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In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal walks through Jonah 1–2, focusing on the remarkable prayer Jonah offers from the belly of the great fish. Far from a simple morality tale, the Book of Jonah presents a complex, deeply theological portrait of a disobedient prophet who nonetheless clings to the Lord in his darkest moment. Tony explores the Hebrew literary features that shape how we read Jonah's prayer, the doctrine of divine sovereignty as it operates through human agency, and the rich typological connections between Jonah and the death and resurrection of Christ. Most importantly, the episode grounds Jonah's experience in the Westminster Confession's teaching on sanctification — offering genuine hope to believers who feel buried under besetting sin, assuring them that salvation, from beginning to end, belongs entirely to the Lord. Key Takeaways Jonah is not the hero of his own story — he functions more as an anti-hero whose failures actually make him a more useful and relatable example for ordinary believers. Divine sovereignty operates through, not apart from, human agency — the sailors freely threw Jonah overboard, and yet Jonah rightly says God cast him into the deep; both are simultaneously true. The sequence debate in Jonah 2 matters theologically — whether Jonah prayed before or after being swallowed affects how we read the book; reading it as a strict cause-and-effect sequence risks turning the gospel into a quid pro quo transaction with God. Jonah's "yet I will see your holy temple" is a confession of eschatological faith — in the midst of near-certain death, Jonah expresses confidence not merely in earthly rescue, but in his ultimate destiny as one of God's people. The deep is a Genesis image — Jonah's descent into the primordial waters deliberately echoes the formless void of Genesis 1 and the undoing of creation in the flood, placing his experience within the grand arc of biblical cosmology. Jonah is a prophetic type of Christ's death and resurrection — his three days in the belly of the fish, his descent into the pit, and his emergence onto dry land anticipate and foreshadow the resurrection, as Jesus himself confirms in Matthew 12. Sanctification is real but imperfect — drawing from Westminster Confession Chapter 13, Tony argues that the up-and-down nature of Jonah's spiritual life is not an aberration but a description of the normal Christian life, in which the flesh and spirit remain in perpetual war until glory. Key Concepts Eschatological Faith in the Pit One of the most striking moments in Jonah's prayer is his declaration in 2:4 — "Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple." Tony argues that this is not merely a hope of physical rescue and a return to Jerusalem. Jonah believed he was dying. The waters had closed in to take his life; he was being dragged into underwater trenches that the ancient Semitic mind associated with the very gates of Sheol. In this context, Jonah's declaration is better understood as eschatological faith — a confession that even if God takes his life in judgment, he will still see the Lord face to face in the heavenly temple. It mirrors Job's cry, "Yet in my flesh I shall see God," and anticipates the kind of faith that says, with the father in Mark 9, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." Sovereignty and Human Agency Working Together Tony uses Jonah's descent as a teaching moment on the Reformed doctrine of concurrence — the truth that God's sovereign decree and human free will are not in competition but operate simultaneously on different levels. The sailors made a free, agonized decision to throw Jonah overboard; and yet Jonah rightly attributes his casting into the sea to God himself. Tony draws the parallel to Joseph's words to his brothers in Genesis 50: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." This is not a philosophical sleight of hand. It is the consistent testimony of Scripture that God governs all things — including the underwater currents that dragged Jonah to the ocean floor — without reducing human beings to puppets or eliminating their moral responsibility. Sanctification Is Real, Imperfect, and Guaranteed Perhaps the most pastorally significant thread of the episode is Tony's application of Westminster Confession Chapter 13 to Jonah's experience. Jonah makes genuine progress in faith — his prayer is theologically rich and demonstrates real trust in God — and yet he almost immediately slips back behind the curve, making vows the sailors had already made before him, and later in chapter 4, sulking over a dead plant. Tony refuses to read this as a failure of the text. Instead, it is the text faithfully portraying the reality of sanctification: real throughout the whole person, yet imperfect in this life, with an irreconcilable war between flesh and spirit. The hope is not that we will finally overcome that war on our own, but that through the continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part will overcome. Salvation — including sanctification — belongs entirely to the Lord. Memorable Quotes Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. All outside visible indicators said he was going to die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again. God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire. Full Transcript [00:00:08] Tony Arsenal: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. For their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.  [00:01:24] Storm and Sailors [00:01:24] Tony Arsenal: But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god. Perhaps the god will give us a thought that we may not perish." And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. [00:02:36] Cast Into Sea [00:02:36] Tony Arsenal: He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to the dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, "O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood. For you, O Lord, has done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. [00:03:15] Fish and Prayer [00:03:15] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the dep-- into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me. All your waves and billows passed over me." Then he said, "I am driven away from your sight. Yet I shall look again upon your holy temple. The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." At the root of the mountain I went to the land, whose bars closed upon me forever. Yet you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When I-- when my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord.  [00:04:23] Jonah Not the Hero [00:04:23] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land Jonah is an interesting book because, as I commented a year ago, Jonah is not necessarily the hero of the story. Uh, if anything, he is kind of the villain in, in some senses. But nevertheless, I think as we'll see today, Jonah still gives us a good example to follow in a sense, and that I think is really the centerpiece of this prayer, is that even as Jonah's going through all of this, his prayer is still remarkably filled with faithful sayings and trust in the Lord. We learned early on in Jonah that Jonah was a prophet during the time of the kings. Uh, he, uh, he seemed to have been a sort of a court temple. He was in the presence of the kings in Jerusalem itself, and he received a calling from the word of the Lord, and this phrase, "the word of the Lord," seems to imply a pre-incarnate, uh, visible manifestation of the second person of the Trinity. So we're not just talking about a, a disembodied voice. We're not just talking about some sort of sense or impression, but the word of the Lord itself, himself, came to give Jonah this mission, to give Jonah this task, to commission him as a prophet to Nineveh. And Jonah gets up and says, "No, thank you," and he goes the opposite direction. We see in that first section there the repeated phrase, "He goes to Tarshish. He boards a ship in Tarshish." The author here, who we, we think is Jonah, is hammering that he did not go where he was supposed to. He went the opposite direction. He went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, which is 180 degrees the other direction from, uh, from Nineveh on the map. And he boards the, he boards the ship in order to flee the presence of the Lord. He pays, probably buys out the entire ship itself. He pays the fare for the whole ship, and the Lord hurls a great wave, uses the language of weapons. He hurls this storm like a spear. He weaponizes nature itself to correct and chastise and judge Jonah for his disobedience We get to verses seven through 17, and everyone on the boat is crying out to their chosen deity except Jonah. Jonah is asleep in the hold of the ship, oblivious to everything, totally dead to the world and dead to his Lord. The sailors begin to seek divine li- divine wisdom after they wake Jonah. He comes to the deck of the ship, and they cast lots to identify by divine, uh, revelation, sort of a strange practice in the Old Testament or the old, uh, world. Divine revelation that shows them Jonah is the source of this wickedness that is being wrought upon them, at least their impression of it. So they ask Jonah, "Who are you? Tell us who it is that has caused this great calamity." And he says emphatically, "A Hebrew am I." He identifies himself with God's people, and he says, "The Lord is my God, and he made the heaven and the earth and the sea." There's no small amount of irony, and it explains why the sailors are so afraid when he says that God created the heavens where the storm was. He created the sea where they were about to die, and he created the dry land where they were trying to get to. And so this one phrase that Jonah uses almost casually demonstrates that the Lord has total and utter sovereignty over what is going on, which is a theme that we'll see come back again and again through the book The sailors say, "Well, what do we do about this?" And Jonah says, "Throw me into the ocean, because I know that if you do so, then the storm will calm down and you will be saved." Whether he knew this because he's a prophet and it had been revealed to him, or whether he just was surmising that this was the case, we don't know. But the, uh, sailors are hesitant to do so, and we talked about how it was a little bit strange that these, uh, pagan sailors from cultures that d- had no qualms about human sacrifice were suddenly, uh, unwilling to throw Jonah over the sea a- as a, an appeasement offering to this Lord. And we came to the conclusion that they had been regenerated. They had come to faith in this God who created the heavens and the sea and the dry ground. And so they knew intrinsically that this was wrong, that there was a moral imperative not to do this. So they tried to row back to the land. They jettisoned all of their, uh, all of their goods, all of their cargo. They were making for land as best they could, and when it finally became clear that they couldn't do this, they sought the Lord's mercy in saying, essentially, "We don't understand how this is, but please don't put this man's blood on us, because you, Lord, have done as you please," right? The sovereignty of the Lord again comes to the forefront. They finally cast Jonah into the sea, and this is, this is important. They cast Jonah into the sea, and then they worship, they vow vows, and they vow to sacrifice. They offer sacrifices. They seek the Lord, they acknowledge his s- his sovereignty, and they worship him with what they have left. And then rounding out the chapter, the Lord appoints a great fish to come and swallow up Jonah. And we talked about how this, this swallowing of Jonah, although our popular children's books and VeggieTales and other stories we might read to our kids paints the fish often as the vehicle of judgment, it's actually a vehicle of deliverance for Jonah. There's this interesting grammatical feature that happens where in 1:17 the fish is masculine. The, the, the gender of the word is masculine, and then when we get to 2:1 it switches over to the feminine, almost as if to indicate that the whale was pregnant with Jonah, that Jonah was in the whale and was about to be reborn into the world in a new way And that brings us to our passage here today.  [00:10:21] Sequence Debate [00:10:21] Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna read, uh, 1:17 even though that's a little bit outside of our scope. I'm gonna read it along with 2:1 to, to make the point here. It says, "The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the whale, of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish." When you look at the Hebrew text, 1:17 is actually verse 2:1 and 2:1 is then 2:2 and so on and so forth. In the original Hebrew mindset of how this book goes together, these two things were linked together, him being swallowed by the whale and being in the belly of the fish and then him praying was linked together in this sequence. There's a feature in the Hebrew that's called a vav consecutive. You don't need to remember that. Nobody is gonna care about that. But it's, it's a little grammatical feature where it adds this little character to the front of the verb and it indicates a sequence. It's the narrative storytelling. When you look at Genesis 1 it's, "And then God said, 'Let there be light,' and then there was light." It tells you the sequence of events. Sometimes it indicates that it is a strict sequence of events. This happened and then that finished and then the next thing happened and then that finished. And many of the commentators use this passage to justify a perspective of Jonah where Jonah is this rebellious, stubborn prophet who holds out his stubbornness until the very last minute. He's swallowed by the whale, he's getting digested by stomach acid and he sort of finally relents to the Lord and cries out for deliverance and the Lord acquiesces in response to his prayer. That's certainly a possible interpretation. There's lots of good reasons in the, the text here to think Jonah was kind of a chucklehead and was not paying too much attention to what the Lord had for him The other option is to see this as a way for the author of the text to situate this prayer in contrast to other prayers that are not necessarily talked about directly in this text. And I'm gonna take that later view here, and I think it's important. This makes good sense of the text, and we'll explain exactly why that is when we get to the next little section here. But it also protects us theologically if we understand it this way. Jonah is already a book, uh, as I've alluded to, that tends towards a sort of crass moralism or fabulism. We tend to read it as sort of an allegory of if you do the wrong thing, God punishes you, and when you finally do the right thing, He blesses you. And there's a certain level of common grace wisdom to that approach, right? The whole book of Proverbs is-- are these proverbial sayings that if you do this, then the God-- then God will do this. If you raise up your children in the way they will go, they will not depart when they are older. But we also learn in the Book of Job and the Book of Ecclesiastes that those proverbial sayings, although generally true, it's not a magic formula. And so we have this tendency to read Old Testament literature as though it was this sort of like equation, that God punishes us when we're bad. He, uh, He relents from His punishment when we say we're sorry, and we have to be careful about that. If we understand what I'm about to teach from the next section here, that this is not a strict sequence of events, that Jonah began praying before he was swallowed by the whale, and this is simply recording the prayer that was actually within the whale. It helps protect us from seeing Jonah in this sort of quid pro quo, this for that kind of thing. I think we should simply understand this as saying Jonah was in the water, he got swallowed by the whale, and then when he was in the whale, he prayed. It doesn't say anything about whether he was overly stubborn or whether his stubbornness held out. It simply tells us that he was in the pray-- in the whale when this prayer occurred [00:14:23] Sheol and Descent [00:14:23] Tony Arsenal: He says in verse two, he calls out to the Lord out of his distress. He, and God answers him. Out of the belly of Sheol, Jonah cries, and God hears his voice This here tells us that he began praying, right? He was in the water, he was in the deep. All of this descriptive language we're gonna see later on about how deep he was, how quickly the current took him. He was wrapped up in seaweed, his life was fading from him. It was in the midst of all of that that he cries out in his distress. It's a pretty distressing situation. And Jonah, like all of us would, like even most atheists would, cries out to the Lord, even just out of instinct. I think it's kind of crazy for us to think that this man who's now been cast overboard and is being swept to the bottom of the ocean is sure he's gonna die. Somehow, he overrides all of his instinct and his entire life teaching and refuses to pray to the Lord. It just doesn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense of what the text presents here Jonah was in the belly of Sheol. He was in the very, the very womb of Sheol. And there is this interesting contrast that he goes from the belly of Sheol into the belly of the whale. This phrase, the belly of Sheol, is probably roughly equivalent to our phrase about being at death's door, right? It, it may or may not come from some sort of Mesopotamian, um, mythology. It may be a phrase of sort of co-opted into Hebrew, kinda like our phrase at death's door is actually co-opted in from Greek mythology, where there were actually literal doors to the underworld, and people would go there and when they were about to die. Jonah's point is that this was not a small thing. When we watch VeggieTales, he gets thrown in the water, and, like, 13 seconds later, the, the whale comes up and takes him. Jonah was swept down into the water almost supernaturally quick. He was drawn down to the very bottom of the ocean. We talk about the miracle of him surviving in the whale, and it was miraculous for sure, but the miracle of him being swept to the bottom of the ocean and not being crushed by the weight of the water, by the pressure, is equally miraculous. It's no more difficult for God to do that than it is for Him to preserve him in the whale or to raise Jesus from the dead or to create everything from nothing He finally starts to catch up with the pagan sailors. A theme in Jonah is that everyone around Jonah who shouldn't know any better somehow gets to the right conclusion before he does, right? The sailors begin to worship the Lord. They recognize this is divine wrath while Jonah is still asleep in the hold. Later, we'll see that, uh, the, the Ninevites recognize God's mercy and grace and thank Him for it, and Jonah is still mad because the plant he was sitting on d- uh, dies, right? Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. [00:17:34] Sovereignty Explained [00:17:34] Tony Arsenal: He recognizes that it was God who cast him into the depths. This teaches us something about the doctrine of sovereignty and how it relates to human freedom, right? We, we often ask the question, what, what causes rain? Well, you can answer that by saying tiny particles of dust collect water in the air, and once they have enough weight, they fall out of the sky 'cause the air can't hold them up anymore. That's true, and it's good, and that's what nature teaches us. It's also equally true that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike, and those two things are not contradictory. So when Jonah says, "You cast me into the sea," he's recognizing, like Joseph does in the Book of Genesis, that what the sailors in this case meant for good but what the brothers meant for evil, God purposed and caused for good. What the sailors did by their own volition, their own free will, they exercised their own, uh, autonomy in the, the horizontal sense to cast Jonah into the sea, God also cast him into the sea As I said, the text here uses language that we may not catch in our English translations to indicate that it's not just the sea here that's the problem. God's sovereignty continues to affect and act on Jonah. The word that we read here as the, the water or the flood, other places refers to the current of a river. The, um, the Euphrates itself is sometimes referred to this, the large- sort of the largest river apart from the Nile that the Egyptian or the, um, Israelite mind would have is the Euphrates, right? This underwater river, this underwater current, the undertow sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. It's like if you're swimming at the beach at the ocean and you get caught in the undercurrent. There's not a lot you can do about it. Y- sometimes even the strongest swimmers can't overcome this, and Jonah in all of his Middle Eastern robes, all of this stuff, probably with all of his baggage, his, his own equipment, things he had on him, is caught in this undercurrent that sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. And it's not just below the surface of the water. He's dropped down into the heart of the sea, the very core. We're seeing this language of him being pulled to the depths. In, in chapter one he goes down, down, down, and now he's being drawn into the belly of the ocean, into the pit of Sheol, into the heart of the waters The picture here is that Jonah doesn't just get thrown in the water and sink. He is actively pulled down to the bottom. This is not just a judgment where perhaps he can swim to the top. Just as the mariners hopelessly tried to reach land, Jonah would've been hopelessly trying to swim against this. We don't actually have any indication he tried, but had he tried, there would've been no chance He goes on to say that the God's breakers and his waves roll him. This is the picture we see if you ever watch surfing competitions on the ocean, where a surfer will get hit by the wave and he just gets rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and it can be incredibly dangerous. That's why they have like the little lifeguards on the jet skis that zip out there to get them. Because when you get caught in that breaker, you just get rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and soon you lose track of which direction is up, and even if you did, you couldn't get out This process is not just the forces of nature doing what they do. This is, again, the Lord weaponizing the forces of nature to execute judgment on Jonah This tumultuous and supernatural rapid descent showed Jonah that this is not only the moment in which God wanted to take his life, but was actively casting him away from the g- from the presence of the Lord [00:21:47] Yet I Will See [00:21:47] Tony Arsenal: It says here, um, in verse four, Jonah says, "I am driven away from your sight If you do a word study on this, you start to see that Jonah is pulling language from the creation account. He's pulling language from the fall. He's pulling a lot of language from Genesis itself. He's also pulling from the Psalms, which are pulling from the Genesis account. This word driven away could also be tran- translated as banished. He's cast out of the presence of the Lord. Just as in Genesis 3, we read, "God drove the man out at the east of the Garden of Eden. He placed cherubim and flaming swords." He drove the man out. Genesis 4:14, Cain says, "You have driven me away from the ground." And in Jonah 1:3, we see that Jonah was trying to get away from the presence of the Lord. And I wonder if there was this moment where he goes, "Ooh, I guess I got what I was looking for." Now, the second half of Jonah f- 2:4 here does something a little bit weird, and it's hard to translate. I think we should be honest at times. Hebrew is a language that in some senses is mysterious to us at times. There are still parts of the Hebrew Bible that we're not always 100% sure of. This verse here could be translated... In, in Hebrew it's just a statement. It's, "I, um, I shall again see the holy temple, or your holy temple." How that fits into the text itself is tricky. Some read it as, uh, as a question. "How shall I see your holy temple?" It's actually a statement kind of reaffirming the doubt and the fear and the idea that God was banishing him Most translations translate it as sort of a contrast. He says, "I was driven away from your sight, yet I shall again look on your holy temple." The force of this is even though you're driving me away, even though you're casting me out of your presence, I have faith, I have confidence that I will again see your holy temple The question here, and this is where I think Jonah becomes our example It's certainly possible that Jonah was asserting his belief that he would be rescued from this calamity and he would make his way back to Jerusalem and he would return to the holy temple. I think that what he says in the rest of this, he's recounting what he was praying. What he was praying in this context is not that he would return to the temple. He was confident God was taking his life. He says in verse five, "The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." The other way that the phrase holy temple is used in the Old Testament is to refer to the place that God lives in heaven. Jonah was asserting faith that even though he was being cast out of the presence of the Lord in this life, even though he was being justly punished for his sin, even though he was about to enter the belly of Sheol and to enter the pit, the very abyss, that he would see God again in His holy temple. This is a statement of Jonah's belief in his own destiny as one of God's people, destined to be saved by faith in God. In this moment, Jonah trusts the Lord despite all of the appearances that God was out to get him It's not all that different than when we read in Mark chapter 9, where this father brings his, uh, demon-possessed child to Jesus, and Jesus says, "I can heal him." And he says, "If you can do anything, Lord," I'm paraphrasing here. He says, "If you can do it, please, Lord." And he says, "If? All things are possible for me." And the father desperately cries out, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." It's this raw, unfiltered statement of just the human condition on this side of glory, right? I believe in the Lord, but there's always that little part in the back of my head that isn't sure, because we're never going to be perfect. Now, I've said before, and, and this is becoming my new catchphrase, I think, I'm not here to rob you of your assurance of faith. Our, our confession, the Bible, this church, our Reform, broader Reform tradition, the assurance of faith of the Christian is the rightful possession inheritance of every person in this room who trusts the Lord. But it is a reality that at times that assurance is shaken. And if there's ever a time for your assurance to be shaken, it's when you're being dragged to the bottom of the ocean, right? One of the words in here, I don't have it-- I don't actually have it in my notes for some reason, but one of the note, words here, uh, s- about the roots of the mountain, I believe, in the next verse. It's not just that he was dragged to the bottom of the ocean. This word root of the mountain is like the word that's used to cut. He's not just being dragged to the bottom of the sea, he's being dragged to the bottom of a deep sea crevasse. He's literally being pulled into the pit, right? Many, uh, in the ancient Semitic world would have seen these underwater pits. They would have theorized or thought about these underwater crevasses as the actual entry into Sheol. And Jonah sees himself being drawn down into these things. Yet, he believes he will see the good presence of the Lord We read a similar statement, I won't, uh, I won't make us go there for time. We read a similar statement in Job. Job goes through this long speech about all the things that God has done to him, and at the very end of it, he says, "Yet I will see the Lord with my eyes, and he will stand up next to me on, on the earth." Right? Even though Job was going through this unimaginable grief, and we know that Job didn't deserve it in the strict sense, he still was saying, "I'm gonna be destroyed. God is shooting arrows at me," right? "His sword is in my side. He's targeting me. He's sending hornets after me." All of these terrible, vibrant images that he's using to show what God is doing to him, and yet he still trusts. I would say that he trusts that he would see the Lord in the flesh. This is not only Jonah's faith, it's a-- or Job's faith, it's a prophecy of Christ This is alien to our modern mindset. We've been talking about this in the Psalms. Weston's been leading us through the, the lament Psalms We often think that suffering and trials and difficulties are the opposite of blessing and favor. And we might recognize that in some sort of way that in God's economy, one thing leads to another. And again, there's an element of truth to that. James says, "Count it all joy when you face trials of every kind." He's not saying that the trials you're facing are in themselves joyful. You don't have to love when you get sick. You don't have to, you don't have to man up and put a smile on or s- pull yourself up by your bootstraps or whatever analogy you wanna use. It's okay to be sad when bad things happen. It's actually good, right? If we're to weep with those who weep, there's an element of sadness that must come with that, not to mention the one who's weeping is not chastised. But the idea that that only leads to this, that that's just one step in the chain, that's not really the mindset the Bible has. All across the Psalms, in the lament Psalms, all across the prophetic literature, the Book of Lamentations, Habakkuk has this long prayer at the end that's very similar, the entire Book of Job, suffering and sanctification, trials and joy and restoration, they're all sandwiched right there, and there is usually this statement in the middle of it that God will do what is right This is Jonah's example for us, and what an example it is. We'll talk in a little bit about all the ways that this whole scenario is typological of Christ. We'll, we'll get to that. But just for a minute in the middle of this book, Jonah is not such a bad guy. And it's because he still has all his faults that he can be this example for us [00:30:26] Genesis Deep Imagery [00:30:26] Tony Arsenal: As though it wasn't clear enough, Jonah in verse five says that the purpose of the waters closing over him was explicitly to take his life. He's now in the belly of the sea. He's being dragged down to the very roots of the mountain, to the very core of the earth in his mind. He, he thinks he's going to hell in the, the Hebrew mind. There's both this idea that God is dragging him to hell in a very real sense. The Hebrew mind, Sheol was a physical place that people went to, and we learn more about it and that becomes clarified as revelation is progressive, not contradictory, but as, as it's clarified But he uses this word deep, and this is where he's drawing again from Genesis. Genesis 1:2, he says, "The earth was without form and void. The darkness was over the face of the deep." The deep is this sort of like unformed chaotic water. It's what exists before God makes everything orderly and good. And in the fall, and especially in the flood in chapter seven, uh, chapter seven verse 11, the f- the flood itself is a sort of undoing of the order. God opens the floods from beneath, from the bottom of the earth, from the wellspring of the deep, as well as the chaotic waters from outside the firmament, and it all pours back in together and the entire world becomes again this deep, primordial, chaotic water And just as in Genesis God separates the land, in, in Genesis 7 or in Genesis 8, he separates out the land by drying it up, drying up the water. We also see that Jonah has this trust that he will return to the dry land. Again, he's the God of heaven and sea and dry earth. We could even read this phrase, depending on the context, as the abyss, which is this, a- again, is some borrowed language from Greek here that the Hebrews use. But it's this deep, watery, murky place th- full of shadows and darkness. Sounds familiar, I think, right? Christ says that those who are apart from him who refuse to obey will be cast into the outer darkness. This is the imagery that Jonah is seeing. All outside visible indicators was that he was gonna die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again Apart from God's gracious intervention, Jonah was right. So although God is the one that's bringing him to the depth, bringing him to the pit, dragging him down, using the very currents of the sea, weaponizing these underwater currents that only thousands of years later do we understand, and even then only this much, he also graciously rescues him from this by miraculously appointing a whale or a great fish who comes and swallows Jonah, takes him whole, and keeps him there in his own belly, keeps him there in her own womb when we get to chapter 2. In chapter six, or in verse six, Jonah makes this pivot. Again, he says he's brought to the very bottom of the sea, to the roots of the mountain, which is these deep underwater trenches. He conceptualizes himself now in this locked city behind bars. Again, this jail imagery, this pit imagery, it's all meant to evoke this idea of the final punishment of the wicked. This place of murky, gross water, this place of darkness and, uh, limitations of freedom, he's being taken there. This is the section here where people would actually argue that Jonah dies. He actually dies and is resurrected when he's swallowed by the whale. This comes from language where it says God does not prevent him from going to the pit. God actually draws him to the pit and then raises his life up from the pit. Now, I'm not convinced, um, that we should think that Jonah actually died. I don't, I don't think that the text fully supports that. But it certainly is using this imagery [00:34:45] Christ Typology [00:34:45] Tony Arsenal: This is where we get to some typology about Christ. This is where Jonah really shines as a prophet. Sometimes people wonder why the Book of Jonah is considered a prophetic book, and this along with it is part of that. Jonah, although the sign of Jonah in Matthew and in the other Gospels refers to the belly of the whale, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so also Christ will be in the heart of the earth, the pit, for three days and three nights. When we're talking about typology, we can't get too tripped up on the details. We're not talking about strict allegory where this figure is that person and this signpost represents that thing. This isn't Pilgrim's Progress or Chronicles of Narnia, which is not allegory, but it's similar. Topology functions often on sort of these big picture concepts, right? Although there are some typological references that are super detailed, there are also some that are just sort of evocative The idea that Jonah died and was raised to life and sort of incubated in the earth, in- incubated in the whale and sort of reborn into the world, that certainly sounds a lot like a picture of the resurrection And I think we should see it that way. When Christ says that the sign of Jonah is roughly His resurrection, He is tying it to the three days and three nights, but He's not limiting to that Jonah comes to this pivot, and now he starts to reflect on the context of his deliverance. This whole s- this whole prayer should be seen sort of in the light of the thanksgiving psalms. There's a situation in which Jonah is in, and then God rescues him, and he begins to praise him for it. There's elements of lament, but it's really a thanksgiving psalm that he's drawing on here or that he's, he's writing In 2:7, Jonah is either dead or he's actively dying. I don't know about you, but if you've ever, uh, dove into a pool and got a little deeper than you thought you were, and you-- there's that, like, two seconds before you get to the top where you're sure the lights are going out and you've really only been underwater for, like, 45 seconds, but everything in you tells you if you don't get there, you're gonna die. Every instinct you have is to scramble for the surface. Think about how long it took Jonah to be dragged to the bottom of the ocean. Even at this accelerated pace, we're talking about a long time. And we have no reason to believe, and lots of reasons to think otherwise, Jonah was not preserved from the pain and the terror and the difficulty of feeling like you're drowning because he was drowning. He was without oxygen. His life was fading away. And it is in this context of him being on the brink of death, at death's door, in the belly of Sheol, being drawn into the very pit itself, that his prayer reaches the Lord in His holy temple. Right? This gives further evidence to the thought that Jonah is not talking about the temple in Jerusalem. There was, there was theology, and I, I think it's fine theology, that God lived in the temple in a special way. This is the reason that Daniel faces Jerusalem when he prays. There is a sense in the Old Testament that God's special place of presence is the temple in Jerusalem, and that the prayers of the people physically go to that place to be received by God. But Jonah doesn't know which direction the temple is. He's underwater. He's been tossed around by breakers. He has no sense of geography at this point He knows that his prayers are reaching the Lord in his heavenly temple. And they reach him in his heavenly temple just as his life is being lost in the pit. And it is from this moment that God raises him to life, or preserves his life, depending how you read it, and appoints the well to come reach him And some read this next verse as a little bit of a step back for Jonah, and it may be.  [00:39:02] Vows and Idols [00:39:02] Tony Arsenal: He reads, "Those who pay vain regard to i- regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. And what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord." Jonah didn't see the sailors on the ship vow their vows and offer their sacrifices. That happened after they threw him into the pit and the current sucked him under So we may read this with a little bit of a, "Thank God I'm not like that tax collector," kind of a lens. And there's probably some wisdom for us in that, to recognize that Jonah still hasn't quite gotten there. But it's also very common in the Old Testament to recognize that God treats His people differently because they are different. God brings people to a place of sanctification, and through that process of sanctification, they cease to worship vain idols. And it is absolutely true that those who worship vain idols forfeit their hope of steadfast love from the Lord. That's straight out of the Ten Commandments, right? He visits the iniquity of, specifically of idolatry. He visits the iniquity unto the children to the third and fourth generation. But for those who love the Lord, He loves them with a steadfast love unto thousands We can recognize in Jonah that although he had made great progress in faith, that he still wasn't there yet. And we can recognize that in him because we can recognize that in ourselves. Jonah is the example in this because he is not perfect, because he has not arrived, 'cause he doesn't do a 180 about-face and get everything right going forward We can read this in light of Jonah in chapter four, where he takes big steps back Or we can read this as the regular up and down progress of sanctification in the life of all believers everywhere It is also ironic again, we're back now to Jonah being a little bit behind the curve. He was sent to Nineveh to evangelize the heathens, some of the worst enemies that Israel was going to face, and he ignores that call. And he, instead of going to Nineveh, he goes to Tarshish. He goes the opposite direction, and he does something that would be unthinkable to most Israelites. He goes out on the open ocean. That's just insanity to someone living in the ancient world He should have recognized that the sailors were fearing the Lord when they refused to throw him overboard. I think we all have a sort of innate sense when someone's behavior suddenly changes, and I think most of us, and not in some sort of strange, kooky, charismatic sense, but I think most of us can sort of go, "I think I know why that is." Right, when you, when you see someone at work that suddenly stops lying about everything and stops backbiting and stops taking credit for other people's work, and then you find out a little while linger- longer that they've come to faith in Christ, if we're being honest, we're not all that surprised. But Jonah doesn't get it. Jonah here promises the same things that the sailors already did, so now we're again back behind the curve [00:42:37] Sanctification Confession [00:42:37] Tony Arsenal: To wrap this out, I, I wanna, um, I wanna ground this in something that I think is really vital for us to understand. As I said, Jonah is an example to us because he demonstrates the limited nature of sanctification, but he also demonstrates in a certain sense the fact that sanctification is real and has real effects. So this is a little out of the ordinary, but grab your Trinity Hymnal from the pew in front of you. If you happen to have a copy of the Confession, you could use that if you'd prefer. But open with me to page 927 I have, um, I've been, uh, broadly Reformed most of my Christian life and didn't realize it until I got to seminary. And since I discovered the Westminster Confession of Faith a decade ago, it's not new, uh, not new to me, um, I realized how valuable this resource was. This is essentially a search engine without the internet. And so I wanna just read a little bit out of chapter 13 here, which is our Confessions chapter on sanctification. I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but the, the first, uh, the first section here essentially says that sanctification is real, and it happens throughout the whole person. We talk about total depravity, and there is a sense in which the Christian remains totally depraved after regeneration, in that there still is, there still is corruption within our entire being, uh, that is depraved. There's also an equal sense in which we can say we are totally sanctified in Christ because sanctification is throughout the whole man in which we are renewed after the image of God. So that's section one. And then section two says, "This sanctification is throughout," again, throughout the whole man, "in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abiding still some remnant of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irre- irreconcilable war, the flesh left lusting after the spirit, and the spirit lusting after the flesh." Now, that may feel like just a crushing burden if you stop reading there, but it lines up with our experience, right? This is Paul in Romans 7, "The good things I wanna do, I do not, and the bad things that I, I kn- I do not want to do, I somehow do. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." We shouldn't read that as though somehow our spirits are purified entirely and our bodies are what's really causing us to sin. This is a picture of the spirit being, uh, our, our spiritual part of us. The part of us that's regenerated is willing, but the part of us that remains corrupt is our flesh And our confession goes on to say, "In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctification- sanctifying spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome." And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is revolutionary in our broader evangelical world. The storybook Bible, Jonah did a bad thing and he gets punished, and he did a good thing and so he gets better, cannot understand this concept. This is why I think we have to be so careful when we choose what books to give to our little ones, right? I, I make jokes about VeggieTales. I loved VeggieTales when I was in VeggieTales age range. I probably would sit down and watch VeggieTales with Augie when he gets old enough. But we have to be so careful not to let those messages come to our children, or to ourselves for that matter, uninterpreted by the scriptures first and foremost, and our Reformed tradition that we all believe. Amen.  [00:46:49] Assurance in the Pit [00:46:49] Tony Arsenal: This is vital for us When all is said and done, salvation, whether we're talking about justification, sanctification, glorification, resurrection, all of the different stages and phases of our salvation, it is entirely of the Lord. And it's for this reason that Jonah says, "I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay." Salvation belongs to the Lord So this is the application of the sermon, loved ones. No matter how close to or actually into the pit itself we have fallen The, the chapter on assurance of faith, I won't go there, but the chapter in our confession on assurance of faith is very honest with us that our assurance will be shaken, and at times we may not feel as though we have any assurance at all But even when we have fallen that deep into the pit of despair, even when we feel as though we are in the very depths of hell No matter how much our spiritual or physical life is fainting away as we starve for spiritual breath, as we feel that impulse in us that recognizes we're moments away from losing the faith entirely. No matter how much the remnants of corruption in every part swirl around our heads like seaweed, how often do we feel wrapped up in sin? Whatever it is, I don't need to get specific 'cause I'm sure all of you are thinking of something in your head right now that has been swirling around you for years. Maybe it's months, maybe it's years. Maybe you've never felt, since coming to Christ, you've never felt like it wasn't wrapped up around you like seaweed. Besetting sin is something that we need to be serious about, and it's a good cause for us to think hard and deep about our status as Christians, and to go to our pastor and seek the elders' assistance in this. But besetting sin is not, is not a mark that excludes you from, from Christianity. Right? We're justified by faith alone, in Christ alone, by His grace alone. Not because we've overcome our besetting sin alone, right? That's not one of the five solas God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire And though it is the case that we often are shaken, and at times God, just as he let Jonah, he let Jonah go to Tarshish. God had every ability to stop him from doing a stupid thing, and sometimes he does that, right? I'm sure there's plenty of times we can think about in our lives where we were heading towards sin and God just pulled a U-turn on us, and we are thankful for that. But there are times that he does not, and he lets us, he lets us do that. He lets us suffer the consequences, and he does that to chastise us and bring us back to him And even in the context of that, it is through this continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, right?  [00:50:19] God Beautifies His Bride [00:50:19] Tony Arsenal: Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit from the womb beyond measure. That's in the Book of John. There was never a time where Christ did not have the totality of the infinite sanctifying Spirit of the God, of God. We do not have the totality of the sanctifying Spirit of God. Now, we can get into a discussion after the service about divine simplicity and all the complexity of that, but the reality is that God sanctifies us more and more and more, and He does it by giving us the Spirit more and more. Might be more accurate to say He gives more of us to the Spirit. He gives us to the Spirit more and more. He gives us to Jesus more and more. We are Christ's inheritance. We are His bride. And just as the bride, as they're approaching the wedding, is made more and more beautiful, they start their, their beauty treatments weeks and months ahead of time, right? They're already making their hair appointments. They're already doing what they need to do to feel as beautiful as they can and to be as beautiful as they can on their wedding day. If that's the way we treat human weddings; guys do it too, just not as much. If that's the way we treat human weddings, how much more does God treat the heavenly wedding of His Son to His beloved bride? He's beautifying us, Church. Doesn't always feel like it. Doesn't always look like it, but He is. 

Head on out Kansas way to investigate a case of true crime, real life shenanigans starring... Truman Capote? And Sandra B. it turns out. But definitely grab a suitcase full of expensive coats and hop the train to jokes like: puffy cheeks, The Capotometer™, when the v-v-itch is back, hummus among us, occuptaionals, doin' it for the 'rents and... Veggie Tales?!

Send us Fan MailWe built a pub inside our house in one week, and then we stress-tested it with a birthday party full of friends, darts, and the kind of conversations that make you ask, “How did we get here?” Also, Kermit and Miss Piggy breakup, VeggieTales, and being an introvert. The the Flashbacks history trivia game, plus recommendations.Subscribe so you do not miss the next hang, share this with a friend who would 100% build a home pub, and leave a review with what you think we should name ours.Super Familiar with The Wilsons  Find us on instagram at instagram.com/superfamiliarwiththewilsonsand on YoutubeContact us! familiarwilsons@gmail.comA Familiar Wilsons Production

Flannelgraphs. Silly bands. Veggie Tales. We've seen trends come and go (and some come back) in kidmin, but in this episode, we'll learn what never goes out of style in children's ministry. This episode will encourage and challenge you. Resources Mentioned: Intentional Children's Ministry - https://shop.renewanation.org/products/intentional-childrens-ministry-how-your-church-can-disciple-children-with-a-lifelong-faith-in-jesus-pre-order-to-be-released-january-2025Family Ministry Academy - https://familyministry.org/Flannelgraph Tutorial on IG - https://www.instagram.com/amberpike_intentionalkidmin/

Hey y'all! Join us as we discuss the My Hero Academia episode "The Ones Within Us", including VeggieTales lore, embezzlement soup, and rubbing up on the science. Want more? Visit our website, myheroanalysis.com. Thanks for listening!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fight Genocide Worldwide Master Document⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ACLU Know Your Rights⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bother Your Representatives

Oh wheeeeere do these words come from? We're reaching all the way back into our early CGI childhoods for a fruitful etymology topic: vegetables! Where do they come from? Why do we call them that? Where are their legs? We don't have all the answers-— only the bible does— but we've got a lot to chew on!Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.comHuge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who's Wordy Now”!This week's promoted podcast is Bad Acts. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-acts-a-true-crime-podcast/id1538464479Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

JPMorgan Bombshell Sexual Harassment: A sexual harassment suit against a female boss named Lorna Hajdini has taken the Internet by storm. Is this a complete fabrication? Or is this a Supernatural situation where it is so crazy that no one would believe it.Mother Relationships: A super chat prompts us to discuss our relationships with our mothers, this brings up Jim's classic childhood stories between Clown Day and his Jupiter science fair project.Palette Cleansers: A streamer walking across the country gets hit by a car on live, making your son smash his PS5, Security utility belts and more.THE BEAR!, FUCK YOU WATCH THIS!, MICHAEL JACKSON!, ANOTHER PART OF ME!, CAPTAIN EO!, BAD!, CATCH UP!, WAVYG!, SUPERCHATS!, LEO!, FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER!, DR. FRANKENSTEIN!, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!, JP MORGAN!, SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE!, CHASE!, SEX SLAVE!, BOSS!, CANONS!, ASIAN!, FISH HEAD!, UGLY!, SUPERNATURAL!, BROWN BOY!, SUBMIT APPLICATION!, INDIAN GUY!, SHOW BUBS!, FUNNY DEATH!, RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR MOTHERS!, BOOKTOK!, COMICAL DEATH!, NOT A PERSON!, MOTHERS!, DEAD MOM!, SOLO EPISODE!, 9/11 STORY!, EAST COAST TIME!, WE'RE GOING TO WAR!, CLOWN DAY!, PROJECT!, HELP FROM PARENTS!, HOME SCHOOLED!, VEGGIETALES!, LARRY THE CUCUMBER!, PICTURE!, JUPITER!, WALKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY!, HIT BY CAR!, GETS BACK UP!, QUIET!, INSPIRING!, BACK BRACE!, STREAMER!, RIGHT WING GRIFT!, CINNABON!, AGAINST TRAFFIC!, PS5!, SMASHED!, CAT!, REVENGE!, PUNISHMENT!, BLADE SECURITY GUARD!, UTILITY BELT!, WEAPONS!, BEAR SPRAY!, ASIAN!,You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

This episode originally aired on October 6, 2025. Ken and Mike release another Best of Did You Knows. The Did You Know segments of Jesus Changes People is the time in the show when the guys share facts about the Bible, Christian History, and Christian Oddities. The Did You Knows in this volume are all focused on Veggie Tales. Join Mike and Ken, as they share these facts with us again. The 6 Did You Knows came from these 6 episodes:Season 3 - Episode 68 - April 17, 2023 - Living as God's Chosen PeopleSeason 4 - Episode 82 - July 24, 2023 - When Dreams Don't Come TrueSeason 6 - Episode 92 - October 2, 2023 - The Beauty ContestSeason 8 - Episode 123 - May 6, 2024 - AscensionSeason 9- Episode 158 - January 6, 2025 - The Power Of NoSeason 12 - Episode 185 - July 14, 2025 - Living as God's Chosen PeopleSupport the show

Real ministry is not built on polished content... it is built when we are willing to share our very selves. In this roadside reflection episode, Kara finally shares what Fred and her recent writing project has been (with Ascension Press) and reflects on a personal passage from St. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:8–9: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves…” This conversation dives into vulnerability, discipleship, authentic ministry, loving others even when it is difficult, and what it means to hope for others. Also, the audio quality is a little different this episode. Life and family obligations have made studio recording difficult lately, so I pray this “roadside reflections” is okay! Enjoy some Brother Francis and Veggie Tales in the background. Follow Draw Near on social media and join us as we continue building a community centered on prayer, authentic faith, discipleship, and drawing near to God and one another. For reflections, formation, and community, FOLLOW Draw Near by Grace on all Social Media: YouTube Instagram Facebook! Like our podcast? Hit that “follow” button and tell your friends. :) Click here to become a patron! We wouldn't be "Draw Near" without your support! Who are "Fred and Kara?" Find out by visiting our home page. Draw Near Theme © Fred Shellabarger & Kara Kardell

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.John 6:35-37"I'm not really a religious person," he said, "but there was just no other avenue for me to explain anything or to experience anything. So I asked for the chaplain on the Navy ship. I saw him and the cross on his chest, and I broke down in tears. I don't think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we're looking at right now, because it was otherworldly.”Reid Wiseman, Artemis II 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,Colossians 1:15-22No man ever saw Christ truly and was left unchanged.Charles Spurgeon“I looked back at the previous ten years of VeggieTales videos and realized that a lot of what we were teaching kids was:‘God made you special, and He loves you very much.'That's true. But it's not the whole story.We weren't teaching kids that they were sinners, or that they needed a Savior.”Phil Vischer, Creator of VeggieTalesZACCHAEUS, THE WITNESS WHO WAS NEVER THE SAMEHe entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”Luke 19:1-7What is needed in order for a person to first SEE Jesus, rightly?Sin.JESUS, FRIEND OF SINNERS9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came…”Luke 19:9-10Jesus came to:“To show people what a good person looks like.”“To teach people how to get to heaven.”“To die on the cross for the sins of the world.”10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Luke 19:9-10We know nothing aright in religion, if we think the sense of sin should keep us back from Christ. To feel our sins, and know our sickness is the beginning of real Christianity… Happy indeed are they who have found out their soul's disease! Let them know that Christ is the very Physician they require, and let them apply to him without delay.”J.C. RyleThe Danger of Spiritual CIP (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain)Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP): a rare genetic disorder where a person cannot feel physical pain.JESUS, THE GREAT PHYSICIAN8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Luke 19:8-1022 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”Luke 18:22What does ‘coming' mean? It means that movement of the soul which takes place when a man, feeling his sins, and finding out that he cannot save himself, hears of Christ, applies to Christ, trusts in Christ, lays hold on Christ, and leans all his weight on Christ for salvation. When this happens, a man is said, in scriptural language, to ‘come' to Christ.J.C. RyleJESUS, THE ONE WHO NEVER LEAVES“No, wait” — we say, cautiously approaching Jesus—“you don't understand. I've really messed up, in all kinds of ways.”I know, he responds.“You know most of it, sure. Certainly more than what others see. But there's perversity down inside me that is hidden from everyone.”I know it all.“Well—the thing is, it isn't just my past. It's my present too.”I understant.“But I don't know if I can break free of this any time soon.”That's the only kind of person I'm here to help.“The burden is heavy—and heavier all the time.”Then let me carry it.“It's too much to bear.”Not for me.“You don't get it. My offenses aren't directed toward others. They're against you.”Then I am the one most suited to forgive them.“But the more of the ugliness in me you discover, the sooner you'll get fed up with me.”Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.Dane OrtlundNo man ever saw Christ truly and was left unchanged.Charles Spurgeon35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.John 6:35-37

You should absolutely eat your vegetables. But you get to pick which ones. And those choices matter. They say a lot about who you are and how you were raised. Whitney Capps and Russ Greer waste a small portion of your time waxing poetic about which vegetables pass muster and which ones should just stay in the ground.We'd love to hear from you! Send us your thoughts or show ideas via text message.If you want to learn more about how your life and your theology matter, join the Theology and Fun community.

This is the episode we've been promising (threatening) for YEARS! Kicking off our Swords and Sandals Spring and Summer is Dreamworks Animation's “The Prince of Egypt” (1998). Cullen makes multiple references to Veggie Tales, Hannah lists the forefathers of Moses from memory, and Allyssa sets the record straight on the Egyptian gods rollcall rap.   Huge thank you to our bestie Allyssa for joining us on this episode!   Research for this episode: Exodus: Chapters 1-14   ====================================   Watch Us on YouTube!   Follow Our Adventures on Social Media:   @notmyfantasypod Instagram TikTok   Research & Writing by Cullen Callaghan.  This episode was edited by Hannah Sylvester.   Cover Art by William Callaghan Intro Music: "The Quest" by Scott Little.

Step into another unforgettable episode of the Wise_N_Nerdy podcast with Charles and Joe—where laughter, life lessons, and a whole lot of nerd culture collide. The journey kicks off with the Question of the Week: “If you could have the soundtrack from any game or movie playing as your life's background music, which would you choose?” What follows is a fun and nostalgic deep dive into iconic soundtracks that could transform everyday life into something cinematic. From the peaceful, creative vibes of Minecraft, to the chaotic energy of Borderlands, the emotional melodies of August Rush, and the high-octane punk anthems of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the hosts and listeners paint a vivid picture of what life would sound like with the perfect score. Then comes the roll of the dice—because no Wise_N_Nerdy episode is complete without a little randomness—and it lands on the “How Do I…?” segment. Here, Charles and Joe tackle a question every parent wrestles with: How do you raise independent kids without making them feel neglected? Through honest conversation and real-life experience, they break down the importance of balancing guidance with freedom—showing that encouragement, presence, and intentional support are the true keys to helping kids grow with confidence. But before things get too serious, the dice demand a tonal shift—enter the Bad Dad Jokes. Bob and Devocite unleash a rapid-fire barrage of groan-worthy puns and eye-roll-inducing punchlines. It's chaotic, it's cringey, and it's absolutely hilarious—the kind of humor that defines dad life at its finest. As the dice roll once more, we're treated to the “Parliament of Papas” segment, where Charles and Joe weigh in on a thought-provoking story pulled from Reddit. The scenario? A daycare worker gets fired for showing Veggie Tales to kids. What unfolds is a nuanced discussion about boundaries, values, and decision-making in parenting spaces—proving that sometimes the most unexpected topics lead to the most meaningful conversations. Next up, it's time for “What Are You Nerding Out About?”—a glimpse into what's currently fueling the hosts' passions. Charles shares his ongoing journey through the hustle lifestyle, including a new venture as a patient advocate, while Joe leans into what matters most: family. From binge-watching Solo Leveling with his kids to unplugging on a camping trip, Joe reminds us that sometimes the best “nerdy” moments are the ones spent together. Finally, the episode wraps with the always-entertaining “Daddy, Tell Me A Story” segment. Joe delivers a hilariously awkward tale from his middle school days involving a science teacher, a desk… and a very questionable wardrobe decision. It's the kind of story that sticks with you—equal parts bizarre and unforgettable. This episode is a perfect blend of humor, heart, and honest reflection—an invitation to laugh, learn, and maybe even see your own parenting journey a little differently. So whether you're here for the dad jokes, the deep conversations, or the shared love of fandom, there's something for everyone. Come be part of the community, embrace the chaos, and most importantly—Find your FAMdom. Wise_N_Nerdy: Where Fatherhood Meets Fandom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Anyone else watching the stories about fruits and vegetables being in love triangles? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Phil and Janelle talk about The Time Trap, singing flowers, TV theme songs, Top 5, Steve Taylor, Veggie Tales, cruises, Fiction Books, Spring Break, Family Ties, Agatha Christie, and more!

Jacob and Drew Review Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie Plus the Batman The Animated Series episodes "Harliquinade" and " Time out of Joint" https://linktr.ee/thecelcastpodcast

(ORIGINAL AIRDATE: February 26, 2021) **CONTENT WARNING: SALTY LANGUAGE** It's time to check the overhead compartments and prepare for turbulence, as Lucas and Will board the infamous CGI series Jay Jay The Jet Plane! The guys explore Jay Jay's origins on a forgotten kid's programming block and its surprising connection to Thomas The Tank Engine, Theodore Tugboat, and Veggie Tales, as well as the 2 small things Will absolutely HATES about the show, its relation to the Kevin Costner film "Pushing Tin"(?), and exactly how the guys feel about those darn faces! 

We talk about the VeggieTales version of the story of Esther, which is the basis of the Jewish holiday Purim. We discuss the show in general and other Christian children's entertainment like McGee and Me. Originally published in 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile, if you like to waltz with potatoes, then I hope you're ready to learn about tax evasion. That's right everyone, we're doing Veggie Tales! But the execs at DT!HQ have asked that we "do secular Veggie Tales." That's why we're on the hunt for the next great literary work to be adapted by Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Todd is riding a bike. Matt is surviving spread. Kyle is breaking out of jail. The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast Have you seen our YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/@debatethiscast Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net! Properties we talked about this week: Veggie Tales, Larry Boy, Grapes of Wrath, The Walking Dead, The Shawshank Redemption Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

In this wide-ranging episode about a very good episode of Deep Space 9, Ryan and Brady go off on several tangents, everything from nostalgia for parenting young kids to the efficacy of sci-fi metaphor to classic VeggieTales music to which Star Trek species would be the nastiest to bone down with. In between, we talk about the Jem'Hadar and an unsung performance from Bumper Robinson.

Here are the new episodes that dropped the week of December 20th to December 26th.   Totally Rad Christmas Podcast – December 20th – “Dynasty ‘That Holiday Spirit' (w/ Bob and William)” Christmas Past Podcast – December 20th – “Christmas Memories 2025 – vol 3.” Advent Calendar House Podcast – December 20th – “VeggieTales – […]

The VeggieTales lore contains just enough information about the in-universe sexual and racial politics to leave you wanting more like a tomato in heat with a big blossom end rot waiting for Sully to give you a mouthful like Mike Wazowski. Being the Andy Dick Show Boy ruined my life. "Bonnie" "Prince" "Billy" is pretty good for a guy with a girl's first name.

We're home for the holidays, joined again by the soft iconoclast, early podcast innovator, Doug Tilley of Cinema Smorgasbord. This time he's here to talk about a few Christmas movies we forced upon him and to teach us how exactly one formats a movie podcast. He in turn holds us hostage, refusing to let us end the episode for another hour as we mostly start talking about Muncie, IN.You can see a couple of the movies we discussed, but good luck with the third one. They're discussed more or less in the following order:It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Brain Death (2023) - a feature length failed experiment Brandon and Rob half-assed a couple years ago based on a dumb idea Brandon had. Find out just how much your friends and family love you by throwing this file on the TV while opening presents.Next up is Psalty's Christmas Calamity, a low quality YouTube upload of a bizarre pre-Veggie Tales, children's Christmas play that a lot of home school kids have very weird feelings about.And last up is Blue Christmas (1978), an equally bizarre, but very good gritty political thriller/alien invasion/Christmas movie from Japan's esteemed Toho Studio. You can find the DVD on Japanese Amazon, if you can navigate it, but otherwise it's only really available on the furthest flung torrent sites. Godspeed, but it's worth seeking out.Happy Holidays and I, Rob, will be back next week for a scaled back edition of the annual Xmas Music Exchange.

Merle and Pearl are still missing! Ruben has them hidden away in Israel, so Michael, Justin, Sadie, Jane, and Mr. and Mrs. Gomez take off on a rescue mission to get them back once and for all.In the meantime, Dusty finds himself trapped in a donkey retirement community alongside a quirky alpaca named Adriana, who just happens to be an expert lock picker! Adriana's skills come in handy when she and Dusty find Merle and Pearl locked in the birdcage Ruben is using to transport them.More silliness, chase scenes, and unexpected twists unfold as the squirrels try to evade recapture by Ruben. Eventually, Pearl, Dusty, and Adriana find themselves part of a live Nativity display, but they've misplaced Merle!Mike Nawrocki is the co-creator of VeggieTales and the voice of the beloved Larry The Cucumber. He has been making entertaining and wholesome content for kids since 1993. Mike created, wrote and directed most of the extremely popular “Silly Songs with Larry” segments, and lent his screenwriting and directing talents to VeggieTales episodes as well as their movies Jonah and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.Mike also developed and wrote for 3-2-1 Penguins! and authored a number of VeggieTales Books and CD projects. Mike serves as Assistant Professor of Film and Animation at Lipscomb University and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “The Bible for Kids.”Learn more about his book and animated series projects at DeadSeaSquirrels.comYou can find The Dead Sea Squirrels series of books on his website or at Amazon.comPlease share StoryJumpers with a friend if you enjoyed this episode. StoryJumpers is still growing, and your positive review and 5-star rating would help.The Bridge Podcast Network is made possible by generous support from The Boardwalk Plaza Hotel and Victoria's Restaurant on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware - Open 7 days a week, year-round - Learn more at https://boardwalkplaza.comFeedback, or Show Ideas? Send an email to podcast@wearethebridge.orgDownload The Bridge Mobile App to get the latest podcast episodes as soon as they are published!

As Christmas draws near, Matt and Anna help kids discover how the wise men followed a special star to worship Jesus, the promised Savior. This episode shows how Jesus is worthy of worship, how God keeps His promises, and why Christmas is about celebrating that Jesus came to save sinners. What You'll Learn ✨ Jesus Is the Promised Savior — God kept His promise to send Jesus to save His people from sin. ✨ Wise Men Worship Jesus — The wise men traveled a long way to honor Jesus as King. ✨ Jesus Is Worthy of Worship — Gold, frankincense, and myrrh showed Jesus was worthy of honor and praise. ✨ Waiting Can Be Full of Hope — Just like the wise men waited and followed the star, God's people wait trusting His promises. ✨ Christmas Is Bigger Than the Manger — Jesus didn't stay a baby; He grew up to save sinners forever.

Anna and Matt tell the story of Jesus' birth—how God kept His promise by sending the Savior into the world in the most unexpected way. Kids learn why Jesus came, why His birth is such good news, and how the angels and shepherds celebrated on the very first Christmas night. What You'll Learn ⭐ What Christmas Is Really About — We celebrate Jesus' birthday because God sent the promised Savior.

In this Advent kickoff episode, Anna and Matt take us back to the very beginning of the Bible to remember why we needed a Savior and why Christmas is such good news. As they retell the story of Adam and Eve, kids learn how sin first entered the world — and how God made a big promise to send a Rescuer. Advent means “coming,” and this season helps us remember that God kept His promise by sending Jesus… and we get to celebrate that together! What You'll Learn

In this Parent Talk mini-episode, Anna and Matt sit down with Jess from Minno to talk honestly about screen time, discipleship, and how parents can use the right kind of content to help form their kids' faith. Instead of avoiding screens, Jess shares practical ways to redeem them through intentional habits, everyday conversations, and milestone moments—so screens become tools, not threats. What You'll Learn:

It's review day! Anna and Matt walk back through all ten attributes of God from Season 11 and help kids become “attribute hunters”—spotting God's character in familiar Bible stories. From the resurrection to the golden calf to Jonah and Jesus' crucifixion, this episode helps kids remember who God is and why He can always be trusted. PRINT OUT → List of Attributes (see page 6) What You'll Learn:

Revival Starts Smaller Than You Think The Problem of False Advertising by Christian Colleges - Eternal Perspective Ministries Trevin Wax on X: "I contributed an essay for @firstthingsmag -- "We Were Jesus Freaks" -- all about growing up evangelical in the 90's subculture: CCM, Peretti books, Adventures in Odyssey, VeggieTales, True Love Waits, Left Behind, and more. https://t.co/XAQlGFR8Gu" / X Danny on X: ""How do you pray? I'll tell you what was told me many years ago: You pray until you can pray. And then you pray until you have prayed—you break through. You'll give Him (God) no rest." —Paul Washer https://t.co/K87rOtiHyL" / X How Would Your Church Respond? Woman Posing as a Young Mom Asking Churches for Baby Formula Posts Results on TikTok Family lived with 2,000 spiders for years and what happened amazed scientists | Science | News | Express.co.uk Falling iguanas in the forecast in Florida Idaho home torn apart by excavator hours before move-in – KIRO 7 News Seattle Food-snatching seagulls are more likely to leave you alone if you shout at them, researchers say | AP News Chatbot Companionship Will Make Our Loneliness Crisis Worse - Christianity Today Philippians 1 NIV - Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ - Bible Gateway See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anna and Matt meet their friend Kim the Meteorologist to learn that God is Glorious — He shows His greatness and worth! When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, His disciples saw His shining glory and heard God speak from the cloud. Jesus is truly God, and He alone deserves our worship and praise. What You'll Learn: ✨ God is Glorious: He shows His greatness and worth. ⛰️ The Transfiguration: Jesus' face shone like the sun because He is truly God.

Director Cory Edwards (Hoodwinked!, VeggieTales) joins host Rick Altizer to talk about his new holiday film All Is Merry and Bright, in theaters November 7. Cory shares what it was like working with his wife, screenwriter Vicki Edwards, and how the film balances laughter, family chaos, and faith during the holidays. Discover the heart behind this festive comedy that reminds us we're called to be human beings, not human doings.Film: All Is Merry and BrightIn Theaters: November 7 Learn more: merryandbright.movieBrought to you by: FaithFilmFan.com.

Anna and Matt salute their friend Josiah the Soldier and learn how sacrifice shows true love. Through Josiah's story of bravery and Jesus's ultimate sacrifice on the cross, kids discover that God is Loving—He always does what is best. What You'll Learn: ❤️ God is Loving: He always does what is best for His children. ✝️ Jesus's Great Love: Jesus laid down His life to save sinners.

Anna and Matt talk fishing with their friend Rick the Fisherman and dive into the story of Jonah and the big fish. Through Jonah's disobedience, the storm, and the giant fish rescue, kids learn that God is Merciful — He does not give His children the punishment they deserve. God showed mercy to Jonah…and to the whole city of Nineveh. What You'll Learn:

Anna and Matt learn about compassion with help from their friend Nurse Amy. When Matt loses his pet goldfish, they talk about how God is Compassionate—He sees, cares, and acts when His children are in need. Through the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, kids discover that God shows His greatest compassion by sending Jesus to save sinners. What You'll Learn:

TJ Fisher makes it to the Tournament of Champions and we learn about the duality of Jeopardy! headlines as the US Mirror goes wild over his victory (and defeat). We go wild for this great week of games too as Ken gets a Trebek-like slam on a contestant's anecdote, we go heavy on Wager Talk™, we get a "Name of the Year" candidate, and we dive deep on VeggieTales. Speaking of tales, we spin a few in our brand-new bonus episode out this week as 7-game champ Paolo Pasco joins us for an interview and for the first edition of "Paolo's Puzzle Corner", as he runs Emily and John through some of his famous puzzles. It's only available at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month gets you access to all of our bonus episodes, access to our Discord, and lots of other fun stuff. Join today! SOURCE: Yahoo!: "Secret DIY Origins of 'VeggieTales' Success"; DigitalMediaFX.com: "VeggieTales: What's the Big Idea?" by Noell Wolfgram Evans Special thank you always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan. This episode was producer by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Anna and Matt team up with Firefighter Cody to learn about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. Through their courage and faith, kids discover that God is Deliverer—He rescues His children and has the power to save us from anything, even the fire! What You'll Learn:

Anna and Matt hop into the time machine to meet Thomas—yes, Doubting Thomas! Through his story, kids learn that God is Patient—He is slow to anger. When Thomas struggled to believe Jesus was alive, Jesus didn't get angry or give up on him. Instead, He kindly appeared again to help Thomas believe. This episode reminds listeners that God is patient with us too—He understands our doubts, helps us believe, and always invites us closer to Him. What You'll Learn: ✨ God is Patient: He is slow to anger and full of kindness.

Co-Hosts Evan Semanco and Josh Mitchell are on their own this week to discuss Evan's message from this Sunday. Evan and Josh discuss filling in to speak, having a vision for your life, whats breaking your heart, some moon landing talk and more. Join us each Monday on Facebook Live at 3:30 pm via The Simple Church Facebook Page to ask your questions in real time, or email us Podcast@thesimplechurch.tv    LINKS FROM THE EPISODE Full Message on Youtube College Life October 26th College Life Group  Volunteer at The Simple Church The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt Dustin Nickerson Tickets  Download The Simple Church App   If you have feedback for the podcast, have a guest suggestion of who we should talk to next, or just want to chat, e-mail us Podcast@thesimplechurch.tv.  You can also find out more about the Simple Church at www.theSimpleChurch.tv.

Anna and Matt travel back in the time machine to meet Jonathan, the son of King Saul and friend of David. Jonathan shares how God protected David again and again, proving that God is Refuge—He is a place of safety and protection for His children. From Bible stories to the Psalms, kids learn that God is always a safe place we can run to and trust. What You'll Learn:

Anna and Matt play with Play-Doh and meet their friend Jenny the Sculptor, who helps them learn that God is Worthy—Only He deserves all glory. From mountain goats to the golden calf in Exodus 32 to Revelation 4:11, this episode shows that all creation was made to glorify God, not ourselves or anything else. What You'll Learn:

Anna and Matt welcome Andy the Postal Worker to help explain today's attribute: God is Faithful—He always keeps His promises. Kids learn that while people sometimes mess up, God never fails. In Acts 1–2, we see how God kept His promise by sending the Holy Spirit to His people—right on time, in the perfect way. What You'll Learn:

Anna and Matt kick off Season 11 with a brand-new attribute: God is Almighty—Nothing is too hard for Him! With help from their friend Ryan the Weightlifter, they explore God's power through the story of Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 28. From flexing muscles to celebrating the empty tomb, this episode reminds us that sin, Satan, and death are no match for God's almighty strength. What You'll Learn

What happens when music, faith, and family collide with abuse of power and cultural chaos?  This week's Faith & Freedom features bold voices who refuse to stay silent—from a country star standing up to tyranny, to a faith leader defending the next generation, to a fearless mom bringing God back into kids' books. [00:50] The Devil and the TVA Multi-platinum country artist John Rich joins Shemane and Ted to discuss his explosive new anthem The Devil and the TVA. The song, inspired by a battle in his hometown, has gone viral for its unapologetic stand against unchecked authority. John shares the story of an elderly neighbor whose courage sparked the lyrics, the fight to save farmland and schools in Tennessee, and why Americans must push back when powerful forces trample ordinary families.   [25:06] Safeguarding the Next Generation Author and Christian apologist Dr. Alex McFarland exposes how kids are being groomed online through apps and platforms that disguise exploitation as “empowerment.” He warns parents about the spiritual and psychological toll of unchecked screen time, and challenges families to reclaim their role as protectors and disciplers of children. Alex also discusses spiritual warfare, his retreats with Charlie Kirk, and why the family and the church remain the two anchors holding America together.   [36:19] Faith, Family & Bold Parenting TV host, author, and outspoken commentator Dr. Gina Loudon introduces her new children's book The Days of Creation by Heart. Written with Liberty University's Dr. James Mosley and illustrated by a VeggieTales animator, the book is designed to help children memorize scripture from an early age. Gina explains why reclaiming children's imaginations is essential, previews her upcoming book Mad Medicine exposing lies in healthcare, and shares how parents can raise courageous kids in a culture trying to erase God.   Resources:    John Rich –  Website: johnrich.com Instagram: @johnrichofficial  Twitter / X: @@johnrich Ted Nugent –  Watch Ted Nugent's Spirit Campfire    Purchase Official Ted Nugent Products For sign guitars contact toby@tednugent.com Watch Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild  Watch The Nightly Nuge Join Hunter Nation Join Gun Owners of America    Ted's Social Media:  Instagram: @tednugentofficial Facebook: @Ted Nugent   Dr. Alex McFarland –  Instagram: @revalexmcfarland  Website: alexmcfarland.com   Dr. Gina Loudon –  Instagram: @realdrgina Purchase “The Days of Creation By Heart” at BeyondWords.com   Sponsors   Get true American made products at  switchtoamericawithshemane.com   Protect yourself with EMP Shield  Use the promo code “SHEMANE”    Activate stem cells & reset your body's clock  at lifewave.com/shemane Please send product inquiries to: shemane.lifewave@gmail.com   Watch Faith & Freedom every Sunday,  10am est on America'sVoice.News   Organic natural products to help your family thrive with  Rowe Casa Organics & use promo code “FAITH”   Purchase “My Pillow” at  mypillow.com or call 800-933-6972 Use promo code “FAITH”   Use promo code “FREEDOM” to receive  20% off your first order at Field of Greens   Join Shemane's new programs Fit & Fabulous Start Pack Faith Fuel: 21 Day Devotion    Check out Shemane's books:  Purchase Shemane's New Book: ‘Abundantly Well' Shemane's new #1 Bestseller ‘Killer House' "4 Minutes to Happy" Kill It and Grill It Cookbook   Connect with Shemane: Send your questions, suggestions, hunting photos & funny pet videos to shemane.chat@gmail.com    Watch Killer House Documentary: KillerHouse.org Get Wildly Well at shemanenugent.rocks Shemane's Social Media: Instagram: @shemanenugent Youtube: /shemane Truth Social @Shemane Facebook: @shemane.nugent

James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, died this week. Critics are saying Dobson was the “godfather of child abuse,” while his fans are saying he belongs on the Mount Rushmore of evangelicalism. Who's right? Phil, Skye, and Mike Erre discuss Dobson's legacy and why the controversial conservative is secretly responsible for the creation of VeggieTales. Rising political social media star and Texas state representative, James Talarico, joins Skye to talk about his faith and what makes his frequent references to Christianity in his progressive politics different from the approach of Christian nationalists. Also this week—Cracker Barrel apologizes for changing its logo after being accused of stripping away America's heritage and culture.   Holy Post Plus: Getting Schooled - Did the Father Forsake the Son on the Cross? https://www.patreon.com/posts/137415183/ Ad-Free Version of this Episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/137414267/ 0:00 - Show Starts   2:03 - Theme Song   2:09 - Sponsor - Brooklyn Bedding - Brooklyn Bedding is offering up to 25% off sitewide for our listeners! Go to https://www.brooklynbedding.com/HOLYPOST   3:18 - Sponsor - Rocket Money - Find and cancel your old subscriptions with Rocket Money at https://www.rocketmoney.com/HOLYPOST   4:48 - Cracker Barrel Logo Gone Woke?   23:36 - James Dobson Passed Away   38:45 - No Dobson Means No Veggietales?   55:32 - Sponsor - BetterHelp - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off your first month!   56:30 - Sponsor - Sundays Dog Food - Get 40% off your first order of Sundays. Go to https://www.SundaysForDogs.com/HOLYPOST or use code HOLYPOST at checkout.   57:36 - Interview   1:01:15 - Telerico's Faith Background   1:09:54 - Does the Democrat Party Align with Christianity?   1:20:37 - Flipping Tables   1:28:25 - Christianity and Welcoming the Stranger   1:35:30 - End Credits   Links from News Segment: Cracker Barrel logo change! https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/26/cracker-barrel-logo-apology   Dobson's Passing https://www.christianpost.com/voices/jim-dobson-a-giant-of-the-faith.html   Other Resources: Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/   Holy Post Plus: www.holypost.com/plus   Holy Post Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holypost   Holy Post Merch Store: https://www.holypost.com/shop   The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.  

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joins Sarah Isgur and David French to give advice to all young attorneys and aspiring legal professionals. Plus: some war stories from Trump Force One. The Agenda:—Frenemies—Christie's time as a U.S. attorney—The difference between a podium and a lectern—No class reunions at the White House—We've all crashed out at some point—‘I'm not a potted plant'—Should Christie wear make-up?—VeggieTales and David French Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch's offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you'd like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when a peace-seeking Enneagram Nine becomes the voice of one of the most beloved animated characters in children's television? Find out as we dive into the world of the Enneagram with special guest Mike Nawrocki, co-creator of VeggieTales and the voice of Larry the Cucumber. In this engaging conversation, we explore the unique traits of Enneagram Nines, known as the Peacemakers. Mike shares insights from his journey in creating beloved children's content, including his latest project, The Dead Sea Squirrels, which is now a growing book series and animated show. We discuss the motivations behind Nines, their tendency to avoid conflict, and the importance of claiming one's voice and presence in the world. Whether you're familiar with the Enneagram or just curious about personality types, this episode offers valuable perspectives on self-awareness, personal growth, and the power of creativity. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about the Enneagram and how it can enhance your understanding of yourself and others!     ABOUT MIKE NAWROCKI As co-creator of VeggieTales, co-founder of Big Idea Entertainment, and the voice of Larry the Cucumber, Mike Nawrocki has been dedicated to helping parents pass on biblical values to their kids for over three decades.  Mike is the offbeat brain behind Silly Songs with Larry, and has lent his screenwriting and directing talents to dozens of VeggieTales episodes, as well as both of the properties' theatrical releases, Jonah and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. His most recent project, an early reader book series entitled The Dead Sea Squirrels, has been adapted into a 13-episode animated series now streaming on Minno, with more books and a season 2 of animation currently in the works. Mike also serves as an assistant professor of film and animation at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “The Bible for Kids.” Website: https://mikenawrocki.com/ and Amazon Author PageFollow on: Instagram | Facebook     

What would you do if a chilling, shadowy presence in your hotel room began to swallow the very light around you? Larry Whitaker, whose career took him from Space Jam to VeggieTales, never expected a supernatural showdown that would test his faith and leave him frozen in terror. But when he managed to speak three powerful words, the creature vanished in an instant, proving that something far greater stood with him. Could this have been a rare glimpse into the unseen realm that lies just beyond our understanding? Please pray for Tony's wife, Lindsay, as she battles breast cancer. Your prayers make a difference! If you're able, consider helping the Merkel family with medical expenses by donating to Lindsay's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/b8f76890 Become a member for ad-free listening, extra shows, and exclusive access to our social media app: theconfessionalspodcast.com/join The Confessionals Social Network App: Apple Store: https://apple.co/3UxhPrh Google Play: https://bit.ly/43mk8kZ My New YouTube Channel Merkel IRL: @merkelIRL My First Sermon: Unseen Battles Sasquatch and The Missing Man: merkelfilms.com Merkel Media Apparel: merkmerch.com SPONSORS SIMPLISAFE TODAY: simplisafe.com/confessionals GHOSTBED: GhostBed.com/tony CONNECT WITH US Website: www.theconfessionalspodcast.com Email: contact@theconfessionalspodcast.com Larry Whitaker: larrywhitakerauthor.com MAILING ADDRESS: Merkel Media 257 N. Calderwood St., #301 Alcoa, TN 37701 SOCIAL MEDIA Subscribe to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/2TlREaI Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/theconfessionals/ Discord: https://discord.gg/KDn4D2uw7h Show Instagram: theconfessionalspodcast Tony's Instagram: tonymerkelofficial Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheConfessionalsPodcas Twitter: @TConfessionals Tony's Twitter: @tony_merkel Produced by: @jack_theproducer OUTRO MUSIC Joel Thomas - Imposter YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify

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