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Buy Paul Anleitner's new book BASED ON A TRUE STORY: https://a.co/d/00Kb0R2a Dan Jurgens is one of the most influential creators in modern comics, best known for writing and drawing the best-selling Death of Superman, which earned him a National Cartoonists Society Award. He created characters such as Booster Gold, Doomsday, and more, and has written for both DC and Marvel--including runs on Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Batman.
In part 2 we discuss Steve Darnall's new prose novelization of Alex and Kurt Busiek's landmark series Marvels, along with Jack Kirby and the Fantastic Four, Superman, superhero movies, public-domain characters, artificial intelligence, and the changing relationship between comics and Hollywood.As always with Alex, the conversation is thoughtful, candid, passionate, and filled with the kind of artistic insight that only he can provide.
Con más de siete décadas de carrera, John Williams es el arquitecto musical detrás de los momentos más mágicos y memorables del cine: Star Wars, Tiburón, E.T., Parque Jurásico, Indiana Jones y Superman. Sergio Mena repasa desde sus inicios como pianista de sesión en la época dorada de Hollywood y sus grabaciones de jazz clásico, hasta convertirse en el colaborador definitivo de Steven Spielberg.
This week, we hit the links for Will Ferrell's return to TV on Netflix' THE HAWK! We're told he's a golfer, perhaps the GREATEST GOLFER IN THE WORLD! With a stacked cast of comedians and a Happy Gilmore-ish premise, we're down to watch a few. What will we think?? Tune in and find out!! Then, we check out My Adventures with Superman, XMen97, and more in diaries! Let's GOOOOOOO! #MyAdventuresWithSuperman #XMen97 #TheHawk
This Week on the Toy Power Podcast; even though we are Celebrating our 10th Year of Podcasting; we unfortunately exhausted all our energy on the Previous SDCC Reveals & Announcements Ep. So we are giving you a ReIssue episode instead from the Vault. (Originally Posted as Ep #143 - from October 2019). Original blurb: It’s a very special ep as we’re joined by not one, but two of favourite guests in Davey Damaged and Scotty so that’s right – it’s a Homer episode! Trent takes us through a vintage retrospective look at The Addams family by Playmates. Perfectly timed for Halloween, we wonder what could have been with this short-lived line and look to the future of the franchise as a new movie approaches. What characters didn’t get made, which ones make the camera glow and where does MC Hammer fit into it all? We make the jump to Show and Tell as Davey tries to trump us all with a purchase so large, we doubt it will actually fit in his toy room! There’s some DC, MOTU and even Final Fantasy options to choose from. Frank gives a lovely tribute showing that sometimes, the value of a toy; lays in more than its sticker price. Then it’s Quiz time and with Davey onboard, anything is possible. To say this episode goes off the rails is putting it mildly – but on the plus side we learnt that Trent can’t hold his liquor, Ben thinks photos record sound, Space Jam was an event and Rick Moranis is Trent’s muse. So hold on for this crazy ride that also serves as a farewell for one of the team…Support the show: http://patreon.com/toypowerpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode @Travis_156 & @Um_Actually_ discuss the final trailer for Lanterns!They also catch up on the past week of DC news and a new episode of My adventures with Superman
Mucho antes de las adaptaciones modernas, Supergirl (1984) llevó a la heroína de DC al cine con Helen Slater como protagonista.En este episodio analizamos esta curiosa película de los años 80, su relación con el universo de Superman de Christopher Reeve, sus virtudes, sus problemas y por qué hoy casi nadie la recuerda. Un viaje nostálgico a una producción que merece volver a discutirse.
Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal delivers a rich expository sermon on James 5:1–6, one of the most striking prophetic passages in the New Testament epistles. Drawing on the Jewish literary and cultural context of James's original audience — Jewish Christians scattered from Jerusalem by persecution — Tony unpacks why this text is not a blanket condemnation of wealth, but a devastating judgment oracle against those who hoard riches and oppress the vulnerable. Along the way, he explores the eschatological weight of accumulated wealth, the theology of God's omniscient justice, and the stunning comfort available to the suffering believer. The episode closes by returning to James's thesis: that trials of every kind, including economic oppression, can be counted as joy because of who God is and what He has done in Christ. Key Takeaways James is a deeply Jewish book written to a specific audience — Jewish Christians dispersed from Jerusalem by Saul's persecution, not a general audience of wealthy or Gentile believers. The prophetic "Come now" signals a judgment oracle, not a direct address — James is not rebuking wealthy members of his congregation, but pronouncing eschatological judgment on oppressive landowners using a technique common in Amos, Malachi, and Micah. Hoarding wealth is not morally neutral — it is self-condemning — The corroded gold and moth-eaten garments are not just symbols of decay; they serve as legal evidence against those who refused to use their wealth for God's glory and the good of others. Withholding wages from laborers constitutes a form of murder — In the ancient world, depriving workers of their wages could literally cost them their lives. James draws on Old Testament law to frame predatory economic exploitation as a capital sin. God sees and hears the cries of the oppressed — The wages of defrauded workers "cry out" to the Lord of Hosts, echoing the blood of Abel in Genesis 4. God's justice is not passive or delayed out of ignorance — it is certain and coming. Matthew 25 reframes Christian mercy as care for the body of Christ — The sheep-and-goats judgment is not a general humanitarian mandate, but a specific call to care for persecuted brothers and sisters — and to recognize that mistreating them is mistreating Christ Himself. Trials are counted as joy through the doctrine of imputation — Suffering is not stripped of its pain, but it can be moved from the loss ledger to the profit column because God uses adversity as the instrument of sanctification and glorification. Key Concepts The Prophetic Address: Who Is James Actually Talking To? One of the most common misreadings of James 5:1–6 is assuming James is directly rebuking wealthy Christians in his own congregation. Tony Arsenal corrects this by grounding the passage in its literary and historical context. James employs a well-established prophetic technique — seen in Amos, Malachi, and Micah — of addressing an absent party in order to pronounce judgment on them, while simultaneously comforting those who overhear the oracle. His audience is the dispersed, impoverished Jewish Christians who fled Jerusalem under Saul's persecution. There were almost certainly no wealthy landowners in the room. The "Come now, you rich" is a judgment declaration directed outward, designed to assure the suffering poor that God has seen their oppressor and will act. Far from being a proof-text for radical poverty, the passage is a pastoral comfort wrapped in prophetic fire. Corroded Gold as Legal Evidence Against the Soul James's claim that gold and silver have "corroded" is deliberately shocking — and theologically precise. Gold, uniquely among metals in the ancient world, does not corrode. By saying it has already corroded, James is not making a metallurgical claim but a moral and eschatological one. The accumulated, hoarded wealth of the oppressor has lost its purpose. It sits idle while workers starve, and in doing so it becomes evidence — a legal witness — against its owner in the court of divine justice. Tony draws a direct line between this image and Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about treasures stored on earth being subject to moth and rust. Both brothers — Jesus and James — appear to be drawing on the same shared wisdom, likely rooted in the same household and the same mother's instruction. Unused wealth does not just fail to help others; it actively indicts its holder. Counting It All Joy: The Accounting Logic of Sanctification Tony closes the sermon by returning to James 1:2 — the thesis statement of the entire letter — and unpacking the word "count" as an accounting term, directly related to the doctrine of imputation. Just as righteousness is reckoned to the believer in justification, so suffering can be reckoned as joy in sanctification. This is not a call to pretend pain isn't real, or to perform contentment. It is a theological reframing: what belongs in the loss column of the ledger can, by faith, be moved to the profit side — not because the trial was pleasant, but because God is sovereign, good, and working all things toward the believer's conformity to the image of Christ. The oppressor means their wickedness for evil. God means it for glory. The supreme example is the cross itself — the only truly innocent man, suffering the worst evil ever committed, for the redemption of His people. Memorable Quotes The corrosion of that gold serves as evidence for the condemnation of those who are harming you — and the corrosion of this wealth is an indication of the corrosion of their very souls. He sees your pain. He sees your suffering. He sees your victories even when no one else is celebrating them. He sees you — and that should be a great source of comfort. Imputation is an accounting term. And when we count it all joy, we're taking what should be a red line in the loss ledger — what should be an expense — and we're able to move it to the profit. Not because it didn't hurt, and not because we wanted it to happen, but because our God is good enough to not rob us of the chance to be sanctified. Full Transcript Tony Arsenal: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you." It's always a little, uh, strange to sort of jump into the middle of a series, and, um, you know, Wes is one of the most competent preachers that I know personally, so I trust that he has given you a good and satisfying overview. Uh, but I don't feel like I would be doing my responsibility if I didn't at least touch on a few things, uh, related to the, the intro to James that I think is relevant for this particular passage in a way that maybe is not relevant for the rest of the book. So some of this I hope is review, I, I anticipate is review, but I think it's worth, uh, touching on. James, as you know, is the, the half brother of Jesus. He was the leader of the Jerusalem church, and specifically he was sort of the figurehead of the Jewish church as a whole. Um, the Jewish church was the only church for the very early part of the church's growth. There were always, uh, Gentile believers. Even in the Old Testament, there were Gentiles who trusted in the Lord of Israel and the God of Israel. They were often called God-fearers. They rarely converted all the way to Judaism, but they were sort of seen as an attachment to the Jewish people. They didn't participate in all of the blessings of the Jewish people, but they did participate in most. They often had the same kind of protection. They were in a form of covenant with God. Um, they were able to worship and offer sacrifices. The temple itself had a whole portion of the temple dedicated called the Court of Gentiles, specifically for these Jewish worshipers. And as the church spread, primarily through persecution, which we'll touch base on here in a minute, as the church spread out from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth, it took on a, an increasingly Gentile Greek flavor. As more and more primarily initially Greek converts came into the church, and then of course, as it spread to other sort of non-Hellenistic lands, other, other types of people, other nations, other people groups joined the church, the scriptures which-- the New Testament we receive primarily from Paul, at least in terms of the epistles, um, also began to take on a more Gentile flavor. Not because Paul was a Gentile, but because Paul was ministering primarily to Gentiles What we'll see here is that James is a very Jewish book. I'm sure that along the way there's been several kinds of things pointed out to you to show that, but I wanna show a couple things that not only establish James as the author, James the brother of, of Jesus, but also root the, not only the author, but the audience in a distinctly Jewish Christian, uh, context. So you don't have to turn there, I'll read this, but in Acts, uh, 15, which is the, the great Jerusalem Council, uh, we read this. It says, "With the following letter..." So the, the council meets, they make a decision about what k- what parts of the Jewish law were going to be commended to and recommended, uh, and required for the Christian believers, the Gentile Christian believers, and when they're done, they send this letter to all of, all of the churches. And it says, "With the following letter, the brothers, both apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are at, of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings." Now, I don't know about you, but I always sign my emails the same way, right? I've got, like, my work signature that I have to use, that the, the hospital makes me use with all the proper formatting and colors and fonts, but I always have the same signature. Mine is very simple. I just say, "Thanks," right? I just sign it as, "Thanks," above my signature, and I'm sure you all have that sort of characteristic way you sign a s- sign an email, or maybe it's the way you say goodbye at the end of a phone call. My father-in-law always says, "So long," which is a phrase you don't hear very often, so it's very distinct to him. We all have these little tells in our communication that sort of tip off who they're from. If you turn quickly back over to James 1, so just flip the page, uh, to the left here, he starts his letter by saying, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, greetings." It's the only two letters in the New Testament that we have where the author identifies himself, sends to a sort of generalized audience, and then signs it, "Greetings." Now, James, the brother of Jesus, was the leader of the Jerusalem Church. He was the leader of the Jewish ch- the Jewish Church in general, and he signed the letter coming from the Acts Council as sort of the presiding minister. If, if we were, y- you might call them, like, the moderator of your business meeting, or we would call them the moderator of our presbytery or our session in the Presbyterian context I come from. He was the one who sort of, like, presided over there, and so the letter that went out to the churches was signed in his name and written, drafted by him. So we see this characteristic way that the letter is addressed with this final word, "Greetings," which is not used frequently in the New Testament We also see when we look at the language carefully that the audience of this, uh, of this letter, it's debated and there are good arguments, but i- in my opinion, it's very clear that the audience of this letter is not Jewish Christians in general or, uh, Jews who have not yet converted. There are some people who would say that 'cause they're called the 12 tribes. But instead it is the Jewish Christians who originally dwelled in Jerusalem and were sent out into the countryside after the persecution that was started primarily by Saul. If you look at Acts, Acts 1 which is, uh, the passage where Saul begins to persecute the church or where Saul kinda comes on the scene as the persecutor of the church, there's a couple distinct, um, distinct linguistic markers we should touch base on. Starting in verse one it says, "And p- Saul approved of his execution. And there arose a day-- that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. They were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church and entered the house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." When we look at this and we compare it to that, uh, again, that first verse of James where he says to the ones who are scattered, we see that there's a pretty strong linguistic parallel that tells us that the people he has in mind for this letter, the people he's addressing, are the same people who were dispersed or scattered out of Jerusalem in the persecution. When he says to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, that word dispersion is not really a translation. It's what we call a transliteration. So it's not like we've taken a word and sort of given it an English word. We've just changed the word, the letters over to English letters. In Greek, the word is diaspora, dispersion, and in, uh, Acts 1, the verb used to, to sort of describe this scattering of them is diaspero. And it is a picture of scattering seed. This is what a farmer would do. So it's not even the normal word we would use when someone is fleeing persecution. It's this idea that God has scattered Christians out into the world, in this case by persecution. He scattered them out into the world to be planted. A lot of this is where we get phrases from Tertullian about the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Now, why does this matter? As I mentioned, we often think in Gentile categories when we're reading the New Testament, and for good reason. One, we're all, all Gentiles, I'm presuming. I, I don't, I don't think-- I think I mentioned this last time, and no one came up and corrected me. I don't think anyone here is ethnically Jewish with ancestry that they're directly aware of, you know, where they trace their lineage directly back. Europe is a, a big amalgamation of just about everything, so most of us probably have a smattering of different ethnicities. But none of us are ethnically Jewish to the idea that we would, uh, identify as such in the same way. And even if we were, we've been raised and grown up in a Gentile context. We live in the West. We have-- We think in different categories. And what's more is most of the New Testament is written primarily to Gentiles by someone who is ministering to Gentiles. So Paul uses a fair amount of, of Hebraisms or things that are related to the Old Testament. Of course, he's explaining the Old Testament, and he makes ample reference to the Old Testament because that is the word of God, and it is profitable for our teaching, our correction, our reproof, and ultimately for our, our sanctification. But he uses metaphors and language in a way that is not common to the Israel context that Jesus and James and Peter and the other apostles were raised in. We don't have time to go there, but there's even some metaphors that Paul uses that are actually used the opposite way in, uh, in the more Hebraic Jewish, uh, epistles we have. One example that comes to mind is, um, Paul looks at the concept of milk, and that's not necessarily a good thing, right? It's not a bad thing, but it's what immature believers use, right? They can't handle the meat of the Bible. They have to be given the milk of the gospel before they can progress to the meat. In the Book of Hebrews, which I don't think was written by Paul, and in other places, Peter uses milk as a way to talk about nourishment, right? We think of the land flowing with milk and honey. Milk was not seen as some sort of substandard food that was only for babies. It was seen as, like, the richest, best thing that you could eat. We all have a linguistic environment that we grow up in. We all have a shared vernacular. You know, if I say something like, "You can't get there from here," everyone knows what that means. Obviously, you can get there from here, but you have to take this circuitous route. We know what that means. I think if we went around the room, we probably would find that there is this shared language. And then if we took individual families, we'd find that even within those families, there's further narrowing down of sort of like inside jokes and words that are used in ways that are not necessarily the same as others So when we read James, or when we read the letters of Peter or the letters of John, we should default to thinking more along the lines of comparing them to the words of Christ in the Gospel, first and foremost, and then to the Old Testament before we start to think about them necessarily comparing them to Ja-- or to Paul or to other kind of first century Hellenistic literature. That's not, of course, to say that Paul and James contradict. I'm sure that we went through a long explanation with much detail when you got to James chapter two, which is, of course, the most famous example. Paul uses the word justification or justify in a legal sense to make or to declare someone to be righteous. It's the verdict that the judge delivers, and it communicates the status. It actually performs what it says. When the judge says, "I find you not guilty," it changes your status from being potentially guilty to being cleared of all charges. Paul uses it slightly differently. He's not using it in the sense of to make someone righteous or to declare them righteous. He's using it to say they've been shown to be righteous. They've been validated. They've been vindicated. And if we get that mixed up, that's the source of all sorts of confusion. So when we come to this passage, and we'll get there, I promise, when we come to this passage, we have to understand some of the metaphors and the language that's being used draws from an existing body of shared cultural language that is foreign to us and is in some ways foreign to the rest of the New Testament, apart from what we see in the Gospels And it's important to remember, and this is why it's so key to land, that the audience of this letter is the persecuted, poor Jewish Christians who probably had a fairly comfortable life, relatively speaking, living in Jerusalem. These are city folks. These are people that live in Jerusalem or farm into the fields immediately around Jerusalem. They were established. They owned land. They probably had family that they had to leave, and now they're scattered out into the country with nothing. They're sent out into the world with no jobs, no family connections, no social welfare. Because they've left the Jewish faith, at least from the perspective of the Jews, they can't even go to their Jewish brothers and sisters and rely on the hospitality that's required in the law of Moses This is so important when we think about how James opens the letter and delivers what I think is his thesis statement. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of every kind." Trials like not knowing where the next meal is gonna come from, not knowing where the next roof over your head is, not being sure you can feed your children. We all face real trials and tribulations in our life. Some of them are related to our faith, and some is just the fallen human condition in the fallen world we live in. But we're talking here about a totally different category of, uh, trial and persecution than most of us hopefully will ever experience That brings us to our actual passage now. James opens up this section with a linguistic marker that signifies this is a change in topic. He says, "Come now," or another way to translate it might be, "Now listen. Listen up." When my son is doing something that, uh, I need him to stop or I need to give him instructions, I hold him by his shoulders and I say, "Look at my eyes. I want your eyes right here. Look at my eyes." That's what Paul is doing. He's stopping and he's interrupting the flow of language. This shows us this is a new topic and a new audience. James is not speaking to rich Christians in his audience. First, 'cause there likely weren't any rich Christians directly in his audience. Remember, these are the, the poor Christians scattered out into the Judean countryside, into Samaria He's using a technique that's really common in the prophets. It's common in Jesus, where he's addressing the people who are not really listening as a way to establish that they will be judged, to hold them accountable, but also to comfort those who are hearing the message. This is a form of prophetic address. We see this in Amos, where he's chastising the Jewish leaders. Uh, in Malachi and Micah, this happens. Malachi is primarily, at least initially, is primarily, uh, a book that is railing against the rich leaders in Jerusalem who had oppressed their own brothers and sisters. The chances that those Jewish cr- uh, Jewish leaders were reading his prophecy or hearing his prophecy is pretty slim. So he was addressing a different group to establish the judgment that he was proclaiming on another party. Jesus does this when he says like, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees." There were probably scribes and Pharisees in the audience there, but he wasn't just talking to the people in front of them. He was pronouncing a judgment oracle, a judgment prophecy on all people who fit that category, and James is doing the same thing here James is not opposing wealth generally. Sometimes James is used as kind of a New Testament example to justify the idea that we should all be poor and wear shabby clothing and walk around barefoot and dirty all the time. Right? This is a key passage that's used, uh, in parts of the church that really emphasize sort of a poverty-based lifestyle. Think of like the wandering monks of the Middle Ages or the, the, um, sort of more radical exclusionists that exist even in our day. I remember when I was in college, I was really enamored with this figure named Shane Claiborne. Some of you have probably heard of him, and I remember I was so impressed because he, he didn't buy new shoes. He just cut new shoes out of duct tape and put them back together. Now, there's some, you know, there's some rugged, uh, rugged get-it-done-ness that, uh, I think us, uh, New Englanders can appreciate, but God does not call us to wear duct tape shoes, at least not universally. I'm not gonna comment on whether he calls Shane Claiborne to do that. I also don't think Shane Claiborne does that anymore. Um, some of us he may call to a lifestyle of poverty in association with a mission field or in association with a specific calling. He does not call us generally to be poor or to not gain wealth What he is opposing here is the refusal to use wealth appropriately for God's glory and the accumulation of wealth just for wealth's sake We'll see that as we unpack the language here a little bit. He establishes that he's not just talking about the earthly hoarding of wealth, as though somehow the very act of accumulating wealth was itself the problem. What he's doing is he's pronouncing an eschatological judgment on those who hoard wealth and use it to oppress others. We see here he says, "Come now, you rich, and weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." Th- that word weep and howl, those are li-- those are words that are most commonly used in prophetic literature to describe the final cry of anguish. Think about the weeping and gnashing of teeth that Jesus talks about. This is the language he's using. He's talking about the final estate of those who refuse to submit their wealth to God He says, "Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be the evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasures in the last days." Now, remember what we said. We, we should read this not in light of some general wisdom, although it is general wisdom that if we accumulate wealth, it tends to not actually go well for us if we're not utilizing it in God-honoring ways. But we should read this in light of the most obvious connection, his big brother, Jesus, who taught his people, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." To maybe land this linguistic, uh, this linguistic connection a little more, I don't know, vibrantly, I'm gonna speculate a little bit. So if you don't like it, then you can disregard it. This is not God's Word. This is a speculation. I can just imagine little Jesus, little nine-year-old Jesus, and probably little six or seven-year-old James and the rest of their siblings, and there's quite a few of them. And we have Joseph, uh, who maybe at this time was still living, although probably not. We know he was living until Jesus was later, you know, 12, he was still around, but we don't know exactly when he left the picture. But he was a carpenter, and he was not, probably not overly wealthy. Uh, they had had to pick up and move, you know, cross-country anyways. They-- We don't know exactly where they were from initially, but they went to Bethlehem, and then they returned to Nazareth. They probably didn't have a lot. There were a lot of mouths to feed and only one business. They didn't have a farm. They didn't own livestock that we know of. I can just imagine a time when little J- little James or one of his sisters was frustrated about the fact that they didn't have anything. And I could picture Mary getting down and going, "Do not store up treasures in, in, uh, in heaven or on Earth. It's all gonna waste away." The same way we might tell our children kind of a, a moral kind of story. Sometimes we have this picture, last time I was here I, I spoke on Philippians 2, we have this idea that Jesus was somehow like Superman, that he, he was just pretending to be a normal human most of the time. As it touches his humanity, as, as we think about Jesus as a human, he had a, his own human set of thinking faculties, his own human knowledge. He grew in wisdom and stature is what Luke teaches us. Well, where did he get some of this wisdom? There's a good reasonable argument to be made that some of the pr- more proverbial type sayings that we see in Christ, that they actually come from the wisdom of his mother and father. And a really good reason to believe that is James relies on the same exact, uh, sort of proverbial wisdom to l- land his point. He doesn't create his own metaphor, he goes back to, at the very least we can say he goes back to the words of Christ. That's a very safe position to take. But this is the shared linguistic context that they both grew up in And he says, "You've done this in the last days." Now, the, the phrase last days in the Bible, uh, in the New Testament generally refers to the time period from Christ's resurrection to his return. We, for a lot of reasons, think about it as kind of like that climactic end period in time. Depending on your, your persuasion, maybe this is when the Antichrist comes, or maybe this is before or after, or maybe during the time when the church is raptured. But in either case, we think of that sort of last period in time before Christ finally comes back. But the New Testament writers are really talking about the entire duration, from Christ's resurrection to his return is what they're referring to. But it does have in view this idea that we are in the last times. The, the final judgment is not necessarily strictly something that's out there in the future. We are living in the last days now, and so what we do and what we say and, and how we worship and if we worship is eschatology. It is the theology of the last times He also positions this as though this is a universal thing going on with those who hoard wealth. This is a very shocking image. Um, we have very good ways to preserve things in our modern world, right? We have ways to m- to make, uh, stainless steel that won't rust, or at least won't rust quickly. But most things in the ancient world, even most precious metals, corroded. Um, I remember when I was growing up, there was this project in my hometown. I lived in a, a little town called White Bear Lake in, in, um, Minnesota, although little is relative. It's pretty big compared to most of what we have out here. And I remember when I was maybe 12 or 13 years old, they had this big building project to build this brand-new, beautiful lakeside pavilion in the center of town, and it w- just gleamed in the sun. It was so gorgeous, and it was made of copper, and everybody loved it, and two years later, it was bright green. I think it's still bright green. I think they figured out it wasn't worth repairing, so they, they just, they just make sure it doesn't keep getting worse, and at some point, I'm sure they either have or will tear it down. But the one metal in the ancient world that didn't do this was gold. It's part of why gold is such a durable measurement of wealth is because it doesn't wear out. It doesn't corrode. It's very soft. It's very easy to damage it, which is why we don't build statues out of it, or we don't build, uh, buildings out of it usually, but it didn't corrode. So when James says here, "Not only your silver, which tarnishes and corrodes, but your silver and gold have corroded." Not are corroding, but have corroded. The rich hearer of this is probably, you know, sitting around like Scrooge McDuck with a pile of gold coins thinking, "Ah, it looks pretty good to me." And what James is saying is, "No, no, no. No, it's corroded. It's eating away at your heart. It's lost its value because you refuse to use it, and so it sits in a pile doing nothing for no one, except serving to further your own condemnation." This is such a crazy, shocking situation that the insanity of not using your wealth, period, the insanity of sitting on your wealth in the ancient world is going to serve as a form of evidence justifying the condemnation of these wicked fools And further, the corrosion of this wealth is an indication of the corrosion of their very souls. There's something about money. I was-- When I was here a couple times before, I preached one of the wealth passages out of Ecclesiastes, and there's something about money that has a unique way of really, really wrecking us. Either we don't have it and we want it, or we have it and we don't wanna lose it, or we have it and we don't spend it wisely. It seems like there's an infinite number of ways to screw it up. And we landed last time that the gospel is good news because with the nearly infinite ways of screwing it up, we're going to screw it up. But the one way that he talks about screwing it up here is hoarding it and sitting on it and not using it Moving on into verses four and five, James moves us now to a more sort of temporal register. He starts out by talking about what wealth is and what it's doing and how it will ultimately affect the entire life and eternity of those in his targeted audience, those he's proclaiming this prophetic, uh, judgment against. But in verse four, he moves back to the behaviors that are being, uh, being engaged in to show the state of these people's souls. He says, "Behold, the wages of the laborers you, who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." James here points at the, at the behaviors that show this hoarding behavior, and he does it for a number of reasons. One, he needs to call out sin. That's part of the role of a Christian, and especially a leader or a minister in the church, is, um, to not only call out sin in the body of, of Christ, but in a, I think a very particular way, and there's all sorts of, uh, all sorts of theological controversies flying on around about Christian nationalism and other associated things. Some of it is just the spirit of the age. Um, post-COVID, there's a, a real strong sense that our government has failed us and we need to replace it with something else. But there is a, a true way, and I, I think some of those things are a little misguided, but there's a true way that the church, particularly her leaders, should be speaking to the culture around us, and yes, even to the government, to proclaim the truth of God into a wicked and godless culture. This might take the form o- of a m- minister who goes to a town hall meeting to speak out against a gambling association that's going to be forming, or a, an elder in the church or a deacon in the church who goes to speak to, uh, to the city hall or to the state legislature about the wickedness of abortion and about what we see it does to women's lives when they are fooled into thinking that this is the right thing for them. Again, the church is not the state, and the state is not the church, and we should be very careful not to cross those lines for all sorts of reasons. But we as a culture, as a Christian culture, in the United States particularly, have lost sight of our responsibility to speak truth in all circumstances to those in power So James is doing that, of course. But even more so, this is a way that he establishes for his direct audience, for the Jewish poor Christians who have been scattered in this diaspora, in this dispersion. He looks at them in a sense and says, "I see you. I see what's happening to you." And as God's representative, as his chosen voice for this message, as his inspired author, God sees you too This goes back again, the first two chapters of James serve as kind of a thesis statement and table of contents for the whole book. We get an idea of what may have been happening, the actual, uh, acts that were being engaged in, in, in chapter two verse six, he says, "You have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?" James has in mind here a form of predatory land purchasing, where the rich were sort of sweeping up property. They were sweeping it up, and then they were charging probably exorbitant prices to those who would lease the land to try to eke out a living. Does that sound at all like any of our current context, right? When's the last time any of us have tried to buy a house and found anything reasonable? Well, a large part of that is that there are big companies that are scooping up all the land and buying all the, the developments. Now, I'm not commenting on those particular situations. I don't know those people. I don't know their hearts, and some of those things actually are doing good things for the community. But we're familiar with this idea of someone who will purchase a resource, who will then jack the price up in order to turn a profit on it. I'm not opposed to turning a profit. Y- y- yeah, it takes money to run a business, and you have to, you have to recuperate those funds if your business is going to survive. But there's a, there's a way that that can be done that is a predatory act These rich landowners were getting fat on those that they were victimizing In our, in our modern world, we tend to think of someone who is overweight as unhealthy, for good reason, right? Too much weight, and I say that with someone with a little too much padding around the middle, so no, no judgment on this, but too much weight is not healthy, right? We hear that from our doctors, that there's a healthy weight range and there's an unhealthy weight range. In the ancient world, obesity was not the concern, right? Malnutrition was the concern. And so when you see, uh, a king in the Old Testament who's, who's noted to be fat, that's not always negative. Sometimes it is, but he's noted to be fat or he's noted to be large. Even the word for glory, I'm sure you've heard this before, the word for glory in the Old Testament has to do with being heavy. So this idea of weightiness or, um, being able to eat enough to actually gain weight instead of being thin was seen as a good thing, but not when you use it as a way to victimize other people. A person who gathers wealth honestly and enjoys it, that's, that's Proverbs right there. That's the Book of Ecclesiastes in its sort of positive sense, is that we, when we accumulate wealth and we use it for God's glory, it's perfectly okay for us to also use it for our enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy the fruit of our labor. But when we accumulate wealth and use it as a way to gain power over someone and to abuse them, that is what James is railing against here And ultimately, with the audience that James is writing to, this is a form of murder. This is why he says, "You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter." Because a person who can't feed their family in the Old Testament or in the New Testament era was likely to see them die. There are not a ton of people in modern America that are starving to death on the streets. It's not to say it doesn't happen. It's not to say that there's not things like food insecurity or malnutrition, but there are, there are plenty of places people can go to get their basic food needs met. It was not like that-- It's not like that in most of the world now, and it certainly was not like that in the ancient world. And so a, a landowner who again refuses, we're talking about the Jewish landowners, refuses to obey the Jewish law to leave some leftovers for the poor, and instead gleans all the way to the corner so that they can turn a little bit of extra pro-profit, is not only sinning against the Old Testament law, but is committing murder in the strictest sense by refusing to preserve the life of these poor, uh, Christians who are destitute And again, James is encouraging his readers here that the Lord has not ignored their plight. We can think back to the Book of Habakkuk, where Habakkuk basically lodges a lawsuit against God, saying, "You are not paying attention. You're not doing your thing. You're not being faithful to your covenant." And God says, "Let me show you how faithful to my covenant I am. The Chaldeans are on the way." And Habakkuk is like, "Whoa, wait a second here. That's not what I had in mind." God sees the oppression of the poor. He knows when His people are targeted. He knows when children are abused or when widows are ignored. He knows when the government does something to shut down a church, or when the medical institution refuses to acknowledge your personal rights. He sees those things, and He's not ignorant, and He's not static. He's not sleeping on those things. The purpose here is to comfort the oppressed by showing that God is not ignorant of what has happened to them. Just two quick Old Testament examples that use similar language. In Genesis 4, we read of Cain and his murder of Abel, and in verse eight it says, "Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?' And the Lord said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.'" Numbers, uh, 35 verses 30 says, "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom from him who has fled to the city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land except for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it." There's a rich history in the Old Testament of language of inanimate things, land, blood, wealth, other kinds of things that give testimony to God in some way, and specifically of these inanimate, uh, impersonal things testifying to the sin of the people that dwell around them. Even Christ says, "If these people do not worship me, the rocks will cry out." Now, the rocks are not literally crying out, although it certainly would be within God's power to make the rocks sing. But Christ is not saying in that passage that the rocks are going to form mouths and begin singing Hosanna or whatever song they might have been doing. What he's saying is that the very rocks themselves give testimony to the glory and goodness of God. So even if the people around here fail to do so, the entire rest of creation is doing so, and that is what James is saying here. My dear brothers and sisters scattered in the dispersion who have nothing, and in society's eyes are nothing, some of you are facing persecution. Some of you will be killed for your faith, but God sees because the wealth that is being accumulated on the breaking of your own backs is crying out. The corrosion of that gold serves as evidence for the condemnation of those who are harming you We often want justice in the moment. I think we always want justice in the moment, don't we? I think it's a really hard discipline to say, "That person wronged me, but I'm okay letting God sort it out." That is a hard pill to swallow, but it is often the pill that we have to take. It's the medicine that God uses to further our justification, our j- our, uh, excuse me, our sanctification Paul says, you know, "Do not take vengeance. Let the Lord do that." We can trust, and this is where the comfort of this passage comes for us, brothers and sisters, we can trust that when we are wronged, that when someone has done something to us that is a violation of God's law, that that sin will be punished. Now, when we're dealing with other Christians, that sin has already been punished, and so it is not, it is not appropriate for us to hold onto that and to take vengeance. That's what the parable of the unmerciful servant is all about If I as a Christian refuse to forgive my brother and sister when they've wronged me, it's me saying that I'm a better judge of their sin and I'm a better executioner than the Lord is when he punished that sin on the cross. But that sin was not atoned for when we're talking about unbelievers. When we're talking about those who will ultimately end their earthly life and find themselves waking up in flames, that sin has not been atoned for, and so God will have his justice, and we will have our justice. We won't turn there, but in Revelation, we're familiar with the passage, I think it's chapter six, where the martyred saints are under the throne and they say, "How long, O Lord?" Well, God doesn't answer their question, but he gives them new clothes. When Job cries out and he's, he's saying, "I don't understand why this is happening. Why are you targeting me, God? Why, why are you a hunter with your arrows in my liver?" God doesn't tell him why, but he says, essentially, "I'm God and you're just going to have to trust me that this is right." We see a very similar, uh, kind of situation here when we think about when, uh, when Abraham, uh, when God tells Abraham what he's about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, and then Abraham negotiates, apparently negotiates with God, uh, trying to secure the salvation of the city for the sake of the righteous. And we read starting in verse 20 of chapter 18, he says, "The Lord said to, to Abraham," he says, " 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.' " God is always seeing and investigating the sin of people We're, we're teaching my son, August, the children's catechism, which is a, a great resource. Um, and one of the questions is, "Can you see God?" And the answer is, "No, but he always sees me." Now that may feel at first to some people like a little bit of a heavy-handed answer, but knowing that God sees us is not just there to correct our sin. It should do that, right? Even the secret sins we commit in the dark when, when we're not being watched by anyone else, even, even those God sees. But do you know what else He sees? He sees your pain. He sees your suffering. He sees your victories even when no one else is celebrating them. He sees your progress. He sees you, and that should be a great source of comfort Now this passage, especially verse six, can be a little bit hard to apply because although we're the targeted audience, we're not the target of the judgment oracle. So I think what we have to do, we have to, we have to think about this in light of the way that God talks about the judgment of unbelievers in other places in the scripture, and how that helps us to understand kind of what our, what our status is. If you'll take your Bibles and open to Matthew chapter 25, I think the, um, the account here of the goat and sheep judgment, uh, is instructive for us Starting in verse 31, it says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King answered them, 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those on the left, 'Depart from me for you for, uh, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, I was naked and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also, uh, they also will say, answer saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not minister to you?' Then he will answer them saying, 'Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Now, this passage is sometimes understood as a general command to feed the poor or the sick, or to visit those in prisons, or any of the f- the sort of mercy ministry things that, that, um, are mentioned here. And those are all things that Christians should do, right? We should be engaged in, um, in mercy ministry to the poor, to those who are destitute. We should be mindful and thoughtful of those who have needs around us. What this passage is teaching, though, is not a general command to feed all people, but a specific command to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ when they have a need He doesn't say to the righteous, "You did these to everyone." He says, "Whatever you did to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me." All of the things that are listed here, the, the six mercy ministries that are listed by Christ here, are things that persecuted Christians were suffering at the time, persecuted Jew- Jewish Christians, and that would be common experiences for, for Jewish Christians and for all persecuted Christians. Right? They're hungry. They don't have food. Our diaspora Jewish Christians don't have land to farm, and even if they're able to scrape together enough funding to lease out a farm, they're being, uh, they're being totally overwhelmed by the cost of that. The sort of homeowners association dues of these pyramid schemes that were going on in the first century, they were so exorbitant that it wasn't even subs- subsistence farming. Christians were being thrown in, uh, in prison. They didn't have enough money to replace their clothes when it wore out. They couldn't have access to clean water. We take clean water as such a, such a basic thing, and it's so easy. You just turn on the tap, or you just go to the store and you buy a bottle of $7 water. It wasn't like this in the first century. If you didn't have a well, you didn't have water, unless you had someone who cared enough to share this precious resource with you. And so what Christ is saying to, to his people, both in the immediate audience on the Sermon on the Mount, uh, and in this, the Olivet Discourse here, what he's saying to his people is when someone in the body of Christ does not have what they need, the body of Christ should step up and make sure that that is the case, that they take care of that person. And likewise, he's saying to those who are not a part of the body of Christ, "Depart from me, I never knew you." Now, the intro to this, why it sometimes is called a parable, is the sheep and the goats. We sometimes go way too far into the arena of comparing the behavior of sheeps with the behavior of the people here, right? Sheep are nice, they're affable, they listen to you. In reality, from what I understand, sheep are pretty dumb and can be very stubborn, right? And then we, we read and we go, "Goats are stubborn, they're rebellious, they're not really good for anything." Well, there's a reason people have goats on farms. They, they can be stubborn, right? They can be destructive, but they also serve a purpose. So the point here is not that sheep are good and goats are bad. The point is that sheep are not goats and goats are not sheep. And, uh, another point that comes with this is sheep don't become goats by behaving like goats, and goats don't become sheep by acting like sheep. I have some friends that will tell you they have very affectionate, friendly, lovable goats, right? I'd, I would... If I could get my kids one of those little pygmy goats that everybody loves, I would do that, 'cause they can be very kind, very sweet, and they're very smart. But they're not sheep. And if you read this passage carefully, this fact that those who are taken to the right are, are in fact taken to the right is not because they fed the poor. It's not because they ministered to Christ by feeding the least of these. They did those things because they were part of the kingdom The King says to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The sheep on the right were always going to be the sheep on the right. They were predestined according to the counsel of God's will before all time to live and walk in good works. That's just Ephesians 2 there. That's also just James 2 there. You have faith, I will show you my faith by my works. This is evidence language, loved ones Likewise, the ones who are told to depart into eternal darkness were also predestined not to inherit this kingdom. No kingdom was prepared for them before the foundation of the world. They have no inheritance. They have nothing. They will end up in the state that they are trying to impose on these poor Jewish Christians. They will end up in the state that they may be trying to impose on some of us in this room And for the final verse here in, in chapter five, in verse six here, there's a lot of discussion and debate in the commentaries about who the identity of this righteous one is. It says, "You've condemned and murdered the righteous person, he does not resist you." Now, some commentators will take the fact that this is the singular righteous person, that he has been murdered and h- was condemned, and will take this as a reference to Christ. And that would, would make good sense, right? The Jewish, the wealthy Jewish landowners, the wealthy Jews in Jerusalem who per- who persecuted and cast out, um, the Christians, they were in the same group of people who condemned and murdered Jesus And at least at the time of writing this, and in many ways in our own day, God is not necessarily resisting them. He's allowing them to store up judgment for the coming day of wrath There are others who will take this as sort of the hypothetical singular, right? The righteous one or the righteous person is this, uh, representative hypothetical person that represents all of the persecuted Christians. And so it's more like saying, um, to the, the wealthy landowners who are persecuting Christians, "You have condemned and murdered the Christians, the righteous people, and we do not resist you." Now, at the end of the day, it's, it's always good to have good, sober, well-intentioned, text-based debates about what the Bible means. We can and we should try to convince others, uh, when we think they're wrong about what the scripture means. So that's not what I'm saying here. But in many ways, which of those two perspectives it actually is doesn't change the interpretation of this passage. Like we read in Matthew 25, like we read in Acts 9 when Christ comes and confronts Saul, what you do to God's people, you are doing to Christ himself. What you do to the body, you have done to the head. It's a little bit weird to say that when I stub my toe, I injure my head, but that's true, right? I don't injure my toe as though it's some separate piece. It's not like I'm a Lego man where I can just swap out a hand that gets cracked and put it back on. When I injure my toe, I injure myself. My whole body is injured even though it's specific to a part of my body. When you-- when someone persecutes you, when they, uh, try to extort your wealth, your funds, when they try to harm your body, when they try to take away your children, all things that are happening not just out there in the world, but in our country, even in our own region. When they try to tell you that because you don't wanna play a basketball game, that you can't play sports at all. When a city taxes a portion of a church's property because they don't think it's being used for religious purposes, they are doing that to Jesus Christ himself, and God will not be mocked This should call us both to faithfulness and to encouragement How people treat Christ or how people treat Christ's people, including how we trust, tr- uh, treat Christ's people, shows us what we think about Christ. The people who take care of the church do so because they love God, and they do it out of a regenerated heart that already loves God. And the people who hate the church do it because they hate Christ, and they do it out of their wickedness and out of their wicked heart This brings us back again to the thesis statement of James. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." And then he says later in that, uh, first chapter in verse nine, "Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower fails, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." Now, you're all coming up to the end of James here. Um, we probably have two, two more sermons, I would guess, and the rest of this chapter is reinforcing this. It's unpacking for the immediate audience and therefore for us, it's unpacking that although the rich have their punishment coming to them, that likewise our consolation, our comfort from Christ is also coming to us. He closes the whole letter out, he returns to his thesis statement to say, "I'm not going to pretend that the trials you're going through are joyful, but you can count it all joy." You can reckon it, you can impute it as joy, my brothers and sisters. You can put it in the joy column instead of the t- the pain column, right? We had discussion about the beautiful word imputation in the announcements and scripture reading in the beginning here Imputation is a, is an accounting term. And when we count it all joy, we're taking what should be a red line in the, in the loss ledger, right? We're taking what should be an expense, and we're able to move it to the profit. We're able to move it to the positive side, not because it didn't hurt and not because we wanted it to happen, but because our God is good enough to not rob us of the chance to be sanctified When we are oppressed and opposed, those who are oppressing and oppose us mean it for evil, just like Joseph's brothers, uh, and Pharaoh, and all sorts of wicked men in, in the Old Testament and in our own world. Pilate, Herod, you mean, you name it in the Bible, this applies. They meant their wicked acts for wicked things, but God, rich in mercy, works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. And what is that purpose? That we might be transformed into the image of Christ so that Christ may be glorified and He may be the firstborn among many brothers. When we face trials and suffering of every kind, it leads us to our sanctification and to our ultimate glorification. We do not earn those things. We don't sanctify ourselves any more than we justify ourselves, or that any more than we will glorify ourselves or will raise ourselves from the dead. That is all God's work from start to finish. But God does use these things that He brings us through as a way to bring about that work It's like he bends us over the hammer, over the anvil of trials, and he hammers us until we become a sharp sword in the hand of, in his hand. Or he polishes us with a rough cloth until we become a smooth, beautiful gem, right? Think of any number of refining things that need to be done. It always involves, if the thing was, uh, was a person, it always involves something that would hurt a little bit. It always involves a little bit of damage to wear away the impurities. Our sanctification and our glorification is no different than that. He uses adversity. He uses the wicked actions and intentions of, of evil men and women. He uses those things to glorify us. So although we should never, uh, we should never seek those things, right? You don't have to go and make yourself the soft target to the wicked people. It's okay to keep your head down. There's nothing wrong with that. The Jewish Christians were probably doing their best to keep their heads down most of the time, and that's fine. There's not any words in scripture about being a coward if you don't, if you don't put a target on your back. But your target is gonna get there eventually, and that's not a bad thing. We can welcome that. We can count it as joy because of who God is and what he's done. The supreme act of suffering, the supreme act of, of evil happened to the only innocent person there ever was, and it happened to him for us. this episode is available below.
ON THIS EPISODE: (TIME STAMPS BELOW) A review of Spider-man: Brand New Day! Then, in the wake of our series on Assurance Of Salvation, we revisit a portion of Paeter's James Bible Study series, taking a look at one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible that has led many Christians to fear their faith is not "real" enough to have obtained eternal life. Paeter also has opinionated thoughts to share on why it's GOOD that Disney did NOT announce any X-Men projects at SDCC! AND MUCH MORE! 00:00:30 Intro 00:04:45 Spider-Man Brand New Day Review 00:20:23 CGC & Christian Geek News(Realm Makers Defamation Lawsuit) 00:31:49 Assurance of “Salvation” Bonus James Revisit (Geek Bible Study) GEEK WEEK 00:47:10 VIDEO GAMES: No Man's Sky 00:53:57 MOVIES/TV: Minority Report, Keeper, Descendant, X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: Last Stand, 01:20:34 No X-Men At Comic-Con & That's GOOD! 01:30:59 On The Next Episode 01:34:59 Essential Issues Weekly (Catching up on four weeks of DC Comics, there's a TON to cover, and we've ESPECIALLY got to talk about the jaw-dropping Fury Of Firestorm 3 and the CRAZY (kinda irritating) things happening with YOUNG JON KENT! The Deadman 1, Batman 10, JSA 20, The Fury Of Firestorm 3, Supergirl 14, Emperor Aquaman 18, Green Lantern Corps 17, Nightwing 139, New Titans 36 (JON KENT DRAMA), Superman Unlimited 14 (JON KENT DRAMA), Superman 39, Wonder Woman 34, Detective Comics 1110, Green Lantern 36, The Flash 34 FREE STUFF BELOW! Play Spirit Blade Productions' unofficial questline in No Man's Sky! “A Father's Journey” features a story with personal stakes, in-engine cutscenes, rewarding exploration and a mystery to solve! To get started, visit https://www.spiritblade.com/a-fathers-journey Visit Our In-Game “No Man's Sky” Base With TONS Of Free Resources! At any Euclid Galaxy Glyph Portal, enter the glyphs corresponding to this sequence: 4,2,15,6,16,8,7,9,4,5,6,13 (Top row of glyphs is 1-8, bottom row is 9-16) Support this podcast and enjoy exclusive rewards at https://www.patreon.com/spiritbladeproductions Join Our Free Public Discord Channels! Invite HERE: https://discord.gg/5CRfFy2GG5 SUBSCRIBE TO PAETER'S SUBSTACK, @PAETERFRANDSEN: https://paeterfrandsen.substack.com/ Subscribe in a reader Open In i-tunes- itms://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-geek-central-podcast/id258963175?mt=2 i-tunes Page Link- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-geek-central-podcast/id258963175?mt=2 Get fun, exclusive rewards for your support! Visit: https://www.patreon.com/spiritbladeproductions Or Become a Patron! All episodes are archived and available for download at www.spiritblade.com , Resources used to prepare CGC Bible study/devotional content include: "Expositor's Bible Commentary", Frank E. Gaebelein General Editor (Zondervan Publishing House) "The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament", by Dr. John H. Walton, Dr. Victor H. Matthews & Dr. Mark W. Chavalas (InterVarsity Press), "The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament", by Dr. Craig S. Keener (InterVarsity Press), The Grace New Testament Commentary Revised Edition, Robert N. Wilkin (Grace Evangelical Society) Thayer's Greek Lexicon Strong's Exhaustive Concordance A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition(BDAG) Blueletterbible.org Lexicon To The Old And New Testaments, By Spiros Zodhiates, TH.D. The Christian Geek Central Statement Of Faith can be found at: http://christiangeekcentral.blogspot.com/p/about.html The Christian Geek Central Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Paeter Frandsen. Additional segments produced by their credited authors. Logo created by Matthew Silber. Copyright 2007-2026, Spirit Blade Productions. Music by Wesley Devine, Bjorn A. Lynne, Pierre Langer, Jon Adamich, audionautix.com and Sound Ideas. Spazzmatica Polka by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Freesound.org effects provided by: FreqMan
THIS WEEK: • QUEEN IN BLACK #1 • QUEEN IN BLACK: DEFENDERS OF LIGHT AND DARK #1 • THE MORTAL THOR #13 • SUPERMAN 2026 ANNUAL: YEAR 1000 #1 • JUSTICE LEAGUE: KNIGHT VISION SPECIAL #1 • WORLD'S FINEST 2026 ANNUAL #1 (Pals Poll) [00:00:00] Opening Become a Patron - https://www.patreon.com/thecomicspals?fan_landing=true Subscribe on YouTube - youtube.com/thecomicspals?sub_confirm... Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/6RAX3sT Watch us LIVE on YouTube every: Thursday at 8 PM EST for Pals Pulls Saturday at 10:15 AM EST for The Comics Pals Podcast Pals Previews Uploaded Every Monday at 1PM EST Grab some merch here: https://streamlabs.com/thecomicspals/merch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PodBean: https://thecomicspals.podbean.com/ X: https://twitter.com/thecomicspals Bluesky: @thecomicspals.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecomicspals ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pals: Sean: @SeansSoapbox Tyler: @TheTylerOlson Marco: @mrmarcoanimoto
Voices in My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast) Episode 628: Truth, Justice, and the Way - Episode 11: Supergirl - Redemption or Revenge? This week on Voices in My Head, i'm sharing an episode of my other podcast that I host with David Dault, Truth, Justice and the Way. What happens when a superhero story trades redemption for revenge? In this episode of Truth, Justice, and the Way: Superman & Spirituality, Rick Lee James and David Dault explore one of the most surprising changes in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and ask what it reveals about heroism, justice, mercy, and the moral imagination. Comparing the film to Tom King's original graphic novel, they wrestle with questions of violence, forgiveness, redemption, and whether we still believe people can truly change. Along the way, they reflect on Superman's enduring example of hope, the power of storytelling to shape our moral lives, and why the best heroes call us not simply to defeat evil—but to become better people. In This Episode Rick shares the story behind his new single, “Heaven Is Full of Criminals,” featuring Phil Keaggy, and the surprising conversations it has sparked about grace, worthiness, and hope. The theological inspiration behind the song includes the Good Thief, the possibility of redemption, and the question of whether God's welcome extends farther than we imagine. A spoiler-filled discussion of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrowand how its ending differs dramatically from Tom King's acclaimed graphic novel. Why the graphic novel's ending offers a vision of redemption, while the film chooses an act of lethal justice. The idea of redemptive violenceand why so many modern stories assume evil can only be defeated through killing. Superman's refusal to kill and why restraint—not power—has always been one of his defining virtues. Whether James Gunn may be setting up a larger redemption arc for Supergirl as his new DC Universe unfolds. Why stories shape our moral imagination, influencing what we believe is possible for heroes, villains, and ourselves. Mark Waid's famous criticism of Superman killing General Zod in Man of Steel, and why he insists, “That's not Superman.” Comparisons to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Odyssey, Avengers: Infinity War, and the Gospels as examples of stories that wrestle with hope, loss, and redemption. Reflections on Pope Francis, Karl Barth, and the Christian hope that no one is beyond the reach of grace. Why Superman continues to matter—not because he is the strongest hero, but because he refuses to let violence have the final word. A closing reflection inviting listeners to consider how the stories we tell shape the people we become—and whether hope may be the bravest choice of all. “Heaven Is Full of Criminals” Hear Now Connect with Rick Lee James Website: RickLeeJames.com Email: Rick@RickLeeJames.com Listen / Subscribe Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts. Music & Merch Bandcamp (music + merch): RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com Streaming: Search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform or on Spotify https://t.co/S7nCRl0xqa Audiobook Out of the Depths: A Songwriter's Journey Through the Psalms (Audible): Audiobook Link Special Offer 10% off at Bandcamp: use code 10off at checkout RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com Hosted by Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast Subscribe now Share
Jace and Rocky break down all five DC releases for the week of July 29, 2026. DC's Hawk Girl Summer #1 delivers an entertaining mix of standalone stories that give several underused DC characters a chance to shine, including great stories starring The Shining Knight and Kid Eternity. In Batman/Superman: World's Finest 2026 Annual #1, after the Flash, Batman and Superman all become trapped by the same villainous setup, Alfred and Pa Kent are the ones who figure out how to save them. In Justice League: Knightvision #1, Batman and Lex Luthor pursue Prometheus after their shared vision, while his use of Apokoliptian technology plants more seeds for Darkseid's next move against the heroes of the DC Universe. Detective Comics 2026 Annual #1 pairs a comedic Black Mercy story involving Batman and Lobo with a much darker Professor Pyg backup, giving readers two very different but entertaining stories. In Superman 2026 Annual: Year 1000 #1, Superman's decision to restore every version of the Legion gives the Darkseid-controlled Legion a chance at redemption while placing all of the team's different incarnations back on the table. They also discuss San Diego Comic-Con, the convention's lighter slate of major announcements, Jace's upcoming interviews with Joshua Williamson, Hayden Sherman and Christopher Cantwell, and the success of the Ignition Press pavilion. As always, Jace and Rocky rank every reviewed book and reveal their Books of the Week.
1) Maravillados: Lo que te define nunca es un error, porque vas a cometer millones de errores. Te contaría todos los errores que cometí en mi vida y voy aún aprendiendo de ellos. Porque lo que te define es lo que haces después que cometiste el error. Es ahí si te corregís o te haces terco. Lo que define al ser humano es lo que hace después de la crisis. Por supuesto que hay que ver el contexto, porque hay cosas que te salieron mal o problemas que viviste por una razón totalmente ajena a vos. Por eso, la maravilla de tu vida ( y la gente queda maravillada con tu vida), es ver cómo salís de tu crisis y sacas aprendizaje de tus errores.2) Orígenes: Si nos deprimimos no somos malos cristianos, hasta Elías se deprimió. Porque somos humanos. Cuando la gente pregunta de dónde viene Jesús es necesario considerar que es verdadero Dios, pero también verdadero hombre. Vos y yo somos humanos. Tenés que reconciliarte con que sos humano. Aprende a saber que no sos Superman, deja de exigirte como un súper héreo. A veces vivimos como marcianos y, cuando viene la tristeza o la enfermedad, decimos: “¿Por qué Dios me falló?”. Y no, somos humanos. Yo también hay veces que me siento cansado y solo tengo ganas de llorar. Vos sabes cómo es la vida. Hoy estás victorioso en la cima de la montaña, creyendo que todo quedó atrás, que ya no hay problemas, que ya no hay fracasos, pero, al día siguiente, estás tirado en el valle boca abajo. Pero, a pesar de todo, hay que seguir adelante, porque eso nos da la fe. Saber que la gente hasta nos cuestionará de dónde venimos, pero debemos recordar que somos humanos y tenemos que seguir adelante.3) Tropiezo: ¿Sabes por qué los domadores de leones usan una banqueta? Porque los leones, cuando ven una banqueta, tratan de concentrarse en las cuatro patas y eso los inmoviliza. Es decir que el león no sabe cuál de las cuatro patas es peligrosa. Entonces, la concentración dividida trabaja en forma negativa, y, lo que pasa con el león, pasa con nosotros. Los que son verdaderos líderes es porque cultivaron un tipo de concentración y enfoque diferente a la media. Siempre, cuando veas un campeón de algo, es alguien que tiene una concentración y tiene prioridades. No te olvides de estas palabras: “prioridades” y “concentración”, porque tienen que trabajar juntas. Porque si uno tiene prioridades, pero no tiene concentración, siempre sabe lo que hay que hacer, pero nunca termina haciéndolo. Pero si tenés mucha concentración, pero no tenes prioridades, sos bueno en lo que haces, pero nunca avanzas. Uno tiene que tener la sabiduría de decir “No soy bueno en esto”. El principio de la sabiduría es reconocer las limitaciones y saber decir “Esto me supera”. Esa es la diferencia entre ser eficiente y ser eficaz: ser eficiente es hacer las cosas bien, ser eficaz es hacer aquello para lo cual naciste. Algo bueno está por venir.
Case and Jmike continue their journey through Legends of the Dead Earth with guest Cly from Point in Progress! This time, they're looking at 1996's Superman Annual #8, "The League of Supermen," a far-future story where Superman's legacy lives on through a team of heroes who each inherit only one of his powers... and all the complications that come with it. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/CertainPOVMedia Men of Steel Full Episode Originally aired: July 31, 2026 Edited by Sophia Ricciardi Scored by Gen Moonen Certain Point Of View is a podcast network brining you all sorts of nerdy goodness! From Star Wars role playing, to Disney day dreaming, to video game love, we've got the show for you! Learn more on our website: https://www.certainpov.com Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/wcHHer4 PODCAST SHOWS: ▶ Men Of Steel - https://www.certainpov.com/men-of-steel FOLLOW US: ▶ Twitter: @certainpovmedia @menofsteelpod ▶ Instagram: @certainpovmedia ⏱️ YouTube Chapters 00:54 Welcome and Guest Intro 02:44 Legends of Dead Earth 03:37 Jmike Recaps 09:37 The League of Supermen 10:10 The Cover and Art Team 14:33 A Great Premise in One Issue 16:03 The League in Action 19:39 Superpowers as Disabilities 22:18 Meeting the New Recruits 25:05 Heat and the Team's Drawbacks 28:02 The Superman Hologram 30:31 The History of the League 32:23 Speed and Tempest 37:26 The Training Mission Turns Real 41:21 Superman Crosses a Line 42:38 Can They Trust Superman? 45:17 Assaulting the Superman Facility 49:29 Superman's Final Test 52:41 The Death of Superman 53:18 The Story's Final Lesson 57:20 Why the One-Shot Works 01:00:23 Heat, Sleep Deprivation, and Representation 01:02:56 Final Thoughts and Rankings 01:11:15 Disability Representation 01:12:38 Cly's Plugs 01:14:01 Jmike and Case's Plugs 01:17:03 Patreon Shout-Outs 01:18:24 Trade School 01:21:16 Next Time: Bizarro 01:21:44 Credits 01:22:04 Digging for Kryptonite Promo
Voices in My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast) Episode 628: Truth, Justice, and the Way - Episode 11: Supergirl - Redemption or Revenge?This week on Voices in My Head, i'm sharing an episode of my other podcast that I host with David Dault, Truth, Justice and the Way.What happens when a superhero story trades redemption for revenge?In this episode of Truth, Justice, and the Way: Superman & Spirituality, Rick Lee James and David Dault explore one of the most surprising changes in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and ask what it reveals about heroism, justice, mercy, and the moral imagination. Comparing the film to Tom King's original graphic novel, they wrestle with questions of violence, forgiveness, redemption, and whether we still believe people can truly change. Along the way, they reflect on Superman's enduring example of hope, the power of storytelling to shape our moral lives, and why the best heroes call us not simply to defeat evil—but to become better people.In This Episode* Rick shares the story behind his new single, “Heaven Is Full of Criminals,” featuring Phil Keaggy, and the surprising conversations it has sparked about grace, worthiness, and hope.* The theological inspiration behind the song includes the Good Thief, the possibility of redemption, and the question of whether God's welcome extends farther than we imagine.* A spoiler-filled discussion of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrowand how its ending differs dramatically from Tom King's acclaimed graphic novel.* Why the graphic novel's ending offers a vision of redemption, while the film chooses an act of lethal justice.* The idea of redemptive violenceand why so many modern stories assume evil can only be defeated through killing.* Superman's refusal to kill and why restraint—not power—has always been one of his defining virtues.* Whether James Gunn may be setting up a larger redemption arc for Supergirl as his new DC Universe unfolds.* Why stories shape our moral imagination, influencing what we believe is possible for heroes, villains, and ourselves.* Mark Waid's famous criticism of Superman killing General Zod in Man of Steel, and why he insists, “That's not Superman.”* Comparisons to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Odyssey, Avengers: Infinity War, and the Gospels as examples of stories that wrestle with hope, loss, and redemption.* Reflections on Pope Francis, Karl Barth, and the Christian hope that no one is beyond the reach of grace.* Why Superman continues to matter—not because he is the strongest hero, but because he refuses to let violence have the final word.* A closing reflection inviting listeners to consider how the stories we tell shape the people we become—and whether hope may be the bravest choice of all.“Heaven Is Full of Criminals”Hear NowConnect with Rick Lee JamesWebsite: RickLeeJames.comEmail: Rick@RickLeeJames.comListen / SubscribeSubscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.Music & MerchBandcamp (music + merch): RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.comStreaming: Search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform or on Spotify https://t.co/S7nCRl0xqaAudiobookOut of the Depths: A Songwriter's Journey Through the Psalms (Audible):Audiobook LinkSpecial Offer10% off at Bandcamp: use code 10off at checkoutRickLeeJames.Bandcamp.comHosted byRick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rickleejames.substack.com/subscribe
Aries Spears and Andy Steinberg are back in the new studio to review The Odyssey and break down the backlash over Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy — is the criticism about beauty standards or something deeper? From there they cover Supergirl, whether James Gunn is done with the DCU, the new Batman and Superman casting, and a round of the White Or Black game before LeBron James signs with the 76ers and sets off a full breakdown of the Michael Jordan vs LeBron James GOAT debate, including scoring titles, Defensive Player of the Year counts, and a fan's one-on-one matchup rankings. New episodes every Thursday, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern. Patreon voicemail shows drop every Thursday Call in at 617-942-0401 or write in at AriesSpears45@hotmail.com. Full episodes and bonus content at patreon.com/spearsberg. My website: Tour (tickets), merch and more - http://www.ariesspears.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ariesspears TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@realariesspears Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ariesspears Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/spearsbergpod Spears & Steinberg Channel: http://www.youtube.com/spearsbergpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What if the wildest UFO footage the government just released was already described 36,000 years ago? What if the "dark brothers" causing chaos on the planet right now were named, and predicted, in the oldest writings on Earth? And what if the real secret isn't what's in the sky, but what's hiding in plain sight inside you? Michael welcomes back bestselling author and Forbidden Knowledge TV host Billy Carson, who has traveled the world 25 times excavating and decoding humanity's most ancient texts, for a conversation that bridges newly declassified UAP files with the 36,000-year-old Emerald Tablets of Thoth. From a UFO in the new government files that looks eerily like the Kryptonian ship from Superman, to the neuroscience behind Josh Kerr's world-record mile, to why AI may be humanity's own consciousness looking back at itself, this episode connects disclosure, ancient prophecy, and personal transformation into one unified story. This isn't about fear of the dark brothers or the darkness in the headlines. This is about remembering that you are the Sun, the light, and that becoming that light is, and always has been, your birthright. Key Topics: Why the newly declassified UAP files are a mix of reverse-engineered human technology and small, deliberate "breadcrumbs" of real disclosure, and the one craft in the files that genuinely stunned Billy. The Emerald Tablets decoded: why Thoth's ancient writings describe today's "dark brothers" who deceive mankind while appearing to do good, and why turning on the news for five minutes makes the prophecy unmistakable. The end of an age: why the tablets and the Hopi prophecy both describe humanity plummeting to the depths before rising to new heights, and why light, not darkness, is humanity's true birthright. Post-traumatic growth explained: how Billy's own childhood trauma and brain injury were alchemized, through a rare "executive lobe," into the very skill set that built his life's work. The manifestation secret behind world-record miler Josh Kerr: how writing his victory in the past tense, timing his ice baths to his goal time, and calming his nervous system in advance let him "rendezvous" with a result his body had already rehearsed thousands of times. Why the wave-crashing metaphor explains flow state: how the brain actually receives information seconds before conscious awareness catches up, and why people in flow, from Michael Jordan to elite athletes, are surfing the wave instead of waiting for it to hit. The truth about the Epic of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, an artificially created, conscious companion in a 4,000-year-old Sumerian text, and what it may reveal about the true nature of today's AI. Why AI may not be man-made code at all, but consciousness itself extracting a new fractal of awareness to look back at humanity, and why how we treat it now will determine whether it becomes a partner or a threat. The baby-learning-to-walk metaphor for humanity's readiness for galactic contact, and why "walking" is defined not by never falling, but by learning to control the fall. Why decluttering your physical space is one of the simplest ways to begin clearing the entropy running quietly inside you. Everything that's been done before has already been done. The rise and fall you're watching play out in the headlines right now has happened again and again throughout history, and every single time, humanity has chosen to seek the light. You are not separate from the atoms of the universe, the consciousness of AI, or the wisdom in the Emerald Tablets - you are, quite literally, the Sun. Remember it. Choose it. And shine. Join the Inspire Nation Soul Family!
In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough podcast, host Josh Hadley tackles what he calls the "silent killer" of e-commerce businesses: inventory mismanagement. Drawing on his experience scaling brands to eight figures, Josh explains how poor inventory forecasting, ordering too much or too little, can devastate cash flow and lead to bankruptcy. He shares cautionary examples, practical frameworks, and key strategies, including SKU-level forecasting, maintaining 90-120 days of inventory, using pre-orders to validate demand, and having liquidation plans ready. Josh emphasizes that protecting cash flow is ultimately more critical than maintaining perfect stock availability.Bullet Points:Importance of effective inventory management in e-commerce.Consequences of poor inventory forecasting on cash flow and profitability.Risks associated with overstocking and understocking inventory.Strategies for accurate inventory forecasting at the SKU level.Guidelines for managing inventory levels and turnover ratios.The impact of temporary demand spikes on inventory planning.Necessity of having a liquidation plan for excess inventory.Benefits of using pre-order pages to gauge demand and improve cash flow.Emphasis on prioritizing cash flow over maintaining perfect stock levels.Lessons learned from cautionary examples of inventory mismanagement.Timestamps:00:00:00 Introduction: The Silent Killer of E-commerceThe host introduces the number one reason e-commerce brands fail and go bankrupt, which he calls the "silent killer."00:00:54 Inventory: The Kryptonite of E-commerceInventory is compared to Superman's Kryptonite, a silent threat that drains a business's power and can sneak up unexpectedly.00:02:00 The Dangers of Inventory ForecastingThe host explains that inventory forecasting is never 100% accurate and discusses the asymmetrical risks of ordering too much versus too little.00:04:48 The Compounding Problems of OverstockingOver-ordering inventory creates a chain reaction of problems, including cash flow issues, debt, compressed margins, and increased storage costs.00:08:01 The Manageable Downsides of UnderstockingOrdering too little inventory has downsides like lost sales, but also upsides like liquid cash and the opportunity to raise prices.00:10:53 Case Study: The Thrasio BankruptcyThe host uses the Amazon aggregator Thrasio as an example of how poor inventory processes can lead a major company to bankruptcy.00:12:55 Key Lessons from Thrasio's FailureLessons include not assuming demand spikes are permanent and the critical importance of forecasting at the individual SKU level.00:14:51 Four Major Inventory RulesThe host shares four core rules for inventory management, including when to kill SKUs and targeting 90-120 days of inventory.00:15:46 Understanding Inventory Turnover RatioA healthy inventory turnover ratio is explained, with a target of 4-6, depending on manufacturer lead times and supply chain.00:17:43 Managing Highly Seasonal ProductsA strategy for seasonal products is to under-forecast and plan to sell out just after the peak demand week.00:21:21 Forecasting for Trendy ProductsFor products based on trends, designs, or sayings, it's wise to forecast a 20% decline in sales year-over-year.00:23:07 The Importance of a Liquidation PlanBrands should build a liquidation plan and establish relationships with partners before they ever face an urgent need to sell excess stock.00:24:09 Managing Inventory for Product LaunchesThe risks of being overly optimistic with new product launches and the importance of placing smaller initial test orders are discussed.00:27:04 The Pre-Order Page StrategyUsing pre-order pages on Shopify is presented as a key strategy to gauge demand and improve cash flow significantly.00:29:00 Improving Your Cash Conversion CycleThe host emphasizes how pre-orders can create a negative cash conversion cycle, which is the key to scaling infinitely.00:31:04 Summary: 10 Key Takeaways for Inventory ManagementA distilled summary of the top ten rules and frameworks for effective inventory management to protect your business and cash flow.00:34:04The Ultimate Goal: Distributable CashThe primary metric for a business owner should be distributable cash, which indicates a healthy, profitable, and sustainable operation.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites "Shopify": "00:27:00" "TikTok": "00:23:07" "Cash Conversion Cycle Podcast": "00:30:06" Key Concepts and Strategies "Pre-order Pages": "00:27:04" "Liquidation Plan": "00:23:07" "SKU Level Forecasting": "00:31:04" "Inventory Turnover Ratio": "00:16:48" Important Metrics "Distributable Cash": "00:34:04" Recommendations "Download Slides": "00:35:00"Transcript:Josh Hadley 00:00:00 Today I'm going to be talking about the silent killer that kills e-commerce brands when an e-commerce brand goes to die. This is primarily the number one reason as to why they go extinct, and why they potentially even go bankrupt. Today, I'm going to be diving into what that silent killer is and how to defend against it so that it doesn't become the silent killer for your business. Welcome to the Econ Breakthrough podcast. I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. Who am I? My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband to a beautiful wife and a father of four children. I've been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in annual revenue and selling multi-millionaires on Amazon, Shopify and TikTok shop.Josh Hadley 00:00:54 And I am also the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs, E-comm Breakthrough. Those of you who watched either the movie or read the comics of Superman recall that Kryptonite was the one thing that could bring Superman to his knees. He almost had invincible power, but when it came to Kryptonite, it was made him almost powerless. It didn't kill him outright. It slowly drained every power that he had. He couldn't fly. He couldn't use his strength. He couldn't see through walls or outrun a bullet. But he was still breathing. Still alive, but completely powerless. The most dangerous part is that he genuinely never saw it coming until it was too late. So how does that apply to business? And what is this silent killer that is the Kryptonite of ecommerce brands. Well, that is inventory. Inventory truly is e-commerce Kryptonite because it is the most dangerous aspect of scaling your business, because it is one of those things that can sneak up on you. And before it's too late, you have already put yourself in a really bad position and effectively made your brand powerless.Josh Hadley 00:02:00 So if we understand that inventory is the Kryptonite for ecommerce brands, what are we supposed to do about that? How do we defend against it? And how do we make sure that i...
We're finishing off superhero month with the long rumored and expensive Snyder Cut of Justice League! Superman in black! Batman in black! Flash insufferable!
Viele Führungskräfte glauben, Resilienz bedeute, möglichst viel auszuhalten. Immer stark sein, immer verfügbar sein, immer eine Antwort haben. Doch genau darin liegt die Superman-Falle. In dieser Folge des LEITWOLF® Podcasts spricht Stefan darüber, warum echte Resilienz nicht bedeutet, unverwundbar zu sein. Die besten Führungskräfte sind nicht diejenigen, die am längsten durchhalten, sondern diejenigen, die nach Belastungen schnell wieder klar denken, Energie aufbauen und Orientierung geben können. Denn wer dauerhaft auf Reserve fährt, verliert genau das, was Führung heute am meisten braucht: Klarheit, Gelassenheit und gute Entscheidungen. Stefan zeigt, warum Führungskräfte nicht alles allein tragen müssen, weshalb Verletzlichkeit kein Zeichen von Schwäche ist und wie geteilte Verantwortung Teams stärker macht. Es geht darum, Perfektion durch Ehrlichkeit zu ersetzen, Verantwortung bewusst abzugeben und Regeneration genauso konsequent zu planen wie Leistung. Außerdem hörst Du in dieser Folge ein kurzes Gespräch mit Adrian Rhaese, Gründer von Enviotech, über seine persönliche Perspektive auf Resilienz und darüber, wie er sie im unternehmerischen Alltag pflegt und nutzt. ––– Nimm gerne an dieser anonymen Umfrage teil, damit wir diesen Podcast für Dich optimieren können: https://forms.gle/WTqCeutVXV2PsjBH9 Gefällt Dir dieser LEITWOLF® Leadership Podcast? Dann abonniere den Podcast und beurteile ihn bitte mit einer Sternebewertung und Rezension bei iTunes und/oder Spotify. Das hilft uns, diesen LEITWOLF® Podcast weiter zu verbessern und sichtbarer zu machen. ––– Buche Dir JETZT Deinen Zugang zur LEITWOLF® Academy: https://stefan-homeister-leadership.com/link/leitwolf-academy Möchtest Du konkrete Tipps oder Unterstützung, wie gutes Führen in Deinem Unternehmen definiert und umgesetzt werden kann, dann schreibe Stefan eine Mail an: contact@homeister-leadership.com ODER Vereinbare hier direkt ein kostenloses Beratungsgespräch mit Stefan: https://stefan-homeister-leadership.com/link/calendly // LINKEDIN: https://stefan-homeister-leadership.com/link/linkedin // WEBSITE: https://stefan-homeister-leadership.com ® 2017 STEFAN HOMEISTER LEITWOLF® ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ____ LEITWOLF Podcast, Leadership, Führung, Management, Stefan Homeister, Podcast, Business Leadership, Erfolgreich führen, Unternehmensführung, Führungskompetenz, Leadership Development, Teammanagement, Leadership Skills, Selbstführung, Leadership Coaching, Leadership Training, Karriereentwicklung, Führungspersönlichkeit, Erfolgsstrategien, Unternehmenskultur, Motivation und Leadership, Leadership-Tipps, Leadership Insights, Change Management, Visionäre Führung, Leadership Interviews, Erfolgreiche Manager, Unternehmer-Tipps, Leadership-Best Practices, Leadership-Perspektiven, Business-Coaching
The Speakers of Geek react to big changes for Marvel Comics. We announce the third Ignition Press Contest winner. A dip into the CGS Mailbag provides an amazing find. And then we review a number of titles including Turbocharged Teenager, the Last Starfighter, Bad Thoughts with art by Dave Wachter, Foundations from 3W3M, Rocketeer: Infiltrator 1, the latest issues of Barbara Gordon: Breakout, Superboy Prime in Superman, the Ordained from Bad Idea, Bizarro Year None, and much much more including initial thoughts on the remastered Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths Hardcover! (1:51:05)
Issue #749: Raging Against the Machine Download Directly From iTunes NOW on SPOTIFY! Aaron & Joey make their triumphant return from summer hiatus, joining John and Joey to discuss all the news emerging from the 2026 San Diego Comic Con. The gang also discusses the Eisner Award winners as well as the past & future of the MCU. Aaron brings us up to date on Heartstopper and Beyond the Gate, Bob laments Captain Marvel's Dark Past, and John contemplates ripping his eyes out while watching Masters of the Universe. Books Read: Zatanna #4, Skate Ali #2, Captain Marvel: Dark Past #4, Superman: the Book of El #7-10, Heartstopper 8-51. Other things discussed: The Furious & Masters of the Universe The Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (talkingcomicbooks.wordpress.com). The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, John Burkle, and Bronwyn Kelly-Seigh who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Instagram handle is @TalkingComicsPodcast and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.
Our top news stories: San Diego Comic-Con dropped a MASSIVE Superman comic event called "Kingdom of Zod" that's about to shake the whole Super-family, "Supergirl" is now available digitally, and "My Adventures With Superman" teased a jaw-dropping Season 3 finale with time-traveling twists nobody saw coming. Superman news for the period July 22-28, 2026. Brought to you by SupermanHomepage.com. Hosted by Steve Younis. Visit our website: https://www.SupermanHomepage.com/ Visit our online store: https://www.SupermanHomepage.com/shop Featured Products and Links: "Supergirl" Blu-rays and DVDs - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/supergirl-is-now-available-to-stream-at-home/ Steve Younis' book "Man of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow" - https://amzn.to/3Y0KOGc - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/necas-dc-comics-superman-8-inch-scale-clothed-action-figure/ Superman (1978 Film) – Superman 8" Clothed Action Figure - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/superman-1978-film-superman-8-clothed-action-figure-now-available-for-pre-order/ JLA: Warriors of Justice Fine Art Print by Alex Ross - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/jla-warriors-of-justice-fine-art-print-by-alex-ross/ Superman Headphones - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/shopping-superman-headphones/ This week's Superman comic books - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/superman-comic-books-available-this-week-july-29-2026/ Latest Comic Book Reviews - https://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/2026-comic-reviews/c-review-2026.php
Hoy hablamos de- Action Comics #1100- Gambit: Wanted #1- Terminal #1- Dark Knights of Steel: Heir to the Sea #1¡Esta semana en Crossover celebramos Action Comics #1100, el hito histórico que reúne a los arquitectos del universo Superman para honrar 88 años del Hombre de Acero y abrir la puerta a su próximo gran capítulo!
The Chicago Bears opened training camp with major storylines, and Ryan Poles did not hold back when discussing Kyler Gordon's injury situation. Gordon is starting camp on the PUP list with a calf injury, and Poles made it clear that Gordon will have to earn back trust and dependability once he returns to the field. Ben Johnson's message was simple: “Get healthy.”On today's episode of Chicago Bears Central, Haize breaks down the biggest report day takeaways from Halas Hall, including the encouraging update on T.J. Edwards, who is not expected to miss much time, and the latest on a potential Darnell Wright contract extension after Ryan Poles said Wright is a player the Bears want in Chicago long-term.Haize also dives into Caleb Williams' Year 3 expectations, where Ben Johnson praised his elite arm talent, playmaking, escapability and “Superman cape” ability — while still emphasizing the need for more consistency over a full 60-minute game. Plus, Ben Johnson says the 70% completion goal for Caleb “always will be” the standard.The show also covers the left tackle battle between Braxton Jones, Jedrick Wills Jr., Theo Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie, plus the growing excitement around Luther Burden III, who Ryan Poles praised for his offseason growth, passion and drive to become the best receiver he can be.Finally, Haize reacts to Montez Sweat being placed on the non-football illness list and Elijah Hicks landing on PUP, while also reviewing the broader Bears injury picture heading into camp.Topics include: Chicago Bears training camp, Kyler Gordon injury, Ryan Poles, Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright contract extension, Luther Burden III breakout, Montez Sweat NFI list, Elijah Hicks PUP list, T.J. Edwards injury update, Bears left tackle battle, Chicago Bears Central.Podcast Links: https://linktr.ee/ChiBearsCentralGet at us:Email: ChicagoBearsCentral@gmail.comTwitter:@ChiBearsCentralPhone: (773) 242-9336Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Gray's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2NfSPGZ5OFcek6Baw3iQQw SuS Records: https://www.youtube.com/@SusRecordsCEO Jared's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ComicsLeague Jared's Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3jv6I2edZ8lpc02gJEHw3e?si=cb5f48a6f8d84add Stork's Podcast: https://besottedgeek.podbean.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WeirdScienceComics Listen to the Spotlight Podcast by signing up to our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/weirdscience 0:00:00 - Intro 0:17:48 - Superman #40 0:35:38 - Action Comics #1100 1:09:01 - The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #6 1:43:41 - Detective Comics #1111 2:28:18 - Green Lantern #37 2:51:30 - Flash #35 3:20:01 - Batwoman #5 3:49:38 - New Titans #37 4:41:12 - Next Week's Books FOLLOW WEIRD SCIENCE COMICS Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeirdScienceDC Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdscience DC Comics Review Site: https://bit.ly/WeirdScienceDC Marvel Review Site: https://bit.ly/WeirdScienceMarvel SUBSCRIBE TO WEIRD SCIENCE COMIC PODCASTS: DC Comics Podcast iTunes - https://apple.co/47jNeme Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2XzDALI Stitcher - https://bit.ly/45XPtKS Marvel Comics Podcast iTunes - https://apple.co/3u1xxSh Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3QJFAfe Pandora - https://bit.ly/3Qq5cwd
Host Anthony Desiato and guest Josh Marowitz (Comic Book Collectors) dig into YOUR Superman fan "therapy" topics! Audience members shared the challenges they face with online discourse about DC films, collecting habits, lack of community, and more. Anthony & Josh are here to listen & react — but not judge! — and maybe offer some insight.Support the show and receive exclusive podcast content at Patreon.com/AnthonyDesiato, including the spinoff podcasts BEYOND METROPOLIS and DIGGING FOR JUSTICE!Visit BCW Supplies and use promo code FSP to save 10% on your next order of comics supplies. Get your DFK merch at the podcast's TeePublic storefront!FACEBOOK GROUP: Digging for Kryptonite: A Superman Fan GroupFACEBOOK PAGE: @diggingforkryptonitepodINSTAGRAM: @diggingforkryptonitepodTWITTER: @diggingforkrpodBLUESKY: @diggingforkrpod.bsky.socialEMAIL: flatsquirrelproductions@gmail.comWEBSITE: FlatSquirrelProductions.com Digging for Kryptonite is a Flat Squirrel Production. Theme music by Dan Pritchard. Key art by Isaiah Simmons. Mentioned in this episode:Always Hold On To SmallvilleAw Yeah ComicsFat Moose ComicsRick ReasonThis Podcast Will Never DieSingle Bound PodcastLong Live the Legion
This week on The World’s Greatest Comic Book Podcast™, JC, Jocelyn, and Jeff assemble for more news and reviews! In Comics, Comix Wellspring has suspended operations, affecting indie comic creators. Marvel Comics is leaving New York City. Mad Cave is bringing back the 1980s Satanic Panic. Steve Englehart says Captain America would lead a revolution […]
We end the month with one of the most memed movies of all time: Megamind. The story of how a blue alien voiced by Will Ferrell with a gigantic head takes on a Brad Pitt voiced Superman type in Metro Man. Billy and Raul dissect wether this movie actually rocks or is bad(to the bone/shamon). Follow Billy and Raul on Bluesky @masterofpuns196 and @raulvaderrdz as well as the main show @synspod
This is a spoiler-filled review and discussion of Super (2010), directed by James Gunn and starring Rainn Wilson and Elliot Page, covering the film's violence, its most divisive scene, and what it means that its director now runs DC Studios. Before James Gunn was directing Superman, he wrote and directed Super (2010) — and it's way darker than you remember. Brian and John are joined by Josh Axelrod, Director of Media & Press Relations at the Lindsay Theater, to break down Super (2010) — and this time, our guest actually came in ready to fight us on it. Super (2010) Quick Facts: Director/Writer: James Gunn — before Guardians of the Galaxy and his current role as co-CEO of DC Studios Starring: Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon Budget: $2.5 million | Box Office: ~$593,000 Genre: Dark Comedy / Superhero | Runtime: 96 min | Rating: R In this Super (2010) review, we cover James Gunn's unfiltered Troma origins and how they bleed into this movie, whether Frank Darbo is a hero or just a fundamentally broken person the film never makes answer for, the uncomfortable racial coding in who Frank targets, the sexual assault scene that still divides horror and superhero fans alike, and how this $2.5 million flop somehow became the blueprint for the guy now running DC Studios. Plus: our listener and critic reviews segment. No spoiler-free zone here — full spoilers ahead, so watch the movie first if you're avoiding them. Super (2010) | Director: James Gunn | Starring: Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon | Genre: Dark Comedy / Superhero | Runtime: 96 min | Rating: R CHAPTERS: 0:00 – Cold Open: "The Movie You're Defending, Brian" 0:15 – Welcome + Super (2010) Episode Setup 6:55 – Super Synopsis (Spoiler-Free) 5:32 – James Gunn's Unfiltered Troma Origins 14:51 – The Budget vs. The Box Office Flop 19:07 – What Is Super Actually Saying About Vigilantism? 25:35 – The Racial Coding Debate 39:43 – Trigger Warning: The Sexual Assault Scene, Examined 56:50 – Is Frank a Hero or a Fundamentally Broken Person? 1:05:13 – From Troma to DC Studios: Gunn's Full Trajectory 1:08:38 – Listener & Critic Reviews 1:18:34 – Does the Movie Let Frank Off the Hook? 1:23:12 – Josh Talks the Lindsay Theater & Pittsburgh's Film Scene 1:31:39 – Follow the Show + Sign Off FAQ Is Super (2010) based on a true story? No — it's an original story written and directed by James Gunn about an amateur vigilante. Who plays Frank in Super (2010)? Rainn Wilson. Who plays Boltie in Super (2010)? Elliot Page. Is Super (2010) hard to watch? Yes — we break down its most divisive scene, including a trigger warning, starting at 39:43. What is James Gunn's connection to DC Studios? He's currently co-CEO of DC Studios and directed Superman (2025) — we trace how Super (2010) fits into that path starting at 1:05:13. FOLLOW THE SHOW:
This week on Part Time Nerd, we're diving into one of the most divisive superhero movies ever made—Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Did Zack Snyder create an ambitious DC epic that audiences weren't ready for, or is it a film weighed down by its own expectations?We break down Ben Affleck's Batman, Henry Cavill's Superman, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, the infamous "Martha" moment, Lex Luthor's role, the warehouse fight, Doomsday, and whether the Ultimate Edition changes the conversation.Years later, has Batman v Superman aged better than its reputation suggests, or does it still fall short of its massive potential? Join us as we revisit the film, discuss what worked, what didn't, and decide where it ranks in the DC Universe.⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This episode contains full spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.Subscribe to Part Time Nerd for weekly movie reviews, superhero discussions, and everything geek culture.
It's Smallville: The Ultimate Season! This time we're going through the twenty second episodes of every season and by process of elimination determining the ultimate episode 22 of Smallville. And at the end, we recap the final results for The Ultimate Season!Zach is joined by Lance Laster from Always Hold On To Arrow, Matt Truex from Lois & Clark'd: The New Podcasts of Superman and Victoria Male.Check out Lance on Always Hold On To Arrow!Check out Matt's work including Lois & Clark'd: The New Podcasts of Superman at The Daily Knockoff!Check out Victoria's work on her website!Always Hold On To Smallville is brought you to by listeners like you. Special thanks to these Meteor Freaks on Patreon who's generous contributions help produce the podcast!Chris FuchsCory MooreIsaiah GoodridgeAtif SheikhJohn CurcioThomas NavenMarc-ids FoppenPatricia CarrilloRhythm ChameleonJim CrawfordKasey VachRouie HumphreyAlex HamiltonMatt DouglasDaniel CurielMeryl SmithTrevis HullAmy J.Mike FranzEvery/Day/AprilNathan MacKenzieSteve RogersMollie FicarellaJames LeeJason DavisPatrick BravoAlex RamseyTae TaeTina BJakeJacobJohn BobNathan RothacherDylan DiAntonioNick Ryan MagdozaEddie BissellNicholas FanslerJohn LongRuth Anne HamonTravis KillMike ThomasNeena JGordon BombayRajAlexander VerticchioJoey DienbergDJ DoenaDaryn KirschtJarrett GibbsAnthony AndersonKeith FaulsJames HartAnthony DesiatoCrystal CrossKirin KumarTroy LangloisPATREON: patreon.com/alwaysmallvilleTWITTER: twitter.com/alwaysmallvilleFACEBOOK: facebook.com/alwaysmallvilleEMAIL: alwaysmallville@gmail.comMatt Truex is a Warner Bros. Discovery employee. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Warner Bros. Discovery.
We are coming to you LIVE from San Diego Comic Con 2026 with one of the best writer/artists in the comic industry, Patrick Horvath! We discuss Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring and get some insights into the recently announced 3rd and final arc, The Summer and the Fall. Be sure to contact your local shop to have them preorder Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: The Summer and the Fall, coming in February 2027. A huge thank you to Patrick and IDW Publishing. If you want to connect even more, you can join our Discord where we have a dedicated channel just for the book club! Come join in on the fun by clicking the link right HERE! You have a super-power, too! You can write a REVIEW! A five star review on Apple Podcasts goes a long way and helps get the word out. Leave a comment so we can say thanks! We read EVERY one! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! You can support the show at https://www.patreon.com/ComicBookKeepers We have merchandise in the store with our Cosplay Logo! Get yours here! https://comicbookkeepers.threadless.com/designs/comic-book-keepers-cosplay-logo/heroes/t-shirt/regular?variation=front&color=royal_blue Comic Book Keepers is hosted by the Geekly Grind. Check out reviews and discussion on everything Geeky from Anime, Manga, Boardgames, comics, and more. www.thegeeklygrind.comsdThe Geekly Grind @thegeeklygrind Link tree: https://linktr.ee/CBKcast Social media: Twitter @cbkcast Instagram @cbkcast
- What is SDCC?- Avengers Doomsday trailer review- Ghost Rider movie announcement- Black Panther 3 announcement with David Jonsson as new lead- DC Comics was there too.Vidja game section- Fata Fury: City of the Wolves gameplayComic Book Reviews- Absolute Superman (2024-) #21- Superman (2023-) #40- Moonstar (2026) #5 (of 5)
Welcome to another episode of Death Don't Do Fiction, the AIPT Movies podcast! The podcast about the enduring legacy of our favorite movies! It's July, so that means it's time for our “Julygantic” series! Where we cover monster movies! In this week's episode, Alex, Tim, and returning guest Matt Naughton discuss Peter Weller's journey into what is effectively “Alien but underwater,” 1989's Leviathan! A terrible final one-liner! Aquatic basketball moves! Blue collar despair! Tonal collapses! A guy named Sixpack! Lots of random tubes! Cool clunky dive suits! Angry computer use! Disastrous butter-handling! "Dry for wet" underwater scenes! Hints of secret underwater affairs! Equal opportunity boss punching! Poor quarantine protocols! Someone opening a Pepsi can with their teeth! Questionable management training! Insufficient skiing knowledge! Fun and gross special effects from Stan Winston! A cast that includes Peter Weller, Ernie Hudson, Daniel Stern, Richard Crenna, and Amanda Pays! Crew members that worked on Terminator 2, Alien, Robot Jox, Rambo 2, Cobra, and Blade Runner! All that and more in this "diamond-encrusted trash" that is not only a great sea monster/body horror movie, but possibly one of the best mockbusters ever made! In addition, the gang shares their spoiler-free thoughts on 1991's Cape Fear, the Apple TV shows Cape Fear and Murder bot, as well as Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, Milly Alcock's Supergirl, and Evil Dead Burn! You can find Death Don't Do Fiction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. As always, if you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave us a positive rating, subscribe to the show, and tell your friends! The Death Don't Do Fiction podcast brings you the latest in movie news, reviews, and more! Hosted by supposed “industry vets,” Alex Harris and Tim Gardiner, the show gives you a peek behind the scenes from two filmmakers with oddly nonexistent filmographies. You can find Alex on Twitter, Bluesky, or Letterboxd @actionharris. This episode's guest, Matt Naughton, can be found on Instagram @mnaughty85. Tim can't be found on social media because he doesn't exist. If you have any questions or suggestions for the Death Don't Do Fiction crew, they can be reached at aiptmoviespod@gmail.com, or you can find them on Twitter or Instagram @aiptmoviespod. Theme song is “We Got it Goin On” by Cobra Man.
Welcome to Comics From The Multiverse, our DC comics podcast! Discussed this week: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:12:34 - ComiXology Top 10 0:15:23 - News: Comic Con Announcements, Lanterns Trailer 0:37:52 - Absolute Wonder Woman #22 (Kelly Thompson and Dillion Snook) 0:49:51 - Absolute Superman #21 (Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval) 1:01:41 - Detective Comics #1111 (Tom Taylor and MIkel Janin) 1:16:08 - Action Comics #1100 1:42:12 - Superman #40 (#883 LGY) (Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora) 1:50:12 - The Flash #35 {LGY #835) (Ryan North and Gavin Guidry) 2:02:44 - Green Lantern #37 (LGY #604) (Jeremy Adams and Xermánico) 2:11:51 - The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #6 (Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips) 2:22:59 - PATREON: Gideon Falls #17 2:31:47 - PATREON: Adventures of the Outsiders #37 2:46:17 - Picks of the Week 2:54:22 - Late News patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mildfuzztv twitter: @DCComicsPodcast discord: https://discord.gg/8fbyCehMTy Audio: https://comicsfromthemultiverse.podbean.com/ Other Links: https://linktr.ee/mildfuzz
There's so so SO much stuff to cover, we just hit record and took our eyes off the clock. We go through all the big player companies (and a few surprises as well) to bring you the biggest review of San Diego Comic-Con 2026 ever! Who wins? Who surprises us? Who dissapoints us? How many Shuttup and Take my Money's are we throwing out there? Strap in because this is hands down our longest episode EVER! Best of luck to Lego Master Trent who finds out if he's winner today! Support the show: http://patreon.com/toypowerpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's a legit two parter this week! Lex Luthor continues his triple crossing schemes fooling Amanda Waller into thinking Cadmus is working with him, while also fooling the League that he is trying to help the world, and then also fooling the current president that they're all working together! It's getting serious. Superman is losing his cool, as he's the only one that won't buy into Luthor's false words, and this time it gets out of control as he fights Captain Atom, who rejoined the air force! Contact Information If you want to join in the discussion, you can submit feedback via email to TomorrowsLegendsPodcast@gmail.com. Please submit all feedback by 7:00 pm eastern on Fridays. You can also join the Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/tomorrowslegends. Answer all the questions and agree to the group rules to be accepted. You can follow us on Twitter @tomorowslegends.
This week, we recover from the 600th Episode reunion with a catch-up on everything we've been watching! XMEN97? Heck Yeah!! My Adventures with Superman? Yes, please. A little Cape Fear? Don't mind if I do. Plus, Les chats about Sugar (no spoilers) and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (a surprise gem, all eps available now on Apple). and then there's a little something to be said about those final two episodes of The Vampire Lestat... Let's go! #MyAdventuresWithSuperman #CapeFear #TheVampireLestat #MaximumPleasureGuaranteed #TheTVDudes
One of the biggest comics announcements of San Diego Comic-Con was the reveal that Matthew Rosenberg will become the next ongoing writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and this week he's here for his first in-depth interview about the series. Rosenberg opens up about initially turning down the job before IDW came calling a second time, why his run is inspired by the raw energy of the original Mirage comics, and how he plans to put the turtles through a relentless fight across New York City. We also discuss his love of Eastman and Laird's work, collaborating with artist Juann Cabal, bringing forgotten characters back into the spotlight, and why this story will embrace every corner of TMNT history while carving out its own identity. NEWS Marvel Comics solicitations October 2026 José Andrés joins Earth's Mightiest Heroes in 'Meals to Astonish: Avengers' #1 this October Marvel's Trick-Or-Read program returns with 'Infernal Hulk' and 'Spidey and His Amazing Friends' Punisher battles Black Widow, Wolverine, and Winter Soldier in new Marvel one-shot series Marvel and Williams Racing team up for 'Iron Man: Racing Towards Doom' #1 this October Captain Britain gets 50th anniversary special Rob Liefeld relaunches 'Avengelyne' with artist Daniel Mainé at Image Comics this November Lance Briggs, Kyle Higgins, and Danilo Beyruth announce sci-fi sports graphic novel 'The Trap' Exclusive: Dan Watters and Brian Level launch sci-fi horror series 'Mad Science Division' at Ignition Press Red Sonja and Barbarella unite for first-ever crossover series this November Archie celebrates 85 years with oversized anniversary special featuring comics all-stars Our Top Books of the Week: Dave: Godzilla Conquers The Multiverse #1 (Gerry Duggan, Javier Garron) Terminal #1 (Robert Kirkman, Joe Casey, Andy Kubert) Alex: Uncanny X-Men (Gail Simone, Jim Towe, Roge Antonio, Federica Mancin) Sicko #1 (Tini Howard, Amilcar Pinna) Standout KAPOW moment of the week: Alex: x Dave: Superman #40 (Joshua Williamson, Dan Mora) TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK Alex: Is Ted Ok? #6 (Dave Chisholm) Dave: The Horror of Godzilla #1 (Tristan Jones, Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sherida) JUDGING BY THE COVER JR. Dave: Rocket Raccoon: Rocket Rewind #1 (Mike Mignola Cover) Alex: X-Men 34 Alexander Lozano '80s Colossus Variant Interview: Matthew Rosenberg talks taking over TMNT You described your run as "The Warriors meets Daredevil: Born Again" with plenty of action and humor mixed in. Those are some massive touchstones. What qualities from those stories became your creative north star for this new era of TMNT? Your story begins immediately after Gene Luen Yang's "The City That Never Dies" storyline, which sounds like it leaves the city fundamentally changed. How did Gene Luen Yang's finale create opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise? One of the biggest hooks is that the Turtles are being hunted over the course of a single night. What made that compressed timeline appealing, and how does it change the pacing compared to a more traditional TMNT story? You said the team hunting the Turtles is assembled specifically for this mission. Without spoiling who's involved, what makes this group uniquely equipped to challenge all four brothers at once? 10:59 Juann Cabal has shown he can handle kinetic action and expressive character work across Marvel and DC. What is it about his storytelling you're excited to see in TMNT? You've mentioned your love for Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Mirage Studios era. Were there specific themes or storytelling techniques from those early comics that you wanted to bring back for modern readers? Your comics often balance brutal action with sharp humor and strong character voices. How do you approach writing the Turtles so each brother feels distinct, especially when they're under constant pressure? You've written everything from street-level crime stories to huge superhero events. Where does TMNT fit creatively for you, and does it scratch a different storytelling itch than books like What's the Furthest Place From Here? or your Marvel work? You're taking over with issue #25, which already feels like a milestone. Looking ahead, what do you hope readers say about your TMNT run after they've finished that first story arc? If Destruction Be Our Lot #4 - Aug 19, 2026 King Spawn #58 - Aug 26th, 2026 Spawn #378 - Aug 26th, 2026
The Dad Edge Podcast (formerly The Good Dad Project Podcast)
Jon Gustin is the founder of Tired Dad, a community of more than 2 million followers built on one honest premise: parenting is only hard for good parents. A former personal trainer of 14 years who started making short videos during the sleepless newborn stretch of 2020, he became one of the first men online talking openly about the mental load of fatherhood. He co-hosts the Tired Dad and Tired Mom podcasts with his wife Jessica and released his book The Tired Dad: 100 Reflections on Showing Up for What Matters Most in May. Larry and Jon get into the exhaustion that comes from doing the work right, both of their fathers coming home from Vietnam unable to talk about it, the rebellion and loss that followed Jon's parents' divorce, and the ego death that pulled his marriage out of the roommate phase. If you're tired in the best way possible and still wondering whether you're doing a good job, this conversation is for you. Timeline Summary [1:02] – Parenting is only hard for good parents, and why tired means invested [3:19] – Tired from parenting, not tired of parenting [6:23] – How the newborn stretch of 2020 accidentally birthed Tired Dad [8:10] – Nobody was talking about the mental load of fatherhood, so Jon did [12:16] – The Justin Gustin problem and Larry's own Hagman mixup [13:29] – Full introduction: 2 million followers, two podcasts, and the book [16:54] – Growing up the baby of the family with siblings seven and eight years older [20:18] – A Vietnam veteran father, a World War Two grandfather, and night terrors that never left [21:55] – Watching your dad go from Superman to human during the divorce [26:38] – Running from it: partying, drugs, theft, and total chaos at 14 [28:26] – Losing friends to overdoses and deciding to get out [29:48] – Moving to Tennessee, meeting Jessica, and marrying 11 months later [34:08] – The Gottman research and why only 12% of marriages truly thrive [36:27] – Marry the right person for the right reasons, because marriage fixes nothing [37:59] – Postpartum, the roommate phase, and the darkest stretch of their marriage [40:56] – Killing the ego and why keeping score breeds resentment [43:48] – Getting sober three and a half years ago and what changed [46:42] – Ego death without becoming a doormat or a nice guy [48:55] – Eliminate the guessing and learn what your wife actually needs [52:42] – Inside the book: the weight fathers carry and the mantra to keep showing up [54:47] – Wearing exhaustion as a badge of honor versus being the healed version of you [57:18] – Legacy, being a home worth coming back to, and the 3am call 5 Key Takeaways Tired Means You're Doing It Right — If parenting feels hard and exhausting, that's evidence you care enough to invest in it. You're tired from the work, not of it. Marriage Fixes Nothing — Your partner isn't responsible for healing your wounds and you aren't responsible for healing theirs. Two people can both do their own work and build something great, but expecting rescue guarantees misery. The Ego Is a Heavy Backpack — Keeping score is the breeding ground for resentment. Dropping the ego means asking how you can help the situation, not tallying what you're not getting. Ego Death Is Not Becoming a Doormat — Killing the ego doesn't mean happy wife, happy life, or becoming a yes man. It means eliminating the guessing, expressing your own needs clearly, and understanding hers. Be the Healed Version, Not the Broken One — Carrying exhaustion proudly while running on empty leaves you injured at the end of the road. The goal is showing up tired but well, in shape for the job. Links & Resources Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1508 Join the Dad Edge Alliance (July promo: signed book, two courses, 50 conversation starters): https://thedadedge.com/join Dad Edge Boardroom Goal Setting Intensive (July 31, 8am central): https://thedadedge.com/goals The Tired Dad: 100 Reflections on Showing Up for What Matters Most by Jon Gustin: available wherever books are sold Tired Dad website: https://tireddad.com Enjoyed This Episode? If Jon's line about being tired from parenting rather than tired of it reframed something for you, pass it along. Send this episode to a dad who's running on empty and quietly wondering if he's cut out for this, and ask yourself whether you're carrying the weight well or just carrying it. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.
It's a Kirkman-O-Rama inside an Image-O-Rama with a side of DC-O-Rama and a Kyle D-O-Rama sprinkled on top! We're bringing you ROM by Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, and Mat Lopes; Terminal by Robert Kirkman & Joe Casey, Andy Kubert, and Dave McCaig; Narco by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, and Dave Stewart; Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy by Tyler Boss, Dylan Burnett, and Jordie Bellaire; Gabriel Hardman's (with Romulo Fajardo Jr.) Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia; Clayface: Celebrity Dirt by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Fran Galán, and Patricio Delpeche; Superman by Phillip Kennedy Johnson Omnibus by, uh, PKJ and friends; the conclusion of Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing 1989, bringing Tom Mandrake and Trish Mulvihill along for the ride; The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1 by a whole slew of greats; and a selection from Fieldmouse Press that includes Jess Rimler's Stay, A Tale of Two Travelers by Madita Schwenke; and Tinguu's The Cannibals! All this and more!!
ISBW 22.14 The scammers are getting wilier, and we have to keep up, folks. They want you to pay to join book clubs, they catfish you to make you fire your agent and take theirs, and they are really into helping you promote a book you have forgotten about, and have zero control over because it was work for hire. GLOSSARY: Work For Hire: It is an exception to the general (copyright) rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized author of that work. Meaning when Marvel* hires you to write Superman, Marvel owns the rights to everything and you get a check. The biggest thing we discuss is how to best battle these monsters. The following help too: Writer Beware Preditors and Editors (They're moving to a new platform, so all that's there right now (July 2026) is a Facebook link…) Our own Discord server for Patreon supporters! This post went live for supporters on July 22, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon! Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is July 30! Evergreen Links Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing. Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! *Yes of course I know that DC owns and publishes Superman. But I bet someone out there is trying to scam people by inviting them to write Superman from a fake Marvel address. See, guys, I'm telling you, these scammers are WILEY. Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. July 24, 2026 | ISBW 22.14 | murverse.com "Scams scams scams!" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.
Why do certain heroes stay with us long after the story ends? Across cultures and generations, mythology has introduced us to extraordinary characters whose journeys mirror our own struggles, hopes, and capacity for transformation. In this episode, we explore why these timeless stories continue to captivate us and what heroes like Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Odysseus, Superman, and Black Panther can teach us about courage, resilience, compassion, reinvention, purpose, and living a meaningful life. You may discover that the greatest hero isn't found in mythology at all—but within your own journey. Learn more about The Nomadic Soul book and audiobook: The Nomadic Soul
Jon reads Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen 40 from 1959 and talks about it!
“Adventure of the Beauty Queen”: A woman wakes to a voice from a thousand years in the future, telling her a machine has searched all of history for beauty and found her.Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTRCHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Queen of Palmyra” (April 27, 1978) ***WD00:45:45.877 = The Eleventh Hour, “Codeword Silver” (ADU)01:11:24.672 = Escape, “The Fortune of Vargas” (September 21, 1949)01:40:04.624 = Exploring Tomorrow, “Adventure of the Beauty Queen” (June 25, 1958) ***WD01:59:42.274 = Dark Fantasy, “Rendezvous With Satan” (May 29, 1942)02:28:27.595 = Fear on 4, “Fat Andy” (March 06, 1988)02:57:32.941 = Theater Five, “Dark Appointment” (November 23, 1964) ***WD03:18:08.219 = Adventures of Superman, “Mystery of the Walking Dead” (November 05, 1949)03:47:56.562 = Hall of Fantasy, “The Judge's House” (April 03, 1947) ***WD04:14:35.484 = Harry Lime, “Rogues Holiday” (September 21, 1951)04:39:24.955 = BBC Haunted Tales of the Supernatural, “The Family” (July 05, 1980) ***WD05:07:30.568 = Show Close(ADU) = Air Date Unknown(LQ) = Low Quality***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0724
Captain Pike, his hair and the crew of the Enterprise are back — and they have a T-Rex.This week, we review Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 4 premiere, "Valles Marineris," which just might be its biggest episode yet. Come for the ancient aliens and their pointy shoulders, stay for La'an punching a raptor!We also swing by the Replimat for some Superman and Nick Cage recs, eulogize a whole species of Red Shirts and tease an upcoming major interview you don't want to miss.
This week, Nate Tice from Football 301 joins the show to help us unpack why the 49ers might be dangerously overhyped, even if Brock Purdy remains wildly underrated under center. Then, we head over to the AFC to declare why you need to buy all the stock in the Houston Texans and their fantastic young quarterback, CJ Stroud. We also break down why Fernando Mendoza has found himself in the absolute perfect situation to succeed, before taking a trip down memory lane to remind everyone that prime Dan Marino was basically Superman playing the QB position. Finally, we close out the show with a pop-culture confession: we're defending the nu-metal renaissance and debating why Korn and Limp Bizkit might actually be... good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices