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( English Note Below ) マタイ 9:9-13 JCB イエスはそこを去り、道を進んで行かれました。途中、マタイという取税人が取税所に座っていたので、「来なさい。わたしの弟子になりなさい」と声をおかけになると、マタイはすぐ立ち上がり、あとについて行きました。(10)そのあと、イエスと弟子たちは、マタイの家で夕食をとることになり、取税人仲間や律法の規定を守らない人も大ぜい招かれました。   小屋の中のマタイは孤独感を抱いていたイエスは心を見抜きマタイを呼んだ ヨハネ 15:16 JCB あなたがたがわたしを選んだのではありません。わたしがあなたがたを選んだのです。そして任命しました。だから、あなたがたは行って、いつまでも残るすばらしい実を結びます。また、わたしの名前によって父に求めるものは、何でもいただけるのです。   マタイは人生を通して素晴らしいことをしたマタイ 9:9-11 JCB イエスはそこを去り、道を進んで行かれました。途中、マタイという取税人が取税所に座っていたので、「来なさい。わたしの弟子になりなさい」と声をおかけになると、マタイはすぐ立ち上がり、あとについて行きました。(10)そのあと、イエスと弟子たちは、マタイの家で夕食をとることになり、取税人仲間や律法の規定を守らない人も大ぜい招かれました。(11)これを見たパリサイ人たちはかんかんになり、弟子たちに、「おまえたちの先生は、どうしてあのような者たちとつき合うのだ」と食ってかかりました。(12) イエスはこれを聞いて、「健康な人には医者はいりません。医者が必要なのは病人です」とお答えになり、   ピリピ 4:13 JCB 力を与え、強めてくださる方によって、私は、神に求められるどんなことでもできるからです。   マタイ 6:33 JCB 神を第一とし、神が望まれるとおりの生活をしなさい。そうすれば、必要なものは、神が与えてくださいます。     Matthew 9:9-13 NLT As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. (10) Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.   Matthew Was Dealing With Loneliness at his booth  Jesus saw His heart and called Matthew to follow Him John 15:16 NLT You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.   Matthew did great things through his life Matthew 9:9-11 NLT As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. (10) Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (11) But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” (12) When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do.”   Philippians 4:13 NLT For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.   Matthew 6:33 NLT Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.   Support this podcast

Super Natural is a sermon series on the miraculous works of Jesus in the Bible. The Leper Cleansed — Jesus reached out and touched a man, healing him from leprosy. This miracle teaches four things: Sin is a stain. Sin separates. Jesus cleanses the stain of sin. Jesus reconciles in relationship. Recorded on April 25, 2021, on Matthew 8:1-4, by Pastor David Parks. Sermon Transcript Today, we’re continuing a series called Super Natural. Everywhere Jesus went, he did three things: he preached about the kingdom of God, he called men and women to follow him as his disciples, and he did miracles. In Matthew 11, When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” Jesus expected the miracles to authenticate his ministry, to prove that he was who he claimed to be. But also, these works serve as living parables that teach us about the character of God and his desire for us, his people. So today, we’re considering the statement, “those who have leprosy are cleansed.” What does that mean? Well, if you have a Bible or a Bible app, please open it to Matthew 8:1. Let’s read together: Matthew 8:1-4 (NIV), “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” So Matthew, who was also called Levi, was an Apostle of Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector before he became a Christian, which probably means he was wealthy but not welcome in his community. That probably gives him a unique perspective on this story of welcoming and healing an outsider. Let’s start again at v. 1. Matthew 8:1, “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.” So Matthew places this account immediately after the famous Sermon on the Mount — the mountainside being where Jesus was preaching which makes sense to accommodate the large crowds who were following him at this time. The Apostle gives us the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7 as a sample of the preaching ministry of Jesus and then goes on to report 10 different miracles as a sample of the miraculous ministry of Jesus. The cleansing of the leper, here, being the first of those 10 accounts. Let’s continue in v. 2. Matthew 8:2, “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” The term leprosy covered a variety of skin diseases at the time, some of which were curable but some were not. Today, leprosy is called Hansen’s Disease and, thankfully, is fairly rare, but only in the last 30 years or so. However, in Jesus’ day, it was a terrible affliction. Leprosy is caused by a bacterial infection and over time, one of the effects is that it deadens your ability to feel pain. This is dangerous as it can lead to other wounds, especially on your hands or feet, without realizing that you’re hurt. Pain, it turns out, is a very effective way to let us know when there’s a problem. The ancient Jewish people had a law regulating such diseases.  Leviticus 13:45-46, “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.” Before antibiotics, before a viable treatment, the only effective way to limit the spread of a contagious disease was to quarantine and wear a mask when you wen...

This month on Episode 21 of the Discover CircRes podcast, host Cindy St. Hilaire highlights four featured articles from the February 2 and February 19 issues of Circulation Research. This episode also features an in-depth conversation with  Konstantinos Drosatos and Ioannis Kyriazis from Temple University to discuss their study, KLF5 is Induced by FOXO1 and Causes Oxidative Stress and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy.   Article highlights:   Wittenbecher, et al. Lipidomics and Heart Failure Risk   Kryshtal, et al. Flecainide Directly Inhibits RYR2 Ca Release   Chen, et al. Klotho and Heart Aging   Grootaert, et al.  SIRT6 Deacetylase Protects Against VSMC Senescence   Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Hi, and welcome to Discover CircRes, the podcast of the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation Research. I'm your host, Dr Cindy St. Hilaire from the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, and today I'll be highlighting four articles from the February 5th and 19th issues of CircRes. After the highlights, Dr Konstantinos Drosatos and Ioannis Kyriazis from Temple University will join me to discuss their study, KLF5 is Induced by FOXO1 and Causes Oxidative Stress and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        The first article I want to share is Lipid Profiles and Heart Failure Risk: Results from Two Prospective Studies. The first author is Clemens Wittenbecher, and the corresponding author is Frank Hu from Harvard's Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Mass. Heart failure affects tens of millions of people worldwide, and as the prevalence grows, prevention strategies are becoming ever more important. While factors including age, obesity, and hypertension influence one's risk of developing heart failure, robust biomarkers that are able to pinpoint which individuals will develop heart failure are lacking. Changes in cardiac lipid metabolism predispose animal models of heart failure. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        This group hypothesized that blood lipid profiles might be useful to serve as a heart failure biomarker. The team examined 216 blood lipids from a cohort of individuals with various cardiovascular risk factors, but who, at the time of enrollment and blood collection, did not have heart failure. Over the observation period, which averaged out to over 12 years, 331 of the subjects developed heart failure. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        When compared to the baseline lipid profiles of individuals who didn't develop heart failure, the group identified two particular lipids, ceramide and phosphatidylcholine, and several networks of lipids and metabolites that were strongly predictive of developing heart failure. Importantly, the findings were corroborated in the second cohort, in which 87 individuals developed heart failure. Together, the results reveal early biomarkers for identifying at-risk individuals and point to particular lipid alterations that may yield insights into heart failure pathology and prevention. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        The second article I want to share is titled, RyR2 Channel Inhibition Is a Principal Mechanism of Flecainide Action in Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. The first authors are Dmytro Kryshtal and Daniel Blackwell, and the corresponding author is Bjorn Knollmann, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. Flecainide is a drug that is commonly used to treat various heart arrhythmias. Flecainide works by blocking sodium channel activity. However, the drug also has been found to reduce symptoms of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, or CPVT, a condition in which mutations affecting the function of a calcium channel ryanodine receptor, called RyR2, are to blame. In vitro studies have suggested that flecainide can in fact block RyR2 activity, but some researchers have argued that flecainide's inhibition of this receptor is too weak to be clinically relevant, and suggest its sodium channel inhibition instead provides an indirect benefit. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        To test that claim, this group synthesized analogs of flecainide that lack RyR2 inhibitory activity, yet retained sodium channel blocking ability. They compared the analogs with the original drug, both in vitro and in vivo. Experiments in cardiomyocytes confirmed flecainide, but not the analogs, could reduce RyR2-mediated calcium release and experiments in catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia model mice showed flecainide, but not the analogs, could suppress induced ventral tachyarrhythmias. These findings suggest that RyR2 inhibition is the principal mechanism of action of flecainide in treating catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, and therefore, RyR2 may be a valid therapeutic target for the development of additional antiarrhythmia drugs. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        The third article I would like to share is titled, Klotho Deficiency Causes Heart Aging via Impairing the Nrf2-GR Pathway. The first author is Kai Chen, and the corresponding author is Zhongjie Sun, and they're from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Age is a risk factor for many disease states, including heart failure. Even in healthy individuals, the heart size increases and its function declines with age. Aging in humans has also been associated with a decrease in circulating levels of the protein Klotho, which is thought to have anti-aging properties. Previous studies have shown, in a murine model of cardiac hypertrophy, that mice that lack Klotho fare worse than those with normal levels of the protein. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        This group, therefore hypothesized that Klotho decline may contribute to age-related heart changes. Similar to humans, heart function declines with age in otherwise healthy mice. Injection of Klotho into old mice reduced the size of the animal's hearts and improved cardiac function. Klotho injections also improve heart size and function in young Klotho-lacking mice with pharmacologically induced cardiac hypertrophy. The team found that Klotho induces these effects by inhibiting the accumulation of damaging reactive oxygen species, and by reducing apoptosis in aged-Klotho deficient heart cells. From these data, they suggest that perhaps boosting Klotho levels may be a strategy to prevent age-related heart failure. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        The last article I want to share before our interview is titled, SIRT6 Protects Smooth Muscle Cells from Senescence and Reduces Atherosclerosis. The first author is Mandy Grootaert, and the corresponding author is Martin Bennett from the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Vascular smooth muscle cells reside in the medial layer of vessels. They contribute to atherosclerotic plaque progression, as well as to the fibrous cap that helps to stave off plaque rupture. Over time, however, the increased proliferation and differentiation of plaque smooth muscle cells causes them to accumulate DNA damage, senesce, and ultimately die, leading to the destabilization of the plaque. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Functional disruption of the enzyme SIRT6 has been implicated in DNA damage senescence and apoptosis, and certain polymorphisms of the SIRT6 encoding gene are linked to atherosclerosis. From these premises, the team wanted to examine the role of SIRT6 in plaque smooth muscle cells. Compared with healthy aortas, aortas from atherosclerotic mice and humans have lower levels of SIRT6 protein. Inhibiting the activity of SIRT6 and smooth muscle cells caused damage to the telomeres and induced early senescence. By contrast, overexpression of SIRT6 preserved telomeres and prevented senescence. ApoE knockout mice were then engineered to over express SIRT6, specifically in their smooth muscle cells, and these mice showed reduced severity of atherosclerosis compared to control mice. Together, these findings implicate SIRT6 suppression as a cause of plaque senescence, and suggest reversing it may in fact slow disease progression. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Okay, so today we have Dr Konstantinos Drosatos and his postdoctoral fellow, Dr Ioannis Kyriazis from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they're here to discuss their study, KLF5 Is Induced by FOXO1 and Causes Oxidative Stress and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy. And this is in our February 5th issue of Circulation Research. So, thank you both so much for being with me today. Dr K. Drosatos:                Thank you for the invitation and for helping to draw attention to our study. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Absolutely. And thank you for doing this at what? What is it, eight o'clock where you are? Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         It is eight o'clock at night. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Okay. Well, thank you for taking the- Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         But it's okay, it's okay. It's quite early to be in Greece. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Okay, good. Dr K. Drosatos:                Maybe we need to clarify that Ioannis is a former postdoc. I don’t have a lab at Temple and in Greece. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Former postdoc. Thank you for clarifying that. So I want to start with a question about cardiomyopathy. What is it and how prevalent is it? And what's the different pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy? And how does it differ from diabetic cardiomyopathy? Dr K. Drosatos:                So usually cardiomyopathy arises after heart infracts, after myocardial ischemia, and it actually reflects the reduced ability of the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body, in simple words. Diabetic cardiomyopathy has some unique features. One of those is that it's not related to coronary artery disease, so it does not start with ischemia, but it's still the heart cannot do what it is supposed to. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        So it's kind of its own unique driver then, the diabetic cardiomyopathy? Dr K. Drosatos:                Yeah. And there is a lot of, I wouldn't say debate, but there's a lot of discussion in the field about how to best define diabetic cardiomyopathy. It's a different kind of cardiac dysfunction. It has some certain features like oxidative stress, which is the stuff that we work with. It has fibrosis, primarily perivascular fibrosis. Diastolic dysfunction is more prevalent than systolic dysfunction. So there's a number of features that actually define diabetic cardiomyopathy. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        I know it's highly prevalent in patients with diabetes, but the inhibitors that people are using to try and treat the diabetic portion, I'm thinking about the sodium glucose transporter SGLT2 inhibitors, those are obviously very good at helping regulate the blood glucose, but they don't appear to alleviate the heart failure. And so what do you think about the pathogenesis or the pathophysiology between the glucose regulation and the cardiomyopathy? Is it kind of like a cliff and it gets too far and is it unrepairable? Dr K. Drosatos:                It's certainly a very trendy question. I mean, you are a scientist so you know that in science will have several trends. So SGLT2 inhibition is one of those right now. And from time to time, there are several, I would say miraculous drugs that do a number of good things, which we're not very certain about the mechanism that underlies the effect. So the SGLT2 inhibitors, which is something that we had also started in a previous paper in Circulation Research four years ago, in relation to KLF5, what it actually does, it targets a transporter in the kidney and this transporter normally returns glucose back to the bloodstream. But when it is inhibited, the extra glucose that we observe in diabetes goes out through the urine. So this is what the drug does, but it has been shown that the drug has its own effects in cardiac function, which do not necessarily pertain to the effect that the drug has in the kidney. And actually I was reading yesterday very interesting paper about using SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure patients that do not have diabetes. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Oh, interesting. So it might actually have a secondary function that we're just not aware of right now. Dr K. Drosatos:                We do believe that at least in part the beneficial effects has to do with the removal of the extra glucose from the system. My training has been in labs that work on lipid metabolism, so I believe that fatty acid oxidation is the best thing that can happen to the heart. So removing the glucose out of the system is definitely beneficial and actually, Ioannis, before he returned back to Greece, he had performed some experiments showing that removing glucose is definitely beneficial. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        That's great. Can you describe the study? What was the former research that the question you were asking in this study was on? Dr K. Drosatos:                That was a study that I started in the lab of Ira Goldberg at Columbia University when I was a postdoc, and we had come up with an interesting observation that in the heart, the protein interception factor, named KLF5, follows an oscillating pattern of expression. So at the early stage of the abyss, it goes down and then it goes up. So we believe that the levels of glucose in the plasma may be one of the defining factors for affecting the expression of KLF5. So this is how it started, why KLF5 goes down and then up. And at that time we observed that KLF5 is an important transcriptional regulator of cardiac PPAR-alpha, a protein that's another transcriptional factor, which seems to be a very important factor that orchestrates gene expression for fatty acid oxidation. So there is more than 20 genes that are important for fatty acid oxidation, and the expression of which has been shown to be affected by PPAR-alpha. Dr K. Drosatos:                So we started working with KLF5 and PPAR-alpha, and that was the paper we published in Circulation Research in 2016, and then Ioannis joined my lab and he works on the effect of KLF5 per se in diabetic cardiomyopathy. And one of the interesting findings from the new study is that the KLF5 has a separate effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy that does not involve PPAR-alpha. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         And the whole idea, when I joined Dr Drosatos’ lab, the initial idea was that something is happening initially in the heart and that's why we see KLF5 goes down and we believe initially that has to do with subject utilization. And that's why KLF5 is coming down and then comes up. But after several studies, we figured out that it's actually a big tie in the transcriptional factors that act synergistically and like FOXO1, KLF5, and PPAR-alpha, and KLF5 and PPAR-alphas have distinct roles on regulating diabetic cardiomyopathy. So starting from one point of view, we transferred to a different aspect and we tried to see how KLF5 is involved in that system. And this is two stories in one, actually. And that's why we have this follow up study about glucose, that Dr Drosatos said, before I leave. We try also to make it bigger. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Yeah, it's always complex, but I feel like this story got very complex as it's really interesting. You used a large amount of different mouse models. Can you talk about some of the different mouse models you used and why you had to use them? You had different drivers of CRE, but also over expression, knockout models. Can you maybe give a quick summary of all the different models you use to really test your hypothesis really thoroughly? Dr K. Drosatos:                Are you asking Ioannis why I am forcing him to do a lot of experiments? Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         No, no. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        But they're really well done, so. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         I think the answer has to do with how the research community is able to tackle biological questions. You need to use knockout animals and conditional transgenic animals in order to answer biological questions that you are asking. So because we have in front of us a triangle of transcriptional factors that regulate the diabetic myopathy, we were obliged to use all these mouse models to answer all these questions. And we have to understand what is the driving force behind all these systems? Is it FOXO1? Is it KLF5? Is it PPAR-alpha? Do these all add together? So that's why we had two knockout-specific mouse lines for FOXO1 and KLF5. We have the global PPAR-alpha knockout mice, we have transgenic KLF5 specifically in the cardiomyocyte mouse line, and we also have gene therapy. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         We construct an AAV that drives KLF5 expressions, specifically in the cardiomyocytes, under the Cardiac Troponin T Promoter. So all these actually helped us combination of therapies to tackle all these biological questions that we wanted to have and to answer. Dr K. Drosatos:                So this is how it's done. So Ioannis started from this point. We were hopeful that there was a flux FOXO1 mouse. So he started working with that, and then we started making more questions. Okay, after we figured out that, yes, FOXO1 regulates KLF5, so the question then was, okay, is it an effective KLF5 through PPAR-alpha? This is where the next mouse model came. When we said, no, it's not PPAR-alpha, we said, okay, what it is then? Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        What is it? Dr K. Drosatos:                And started thinking about different mechanisms that activate diabetic cardiomyopathy. We started with oxidative stress. I was not very ecstatic about this possibility because antioxidant therapies in diabetic patients did not really improve survival. And actually, we were right not to be so excited about this possibility because we only saw a partial improvement. So then we said, okay, what else? And this is where we started doing high throughput analysis, where we ran out of possible answers to questions. So this is when we did look at dogs and we came up with the observation that ceramides are effective. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         And one more thing to add is that, as Dr Drosatos said, that this study, I think, it's one of a lot of studies out there. But I think this is how we, I believe, as an early scientist, the science to know the biological systems, especially in mice. We use the transgenic models and the knockout models and we see in our study that black and white is not good. So in Kosta's, in Dr Drosatos's study in 2016, Circulation Research, he showed that KLF5 knockouts, specifically in the cardiomyocytes, actually is not good for a long time. Initially, we believed that the transgenic KLF5 mouse model will do better in diabetes. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         And when we saw that there actually has an accelerated cardiac dysfunction, we were like, okay, this is an interesting phenotype. We need to see how this goes, because we believe in our initial hypothesis that if we induced KLF5 in the early diabetes, then we will have something like we alleviate diabetes. But this was not the case. And I believe that the fine tuning of some proteins will be the future. It's not black, it's not white. If we knock out completely KLF5, it's not good. If we over express KLF5, it's not good. We need some physiological levels. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Yeah. You need to be able to tighter it a bit and tighten it up here or loosen it up there and, yeah. Well, this is a great study to really highlight the intricate dynamics of it all. One of the interesting results, it was just one of the shorter sections, but when KLF5 was increased, you also saw a decrease in mitochondrial DNA integrity in the cardiomyocytes, which I thought was a really interesting finding. It was just a little portion of the paper, but I just thought that was really interesting, and I was wondering if you could expand on it. What does that mean? And do we know what KLF is doing to the mitochondria? Dr K. Drosatos:                We believe that this is an effect of the oxidative stress and the increase of ceramides. It's a secondary effect. But this is something we would like to pursue further because when we did... And Ioannis nicely mentioned about that. In the 2016 paper, in Circ Research, we actually saw that prolonged exhibition of KLF5 results in diabetic cardiomyopathy. So we don't want to inhibit it completely. And in that case, mitochondria number also goes down. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        And then, once it's down, it doesn't go back up? Dr K. Drosatos:                We believe that in the most recent papers case, it is the oxidative stress that actually targets mitochondria. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        I think, if I got it correctly, the time course of these events happening in the mice is about a 12 week time span you're doing your treatments for? Dr K. Drosatos:                That's correct. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        So obviously that's much more accelerated than humans. What do you think about these dynamics on a human scale in terms of KLF being up and then being down? Do we know how this mechanism would translate to humans or is that still kind of a black box? Dr K. Drosatos:                I think that it's a black box. If I know correctly, we still don't know how fast type one diabetes is occurred in humans. And also the majority of people that have diabetes, diabetic cardiomyopathy is not everything. So maybe their cardiac function is bad, and KLF5 is induced, but these patients do not know that they have actually diabetic cardiomyopathy. And the majority, most probably, of the samples of the research community might have is like a endpoint type 1 diabetic patients. And with the help of Professor Kyriazis, it gave us human samples that we have in our study, we saw that KLF5 is increased in isolated cardiomyocytes. So in terms of how KLF5 is induced in human samples, I think it is high, but we don't know if this 12-week timeframe that we put in the mice to have lack of an overt cardiac dysfunction is actually mimicking completely what is happening to humans. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        So what do you think about leveraging your findings for the development of potential therapies? What would you want to target first, or how do you think this could potentially move to the clinic setting? Dr K. Drosatos:                So regarding the previous question, first, I think it's important that in our case we observe in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mice, that KLF5 is going now. And the result of correcting cardiac function, when we see a bit of KLF5, either genetically and specifically cardiomyocytes or pharmacologically, identifies KLF5 as a potential barrier. This is how I see. Dr K. Drosatos:                You know that in the drug discovery world, transcriptional factors are not very popular therapeutic therapies. So right now the lab is investing on identifying what do they regulate? So we are pursuing a proteomic analysis, we are pursuing sequencing analysis to see what may be happening one step earlier. This is how we envision in potential therapeutic approaches in the future. So this is how we see. Dr K. Drosatos:                For me, it's not really a black box. There is a lot of information in the last 20 years on diabetic cardiomyopathy, and you mentioned earlier the SGLT2 inhibition and we don't know how this works, but we have some ideas. I believe we are getting there. And our hope is that the piece of our work we were able to identify any important, novel points of the mechanisms, because it was actually miraculous. I mean, the experiment that excited more than any other experiment in Ioannis's paper was when he started the treatment with the KLF5 inhibitor after diabetic and after cardiac dysfunction had occurred. And the cardiac function became back normal. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Do you think this KLF5 mechanism is operative in kind of traditional cardiomyopathy, kind of non-diabetic cardiomyopathy? Dr K. Drosatos:                We just published a paper in Circulation. This was the work of Matthew Hoffman and Ioannis was also a co-author in that paper. Matthew and Ioannis were working together in the lab. So Matthew showed that KLF5 is increasing ischemic cardiomyopathy as well. And this was shown both in human samples and mouse experiments. And when KLF5 was inhibited, dilated cardiomyopathy was actually the first. KLF5 was such an underappreciated transcriptional factor and when I was doing my postdoc and started working with that, I always say that I took the risk to generate the cardiomyopathy-specific mouse models because by that time there was only one study showing that it was only fibroblast KLF5 that actually protects from a pressure overload cardiomyopathy. Where they knocked out KLF5 and cardiomyocytes they did not see any protection in pressure overload-driven hypertrophy. So they said, because KLF5 has low RNA copy number, probably it's not important. And I still remember when I first presented this data to KLF meeting, and they will all say, "Yeah, but the expression is very low," but we had the results, so. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        Yeah. Well, good for you for sticking to your guns. And it's really, really a wonderful study and I want to congratulate you both on this. And it was a huge undertaking with all those mice. Dr K. Drosatos:                Thank you. Dr Ioannis Kyriazis:         Thank you very much. Dr Cindy St. Hilaire:        That's it for the highlights from the February 5th and February 19th issues of Circulation Research. Thank you for listening. Please check out the CircRes Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram with the handle @CircRes and @DiscoverCircRes and #DiscoverCircRes. Thank you to our guests, Kostas Drosatos and Ioannis Kyriazis. This podcast is produced by Rebecca McTavish and Ashara Ratnayaka, edited by Melissa Stoner, and supported by the Editorial Team of Circulation Research. Some of the copy text for the highlighted articles is provided by Ruth Williams. I'm your host, Dr Cindy St. Hilaire. And this is Discover CircRes, your on-the-go source for the most exciting discoveries in basic cardiovascular research.  

Inside our theme of love this month, this week we are focusing on the placement of healthy boundaries. In talking about this topic, we have to establish the difference between barriers and boundaries. Sometimes hurts have been so bad that we build barriers to keep people out, sometimes to keep everyone out. Other times, when we feel threatened on any level, we create emotional, mental, and spiritual roadblocks. We decide to “close roads” to keep someone from getting near us. But real love, the biblical brand of love, is not about being defensive but being proactive. A barrier is anything that hinders forward progress and shrinks our influence. A boundary is a line we draw to protect what is inside from what is outside. This is not about restriction and limitation, but freedom. Listen to Jesus’s words … As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13 NLT) Did you pick up on the cultural barrier? The Pharisees called the people Jesus was hanging out with “scum.” But did you catch that Jesus took down the barrier from some and put up a boundary for others? Well, if he did, then we need to consider the same. What drove Jesus’ actions and words? Freedom, righteousness, justice, mercy, and love. When we follow Him, we have the best opportunity to do the same. Tear down barriers made by man and install boundaries built by God. Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, I have to admit that sometimes I act like You, but sometimes I act like a Pharisee. And all the time, I am a sinner. Teach me, help me, to take down barriers to love in my life and build only the boundaries You are okay with. As above, so below.”

Matthew Layton presents Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio's weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. On this week's show… Over the last couple of weeks here on Studio 1, you may have noticed we've been coming up against some issues of a legal bent. First there was the matter of jury service, and how blind and low vision people are often excluded from taking part, and last week this show's very own Mental Health and Safety Manager, Australian registered, lifeline certified counsellor Tammey Candeloro took her university to the Australian Human Rights Commission. So Matthew decided that it was time to get some professional help - on those two issues specifically and on disability law in general - and enlists the services of disability rights firebrand Natalie Wade, Founder of and Principal Lawyer at Equality Lawyers in Adelaide. -- CALL or TEXT: 04 500 78834 EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org   TWITTER: http://twitter.com/varadionetwork  and  http://twitter.com/whingeingpom  -- [PHOTO CAPTION: Equality Lawyers Principal Lawyer speaks to Studio 1 presenter Matthew Layton over coffee at her swanky offices in downtown Adelaidey] -- RESOURCES Natalie Wade - Equality Lawyers www.equalitylawyers.com.au - 0413 174 195 - hello@equalitylawyers.com.au Tammey Candeloro - Counselling 4 You WA https://www.counselling4youwa.com.au/ - 0423 93 15 74 -- Vision Australia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.      

A Discovery of Witches has soooo much to cover that I have split this review up into 3 parts. | | MIN MARKERS | |1:30 | Everyday Folklore, Broken Mirrors | 6:10 | Beginning chit chat and banter |11:00|  Review of A Discovery of Witches, part 2 |INFO REFERENES| Everyday Folklore, If you break a mirror you get seven years bad luck.| https://www.twowaymirrors.com/mirror-superstitions/  |    https://www.framemymirror.com/5-superstitions-and-myths-about-mirrors/ |  https://www.illuminated-mirrors.uk.com/blog/7-years-bad-luck-the-truth-behind-the-superstition/ | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326082213_The_broken_mirror_syndrome_vs_constructive_self-criticism#:~:text=The%20broken%20mirror%20syndrome%20is,knots%20of%20negative%20emotions%20and | https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/seven-years-bad-luck/ | | MUSIC CREDIT | "Glass Smash, Bottle, C.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org “Easy Trip Trap” The Brothers Records, “Skeleton Dance” by Myuu “Heaven and Hell” by Jeremy Blake | DIALOGUE CREDIT | INTRO "A werewolf can be killed only with a silver bullet?" - THE WOLFMAN "Because I'm the chosen one and there are vampires" - BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (film) "You in danger girl" - GHOST "My name is Sabrina Spellman, and I will not sign it away." - THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA "Am I dead?" - THE VAMPIRE DIARIES "We don't allow black magic." - LEGACIES "Witches aren't real." - CHARMED "Once the world was full of wonders but. . . . . . It belongs to humans." - A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES "I myself am, strange and unusual." - BEETLEJUICE | TRANSCRIPT | Megan Erickson   Welcome to folklore Friday.   Megan Erickson   In the episode description I have listed the segments of the show with their minute markers. That way you can skip right to what you want to hear every day. breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck. This superstition is believed in various parts of the world. But where did this belief come from? Many cultures believe that a mirror can be a window to the soul. Which is why many folkloric beliefs are that supernatural creatures such as vampires have no reflection because they have no soul. The lore of seven years bad luck upon breaking a mirror is thought to originate from Roman lore. The belief was that every seven years life and the soul would renew itself. And any parts of your life that were not quite right would fall into place and all would be right. A mirror was thought to have a window to the soul. So if a mirror was broken, especially if your image was the final thing it reflected, then you were bound to endure seven long years of misfortune until the cycle ended and your good luck was renewed. And since we are human, we are prone to be clumsy in one way or another. So there were measures that could be taken to avoid misfortune if you happened to break a mirror. Some of the rituals included taking the shattered pieces and burning them by the light of a full moon. Or taking one fragment to a cemetery and placing it against a tombstone to transfer the bad luck to someone who no longer roamed the earthly plane. The thought was the bad luck would dissipate into the ground since the soul was no longer there to attach itself to. In Russia and Kazakhstan, breaking a mirror evicting evil spirits from their home, they will hunt the person who caused the damage as an act of revenge. In Fung Shui a broken mirror distorts good energy. In Switzerland, the last person to look in a broken mirror is the first to die. But others claim your misfortune depends on how the mirror breaks. If it breaks into small pieces, your bad luck will be small. But be afraid if your mirror breaks into large pieces, because your bad luck will be significant. And once the mirror is broken, looking at your reflection in the shards is bad luck in both India and Russia. in psychology, there is a term called the broken mirror syndrome. It is applied to women who have suffered domestic abuse from a male partner. The thought is that she no longer sees herself as whole and complete, but broken, only viewing herself through the eyes of her abuser. Although this term is metaphorical, it does paint a picture of how viewing yourself through the distorted view of an abuser can make one feel broken. Is it possible that in the past when people would see their reflection And broken pieces of a mirror, it would scar them psychologically. Could it be that seeing one's reflection literally broken into pieces was so emotional, that it was easy to think that misfortune lay ahead? To see one space in shards could remind someone that As humans, we are breakable physically and emotionally. And the lives we live are just as fragile. So, which is it? A superstitious belief that the soul renews every seven years? Or the psychological effects of seeing one's reflection in broken glass? Tell me, what do you think? Unknown Speaker   Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Megan Erickson   Okay, hello again. So I'm joined again by my friend, Holly. Hello. Oh, and my name is Megan, I keep introducing my guests, but not myself. So I'm your host, Megan. And Holly is doing a FaceTime with me because I he, I went through and I was editing our episode. And there was just a few things that we said that were inaccurate. We were comparing this story to another story. And we were just bashing on that other story, which there's a lot to bash but the things we were saying weren't accurate. And so there's a lot of that I couldn't use. But this because Holly, and I think very similarly. Yes. And there was just also some good stuff that I wanted to talk about that we didn't talk about, and it gives me an excuse to call Holly so on if you don't know, Holly lives in Spokane, I live in Bellingham. So that's why we're doing FaceTime. And I let I when I went to visit her and her husband, I logged on to two of my streaming accounts. And then and then I said, you need to watch this show on this one, and then this show on the other one, and so I gave him Hulu and shutter and it hasn't affected us at all, by the way, like so cuz I told Chris, you like what? I was like, Well, I'm the one that pays for Hulu and shutter. So I think I can decide. He's like, okay, but if it cuts out, like, you gotta change your password. But it's totally fine. But you guys watch Brooklyn nine, nine, which was the show that I suggested. HOLLY   Good. Oh, my gosh. Megan Erickson   It's so good. What else have you been watching on Hulu? HOLLY   So let's see. So we did nine, nine, and I'm not gonna lie oh nine. Megan Erickson   Andrew Knight quoted all the time. Now. It's so easy to do. It's so fun. Unknown Speaker   It's so amazing. Unknown Speaker   And then I found out that chip and Joanna Gaines is a fixer upper. And I used to watch that show when I was younger and actually had to be. And I remember some of the episodes and oh my gosh, I flipped when I saw that on there. And so I started watching that. And then I realized that I can only watch it on weekends. Because I was watching it during the week. And then I realized I was not going to bed. I had to like pace Megan Erickson   yourself. HOLLY   Not watch it during the week. I'm only allowed to watch it on weekends. So I guess what I'm doing? Megan Erickson   I've done Yes, I've done similar Unknown Speaker   show is that it's just like it makes you you get so involved. You can't help it. Next thing you know, it's like two o'clock in the morning and you have to be up at 5am like, Megan Erickson   Oh my gosh, that just happened. Yeah. I think that's why Chris and I have the rotation rule. Like we don't just binge something, we say okay, let's watch an episode of The Great and supernatural and criminal minds. And so because you're getting this like, mini story, but sometimes they'll get on a kick. There's some shows that are too much. You can't want like Katherine, it's called the Great bits about Catherine the Great you would not like it. It's like, it's really explicit. Like when they do sex stuff. They do sex stuff. When they do violence. They do violence and it's like oh my god and so that's the show. You can't binge. So we usually do our harsh shows first, and in the medium, and then we end on a comedy because I can't end the night on criminal minds, because I'm just like, Okay, I gotta cleanse my palate. So we always have. Yeah, we have an extreme show, a medium show and a comedy. And our comedy right now is How I Met Your Mother. editor's note. Btw, I am aware that there are things that can be problematic with How I Met Your Mother, because it's an older show. And since this podcast is half film and TV reviews, I'm aware. It's an all white cast. And one of the characters is pretty much a womanizer. So even though I watch it, I acknowledge it's problematic. Just had to put that in there. Okay. So that's like what we watched when we're done watching the others. HOLLY   Yeah. Megan Erickson   He's strange links. So because this is a review of a full season, I have the review split into three episodes. So this is more so a review for fans of the show a discovery of witches, because there is so much to talk about. The book series is jam packed, and so is the show. There's so many different themes and metaphors that I am in love with. And so I do think it's worth my time to talk about, I don't think I've split anything up into three episodes before, but I love it. So and so I hope you enjoy. Okay, so we split this episode up into two parts, because there was a lot to talk about. And we're re recording some of it. So some of the audio is going to be different, because I'm going to include some of the stuff that we said. And then I'm going to include some of this stuff. So I'll be all wonky. But as someone that wants to analyze things, I'm going to always analyze them in a fair way. Even if I don't like the story and this story I love but there was another story we're comparing it to, which I don't like and I was giving a lot of bias opinions. So and being an adult, so I'm correcting myself. Okay, so one of the things that we talked about is that there was a review that said that this story was derivative, and derivative, meaning we've seen this storyline before. I don't agree with that. And here's some of the reasons why. Number one, the vampires had no things. And when we were watching that, did we even talk about it? I don't even think we talked about it. It was just Unknown Speaker   I feel like we mentioned it at one point. But everything was just so smooth. I don't know if this is like the right way to put this. But whenever they would bite somebody was always so smoothly done. Uh huh. That I never really thought you think oh, yeah, they don't have. Yeah, I don't know. Megan Erickson   No, it's so true. Because weird to think about, it was really an effortless kind of story to watch. And they didn't focus on the blood. And the gore. The story was, the storyline was all of these different things happening. And it was only until I was going back through it with a fine tooth comb to get clips for the podcast, and I want to do like a YouTube review. For I was like, Oh, that's a huge difference very, very big. Because it's so good. Oh, no, Unknown Speaker   I was just gonna say cuz I cannot think of like, there are a decent amount. I mean, even just all the different versions of Dracula that are out there, like just all the different versions and different genres of vampire. And as far as I can remember. Now, granted, you may want to double check me, but as far as I can remember, every single one of them, they always had things like that was one of the key ways is to tell that someone was a vampire. Yeah, you had some that until they were ready to feed their things would grow for the board Megan Erickson   drop down. Yeah, Unknown Speaker   exactly. Or Yeah, you know, like, yeah, or they would just be there all the time, or, you know, for whatever reason, kind of thing. Yeah, but they were always there. Like it to some degree. And so, to me, it's just such a weird concept to think I know Empire without bangs. I just, it just kind of blows my mind. Megan Erickson   It's really unique. And I think it goes into because we talked about how the demons also just look like people. And everyone looks for the most part human unless you're supernatural. You can like sense things. And it just goes into that. I don't know it, I really liked the way she wrote it. Because they all there's all of this like, intolerance between the species and like, it's like a metaphor for racism. And yet, if you stand them up next to each other, you're not going to know who's who, or what's what you're not going to know, a demon from a witch from a vampire from a human because they all look the same. And there's just something kind of like really equalizing about that. And it's, it's interesting. And so about the things there was like one part because I was trying, I went through it, and you can see him bite. But there's only one part you see actual, like bite marks, and it's when Matthew was fighting with Baldwin. And he bites Baldwin, and when he pulls his head back, it's a full bite mark. It's like, if you bite into an apple, it's not like the two things. And so I was like, HOLLY   Oh, my God. Yeah, really? I know. Megan Erickson   And that's, and that's something that you'll find when you read the book is the way Deborah Harkness writes it is she compares vampires moreso, to Wolf's than to bats. And it's this really, really unique, they don't really have a lot of time to do that. In the show. There's one part in the show where Diana's trying to figure out what she's going to feed him for, for dinner. And she has like her laptop open, it says feeding habits of wolves. And that's like the one thing that they should. Yeah, and I didn't, because we were just into the story, I didn't want to be that person. I was like, no selling the book. It says, oh, but they do get more into it in the second book, because they go back in history, err in the past. And there's different things where people say, oh, a werewolf, there was a werewolf attack or whatever. And they say that all things, people that they thought were werewolves, they were actually vampires. And it just psychologically felt better for people to imagine that it was an animal like creature, rather than someone that looked human, which is very, like spot on for psychology. And so even though I freaking love werewolves, that was my only problem with this whole series, is that it didn't have vampires, witches and werewolves. I was a little bummed out. But the more I got into it, I appreciated how unique this storyline was. Because it's no it just never has been done before. Where they're not like that. They're actually like wolves. And it's, and when you read the book, you're, you'll appreciate that because it's like, all these nuances that, you know, the show didn't have time for and it's, it's interesting. HOLLY   There. Megan Erickson   Okay, another thing we talked about, but I want to bring up again, because so here's the list of things that makes this a unique story is that there are adults and it's not a teenage girl, and a vamp and a male vampire, which is really popular, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Buffy. Like, those are like the big ones as far as like TV and movies that come to mind. And this is just not that that coupling. Right. Unknown Speaker   And I also we were talking, I don't know if this is gonna, like, jump us or anything. But we also talked about like, because she's not a teenager, like her style, and everything is much different. Like, she's, you know, the things that she thinks about as a teacher aren't the same things that like Buffy the Vampire Slayer would, would be thinking about as a teenager. And so it kind of brought in a whole new. That makes sense. It kind of Yeah, it's like a whole new concept. And how we were talking about like, how we love that she just, she didn't look dolled up. HOLLY   Mm hmm. Yeah. She just she just looked like a professor. Megan Erickson   Hold on a second. loki My dog is whining at me baby. Sorry, Holly. I know. It probably wasn't picking up but he was like whining at me. And I was like, No, the wrong time. Yes. So going back to music she did. She looked like a professor. She dressed like a professor. Her the things that were in her life that were important to her were very independent and adult driven. And they they could have made a change and gussied her up from the character in the book to what happened in the Siri in the TV series, but they didn't. They stuck to it. And I was doing some research and Deborah Harkness the author was like a huge part of The TV show, so, um, she like approved every casting and a lot of the costuming. And it does like if you look at, like she's a nerd, like she dresses like a nerd because she is one. And it's so it's so good. And it just kind of helps cuz Unknown Speaker   I feel like you can be seen as a nerd even when you're guessing that, yeah, if you're going to a job that you love and are literally just surrounded by books, it's like, I don't know, when I get into my book mode. Oh my gosh, like books don't have eyes, they don't care what I look like. And so, in one of the first episodes, where do you see her getting ready for work? And all she does is like look in the mirror and then throw her hair up into a ponytail. And then it heads out the door with a piece of toast and coffee. Yeah. And that's like, done. No, I found that so many times. Go to the library. Yeah, you know, and it's like it is this is one of those things where it's like, you are so more prepared to do the studying of the book and to find out the information, then you would care to like, I mean, you do put some care, you know, you'll wash your face, they'll shower, you don't look like you walked out of a dumpster. But you're not gonna be a professional, you know, hairstylist and spend an hour on your hair or whatever. But it's, it's just that that nuance that they brought in to really just show who she is and what she's focused on. Later. I just, I really loved how they did that. And it makes sense that the author was part of the entire casting, and everything because whenever that happens, I usually really love the series. Because it does it follows along with what she saw in her mind, and what her story was about and making sure that it sticks to that. Megan Erickson   Yeah, so and it's really good because like in the book, they talk about how she has like really unruly on rulli I can't say unruly hair, like it's kind of like she can't control it. And they could have flat ironed her hair, they could have like, made it look pristine, but they didn't. And I mean, it didn't look bad. But yeah, the first like couple episodes, she's just so excited to go to the Bodleian Library and work on her research paper. So she just doesn't do a lot with her hair. And it's not, I'm not saying that like putting on makeup or getting gussied up. And being feminine is bad. I'm just saying, this is another thing that makes this story unique. Because you're not seeing this airbrushed teenage girl, you're seeing this woman that's so excited about her research. And that is her world. And that's what's important to her. And that's not something that we've seen a lot and I'm not saying like Bella Swan was gussied up, she was very plain. But it's it's just the fact that they could have chosen to make this character look different. But they didn't they stuck to what was like true in the in the book. And that was and that was really great. And I kind of wonder if because it's a it's a production of the UK. that that wasn't an issue because if you watch American films, it's there's just a lot more. I don't know there's more supermodels looking people. I feel like when you watch American productions versus like, things from the UK. HOLLY   Right? Oh, and Megan Erickson   on and on that note, this doesn't this isn't part of the list that makes a derivative, but it is a change. So in the book is about the Claremont was actually like, way younger she like appeared to be in her 40s. And so her and Diana looked way closer in age. And there's like a scene in the second book, which she says, move out of the way my daughter in law needs to come through and like everyone in the restaurant is like why your daughter in law because they're only like 10 years apart. But they made her older in the TV series and I actually think it worked a lot better because it gave that more of maternal feel for his elbows character, rather than Oh, your quote unquote mom that sire do is pretty gorgeous. Are you sure you've never had a romantic thing with her because it's not like a blood relation when it comes to siring vampires. It's very different. But the fact that they made her older, helps to like for me to be like, Okay, this is actually working for me. I appreciated that. Unknown Speaker   And that was actually another thing that I really loved about her character. That because when you first hear about her, you haven't met her yet, and the witches and you know, the witches are talking about her and they're like, Oh my goodness, like you Can't stay at her house like she caused all this damage. All these problems like builds so many of our kinds, and then later you find out it's because they killed the love of her life. Megan Erickson   Yeah. Not like bad, which is Yeah, Unknown Speaker   yeah. And not only that, but that because I feel like with a lot of vampire stories, because they have such a long lifespan, they tend to have many a lover. And yeah, that's true. I love that she spent 1000s of years with one person and guide, she never left like she refused to change his office was still there with her. A Discovery of Witches   This was your husband's office. It's still his office. Unknown Speaker   I loved that they brought that aspect into it. Like, and I'm not saying that this has never been done. Yeah. To have a couple be in love for that long and to not have flings at least or something. Megan Erickson   Yeah, no, Unknown Speaker   it's it's just, it was very, I really loved that aspect. I love that they brought that in. And then of course, you also have those other characters that are just like, Yeah, no, I don't ever plan on getting married. And I don't ever plan on Yeah, just one Megan Erickson   person. Like, yeah, I Unknown Speaker   want to live the free life. And I'm like, and again, that's totally fine. Just to have like, I loved that they didn't just make one main brand of a demon or a vampire or in this, like the, like you were saying, like, line them all up, and you wouldn't have been able to tell. And I love that she did that and so many more aspects than just the fact that Megan Erickson   they all look human. Oh, you just reminded me of something? Um, yes, that is true. I never. I've never thought about that. Before that Felipe and his co just chose to love each other for years upon years. And there's something like that aspect of eternal love. Like they have that and I it is really like heartbreaking but romantic. When Matthew says, oh, that used to be Felipe's office and she goes that's still his office and you're just like oh my heart. Oh god. And okay, yeah, now is about was gussied up but that's because she's supposed to be she has a fancy lady and they did great like, God that shot when they're like going to her castle set tour. There's just this like shot of the back of the back of her as she's like walking down the stairs. And she her hair is like impeccable. Just this perfect, like French roll. Oh god. Like, even when she goes hunting. She has like, like fancy writing gear on and like leather gloves. And so but that's because that's her character. She's this exquisite French ancient vampire. I they did good with her. I really, I really liked that. I loved it. I loved it. It was done. So well. Like it was a great introduction for her character. And they did because it's a series they had time to, like introduce these characters visually. Because you don't have you got to do like quick introductions, like you know, in Harry Potter, they had a lot to jam into like one movie. But with this they could take their time and you could see Isabelle walking around her magnificent castle and like looming waiting for Diana and Matthew to come you. You can take time, you know, getting to know these characters. And I thought that was good. Um, you said something? What did you say? You were talking about? I don't remember what you said. But it reminded me of you see, like different types of vampire. So like, there's good and bad in every species. I think that was that. Okay, so you kind of see how Matthew and Marcus and Miriam are in their conversations when Marcus tries to turn his friend into a vampire because he's dying and then it doesn't work and it's really sad and really awful. I'm gonna find that quote, hold on. I have like another page. So Matthew is picking up Marcus and they're they're driving in the car and he says Matthews kind of scolding Marcus a bit and he says, Did you get his consent as in to turn him into a vampire? And he shakes his head No, because he's like, he was dying. I was trying to save his life. A Discovery of Witches   Think of the risks took you could have been seen. James was my friend and a brilliant doctor. I can bear full potential to go two ways you can get consent. Chrysler cars, how many times just be told right? Megan Erickson   You get very upset and raises his voice. Because in so you see that there's that setup of you asked for their consent. So with this group of vampires, changing someone without consent is a huge No, no. And so then when you see that, and then you see Juliet and jubair, to bear doesn't ask her, he just bites her neck and drinks her blood and reads her memories, no questions asked. And so it's a really good setup to be like, oh, and then these guys, they don't care. These guys are the bad guy. And it was just, it was a really good way to set up what's important to these characters and how they act. And then they did the same thing with the satu, the witch that tortures Diana, the first time you meet her, magically, like grabs the guy, she doesn't even touch him and pulls him down to the ground. And then she says a spell on the earth opens up and swallows the guy, and then he's gone forever. And so it was, it was a really good way to show who you're rooting for. Unknown Speaker   And then that actually carried me on to another thing that we had mentioned about the territory's how, like, there's, you know, with some shows, it's like, if a vampire is not invited into a home, he literally is stopped from going into that. Oh, Megan Erickson   yeah, yeah. Unknown Speaker   That's not the case. It's not the case here. Yeah, they don't go into each other's territory out of respect. And there are rules that if you are caught in some somebody else's territory, they do have the right to basically destroy you. However, if you have not gone into their territory, then it's a whole, like, it's amazing. The amount of hit, I feel like almost like hidden politics were put in your world that a lot of people don't even know about. And this is how they run. This is how they survive. If we don't want to start a war. We stay off each other's land. If some of one of your guys comes onto my land without permission, I have every right to kill him. Megan Erickson   Yeah, right. However I want and it's like that's an agreement between the three species and everyone's fine with it, which is why he takes Danna two sets or because it's to Clermont territory. And so the fact that a witch comes and kidnaps her, it's like, Okay, this is this is war, you not only came on my territory, but you took a guest that I had in my home that was under my protections, a huge deal. Very big deal. Oh, so good. I love this show so much. Oh, and I know, we talked about this before. But another thing that I appreciate about this is that it's not human and vampire. It's not predator and prey, but it's a vampire, a powerful vampire with a powerful witch. And so they're equally matched. And I don't know if I said this in the last one. But there's this level of restraint for both parties. He has to restrain himself from wanting to feed on her and she has to control her magic, so she doesn't murder anyone. And so that's, that's, that's another thing that makes this unique is because most vampire stories, it's all about the vampire controlling himself. And it can be a metaphor for like sexual drive, you know, oh, I don't want to push this girl to do something she doesn't want to do. But I want to do all the time, because I'm a man, you know. And so it's that is derivative. We've seen that a lot. And this leads into most vampire stories are just a love story. It's just the relationship of the vampire and the human, and other things happen around that relationship. But in this story, it's all about the book of life. And the reason that Matthew and Diana meet is because she finds the book of life, and it's a huge deal. And it has potential to give each of the species like power over the other one. And he's the only one that says hey, by the way, danger. And she's like, whatever, you're a vampire, we're not supposed to talk go away. And then people come and they threatened her. And so the reason that they're drawn together is because of this book. So there's this whole other story going on, and their love story happens within that story. And that's another reason why this is a more mature, kind of like storyline to follow. Unknown Speaker   Yeah, I did love that even in like so when he's first telling her all of that, like, you know, so when you get this book, just so you know, people are gonna try and kill you. Yeah, she is. She says like, whatever. You're a vampire that I've heard stories that have that. And then it's like, all of a sudden all these people are trying to kill her but the people that trying to kill her are so nice. Because I want to get Megan Erickson   Yeah. And he's just honest with her. Oh, my God, that's true. Nice. Unknown Speaker   Oh, and he likes she's like, Are you threatening me and he actually gets offended. He's just like, No, I'm Megan Erickson   mourning you. Yeah. Unknown Speaker   Yeah. And it's just like it was just such an amazing moment because it's like, cuz even me in my mind when I think of vampires I think, you know, an animal type species like I think of animal instincts, animal urges, you know, there's those uncontrolled things. Trouble will contain everything that you just yeah, you know, it's just instincts. And here, they're not just including that, like, they're also including the fact that you just made me sound like a horrible human being. Yeah, I actually a person that was rude of you. Why would you do that? It's just like, just such a turnaround for me. I just love that scene. So but Yeah, I did. I love that kind of how he's, I mean, any seems be compared to everybody else. He seems like he's just being an absolute jerk to her. When really once you get through all of it, you realize he's the only one giving her the facts? Yeah, not sugarcoating it for her. Megan Erickson   I love I love the way you said that, because they're all nice to her like Peter Knox is like, Oh, I knew your mother and all this. And then Julian says, come over for tea and spill your secrets, you know. And she has no idea that they're, they're just trying to get the book from her and everything that she tells Jillian Jillian tells Knox. And so when she figures out, oh, these guys aren't good at all. She goes back to Matthew. And that is a good, that scene is really, really good. It's just her and she's walking. And you can tell she's like, panicking because she's you know, she puts her hand against the wall, or the, like, cobblestone wherever she is, and, and all these things start to add up. And you see scenes of like Jillian saying, Oh, these things get out when really you know that Jillian's the one that spread them around, and, and she's crying a little bit. And then the next scene, she goes to Matthew. And she basically says, You said people will come after me. And you're right. And he asked her, why did you come to me? The only one that didn't want to hurt me. And she's asking for help. And what I like about that story is, it's or that part is asking for help isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. She wants to know who her allies are. And instead of thinking of the things that she's been taught, which is in vampires don't mix, don't talk to them, she goes, I'm going to get over that, because I definitely don't want to be like those guys. The Witches that want to kill vampires, and this vampire was only trying to help me. So I'm gonna go do that. And that part is like a turning point because she decides to get over that kind of discriminative thinking, and she's asking him for help. And I thought that part was like, it was also like, a really mature part of the storyline. And that, and that is when they really start to be like, interested in each other. Because then she starts asking him, how old are you? And it's just such a Oh, it's such a sexy idea. This, you know, like, 2000 year old vampire talking to a historian like, that's gonna make any historian excited. Unknown Speaker   Oh, my gosh, yeah, I could I like, what he's like talking about the people that he's literally had conversations with, like, scientists and amazing people. And she's freaking out, just like, That's so cool. And he's just like, it's normal. And I was right there with her. I was just like, yeah. HOLLY   We're gonna get lazy. Megan Erickson   It's so good. She like, there's this look on her face. The extreme, I'm gonna do like a reaction thing on YouTube, where I just like take scenes, and I go, this is what's happening in this scene. And this is why it's amazing. But there's this part where she goes, how old are you? And he's kind of standing sideways. And he just turns her he gives her like this, like kind of smirking, smile, kind of like, wouldn't you like to know? And he doesn't tell her he like doesn't tell her until like, the fourth episode or something. And it's just, it's so it's so what's so sexy about that is that it just wasn't it hasn't been done before into. She's not just interested in him as what he is, but who he is and what he's seen and that that's sexy. Like that is a very interesting concept. And there's even a part in the series where he's talking to his friend And Hamish who's a demon will do you? Do you love her? And he's just talking about how she is and, and the things that he you know the qualities he likes about her. And he's like, well, how does she feel about you? And he says, she's a historian. I'm her latest research project. And he's kind of like, the she like me, or does she just like, the life I've lived, and he's kind of like a little insecure. But he's also mature enough to recognize, I hope she's interested in me, not just the life I've lived, which is really good that they pointed out his awareness of that whole situation. And so, oh, it's just so it's so good. Oh, okay. And I didn't make a list. But some of the historical things he says he knows Charles Darwin. He knew Shakespeare. He knew the guy that came up with that first understood that the heart was a pump. Don't remember his name. And then he knows elicit he knew Elizabeth Tudor. So he wasn't just like, he was like a man about town. This guy like he knew people. He wasn't just there when things went down. He liked new kings and queens. And it's just so cool. Because after they have that initial conversation of, Oh, I'm pretty dang old. And he understands that she's a historian. He comfortably brings up things regularly after after they're like starting to get to know each other. Like, she's like, what do you smell when he's smelling his wine? He says something about currents. And he was like, oh, Elizabeth Tudor loved them. They ruined her teeth, though. And it's just like, Oh, God, like, it's just so interesting. I yeah. So that is such an excellent way to tell this type of story. Unknown Speaker   Well, and I love like, again, even with that example that you just gave where she, where she's asking, like, what do you smell like how you smell like, she wants to see the it's, in my mind. It says she wants to see the world how he sees this world. Yeah. Not only is he much older, but his senses are heightened. Like, when we smell a rose, you know, we smell a rose. But if he smells a rose, it could literally just overpower him. Because the sense that he may not like the smell, just because it's so strong day. Megan Erickson   And he's smelling like other things to Unknown Speaker   things that we don't even notice. Yeah, it's just like any things like when he talks about hearing heartbeats and stuff, and it's just like, it's like, that's something you can't help. Like, it's just something you hear her. But it's like, for us, it's like, heart beating right now. Like, we're just standing next to each other. That's so cool. Yeah, I love her. She shows that like, she shows that interest not only in him, but his story. Cool. Like you knew all these people. But I also love learning about you in this world today. Yeah, I think they really did a really good job. Try that was a lot of really nice job of making sure that they showed that, you know, even though as a historian, he really is just an amazing person to talk to you. But as a person, he's also just a really amazing person to talk to back that as they keep going. They realize that both of their goals are the same kind of are the same goals. They both want to make sure that nobody has power over somebody. Yeah. They both just want to make sure that everybody's equal. And so they're both trying to do whatever. They can make sure that this book that can give people the power to over rule, everybody else doesn't fall into anybody's hands that's actually going to try and overrule. Megan Erickson   Oh, I am so excited for you to like keep I want you to read like all the books, but you got to watch. You got to watch it and then you got to read it. But it's more than wait because like the the book is hidden for most of the first book. And for the second book as well. It's only like at the end really like oh, and then like something happens but like it is freaking worth the wait. It is so good. I think there was the book. I like didn't expect it. I was like oh my gosh, that's amazing. There's so it's so good. You're gonna nerd out cuz it's it's really late. I gotta get my phone charger from downstairs. I'll be right back. It just blinked at me. HOLLY   Welcome back. Megan Erickson   Okay. Okay, well, now I want to talk a little bit about Out of breath. I just like to hear myself going. I hate that. I like ran up the stairs was like the worst feeling in the world. You're like, Unknown Speaker   damn it. Megan Erickson   I should not be that out of shape. When I come up, Unknown Speaker   and by the time I get to the apartment, I'm just like, I can't read. I can't read. And I'm just like, I am not out of shape. Unknown Speaker   Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Megan Erickson   It's a bad feeling. Oh, man. Okay, so I want to talk a bit about the witchy stuff, because it's really easy to talk about him as a vampire and their relationship, but her kind of journey into like, finding herself is really cool. And to like, read about it in the book. And then to see it visually represented. Oh, my gosh, because they did, it was like better than what I had in my head. And that, you know, that rarely doesn't happen, at least, you're like, well, I like the book better. It's really easy to like, go down that road. But I didn't feel that way at all. And I think part of that is because it's a series, they have eight episodes, 840 minute episodes to go through a book. And so they have time to take time, basically. Unknown Speaker   Yeah, to get those little hidden nuances in there and all the little hidden gems that they can pull out and, and you might not even realize that it's there until like, three episodes later when it's like, oh, yeah, they did do that, didn't they? Megan Erickson   Yeah. Okay. HOLLY   I love that. Megan Erickson   I'm glad you brought that up. Because I is it if I what I think of when you say that is she has these different dreams about spiders, and like being like in spider webs. And one of the critics said, Oh, when you see a woman, like have her third dream about spiders, you have to wonder how high your tolerances I was like, Yeah, but she was those dreams had purpose. wolky I can't play right now. HOLLY   Okay. Megan Erickson   Thank you. Sorry. He's just like banging at the door. Okay, so she, yeah, she has these different dreams where she's like in bed, and she has this giant spiderweb like across her body. And then you Yeah. And I thought they did really good. And then you find out that she is spellbound. And the way that she spellbound is that she was laying in bed as a kid and her mom's like, okay, honey, we're going to tell you a story. And then her dad did this spellbinding. And it looked like a spiderweb. It looked like they were like tying these things over. And as she's getting spellbound, her mom is saying, well, her parents had to tie her up and little ribbons. But one day, those ribbons would be free. And she could untie them when she needed. And it's just kind of like, Oh, it was such a sad part of the story. Because she didn't know. And so the reason that she felt like she wasn't a good witch, all of her life is because she was actually spellbound, but they were spellbinding her to protect her from Peter Knox, because he basically wanted to, like snatch her up and trainer at some special, I don't know, training place. And so that's why they did that. But what did you think of how how they did that storyline as someone that didn't read the book, like seeing all the spider dreams and then seeing it later? How did you think that that was executed? Unknown Speaker   It definitely. So in seeing the spider dreams, I just I mean, when they're showing something that many times know that they're trying to foreshadow something like you're doing it very blatantly. And so, you know, it's got to be kind of a big thing, because they're not trying, you know, some some foreshadowing is just very little. And it's, it's kind of okay, if you miss it, because it'll be thoroughly explained. You know, it's just kind of one of those things that if you miss it, it's fine. If you catch it, it's cool. But this was one of those, you know, foreshadowing moments where it's like, you need to know this, because this is a big deal. This is going to be a big piece later on. And so I definitely kept trying to think of what it would be for and I just could not, I mean, I also I'm not gonna lie, Andrew, can attest to this. I hate spiders. They freak me out. I don't like them. I'm totally fine with them. Being in nature. I'm not going to just sit there and stomp on spiders out in nature, because Yeah, however, you if you're around me and Andrew long enough, every once in a while you'll see the secure Andrew say, Holly don't look. And but because he's trying to hide the fact that there's a spider close to me so that he can kill it before I see it. He should say, Megan Erickson   Look over there in like the opposite direction. Look at that corner to your right. Unknown Speaker   Left is just as bad. I'm just like so usually to my left and be like, Oh yeah, I'm pointing to my left. Oh, right, go right. But it just looks at me like, dude, you're doing right? I don't. But yeah, and so I definitely saw that full circle. I saw that as a foreshadowing. And so once I did once they did bring in the the fact that the parents had to spell bind her and when you see what that spell looks like, and I mean, how many of us remember things from when we were super young? And honestly, is not anything like what actually happens? HOLLY   Yeah. Kid Unknown Speaker   minds. And you know, and with the story that's being told by the mom. It's very psychologically understandable. That is a dream that she would have. Because after seeing and I mean, it really does. It looks like little spider webs that are just you know, faffing around. And even though the moms like oh, yeah, they're beautiful little ribbons just wrapping around to protect the girl. But I mean, if it looks like a spider web, then a kid's gonna be like, Oh, yeah, pretty little spider web. Yeah. And if you keep going, you just remember that spider web part. You lose a lot of it in translation. And so it made to me, it made a lot of sense, as a child growing up, that that is something that would have better, especially since it is something that because I mean, obviously when you're when you've got magic that's that strong. And it's trying to literally break out of you. Yeah, I mean, you see that even in the very first episode, like, when she first comes on screen, they show her her magic trying to break out of her. Yeah. And she hates it, it freaks her out. Megan Erickson   She's like, Oh, no, no, no, no. And Mike looks around. Yeah, Unknown Speaker   yep, with the papers. Mm hmm. And so it's, in my mind, it would be very understandable for a brain to do whatever it can, because that's the another amazing thing about this show is I feel like they are very, very in tune with a lot of things that happen to a normal person, Unknown Speaker   right? Unknown Speaker   And so our brains are hardwired? To give us answers. Megan Erickson   Exactly, yeah, Unknown Speaker   see something? Or if we hear something our brain is hardwired? To give us an answer to it. If something sounds like water, like water dripping, as water dripping, right, not actually be water dripping, but our brain immediately matches it up to what we already know. And something that she already knew was spider webs. Yeah. So it's and for something like that, to be such a big deal in her life for so long. And for her it to be something that really affects her, you know, as she's growing, and just knowing that she's this horrible witch, because she doesn't want to be a witch, she's no good at magic. She never has been. And it's like, Okay, this is just something I don't want in my life. And but you can still feel it inside you trying to break out. And it's like, and to see those spider webs. I could, like psychologically, it just makes sense that that is what the brain would connect to get that answer. And I just really enjoyed it. Megan Erickson   I really, I'm so glad you did. Because like, in the in the book, it was, you know, like reading like, oh, and then she has a dream that she's covered in spider and I was like, okay, but like seeing it was really cool. The way they did it with the music and the lighting was, it was really good. And I think it did what you said like it painted this picture of, she had this kind of like trauma as a kid. So psychologically, this is her brains way of saying, This is what happened to you, you know, and the and it's so it was so good. Okay. And that also reminds me so there's a part where Matthew is explaining to her, how he's studying different creatures, and they're like, I don't know, DNA markers. There's probably a better way to say that, but he's saying like, okay, here's a witch from 1500. And here's her DNA. Here's one of her descendants, and she has less of the witch markers, meaning her magic is decreasing and this line of witches that The cells or whatever in their bodies are decreasing. And he explains that the more witches are depend, or the less witches dependent on their magic to survive, like a 15, which from the 1500s, is probably going to use her magic a lot more than somebody say, in 2018 that has technology and can buy like groceries from the store instead of tending to her own garden, sprinkling them a little magic on there to make sure that her family's fed. It makes sense. And so he says, the less witches use their magic for survival, the more and more it's decreasing. And he says until they'll eventually become extinct. And Diana's reaction to that is very big. And she's shocked, obviously. But when I watched it the second time, I realized I realized, oh, because she's not using her magic. And so late, because as Matthew is explaining, he goes, the more and more that happens, they will any kind of pauses, and, and then I realized, Oh, she's not using her magic. She's part of the problem. And after he paused, it goes extinct. So he's kind of like saying, Yeah, like, if you have kids. Yeah. And it's, it's very poignant, because she said, I don't want to use magic because my parents died. Because they used magic. And people persecuted them. And, and that's how they were murdered. And, but it's also kind of shocking to realize, oh, but if I don't use magic, does that mean I'm part of this problem, that my family line will eventually just be human because I chose to not use it. And that's like, that's really that's really hard hitting and I do think that that has a lot to do. I don't know if I was in that situation. Are you like, well, I gotta do some spells man, because that is no bueno. Like, Unknown Speaker   that is not good news. Unknown Speaker   Isn't that crazy? Yeah, Unknown Speaker   I definitely understood the whole like, but I always, you know, even though they said the word kinked. And everything I had always said to me, it always went into Oh, they'll become human. They just won't have magic, right? And so in my mind, I was like, oh, they're not really extinct, because they're not dying. They're just not no longer magical. But then hearing you say it like that. It's like, No, no, like, if they no longer have magic, then witches will no longer exist. Megan Erickson   Yeah. They'll just like a witch. One day, we'll have a baby and the human and they won't have that in common. And oh, there's this Oh, go ahead. I'm gonna Unknown Speaker   that drags me over to the winter. So I said, I'm sorry. I'm so bad with the names. It's the the to Diem Unknown Speaker   ends. Unknown Speaker   And, and for their couple. They're married. Yeah, the couple and the girl is pregnant, and later, and she's a demon. And you know, and she's married to a demon. And later on, you find out that Oh, yeah. HOLLY   Parents work witches. Unknown Speaker   Yeah. And that is a big deal. is a witch? Yeah. And it's like, so they're doing everything they can to kind of hide everything. Like well, crap. Now what like that had never been heard of was two witches getting together and ending up having a demon baby. Mm hmm. And so it's like, and I but I thought it was so interesting. Because like, as you go back into genealogy, obviously to find out what happened and see that yes, you actually do have demon and witch blood in your bloodline genes in your bloodline. And so that is one it's kind of like and I'm not gonna lie it started getting me thinking on like, how somebody can have all brown haired people in their family like mom dad brown hair. oldest son, oldest daughter, second oldest son brown hair, and then all of a sudden the fourth kid bright red hair. Yeah. Just kind of like wait what happens and then later on you find out Oh, no, you actually have a pretty strong you know, Irish beam in your family. Yeah, so you've always had these Megan Erickson   you they've just never they're just never surfaced before I said, Yeah. Unknown Speaker   Now Yeah. And so I always thought so hearing it that like that. Oh, that's how I thought about it was all these different, you know, little things all of a sudden popping up and I just thought it was so interesting. And I loved that they kind of like they didn't obviously be like, Oh, yeah, check out Jenny ology, but it was just like, no, knowing your history, knowing your pass can help you to prepare for your future. And I like concepts because that whole learning from past mistakes and using it to better the future. I love that concept. And I feel like that was not obviously it wasn't like a main story, but I loved that it was it was a john here. Megan Erickson   Yeah, it was a good part of the story. Um, so that couplets Sophie and Daniel, and Nathaniel's mom, Agatha is on the congregation. So she's a representative for the demons. And they wait to tell Agatha. And she's like, it's Sophie's decision. She goes, No, I need to tell her and her husband says, No, I don't think you should. And then she explains, I think that our connection is so strong, because she's a witch. And well, A Discovery of Witches   I was born of which. You're a witch? No, no, I'm, I'm a demon. But, but my parents were witches and my grandparents and there is before them. The baby could be a witch, I've got a pretty strong feeling that she is. Unknown Speaker   And you can tell me, if our baby is a witch born of demons, should we everything the congregation fears and wants to destroy? can trust me? My god, I don't want to put you in a difficult position. A Discovery of Witches   I'm your mother. Unknown Speaker   You come first. Both of you do. I miss child, grandmother. My loyalty and love are to you. Megan Erickson   So that's her saying like screw the congregation, if you Your parents are witches and your babies, which I'm going to protect you. And that was a really good moment, because she could have gone either way. Because if they if the congregation finds out, they could try to kill her and kill her baby and stuff. And it could have been like really bad. But you see her character and where she's going. And then eventually, she gives them information that leads them to Diana, and it's really good. I want to I gotta pull up this quote. Okay, so this is Matthew talking about what will happen when creatures go extinct. A Discovery of Witches   It's not going to happen immediately tomorrow, but it's already been gone. One day, they'll be just one species. Humans. Frost, they won't notice the difference, because they've never noticed us. But gradually, Unknown Speaker   eventually, they'll come to see all the magic has seeped out in the wild. And I look around them. And everyone will be the same. HOLLY   And I actually love that they did that. Unknown Speaker   Because if you think of all these animals that are starting to go extinct, like even in our world right now, right, and thinking of other animals that have gone extinct, I mean, just look at the dinosaur. There are absolutely none left, there are one and two creatures that are distantly distantly related. But that's it. And so I like how he said how it's not just going to be like a big, oh my gosh, everything's just been sucked out like a vacuum. Because that's not how that kind of stuff works. It's one individual at a time. Yeah. When you're at a time kind of thing. It's never just a quick thing. And so But yeah, I like how he mentions how everyone will just start looking around and realize that there's just literally no magic in the world anymore. Megan Erickson   And isn't that Oh, it's so poignant, because it can be used as a metaphor for so many things like, yeah, animals that will probably go extinct in our lifetime. And, you know, and there's a big concern with bees. And there are people where it's their job just to rehabilitate bees. And then now there's certain regulations, bee workers with that make honey, there's regulations, because it's like, yeah, we want honey. But you know, we want even more to make sure that bees still exist and are pollinating different flowers. Because if those flowers go away, then that's gonna ruin that ecosystem. And it's just this huge domino effect. And so to think about just one thing, going away, it affects it's a huge domino effect. And it can be, it can be so bad. Oh, it's really it's really, really good. metaphor, I think, which is really great.   Join us next time for part three. Please rate and review and share with your friends if they're little strange things like you. Thanks for listening. I hope you'll join us next time. scare you later. Transcribed by https://otter.ai    

Greetings friends to this end of the year podcast! Before I share my own stories, I want to give you our last two Listener Stories for 2020, one from Tom and another from Tammy. I think Tammy’s story is especially interesting because the Coronavirus pandemic had a big impact on her. I think her story will resonate with many of you.  Hello, my name is Tammy.  I recently retired from being a principal and before that a school teacher, a job I had done and loved for over 30 years.  I had oodles of plans for what I was going to do, places I was going to go and things I was really looking forward to doing-  like working with children at our church this summer.  When COVID hit and closed down school as we knew it on March 13, 2020, my life really changed.  I didn’t get to say goodbye to my students, parents and staff, it just all ended that Friday in March.  I was really struggling with what to me felt like a major loss. (This is in no way to disrespect those that have had greater losses due to COVID.) I was talking to my husband explaining how I was feeling such an absence of being needed and like I was just wandering looking for what I was supposed to be doing with my life at this time.  My sweet husband said some very wise words to me.  He said, “Tammy, I believe God is just giving you this down time to recharge you and prepare you for what He has planned next for you to do for Him.  Take this time and use it to its best.”  While I knew he was right, I have to say I DON’T  do down time well.  When you work 60 hours a week for oodles of years and have people consistently needing things from you, to have that come to a screeching halt, really put me off kilter.   I was struggling trying to figure out what God wanted me to do.  Then one morning in my devotion time God put on my heart that I have been wanting to complete a read through the Bible in a year program for a long time.  Even though it was August, I thought, this doesn’t have to wait until January to be a New Year’s Resolution, it can be my New Life Resolution. What a blessing this decision has been!  I looked at all different types of programs.  I found Digging Deeper Daily and liked the explanation of how this program was laid out. I wanted to learn about the “threads that unify the message of the Old and New Testaments”. I also like the fact that there were brief devotional notes that I thought would help me see the connections clearer.   I started this journey on August 20th and upon hearing the first reading, I fell in love with this journey.  Phil’s voice was so calming and yet assured in what he was saying and reading.  The brief stories he shares of his work as a Bible translator make me feel like I have a new friend.  This adventure has helped me grow daily in my understanding of God’s word.   Being a Christian since a child, I had heard many stories from the bible, now I understand more deeply what was happening before, during and after those isolated events.  It has really helped make the Bible come to life for me.   Phil explains how he started this project as a gift to leave his grandchildren.  He wanted to read the entire bible to them.  I feel his love each morning as I listen to him read and explain the daily passage, its as if for those brief moments I have been adopted into his family.  This has not only been a way for me to learn more about the Bible, grow closer to God, but also to feel like I am being gathered into the fold each morning.   The brief explanations at the end of the readings are so helpful.  I always look forward to the prayer Phil delivers to close the devotional time.  Often, I will replay the prayer a time or two more.  At the end of “our time together” I try to conclude with a prayer for Phil and all those doing God’s work to bring His word to the nations that don’t have the Bible yet.  This reminder of what a gift the Bible is to us, that I often take for granted because I haven’t known a time without it, has made my daily time with God even more precious.   Early on in the program, Phil was reading to us from Matthew.  When He read Matthew 11:28 which says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I cried.  This to me reiterated what my husband told me.    I was in need of this passage.  When Phil read this verse, with such love in his voice, I felt as if it was God speaking it to me.  I needed rest, yet I wouldn’t let myself admit it.  Now, each morning I consider my time listening to Phil read God’s word as a time of rest, connection and recharging.   I can’t wait to find out what great adventure God has in store for me next, or where He needs me in this stage of life, what I do know though is that Phil Fields and Digging Deeper Daily will be on that amazing ride with me.   Thanks so much, Tammy, for your story! And with a sincere blush, I also say thanks for your kind words. I am so pleased— more than that— filled with joy, when people are able to look through the kind of one-way mirror that podcasting is, to become my friends and even adopted family.  Thanks to Tom giving me this next story. Tom is mainly a reader (not a regular podcast listener). The 3D YouVersion plan he has followed for 2020 is called Read To Me Daily. (Link given in the episode notes.) Tom is a long time friend, dating back to my music teaching days. There is one odd, totally unplanned, similarity between his story and Tammy’s. I think you will catch it. My name is Tom and I am a sixty-year-old Arkansan.  I have read through the Bible several times using different plans.  The last few times, using electronic media, such as Digging Deeper Daily, has aided me greatly through ease of access.  Reading the Bible entirely in one year gives one little time for Bible study, but I value the discipline of daily reading which stirs my thoughts and continually whets my appetite to, what else, dig deeper. I read through the Bible this year using the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition.  In the past I have used various translations and even some paraphrases and I may have been wiser to use the recommended New Living Translation or Good News Translation.  Instead, however, I wanted to use the AMPC this year to slow me down.  The many bracketed words and phrases in the AMPC which are used to further describe a translated word or passage, forced me to ponder over a word or passage and think about how an idea was being explained.  I did enjoy the New Living Translation as well as the Good News Translation versions referenced most often in the devotionals.  I found multiple translations of the same verses to be quite helpful. Most years when using a daily reading plan I plowed right past the devotional passages and read only the scripture.  This year I was determined to include reading the devotionals, again, to slow me down and to help me think about what I was reading.  I enjoyed reading the Digging Deeper Daily devotionals which often gave the translator’s perspective of a passage, citing examples of difficult passages to translate and including real-life examples of working with an indigenous people group to help them understand the Bible.  In addition to translation notes, I appreciated the occasional summaries from prior days, reminding me of an important passage, even to the point of repeating some passages over consecutive days for emphasis.  I also appreciated being prodded by the devotional to live up to its title to, here it is again, dig deeper into particular passages. I appreciated how the daily readings were divided up between Old and New Testaments, particularly saving Isaiah for the end of the calendar year with so many relevant passages for the advent season.  My favorite passage, personally, occurred late in the calendar year on September 21.  Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT)  I am never more at peace than when I surrender to Christ’s yoke. Finally, while I spent the year in the daily reading plan rather than listening to the daily podcasts, I did enjoy utilizing the audio podcasts through the Old Testament genealogies.

Greetings friends to this end of the year podcast! Before I share my own stories, I want to give you our last two Listener Stories for 2020, one from Tom and another from Tammy. I think Tammy’s story is especially interesting because the Coronavirus pandemic had a big impact on her. I think her story will resonate with many of you.  Hello, my name is Tammy.  I recently retired from being a principal and before that a school teacher, a job I had done and loved for over 30 years.  I had oodles of plans for what I was going to do, places I was going to go and things I was really looking forward to doing-  like working with children at our church this summer.  When COVID hit and closed down school as we knew it on March 13, 2020, my life really changed.  I didn’t get to say goodbye to my students, parents and staff, it just all ended that Friday in March.  I was really struggling with what to me felt like a major loss. (This is in no way to disrespect those that have had greater losses due to COVID.) I was talking to my husband explaining how I was feeling such an absence of being needed and like I was just wandering looking for what I was supposed to be doing with my life at this time.  My sweet husband said some very wise words to me.  He said, “Tammy, I believe God is just giving you this down time to recharge you and prepare you for what He has planned next for you to do for Him.  Take this time and use it to its best.”  While I knew he was right, I have to say I DON’T  do down time well.  When you work 60 hours a week for oodles of years and have people consistently needing things from you, to have that come to a screeching halt, really put me off kilter.   I was struggling trying to figure out what God wanted me to do.  Then one morning in my devotion time God put on my heart that I have been wanting to complete a read through the Bible in a year program for a long time.  Even though it was August, I thought, this doesn’t have to wait until January to be a New Year’s Resolution, it can be my New Life Resolution. What a blessing this decision has been!  I looked at all different types of programs.  I found Digging Deeper Daily and liked the explanation of how this program was laid out. I wanted to learn about the “threads that unify the message of the Old and New Testaments”. I also like the fact that there were brief devotional notes that I thought would help me see the connections clearer.   I started this journey on August 20th and upon hearing the first reading, I fell in love with this journey.  Phil’s voice was so calming and yet assured in what he was saying and reading.  The brief stories he shares of his work as a Bible translator make me feel like I have a new friend.  This adventure has helped me grow daily in my understanding of God’s word.   Being a Christian since a child, I had heard many stories from the bible, now I understand more deeply what was happening before, during and after those isolated events.  It has really helped make the Bible come to life for me.   Phil explains how he started this project as a gift to leave his grandchildren.  He wanted to read the entire bible to them.  I feel his love each morning as I listen to him read and explain the daily passage, its as if for those brief moments I have been adopted into his family.  This has not only been a way for me to learn more about the Bible, grow closer to God, but also to feel like I am being gathered into the fold each morning.   The brief explanations at the end of the readings are so helpful.  I always look forward to the prayer Phil delivers to close the devotional time.  Often, I will replay the prayer a time or two more.  At the end of “our time together” I try to conclude with a prayer for Phil and all those doing God’s work to bring His word to the nations that don’t have the Bible yet.  This reminder of what a gift the Bible is to us, that I often take for granted because I haven’t known a time without it, has made my daily time with God even more precious.   Early on in the program, Phil was reading to us from Matthew.  When He read Matthew 11:28 which says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I cried.  This to me reiterated what my husband told me.    I was in need of this passage.  When Phil read this verse, with such love in his voice, I felt as if it was God speaking it to me.  I needed rest, yet I wouldn’t let myself admit it.  Now, each morning I consider my time listening to Phil read God’s word as a time of rest, connection and recharging.   I can’t wait to find out what great adventure God has in store for me next, or where He needs me in this stage of life, what I do know though is that Phil Fields and Digging Deeper Daily will be on that amazing ride with me.   Thanks so much, Tammy, for your story! And with a sincere blush, I also say thanks for your kind words. I am so pleased— more than that— filled with joy, when people are able to look through the kind of one-way mirror that podcasting is, to become my friends and even adopted family.  Thanks to Tom giving me this next story. Tom is mainly a reader (not a regular podcast listener). The 3D YouVersion plan he has followed for 2020 is called Read To Me Daily. (Link given in the episode notes.) Tom is a long time friend, dating back to my music teaching days. There is one odd, totally unplanned, similarity between his story and Tammy’s. I think you will catch it. My name is Tom and I am a sixty-year-old Arkansan.  I have read through the Bible several times using different plans.  The last few times, using electronic media, such as Digging Deeper Daily, has aided me greatly through ease of access.  Reading the Bible entirely in one year gives one little time for Bible study, but I value the discipline of daily reading which stirs my thoughts and continually whets my appetite to, what else, dig deeper. I read through the Bible this year using the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition.  In the past I have used various translations and even some paraphrases and I may have been wiser to use the recommended New Living Translation or Good News Translation.  Instead, however, I wanted to use the AMPC this year to slow me down.  The many bracketed words and phrases in the AMPC which are used to further describe a translated word or passage, forced me to ponder over a word or passage and think about how an idea was being explained.  I did enjoy the New Living Translation as well as the Good News Translation versions referenced most often in the devotionals.  I found multiple translations of the same verses to be quite helpful. Most years when using a daily reading plan I plowed right past the devotional passages and read only the scripture.  This year I was determined to include reading the devotionals, again, to slow me down and to help me think about what I was reading.  I enjoyed reading the Digging Deeper Daily devotionals which often gave the translator’s perspective of a passage, citing examples of difficult passages to translate and including real-life examples of working with an indigenous people group to help them understand the Bible.  In addition to translation notes, I appreciated the occasional summaries from prior days, reminding me of an important passage, even to the point of repeating some passages over consecutive days for emphasis.  I also appreciated being prodded by the devotional to live up to its title to, here it is again, dig deeper into particular passages. I appreciated how the daily readings were divided up between Old and New Testaments, particularly saving Isaiah for the end of the calendar year with so many relevant passages for the advent season.  My favorite passage, personally, occurred late in the calendar year on September 21.  Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT)  I am never more at peace than when I surrender to Christ’s yoke. Finally, while I spent the year in the daily reading plan rather than listening to the daily podcasts, I did enjoy utilizing the audio podcasts through the Old Testament genealogies.

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent Romans 13:8-4 and St. Matthew 21:1-13 by William Klock The Christian year has always been reckoned by the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus.  Our Eastern brothers and sisters begin the Church Year at Easter and we, in the West, have for most of our history begun it at Christmas.  Either way, our ecclesiastical New Year’s Day recognises the Jesus has changed everything.  And yet, the Church never springs Christmas or Easter on us.  Instead, a time of preparation leads us to both of these great celebrations.  These were originally times when candidates for baptism—and Epiphany and Easter were the two great times for baptism in the early Church—these were the times when those who were to be baptised prepared: learning the faith, counting the cost, and finally committing themselves entirely to Jesus.  Our traditions have changed a little down through the centuries, but the season of Advent still calls us, like the Boy Scout motto, to be prepared.  Not to be prepared in case of fire, storm, or some other disaster, but to be prepared, knowing that in his first advent Jesus inaugurated his kingdom and that in his second advent, he will finish what he started—and that we are his stewards in the in-between.  Advent reminds us that we live in an overlap of the ages.  The present evil age has been defeated, its rulers dethroned and the age to come has been born.  But in his wisdom and his grace, God has not brought the new age all at once.  Yes, this overlap of the ages allows for evil to continue and for wicked men and women to grasp at their slipping hold of the world, but it also gives space for the good news about Jesus to be carried to the world and the world to come in faith to Jesus who has come in his first advent, not to condemn, but to redeem. Our Gospel lesson today reminds us of what Jesus has done and what he will one day finish.  St. Matthew shows us Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the King, and he shows us the nature of his rule and his kingdom.  Look at Matthew 21:1-6.   Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,          “Say to the daughter of Zion,          ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,                   humble, and mounted on a donkey,                   on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”   The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.   Matthew wrote his Gospel for a Jewish audience and he draws on their Scriptures and on Israel’s story to give depth to what he writes.  Specifically, here, he draws on Zechariah’s prophecies that look forward to the Messiah and to the day when the Lord would come in judgement on Israel’s enemies.  When Matthew says that Jesus came to the Mount of Olives, this isn’t just a casual geographical reference.  This is the spot, according to Zechariah, on which the Lord would stand when judgement came.  And Matthew draws on Zechariah again to explain Jesus’ strange command to the disciples to fetch a donkey.  This was not how kings made their triumphal processions.  Well, not ordinary kings.  They rode on horseback or in a chariot.  But Zechariah, hundreds of years before, had highlighted the humble nature of the coming messiah.  He was one who would ride to his coronation on the back of a humble donkey. So Matthew, here, makes it abundantly clear who Jesus is.  He is the Messiah whom the people had hoped for.  But he also highlights the nature of Jesus’ rule.  The people expected a king would come to overthrow the Herodians and the Romans with violence.  Matthew reminds them, by calling back to Zechariah, that Jesus will take his throne by a very different sort of path.  Yes, he is the judge.  Yes, he will deliver Israel.  But it’s not going to happen the way people thought, at least not yet. As the crowds gather to line Jesus’ way into Jerusalem, Matthew continues to draw on Israel’s story.  Look at verses 8-11: Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”  And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”  And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”   Not only do the people sing royal hymns to Jesus as he rides into the city, hailing him as “son of David”, a significant messianic title, but Matthew again draws on two events in Israel’s story that the people would have known well.  First, as he tells how the crows was spreading their cloaks on the ground, it would have been hard for his Jewish readers to miss the reference to King Jehu’s anointing.  In 2 Kings 9 we read about Jehoram.  He was King of Israel, the son of the wicked King Ahab.  The apple had not fallen far from the tree in Jehoram.  The prophet Elisha ordered that Jehu was to be anointed King in his place and announced that Jehu would bring the Lord’s judgement on the wicked house of Ahab.  As Jehu was anointed by the prophet, the men gathered cast their cloaks on the ground before him and blew a trumpet.  Matthew uses the imagery not only to make sure we know that Jesus is King, but also to hint that Jesus is also the King who will bring the Lord’s judgement on the wicked. But the other grand image that Matthew draws on here and that leads into the next scene is that of Judas Maccabaeus.  2 Maccabees 10:7 describes the people hailing Judas as King by laying wreathes and palm branches at his feet.  Judas had not only defeated Israel’s enemies, but he had purified the temple from its defilement by the Greeks. And the temple is precisely where Matthew takes us next.  Look at verses 12-13 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.  He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”   Jesus’ purification of the temple had at least as much to do with rebuking the people for what the temple had become ideologically as it did with the buy and selling.  The selling of animals for sacrifice was a necessary part of what the temple was and, since the temple used its own currency, someone had to be there to make change.  The more serious issues was that the temple had become a symbol of the violent revolution—a revolution like the one Judas Maccabaeus had led—that had become the hope of the people.  Again, that’s not what Jesus was about. Most importantly, Jesus’ disruption of the temple put a temporary stop to the sacrifices that day.  This was an acted-out prophecy that brought to a culmination all of his declarations of forgiveness and healing that bypassed the temple, the sacrificial system, and the priesthood.  This was Jesus’ announcement that the temple’s days were numbered.  God was about to do something not only new, but better.  Jesus points here to a coming new covenant in which he would take on the role of the temple himself, in which he would be the mediator between God and human beings, he would be the one in whom forgiveness of sins would be found, he would be the one to bring God and man, heaven and earth together. The Gospel shows us that in his first advent, Jesus was revealed to be the King whom God had promised to his people.  It also hints at the fact that, while Jesus has inaugurated something new, even now, two thousand years later, we await its final consummation. We still wait for Jesus’ second advent.  And this leads us into our Epistle.  Let’s look at Romans 13, beginning at verse 8: Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.  (Romans 13:8-10) A shockwave went out across the world that first Easter morning when Jesus burst from his tomb.  The work of new creation was begun that day.  And yet, except for Jesus’ followers, no one seems to have noticed.  The present age rumbles along, its rulers go on ruling, and people carry on with their business.  The old gods remain, even if we aren’t so crass as to build temples with statues of them.  We may not worship Caesar or Aphrodite or Mammon, but we still worship money and sex and political power.  St. Paul knew that it’s surprisingly easy for even Jesus’ own people to forget that the kingdom is breaking in.  It’s easy for us to fall back into the ways and priorities of the present age and to give half-hearted allegiance to Jesus.  That had been Israel’s problem all along.  It should not be ours.  Jesus has filled us with his own Spirit.  The law that was once external and written on stone has now been inscribed on our hearts and our hearts have been turned to God.  Problem solved!  Or you’d think.  We need nearly constant reminders, we need to recall Jesus, his death and resurrection, we need God’s word and we need his grace.  And so Paul reminds us to live the law of love that the Spirit has inscribed in our hearts. Paul puts in terms of the torah.  Don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t covet—just don’t wrong your neighbour.  To love is to fulfil the law.  Paul uses the Greek word agape, that describes the sort of love that gives of oneself as it puts others first.  This is the love that Jesus showed us on the cross as he took on himself the sins of the very people who had rejected and despised him.  This is the love that defines the kingdom and that the Spirit has poured into our hearts.  Be in debt to no one, Paul writes, except to know that for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom, you owe everyone you meet a debt of love.  Imagine how effective the Church would be if we truly lived this way, coupled with being faithful proclaimers of the good news about Jesus. Instead, though, we’re too often like the man who knows he’s going to be late for work, but keeps hitting “snooze” on his alarm clock, rolling over, and going back to sleep.  Paul goes on: Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.  For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  The night is far gone; the day is at hand.  (Romans 13:11-12) Paul knew that Jesus would return.  Jesus had promised that the Lord would come in judgement on an unrepentant Jerusalem within a generation.  Whether or not Paul thought that this would be the final end of the present age is debated by New Testament scholars.  I think Paul saw another horizon beyond the destruction of Jerusalem.  The Lord having judged unrepentant Israel and vindicated his faithful people, a time would follow in which the gentiles would come streaming in, having seen the faithfulness of the God of Israel.  While the other apostles were carrying the gospel to their fellow Jews, Paul had received a calling to carry it to the gentiles.  And Paul saw another horizon, one beyond the soon-to-come judgment on Jerusalem.  Paul saw that the pagan nations, particularly the Greeks and Romans, would one day face a similar judgement. The time was coming for the King’s return in judgement, first on the Jews, and eventually on the gentiles.  He would finish what he had started.  The present evil age and its false gods and false kings would be done away with and God’s new creation would be born.  Jesus’ first advent was the alarm going off.  Jesus had announced a coming judgement, but in his life, death, and resurrection had established a means of reconciliation with God.  That day the first rays of the sun had begun to peek over the mountaintops.  And now, Paul’s saying, the full day will soon be upon us.  Get out of bed and get dressed for work! And then he shifts the metaphor.  From “Get out of bed you lazy sleepy-head” he takes a more serious tone.  It’s one thing to sleep in when you should be getting ready for work.  It’s a far worse thing to be out carousing all night and carrying on into the morning, instead of going to work.  He goes on: The night is far gone; the day is at hand.  So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.  (Romans 13:12-14) Laziness is bad and there are plenty of lazy Christians, but even worse are people who know they should be living for Jesus and the age to come, but are instead living for the present wicked age and its false gods and kings.  Paul makes a list of the wicked things people do under cover of darkness: they indulge their appetites, they get drunk, they get involved in all sorts of sexual sins.  But Paul doesn’t stop there.  Most Christians don’t do those sorts of things, so Paul goes on with the list, from orgies and drunkenness to quarrelling and jealousy.  That probably hits closer to home—especially if you spend much time on social media.  But long before social media existed, Christians were struggling with quarreling and jealousy.  Christians get angry with each other, their relationships break down, sometimes churches even split over these sorts of things.  These are the works of darkness and they’re just as bad and just as unbecoming the people of God as drunken orgies are.  Going back to the first part of the Epistle, people who love their neighbours don’t fight and don’t become jealous any more than they get involved in sexual immorality. No, instead, as befits living in the day, we put on the “armour of light”.  Paul hints at the fact that living as people of the day when we’re surrounded by people of the darkness is going to be a struggle and, some day, even a battle.  We put on the armour of light.  What is that?  Paul goes on to put it in terms of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.  But what does that mean?  Paul uses this put on/put off metaphor a lot in his epistles and the gist of it is that we need to remember to whom we belong. Think of the Israelites—since we’ve been studying Exodus recently.  Pharaoh had claimed them as his slaves, but the Lord had freed them.  It wasn’t freedom for freedom’s sake.  The Lord freed Israel from Pharaoh’s cruel bondage so that the people could serve him.  They went from belonging to a cruel king to belonging to the King—a king who loves his people.  The Lord would live in the midst of his people, that was his promise.  And, for their part, the people would live as befits people who belong to and fellowship with the Lord—that was the torah and the tabernacle. Brothers and Sisters, the same goes for us as Christians.  Through Jesus, the Lord has delivered us from our bondage to sin and death and has made us his own.  We once were in bondage to the darkness, but now have the privilege and joy of serving the light.  And as Jesus’ people, we’re not just the people who live camped around the tabernacle.  No, we are united with Jesus, who is himself the tabernacle, God with us, and who has made us, his very people, a temple when he gave us his Spirit.  It is astounding what Jesus has done for us, and yet we forget.  We hear the alarm sounding, we see the sun peeking through the curtains, and we roll over and go back to sleep.  We do that because we’ve forgotten the joy of our salvation.  We do that, because we’ve failed to steep ourselves in God’s word.  We do that, because we’ve forgotten that God has made us stewards of his good news.  We do that, because we’ve failed to think on and to meditate on the amazing and gracious love God had shown us in Jesus. Brothers and Sisters, the Lord knew we would forget these things.  That’s why he’s given us means of grace to “stir us up” as we prayed in last week’s collect.  He’s given us each other.  Friends, the Church is a place where we stir each other up to love and good works.  He’s given us his word to prick our consciences when we go astray, to remind us of God’s faithfulness when we’re struggling to trust, and to show us the incredible depths of his love when we’re tempted to take a ho-hum approach to our faith.  He’s given us the sacraments.  In our baptism he has washed us clean and plunged us into his Spirit.  In that water he made each of us his own, just as he made Israel his own when she passed through the Red Sea.  And in the Lord’s Supper he gives us a means of participating in the very events—in the death and resurrection of Jesus—that mark our exodus from the bondage of sin and death. Friends, be prepared.  Knowing that that King has come and that he will come again, avail yourselves this Advent of the means of grace.  Whether you’ve been carousing as if it were night, or you’ve been sleeping in, or you’ve been busy about the work of the kingdom, steep yourselves in God’s word, be reminded of the love and the grace and the faithfulness of God.  Meditate on the cross and on the empty tomb.  Remember the baptismal water through which you once passed and find assurance that you belong to Jesus.  And, finally, come to his Table.  Here is not only the manna in the wilderness for a hungry people.  Here is the bread and wine by which we participate in the death and resurrection of the King and find out identity as the people of God. Let’s pray: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

A new approach to fitness is getting some traction. That approach is getting those with mental disabilities on the road to living happier, healthier lives.A lot of us understand that the importance on having their loved ones, set up with OT's, Therapists, Psychiatrists and Doctors but, few realize the importance on exercise.Matthew Alexander is the PRIME example of how and why fitness is not only important but, crucial. He was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and Anxiety and never really understood the value of fitness himself. He basically went through life trying to figure out how to cope with it, until his family got him to start taking spin classes. He feel in love with it and almost immediately after started feeling happier. It took him a while but, he finally realized that those classes helped keep him on the right path towards a happier life.Why is that the case? Because serotonin and dopamine get released immediately after exercise and it started to really get him more and more focused.The issue, was that he quickly learned, the professionals in the field didn't really understand how to train people like him. No fault of their own, but they were never taught. So Matthew, like most entrepreneurs, took this and ran with it. He started collecting data and wanted to form his own company where he can help educate the fitness world on how to work with people from all walks of life.Matthew is a true inspiration to those that really want to make a difference in this world. Here is an article he did Connect with him on FBSupport the show (http://www.redefine-fitness.com)

Matthew 4 – 18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Not a cheesy play on words… but a 1st century idiom… follow me and you will become like me! You will become a wise and influential person… An invitation of a lifetime for these “uneducated fishermen – an invitation to walk in and sit in the Dust of the Rabbi!) 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him. ** Not like some of you might follow the Giants… Jesus isn’t inviting us to be his fans… he’s inviting us to put on a uniform and play the game! “Follow”… 79x’s! 4:21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. John 1 – 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” (and he and Nathanael began to follow Jesus) NIV Matthew 9 – 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Not only is following Jesus an invitation to be with Jesus… but it’s an invitation to be with others! Matthew 9:10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum? ” 12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: (Hosea 6:6) ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” NLT Welcome to church! A place for scum… for sinners… for the sick… the broken… ** Denver church – “Scum of the earth”. 2nd favorite: “This ain’t your grandma’s church” Now… think about this with me… good, simple, law-abiding fishermen… a man of impeccable integrity (Nathanael) a Tax collector… literally on the payroll of Rome… traitors to their country… on the level of prostitutes according the cultural ladder. Usually wealthy and educated, they would buy a post and collect taxes for the Roman government, allowed to collect extra for themselves with the enforcement of the Roman soldiers… Hated by Jews! And add to that, Judas Iscariot… and Simon the Zealot. Zealots were “God and Country” (country being more important than God – MIGA hats…) who were known to carry a dagger and when given the chance would attach and kill a Roman Soldier. Imagine the conversations in that group…? What did Matthew do when Jesus said render unto to Caesar what is Caesar’s? Did he wink over at Simon…? You couldn’t get two more extreme people on the same squad! Its like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump working together! ** Now Imagine… a white supremacist skinhead with a swastika tat…. a bi-sexual transgender… A black, Antifa radical… a couple of blue-caller construction workers with MAGA hats…. And throw in a few Google engineers… and an Apple tech guy just to round it off! That’s what following Jesus looks like! It’s people who have Christ in common… and maybe nothing else! And let’s not miss the significance of this scene… tax collectors… fishermen… women… both reputable and former prostitutes… dagger carrying zealots… together! Eating meals together!! Food meant so much more than nourishment! It meant welcome… it meant friendship… it meant community NT scholar Scott Bartchy says: “It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of table fellowship for the cultures of the Mediterranean basin in the first century of our era. Mealtimes were far more than occasions for individuals to consume nourishment. Being welcomed at a table for the purpose of eating food with another person had become a ceremony richly symbolic of friendship, intimacy and unity. Thus betrayal or unfaithfulness toward anyone with whom one had shared the table was viewed as particularly reprehensible. On the other hand, when persons were estranged, a meal invitation opened the way to reconciliation.” Luke – 50 references to Jesus and food… Matthew – 94! NT Scholar Robert Karris – “Jesus is either going to a meal… at a meal… or leaving a meal! He was ate meals so often, he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard! Another scholar says, “Jesus was crucified because of whom he ate with”. Your homework class… Eat together!

Ryne Hester 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. 10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” 12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

During this episode of Quiet Light, we talk to the former Controller of Priceline about TACOS and the three pillars of e-commerce. Tune in to hear on discussion on these topics and more. Topics:  How working in accounting led Matthew to where he is today. The three pillars of ecommerce: Inventory management. Website management. Advertising Assessing your sales. Managing the core elements of your business. Tracking customers. Keeping an eye on the value of your inventory. Why commingling expenses is harmful. Transcription: Mark:             Joe, we've been kicking out these podcasts on a weekly basis. We talk about a lot of different things on these podcasts; everything from inventory management to how to work with suppliers to SaaS metrics that you should be looking at. And this week, you talked to the former controller of Priceline; a very smart guy, worked a long time at KPMG as well and you guys talked about TACoS. Joe:                Yeah, it's total advertising costs for those… Mark:             It's not the crunchy tacos? Joe:                Not crunchy. No. We might have mentioned that, but not in detail, yes. Mark:             Okay. All right, so you talked about TACoS, but you guys were specifically talking about three pillars of e-commerce. Now, we love pillars here at Quiet Light Brokerage. We have the four pillars of value, which we talk about quite a bit, a simple mechanism to understand what influences the value of an online business; risk, growth, transferability, and documentation. He has the three pillars of an e-commerce business, which are three areas that you should really be focusing on that build up an e-commerce business. You guys went into detail on it, which included tacos, but not the yummy kind. Joe:                Right. Yeah, so these are his pillars. He came up with them. I asked him, what do you look at first when you work with a new client? What Matthew does now is CFO advisory services. So he's a fractional CFO if you will. We met at a local mentoring facility here in Davidson, North Carolina; it's part of Davidson College. And I introduced him to a client of ours, somebody that I'm not going to mention his name because of the details and we chose not to mention the name in the podcast, but somebody that sold the business for 7,000 and then his next one was 20, his next one was 220, his next one was just under 9 million, and his next goal is to sell a business for a hundred million. So when I met Matthew I saw him do a presentation on fractional CFO services; a very referral based business that he had done on a website and I thought, you know what, he should talk to this particular individual. The individual liked him so much that he ended up flipping from a paid per service to a piece of the pie for the eventual sale of his business. He wrote to me, hey, buddy, I can't thank you enough for the intro to Matt. It's so great to work with him and he really became one of the most important people at my company. Without him, I would be lost. No joke. So Matthew went through these three pillars and what he talks about. And it's not just a total number-crunching geek type of thing. It's looking at number analysis across your business; across your e-commerce business. And it was really interesting to see, especially from a guy that comes from Priceline, which is obviously an e-commerce business, but not where you've got a physical product. It's more affiliate digital. So it's fascinating and hopefully, the people that listen to this that get all the way through to the end are going to start to understand the importance of some of the things that you and I talk about all the time. But it's not for us this time. It's from somebody that was a vice president controller at a company as well-known as Priceline. Joe:                Hey folks, Joe Valley here from Quiet Light Brokerage. Thanks for listening to the Quiet Light Podcast. Today I've got a pretty impressive guy on the podcast with me. His name is Matthew De Wald. Matthew, welcome, how are you? Matthew:       I'm very good. Thanks for having me, Joe. Joe:                A local here in Davidson, North Carolina; we met through a local mentoring group at the Hub at Davidson. And you've recently worked with a client of mine who basically called you a finance rock star. And that client's been on the Quiet Light Podcast. We've talked about him. I'm not going to give too much details, but he loved you so much that he said, look, in lieu of paying why don't I just give you a piece of my company which goes to how damn valuable you are. Well, let's get to all of that in a minute. Who are you? What do you do? What's your background? What's your history? Why don't you tell the folks listening a little bit about yourself? Matthew:       Sure. I'd like to just think that I kind of come from humble beginnings. I'm one of nine kids, actually. Joe:                Wow. You and Mark have a lot in common; Mark has got seven. Mark is my business partner. All right [inaudible 00:05:20.3] nine kids. Matthew:       Yeah, so I grew up with… Joe:                What number in the sequence? Not that it's relevant in any way, but what number? Matthew:       I'm number two. Joe:                Oh, okay. All right. Matthew:       Number one if you ask me but number two in lineage. Joe:                Fair enough. Matthew:       And I love my brothers and sisters. So I grew up with a brood of us and I think my father is interesting. He's a very brilliant guy but he isn't necessarily business savvy. He's very smart. He can put things together but he just doesn't do the business environment. So I didn't grow up really with a business background or business family or anything like that but I was like; my older brother, who is like the complete opposite of me likes to call me a miser growing up and it's; that was always counting the money that I had and where I was going to go and trying to think about the future and that kind of stuck with me from high school into college and then beyond. So heading into college, I got an accounting degree from Pace University, and from Pace, I joined KPMG as an auditor. And most people can't cut that out for more than a few years and I can't blame them but somehow I was able to do it for 15. Joe:                Wow. Matthew:       And after 15 years of it, I realized it at about 13 and a half years, I didn't feel like I was learning anymore so it's time for something new. So I landed a job at Priceline.com that actually some of the partners at KPMG helped me to get. And at Priceline, which is a subsidiary now of Booking Holdings, at Priceline I was the vice president of finance and controller there. And that's where I went from, really kind of looking at an organization from an outside point of view as an auditor at KPMG looking at really kind of macro issues to really diving into operations. And what I realized is that from an operations standpoint, especially in a place like Priceline, where you're dealing with literally hundreds of thousands of transactions in a day you really need to have a solid IT infrastructure and systems and really a mechanism of keeping control of all that. And so that was kind of a really important career point for me. And I spent four years doing that. And actually, the job I had at Priceline was like really the dream job but one day I kind of woke up and said, I want something else and I don't know what that is. And so I reached out to a community people and I was telling them what I was looking to do and really what I was looking to do was leave and not have anything on the other side. I'd say about half the people who I spoke to, maybe three quarters were very supportive and the other quarter were like, what are you doing? You're making a ton of money. You're doing great. All you got to do is continue grinding through all that and that was it. I didn't want to grind anymore. So what I actually did is I got on a motorcycle and traveled across the US going back and forth two and a half times over the course of seven months and worked part-time at Priceline to transition my load, my client, my responsibilities to my successor. And then after that, I took all of 2018 off from work and then kind of fumbled around and said, well, what do I want to do next? And in doing that, I networked a lot with the Charlotte Community and realized that the startup community here really needed a lot of support and help from a financial perspective. And going back and tying in that Priceline piece is what I realized is that it's helping cost companies to scale and figuring out what does their finance operations need to look like in order to go from where they are now to 10 or 100x than they currently are. And it was that experience of Priceline that really made that difference. And since then, I've kind of created a little business doing fraction CFO work and it's been thriving and prosperous and probably more so than I even want it to be. Joe:                Yeah, you got a good problem. People actually want your services. I would imagine, though, early on, they don't realize the strong need for it. But you get business through referrals and friends and clients and being on podcasts like this. It's similar in the way that we broker. Clients don't realize how badly they need someone to review their business and do a valuation and set them on a path towards achieving their goals. This is something that I preach all the time. First and foremost people probably are sick of me hearing about get your numbers in order, get a good bookkeeper, and your CPA is not a bookkeeper; there's a distinct difference between the two. But for actual CFO services are completely a step above. Our friend in common now that you're working with, what do you do; what problems do you see for an e-commerce company that you go in and you work with? And there are lots of them that are listening right now, people that are buying businesses anywhere from a quarter of a million to 20 million dollars and people that are running them, that are doing anywhere from half a million to 20 million dollars in revenue. What is it that you look for when you go in as a fractional CFO to help them improve, understand where they are, and help them get to where they need to be or want to be? Matthew:       Yeah. You know the way I look at business is; I guess this is a skill I have, I don't know. But I like to look at businesses and transactions and events in their purest and most simplest form. I think that it's too easy to get bogged down with complexity. And I think the greatest mantra I live by is that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and I'm always looking for that straight line. So the case of an e-commerce company is a perfect example is that I say it really comes down to three things and you got to do all three of them really, really well. And if you don't do one of them well, you're going to have sell up results. Number one; and these are, again, all of equal importance but number one is inventory management. You really need to know where's your inventory, how much do you have, what does it cost in order to bring that inventory in, and what are lead times? So a lot of e-commerce companies nowadays are procuring inventory from China, for instance, which might take six to 10 weeks of lead time. Well, you need to be building that and planning for that in advance. So forgetting about the numbers, you just need to have it in stock so that way, if a customer comes to your site, you're able to sell it. Which brings me to the second point is what I'll call website management. You need to understand and know where your website is and your content and be able to have an avenue that has as few clicks as possible in order to get a customer who sees a product, is interested in it, and gets you to closing the deal, the transaction. So the second is that website management and then the third component is the advertising. It's how do you drive traffic to your website and so how are you spending your marketing dollars, how are you evaluating the efficiency and the return on investment of those marketing dollars and you have to do that well. So, again, if you mess up any one of those three pillars, you're going to have problems or certainly, you'll have sell up results. Now, what I found consistently with e-commerce companies is that the problem they struggle with the most is inventory management. I've seen a number who are very good at the management of the website; they're very good maybe at marketing, such as our friend who you're talking about, who is very good at marketing but the inventory management is a problem. And so the solutions I try to come up with or what I search for are low cost, cloud-based services that connect into your accounting systems, such as QuickBooks to maybe your third party logistics companies, your 3PLs or Amazon, and connects that all onto data that then turns the lights on to make it very obvious as to what you need and what you've got. Joe:                It's fascinating that this is from a fractional CFO chief financial officer that you're looking at these three different components. Let's break them down a little bit. Inventory management, why is inventory management important? At the end of the day people that are listening, I would guarantee you the vast majority of them are just using an Excel spreadsheet. They know their SKUs and they order when they feel they need to, giving them enough lead time so that A. they get it on time, B. they can pay for it, and then they continue to run that cycle. And sometimes growth goes off the charts and they find themselves doing a little catch-up and maybe doing air shipments instead of sea shipments and things of that nature. But really to the bottom line why is inventory management so critical? Matthew:       Well, you named one of the key elements to that and the number one thing is scale. I always think of any company I go in to is let's say all right, here's where we are now. We're at x. If we want to get to 10x or 100x, what's it going to take? And a lot of the solutions that can help you go from 1x to 2x to 3x are the same ones that might be able to get you to 10x. So the idea is you not need something that you can scale into and in general, again, because there are a lot of this on out base theory and expense so you can afford it while you're at your current stage and then grow into it. So number one is scale and then the second thing, and this is the thing it gets over; oh, it can really get over what I've seen clients do this because they might be really successful from a financial perspective or they might be very savvy in terms of how they operate but what they miss out on is the fact that if you've got too much or too little of an inventory item you can either not be able to sell to customers or have found yourself wasting money on inventory that isn't going to turn over. And so in an e-commerce business probably would run a lot of them from home or certainly a small office so you're dealing with low fixed cost. And it's the cost of that inventory that if you get it wrong that you can really miss out on again, sales or overinvesting in things that don't turn. Joe:                So if they're over-investing in things that take a longer period of turning what's the drawback to that? Matthew:       Well, it's use of capital, right? So fundamentally; it's funny, I had a client about a year ago in the e-commerce space sourcing from China; all of the standard things that you have that we could talk about and they didn't have an inventory management system. And what they wanted to try to do is try to get their books in order in a way that look like nice gapped financial statements. I said guys you're missing the point here. You're not going to make a half a million-dollar poor decision because of your financial statements, you can make a half a million-dollar poor decision though because of inventory management. And if you think about how real that is, and if your sales are 100,000 and you need to build up inventory in order to sell to continue growing and you get the wrong items, that might be your one shot in order to build up the inventory to get future sales. If you make the wrong purchases you can destroy your business overnight. Joe:                So it's the availability of capital to invest in the right things, which might be that new SKU that launched and it's taken off and buying more of it, it's paying yourself too. I would imagine these businesses that are growing like crazy, Matthew when someone sells it the vast majority of time the majority of money they make actually comes the day they sell the business not as they're operating it and running it, even though they might be doing 10 million in revenue when they sell the business. I just sold one in January and we went through the numbers and it aired two or three weeks ago at the time that we're airing this podcast, and I think they did like 250 in revenue in year one, 1.3 in revenue in year two, five million in year three, and then sold it. And the vast majority; well over 50% of the money they put in their bank account came the day they sold because they were scaling so fast; just trying to keep up with that inventory management they just complain that the wires get bigger and bigger and bigger going to China. All right, so inventory management for a number of reasons. So we won't get into software at this point unless you've got some favorite software. Matthew:       No, I think my key piece of advice there is that each company is unique and you need to view yourself as being unique. So the practice that I go into and the discipline I think is absolutely important is to spend the time as an organization documenting what your current processes are as it relates to systems and other things that are going to interface with your inventory management. So document that in a memo; in a written document and make sure everyone's on board with what are the requirements of your future system, what are the things you'd like to have, and then share that with possible vendors. And the idea there is you want to make sure there is absolutely no confusion about how things operate. What's important to you and making sure that your vendors; I mean to me getting rid of a bad IT system is harder than getting rid of a bad employee so you really need to make sure you got the right system and invest that time to make sure you know specifically what you want and there is no ambiguity about what it is that you're expecting. Joe:                Why are you sharing it with a vendor if a vendor is a manufacturer? Matthew:       I'm sorry not the vendor but like an inventory management vendor. Joe:                Oh, okay. Yeah, they're going to sell you hard no matter what. So it's interesting, though, as a fractional CFO advisor that you are now at step number two or the second point here is website management. Matthew:       Yeah. Joe:                Why and how do you jump into the website and getting from that first visitor to it's in my cart and they're giving you a credit card in as few clicks as possible? Matthew:       You know, in general, I don't find myself spending a lot of time there, but it's emphasizing the importance of that. Again, it's stripping down the business to its core elements and making sure that the founders know what that is. Because if they're not managing that and they think that they're managing inventory perhaps perfectly and they're even and they're managing their advertising cost perfectly, but then customers are coming to the website and it's showing stock that doesn't exist or is complex or hard to get through the closeout checkout process if there is an efficient management of that and again one of your pillars is just failing and now you're going to have suboptimal results for your organization. So it's just making sure that the organizations honing in on that. And I may not necessarily be the one doing that or managing it, but making sure that issue is front and center for them. Joe:                Okay, front and center that they're focused on it and addressed it as one of the pillars. Matthew:       Yeah. Joe:                The third is driving traffic and I assume we're talking about the average cost to acquire a customer here. Is that something that you focus on? Matthew:       It is. Some businesses are easier than others where it becomes very obvious that they're spending a thousand dollars and they're as a result generating 2,000 dollars' worth of sales and things are going well. So I look to make sure that it's being managed again and I can help with making the nuances and making sure that they're thinking about it right in terms of what are the inputs into that calculation. So one of the things I've seen in the past; in my past is that I've seen that companies might overburden the cost structure of what they think a new customer brings. So, for instance, maybe the sales price is $100, the cost of that sale is $50, which means your gross profit is 50 and then companies might start tacking on all these other costs. So interchange costs and credit cards and maybe stocking fees and all these other things. And then they may say, well, we don't really have a gross profit of 50 we may have a gross profit of 30. Well, if you're spending advertising dollars to go chase after $30 of what you think is gross profit, what you end up doing is really shortening and hurting the long term scaling of that business because you're underspending on your advertising dollars. So I can help with that philosophy and making sure that you're identifying the right costs that you're burdening for how you view your spending. Joe:                Merchant processing is a legitimate cost that it's going to be 2% or 3% of every order, isn't that something that you want to definitely work into your numbers and analysis, whether or not you're going to spend $50 to acquire a customer or $100 to acquire a customer, especially if it's a onetime order. Matthew:       Yeah, so there's other factors to think about though, right? You may have customers who obviously love your product so much that they tell their friends, so referral, and there's ways of tracking this. Joe:                The halo effect, yeah. Matthew:       Right, exactly. Or there might be more lifetime value of that customer either its add-on services or other things that you're selling. And so the goal is to not be so narrow-focused on the single transaction that you're closing with but thinking more holistically. And again, I'm looking to; sounds ironic coming from a miser accountant, but I'm looking to help companies expand their advertising dollars not necessarily shrink them. Especially if there's a longer-term play to that profitability scheme. Joe:                All right, so we're talking in this situation the acronym folks is it's either ACoS or maybe it should be pronounced TACoS but it's more TACoS, right? It's total cost to acquire a new customer. And it's taken account into account all orders, those that came in organically versus those that can be tracked specifically to an ad spend and making sure that you're not just focused on the ad spend and then cut the cost you're going to see your total orders put out as well. So as a CFO, as somebody that comes from the pedigree that you come from, which is really stuff that makes most people's eyes bleed just focusing on these numbers when you're hired what is the first thing that you do when you go in and begin your services at an e-commerce company? Matthew:       Yeah, the first thing I'll do is I do a couple of things. One is I ask the client, well, what is it that you; you brought me here for a reason, what are those reasons and making sure I understand them. The second thing I'll do is analyze the company; so talk to other key reports; for instance to the CEO or the leader of the organization, look to see what their current systems are, see how long it takes them to close the books, get a gauge of the accuracy, the financial information. And then also what I'll do is I'll kind of take all that information and then come up with a priority list. Generally, not more than one to five items and identify okay, here's what I think is the roadmap of where we need to go and what we need to do to get there. Joe:                That's with the CEO of the company saying what their goal is in terms of revenue or exit or something like that obviously [inaudible[00:25:21.1]. Matthew:       Yeah. Joe:                Let me just pipe in there in terms of the accuracy of the financial information. I find six to seven times out of 10 that it's not accurate on the initial call. People are not even doing accrual accounting. They're doing just cash. How often do you run into that and when you hit that hurdle, how do you get over it around it and fix it? Matthew:       Yeah, I've encountered that... Joe:                And why? Let me just the question, you know a lot of folks feel like they've got a pretty good handle on their numbers. They may be doing cash accounting. They may not or they may reconcile every month, but they've got a pretty good idea and they just do some back of the napkin calculations. What's wrong with that if they feel like they're seeing top-line revenue growth; what's the problem there? Matthew:       There's a couple of things in it and it depends on the company for certain. And it depends on the stage that they're at and things like that. But in general, I think if you're going to scale, you need to really understand what's the unit cost of your inventory; so what are you purchasing it for, how much does it cost to move it into your warehouse, and understand what those parameters and dynamics are to really kind of get a good gauge of your gross margins. And I think that when you're doing that, it's understanding again; it's tying in that inventory well with what your inventory records are saying from a financial perspective and understanding what was sitting on the shelf and what's the value of what's sitting on the shelf. Again, if you're focusing on; if you got 10 product lines and five of them are selling like hotcakes and you've got two or three laggards, well those two or three laggards are really they're taking away from your ability to reinvest back to the five that are doing well so it's understanding what that is. And I'd say that from a; the challenge I have coming into a lot of companies, the first thing I see is that, like you said, a lot of them are in cash basis of accounting and the number one thing that they're missing out on is those inventory accounts and the values to really come up with a good snapshot from a financial perspective. Joe:                Can't they just use an Excel spreadsheet for that? Matthew:       Well that might get you accounts if you have historical numbers at month ends and then we've got to figure out pricing. So speaking of our friend that was exactly what I had to do is I was going back through and rolling back inventory counts from a point in time and going back to month ends and trying to get good financial information because that person is looking for an exit ultimately and to get there all this helps to put together a good, solid book of records that reflects your financials and your results that are important for future investors or future buyers. Joe:                But my CPA does that at the end of every year. Why do I have to track inventory on a monthly basis? They just [inaudible 00:28:26.1] my tax returns. Matthew:       Yeah, so let me address that. I see where you're going. Joe:                I'm having fun with this, by the way. Matthew:       Oh yeah, this is good. So, I think there's certainly a large misconception about what accountants do. And I'll put accountants in three different buckets and I think this is where you're heading with your comments. Number one is I'll call them the bookkeepers, they're the ones who are keeping track of your day to day transactions and making sure that things are going in for amounts that need to be paid to vendors and cash receipts coming from customers and keeping track of your book; your QuickBooks and your Xero account, bring them in. So that's number one. Number two is your tax guy and that is tax compliance whether it's sales tax or income taxes or personal income taxes. They're the ones doing all that stuff. And then you'll look at me and you're like, well, I'll tell you, I don't do it either of those. What I do is help to oversee the strategic part of the business and the growth of the business and the forecasting; where are we going with this, where is the future, and then also overseeing and tying in the pieces between that bookkeeper and the tax provider. So I'm like the guy who helps glue all those pieces together to make sure that they're all talking to each other, that the tax guy when he comes in and he doesn't have a whole bunch of problems with the numbers because they don't make sense. And I'm helping to tell the story of those numbers and what has happened so the owner doesn't have to do that. Joe:                The path that I see a lot of folks go down is they just have their CPA do the bookkeeping as well. And I find that that's normally done wrong and they make annual adjustments and things of that nature. Do you see that those three different people; you CFO advisory services, gluing the pieces together needs to be in place, a bookkeeper for just the accuracy of the data entry, pulling or importing the information and setting books up on an accrual basis reconcile every single month so that you have “accuracy of financial information” and then the CPA really just does tax planning advisory services in that regard and files your taxes anyway. So don't have the CPA do the bookkeeping essentially. Matthew:       That's right. Joe:                Okay. Matthew:       I am a CPA but yes, you need a CFO person who is helping with, again, keeping the accuracy of the financial information to make the life of the tax provider that much easier. Joe:                There are lots of bookkeeping firms that are started by CPAs but they don't focus on filing your taxes or tax planning. They focus on making sure that your financial information is accurate so that you can make solid decisions like focusing on inventory management, looking at TACoS and ACoS; those types of things. So without the accuracy of financial information and when you go into a company and you go okay, first hurdle, accuracy of financial information, this is not right. What do you do? Matthew:       Well, two-fold, one is what wasn't right and fix it and then number two is find out why it wasn't right and try to prevent it from happening again. And so there's certainly a continuous learning loop that you want to have to make sure that whether it's insourced or outsourced [inaudible 00:31:52.3] bookkeeping perspective is that they're understanding what it was, what happened, and learning about it and improving for the future. Joe:                I got you. We've got a list of bookkeepers that are very good at what they do. Folks, if you are listening and like yeah maybe I should stop having my CPA do the bookkeeping or my mom or my uncle or whoever is doing it for you or if you're doing you really are not doing it well. Hire a professional bookkeeper. Shoot me an e-mail, Joe@QuietLightBrokerage.com and I'll shoot you an email with the referral list. We don't get paid for referrals. We just want your books to be done right so that when you come to us with seeking an opinion on the value of your business that we can help you. If you've got a financial goal, we can tell you where you are today so you can get down that path. But if your books are wrong it doesn't really help much at all. Especially if you've got a just out of college bookkeeper that does everything a CPA tells him or her to do. That's even worse because the CPA, again, as Matthew just said, is managing towards taxes. I have a question for you with your pedigree; Priceline, KPMG, you're a CPA, the two accounting software that I continually see are QuickBooks Online or Xero, they're both pretty good in their own right but is there a third that you would recommend or should people just be looking at these two? Matthew:       I'd say it depends on their size. Joe:                Sub 20 million. Matthew:       Sub 20 million I think QuickBooks will get you most of what you need. Now, what you may end up doing is, again, inventory management as an example is QuickBooks does a terrible job of managing inventory. Joe:                Right. Matthew:       So what you'll want to do is find an inventory management system. There are dozens that are out there that has the functionality that you're looking for which, again, is going to be well-documented because you're going to describe what it is you want to do. And that hooks into QuickBooks so that way you're automating your interface between that inventory management system and QuickBooks or Xero. Joe:                That's complicated and painful. Matthew:       No, none of the above. In general, I'd say you need two to three weeks of really documenting and understanding what it is you want and where you're going. And then usually a lot of these systems, you're looking at four to eight weeks perhaps of implementation time. And a lot of that can be parsed out to the inventory management system company itself. A lot of them will bring in consultants and people who will help make sure your interfaces are working right. And then you'll want to have a testing scheme to make sure it's done correctly. Joe:                Okay, so we are nearing the end of our time and I want to say to anybody still listening good for you because this is critical information and too many people tune out when it gets to the numbers. Odds are that your business is your most valuable asset and you spend less time focused on the financials and the numbers than you do mowing your lawn every month or whatever your hobby is and you need to spend more time on this. Your business is worth more than your retirement fund, your car, your house; whatever it is savings you've got, it's probably worth more. And that's true in most of the cases that I see. And again, you're going to earn more money on the eventual exit of your business than you are when you run it on a daily basis. Services like Mathew's and fractional CFO services are critical to getting your most valuable asset on track to an eventual exit. And we all exit our businesses at some point, someday; surprise, someday I will not be an owner of Quiet Light Brokerage, right? I'm going to move on someday but maybe to the grave and I may be around that long but you never know. There are other members of the team that may step into certain roles that I play. And I've got to do everything I can along with my business partner Mark, to make sure that our financials are in great shape. You should do the same because it's the right thing to do. It doesn't matter if your business is doing half a million in revenue or five million or 25 million. Our friend in common, his first business that he sold was $7,000. He became an exitpreneur at that point. You guys have heard me talk about the book that I'm writing; Exitpreneur's Playbook. His next business was 20,000. He learned from both of those exits and then exited one at just over 200,000. His next exit was around just nine million. His goal now with Mathew's help is a hundred million dollar exit. He may get to 50, he may get to 75, but he sets his goals pretty high and he's tracking towards them. But you can't do that without knowing where you are today. And you can't do that without accurate financial information. So that's me pitching online on paying attention to the numbers. Matthew:       If I can expand on that for a minute… Joe:                Please do. Matthew:       One of the services I provide is financial due diligence for the acquirer or I'll represent the acquirer acquiring a business. And in fact, I've got like three or four of them going on right now. And I've had instances where I've gone in, done financial due diligence, looked at their books and records and seen comingling. This is one of the most terrible mistakes, commingling of personal and business expenses together or transactions that are being purchased on a personal credit card or personal expenses that are being paid out of a business bank account. All these types of things fundamentally hurt the value of the business because of the quality of the information that a prospective buyer is looking at. It makes it harder to trust the person they're buying from if they have to start digging into personal credit cards and very invasive in a different way. And there have been instances where I've made recommendations to clients to step away from a transaction because the books and records were not clean enough and the value of what they were hoping to get as the purchaser of that company afterwards was not to going to be that. So all of that discipline is really important to have it in place I'm going to say for at least a good two years before you expect to sell. And if you're not there; and even if you're able to sell, I can guarantee you you're losing money because you didn't spend the money on making sure you have the right financial information. Joe:                Music to my ears from the former controller of Priceline, folks. Matthew, thanks so much. How do people find you in terms of the fractional CFO services or what you just mentioned which is due diligence services for an acquirer of a business; LinkedIn the best approach, reaching out? Matthew:       LinkedIn is the best approach absolutely. Joe:                All right and we've got Matthew De Wald. That's D-E-W-A-L-D; Matthew De Wald. We'll also click to his LinkedIn profile account in the show notes. Matthew, thanks for your time today. I greatly appreciate it. Matthew:       Thank you. I appreciate the time, Joe. Resources: Quiet Light Podcast@quietlightbrokerage.com

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Please ignore any speech-to-text errors)   When bad things happen - Part 3 - when evil acts.mp3 Hi, everybody, this is Penny Thomas again, and welcome to this next session of Get Sellers Calling You with Beatty Carmichael. Beatty is the CEO of Master Grabber, creator of Agent Dominator and one of the top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I'm excited for our listeners today. I'm excited to be chatting with you. What do you have for us today?   [00:00:24] Well, I'm really excited about today's call for two reasons. Number one, we get to do another radical faith call. And so for those of you who may just be joining in on our podcast, if you're joining in for real estate marketing, this is not going to be one of those episodes. This is where we're going to be talking about living as a Christian. And so if you don't want that, go and get this episode and go to the next one. So that's number one reason I'm excited as we get to do a radical faith call. The second reason I'm excited is as I was preparing for this call, it dawned on me that the conclusions that the scriptures talk about that we're going to talk about today are opposite of what most people expect. And so it's kind of like one of those. Wow. Is that really in scripture? So this is going to be a really exciting call.   [00:01:18] I cannot wait to dive into this.   [00:01:21] Yes. Me, too. So as we dive in, kind of alluding to that last comment I made. We're talking about when bad things happen. Is it God's will? Okay. And this is actually part three of our series. And today the subtitle is When Evil Acts. Okay. So in the past, if you recall the previous sessions, our first session, we talked about that God directs our every step. And so when bad things happen, sometimes it's God's will directing us toward our destiny. That's I actually put the second call was about as we talked about the life of Joshua. Excuse me, Joseph in the life of Esther and how the bad things that seemingly were bad were actually all furthering God's ultimate destiny for the will of their lives. So sometimes when bad things happen, it's actually good. Sometimes you have to back up and see it. And once you have a bigger, bigger perspective today, I want to talk on the topic of when evil comes in. By the way. Are you aware that there is evil in the world?   [00:02:38] Yes. Is evil good? No, no.   [00:02:44] So we have to include this when bad things happen because there is evil. And as I mentioned just a moment ago when I started preparing for this, I had kind of a conclusion that I thought was the right conclusion. But I tried to support everything through scripture. And when I started researching it, I found out I was wrong. So I kind of took a huge U-turn on this topic for today. And it's just really exciting. So let me set the stage. Okay. So when bad things happen, there's essentially four things that could be going on. This is what we were talking about earlier. It could be God's destiny for you, moving you toward your ultimate place. And that's the case. All those bad things ultimately are a good thing. Or it could be God's discipline. God's discipline is when you do something wrong and he comes involved to correct you. It says that he corrects every child. So things that could be bad or could be parts of discipline. The third thing that could be going on is, is we talked about through scripture that God directs our every step. But we have the ability to disregard his direction and stumble. This is what Psalms talks about. And when we do that, then sometimes these bad things are simply a consequence of us making our own decision rather than following God's leading. Does that make sense?   [00:04:09] It does. Okay. And then the fourth thing, and this is what we're going to be talking about today is evil when evil comes in and actually impacts our life. But here's what's really interesting.   [00:04:20] If you take these four things, destiny, discipline, consequence and evil, it's it's basically gradient of how closely were aligned to God's will. The more we're aligned to God's perfect will, the more everything is destiny, the less we are aligned to God's perfect will, the more everything becomes evil. Does that make sense? As we talk about evil in my church, I often hear and I'm going to use this term and I use it not critically, but kind of just descriptively, God being accused of being. The source of every bad thing, they don't really believe it, but they do believe and let me see. Let me share this. Here's the idea. This is kind of how it comes out. The idea is because God is sovereign, God is in control and because God is in control, all things that happen must be his will. Does that logic make sense? No, that's not what we've we've accomplished through scripture. But does that make sense how people can come to that conclusion?   [00:05:26] Absolutely. And so therefore, here so here is the implication of that conclusion. I'm sick and suffering. It must be God's will. Have you ever heard someone say that? Okay. Or if a loved one dies, gets killed in a car accident at an early age, well, it must be God's will.   [00:05:48] And then if it must be if it's God's will, then maybe God's trying to teach me something. Does that you'd say that logical string. Okay. So God's word says that man's wisdom is folly to God. Right. And so what happens is we try to put our wisdom into this and it's all folly and we come to wrong conclusions. There's an element of truth, but there's more of an element of truth here. And I wanted to see if I can back up in scripture. What's actually going on. So let me ask you a few questions. A real story. The cousin of a family friend is a 23 year old young woman. She's, uh, she's actually the only Christian in her family. She was recently in a car wreck and those injuries were fatal. But they were able to keep her alive on life, support the hospital until their sister could arrive and say her final goodbyes. And then they pulled the plug and she died.   [00:06:48] So here's the question. Did God cause her to have that wreck and die? What do you think? No. I don't think so. Was it God's will for her to die young?   [00:07:01] No. Is that accent somehow part of God's master plan for her life?   [00:07:13] Yes, and now it could be. So right now, here's kind of where we sit. We don't really have enough information to come to an absolute conclusion. Does that make sense? Yes. But it appears from all that we know about God and from Scripture that generally speaking it doesn't sound like this is what God's plan was.   [00:07:37] I would agree with that. Generally speaking, everything I want to talk about today is kind of. Generally speaking, because there are some very clear absolutes in the Bible where we're now treading, it's going to be not quite so absolute. Okay. So let me give you another real story. A woman had a very important meeting in downtown New York, and it was critical that she be there on time for her career. But she wasn't for whatever reason, she got to the train station late and missed the train.   [00:08:14] Now she's late. She misses the meeting completely. She's fuming inside because she's so upset and frustrated and stretched out. She's concerned that she may actually lose her job and ultimately by her job was actually gone. So the question is, did God cause her to miss that train and this meeting?   [00:08:39] Was that bad? Yes.   [00:08:44] Okay. You're laughing, you know, I'm probably setting you up. Okay. So we really don't know at the moment.   [00:08:56] Is it really good or bad because we can't discern it. But let me give you the rest of the story.   [00:09:05] She ends up going back home. Her meeting was in the World Trade Towers, and that was the day the towers fell.   [00:09:13] Now, let me ask, was missing the train good or bad? Do you think it could have been guided by God's hand that she missed it? Absolutely. OK. So now this is kind of what we talked about on the last session. Once you have a further enough away perspective of everything, you can start to piece things together. But in the midst of it all. Sometimes we just don't know. Does that make sense?   [00:09:39] Yeah. Okay. So now here's a bigger question. Was the crash of the World Trade Towers and the huge loss of lives. God's will? In other words, did he cause it to happen or did evil cause it to happen?   [00:09:56] Yeah, I think so. I want to talk about how that happens and also partly how do we discern it. There's another story I want to share. This actually happened very recently. I was talking with a Christian lady named Joanna and she's been suffering from depression all of her life. And sometime this cloud, that's her entire life, there's a cloud hanging over there. Sometimes it has a crippling effect in her life.   [00:10:28] Is that God's will for her to have depression? No. Do you think God somehow is the cause behind that depression? In other words, he is God. Do you think God authorizes that depression upon her? No. Okay, so here's the issue. If you're going through really tough times, how do you handle it? How do you make sense of it?   [00:10:53] Do you blame God, accused God or attribute to God? Well, it must be God's will. Do you ask God? Why do you even know what's really going on? Because so often in our little perspective, we just don't know. There's a lot more at play, and the more you understand what's likely going on, then the better you can manage these things in your life. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. So today I want to give you that better understanding of what is going on. My little disclaimer on this, this is a really complex subject. I don't claim to have all the solid answers, but I want to give you what I see in scripture and kind of my interpretation of that. So take this for what I'll call not for what it's worth, but for what I think. Scriptures generally teach us.   [00:11:51] So there's a passage in the Gospels that we call the Lord's Prayer. Are you familiar with the Lord's Prayer? Okay. So let me ask you a question. If God is sovereign and in control, is everything that happens God's will now cut you on this one, the first set on our first session. So what do you think the answer to that is?   [00:12:20] No, I don't know.   [00:12:23] But some of my conservative friends who use the logic God is in control. God, a sovereign God is in control. He's all powerful and therefore everything that happens must be his will. Otherwise he would have stopped it. If it was his will. So our logic. Okay. So if that is, where are some of our friends who are listening in on right now? I want to show you just one very simple verse that creates some very complicated questions about that logic.   [00:12:53] Turn, if you would, to Matthew 6 9 3 13. This is the Lord's Prayer and let's use the living version on this is just kind of cleans and makes it simple. So Matthew, 6 9 through 13, the Lord's Prayer. Go ahead. Okay.   [00:13:13] All right. This, then, is how you should pray. Our father in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debt, as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.   [00:13:36] Okay, so this is Jesus basically giving some nation prayer. Here's how you should pray. These are the things you should be praying for, and all these are real important and they basically encompass what's important in life. As a believer, before I get into what I want to comment on this one, I was going through this. I remember some what I call my Lord's Prayer funny's 3 year old Reese, the way he prays.   [00:14:01] Our father, who does art in heaven, Herald is his name or a particular four year old, prays it this way and forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets and forgive us our trespasses. Right.   [00:14:22] This is from a mother teaching her 3 year old daughter, Caitlin. The Lord's Prayer. First, she says for several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines of the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo all by herself. And the mother says, listen with pride. She said each word right up to the end of the prayer lead us not into temptation. She prayed. But deliver us some e-mail. I share that to make a point. It's funny sometimes when the children misunderstand the Lord's Prayer, but how often do we misunderstand it?   [00:15:05] You say that this makes sense. For example, if everything that happens on earth is God's will. Then why does Jesus tell us to pray for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven unless it's not always done on Earth? Does that make sense? Yeah. So we have this challenge. So let's now move into the real me to what I want to get into. I want to talk about calamity when bad things happen. Calamity. Question Does God cause calamity in people's lives? No. Does God send the evil spirits to attack people and cause in their lives? Okay. Now let's turn real quickly to Jobe. And we're going to read Jobe One Twelve.   [00:16:05] And in chapter 2, 3 through 6, chapter 1, verse 12, Chapter 2, 3, 3, 6. All right, so one verse twelve, then the Lord said to say to be before you, let me just give the background for those who may not be okay. So this actually Jobe is most scholars believe is the oldest book in the Bible thar pre-dating Abraham. And if you're familiar with J-O-B toward the end, God is talking to Jobin says. Ask him all these questions showing God's sovereignty and superiority. And he talks about an animal called Leviathan. And he says This animal's so powerful that a spear can't pierce it skills and it breathes out fire and smoke.   [00:17:02] So this is an animal that we've never experienced in our life and we don't see it anywhere in scripture.   [00:17:09] So this is a it's a real old book. And what's happening at this scenario that we're just about to read is God is in his court room in heaven, and Satan comes up. God says, where have you been? He said, I've been roaming around the earth. Very vague, almost like a teenage son. Where are you, Ben? I've just been out. What've you been doing with friends? And then God says, Have you considered my friend Jobe?   [00:17:41] And Satan says, Oh, he just loves you because you bless him. Let me touch him and he'll curse you. OK. So that's kind of where we pick up. Pick up now on verse 12.   [00:17:55] The Lord said to Satan. Very well, then. Everything he has in your power. But on the man himself, do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.   [00:18:08] All right, then go to job to verse three and six. And as you go there. So what's happened now is Satan goes out and destroys everything that Joe has, kills all of his children and destroys all of his business.   [00:18:24] And now everything he's got is totally gone. And now we pick up in verse three of chapter two.   [00:18:34] Then the lord said to Satan. Have you considered my servant job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity. Then you incited me again to ruin him without any reason. Skin for skin. Satan replied, a man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan. Very well, then, he is in your hands. But you must not. Sorry, but you must spare his life.   [00:19:12] Let me ask you a question. Did God send an evil spirit to attack J-O-B?   [00:19:23] This scripture.   [00:19:25] Yes. Boy, that's not what we expected, is it? Does that sound like a loving God?   [00:19:37] Scripture.   [00:19:40] Did God have any reason to do it? It says, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Does this seem like almost an arbitrary act?   [00:19:56] Do you think this is a different view of God than most people have? Yes. Yes.   [00:20:03] Does this one, I might add, if people if this is someone's only view of God. I can see how they would not want anything to do with God.   [00:20:15] You know what? If someone's only view of me is one little part of who I am and they don't know me as a whole. I can always find some part of me that someone would be detested about. Yes. So this is the purpose of what I want to do today. A lot of times we have wrong conclusions based on who we want God to be and what we want things to be. Everything must be God's will because God is sovereign and powerful and controlling. If it wasn't his will, he could have intervened. And the fact that he didn't intervene must mean that it was his will.   [00:20:54] That's the logical conclusion. The logical conclusion about God. God is a loving God. He would never hurt someone. Would he send calamity on someone? Absolutely not. He you sent an evil spirit upon someone? Absolutely not.   [00:21:04] And yet, right here in scripture, we see it happening right in front of our eyes. And if we're going to truly follow the Lord and make sense of things, we have to understand all aspects. Okay. So now let me ask you. What good could possibly have come out of God allowing Satan to attack? What good could possibly come out of that?   [00:21:37] Wow. A lot of spiritual maturity and growth and jobe. All right. What else? Mitt increased faith in Joe and just the fact that he would have to really. Rely on the Lord to take care of.   [00:21:57] All right. Those are all possible, but I think they're missing what I think is the biggest impact. What do you think the biggest impact might be?   [00:22:07] Tell me. It has nothing to do with Jobe individually. Can you imagine how many millions and billions of people have been impacted to trust the Lord and learn more about the and large character by reading about what happened and imagine the impact? Could it be that what God did with Joe was not for Joe's sake, but for God's holy purpose to use to impact millennia of followers of the Lord Jesus?   [00:22:41] So sometimes we have to get further far enough back in perspective to see what's going on. Sometimes we will never understand it. But I think we could come to that conclusion. All right. So God doesn't cause calamity and he doesn't send evil spirits to attack people is what I think I heard you say earlier. And I think we're starting to see that what most people believe about God may not be quite so accurate, but this is just one instance, one one instance. Maybe that's not really God's character. So let's turn to Isaiah, 45, verse 7.   [00:23:21] Love the book of Isaiah forty five seven. I formed the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.   [00:23:39] Read it also in the E.S.P. Version.   [00:23:43] Forwhich.   [00:23:49] All right. Verse 7 I form the light and create darkness. I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things.   [00:24:01] This God bring calamity on people.   [00:24:03] According to that verse, yes, he did it to.   [00:24:07] According to this verse. God's trying to tell us something maybe about part of his character. All right. Now, the amplified in the notes, it makes a really great clarity and comment. And here's what the note says. It says, God brings physical calamity or physical evil, but moral evil comes from man's heart, not God. I think that's a good differentiation to discern. But gosh, surely that's all.   [00:24:43] But wait, there's more. Let's turn to Limitations Lamentations, Chapter 3.   [00:24:51] And if you read this one in i.v versus 37 3:39 Lamentations 3:37 3:39.   [00:25:04] All right. Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the most high that both calamities and good things come?   [00:25:18] Keep on one more.   [00:25:19] Why should a living why should the living complain when punished for their sins?   [00:25:25] So say that God brings calamity. Sure. Why does God bring calamity? What does this say in this section?   [00:25:41] I'm going to reread it. Who can speak and have it happen if a Lord has not decreed it? It not from the mouth of the most high, those calamities and good things have come. Why should they complain when punished for their sins? Well, according to verse 37, the Lord decreed it.   [00:26:00] According to verse thirty nine to see decree it.   [00:26:06] Because they're being punished for our sins.   [00:26:10] So now we have something to do with sin. And when sin happens, there's a decree that could go out that brings calamity of some form. Does that make sense? But wait, hold on. We're forgiven for our sins, right?   [00:26:29] That's right. I was just thinking of it now. Praise Jesus.   [00:26:34] Okay. So we've been forgiven of our sins. Remember a few sessions back we talked about no longer under law, but under grace.   [00:26:43] Does that mean we're no longer under consequence for sin? No. Okay. So we find that calamity.   [00:26:53] And I'll put the word sometimes has root and sin. Okay. The calamity for Jobe was not based on sin. So this is why I'm saying this is really complex. It's not a black and white. Here's a simple answer. We got to understand the bigger picture of all the things going on at play. And the more we understand, the more we see this picture of who God is. And by the way, we haven't even begun to get into the depth that we're about to get deeper. So let's. But wait, there's more. Let's go first, Samuel. Let's see if we can blow our minds even more. First, Samuel, sixteen vs. fourteen. Do this and they give you a background. Okay. God calls Saul to be king of Israel. The first king. And so becomes king and Sol starts to disobey God, and essentially that's kind of where we pick up here.   [00:27:53] All right, verse 14. Now, the spirit of the Lord had departed from soul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him, a tormenting spirit.   [00:28:08] The Lord, the Lord God that we know of or the way the God that we have thought about now.   [00:28:17] No.   [00:28:18] Is it right? And holy that a holy God would send an evil spirit against somebody.   [00:28:30] Now, it's not according to this, he did it.   [00:28:36] It doesn't seem like it's right. Let me say it's not. It doesn't seem like it's right from the human standard. But here's the impact.   [00:28:47] If we form a picture of God, that is not true based on our own human logic and desire, could it be that we end up not honoring the Lord as much as he wants? Could it be that we end up missing out on a lot of things the Lord has for us because we have a wrong view of God?   [00:29:10] Absolutely.   [00:29:13] So is this.   [00:29:15] Hyper warping your view of God and changing it is just starting to rain is just going in a million different things. All right.   [00:29:27] That way we're not through yet. Oh, it's gone. You think this is change is warping. Wait till we get to a couple more verses. Okay. So now let's go to First Kings. Twenty to. Versus 23 22. So let me give you the backstory on this. Saul was king.   [00:29:52] Then David took over. Then David's son Solomon and then his son Oboma. Belmondo Kingdom was split between Judah and Israel, and Israel was the king was jeroboam and jeroboam was an evil king. And I think right after jeroboam or one or two, right after is another king named Ahab. And Ahab is the most wicked king, according to scripture, by that time in Israel. And so now we pick up Ahab has made an alliance with not forget the King of Judas name, but the king of Judah, who is a righteous king, makes an alliance with Ahab, the unrighteous king. And Ahab wants to go into battle with Ramus, Gilliard and Ramus chiliad, or battle with the enemy at Ramus. And so they are the king of Judah says, well, let's check with the Lord first before we do this. And so all of these prophets of Ahab start telling him, you're going to have victory, you're going to gouge them, you're going to win.   [00:31:13] And then a prophet of the Lord by Judas request comes in and gives a contrary message that says, if you go to this battle, Ahab, you will die. And then one of the prophets of Ahab's says, know what happened? When did God Spirit leave me and go to you?   [00:31:39] And that's basically the scenario where we are right now. And this is the prophet of the Lord relaying what actually happened in the heavenly, heavenly realm. So now with that as a backdrop, I'll let you begin. First Kings 22, starting with verse 20.   [00:31:57] And the Lord said, who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramus chiliad and going to his death there. One suggested this and another that finally a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. By what means? The Lord asked. I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. He said, You will succeed in enticing him, said the Lord. Go and do it.   [00:32:31] Told me that she is deceiving and lying. The same thing.   [00:32:39] Generally speaking, no, I mean, they're right on the line, right on line.   [00:32:46] Okay. Okay. So my translation says I will be a lying spearritt in the mouth of this profits, a dissaving spirit, a lion spirit. But here's the point where I'm going. One of the Ten Commandments says thou shall not lie.   [00:33:04] Is God sending a lying or deceiving spirit?   [00:33:11] To a Hartington, there is a lying or deceiving spirit.   [00:33:17] Evil God is actually sending an evil spirit to attack someone. According to the scripture, to mislead. According to the scripture. Sounds like you are trying to disqualify your answer. Every single one of these scriptures is true and infallible. Is that correct? Yes, absolutely. So then, is God sending an evil spirit against somebody? Yes or no? Okay. Okay. Let's don't try to be equivocate. Alright. Well let's don't try to explain it away. Let's read it for what it is, what God is telling us and then let's understand what he's actually doing. Makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. So God is about to bring calamity upon Ahab, is that right? God is directing it. Because he's sending a deceiving spirit to see they have Ahab will go to the battle. So God can kill him. Is that guy bringing calamity on someone? Yes. That's amazing. Not only is God bringing calamity, but he's sending an evil spirit to cause it to happen.   [00:34:40] Wow. Let's look at another first. We still haven't gotten to the big one. We're about to hit the big one. These are just kind of teeing it all up. So Psalm 44, do this one in the living Bible.   [00:34:54] We're going to go to Psalm 44. We're going to read two sections, Psalm 44, eight, nine and 10, and then jump over to 17 and 18. Eight, nine, 10, 17 and 18.   [00:35:11] My constant boast is, God, I can never thank you enough and yet for a time. Oh, Lord, you have tossed us aside in dishonor and have not helped us in our battles. You have actually fought against us and defeated us before our foes. Our enemies have invaded our land and pillaged the countryside and then 17 and 18. And all this has happened. Lord, despite our loyalty to you, we have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not left your path by a single step.   [00:35:50] Why did God bring calamity upon his people? Does it sound like he was cruel and harsh? They didn't do anything to deserve it. Was there any reason they knew of. On why he did it? No. Kind of sounds like a joke to a degree, doesn't it?   [00:36:09] It does.   [00:36:12] Now, here's the big question. Could there be a reason that they don't know of? Absolutely. So now we're starting to get into. We don't know everything. There's a lot more to the law than what we understand. So now let's get into the big one. This is just setting the stage and I'm hoping we can get all this done in one session. It may end up having to go. Let's go to let's go to Matthew. Matthew, 18. Versus 21 3:35.   [00:36:57] Now, this is a real interesting story. Read the first verse or so about. Peter, one of the apostles asking about forgiveness. I just want to make a comment before you get into the parable.   [00:37:12] Verse twenty one. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked Lord, How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who stands against me up to seven times?   [00:37:23] Don't you think Peter was just. He was being so proud. We're going to forgive my brother sister up to seven times. That's a lot. I'm holy. We're up to seven times. That's a lot of time to forgive. Okay. Now here we have man's logic doesn't really match God's truth. So let's now read what Jesus says. 22 through 35, 35.   [00:37:57] Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his bets as he began the settlement. A man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay. The master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had sold to repay the debt. This the servants fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged. I will pay back everything. The servants master took pity on him. Cancel the debt and let him go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred silver coins. He grabbed him, and they began to choke him. Pay back what you owed me! He demanded. His fellow servants fell to his knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged, and they went and told their master everything that had happened. Master, right there.   [00:39:12] Right there. Let me let me give you the short scenario. Just put some things in perspective. The king goes to his servant, number one servant. No one owes him in today's dollar about sixteen billion dollars. That's an amount. When it says ten thousand bags of gold or ten thousand talents. Ten thousand was the largest number that they had in the Roman counting system. This is Jesus saying he owed the absolute most anyone could ever, ever own. So in today's dollars, it works out to about 16 billion. The guy says, I can't pay. The king, says Romans. Throw you into prison. The guy says, please have mercy on me. So the king says, OK, have mercy on you and I forgive you. So then servant number one goes his servant. Number two, who owes him about ten thousand dollars?   [00:40:06] Pay me. I can't. So he throws him into prison. So that's the magnitude that we're looking at. OK. And now let's finish up with versus 34 and 35.   [00:40:19] Okay, let's say I think I was I am 32 in all this. Yeah. Perfect. Then the master called the servant and you wicked servant. He said, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant? Just as I had on you in his anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all that he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you. Each of you, unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.   [00:40:56] How is Heavenly Father going to treat us? What does it say? Wow.   [00:41:04] We will be handed over to be tortured.   [00:41:09] Does that really sound like what it sounds like?   [00:41:13] That's what it says.   [00:41:15] All right. Now, there's another thing that Jesus talks about forgiveness. Let's turn there real quick. Matthew, 6, 14 and fifteen. And let's see if we can maybe connect some dots. Matthew 6, 14 and 15 4.   [00:41:31] If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.   [00:41:43] What does this mean, do you think? This is talking about salvation. Going to heaven or hell? Or do you think it could be talking about something different?   [00:41:54] I think it's probably talking about.   [00:41:58] Something different. I think it's just talking about forgiveness.   [00:42:01] All right. But if it says it to, my father will not forgive you. What's the implication of that? Well, then we have. Then turn real quickly to Ephesians 2 8 and read effusions to a.   [00:42:21] Psm. Some dots for us real quickly. The parable of the master of my heavenly father do to you. Take you and send you to the torturers unless you forgive your brother. Then in Matthew 6 here, it says if you do not forgive others, your father in heaven will not forgive you. We know that salvation is through the forgiveness a sin. So we make this connection that this must be talking about. Probably something related to salvation or going to hell. Does it those dots make sense?   [00:42:58] Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So now let's read evasions to wait for it is by grace.   [00:43:04] You have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourself. It is a gift of God.   [00:43:13] Not as. Or maybe the first time. Keep going.   [00:43:17] Not by words, not by words so that no one can boast.   [00:43:23] So it is a gift of God. There is nothing we have to do for it. Is that correct?   [00:43:29] Hmm.   [00:43:30] Not by forgiving somebody b something we do.   [00:43:38] So if we don't forgive and our father doesn't forgive us.   [00:43:44] Could that really be talking about losing salvation or based on this passage and others by grace, through faith, believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. Whoever believes on the sun will have everlasting life. All these things talk about believe, not forgiveness.   [00:44:08] So is it safe to say that this passage of the parable about forgiveness and torturing is not talking about salvation?   [00:44:21] Yes. Okay. Did you say scripturally why that's true? Yes. Yes. Okay. So then let's see who is she's talking about. Obviously, he's talking to the non-believer about God torturing them. Right.   [00:44:40] So go back to Matthew, 18, verse 21.   [00:44:46] Who was asking the question to Jesus?   [00:44:52] Peter Right.   [00:44:54] Peter Then Peter came to Jesus and asked Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sends against me up to seven times?   [00:45:03] Okay, then read Matthew 1835.   [00:45:10] This is how my heavenly father will treat you. We'll treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.   [00:45:17] So is he talking to the non-believers or is he talking essentially to the believers, his disciples?   [00:45:23] His disciples, the believers.   [00:45:26] Wow. Does this sound like a loving God to want to send someone to the torturers?   [00:45:33] No.   [00:45:35] Does this change your thinking of who God is? Does this expand your thinking? Got it. Okay, okay. Okay. So we got a problem, don't we? Mm hmm. So let's let's ask a few more questions. Who authorizes the act of torturing and that parable? The master, the master and the master is a parable representing God. Would you agree? I do, yes. God is authorizing that torturing. Who does the act of torturing? Does the King or one of his servants do it? The jailer's, one of those are one of the servants. Okay, so now try to picture that gaoler in your mind, this guy who tortures people. First off, do you think this guy who tortures people? Likes inflicting pain on someone.   [00:46:38] I mean, it's his job. He's gotta like it a little bit.   [00:46:43] Yeah, okay.   [00:46:44] Try to picture an image of that torture in your mind. Now, do you come up with someone who's handsome, debonair, sort of a princely young man who would grace the social circles of the king? No.   [00:46:58] Or do you maybe come up with some evil, hideous looking type of beast of a man and some sort of dark dungeon that just takes pleasure in exacting pain in people's lives? Yes. So from what you know about God's kingdom, the spiritual being, do you think would more likely play that role of the torturing trailer, an evil bear?   [00:47:24] Oh, the same thing we've been reading about in all these other passages. Is that what you're telling me? Oh, wow. Okay.   [00:47:34] So an evil spirit is actually there. What I see what you did there. Do you think that evil spirit is a friend of God?   [00:47:49] Might be. Do you think that gaoler is a friend of the king? Yes, you do.   [00:47:56] In a social circle, oh, well, not in the social circle. I just met him. He knows that and has a relationship with them over.   [00:48:06] Let's clarify friend versus servant. Do you think that gaoler is a friend of the king or simply a servant of the king? Servant? Do you think that evil spirit is a friend of God or simply a servant of God? Servant? Was he created by God? Yes.   [00:48:28] Is he being used by God as part of His Holiness and righteousness and all those other attributes that God has about him?   [00:48:38] Okay, so now we're starting to see a different side of God that most of those probably turn our eyes from, because we can't comprehend a God that does this. But God has made it very, very clear multiple times. And these aren't the only times there are others. But he makes it very clear that this is kind of what things are set up. Okay, so here's what's going on. Jesus is saying that we're going to be given over to the torturers if we don't forgive our brother. These tortures are most likely these evil spirits, as you mentioned, and their whole purpose is to torment us. Okay, now keep in mind we're talking about when bad things happen. Is it God's will? How do you how do you handle evil in the world? Okay, so we're now starting to move that direction a little bit more. Let me ask you a question. Do you recall any other places in the Bible where God gives people over to evil spirits?   [00:49:50] We just write a whole bunch of it more. Okay, so here's the question is being tormented good or bad?   [00:50:00] Not a trick question. Good. You think so?   [00:50:06] Yes. Because it's bringing about the end. Result that God's looking for him.   [00:50:13] So if someone dies a premature death. Is that what God is looking for?   [00:50:24] Maybe not by someone.   [00:50:27] If someone commits adultery against his wife, is that what God's looking for?   [00:50:32] The act? No. Then being tormented. Good or bad?   [00:50:42] Do you want to be tormented?   [00:50:44] I do not. It's okay. But going back to what you said. Did I say the big picture? What does it bring?   [00:50:58] It's all it's all part of God's holiness and righteousness.   [00:51:02] But that doesn't mean it has to be good, because evil is not good. Evil is bad. But here's a big question. Is a tormenting spirit authorized by God?   [00:51:21] According to these scriptures, yes.   [00:51:23] Okay, so now we have this really big challenge. Evil is bad. But it's authorized by God. How can a loving good God authorize evil?   [00:51:41] I don't have a great answer for that, by the way, but that's a question that we ponder on. So let's go in and ask a few more questions.   [00:51:51] So Peter originally thought if he only forgave his brother seven times, he's doing something really, really great. Would you agree? If he had done that, is it possible that he could have incurred a tormenting spirit without even knowing why?   [00:52:09] Possible. Is it possible that if bad things happen to us? We could actually be incurring some sort of a tormenting or evil spirit of some sort. That's been authorized by God. For violating some law that we may not clearly understand. Yes. Is God to blame if we do that? No. OK. So now we're starting to get greater clarity. This kind of making sense of where I'm going now. Okay.   [00:52:44] So God set up the rules. We don't understand them.   [00:52:52] But blaming God is saying, hey, God, I'm innocent. There's no reason I should be going through this. Right. And if he set up the rules and we broke them. Who's to blame? We are.   [00:53:07] Does it matter if we know that those rules exist or not?   [00:53:13] No, it doesn't really matter now. Romans I Romans 1 tells us that they're already written in our hearts. So we know them, but we don't. We can't clearly articulate like you're driving 70 miles an hour. You hit a speed zone. You don't even know it. The speed limit sign is down or behind a bush. It says 45 miles an hour. You'll still get a ticket even though you don't realize that you're doing wrong. Right. So then does that mean that everything that bad, everything that happens that's bad is our fault?   [00:53:53] Is it our fault? Is it always because we violated something? I'm extrapolating at this point I'm kind of going to the point of saying this parable that Jesus did. Can you extrapolate this into all things?   [00:54:10] I don't think you can. This is one of those things. I don't think you can. Let's go back real quickly. The Lord's Prayer. You don't have to go back to. I just want to repeat one part of it. The Lord's Prayer is kind of a summation of things. Right. And that we are the high level things to be praying for. One of those is Lord forgive us for our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And there's something really important about forgiveness. It's in the Lord's Prayer. It's in this parable. Jesus talks about tormenting. If you don't forgive, my father will authorize tormenting against you torture. And I won't share this quick story to show you how this starts to illustrate and come out in our lives. I remember listening to this guy who was ministering to someone. He's praying for healing. The man that he's praying for has really bad back pain and he prays for healing. Nothing happens in this guy's name is Todd. And usually when he prays a lot of time, most of the times people are getting healed. And then the Lord gives Todd what's called a word of knowledge. Okay. Supernatural knowledge of what's going on. And the word of knowledge was the man has bitterness against his mother, unforgiveness for his mother. So Todd asked the guy, hey, tell me about your relationship with your mother. And the guy responds immediately, why do you ask that? I hope she dies and writes in hell. I mean, really horrible. So Todd starts working with him, leads him to Christ essentially, or at least leads him to forgiveness of his mother. And then top price for his back and he's instantly hill. Could it be that there is unforgiveness in our lives that's causing some sort of a tormenting spirit that causes bad things and we don't even realize it because we didn't forgive someone over here, we did something over on this other spot, some violation of God's law. But the implication of that law is it opens the door to. For evil to somehow come, come in and impact our lives. Does that make any sense, what I'm asking?   [00:56:40] Yes, absolutely.   [00:56:42] All right. If we look at how people are tormented and wanting to get off of tormenting, but I'm just using this and using it as an example, because what I find is God works in patterns. The pattern articulate in this parable about tormenting is a similar pattern that works in other areas in how God works and where I know we're at an hour and we're going keep on going because I'm wrapping up and there's no good, good place to stop. So this is going to be a longer call than normal. But let me pause real quickly. Is this exciting stuff so far?   [00:57:18] Yes, absolutely.   [00:57:20] Is it blowing your mind?   [00:57:22] It is a solid ending.   [00:57:25] It's expanding my thought process and I get it.   [00:57:32] So think about the ways people are tormented in life. In other words, if we receive a tormenting spirit because we have unknowingly or knowingly violated some spiritual law that God, God's holiness and righteousness.   [00:57:54] What does that look like? I'd like to suggest mental anguish can be part of it. Stress and anxiety. Depression. Health issues. Our dreams and aspirations falling apart. Say, Jesus says that the enemy, by the way. Would you agree that tormenting spirits are the enemy? What does the enemy's purpose and goal in our lives?   [00:58:28] Do you remember what Jesus says to say the enemy comes to destroy, to steal and to kill?   [00:58:42] To kill? Come sit still. Kill, steal, kill and destroy. Do you think those could be acts of torturing? Yes. Okay, let's start wrapping this up so the Lord created everything that's been created. Would you agree with that? Yes. Are Satan. Demonic spirits, evil spirits and evil as a whole. Are all those part of God's creation? Yes.   [00:59:14] But they weren't created as Satan and the ones that wasn't created that way. Granted, but we don't. So this is one of those mysteries we don't understand, but we do understand everything that's been created. Somehow God created it. If evil exists, somehow it's part of the creation. We can't comprehend it. It makes no sense. We have no framework or fabric to put it together. No grid. But we understand that all things were created by God. And that includes evil. And we don't understand it. Okay. I've got some ideas, but they're only opinions. I won't go there. Not everything that is evil is good. But evil exists in some mysterious way as an act of God's will. Because it's been created and everything of evil is there for a purpose. We don't understand it. But if God created it, it's got to be for some purpose. All of this kind of connecting, making sense.   [01:00:31] A lot of questions I don't have answers to. This is where I'm saying my disclaimer. Okay. So then you have God is sovereign over all of creation.   [01:00:42] And just as the torturer in the parable with the king is not a friend of the king. Evil is not a friend of the Lord's. But just like the king used the torturer as part of how he governed his kingdom. God uses evil as part of how he governs his kingdom. Understanding the existence of it and understanding the reason behind it are two different things. I'm just right now clarifying the existence of this done mean I had the answers as to why, but we have to come to the conclusion it exists for a purpose because it was created then and this is where this starts to get even more complex. This whole issue is multidimensional. It's very complex. There's not one simple, easy answer to it. But here's the big picture of everything. Just kind of give us the big picture view. God created some sort of a legal hierarchy, an organizational structure in the spirit world. This is powers and rulers and authorities and Dominion's, which are not speaking about evil structure. God created the structure and an evil always copies what God does and then tries to subvert it. So all of this legal hierarchy that we see in Ephesians and the structure God created, it's much more complex in the heavenly rule than anything in the earthly Rome. And all of heaven is operated by laws and covenants and ordinances.   [01:02:28] Does that make sense so far? This is why the name of Jesus is powerful, because it's a legal authority. Everything is governed by that spirit. The demons, these fallen angels are all subject into this hierarchy of organizational legal structure that God has in place. And within that structure, evil has a legal authority to operate. This is what we're experiencing. It has a legal. This is what we've read in all of these things. They have a legal authority to operate. Satan had a legal authority to operate against Jobe, but only by God's authority. When God withdrew the authority, Satan cannot attack. This is what we see with the parable that we just went through, the Jesus and the torturer. There is a legal authority to act. So we see that is legal authority. That legal authority is either God decreeing a thing. One the passage we said nothing happens except by the decree of God. So either God decrees blessings or calamities or what I call on autopilot because it's part of God's spiritual laws. And when a law is violated, then there's a subsequent consequence that's already predetermined. That kind of making sense. Okay. So this is the kind of things that we're we're involved with when bad things happen. We've got to look at this at this higher level structure.   [01:04:02] We don't understand the laws. We do understand their existence. And probably an easy way to explain this because we see this all the time, but we don't really understand it. Imagine you're sitting in a room and there is a window on your right hand side and there is a wall on your left. You're reading a book and out of the corner of the eye, you see a shadow go against that wall instantly.   [01:04:25] You know, something went by the window. Would you agree? But you don't know what. It's a shadow of something that passed by. You recognize the existence of something there because there's a shadow that moved and when we look at our lives and we see and we look at all these things going on, what they show is a shadow of the spirit realm, the shadow of these laws we can't make. There's not a whole lot of concreteness to it for us. We can't write it down. We don't really know what it is. It's shadows. We see it in existence and displayed throughout scripture. We see the shadows displayed in our fiscal lives. But none of it is clear. We just know it's there making sense. And so this is why we say God authorizing saying to touch sending a tormenting spirit upon Saul and all these other things. There's something there. And so I want to give one other interesting thing, because it kind of ties up. And I want to be real sensitive on this because I don't want to freak you or any of our listeners out. But this whole realm of the spirit realm is real. This whole idea of evil spirits is real. Absolutely. Jesus cast out demons and that was real. So I was doing a deliverance with a lady named Alexis. She's a born again Christian. And in that deliverance session. Okay, so this was one of those really wild and crazy things where Alexis's personality actually goes into a trance and the personality that is now speaking is an evil spirit manifesting through her. Okay. So I'm interrogating, if you want to call it Who Are You? And one of those spirits was a spirit of depression. Why do you think depression was there? Do you think that was tormenting her?   [01:06:34] Absolutely. And she was a Christian and she had depression. And that is a spirit. And I commanded it out and it left. Then there was another spirit. It was a spirit of fear.   [01:06:49] And it had this I'll call it this interrogation.   [01:06:54] It had 25 other junior spirits in its kingdom within Alexis. And you know what the spirit here said why they were there to keep her from getting ahead. In other words, to prevent her from achieving the destiny that the Lord had for her holding her back. They were holding her back, causing everything she did to fall apart, constantly causing it to fail to keep her from getting ahead. That was the spirit of fear. And then there was a spirit of suicide. And it had. I was asking how many how many demons in your kingdom? Said 80. And then it volunteered this information to make sure she kills herself. Wow. I mean, this is real stuff. I know we're not supposed to. Don't don't get truth from a demon. I get that. But what I'm saying is, is this is real stuff. These things do exist. They do exist. And Christians. I'm not saying a Christian is demon possessed by any means. Christ possessed your spirit. But let me ask you a question on that. And we're going to do this whole session on healing later. Is sin evil or good? Then as evil does exist in your flesh.   [01:08:25] Yes. Are you a Christian?   [01:08:29] Yes. So that means that you are born again, but evil exists in your flesh. Does that make sense? That's correct. Why can't a spirit that's evil exist in your flesh as well? Because a lot of people say, well, if you're a Christian, you can't have an evil spirit, well, you have sin and all these spirits are evil. Depression is evil. Fear is evil. Suicide is evil. These are thoughts and attitudes. So I'm driving. I'm getting sidetracked. But the bottom line is this. All these fears are evil. And in some mysterious way. They were allowed to be in her life. I don't know exactly why, but my assumption and expectation from what we've read is there are some spiritual laws that were being violated. Somewhere along the line for life, they gave him authority. Does that make sense?   [01:09:28] Yeah. Okay. Okay. So now the question is, doesn't God love the Lexus? Do you think God loves a Lexus?   [01:09:35] Oh, absolutely.   [01:09:37] If God loved Alexis, why would he allow her to suffer?   [01:09:45] That is a big question.   [01:09:48] That's a huge question, isn't it?   [01:09:52] Can I give a suggested answer? Yes. All right. So let's look at an illustration. A man and a judge are friends. The man breaks the law and he comes before the judge. The judge's personal will list his said his friend free. But his judicial responsibility is to enforce the law. And the judge has the power to do either one. If the judge is righteous, what does he do?   [01:10:24] Does he violate his judicial responsibility to enforce his personal will? Or does it violate his personal Wiltern Borse his judicial responsibility? What do you think?   [01:10:39] Wow, that's a big question, too.   [01:10:42] All right, let's call it this way. Think about the Supreme Court. Do you think every justice on the Supreme Court has a desire of how they wish a law would have been written? When they render a judgment, if they're following their oath of office. Are they? Inputting their personal desire, regardless of what the law says or they interpreting exactly what the law says.   [01:11:15] To the best of their ability, I think the latter.   [01:11:19] So if you look at a judge, if he's a righteous judge. Does he violate his personal will?   [01:11:29] To perform his judicial responsibility or does he violate his judicial responsibility to perform his personal will? The farmer.   [01:11:39] He's going to do his judicial responsibility, and that's the same with God. He has the power to do his personal will. But just generally speaking, he doesn't violate the laws he's put in place. Sometimes we see him do it so. But usually he says judicial process. So sometimes when bad things happen, it could simply because there is evil in the world. Other times we may have sinned. And even though we're no longer in the law, but under grace, there's still a legal ramification of violating the law. And I guess that's kind of summing it up. I want to wrap up one last thing. There's a lot of other stuff, but I want to clarify one thing. And this is a message I texted with a friend. Give you the story on this, because I think this kind of shows how all of this kind of plays a part in one's life. I'm praying for a lady named Francis. She's been a missionary for 55 years. They're about in the last 11 year. She's been stuck in a wheelchair. So I prayed for her. She was instantly healed. She began walking around and she was in a wheelchair because of extreme pain. It was a surgery gone bad 11 years ago. And the doctors couldn't correct it. So now she's walking. There's no more pain.   [01:13:05] She's walking around. And then the pain comes back and she's has to get back in the wheelchair instantly. When that happened, I knew of the spirit. Because once healed your heel. Okay. Okay. You don't lose your healing. There's something else there. I think that's the message of all of this. There's something else there. It's not quite such a pat answer that we like to give. The pain came back. I knew it had to be a spirit. So following the process that there's some legal ramifications, some legal authority, that that spirit has to be there. We went through different things about repentance. She'd been forgiven for her sense. But in going through this, there was she remembered that there was a an organization many years that that she was involved with in high school called Rainbow Girls. I think it's kind of a subset of Freemasonry and it's basically kind of a cult. She didn't realize it at the time. She wasn't a Christian, but there was some sacred oath that she took as part of Rainbow Girls. When she mentioned that, I said, well, we need you need to repent of that. She repented of her involvement with Rainbow Girls and any oath that she took. And then we come in and dispirit out and guess what happened.   [01:14:22] She started walking again. The spirit instantly left everything we tried to do prior to that.   [01:14:28] The spirit and the pain would not leave as soon as she repented of her involvement with Rainbow Girls and we prayed again. The spirit left. Can you see a legal cause and effect on that? Absolutely. Okay. And then the pain came back. Wow. What happened, right. Okay. Then she says, well, Bury, her husband, says, well, God is trying to teach you something. So this is the train of thought. A lot of Christians have. This is why I talked about at the beginning all these bad things happen. God must be trying to teach me something because God is sovereign. God is in control. God is all powerful. Therefore, if anything bad happens, it must be as well. Therefore, something bad happens. He must be trying to teach me something. That's of a train of thought. So this is my text to her. I just want to read it because I think it really summarizes, as I said, I want to clarify something I said last night when your husband Barry suggested that the Lord might be bringing this pain upon you to teach you something. I said that God does not bring sickness upon his children. I believe that is true. But he does authorize spirits to attack us. I don't know how much that authorization is to attack us physically or simply in other areas, such as what happens in our lives.   [01:15:50] I'm still learning, but the simple fact that a spirit is attacking you means that within the spiritual laws the Lord has created. The spirit has authority to attack. Does that make sense so far? And since all of 30 is granted by the Lord. Ultimately the Lord has authorized it. If not directly, then at least indirectly by setting up those laws in the first place. That law is given jurisdiction over us at the fall. This is what you and I spoke about. No longer under law, but under grace that at the fall we became jurisdiction underneath the law. And so I said that law was given jurisdiction over assess the fall. So it's tied to the fall and not tied to the Lord. Trying to teach you something the Lord can and will teach you through it. But is not the purpose for why you're being attacked. I think that's the message. Another message I want to make sure we all understand when these things happen. It's not the Lord trying to teach you something. There's evil in the world that evil has authority. So let me tell you the rest of the story I was asking the Lord. Why did the spirit return? And the Lord said something happened between the time it left and the time it returned. They gave it the authority to return.   [01:17:16] And I said it's the Lord's share that I thought I knew what it was, I called Princeville backup and I started to explain this story, you know what it was?   [01:17:25] This will blow your mind. I said almost, yes. Yes. It was tied to doubt. So you've been in that wheelchair for 11 years. I bet. Unbeknownst to you, you've created an identity of being in pain and being in that wheelchair. And when that spirit left and you're no longer in a wheelchair. It was so unusual for you. It was. It wasn't who you've experienced yourself to be all these years that probably knows you. You kept that identity of pain and you invited it back in because that identity of pain is thin, because it doesn't conform to the image of God. So she said, let's repent of that. So you know what she did.   [01:18:17] By the way, before I do this, I said, Spirit, get out, pain get out. And she said, it's going, but it's not going all the way. It did stuck. It's not leaving.   [01:18:26] So then she said, Okay, we pray, Lord, I repent my identity. Your pain. And then we prayed again and instantly it left.   [01:18:39] That familiar spirit?   [01:18:41] Yes, that's exactly right. So here's the bottom line.   [01:18:45] Not everything that happens is God's will, but nothing happens outside of his authorization. And once we understand that there is a legal framework and authorization, then it helps us to start to understand maybe what's going on and maybe how to fight it in our lives. Here's the other thing I find the more you seek the Lord, the more you are in the center of his will. And therefore, the more that everything that happens to you is part of him guiding you towards your destiny. This is what we talked about last session, I believe. On the contrary is true. The more you ignore the Lord, the more you're out of the center of his will. And then the more everything that happens is evil trying to thwart you. And in some mysterious ways, both of all of this is tied into God's authorization. And so that when evil happens, that's how we start to understand what's going on. Was this a cool lesson?   [01:19:51] This was so great. Yes, absolutely. I love it. And just just being reminded of me, I was thinking of the word test a lot. And I know that gets a bad rap with believers. They don't like to think of God as being. Well, he's going to test me on that. But I also understand the reason behind it. And I think a lot of this to me was just an eye opener to recognize a lot of those moments in those seasons, in those circumstances as a test like Joe going to be faithful and trust the Lord. And I know that working this out for my destiny, I would say yes.   [01:20:32] But I like to make sure one more thing is understood, because last session we talked about was Joseph and with Esther. And a lot of that was part of God's plan moving in towards a destiny, which is kind of where wilderness is a test. But I think the thing if I could underscore one thing from today's session, it's. There are legal. Rules in place that give evil the authority to act in our lives and if we understand those rules. More were more likely to keep evil out of our lives. If you think about speeding. If you understood that the speed limit was 45, you would slow down to 45 before you got there. But if you're ignorant of it, you go barreling through at 7 and you get a speeding ticket.   [01:21:30] So the quote unquote, knowledge is power. Not really a spiritual term, but the more we understand how God has set up.   [01:21:40] His kingdom, the more we can operate in accordance with how it's set up and therefore we can avoid a lot of the hardships. A lot of the trials we can understand. There is some relationship and a cause and effect and we're not just at a mystery of what's going on. Just like with Princeville. She's been prayed for for years to get the wheelchair. One until I came on to my home because I understood the process better. She's able to walk free now. That's the implication.   [01:22:23] That's great. Obeidy, I think we're about out of time for today, we'd probably need to wrap up our call, but thank you so much for your time and your expertise and just all the time. I know the sacrifice of your time that you put into preparing this for today and this is a great call and I know it blesses all of you listeners out there and remember to share the podcast with your friends. Do you

Brian is out and quarantined for the next bit. So Matthew tackles podcasting alone. It ain't easy! Be sure to join along and give feedback on the new season!

Understanding our current food system, where it came from and especially where it might go is much easier if one understands history. Our field needs historians, thoughtful scholars who can do deep exploration of what has preceded the snapshot in time that represents what we're experiencing today. This is why an exciting development was the recent publication of a book entitled Food Fights edited by two historians at North Carolina State University, Charles Ludington and Matthew Booker. We're joined today by both of the editors. About Charles Ludington and Matthew Booker Charles Ludington is teaching associate professor in the department of history at North Carolina State University. He has taught and written about food history including the book entitled The Politics of Wine In Britain, The New Cultural History. Matthew Booker is associate professor of environmental history at North Carolina State university. He has written about oyster growers and oyster pirates, that would be interesting to talk about. This current book explores the rise and fall of aquaculture in American industrial cities.   Interview Summary Guys, thanks very much for joining us. And let's begin with the following question. Food Fights, your book, is described as a book that looks at food and food related debates through a historical lens. What does that mean, looking at things through a historical lens? The basic idea is that we think that looking at the past of the current debates that we're having, the origins of these debates, that helps us to understand a little more why we are here in the first place. For example, why it is we have the Farm Bill. So, looking at the past and the origins of the Farm Bill helps us to, I think, take some heat off the pressure of the debate and people blaming each other for this and that and neither side seeing things in wholly black and white terms. The idea is to take a variety of debates that we think are prominent in society, today and looking at their origins in order to understand why we're here and hopefully by doing that we can move forward. Yeah, just to pile on, I think Chad has really explained the point of the thing, which is that as historians, we always feel that there are roots and often invisible roots to the questions we debate in the present. Many of our current problems today are actually the results of solutions of yesteryear. Chad mentioned the Farm Bill, the origins of food subsidies in the United States. Food subsidies today are very unpopular on the extreme right and on the left of American politics, but those subsidies exist because in the 1930s the United States faced a real crisis for agriculture for farmers. So, there are good historical reasons why we have those subsidies. They may no longer serve exactly the purposes they were originally intended for, but there are good historical reasons why they exist. So Matthew, there are a lot of things historians could choose to look at. Why have folks decided to look at food as a way of looking at the history and vice versa? We both, I think I'm speaking for Chad here, we both feel that food as something that occupies every human being on a daily level is an absolutely perfect way to get through and into the deepest questions we ask as people. In other words, food is a kind of repository for all of the hopes and dreams and fears of modern society. If you're interested in policy for example of any kind, you can find some of our most interesting policy debates in the questions we ask about what shall we eat? Who should produce it? And under what conditions? If you're interested in the role of gender and class and race as we are as historians, all of those things are inherent in the way that we produce and consume food. And then of course, our questions of the way we relate to the world around us, the environmental questions they're all caught up in our food system, which is a major contributor to climate change and is also perhaps a path to a less carbon dense future. Why did you decide to set the book up as a series of debates between leading scholars and food and agriculture? That's an excellent question. We wanted to do that because first of all, the book itself stems from a conference that we had at NC State that Matthew and I organized at NC State. And in taking all these ideas, we realized we had a number of divergent opinions and that the best way to present these might be a series of debates in which the authors actually speak to each other, hopefully thereby providing an example of civil discourse. Not that scholars generally have a problem with that, but I would say in broader society that's becoming more and more difficult. By having these debates showing that there are multiple valid sides to these arguments, that it's not necessarily black and white. In fact, it's almost never black and white, we thought this format would be both engaging for the reader and also educational in as much as people would understand that these ideas are held very passionately by historians who spend a lot of time studying these issues and that we're not going to simply solve the problem by declaring one side the Victor and the other side evil. We have to move forward with these debates. So, let's go ahead and have a book that actually sets out these debates, not necessarily attacking each other's points, but certainly pointing out strengths and weaknesses. And hopefully that way we can, over time, begin to build a consensus about how we might move forward. Can you give us some examples of some of the topics covered in the book? A woman named Margaret Mellon who is both a scientist and a lawyer by training, she writes about genetic modification or genetic engineering, as she prefers to call it, and suggests that it's not delivered on almost all the promises that it made back in the 70s and 80s when it was really emerging as a field. At the same time, she doesn't condemn it also, but says that there's a place for genetically engineered food, but it's not nearly as great as many in the food industry might claim that, nor is there an evil. We move onto, from there, Peter Coclanis, a professor at UNC, goes on to defend a big ag, as it's called, saying that big ag has done wonders for the American economy. It's a huge success story and that in the 19th century we envisioned a world in which agriculture was run as it is today. And we now produce huge amounts of food and the American family spends, broadly speaking, around 10% of their income on food, which is historically speaking a very, very low figure. And he suggests our system might not be perfect, but in many ways it's done exactly what we as a society in the 19th century and the early 20th century wanted it to do and we should be very proud of that fact, despite the imperfections. And then Steve Striffler (University of Massachussets-Boston) who says, "Well wait a minute though, all of these things overlook workers. Our food system has the biggest problem and the fact that labor is so often overlooked." So, that section on producing food really takes on some major, major arguments. Especially Steve's argument is particularly interesting in my mind because he tackles the very food movement of which the book itself was a product, but he tackled it from the left basically saying that the big problem is the capitalist system itself and the way it treats workers. And none of the attempts at organic food, the organic food movement and food co-ops and all of this, none of these things will actually address the major problems, which is the way that the workers are treated, the way the animals are treated. Because most of our food movements are all consumer-based and we need to move away from that to worker-based or producer-based food movement. So, right away we get into some very contentious debates. Choosing food, has number of articles about taste and taste and social class and nutrition and the way that nutrition changes very often. And Charlotte Biltekoff (University of California-Davis) argues there is that nutrition, in many ways, follows both the desires and the values of elites in society. And that's why it often changes. Matthew's chapter is on food safety. My wife Sarah Ludington has written on food subsidies. And then section four is gendering food, babies and baby food and also on who cooks at home. And then finally cooking and eating food. Is it important to cook? The Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman on the one side as represented by Ken Albala (University of the Pacific) in his essay. And then Rachel Laudan (University of Texas-Austin) chimes in with a response saying, "Yeah, that's a very romantic notion of the kitchen and of food and we need to move beyond that." So, Matthew, let me ask you this question. What are some of the key ideas in the book that address the issue of how we think of a healthy meal? Throughout the book there's a basic assumption and it's inherent in the title that there are reasonable and thoughtful positions on most of the major debates. We wanted to present the best arguments for, for example, cheap processed food and the best arguments against cheap processed food. We wanted those to be there so that readers whom we imagine as undergraduates, as well as the broad public, could make up their own minds and have evidence to do it. So that they're not operating from a set of opinions or just one side on the issue. To get back to your question about the home cooked meal or about what is a good meal, our final essays are this wonderful back and forth between two extremely strong voices on the topic of the home cooked meal. The first is by Ken Abala, who is a food study scholar, widely published, a really interesting thoughtful person. His is called A Plea For Culinary Luddism and so he's arguing that cooking food at home and cooking for others, in particular, gives us joy. It really is a way of connecting with other people. It's an act of love and that we should all do it as much of it as we can. And that's kind of his argument. But it's followed by Rachel Laudan, who's a quite well known food studies scholar in her own right. She's rewritten her famous essay actually in food studies. She's retitled it A Plea For Culinary Modernism, Why We Should Love Fast Modern Processed Food. And Rachel Laudan points out that it is beautiful and wonderful to cook for others, but that much of the time that cooking is done by people who are overworked, who are underpaid and who are working a second shift or sometimes a third shift. And in other words, women. And that the modern fast processed food system has given American workers and American working class people and women in particular, this enormous gift of time. Sometimes time to be with their families. So, what does a good meal turns out to be a fairly rich question and one that is not simple. It's not as simple as, we should all cook more at home. A woman named Margo Finn at Michigan argues that it's social class more than anything else that determines taste and that tastes changes over time precisely because when something becomes popular, say sushi, which might be a mark of distinction 15 years ago because it's foreign, so it gives you social cachet. You travel, as it were, when you eat sushi. There was a time when sushi was consumed largely by wealthy Americans, but that as it's become popularized, the elite move on to some other type of food in order to stay ahead of the game and she sees most of tastes as being a product of that. She also argues that taste and what we eat is something that helps to position us in society and at a time in American society when there's ever greater disparity in incomes, tastes and eating and food is something that has relatively low entry cost for consumers. So that those people with a great deal of cultural capital but not a great deal of financial capital can nevertheless place themselves fairly high up in society by eating organic foods and going to the farmer's market and doing things that give them, again, a certain cultural cache. I come along in my essay and say that class is very much a part of taste and what determines what we think is best. But it's not simply that food is gendered and so often make decisions based on how we want to define ourselves as men, as women or as non-binary. Because food itself has a gender that we give it. I talk about authenticity in the way that we often eat in order to be perceived as authentic and to think of ourselves as authentic. I write about taste for beer in America and on the one hand you have people who drink craft beer. Well, they might like craft beer, but part of it too is to say that, "I'm drinking a beer that has a history, this is the way beer used to be made. And so therefore, I myself am more authentic when I drink this craft beer." Well, of course, others come along and say, "I actually drink Bud Light because that's a real beer. It's none of this hoity-toity stuff. This is what gives me authenticity, is by drinking, Bud Light." Authenticity, gender, social class, ethnicity. All of these things come into play and help to determine what forms our taste. It's quite complex, but it's an ever moving target also because, as you know, what we're eating today probably won't be what we're eating five, 10 years from now. I'd like to end with asking you each the following question. Then Matthew, why don't we hear from you first. What were your favorite anecdotes or stories in the book or things that surprised you the most? I especially loved essays by Sarah Ludington and Peter Coclanis, but those two especially appealed to me. And in Peter's case, it's the humor that he brought with him to the topic. He's defending industrial agriculture, which is not frequently done, it isn't. And if it is done in American popular writing or in academic writing for that matter, Peter's case is very different. He's defending industrial agriculture as an economist and historian. But his larger point is that this is a field, this is an industry, our first national industry, agriculture, that has driven almost all of our other industries. That innovation, for example, much of American innovation comes out of agriculture. And so, if you look at the patent office postings filings from the 19th century, what you see is thousands and thousands of different innovations, patents for agricultural implements, but also bread slicers and apple corers. And so I think that's the anecdote that sticks with me. I'm a big fan of my wife's essay, not simply because she is my wife, but because it's a really wonderful history that hasn't been written before. It's a very straightforward history of the Farm Bill and food subsidies. And it really simplifies the story so that people can understand why the Farm Bill emerged, what it does today, and I think that that's going to be a very important essay. As Matthew pointed out earlier, both on the right and left, there's a lot of critiques of the Farm Bill and of food subsidies because, of course, the Farm Bill is not only about subsidizing farmers, roughly 80%. It's about the SNAP program, what we used to call food stamps. That essay I think is really going to be very important the way that it just takes this issue on without a political agenda and helps to explain both sides. I also really like Rachel Laudan's postscript, because the essay that she wrote for is a reprint of a very famous essay that she wrote, I think, first back in 2001. This new postscript helps to describe what she thinks are the four different ways in which people think about food. She calls one the aristocratic, was the old European way of looking at it. Then there's the Republican philosophy of food, which she says is broadly speaking, a lowercase R Republican. It is the American way of looking at food, which is food should be plentiful, that we should share it together, et cetera, et cetera. And then she goes on to talk about the romantic conception of food and the socialist conception of food. And in many ways, she's absolutely right. When we think about ourselves as individuals and how we imagine cooking and eating and producing food, we almost all fall into one of these four categories. And so it really helps us get broader picture about both the past, but also the present.

“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)   All are accepted at the table. “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with such scum?’” Matthew 9:9-11 (NLT)   Problems lose power at the table. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Psalm 23:5 (NIV)   Forgiveness is found at the table. “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

Welcome to this first podcast in a series that I am calling the Every Word Podcast. This is a podcast series for those who enjoy studying details found in God’s Word. In every episode I will read from Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s fresh-sounding translation of the  New Testament. The 2016 2nd edition of this NT was published with the name, “The Sovereign God Has Spoken.” It is available for a free download for the Kindle bool reading app. In today’s episode, I will read and comment on Pickering’s translation of Mark 1:1-28.   This is the kind of podcast where it might be better to look at the episode notes while listening. If you are flying down the freeway right now, just bear it in mind that you may want to check this out later. The full text that I will read is attached, but the attachment can only be found at dailybiblereading.info, not in podcast apps. (Click on the PDF download icon to get the attachment. For Android users, if you use our dedicated Daily Bible Reading app, you can get the PDF by clicking the gift icon.) The prettiest way to read Pickering’s NT is via the Kindle app using a tablet, and it is a free download.   Dr. Pickering’s translation is based on the Majority Text of the Greek New Testament, which is also called the Byzantine Text. I consider the Majority Text to be superior to the Eclectic Greek Text which was used as the basis of most of the translations of the last century. The shift in the Greek text used for our Bible translations began around 1881, with the publication of Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which was based on an extremely small sampling of manuscripts of the Alexandrian Text Type*— that is from Egypt.  *Footnote: The two are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. These are dated at 330-360 AD and 300-325 respectively. At the time Wescott and Hort were working, it was anticipated that research into newly discovered ancient New manuscripts from Egypt would reveal a coherent textual stream that would point to the authentic initial form of the Greek text. Now, over a century later, those ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts have been analyzed, but they do not reveal a coherent textual stream that can be followed. Instead the papyri manuscripts reveal that Egyptian scribes very freely edited the texts they copied. In contrast, the Majority Text of the New Testament was made by copyists who lived in the same places as the original recipients of the apostles’ writings. Individual scribal errors have been weeded out, since this text type is based on the majority reading of thousands of Greek manuscripts.   The Majority Text has been stable over the centuries and is the best academically defendable text of the Greek New Testament that we have today. In this podcast, I am trying in a small way to undo the damage caused by Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which passed a legacy of mistakes down to all succeeding editions of the Eclectic/Critical Greek Text.** The damage I speak of can be found in almost all of the English Bible translations of the last century, starting with the ASV (1901), and including RSV, NASB, NIV, GNT, NLT, NET, and ESV. **Footnote: The Eclectic Text is also called the Critical Text, the Nestle-Aland text, and the United Bible Societies (UBS) Text. The succeeding editions of the Eclectic Text have primarily followed Wescott and Hort, but the apparatus (or footnotes) dealing with textual variations has detailed the other variants found among Alexandrian manuscripts.   I realize that all this stuff I have just tried to explain may ‘sound like Greek to you’. But I promise that the examples I give will be interesting, and you won’t need to know any Greek to understand them. It will be helpful to your understanding if as you listen you are able to see Pickering’s translation beside your own Bible translation while listening to this podcast.    See the attached PDF for all the readings.       1 A beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God! Pickering makes a footnote for many of the textual variants. The Eclectic Text does not include ‘Son of God’, and the Lexham Bible (published by Logos) doesn’t translate ‘Son of God’. But most of the last century’s translations follow the 1901 ASV, including those words with a footnote saying, “Some manuscripts do not include the Son of God.” Actually, it is only one Alexandrian manuscript that doesn’t have the three words. 98.4% of manuscripts have it. Another 0.4 percent have it slightly shortened. Only Codex Sinaiticus doesn’t have it, but it was one of Wescott and Hort’s favorites. So that one manuscript dropping the words has caused a footnote in many of today’s translations. Such footnotes have the unintended effect of causing people to question the accuracy of God’s Word.*** ***Footnote:  I take all percentage information from Pickering’s footnotes in his Greek NT.   What might have guided Wescott and Hort to have left out ‘Son of God’?  Here I quote from Pickering’s article entitled The Root Cause of the continuous defection from Biblical Infallibility: F.J.A. Hort, a quintessential 'son of the disobedience'. Hort did not believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible, nor in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Since he embraced the Darwinian theory as soon as it appeared, he presumably did not believe in God.2 His theory of NT textual criticism, published in 1881,3 was based squarely on the presuppositions that the NT was not inspired, that no special care was afforded it in the early decades, and that in consequence the original wording was lost—lost beyond recovery, at least by objective means. His theory swept the academic world and continues to dominate the discipline to this day.1   Footnote 2: For documentation of all this, and a good deal more besides, in Hort's own words, please see the biography written by his son. A.F. Hort, Life and Letters of Fenton John Anthony Hort (2 vols.; London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1896). The son made heavy use of the father's plentiful correspondence, whom he admired. (In those days a two-volume 'Life', as opposed to a one-volume 'Biography', was a posthumous status symbol, albeit of little consequence to the departed.) Many of my readers were taught, as was I, that one must not question/judge someone else's motives. But wait just a minute; where did such an idea come from? It certainly did not come from God, who expects the spiritual person to evaluate everything (1 Corinthians 2:15). Since there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world (Matthew 6:24, 12:30; Luke 11:23, 16:13), then the idea comes from the other side. By eliminating motive, one also eliminates presupposition, which is something that God would never do, since presupposition governs interpretation (Matthew 22:29, Mark 12:24). Which is why we should always expect a true scholar to state his presuppositions. I have repeatedly stated mine, but here they are again: 1) The Sovereign Creator of the universe exists; 2) He delivered a written revelation to the human race; 3) He has preserved that revelation intact to this day.   2  As it is written in the prophets4— 4 Around 3.3% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Isaiah the prophet’ instead of ‘the prophets’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The 96.7% are correct.  ESV ‘As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,’   Here the Majority Text is right with plural ‘prophets’, because two quotes that follow are by two different prophets, Malachi and Isaiah. (Mal. 3:1; Is. 40:3) There are a number of inaccuracies like this that have been introduced in our Bibles because of following the Eclectic Text, and this is a good example of one of them.        10 And immediately upon coming up from11 the water He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him.  11 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘out of’ instead of ‘from’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).    This is my own comment, not Pickering’s: The difference here amounts to a difference of two prepositions. The Majority Text has ‘apo’ and the Eclectic Text has ‘ek’. Someone is going to try to use the difference here to show the method of baptism used by John the Baptist. Don’t base any doctrine on Greek prepositions. They have a very wide range of meaning. Neither preposition can be used to prove the depth of the water where Jesus was baptized.       13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days being tested1 by Satan, 1 Our ‘test’ and ‘tempt’ are translations of a single Greek word, the context determining the choice. To tempt is to test in the area of morals. In this context I consider that ‘tempt’ is too limited, but it is included in the wider meaning of 'test'. Note that the Spirit impelled Him, which means that this was a necessary part of the Plan. The three specific tests recorded by Matthew and Luke presumably happened near the end of the forty days.    Pickering here gives an interesting translational note. This is not about a textual difference. I think it interesting and probably right that Satan was doing more than merely tempting Jesus. He was testing Who he was up against.       1:14 Now after John was put in prison,4 Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom5 of God, 5 Some 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘of the Kingdom’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).    ESV ‘gospel of God’   My comment: In the very next verse, Jesus said, “The time has been fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has approached. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The phrase ‘gospel of God’ (meaning that God owns or sponsors the Gospel) does occur in the Pauline epistles and in 1st Peter, but not in any of the Gospels or Acts. To me, especially because of verse 15, it seems much more fitting for Jesus to specify, ‘Gospel of (or about) the Kingdom of God’.       16 Then, as He was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother, [the son of] of Simon,7 casting a circular net onto the water,8 for they were fishermen.  7 Some 90% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘his brother, of Simon’—presumably a reference to their father. If Peter was the eldest son, he would have been named for his father.    PCF: I think this is an interesting textual variant. If Simon’s father was also named Simon, this part of the story would match the next part where we hear of Zebedee, the father of James and John. If you are looking at the episode notes, you will note that I made a slight alteration to Pickering’s translation. I added the words ‘the son’ before ‘of Simon’, so that the listener will be able to catch the meaning Pickering intends.   When I make alterations like this, I will mark them with brackets. I think the Greek can be understood in the sense ‘his brother— that is Simon’s’. That seems to be the way the World English Bible takes it. (The WEB is another translation of the Majority Text, and it is freely available in many Bible apps.)     23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying: “Hey, what do you want with us, Jesus Natsarene?!13 13 The name of the town in Hebrew is based on the consonants נצר) resh, tsadde, nun), but since Hebrew is read from right to left, for us the order is reversed = n, ts, r. This word root means ‘branch’. Greek has the equivalent for ‘ps’ and ‘ks’, but not for ‘ts’, so the transliteration used a z (zeta) ‘dz’, which is the voiced counterpart of ‘ts’. But when the Greek was transliterated into English it came out as ‘z’! But Hebrew has a ‘z’, ז) zayin), so in transliterating back into Hebrew people assumed the consonants נזר ,replacing the correct tsadde with zayin. Neither ‘Nazareth’ nor ‘Nazarene’, spelled with a zayin, is to be found in the Old Testament, but there is a prophetic reference to Messiah as the Branch, netser—Isaiah 11:1—and several to the related word, tsemach—Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; Zechariah 3:8, 6:12. So Matthew (2:23) is quite right—the prophets (plural, being at least three) referred to Christ as the Branch. Since Jesus was a man, He would be the ‘Branch-man’, from ‘Branch-town’. Which brings us to the word ‘natsorean’. The familiar ‘Nazarene’ (Nazarhnoj) [Natsarene] occurs in Mark 1:24, 14:67, 16:6 and Luke 4:34, but in Matthew 2:23 and in fourteen other places, including Acts 22:8 where the glorified Jesus calls Himself that, the word is ‘Natsorean’ (Nazwraioj), which is quite different. I have been given to understand that the Natsareth of Jesus’ day had been founded some 100 years before by a Branch family, who called it Branch town; they were very much aware of the prophecies about the Branch and fully expected the Messiah to be born from among them—they called themselves Branch-people (Natsoreans). Of course everyone else thought it was a big joke and tended to look down on them. “Can anything good . . . ?”   PCF: This time Pickering’s note points to a treasure he wants us to understand, not a textual variant. You may have picked up in my pronunciation that Jesus was called the ‘Natsarene’. Pickering’s footnote is long, and I think it would be hard to understand for podcast listeners— who may be going down the freeway at 70 miles an hour. The full footnote, complete with Scripture references, is found in the episode notes. But I will summarize what Pickering is pointing out. In Mark 1:23, the demon called Jesus a ‘Natsarene’, following the spelling in Wilbur Pickering's translation. We all know that Nazarene is normally spelled with a z, but Pickering spells it with ts.    Recall that Matthew (2:23) states, “So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: He (Jesus) will be called a Nazarene.” But the name Nazarene or Nazareth appears nowhere in the Old Testament, so how could this fulfill what plural prophets wrote? Unlike what is often assumed, the name Nazareth has nothing to do with the Old Testament nazarite vow. But in Hebrew, the word meaning ‘branch’ is netser.    Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah (plural prophets) refer to the Messiah as the Branch or Shoot (which is netser or a related word). Isaiah 11:1 is one of those places: Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot — yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. (NLT Isaiah 11:1)   So we might call the original name for Jesus’ hometown as ‘Netser-place’, or Natsereth. But when Natsereth was translated into Greek, the ts became a z, Nazareth. So the cool thing about this is that before Christ came, someone founded a settlement called Branchville. I don't think this happened by accident. At the very least, they named the town with the intent to remind people that God’s promised a Messiah who was given the title, ‘the Righteous Branch’. So it is significant, and a fulfillment of prophecy, that Jesus is called ‘the man from Branchville’.   27 And all were astounded, so that they questioned among themselves, saying: “What is this? What can this new [teaching//doctrine] be?3  Because with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” 3 Instead of ‘what can this new [teaching//doctrine] be’, perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘a new doctrine’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.).    ESV And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”   The word ‘Because’ is also part of the textual variant. The ESV follows the Eclectic Text, and connects the rather disjointed text so that it makes sense. ESV has an incomplete sentence, ‘A new teaching with authority!’ But the Majority Text includes the verb ‘be’, and a logical connector, ‘for/because’ which renders a much smoother text with complete sentences and good logical flow.       The episode notes for all of the Every Word podcasts will include references to articles that will give further documentation about all of my claims about the Majority Text, the Eclectic Text, and about different Bible translations.   All of Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s works are available at PRUNCH.net. Additionally, his second edition (2016) NT translation is available for a free download via the Kindle app. It is also freely available as a module in the MyBible program for Android and Apple devices. Dr. Pickering named his NT, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken.” I have not found where Pickering has explained why he gave his NT translation that title. From the forward, I think that it relates to his opinion that God sovereignly protected the original wording of the New Testament through the best line of Greek manuscripts.* *Footnote: As will be explained in further podcasts, Pickering has chosen a more narrow line of transmission, as found in the F35 family of manuscripts. This is slightly different from the Majority/Byzantine Text Type as published by Robinson and Peerpoint, 2018.   I note further that the title, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken,” contains three concepts that were not believed by Wescott and Hort. In their age Darwinism had invaded the church. They did not believe that our Creator created humans as described in Genesis. They did not believe in the sovereignty of God, and nor did they believe that God had actively inspired every word of Scripture and was making sure that every word would be preserved.   One of my favorite verses is in Jeremiah 1:11-12: The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching* to see that my word is fulfilled.” *The footnote says, “The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree.”   God will carry out his threats and his promises.    If God is watching his word to fulfill it like that, it is logical to believe that He also was careful to preserve his Word for us. For the New Testament, God blessed the Majority line of Greek texts so that they predominate and the text has remained unchanged through the centuries. I think it is a good goal to hope for better translations in this century which will preserve every word that should be in the Greek text, and that every word should be translated in a way that fits the English language. As Moses and Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by Every Word of God.” (Deut. 8:3; Luk. 4:4)   Let’s pray: Lord, my listener and I want to know You better through your Word, that we may be transformed to obey you from the heart. We thank You for sending the Righteous Branch, Jesus, to be our King, just like the prophets foretold.   Resources: Fields, Philip: Playing Follow the Leader in Bible Translation, 2019, by Phil Fields. See the Resources list in that article for many more helpful articles on the superiority of the Majority Greek Text.   Friberg, Timothy:  On the text of the Greek New Testament that also happens to be the right one for cousin audiences Although the title of this four-page paper refers to translating for Muslims, the principles and summary is widely applicable.  I suggest reading this paper before reading Friberg’s other articles listed below.   Layman’s Guide — A modest explanation for the layman of ideas related to determining the text of the Greek New Testament, 2019.   What is what? — Differences between the Traditional Text and the Bible Society Text of the Greek New Testament. Some data for the reader to weigh, 2019.   Pickering, Wilbur: New Translation of the New Testament: The Sovereign Creator has Spoken Greek Text of the New Testament based on Family 35   Articles and other major works: See PRUNCH.net. Robinson, Maurice: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform, 1991, 2005, 2018.  This is available in free digital form in the MyBible Bible app, and in other ways.   Article: Full Text of the 105 verses lacking overall Greek Manuscript Support in the NA edition 27

Welcome to this first podcast in a series that I am calling the Every Word Podcast. This is a podcast series for those who enjoy studying details found in God’s Word. In every episode I will read from Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s fresh-sounding translation of the  New Testament. The 2016 2nd edition of this NT was published with the name, “The Sovereign God Has Spoken.” It is available for a free download for the Kindle bool reading app. In today’s episode, I will read and comment on Pickering’s translation of Mark 1:1-28.   This is the kind of podcast where it might be better to look at the episode notes while listening. If you are flying down the freeway right now, just bear it in mind that you may want to check this out later. The full text that I will read is attached, but the attachment can only be found at dailybiblereading.info, not in podcast apps. (Click on the PDF download icon to get the attachment. For Android users, if you use our dedicated Daily Bible Reading app, you can get the PDF by clicking the gift icon.) The prettiest way to read Pickering’s NT is via the Kindle app using a tablet, and it is a free download.   Dr. Pickering’s translation is based on the Majority Text of the Greek New Testament, which is also called the Byzantine Text. I consider the Majority Text to be superior to the Eclectic Greek Text which was used as the basis of most of the translations of the last century. The shift in the Greek text used for our Bible translations began around 1881, with the publication of Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which was based on an extremely small sampling of manuscripts of the Alexandrian Text Type*— that is from Egypt.  *Footnote: The two are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. These are dated at 330-360 AD and 300-325 respectively. At the time Wescott and Hort were working, it was anticipated that research into newly discovered ancient New manuscripts from Egypt would reveal a coherent textual stream that would point to the authentic initial form of the Greek text. Now, over a century later, those ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts have been analyzed, but they do not reveal a coherent textual stream that can be followed. Instead the papyri manuscripts reveal that Egyptian scribes very freely edited the texts they copied. In contrast, the Majority Text of the New Testament was made by copyists who lived in the same places as the original recipients of the apostles’ writings. Individual scribal errors have been weeded out, since this text type is based on the majority reading of thousands of Greek manuscripts.   The Majority Text has been stable over the centuries and is the best academically defendable text of the Greek New Testament that we have today. In this podcast, I am trying in a small way to undo the damage caused by Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which passed a legacy of mistakes down to all succeeding editions of the Eclectic/Critical Greek Text.** The damage I speak of can be found in almost all of the English Bible translations of the last century, starting with the ASV (1901), and including RSV, NASB, NIV, GNT, NLT, NET, and ESV. **Footnote: The Eclectic Text is also called the Critical Text, the Nestle-Aland text, and the United Bible Societies (UBS) Text. The succeeding editions of the Eclectic Text have primarily followed Wescott and Hort, but the apparatus (or footnotes) dealing with textual variations has detailed the other variants found among Alexandrian manuscripts.   I realize that all this stuff I have just tried to explain may ‘sound like Greek to you’. But I promise that the examples I give will be interesting, and you won’t need to know any Greek to understand them. It will be helpful to your understanding if as you listen you are able to see Pickering’s translation beside your own Bible translation while listening to this podcast.    See the attached PDF for all the readings.       1 A beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God! Pickering makes a footnote for many of the textual variants. The Eclectic Text does not include ‘Son of God’, and the Lexham Bible (published by Logos) doesn’t translate ‘Son of God’. But most of the last century’s translations follow the 1901 ASV, including those words with a footnote saying, “Some manuscripts do not include the Son of God.” Actually, it is only one Alexandrian manuscript that doesn’t have the three words. 98.4% of manuscripts have it. Another 0.4 percent have it slightly shortened. Only Codex Sinaiticus doesn’t have it, but it was one of Wescott and Hort’s favorites. So that one manuscript dropping the words has caused a footnote in many of today’s translations. Such footnotes have the unintended effect of causing people to question the accuracy of God’s Word.*** ***Footnote:  I take all percentage information from Pickering’s footnotes in his Greek NT.   What might have guided Wescott and Hort to have left out ‘Son of God’?  Here I quote from Pickering’s article entitled The Root Cause of the continuous defection from Biblical Infallibility: F.J.A. Hort, a quintessential 'son of the disobedience'. Hort did not believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible, nor in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Since he embraced the Darwinian theory as soon as it appeared, he presumably did not believe in God.2 His theory of NT textual criticism, published in 1881,3 was based squarely on the presuppositions that the NT was not inspired, that no special care was afforded it in the early decades, and that in consequence the original wording was lost—lost beyond recovery, at least by objective means. His theory swept the academic world and continues to dominate the discipline to this day.1   Footnote 2: For documentation of all this, and a good deal more besides, in Hort's own words, please see the biography written by his son. A.F. Hort, Life and Letters of Fenton John Anthony Hort (2 vols.; London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1896). The son made heavy use of the father's plentiful correspondence, whom he admired. (In those days a two-volume 'Life', as opposed to a one-volume 'Biography', was a posthumous status symbol, albeit of little consequence to the departed.) Many of my readers were taught, as was I, that one must not question/judge someone else's motives. But wait just a minute; where did such an idea come from? It certainly did not come from God, who expects the spiritual person to evaluate everything (1 Corinthians 2:15). Since there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world (Matthew 6:24, 12:30; Luke 11:23, 16:13), then the idea comes from the other side. By eliminating motive, one also eliminates presupposition, which is something that God would never do, since presupposition governs interpretation (Matthew 22:29, Mark 12:24). Which is why we should always expect a true scholar to state his presuppositions. I have repeatedly stated mine, but here they are again: 1) The Sovereign Creator of the universe exists; 2) He delivered a written revelation to the human race; 3) He has preserved that revelation intact to this day.   2  As it is written in the prophets4— 4 Around 3.3% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Isaiah the prophet’ instead of ‘the prophets’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The 96.7% are correct.  ESV ‘As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,’   Here the Majority Text is right with plural ‘prophets’, because two quotes that follow are by two different prophets, Malachi and Isaiah. (Mal. 3:1; Is. 40:3) There are a number of inaccuracies like this that have been introduced in our Bibles because of following the Eclectic Text, and this is a good example of one of them.        10 And immediately upon coming up from11 the water He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him.  11 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘out of’ instead of ‘from’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).    This is my own comment, not Pickering’s: The difference here amounts to a difference of two prepositions. The Majority Text has ‘apo’ and the Eclectic Text has ‘ek’. Someone is going to try to use the difference here to show the method of baptism used by John the Baptist. Don’t base any doctrine on Greek prepositions. They have a very wide range of meaning. Neither preposition can be used to prove the depth of the water where Jesus was baptized.       13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days being tested1 by Satan, 1 Our ‘test’ and ‘tempt’ are translations of a single Greek word, the context determining the choice. To tempt is to test in the area of morals. In this context I consider that ‘tempt’ is too limited, but it is included in the wider meaning of 'test'. Note that the Spirit impelled Him, which means that this was a necessary part of the Plan. The three specific tests recorded by Matthew and Luke presumably happened near the end of the forty days.    Pickering here gives an interesting translational note. This is not about a textual difference. I think it interesting and probably right that Satan was doing more than merely tempting Jesus. He was testing Who he was up against.       1:14 Now after John was put in prison,4 Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom5 of God, 5 Some 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘of the Kingdom’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).    ESV ‘gospel of God’   My comment: In the very next verse, Jesus said, “The time has been fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has approached. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The phrase ‘gospel of God’ (meaning that God owns or sponsors the Gospel) does occur in the Pauline epistles and in 1st Peter, but not in any of the Gospels or Acts. To me, especially because of verse 15, it seems much more fitting for Jesus to specify, ‘Gospel of (or about) the Kingdom of God’.       16 Then, as He was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother, [the son of] of Simon,7 casting a circular net onto the water,8 for they were fishermen.  7 Some 90% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘his brother, of Simon’—presumably a reference to their father. If Peter was the eldest son, he would have been named for his father.    PCF: I think this is an interesting textual variant. If Simon’s father was also named Simon, this part of the story would match the next part where we hear of Zebedee, the father of James and John. If you are looking at the episode notes, you will note that I made a slight alteration to Pickering’s translation. I added the words ‘the son’ before ‘of Simon’, so that the listener will be able to catch the meaning Pickering intends.   When I make alterations like this, I will mark them with brackets. I think the Greek can be understood in the sense ‘his brother— that is Simon’s’. That seems to be the way the World English Bible takes it. (The WEB is another translation of the Majority Text, and it is freely available in many Bible apps.)     23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying: “Hey, what do you want with us, Jesus Natsarene?!13 13 The name of the town in Hebrew is based on the consonants נצר) resh, tsadde, nun), but since Hebrew is read from right to left, for us the order is reversed = n, ts, r. This word root means ‘branch’. Greek has the equivalent for ‘ps’ and ‘ks’, but not for ‘ts’, so the transliteration used a z (zeta) ‘dz’, which is the voiced counterpart of ‘ts’. But when the Greek was transliterated into English it came out as ‘z’! But Hebrew has a ‘z’, ז) zayin), so in transliterating back into Hebrew people assumed the consonants נזר ,replacing the correct tsadde with zayin. Neither ‘Nazareth’ nor ‘Nazarene’, spelled with a zayin, is to be found in the Old Testament, but there is a prophetic reference to Messiah as the Branch, netser—Isaiah 11:1—and several to the related word, tsemach—Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; Zechariah 3:8, 6:12. So Matthew (2:23) is quite right—the prophets (plural, being at least three) referred to Christ as the Branch. Since Jesus was a man, He would be the ‘Branch-man’, from ‘Branch-town’. Which brings us to the word ‘natsorean’. The familiar ‘Nazarene’ (Nazarhnoj) [Natsarene] occurs in Mark 1:24, 14:67, 16:6 and Luke 4:34, but in Matthew 2:23 and in fourteen other places, including Acts 22:8 where the glorified Jesus calls Himself that, the word is ‘Natsorean’ (Nazwraioj), which is quite different. I have been given to understand that the Natsareth of Jesus’ day had been founded some 100 years before by a Branch family, who called it Branch town; they were very much aware of the prophecies about the Branch and fully expected the Messiah to be born from among them—they called themselves Branch-people (Natsoreans). Of course everyone else thought it was a big joke and tended to look down on them. “Can anything good . . . ?”   PCF: This time Pickering’s note points to a treasure he wants us to understand, not a textual variant. You may have picked up in my pronunciation that Jesus was called the ‘Natsarene’. Pickering’s footnote is long, and I think it would be hard to understand for podcast listeners— who may be going down the freeway at 70 miles an hour. The full footnote, complete with Scripture references, is found in the episode notes. But I will summarize what Pickering is pointing out. In Mark 1:23, the demon called Jesus a ‘Natsarene’, following the spelling in Wilbur Pickering's translation. We all know that Nazarene is normally spelled with a z, but Pickering spells it with ts.    Recall that Matthew (2:23) states, “So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: He (Jesus) will be called a Nazarene.” But the name Nazarene or Nazareth appears nowhere in the Old Testament, so how could this fulfill what plural prophets wrote? Unlike what is often assumed, the name Nazareth has nothing to do with the Old Testament nazarite vow. But in Hebrew, the word meaning ‘branch’ is netser.    Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah (plural prophets) refer to the Messiah as the Branch or Shoot (which is netser or a related word). Isaiah 11:1 is one of those places: Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot — yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. (NLT Isaiah 11:1)   So we might call the original name for Jesus’ hometown as ‘Netser-place’, or Natsereth. But when Natsereth was translated into Greek, the ts became a z, Nazareth. So the cool thing about this is that before Christ came, someone founded a settlement called Branchville. I don't think this happened by accident. At the very least, they named the town with the intent to remind people that God’s promised a Messiah who was given the title, ‘the Righteous Branch’. So it is significant, and a fulfillment of prophecy, that Jesus is called ‘the man from Branchville’.   27 And all were astounded, so that they questioned among themselves, saying: “What is this? What can this new [teaching//doctrine] be?3  Because with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” 3 Instead of ‘what can this new [teaching//doctrine] be’, perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘a new doctrine’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.).    ESV And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”   The word ‘Because’ is also part of the textual variant. The ESV follows the Eclectic Text, and connects the rather disjointed text so that it makes sense. ESV has an incomplete sentence, ‘A new teaching with authority!’ But the Majority Text includes the verb ‘be’, and a logical connector, ‘for/because’ which renders a much smoother text with complete sentences and good logical flow.       The episode notes for all of the Every Word podcasts will include references to articles that will give further documentation about all of my claims about the Majority Text, the Eclectic Text, and about different Bible translations.   All of Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s works are available at PRUNCH.net. Additionally, his second edition (2016) NT translation is available for a free download via the Kindle app. It is also freely available as a module in the MyBible program for Android and Apple devices. Dr. Pickering named his NT, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken.” I have not found where Pickering has explained why he gave his NT translation that title. From the forward, I think that it relates to his opinion that God sovereignly protected the original wording of the New Testament through the best line of Greek manuscripts.* *Footnote: As will be explained in further podcasts, Pickering has chosen a more narrow line of transmission, as found in the F35 family of manuscripts. This is slightly different from the Majority/Byzantine Text Type as published by Robinson and Peerpoint, 2018.   I note further that the title, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken,” contains three concepts that were not believed by Wescott and Hort. In their age Darwinism had invaded the church. They did not believe that our Creator created humans as described in Genesis. They did not believe in the sovereignty of God, and nor did they believe that God had actively inspired every word of Scripture and was making sure that every word would be preserved.   One of my favorite verses is in Jeremiah 1:11-12: The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching* to see that my word is fulfilled.” *The footnote says, “The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree.”   God will carry out his threats and his promises.    If God is watching his word to fulfill it like that, it is logical to believe that He also was careful to preserve his Word for us. For the New Testament, God blessed the Majority line of Greek texts so that they predominate and the text has remained unchanged through the centuries. I think it is a good goal to hope for better translations in this century which will preserve every word that should be in the Greek text, and that every word should be translated in a way that fits the English language. As Moses and Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by Every Word of God.” (Deut. 8:3; Luk. 4:4)   Let’s pray: Lord, my listener and I want to know You better through your Word, that we may be transformed to obey you from the heart. We thank You for sending the Righteous Branch, Jesus, to be our King, just like the prophets foretold.   Resources: Fields, Philip: Playing Follow the Leader in Bible Translation, 2019, by Phil Fields. See the Resources list in that article for many more helpful articles on the superiority of the Majority Greek Text.   Friberg, Timothy:  On the text of the Greek New Testament that also happens to be the right one for cousin audiences Although the title of this four-page paper refers to translating for Muslims, the principles and summary is widely applicable.  I suggest reading this paper before reading Friberg’s other articles listed below.   Layman’s Guide — A modest explanation for the layman of ideas related to determining the text of the Greek New Testament, 2019.   What is what? — Differences between the Traditional Text and the Bible Society Text of the Greek New Testament. Some data for the reader to weigh, 2019.   Pickering, Wilbur: New Translation of the New Testament: The Sovereign Creator has Spoken Greek Text of the New Testament based on Family 35   Articles and other major works: See PRUNCH.net. Robinson, Maurice: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform, 1991, 2005, 2018.  This is available in free digital form in the MyBible Bible app, and in other ways.   Article: Full Text of the 105 verses lacking overall Greek Manuscript Support in the NA edition 27

(Is.42:1-4,6-7;   Ps.29:1-4,9-11;   Acts 10:34-38;   Mt.3:13-17)   “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”   And so He anoints us all in the baptism our Savior has wrought.  As Jesus humbled Himself to be baptized by John, so must we bow our heads before Him and receive holy baptism at His hands.  As He has laid down His life for us, so must we lay down our lives for one another.  As “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil,” so God is with us to do the same. “The Spirit of God descend[ed] like a dove and [came] upon Him.  And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'”  So Matthew recounts the Baptism of our Lord.  And how similar is the beginning of our reading from Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am well pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit.”  The chosen one of the ages now walks amongst us, the Spirit of God upon Him.  His justice now extends to the ends of the earth, calling all into His blessed confines.  None who come to Him does He reject.  The “eyes of the blind” He opens, the prisoners He brings “from confinement” in the sin and darkness of the dungeon that is this world to the heavenly light of His presence walking among us in sacred flesh.  “In every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him,” for He loves all. And so should we not sing out in praise of the glory of the Lord to which we are all called as did David at the completion of the tabernacle of God?  For here stands the true Tabernacle, here stands its fulfillment… before us is God who calls us not only to look upon but to enter into His doors and dwell within Him in His heart, in His bosom – one with His sacred flesh and blood.  The law is now written on our hearts, not only pages of a book; now the Spirit speaks to those who remain close to Him.  Now we hear the “mighty” and “majestic” “voice of the Lord… over the waters”: “the God of glory thunders.”  “In His temple all say, ‘Glory!'”  And should we not “give to the Lord the glory due His Name”?  Does not our cup overflow as Peter's to declare the salvation that comes at the hand of our God? Jesus has come.  The Spirit is with us.  Go now in the Spirit and power of God.   Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Carie Fortney.   Music by Carie Fortney; used by permission.   ******* O LORD, may your Son, our King, bring your merciful justice to all who dwell in darkness.  YHWH, your mighty voice is over the waters, declaring the glory of your Son to a people in darkness.  Your Spirit is upon Jesus to open our eyes to your glory here now in our midst – and what should we do but praise you? He comes humbly to us, bearing our sins and bringing peace to our troubled souls.  And so, now the flood cannot overwhelm us; now we are released from the prison in which we had been trapped for so long.  Now, O LORD, your will is accomplished and all are called into your holy light. O let us be baptized with Him and so become as your beloved sons!  Let us, too, hear your voice speaking your blessing over us.  Fulfill all righteousness among us this day, let your work be accomplished among men – let us be known as your children.  O LORD, let us be acceptable to you! Glory to you, O God of all glory!  May we be pleasing to you as is your Son.  Let your surpassing justice be done. 

(Is.42:1-4,6-7;   Ps.29:1-4,9-11;   Acts 10:34-38;   Mt.3:13-17)   “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”   And so He anoints us all in the baptism our Savior has wrought.  As Jesus humbled Himself to be baptized by John, so must we bow our heads before Him and receive holy baptism at His hands.  As He has laid down His life for us, so must we lay down our lives for one another.  As “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil,” so God is with us to do the same. “The Spirit of God descend[ed] like a dove and [came] upon Him.  And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'”  So Matthew recounts the Baptism of our Lord.  And how similar is the beginning of our reading from Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am well pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit.”  The chosen one of the ages now walks amongst us, the Spirit of God upon Him.  His justice now extends to the ends of the earth, calling all into His blessed confines.  None who come to Him does He reject.  The “eyes of the blind” He opens, the prisoners He brings “from confinement” in the sin and darkness of the dungeon that is this world to the heavenly light of His presence walking among us in sacred flesh.  “In every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him,” for He loves all. And so should we not sing out in praise of the glory of the Lord to which we are all called as did David at the completion of the tabernacle of God?  For here stands the true Tabernacle, here stands its fulfillment… before us is God who calls us not only to look upon but to enter into His doors and dwell within Him in His heart, in His bosom – one with His sacred flesh and blood.  The law is now written on our hearts, not only pages of a book; now the Spirit speaks to those who remain close to Him.  Now we hear the “mighty” and “majestic” “voice of the Lord… over the waters”: “the God of glory thunders.”  “In His temple all say, ‘Glory!'”  And should we not “give to the Lord the glory due His Name”?  Does not our cup overflow as Peter's to declare the salvation that comes at the hand of our God? Jesus has come.  The Spirit is with us.  Go now in the Spirit and power of God.   Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Carie Fortney.   Music by Carie Fortney; used by permission.   ******* O LORD, may your Son, our King, bring your merciful justice to all who dwell in darkness.  YHWH, your mighty voice is over the waters, declaring the glory of your Son to a people in darkness.  Your Spirit is upon Jesus to open our eyes to your glory here now in our midst – and what should we do but praise you? He comes humbly to us, bearing our sins and bringing peace to our troubled souls.  And so, now the flood cannot overwhelm us; now we are released from the prison in which we had been trapped for so long.  Now, O LORD, your will is accomplished and all are called into your holy light. O let us be baptized with Him and so become as your beloved sons!  Let us, too, hear your voice speaking your blessing over us.  Fulfill all righteousness among us this day, let your work be accomplished among men – let us be known as your children.  O LORD, let us be acceptable to you! Glory to you, O God of all glory!  May we be pleasing to you as is your Son.  Let your surpassing justice be done. 

In this episode, we explore the topic of new year resolutions and how being people of our word is so much more important. Jesus tells us that we must be people who mean what we say. Our YES must be our yes and our NO must be our NO.We also give simple tips and ideas on how to be better at keeping our word this year and how not being people of our word can hurt not only ourselves and our relationship with our spouse but also with our kids and others. READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT:Aaron:              Hey, we're Aaron and Jennifer Smith with Marriage After God. Jennifer:           Helping you cultivate an extraordinary marriage. Aaron:              And today we're going to talk about how to be people of our word. Welcome to the Marriage After God podcast where we believe that marriage was meant for more than just happily ever after. Jennifer:           I'm Jennifer also known as unveiled wife. Aaron:              And I'm Aaron also known as husband revolution. Jennifer:           We have been married for over a decade. Aaron:              And so far we have four young children. Jennifer:           We have been doing marriage ministry online for over seven years through blogging and social media. Aaron:              With the desire to inspire couples to keep God at the center of their marriage, encouraging them to walk in faith every day. Jennifer:           We believe the Christian marriage should be an extraordinary one, full of life. Aaron:              Love. Jennifer:           And power. Aaron:              That can only be found by chasing after God. Jennifer:           Together. Aaron:              Thank you for joining us on this journey as we chase boldly after God's will for our life together. Jennifer:           This is Marriage After God. Well, happy 2020, everyone. Aaron:              I was wondering if you're going to say 2020 or 2,020. Jennifer:           I'm a 2,020 er. I guess. Aaron:              Yeah, I'm a 2020 er. I think. Jennifer:           I don't think I've said it before. Aaron:              Or 2,020? 2020. It's the first time we're saying it. Jennifer:           It's the 20s. Aaron:              It's the 20... We're in the 20s. I did see a meme that said... It said, "Everyone be aware the 20s is starting in a couple days." And it showed this picture of all these really dapper men wearing the 20s suits, and it looked really cool. I was like, "I wish. I wish it was that 20s." Now, we're in 2020. Jennifer:           If they were here. This is crazy if you think about it. Aaron:              We're in a new decade. I don't know if everyone's thought about that. But we're literally in a new decade. That's insane. So this is the first episode of the year for us. If you're noticing it's launching on a Monday, that's a new thing for us. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              We usually launch on Wednesdays, but now we're going to try launching on Mondays and see if we like that timeframe of launching episodes. Jennifer:           Hopefully, you guys like it too. If you want to give us some feedback, just head on over to Instagram at marriageaftergod and let us know what you think. Aaron:              Yeah. We had a... Man, I feel like we had an awesome 2019. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              2019. Jennifer:           I liked it. Aaron:              2019? 2,019. Jennifer:           2,019. Aaron:              And I just wanted to do a quick recap of just what 2,019 looked like for us as a family. And we're going to talk about things that we're excited about for 2020. Jennifer:           Yep. Aaron:              And then we're going to talk about the topic. So, the first thing I can think of from 2019. Jennifer:           Even though it happened mid-year. Aaron:              It's like mid-year. Jennifer:           It was a lot of work in preparation leading up to it. Aaron:              Our book, Marriage After God. Jennifer:           Yep. Aaron:              Launched June 2019. Jennifer:           June 4th. Aaron:              June 4th, yeah. And man, thousands and thousands of you guys have gotten a copy of this book. And we've had such good feedback from it. And we just love seeing what the Lord's doing in and through this book. Not in the book, I guess. Through the book in marriages. And so if you haven't gotten a copy of the Marriage After God book, you can head over to Amazon, you can head over to our store, shop.marriageaftergod.com and pick up a copy today. You get a bunch of free resources with it when you do. But that was a huge thing. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              That's like a lot of time, a lot of work writing, the publishing process. Jennifer:           Like two years worth [crosstalk 00:03:02] Aaron:              The waiting, then the marketing and then all of that stuff. I feel like we just wanted to take a ton of break off, like after that. A ton of time off because it was exhausting. And what else happened in 2019? Jennifer:           Well, shortly after the launch of Marriage After God, we found out we were expecting again. Aaron:              Yeah, we're pregnant with number five. Jennifer:           Number five. So most of my summer was sitting on the back porch just not feeling well. But the kids played and it was great. And it was beautiful. And I think a lot of that hopefulness of this pregnancy and meeting our daughter, [crosstalk 00:03:35] Edith. Aaron:              Edith. Jennifer:           Yeah, I'm just sat with us the rest of the year. Aaron:              Yeah, and this has been a difficult pregnancy, but it's been teaching us a lot, which is really cool. Number five [crosstalk 00:03:46] Jennifer:           Not difficulty because I've had, like health issues or anything like that, but just feeling nauseous and already having little kids that we're helping nurture. Aaron:              Yeah, there's been no complications just it's been a rough physically. Jennifer:           It's been harder than the other ones, for sure. Aaron:              Yeah. Jennifer:           I just wanted to clarify. Aaron:              But you're on the other side of that. Yes, you have a little bit of hard time sleeping sometimes. But this has been... We're excited to meet Edith. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              In March. Jennifer:           I felt like getting through the holidays and focusing on Christmas was like my goal, because I knew once the new year came, my next thing [crosstalk 00:04:21] Aaron:              You're like, "This is coming." Jennifer:           Welcoming this baby. And so I'm just so excited to be kicking off this new year with that in my heart and getting ready to meet her. Aaron:              Another big thing that happened in 2019 for us was we branched off from our home church and planted a home church with a few couples. Jennifer:           So we've been doing home church since Olive was about three months old. Aaron:              Oh, wow. Jennifer:           Yeah. So it's been a few years and it grew. And the point of branching off and planting a new home church was for growth. Aaron:              Yeah. Instead of just the mentality that we have with our home churches, instead of growing and staying together and buying a building and expanding that way, we just plant churches in homes. So there's been two other churches planted from that one home church over the last couple years. And so we've been doing it for eight months now. And it's incredible. The families that have come, the people that God's brought in, and the relationships that we're building. Aaron:              It's teaching us new levels of love for one another. It's teaching us how to grow in our giftings. I've been teaching a lot more in our home church. It's just so cool. And so that's been a huge thing. It really exciting. Probably one of my... Other than having another baby coming, it's probably one of my favorite things that happened last year was planting that home church. Jennifer:           Another thing that stands out to me is, I've been homeschooling the kids. I feel like since they were born just because of the nature of who I am and what I love [crosstalk 00:05:47] Aaron:              The way we worked out. Jennifer:           The way we work. Aaron:              We don't talk to them like babies. Jennifer:           well, and not just that, but I was in the Christian preschool education system for so long. And so I had this background to know just how to incorporate teaching and learning with young kids throughout the preschool years. And so I've always just naturally done it with my kids. But this was the first year that we officially started Grade One. And it was a big deal to me because [crosstalk 00:06:13] Aaron:              It's like a real grade. Jennifer:           Well, it's a grade, right? I was nervous. I've never done it before. Aaron and I both have been public schooled. And so we didn't have you know, a lot of background with homeschooling, we have a great community that encourages it and has support where if I have a question I can go talk to my friends. Aaron:              Lots of homeschoolers. Jennifer:           Lots of homeschoolers around here, which has been great, but just starting off with Grade One and it feeling so official. I don't know. It just freaked me out a little bit. Aaron:              Do you feel like it felt like diving into a pool without knowing how to swim? Jennifer:           Yeah, I mean, I guess. Yeah. Aaron:              Well, we spent months considering all the options. Jennifer:           Well, and I spent a long time preparing what we were going to teach him and how we were going to teach him and you know what, you guys? I don't [crosstalk 00:07:01] Aaron:              I'm going to say this before you finish. Jennifer:           Okay, what? Aaron:              You're crushing it. Jennifer:           You're sweet. Aaron:              She has a student binder, she has this program she's doing, she's scheduled in the breaks that we're going to take. She's like [crosstalk 00:07:10] Jennifer:           I was just going to say this [crosstalk 00:07:11] Aaron:              She's crushing it, guys. Jennifer:           We're both really enjoying it. Me and Elliott. We are really enjoying it. Aaron:              Well, and it's not just like Elliott, you're bringing all the kids along. They're all at different stages, but, man, you're doing a really good job. Jennifer:           Thank you. Aaron:              Yeah. So how excited are you for 2020? Jennifer:           Okay, I already mentioned this, but I'm so excited for 2020 because I get to meet my second daughter. I can't get over that. I can't believe it. Aaron:              Olive's super excited. She just cannot wait. She's like, "I'm going to have a sister." So yeah, 2020's got a lot of potential. And that's what's awesome about New Year's is there's so much potential because it hasn't happened yet. Jennifer:           Yeah, we've shared about this in our book. But Aaron and I love to dream together and vision cast and every end of the year season, we do this together, but this last year, we did a little bit earlier in December and it was so refreshing just to... We went on a date but we spent like three and a half hours just sitting there writing down notes and talking and getting out of our hearts what we had been thinking about and dreaming about and just asking each other some hard questions about our relationship, about our relationship with the kids. Aaron:              About work, about books. Jennifer:           It felt so good. Aaron:              About lots of things. Jennifer:           Yeah, where we're headed for this new year. And then my birthday was a couple days ago, and we got another date night in where we just got to just go over a little bit of those things that we had talked about, and set our sights on them and aim for some goals this next year. Aaron:              Yeah, just so everyone knows that... Maybe don't know Jennifer's birthday is on the 31st. December 31st. So she's a New Year's Eve baby. And then our wedding anniversary [crosstalk 00:08:47] Jennifer:           Is today. Aaron:              Is today. Jennifer:           Happy anniversary. Aaron:              Yeah, we've been married [crosstalk 00:08:52] Jennifer:           13 years. Aaron:              I almost messed it up. 13 years. I was going to say 12 but we're done with 12 now we're in the 13. Yeah. 13 years, we've been married. So that's our... We're launching on our anniversary. Jennifer:           Awesome. Aaron:              Our marriage birth day. Is that how that works? Jennifer:           Launching the podcast's new season. Aaron:              Yeah, this is a new season. This is season three, I think of the Marriage After God podcast. And this is our 13th anniversary today. Jennifer:           Awesome. Aaron:              Yeah. So we have a lot that happens in the end of the year, in the beginning of the year, which is why we get to talk about a lot of things. And we always encourage, you can go back and listen to our episode on dreaming together on our podcast, episodes and episodes ago, but you should go check it out. But it just talks about what we do, and why we do it, and how powerful it is to set goals and dreams and writing them down and talking about them together and how unifying it is. And it's something we try and do. And what are some of the things that we've talked about? What things are we looking forward to this year that they may or may not happen? But the goal is we're going to [inaudible 00:09:54] Jennifer:           Yeah, we've submitted these things before the Lord and we just really... We hope to see them come to be. And I'm really excited about the first one, I'm going to share it with you guys. It's been one of our biggest goals. Like it's been on the table for some time, but we haven't actively pursued it. And it's children's books. Aaron:              Yeah, Jennifer's written two amazing children's books. Jennifer:           You're being so nice to me. Aaron:              I know. We're not going to tell you what the names of them are, because they're special. But you'll find out when they launch, whenever they launch because we don't have a publisher yet. But we're looking for one. And they're going to be incredible. You're going to love them. Jennifer:           I hope so. Aaron:              So we're going to be pursuing that this year, we're going to try and find a publisher. We're going to try and get those children's books published this... Either this year or next year. I don't know how long it takes to get a children's book published but we're going to try. Jennifer:           Yeah, because there's art involved. But one reason why I'm so excited about this, you guys, is having young kids and having this message that we want to share with them. It just feels like a gift. It feels like something that we can create for them, right now, in their season of life that they'll get and that would inspire them and hopefully, a lot of others kids. Aaron:              Yeah. And a little secret about it is they're going to have a marriage focus. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              Which is interesting, because you're like, "How do you do a children's book but have a marriage focus?" Well, you'll have to find out. Another goal that we have this year is to try and do more giveaways. We want to give away... We've been doing these giveaways with Bibles. And we've been partnering with a couple companies that sell Bibles and have these really incredible Bibles. And I've been really enjoying it. And there's something special about giving away a Bible, getting Bibles into people's hands. Aaron:              And so we're going to try and do that more when trying to partner with some companies that have some awesome Bibles, which Jennifer just did a giveaway. And we're actually going to ship those books out soon with a really beautiful Bible for women. It's got this fabric cover and it's ESV, which we love, and I give away a Bible. I actually have the Bible, I use it. I've given a couple of them why now, but we just... I think we want to do a little bit more of those Bible giveaways this year. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              More often. Jennifer:           It's a fun way to spread the gospel. Aaron:              Yeah, I know right now I have three Bibles sitting on my desk that I want to give away. So we're going to do that soon. So in order to be a part of those giveaways, by the way, follow us on Instagram at marriageaftergod and unveiledwife and husbandrevolution. So those are other ways to find out about the giveaways because we post about them. But that's one of our goals this year is to give away more Bibles. Jennifer:           Yep. The last one that we're going to share with you guys is just that we love the Marriage After God community we love being able to host this podcast for you and our hearts in talking about the podcast was just that this is going to be a year of intentionality where we are going to put so much thoughtfulness into the content, not that we haven't in the past, but we just really [crosstalk 00:12:44] Aaron:              We want to put more. Jennifer:           We wanted to share that with you guys because we want you to know how God is stirring in our hearts to make this podcast and this content something that's really encouraging and challenging and makes you walk away really truly considering how God is moving in your life and in your marriage and in your relationships. And so I just put that out there to let you guys know that this podcast is the main priority for us. And we're excited and thrilled to... And honored to be able to do it for you. Aaron:              Yeah. So one last thing before we get into the topic, we want to invite you to join our free Marriage Prayer Challenge, we have almost 20,000 people that have already joined this challenge and are currently in it. And so if you want to join it, it's marriageprayerchallenge.com. It's completely free. You'll get a series of emails over the next 31 days, prompting you and giving you things to pray for, for your spouse, and you can choose to take the husband challenge or the wife challenge depending on who you are in the marriage. Aaron:              And it's awesome people are loving it. I get thank you emails almost every day from people thanking me for the challenge and we just want to let you know we've created these resources for you, not for us but for you to grow in your relationship with the Lord, to grow closer to your spouse and to see him move in your marriage. And so we want to invite you, marriageprayerchallenge.com. That's marriageprayerchallenge.com. All one word. And join that prayer challenge. Aaron:              So let's slide right into the topic at hand. And it seemed like a no-brainer. It's the new year, people are talking about resolutions, commitments, people want change, they're going to take this new year and say, "Okay, we're going to start today, and we're going to do this new thing. I'm going to pursue this idea. I'm going to make this change in my life." And we wanted to talk about that. But in a different way. We want to talk about in a core way, when that is deeper inside of us, at the core of who we are, rather than trying to help you figure out how to keep your resolutions this year. Jennifer:           Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of vantage points too to this conversation, a lot of layers to be peeled back on it. And so we're just going to peel back one of those layers on this discussion and talk about what it means to be specifically people of our word. Aaron:              Right, if you look at it, the resolution side of things, I set a new year's resolution. I'm going to lose five pounds. I'm going to start this business. I'm going to fill in the blank. And that's a thing that we say, a statement we make and then if we don't follow through with it, we weren't a person of our word. I said I was going to do one thing, and I did another. Or I said, I was going to do this thing, and I didn't do it. Aaron:              And so that's what I want to talk about. Are we men and women of our word? Regardless of the resolutions we set, because if you are a person of your word, if you set a resolution, you will follow through with it. If you set a commitment, you're going to follow through that commitment. So it's a important attribute of a believer's life that are our yes be yes and our no be no. Jennifer:           [inaudible 00:15:47] Aaron:              That's nothing in between that. Jennifer:           Let's read that verse. So Matthew 5:33-37. Aaron:              It says, again, you have heard it that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God or by earth, for it is the footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes, or no. Anything more than this comes from evil. This is Jesus talking. Jennifer:           Okay, so before we unpack the principle here and why you chose this verse to kick this topic off. Would you just spend a little bit of time on the last part of that verse and maybe explain what it means when it says, simply, yes or no, anything more than this comes from evil? Aaron:              Well, let's think about this. If I tell someone, I'm going to do this thing for them. That's a yes, right? I'm going to do this thing for them. And I don't follow through with that. Am I a liar? Jennifer:           Mm-hmm (affirmative) Aaron:              Is lying a good thing? Now, we can come up with tons of excuses. And we can say, "Well, I mean, there's circumstances and something comes up." And yeah, that may be true. But when we tell people, when we say to ourselves, to others, to our kids, to our wife, to our friends, to our pastor, to the people that we walk in fellowship with one thing and do another, that's not good. That's an evil thing. Aaron:              And so what Jesus is saying, he's like, "Don't swear by God because... Or don't swear by heaven, because that's the throne of God, you have no control over heaven. Don't swear by earth, because you have no control of earth. It's not yours." He even says, "Don't swear by your own head." Because these are things that people will do, "I swear by the hair in my head or I swear by my own." It's like, what he's saying is, is you're trying to give authority to your word that doesn't exist. Jennifer:           So where does that authority come from? Through your actions, right? Aaron:              It comes from your actions. So what he's saying, he's like, "Let's just be people that when we say something, we do it, we mean it." And that is where your authority comes from, the action. And so if we have to... And he's saying, "Don't even give oaths." And if you read throughout the Old Testament, I'm not going to bring these stories up. If you read throughout the Old Testament, there were men who made oaths that regretted them. And they had to follow through with them because it was a law. If you made a note and you didn't follow through with it, you were breaking God's law. Aaron:              And so Jesus is taking it even further and saying, "Don't even need the oaths. The oaths don't mean anything. Because what means something is that you do what you say." And so that's what we're getting to as believers is, are we men and women who do what we say that we're men and women of action, right? There's another scripture I was just thinking about James that it says, if you hear the word and do not do, you're like a man who looks in a mirror and walks away and immediately forgets what you look like. It says, but rather, do what you hear, like be doers of the word. Jennifer:           Yeah, there's another verse that comes to my mind in talking about this and it's Ephesians 4:29. It says, "Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear." And usually, we hear this verse in context. And we've shared it before in other episodes, but in context to the word choices that we use, and things that we say. Aaron:              And negative things. Jennifer:           So when you hear [crosstalk 00:19:13] Aaron:              Hateful things, hurtful things. Jennifer:           And those are very obvious. But in light of simply saying yes or no, and sticking to it with your actions, I feel like we can easily fall into this crep talk if we are saying one thing and doing another. Aaron:              Right. And a good example of this would be, as a husband, I tell my wife, "I'm going to be home at a certain time." Now, the one time it happens, and hey, I really tried there was traffic there was this, right? It's one thing, but if I'm telling my wife, I'm going to be home. And I'm just using my words to appease her or tell her one thing and make her think one thing. And then consistently [crosstalk 00:19:50] Jennifer:           Day after day, after day. Aaron:              I'm home five minutes late, 10 minutes late, 12 minutes late. Jennifer:           An hour late. Yeah. Aaron:              Right? And I'm always having an excuse. I'm not building up my wife, I'm not giving grace to her. All she hears when I say it now is like, "Yeah, right." Jennifer:           That talk is actually corrupting your marriage relationship. Aaron:              Right. So it goes back to if I can't say yes to her, I need to tell her... It's a truth thing. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              The truth is, I won't be able to make it at that time. In reality, or the truth is if I say that, then I need to make changes in the things that I'm doing to make sure that the thing I said, it's true. Because I don't want to be a liar. We want to be men and women of light, of truth. And so, yeah, when we say things that we don't mean, which is another level of corruption, I'm just saying it. I'm giving lip service is what the Bible calls it. Aaron:              I'm telling God, I love him with my mouth, but hating with my actions. That's called lip service. I'm telling someone, I'm going to do something but in my heart, have no intention of actually following through with it. That's corrupt. And that is from evil. That's what Jesus was saying. Anything else other than your yes and your no is from evil because what you're doing is you're either making yourself look good just for the sake of showing a certain face, you're trying to intentionally deceive someone, you're trying to make someone think one thing while you're going to do another. None of those things are good. Aaron:              And so that's... When I think about that scripture of crep talk, is our words... Are we corrupt? Are we trying to walk in? I mean, and this isn't to talk about those occasions of misfortune or accidents. Jennifer:           Right. There's grace for those things. Aaron:              Right. Of course, this is the core of who we are. Jennifer:           Pattern, a belief system, a way [crosstalk 00:21:33] Aaron:              When we say something, do we mean it? Or do we just say things? Which brings me to another thought is, are we thoughtful about the words that come out of our mouth? Or do we just let things come out? Am I just making empty promises, because in the moment, it just, "Oh, yeah, everyone's... Oh, yeah, I'm going to do that too. Yeah." And so that's what we want to talk about. Because this is much deeper than just keeping resolutions. This is everything in our life. Do our kids look at us and know they can trust what we say? Jennifer:           Right. Even in the smallest of things, because I've recognized that as a parent, I've had to stop myself mid-sentence because I'm going to say something that I know I don't mean. Saying the word maybe or saying the word yes when I really mean no, or not right now. I need to be truthful to my kids if I want to build trust with them. Aaron:              But we want to be reliable. The Lord wants us to be reliable. So how could our kids feel secure if they never know? They can't. And that's a good example, I was thinking about that with my kids. They'll ask me questions and the easy response is maybe or, I'll think about it, or let's see, and I do that often, actually. But if I took a moment to think about I could either say, yes, and then my kids know, "Oh, we're going to do that thing." Or I could say, "No, we're not going to do that today." And it'd be done. Jennifer:           But what's required of us to be able to stop and be people who really, truly consider our words and think through all of that? Aaron:              Well, we have to consider... We have to understand who we are, our own limitations, our own abilities, what the day has to hold, it calls us to be more thoughtful. Jennifer:           We have to count the cost of whatever that is that thing that we're committing to. Aaron:              Yeah, which is a biblical wisdom that we are talking, counting the cost, thinking through, making our plans, not just being frivolous, not just being flippant. And actually, being thoughtful. Jennifer:           Everybody gets to answer the question, are we ready to pay the price for this? In the sense that if you are someone who doesn't follow through with your word with the commitments and the goals and the resolutions that you've made, you're either going to pay the price in your relationships, in a negative way. Or you're going to be a person who's going to count the cost ahead of time and pay the price the right way. Aaron:              Yeah, what's it worth to keep your word? Jennifer:           What sacrifice do I need to make for that to happen? Aaron:              Yeah. And all this goes back to building that trust, the reliability. And it's a name that we're building. And it's not just our name... We're going to get into this more, but there's a name that we represent as Christians. Jennifer:           Okay, so this leads me to a question what is easier to simply say yes or no? Or the following through of our yeses and our nos? Aaron:              Well, it's easier to say yes or no. But it's not right. And I would say, since it's new year, we were talking about resolutions, a perfect example of this is new year's resolutions. It's so easy to make them and we think that January 1st is going to give us something we didn't have December 31st. We think that January 1st is going to open a door that was closed on December 31st. And so what we do is we say... It's almost like making an oath on heaven or earth or on our head because we think, "Oh, New Year's has some power that's going to make my yes a yes. January 1st has this authority that I can make an oath by, that's going to give me some self-control that I did not have before." Aaron:              I'm technically making an oath on. And Jesus saying... He's like, "Don't do that. It's not yours. You can't make an oath on 2020 thinking that 2020 is going to make it come true." So, new year's resolutions is a perfect example of it's easier to say yes, than it is to follow through on that, yes, it's easier to make the resolution than it is to resolve the resolution, complete the resolution. And so, is that what we're doing when we make resolutions? When we tell someone we're going to pray for them? When we tell our kids we're going to do this thing this year? Or we're going to hit this goal this year? Or we're going to do this as a family? It's easy to say yes and make ourselves look good in the moment to someone or to [crosstalk 00:26:04] Jennifer:           Or to our ourselves. Aaron:              Or to even ourselves. Yeah. But it's much more difficult and it's much more spiritual to be able to follow through on things. Jennifer:           There's a statistic out that says that less than 10% actually follow through with their new year's resolutions. Aaron:              Yeah, and I would imagine, that's probably a high probability that it's even less than that. Jennifer:           I mean, we've experienced this before mid-spring fall out, you have all this momentum, and you're goal-oriented and you're set-up for success and then your flesh gets in the way and all of a sudden you're off the rails, you are not staying committed to what you've decided. We've experienced this in the past. And I would say in those times, it was because we weren't committed truthfully, in our hearts. We weren't committed to those yeses. Like we should have been. Aaron:              Well, and that's a good point. When we say yes, even to ourselves, let's say, it's our diet or exercise or getting in the word or how we're going to commit our self at church, whatever those things are, do we even actually believe it in our own heart? Or are we saying it hoping it's going to change? Like that fake it until you make it. Like, "I'm just going to keep saying it until it's true." Rather than actually believing it. Because the root of transformation, the root of any change in anyone's life, starts with belief. It's how the gospel works. Aaron:              It says if you believe in your heart... Our salvation is based on belief, we believe. And then the faith is the action of that belief. So, belief leads to faith. So I believe what God has said is true and my faith is the acting out of that belief. And so in our own life, we are going to do anything, we're going to say yes to anything or no to anything if we're going to make any actual transformation change in our life. Aaron:              It's got to start with belief. So if we're just saying things, but knowing it's not... Not believing it, but hoping that the belief comes someday, it won't. Because it has to start with the belief first. And we talked about this a lot with our own life and things that we have struggled with. Jennifer:           Yeah, I was just going to say, there's been times in my life where I believe that I should make this commitment. And I believe that I can do it, for a period of time. But there's also this part of my heart that I don't talk about that I believe that I'll do it for as long as I can. And then once I can, it's okay. Aaron:              It's what you believe. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              And so you were only able to get as far as your belief brought you, what you believed was true. And so what we believe, it creates how we act because that's what faith is. It's the action of our belief. It's acting on the thing you know to be true, right? So if we believe we can't, then we won't. So no matter how many times you say you can if you believe you can't, you're not going to. Jennifer:           Yeah. One of the things that I wanted to bring up since I did already mentioned that there's been times in our past where we've experienced that fall out of not following through with commitments or goals that we've made. Something that's really helped us out is strategy. So when we actually communicate and verbalize with each other and utilizing the gift of marriage for this is so perfect, because you have someone who's on your team. When we sit down, and we talk about the things that we believe, the things that we want to change, the goals that we want to make, and we write them down, and we make a plan. We have been, what would you say 99% more successful in accomplishing those things. Because we've been actionable. Aaron:              Yeah. And then the second part of that is not just writing it down, because what that does is it makes you accountable to it out in the real world. It's this idea of if you say it in your head, but never say it out loud, then it only exists in your head and it doesn't ever have to be real. So it could be fluid, it could change. And be awry because no one knows. And I mean, yeah, it was this way, but now it's this way. But then when we say it out loud and write it down, it actually becomes a real thing. Aaron:              And you're like, "Oh, that's a commitment. That's a real thing." And in order to change that, I have to erase it, or scribble it out, which means I'm having to confront my own change. And then the other part of that is accountability, meaning if I write it down and say it out loud, but never tell anyone, then I have a backdoor to be able to make that... To change however I want. And no one will know. No one will be able to say like, "I thought you were doing x, y, z." You're like, "Oh, what are you talking about?" Jennifer:           Right. So if you tell somebody like I've told you things that I've been wrestling with that I want to change or set a goal for, and the moment I tell you, I'm held accountable, and then you think about it [crosstalk 00:30:52] Aaron:              Well, and later on when I see something, I'm like, "Hey, I thought you were... You told me we're going to do something else?" Jennifer:           Or, "How are you doing with x, y, z?" There's that accountability, and it's a beautiful thing for marriage. Aaron:              It's also really hard. Jennifer:           To see it play out. Yeah. Aaron:              But if you want to be that person, that person that is a man or woman of your word, when you say, yes, to something, yourself, another person, that yes means yes. Every time. Now, we always want to go back to this grace and mercy. And this is not about perfection. But it's about character. It's about principle. It's about value. It's about where do we get these things from? It comes from the word of God. It's the people God's called us to be, not just called us to be but empowered us to be. We have the holy spirit. Aaron:              In 2 Peter 1:3 says, we've been given all things that pertain to life and godliness, all things for those who are in Christ Jesus. If we are in Christ Jesus, we have his spirit, his power. It's not ours. And so we have to lean on that we say, "Lord, I need your help. I feel so weak in this area." Jennifer, do you ever feel like this in your life with anything like that? You've tried in your own strength, and you're like, "I don't know why it can't change or I can't do this thing." And what's my response to you? Jennifer:           Well, you're not supposed to be doing it on your own strength. Aaron:              You're right. Jennifer:           You always tell me to be praying about it, you tell me to go to the Lord, what does God's word say about me? Say about what the thing that I'm wrestling with? Aaron:              And where does the power come from? Him Jennifer:           Him. Aaron:              And so when we fail, we look to him and say, "I failed. I need more of what you have for me, I need more of you, Lord. I need to come to you." And then God says, "My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in your weakness." And so we get to be reminded of our own weakness that we're not supernaturally powerful. We have his power, which is actually supernatural. I meant to say, we're not inherently powerful. Jennifer:           We're not superheroes. Aaron:              We're not superheroes. Yeah. Jennifer:           He is. Aaron:              So I have a question for you. Why do we even make commitments? Why would someone be obligated or obliged to say yes to someone or agree to something that they may [inaudible 00:33:00] Jennifer:           Everyone that just made new year's resolutions a couple days ago is thinking, "Yeah, why did I do that?" Aaron:              "I shouldn't have done that." Jennifer:           I think it comes down to what we... We want something. There's something that we want. And if it's a commitment we're making to someone else that somebody else wants, it's to [crosstalk 00:33:17] Aaron:              Maybe make ourselves look good to them. Jennifer:           Or maybe we do want to follow through with it, but we don't actually believe we can. And so there is that wrestling. Aaron:              We don't want to let them down. Jennifer:           Yeah, but I think the question is, do we make commitments just to look good or impress or think a certain way? Or do we actually truly want to be trustworthy, reliable, full of integrity people? Aaron:              And that's a good place that we could start when we are thinking about things we're going to say yes to or no to is asking us why are we saying yes? Can we fulfill this? Will we be able to do it well? Jennifer:           It requires us to slow down a little bit because in this fast-paced world we live in, it's easy to just say yes to everyone and everything. But I think it's really important for us, especially as Christians to slow down and consider, why are we saying yes to that thing or no to that thing? Aaron:              Even with ourselves, why do I want to get healthy? Why do I want exercise? Why do I want eat better? Jennifer:           What are our motivations? Aaron:              Why do I want to get into the word more? Why do I want to... You fill in the blank of the thing that you want to commit for yourself because oftentimes resolutions or commitments, they're internal. The things that... We don't like something about ourselves, that there's something that we want to grow, and we recognize that we need to change. Aaron:              So asking yourself like, what does that mean, and why? And then asking yourself how that's going to work? And we're going to get into some practical tips in a little bit. But these are some good questions we need to be asking ourselves about these yeses and noes in our life. Jennifer:           As we're asking ourselves those questions also, we need to keep in mind why it's important to be people of our word. That was one of the reasons why we wanted to take this episode in this direction. So maybe we can just ask them some of the hard questions. Through the examples in probably all of our lives that we've experienced. Aaron:              Well, think about this, we are called Christians. What is a Christian? Jennifer:           A Christ-follower, someone who follows in his footsteps. Aaron:              Right. And so we're in the world, so, we're his followers but God calls us something else. He calls us representatives. He calls us ambassadors. So we're ambassadors and ambassadors represent a country, they represent a place, a land, they are not itself, the land or the place. They are representative of the thing, of the place. And so that's what we are. And so, going back to this idea of people of our word, it's not just for our own sake, there's something bigger involved. Aaron:              We're ambassadors for a land. We're ambassadors for a people, for each other. And we're most importantly, ambassadors for God, representing Christ on earth right now. We're his body. And so, when we're not people of our word, we end up being horrible ambassadors. There's people that aren't believers, and they always hear us say one thing and do another, "Oh, yeah, that person always or never follows through." Like at our jobs. Think about this. Aaron:              That we work for a boss, we tell him we're going to get something done, and we don't. Or we have a partner at our job, and we are supposed to get something done and we've let it fall through the cracks because of whatever. Jennifer:           Or we tell that friend, we've seen a dozen times, "Yeah, we're going to get together, we're going to get coffee." Aaron:              And never call them. Jennifer:           "We're going to have dinner, we're going to do something." And then yeah, never call them. Aaron:              We have that person. We're like, "We're going to bring them a meal or we're going to..." And we just don't, "Oh, I didn't have time." Jennifer:           Someone asked for a prayer request. Aaron:              "Oh, I'll pray for you." Jennifer:           And you don't. Aaron:              And you walk away and you never pray for them. These are real things that represent what we believe about ourselves, about God, about people. And it gets in the way of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ that he's actually changed us. And because of what he's done for us, because of him, in his completed work on the cross, saving us, puts a deep desire in our hearts to look like him, and to be like him and to follow him and to chase him. And do we think Jesus was a man of his word? Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              Do you think Jesus ever told someone one thing and did another? Jennifer:           Mm-mm (negative) Aaron:              No, Jesus was who he said he was and he did what he said he did. And even said, at one point, he said, "I only do the things that the father tells me to do. And I only go to the places the father sends me." Right? And he's saying... He's like, "If I say it, it's what God said. If I do it, it's what's God doing. If I go there, it's where God wants me." That's what Jesus did. Aaron:              And so there's no going back and forth, there's no being wishy-washy. There's no being double-minded. There's no being double-tongued like I say one thing out of my mouth, but I mean another. I say another thing over here. And we want to be ambassadors... We're [inaudible 00:38:12] We don't want to be, we are ambassadors for Christ. And the question is, are we representing him well? Of course, in his spirit, he's empowering us to do it. But are we? Jennifer:           Yeah, when I think about the importance of keeping our word, the hard question I would ask is, how does your actions impact spreading the gospel? Because either you are or you're not, right? Aaron:              Yeah, exactly. And I'll give it a just a couple of examples. So in my own life, I do all the customer service for our store, if anyone didn't know that, that's true. So when you email me, it's me talking to you. And often, people ask for prayer, and I don't write out prayers for people. I can't... We don't give advice but I often will say, "I'm praying for you." That's all I'll say. And I actually stop for a moment and I pray for those people to the best of my ability, because I don't know all the details of their life, but the holy spirit does. Aaron:              I don't just say it just to look righteous and let people know like, "Oh, look, they pray for us." I actually do it because I want to be a man of my word. Even through an email with a couple of words to this person who doesn't know me. I want them to know that... And I want you to know, right now, if you ask for prayer and I said, "I'm praying for you." I did. And if I can't, I don't, right? And so that's just one example. Like when we talk to other people, and we say, in person, I try not to say, "I'm going to pray for you." And then go away. I try to pray for them right then. Jennifer:           Some things are a longevity game, though, and it requires that constant prayer. Aaron:              But that's one little activity. Jennifer:           No, it's good. Good example. Aaron:              In my own life, but there's lots of other things. My kids, I was thinking about, if I tell my son, I'm going to do something with him later, or "Hey, maybe I'll think about it." I do that a lot and we talked about it at the beginning. But I want to be better. I want to tell him like, "Yes, I'm going to do it, let's do it." Or [crosstalk 00:40:06] Jennifer:           "No, I can't." Aaron:              "No, I can't." Jennifer:           Yeah. And I think that if we consistently fail at keeping our word whether to ourselves in the goals that we've made, the commitments that we've made, or to others. Aaron:              Or to our kids. Jennifer:           We're creating distressed in the root of people's hearts, and in our own hearts. And so when we go to share the gospel, when we go to teach from God's word, we can't do it effectively, because people will not trust what we have to say. Aaron:              Yeah, and we want to be trustworthy. We want to be men and women who mean what we say and say what we mean. Jennifer:           And do what we say. And we want to be a foundation for people, a place of security, a place of safety and trust, not of insecurity. Aaron:              And you know what? If we are these people, when we don't follow through, when we drop the ball, when we should have said no but said yes, we will recognize it quickly. We'll be like, "Man, I was not a person of my word." And you know what we'll do? We'll go to that person, we'll go to ourselves, we'll go to our spouse, we'll go to our kids and we will apologize. We'll repent. Jennifer:           And instead of it being a confirmation for what that person believes about our character, it will actually be an opportunity for them to extend grace and love and understanding. Aaron:              Yeah. Well, and it builds trust because they know, "Oh, man, when so and so drops the ball on me, they're going to recognize it." And it's not going to be this thing where no one ever mentions it and in the back of my heart, I'm thinking, "Do they even care? Do they care that they hurt me? Or that they frustrated me, did they care?" Aaron:              Because we want to care, now, it brings us back to loving our brothers and sisters. And that's a powerful thing, going to someone and saying, "Hey, I dropped the ball on you. And I want you to forgive me. And I hope you do. And I'm going to try harder next time to not drop the ball on you." Jennifer:           So there's a big statement that I want to make. And I think it's important to just recognize because we're people of vision and future and hope and we don't just do things by the seat of our pants, we don't just keep... We know what's coming as far as [crosstalk 00:42:16] Aaron:              The Lord's return. Jennifer:           The Lord's return, right? Aaron:              Yeah. Jennifer:           And so we have work to do on this earth. And if we can keep our yes and our no in the small things, then we can do even better in the bigger things. Aaron:              Yeah, thinking about that scripture that says, if you're faithful little you will be faithful with much. And that's true. If you're faithful with the little yeses and the little nos, if you're faithful to keep those little, little commitments, you're going to be faithful to keep bigger ones. Jennifer:           Yeah. And can God look down on you and say, "I trust you." You're faithful." Aaron:              Yeah. Jennifer:           All right, so let's jump into a handful of practical ways of becoming a person of your word and also what some of the benefits are. Aaron:              Yeah, so get a pen and paper. We're not going to go deep on all these. We're just going to throw out some ideas. Say things out loud, we talked about that in the beginning, like when you say it out loud, it becomes real. And you can confront areas of weakness, and you can work on them. To make better habits. Jennifer:           You can write down your goals, which helps you strategize and aim for them because you have them written down in front of you, word for word, holding yourself accountable. And I would also say sharing those very specific goals or commitments with your spouse and communicating through them. Aaron:              And then a trick. So if you're going to just try and lose weight, this is just an example. It could be anything but writing down a strategy is infinitely more powerful than just saying, "I'm going to eat better." Jennifer:           Right. Aaron:              How? How are you going to eat better? What are you going to do when you go the grocery store? What kind of foods are you going to buy? What are you going to stop buying? What things do you currently buy that you're going to write down that we're not buying this anymore. This is no longer part of our diet? So writing down the strategy, breaking it down for little goals [inaudible 00:43:58] we are going to stop eating this thing. Jennifer:           Attainable goals. Aaron:              I'm going to stop putting cream in my coffee. I'm going to stop getting that thing. Write it down and have attainable goals and then you can know at the end of the month, you'll be like, "Wow, I actually stopped." Jennifer:           I'm doing it. Aaron:              Doing that thing. So whether you lost a pound or not, you actually reached part of your goal by making a change in your life that is actually long-term and sustainable. Jennifer:           Yeah. Here's one, make your schedule work for you in that sometimes we make commitments and we don't change anything else to make that commitment happen. Aaron:              It's just going to fit somehow. Jennifer:           It's just going to fit somehow. So take a look at your schedule and make sure that everything's conducive to that yes, you made or that no, you made. Aaron:              I think this isn't on the list. But I'm going to just point out, maybe think about over the last year, 2019, write down commitments that you dropped the ball on, and then you might be able to find a pattern of the things that you like to say yes to but you never follow through on. Maybe it's dinner dates, maybe it's having friends over, maybe it's whatever and then figure how this year you can change that, going back to your schedule thing. Maybe you leave one afternoon open a week for that thing that you said yes to and always had to say no to later. And so maybe just do a little evaluation of broken commitments, and figure out how you can fix them for this year. Jennifer:           If you're going to go that far, then I would add on a little bonus if there's ones that are leaving broken relationships to go and repent, and especially if it's with your spouse, like just say, "You know what? I just took inventory of what's going on in my life. And I'm sorry that I did this to you." Aaron:              Yeah, I promised you a date night every month, last year and we never did it once. And let's figure out a change. It's going on the calendar, like whatever it is. The other one, invite others to keep you accountable. So find someone and truly let them know say, "This is going to be hard for me. I might fight you on it. But here's something I want to change in my life. And if you see me would you just gently say, "Hey, I thought you made a commitment to that." Or "Hey, I thought you were going to..." And remind me." Invite someone. Jennifer:           And then the last one is don't go all out, up front. So you got to be realistic. And this is one thing that Aaron's actually taught me. Aaron:              I'm going to go five days a week to the gym and I'm going to do three hours of work, I'm going to lift every day, I'm going to cut everything out of my diet, I'm going to... Don't do that. Jennifer:           Make a commitment to go to the gym and hit at least once a week until you work your way up to a strength that you can maintain. Aaron:              I talked about this actually, in the episode when we talked about healthy living. One of the biggest things for me is that I didn't commit to just going to the gym every day. What I said is like, "I'm going to get up once a week at six o'clock, and I'm just going to go to the gym down my street." Jennifer:           Have those little victories in your life so that in the next year, you can look back and say, "Oh, look how much growth I've experienced." Because of those little attainable goals. Another one would be like when you think about your Bible reading with the Lord. Some people will look at the new year and go I'm going to read the Bible in a year which is great and a goal you should attain for. Aaron:              But do you realize how much reading that is? Jennifer:           Not just that, but if you're not doing it day by day, even in small chunks, there's no way you're going to fit in that kind of goal. So be realistic with yourself and what you're capable of doing. Aaron:              So to condense that the idea would be, instead of taking like, "I want to be completely like this person next week." And realize that's not possible. Jennifer:           It takes time. Aaron:              What you want to do is you want to find little things that you can change in your life that become how you are. Because right now you're not a certain way. And to be that other person takes 1000 little other things that need to change in your life. Jennifer:           Right. Okay, so what are some of the benefits of being a person of your word, Aaron? If you say you will be home at a certain time, what's the benefit? Aaron:              My wife is going to feel honored, we're going to have more stability in our home, our kids are going to know what to expect. I think you'll respect me more. I mean, you respect me, but they'll be a deep respect, they'll be like an honor. There's power and authority also. That's something we didn't talk about but there's power and authority in being a man of your word. There's people I know and when they say something, they do it every time all I think is like, "That man is so reliable. He is powerful." And I think to myself like, "I want to be more like that guy." So I think it'd be a good example my kids, they would say, "Wow, I want to be like that." Jennifer:           Okay, if I say that I'm going to do a meal plan for the week. And I do it. Our family gets blessed, food's on the table, we're going to save money. Aaron:              We'll eat better. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              Which that meal planning just in itself helps a lot of things. You can control what's going in the pantry and in the refrigerator. Jennifer:           I won't be frustrated come 3:30, 4:00. Not having a plan. If you say you will stick to a budget. Aaron:              Save money. Get out of debt. Jennifer:           Not buy useless things. Aaron:              Yeah. And have junk that has to go in the trash someday. Those are little commitments that [crosstalk 00:49:04] Jennifer:           Not have to confess and repent to your spouse. Aaron:              About your spending, about this thing, "I shouldn't have done it." Jennifer:           These are just a handful of things that we're thinking of. Aaron:              And it really is... It's integrity and it's power. Jennifer:           Yeah. Aaron:              This is something we've been talking about lately when you do these things, which are... They all go back to self-control, which is a fruit of the spirit, right? Self-control. There's power in self-control, someone who can control themselves, that's power. And that's God's power showing like, "Look at this person who's not just walking in their flesh, not just going by every whim, not every craving, every desire. They actually control themselves. They have poise and they're distinct." Because that looks different. That is surprising to the world. How do you have that much control? Jennifer:           Yeah, faithfulness is cultivated. Integrity is cultivated. So deciding in your heart to do what you say not just say it with your mouth. Aaron:              A good example of this is we talked about not having our phones in the bathroom like having devices in the bathroom like we're trying to put in place, in our own lives, things that we're going to expect of our kids. Jennifer:           Yeah. Boundaries. Aaron:              And it can be easy to be like, "Oh, I forgot." Or I can think every single time like, "I said, I'm not going to do this." And I could put my phone somewhere. And I know a lot of people use their phones in the bathroom. So they're like, "No, that's my thing." I don't know. But that's integrity. Even when my wife doesn't know I'm doing it, am I choosing to honor what we've talked about? Jennifer:           And when I think of integrity, I think of it even having integrity with yourself. Because otherwise, you're going to be constantly in conflict with your mind, as your spirit and your flesh wrestle with the things that you know you should do that you're not doing. And there's no peace in that. So if you're a person of your word, there's going to be peace. If you're a person of your word, change can happen, goals can be met, victory can be experienced. Aaron:              All the things that people are wanting. Jennifer:           Maturity. Aaron:              To grow. Jennifer:           Growth, your spouse will respect you, people will respect you. I think you mentioned that. These are all good, good things. And when you do it, when you are a person of your word, you are showing yourself and your spouse and your children, that you are a person who can be believed. Aaron:              And trusted. Jennifer:           Trusted. Therefore, when you do go to preach the gospel or teach them from God's word, they will listen and they will trust what you have to say and belief will grow in their own hearts. Aaron:              Yeah, and what's better than being able to show your kids what they're capable of in the holy spirit, that they actually can change and make decisions and say, yes, and mean it and do it. That's teaching your kids the power that they can have in God, and that they don't have to be a slave to their lack of self-control, to be a slave to their cravings and desires, but they can have control over those. Jennifer:           Yeah, and you touched on this earlier about we're not alone in these commitments that we're making. If we're Christians, then God is with us, his holy spirit is empowering us and we need to rely on him to walk us through that. But that means we need to be open with God and share with him when we're struggling and share with him when we need his help and pray over these things and keep them submitted to him. Aaron:              And also ask him to show us as David did. Search my heart, Oh, Lord, and see if there be any wicked way in me. Ask God to show us if there's anything in us that he wants changed. Any deceit, any falsehood. Jennifer:           A verse that has become very foundational in Aaron and I's marriage that I wanted to share with you today is proverbs 16:3. And it says, "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." I think it's a powerful verse and a good reminder that anything that we do, anything that we say yes or no to, we need to be committing these things to the Lord, we need to be submitting them to him and knowing that we're not alone and trusting him to guide us through them. Aaron:              And committing to the Lord doesn't mean, "Here's what I'm going to do, God. Now, bless it." It means, "Lord, here's my plan. What do you say?" Jennifer:           I was just going to say, what does using this verse look like? Or holding [inaudible 00:53:00] look like in our marriage? And it's exactly that. It's saying, "God, here's what

MESSIAH FOR THE MAGI Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” —Matthew 2:1–2 Unlike Luke, Matthew does not tell us about the shepherds coming to visit Jesus in the stable. His focus is immediately on foreigners coming from the east to worship Jesus. So Matthew portrays Jesus at the beginning and ending of his Gospel as a universal Messiah for the nations, not just for Jews. Here the first worshipers are court magicians or astrologers or wise men not from Israel but from the East—perhaps from Babylon. They were Gentiles. Unclean. And at the end of Matthew, the last words of Jesus are, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” This not only opened the door for the Gentiles to rejoice in the Messiah, it added proof that he was the Messiah. Because one of the repeated prophecies was that the nations and kings would, in fact, come to him as the ruler of the world. For example, Isaiah 60:3, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” So Matthew adds proof to the messiahship of Jesus and shows that he is Messiah—a King, and Promise-Fulfiller—for all the nations, not just Israel.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/yourdailybible)

November 17, 2019 In the introduction to his account of Jesus' life, Matthew reveals how Jesus' life fulfills the Old Testament. We have seen how God orchestrated the beginning of Jesus' life in fulfillment with the Old Testament prophets while also having his life follow the way of Israel. Jesus escaped to Egypt to avoided annihilation, and he entered the wilderness to be tested by Satan. John the Baptist has prepared the way for him and baptized him. Now, verse 12 tells us that John has been arrested. Beginning Jesus' Ministry (Matt 4:12-16) Matthew 4:12--16 (ESV) --- 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--- 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." John was arrested about one year after Jesus' baptism. So Matthew wants to skip over a year of Jesus' ministry. Why? He wants to bring Jesus into Galilee. Notice that Jesus has moved from Bethlehem to Egypt, to the small 500 person town of Nazareth to the wilderness, to the much larger city of Capernaum. Capernaum is a city on the North-West coast of the Sea of Galilee. Galilee has over 200 villages with a population estimated to be well over 300,000 people at the time of Jesus. Capernaum was the largest city by the sea. We might be inclined to ask, "Why did Jesus go there instead of Jerusalem and Judea?" Jesus did not go to Nashville, TN, or Dallas, TX. This is a place much like a New York or San Francisco, full of liberal minds. Maybe it's because Jerusalem was considerably uphill and probably bypassed by most. But Capernaum would be a popular stopping point on the trade route to everywhere. Capernaum was a mixing pot of Jews and pagans. We can see a strategic advantage to going there, but wasn't Jesus supposed to be going to the Jews first? Fulfilling Isaiah Notice that Matthew points us to a critical writing in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah. He quotes from Isaiah 9, to tell us that Jesus moved to this region to fulfill what Isaiah foretold, "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." What does that mean? Why does Matthew say Jesus fulfills this? We have to go back to Isaiah to find out. If you are tired of me doing this, don't worry. This is the last one for a while. Let's go back to Isaiah 8 and understand the context of Matthew's quote. We just studied Isaiah 7-9 about a month ago from Matthew 1. The king of Judah was evil Ahaz, but the Northern Kingdom of Israel was even worse. They were under king Pekah, who has allied himself with Syria against Judah. Isaiah makes a promise to Ahaz, saying that the Assyrians will come and wipe out both the Syrians and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but Judah will stand. In Chapter 8, he promises further judgment against the Northern Kingdom of Israel because they have not listened to him. Isaiah 8:19--22 (ESV) --- 19 And when they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter," should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. The people in the Northern Kingdom have entirely given up God. They hate God and are enraged against him, so they are going to be cast into thick darkness. This is a way of saying that they will be wiped out. They will cease to exist because God will remove his help from them. Then, Chapter 9 promises that God will not abandon them forever. Isaiah 9:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. Notice that in speaking about the Northern Kingdom being brought back to life, he calls out specifically the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. The people in these places have lived in darkness (abandoned by God, spiritually dead, surrounded by evil influences and suffering) for a long time. They will see a light that will increase their joy because their oppressors will be overthrown. Isaiah 9:6--7 (ESV) --- 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. The last part of this is about the Messiah coming. The great light that is coming in to bring the people out of darkness is the Messiah, who will counsel God's people and bring them peace, justice, and righteousness. A Light in the Darkness Throughout scriptures, darkness represents ignorance and rampant wickedness. Those who live in the dark have no idea about the truth of God's wisdom. They do not understand how to live a godly life, and they are suffering the consequences of the wicked who live around them. The teaching and the testimony of God are left behind to pursue conspiracies and random false teachings. The Messiah is coming to give these people a chance to escape the darkness and enter the light. In the New Testament, we see darkness as representing continual rebellion against God. Light represents an understanding of God and a submission to his righteousness. Listen to how John describes Jesus coming into the world. John 3:16--21 (ESV) --- 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." Matthew's point is that Jesus moved into the region of Galilee to shine a light in the darkest place of Israel. His mission is to seek and save those who are lost so that they can repent and glorify God. The prominent Jews would struggle to understand this about him. Jesus spent most of his time hanging around the tax collectors and sinners, attempting to help them learn the truth. He came to help the lost, not use them to his advantage. Who will see the light and come to it? Who will follow the way of salvation that Jesus has exposed for mankind? Most will love darkness, but some will come to the light and allow their hearts to be exposed so that they can do the work that God has given them to do. Calling Four Disciples (17-22) Jesus begins to preach in verse 17 by saying the exact same message as John the Baptist. John's message was that people needed to show a heart that bears fruit in keeping with repentance to avoid the judgment of fire that is coming. Was Jesus' message any different? Nope, Jesus said the same thing. The only difference between their messages is that John stayed in a physical wilderness while Jesus moved into a spiritual wilderness. He went to where the people are to encourage repentance at home, in their everyday lives. Galilee had hundreds of thousands of people, but it was a valley of dry bones. When John was preaching this, all of Jerusalem, Judea, and all about the Jordan were coming to him. What about Jesus? Who would respond to his call? Later we will see Jesus draw large crowds, but before we get there, notice who responds to Jesus' words. Matthew 4:18--22 (ESV) --- 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew goes from revealing that Jesus is the light coming into the darkest place, to giving us his message, to telling us about those who responded to the call. Look at what Matthew wants us to see before telling us about the miracles, the Sermon on the Mount, or the opposition he faced. The first thing we read about in Jesus' ministry is the call of four fishermen. What are we supposed to see here in Matthew's account? Fishermen This is really a big letdown for the Jew. We have seen four chapters building up to Jesus' ministry, and now that he is preaching, we see him walk up to four fishermen and tell them to follow him. Why would he do that? Most Rabbis do not choose their disciples. Their disciples come to them, asking to follow. But here we notice something that will be true of all the disciples of Jesus; he chooses them. Why would he choose fishermen? Do they have some unusual ability? Is it because they can fish all day, catch nothing, and do it again tomorrow? Maybe it is because their trade resembles the work of evangelism, but no one would go to fishermen and expect them to make good leaders in the kingdom of heaven. These are common people. That's who Jesus came to work with. He did not come to the Jewish leaders hoping to find someone good enough to fulfill his purpose. He did not choose someone who meets several qualifications. He wanted run of the mill fishermen to carry out the most important work the world has ever seen. Fishers of Men He tells Andrew and Peter that if they follow him, he will make them fishers of men. I love that phrase. First, notice that Jesus will make them into this. They only know how to fish for fish. Jesus will make them into fishers of men. That is a description of his training program that they are about to go through. It gives them a picture of the evangelistic work that Jesus has come to the earth to accomplish. They will spend three years walking alongside Jesus for this purpose. Is this the way we view ourselves? Are we walking with Jesus to learn his ways and become fishers of men? Jesus will later say that he came to seek and save the lost. That is his purpose for walking on the earth. It makes sense for his disciples to be about the same business as their master. Disciples In both sets of brothers, we see a response that is hard to believe. These men were willing to leave behind what was comfortable to them and spend their lives following Jesus. Each of the groups left behind something. In verse 20, Andrew and Peter left their nets. They left behind the known. They would not be able to use their nets to catch men. The methods of Jesus would not require the same skill that they have developed for casting nets. Their abilities, as it turns out, wouldn't matter anyway. Jesus has selected them because he wants to work through them for his glory. He wants to take clay jars and put a treasure inside. The disciples of Christ do not put their trust in their tools or abilities. They put their trust in God's ability to draw men to himself. Evangelism is not about the greatness of our method. It is about the greatness of our God. In verse 22, we see that James and John left behind there boat and their father. The boat represents the security of this business. Owning a boat and having the occupation of a fisherman was slightly better than the middle class. It didn't make you wealthy, but you were well off. Fish was a staple because it was the only meat that most people could afford. These men had good jobs when they decided to follow Jesus. They were trying to find a way to deceive people and get rich quick. They genuinely believed in Jesus and wanted to support his work. The father represents the comfort of family and home. These men were going to spend a lot of time away from home. As Jesus will later say, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." (Matt 8:18-22) They weren't choosing to follow Jesus while holding on to the things that they loved most. They were putting Jesus ahead of all the earthly things that they had spent their lives pursuing. Jesus was more important than their wives, children, the approval of their father, their favorite chair, whatever hobby they were involved with, or their friends. They were willing to devote their lives to following Jesus and accomplishing his mission. The Message In the next section, we will see crowds come to Jesus, and we will see him catching a whole lot of men by his words of truth. The light of the world is revealed in Galilee for all to see and be amazed. But before we get to that point, as the sun comes into the darkness, Matthew tells us about four men who see the light and embrace it with their heart. Matthew wants us to see what true disciples look like. He wants us to see four men who have opened themselves up to the teaching of Jesus. They are willing to lay everything at his feet to follow him. They hold nothing back. Over the next three years, they will reveal that they are not ideal disciples. They will fail over and over again. They will be just like us. They will be proud, arrogant, afraid, lacking compassion, lacking trust, and weak. They will focus more on physical things than spiritual things. They will fail to be there for Jesus when he needs them most. But Jesus sees through all of that. He knows that the transformation from fishermen to fisher of men is a process. One day these men, along with eight others, will convert thousands and begin a revolution that will turn the world upside down. What About Us? Sometimes we don't feel like very good fishers of men. We have tried all of these different approaches and done everything we know to do to bring men to the Lord. Nothing works, so we think that we aren't able to catch men for the Lord. Notice that these men did not have any particular ability in themselves. Also, notice that it took them three years with the Lord to be ready for that task. They had to overcome several weaknesses and issues inside of their hearts before they were able to be used by the Lord. Maybe the Lord has been helping you overcome your weaknesses and preparing you for the work he will accomplish through you. Perhaps you are still in the process. But our mission is to be about the Lord's work. We are supposed to become lights to the lost world around us. I love this text from Daniel 12. Daniel has just been shown how future kingdoms will fight against one another and God's people, but in the end, listen to what is said about God's people amid all their suffering. Daniel 12:3 (ESV) --- 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. As we walk with Jesus, his light shines in our hearts and helps us overcome the darkness. We become lights ourselves, leading others to him so they can share our hope of salvation. Conclusion Do we see the light that has dawned in the life of Jesus? If you aren't there yet, I want to encourage you to come back and hear more about what Jesus will teach and say about himself in the coming chapters. We are about to begin a journey through Jesus' incredible life. Matthew will lead us through his teachings, authority, compassion, dealings with disciples, dealings with enemies, sufferings, and triumph. All of this helps to form those who would follow him so that they can become fishers of men. Like in Galilee, Jesus will shine his light in the darkest parts of our hearts to expose things that we have believed and done, which are opposed to our God so that we can change to become lights ourselves.

Casey is out of town on a top-secret undercover theology mission or something. So Matthew calls FSBT veteran Nate Claiborne to run through what's been going on in Christian Twitter

Key takeaways:The four gospels all tell a unique perspective of the same story. They all claim Jesus is the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures.Mark is widely considered to be the oldest Gospel.The genealogies at the start of Matthew have hidden design patterns in them that unify the Old and New Testaments.The story of Zacharias and Elizabeth at the start of Luke is meant to layer onto the story of Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament. This is a key design pattern of Luke. Luke likes to create the characters in his book based off Old Testament figures.Quote: “(The gospels) are constantly and from the first moment tying the Jesus story back into Hebrew scriptures. There isn’t a story or teaching about Jesus that isn’t packed with Old Testament allusion.” In part 1 (0-5:00), Tim and Jon briefly recap the last episode. Tim says he’s going to unpack four ways that readers can better understand and uncover themes in the gospels.In part 2 (5:00-14:00), Tim dives into advanced ways to read these accounts. One way to take your reading of the gospels to the next level is to get a Bible that shows when a Gospel is citing or quoting an Old Testament passage. For example, Tim focuses on the book of Mark. Most scholars view Mark as the oldest of the gospels.Mark 1 shares links to both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4:5-6 in the first verses.Mark 1:1-3The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“I will send my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way”—“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for him.’”Tim says that this should alert the reader to the fact that Mark is heavily influenced by the Old Testament. Mark is reading the Old Testament, and his Gospel is structured around and informed by the Hebrew Scriptures.In part 3 (14:00-22:30), Tim then looks at the start of Matthew. The book begins with a genealogy. This genealogy is broken into three movements of fourteen generations: fourteen from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile, and fourteen from the exile to Jesus.In order to stick to this pattern, Tim notes, generations would have been left out. So why would Matthew use this pattern?There are several thoughts. One is that the number fourteen is the numerical value of the name “David.” So Matthew is disguising his claim that Jesus is a new and better David in this genealogy.Tim also mentions that four women are mentioned in this genealogy. Each of them are non-Jewish women. Again, why does Matthew do this? He wants you to know that Gentile women in the Old Testament played a crucial role in carrying on—and in some cases rescuing—the messianic seed.In part 4 (22:30-32:30), Tim dives into the opening of the Gospel of Luke. The story of Elizabeth and Zacharias is meant to map onto the story of Abraham and Sarah. Both couples are old and have no children or heirs. Luke then moves onto the introduction of Mary. Mary’s response to the angel’s proclamation is different than Zacharias’ response. So Luke uses a lot of character design to overlap Old Testament and New Testament characters in order to show a new act of God.In part 5 (32:30-47:30), Tim dives into the opening in the Gospel of John. There are themes of Genesis 1 (“In the beginning”) and Lady Wisdom from Proverbs 8 in the opening lines of John. Many modern Western readers find John's writing style to be the most approachable and easy to understand. John's links and callbacks to earlier Hebrew Scriptures are more obvious to the untrained eye than in the other gospels.In part 6 (47:30-end), Tim and Jon dive into Mathew 11.Matthew 11:2-6When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”Tim says that this passage is heavily influenced by Isaiah 35 because Jesus quotes from this passage to answer John's question about whether he is the Messiah or not.Isaiah 35:1-7The desert and the parched land will be glad;the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;they will see the glory of the Lord,the splendor of our God.Strengthen the feeble hands,steady the knees that give way;say to those with fearful hearts,“Be strong, do not fear;your God will come,he will come with vengeance;with divine retributionhe will come to save you.”Then will the eyes of the blind be openedand the ears of the deaf unstopped.Then will the lame leap like a deer,and the mute tongue shout for joy.Water will gush forth in the wildernessand streams in the desert.The burning sand will become a pool,the thirsty ground bubbling springs.In the haunts where jackals once lay,grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.Show Music:Defender Instrumental by TentsMind Your Time by Me.SoSubtle Break by Ghostrifter OfficialSerenity by JayJenAcquired in Heaven by Beautiful EulogyFor When It’s Warmer by SleepyfishEuk's First Race by David GummelShow Resources:What Are the Gospels?: A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography by Richard BurridgeReading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction by Jonathan PenningtonA brief overview of Jewish history pre-Christ and during Roman rule.For more on the different scholarly views on the meaning and background of Lady Wisdom in Israelite history, see Michael Fox's Anchor Bible Commentary: Proverbs 1-9 on pages 331-345 and 352-359.Show Produced by:Dan GummelPowered and distributed by Simplecast.

For those who follow Jesus, this is foundational to who we are, this is a mark of who we are, it's a corner stone of our faith commitment. Meaning Jesus would tell us on more than one occasion, that it's one of the two great commandments, love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, love our neighbor as ourselves. And therefore, if a Christian's not doing it better than anybody else, something’s wrong. It's why I think we need to do this series because it kinda helps spell out for us who we are, what we're about, what our purpose is, about and what it is we need to be doing. What's the most important commandment what's the thing we're supposed to do? In at all three cases, Matthew-Mark-Luke-Jesus would say, "Love the Lord your God, love your neighbor, as yourself.” But he didn't just stop there, this is also kind of made some extra twists to it, to make it known that it was really important. So when we get to the Gospel of Matthew for instance, Jesus would be encountered by an expert in the law, and He would say, What's the greatest commandment Jesus would tell them what the greatest commandments were and he would say, At the end of that Matthew 22... 40 on these Hang all of the law, everything, it's the whole kit and kaboodle. And so we've got to recognize that this is really important that if the great commandments are love God and love neighbor. And all the law, everything else that ever was written in the Old Testament. It hangs on these two things. It’s pretty important, right? Get to the Gospel of Mark and the guy comes and approach a Jesus and says, "Hey what's the greatest commandment?” Jesus does a typical thing he asks him a question, the guy spouts them off "Love God, love neighbor,” and he says, Man, that must be true. In fact, what I've realized the guy says to Jesus is you desire this loving God-loving neighbor you desire this, more than Loving More than sacrifice more than the commitment to the worship and making these sacrifices. So, Jesus's response goes something like this. We're told that in this place, when we love our neighbor when we do this thing that we're coming close to the Kingdom of God, that the kingdom of God is important to this realm of loving neighbor. It's right there in Mark 12, 34, Jesus’s response to this guy, is you have spoken well, you have spoken right you have come near to the kingdom of God when you acknowledge that this is important. And this is heavy stuff, right? All the law hangs on it, it helps build the kingdom, it helps bring the Kingdom near to who we are and then we get to the Gospel of Luke, and it comes in a very familiar story, it's called The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Some of us know that story, right? A guy falls among robbers. He gets left for half dead and people walk by a priest walks by, a Levite walks by, then the Good Samaritan comes and he sees him and he has compassion he pours on his wounds he binds them up, he picks him up, puts him on his horse takes him to an inn, gives the innkeeper money says Take care of him. I'll come back to the next day. I mean, you know that story, right? That guy was a neighbor. But it's really quite powerful how this particular story starts because it starts like none of the other components of how we get to the Great Commandments. So Matthew tells us that all the law hangs on it, Mark tells us that it brings us near to the Kingdom of God, and here in Luke, Gospel in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we're told that to love our neighbor is a way to inherit eternal life, man, this is serious stuff, right?

Is there a literal Hell? Is it a lake of fire that never goes out? Is eternal torment really God's way of handling people who refuse to accept Christ? Doesn't that seem a bit harsh? Where did this whole idea even come from? Is hell in the bible or did we just make all this crap up? This week we are talking with Matthew Challenor. Matthew was born and raised in a Baptist household but once he reached his early twenties, walked away from the church. After a spiritual encounter, he found his way back as a follower of Christ but then ended up in the hospital with what everyone believed was a heart attack. After some extensive testing, Matthew was diagnosed with extreme stress and this, along with some already pressing questions lead him into deconstruction. The pressures of living up to God's supposed standard were replaced with an understanding of God's love. One of the areas Matthew found himself deconstructing was Hell. The idea that a good God would send people into a pit of eternal torment didn't seem to add up according to God's character. So Matthew began researching where the idea of hell came from and where we misconstrued it along the way. GUEST INFO: Find Matthew Challenor on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.challenor.5 WEEKLY QUESTION/s: • If you are in deconstruction, what is your “anchor”? We'd love to hear from you! send your response to mail@therecklesspursuit.com or find us on social media! Links below! --- JOIN THE COMMUNITY: If you'd like to keep the conversation going, we want to invite you, our reckless listeners, to join The Reckless Community! Follow this link and ask to be a part! http://bit.ly/trp_community --- CONNECT: Web: http://therecklesspursuit.com/ Facebook: http://bit.ly/trp_fb Youtube: http://bit.ly/trp_youtube Twitter: http://bit.ly/trp_twitter Instagram: http://bit.ly/trp_insta --- PROJECT OUTCAST: A visual representation of the mission here at The Reckless Pursuit. Find more info here: https://therecklesspursuit.com/projectoutcast/ --- Hey listener! If you don't mind, take a moment to subscribe/rate/review our show! It will only take a moment, it keeps you updated whenever a new episode airs, and it would help us out a ton!

This week's podcast is probably one not suitable for the younger kids because as we head into Proverbs, the first few chapters dive right into Sex, Sexuality and right relationships. So Matthew overlays these truths with modern culture's Pornography Addiction. Matthew references the book "The Porn Myth" from Ignatius Press We recommend the christian ministry of Triple X Church: https://www.xxxchurch.com/ There is some incredible software for those that want to live free from a Church culture: https://x3watch.com/ And some resources from non-religious organisation: https://fightthenewdrug.org/

PROMISES MADE 2 WHEN JESUS CALLS Obedience to the Law Vs. Obedience to the Promise Illustration of 3 million dollar gift _____________________________________________________________ The journey to all of God’s promises starts in understanding that we will always fail trying to do whats right (obedience to the law) Lose bible reading streak Forget to pray before a meal Skip church to go to the game _____________________________________________________________ If it's following the letter of a law - you will fail. Seek out his promises and in so doing follow the promise maker. _____________________________________________________________ When A law becomes THE law = religion When A promise becomes THE promise = hope _____________________________________________________________ The primary promise of God = Jesus John 3:16 (TPT) For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift.[k [1]] So now everyone who believes in him[l [2]]will never perish but exerience everlasting life. 17 “God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it! In the OT when people lost sight of the PROMISE they broke the commandments. In NT when the got to see the promise in the new commandment (LOVE) they wanted to follow the promise by obeying the new commandment (DISCIPLES) _____________________________________________________________ JESUS CAME TO RESCUE US FROM THE CONDEMNATION WE PLACE OURSELVES UNDER Promise is a destination… We agree to the destination before we plot the course… Jesus is the promise and our destination To follow the promise = following Jesus Followers of Jesus called Christians _____________________________________________________________ What do you think hear the word, “Christian?” Depends on who you ask. Transformed by Christ (from law to promise) Out of touch and idiot. (law) Loving, Forgiving, Generous, Benevolent (promise) Judgmental, narrow-minded, legalistic (law) Known for their love, compassion, faithfulness. (promise) Known for what they’re against—each other (law) _____________________________________________________________ Jesus never asked anyone to be a Christian—Disciple As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his taChrist collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Matt 9:9 NLT mathetes (math-ay-tes'); a learner, pupil, disciple, follower. Was not about a believe structure or a methodology Jesus asked us to live how he lived, love how he loved, do what he did! _____________________________________________________________ YOU ARE A DISCIPLE—FOLLOWER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! I am Christ’s disciple… I belong to him. My life is not my own. I am crucified with Christ… I am Christ’s disciple. You are a promise seeker! As a follower of the promises you walk as a someone who is assured of that promise… _____________________________________________________________ 1. YOU FIND A NEED AND MEET IT. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'… Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:33-35, 37b You are my disciple—go do same thing. Find need—meet it! _____________________________________________________________ Jesus wasn’t always casting out demons and raising dead! Washes feet—I’ll do it! Hungry people—I’ll feed them. Children are lonely—I’ll play with them. _____________________________________________________________ When you meet a need—you are showing off the promise of Christ! And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matt 10:42 _____________________________________________________________ 2. FIND A HURT AND HEAL IT. Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. Matt 9:35-36 MSG Woman caught in adultery—stone her… Defends her—Where are those who condemn you? Go your way. Peter—denied… Really love me… Feed my sheep! Sinful woman: worships him—what she did will be told for yrs to come. Your trajectory changes when you start the journey towards the promise You can help someone else see that promise too and change their trajectory. How can you heal? Listen. Time. Cry. Pray. Accept someone. Do life. _____________________________________________________________ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. YOU DO A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS THAT JESUS ASKS YOU TO DO THAT WON’T FIT NEATLY INTO A POINT ON A PAGE. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 Follow him… ride of your life! RADICALLY LIVE THE PROMISE Disciples left everything… Poor widow gave everything she had… Zachaeus—give back 4 times _____________________________________________________________ Wanted to live how he lived, love how he loved, do what he did. _____________________________________________________________ Hour a day in prayer, Serve 20 hours a week at the church… Visit people in prisons…Lead a life group, serve in Kids, Not just tithe—double tithe, Mow neighbor’s yard, Mentor inner city kids. _____________________________________________________________ Living for Jesus won’t make sense to other people. But you are not living for other people—you are living for Christ. You are His disciple! _____________________________________________________________ Find a need and meet it—find a hurt and heal it—do something with the promise! “Stop short only of sin to seek out those who have lost their passion for the promise!” _____________________________________________________________ Wealthy man visited impoverished city: young missionary girl cleaning sores of a sick, dirty, elderly man who’d been lying in the gutter. Said to nurse, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Neither would I… I’d do it for Jesus I’d do it for Jesus—I’m his disciple. And He is my promise!_____________________________________________________________ [1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=TPT#fen-TPT-6214k [2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=TPT#fen-TPT-6214l

PROMISES MADE 2 WHEN JESUS CALLS Obedience to the Law Vs. Obedience to the Promise Illustration of 3 million dollar gift _____________________________________________________________ The journey to all of God’s promises starts in understanding that we will always fail trying to do whats right (obedience to the law) Lose bible reading streak Forget to pray before a meal Skip church to go to the game _____________________________________________________________ If it's following the letter of a law - you will fail. Seek out his promises and in so doing follow the promise maker. _____________________________________________________________ When A law becomes THE law = religion When A promise becomes THE promise = hope _____________________________________________________________ The primary promise of God = Jesus John 3:16 (TPT) For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift.[k [1]] So now everyone who believes in him[l [2]]will never perish but exerience everlasting life. 17 “God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it! In the OT when people lost sight of the PROMISE they broke the commandments. In NT when the got to see the promise in the new commandment (LOVE) they wanted to follow the promise by obeying the new commandment (DISCIPLES) _____________________________________________________________ JESUS CAME TO RESCUE US FROM THE CONDEMNATION WE PLACE OURSELVES UNDER Promise is a destination… We agree to the destination before we plot the course… Jesus is the promise and our destination To follow the promise = following Jesus Followers of Jesus called Christians _____________________________________________________________ What do you think hear the word, “Christian?” Depends on who you ask. Transformed by Christ (from law to promise) Out of touch and idiot. (law) Loving, Forgiving, Generous, Benevolent (promise) Judgmental, narrow-minded, legalistic (law) Known for their love, compassion, faithfulness. (promise) Known for what they’re against—each other (law) _____________________________________________________________ Jesus never asked anyone to be a Christian—Disciple As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his taChrist collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Matt 9:9 NLT mathetes (math-ay-tes'); a learner, pupil, disciple, follower. Was not about a believe structure or a methodology Jesus asked us to live how he lived, love how he loved, do what he did! _____________________________________________________________ YOU ARE A DISCIPLE—FOLLOWER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! I am Christ’s disciple… I belong to him. My life is not my own. I am crucified with Christ… I am Christ’s disciple. You are a promise seeker! As a follower of the promises you walk as a someone who is assured of that promise… _____________________________________________________________ 1. YOU FIND A NEED AND MEET IT. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'… Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:33-35, 37b You are my disciple—go do same thing. Find need—meet it! _____________________________________________________________ Jesus wasn’t always casting out demons and raising dead! Washes feet—I’ll do it! Hungry people—I’ll feed them. Children are lonely—I’ll play with them. _____________________________________________________________ When you meet a need—you are showing off the promise of Christ! And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matt 10:42 _____________________________________________________________ 2. FIND A HURT AND HEAL IT. Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. Matt 9:35-36 MSG Woman caught in adultery—stone her… Defends her—Where are those who condemn you? Go your way. Peter—denied… Really love me… Feed my sheep! Sinful woman: worships him—what she did will be told for yrs to come. Your trajectory changes when you start the journey towards the promise You can help someone else see that promise too and change their trajectory. How can you heal? Listen. Time. Cry. Pray. Accept someone. Do life. _____________________________________________________________ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. YOU DO A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS THAT JESUS ASKS YOU TO DO THAT WON’T FIT NEATLY INTO A POINT ON A PAGE. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 Follow him… ride of your life! RADICALLY LIVE THE PROMISE Disciples left everything… Poor widow gave everything she had… Zachaeus—give back 4 times _____________________________________________________________ Wanted to live how he lived, love how he loved, do what he did. _____________________________________________________________ Hour a day in prayer, Serve 20 hours a week at the church… Visit people in prisons…Lead a life group, serve in Kids, Not just tithe—double tithe, Mow neighbor’s yard, Mentor inner city kids. _____________________________________________________________ Living for Jesus won’t make sense to other people. But you are not living for other people—you are living for Christ. You are His disciple! _____________________________________________________________ Find a need and meet it—find a hurt and heal it—do something with the promise! “Stop short only of sin to seek out those who have lost their passion for the promise!” _____________________________________________________________ Wealthy man visited impoverished city: young missionary girl cleaning sores of a sick, dirty, elderly man who’d been lying in the gutter. Said to nurse, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Neither would I… I’d do it for Jesus I’d do it for Jesus—I’m his disciple. And He is my promise!_____________________________________________________________ [1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=TPT#fen-TPT-6214k [2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=TPT#fen-TPT-6214l

"As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him." -- Matthew 9:9 [NLT] A changed heart results in a changed life.

Castle Rock Zone for Castle Rock season 01, episode 07, "The Queen". Wayne and Geoff share their favorite scenes from the pivotal 7th episode of Hulu's Castle Rock, entitled "The Queen". We not only review the episode, we point out this episode's "Life Lesson of the Week", dig into the King Connections, and share numerous thoughts and theories from you, the faithful listener. The Queen was stunning look into the mind, reality and times of Ruth Deaver. Sissy Spacek gives an Emmy worthy performance of a woman trying to hold on to reality and battle as a timewalker. In chess the queen can move in different ways. Ruth may be the Queen of the Deaver household, but she doesn’t rule. Matthew is in charge. We see Ruth in the present placing chess pieces around the house to help her cope. As she does, we see scenes from the last few weeks as well as the past when Henry was a kid. As we walk through her memories, she is able to escape them when she sees and takes hold of the chess pieces. We learn that before Henry was adopted, Matthew had a brain tumor that was removed. It caused him to hear voices, see things and more. Matthew, like Dale Lacy, has seen the horrors of Castle Rock and is questioning God. He tells his family, at a picnic in the woods, he was going to kill himself in the woods unless God spoke to him. God did and now Matthew wants them to hear as well. Ruth just wants him to see the doctor. So Matthew takes Henry to the woods repeatedly to try to get him to hear. Ruth has a friendship with Alan and she turns to him when the family dog Puck disappears. Alan tells her that they can run away and take Henry with them. They can start anew somewhere else. Ruth discovers that Matthew killed Puck and is pushing Henry to hear the voice. She packs their things to leave, but cannot do it. Subscribe to the Castle Rock Zone in Apple Podcasts and in Google Podcasts. Our voicemail number is 304-837-2278 or you can go to http://goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback where you can use the speakpipe widget on the side of the page to record audio or you can type out your feedback on the form or attach your audio feedback. Be part of the show!

Have you taken time to unplug recently? This is a short, sweet announcement for ya that I will be out of town this upcoming week. So no new episodes until Monday, August 27, 2018. I'm practicing what I preach and I'm taking time to reset, recenter and practice my own sense of balance. So Matthew, Maya and I will be in Florida - enjoying quality time together. I encourage you over this next week to unplug in your own ways. Say no to things that push your bandwidth. Take a min-mental vacation for yourself. And you know during my time away that my creative juices will be flowing and I'll be ready to bring you some more awesome episodes shortly!

Matthew presents #LondonGP - your weekly motor sport and music extravaganza on ZoneOneRadio. Or at least that’s the theory. But it’s August and the whole of the motor sport industry seems to have buggered off on holiday. So Matthew’s attempt to make a motor sport radio show this week has to be classed as an epic fail. But there is some good news. He’s bagged an interview with the voice of the Daleks and Radio 4 Extra’s 7th dimension - and leading light of the Doctor Who establishment - Nicholas Briggs. And as always he talks to the most respected motor sport journalist in the world, Autosport Editor-in-Chief Andy van de Burgt About his planned visit to his in-laws this weekend. -- www.twitter.com/radio_matthew and www.twitter.com/z1radio www.ZoneOneRadio.com www.facebook.com/ZoneOneRadio Orbital - Doctor? Intro Longpigs - On and On Booth and the Bad Angel - I Believe Letter from the Editor - with Autosport Editor-in-Chief Andy van de Burgt Roachford - Cuddly Toy Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 1 of 3 Edwin Astley - Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Main Title Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 2 of 3 Tony Hatch - The Champions Main Theme Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 3 of 3 The Timelords - Doctorin’ The Tardis The Jam - A Town Called Malice Outro The Jam - English Rose

Matthew presents #LondonGP - your weekly motor sport and music extravaganza on ZoneOneRadio. Or at least that’s the theory. But it’s August and the whole of the motor sport industry seems to have buggered off on holiday. So Matthew’s attempt to make a motor sport radio show this week has to be classed as an epic fail. But there is some good news. He’s bagged an interview with the voice of the Daleks and Radio 4 Extra’s 7th dimension - and leading light of the Doctor Who establishment - Nicholas Briggs. And as always he talks to the most respected motor sport journalist in the world, Autosport Editor-in-Chief Andy van de Burgt About his planned visit to his in-laws this weekend. -- www.twitter.com/radio_matthew and www.twitter.com/z1radio www.ZoneOneRadio.com www.facebook.com/ZoneOneRadio Orbital - Doctor? Intro Longpigs - On and On Booth and the Bad Angel - I Believe Letter from the Editor - with Autosport Editor-in-Chief Andy van de Burgt Roachford - Cuddly Toy Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 1 of 3 Edwin Astley - Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Main Title Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 2 of 3 Tony Hatch - The Champions Main Theme Interview - “Voice of the Daleks” Nicholas Briggs - part 3 of 3 The Timelords - Doctorin’ The Tardis The Jam - A Town Called Malice Outro The Jam - English Rose

Matthew presents #LondonGP - your weekly motor sport and music extravaganza on ZoneOneRadio the community radio station for Central London. But before all that, he did a similar thing for another radio station... On this show from 2011 Matthew heads to Essex to meet World Drifting Champion Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni. The week before, the clip of Baggsy driving his custom-made, orange wheeled, 1000hp, rear wheel drive Subaru Imprezza indoors at Top Gear Live got over 1,400 listens on soundcloud. And 55 people took the avice of Baggsy’s boss Paul from Japspeed and downloaded it as a ringtone. So Matthew had to track him down Baggsy chose all the music, including tracks from Professor Green, Shane Lynch, Incognito and Santana - amongst others... -- www.twitter.com/radio_matthew and www.twitter.com/z1radio www.ZoneOneRadio.com www.facebook.com/ZoneOneRadio -- Intro Nickelback - Rockstar Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 1 of 7 Phats and Small - Turn Around Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 2 of 7 Inner City - Good Life Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 3 of 7 Professor Green feat. Emeli Sande - Read All About It Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 4 of 7 Shane Lynch and Ben Ofoedu - Him Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 5 of 7 Santana feat Rob Thomas - Smooth Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 6 of 7 Incognito - Always There Interview: Baggsy and Matthew at the Jobbers Rest - part 7 of 7 Outro All Saints - Pure shores

Dear God I'm Grateful For The Will To Follow . Prior to last year, I would have never imagined a life where I could pick up and go at a moments notice. I was so accustomed to working 80 hours a week, I was unwilling to rest or take time off due to fear of losing my job, disappointing others, or not making enough money to sustain my living. . I am so happy that God delivered me from that mindset as well as that lifestyle, because I was slowly killing myself both physically and spiritually. In this season, I move when the Lord says move and go where he wants me to go. I always had the freedom, but it took a renewed mindset to actually live with a willingness to obey when God says move. . Take Matthew for example, “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.” - ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ . I can only imagine what went through Matthew's mind in that moment. To be a tax collector, making money, and receive a personal invitation to follow the man whom all call The Messiah and Savior? . Without doubt, hesitation, or second thoughts, Matthew had the Will to move. He dropped his job, left everyone he knew and followed Jesus. He made serving Jesus his first priority and as the text so simple put it, “ Matthew got up and followed him.” . I allowed work to keep me bound and stop me dropping everything to follow Jesus. Once I made Jesus my priority, I stopped working for man and started following Him and working for His Kingdom. . “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.” ‭‭John‬ ‭12:26‬ ‭NLT‬‬ . #DearGodImGrateful #Linkinbio #IronWifey #DGIG #Godswill #called #followJesus #gratitudechallenge #Jesus #Ironwifeymagazine #God #ironwifeypodcastnetwork #christianpodcast #podcastersofinstagram #podcast . STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH ALL THINGS IRONWIFEY: Instagram: @deargodimgrateful | @ironwifey_ | @ironwifeymagazine Twitter: @ironwifey_ Facebook: IronWifey IronWifey Magazine & Podcasts: https://www.ironwifeymagazine.com ( https://www.ironwifeymagazine.com/ ) Please Rate & Review, Like , Comment, & Subscribe! FEATURED MUSIC: Track: SkyHigh — Enine [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: https://youtu.be/q-lf6x9cVXw Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/skyhigh