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In this insightful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb begin their series on Jesus's parables by examining the Parable of the Sower (or Soils). This foundational teaching from Christ reveals why some hearts receive the gospel message while others reject it. The hosts unpack the four soil types Jesus describes, exploring what each represents spiritually and how these patterns continue to manifest today. They emphasize that while the parable reveals different responses to the gospel, it also provides comfort for believers engaged in evangelism, reminding us that outcomes ultimately depend not on the sower's skill but on the condition of the soil—a condition that only God can prepare. This episode offers both theological depth and practical encouragement for Christians seeking to understand the various responses to the gospel message in their own ministry contexts. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Sower serves as a hermeneutical key for understanding all of Jesus's parables, as it directly addresses why Jesus taught in parables and provides the interpretive framework for understanding their purpose. The parable reveals four types of responses to the gospel (represented by the four soils), but only one that leads to genuine salvation and fruit-bearing. The focus of the parable is not on the sower's skill or the seed's quality but on the condition of the soil—emphasizing God's sovereignty in salvation while encouraging continued evangelism. The "rocky ground" hearers represent those who initially receive the gospel with joy but have no root system to sustain them when trials come, often resulting in what we might call "deconstruction" today. Christians should expect varied responses to gospel proclamation and not be discouraged when the seed appears to be wasted on unresponsive hearts, as this pattern was predicted by Jesus himself. The parable provides a warning against shallow faith while encouraging believers to develop deep spiritual roots that can withstand persecution and trials. Genuine conversion is ultimately evidenced by fruit-bearing, not merely by initial enthusiasm or religious affiliation. Understanding the Soils The Parable of the Sower presents four distinct soil types, each representing different responses to the gospel message. The first soil—the path—represents hearts where the gospel makes no impact whatsoever; the seed simply bounces off and is quickly snatched away by Satan. This illustrates not merely outward rejection of the gospel, but also intellectual non-comprehension. As Tony explains, this doesn't necessarily mean active hostility toward the gospel but could simply be indifference: "It may not be someone who has like a closed fist, 'I hate the gospel, I hate everything about God,' but for some reason they're just not [interested]." This parallels Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that "the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him." The rocky soil represents those who initially receive the gospel with enthusiasm but lack depth. Their faith appears genuine at first but quickly withers under pressure or persecution. This phenomenon is particularly evident in what we often call "deconstruction" today—where someone who appeared genuinely converted falls away when their faith is tested. As Jesse notes, "I think what I've been helpful for me is to get outta my mind...what's the length of time here? Is it possible that somebody could be in this place...which presents like a setting down of deep roots that could last like years on end?" The parable reminds us that immediate joy at receiving the gospel is not necessarily evidence of saving faith, and it calls us to examine whether our own faith has sufficient depth to withstand trials. The Comfort of Realistic Expectations One of the most encouraging aspects of this parable is how it calibrates our expectations about evangelism and gospel ministry. Jesus teaches that when the gospel is proclaimed, we should expect varied responses—including outright rejection—not because of any failure in the message or messenger, but because of the condition of human hearts. This provides tremendous comfort for believers engaged in evangelistic efforts who might otherwise be discouraged by apparent failure. Tony highlights this point: "This parable is not about the skill of the sower or even the efficacy of the seed...The point of the parable...is that it has to do with the soil itself." This understanding frees us from the pressure of thinking we must somehow perfect our evangelistic technique or presentation, while also removing the false guilt that can come when people reject the message we share. Furthermore, the parable encourages continued, generous sowing of the gospel seed. As Tony observes, "We don't see the sower in this parable meticulously only identifying the good soil and only planting the seeds there. He does promiscuously spread this seed everywhere that he can." This reminds us that our responsibility is faithful proclamation, while the results remain in God's sovereign hands. Memorable Quotes "The Parable of the Sower teaches really that the gospel call goes out to all... but only those who God regenerates, that good soil, are gonna receive it savingly and will bear fruit." - Jesse Schwamb "Just because our experience of Christianity and our experience of being in the faith feels so genuine and real and rooted, we should also recognize that it felt real and genuine and rooted for [those who later fell away]... There's a caution there for us." - Tony Arsenal "The exhortation built into this is that we need to seek that root. We don't get to determine what kind of soil we are on an ultimate level—that's God's election and his secret providence. But on a horizontal level, in our experience of things, we have agency, we make decisions. We seek to be rooted or unrooted in the gospel." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript [00:00:36] Introduction and Greetings Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 462 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast of Good Soil. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Well, will you look at us? Look at us. It's finally and officially begun. And that is this conversation. [00:01:00] Kickoff to the Parable Series Jesse Schwamb: This episode is really the kickoff, well, the first parable that we're going through together, starting a long conversation that I think is gonna bear much fruit, if you will. Yes. Maybe 30, maybe 60, maybe a hundred times. Lord willing. It's gonna be great. And we're starting off with a doozy. Yes. Actually, maybe this is like the granddaddy of all the parables because we're gonna hear Jesus tell us something about the word of God and how it's received among different hearers. And this is so fantastic. It's the only place to begin because this is truly some eternally contemporary words. Yeah, it's, this is the parable that's continually verified under our own eyes. Wherever the word of God is preached or expounded and people are assembled to hear it, the sayings of our Lord in this parable are found to be true. It describes what goes on as a general rule in our congregations in the world. Anytime the word of God goes out, what a place to begin. So we're gonna get there. It's gonna be great, don't you worry, dear listener. [00:02:04] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: But of course, before we do that, it's our tradition, our word that's spoken is always something in affirmation with something or in denial against something. So I say to you, as I always do, Tony. What do you have for us on this episode? Uh, an affirmation or denial. Tony Arsenal: This is an affirmation. I'll try to keep it nice and short and tight. Uh, I am affirming everything that comes with the fall. It's the air's getting crisp. The season, the, the pumpkin. Yeah. Not, not the fall. With the, let's, let's, let's clarify. I'm affirming everything that comes with autumn. So, uh, the air's crisp, the pumpkin spice is flowing, the leaves are starting to come down. Although, as a New Englander, I feel like I might be a little disappointed this year they're saying that it might not be as vibrant because we've been under a bit of a drought. But, uh, I, I'm all for all of it. Sweaters, gimme like a nice cozy scarf to put on and like a, I don't know, like a stocking cap. Gimme some flannel. I'm just ready to rock and roll. I'm, I'm, I'm done with summer and I'm ready for fall and yeah, that's, that's the whole thing. That's the affirmation. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. [00:03:09] Autumnal Delights and Debates Jesse Schwamb: Beautiful. It's speaking of like eternally or seasonally contemporary. That is so good. Plus I would say like the fall or autumn. The best adjectives, doesn't it? Yes. Like including like the word ottum. Yes. Like, that's just a great word that we, we do not use enough of. So this season, loved ones dropping a tum in there because Yes. It's just such a good word. Tony Arsenal: And I, I know people hate on the pumpkin spice and uh, there was a rev, I think I've said this before, it's re revolutionized my understanding because I used to get so mad because I was like, this doesn't even taste like pumpkin. It's not pumpkin flavored items, it's pumpkin spiced. Flavored items. So it's the, the spice you would use in pumpkin pie is the spice that they're talking about. So people complain that you're just putting nutmeg in things. And to that, I say yes, that's the point. You just start adding nutmeg or pumpkin spice or cloves or all spice or whatever it might be. The point is we're using the same spices that you would use for making a pumpkin pie or some other sort of fall. Delicious fall. Pumpy squashy, goodness. Jesse Schwamb: You got that right. This is a classic case of don't hate the player. Hate the game. Tony Arsenal: It's true, it's true. And if you don't like it, if you don't like pumpkin spice, then just don't talk to me at all. I'm just kidding. Still get pumpkin spice. Like you can go to Starbucks and get the same, same coffee you always get. You don't have to get pumpkin spice, you don't have to drink pumpkin beer, you don't have to do any of that. The all the stuff is, all the normal stuff is still available. They don't tell you you can't have it. Nobody is opening your mouth and pouring it down your throat. So just calm down, order your normal drip coffee and move on with your life. Jesse Schwamb: Speaking of polarizing autumnal type things, I don't know if we've talked about probably, we have talked about this and I've just forgotten. Where do you land on the whole. Cotton, uh, sorry. Candy corn, not cotton candy, but candy corn. Tony Arsenal: I, I feel like we have talked about this and my perspectives may have changed over the years. I'm not a big fan of candy corn, but I will eat it until I vomit. If you put it in front, I think is the, is the consensus that if there's a bowl of it in front of me, the first thing that I will do is I will break off two little white tips of the ca uh, candy corn and stick them on my fangs and pretend to be vampire. Jesse Schwamb: Beautiful. Tony Arsenal: And then I will eat the remainder of the pound and a half of candy that's in front of me until I throw up. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. And I know there's some difference between like candy, corn and like the little pumpkin confectionary ones. Yeah. Some people prefer those over others. And then this is not even to talk about the whole debate between when it comes to Reese's Peanut butter cups and Oh yeah. The pumpkin variety of those and No, all that stuff. Tony Arsenal: No. Mm. Jesse Schwamb: No. To those? Tony Arsenal: No, to those. The, the shaped, the shaped, uh, Reese's Peanut butter objects, I suppose they're not cups at that point. Uh, they use a different kind of peanut butter. I dunno if you know that, but they use a different peanut butter. So they, they actually do taste different than the actual didn't know that says peanut butter cups. Um, it's either a different kind of peanut butter or a different kind of chocolate. But one of the primary substances, uh, not in the Aristotelian sense, uh, one of the primary substances is different. And so it does actually taste different. It's not as good. And then the balance between the chocolate and the peanut butter is off. It's, it's not good. I'm a, I'm a peanut butter cup. Uh, I like to say aficionado, but I think probably snob would be a better. A better term for it. Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you'll, you like what you like by the way, only on this podcast, only, I think among long-term listeners, would it be necessary to clarify that you do not mean substance in there was six alien sense. Tony Arsenal: That's true. That's, that's definitely true. Well, Jesse, that is where we are. Enough about my, uh, fall. Uh, food preferences. What are you affirming and or denying? Tonight, [00:07:02] Musical Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm gonna also come along with you on it with the affirmation, and maybe while you're drinking that PSL or you're searching for that candy, corn, you might like, want something to put into your ears that isn't us, that's a little bit more melodic. And so I'm affirming with the, this time and age in which it is all about curation. That's often a lovely thing. I use Spotify for all of my music consumption, and they just fed me like a really interesting playlist that I would never have thought of as a category, but I've really been enjoying, it's called Math Rock. And I saw, and I thought I'm, I'm usually kinda like dubious of the Spotify playlist because like they're kind of out there for me generally. But I thought to myself, well, this is an interesting port man too. Like, I like math. I like rock, and the description was complex rhythms and mesmerizing loops. So I thought, I like complex rhythms. I like loops that continue and mesmerize, so the check it out for yourself. If you're looking for something that's like, it's enough to be interesting while you're working on something, but not too interesting. So that distracts you. This is apparently the jam. So yeah, it's like just really interesting rock oriented, mostly instrumental music that is like. Really motivating, but again, not interesting enough to really distract you from the task at hand if that's not your thing. The other thing I would recommend, I know you'll join me in this, Tony, is that poor Bishop Hooper released a new album this week. It's called The Serpent and the Seed, and this one has a ton of tracks on it, like 18 or so, and it, it as well is a unique mix of both instrumental, really lovely, beautiful pieces and then some that carry more vocal and melodic stuff that's kind of their customary jam. Both of 'em are great. They both do have kind of an an autumnal vibe, if I'm honest. Now I'm thinking about it. It's really the perfect compliment to whatever it is that you're consuming that has that pumpkin spice in it. So math, rock, the serpent and the seed. There you go. Tony Arsenal: I'm trying to synthesize. I mean, math and rock are like two of Jesse's favorite things. So I'm trying to synthesize what it would be like to scream the quadratic equation at someone with some sort of like slightly off cadence, dissonant guitar rift underneath. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. Tony Arsenal: I feel like there's a Me Without You album out there somewhere that that's exactly what it is. But Jesse Schwamb: yeah, probably there should Tony Arsenal: be at least. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there, there absolutely should be. And I'm with you. I'm willing to work on that album. That's a great idea. Like just, it's just an album of mathematical equations and like the deep mysteries of life, you know, listen, math is beautiful. Numbers are stories. There's, there's so much there. Yeah. You had me at Quadratic, so I, I think we've, we've given people a lot to enjoy in this fall season. It's true. Tony Arsenal: I, I. I couldn't solve a quadratic equation to save my entire life at this point. Uh, I took introduction to logic when I got to college 'cause I couldn't remember how to multiply fractions on the entrance exam. That's fair. So that's fair. So that was, that's my experience with math. But right Jesse Schwamb: now the internet wants to keep serving me videos about, you've seen like all these tests, like these entrance exams for like Harvard or like the Ivy Leagues, other Ivy Leagues, and it is all these random things, you know, like we're solving for like two variables, terminally, and there is some kinda like expon explanation to it. Um. Yeah, I guess that's what I've become and I watch 'em all. They honestly get me every time. Yeah. I'm like, I'm not gonna watch that. And then I'm like, oh, I'm definitely gonna watch that. So it just happens. It's great. Tony Arsenal: I love it. Meanwhile, meanwhile, YouTube is desperately trying to get me to watch Season six and Cobra High. And it's very quickly gonna be succeeding. I think the next time Netflix has a, has a promotion where I can get a cheap month or something like that, I will definitely be binging Cobra Kai. So I feel like our YouTube algorithms are very different. Jesse Schwamb: Very different. Yeah. Very different. Certainly in, um, there is a commonality of, of the mysteries of the world and. [00:11:06] Introduction to the Parable of the Sower Jesse Schwamb: In some way, that's what we're talking about in this entire series. And yeah, if for some reason you didn't hear a conversation from two weeks ago where we really set the table, I think for what a parable is, why Jesus uses parables. As far as I remember, you correct if I'm wrong, it was the definitive conversation about why the parable is not just peace wise in Jesus' teaching, but really why it's the centerpiece. Yeah, we talked about that at great length. So now we're really ready to go. If you didn't hear that, I highly recommend you go back and hear that. 'cause there's so much. I realize as we, we looked at this parable of the sower or better like the parable of the soils, that we could do a whole series on just this bad boy. Such not just like wide interpretation, but wide application. So much for us to really chew on and then to really come back to and chew the could. So we're gonna have to be probably every time a little bit self-editing and brief. So if you're just yelling at your device, why aren't you talking about this thing? There's a great place for you to yell into or maybe just calmly and very politely suggest rather than the void, you can join our Telegram group. Telegram is just an app for, it's kind of a conversational tool and platform, and if you're looking for it and I know that you are, don't, why would you even fool yourself? It's, you can find it by going to T Me Reform Brotherhood. There's a whole channel, there's a bunch of channels there, a bunch of little conversations that we have compartmentalize. There's one just to talk about the episode. So as we go through this, my encouragement to everybody is track with us, get your scriptures out. Come along with us in the actual journey of processing this. Do spend some time processing it with us. And then when there is inevitably that thing, they're like, why didn't you talk about this? You know, a great place to converse with others and us about that would be in the Telegram Chat. So T Me Reform Brotherhood. So enough of that, let's get to it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, there's, there's some, um, there's some logic that would say we should have just rather than doing an Introduction to Parables episode, we should have just done the parable, because this parable does really follow, it really does form like an introduction to all of Christ's parabolic teachings. And, you know, it's, no, it's no, um, mystery either in God's providence or just in Matthew as being a, a, you know, somewhat genius level composer of, of a work of literature in putting this parable first, because you're absolutely right at the top of the show that this parable really is. Almost like the hermeneutical key for all of the parables. Not just for in terms of like understanding the parables, it doesn't do that so much. But in understanding the purpose of the parables and more importantly, explicitly in the middle of this, Christ explains why he teaches in parables. So we covered that a lot last time, so we're not gonna, we're gonna skip over that middle section 'cause we don't need to rehash that. But this really is the granddaddy of all the parables. It it is, um. It is Christ's teaching on why he uses parables in action. It's the application of his own theology, of parables, if you want to call it that. Uh, in principle. And he is gracious enough that in this very first parable, he actually gives us the interpretation, right, which is, is not entirely unique, um, in, in the gospels, but it is not always the norm. There are a fair number of parables where Christ just drops the parable and leaves it there, um, for both his immediate listeners to figure out and then also for us to figure out. We're not given the inspired interpretation, but this one we are given the inspired interpretation. And Jesse, I had to laugh because, um. Just as you get really, really upset and worked, worked up about when people say Christ's body broken for you. Uh, it just drives me nuts when people call this the parable of the soils. 'cause Christ gives it a name, right? So, so we'll talk about that too. And I, I'm, I'm mostly playing, like, I'm not gonna jump through the screen at you or anything like that, but that's the, one of the other unique features of this parable is that it's given it's, it's given a name. Um, and that's part of the interpretation is that in most cases, parables have a primary figure or a primary point that's being made. And if you get that primary point wrong or that primary figure wrong, um, you tend to get the rest of the parable wrong. In this case, Christ graciously tells us who the parable is about or what the parable is about, and then later on when we get to the, the next parable or a couple parables down, um, he actually tells us more about the parable through some other teaching as well. [00:15:38] Reading and Analyzing the Parable Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, do you have that text in front of us? Do you wanna go ahead and read that first chunk? That's the parable itself. Jesse Schwamb: I do, let's do it by the way. Uh, maybe somebody should keep track. Here's a fun little game of how many times we say parable or parabolic. And of course, whenever I hear parabolic, I always think, of course there is like something of great hyperbole or allegory, but I often think of, uh, parabola, which to your point, Tony, I think you're just doing this for my sake now, and I love, this is an exponent oriented equation. Of course, it's a like a canonical section, which can only be creative mathematically by pronunciation again. So thank you for that. I thought you just did that for me, so Tony Arsenal: I have no idea what you just said. You might as well have been speaking like Hindu. Jesse Schwamb: It's fantastic. Well, let's, let's get to the actual, the best word, the word of life. And this is from Matthew chapter 13. Beginning just at the start of the chapter. That same day, Jesus went out of his, uh, house and sat beside the sea and, and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables saying. A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprung up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no roots, they were it away. Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some a hundred fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears, let him hear. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. So on a surface level here, the, the parable is straightforward, right? We have a very straightforward picture, which is, is common for most of the parables, that it's not some sort of unusual, crazy out there situation that's being described. It's a common scenario from everyday life, uh, that doesn't tend to have sort of like. Mythological legendary kinds of characteristics. We have a simple farmer who is out sowing his seeds. Um, some of the commentaries we'll point out, and I don't, I dunno how accurate this is or isn't, but I, I saw it in, in a couple different commentaries. So I'm inclined to, to believe it that our model of farming, uh, in sort of a western world or, or maybe not western world, but in a more, I dunno, technologically advanced world, is to teal the ground till the ground first, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: And then to scatter seed. And it was much more common in the ancient world to actually scatter the seed kind of, uh, promiscuously and then till the ground. Um, I don't know the reasons for that. I'm not a horticulturist, but, um. The, the, one of the critiques that I've heard, and it's funny when people try to critique Jesus is 'cause they're always proven wrong, but one of the critiques I've heard is like, no farmer whatever would ever do this. Like, no, no sower would ever just throw seed on the ground, but this actually is the way they would've done farming. So he's, he's taking an everyday scenario that everyone would've been familiar with. Right. Nobody would've been like, oh yeah, that doesn't make any sense. They would've just said, oh yeah, of course you just throw the seed on the ground and then you come back around later and you do what you need to do. So it, it was really a scenario where some of the seed would've fallen on the path. And we're not talking about like a road next to the farm, but a lot of times the, the field had sort of, um. They're probably called like convenience trails is what they're called now. But people would travel through the, through the paths, and so there would be an area that's already walked, walked on that's a little bit easier to traverse. And eventually that area would turn into a pathway. So it was, it was kind of turned into sort of like hard clay turf that you couldn't get the seed into anyways. And then there would've been areas where, um, there was rocks under the surface. Most of our fields that our farm fields have been tilled and prepared and have been worked over, that the stones had been removed. But it wasn't always like that in the ancient world. And then you would've had areas where there was, uh, there was other vegetation, thorns, weeds, other kinds of plants that would've made, made it difficult for the crop to sprout and to bear fruit. So we have a very common scenario. There's nothing surprising about this. There's nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a simple farming metaphor that Christ employs here. Jesse Schwamb: And in some ways that's very consistent of course, because we have these very ordinary, normal things that God is using as a means of explanation for something that is very extraordinary, very supernatural. So we have the natural coming into play, not just as a representation, but to really demonstrates, illustrates and impound both in structure and form. This idea of what it means for the gospel to be communicated. And I'm with you, my understanding is in most ancient world. Those, those fields, we tend to think of them as fields and often the reference that way were like more like these narrow strips of land separated by these paths and you have this farmer casting the seed like very liberally. And not only that, but I think what's interesting right on the face. Is we see that there are basically four potential outcomes here and only one of those outcomes, 'cause we're already understanding this to mean the sowing of the sea, which is the word of life, which is the gospel message. Only one of those outcomes results in kingdom growth. There's a ratio of three to one. There's three times as many poor outcomes. In other words, there's all of these various ways in which we find that the seed is not rejected or does not result in the intended fruit. But there is just one path, one narrow kind of way in which it does result, and then it results in kind of various outcomes in terms of like the magnitude of the fruit or the plants that result from this planting. But as a result of that. I think what's really interesting to me right on the face is that we're seeing, like you said, there is a sower. He's casting the seed deliberately, he's coming on the path and he's just throwing it out. And in that narrow strip of land, there are all these different soils. And so right away we see if you're, if you're a farmer, you're understanding something about, it's not about the skill of the farmer in the casting of the seed. It's not even about the, the skill of the seed to grow. It's about the soil itself. And so again, we have this as three times as many potentially poor outcomes as there are for the one that results in this grand harvest. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And the one thing about this that might be, might have been, and, and again, some of the commentators are, are split on this, but might have been a sort of unexpected, um, element. And, and this is something we do see with, uh, with the parables, is there's usually some sort of, um. Unexpected or dramatic or turn of events kind of element, usually towards the end of a parable that would make, would, should be a subversion of expectations. Right? Right. And so the, in this instance, um, a yield of 30 times or, or 60 times or a hundred times, all of those yields would be crazy high yields. Um, you know, I, I, I think there are some plants, some of the commentators will make, make a point that there are some plants where like a 30. A 30 yield is normal. Um, but a 30 or a 60 or a hundred times yield of a crop is, is not the expectation. And so I think in, in a scenario like this, the reader or the listener is prepped by the fact that there are three, uh, negative outcomes and only one favorable outcome. To assume that the crop yield is not going to be great. Right? And then the reality is the crops that do sprout the crops that land on the good soil or the seed that lands on the good soil. Not only is it productive, it's so productive that it actually outpaces and kind of compensates for the lack of productivity or the lack of fruitfulness of the other three. So it's, it's three different, uh, it's four possible outcomes and then three levels of fruitfulness. And so this parable does sort of cause the listener or the hearer to think about, um, and start, you know, from the very outset, think about what does, what does it mean that the seed landed on the path and was stolen away by the birds? What does it mean that it sprouted quickly and uh, but didn't have roots and so it withered away in the sun? And what does it mean that, you know, it sprouted among thorns and so it couldn't bear fruit. And then I think the implied, um, the implied question that's being forced here because the parable does start out, you know, saying there was the sower, the sower, um. Sowed this seed out. He doesn't introduce this the same way he normally, he normally does or commonly does, right? Jesus often will start the peril ball by saying something like, the kingdom of God is like, right? Or you know this. This is like that. This, he just starts out saying like, a sower was out in the, in the field sowing seed. So the, the listener is not primed to know what the comparison is necessarily, but I think part of that is that now they're forced to ask what is the comparison? And I don't think it's much of a stretch. And again, this is why parables are so kind of paradoxical is it's not a difficult, when we get to the interpretation, it's not difficult to see the interpretation. Right, right. It's, it's easy to understand that the parable here, the metaphor is, is different reactions of, of some sort to. To a given thing, right? It's, it's different reactions to an investment of some sort. There's an investment of seed and in some instances it just doesn't take, in other instances, it takes and it doesn't sprout, and in other instances it sprouts, but it never fruits. So when we get to the interpretation, Jesus is gonna give us the clarity of what that investment is, and then who are, or what are the outcomes and what do they mean? In, in our, you know, in our thought process of what the kingdom of God is like. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, so let's do it then. [00:25:44] Understanding the Soils Jesse Schwamb: 'cause what we've got here is we basically have, each soil is representing some type of here. So we've got four heres but only one true believer. So it's probably behooves us to go through all of them and really kind of chat through. And maybe what we can do is try to bring some of our own practical application to each of these. I've been really meditating and pondering that, trying to think if this is practical for us, then how can we understand how each of these are being manifest all around us? And of course the intention here is not to like name people that we think fall into each of these four little groups, but more so to think about how we might understand people who do fall into each of these groups. And that is to say that. Each one of these, well, the, the first three rather, that these ones in which they're, the soil is in some degree suboptimal. I, I don't know that it means that it's always that way, for instance. So we might think of people that fall into those categories, but the Lord may be moving or working in them to move them into that fourth category. And of course, he's done that with ourselves, so we know that that's exactly how he operates. Um, and it's, I think it's good for us to remember that. I think there's a lot that's scary about this first soil, this idea that. The seed just bounces. So we get no uptake whatsoever in this one. But the other ones, at least you get a little satisfaction that there's some kind of reception. There is a receipt of that word. And the reason why I find this one to be so troubling is because these who hear it in the first case, they don't understand and they don't esteem it. And Christ is very clear to say that the seed itself doesn't sit there long. It bounces. So there's a, there is a literal hardness. That's reflected in that clay soil or that path, which is down trotted. And it's hard because of perhaps this constant lack of belief, this constant and unrepentant hearts or lifestyle, but it would be enough if it just kinda bounced off and sat there. But the fact that it's snatched away that the birds come and take it away, that Satan himself has an active and powerful role in influencing all of those who are hearing this word. And I think that hardness of heart may not just be manifest in, say, like an unrepentant lifestyle or this kind of clench fist against God on the inside, which is of course true of the natural man. But more than that, that anything that would take us away from true belief. So that is even any kind of our religious system or belief, any kind of philosophy, any kind of other worldview I think is in mind here because we know the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. And so. What he's doing in that sometimes happens first and foremost in the mind, manifested in the heart and then in our behaviors. So if he's stealing away this word by replacing it with something that is false, that is not true, that destroys, that pulls us away and moves us away, then this is very scary. He has a real power, which we talked about. I don't know, like maybe six or so episodes ago. It's worth listening to, I think. And so what I find here that is really traumatizing upfront is the involvement in particular of the sinful man under his own mean estate. That is, that it's clear that the natural man cannot conceive of the things of God without regeneration, and Jesus makes it abundantly clear. He's, he's basically saying what Paul says later on in First Corinthians when he writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, does not accept them. So again, there's no agreement. There's no, even an intellectual ascent does not accept the things of the spirit of God for they are folly to him and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one for who is understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ, so there is no mind of Christ, which is, it's a horrible way to live life. And so in that space we have both the natural man, his total depravity, unable to pull himself up by his theological bootstraps or philosophical bootstraps or his intellectual emotional bootstraps to even discern what the way in which the world really actually is. And then in in, I say in addition to that, we have the devil himself waging war and attacking by pulling away that seed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I have a little bit of a different take on this and I think this is what I am looking forward to in this series. Is there, there is gonna be. [00:30:01] Understanding the Parable of the Sower Tony Arsenal: Different, uh, different understandings that probably all fall and are all compatible, but all fall within a acceptable range of understanding. Here, you know, I, in, in reading some of the commentaries, Calvin makes the point that all four of these different types of seed represent people who in some sense are open to the gospel. They're, they're open to, he, he makes the point that this is not talking about the, the person who like refuses to hear the gospel at all, who like won't even come into the church. This is a person predominantly who is, is exposed to the word in some sense, probably in view as someone who's among the people of God who's in the, in the, in the physical body of the people of God who's among Christians or among those hearing the word. And for whatever reason, the, the, the seed doesn't, uh, it doesn't even get into the soil. Right, and he compares, Christ compares, um, this not to somebody who is hardhearted, but to someone who doesn't understand, right? That there's an intellectual element to this, right? You think of, um, you know, you think of somebody who hears the scripture and probably understands outwardly what it means, but doesn't ever comprehend it internally. They don't ever really, they don't ever really let it penetrate into their, into their hearts. Um, so it's been sewn into their hearts, but it doesn't actually take root in their hearts in any other sense. [00:31:38] The Role of the Soil in Receiving the Word Tony Arsenal: And this is what's a little bit different from, from the other ones that we're gonna see in all of the other cases. The seed takes root, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: It actually penetrates the ground and begins to grow. Um, it, this is a seed that never even makes it that far. And so it may not be someone who has like a, who necessarily has like a closed fist. I hate the gospel. I hate everything about God, but for some reason they're just not. And when we say for some reason I'm talking, obviously I'm talking la you know, horizontally. Um, we know that the reason that they don't have an open heart is 'cause the Holy Spirit is not open to their heart. But for whatever earthly temporal reason, the word just doesn't penetrate. It bounces off of them. It just doesn't get there. Not necessarily because they're outwardly hostile to it. They just maybe are not interested in it. And so this is where I think that. Along with the evil one, snatching it away. That's actually like one in the same thing. Is, is part of what I think this is getting at is that the, the, the only reason that the, um, that Satan can snatch away the word from their heart or what has been sewn into their heart is because their heart has not received it. And so it's that sort of dual function and, and maybe it's kind of like, almost like, uh, in Exodus, you know, God hardening the heart and then Pharaoh hardening the heart and those two things are happening, you know, by means of concurs that God is doing it in a divine sense. I almost feel like this is an instance where kind of like the, the census or, or with job where Satan is the one who is doing it, but it's ultimately attributed to God as well. It's the hardening of the heart, but it's also the hardness of heart. Um, all of those things are playing a dynamic, but ultimately the point here is that there are those who the word is preached to. [00:33:30] The Sower's Responsibility and the Soil's Condition Tony Arsenal: Um, you know, we will find out in, in a little bit later, like, the sower is Christ in, in these parables here. It's not, it's not generally the sowing of the word. It's Christ who is sowing the word. It's the son who is sowing, uh, the seed of the word. And we can think about that either during his own ministry. This certainly was, um, was true of his own ministry on Earth, that there were some who just did not receive the word and they just, it just bounced off of them. But then also as the son sows the seed through his people, down through the church age, through history, whether it's in the Lord's Day service or personal, witnessing, personal, you know, um, evangelism, it's still God who is sowing the seed. It's still the Lord who is the sower of the seed. But even in that context, there are still some who just don't receive it. So I think what you said earlier is really, is really spot on. This parable is not about. The skill of the sower or even the efficacy of the seed. Right. And I think sometimes people read this and they, they look at it as though it is actually the sewer's fault. What a dumb sower. He sowed it on the path. Of course it's not gonna take root. That's not the point of the parable at all. The point of the parable, and we learn it just right, this very first one, is that it has to do with the, the soil itself. Which is why, you know, I, I kind of joke about calling it the parable of the soils, and that's a fine way to refer to it. And most of these parables could have multiple different, you know, accurate titles as well. But the point of the parable, or the main point of the parable is that the soil itself is what determines the outcome. Again, you know, we, we don't need to get into all the theological details of how the soil becomes, what the soil is. This show has the word reformed in the title. You can figure out that we're gonna say, well, God is the one that prepares the soil. And that also just fits with the, with the a parable here, right? The good soil is only good because it's been tilled and prepared by the sower ahead of time, right? So I think that's, that's spot on. And, and you know, as I think about the people I know in my life, um, it's very easy to get discouraged when you try to so seed to, to follow through on the metaphor when you try to so seed and it feels like it bounces off. But we shouldn't be surprised at that. We shouldn't be surprised when someone is just not interested because Christ in his very first parable tells us there are people out there like that. That doesn't mean you don't sow the seed, it doesn't mean you don't continue to spread the seed the way that the sower does. And the reason for that is that some of it is going to take, take root, some of it is going to take root and bear fruit and you are not in charge and you don't control which one does which. We don't see the sower in this parable meticulously only identifying the good soil and only planting the seeds there. He does promiscuously spread this, so this seed everywhere that he can. [00:36:26] The Reality of Hardheartedness Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there is something there that I think is comfortable about this hardness of the soil, because I think sometimes we underestimate that the normative position of man is to be antagonistic toward God. That's not to say like we're talking about in their every action they take, they're going to refuse to hear the gospel or they're going to fight vehemently or out outwardly against it. But it's true that everywhere we find the scriptures, whether it's this other metaphor about God, again, doing this great surgery, of taking out this height of stone, which is of course hardheartedness or whether we go to like Romans three, where Paul says that there's no one who understands, there's no one who seeks God. So we understand that the default position is, one, nobody's seeking after God. Two, that God is too threatening to us. He threatens ourself. He threatens our ego, he threatens our own way. He threatens our contingency, all of which we try to fight against, like to our own dismay. And you know, basically. You know, it's willing, suspension of disbelief. But it's interesting and I think comforting here that what he's saying is, is exactly what you've just said, which is do not he, he'd almost say like loved ones. Do not be surprised when you find that people are just not that interested. They're just not into the gospel. Because your default position is to be a gospel abuser. To be a covenant breaker. And so because of that, there's just a natural hardness. And that hardness, I think he has to draw out. He has to say it's gonna bounce and Satan's gonna snatch it away because it would be, it's too easy to look at those who are just like vehemently opposed to the gospel that wanna debate. You wanna shut you down, wanna yell at you, wanna put signs in your face, wanna spit on you. That's too easy to be like, well, of course. Those people are not gonna receive it. But what about the quiet people who just don't care? Or, yeah. What about the people who are too caught up in their way of life or their simple behaviors or their patterns, or again, just what? What about those? What about the Mormons? When they come to your door and you can speak into your blue in the face about what Paul says, like the gospel plus anything is anathema, and they're just kinda like, yes. Yeah. Totally. That's fine. Totally down with that. And you're like, yeah, but you're doing, you're doing that very thing. This is great comfort to know that even those situations where you're not at war explicitly with somebody, that it's still comforting to know that this is going to happen. And also I think it's a great reminder that apart from God, apart from that changing of the soil, as you said, Tony, we would be those same people. That's in fact where we start. I, I don't say that. Like there's a progression here. We find in the, from moving from one to four. There is though something like you've said, where it's just interesting that Jesus shows us the very kind of shades of this. And I think, again, we gotta get out of our head like the, the temporality of this or like, well, what length of time are we talking about? Like when we get to the second one, which we should move on to. And there is some sprouting of the seed. Like how much time are we talking about? Like if it's two weeks, are they in camp two, if it's three weeks, are they moved out of that into some other, one of the other schools? Uh, I think it's just to show us that there are really, again, four hearers, one believer, and we can see clearly what the one believer looks like. It's a little bit more difficult to maybe sometimes discern what the other three look like, but it gives us hope and encouragement and basically just a sense of like, this is the way the world works. To know pres positionally, that when we go out, and like you said, I love this already, this is a major theme, is speak the gospel to all people. I mean, in this way, the gospel is for all people. Because Jesus' saying, do not cast the seed here. Go and look at that narrow path and find out, try to keep it off the, the hard ground. Do not let the devil snatch it up. It just says, throw and seed, throw and seed. And so we have to keep doing that stuff. [00:40:10] The Challenge of Shallow Roots Jesse Schwamb: So let's get to number two. What, what? Yeah. What say? Yeah. Tony Arsenal: Let me read it here. This is in verse, uh, 20 and 21. Here. It says, as for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the world, immediately he falls away. So thi this is the person who, um, who has some sort of outward conversion experience, right? It's a person who receives the word, he receives it with joy, um, and appears to sprout, right? This is seed that has taken hold and has, uh, you know, the, the, and we, we can see that it has taken hold. So it's not just some hidden seed that has roots and never breaks the surface. Right. It's a, it's a, it's a plant that has made its way into the soil. It has taken roots of some sort. Um, but the roots are shallow. The roots never actually get, uh, deep enough to, to be able to survive the sun, right. In the, the original parable, it's, it's baked by the sun. And, you know, this is, um, I think what what we're gonna see is maybe to sort of preface your question, and I think probably this is gonna be one of those two parter episodes, even though we planned it to be one parter episode. Um, I think what we're gonna see here is that you can't actually know whether someone is. The hard rocks is the rocks or the thorns. Right? Un until, until all is said and done. Right. Right. And that's part of what's difficult is you, you want to look at a parable like this, and this is where I think maybe this is a good sort of like caution against overinterpreting, the parables, right? Christ is not trying to give us a rubric to identify who is what. Jesse Schwamb: Right. He's Tony Arsenal: not trying to give us like a litmus test to say like, that person is the hard soil. That person is the rocks. That person is the thorns. And you know, this reminds me, I, I recall, I, I dunno how many years ago, it was a couple years ago when Kanye West was going through his like Jesus phase, right? And he, everyone was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that Kanye is a Christian and he's writing this album called Jesus. Jesus Saves. And, and I, I just remember saying at the time, like, guys, there's a parable of the soils here. Like we should be. Um, we should be joyful that it, it appears that this seed is taking root, but there are lots of different outcomes when the seed takes root. And it's funny because I, I don't, I don't remember what episode this was and please don't go look it up 'cause that's a waste of everyone's time. But I remember when that conversation happened and I don't know whether there was an affirmation or a denial or what context came up in, but I remember contrasting him to Justin Bieber. And it's ironic, right, because I actually just read on Twitter today. Let me see if I can find the post during the next time you're talking. Justin Bieber posted this really amazing, theologically astute, mature kind of statement on Twitter today. And I think at the time, if you had asked me, um, is Kanye more likely to be the good soil or Justin Bieber to be the good soil, I would've said Kanye. Right? Just because he's, he was older, he is a little bit more established in himself. Um. Justin Bieber was still very young. He was, he was sort of like all over the place personality wise. He seemed to be changing radically. And it just goes to show like, you can't tell. And, and I'm not even saying right now like, this is, this is where it gets difficult. I'm not even saying right now, Justin Bieber is good soil, although I did right. Retweet his quote and did hashtag good soil. Almost aspirationally, right? But we can take a look at someone's life in retrospect and say, this person is bearing fruit, or this person is not bearing fruit. And, and that's really where this particular, um, type of soil goes. It's not so much the fruit, it's the sprout. And I think when we look at a situation like Kanye and, and. There's hopefully still a lot of life left for Kanye, and that means there's still hope for a con, a genuine conversion and bearing fruit that keeps with repentance that does not appear to be what had happened at the time. Right? He's gone totally off the rails at this point. So we pray for that. We hope, we hope for better things for him. Um, but. At the time, Kanye was, is he, he's going by Y now. I don't even know what to call him anymore. But Kanye was a sprout that grew up with great joy quickly. And what we found through time is that it appears that he, when he was, although maybe he fits better into the second, this next category that we'll have to push off till next week, I think. But either way, like he appeared to have sprouted, he appeared to have taken root and ultimately did not actually bear fruit. And that's the defining feature of these first three ones. It's not so much about what happens with the seed. Does it get in the ground? Does it not get in the grow? Does it sprouts, does it not sprout? It's ultimately about the fruitfulness, right? The final, the final phase of the parable, the final, um, the final type of soil is the one that produces fruit. So we'll get to that in detail, but that's what we need to think about. And again, like I said, it's not as though crisis saying like, all right, here's this checklist of ways to determine whether someone's conversion is correct, is true or not. Because we can't know that until after the fact and well after the fact. We also can't know that it's valid until after the fact. What I think this parable, broadly speaking, gets at is that we have to look at every situation and realize that there are these different possible outcomes. And although I don't know that this is explicitly part of the parable, it also sort of points us to the fact that like, because it's not a foregone conclusion about what's gonna happen, maybe there's also something we can do about it. Right? Right. Maybe when we realize someone might be on the rocky soil. Whether we, we have some reason to believe that or we just want to get out in front of that possibility, maybe there's still room to actually get in there and, and move the seed to a different soil, I guess might be a better way to use the metaphor is to, to just take the seed somewhere else or to till the soil, to get the rocks out of the soil. Although this is not talking about like rocks in the soil. It's talking about a layer, probably a layer of bedrock. Like Yes, exactly. Just under the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Right? So Tony Arsenal: there is an immutability about these, these different categories of, of people, and again, this is where like overinterpreting, the parable can get to be problematic, but we, we see that there are these categories, we can't necessarily know which one of these categories a person is in when they have some sort of outward expression of faith where they've received. I think we can tell the difference between that first category. Someone who just has not received the, the gospel at all, has not received the word of God at all, right? Like it's just bounced off of him. It's made no impact. I think we can see that that's a relatively straightforward, um, situation for us to assess. And of course we can't see someone's heart, but it's, it's usually pretty outwardly, readily available to us that they just have not received the word in any means. Right. When we get to these second two categories, that's not the case. We're talking about two different categories of people who have received the word and it has begun to sprout. It has begun, it actually has sprouted, not just begun to sprout, but it's sprouted. Um, I just think we need to be really careful to sort of not place someone in an immutable category until after we've seen what's gonna happen. Yes. Really across their whole life. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:47:41] The Importance of Deep Roots in Faith Jesse Schwamb: I'm glad you brought that up because we really have to remember that in the last three instances, you cannot tell from the soil what the outcome will be. So it is a little bit, I'm with you, kind of a misnomer in the translation. This idea of like rocky soil. Yeah. If it were truly like rocky soil, the way that probably most of us in the Western think of it like soil mixed with gravel, right? They're probably, the sewer would be like, why would I throw it on there like that? That doesn't make any sense. Certainly again, if you're looking for that, that really fertile, well tilled ground, the one that looks promising, you wouldn't do that. So more than likely, I'm with you. We're talking about like a hired limestone layer that would've been like a few inches below, and as the sun would come down, my understanding is of course, like that limestone would heat up. It'd be like the perfect warm environment for like a seed to immediately like spring up with some hope. And that's exactly I think what Jesus is after here. It's this idea that the seed springs up immediately. People receive the message with joy. There's been no root or development to deeper moist soil though, because it doesn't exist. It gets blocked out. But inci incidentally, like the heat of that rock bed actually is the thing that causes it to germinate and produce at least a sprout really, really quickly. But as soon as like any kind of other heat comes upon it, because it cannot not grow deeper because it cannot set the roots, because it cannot get enough water from deep down, then it's going to be quick to die. I think we see this all the time. Maybe we even see this to some degree, not exclusively and in the same kind of magnitude in our own lives. But you know, we may listen to a sermon with pleasure while the impression produced in us is like only temporary, short-lived. You know, our hearts can be like that stony ground. Sometimes it may yield like a plentiful cop clap of warm feelings and like good resolutions and good vibes. How often do we hear that language? But all this time, there may be no deeply rooted work in our souls. And that first like cold blast of oppression or temptation may cause like all of that to go away. What I see interpret it from this particular group and, and this the one that follows it very much the same is like a conversion to religion. So here where this is where I firmly, like, I think we have a class, and this might trigger some people, but I'm gonna say it anyway. We have a class for this to me is deconstructionism. Yeah. And I think what I've, I've been helpful for me is to get outta my mind is that. I'm not sure that we have to be so concerned in this, this metaphor or this great parable about like what's the length of time here? So for instance, is it possible that somebody could be in this place where there is this hard layer of rock, which presents like a setting down of deep roots that could last like years on end. Yeah, where somebody has heard the gospel message has come into the life of the church and finds that this is generally a pleasant way to believe and to live and to express these ideals until maybe they have a strong voice somewhere or they're confronted with the fact that this, their message now is not very tolerant. And so as soon as there comes against them, this push that maybe what you're saying is too exclusive, that all of a sudden there really is a manifestation that there's no real root there. Yeah, there was no conversion. There was a conversion to religious principle and ideas and insomuch as those things didn't push too much against whatever objectives they had. Not even like going after what happens in the the third instance here with all the pleasures of life and all the temptations of the flesh, but just that there is some challenge. To what they believe and that it would be continually lived out in their actual lives, meaningful enough that it would impact behavior, change their mind, and continue to make them outspoken about the thing in which they're setting their roots into that if those things would cause the death of. That sprouts, then to me, that's where we find deconstruction isn't falling. And so in that case, again, it's comforting because it's not a matter of actual conversion as it were. It's not a matter of actual regeneration that hasn't actually occurred. There's plenty of reasons to come alongside and to give the gospel some kind of favor or to give it some kind of acquiescence because it's good on its own. There are lots of things that are good about it, but the rootedness in that is not merely in the outward manifestations of all the benefits of the gospel. It is getting Christ, as we've said. Yeah. And if we're not abiding in Christ, then we will necessarily die. In fact, Christ says elsewhere when he speaks to himself that even every bad branch that does not bear fruit, the father prunes and throws away. And so here we find that happening. It's, this is traumatic, it is dramatic, but this is where I think we see oftentimes Christians really get unnerved and sometimes it really, I think, rocks them when they see people who've had, like you said, Tony, like some professional faith. And I remember us talking about Kanye, and I remember us saying like, I think you and I were cautiously optimistic. We said like, this is fantastic. God does this very thing where he transforms people. And then we see in the long term, in the long run, the manifestation of that transformation, not in just merely as sinner's prayer or some expression of knowing something about the gospel intellectually, but the living it out so that the plant itself grows up in Christ to know of his great love, and then to share and abide in that love where it bears fruit. And so here I find this again, to be just very comforting because I think we see this a lot and our nerves, a lot of Christians, but I think Christ is giving an example here to say, do not be a unnerved by this. [00:53:10] Encouragement for Sowers and Believers Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe one last thought and then we, we can push pause until next week when we come back to this parable. Is. I think it's, there's two words in this, um, this little, these two verses here that really stick out to me. There's the, the word immediately, right? Yes. He immediately receives it with joy. That word is repeated later on when he immediately falls away. So there is a, um, there's a, a sense of suddenness to this, to this kind of, I'm using quotation marks if you're not watching the YouTube to this quotation or this, um, conversion experience, right? I think we all know people who have kind of the slow burn conversion experience, right? That's not to say that those people may not be, um, on hard soil or rocky soil. Right. But the, the person that we're talking about in that crisis talking about is the person who hears the word and has every appearance of an outward, radical, outward conversion of joy. And then joy is the second word that that shows up here. One of the things that drives me crazy, you know, maybe just to, to riff off the, the deconstruction, um, narrative a little bit is it drives me crazy when some sort of, um, high profile Christian falls away from the faith or deconstructs or falls, you know, into deep sin and then abandons the faith or has a tragedy happened in their life and whatever reason they abandon the faith. There's this tendency particularly among, I, I think sort of. I don't know if like, there still are young restless reform Christians out there, but I think it's still a valid descriptor. Kind of like the, I'm trying not to be pejorative, but sort of like the surface level tulip is what I call them, like the five point Calvinists who like heard an RC sprawl sermon one time and think that they are like the def, they're the definition of Calvinism. There's this tendency among that demographic that when somebody falls away from the faith to act as though everything about their experience of Christianity was somehow like an act like it was a, it was a, it was a play they were putting on, they were deceiving everybody. Right. That's that's not real. It's not the, it's not the way that it actually works and, and. I think the, um, the flip side and the caution for us in that is that just because our experience of Christianity and our, our experience of being in the faith feels so genuine and real and rooted, we should also recognize that like it felt real and genuine and rooted for Derek Webb or for name, name your key, you know, Joshua Harris, name your big profile deconstruction person of the day. Um, there's a caution there for us and I think that's the caution here in this, um, in this, I dunno, part of the parable is. Just as this is saying, the reason that the person falls away immediately is because there is no root in them yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately falls away, right? The cause of this is because there is no route that ca

In this introductory episode to their new series on the Parables of Jesus, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb explore the profound theological significance of Christ's parables. Far from being mere teaching tools to simplify complex ideas, parables serve a dual purpose in God's redemptive plan: revealing spiritual truth to those with "ears to hear" while concealing these same truths from those without spiritual illumination. This episode lays the groundwork for understanding how parables function as divine teaching devices that embody core Reformed doctrines like election and illumination. As the hosts prepare to journey through all the parables in the Gospels, they invite listeners to consider the blessing of being granted spiritual understanding and the privilege of receiving the "secrets of the kingdom" through Christ's distinctive teaching method. Key Takeaways Parables are more than illustrations—they are comparisons that reveal kingdom truths to those with spiritual ears to hear while concealing truth from those without spiritual illumination. Jesus intentionally taught in parables not to simplify his teaching but partly to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy about those who hear but do not understand, confirming the spiritual condition of his hearers. The ability to understand parables is itself evidence of God's sovereign grace and election, as Jesus states in Matthew 13:16: "Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear." Parables vary in form and function—some are clearly allegorical while others make a single point, requiring each to be approached on its own terms. Proper interpretation requires context—understanding both the original audience and the question or situation that prompted Jesus to use a particular parable. Parables function like Nathan's confrontation of David—they draw hearers in through narrative before revealing uncomfortable truths about themselves. Studying parables requires spiritual humility—recognizing that our understanding comes not from intellectual capacity but from the Spirit's illumination. Understanding Parables as Revelation, Not Just Illustration The hosts emphasize that parables are fundamentally different from mere illustrations or fables. While modern readers often assume Jesus used parables to simplify complex spiritual truths, the opposite is frequently true. As Tony explains, "A parable fundamentally is a comparison between two things... The word parable comes from the Greek of casting alongside." This distinction is crucial because it changes how we approach interpretation. Rather than breaking down each element as an allegorical component, we should first understand what reality Jesus is comparing the parable to. The parables function as a form of divine revelation—showing us kingdom realities through narrative comparison, but only those with spiritual insight can truly grasp their meaning. This is why Jesus quotes Isaiah and explains that he speaks in parables partly because "seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand" (Matthew 13:13). The Doctrine of Election Embedded in Parabolic Teaching Perhaps the most profound insight from this episode is how the very form of Jesus' teaching—not just its content—embodies the doctrine of election. Jesse notes that "every parable then implicitly teaches a doctrine of election," because they reveal spiritual truth to some while concealing it from others. This isn't arbitrary but reflects spiritual realities. The hosts connect this to Jesus' words in Matthew 13:16: "Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear." This blessing comes not from intellectual capacity or moral superiority but from God's sovereign grace. Tony describes this as "the blessing in our salvation and in our election that we are enabled to hear and perceive and receive the very voice and word of God into our spirit unto our salvation." The parables thus become a "microcosm" of Reformed doctrines like election, regeneration, and illumination. When believers understand Jesus' parables, they're experiencing the practical outworking of these doctrines in real time. Memorable Quotes "The parables are not just to illustrate a point, they're to reveal a spiritual point or spiritual points to those who have ears to hear, to those who've been illuminated by the spirit." - Tony Arsenal "Jesus is giving this message essentially to all who will listen to him... And so this is like, I love the way that he uses that quote in a slightly different way, but still to express the same root cause, which is some of you here because of your depravity will not be able to hear what I'm saying. But for those to whom it has been granted to come in who are ushered into the kingdom, this kingdom language will make sense." - Jesse Schwamb "But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. There's a blessing in our salvation and in our election that we are enabled to hear and perceive and receive the very voice and word of God into our spirit unto our salvation." - Tony Arsenal About the Hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb are the regular hosts of The Reformed Brotherhood podcast, where they explore Reformed theology and its application to Christian living. With a conversational style that balances depth and accessibility, they seek to make complex theological concepts understandable without sacrificing nuance or biblical fidelity. Transcript [00:00:45] Introduction and New Series Announcement [00:00:45] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 460 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. [00:00:54] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. [00:00:59] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. New series Time, new series. Time for the next seven years that, that's probably correct. It's gonna be a long one. New beginnings are so great, aren't they? And it is. [00:01:10] Jesse Schwamb: We've been hopefully this, well, it's definitely gonna live up to all the hype that we've been presenting about this. It's gonna be good. Everybody's gonna love it. And like I said, it's a topic we haven't done before. It's certainly not in this format. [00:01:23] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know what, just, um, as a side note, if you are a listener, which you must be, if you're hearing this, uh, this is a great time to introduce someone to the podcast. [00:01:33] Tony Arsenal: True. Uh, one, because this series is gonna be lit as the kids say, and, uh, it's a new series, so you don't have to have any background. You don't have to have any previous knowledge of the show or of who these two weird guys are to jump in and we're gonna. [00:01:53] Tony Arsenal: Talk about the Bible, which is amazing and awesome. And who doesn't love to talk about the Bible. [00:01:58] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's correct. That's what makes these so good. That's how I know, and I could say confidently that this is gonna be all the hype and more. All right, so before we get to affirmations and denials, all the good ProGo, that's part and parcel of our normal episode content. [00:02:12] Jesse Schwamb: Do you want to tell everybody what we're gonna be talking about? [00:02:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I'm excited. [00:02:17] Introducing the Parables Series [00:02:17] Tony Arsenal: So we are gonna work our way through, and this is why I say it's gonna take seven years. We are gonna work our way through all of the parables. Parables, [00:02:25] Jesse Schwamb: the [00:02:25] Tony Arsenal: gospels and just so, um, the Gospel of John doesn't feel left out. [00:02:30] Tony Arsenal: We're gonna talk through some of the I am statements and some of that stuff when we get to John. 'cause John doesn't have a lot of parables. Uh, so we're gonna spend time in the synoptic gospels. We're gonna just walk through the parables one by one. We're taking an episode, sometimes maybe two, sometimes 10, depending on how long the parable is and how deep we get into it. [00:02:47] Tony Arsenal: We're just gonna work our way through. We're gonna take our time. We're gonna enjoy it. So again, this is a great time to start. It's kinda the ground floor on this and you thing. This could really be its own podcast all by itself, right? Uh, so invite a friend, invite some whole bunch of friends. Start a Sunday school class listening to this. [00:03:04] Tony Arsenal: No, don't do that. But people have done that before. But, uh, grab your bibles, get a decent commentary to help prep for the next episode, and, uh, let's, let's do it. I'm super excited. [00:03:14] Jesse Schwamb: When I say para, you say Abel Para, is that how it works? Para? Yeah. I don't know. You can't really divide it. Pairable. If you jam it together, yes. [00:03:24] Jesse Schwamb: You get some of that. You can say, when I say pair, you say Abel p [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: Abel. [00:03:31] Jesse Schwamb: And you can expect a lot more of that in this series. But before we get into all this good juicy stuff about parables, and by the way, this is like an introductory episode, that doesn't mean that you can just skip it, doesn't mean it's not gonna be good. We gotta set some things up. We wanna talk about parables general generally, but before we have that good general conversation, let's get into our own tradition, which is either affirming with something or denying against something. [00:03:54] Affirmations and Denials [00:03:54] Jesse Schwamb: And so, Tony, what do you got for all of us? [00:03:58] Tony Arsenal: Mine is kind of a, an ecclesial, ecclesiastical denial. Mm-hmm. Um, this is sort of niche, but I feel like our audience may have heard about it. And there's this dust up that I, I noticed online, uh, really just this last week. Um, it's kind of a specific thing. There is a church, uh, I'm not sure where the church is. [00:04:18] Tony Arsenal: It's a PCA church, I believe it's called Mosaic. The pastor of the church, the teaching elder, one of the teaching elders just announced that he was, uh, leaving his ministry to, uh, join the Roman Catholic Church, which, yes, there's its own denial built into that. We are good old Protestant reformed folks, and I personally would, would stick with the original Westminster on the, the Pope being antichrist. [00:04:45] Tony Arsenal: But, um, that's not the denial. The denial is that in this particular church. For some unknown reason. Uh, the pastor who has now since a announced that he was leaving to, uh, to convert to Roman Catholicism, continued to preach the sermon and then administered the Lord's supper, even though he in the eyes, I think of most. [00:05:08] Tony Arsenal: Reformed folk and certainly historically in the eyes of the reformed position was basically apostate, uh, right in front of the congregation's eyes. Now, I don't know that I would necessarily put it that strongly. I think there are plenty of genuine born again Christians who find themselves in, in the Roman Catholic, uh, church. [00:05:27] Tony Arsenal: Uh, but to allow someone who is one resigning the ministry right in front of your eyes. Um, and then resigning to basically leave for another tradition that, that the PCA would not recognize, would not share ecclesiastical, uh, credentials with or accept their ordination or any of those things. Um, to then just allow him to admit, you know, to administer the Lord's Supper, I think is just a drastic miscarriage of, uh, ecclesiastical justice. [00:05:54] Tony Arsenal: I dunno if that's the right word. So I'm just denying this like. It shows that on a couple things like this, this. Church this session, who obviously knew this was coming. Um, this session does either, does not take seriously the differences between Roman Catholic theology and Protestant theology, particularly reformed theology, or they don't take seriously the, the gravity of the Lord's supper and who should and shouldn't be administering it. [00:06:22] Tony Arsenal: They can't take both of those things seriously and have a fully or biblical position on it. So there's a good opportunity for us to think through our ecclesiology, to think through our sacrament and how this applies. It just really doesn't sit well and it's not sitting well with a lot of people online, obviously. [00:06:37] Tony Arsenal: Um, and I'm sure there'll be all sorts of, like letters of concern sent to presbytery and, and all that stuff, and, and it'll all shake out in the wash eventually, but just, it just wasn't good. Just doesn't sit right. [00:06:48] Jesse Schwamb: You know, it strikes me of all the denominations. I'm not saying this pejoratively. I just think it is kind of interesting and funny to me that the Presbyterians love a letter writing campaign. [00:06:56] Jesse Schwamb: Like that's kind of the jam, the love, a good letter writing campaign. [00:07:00] Tony Arsenal: It's true, although it's, it's actually functional in Presbyterianism because That's right. That's how you voice your concern. It's not a, not a, a rage letter into the void. It actually goes somewhere and gets recorded and has to be addressed at presbytery if you have standing. [00:07:17] Tony Arsenal: So there's, there's a good reason to do that, and I'm sure that that will be done. I'm sure there are many. Probably ministers in the PCA who are aware of this, who are either actually considering filing charges or um, or writing such letters of complaints. And there's all sorts of mechanisms in the PCA to, to adjudicate and resolve and to investigate these kinds of things. [00:07:37] Jesse Schwamb: And I'd like to, if you're, if you're a true Presbyterian and, and in this instance, I'm not making light of this instance, but this instance are others, you. Feel compelled by a strong conviction to write such a letter that really you should do it with a quill, an ink. Like that's the ultimate way. I think handwritten with like a nice fountain pen. [00:07:54] Jesse Schwamb: There's not, yeah. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like that's, that is a weighty letter right there. Like it's cut to Paul being like, I write this postscript in my own hand with these big letters. Yeah, it's like, you know, some original Presbyterian letter writing right there. [00:08:07] Tony Arsenal: And then you gotta seal it with wax with your signe ring. [00:08:10] Tony Arsenal: So, and send it by a carrier, by a messenger series of me messengers. [00:08:14] Jesse Schwamb: Think if you receive any letter in the mail, handwritten to you. Like for real, somebody painstakingly going through in script like spencerian script, you know, if you're using English characters writing up and then sealing that bad boy with wax, you're gonna be like, this is important. [00:08:30] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, this, even if it's just like, Hey, what's up? Yeah, you're gonna be like, look at this incredible, weighty document I've received. [00:08:36] Tony Arsenal: It's true. It's very true. I love it. Well, that's all I have to say about that to channel a little Forrest Gump there. Uh, Jesse, what are you affirming or denying tonight? [00:08:44] Jesse Schwamb: I'm also going to deny against, so this denial is like classic. [00:08:49] Jesse Schwamb: It's routine, but I got a different spin on it this time, so I'm denying against. The full corruption of sin, how it appears everywhere, how even unbelievers speak of it, almost unwittingly, but very commonly with great acceptance. And the particularity of this denial comes in the form of allergies, which you and I are talking about a lot of times. [00:09:09] Jesse Schwamb: But I was just thinking about this week because I had to do some allergy testing, which is a, a super fun experience. But it just got me think again, like very plainly about what allergies are. And how an allergy occurs when your immune system, like the part of your body responsible for protecting your body that God has made when your immune system mistakes like a non-harmful substance like pollen or a food or some kind of animal dander for a threat, and then reacts by producing these antibodies like primarily the immunoglobulin E. [00:09:36] Jesse Schwamb: So here's what strikes me as so funny about this in a, in a way that we must laugh. Because of our, our parents, our first parents who made a horrible decision and we like them, would make the same decision every day and twice in the Lord's day. And that is that this seems like, of course, such a clear sign of the corruption of sin impounded in our created order because it seems a really distasteful and suboptimal for human beings to have this kind of response to pollen. [00:10:03] Jesse Schwamb: When they were intended to work and care in a garden. So obviously I think we can say, Hey, like the fact that allergies exist and that it's your body making a mistake. [00:10:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:10:13] Jesse Schwamb: It's like the ultimate, like cellular level of the ubiquity of sin. And so as I was speaking with my doctor and going through the, the testing, it's just so funny how like we all talk about this. [00:10:25] Jesse Schwamb: It's like, yeah, it's, it's a really over-indexed reaction. It doesn't make any sense. It's not the way the world is supposed to be, but nobody's saying how is the world supposed to be? Do you know what I mean? Like, but we just take it for granted that that kind of inflammation that comes from like your dog or like these particles in the air of plants, just trying to do a plant stew and reproduce and pollinate that, that could cause like really dramatic and debilitating. [00:10:49] Jesse Schwamb: Responses is just exceptional to me, and I think it's exceptional and exceptional to all of us because at some deep level we recognize that, as Paul says, like the earth, the entire world is groaning. It's groaning for that eschatological release and redemption that can only come from Christ. And our runny noses in our hay fever all prove that to some degree. [00:11:09] Jesse Schwamb: So denying against allergies, but denying against as well that ubiquity of corruption and sin in our world. [00:11:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I just have this image in my head of Adam and Eve, you know, they're expelled outta the garden and they, they're working the ground. And then Adam sneezes. Yes. And Eve is like, did your head just explode? [00:11:28] Tony Arsenal: And he's like, I don't know. That would've been a, probably a pretty terrifying experience actually. [00:11:33] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's that's true. So imagine like you and I have talked about this before, because you have young children, adorable. Young children, and we've talked about like the first of everything, like when you're a child, you get sick for the first time, or you get the flu or you vomit for the first time. [00:11:45] Jesse Schwamb: Like you have no idea what's going on in your body, but imagine that. But being an adult. [00:11:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, where you can process what's going on, but don't have a framework for it. [00:11:52] Jesse Schwamb: Yes, exactly. So like [00:11:54] Tony Arsenal: that's like, that's like my worst nightmare I think. [00:11:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. It's like, to your point, 'cause there, there are a lot of experiences you have as an adults, even health wise that are still super strange and weird. [00:12:01] Jesse Schwamb: But [00:12:02] Tony Arsenal: yeah, [00:12:02] Jesse Schwamb: you have some rubric for them, but that's kind of exactly what I was thinking. What if this toiling over your labor is partly because it's horrible now because you have itchy, watery eyes or you get hives. Yeah. And before you were like, I could just lay in the grass and be totally fine. And now I can't even walk by ragweed without getting a headache or having some kind of weird fatigue. [00:12:23] Jesse Schwamb: Like I have to believe that that was, that part of this transition was all of these things. Like, now your body's gonna overreact to stuff where I, I, God put us in a place where that wouldn't be the case at all. [00:12:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Sometimes I think about like the first. Time that Adam was like sore or like hurt himself. [00:12:42] Tony Arsenal: True. Like the, just the, just the terror and fear that must have come with it. And sin is serious stuff. Like it's serious effects and sad, sad, sad stuff. But yeah, allergies are the worst. I, uh, I suffered really badly with, uh, seasonal allergies. When I was a a kid I had to do allergy shots and everything and it's makes no sense. [00:13:03] Tony Arsenal: There's no rhyme or reason to it, and your allergies change. So like you could be going your whole life, being able to eat strawberries and then all of a sudden you can't. Right? And it's, and you don't know until it happens. So [00:13:14] Jesse Schwamb: what's up with that? [00:13:15] Tony Arsenal: No good. [00:13:16] Jesse Schwamb: What's up with that? So again, imagine that little experience is a microcosmic example of what happens to Adam and Eve. [00:13:24] Jesse Schwamb: You know, like all these things change. Like you're, you're right. Suddenly your body isn't the same. It's not just because you're growing older, but because guess what? Sins everywhere. And guess what, where sin is, even in the midst of who you are as physically constructed and the environment in which you live, all, all totally change. [00:13:40] Jesse Schwamb: So that, that's enough of my rants on allergies. I know the, I know the loved ones out there hear me. It's also remarkable to me that almost everybody has an allergy of some kind. It's very, it's very rare if you don't have any allergies whatsoever. And probably those times when you think you're sick and you don't have allergies could be that you actually have them. [00:13:57] Jesse Schwamb: So it's just wild. Wild. [00:14:02] Tony Arsenal: Agreed. Agreed. [00:14:03] Theological Discussion on Parables [00:14:03] Tony Arsenal: Well, Jesse, without further ado, I'm not, I, maybe we should have further ado, but let's get into it. Let's talk about some parable stuff. [00:14:13] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, let's do it again. When I say pair, you say able pair. [00:14:17] Tony Arsenal: Able. [00:14:20] Jesse Schwamb: When I say [00:14:21] Tony Arsenal: para you say bowl. [00:14:24] Jesse Schwamb: That's what I was trying to go with before. [00:14:26] Jesse Schwamb: It's a little bit more, yeah, but you gotta like cross over like we both gotta say like that middle syllable kind of. Otherwise it's, it sounds like I'm just saying bowl. And [00:14:34] Tony Arsenal: yeah, there's no good way to chant that. Yeah, we're work. This is why Jesse and I are not cheerleaders. [00:14:39] Jesse Schwamb: We're, we're work shopping everybody. [00:14:40] Jesse Schwamb: But I agree with you. Enough of us talking about affirmations, the denials in this case, the double double denial. Let's talk about parables. So the beauty of this whole series is there's gonna be so much great stuff to talk about, and I think this is a decent topic for us to cover because. Really, if you think about it, the parables of Jesus have captivated people for the entirety of the scriptures. [00:15:06] Jesse Schwamb: As long, as long as they were recorded and have been read and processed and studied together. And, uh, you know, there's stuff I'm sure that we will just gloss over. We don't need to get into in terms of like, is it pure allegory? Is it always allegory? Is it, there's lots of interpretation here. I think this is gonna be our way of processing together and moving through some of these and speaking them out and trying to learn principally. [00:15:28] Jesse Schwamb: Predominantly what they're teaching us. But I say all that because characters like the prodigal son, like Good Samaritan, Pharisees, and tax collector, those actually have become well known even outside the church. [00:15:40] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And [00:15:40] Jesse Schwamb: then sometimes inside the church there's over familiarity with all of these, and that leads to its own kind of misunderstanding. [00:15:46] Jesse Schwamb: So, and I think as well. I'm hoping that myself, you and our listeners will be able to hear them in a new way, and maybe if we can try to do this without again, being parabolic, is that we can kind of recreate some of the trauma. In these stories. 'cause Jesus is, is pressing upon very certain things and there's certainly a lot of trauma that his original audiences would've taken away from what he was saying here. [00:16:13] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. Even just starting with what is a parable and why is Jesus telling them? So I presume that's actually the best place for us to begin is what's the deal with the parables and why is this? Is this Jesus preferred way of teaching about the kingdom of God. [00:16:30] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I think, you know, it bears saying too that like not all the parables are alike. [00:16:35] Tony Arsenal: Like true. We can't, this is why I'm excited about this series. You know, it's always good to talk through the bible and, and or to talk through systematic theology, but what really excites me is when we do a series like this, kind of like the Scott's Confession series, like it gives us a reason. To think through a lot of different disciplines and flex like exercise and stretch and flex a lot of different kinds of intellectual muscles. [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: So there's gonna be some exegetical work we have to do. There's gonna be some hermeneutical work we're gonna have to do, probably have to do some historical work about how the parables have been interpreted in different ways. Yes, and and I think, so, I think it's important to say like, not every parable is exactly the same. [00:17:14] Tony Arsenal: And this is where I think like when you read, sometimes you read books about the, the parables of Christ. Like you, you'll hear one guy say. Well, a parable is not an allegory. Then you'll hear another guy say like, well, parables might have allegorical elements to it. Right. Now if one guy say like, well, a parable has one main point, and you'll have another guy say like, well, no, actually, like parables can have multiple points and multiple shades of meaning. [00:17:37] Tony Arsenal: And I think the answer to why you have this variance in the commentaries is 'cause sometimes the parables are alleg. [00:17:44] Jesse Schwamb: Right. And [00:17:44] Tony Arsenal: sometimes they're not allegorical. Sometimes they have one main point. Sometimes there's multiple points. So I think it's important for us to just acknowledge like we're gonna have to come to each parable, um, on its own and on its own terms. [00:17:57] Tony Arsenal: But there are some general principles that I think we can talk about what parables are. So parables in general are. Figurative stories or figurative accounts that are used to illustrate, I think primarily used to illustrate a single main point. And there may be some subpoints, but they, they're generally intended to, uh, to illustrate something by way of a, of a narrative, a fictional narrative that, uh, helps the reader. [00:18:27] Tony Arsenal: Uh, or the hearer is just, it's also important that these were primarily heard, these are heard parables, so there are even times where the phrasing of the language is important in the parable. Um, they're helping the, the hearer to understand spiritual truth. And this is where I think it's it's key, is that this is not just. [00:18:48] Tony Arsenal: When we're talking about the parables of Christ, right? There's people tell parables, there's all sorts of different teachers that have used parables. Um, I, I do parables on the show from time to time where I'll tell like a little made up story about a, you know, a situation. I'll say like, pretend, you know, let's imagine you have this guy and he's doing this thing that's a form of a parable when I'm using. [00:19:08] Tony Arsenal: I'm not, it's not like a makeup made up story. It's not asaps fables. We're not talking about like talking foxes and hens and stuff, but it's illustrating a point. But the parables of Christ are not just to illustrate a point, they're to reveal a spiritual point or spiritual points to those who have ears to hear, to those who've been illuminated by the spirit. [00:19:29] Tony Arsenal: And I just wanna read this. Uh, this is just God's providence, um, in action. I, um, I've fallen behind on my reading in The Daily Dad, which is a Ryan Holiday book. This was the reading that came up today, even though it's not the correct reading for the day. Uh, it's, it's for September 2nd. We're recording this on September, uh, sixth. [00:19:48] Tony Arsenal: Uh, and the title is, this is How You Teach Them. And the first line says, if the Bible has any indication, Jesus rarely seemed to come out and say what he meant. He preferred instead to employ parables and stories and little anecdotes that make you think. He tells stories of the servants and the talents. [00:20:03] Tony Arsenal: He tells stories of the prodigal son and the Good Samaritan. Turns out it's pretty effective to get a point across and make it stick. What what we're gonna learn. Actually that Jesus tells these stories in parables, in part to teach those who have spiritual ears to hear, but in part to mask the truth That's right. [00:20:24] Tony Arsenal: From those who don't have spiritual ears to hear, oh, online [00:20:26] Jesse Schwamb: holiday. [00:20:27] Tony Arsenal: So it's not as simple as like Jesus, using illustration to help make something complicated, clearer, right? Yes. But also, no. So I'm super excited to kind of get into this stuff and talk through it and to, to really dig into the parables themselves. [00:20:42] Tony Arsenal: It's just gonna be a really good exercise at sort of sitting at the feet of our master in his really, his preferred mode of teaching. Um, you know, other than the sermon on the Mount. There's not a lot of like long form, straightforward, didactic teaching like that most of Christ's teaching as recorded in the gospels, comes in the form of these parables in one way or another. [00:21:03] Tony Arsenal: Right. And that's pretty exciting to me. [00:21:05] Jesse Schwamb: Right. And there's so many more parables I think, than we often understand there to be, or at least then that we see in like the headings are Bible, which of course have been put there by our own construction. So anytime you get that. Nice short, metaphorical narrative is really Jesus speaking in a kind of parable form, and I think you're right on. [00:21:25] Jesse Schwamb: For me, it's always highlighting some kind of aspect of the kingdom of God. And I'd say there is generally a hierarchy. There doesn't have to be like a single point, like you said. There could be other points around that. But if you get into this place where like everything has some kind of allegory representation, then the parable seems to die of the death of like a million paper cuts, right? [00:21:40] Jesse Schwamb: Because you're trying to figure out all the things and if you have to represent something, everything he says with some kind of. Heavy spiritual principle gets kind of weird very quickly. But in each of these, as you said, what's common in my understanding is it's presenting like a series of events involving like a small number of characters. [00:21:57] Jesse Schwamb: It is bite-sized and sometimes those are people or plants or even like inanimate objects. So like the, yeah, like you said, the breadth and scope of how Jesus uses the metaphor is brilliant teaching, and it's even more brilliant when you get to that level, like you're saying, where it's meant both to illuminate. [00:22:13] Jesse Schwamb: To obfuscate. That is like, to me, the parable is a manifestation of election because it's clear that Jesus is using this. Those who have the ears to hear are the ones whom the Holy Spirit has unstopped, has opened the eyes, has illuminated the hearts and the mind to such a degree that can receive these, and that now these words are resonant. [00:22:32] Jesse Schwamb: So like what a blessing that we can understand them, that God has essentially. Use this parabolic teaching in such a way to bring forward his concept of election in the minds and the hearts of those who are his children. And it's kind of a way, this is kind of like the secret Christian handshake. It's the speakeasy of salvation. [00:22:52] Jesse Schwamb: It's, it's coming into the fold because God has invited you in and given you. The knowledge and ability of which to really understand these things. And so most of these little characters seemed realistic and resonant in Jesus' world, and that's why sometimes we do need a little bit of studying and understanding the proper context for all those things. [00:23:12] Jesse Schwamb: I would say as well, like at least one element in those parables is a push. It's in, it's kind of taking it and hyping it up. It's pushing the boundaries of what's plausible, and so you'll find that all of this is made again to illuminate some principle of the kingdom of God. And we should probably go to the thing that you intimated, because when you read that quote from, from Ryan Holiday, I was like, yes, my man. [00:23:34] Jesse Schwamb: Like he's on the right track. Right? There's something about what he's saying that is partially correct, but like you said, a lot of times people mistake the fact that, well, Jesus. Is using this language and these metaphors, these similes, he speaks in parables because they were the best way to get like these uneducated people to understand him. [00:23:57] Jesse Schwamb: Right? But it's actually the exact opposite. And we know this because of perhaps the most famous dialogue and expression and explanation of parables, which comes to us in Matthew 13, 10 through 17, where Jesus explains to his disciples exactly why he uses this mode of teaching. And what he says is. This is why I speak to them of parables because seeing they do not see and hearing, they do not hear they nor do they understand. [00:24:24] Jesse Schwamb: So, so that's perplexing. We should probably camp there for just a second and talk about that. Right, and, and like really unpack like, what is Jesus after here? Then if, like, before we get into like, what do all these things mean, it's almost like saying. We need to understand why they're even set before us and why these in some ways are like a kind of a small stumbling block to others, but then this great stone of appreciation and one to stand on for for others. [00:24:47] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I think you know, before we, before we cover that, which I think is a good next spot. A parable is not just an illustration. Like I think that's where a lot of people go a little bit sideways, is they think that this is effectively, like it's a fable. It's like a made up story primarily to like illustrate a point right. [00:25:09] Tony Arsenal: Or an allegory where you know, you're taking individual components and they represent something else. A parable fundamentally is a, is a, a comparison between two things, right? The word parable comes from the Greek of casting alongside, and so the idea is like you're, you're taking. The reality that you're trying to articulate and you're setting up this parable next to it and you're comparing them to it. [00:25:33] Tony Arsenal: And so I like to use the word simile, like that's why Christ says like the kingdom of God is like this. Yes. It's not like I'm gonna explain the kingdom of God to you by using this made up story. Right on. It's I'm gonna compare the kingdom of God to this thing or this story that I'm having, and so we should be. [00:25:49] Tony Arsenal: Rather than trying to like find the principles of the parable, we should be looking at it and going, how does this parable reflect? Or how is this a, um, how is this an explanation? Not in the, like, I, I'm struggling to even explain this here. It's not that the cer, the parable is just illustrating a principle. [00:26:10] Tony Arsenal: It's that the kingdom of God is one thing and the parable reveals that same one thing by way of comparison. Yes. So like. Uh, we'll get into the specifics, obviously, but when the, when the, um, lawyer says, who is my neighbor? Well, it's not just like, well, let's look at the Good Samaritan. And the Good Samaritan represents this, and the Levite represents this, and the priest represents this. [00:26:32] Tony Arsenal: It's a good neighbor, is this thing. It's this story. Compared to whatever you have in your mind of what a good neighbor is. And we're gonna bounce those things up against each other, and that's gonna somehow show us what the, what the reality is. And that's why I think to get back to where we were, that's why I think sometimes the parables actually obscure the truth. [00:26:53] Tony Arsenal: Because if we're not comparing the parable to the reality of something, then we're gonna get the parable wrong. So if we think that, um, the Good Samaritan. Is a parable about social justice and we're, we're looking at it to try to understand how do we treat, you know, the, the poor people in Africa who don't have food or the war torn refugees, you know, coming out of Ukraine. [00:27:19] Tony Arsenal: If we're looking at it primarily as like, I need to learn to be a good neighbor to those who are destitute. Uh, we're not comparing it against what Jesus was comparing it against, right? So, so we have to understand, we have to start in a lot of cases with the question that the parable is a response to, which oftentimes the parable is a response to a question or it's a, it's a principle that's being, um, compare it against if we get that first step wrong, uh, or if we start with our own presuppositions, which is why. [00:27:50] Tony Arsenal: Partially why I think Christ is saying like, the only those who have ears to hear. Like if you don't have a spiritual presupposition, I, I mean that, that might not be the right word, but like if you're not starting from the place of spiritual illumination, not in the weird gnostic sense, but in the, the. [00:28:07] Tony Arsenal: Genuinely Christian illumination of the Holy Spirit and inward testimony of the Holy Spirit. If you're not starting from that perspective, you almost can't get the parables right. So that's why we see like the opponents of Christ in the Bible, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, constantly. They're constantly confused and they're getting it wrong. [00:28:26] Tony Arsenal: And, and even sometimes the disciples, they have to go and ask sometimes too, what is this parable? Wow, that's right. What is, what does this mean? So it's never as simple as, as what's directly on the surface, but it's also not usually as complicated as we would make it be if we were trying to over-interpret the parable, which I think is another risk. [00:28:44] Jesse Schwamb: That's the genius, isn't it? Is that I I like what you're saying. It's that spiritual predisposition that allows us to receive the word and, and when we receive that word, it is a simple word. It's not as if like, we have to elevate ourselves in place of this high learning or education or philosophizing, and that's the beauty of it. [00:29:03] Jesse Schwamb: So it is, again, God's setting apart for himself A, a people a teaching. So. But I think this is, it is a little bit perplexing at first, like that statement from Jesus because it's a bit like somebody coming to you, like your place of work or anywhere else in your family life and asking you explicitly for instruction and, and then you saying something like, listen, I, I'm gonna show you, but you're not gonna be able to see it. [00:29:22] Jesse Schwamb: And you're gonna, I'm gonna tell you, but you're not gonna be able to hear it, and I'm gonna explain it to you, but you're not gonna be able to understand. And you're like, okay. So yeah, what's the point of you talking to me then? So it's clear, like you said that Jesus. Is teaching that the secrets, and that's really, really what these are. [00:29:37] The Secrets of the Kingdom of God [00:29:37] Jesse Schwamb: It's brilliant and beautiful that Jesus would, that the, the son of God and God himself would tell us the secrets of his kingdom. But that again, first of all by saying it's a secret, means it's, it's for somebody to guard and to hold knowledge closely and that it is protected. So he says, teaching like the secrets of the kingdom of God are unknowable through mere human reasoning and intuition. [00:29:56] Jesse Schwamb: Interestingly here though, Jesus is also saying that. He's, it's not like he's saying no one can ever understand the parables, right, or that he intends to hide their truth from all people. [00:30:07] Understanding Parables and God's Sovereign Grace [00:30:07] Jesse Schwamb: Instead, he just explains that in order to highlight God's sovereign grace, God in his mercy has enlightened some to whom it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. [00:30:17] Jesse Schwamb: That's verse 11. So. All of us as his children who have been illuminated can understand the truth of God's kingdom. That is wild and and that is amazing. So that this knowledge goes out and just like we talk about the scripture going out and never returning void, here's a prime example of that very thing that there is a condemnation and not being able to understand. [00:30:37] Jesse Schwamb: That condemnation comes not because you're not intelligent enough, but because as you said, you do not have that predisposition. You do not have that changed heart into the ability to understand these things. [00:30:47] Doctrine of Election and Spiritual Insight [00:30:47] Jesse Schwamb: This is what leads me here to say like every parable then implicitly teaches a doctrine of election. [00:30:53] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, because all people are outside the kingdom until they enter the Lord's teaching. How do we enter the Lord's teaching by being given ears to hear. How are we understanding that? We have been given ears to hear when these parables speak to us in the spiritual reality as well as in just like you said, like this general kind of like in the way that I presume Ryan Holiday means it. [00:31:12] Jesse Schwamb: The, this is like, he might be exemplifying the fact that these stories. Are a really great form of the ability to communicate complex information or to make you think. [00:31:21] The Power and Purpose of Parables [00:31:21] Jesse Schwamb: So when Jesus says something like The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, wow, we, you and I will probably spend like two episodes just unpacking that, or we could spend a lot more, that's beautiful that that's how his teaching takes place. [00:31:34] Jesse Schwamb: But of course it's, it's so much. More than that, that those in whom the teaching is effective on a salvation somehow understand it, and their understanding of it becomes first because Christ is implanted within them. Salvation. [00:31:46] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. [00:31:48] Parables as More Than Simple Teaching Tools [00:31:48] Tony Arsenal: I think people, and this is what I think like Ryan Holiday's statement reflects, is people think of the parables as a simple teaching tool to break down a complicated subject. [00:32:00] Tony Arsenal: Yes. And so, like if I was trying to explain podcasting to a, like a five-year-old, I would say something like, well, you know. You know how your teacher teaches you during class while a podcast is like if your teacher lived on the internet and you could access your teacher anytime. Like, that might be a weird explanation, but like that's taking a very complicated thing about recording and and RSS feeds and you know, all of these different elements that go into what podcasting is and breaking it down to a simple sub that is not what a parable is. [00:32:30] Tony Arsenal: Right? Right. A parable is not. Just breaking a simple subject down and illustrating it by way of like a, a clever comparison. Um, you know, it's not like someone trying to explain the doctrine of, of the Trinity by using clever analogies or something like that. Even if that were reasonable and impossible. [00:32:50] Tony Arsenal: It's, it's not like that a parable. I like what you're saying about it being kind of like a mini doctrine of election. It's also a mini doctrine of the Bible. Yes. Right. It, it's right on. [00:33:00] The Doctrine of Illumination [00:33:00] Tony Arsenal: It's, it's the doctrine of revelation. In. Preached form in the Ministry of Christ, right? As Christians, we have this text and we affirm that at the same time, uh, what can be known of it and what is necessary for salvation can be known. [00:33:19] Tony Arsenal: By ordinary means like Bart Iman, an avowed atheist who I, I think like all atheists, whether they recognize it or not, hates God. He can read the Bible and understand that what it means is that if you trust Jesus, you'll be saved. You don't need special spiritual insight to understand that that is what the Bible teaches, where the special spiritual. [00:33:42] Tony Arsenal: Insight might not be the right word, but the special spiritual appropriation is that the spirit enables you to receive that unto your salvation. Right? To put your trust in. The reality of that, and we call that doctrine, the doctrine of illumination. And so in, in the sense of parables in Christ's ministry, and this is, this is if you, you know, like what do I always say is just read a little bit more, um, the portion Jesse read it leads way into this prophecy or in this comment, Christ. [00:34:10] Tony Arsenal: Saying he teaches in parable in order to fulfill this prophecy of Isaiah. Basically that like those who are, uh, ate and are apart from God and are resistant to God, these parables there are there in order to confirm that they are. And then it says in verse 16, and this is, this is. [00:34:27] The Blessing of Spiritual Understanding [00:34:27] Tony Arsenal: It always seems like the series that we do ends up with like a theme verse, and this is probably the one verse 16 here, Matthew 1316 says, but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. [00:34:40] Tony Arsenal: And so like there's a blessing. In our salvation and in our election that we are enabled to hear and perceive and re receive the very voice and word of God into our spirit unto our salvation. That is the doctrine of of election. It's also the doctrine of regeneration, the doctrine of sanctification, the doctrine. [00:35:03] Tony Arsenal: I mean, there's all of these different classic reformed doctrines that the parables really are these mic this microcosm of that. Almost like applied in the Ministry of Christ. Right. Which I, I, you know, I've, I've never really thought of it in depth in that way before, but it's absolutely true and it's super exciting to be able to sort of embark on this, uh, on this series journey with, with this group. [00:35:28] Tony Arsenal: I think it's gonna be so good to just dig into these and really, really hear the gospel preached to ourselves through these parables. That's what I'm looking forward to. [00:35:38] Jesse Schwamb: And we're used to being very. Close with the idea that like the message contains the doctrine, the message contains the power. Here we're saying, I think it's both. [00:35:47] Jesse Schwamb: And the mode of that message also contains, the doctrine also contains the power. And I like where you're going with this because I think what we should be reminding ourselves. Is what a blessing it is to have this kind of information conferred to us. [00:36:01] The Role of Parables in Revealing and Concealing Truth [00:36:01] Jesse Schwamb: That again, God has taken, what is the secrets that is his to disclose and his to keep and his to hold, and he's made it available to his children. [00:36:08] Jesse Schwamb: And part of that is for, as you said, like the strengthening of our own faith. It's also for condemnation. So notice that. The hiding of the kingdom through parables is not a consequence of the teaching itself. Again, this goes back to like the mode being as equally important here as the message itself that Christ's teaching is not too difficult to comprehend as an intellectual matter. [00:36:27] Jesse Schwamb: The thing is, like even today, many unbelievers read the gospels and they technically understand what Jesus means in his teaching, especially these parables. The problem is. I would say like moral hardness. It's that lack of spiritual predilection or predisposition. They know what Jesus teaches, but they do not believe. [00:36:47] Jesse Schwamb: And so the challenge before us is as all scripture reading, that we would go before the Holy Spirit and say, holy Spirit, help me to believe. Help me to understand what to believe. And it so doing, do the work of God, which is to believe in him and to believe in His son Jesus Christ and what he's accomplished. [00:37:02] Jesse Schwamb: So the parables are not like creating. Fresh unbelief and sinners instead, like they're confirming the opposition that's already present and apart from Grace, unregenerate perversely use our Lord's teaching to increase their resistance. That's how it's set up. That's how it works. That's why to be on the inside, as it were, not again, because like we've done the right handshake or met all the right standards, but because of the blood of Christ means that the disciples, the first disciples and all the disciples who will follow after them on the other hand. [00:37:33] The Complexity and Nuances of Parables [00:37:33] Jesse Schwamb: We've been granted these eyes to see, and ears to hear Jesus. And then we've been given the secrets of the kingdom. I mean, that's literally what we've been given. And God's mercy has been extended to the disciples who like many in the crowds, once ignorantly and stubbornly rejected God and us just like them as well in both accounts. [00:37:49] Jesse Schwamb: So this is, I think we need to settle on that. You're right, throughout this series, what a blessing. It's not meant to be a great labor or an effort for the child of God. Instead, it's meant to be a way of exploring these fe. Fantastic truths of who God is and what he's done in such a way that draw us in. [00:38:07] Jesse Schwamb: So that whether we're analyzing again, like the the lost coin or the lost sheep, or. Any number of these amazing parables, you'll notice that they draw us in because they don't give us answers in the explicit sense that we're used to. Like didactically instead. Yeah. They cause us to consider, as you've already said, Tony, like what does it mean to be lost? [00:38:26] Jesse Schwamb: What does it mean that the father comes running for this prodigal son? What does it mean that the older brother has a beef with the whole situation? What does it mean when Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed? How much do we know about mustard seeds? And why would he say that? Again, this is a kind of interesting teaching, but that illumination in the midst of it being, I don't wanna say ambiguous, but open-ended to a degree means that the Holy Spirit must come in and give us that kind of grand knowledge. [00:38:55] Jesse Schwamb: But more than that, believe upon what Jesus is saying. I think that's the critical thing, is somebody will say, well, aren't the teaching simple and therefore easy to understand. In a sense, yes. Like factually yes, but in a much greater sense. Absolutely not. And that's why I think it's so beautiful that he quotes Isaiah there because in that original context, you the, you know, you have God delivering a message through Isaiah. [00:39:17] Jesse Schwamb: Uh. The people are very clear. Like, we just don't believe you're a prophet of God. And like what you're saying is ridiculous, right? And we just don't wanna hear you. This is very different than that. This is, Jesus is giving this message essentially to all who will listen to him, not necessarily hear, but all, all who are hear Him, I guess rather, but not necessarily all who are listening with those spiritual ears. [00:39:33] Jesse Schwamb: And so this is like, I love the way that he, he uses that quote in a slightly different way, but still to express the same root cause, which is some of you here. Because of your depravity will not be able to hear what I'm saying. But for those to whom it has been granted to come in who are ushered into the kingdom, this kingdom language will make sense. [00:39:54] Jesse Schwamb: It's like, I'm going to be speaking to you in code and half of you have the key for all the code because the Holy Spirit is your cipher and half of you don't. And you're gonna, you're gonna listen to the same thing, but you will hear very different things. [00:40:06] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the other thing I think is, is interesting to ponder on this, um. [00:40:12] The Importance of Context in Interpreting Parables [00:40:12] Tony Arsenal: God always accommodates his revelation to his people. And the parables are, are, are like the. Accommodated accommodation. Yeah. Like God accommodates himself to those he chooses to reveal himself to. And in some ways this is, this is, um, the human ministry of Christ is him accommodating himself to those. [00:40:38] Tony Arsenal: What I mean is in the human ministry of the Son, the parables are a way of the son accommodating himself to those he chooses to reveal himself to. So there, there are instances. Where the parable is said, and it is, uh, it's seems to be more or less understood by everybody. Nobody asks the question about like, what does this mean? [00:40:57] Tony Arsenal: Right? And then there are instances where the parable is said, and even the apostles are, or the disciples are like, what does this parable mean? And then there's some interesting ones where like. Christ's enemies understand the parable and, and can understand that the parable is told against them. About them. [00:41:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. So there, there's all these different nuances to why Christ used these parables, how simple they were, how complicated they were. Yes. And again, I think that underscores what I said at the top of the show here. It's like you can't treat every parable exactly the same. And that's where you run into trouble. [00:41:28] Tony Arsenal: Like if you're, if you're coming at them, like they're all just simple allegory. Again, like some of them have allegorical elements. I think it's fair to look at the, the prodigal son or the, the prodigal father, however you want to title that. And remember, the titles are not, generally, the titles are not, um, baked into the text itself. [00:41:46] Tony Arsenal: I think it's fair to come to that and look at and go, okay, well, who's the father in this? Who's the son? You know, what does it mean that the older son is this? Is, is there relevance to the fact that there's a party and that the, you know, the older, older, uh, son is not a part of it? There's, there's some legitimacy to that. [00:42:02] Tony Arsenal: And when we look at Christ's own explanation of some of his parables, he uses those kinds, right? The, the good seed is this, the, the seed that fell on the, the side of the road is this, right? The seed that got choked out by the, the, um, thorns is this, but then there are others where it doesn't make sense to pull it apart, element by element. [00:42:21] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm. Um, and, and the other thing is there are some things that we're gonna look at that are, um. We're gonna treat as parables that the text doesn't call a parable. And then there are some that you might even look at that sometimes the text calls a parable that we might not even think of as a normal parable, right? [00:42:38] Tony Arsenal: So there's lots of elements. This is gonna be really fun to just dig stuff in and, and sort of pick it, like pull it apart and look at its component parts and constituent parts. Um, so I really do mean it if you, if you're the kind of person who has never picked up a Bible commentary. This would be a good time to, to start because these can get difficult. [00:42:59] Tony Arsenal: They can get complicated. You want to have a trusted guide, and Jesse and I are gonna do our, our work and our research on this. Um, but you want someone who's more of a trusted guide than us. This is gonna be the one time that I might actually say Calvin's commentaries are not the most helpful. And the reason for that is not because Calvin's not clear on this stuff. [00:43:17] Tony Arsenal: Calvin Calvin's commentaries on the gospel is, is a harmony of the gospels, right? So sometimes it's tricky when you're reading it to try to find like a specific, uh, passage in Matthew because you're, you, everything's interwoven. So something like Matthew Henry, um, or something like, um, Matthew Poole. Uh, might be helpful if you're willing to spend a little bit of money. [00:43:38] Tony Arsenal: The ESV expository commentary that I've referenced before is a good option. Um, but try to find something that's approachable and usable that is reasonable for you to work through the commentary alongside of us, because you are gonna want to spend time reading these on your own, and you're gonna want to, like I said, you're gonna want to have a trust guide with you. [00:43:55] Tony Arsenal: Even just a good study bible, something like. The Reformation Study Bible or something along those lines would help you work your way through these parables, and I think it's valuable to do that. [00:44:06] Jesse Schwamb: Something you just said sparked this idea in me that the power, or one of the powers maybe of good fiction is that it grabs your attention. [00:44:15] The Impact of Parables on Listeners [00:44:15] Jesse Schwamb: It like brings you into the plot maybe even more than just what I said before about it being resonant, that it actually pulls you into the storyline and it makes you think that it's about other people until it's too late. Yeah. And Jesus has a way of doing this that really only maybe the parable can allow. [00:44:30] Jesse Schwamb: So like in other words, by the time you realize. A parable is like metaphorical, or even in a limited case, it's allegorical form you've already identified with one or more of the characters and you're caught in the trap. So what comes to my mind there is like the one Old Testament narrative, virtually identical, informed to those Jesus told is Nathan's parable of the You lamb. [00:44:52] Jesse Schwamb: So that's in like second Samuel 12, and I was just looking this up as you were, as you were speaking. So in this potentially life and death move for the prophet Nathan confronts King David. Over his adultery with, or depending on how you see it, rape of Bathsheba, and then his subsequent murder of her husband Uriah, by sending him to the front lines of battle. [00:45:10] Jesse Schwamb: So he's killed. And so in this parable that Nathan tells Uriah is like the poor man. Bathsheba is like the Yu a and the rich man obviously represents David. If you, you know what I'm talking about, go back and look at second Samuel 12. And so what's interesting is once David is hooked into that story, he cannot deny that his behavior was unjust as that of the rich man in the story who takes this UAM for himself and he, which he openly. [00:45:38] Jesse Schwamb: Then David openly condemns of course, like the amazing climax of this. And as the reader who has. Of course, like omniscient knowledge in the story, you know, the plot of things, right? You're, you're already crying out, like you're throwing something, you know, across the room saying like, how can you not see this about you? [00:45:53] Jesse Schwamb: And of course the climax comes in when Nathan points the finger at David and declares, you are the man. And that's kind of what. The parables due to us. Yes. They're not always like the same in accusatory toward us, but they do call us out. This is where, again, when we talk about like the scripture reading us, the parable is particularly good at that because sometimes we tend to identify, you know, again, with like one of the particular characters whom we probably shouldn't identify with, or like you said, the parable, the sower. [00:46:22] Jesse Schwamb: Isn't the Christian always quick to be like, I am the virtual grounds? Yeah. You still have to ask like, you know, there is not like a Paul washer way of doing this, but there is like a way of saying like, checking yourself before you wreck yourself there. And so when Jesus's parables have lost some of that shock value in today's world, we maybe need to contemporize them a little bit. [00:46:43] Jesse Schwamb: I, and I think we'll talk about that as we go through it. We're not rewriting them for any reason that that would be completely inappropriate. Think about this though. Like the Jew robbed and left for dead. And you know the story of the Grace Samaritan may need to become like the white evangelical man who is helped by like the black Muslim woman after the senior pastor and the worship leader from the local reformed church passed by like that. [00:47:05] Jesse Schwamb: That might be the frame, which we should put it to try to understand it whenever we face a hostile audience that this indirect rhetoric of compelling stories may help at least some people hear God's world more favorably, and I think that's why you get both like a soft. And a sharp edge with these stories. [00:47:20] Jesse Schwamb: But it's the ability to, to kind of come in on the sneak attack. It's to make you feel welcomed in and to identify with somebody. And then sometimes to find that you're identifying entirely with a character whom Jesus is gonna say, listen, don't be this way, or This is what the kingdom of God is, is not like this. [00:47:35] Jesse Schwamb: Or again, to give you shock value, not for the sake of telling like a good tale that somehow has a twist where it's like everybody was actually. All Dead at the end. Another movie, by the way, I have not seen, but I just know that that's like, I'll never see that movie because, can we say it that the spoiler is, is out on that, right? [00:47:54] Tony Arsenal: Are we, what are we talking about? What movie are we talking about? [00:47:56] Jesse Schwamb: Well, I don't, I don't wanna say it. I didn't [00:47:57] Tony Arsenal: even get it from your description. Oh. [00:47:59] Jesse Schwamb: Like that, that movie where like, he was dead the whole time. [00:48:02] Tony Arsenal: Oh, this, that, that, that movie came out like 30 years ago, Jesse. Oh, seriously? [00:48:06] Jesse Schwamb: Okay. All right. [00:48:06] Tony Arsenal: So Six Sense. [00:48:07] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. That movie came out a long time ago. [00:48:10] Jesse Schwamb: So it's not like the parables are the sixth sense, and it's like, let me get you like a really cool twist. Right. Or like hook at the end. I, and I think in part it is to disarm you and to draw you in in such a way that we might honestly consider what's happening there. [00:48:22] Jesse Schwamb: And that's how it reads us. [00:48:24] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I think that's a good point. And, and. It bears saying there are all sorts of parables all throughout the Bible. It's not just Jesus that teaches these, and they do have this similar effect that they, they draw you in. Um, oftentimes you identify it preliminarily, you identify with the wrong person, and it's not until you. [00:48:45] Tony Arsenal: Or you don't identify with anyone when you should. Right. Right. And it's not until the sort of punchline or I think that account with Nathan is so spot on because it's the same kind of thing. David did not have ears to hear. [00:48:58] Jesse Schwamb: Right. Until he had That's good point. Ears [00:49:00] Tony Arsenal: to hear. [00:49:00] Jesse Schwamb: Good point. [00:49:01] Tony Arsenal: And he heard the point of the parable. [00:49:03] Tony Arsenal: He understood the point of the parable and he didn't understand that the parable was about him, right? It's like the ultimate, I don't know why you're clapping David, I'm talking about you moment. Um, I'm just have this picture of Paul washer in like a biblical era robe. Um, so I think that's a enough progam to the series. [00:49:20] Preparing for the Series on Parables [00:49:20] Tony Arsenal: We're super excited we're, we'll cover some of these principles again, because again, different parables have to be interpreted different ways, and some of these principles apply to one and don't to others, and so we'll, we'll tease that out when we get there next week. We're gonna just jump right in. [00:49:34] Tony Arsenal: We're gonna get started with, I think, um, I actually think, you know, in the, the providence of, of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and then obviously the providence of God in Christ's ministry, the, the parable that kind of like frames all of the other parables,

A bombshell statement from Alexander Isak has rocked Newcastle United, with the star striker publicly demanding a move away from St. James' Park. But the club is having none of it.​In a dramatic turn of events during the peak of the 2025 summer transfer window, Isak took to Instagram to release a statement outlining his desire for a new challenge. The football world was stunned, but Newcastle United's response was even more shocking.The club has hit back, and hit back HARD, releasing their own powerful statement that labels Isak's claims as "false" and makes it crystal clear that their star striker will not be sold.​In this video, we break down the entire saga:

Craig and Lee react to the news that Newcastle United look to have had a potential double transfer breakthrough in what has been a very frustrating window for everyone involved in the club. The two players are AC Milan's Malick Thiaw and Brentford's Yaone Wissa as we look to bolster both the defense and attack.The lads also talk about how much social mdia has had an impact on the current window as what positions we need to fill if/when we land our two latest targets.----------------------Join our toon Telegram Chat by clicking the link belowhttps://t.me/+wy_odMOP03A5YWZl----------------------⚫️ https://toonunder.com⚪️ Find us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@ToonUnderPodcast⚫️ Twitter @ToonUnderPod⚪️ Apple Music and Spotify search Toon Under Podcast

In today's episode of The LOTS Project Morning Show, I share some huge updates:

Hablemos de quienes son los “kbrns” en la Semana de la Prensa. | catalogan de mendaz a la defensa de los suegros de Jenniffer González en caso crímenes ambientales en La Parguera. | Irregular los donativos de individuos de la Ley 60 caen en manos de sin fines de lucro en la que participa un miembro del Telegram Chat y un ex secretario del Departamento de Desarrollo Económico. ¡Sintoniza, comenta y comparte! #periodismodeinvestigación #periodismoindependiente

Hablemos de quienes son los “kbrns” en la Semana de la Prensa. | catalogan de mendaz a la defensa de los suegros de Jenniffer González en caso crímenes ambientales en La Parguera. | Irregular los donativos de individuos de la Ley 60 caen en manos de sin fines de lucro en la que participa un miembro del Telegram Chat y un ex secretario del Departamento de Desarrollo Económico. ¡Sintoniza, comenta y comparte! #periodismodeinvestigación #periodismoindependiente

In the latest episode of "Money Grows on Trees: The Podcast," host Lloyd Ross dives deep into the intriguing topic of "How To Create Your Own Dividends." Inspired by Warren Buffett's advice and answering a fiery social media debate, Lloyd breaks down the mechanics of dividends, the tax advantages of investing over labor income, and how you can generate your own dividends by selling shares strategically. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, this episode offers actionable insights that can transform your financial approach and accelerate your path to wealth. Tune in to learn how to leverage your investments for maximum return and minimize your tax burden effectively. Don't miss this essential guide to making your money work harder for you!

In this episode, I share my top 5 favorite healthy snack foods for staying on track with your health goals while on vacation. Whether you're planning a vacation or just like to snack, this episode was made just for you. Give this episode a listen! You're gonna love it! Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, let's talk about practical meal prep ideas that can save you time and help you stay on track with your fat loss goals. Today, I have two quick breakfast ideas for you, as well as two meals that can be used for either lunch or dinner. The real key to saving time in the kitchen is to stick to versatile recipes that can be thrown together in minutes, satisfying everyone's palate while giving you extra time to focus on something besides mealtime. Looking for more meal prep inspiration? Check out our "Lose Fat Like Crazy" ebook, featuring 50 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

Did you know that traditional cardio elevates your stress levels and hunger cues (which both make fat loss harder than it has to be)? So, what do you do instead!! This episode is packed with valuable insights and strategies on dealing with hormonal fluctuations caused by excessive cardio and daily stress, especially helpful for busy women and moms with jam-packed schedules. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

Have you ever entered your data into a macro-calculator, only to be told that your daily calorie allotment was two measly calories? Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get what I mean. Let's talk about the downside to an overreliance on macro-calculators that suggest continuous calorie reduction to achieve weight loss goals. While these calculators may seem helpful initially, the diminishing calorie recommendations can lead to frustration, unhealthy dietary habits, and weight-loss plateaus. Instead of perpetually decreasing calorie intake, it may be a wiser approach to include periods of increased calorie intake. Although this may seem counterintuitive, it communicates to the metabolism that it is being cared for, making it feel safe for when you feel ready to go back into a deficit and resume weight loss. This is a process I like to call "Metabolic Revitalization," and it is great for helping you to understand what your body needs. If you're seeking a weight loss strategy that doesn't involve unrealistic diet demands or time-consuming routines, this episode is for you. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce jumps head-first into the controversial and cutting-edge topic of 2024 – weight loss injections, specifically focusing on GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic, Munjaro, and Wegovy. This episode is intended to educate you on the science behind weight loss injections, in what cases they make sense, and the caveat that could make or break their viability for you. Want to learn more? Give this episode a listen! Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce delivers a dual feature: a 20-minute transformative workout tailored for busy women and a motivating case study featuring our client, Sarah. Let's face it, many busy women face a common struggle - maintaining effective workouts while juggling a busy schedule. This was the case with our client, Sarah. She wanted to build strength without dedicating all of her free time to unsustainable workout routines. Bryce helped her craft a workout routine that aligned with her time constraints while also producing significant improvements in her fitness level and body composition. Want to learn how? Listen now! Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce discusses effective strategies to create time for fitness and nutrition amidst a busy lifestyle. No, you don't have to spend excessive hours in the gym to achieve your fitness goals, and a few minor tweaks could be all you need to start seeing progress and revealing your dream body. Listen now to learn how! Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce discusses the fine line between healthy food tracking and obsessive food behaviors. Bryce challenges the prevalent notion that equates fitness and nutrition merely to your physical appearance and argues that the goal should not be achieving an ideal body figure that is dictated to you through popular media, but instead elevating your overall quality of life. While tracking is one of the most effective fat loss strategies—Bryce stresses the need for a balanced mindset when employing this tool. Similarly to managing finances, obsessively limiting yourself can breed harmful habits, impacting not only you but those around you. Bryce also shares his belief that understanding what you eat and how it benefits your body actually unlocks the door to more food freedom and flexibility. In short, this episode delivers tried and tested answers to commonly voiced concerns about maco-tracking and a dysfunctional relationship with food. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

¡Qué palo... es noticia! 02/05/2024 El personaje del Telegram Chat y ex Secretario de Asuntos Públicos del Gobierno de Ricardo Rosselló, Anthony Maceira Zayas, acumula contratos con el Gobierno de Pierluisi de sobre $400k en el último año. ¡Sintoniza y comparte! #periodismodeinvestigación #periodismoindependiente #anthonymaceira #luisraultorres #denismarquez

¡Qué palo... es noticia! 02/05/2024 El personaje del Telegram Chat y ex Secretario de Asuntos Públicos del Gobierno de Ricardo Rosselló, Anthony Maceira Zayas, acumula contratos con el Gobierno de Pierluisi de sobre $400k en el último año. ¡Sintoniza y comparte! #periodismodeinvestigación #periodismoindependiente #anthonymaceira #luisraultorres #denismarquez

In this episode, Bryce busts the common myth that says you're doomed to a slowing metabolism as you age. Contrary to popular belief that it begins in your 30s, your metabolism doesn't slow down until your late 60s, and the primary culprit behind a sluggish metabolism before then is actually muscle loss. Well, what causes muscle loss starting around the age of 30? That's right! That's when most people get their first desk job and their body starts to offload that valuable muscle mass. However, you can still build muscle and subsequently boost your metabolism at any age. It simply comes down to eating the right foods and putting the right demands on your body to stimulate muscle growth and maintain or even enhance your metabolic rate. By implementing this simple switch in your perspective on nutrition and exercise you can experience improved energy, increased longevity, and significant weight loss—especially as you age. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce encourages you to forget about the number on the scale!! Instead, start evaluating progress by looking at the big picture. We all know the feeling: a two-pound loss on the scale followed by a one-and-a-half-pound gain, seemingly without reason. Maybe it's water consumption; maybe it's excess sodium. Either way, tracking weight alone can be misleading and frustrating, which is why learning to measure progress without using the scale is so critical. Learning to lean on biofeedback markers, performance tracking, and circumference measurements, could just be the change of pace you have been looking for. Should you need a hand with this, Bryce's email is in the show notes below; drop him an email, and he'll send you your own "Personal Growth Habit Tracker." Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce reveals 3 common reasons your metabolism is slowing down and what you can do about it. Speeding up your metabolism is both crucial and possible when you make the right food, exercise, and lifestyle choices. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

In this episode, Bryce speaks about his own four-week personal fat loss journey, giving you a peek behind the curtain at how he managed to shed five pounds in four weeks without giving up food trucks, jelly beans, or Easter dinner. Remember to follow or subscribe to enjoy our free coaching content consistently. In the main part of the episode, Bryce describes a focused fat-loss phase, maintaining a balanced diet, and enjoying flexibility in food selections. However, achieving these goals isn't without its own mental challenges and requires a deep understanding of your body, its responses to diet and exercise, and the reality that weight loss isn't instantaneous or linear. Discover how you can approach weight loss in a sustainable, achievable manner while avoiding self-sabotaging behavior by scheduling a free lifestyle audit today. Free Resources Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Lose Fat Like Crazy E-Book For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email Bryce (resources@holistichabits.fit) Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered... How do I motivate myself to workout? How do I motivate myself to lose body fat? What are the best exercises for motivation? Why can't I motivate myself to lose weight? How can I increase my motivation? ⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Recipes for Results⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Have Failed And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Habit Tracker (resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered... Can you lose fat with intuitive eating? How to incorporate intuitive eating into your weight loss journey? What is the intuitive eating method? Do I have to track macros to lose fat? What are the benefits of intuitive eating? Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Recipes for Results⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Have Failed And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Habit Tracker (resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered... How many calories should I eat to lose weight? Is it good to eat 1200 calories a day? How do I know how many calories I need to eat? Are calorie calculators accurate? ⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠Recipes for Results⁠ ⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Have Failed And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠ ⁠Request the Personal Growth Habit Tracker (resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠Telegram Chat here⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered... What is the fastest way to lose weight? What is the right way to lose weight? How do I avoid extreme weight loss methods and fad diets? How should I go about losing weight? Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit Episode Resources: Recipes for Results Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Have Failed And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique Request the Personal Growth Habit Tracker (resources@holistichabits.fit) For some incredible free resources and to be part of our amazing results-driven community, join our Telegram Chat here. Follow Bryce on IG @rbryce_hamilton For more information on coaching, visit holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: Do I have to avoid all sugar to lose fat? How bad is sugar for me? Can I lose weight and still eat sugar? What does sugar do to my body? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Recipes for Results⁠ ⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠What are the benefits of intermittent fasting? What are the rules for intermittent fasting? How much weight can you lose with intermittent fasting? What results can I expect with intermittent fasting? ⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: Recipes for Results ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card ⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: What's the big deal about fats and do they really make me fat? Are fats bad? Should I be eating a low-fat diet? What fats should I be prioritizing? ⁠⁠⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Recipes for Results Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you are a busy parent who... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Is too busy to take care of your own health needs Finds it hard to prioritize your own weight loss journey because you're so busy taking care of everyone else Wants to have the freedom and flexibility to enjoy life with your kids Wants to pass down a healthy relationship with food to the next generation Follow Coach Ryan on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card ⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: What's the big deal about carbs and how do they relate to fat loss? Are carbs bad? Do carbs make you fat? Can I eat carbs? Do I have to give up carbs? ⁠⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: ⁠⁠⁠How am I gaining weight when I'm doing everything right? Why am I gaining weight when I'm eating less and moving more? Why is the scale going up? ⁠⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request the Personal Growth Score Card ⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: What's the big deal about fiber and how does it relate to fat loss? How can I more easily maintain my weight? Is keeping the fat off always going to be a struggle? How much fiber should I be eating? Is fiber necessary for fat loss? ⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: ⁠How am I gaining weight when I'm doing everything right? Why am I gaining weight when I'm eating less and working out? Why is the scale going up? ⁠Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: What's the big deal about protein and how does it relate to fat loss? How can I more easily maintain my weight? Is keeping the fat off always going to be a struggle? How much protein should I be eating? Is protein necessary for fat loss? ⁠Instagram Post on How to Track Your Protein Rosemarie's LinkedIn Post on Protein and Hormone Health Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here.⁠ Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

This episode is for you if you have ever wondered: How can I lose weight without gaining it back? Is sustainable weight loss possible? Can I lose fat while eating a balanced diet? Can anyone in the health and fitness space help me for real? Do I really have to buy supplements? Sign up for a free Lifestyle Audit here. Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

In this episode, Bryce interviews Kayla Potter (the head coach of Life Unlimited Coaching). Together they discuss the value of prioritizing self-worth in achieving fat loss, the importance of healing your relationship with food, and how it can lead to a long-lasting transformation. Kayla also shares her best advice on navigating the challenges of motherhood while also prioritizing your own well-being. You'll also discover why shifting the focus from aesthetics to health and strength is one of the most important components to achieving the look you want without the undesirable, obsessive behaviors you'd love to avoid. Tune in now! Visit Kayla at Life Unlimited Coaching Episode Resources: Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠⁠ Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

In this episode, Bryce sheds light on a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of fat loss: hydration. Discover the significant role that proper hydration plays in achieving your weight loss goals. Uncover the science-backed benefits of staying well-hydrated, including enhanced metabolism, reduced appetite, and improved exercise performance. Tune in now! Episode Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠⁠ Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

In this episode, Bryce uncovers the often underestimated role of sleep when it comes to achieving fat loss goals. Explore the powerful connection between quality sleep and effective weight management, as Bryce shares the science-backed benefits of getting sufficient rest. Discover how optimizing your sleep routine can boost your metabolism, curb cravings, and support your overall well-being. Get ready to transform your fat loss journey by prioritizing the power of a good night's sleep. Tune in now for all the insights you need to make sleep your secret weapon for success! Episode Resources: ⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠⁠⁠ ⁠How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ ⁠⁠(resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠⁠Telegram Chat here⁠⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

In this episode, Bryce dives into the secrets of creating a customized diet plan tailored to your unique needs and preferences. Discover how to guarantee success on your wellness journey by personalizing your approach. Uncover the strategies to design a diet plan that not only fits your lifestyle but also brings you joy along the way. Tune in now to unlock the keys to achieving your health and fitness goals! Episode Resources: ⁠Request the Nutrient-Rich Foods Cheat Sheet (resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠ How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube)⁠ ⁠Request the Meal Planning Automator⁠ (resources@holistichabits.fit)⁠ ⁠Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique⁠ For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our ⁠Telegram Chat here⁠. Follow Bryce on IG ⁠@rbryce_hamilon⁠ For more information on coaching, visit ⁠holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

In this episode, Bryce explores an approach to fat loss that just might make the difference that finally leads to your weight loss success. Discover the incredible benefits of this method, including psychological relief from dieting and elevated mental and physical performance. Let's take this often over-complicated method and, once again, make it simple for fat loss. Tune in now! Episode Resources: How to use the Meal Planning Automator (Youtube) Request the Meal Planning Automator (resources@holistichabits.fit) Discover the 3 Most Common Reasons Past Dieting Attempts Haven't Delivered the Results You've Been Looking for And the 3 Steps You Can Take to Achieve Your Most Attainable and Sustainable Dream Physique For some incredible free resources and to be a part of our amazing results-driven community, join our Telegram Chat here. Follow Bryce on IG @rbryce_hamilon For more information on coaching, visit holistichabits.fit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fat-loss-simplified/message

Angela sits down with musician Tony Mandredonia to talk about his latest album, ANCHORED" and the travails of marriage. To check out his work, visit his website: https://www.manfredoniamusic.com/About "Anchored": https://www.manfredoniamusic.com/anch...Tony's Instagram:   / tony_manfredonia  ****************************************************************A super big thanks to my patrons on Patreon. You are the reason I can continue this podcast.Join my Telegram Chat! https://t.me/+xnvwN3jQv4cyZmVhGet 10% off purchases made using the code Integrated10 at the following shops:Star of the Sea Gifts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaroftheSe...Our Lady's Closet: https://ourladyscloset.com/By shopping at Our Lady's Closet and Star of the Sea gifts and using my code, you support Integrated. Thank you! Let's get Integrated!Twitter: @integratedangInstagram: @integratedangTo give a one time gift or become a monthly supporter, visit www.integratedangela.com.Support the show

Angela sits down once again to talk about the genesis of feminism and the deep roots of occultism that exist within the movement.  Learn more about Dr. Carrie Gress and buy her books here: https://www.carriegress.com/********************************************************************A super big thanks to my patrons on Patreon. You are the reason I can continue this podcast.Join my Telegram Chat! https://t.me/+xnvwN3jQv4cyZmVhGet 10% off purchases made using the code Integrated10 at the following shops:Star of the Sea Gifts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaroftheSe...Our Lady's Closet: https://ourladyscloset.com/Let's get Integrated!Twitter: @integratedang;   / integratedang Instagram: @integratedang;   / integratedangela Facebook: Integrated with Angela Erickson;   / integratedangela Visit My Website: www.integratedangela.comSupport the Show: Patreon or Paypal (for a one-time gift)Support the show

Angela sits down with Timothy Flanders from @MeaningofCatholic and Editor of 1Peter5 to discuss the current state of affairs in the Church, the Synod, and how Catholics should respond in difficult eras in the Church. His books: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks...********************************************************************A super big thanks to my patrons on Patreon. You are the reason I can continue this podcast.Join my Telegram Chat! https://t.me/+xnvwN3jQv4cyZmVhGet 10% off purchases made using the code Integrated10 at the following shops:Star of the Sea Gifts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaroftheSe...Our Lady's Closet: https://ourladyscloset.com/By shopping at Our Lady's Closet & Star of the Sea gifts + using my code, you support Integrated. Thank you! Twitter: @integratedangInstagram: @integratedangFacebook: Integrated with Angela Erickson; https://www.facebook.com/IntegratedAngelaVisit My Website: www.integratedangela.comSupport My Work:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntegratedwithAngelaEricksonSupport the show

Today Angela sits down with Jordan Burke, founder of Do The Harder Thing, to discuss how porn impacts the soul and prevents us from growing in virtue and holiness. This show is likely not for little ears, so please consider listening privately before exposing your children. It might be a great conversation starter; however, for parents with teens-- Parental discretion is advised. Follow Jordan here: https://www.dotheharderthing.comInstagram- https://www.instagram.com/dothe_harderthing/ @dothe_harderthingSoul Ties: https://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/214********************************************************************************A super big thanks to my patrons on Patreon. You are the reason I can continue this podcast.Join my Telegram Chat! https://t.me/+xnvwN3jQv4cyZmVhGet 10% off purchases made using the code Integrated10 at the following shops:Star of the Sea Gifts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaroftheSe...Our Lady's Closet: https://ourladyscloset.com/By shopping at Our Lady's Closet and Star of the Sea gifts and using my code, you support Integrated. Thank you! Let's get Integrated!Twitter: @integratedang; https://twitter.com/integratedangInstagram: @integratedang; https://www.instagram.com/integrateda...Facebook: Integrated with Angela Erickson; https://www.facebook.com/IntegratedAn...Visit My Website: www.integratedangela.comSupport My Work:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Integratedwit...Support the show

Angela sits down with Nicholas Cavazos, @thetraditionalthomist, to discuss what it's like to be a young adult trying to date in the modern world. The Traditional Thomist on IG: https://www.instagram.com/the_traditi..., @the_traditional_thomistThe Traditional Thomist on YouTube:  @thetraditionalthomist  , @thetraditionalthomist********************************************************************************A super big thanks to my patrons on Patreon. You are the reason I can continue this podcast.Join my Telegram Chat! https://t.me/+xnvwN3jQv4cyZmVhGet 10% off purchases made using the code Integrated10 at the following shops:Star of the Sea Gifts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaroftheSe...Our Lady's Closet: https://ourladyscloset.com/By shopping at Our Lady's Closet and Star of the Sea gifts and using my code, you support Integrated. Thank you! Let's get Integrated!Twitter: @integratedang; https://twitter.com/integratedangInstagram: @integratedang; https://www.instagram.com/integrateda...Facebook: Integrated with Angela Erickson; https://www.facebook.com/IntegratedAn...Visit My Website: www.integratedangela.comSupport My Work:Patreon: Support the show

QPEN 14/09/2023 Los elementos de los brothers del Telegram Chat presentes en la campaña de Jenniffer González. Quiquito dice no es el único que está preocupado con la presencia de Elias Sánchez en el Comité de JGo. Luis Raúl Torres dice que puede probar que Tatito le quitó presidencia de comisiones porque no retiró el informe negativo del contrato de Genera PR. Nombramientos en comunicaciones del DTOP de experta en deportes. ¡Sintoniza y comparte! #periodismodeinvestigación #periodismoindependiente #mariabatista #luisraultorres #eliassanchez

Links My Contact Info and explore amazing resources: https://linqapp.com/raulavila Book Meeting with Me: https://calendly.com/raulavila YouTube: Http://www.youtube.com/coachellacoach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raulavila777/ Personal Story Raul and Noemi Our Personal Story - http://youtu.be/N9zHyFcOK_s Raul Surprises Noemi With The Power Builder - http://youtu.be/qZgeJ-cBoBM Raul & Noemi Hole in shoe - https://youtu.be/ihVFy2IixxU Primerica SNSD Mical Pyeatt - Personal Testimony - http://youtu.be/OSeL_gp-Hzo The Crusade of My Company The Primerica Story - The Origins of an AMAZING COMPANY -  Part 1 - https://youtu.be/B-CEo86BeTU Part 2 - https://youtu.be/voRVyWQh350 Part 3 - https://youtu.be/C3MuW3cejig Kingdom Men Bible Study Friday's at 1pm PACIFIC Zoom Meeting Link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7608993893 (Passcode: multiply)   Meeting ID: 760 899 3893 Passcode: multiply  Join our Telegram Chat: https://t.me/+eYWK8j6SU0wzZDBh Youtube Playlist of Past Meetings: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb8-5qZDAm36LRcSunBclo6zTHnHfpW1J Band Of Brothers Bootcamps SIGN UP HERE: https://www.socalbootcampdetails.com  Based on the book: “Wild at Heart” - John Eldridge Video about: https://youtu.be/WlafAJcAjng 

Friday's at 1pm PACIFIC Zoom Meeting Link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7608993893 (Passcode: multiply)   Meeting ID: 760 899 3893 Passcode: multiply  Join our Telegram Chat: https://t.me/+eYWK8j6SU0wzZDBh Youtube Playlist of Past Meetings: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb8-5qZDAm36LRcSunBclo6zTHnHfpW1J Band Of Brothers Bootcamps SIGN UP HERE: https://www.socalbootcampdetails.com  Based on the book: “Wild at Heart” - John Eldridge Video about: https://youtu.be/WlafAJcAjng  NEXT Bootcamp: October 5-8th

#politica #puertorico #ambiente La propuesta de demolición y restauración que hizo Campamento Carey para devolver a su estado natural el área de la Playa Los Almendros en Rincon. Conversamos con Eliezer Molina. Thomas Rivera Schatz le tira con todo a los muchachos del Telegram Chat que alega quieren impulsar una candidatura de Ricardo Rosselló Nevárez para el 2024. Miguel Romero recibe en “dación” una propiedad que le vendió Jorge Santini al hoy convicto federal, Walter Pierluisi Isern sin que se sepa qué pasará con el prestamo de $428K que le debe a institución bancaria. ¡Sintoniza y comparte! #periodismoindependiente #periodismodigital