version really (inaudible 39:13) everything we have kind of envisioned when we started building Reactful and so yeah, definitely check it out when it comes out and you know, feel free to (inaudible 39:24) or play with it today it is a really cool product I think and I hope, I hear you guys do. That is it. I would be happy if anyone you know, (inaudible 39:34) behavioral, digital behavior or just analytics I am happy to discuss. I have a lot of things I learned over the way, I am happy to share. Yeah, that is it. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, sounds good. Well, if everybody wants to go check it out which by the way, I highly, highly, highly recommend you do because it’s a really cool piece of software and I actually do not even know how much is it by the way. Jonathan Friedman: Well, it ranges for low traffic websites it starts from $300 a month and you know, it goes up with traffic and the amount of domains you have, but it is not the crazy expensive tool and the high-end it can be a few thousand dollars depending on how many if it’s you know, depending on traffic and domains. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, you know, I always think of things in terms of ROIs so even say you are making I do not know, I mean like a 10% increase is like nothing, you know what I mean. That is so easy, it is ridiculous. So if you figure -- if you are making you know, $3000 a month and you increase 10% you already paid for it you know. If you are making you know $30k a month, all you need is a 1% increase in your conversions to pay for this, you know what I mean. So it is a total no brainer but yeah, if anybody -- if anybody wants to go to check it out its Reactful.com and yeah go check it out if you have any questions for me you know, I am happy to answer them kind of just to I am not getting paid or anything like that to answer them, you know, kind of just to start a dialogue and you know, I like talking about marketing and yeah go and check it out and you know, ask me or John if you have any -- if you have any questions, if you want to you know, see if should be kind of you know, right for your website you know, if you are doing any kind of volume whatsoever it is definitely a game changer basically because you know, you can kind of you know increase conversions on the fly. You can answer objections on the fly based on the actual behavior they are taking on your website and it is you know, I mean that is just, it is so powerful to crazy so yeah, I highly recommend checking it out. John, before hop off anything else that you like to add. Jonathan Friedman: No, I really enjoyed being on the show. Thank you very much for having me and yeah, I will be happy to stay in touch and talk marketing from time to time. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, sounds good. Alright, well guys I will talk to you soon. As always, if you enjoy this episode, share it with your friends, leave us a review and all that fun stuff and yeah, we will talk to you soon.

trusting God for the impossible Speaker: Rev Patrick Kelley Originally Recorded 27 Dec 2015 1 Samuel 14:1-14 NIV One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the lord's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left. On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba. Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the lord from saving, whether by many or by few." "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul." Jonathan said, "Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the lord has given them into our hands." So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. "Look!" said the Philistines. "The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in." The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson." So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up after me; the lord has given them into the hand of Israel." Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. Thoughts Jonathon did something that didn’t seem to make much sense Hebrews 11:1 NIV Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Thoughts Jonathon didn't see what couldn’t be done, he saw what could be done. Thoughts Jonathon’s focus was on the Lord. Prophetic Word When you walk in His wisdom, hope is a natural byproduct. Proverbs 24:14 NIV Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Big Idea God is simply looking for someone who is going to trust Him. Closing Thought You’re going to have to make some changes so God can make some changes. What got you here, won't get you there. #DoSomethingDifferent

1 Samuel 20:18-42 18) Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19) On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. 20) And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21) And behold, I will send the young man, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,' then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22) But if I say to the youth, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23) And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever." 24) So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25) The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. 26) Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean." 27) But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?" 28) Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29) He said, 'Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table." 30) Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31) For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die." 32) Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" 33) But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34) And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 35) In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36) And he said to his boy, "Run and find the arrows that I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37) And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, "Is not the arrow beyond you?" 38) And Jonathan called after the boy, "Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!" So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39) But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40) And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, "Go and carry them to the city." 41) And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42) Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'" And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

Hi, I am Here with Jonathan Pritchard. He Founder of the Hellstrom Group; an international consulting company working with clients like BP, State Farm, United Airlines, and more. Focusing mainly on applied psychology in business, communication, and life. here is the full episode hope you enjoy. Listen in your favorite podcast app.  Ari Gronich 0:01 Has it occurred to you that the systems we live by are not designed to get results? We pay for procedures instead of outcomes, focusing on emergencies rather than preventing disease and living a healthy lifestyle. For over 25 years, I've taken care of Olympians Paralympians a list actors in fortune 1000 companies, if I did not get results, they did not get results. I realized that while powerful people who control the system want to keep the status quo, if I were to educate the masses, you would demand change. So I'm taking the gloves off and going after the systems as they are joining me on my mission to create a new tomorrow as I chat with industry experts, elite athletes, thought leaders and government officials about how we activate our vision for a better world. We may agree and we may disagree, but I'm not backing down. I'm Ari Gronich and this is create a new tomorrow podcast. Welcome back to create a new tomorrow. I'm your host, Ari Gronich and with me today, and I have to change my voice for him because he is the magician Jonathan Pritchard. Been on stage with Chris Angel. He's been on stage in war times and good times. He's traveled the world learning the psychology and the experiential mindset of imagination design theory of mind. Jonathan Prichard, tell us who you are. jonathan pritchard 1:42 Hi, hey, glad to be here, man. Thanks for the rockin intro. I just always have to say I was backstage with Chris Angel. I haven't been on stage with him. I was strictly behind the scenes. I got that face for radio kind of thing going on. So yeah. Basically, my my background is I grew up doing magic tricks. When I was a teenager, I got interested in mind reading tricks. And that was my area of specialty. I met my mentor James Randi, who recently passed away, he at the time had a million dollar challenge to anybody who claimed to be genuinely psychic or have supernatural powers like that. Well, you show us then you get a million dollars. And I handled applications and designed testing protocol for that million dollar challenge. And that's when I saw every way that people were trying to scam their way to the money and figured I can do these scams better than they can. And then that's how my showbiz career started. So from there, I have traveled the world entertain the troops overseas, and consulted for some of those big names we'd all recognize. And I used the psychology and skills and principles to make Austin our long show. But I eventually realized, you know, it's nice distracting people from their problems for an hour. But these principles I use onstage can be used offstage to help solve those problems permanently so that you get more interesting problems. Like Alright, I like that process. And from there expanded out to the coaching and speaking and training and, and all that kind of giving people a peek behind the curtain. Look at how your brain works. So that's why I've been able to consult with fortune 500 clients and a whole bunch of training, stuff like that. But it all centers around just being fascinated by how people think. Ari Gronich 3:45 So I want you to unpack for me one thing. I saw it on America's Got Talent, some magician, he was touching Simon's hand, or was it Simon's or I don't know, he was touching either Simon's or the other guy's hand. And then the other person's hand rate rose, because they were mentally connected with their psychic. So I want to unpack that because it always intrigues me. Not when you can pull stuff out of your jacket in weird ways that you can't see. But when are your sleeves or what? But when when you can touch somebody's body and somebody else raises their hand. jonathan pritchard 4:27 All I can say about that is I am really good friends for more than a decade with the guy who came up with that trick. So I will pass along your sentiments to him. That is a trade secret that if you haven't spent a lifetime of self denial, alone in a room to learn those skills and techniques, you you don't have the experience and background to to handle those kinds of secrets. So I'm I'm really saving you from yourself there. Ari Gronich 4:59 Alright, so you're not The man in the black mask, I was just checking to see if you were the man in the black mass. jonathan pritchard 5:05 But know that given what that's Yeah, the the masked magician is is to be a really fascinating story. That's kind of insider baseball trade secret stuff. But it's, it's actually really cool because the the guy who came up with that idea really loves magic. And the explanations for Season One, are really wacky. They're, they're functional, but they're not actually plausible. They weren't actual secrets, he drempt up most of the explanations, but the producers don't have experience in the magic world. So they don't know it's a fake explanation. So they were exposing imaginary secrets, which to me is a hilarious meta con. And it gets famous than they want to do season two, but it's kinda like, well, I'm out of ideas. So let's, let's call this off. They fired him. And that's the thing with a mask. Anybody could wear it. So now, season two and three, they were actually revealing the real work. But yeah, it's kind of when you when you try to control a beast you conjure, it's probably going to destroy you. Ari Gronich 6:20 Yeah, so you know, that gets me to my favorite kinds of topics, which is, how is it that the audience, the people, the citizenry are? So under the spell of the magician's of the systems that we're in? Because psychologically speaking, it doesn't make sense to me? I can see it, why can't you see it? Right? It's like, is my is my way of looking at it. Like, I can see that big agriculture is poisoning our food. Why can't you see that? And why is it? Why is it okay? That you see it? If you see it? And don't care? Like why? What is it about the psychology, the mindset of people, that allows them to be so duped out of doing actions that are in their own self interest that are in their own betterment? jonathan pritchard 7:30 That's a big question. Let me let me try to approach it with with this. Do you have your cell phone next to you? Yeah. All right, would you put it face down? In front of you? Yeah. Right. Because this, this is kind of an experiment to see how your brain works. And kind of based on the numbers, we look at our phones, at least a couple 100 times a day, right? if not more, and you're often going to your main home screen to open up different apps and that kind of thing. So at least 50 ish times of those 200 times you're looking at your phone, you're seeing your home screen. And there are apps, there are widgets, there's a clock somewhere on there, who who cares, right? I want you to think about what icon or widget would be in the upper left hand corner of your main home screen on your phone that you've already seen 20 times today. Okay, so I need to think about what that is. And in just a moment, but not quite yet. Because there's a little bit of process to this. In just a moment. I'm going to turn it over, lighted up. unlock your phone. Check to see if you get it right or wrong. Lock your phone and put it facedown. Okay, well, you got to do so go for it. Got it. Right. Not open, not opening it, though. Well, you open up you unlocked it. But did you get the icon? Correct? Ari Gronich 9:17 I got the icon in the top left. Correct. jonathan pritchard 9:20 Outstanding. All right. So you're a very small percentage of the population. That actually gets it correct. But here's another question. Whether you've got an iPhone or an Android, this is the same no matter what on your lock screen. We all see exactly the same thing, which is the time. So without looking at anything else. What exact time is it? Ari Gronich 9:45 I don't know because I haven't been looking at I wasn't looking at it. jonathan pritchard 9:49 Exactly what you were expecting to see and your fundamental values of what you're looking for. prioritizes What your mind will pay attention to you were, you weren't consciously aware of the time, but it was in your visual field. So you perceived it, but you weren't aware of it, because of what information you were looking for means that you're going to filter out everything that isn't your values. So the values you hold, are your pre cognitive filter, to weed out everything that doesn't match what it is you're expecting to see. And that is a fundamental human process, our brains run off about the same amount of electricity that your your refrigerator light runs on. So you've got to have some shortcuts to be able to navigate this confusing thing called reality. So there are all sorts of assumptions and shortcuts and processes in place to help you not be frozen by having to evaluate every single detail that you could possibly be aware of. So within the context of a bigger issue, like agriculture, or whatever, within the context of your previous experience, you have logical reasons for the assumptions and beliefs that you have that build your filters for your future experiences, that will ensure that only the experiences that reinforce those beliefs are let through the gates. So any kind of knowledge or experience that could challenge those filters are kind of kept out before you're ever even capable of being consciously aware of them, because they passed you by 10 seconds ago, and you weren't aware of it in the first place. So if you're not aware of something, you can't use it, you can't leverage it, you can't apply it. And your mind actively is filtering out everything that doesn't align with what you're looking for. Ari Gronich 12:20 Okay, so I'm going to give you a scenario. You're your smoker. You go into a gas station. You see the cigarettes. You're an ex smoker. You still see the cigarettes. You're a non smoker. When I was a non smoker, I didn't see the cigarettes at all. When I started smoking I was, you know, young at the time, mind you. And when I stopped smoking, I still would see the cigarettes. When I started to identify myself as a non smoker, somebody who does not, I don't smoke, I'm not a smoker. I stopped seeing the cigarettes. I'd still go up to the counter. But I would see maybe, you know, if I liked chocolate bars, I'd see the chocolate bar instead of the, you know, the cigarettes. So that would be like a selective eyesight based on preconceived notions, right. So how do you go through life watching your family members and your friends and stuff have cancer and diabetes and heart disease and stuff and not have it be on top of your mind that you're seeing people sick, you're experiencing sick and not associating that sick with any of the habits, behaviors or situations in front of you. jonathan pritchard 14:04 You are the only person who can build your Kung Fu. I can't learn your Kung Fu for you. And trying to learn your Kung Fu for you is the fastest way to drive myself crazy. Because that's not how reality works. So you can do your due diligence, you can voice your concerns, you can try to express your viewpoint. It's just really difficult for you to force learning onto somebody. And that is kind of a fundamental communication issue. Really, which is why can't you see it my way? It is so perfectly clear to me. Why in the world Can't you see it my way. And in one perspective, your domain Finding that they become the mind reader to see the world through your mind. And they haven't spent a lifetime studying human psychology and communication theory. So expecting them to be able to do these things that are nearly superhuman is trying to measure them with your yardstick never going to happen, what you can do is try to put it in, in terms that they can relate to, so that you could at least feel understood, but you can't learn their lesson for them. Ari Gronich 15:36 Obviously, you can't learn somebody's lesson, and nobody's trying to do that. But I can educate somebody on work, life educates them, and it's not about me, it's about what is in the world that people are seeing. So people see their family and friends dying of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. And they'll still eat massive amounts of sugar, and not worry about, you know, like not care not have a thought that says, maybe the action that I'm taking is a is causing the result that I'm getting. Right? So yes, it's them doing their own Kung Fu, but I'm asking what it is in their own mind. Not anything that I have to say. They're the one experiencing it, they got diabetes, and they're, you know, drinking the soda and eating the sugar. What is it about the mind that makes it so that they are or people in general are so willing to go against their own self interest? Got it. jonathan pritchard 16:48 There's a lot going on, that weaves together to reinforce that behavior. There's a lot that could be going on, too. So that's a difficult thing to nail down as well. But a big part of a lot of our behavior is that it serves some purpose, and is some kind of strategy for need fulfillment. So in some way, their choices are the best strategies, they have to feel important to feel reassured to feel safe to feel connected, to feel valued. Even though it might be a bad strategy is still might be effective. And that's the best way that they know how to fulfill those needs that they've got. So in a way, if they solved those problems, what you're saying is that you're going to remove their strategies to scratch those itches, and to have those needs filled. So you can't really get rid of those strategies, you have to be able to find better strategies to achieve the same outcomes. So that's, that's at the heart of habit changes in in behavioral change, is recognizing what is this doing for me? What am I really getting out of this? And are there better behaviors that will serve me more effectively with fewer downsides. Another angle to that is, most people are using really bad strategies to make change. So the entirely logically consistent belief is that change is impossible. Or change is really difficult, when it's really a measure of an awful strategy that is ineffective to begin with. So then, if everything I do doesn't work, well, then I guess there's nothing that can work. So there's that angle of it. There's another angle, which is sometimes you don't see the negative impact right away. And it's, it's kind of one of those Buddhist things of, you're not punished for your anger, you're punished by your anger. Just the very nature of being angry is itself a damaging experience. That kind of idea. So if, if you're not at that level of discernment and awareness of the impact of your emotional state, your choices it's very difficult to recognize this behavior is immediately bad for me. But most People wouldn't be able to see the effects until it's much, much later. And by then, it's very difficult to tie what action created this outcome. And without that immediate feedback, there's, there's no consequence. I'm doing all these things, and I'm getting away scot free. And it's like, if you're training a dog, you're training a puppy, it needs immediate feedback that that was the right thing to do reinforce that, that was the wrong thing to do. Do not reinforce that. But our cause and effect timeline is from our perception. So distant in time. It's really difficult to relate the consequences to those actions we took last week, six months ago, two years ago. And therefore it gives us the false impression that our actions don't have consequences. And then when the consequences do come do you're going, why did this happen to me? What? Why your universe? This is so out of left field, there's no reason this should happen to me. Sure. Okay. Try selling that somewhere else. I'm not buying it. Ari Gronich 21:26 Yeah, just look at the history of that person. It's interesting. You know, that explains why kids a lot are so willing to you know, eat fast food. I mean, I have kids that they're young. Oh, and, you know, my, my stepdaughters boyfriend said to me the other day, because I asked him why he would be using the microwave, even though he knows that it's not good for him to use the microwave. He's like, I'm young. I'm 20. It doesn't affect me right now. I'll be I'll worry about it when it affects me. Right? He's like, I'm like, Oh, really. So a small effect or a big effect. Right, an imperceptible effect is still an effect of, you know, beyond, right. But I was, I grew up I was a, I call myself a canary in the coal mine. Because I brain tumor when I was really young, and, and symptoms of it that we never knew that it was there until I was 24. symptoms started when I was seven. So I knew that things that I did affected how I felt, right. And so I had a very conscious perception of that at a very young age that the actions that I'm taking, are causing a consequence to, to those actions. And it was immediate, right? It's not like, you know, you have a small gluten intolerance. That doesn't, that causes a minor inflammatory response, not a big one that causes massive stomach pain. Mine was more, you know, things were pretty evident to me. So I was very well trained to become interested in the actions and effects and actions and effects and down the line butterfly effect and things like that. So the question becomes, if the consequence is down the line, how do we get the consequence in their mind? Or how does somebody get the consequence in their mind that their path is leading that way? Because you can't tell a kid that when they're at, they're going to be bent over like this. If they keep looking at the phone all day like this, right? They're gonna be looking at their shoes, they're gonna go, I don't care. I'm straight up right now. Right? So I'm just trying to get like, how do we get the mind to work in a way that is for our benefit instead of for the benefit of our habits and fears? jonathan pritchard 24:16 What's the saying the best way to move a river is at its source. The earlier you can change the greater effect it'll have over time. That's just how it works. In idiot can't learn from their own mistakes. A normal person will learn from their own mistakes, a genius can learn from other people's mistakes. Most normal people require multiple exposures to their own bad choices before they're ever even aware of a choice being made in the first place. And the lesson will continue showing up at louder and louder Levels until it's at the limit of where they can be aware of it. Because the same level of thinking that creates that level of problems isn't going to change. So they can move, they can change environments. But that same decision making structure is still in place. So you'll make the best decisions you could make, which will create those level of problems that you're used to dealing with. So the consequences just keep showing up again and again until that person goes, oh, maybe I'm the problem here. And that, that sometimes can take a lifetime to come to Ari Gronich 25:42 right. So that sounds a little bit like the horse I know is better than the horse I don't know, kind of thing or jonathan pritchard 25:49 it's, it's that beautiful BF Skinner is is a fascinating character to me. He was a behavioral psychologist and an operant conditioning. So we've got Pavlovian conditioning, which is very straightforward. Ring Bell salivate, okay, it's now the bell ringing is associated with food, therefore, the food trigger happens with the bell. Okay, very straightforward. BF Skinner took that a little farther. And what he did was, this part's a bummer, he would starve pigeons to like 75% of their body weight, so they're very food motivated. Okay, he puts them in a little cage box, and there's a lever that the bird could pack. And then food drops out. Very simple, classical conditioning setup here, where if bird hits lever, then food drops out. And very quickly, the bird fingers spat out, kind of go, oh, if I want food, I hit the lever. Okay, my, my input is required for food output. Awesome, I got it. This box is the limit of experience for this bird. The birds context. The whole thing is the box. That's it. bf Skinner's context is the laboratory. And Skinner changes the logic of the box from the lever to an interval of time set to random. So it might be five minutes, this time, it might be 30 seconds next time, totally random. To drop out the food. The food is no longer connected to the to the lever. The bird lacks the contextual awareness to realize that that change has been made. So within the context, the birds experience, food drops out. It's logical belief is I needed to do something for that food to drop out because I've seen that happen 100 times already. So I guess now whatever it was I was just doing is the thing that I need to do to get the food to drop out which at that point was looking over my right shoulder. Okay, so let me let me try that out. I'm going to try this hypothesis looks over my right shoulder and nothing happens. Mm, okay, maybe I didn't do it hard enough. This time, boom, I look over my right shoulder and food drops out. See I knew it. I knew it was looking over my shoulder. You now have a superstitious pigeon. Straight up superstitious pigeon. From its experience, that is a completely logical belief system that is in alignment with its reality. But it's it's not real. But it makes sense. So the bird can't think outside the context of its experience. So back to the question you asked. It's that a person who doesn't expose themselves to new ideas to other perspectives will always be limited to their pre existing structure of assumptions, that the only logical outcome will always be the same belief and decision making. Those are the decisions you make that are your best strategies that will always result in the kinds of problems that you're used to dealing with. Because the problems you're used to dealing with are a result of the quality and strategy of your thinking. So without changing that fundamental structure, you can't help but end up at the same conclusions, the same problems. And those problems are there as a as just a blaring, like foghorn of, Hey, this is the natural consequence of being you right now. If you want better problems, you've got to change the way you think about your opportunities, your relationships, reality, the only thing that can change is your relationship with reality. SATs when you get cooler problems, that's when things change. But that's why you're not going to level up when you're making the same choices. And like, I've had that happen my own life, the best idea I've got. It keeps playing out over two to three years. But I wind up in exactly the same positions, exactly the same problems. It's just that the actors are different, but it's exactly the same script. I'm the only common denominator here. So what am I doing to create these experiences? Okay. Ari Gronich 31:22 So that's, as I said, that sounds a lot like, you know, the saying, Why am I always attracting the same thing in relationship? or Why am I always attracting the same experience in business? Why, you know, why does this happen to me over and over again? Right, I hear that question a lot. I know that, you know, for me, in business there, there's always been a lot of ups and downs, because my experience was, when my parents, when I was young, my parents got into business with somebody, and he ended up stealing their entire business and everything from them, to where we had to move out of my house, we had to the house, my dad actually had built, we had, you know, we were left with nothing and, and had to rebuild. And so I learned, people are unreliable, they will steal for you, if they have an opportunity, they'll take advantage of you if you're nice. Right? So I have all, you know, it was like all these sets of beliefs that would then later on in life, it didn't happen. When I wasn't in business, it happened only when I went into business, but later in life, I start, you know, I recreated those things. Right. So then the question becomes, how does one when they get that awareness that that's happening, then what are some of the techniques they can use to then shift that perspective? Like some actual tangible techniques, if you if you have any, but to shift the so that, okay, I recognize that pattern. I don't like the pattern, but I don't know how to stop the pattern. So how do we how do we get to that stop the pattern and then to the shift into a new, more healthy or what, you know, cleaner, kind of Yeah, jonathan pritchard 33:29 it goes back to the cause and effect, that is such a difficult thing to do, because that pattern might happen six months earlier, before its consequences are loud enough for you to be able to hear them. And by then it's difficult to recognize the state you were in six months ago that led to the choices that led to the six months later consequences. So it's, it's really difficult. This is not easy stuff. It can be simple. Once you understand that it's fairly direct, and it makes sense. But it doesn't mean it's easy. Another thing is to recognize that these are the beliefs, behaviors and systems of decision making, that you've had for a lifetime. And you've had that long to get really good at thinking that way. Thinking is a skill being you is a skill. making the choices that feel right is a skill. And the more you make those choices, the more natural those choices feel. And that's a big part of why you keep making them. Because this is clearly the best way to make this choice. This is clearly my best option. This is the one that feels right. feels right because it's the one you're most familiar with the one you're best at doing. That's why it's the best. It kind of takes a genius to be able to wake yourself up. It's very, very useful to have a mentor, or some external third party person who isn't living in the same context as you are. So that they can recognize those patterns before you do to be able to give you those pattern interrupts of, Hey, why are you doing it that way? What do you mean? I'm, I'm doing it that way. I'm not doing it that way. Yeah, you're you're actually right in the middle of doing it that way. Look, exactly what you're doing. Oh, my god, you're right. I, I am Wait, what? How did I get here what's happening, right kind of wake you up in the middle of that, that natural process. And a big part of it is recognizing that changing your behavior is not going to feel natural. Every instinct you have will tell you that this is wrong. And that this is not the right way to do things. And it will feel like you're dying is basically it. Because what's dying are those ideas that are living in the energy of of your imagination in mind, that are feeding off your decision energy that keeps them alive. So those ideas are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that you don't kill them. But that's what happens when you start making different choices. You're starting to give that energy to new ideas, the old ideas are not going to go quietly into the night. So just recognize that doing a better strategy. At first is going to feel more uncomfortable and unfamiliar than riding a unicycle and juggling fire. Just know that that's part of the process. Ari Gronich 37:17 That sounds like fun, actually, I'm a Burning Man guy. So I like juggling fire and jonathan pritchard 37:23 a reason I have the the fire juggling tattoo. Ari Gronich 37:27 Absolutely. So So then the question becomes to change your habits. Sometimes we need to change our circumstances, our environment and the people we're around, right? Because we're around people who are like we were or like we are but not like we want to be necessarily. So the uncomfortability that people tend to have when it when it when they're changing or when somebody is changing around them. And the pullback though, the the crab box, you know, like we always are pulling people down instead of lifting them up. So you've got to find people who are where you want to go. Right? And that way you have those mentors and those people who can point out to you and say, so the question becomes at that point, why would those people want to be around you? Because they have to, they have to decide, am I going to mentor this person, I'm going to, you know, beyond our current culture of everybody's a coach and pay me and I'll help you, right? Everybody's, I'm a mentor. But if you have to pay me 50,000 to mentor you. It used to be that was just like, the way that we grew up in the world was we would you know, somebody above would take somebody below and say, Here, come with me. And let's go do this together. Let me teach you let me train you. Let me see. But and, you know, you get the idea that in this current world that we live in, it's difficult to find somebody who's at that level that says, you know, like Andrew Carnegie saying to Napoleon Hill, I will mentor you, you just, you know, go right about it, learn about it. Let's do this. Right. So how to that kind of? Well, you heard the question. jonathan pritchard 39:41 Yeah, there are a couple very, very subtle distinctions that that I think are important to, to nail down. Which is you're right, the crab bucket mentality and people dragging you down because you're useful reassurance. They're to say, like, whatever they're getting out of you being the you You are now, you'll be taking that from them by changing your situation. So there's that to be aware of the danger. The caution I want to pin down is, wherever you go, there you are. And if you make the mistake of believing, changing your environment alone, is what's needed for you to be different you that will quickly turn back into the you, you're used to, because you brought you with you wherever you went, right. So wherever it is, you go very soon, way faster than you think you are making the choices to recreate exactly the same dynamic you ran away from in the first place. So a change of environment is a useful pattern interrupt to hiccup, so that you can take stock of my natural next instinct is to do this. And that way, the same patterns are there, the environments different. So that gives you a chance to recognize those patterns. So that's why it's useful for environment changes. But changing your environment doesn't change you. You bring yourself along with you. So there, that's just kind of the one of the distinctions I want to make, which is, you can't run away, you're not going to go to a new city and start all over again. And things will be different this time. No, six months later, you'll be right back in the same same spot. So the next detail is about well, how in the world do you get a mentor, especially nowadays, the internet and that kind of a thing. Having an in person mentor is awesome. Having direct relationships with them is awesome. But books are the world's best thinkers throughout all written history that you have to learn from. And it's getting mind reading lessons from the world's most effective people. So they have generously distilled a lifetime's worth of valuable insight into a couple of 100 pages that you can read in eight hours. So that same 50,000 hour $50,000, you would need to pay to sit down with Mark Cuban or whoever, for eight hours, you could buy it for five bucks on on Kindle. So there's that angle to it. The other angle is why in the world, with some world class achiever want to hang out with a loser like me. That is a very logical belief, that is a very reasonable thing to keep you away from making those connections. totally makes sense. Doesn't have to be real. But it's logical. And that's the real thorny part of this. All the stuff that's gonna derail you. totally makes sense. It feels right. It's it's logical. Like, yeah, you just built a great case for why this will never happen. But look at that, dude, he shows you that it doesn't have to happen, it can go a different way. So I like to kind of explain that idea. In the context of I just did my mind reading show 70 minute migrating show comedy bringing people up on stage in front of a roomful of people. That's a very uncomfortable situation for a volunteer to be in. But I helped them feel like a million bucks. I set them up for success. I can calm them down, build that rapport, that trust very quickly, the whole whole nine yards. So you do the show. Standing ovation. Okay, I've had some of those to definitely had some of those. So, afterwards, there's going to be three types of people that come talk to me. The first one is going to say, How did you do that trick? Tell me that trick with the hands and touching the hands. How does that work? And then I say it's a mystery. Oh, man, it's woof. Isn't that a good trick? Huh? That's that's level of their interest. The second person will go You know, I've always been interested in mind reading and mentalism and the psychology of humans and, and I'm just super fascinated about it. And then I go Okay, what what books have you read? Like, oh, I, I don't even know where to start. I go, Okay, well, here's a good book to check out. Here's a good book to check out. Here's a good resource, your library 790 8.3 or 790 3.8, whatever, whatever that number is, is the Dewey Decimal number for magic and in games. That's it at libraries. It's sitting right there at your county library. been there for decades, same books since 1950s. Alright, so gave them their lead. The third person will go man, that was a great show loved it. I've been interested in mentalism. And I've read this book. And this trick in that book is my favorite, but I just can't get it to work right? Then I go, I'm sorry, everybody. autograph line is done. I'm going to have to hang out this person, because try to shut me up. Walking that person through. Okay, so your thumb is a little like it's two millimeters away from the perfect position. Now, put it right here. It doesn't that feel like oh, yeah, I can do the thing. So there are a lot of people who demand the answers, go find them yourself. A lot of people want answers, here's where to find them. Here are the answers I've already been searching for, and been trying. And here, here, the frustrations I've had. I'm going to mentor that third person, that third person has already demonstrated that my time is not going to be wasted, by virtue of them already doing what it is that they need to do to win. So coaches want to coach winners. They don't want to they don't want to coach losers, right? You just don't. So make yourself valuable, demonstrate that you're coachable. Don't Don't argue with the person who's already been doing this for 30 years, and can do this in their sleep. So fight the urge to argue with the person who is provably better at doing these things than you are. Because I'm not interested in debating. I'm not interested in arguing. I was a I was competitive debater in high school and college, through all of it. I was a competitive debater, that was the fun time for me to do that. I'm no longer interested in that I'm now interested in creating and building and giving other people the tools and techniques and strategies to build success for themselves. That's what I'm interested in. If you're interested in arguing with me about that's not the way I see it, great, then I don't need to mentor you. And a lot of people make themselves unmaintainable by by fighting to keep their old ways of losing that they will they will give everything they have to hold on to the way they've always done it. And why in the world? Am I going to care more than they do about their problems? So no. So do what you can with what you got. And just do that day in day out. And that's how you show that, hey, I will actually take to heart what you're going to teach me and I want to implement what it is you can show me. The other side of that equation, though the cautionary side is nobody. And I mean, no human being can think outside the box. When somebody says we need to think outside the box, they don't know what they're talking about. Because we're all pigeons in that cage. The only thing you can do is crawl out of your box into somebody else's slightly larger box. The instant you start applying their strategies and advice, you begin building their box. So if the person giving you advice is living a life you wouldn't trade for. ignore it. That's the final litmus test of would I give up everything I have to live the life that persons living. If not, you can completely ignore the advice they're trying to give you because the moment you start listening to it and In making those decisions that are in alignment with what they would do, you're going to start getting the same consequences they do, whether that's getting fabulously rich and wealthy, maybe that's getting rich and wealthy and a horrible home life and their wife hates them. consequences are positive and negative. They're just the natural byproduct of the decisions you make. So make sure that the consequences are worth what they're going to cost you, which is everything that you have right now. Ari Gronich 50:33 Yeah, I call I call it I talked about that in my book with the butterfly effect. I call it nuanced thinking and and, you know, following a path, it's the same thing and operational planning is, what are the actions and then what are the consequences to the consequences to the consequences to the consequences of the one action that was all the way back over here. And, and sometimes it's good, I tell my son, actually, you know, like, there's consequences to everything. If you're late for, you know, get in your car, when it's parked at a parking meter, you're going to get a ticket, if you don't do your homework, it's, you're, you're going to have a consequence, if you do your homework, you're going to have that consequence of learning and growing and changing. And I try to give him that kind of a philosophy. He's seven years old, but he is so smart, so he can understand the words that I'm saying and what I'm telling him. And, and yeah, I find I find that to be really fascinating. What I also find fascinating is how few people even recognize the consequence to their action, long after the action is done, or right away, you know, and what you said earlier is is true that sometimes that consequence comes much later. And it's harder to put the start point of the origin with with the answer. But, you know, Jim Rohn, used to say, you can, you know, you plan, like, say a five year plan. And you say, here's the goal, here's where I'm going. And then within five years, you get there, you're going to get somewhere in five years, you can either have go to a well designed location, or an undesigned location. Right. And so the the consequences of your actions today are five years down the road, it's, it's a way so just backtrack, the goal backtrack, what you want to do. I also like the the conversation that you're talking about needs because everything every action is a response to get a fundamental need met. And I don't think myself included, that majority of people actually write a needs list for anything that they do specifically. So whether it's a relationship, they might say, here's a trait list I want in the person, but not a needless, what is it that I need from a relationship? What is it that I need? From my business? What is it the lifestyle, the need of the lifestyle I want to live What's the need of the health I want to have? And, and and bringing it back to that is that would be a fundamental way to shift the actions is to recognize Okay, here are my fundamental needs which may or may not shift at some point as you grow older and and so on. But it's an interesting thing. I have you know, you brought up things like mentalist you know as far as a profession What do you think of the TV show mentalist or psych or even lied to me? You know, where, where they're talking about body language and what what intrigues me is the amount of information they can gather from the body language and so forth. Do you have any techniques or skills that help somebody become more observant of their surroundings become more and it kind of goes back to that phone thing that you talked about earlier when you had me look at the phone to become that hyper focused where you can see the nuance of an environment? jonathan pritchard 54:40 Yeah, I I am not being trite. I am being ultra literal here, which is they are able to notice so much because they read the script. And I mean, to say Sat. The body language narrative is a useful tool to instill the belief that I can do things that you can't. It's predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding of reality, though. If you were to press any of these body language experts, they the the Balian mode, kind of like, Oh, I'm going to advance this. And then when you attack me, I'm going to retreat to my mode. Right? That process is they claim to be a body language expert. And here's, I know, because here's how human body language works. that argument, though, is founded on the belief that there are universal displays of human emotion, that a smile is always a smile. A frown is always a frown. In that kind of a thing. There are zero, universally applicable human displays of emotion. They are always contextually relevant. Always. So there's, there's no one behavior, that always means the same thing. To put it simply, that fundamentally undermines the entire structure that these body language experts build their, their life on. Right? So then they retreat to Well, I don't I'm not saying that, Jonathan, I mean, that I'm just really good at reading the situation. So why are you taking a two second clip from a three hour conversation? And then espousing that I have a rocky relationship with my my dad? Like, it's it's all hogwash. It's made up. It's, it's modern day phonology. It's tarot cards. It's Barnum statements. So I fundamentally disagree with a lot of body language experts, and the entire structure of their business. Having said that, within the context of a performance, a mind reading show, I'll use that as a useful narrative. To give my audience something to hold on to that explains how I'm able to know these things about somebody when the real method is I stole the information somehow. So it's a useful narrative, to give your mind an explanation. And once your mind has an explanation, it stops looking for the explanation. Ari Gronich 58:09 Right? You're placated. jonathan pritchard 58:10 Yes, you go, I need an answer. Here you go. Oh, I have an answer. Now, my worlds okay. He waved his hand and snapped his fingers. That's how it worked. It sounds stupid when it when you say it out loud in your life. I know that can't be what it is. But your non conscious mind, the mind that filters out the experience, the one that operates off of a lifetime's worth of Yes, how it works, totally buys it totally buys it. So that that's my cautionary tale, which is to say, be aware of those assumptions, that you know what's going on? Because a little knowledge is really dangerous. Ari Gronich 58:56 Right? So the one I hear a lot is your arms are crossed, right? Mm hmm. Yep. Closed to this conversation because your arms are crossed. And so you're closing off and saying no, yeah. Yeah. You know, I could be cold. I again, like Like you said, I could be cold and you know, I could be cold. I could be just like resting on on my belly, you know, place to put my hands I can be as you are, you know, just comfortable and leaning on the, you know, jonathan pritchard 59:29 yes. My chair doesn't have armrests. I gotta, Ari Gronich 59:32 yeah, I don't have them. If I were to read body language. If I were to go by this script, so to speak, I'd say you're closed off right now. If I were to go by my intuition, I'd say he's relaxed. He's open in the conversation. He's having a good time. He's making eye contact. You know, even with the camera, not with me, but you know, I mean, yeah, that's, that's an nuanced way of looking at it versus a prescribed way of looking at it. Right? jonathan pritchard 1:00:05 Right. The Yeah, the the, the way that it works, where you can build it to help you is number of times you've been in this certain kind of dynamic. I've been in my show more than 1000 times. And I have 100 times 1000 data points of picking somebody who's actively scowling. And so within the American context, within the smaller context of my show, within the even smaller context of my audience, in the smaller, smaller context of that audience member, over the years, when I pick somebody who looks like that, my show tends to go wrong. It tends to go very poorly, because 10 times out of 10, I go, you know what, Jonathan, maybe you're just reading too much into this. Maybe he's just cold baby, he's, so let me bring him up. And then every time I bring that kind of person up, that they are not a good experience for the show. And as a steward of the experience for my audience, I'm doing my audience a disservice by picking that person again and again. So what what you can do is look for the baseline of what that person's normal is, then your pattern recognition will be real good at being able to notice deviations from that, that normal. So that's why it's really difficult for a magician or a mentalist to successfully execute a trick with their best friend or family members, or people that spend all day every day you go, I am the great Jonathan Pritchard from and they're like, Jonathan, shut up, I changed your diapers, man, like just stop it and be like, they they know the affectation, right? From the everyday me. So if there's some sort of tick, or weirdness or tension in my shoulder, because I'm uncomfortable, because I'm about to do the tricky move, they will be able to feel that difference. Even if they're not able to point out, Hey, your your right shoulder came up as you were dealing, you need to be aware of that, they'll still be able to go there was something weird. I don't know what it was. But that didn't. I didn't feel like magic that felt like you were trying to do something. And then if I can pull it off with a family member, I know that that skill is is locked down cold, we go all right now there's no chance an audience member is going to be able to perceive that difference from my baseline. All right. Ari Gronich 1:03:16 Right. So I used to do, I'm a hypnotist certified clinical hypnotist, apparently hypnotherapist and I did take the stage course and how to do stage hypnosis. And I'm, I'm pretty good at at picking the right person that is going to be inducible. And, and stuff for fast. Induction Right. Which, by the way, a fast induction is not as fast as it looks, because everything that they said every bit of what they did before they did the induction was the induction. So just as a cautionary tale. But what I was I you know, I've not ever been able to do is somebody who knew me for more than a year. I could never get if, if I if I knew them for more than a year. They knew me they weren't they were they were just wanting to prove that I couldn't do it. Right. Versus versus the opposite. So I totally get that. That's kind of like, you know, the horse, you know, again, the horse you know versus the horse you don't know. When you don't know something. You can be surprised by it. When you know something and absolute. There's nothing to surprise you. So being in the place of allowing a surprise is the place of being curious. And the place of being curious is wanting to have knowledge that you do not currently have or Wanting to extend the knowledge that you do currently have, right? So jonathan pritchard 1:05:04 absolutely. Ari Gronich 1:05:05 So in your line of work, you know, like the things that you do on a daily basis besides the practice besides the stage performing? What is it that you what is like, if there were three things or four things that you can point to that you tell all of your clients that you say to all of the people that are kind of recurring themes? What are those recurring themes that, that you absolutely, you know, that are absolute for you. jonathan pritchard 1:05:45 Learn Kung Fu. Really, all of what we're talking about is concrete. And physics level true. And you learn that the first time you get punched in the face. I don't care what your mindset is, I don't care what your vision board is, I don't care what your motivation was, I don't care how you were feeling. I don't care what you wanted. I don't care what you intended to do. None of that matters, because you just got punched in the face. And you realize that none of that stopped it from happening. And your instructor who loves you enough to punch you in the face, is teaching you something extraordinarily valuable, which is none of that other stuff matters. If you can't even get out of the way of what's happening to you. So learning to control your base layer, your physical layer of reality is step one ground level for being able to affect any other kind of change at more and more abstract levels. So, learn how to stand, learn how to be balanced, learn how to move in a coordinated fashion, in a disciplined system way. The process of developing that skill set is kind of a holographic or fractal or multi level application, however you want to put it, the process of learning that level of it will be the context that you can now apply to your emotions, or your thoughts, or your breath, or your energy or your time. All those other more abstract levels are more difficult to manage, than learning to stand up, right? So having a physical discipline is your most valuable context to explore all these, what sound like abstract ideas, but really, their fundamental truths that you can prove to yourself by virtue of learning how to not get punched in the face. So everybody goes, Oh, Jonathan, what should I do about this? I'm feeling this way or that and then you can always bring it back down to if somebody were trying to punch you in the face in this way. What would you do about it? Well, they shouldn't be punching me in the face. Well, they are. You're fighting reality right? Now. You're refusing to accept what is real. And only by perceiving what is real? Can you do anything about it? So that doesn't matter right now. They're punching you in the face? What are you going to do about it? Well, I don't want them to punch me in the face. That's a logical thing to feel. And that's not going to stop them from punching you in the face. Their fist is coming at you. It's even closer now. Because you've wasted time wondering why they're doing it, and how it makes you feel and why they should or should not be doing this. And none of that stuff matters. What do you do about it? So that, to me is the world's fastest way to cut through all the chicanery and the the whatnot, that's holding you back from doing things differently than how you've always wanted to do them. Because in that context, you can try out those strategies. That usually takes six months to play out. It can take half a second, and then you try it again, and it still doesn't work. Then you try it again, and it still doesn't work. You try it again. And it works even worse that time. And you're proving to yourself, oh, my best strategies are actually pretty awful. So maybe I should think about doing things differently. Okay, teach, what do I do in this situation? All right, well, you got to make sure you maintain your balance, you got to coordinate your structure, you have to move in a United Way with intention. That's the only way that you can interact with reality and survive contact. So, so legit, have some sort of physical practice, and self defense, or martial arts or whatever, is the most fundamental rock solid foundation that you can build from. Nice, yeah, Ari Gronich 1:10:51 I've been a martial artist since I was five. I used to work with the PAL program in Santa Monica. And just kind of funny story is, we were we were training. The pal program is the police activities league. And we were training a bunch of kids that were part of the program. So we teach them school stuff, and then, you know, mentor them on school, and then we would teach them martial arts. And for that privilege, we got to do some adult play with the cops. So we, you know, gun takeaway weapons works and things like that. And I was, I was training one of the the newer adults in, in the class, in self defense. And basically, he was doing a punch to the face, but he would do an angle, so he wouldn't be coming towards my face. Right. So he was not allowing me to block or to do anything, because I could just stand there and I would never get hit. So jonathan pritchard 1:12:07 do me a favor, right? Ari Gronich 1:12:08 I would tell him, you got to hit me in the chin, you got to go straight for my chin was straight for my chin straight for my chin. And eventually, he did. And he hit me square on the chin. And I was like, I just said, Good. Now you're getting it. Right. He didn't want to work with me again. I want him in the gym. But I'm like, you have to do the movement towards the person in a way that's reality based so that they can in reality go to the defense of themselves. Right. So anyway, it's just an interesting story that goes along with what you're saying. And the chicanery. And as we heard people say, the mishegoss, which means meetings, the craziness of it all. You know, it is actually a really good thing for people to do is train their body to be in a battle. I mean, the benefit is that the majority of people who are who learn martial arts will never get in a fight ever, in their life. Because the aura that they put off the the positioning of their body that the way that they stand and walk just says to people, not the person for me to mess with, right. So it's not about enjoying the fight. It's about the persona, the personality. You know, I tell people, I think we need to get people back into a draft of some sort, whether it's military draft, or civil service, some kind of Peace Corps, it should be a mandatory thing to serve the country and create that kind of level of care for the community and society around you. Right. But also, the discipline of the military is is a good aspect to learn as long as you're not losing yourself in the process.You know, yeah, you've got to have a system that sets you free, rather than a system that creates a robot clone of somebody else. Right. And what I loved about Bruce Lee was move like water, you know, like water is you move like water, you flow like what? No set discipline, all of them mix together and then put into action. weigh that anything that comes at him, he's ready for because he didn't train to be rigid, he trained to flow like water. And so you know, good in your mind as well in your body. But what you were saying, you know true that in many cases it starts in the body, the body creates the environment for the mind to thrive. If you have an unhealthy body, you're going to have probably an unhealthy mind or at least a less healthy, less optimized mind. So what would you say? If somebody was at your show? And they start heckling you and telling your tricks from from the audience? What is you know, like, that would be to me a punch in the face, right? So how, how would you because I want you to kind of demonstrate a punch in the fight face and you know, a swerve kung fu is like Aikido is kind of like, use their energy. Right? So how would you How would you deal with that? I wanted to liven it up a little bit. jonathan pritchard 1:16:19 Yeah. One of my kind of Wing Chun Kung Fu, sayings comes to mind, which is the best self defense is to not be their second best is learn Kung Fu. In a way, I just don't show up for that. So at a more fundamental level, I don't get hecklers anymore. Because I don't design my show in a way that encourages them. And I, I, it might look like a punch to somebody else. It might look like a heckler to somebody else. I just see them trying to hug me real good kind of reframe of what's happening. So very rarely do I ever get somebody who's genuinely heckling. Most of the time, if it's a show stopping event, and it's derailing the experience, it's mainly because that person drank too much. And they lacked the context to understand their way of interacting is not helping everybody have a good time. So there's that part of it. And I want to meet that person with love. And that's another angle to the martial arts thing, which is, you don't have to be angry at your opponent. And it doesn't even have to be an opponent. Sometimes the people you love the most are the closest with the most opportunity to hurt you. And you can't slam their head into the wall, in self defense. So you've got to be really skillful at maintaining your boundaries and your safety, while maintaining the physical well being and emotional well being and intellectual well being of the people you care about. So your natural instinct doesn't have to be annihilate this person. Most performers, and especially comedians, that's their deal, man. I had a heckler last night and I got killed it man, I just shut them down. I'm bares them in front of their wife. It was awesome. Right? Like that's their go to is to meet that interaction with destruction. It's that's not my jam. I've designed my my show, my two day workshops, my keynotes, everything essentially follows this same formula, which is right up front. Greet the audience with warmth, and genuine love and appreciation. Because I know how I make a living is an absolute gift. It's an honor, and a privilege. And the moment I take that for granted, it's all over. So I can't ever be a diva. I am supremely appreciative of the way I get to live my life and have built it. So there's that. So when I walk out on stage, that's the vibe. I playfully accentuate the Yes, yes. You don't know it yet. But I deserved every bit of that applause Thank you, thank you, that kind of thing. They kind of go, okay, he he's got a sense of humor about it, but he's confident I get it. So that's a good establishing line. thin, I do things that the audience can't do. Just right up front. All right, everybody. Let's try this thing together. And then I can do it. Nobody else can. And without saying it explicitly, I say Look, I can do things you can't. And the audience gets it because they just watched it happen. They go against you could do things I can't All right. He's, he's the guy that can do things. I get it. Okay. So that gets communicated right up front. And I need to fulfill that expectation that the audience has. We're gonna see a guy who could do things I can't. That's what they want to see happen, right? Like, that's almost literally what they're paying money for, is to see a guy read minds, I can't remind. So this dude says he could read minds. He better reads minds, man, right. So you have to do what they're expecting to fulfill that checkbox. All right, I got my money's worth. I came to see my greeting show. What do you just did some cool stuff. All right. Everything from here is gravy. I want that done as quickly as possible. Because then I shift to Yeah, yeah, it all makes sense that I can do these things. Because I've spent a lifetime learning to do them. I learned to juggle fire when I was 13 years old hammer nails at my nose when I was 15. Eat fire when I was 18. I've got a whole laundry list of weird skills. And none of that is unexpected. Because I'm the dude on stage here. To me, it's more interesting. To help you guys see what you can do. The whole rest of the show is me being the facilitator of making the audience members, the stars of the show. They are the agents of action. They're the person that predicts the future. They're the person that that does everything. So everything I do is focused on highlighting them as the important person. And now I'm kind of like the talk show host. Sure. Everybody knows this Johnny Carson show. Everybody knows it's Jay Leno. Everybody knows it's Letterman. Those are the names. But they're interesting because their guests, and you watch the show, because the interesting conversations they have. So now who's going to heckle me. Because I'm just there to make their friend look good. And now if there is a heckler, or somebody who is interacting in a not okay way within the confines of this performance, I am now in a position to stick up for my friend who's on stage. And I go, Listen, man, this is not easy to do. This is a scary spot to be in. And my friend right here is doing a phenomenal job. And I'm not going to let you steal this moment from them. So if you can't respect that this person is doing something very difficult, right? Now, I'm going to ask you to leave. Because we don't do that here. And then they go, Oh, I didn't know I was being that kind of an idiot. And you're like you were being that kind of an idiot. So I'm giving you this one opportunity, explicitly outlining what behavior I expect from you, which is to sit down, shut up, and clap when it's time. That is the appropriate way to interact with the show right now. That kind of thing, right? The number of times that I've had to do that infinitesimal compared to the number of times I haven't had to do that. But when you structure your show that way, it's no longer Look at me because I'm the cool man. And now it's a contest of wills. That's just inviting the alpha male in the audience who has the identity of I'm the most interesting person in this room. Right, like, and now that Jonathan guy is making me feel threatened, because my girlfriend is watching him instead of me. And now I need to lash out and I need to attack. Oh, it's fake. You're a phony, right? That's the root of that heckling, is threatening that person's identity as whatever. So I don't come out claiming to be the thing that would threaten them. And suddenly that behavior doesn't happen. Ari Gronich 1:24:14 So let's translate that as as kind of the last bit of cool advice. let's translate that to business and life. Right? So you have a template when you go on stage. People don't have a template to live their life, but they can make one. So give us some some hints on how somebody can make a better template. Well, I'm not going to qualify it with better or worse but can make a template for their life. That creates audience participation versus the kind of heckling and interaction right? So lifes participation going with your template versus being a thorn in the template. jonathan pritchard 1:25:10 It's cliche, but for a reason it works. Which is to be more interested in other people than being