Podcasts about when adam

The question for today is “Have you received your gift?” If you are wondering, "What gift?" I'm so glad you asked. The gift I am referring to is the most expensive gift you could ever receive because it came at a great cost.  In fact, God has made available the most precious gift to all who will receive it. The gift I am referring to is His Grace and salvation through Jesus Christ. So, I ask again, have you received your gift?  Why do I need Jesus?  You may be someone who does not believe in God, Jesus, heaven, or hell. Thus, you may be thinking, “Why do I need your Jesus?” First, let me be clear, we ALL need Jesus Christ--everybody. No one is left out of ALL.  Now, take a moment and examine your life. I am sure there is a space that you are trying to fill with something [money, sex, alcohol, drugs, food, etc.]. But no matter what you do to fill the emptiness— that space is never filled.  Why? Because that space is only meant for God alone. Therefore, when one receives Jesus as Lord, the spirit of the living God fills that space with His love.  Second, believe it or not — this world as we know it is fast coming to an end. When we look at the state of the world today, we can see that some people have given in to evil thoughts and intentions.  Consequently, that is a direct result of sin. The Holy Bible warns us that those are signs of the end-times leading up to the destruction of the world. Again, we ALL need Jesus who is the Savior.   John 17:3 New Living Translation says, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”  Adam caused sin and death – Jesus provides Grace and eternal life  You see, sin came into the world when Adam disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Romans 5:12 New Living Translation says, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”   More specifically, this answers the question of why we need Jesus. He became the final sacrifice for our sin. Henceforth, it is only through Jesus Christ that one can be saved.  I like how Romans 5:15-16 The Passion Translation explains it, “Now, there is no comparison between Adam's transgression and the gracious gift that we experience. For the magnitude of the gift far outweighs the crime.  It's true that many died because of one man's transgression, but how much greater will God's grace and his gracious gift of acceptance overflow to many because of what one man, Jesus, the Messiah, did for us!  And this free-flowing gift imparts to us much more than what was given to us through the one who sinned. For because of one transgression, we are all facing a death sentence with a verdict of “Guilty!”  But this gracious gift leaves us free from our many failures and brings us into the perfect righteousness of God—acquitted with the words “Not guilty!””  Jesus is coming back  So, for whatever reason, you haven't received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior—I need you to hear me. No matter who you are or what you have done God's love and His grace are readily available to all who would JUST RECEIVE.  Know this, God cares about you. And He loves you regardless of what anybody else says -- JUST RECEIVE; that's it.   Jesus is coming back!!! Trust me, you want to be among those who He is coming back to take with Him. You do not want to be left behind during the chaos and destruction of this world.  Therefore, this is the time to receive your gift. That is to say, proclaim Jesus as Lord while there is still breath in your lungs.    Philippians 2:10-11 The Passion Translation says,  “10 The authority of the name of Jesus causes every knee to bow in reverence! Everything and everyone will one day submit to this name—in the heavenly realm, in the earthly realm, and in the demonic realm. 

Why do bad things happen to good people? When crisis hits, where is God? In this message, Pastor Jamie answers these questions and more. Scripture tells us that God is good. Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”James 1:16-17 Hebrews 11:6 Psalm 27:13  When life is bad, God is good. Don't get mad at God during times of pain, run to God during times of pain. Why doesn't God stop bad things from happening? 1. God is love. Love does what's best for the other person. Pain is necessary to let us knowsomething is wrong. 2. God is a good Father.  Good parents let their children experience the repercussions of their actions.  Three reasons why bad things happen:1. Our bad choices.God didn't create evil, He created the ability to make choices (free will). Romans 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.Why did God create choice? So we could love Him and love others. Joshua 24:15 The pain in this world doesn't reflect on God's goodness, it reflects on our brokenness. 2. Our spiritual enemy.1 Peter 5:8-9 Satan (Hebrew: adversary); Devil (Greek: accuser)1 John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.”Don't blame God for what the devil does. 3. Our broken world.Romans 8:19-22 This planet is sick with sin, just like humanity is. God doesn't always shield us from the bad things in the world, but He will heal us from them – whether in this life or the life to come. Just like we would throw a drowning man a life saver, God has sent His son Jesus to rescue and redeem us from it. Romans 8:28 Anything bad that happens to me, God is going to make it good. Declare your deliverance! Are you letting God deliver you from evil?

From the beginning, the inclination of sinful humanity has been to hide from God. When Adam and Eve realized their sin, the last thing they wanted was to be in God's righteous presence. But He was the only one who could address their shame and provide an ultimate solution, a promised descendant who would crush the enemy of their souls forever. Do you need to come out of hiding today and face the God who offers, in Himself, the solution to your greatest problem?

Something NewAfter David had confessed his sin without trying to excuse it or glossover it, he went on to petition God. What did he ask God for? ReadPsalm 51:7–12.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________David's reference to cleansing with hyssop utilized terminologyknown to every Israelite who had ever visited the sanctuary. As hereferred to the ritual acts of cleansing described in the Law of Moses(Lev. 14:4), he recognized the power of a sacrifice—the Sacrifice—who would come in the future to take away the sins of the world.David also went on to ask for “joy” and “gladness.” In the face of theenormity of his sin, wasn't this a little audacious?Perhaps it may be helpful to listen to this paraphrase: “Tell me I amforgiven so that I may enter the sanctuary again where I can hear thejoy and gladness of those worshiping you.”When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God's presence (Gen. 3:8).Why do you think David's request, even after his sin, is so different?Read Psalm 51:11, 12.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________David did not want to lose the consciousness of living in God's pres-ence. He realized that without the Holy Spirit he was powerless. Heknew that as easily as he slipped into sin with Bathsheba, he could slipinto sin again. His self-confidence was shattered.David understood that future victories would not come from him;they would come only from God as he depended totally on God.The victorious Christian life is not all about us. It is all about Jesus.We yearn for His presence; we crave His Spirit; we want His joy ofsalvation. We recognize our need for renewal and restoration. We needHis rest—a divine act of re-creation. Creation rest is not far from for-giveness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfastspirit within me” (Ps. 51:10, NKJV) uses Creation terminology. In theOld Testament only God can “create” (bara')—and once we have beenre-created, we can rest.If you haven't experienced the joy and gladness of liberationfrom a guilty conscience, what is holding you back? If it is guilt,what could you learn from this story that should help you?

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were inclined to hide in shame and point in blame. All marriages can fall into the same trap of refusing responsibility for sin.

When Adam sinned, he brought sin into our world. But on this episode of The Verdict, Pastor John Munro explains that although one man brought death and condemnation, our Lord Jesus brings redemption and eternal life.

The College Tapes | It's the fall semester of Senior year, and things are getting weird at Yale. When Adam comes across something he shouldn't have inside his favorite library, he makes a decision to reach back into his past. Please visit thecollegetapes.com for more information.

When Adam the Great is performing his magic will amaze, amuse, daze & confuse. It's a family friendly show that delights all ages at fairs across the country - except for in 2020. On today's show Adam and I talk about his approach to performing as well as his 2020 story.

It can be hard to say no to people and opportunities. But when saying yes means sacrificing your mental, physical, emotional well-being, it's better for you and for those you want to help to say no.We cannot give our all to others if we first don't give to ourselves. So we must first give to ourselves in order to show up fully for others.Adam Nugent knows the power of investing in himself and others.Adam is the founder of Foresight Wealth Management.Early in his career, Adam recognized that the financial industry as a whole was doing a poor job in helping people manage their money and finances. More importantly, they were doing a real disservice in ongoing communication, service, excessive fees, and overall customer experience. Adam founded Foresight on the principle that service can be done better and that people deserve a lot more than what most had been receiving and paying for.His effective leadership and innovative thinking, as well as the company's commitment to be driven by transparency and flexibility, has spurred Foresight to become one of the fastest growing investment management firms in Utah.Foresight's mission to provide the highest probability of financial success drives Adam to work tirelessly towards his clients' goals and plot a course to secure their futures.Adam loves working together with his clients to maintain and improve the standard of living they are accustomed to as well as preserving their estate for generations to come.When Adam is not managing Foresight, you can often find him in his own personal paradise at Lake Powell with family and friends. He also recharges by doing circuit training every morning, enjoying the great outdoors with his family, and coaching his boys' rugby teams. You will also see Adam supporting his alma mater, The University of Utah, at most football and basketball games. Go Utes! He loves to work hard and play hard and ultimately push each day to the max!In this episode, Adam dives deep into the true purpose of gratitude, getting through and learning from the tough times.Listen to this episode and learn about:Adam giving credit and thanks to his father (2:44)Developing a servant's mentality (6:23)Having gratitude for challenges and trials (8:03)Overcoming negative emotions (12:14)The value of meditation (16:19)Making time for self-care (17:28)The benefits of an abundance mindset (22:12)Gratitude cultivating humility (23:33)Healing ourselves internally (28:24)How the more you give, the more you get (32:41)Adam's message to his father (37:28)Links:Connect with Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamnugent/Foresight Wealth Management - https://www.foresightwealth.comNugent Good News Magazine - https://www.nugentmagazine.com

 For the next several weeks, Diane has teamed up with Leighann McCoy and Jacque Garner to discuss spiritual warfare and the weapons we have to fight it.  Our hope and prayer is that you will join us. The battle is real. But we have some weapons we can use to fight! So armor up (Ephesians 6:10-20)! We will meet you in our podcasts and learn how to stand together! Diane: "Join us for this special seven-week summer post of Contagious Joy's blog posts. We will be publishing podcasts on this subject on Coffee Chats with Diane Nix and Leighann McCoy's podcast, Prayer Clinic, and last but not least, Jacque Garner of the Pastorswifelifepodcast!"  Leighann: "Spiritual warfare is the ongoing struggle between God and Satan. But don't for one minute think that it is a desperate struggle between two equal but opposing forces. Unlike God, who is the Creator of the universe, Satan is a created being. And unlike God, who is head over all authority, power, dominion, and title that can be given (Ephesians 1:20–23), Satan has jurisdiction only over the earth. Satan is not equal to God in power, in rule, or in authority. He is subject to God, and his destiny is already determined.  Isaiah 54:16–17 points to this truth:  See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me," declares the Lord.  The war began in the garden of Eden when the serpent (Satan) convinced Eve to eat the fruit off the forbidden tree. The war started in the garden, and it ended when Jesus died on the cross. Don't miss this important truth. The war ended at the cross. Jesus' death restored what Adam's sin destroyed.  Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right. Romans 5:18–19 The Message   The prince of this world was defeated once and for all when Jesus reconciled men to himself through the perfect sacrifice of His perfect life.  “WHY DO WE FIGHT TODAY?  So, you might ask, if the Enemy is defeated, why are we still fighting the good fight today? The battle continues today because the Prince of Darkness remains in charge of our sin-stained world (see Ephesians 2:1–2). Satan expects to rule and reign over the mess he ordained until Jesus returns and God puts it all to rest. When Adam and Eve yielded to the temptation of Satan, they took the world God gave them—a perfect dwelling place declared “very good” by God, full of good pleasure, tasty delight, and pure joy—and they handed it over to Satan. The deceiver stole creation from the Creator. This world today is only a shadow of what would have been. It's a distorted, sin-stained shadow at that. When you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you were targeted for attack. With that declaration of allegiance to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you gave up your allegiance to the prince of this world. You broke ties with the Prince of Darkness. “Therefore, you no longer belong to this world, and the world hates you as a result. Jesus explained it like this: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15:19  And then Jesus prayed for us, My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

In this compelling interview, Jane and Adam discuss social media advertising, how to create the perfect lead magnet to bring potential clients into your world, and the advantages of paid for versus ‘organic' traffic.  Over the last six years, Adam has invested thousands of hours into learning everything about Facebook Ads - and packaging his knowledge into a easily digestible, tested and proven system for running ads which generate lucrative leads and drives profit. For businesses, using Facebook ads are often the best way to reach out to your target customer, but not every Facebook ad is successful. In fact, most are not. That's because contrary to popular belief, creating EFFECTIVE and most importantly, PROFITABLE campaigns requires significant wisdom and experience. When Adam first started using Facebook for his business nearly 5 years ago, he found the learning curve incredibly steep. In fact it took him at least 6 months and cost him £20k of his own money in wasted ad spend before he knew he needed to figure it out properly.  Adam spent the next 5 years learning from some of the best tutors in the world when it comes to marketing and Facebook Ads and has spent more than £100k on his own education.  Jane brings Adam's knowledge to you, so that you don't make the same mistakes he made and can have the opportunity to master Facebook Ads and Sales funnels yourself.  Are you currently running Facebook Ads? And if not, would you like to start?

In this episode, I had the privilege to speak with Army Veteran entrepreneur and founder of Carbliss Vodka Drink, Adam Kroener. This was a fun interview where we discuss military life, overcoming addiction and becoming an entrepreneur. During the interview, Adam explains how he had to lay everything out on the line to make his dream a reality. (3:00) Growing up, Adam screwed around a lot and didn't really apply himself to much. Was doing drugs and decided to go into the military. At the time, they had a sign on bonus, and Adam thought to himself, “I could buy a lot of weed with that!” Shortly after signing up and passing a drug test, He found out that he would be a father. (7:00) Working at a cheese factory, Adam moved his way up to a supervisory position. At a young age, his he was an unexperienced leader and it showed. To get people to do what he wanted, he would find himself yelling all the time. Adam realized that his leadership sucked and he wanted to get better. After picking up the Book “How to win friends and Influence people”, Adam realized that he had to change. (12:00) Starting his military career in 2005, Adam continued the family tradition of the military. His father was an infantryman. Since this was only a few years into the war, Adam's dad wouldn't sign paperwork for a combat job. After going through a list of jobs, finally a job was accepted by Adam and his dad. (15:00) Reflecting back on the military, Adam explains that he learned your body and mind can take more than you anticipate. (18:00) Military talk. Trey talks about how the military helped him to be more effective with time management. We would have calendars to look forward 30/90/180 days out. Trey uses that in his life now to help stay focused on tasks. (27:00) Realizing he needed to make a shift in his medicine habits, Adam reached out to a place and see about a process to get off the medication he was on. When Adam asked what they would do to help, the doctors told him that they would place him on another medicine typically prescribed to heroin addicts. Adam was all to familiar with that drug because he used to take it for fun and decided not to follow through with that help. (29:00) Finally being off the medication, Adam was in another motorcycle accident and put back onto the medicine. His now wife, commented that she thinks he is just taking the pills to take them. Adams father had commented on the constant pill popping too. After doing the research, Adam understood exactly how these pills were affecting his decision making and drive to continue taking it. (38:00) Adam used his operations background from the military towards his business now. He explains how Carbliss was started. At the time, there was seltzer drinks that were popular. After much research and talking with people in the bars, Adam, would ask people why they drink what they drink. (43:00) There was a lot of hurdles that Adam had to overcome. “If someone said, here's how much money you will lose, you'll work 24 hours a day, and no financial benefit, how does that sound?” This is the path most entrepreneurs take. (45:00) SN food and beverage is the company Adam has created and it came from a friend he originally had the first thoughts of being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur, Adam had to put everything on the line to make Carbliss a reality. Everything from the design of the can to the liquid inside was created by Adam and his wife. Carbliss is now available in Wisconsin, Nebraska Colorado, Tennessee, Louisiana, New Jersey, and coming soon to Maryland, and California. Go to www.drinkcarbliss.com to find out more information and 38 other states that will soon be able to have Carbliss sent to you. You can follow up with Adam through email at adam@drinkcarbliss.com  or reach out at 920-286-3159. #entrepreneur #carbliss #veteran --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/forginglife/message

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God and disobeyed His command they experienced something they had not known up until this point – guilt and shame. Sometimes the shame you feel may remain long after the guilt of your sin has been absolved. But God wants you to know that in our Savior's death for us on the cross, He has taken away both our guilt and our shame.

Sitting with Adam is a bit like sitting with David Beckham — they are both from Essex you understand — and are whirlwinds of energy! When Adam isn't practising yoga, he's talking, recording his Keen On Yoga Podcast, writing his book, and after all that, asks “what else can I do today?” To which he cheerfully answers, “I know, I'll cook for them!” Adam has a wonderful lightness to him. His nature is a living example of a powerful creative energy, he embodies the quality of vata (in Ayurvedic terms) a bundle of moving, swirling ideas, ready to spring to life, and of course this energy is naturally infectious. He's really quite punk in his inclination and seems to have a distaste for authoritarianism, which has transformed and shaped his worldview. You're going to love listening to his story and how he is continuing to help evolve the conversation around Ashtanga yoga as a living, working, yoga methodology, building upon the experience of the past to shape a new, more thoughtful future. Adam's teaching is committed to facilitating the individual's experience of yoga. Teaching is approached with a lightness of touch and an open mind. Outside the sphere of yoga, Adam is a continuous student of philosophy as well as having worked previously to teach as vegetarian chef. You can find him teaching on Keen on Yoga, an online platform offering workshop and classes that he started with his wife Theresa. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ADAM and Ashtanga Yoga & Beyond: www.keenonyoga.com The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. If you've enjoyed today's podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation. Every little bit goes a long way and we are immensely grateful for any and all of your support. www.harmonyslater.com/donate Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.” Listen to the entire album on Spotify

When Adam and Eve sinned, God's good creation became cursed. Preached September 22, 2019 Pastor Aaron Frasier

As mentioned, Messiah: Biblical Retellings is here. Daughters of Zion: Biblical Retellings is here. Covenants: Biblical Retellings is coming soon. Introduction:  I put the story of Job in a book about covenants, even though God never makes a covenant with Job, because I believe the only way to properly interpret the events in the story is within the context of the covenants that did (and did not) exist at the time. Most scholars place the story of Job after the flood and before Abraham’s covenant with God in Genesis 12. This means that the only covenant Job had with God are those of Adam and Noah. When Adam sinned and obeyed Satan, God was left on the outside of the world He had made, looking in—like a landlord whose tenants had turned Him out. Satan was now the god (little g) of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). While God had promised to bring the promised Seed of Eve (Genesis 3:15), He would need a people willing to more or less play by His rules in order to do so, and then the cooperation of generations of prophets to speak Him into existence. He hadn’t gotten that far yet. Job is a righteous man, and so clearly favored by God that Satan takes notice. It’s actually God’s blessings that paint a target on Job’s back. While Satan of course comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), in this story he does so not for the sheer pleasure of it, but to prove his point to God, almost as if in a courtroom drama. He aims to establish that our love for God is contingent upon God’s blessings. If Satan can establish this for the most righteous man on earth at the time, it would follow that the same is true for all the rest of us.  In Job 1, God brings up Job to Satan before Satan mentions him, which seems to indicate that it was God who placed Job in Satan’s crosshairs. But God is omniscient, and Satan’s immediate rejoinder showed that Satan was already thinking about Job. I suspect God just knew what Satan was thinking and cut to the chase. Many translations of Job have it that God “allowed” Satan’s attack against Job, which would seem to make God complicit in Job’s misery. But the context of the covenants in place at the time indicates that God allowed it only in the loosest sense of the word. Job lived at a time when God had not yet established a reciprocal covenantal protection for His people. God had to allow Satan’s request, even though He hated it. Did He have the power to refuse Satan? Technically yes, but He did not have the authority to do so—because He had given that authority to man in the garden. Man, in turn, had given it to Satan. At that point, Satan became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). By nature, all of Adam’s descendants were slaves of Satan (Ephesians 2:3). So legally, Satan had the authority to do what he asked to do to Job. Had God refused, He would have violated the integrity of His word. The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is the integrity of God’s word that holds the very universe together (Hebrews 1:3). While in Job 2:3, God said to Satan, “You moved Me against him,” God only moved against Job in the sense that He withdrew the “hedge of protection” (Job 1:10) that He had placed around Job when Satan complained about it. Ecclesiastes 10:8 says, “whoso breaks a hedge, a serpent will bite him.” Without the hedge, the serpent had access to bite.  Satan’s challenge put God in a very difficult position. Satan (meaning adversary in Hebrew) is only mentioned by name 18 times in the Old Testament, 14 of which are in the book of Job. He isn’t even mentioned as Satan in Genesis (maybe because he wasn’t the adversary yet—this was the story of how he became the adversary), or in Isaiah 14, where the story of his fall appears (there he is called Lucifer, meaning “Light Bringer”—his angelic name). As mentioned in the story, I suspect God did not warn mankind about Satan and his angels because there was nothing they could have done about them at this point in history anyway. Why tell someone they have a terrible, bloodthirsty enemy if they are powerless to avoid him? Would that not produce only terrible fear and paranoia, with no benefit? Yet because Job had no doctrine of Satan, that meant he had no context to explain his tragedy. He, and his three friends, believed calamity was a punishment for evil (which sometimes it is, according to the writers of Proverbs and Psalms). Since Job knew he had done nothing specifically wrong to warrant all of this, the only logical alternative in his paradigm was that God did this to him unjustly. Satan was counting on this, and counting on Job to curse God because of it, even though God was innocent. In Genesis, Satan essentially told Adam and Eve that God was holding out on them—that He didn’t truly love them. Job was the story of Satan doing the same thing to God: telling God that Job didn’t truly love Him. The adversary was busily trying to convince each side that they were not loved. It isn’t until the fourth friend Elihu finally speaks in Job 32 that Job (and the reader) learns there is a third option. Andrew Wommack argues that Elihu was the writer of the book of Job, because the rest of the book is written in the third person until Elihu begins to speak in Job 32:15, when he transitions to the first person. This is important for context, because it tells us which chapters we can rely upon as divinely inspired, and which are mere opinions of the speaker. God later rebukes most of what Job and his three friends say, so that leaves only Job 1, 2, and 32-42 as accurate theological representations, at least of what was happening at the time.  Elihu informs Job in 33:12 that Job is not righteous. From the perspective of the New Covenant, we understand that “there is none righteous; no, not one” (Romans 3:10). While Job’s specific sin may not have occasioned this attack, the general sin of Adam, the covenant head of mankind, had rendered all of mankind unrighteous. But then comes the bombshell verse: Elihu prophesies that God is working to provide the savior! “If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’… He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, and his life shall see the light” (33:23-28).  Today, with the benefit of hindsight and the entire Bible, we have some ability to conceptualize what Job went through, but Job himself did not. He couldn’t read the first two chapters of Job, to learn that he had an enemy who was using him as a pawn to prove a cosmic point. He had no context to understand what God was doing behind the scenes. I think this is why God responded to Job the way He did. Explaining to a man in Job’s day about sin and the need for a savior to be born a man and die as a substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind would have been like trying to explain calculus to an ant. So instead, God’s approach was to remind Job of how much bigger He was than Job, and how little Job truly understood. Even though we can comprehend God’s predicament better than Job could have done, there is still much we don’t and cannot know. The message God gave Job—to magnify His glory and to trust His greater wisdom when He cannot give us a direct explanation—still applies to us today.  Job’s initial responses to his tragedy in chapters 1 and 2 are often quoted by believers today as a godly response. He says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21), and then the writer of the book says, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). A popular worship song actually quotes this verse, holding it up as an example of how believers should respond to tragedy. But while Job did not sin in what he said, he was still incorrect. God was not the one who had taken from Job; that was Satan. God did remove the hedge of protection from Job, but only because He had no choice: Job had no covenant which would have given God a legal excuse to protect him. We do. The Law of Moses made provision for blessings and protection from the enemy for God’s people, so long as they followed His law. God warned them that He could not protect them if they ceased to follow His law and uphold their half of the covenant, though. Disobedience would allow Satan access to them in order to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). These blessings and curses are all laid out in Deuteronomy 28. In most of the Old Testament, there is no distinction between the curses God inflicts and those inflicted by Satan due to God removing the protection of the covenant from His people—but again, I suspect this was because in the Old Testament, there was essentially no doctrine of Satan at all. That’s part of why Job is so fascinating: it gives us insight into the real chain of causality in Heaven. God was “responsible” only insofar as He withdrew His protection and blessing, and He did that much only when His hand was forced. It was never what He wanted to do. He is a good God!  Even the curses of the law of Moses no longer apply to us today. Jesus followed the law perfectly, fulfilling it on our behalf (Matthew 5:17). He became a curse for us, redeeming us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Now all that is left are the blessings for those who are in Christ Jesus. Accordingly, Satan’s name changed from the Old Testament to the New. Satan meant accuser, but in the New Testament Greek, he is referred to as diabolos, meaning false accuser. He could legally accuse us to God before Jesus came, but no more! There are no modern day Jobs. God can now protect and bless those of us who have accepted His New Covenant, ratified by the blood of Jesus. Praise the Lord! Even in this time before covenantal protection, it’s helpful to place in Job’s tragedy in context. Job 3-42 takes place all in one day. The whole book covers a little over a week in Job’s life. He still lost his children and his servants, a lasting tragedy—but after this trial, God restored everything to Job so that he was twice as great as he had been to begin with (Job 42:10-17). He had the same number of children (seven sons and three daughters) restored, his daughters were known as beauties throughout the land (Job 42:15), and he lived another 140 years afterwards. God restored the years the locusts had eaten (Joel 2:25). (Side note: what are the behemoth and the leviathan mentioned by God in Job 40 and 41? To me, the former sounds like an herbivorous dinosaur, such as a brontosaurus (Job 40:15-24) while the latter sounds like a mythical dragon. It even apparently breathed fire (Job 41:18-21). This is why I had Noah take some of the dinosaurs onto the ark with him in my retelling: it appears they did survive the flood, at least. Also, particularly in Revelation, Satan is referred to as a dragon. I decided to give him the idea of taking that form as he listened to God wax poetic about how magnificent a creature it was.)   Fictionalized Retelling, from Satan's POV:  This was Round Three: me against God.  My first strategy was a raging success. Adam simply handed me his authority on the earth—it was almost too easy. God cursed the serpent for it, but what was that to me? I wasn’t the serpent; I’d just borrowed its body for awhile.  The only part that bothered me was that Seed of Eve business. I didn’t understand what that meant, but I felt like it was important somehow. Presumably it required a human descendant of the line of Eve, though, whatever else it meant. So in Round Two, using the proverbial carrot of Adam’s authority, I enticed a third of God’s angel army to follow me to earth. My once glorious beauty had become shriveled and warped since my expulsion from the garden, but they crossed over into earth in all their godlike majesty. The daughters of men were helpless before them. So the earth swelled with their demigod progeny, perpetuating down through the generations until contamination of God’s original bloodline was almost complete. Until that damn flood. I never saw that coming. Since the flood waters had receded and repopulation of the earth had commenced, I’d prowled the earth, gnashing my teeth and looking for another opportunity to strike. I corrupted Ham’s progeny with my fallen angels once again, but it was halfhearted this time. I already knew God would not allow me to pollute the entire human race with defiled blood, so what was the point? There was some inherent value in corrupting, maiming, and killing those He loved, though, because it hurt Him. That was always the real goal; they didn’t matter to me one way or the other. I’d have completely ignored them, except for the fact that He loved them.  But what I needed now was another master stroke that would enable me to win the whole human race; not just pick them off one at a time.  As I prowled the earth in my own dimension, a curious flaming hedge drew my attention. It would have been strange enough to see a self-perpetuating wall of flame in the earthly dimension, but what in the world could it be doing in mine? I crept up close, and tested it with my finger, crying out as it singed my withered flesh. Instinctively I shoved my fingers in my mouth to tend the burn. Then I peered through the wall as best I could, ignoring the heat and trying to understand its purpose. It reminded me of the two angels God had placed on every side of the Tree of Life, with their flaming swords. They, too, were in the spiritual dimension. God clearly sent this wall—but why?  Inside the hedge, I saw a man, his household, and the houses of presumably his progeny. The man, whom the servants called Job, seemed middle-aged by the standards of the day, around sixty years old. He also appeared to be fabulously wealthy: I crept around the perimeter of the wall of flame and counted seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a large retinue of servants. He also had seven grown sons and three grown daughters—who, I noted, took turns holding feasts in their homes daily for all their other siblings. They indulged themselves, and worked very little, as children of wealthy men are wont to do. Their behavior seemed to bother Job, who daily offered ten burnt sacrifices, one for each of his children, after each feast.  Huh, I thought to myself, tapping my fingers against my chin and narrowing my eyes as I peered through the hedge. Then a slow smile curled my lips as I understood several things at once.  Job was a righteous man. God loved him. God loved all his ridiculous creatures, of course, but He prized Job, because Job loved Him back, unlike most of them. Because of this, God had blessed Job hand over fist, on every side. The hedge of fire was in my dimension because God was protecting Job—from me.  But that was illegal. By God’s own decree, He gave the earth to Adam, and all of Adam’s progeny after him. Adam obeyed me, and therefore, it was mine. I had the authority to afflict any man I chose, yet God saw fit to use His power to prevent me from doing so!  I saw my strategy.  God’s angels, those who still served Him, presented themselves before His throne in Heaven daily to receive their assignments. That day, I joined the queue. I went there as little as possible, as the sight of Heaven’s bounty, God’s glory, and the beauty of those who still served Him made me writhe inwardly.  At last I got to the front of the line. Since I had received my new form after my expulsion from the garden, I could no longer look directly at God—He was too radiant. Instead I was forced to slink forward, bent double, with my head down. It was humiliating.  “From where do you come?” boomed the voice of the one on the throne.  “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it,” I answered. Even my voice, once so resonant and lovely, now came out like a snivel—particularly in the massive and spectacular halls of the throne room. I could feel God’s penetrating gaze piercing through my thoughts, though I could not look directly into His face. He already knew exactly why I was here.  “Have you set your heart against My servant Job?” He demanded. Then His voice softened, like a lover waxing poetic about His beloved. “There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man. One who fears Me and shuns evil.”  I sneered, “Does Job fear You for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. Stretch out Your hand and remove the wall of fire, that I might touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”  God was silent for a long moment. I risked a glance up at Him, and immediately regretted it, as the sight of Him seared. Then He heaved a great sigh, and said, “Behold, all that Job has is already in your power. Only do not lay a hand on his person.”  “Ha!” I gloated, clapping my hands together and vanishing at once. I was eager to get out of Heaven anyway.  I went straight to Job’s estate, and laughed and danced when I saw that indeed, the hedge of protection was gone. I had free reign! I prowled closer, to the home of one of Job’s children. It was the middle of the day, and all ten of them were in there eating and drinking like lazy gluttons. I tapped my chin with my fingers, musing how I might go about this. I could personally appear and wipe out everything Job owned… but if Job knew that I was responsible for his misfortune, that would defeat my whole purpose. He would be miserable, yes, but what did I care about that? I wanted Job to blame God for his tragedies, and to curse Him to His face. I wanted to prove to God that Job only loved Him for His gifts, not for Himself. So I needed to be crafty. Fortunately, that was my specialty.  I roamed a short distance away and found a band of Sabean warriors. I could always use them to my advantage with little prompting. They were greedy, vicious, and bored, and I had trained them well to consider plunder and murder as the only antidote to boredom. So I whispered in the ears of the leaders, and led them straight to Job’s property, where the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. I watched with glee as they stole the animals, and relished the screams of Job’s servants as the Sabeans put them to the sword. This wasn’t even necessary—the servants feared the Sabeans and would not have fought them. The Sabeans slaughtered for the rush of it. It was utterly delicious. I caused the Sabean’s eyes to pass over one of the servants in the group, and whispered into that servant’s ear, “Go and tell your master what you have seen.” It was all the incentive he needed; he ran off in wild terror, as if I myself ran after him.  But would a human raid cause Job to blame God? I mused. No. I needed something more supernatural. Humans called natural disasters ‘acts of God,’ which I thought was just fantastic—they didn’t know who was actually in charge here.  Maybe more than one type of disaster, I decided, just in case he might otherwise think it was a coincidence.  Even though Job had sheep and camels and more servants, I whispered in the Sabean chief’s ear that they were satisfied, and they rode off with their spoils.  Next, I observed the hills where the sheep roamed. I sauntered over to them, and spooked them so that they all ran in the direction of the barn where the servants were. I needed them all in one place. Then I snapped my fingers. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, setting the barn ablaze. The sheep and servants who had not been hit or already consumed began to flee, so I summoned another bolt and another, until only one servant ran helter-skelter down the hill to tell Job what he had witnessed.  Perfect, I thought, rubbing my hands together. Job would have to blame God for that… but quite frankly, lightning wasn’t as fun as watching humans murder each other. What was it about murder? Was it the betrayal? That moment of utter hatred in the victim before the slaughter? Hmm…  The Sabeans had already taken off, but the Chaldeans weren’t far away. I whispered in their ears that there was a cache of camels nearby, if they would only follow me. The leader separated his men into three bands, to sneak up on the remaining servants. Then with a war cry, swords drawn, they descended en masse, capturing the beasts and spilling every drop of human blood, save one. Once more, I protected a single servant, who set out at a run for his master, to share yet more awful news.  “So,” I mused aloud once all was silent again, “Job is a pauper now, and it’s not even mid-afternoon. Now for the last and best blow…” I roamed back to the house where I had seen his gluttonous children. They had conveniently all gathered in the same place. One more ‘act of God,’ I thought—though not lightning again. I wanted to make very sure Job knew this was intentional. I prowled around the structure, observing its foundations. They weren’t particularly strong. A normal storm wouldn’t take them out, but if I sent a wind against each wall from all four directions, that should do it. Also, it had the added benefit of peculiarity. Normal wind blew in one direction or another, or at most, in a cyclone. A perfect hit on all four sides, though—that could only be God. In Job’s mind, at least.  I called upon three of my demonic allies, and stationed one on each side of the house. With the gust of our mouths, the four walls collapsed, killing the revelers within—all except one servant from inside. He crept terrified but unharmed from the rubble, and ran to his master to tell him of the tragedy.  My three demons were too busy cackling with enjoyment at their destruction to notice my disappearance. I enjoyed the death of Job’s children—but I wanted to be there when all four messengers reached Job. I wanted to hear and relish that moment when he cursed God.  I appeared, brimful of delighted anticipation, beside the unsuspecting Job right at the moment that the first messenger reached him. Breathless, he burst out, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabean raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”  I watched Job eagerly, my grin stretching wide at the look of horror on his face. He barely had time to process this before the second servant arrived.  “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”  I hooted at his choice of words. The fire of God! Job let out a cry of anguish and clamped his hand over his mouth. But it wasn’t over yet… the third messenger right right on his heels.  “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” Job groaned and fell to his knees. I danced in place, so eager was I for the master stroke—here was the fourth messenger! He looked bedraggled, covered with soot from the rubble, and he gasped out, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”  Job gave an indiscernible wail, and tore his robe in his grief. He lay there in a heap, weeping for some time. My anticipation waned, and I grew irritated.  “Curse God, you fool!” I whispered in his ear. “Come on!”  My whisper did seem to rouse him, and he staggered to his feet, finding a knife. I raised my eyebrows. This might be interesting… but no, he just used it to shave his head, wailing all the more as he did so. Where his hair fell to the ground, he then knelt—and worshipped God!  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,” he whispered, “and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”  My jaw hung open. I could hardly process this. I’d succeeded in making Job think God had done this to him… yet he worshipped Him anyway?  I let out a shriek of fury, and ran at Job, prepared to tear him limb from limb. But as I got close, I saw the wall of fire spring forth all around him—the same one I had seen around his property in the beginning.  Lay not a hand on his person, God had said.  I shrieked again. “That’s not fair!” I raged at the sky, “he’s mine by right!”    For the next human day, I rampaged, inflicting wanton destruction on any creatures that came in my path, since I could not afflict the one I truly wished to harm. I could have demanded God remove the hedge around Job’s person, but even in my fury, I recognized that killing him would be pointless. Satisfying for a moment, but I’d have ultimately lost the challenge.   But then in a sudden stroke of insight, I realized what I’d missed.  “A-ha!” I cried aloud, and vanished.  I reappeared in Heaven, doing my best to ignore the envy gnawing at me as I beheld all the beauty I had lost. I was here on a mission. I merged in the queue to enter God’s throne room, annoyed that I was forced to wait my turn.  “From where do you come?” God asked when I reached the front of the line.  Bent double, not looking at him, I slunk forward, my voice coming out in the whine I hated, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”  God’s next words practically radiated with pride. “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears Me and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”  I snarled, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and remove the hedge from around him. Let me touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”  The One on the throne heaved a heavy sigh. “Behold, he is in your hand—”  “I know he is, Your hedge is illegal! He’s mine!” “—but, spare his life,” God added.  I was just about to tell God that He had no right to withhold even Job’s life from me—he was of the line of Adam and therefore he was mine if I wanted him, and we both knew it. But I bit my tongue. I reminded myself that taking Job’s life would not win me the contest. In fact, it would rather be an admission of defeat. I needed him to live, and fester in his misery, until he railed against God for his misfortune.  “Very well,” I sniveled, and vanished.  Job was right where I found him: robe torn, head shaved, mourning on the ground. I crept up as close to him as I had been before when the hedge of fire popped up around him—but there was none.  “Ha!” I gloated, and poked Job in the cheek. Where I touched him, a deep, angry red boil appeared. Job gasped with the pain of it, and his hand flew to his cheek.  “Yes!” I cried, and planted my hands all over his body, from head to toe. Job cried out in agony. But I afflicted him everywhere, across the backs of his legs and buttocks, to the soles of his feet. He could not sit, stand, kneel, sit, or lie down without pain. He would have no relief.  “Curse Him!” I taunted Job. “Curse God!”  Job rose to his feet, crying out with each step. His hands too were afflicted, but he managed to grab a piece of pottery. It was filled with ashes. He poured them on the ground, and then dashed the pot against the ground where it shattered. He took one of the shards, scraping the boils on his hands and arms to lance the pus and relieve the pressure. This, I knew, would create a new kind of burning pain, particularly as he was now sitting in a heap of ashes. Job scraped and wept—but no curse did he utter!  I let out another howl of frustration. But then I turned around and saw Job’s wife approaching. I’d forgotten all about her. Her face was tear-stained, but I saw that her expression was hardened. I grinned, and slunk up behind her.  “Tell Job to curse God,” I whispered.  As if it had been her own idea, the shrew put her hands on her hips and demanded with scorn, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity?” Job said nothing, scraping and sniffling in the ash heap. “He ignores you, how dare he!” I whispered in her ear. “Job!” she snapped, now shrill. “Give it up! Curse God and die!”  “Yes!” I crowed, pumping my fists in the air, as I watched Job, holding my breath.  At last, as if in a dream, Job turned his disfigured face to her, and managed through infected lips, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”  I stared at Job, dumbfounded.  “NoooOOO!” I shrieked, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. I fell to the ground and began beating it with my fists.    When I’d spent my rage, I regrouped. I needed to step up my game.  Job had been the greatest of the men of the East, so word of his sudden misfortune spread fast. I made sure word got to three of his friends whom I knew well: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Job respected them and would therefore be likely to listen to them. Yet while they considered themselves religious, they didn’t truly know God at all. Moreover, they were were haughty, judgmental, and could not bear contradiction. This made them perfect for my purposes.  Within a day of Job’s affliction, the three of them connected with one another, and together made the rest of the journey to his estate. But unfortunately I could not stop a fourth from joining them from a neighboring city: a much younger man named Elihu. I frowned. I did not like Elihu. I couldn’t use him at all; in fact, he might be a problem. But, perhaps I could use his humility to get him to keep his mouth shut, and let his elders do all the talking.  When the four friends saw Job from a distance, with his head shaved, robe torn, disfigured with boils and sitting in a pile of ashes, they all cried out.  “Is that him?” asked Bildad. “It can’t be,” gasped Eliphaz. “I hadn’t heard he was diseased too, had you?”  But when they got close enough to realize it was their friend after all, they tore their robes also. Each of them took of the dust at his feet and sprinkled it upon his own head as they came. Tentatively they approached Job, kneeling in the ashes beside him.  “Tell him this is God’s punishment,” I whispered to Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar in turn. “Tell him he must have committed some great sin to have deserved all this. Tell him!”  But they said nothing at all. All four of them sat with Job in silence. For an entire week! Seven days and seven nights! Nothing I could do could entice them to speak. I paced. I whispered. I screamed. I ranted. On the seventh day, I shook Job by the shoulders and cried out, “Don’t you have anything to say? How do you feel about everything that has happened to you? Speak it out, damn you!”  At long last, the fool opened his mouth. ““Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived! Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books! May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night.” He waxed poetic about his misery, which was gratifying at first, but I quickly grew impatient. I made a reeling motion at him with my withered hands as he went on and on about the stars and the grave and the light and all such nonsense. “Curse God, come on!” I snarled.  But he didn’t. He finished as he had begun, bemoaning his terrible lot in life, but casting no blame. I looked at the friends, and demanded, “Are you going to stand for this? He’s making it out like he’s a victim here! He must be guilty; tell him so!” Eliphaz obliged. “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap? Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end? It’s my observation that those who plow evil and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.” “Yes, yes!” I clapped my hands, turning to Job eagerly.  Eliphaz went on, “So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you! Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God! True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound; the same hand that hurts you, heals you.”  I got up in Job’s face. “Are you going to stand for this? Defend yourself! Who’s the real villain here? It’s not you, so Who’s left? There’s only one possibility!”  Job replied with yet another long soliloquy of his sorrow, but at long last he began to get to the point. “Confront me with the truth and I’ll shut up, show me where I’ve gone off the track!” he demanded of his friend. “You pretend to tell me what’s wrong with my life, but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air!”  “God is to blame!” I shouted at him, shaking my fists.  At long, long last, he got there, and started to shout up at Heaven. “What are mortals anyway, that You bother with them, that You even give them the time of day?” he demanded. “Let up on me, will you? Can’t you even let me spit in peace? Even suppose I’d sinned—how would that hurt You? You’re responsible for every human being. Don’t You have better things to do than pick on me? The way things are going, I’ll soon be dead!”  “Finally!” I roared, triumphant for a moment—until I realized that he had not actually cursed God, though he had blamed Him. That was a start.  “Goad him,” I whispered to Bildad next. I was sure that if the others doubled down on blaming Job for his troubles, that Job would eventually do what I wanted in order to clear his own name. But I jabbed a finger in Elihu’s face. “You stay quiet in the presence of your elders, boy!” What followed was a long, exasperating afternoon of high tempers, and no actual progress. I succeeded in getting Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to accuse and even yell in Job’s face. Job persisted in swearing to his own innocence, and in blaming God—even demanding that God explain Himself. Elihu, meanwhile, grew angrier by the minute, and I suspected I wouldn’t be able to shut him up forever. But if I could just get Job to curse God before Elihu opened his mouth…  Suddenly Job declared, “I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—and eventually He’ll take His stand on earth. And I’ll see Him—even though I get skinned alive!—see God myself, with my very own eyes. Oh, how I long for that day!”  “Whaaaat is wrong with you?” I shrieked at him, yanking on the tufts of my hair, “why do you want to see the God responsible for all your misery?”  The sun rose higher in the sky, peaked, and then began its descent. Just before sunset, Job declared, “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing. I’m prepared to account for every move I’ve ever made!”  At last, Elihu could stand it no more. “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion. I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.”  I swore and hissed, “Shut up, shut up, shut up—” though I knew it was useless. I had no influence over this kid at all.  Elihu declared, “It’s impossible for God to do anything evil; no way can the Mighty One do wrong.” He held the floor as sunset streaked across the sky, declaring God’s power and majesty, and rebuking Job for asserting his own righteousness at God’s expense. I cringed away from him as he finally declared, “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly. So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all! If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.” All at once, the progressing sunset grew dark, like a snuffed candle. With it, a sound of blowing wind intensified, and condensed into a mighty whirlwind. “Uh oh,” I muttered, knowing what the whirlwind portended. I dashed behind a corner of Job’s barn. Not that it mattered; I just didn’t like standing before God if I could possibly avoid it.  All five of the men stared in awe as the whirlwind descended from heaven, and then fell on their faces. A burnished orange glow emanated from the inside, and I cringed away as the booming voice sounded from within.  “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” God demanded. “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”  Job managed a tiny squeak, understanding that God addressed him. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God continued, His tone actually sarcastic. I raised my eyebrows at this—I’d never heard God be sarcastic before. I thought I’d invented that technique. “Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?”  I growled under my breath at the reference. All those ‘morning stars’ he referred to were the angelic chorus—who had been under my direction. I had been their leader, the most talented, most glorious, and most respected of them all. The memory of what I had been still made me gnash my teeth. God continued with this same line of questioning, expounding upon the wonder and majesty of creation, while all five men trembled in their pile of ashes. He really drove the point home, starting with the planet, then the animals, particularly the dragon—already the stuff of human legends. I secretly liked that beast, actually. I liked to imagine myself the way God described it to Job: “any hope of overcoming him is false. No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. With his terrible teeth all around… his sneezings flash forth light, out of his mouth go burning lights; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke goes out of his nostrils and a flame goes out of his mouth.”  A dragon, I mused, stroking my pointed chin with my shriveled hands. I might adopt that image, encourage the humans to think of me as a dragon… what a beast to strike terror into the hearts of all who envision it!  Distracted with my own thoughts, I had not noticed that Job was speaking now. I had to creep out from my hiding place to hear his voice.  “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of You; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”  I gave a snort of disgust, but then remembered myself and darted back into my hiding place before God could address me directly. God upbraided Job’s three pompous friends next, and demanded they repent and offer sacrifices for their sins, but I paid little attention to this. I knew what was coming next, and didn’t care to see it: God would forgive them all, and restore to Job all I had stolen from him and probably then some. I vanished into the wilderness, and there regrouped with a few of my demons. They watched me with baleful eyes.  “Well, it wasn’t a complete failure!” I snapped before they could say anything. “He didn’t renounce God, but he did accuse Him of being unjust.”  “That’s only because Job doesn’t know we exist,” Abaddon pointed out. “I don’t know why God didn’t just tell him…”  I shook my head. “He can’t tell him. He knows if humans understood that nothing restrains us from stealing, killing, and destroying from them, and they have no power to stop us, they’ll be consumed with fear and thus, useless to Him. It’ll be just as if we’d already won the war.”  “We could just steal whatever God restores to Job again?” Abaddon suggested.  “I don’t care about Job! Job’s not the point!” I roared.  No one spoke for a long moment, and I paced. We were all thinking the same thing, but no one wanted to say it. God made these wretched creatures with free will because He wanted them to love Him. To choose Him freely—for Himself, and not just what He could give them. I wanted to prove to Him that the whole exercise was pointless. They would never love Him the way He wanted them to. So I chose the best, holiest, most righteous human on earth, the one specimen He and I both agreed upon as fulfilling that role, as a type of all the rest. If Job would renounce God, it would prove there was no hope for the rest of humanity. God might as well give up now.  But he didn’t. In Job’s logic, the only possible cause for suffering was the sin of the individual, or the wanton cruelty of God, and he knew he hadn’t sinned. He had no understanding of the spiritual world, no reason to think that a third option even existed. Even so, even as he railed against God, he did not ultimately renounce his love for Him.  I had lost.  “All right boys,” I muttered, looking at each of my demonic generals. “That was just a battle, not the war. On to Round Four.”

We're taking a break from our regularly-ish scheduled Broadway-themed programming to bring you the first episode of "Green Eggs... and Man?"—a new podcast by the (non-demigod) Weston Scott and the (non-demigod) Adam Niemann! When Adam found out he was going to be a dad, he called his best friend, Wes, to help conquer the most essential parental task: the bedtime story! Each week, they read a single page of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham to deem if it is appropriate for a newborn baby. They traverse complex thoughts such as the Hero's Journey, solipsism, and Sex and the City—until the book starts to gain a mind of its own!

“Beer is the commodity that we sell, but our product is community…really what we’re selling is a place for people to be in and to be together in community.” – Adam SemeniukAdam Semeniuk is the owner and operator of Red Bird Brewing in North Kelowna. Adam’s fascinating work history includes lumber mills, tire shops, Disney’s Club Penguin…and gold mining operations deep in the South American jungle. When Adam focused his entrepreneurial spirit on microbrewing beer, the result was Red Bird, a community space where Kelownians can enjoy high quality beer, good conversation, and live music.In this episode Adam, Jason, and Joel discuss Red Bird’s origin story, brewery recipe development, what can be turned into great beer (anything!) and the parallels between their industries. As a rapidly-expanding, multi-billion dollar industry in Canada, what can brewing beer teach us about innovation, resiliency, and the future of other industries like cannabis?

Marco Pirroni in conversation with David Eastaugh Pirroni was lead guitarist and co-songwriter in the second incarnation of Adam and the Ants, penning two UK number one singlesand a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam and the Ants, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming, both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" #1; "Prince Charming" #2). When Adam and the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant's co-writer and studio guitarist; they produced another number-one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and an album (Friend or Foe), followed by four more Top 20 hits. Ant and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Awards for "Stand and Deliver" Pirroni and Ant working together sold more than eighteen million records worldwide, scoring number ones in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Israel and Japan as well as in the UK.

Meditate on this ancient homily for Holy Saturday, written by an unknown author. The sermon refers to Jesus' descent into Hell, which according to Church Tradition was when he preached the Gospel to the dead and delivered the righteous who had died before him. Full text: "What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. ‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person. ‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden. ‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image. 'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one. `I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you. ‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God. "The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages."

On this final end-of-series program episode about Yeshua and Salvation, I am going to bring to a conclusion all of the ideas about what is biblical salvation as I expressed the lessons from the ten previous programs. In 1 Peter 1:17-19, we learn this: "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things -- silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers." The concept behind a conduct or work of aimlessness appears to be derived from Genesis 4:16 where we learn this: "Then Cain (Kayin) went out from the presence of Yehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden."  The place name "Nod" is given to us from the Hebrew letters Nun-Vav-Dalet, which is a term that refers to wandering and homelessness. When Adam and Chavah ("Eve") were cast out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23) and subsequently had physical offspring (Genesis 4:1), our first family was considered homeless vagabonds and wanderers because they were no longer home, in the Garden of Eden. However, there was to be provided one way in returning back to the Garden of Eden; it was to be provided as a free gift of deliverance (salvation) through the One who has many names in Hebrew scripture: the One referred to as "Peleh" from the Hebrew letters Pey-Lamed-Alef and translated to English as the "Wonderful" (see Isaiah 9:6; v.5 in Hebrew; Genesis 18:14, and Matthew 21:15).  His role was to be understood as "the man of my time" from Leviticus 16:21 and John 7:6. This was to fulfill the Exodus metaphor of a Passover Lamb as it was expressed in Exodus 12:4 and John 6:52-53. I will speak about all of these points and more in this Real Israel Talk Radio Episode 64,  our final episode of Yeshua and Salvation PART 11, Program 210327.

On this final end-of-series program episode about Yeshua and Salvation, I am going to bring to a conclusion all of the ideas about what is biblical salvation as I expressed the lessons from the ten previous programs. In 1 Peter 1:17-19, we learn this: "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things -- silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers."The concept behind a conduct or work of aimlessness appears to be derived from Genesis 4:16 where we learn this: "Then Cain (Kayin) went out from the presence of Yehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden."  The place name "Nod" is given to us from the Hebrew letters Nun-Vav-Dalet, which is a term that refers to wandering and homelessness. When Adam and Chavah ("Eve") were cast out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23) and subsequently had physical offspring (Genesis 4:1), our first family was considered homeless vagabonds and wanderers because they were no longer home, in the Garden of Eden. However, there was to be provided one way in returning back to the Garden of Eden; it was to be provided as a free gift of deliverance (salvation) through the One who has many names in Hebrew scripture: the One referred to as "Peleh" from the Hebrew letters Pey-Lamed-Alef and translated to English as the "Wonderful" (see Isaiah 9:6; v.5 in Hebrew; Genesis 18:14, and Matthew 21:15).  His role was to be understood as "the man of my time" from Leviticus 16:21 and John 7:6. This was to fulfill the Exodus metaphor of a Passover Lamb as it was expressed in Exodus 12:4 and John 6:52-53. I will speak about all of these points and more in this Real Israel Talk Radio Episode 64,  our final episode of Yeshua and Salvation PART 11, Program 210327.Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=23WBKCMBHKDT8/Ancient Roads: Real Israel Talk Radio)

        Patriarchal Order, Part 5 of Chapter 4 of Holy Priesthood Vol 3   Pages 64-68 http://ogdenkraut.com/?page_id=124 As previously mentioned, the Holy Priesthood is patriarchal rather than matriarchal, and rightly so. The Prophet Joseph explained that “there are three grand orders of priesthood,” one of which is Patriarchal (TPJS, p. 322). Hyrum Smith and his father were among those who have held the keys of this Priesthood authority. (Ibid., see p. 40) A Patriarch is also called an Evangelist, as Joseph Smith explained: An Evangelist is a Patriarch, even the oldest man of the blood of Joseph or of the seed of Abraham. Wherever the Church of Christ is established in the earth, there should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the Saints, as it was with Jacob in giving his patriarchal blessing unto his sons, etc. [June 27, 1839] (DHC 3:381) The Prophet also stated that by going to the temple “you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood,” (TPJS, p. 322), and that “all priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it.” (TPJS, p. 180) (More information on these three grand orders of Priesthood will follow in a future volume of The Holy Priesthood series.) There is a patriarchal or fatherly type of order to Priesthood authority, rather than a military or dictatorial authority. When Adam was given the right to “rule over” his wife, it did not give him dictatorial power. The man has the rights of presidency, which is responsibility.

THE HEALING AND MIRACLE PODCASTwith Prince HandleyWWW.REALMIRACLES.ORG HEALING FROM DISCOURAGEMENT OVERCOMING BAD ENVIRONMENTSYou can listen to the above message NOW. Click on the pod circle at top left. (Click “BACK” to return.) OR … LISTEN NOW >>> LISTEN HERE 24/7 release of Prince Handley teachings, BLOGS and podcasts > STREAM Twitter: princehandley Subscribe FREE to Prince Handley teaching: princehandley@gmail.com ________________________________________ DESCRIPTION Are you bound by your environment? By your place of employment … by finances, or a relationship … or by a physical condition? Environment is defined as: ◙ The circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded. ◙ The aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community. There are also mental environs that can hinder your freedom … IF you let them. Here are a few mental environments that can cause discouragement.: ◙ Election results ◙ Stock Market / Investments ◙ Past experiences God doesn't want anything—or anyone—controlling you except His Holy Spirit. God's will—and His liberty―are being released to you today. From now on you will have freedom from your environment … and freedom from discouragement. ________________________________________ HEALING FROM DISCOURAGEMENT OVERCOMING BAD ENVIRONMENTS Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah of Israel, is going to release His will through you today! Man is a spirit being. He also owns a soul and a body. Man is a trinity. God is a Trinity: God, the father … God, the Son … and God, the Holy Spirit. God's purpose in creation was to enjoy man and to empower him to be like God: productive, holy and loving. And in reciprocation for God's blessings and personal presence, man would enjoy God. When Adam (the federal head of the human race) yielded his allegiance to Satan through disobedience―by eating of the one tree in the Garden God commanded him not to eat of—he legally handed over his birthright―his dominion over the earth―to the devil. Once Satan had the legal right to usurp the earth, he developed a plan to try to copy the Holy Trinity. God's Holy Trinity was designed to bless man, to empower man, and to lead man. The UNholy trinity of Satan was designed to curse man in his spirit, to weaken man in his body, and to deceive (or lead man astray) in his soul. GOD'S WILL IS FOR YOU TO BE BLESSED AND ENJOY HIM Since the trinity of man―his spirit, his soul and his body―is a tripartite nature, it must be free in all three areas in order to be totally free. Totally FREE … the way Jesus wills it to be. Messiah Jesus said, “Who the Son of Man sets free is free indeed.” Absolutely. free! I want to ask you some questions right now; and I pray that you can sense the spirit of love with which I ask them of you. I came to bless you today. Are you in debt today? Are you sick today? Are you bound by sin or sinful habits today? Are you afraid today? Are you oppressed in your mind today? Are you a failure, or seemingly think you are? Are you disturbed emotionally by public happenings such as election results? Messiah Jesus can RELEASE all that. He's the Son of God. He bought your total freedom with his blood on the cross-stake. REMEMBER ... GOD KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING To be free in your human trinity―in your body, your soul and your spirit―you need to first break up Satan's hold on your spirit … second on your soul … and third upon your body. To break up Satan's control you need to repent—to turn around and change your attitude and thought processes: Turn from sin to Christ. Turn from unbelief to belief. Turn from fear to faith. Faith is something you release. Faith is a noun. Believe is a verb. Believing is a word of action. Believing is acting on God's word. To believe in Christ means interact with Him as your Savior. To believe in Christ as your Healer means interact with Him as your Healer. THE SECRET TO TOTAL VICTORY IS DAILY REPENTANCE Speak God's promises of success, of prosperity, of healing―whatever pertains to your situation―and then ACT on the promise with thanks. You will be interacting with God. Right now, get out of that wheelchair. Invest your money in God's work. The money the devil tells you, “You cannot do without.” Act successfully. You are successful because of what Christ has already done for you on the cross-stake. He purchased YOU with His BLOOD, and His Father God adopted YOU. Just the way a lost person repents, so you—as a believer, if you know Jesus—must turn from bad attitudes and discouragement to break up the lies of Satan influencing your life—and therefore your service to God. BUT YOU HAVE TO WANT TO! DISCOURAGEMENT SHORT-CIRCUITS YOUR JOY AND SERVICE IT IS ONE OF THE DEVIL'S KEY TOOLS AGAINST YOU Turn from discouragement, turn from defeat. I can buy your way out of jail, but if you won't walk out, that's another story. It's only a few steps out of the ghetto. Why don't you just make the move today? You may not be in a literal ghetto, but are you in a spiritual ghetto? Does the enemy have you bound by sickness, by fear, by oppression, by failure … or by discouragement? Is the devil telling you, “You'll never recover … just give up? God let you down!” Maybe the devil is telling you, “God let your country down!” KNOW THIS: GOD IS IN CONTROL … HEAVEN IS THE GOAL You may have been a great man or woman of God in the past. The anointing of God has been upon you like the dew drops from heaven. And yet the enemy has told you, “God's through with you.” That's a lie of Satan. God is NOT through with you! You turn around, you believe God today. Repent of your discouragement—repent of that spirit of GIVING UP—and line up with God's promises. God says to you: “I will restore the years the locusts have eaten.” (Joel 2:25) ~ ~ ~ “For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.” (Isaiah 61:7) Don't worry about your [MENTAL] furniture. Don't worry about the house in the ghetto. Walk away from it mentally! God has something better than that for you. How many times have you driven down the highway and seen a truckload of furniture? Possibly it was a rental truck and you could tell that the price to rent the truck was more than the furniture in the truck was worth! And yet you wondered, “Why would people spend that money to haul junk furniture around?” And God is saying the same thing to you today. You are carrying around junk in your human spirit, or your soul—intellect, emotion, will—or your body! Do NOT be bound by your environment: your place of employment, your loss, your relationship, especially your discouragement over such things as election results! One time the King of Judah had hired some men in the Northern kingdom to go to battle for him. He had paid them much money—a hundred talents of silver. And the Prophet of God said to him the king: “Don't take the army you hired with you to battle.” The King said, “But what will I do? All the money I've already paid?” And the Prophet of God answered the king: “God is able to give you much more than this.” GOD IS NOT LIMITED BY DISCOURAGEMENT SO WHY SHOULD YOU? Walk out of your spiritual ghetto today. Forget the junk furniture in your spiritual environment. My friend today, God is saying to you, “Leave the situation that Satan has you bound to … repent (turn around) and believe the Promises in Gods Word … ACT ... Walk away!” Get back into favor with God … and with people! GET BACK INTO JOY AND SERVICE DELETE DISCOURAGEMENT FROM YOUR LIFE I trust this message will help you today, my friend. Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai. Your friend, Prince Handley President / RegentUniversity of Excellence Podcast time: 11 minutes, 9 seconds Copyright © Prince Handley 2020 _________________________ Rabbinical & Biblical Studies The Believers’ Intelligentsia Prince Handley Portal (1,000’s of FREE resources)Prince Handley Books OPPORTUNITY If you would like to partner with Prince Handley and help him do the Spirit exploits the LORD has assigned him, Click the secure DONATE you see below. God will reward you abundantly on earth … and in Heaven! A TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT WILL BE SENT TO YOU ___________________________

Jonathan and Helena Cavan have now trained over 1,000 people worldwide in the Liebuster process and enjoy reading the regular reports of how ordinary people are learning the Liebuster process in order to help their friends, family and community step into their purpose in life.TOPICS:- GLO course is the new Freemium product- They teach by showing up and sharing their experience- Connection is the greatest breakthrough- God speaks to us in visions and dreams- The oldest trick in the book is based on a lie- Loss of identity, value & purpose- Exposing the thing we need to get rid of- Receiving the truth that informs our identity- Defining what freedom and truth MEANS in 3D life- Get free. Stay Free. Set free.- Reproductive discipleship model- Fat pew sitters who do nothing with their information- Growing out of Mom & Dad paying for everything- It's not about $$, it's about the ability to build and invest- Key is being hungry for freedom- Meeting God through healing and wholeness- GLO course overview, including who it's for- New private FB Group, Thursdays 8pm UK/2pm Central- It's never too late to come off HOLD in your Spirit-Centered Business!GOLD NUGGETS:1) When you're teaching from an authentic place, it's not about pulling something together. It's about pulling something out of your heart and delivering it to people.2) Even within believing people there's a deep hurt that they can't hear from God. It's critical to understand how God speaks to us today to move past this hurt into what he truly says about you and has for you.3) When Adam and Eve believed the 1st lie, it separated them from God in terms of their identity and purpose. They were no longer able to experience the value of their God-given purpose, nor give value from their purpose. So breaking agreement with the lie, breaking the power of it, and allowing Jesus to set you free resets your DNA and realignment with God. We can then reestablish our identity in him, which then allows us to get in touch with our true God-given purpose, which allows us to feel valued and give value. 4) Jesus said, “Go out into the world. Just carry my light, carry my love, carry my healing anointing, and let the hurting and hungry find you. Then release the healing touch of love, compassion & power to bring them to healing and wholeness.” Then they've met God!5) If you've messed up, or been distracted, or you've been on hold, it's never too late. Because if you have a Spirit-Centered Business, God is always there. And when you show up, he will fan the flames. SO if you have a Spirit-Centered business, and God is in it, there's so much grace. If he has made it, it will never die. And as you come into alignment with him, it will begin to blossom.QUOTES:- The world doesn't need more information, it needs connection.- It's always by telling one's story that people become transformed.- The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter until daylight has come.- We don't take ourselves too seriously because that's a lot of work! LOLLINKS:- Get the GLO course FREE: http://2222.Family- Have Jonathan or Helena Liebust you: http://Liebusters.global - Have Bralynn Liebust you: http://SpiritCenteredBusiness.com/healing- Join the Experience Liebusters FB Group: http://facebook.com/groups/ExperienceLiebusters- Amy Grant song, “Fat Little Baby” https://youtu.be/f3M6AZeQvVM- Join the SCB Tribe: http://facebook.com/groups/scbtribe- Design your Leveraged, Scalable & Sustainable business model that brings Transformation in the world. Schedule a FREE Discovery call with Bralynn:http://Bralynn.appointlet.com/s/discovery

Morning: Psalm 4:6; Psalm 30:5–10; Psalm 59:16; Isaiah 54:7–8; Jeremiah 17:17; John 16:20 You are my refuge in the day of disaster. There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”—But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” You hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.—“Your sorrow will turn into joy.”—Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 4:6 (Listen) 6   There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” (ESV) Psalm 30:5–10 (Listen) 5   For his anger is but for a moment,    and his favor is for a lifetime.1  Weeping may tarry for the night,    but joy comes with the morning. 6   As for me, I said in my prosperity,    “I shall never be moved.”7   By your favor, O LORD,    you made my mountain stand strong;  you hid your face;    I was dismayed. 8   To you, O LORD, I cry,    and to the Lord I plead for mercy:9   “What profit is there in my death,2    if I go down to the pit?3  Will the dust praise you?    Will it tell of your faithfulness?10   Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!    O LORD, be my helper!” Footnotes [1] 30:5 Or and in his favor is life [2] 30:9 Hebrew in my blood [3] 30:9 Or to corruption (ESV) Psalm 59:16 (Listen) 16   But I will sing of your strength;    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.  For you have been to me a fortress    and a refuge in the day of my distress. (ESV) Isaiah 54:7–8 (Listen) 7   For a brief moment I deserted you,    but with great compassion I will gather you.8   In overflowing anger for a moment    I hid my face from you,  but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”    says the LORD, your Redeemer. (ESV) Jeremiah 17:17 (Listen) 17   Be not a terror to me;    you are my refuge in the day of disaster. (ESV) John 16:20 (Listen) 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. (ESV) Evening: Genesis 5:3; Job 14:4; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12; Romans 5:15; Romans 5:19; Romans 7:14–15; Romans 7:18; Romans 8:2; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:3 Adam… fathered a son in his own likeness. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?”—Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.—I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. Sin came into the world through one man… by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners.—If many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis 5:3 (Listen) 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (ESV) Job 14:4 (Listen) 4   Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?    There is not one. (ESV) Psalm 51:5 (Listen) 5   Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,    and in sin did my mother conceive me. (ESV) Romans 5:12 (Listen) Death in Adam, Life in Christ 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men1 because all sinned— Footnotes [1] 5:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women; also twice in verse 18 (ESV) Romans 5:15 (Listen) 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. (ESV) Romans 5:19 (Listen) 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (ESV) Romans 7:14–15 (Listen) 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (ESV) Romans 7:18 (Listen) 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (ESV) Romans 8:2 (Listen) 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you1 free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Footnotes [1] 8:2 Some manuscripts me (ESV) 1 Corinthians 15:57 (Listen) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV) Ephesians 2:1 (Listen) By Grace Through Faith 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (ESV) Ephesians 2:3 (Listen) 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 Footnotes [1] 2:3 Greek flesh [2] 2:3 Greek like the rest (ESV)

When Adam and Eve fall into sin in the Garden, they think this is the end of their relationship with God. Indeed, they even hide from God. But God makes a promise that what they think is the end is only the beginning of His plan of salvation when He says to the serpent who tempted them: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Episode Notes Who doesn't like a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter's morning? Well this percolator will make your coffee give you a lot more than a pep in your step, it could make you KILL. Good To the Last Drop by Rob Fields For more of Bella Taibon check out Episode 64 "The Last Taibon" Buy the new "Babysitter Massacre" book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P4ZF9LG/ Get Cool Merchandise http://store.weeklyspooky Support us on Patreon http://patreon.com/IncrediblyHandsome Support Weekly Spooky by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Contact Us/Submit a Story twitter.com/WeeklySpooky facebook.com/WeeklySpooky WeeklySpooky@gmail.com Music by Ray Mattis http://raymattispresents.bandcamp.com Produced by Daniel Wilder This episode sponsored by HenFlix.com For everything else visit WeeklySpooky.com Transcript: Adam Lester watched his girlfriend, Jarren Hatley, move around the kitchen. There were days when he really enjoyed seeing how animated she could be as she multitasked. She did it all: worked on washing dishes, tending to the stove for making both her breakfast and her lunch, wiping things down, and even making a fresh pot of coffee. She would even be able to talk to Adam as she did all these things.  Adam was one of the premier basketball players on the Strickfield High School team. Adam had always been about sports from his days in Strickfield Junior High all the way to now. He even had scouts come and see him, some offering him full rides through colleges and universities. However, he would have to keep his grades up and be able to graduate. Mathematics was never his strongest subject, which was why he needed a tutor. Around football season, Adam saw a flyer on the school bulletin board that Jarren Hatley had put up about tutoring. He texted her number, got a response, and she had been tutoring him in math since their first session. Adam hadn’t planned on taking a real liking to this geek, but his overall grades were greatly improving because of her – not just math. He was so grateful to her one day that he kissed her, just intending for it to be a peck on the lips. But it ended up becoming much more. Now Adam and Jarren were an item, the talk of Strickfield High.  The one thing that Adam couldn’t believe about Jarren was how much caffeine she drank. Now, she was pouring her freshly made coffee into a thermal cup to drink at school. She had just finished everything when she smiled at Adam. “Okay, done!” Adam accepted the breakfast sandwich from her, along with a kiss. The two of them were about to leave when they heard a strange noise. They both looked to see the coffeemaker making louder noises. Then it gave off a sudden surge; they saw a brief, giant spark of electricity. Shortly after, the coffeemaker was smoking.  “Shit . . .” Jarren muttered. “And I just bought it last week.” “Take it back,” Adam suggested. “You still have the receipt?” Jarren gave him a look of finality before shaking her head. “Best Buy’s going to think I abused it.” She sighed. “I’ll just have to buy another one, but I’m not going to have time today.” “That’s right, you’ve got those meetings tonight,” Adam recalled.  Jarren sighed. “Student council after school. Key Club right after. Followed by your football banquet.” Adam smiled and eased Jarren into his arms to give her a gentle hug. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you a new coffee pot.” Jarren looked into his eyes. “You’re not going to have time. We could make it out to Strickfield Towne Center Mall before they close at nine, but Best Buy closes at eight.” Adam caressed the side of her face. “I’ll get you your coffee pot tonight. That’s a promise.” They kissed one more time before they left her house and went to school.  *                    *                    * After the football banquet, Adam and Jarren couldn’t get out of Strickfield High fast enough. Adam drove them out to Strickfield Towne Centre Mall. By the time they had pulled in and parked, Adam saw that Jarren was sound asleep.  “Probably hit the wall,” he mumbled to himself.  He wanted to wake her up, but she looked so peaceful that he just let her sleep. He got out and went into the mall. As Jarren had said, Best Buy had closed at eight. There were only a select few other stores open. Adam shook his head to himself. He couldn’t believe this mall was still open. There were so many vacancies, especially after the holidays were over. He kept expecting to come to the mall and see it finally closed for good. Still, it continued to stay open.  Adam moved past the food court, which only had a Subway and a mom-and-pop pizza place. Just thinking about food made him think about Denoyer’s Grill. He checked out the rest of the mall, but he wasn’t having any real luck. There was one last store down where Radio Shack used to be.  “Tinker’s,” he muttered. “What have I got to lose?” He walked to the store and went in. He couldn’t believe all the odds and ends that were there. Just then, a man in his late forties approached him. “Can I help you, young man?” Adam shrugged. “I hope. My girlfriend’s coffeemaker crapped out on her this morning, and I promised her I’d get her another one – tonight.” The man smiled. “Well, my good man, you’re in luck. I just happen to have one right over here.” The man took him to what appeared to be a percolator. Adam gave the man a look of uncertainty. “She’s more of a Mr. Coffee type person. She wants her coffee as soon as she gets out of bed. I mean, she lives on coffee – and energy drinks.” “I do have energy drinks in the cooler by the cash register, but I’m afraid I can’t help you in terms of an automatic drip coffee maker.” The man raised his finger. “However, your girlfriend will never have to worry about electricity with this percolator.” He lowered his finger. “Unless she’s using electric . . . ?” “No, her dad made it so her house either runs on natural gas or burning wood.” He took a deep breath. “How much?” “Hey, no pressure, son.” “I know, but I want Jarren to be happy and have her coffee in the morning. Maybe she can learn to appreciate this. If not, I’ll get her what she wants tomorrow after basketball practice.” The man took the percolator, and they went to the cash register. A few moments later, he quoted Adam the price. “Twenty dollars.” “Twenty dollars?! For this thing?” Adam raised his hands in front of him. “I mean, this thing’s gotta be an antique.” “And you are right. However, you look like your heart’s in the right place with wanting to get this for your girlfriend. So for you . . . twenty dollars.” Adam dug out his wallet.  Adam knew that Jarren’s dad would be uneasy if he brought her home as crashed as she was. Adam carried her from his car and into his house, after he unlocked the back door. He carried her up to his room and laid her down in his bed. After covering her up, he went back downstairs to close and lock everything back up. As he was about to lock up his car, he saw the percolator he’d just bought from Tinker’s and picked it up.  Adam went back inside. After locking the door, he decided to see how the percolator worked. He found a quick video on YouTube and knew he could easily make morning coffee for Jarren.  The next morning, Friday, Jarren yawned and woke up. She saw she was in Adam’s room and turned to see Adam sleeping in the recliner next to the bed. She yawned again and moved to wake him up. Adam opened his eyes, and she kissed him. “Good morning.” “Hey,” he whispered. “You all right?” She nodded. “I could really use some coffee, though.” Adam raised his finger. “Say no more. I bought a percolator for you last night. We can try it out before we leave for school. Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll head downstairs and make your coffee.” They kissed again. Then Adam watched as Jarren got some fresh clothes out of the two dresser drawers that he let her use for when she’d stay the night. Adam yawned, staggered out of his room, and walked downstairs.  Jarren came down freshly dressed and accepted the mug of hot coffee from Adam. “I never made coffee before, baby, so I hope you like it.” Jarren didn’t hesitate and took a drink. Then she looked at Adam. “This is really good.” Adam gave her a weird look. “Really?” “I’m serious. This is delicious.” She took another drink. “Very strong – just the way I love it!” Adam wasn’t the cook that Jarren was. All he had to offer her was prepackaged food from the cupboard. She accepted a pack of Pop Tarts and opened them to enjoy with her coffee. Adam poured her some more and topped off her thermal cup that he had washed before going to sleep.  Adam and Jarren had a little time before class, so they sat in the cafeteria and talked about whatever. It wasn’t long before Adam’s fellow jocks approached him. The truth was that Adam never really cared for any of them, especially when they showed their obvious contempt for Jarren.  “Can it wait until class?” Adam demanded, without so much as looking at them.  Brent Haskel snickered. “I don’t know why you put that ho before your bros, man.” Then he looked at Jarren. “Get the fuck outta here!” Adam was ready to get up and stand up for Jarren. Much to his surprise, Jarren immediately stood up. She looked at Brent with such a sharp glare; Adam had never seen this look from her before. “Why don’t you make me, asshole?” The other jocks laughed. Then Brent leaned in. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you, geek.” Jarren didn’t back down. “Yes, you did. You know, this school must be pretty desperate for a basketball team if they’re letting just any dumbasses play for them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you haven’t even won one single basketball game!” Apparently, Jarren’s stating of the obvious was too much for Brent’s ego, because he grabbed Jarren and raised his fist to hit her. As Adam was about to fight him, Jarren struck first. Still glaring at him, she raised her right hand – with lightning speed – and dug her long fingernails into the side of Brent’s face. She seemed to take great pride in dragging her nails down his flesh, making him scream and bleed fast.  The other jocks were about to attack Jarren, but several teachers were quick on the scene. Brent Haskel kept crying out as he continued to bleed from his face, blood dripping on the floor.  When Jarren opened the back door of her house and walked in, she saw her father waiting for her. “You wanna tell me why the fuck Principal Van Diest just called me to tell me that you’re SUSPENDED?!” Jarren took a drink of coffee from her thermal mug, finishing it. She didn’t even seem to care that her father had just yelled at her, as he had done so many times before during her life. “Yeah? And . . . ? Sure, it’s quite all right for a guy to try and beat me up, right? But when I strike back, oh fuck no! Nooooooooooo! That’s never fucking okay! You’re just supposed to be quiet and –” Her father lashed out and slapped her so hard that she fell onto the kitchen floor. Then he pointed down at her. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that in my house!” Jarren glared at him and slowly stood up. She put her hand on the side of her face and felt the heat her father had just inflicted on her and knew her face was red. Lowering her hand, she said to her father in a deadly whisper, “This is the last time you ever put your hands on me, you son of a bitch!” Without warning, she grabbed a knife out of a nearby cutting block and went at her father. He screamed as she stabbed him, making him bleed fast. Then she stabbed him a second time!  A third!  A fourth! Again . . . and again! When her father was lying dead in a pool of his own blood, Jarren laughed maniacally before she licked the blood off the knife. After she growled in satisfaction, she decided that she wanted some more coffee. Since the coffeemaker was still wrecked, she remembered the percolator at Adam’s house.  Adam had been depressed after watching Principal Van Diest yell at Jarren. When she stood up and turned his desk over, he pointed to his door and yelled that she was suspended and for her to, “Get the hell out! Now!” What had happened to Jarren? She was always such a sweet girl. He knew that she had it rough growing up, being raised by an abusive father. Still, she had always kept her head high. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It wasn’t until the day’s events had unfolded that Adam realized that he truly loved her with all of his heart.  He wanted to call her, but Jarren didn’t own a cell phone. Her dad wouldn’t let her have one. He decided that he had had enough of seeing Jarren suffer. He was going to go and get her and bring her to live with him. He would protect her from her father if push came to shove. He decided to stop at home first. He noticed the snow was starting to come down and remembered the blizzard that was forecasted for the weekend. When he walked into his house, the strong smell of coffee filled the kitchen. Jarren was sitting at the table, wearing one of Adam’s football jerseys, and drinking her coffee. “Hi, honey.” Adam quickly sat across from her. “Jarren, are you okay?” Then he saw the red mark on the side of her face. “Oh, my god . . .” Jarren took his hand and another drink of coffee. “I’m fine, babe. Just fine now.” Her face appeared more sinister. “Daddy’s not a problem anymore.” Then she looked to the percolator. “Have some coffee. Just made it fresh. It’s really cold outside, especially with the blizzard here now.” When Adam declined, Jarren shrugged. “More for me.” Adam took her hand. “Listen, you don’t have to worry about your dad. You can stay here with me – as long as you want.” She squeezed his hand. “I told you . . . he’s not a problem anymore.” She nodded to the window. “You sure you want to be cooped up with me during the blizzard this weekend?” “I don’t want you to go,” Adam replied.  Jarren finished her cup and put it down. Then she stood up, came over to Adam, and sat on his lap. She gazed into his eyes. “I want you.” They kissed passionately. After a while, Jarren got off Adam’s lap. She took his hand and waited for him to stand up. Then she led him upstairs to his bedroom.  It was Wednesday morning before Strickfield High School could reopen. Adam and Jarren walked in holding hands. Many eyes turned to Jarren. She no longer wore the clothes people were accustomed to seeing her wear. Her hair was dyed red and was frizzy and wild. Her clothes now showed off her tapered legs and skinny figure. Adam didn’t know what to make of Jarren’s new attitude – or her makeover. She seemed like her old self when they were together all throughout the blizzard.  Jarren stopped just in front of the principal’s office. “Here, hold my coffee.” She handed Adam the thermal mug and marched right into the office.  Principal Van Diest hadn’t expected Jarren to burst in . . . literally burst through his door.  The principal pointed to her. “You aren’t supposed to be here! I suspended you for two weeks!” Jarren stood in front of his desk, raised her arms, and slammed her fists down. Principal Van Diest couldn’t believe that skinny Jarren Hatley had just destroyed his desk. She glared at him now. “Let me make this clear to you, asshole. I come and go when and where I please. You want to keep pissing me off, I’ll be glad to put you through another desk. Seriously, I am so sick of your fucking shit! How many times have you let bullies run rampant here, while you punish people like me?” She pointed at him. “That changes today! You hear me?!” Principal Van Diest raised his arms in front of him as Jarren grabbed him and lifted him right off his feet. She glared into his eyes. “Don’t fuck with me!” Then she dropped him back into his chair, turned around, and walked out.  Jarren smiled with glee as she took her coffee back from Adam. “All settled . . .” The two of them hadn’t walked ten feet from the office door when it slammed open. The principal burst out and pointed right at Jarren. “You are expelled from Strickfield High School! Leave here now, or I’ll call the police!” Jarren stopped. She chugged the rest of her coffee before she handed the mug back to Adam. She turned around and flexed herself, causing loud cracks to come from her neck and back. Then she gave Principal Van Diest her evil glare again. “You just don’t listen to reason, do you?” Before Principal Van Diest could yell another word, Jarren grabbed him. Easily lifting him up and over her head, she threw him several feet down the hallway. He might have crashed right through the windows of the cafeteria had he not been caught by someone else. When he felt himself being put back down, he turned to see the blonde girl who had caught him. Next to her was Eileen Donnerly, whom most everybody knew as Einstein. He knew Eileen, but he had never seen the blonde girl who now looked even meaner and angrier than Jarren Hatley.  “Principal Van Diest, what is going on?” Eileen asked with surprise, in her mousy voice.  Suddenly, Jarren was right there. She grabbed Principal Van Diest with one hand and shoved the blonde girl so hard that she flew back and through the gymnasium doors. Then she shoved Eileen so that she fell hard onto her rear.  “Now . . . Matthew, where were we?” Jarren sneered.  “Jarren, stop!” she heard Adam calling out.  She didn’t seem to hear him. “I’m going to put you right through these fucking cafeteria doors. Then I’m going to put you through every goddamn table.” Suddenly, Jarren felt Principal Van Diest being snatched away from her. The blonde was back. She put the principal back down and snapped at him, “Get the fuck out of here!” When Principal Van Diest moved away, the blonde turned to Jarren. “You just made a huge mistake, you fucking skank. Nobody puts their fucking hands on me like that. You want to fight?! Let’s fight!” “Bells!” Eileen called out to her.  Bella Taibon quickly turned to Eileen, yanked her up, and pushed her next to Principal Van Diest. “Get him the fuck away from here, Einny.” Jarren grabbed Bella and attempted to throw her, but Bella was ready for her. Much to Jarren’s surprise, Bella was quite strong herself. Jarren found herself being thrown into the gym now. She landed on the floor and slid to the halfway point of the basketball court. Bella marched right in shortly after.  “I seriously do not need this fucking shit, this morning!” Bella snapped. “First, I had to spend the last several days in this motherfucking village during that blizzard! Then I have to wear these fucking clothes just to be able to come to school!” She yelled over her shoulder. “A fucking schoolgirl outfit?! Really, Einny?” She glared at Jarren. “Now I’m in a fucking school. And I have to deal with you first thing this morning? What, did you put your fucking tampon on wrong or something?” Jarren screamed like a banshee and ran at Bella. The two girls met and started trading punches. Bella could easily have avoided Jarren’s fists, but she wanted to know what sort of a supernatural being she was dealing with. When Bella determined that Jarren was just a human, she started taking more of the offensive.  Bella lifted Jarren off her feet and threw her into the bleachers. She crashed through them and groaned. Jarren was quickly back on her feet, both bleeding and bruised now. She screamed at Bella again as she came out from inside the bleachers. Then she ran at Bella again.  Bella knew that she couldn’t unload anymore on this girl, as much as she wanted to. Despite having the strength and powers of a thousands-of-years-old Master Vampire, she would have to subdue her without killing her. Bella snatched Jarren and wrestled her to the floor.  The two girls wrestled one another. Bella couldn’t believe that this human was so strong. Just by seeing the crazed look on Jarren’s face, she knew that Jarren was on something. She had seen many addicts in the past. While Jarren certainly wasn’t on drugs or alcohol, Bella knew there must have been some magic or potion that was making Jarren extraordinarily strong – and crazy.  Bella was especially annoyed at the people who came into the gym just to snap pictures or take videos of the fight. No one would ever see it, thanks to Bella’s inability to be photographed. But in the hallways, students would call it the geek girl vs. the bad schoolgirl.  Bella focused and took the defensive as Jarren threw fist after fist at her. She hoped that Jarren would tire and become easier to subdue. When she saw that this wouldn’t happen, Bella snatched Jarren and took her down to the floor. She wrapped her legs around Jarren’s midsection from behind and locked Jarren’s upper body in a full nelson type move.  Jarren screamed and struggled to break free, but Bella was far too strong and could keep Jarren in her place. Bella held her incapacitated for several minutes.  “Stop this!” Bella yelled. “Now!” “Never!!” Jarren screamed.  Bella soon realized that Jarren’s strength would never diminish, but she had one more trick up her sleeve. She released Jarren and watched her get up. She came right at Bella, which was what Bella counted on. She snatched Jarren and held her so that she could lock eyes with her. Bella never really liked using her glam on people, but this was one time where it was warranted. Jarren felt herself under Bella’s spell and quickly became weaker because of it. Soon, she fell to the floor and went right to sleep.  Eileen and Adam both came into the gym.  “Bells, is everything okay?” Eileen asked.  When Bella was sure that no one else could hear them, she answered, “I glammed her. I don’t know how long she’ll be out, but we need to lock her up somewhere where she can’t hurt anyone.” Adam knelt down next to Jarren. He took her hand and wondered what had happened to his beloved. In fact, that was what Bella wanted to know. She snatched up Adam and glared at him. “What’s she on? You better talk to me. I really don’t want to have to glam you.” Adam protested again and again that he really didn’t know. Bella believed him and put him down. She didn’t let him go, however. “Sorry, boy, but you leave me no choice.” Adam felt himself sink into Bella as she glammed him to her will. Being that she was a Master Vampire, she knew that she could go even further with her glam. She could actually peer deep into Adam’s mind and see everything that he had seen. She looked upon the last week. Then she came to the memory of him visiting Tinker’s at Strickfield Towne Center Mall. And then Bella understood.  After removing the glam from Adam, the three of them waited as Jarren was strapped down tightly to a stretcher and taken away. Adam was ready to leave with the paramedics to be at Jarren’s side, but Bella stopped him.  “Not so fast!” she snapped. “We’re going to your house first. I want to examine that percolator you bought for your girlfriend.” “But . . . !” Adam started to sputter. Then he sighed. “Okay . . .” Adam, Bella, and Eileen walked into Adam’s house through the back door. Bella immediately spotted the percolator and opened it. The remaining coffee inside was still hot and smelled strong. Bella uttered a brief incantation and discovered that this was no ordinary coffee pot when it gave off a feint red glow.  Bella turned to Adam. “How much of this fucking shit did your honey drink?” Adam sighed in exhaustion. “I really don’t know . . . Jarren drinks so much caffeine.” Bella closed her eyes and stifled a groan. Then she opened them. “Okay, we’ll assume she drank quite a bit, based on what we’ve seen from her.” Then she poured the remaining coffee down the drain.  “Is something wrong with that coffee pot, Bells?” Eileen asked.  “Oh . . . nothing much,” Bella replied. “The metal body is made with traces of Olde Bloodstone – that’s Olde, with an e on the end. Not the kind of shit you want falling into the wrong hands.” “Isn’t that a birthstone?” Eileen asked.  “Take the Olde away, and you’ve got the birthstone,” Bella replied. “Keep it in, and you’ve got some potentially dangerous magical properties that come from it.” Bella turned to Adam. “Your girlfriend’s coffee was tainted with it. There’s a fucking good reason why Olde Bloodstone goes great with a percolator. The tainted coffee brought out whatever pent-up emotions your girlfriend had. Now, it can be good or bad, depending on the person. Say you would have drank the tainted coffee, and you being hopeless romantic, it would have made you appreciate love that much more. You’d even be able to score most any girl you wanted. But in the case of your girlfriend . . . She must have had some really scary shit happen to her.” Adam explained about how Jarren had gone through many years of abuse at the hands of her father. Then he finished with, “She was always such a cheerful person whenever I saw her. When I finally met her dad, I knew right away something was off about him.” Bella looked a little sad now. “I’m really sorry, Adam. Your girlfriend drank all that tainted coffee. It brought out all the pent-up rage that had been building up inside her over the years. The more she drank, the more she percolated. Until she couldn’t take anymore and started lashing out. Like I said, Olde Bloodstone goes real fucking good with a percolator.” She got serious and looked him right in the face. “Now . . . let’s take a little trip to this mall of yours.” *                    *                    * Adam’s jaw dropped. “I’m telling you, Bella, it was right here. I’m not making this up! The store was right here – where the old Radio Shack used to be. Right here!” Bella looked at Adam. “I believe you. When I glammed you, I saw the store called Tinker’s. It made me think of a certain motherfucker named Eisley Tinker. See, he’s known and renowned in the supernatural world for fixing and rebuilding things . . . only he likes to add something . . . special to them to make supernatural shit happen. I ran into him some sixty years ago. Even now, Tinker’s still a slippery son of a bitch. He must have known people would be coming and . . . poof! No more fucking store! The problem is . . . we won’t know where Tinker will turn up next.” Just then, Adam received a call on his smartphone. It was from Strickfield General Hospital. The more Adam heard, the more his emotions lifted. “Yes, that’s great! Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” When Adam hung up, he looked to Eileen and Bella. “Jarren’s going to be okay. She’s sleeping soundly. She’s going to be kept at Strickfield General until she’s gone through her caffeine withdrawals.” Then he groaned. “But how will Jarren ever be able to come back to school? I mean, a lot of people saw what she did. And then there’s Principal Van Diest . . .” Bella sighed. “Sorry, honey, but I can’t possibly glam that many people. I can glam Principal Van Diest so that Jarren isn’t suspended anymore, but the rest will be up to her.” “Thank you,” Adam said.  Bella knew that Jarren Hatley would be okay, but what about the other lives that Eisley Tinker had claimed? Bella was even more upset now that she couldn’t leave Strickfield knowing that her old enemy had returned. Sooner or later, Tinker, you’re going to fuck up. And then . . . you’re fucking ass is MINE!! Support Weekly Spooky - Scary Stories to Keep You Up at Night by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Find out more at http://weeklyspooky.com

1+1=1? When Adam's life seemingly falls into a rut, he stumbles across his look-alike in a local film. As his obsession grows, his connection to this look-alike poses more and more questions until things reach their breaking point. Strap on your high heels and join the guys as they attempt to squash the mystery behind Enemy! New episodes every Wednesday! Join in Discussion on Discord: discord.gg/cEvKzqm Find us on Twitter: @matinee_midweek Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/nartech

ADAM ANT - COME GET Y0UR STUFF Jeff Style, Barry Courter and Kristi Slack are looking for Adam Ant. Adam Ant once lived in the small town of Pikeville, TN. When Adam and his wife moved, they left behind a lot of stuff! Kristi thinks Adam would like to have his memorabilia back! #fredpodcast #jeffstyles #styleswithay #adamant #wevegotyourstuff #comegetit

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 4 Psalm 4 (Listen) Answer Me When I Call To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. 4   Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!    You have given me relief when I was in distress.    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! 2   O men,1 how long shall my honor be turned into shame?    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah3   But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;    the LORD hears when I call to him. 4   Be angry,2 and do not sin;    ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah5   Offer right sacrifices,    and put your trust in the LORD. 6   There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”7   You have put more joy in my heart    than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8   In peace I will both lie down and sleep;    for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Footnotes [1] 4:2 Or O men of rank [2] 4:4 Or Be agitated (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Genesis 5 Genesis 5 (Listen) Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man1 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God2 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,3 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief4 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Footnotes [1] 5:2 Hebrew adam [2] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [3] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [4] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: 1 Chronicles 5 1 Chronicles 5 (Listen) Descendants of Reuben 5 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), 3 the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6 Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser1 king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. 7 And his kinsmen by their clans, when the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8 and Bela the son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. 9 He also lived to the east as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their livestock had multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10 And in the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead. Descendants of Gad 11 The sons of Gad lived over against them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah: 12 Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13 And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. 14 These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ houses, 16 and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits. 17 All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. 18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. 19 They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And when they prevailed2 over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. 21 They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. 22 For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived in their place until the exile. The Half-Tribe of Manasseh 23 The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. 24 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher,3 Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses. 25 But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day. Footnotes [1] 5:6 Hebrew Tilgath-pilneser; also verse 26 [2] 5:20 Or they were helped to prevail [3] 5:24 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew and Epher (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Luke 2:22–52 Luke 2:22–52 (Listen) Jesus Presented at the Temple 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29   “Lord, now you are letting your servant1 depart in peace,    according to your word;30   for my eyes have seen your salvation31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,32   a light for revelation to the Gentiles,    and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.2 She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. The Return to Nazareth 39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. The Boy Jesus in the Temple 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents3 saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”4 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature5 and in favor with God and man. Footnotes [1] 2:29 Or bondservant [2] 2:37 Or as a widow for eighty-four years [3] 2:48 Greek they [4] 2:49 Or about my Father’s business [5] 2:52 Or years (ESV)

With family: Genesis 5; Matthew 5 Genesis 5 (Listen) Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man1 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God2 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,3 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief4 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Footnotes [1] 5:2 Hebrew adam [2] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [3] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [4] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest (ESV) Matthew 5 (Listen) The Sermon on the Mount 5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. The Beatitudes 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons1 of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that2 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Christ Came to Fulfill the Law 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Anger 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable to judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell5 of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6 Lust 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Divorce 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Oaths 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.7 Retaliation 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Love Your Enemies 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Footnotes [1] 5:9 Greek huioi; see Preface [2] 5:16 Or house. 16Let your light so shine before others that [3] 5:22 Some manuscripts insert without cause [4] 5:22 Greek says Raca to (a term of abuse) [5] 5:22 Greek Gehenna; also verses 29, 30 [6] 5:26 Greek kodrantes, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer) [7] 5:37 Or the evil one [8] 5:40 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin [9] 5:47 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters (ESV) In private: Ezra 5; Acts 5 Ezra 5 (Listen) Rebuilding Begins Anew 5 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. 3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4 They also asked them this:1 “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it. Tattenai’s Letter to King Darius 6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.2 11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’ 17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.” Footnotes [1] 5:4 Septuagint, Syriac; Aramaic Then we said to them, [2] 5:10 Aramaic of the men at their heads (ESV) Acts 5 (Listen) Ananias and Sapphira 5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you1 sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. Many Signs and Wonders Done 12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. The Apostles Arrested and Freed 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Footnotes [1] 5:8 The Greek for you is plural here (ESV)

Old Testament: Genesis 5–6 Genesis 5–6 (Listen) Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man1 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God2 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,3 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief4 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Increasing Corruption on Earth 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in5 man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim6 were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah and the Flood 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,7 for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.8 Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,9 its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof10 for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. Footnotes [1] 5:2 Hebrew adam [2] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [3] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [4] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest [5] 6:3 Or My Spirit shall not contend with [6] 6:4 Or giants [7] 6:13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me [8] 6:14 An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew [9] 6:15 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [10] 6:16 Or skylight (ESV) New Testament: Matthew 2:13–23 Matthew 2:13–23 (Listen) The Flight to Egypt 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Herod Kills the Children 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18   “A voice was heard in Ramah,    weeping and loud lamentation,  Rachel weeping for her children;    she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” The Return to Nazareth 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 3 Psalm 3 (Listen) Save Me, O My God A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 3   O LORD, how many are my foes!    Many are rising against me;2   many are saying of my soul,    “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah1 3   But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,    my glory, and the lifter of my head.4   I cried aloud to the LORD,    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 5   I lay down and slept;    I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.6   I will not be afraid of many thousands of people    who have set themselves against me all around. 7   Arise, O LORD!    Save me, O my God!  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;    you break the teeth of the wicked. 8   Salvation belongs to the LORD;    your blessing be on your people! Selah Footnotes [1] 3:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word Selah, used frequently in the Psalms, is uncertain. It may be a musical or liturgical direction (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 1:20–33 Proverbs 1:20–33 (Listen) The Call of Wisdom 20   Wisdom cries aloud in the street,    in the markets she raises her voice;21   at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:22   “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing    and fools hate knowledge?23   If you turn at my reproof,1  behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;    I will make my words known to you.24   Because I have called and you refused to listen,    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,25   because you have ignored all my counsel    and would have none of my reproof,26   I also will laugh at your calamity;    I will mock when terror strikes you,27   when terror strikes you like a storm    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,    when distress and anguish come upon you.28   Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.29   Because they hated knowledge    and did not choose the fear of the LORD,30   would have none of my counsel    and despised all my reproof,31   therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,    and have their fill of their own devices.32   For the simple are killed by their turning away,    and the complacency of fools destroys them;33   but whoever listens to me will dwell secure    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” Footnotes [1] 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof? (ESV)

Old Testament: Genesis 5–6 Genesis 5–6 (Listen) Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man1 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God2 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,3 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief4 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Increasing Corruption on Earth 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in5 man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim6 were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah and the Flood 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,7 for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.8 Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,9 its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof10 for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. Footnotes [1] 5:2 Hebrew adam [2] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [3] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [4] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest [5] 6:3 Or My Spirit shall not contend with [6] 6:4 Or giants [7] 6:13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me [8] 6:14 An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew [9] 6:15 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [10] 6:16 Or skylight (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 3 Psalm 3 (Listen) Save Me, O My God A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 3   O LORD, how many are my foes!    Many are rising against me;2   many are saying of my soul,    “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah1 3   But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,    my glory, and the lifter of my head.4   I cried aloud to the LORD,    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 5   I lay down and slept;    I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.6   I will not be afraid of many thousands of people    who have set themselves against me all around. 7   Arise, O LORD!    Save me, O my God!  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;    you break the teeth of the wicked. 8   Salvation belongs to the LORD;    your blessing be on your people! Selah Footnotes [1] 3:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word Selah, used frequently in the Psalms, is uncertain. It may be a musical or liturgical direction (ESV) New Testament: Matthew 5 Matthew 5 (Listen) The Sermon on the Mount 5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. The Beatitudes 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons1 of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that2 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Christ Came to Fulfill the Law 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Anger 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable to judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell5 of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6 Lust 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Divorce 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Oaths 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.7 Retaliation 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Love Your Enemies 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Footnotes [1] 5:9 Greek huioi; see Preface [2] 5:16 Or house. 16Let your light so shine before others that [3] 5:22 Some manuscripts insert without cause [4] 5:22 Greek says Raca to (a term of abuse) [5] 5:22 Greek Gehenna; also verses 29, 30 [6] 5:26 Greek kodrantes, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer) [7] 5:37 Or the evil one [8] 5:40 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin [9] 5:47 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters (ESV)

Join us every Wednesday for Ministry Shorts - 5 minutes or less with our favorite scriptures - and every Sunday for our full length podcasts. Be sure to share with family, friends, and associates. Visit https://truepatriotministries.org for notes for each episode and to connect with us.In this episode we welcome in the New Year by addressing three questions that a lot of us ask ourselves while reflecting on the previous year.1. Where do I start? It's all so overwhelming!2. How do I change?3. Can I really have the life I desire?Not only are these questions very common, they are also important and that's why this episode is necessary. New Year's Resolutions are neat and fun and hopeful the first few times you make them, but as many of us have come to realize, they are powerless and ineffectual. And so we find ourselves wondering if change is even possible, is it worth getting our hopes up over only to be eventually let down and disappointed that true change has evaded us once again? The ways of the world are what have gotten us in this spot and it's by design. When Adam fell, he gave this world over to the devil and he became the god of this world. Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand therefore "worldly" ways cannot elevate us beyond our present "worldly" circumstances. To have true change, we have to join with the only one who has overcome the devil...Jesus. Through God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit we can change...they are the only ones who can effect change in us. So, if you find yourself hopeless, unreconciled, and burdened by this world's issues then this message is for you and I pray it is the answer that you have been seeking. God Bless.

Genesis 4–7 Genesis 4–7 (Listen) Cain and Abel 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten1 a man with the help of the LORD.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?2 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to3 you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.4 And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.5 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod,6 east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives:   “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;    you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:  I have killed a man for wounding me,    a young man for striking me.24   If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,    then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed7 for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man8 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God9 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,10 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief11 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Increasing Corruption on Earth 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in12 man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim13 were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah and the Flood 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,14 for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.15 Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,16 its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof17 for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. 7 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,18 the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs19 of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing20 that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. 17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits21 deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Footnotes [1] 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten [2] 4:7 Hebrew will there not be a lifting up [of your face]? [3] 4:7 Or is toward [4] 4:8 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate add Let us go out to the field [5] 4:13 Or My guilt is too great to bear [6] 4:16 Nod means wandering [7] 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed [8] 5:2 Hebrew adam [9] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [10] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [11] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest [12] 6:3 Or My Spirit shall not contend with [13] 6:4 Or giants [14] 6:13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me [15] 6:14 An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew [16] 6:15 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [17] 6:16 Or skylight [18] 7:2 Or seven of each kind of clean animal [19] 7:3 Or seven of each kind [20] 7:4 Hebrew all existence; also verse 23 [21] 7:20 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters (ESV)

Genesis 4–7 Genesis 4–7 (Listen) Cain and Abel 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten1 a man with the help of the LORD.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?2 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to3 you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.4 And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.5 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod,6 east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives:   “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;    you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:  I have killed a man for wounding me,    a young man for striking me.24   If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,    then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed7 for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man8 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God9 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,10 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief11 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Increasing Corruption on Earth 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in12 man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim13 were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah and the Flood 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,14 for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.15 Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,16 its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof17 for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. 7 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,18 the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs19 of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing20 that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. 17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits21 deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Footnotes [1] 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten [2] 4:7 Hebrew will there not be a lifting up [of your face]? [3] 4:7 Or is toward [4] 4:8 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate add Let us go out to the field [5] 4:13 Or My guilt is too great to bear [6] 4:16 Nod means wandering [7] 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed [8] 5:2 Hebrew adam [9] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [10] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [11] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest [12] 6:3 Or My Spirit shall not contend with [13] 6:4 Or giants [14] 6:13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me [15] 6:14 An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew [16] 6:15 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [17] 6:16 Or skylight [18] 7:2 Or seven of each kind of clean animal [19] 7:3 Or seven of each kind [20] 7:4 Hebrew all existence; also verse 23 [21] 7:20 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters (ESV)

Morning: Genesis 3–5 Genesis 3–5 (Listen) The Fall 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You1 shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,2 she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool3 of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”4 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The LORD God said to the serpent,   “Because you have done this,    cursed are you above all livestock    and above all beasts of the field;  on your belly you shall go,    and dust you shall eat    all the days of your life.15   I will put enmity between you and the woman,    and between your offspring5 and her offspring;  he shall bruise your head,    and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said,   “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;    in pain you shall bring forth children.  Your desire shall be contrary to6 your husband,    but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said,   “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife    and have eaten of the tree  of which I commanded you,    ‘You shall not eat of it,’  cursed is the ground because of you;    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18   thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;    and you shall eat the plants of the field.19   By the sweat of your face    you shall eat bread,  till you return to the ground,    for out of it you were taken;  for you are dust,    and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.7 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Cain and Abel 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten8 a man with the help of the LORD.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?9 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to10 you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.11 And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.12 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod,13 east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives:   “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;    you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:  I have killed a man for wounding me,    a young man for striking me.24   If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,    then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed14 for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man15 when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God16 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,17 for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief18 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Footnotes [1] 3:1 In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1–5 [2] 3:6 Or to give insight [3] 3:8 Hebrew wind [4] 3:9 In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11 [5] 3:15 Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis [6] 3:16 Or shall be toward (see 4:7) [7] 3:20 Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living [8] 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten [9] 4:7 Hebrew will there not be a lifting up [of your face]? [10] 4:7 Or is toward [11] 4:8 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate add Let us go out to the field [12] 4:13 Or My guilt is too great to bear [13] 4:16 Nod means wandering [14] 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed [15] 5:2 Hebrew adam [16] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God; also verse 24 [17] 5:24 Septuagint was not found [18] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest (ESV) Evening: Matthew 2 Matthew 2 (Listen) The Visit of the Wise Men 2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men1 from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose2 and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6   “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;  for from you shall come a ruler    who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. The Flight to Egypt 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Herod Kills the Children 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18   “A voice was heard in Ramah,    weeping and loud lamentation,  Rachel weeping for her children;    she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” The Return to Nazareth 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. Footnotes [1] 2:1 Greek magi; also verses 7, 16 [2] 2:2 Or in the east; also verse 9 (ESV)

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, sin—and its consequences—entered the world. But how does all of this connect to the birth of Christ? Join us as we discover Christmas in Genesis on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg. Listen...

When Adam and Eve doubted God’s goodness in the garden of Eden, it triggered a tragic chain of consequences. Yet despite their rebellion, we still find the promise of a cure! Listen to Truth For Life as Alistair Begg teaches us about the hope of Christmas. Listen...

Let the Sun Shine Source Sheet by Geoffrey Stern     Bereishit Rabbah 11 (2) "And Elokim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it"- ....   R' Elazar says: "He blessed it" with a candle and this occurred to me, one time I lit a candle on the eve of Shabbat and I came and I found it [still] lit at the end of Shabbat and it wasn't diminished at all. "He blessed it" with the light of the face of man, "He sanctified it" with the light of of the face of man. The light of man's face throughout the week isn't comparable to [his face] on Shabbat. "He blessed it" with luminaries, R' Shimon son of Yehuda the man of Acco says in the name of R' Shimon: even though the luminaries were cursed from the Shabbat eve they were not smitten until the termination of the Sabbath.    This agrees with the Rabbis but not with R. Assi who maintained: Adam's glory did not abide the night with him. What is the proof? But Adam passeth not the night in glory (Ps XLIX, 13). The Rabbis maintain: His glory abode with him, but at the termination of Sabbath He deprived him of his splendor and expelled him from the Garden of Eden, as it is written, Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away (Job XIV, 20)   As soon as the sun set on the night of the Sabbath, the Holy One Blessed be He wished to hide the light, but He showed honor to the Sabbath; hence it is written, AND GOD BLESSED THE SEVETNTH DAY: whereupon did He bless it? With light. When the sun set on the night of the Sabbath, the light continued to function [the primeval light] whereupon all began praising, as it is written Under the whole heaven they sing praises to Him (ibid XXXVII, 3); wherefore? Because His light [reaches] unto the ends of the earth (ibid). ...   Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Z’eira: That light served for thirty-six hours - twelve hours on the eve of Shabbat, twelve hours of the night of Shabbat, and the twelve hours of Shabbat [day]. Once the sun set on Saturday night, the darkness began to settle in. Adam was terrified, [thinking] Surely indeed the darkness shall bruise [E.V. 'envelop'] me (Ps, CXXXIX, 11): shall he of whom it is written, He shall bruise they head (Gen. III, 15), now come to attack me! [under the cover of darkness] What did the Lord do for him? He made him find two flints which he struck against each other; light came forth and he uttered a blessing over it; hence it is written, But the night was light unto me - ba'adeni ( PS. loc. cit.), i.e. the night was light in my Eden (be'edni'). This agree with Samuel, for Samuel said: Why do we recite a blessing over a lamp [fire] at the termination of the Sabbath? Because it was then created for the first time [artificial light]. ....   בראשית רבה י״א (ב) וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וגו',...    רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר בֵּרְכוֹ בְּנֵר, וּבִי הָיָה הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, פַּעַם אַחַת הִדְלַקְתִּי אֶת הַנֵּר בְּלֵילֵי שַׁבָּת וּבָאתִי וּמָצָאתִי אוֹתוֹ בְּמוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת דָּלוּק וְלֹא חָסַר כְּלוּם. בֵּרְכוֹ בְּאוֹר פָּנָיו שֶׁל אָדָם, קִדְּשׁוֹ בְּאוֹר פָּנָיו שֶׁל אָדָם. לֹא דוֹמֶה אוֹר פָּנָיו שֶׁל אָדָם כָּל יְמוֹת הַשַּׁבָּת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהוּא דּוֹמֶה בְּשַׁבָּת. בֵּרְכוֹ בַּמְּאוֹרוֹת, רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר יְהוּדָה אִישׁ כְּפַר עַכּוֹ אוֹמֵר מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁנִּתְקַלְּלוּ הַמְּאוֹרוֹת מֵעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת, אֲבָל לֹא לָקוּ עַד מוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת,    אַתְיָא כְּרַבָּנָן וְלָא אַתְיָא כִּדְרַבִּי אַמֵּי, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי אַמֵּי אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן לֹא לָן כְּבוֹדוֹ עִמּוֹ, מַה טַּעַם (תהלים מט, יג): וְאָדָם בִּיקָר בַּל יָלִין נִמְשַׁל כַּבְּהֵמוֹת נִדְּמוּ. וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי, לָן כְּבוֹדוֹ עִמּוֹ, וּמוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת נִטַּל מִמֶּנּוּ זִיווֹ וּטְרָדוֹ מִגַּן עֵדֶן, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (איוב יד, כ): מְשַׁנֶּה פָנָיו וַתְּשַׁלְּחֵהוּ. כֵּיוָן שֶׁשָּׁקְעָה חַמָּה בְּלֵילֵי שַׁבָּת, בִּקֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִגְנֹז אֶת הָאוֹרָה, וְחָלַק כָּבוֹד לַשַּׁבָּת. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אוֹתוֹ, בֵּרְכוֹ בְּאוֹרָה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁשָּׁקְעָה הַחַמָּה בְּלֵילֵי הַשַּׁבָּת הִתְחִילָה הָאוֹרָה וְהָיְתָה מְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת, הִתְחִילוּ הַכֹּל מְקַלְּסִין, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (איוב לז, ג): תַּחַת כָּל הַשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׁרֵהוּ וְאוֹרוֹ עַל כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ,...      בִּי לֵוִי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי זְעֵירָא אָמַר, ל"ו שָׁעוֹת שִׁמְשָׁה אוֹתָהּ הָאוֹרָה, שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שֶׁל עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת, וּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שֶׁל לֵילֵי שַׁבָּת, וּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שֶׁל שַׁבָּת. כֵּיוָן שֶׁשָּׁקְעָה הַחַמָּה בְּמוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת הִתְחִיל הַחשֶׁךְ מְמַשְׁמֵשׁ וּבָא וְנִתְיָרֵא אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קלט, יא): וָאֹמַר אַךְ חשֶׁךְ יְשׁוּפֵנִי וְלַיְלָה אוֹר בַּעֲדֵנִי, אוֹתוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ (בראשית ג, טו): הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב, בָּא לְהִזְדַּוֵּג לִי, מֶה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, זִמֵּן לוֹ שְׁנֵי רְעָפִים וְהֵקִישָׁן זֶה לָזֶה וְיָצָא מֵהֶן אוֹר וּבֵרַךְ עָלֶיהָ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: וְלַיְלָה אוֹר בַּעֲדֵנִי. מַה בֵּרַךְ עָלֶיהָ, בּוֹרֵא מְאוֹרֵי הָאֵשׁ.    אַתְיָא כִּשְׁמוּאֵל, דְּאָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל מִפְּנֵי מָה מְבָרְכִין עַל הָאוֹר בְּמוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא תְּחִלַּת בְּרִיָּתָהּ.     See also Bereshit Rabba 12:6 and here.     Avodah Zarah 8a The Sages taught: On the day that Adam the first man was created, when the sun set upon him he said: Woe is me, as because I sinned, the world is becoming dark around me, and the world will return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven. He spent all night fasting and crying, and Eve was crying opposite him. Once dawn broke, he said: Evidently, the sun sets and night arrives, and this is the order of the world.   עבודה זרה ח׳ א ת"ר יום שנברא בו אדם הראשון כיון ששקעה עליו חמה אמר אוי לי שבשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי ויחזור עולם לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים היה יושב בתענית ובוכה כל הלילה וחוה בוכה כנגדו כיון שעלה עמוד השחר אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא     Avodah Zarah 8a the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return” (Genesis 3:19). He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer. Once he saw that the season of Tevet, i.e., the winter solstice, had arrived, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening after the solstice, he said: Clearly, the days become shorter and then longer, and this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both these eight days on which he had fasted on the previous year, and these eight days of his celebration, as days of festivities. He, Adam, established these festivals for the sake of Heaven, but they, the gentiles of later generations, established them for the sake of idol worship.   עבודה זרה ח׳ א ת"ר לפי שראה אדם הראשון יום שמתמעט והולך אמר אוי לי שמא בשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי וחוזר לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים עמד וישב ח' ימים בתענית [ובתפלה] כיון שראה תקופת טבת וראה יום שמאריך והולך אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא הלך ועשה שמונה ימים טובים לשנה האחרת עשאן לאלו ולאלו ימים טובים הוא קבעם לשם שמים והם קבעום לשם עבודת כוכבים     Shabbat 21b The Gemara asks: What is Hanukkah, and why are lights kindled on Hanukkah? The Gemara answers: The Sages taught in Megillat Ta’anit: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the days of Hanukkah are eight. One may not eulogize on them and one may not fast on them. What is the reason? When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the oils that were in the Sanctuary by touching them. And when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame them and emerged victorious over them, they searched and found only one cruse of oil that was placed with the seal of the High Priest, undisturbed by the Greeks. And there was sufficient oil there to light the candelabrum for only one day. A miracle occurred and they lit the candelabrum from it eight days. The next year the Sages instituted those days and made them holidays with recitation of hallel and special thanksgiving in prayer and blessings.    שבת כ״א ב מַאי חֲנוּכָּה? דְּתָנוּ רַבָּנַן: בְּכ״ה בְּכִסְלֵיו יוֹמֵי דַחֲנוּכָּה תְּמָנְיָא אִינּוּן דְּלָא לְמִסְפַּד בְּהוֹן וּדְלָא לְהִתְעַנּוֹת בְּהוֹן. שֶׁכְּשֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ יְווֹנִים לַהֵיכָל טִמְּאוּ כׇּל הַשְּׁמָנִים שֶׁבַּהֵיכָל. וּכְשֶׁגָּבְרָה מַלְכוּת בֵּית חַשְׁמוֹנַאי וְנִצְּחוּם, בָּדְקוּ וְלֹא מָצְאוּ אֶלָּא פַּךְ אֶחָד שֶׁל שֶׁמֶן שֶׁהָיָה מוּנָּח בְּחוֹתָמוֹ שֶׁל כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל, וְלֹא הָיָה בּוֹ אֶלָּא לְהַדְלִיק יוֹם אֶחָד. נַעֲשָׂה בּוֹ נֵס וְהִדְלִיקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ שְׁמוֹנָה יָמִים. לְשָׁנָה אַחֶרֶת קְבָעוּם וַעֲשָׂאוּם יָמִים טוֹבִים בְּהַלֵּל וְהוֹדָאָה.     Shabbat 21b Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree as to the nature of that adjustment. Beit Shammai say: On the first day one kindles eight lights and, from there on, gradually decreases the number of lights until, on the last day of Hanukkah, he kindles one light. And Beit Hillel say: On the first day one kindles one light, and from there on, gradually increases the number of lights until, on the last day, he kindles eight lights.   שבת כ״א ב בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק שְׁמֹנָה, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ פּוֹחֵת וְהוֹלֵךְ. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק אַחַת, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ מוֹסִיף וְהוֹלֵךְ.     Source Sheet created on Sefaria by Geoffrey Stern

Adam Herman is a member of the US Peace Corps. From 2018 - 2020, he lived in the Koba-Tatema Village of Guinea, West Africa—where he taught 7th - 10th grade Guinean students and designed, organized, and brought to life the first school computer lab across the entire sub-prefecture. For more information on the Peace Corps and its history, visit this page: https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/  ***TIME STAMPS*** 2:34 - Adam’s backstory; Joining the Peace Corps; How he landed in Guinea, West Africa 9:54 - The 3 Goals of The US Peace Corps; Government funding for the Agency 13:51 - Adam explains “Selfless vs. Selfish” in joining The Peace Corps; Lifelong bond of Peace Corps Volunteers 21:58 - Adam breaks down the Peace Corps’ presence in Guinea; Guinea’s Capital, Conakry; Adam’s Orientation and first host family; Guinean languages and the language barrier struggle Adam encountered early on 34:36 - Food, Shelter, & Plumbing in Guina; Adam describes the rude awakening of his first months in Dubreka 38:41 - Adam recounts the Peace Corps training program in Dubreka, his assignment to the village of Koba-Tatema, and the teaching curriculum he had to learn; Adam’s integration into his new host family, community, and the bigger challenges his second Guinean home presented 46:39 - “Happiness” among the Guinean people; The industries & economy of Guinea 50:43 - Background on Adam’s early teaching and the challenges he faced (most notably the cultural norms around student discipline) 1:01:05 - When Adam learned about Covid-19; The chaos of the emergency evacuation of all Peace Corps volunteers worldwide when the Pandemic began; Adam’s emotions leaving Guinea unexpectedly 1:10:39 - Adam’s gives a few details about his project building the first computer lab ever in a school in Koba; Electricity in Guinea 1:15:47 - iPhone, Cell Phone, Laptop, & Internet use in Guinea; Adam explains the rest of the details on his project, including the funding process, the corruption of the government officials he worked with, and the near failure of the entire thing because of Covid and the aforementioned corruption that impacted the project’s funding 1:33:10 - Adam talks about the quiet of spending so much time alone in a 3rd world country; Thinking of America 1:38:28 - Adam describes the difficulty of his reintegration into America; What came of the project he left behind 1:44:01 - The political tension in Guinea surrounding the 2020 Guinean Presidential Election and the Constitutional Crisis that has followed (Incumbent President Alpha Conde vs. Challenger Cellou Diallo); The Susu (Sousou), Malinke, and Pulaar tribes of Guinea; Guinea Politics and Democracy 1:52:50 - Adam’s perspective on America’s Democracy & political process compared to Guinea’s; The resignation/defeat Guineans feel in their reality; Hope & The American Dream; Adam recounts a story of his host sister’s tragic death from a highly preventable disease 2:00:13 - Adam’s bond with the Guinean culture; Bringing the communal aspects of Guinea to American culture; The downside effects of technological advancement; How phones and tech make us feel more alone; Adam explains the cultural barriers that still existed between him and the Guinean people at the time he left 2:07:55 - Being White in a Black country; Adjusting to what was already pre-Covid a less-than-communal country in America; The loss of communication and emotion in the Pandemic mask culture 2:12:06 - Adam’s reflections on his time in Guinea; Empathy ~ YouTube FULL EPISODES: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0A-v_DL-h76F75xik8h03Q  ~ Show Notes: https://www.trendifier.com/podcastnotes  TRENDIFIER Website: https://www.trendifier.com  Julian's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianddorey  ~ Beat provided by: https://freebeats.io  Music Produced by White Hot

In Colossians 1:12-20, Paul is finishing a prayer he has for the Colossian believers, and then he quotes what many scholars believe was an early Christian hymn. As such, these are some of the most powerful truths in the Bible. And the more we understand them, the more we will want to live into God's bigger story of life and light and love and glory that Jesus came to give us. In this episode we will look at what that bigger story is and why it is so powerful to motivate us to follow Jesus as our Christ/King, and we'll take a few minutes to pray through these life-giving verses in Scripture. Colossians 1:12–20 NIV  ...[Give] joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things...   1.   The pre-incarnate Jesus was the God who created the entire universe.   “The Son is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (v. 19).    Colossians 2:9 NIV “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”   “all things have been created through him and for him. He is before (in time; Jn 8:58) all things, and in him all things hold together” (v. 16-17).   John 1:1–4 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.   Hebrews 1:2–3 NIV …In these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.   2.   The incarnate Jesus was fully God who also became fully human, so he could rightfully and legally and fully take back Genesis 1:26-28.    God is invisible, but Jesus, who became the saving King, perfectly reveals and embodies YHWH. And also true, God-intended humanity.   He is “the firstborn over all creation” (v. 15), which means “the firstborn from among the dead” (v. 18).   Christ was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrection body. Elsewhere Paul calls him the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1Co 15:20).    Others who were raised from the dead (2Ki 4:35; Lk 7:15; Jn 11:44; Ac 9:36-41; 20:7-12) were raised only to die again.   3.   We can't see the reality behind the scenes of all that Christ has done and is doing.   For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things” (v. 19-20).   Seven times in vv. 15-20 Paul mentions “all creation,” “all things” and “everything.”   When Adam and Eve sinned, not only was the harmony between God and human beings destroyed, but also disorder came into creation (Ro 8:19-22). So when Christ died on the cross, he made peace possible between God and humans, and he restored in principle the...

“By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18) When Adam rebe... More...

This week we welcome Adam Bertram, aka Adam the Automator. Adam wrote a post called “I told my boss I quit and……” which went viral, so we invited Adam to join us. Our goal for having Adam on RJT is to learn from his personal journey of career discovery. Adam’s a tech pressional/sys admin, blogger, and content creator. We asked Adam to share his journey before he quit. At the beginning of Adam’s career, he hopped jobs for money. He started a side hustle selling used books on Amazon. With the freedom of making extra money, he realized that he could take his side hustle contracts and make them his full time job. Adam started taking contracts writing blog posts, which he loved, and doing projects, which he loved, which led him to realize that he could build a satisfying career around writing and project contracts. We talk through multiple income streams and balancing different roles, family and more. Adam gives his wife a lot of credit for helping him to focus on work by managing their home and family. He is conscious at his different roles: contract/consulting for automation/devops, content creation and community building, and personal brand enhancement. When he looks at them, Adam makes sure he’s consistent and knows what the vision he's heading for in the end. Adam brings his talents into everything he learns. For example, he’s started learning about stock trading and he already started a blog go share his process and help others benefit. Building content helps Adam build his brand as a content developer. Adam has multiple resumes: writing/content creation, consulting and systems administration. He focuses on different roles for each resume so that he can find a variety of work and have more open options. When we know our patterns, we can make choices that work for us. When Adam gets bored, he finds something new and gets obsessed and tries to learn everything about it. Knowing his own patterns allows Adam to know when he needs to pick up something new, and also that he’s going to need lots of time to dive in deeply. Exploring being your own boss with Adam, we learned about his entrepreneurial spirit. Adam looked at his happiness when he had great jobs and still wasn’t happy, and realized he needed to make a big change to working for himself. Knowing this, he realized he needs the freedom of consulting and building his own schedule. Knowing himself and that he’s “unemployable” has helped him tailor his career and consultancy. The move to consultancy happened by dabbling in consulting while working full time. His past as a job hopper helped Adam know that he CAN find a job when he needs to. Having an exit plan helped Adam to navigate the unknown. The boundaries and parameters around the exit plan help to assess. Not everyone has freedom to decide on work without money being the driver, but Adam has worked hard to build his FU account in order to make the best personal choices for his career without the pressue of needing the next paycheck. He chooses work, clients and colleagues based on work and team fit vs paychecks. His happiness is tied to his ability to choose the work he does. Adam advice to others who wanted to get started is to monetize a hobby. He started selling books on Ebay and Amazon, and then started a blog about how to do it, and then wrote an ebook, which became a lucrative side business that had nothing to do with his day job. We discussed using community to power a career. Adam has always been a documenter. He blogged about what he did, and used it to help him manage projects. He ranked on a post in Google and heard that he was helping others, which really motivated him to be a part of the community and make connections. The connections grew at conferences, on Twitter, on Linkedin, and then as he grew as a MSFT MVP and learned from others. He saw his impact grow and learned so much from others that it motivated him to continue to share and learn from his communities. When starting a blog, it’s all about creating content and not overthinking. Over time you can look at things like SEO, but it’s about writing and sharing and engaging other writers to build an audience. Adam also advises writing on all types of different sites to make sure you spread yourself out to get a bigger audience to link to your blog. Adam on Twitter: @abertram (https://twitter.com/adbertram) Adam's blog: adamtheautomator.com (https://adamtheautomator.com)

Përshëndetje for the last time from Albania! As I mentioned before, Albania is a country that I didn't expect much from initially but it turned out to be pretty amazing. If you want to know why I enjoy this place so much then be sure to listen to Part I and II if you haven't already - it's worth it :) A big part of why I enjoyed Albania so much is because I connected with Adam - a really great guy who works in the travel industry and took time to show me around. I would also like to mention that these episodes are not sponsored. I am not obliged to say nice things - everything I say is my own genuine opinion.   DICK & BALLS...WHAT'S IN A NAME? If you've listened to the previous episodes of my Albanian adventure, you may have noticed that Adam only calls me “Bo”. When we first met, he asked if it would be okay not to call me by my first name. When I asked him why he began to blush and told me that the word ‘Palle' in Albanian is a very bad way of saying… ‘dick head'. This was not the first time I have been met with bemusement regarding my name. When I was on Nomad Cruise, I met an Italian guy in the pool bar on the top deck. He just looked at my name tag, laughed and said, “Stay there…I'll be right back”. A few minutes later, he came back with another Italian guy and pointed at my name tag. They both broke down laughing. When I asked what was going on, he said: “In Italian, palle means balls!” They told me that Italians have a term where they say che palle – which means 'what a pain', 'how annoying', or 'that sucks.'  And in Finnish, palle means clown. No, my parents didn't give me a travel-friendly name - they either had a wicked sense of humour or were blissfully unaware that my name has different, hilarious meanings around the world. Anyway, enough about balls...   I'M FAMOUS IN ALBANIA...AGAIN Adam was still intent on honouring his promise to make me famous in his country, and on Sunday morning we met up with Mohammed, a reporter, who interviewed me for Report TV. Check it out and marvel at my Albanian stardom :) Report TV is a privately-owned TV station that brings news 24 hours a day and some information shows. After the interview, I turned the microphone around… I had a nice chat with Mohammed, who spoke with me about life as a free-press journalist in Albania, and how national television is run here. The station was launched in 2015 by a former Albania correspondent for the Italian news agency ANSA, Carlo Bollino. The Constitution of Albania now provides freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but obviously that wasn't the case in the Communist era. So, the tradition of journalism is relatively new (since the early 90's), which can also be a challenge as the first journalism schools opened in mid-1990. But Mohammed tells me that journalism is growing in the country, and they are adapting to the challenges of new media, like the rest of the world.   COOL T-SHIRT BRO...LET ME BURN IT Adam's father was a powerful commander in the Albanian military forces and was quite famous in those days. Adam told me a story that illustrates what it was like living in the Communist dictatorship - which made my draw drop. When Adam was about 7-8 years old, a police officer saw him wearing a t-shirt that looked a little bit ‘Capitalistic' (and absolute no-no back then). The t-shirt had a picture of a monkey on the chest and was a gift from Adam's father from his trip to Tanzania. The cop summoned young Adam and asked where he got the t-shirt from, to which Adam replied that it was a gift from his father. The cop then slapped Adam in the face a few times, ripped his t-shirt off, and burned it in the street in front of horrified onlookers. Adam was then sent to a jail cell for a night - completely naked. Adam's parents had no idea where he was. When Adam's father came to the police station asking where his son was, he demanded they release him after finding out what happened. Being a famous military commander, Adam's father then made the entire police force line up in the town square and told Adam to identify his attacker. To this day, Adam has no idea what happened to the police officer…   BERAT The next day, I took a bus to Berat - a beautiful small town in central Albania roughly 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Tirana. It's a tiny town with a population of around 46,000 people. They call it "the city of a thousand windows” and I've seen it described as one of Albania's most enchanting sights. It has a unique style of architecture with influences from several civilizations that have coexisted here for centuries throughout history. The old part of the city became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. Overall, Albania was a big surprise for me, and I discovered that it has much more to offer than I expected. Stunning nature, interesting history and culture, vibrant modern cities, great weather, reasonable prices, and most of all, really friendly people. And I only got to see a little bit of the country. For one, I never made it out to the coastline. The Albanian Riviera is known for its beauty and is one of the top beach destinations in the country. The southern part of the country has secluded pebble beaches, islands, and a few hidden and pristine sandy beaches. I really think that Albania could be the next ‘big thing' for people looking for a different kind of vacation in Europe with not too many tourists… yet. One of the questions Mohammad asked me in the interview was what I thought it would take for the world to discover Albania. So, when I turned the microphone around, I asked him the same question. “Albania was closed to the outside world for almost 50 years due to the Communist regime. This resulted in the Albanian people becoming very close with each other and found a connection under a common foe. This produced a culture of ‘welcomeness' which is the most unique thing about my country - we are incredibly hospitable. Our coastline is beautiful, our nature is practically untouched, and we have amazing weather all year around.”   THANK YOU, ALBANIA I'd like to say a big thank you to Mohammed from Report TV, Elira from Dritare, Clod from Skanderbeg Museum – and of course, to my new friend Adam from Albania Express Travel. If you decide to go to Albania, start by visiting Albania Express Travel, and if you get in touch with Adam, please say hi from me…just say “Bo” sent you. As I sit at a cafe sipping on delicious red wine, I am given the opportunity to reflect on my time in this wonderful country, and to start planning my next trip to Kosovo… Until then, my name is Palle Bo and I gotta keep moving.   I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! I really would like to hear from you. Where are you and what are you doing as you listen to this episode? You can either send me an email on listener@theradiovagabond.com or go to my website TheRadioVagabond.com. Or send me a voicemail with the cool TelBee app. Click here. Either way, I would love to hear from you. It's so nice to know who's on the other end of this…   SPONSOR A special thank you to my sponsor, Hotels25.com, who always provide me with the best, most affordable accommodation wherever I am in the world.

Today’s Scripture: 5 Here is the written story of Adam’s family line. When God created human beings, he made them to be like him. 2 He created them as male and female, and he blessed them. He called them “human beings” when they were created. 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was […] The post Genesis 5 appeared first on Mary DeMuth.

Welcome! We’re talking to Sally Ries-Wacht today. Sally is joining us because she is Seraphine’s friend and she has had a very interesting life. She used to be a singer for the R and B group, Oscar, and in today’s podcast, she talks about her life, her career, and what things have been like for her since her husband got diagnosed with FTD (Frontotemporal dementia). Seraphine and Sally met while she was teaching a barre class at a local health club. Seraphine loves music and curating playlists, and Sally was fascinated with her collection of songs. She particularly loves George Michael’s songs.  Some of Sally’s background Sally came from Wisconsin to Kansas City, and she went to college at Mizzou for a year. After leaving Mizzou, she went to New York University for a few months, but she left after she got cast in an off-Broadway musical show. LOOM The first show Sally did was for a company called Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) when she was nineteen years old, and she got cast as a replacement for someone. Star Search Sally was on Star Search when she was about twenty-four, and she found Ed McMahon to be awesome! She won the first show and even though she felt she did a lot better in the second show, someone else won it. Oscar One of the girls in the group, Kia, invited Sally to join her when she was getting the group Oscar together. After a while, they got the opportunity to sing at the Apollo Theatre on a non-televised night. Sally was the only white girl in the group, and people were yelling and throwing things to get her off the stage. Getting signed by Epic Getting signed up by Epic was a lot of fun for Sally, and they did some shows with big acts like Boys To Men. A great song A great song is all about production. And a song can get done in many different ways if it’s a great song. Writing songs When she writes songs, Sally usually writes the melody first, and the lyrics come after that. How Oscar broke up The band was going to get resigned after their first single, which did okay but not brilliantly. Sally and some of the other girls were unhappy with the producers. So Sally decided not to do another record unless the girls in the band got more writing credit, they got to write more, and there was a better financial split between the band members and the production team. The producers refused their requests, so Sally decided to leave, and the rest of the band disbanded soon after that. Back-up singing After leaving the band, Sally went into back-up singing. She sang background with artists like Daryl Hall and Enya, and she had a lot of fun doing that. Sally’s relationship with Carlos Leon Sally had a relationship with Carlos Leon for about five years. He is the father of Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes. Adam Sally met Adam when she was about thirty-two. Adam was a producer, so they decided to work together, and eventually ended up getting married.  Becoming a mother Sally had her first child when she was thirty-seven and her second child when she was forty-two. She stopped making music for a while after her children were born because she wanted to be there for them. Frontotemporal dementia When Adam was fifty-three, he got diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. It started with subtle little things and got more and more intense as time went on. Confusion In the beginning, frontotemporal dementia and early-onset dementia have similar symptoms. Sally mostly remembers the confusion that her husband went through when he got diagnosed. His condition deteriorated pretty quickly, and it soon got to the point where he had to give up driving. Extremely hard It is hard for Sally to cope with her husband’s illness, and it tries every ounce of her patience. She describes his behavior as being similar to that of a toddler. He does strange things, but people are usually very gracious with what he does. It is also hard for Sally because his behavior changes all the time, it keeps on getting worse, and there is almost nothing that doctors can do to help. Sally’s daughters It was hard for Sally to explain to her daughters what was going on with their dad and no rule book exists that could help her. She consoles them but she has never hidden anything from them. The disease progressed Adam’s disease finally progressed to the point where Sally could no longer take care of Adam. So she decided to put him into a home. Support Care-giving is tough, and Sally truly appreciates her friends showing up with support and understanding for what she is going through. Letting go of her guilt and realizing that she did not cause her husband’s illness has helped her to move on with her life. Links and resources: Sally on Instagram - Sally Ries-Wacht

Today's retelling of Jesus healing the demon-possessed man from the Gadarenes comes from Matt 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. Introduction  This story happens immediately after Jesus calms the storm at sea. Everywhere Jesus goes, he’s mobbed by people who want to hear him teach and to be healed. He could theoretically have stayed where he was, and ministered to thousands of people. Instead, he crosses the stormy see from Galilee to the wilderness of the Gadara—interesting for several reasons. First, it’s not part of the Jewish nation; this is one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, east of the Jordan river, and according to Josephus, it was inhabited mostly by Greeks. Jews would not have kept a herd of pigs, as they considered them to be unclean, so these were definitely Gentiles. Second, the only thing Jesus does when he gets there is to heal this one demonized man. Immediately afterwards, the people are so terrified that they beg him to leave. It appears Jesus traveled all this way, through the storm, just for this one guy. To me, this seems like an illustration of Jesus’ three parables: of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost (or prodigal) son. One man is worth all of this time and effort on Jesus’ part! We see a bit of the reason for this as soon as Jesus arrives. Despite the fact that he played host to a “legion” of demons (at least two thousand apparently!), the real man is still down there, wanting to be free. We know this because when he sees Jesus from afar, he runs toward him, falls at his feet, and worships him (Mark 5:6). All the dialogue listed appears to be between Jesus and the demons, so the man may not at that point have had use of his vocal cords. But he had enough control over his body that he could run toward the Messiah, which no doubt was exactly the opposite of what the demons wanted him to do. When he got there, the demons begged Jesus not to torment them. They knew they’d had it now. How did the man know who Jesus was, anyway? He lived naked and alone among the tombs, and the other Gadarene people obviously kept far away from him. He wouldn’t have heard any rumors about Jesus from them. So presumably he knew who Jesus was because the demons knew. They recognized him in the spirit, and called him “Jesus, son of the Most High God”. No humans had even received this revelation yet! So perhaps the man “overheard” the demons discussing who Jesus was in his mind. How would this produce faith in him to run to Jesus, though? Satan’s very name means "false accuser”; surely the demons would have told the man all the ways in which he was not worthy. They might have lied about Jesus’ character, and told the man that he would be tormented if he approached the Son of God. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the Father must have broken through the influence of that legion of demons, and given this man a revelation of who Jesus was (his character and his love, not just his title). Nothing else would have induced him run to Jesus and fall at his feet. That was the man’s act of faith. It was all he could do, but it was enough. Praise God that no matter how bad off we are, we are never outside the Father’s reach! The subsequent interaction between Jesus and the demons peels back the veil between worlds, and gives a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the spirit realm. Jesus commands the demons to leave, and instead of just doing it, they argue with him: “I adjure you by God that you torment me not.” The Greek word adjure (horkizo) means “to command under oath with a threat of penalty.” They think Jesus is breaking the rules, that God gave the demons authority until a set time which had not yet arrived (Matthew 8:29). When Adam obeyed Satan in the Garden, he made Satan the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). From that point on, outside of God’s later covenant of protection which covered the Jewish people only, the fate of individuals legally was in Satan’s hands (Job 1:12). This man is not a Jew; he had no covenant to protect him. So the demons think that even if Jesus has the power to cast them out, as God, he should not have the authority to do so: the earth isn’t His anymore. What they don’t understand is that the earth and everything in it was given to mankind to subdue in the Garden (Gen 1:28). It’s as though God owned the property, earth, but leased it to mankind. Men then “sub-let” the property to Satan, yes—but the official authority to act upon the earth still belonged to mankind. Jesus was now a man. He had not yet died and risen again to become the “last Adam,” redeeming us from the curse we brought upon ourselves (1 Cor 15:45), but as God wrapped in a human body, he did have legal authority on earth, in a way that God the Father did not. He was basically a Trojan horse. The demons didn’t get this: they thought God the Father was intervening before the “earth lease” had run out, and they cried foul. But whether the demons understood the source of Jesus’ authority or not, they still had to obey his power. They didn’t want to go back to the abyss, or Sheol, and asked Jesus’ permission to go into the herd of pigs instead. Presumably they needed to inhabit physical bodies in order to remain on earth. Jesus granted this. But the demons’ new home didn’t last long, of course: once the pigs lost their minds, ran off a cliff and killed themselves, the demons presumably had to go back into the abyss anyway! Whoever owned those two thousand pigs was no doubt very unhappy, as the herd would have represented a substantial investment. The scripture says the people were afraid because of the miracle Jesus had performed, though, so this was the primary reason that the Gadarenes begged him to leave their region, rather than because of the loss of the pigs. (Interesting that they weren’t afraid of the naked guy roaming around the tombs, cutting himself and wailing and unable to be bound by any chains. But once he’s clothed and in his right mind, now they’re terrified.) The man begged to follow Jesus after he had been set free, but Jesus did not allow him to do so. Instead, he gave the man an assignment: to go back and tell his friends and family what God had done for him. Perhaps this was the reason Jesus did not allow the man to come with him—or perhaps it was because his primary ministry was still to the lost sheep of Israel. Bringing a Gentile with him might have been an impediment to this. Regardless, the man’s testimony was evidently effective, because the next time Jesus went to the Decapolis, crowds turned out to hear him and be healed (Mark 7:31-37, Matthew 15:30).   Fictionalized Retelling    I watched longingly as Jesus climbed into one of the boats, and as the whole small company of his disciples set out across the lake, fading into the distance. I longed to be with them… but Jesus had given me an assignment. I turned around to face the crowd of my townspeople that watched the boats sailing away at a distance, making sure that Jesus left. Then, deliberately, I thrust both fists in the air.   “I’m free!” I shouted. “That man called Jesus set me free!”   I climbed the hill where they stood watching warily. As soon as I reached them, I told them this story. *** How to explain what it was like? I can only find words in retrospect. At the time, there were none. Imagine that there is a parasite living under your skin. You can see it slithering around, eating you alive from the inside. That is why I cut myself with stones: I was trying to expel the creatures who had taken over my body. Yet the action was worse than useless. I never got anywhere near the source of the problem. It was not even on the plane of the physical world. Some part of me knew this, yet I couldn’t stop. It was compulsive, as if the next slice might make the difference. In the same way, anything that bound or shackled me had to come off, because to me, it was a symbol of the creatures that had bound my soul. That was also why I ripped my clothes, and why I snapped any chains that bound me. I lived among the tombs because, where else could I go? Living humans shunned me. I cried out in torment: I had no other power over my vocal cords. I could not speak. Crying out in anguish was my only relief, and poor relief it was. Did I sleep? I don’t know. There were large gaps in my memory, but I did not know if this was when the beings inside me took over, or when I lost consciousness. I ate living creatures, raw and wriggling. (I’m sorry if that offends you.) If I could have killed myself, I would have. That is the other reason I slashed at my skin with stones. But had I succeeded, my death would have banished the creatures from my body—and of course, they could not permit that. They did not mind if I mutilated myself, so long as I continued to exist. Then one day, when dawn came, instead of roaming about among the tombs and wailing as I had done for countless years, I instead got to my feet and made my way down to the Sea of Galilee. This was not a conscious choice, either of mine or of the creatures inhabiting my body. It was as if I were compelled by something stronger than any of us. A long way off, I saw boats docking. Suddenly the creatures exploded in my mind. That is Him! That is the Most High God! shrieked one. Flee! Flee! Do not let Him sense us! It cannot be, God does not walk the earth! protested another. Do you not sense the power radiating from Him, even from here? the first one demanded. Do you not recognize Him? Look! I turned to look with the creatures, and gasped aloud. Suddenly the world appeared in gray instead of color, mere moving shapes and shadows—except for one point of bright, radiant light, like the sun. It stepped off the boat, pulsing and radiating with palpable glory, almost painful in its beauty. “Jesus!” the demons formed the name on my tongue. I knew then that the name belonged to the man, and that the man was God Himself. In exactly that same moment, hope bloomed in my chest. My feet began to move. If ever I had power over my own body, I exerted every last shred of it then, though I felt the demons inside of me seizing up my limbs to try to make me stop. I tripped and fell on my face. I tasted blood, but got back to my feet and kept running. The demons in my head screamed at me to stop, to turn around and go back to the tombs. He will despise you! they cried, you are an abomination! He will destroy you, you filthy, unclean wretch! Good, I thought back. Better to be destroyed by Him than to live a thousand years as I am. It was not just the relief of death that I sought. If the brightness of this man’s radiance incinerated me like a ball of flame, it would be all worth it, just for that split second beforehand when I would coexist in the sphere of His glory. My vision returned to normal. I saw color again, and the glorious radiance that had surrounded Jesus faded until he looked like just an ordinary man. He moved deliberately in my direction, apart from the others who docked several of their little boats behind him. When I reached him, I threw myself at his feet. Jesus opened his mouth and commanded, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” The demons took over my tongue to reply. The voice that rasped from my throat was not my own. “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God that You do not torment me before the time!” I looked up into the face of this man. He was surprisingly young, with a stern expression in his hard eyes. At the same moment, my memory overlaid the cloud of glory around him that I had seen in the spirit moments before. I raised my hands in worship; it was all I could do. “What is your name?” Jesus demanded. My own tongue rasped back, “My name is Legion; for we are many. Do not send us out of the country and back into the abyss!” I felt my head swivel to one side, and saw a herd of swine feeding near the cliffs overlooking the sea not far off. “Send us into the swine, that we may enter them.” “Go!” Jesus commanded. The sensation within me was like a rushing wind, as if I were caught up in a hurricane—and then, silence. I collapsed, clutching the sand on the shore, gasping. I looked at my fingers in front of me in wonder. They were caked with dirt, the fingernails long and curled and filthy—but they were mine. I wiggled them in front of my face, marveling that I had no resistance. “I can… speak,” I croaked in wonder, looking up at the face of my rescuer. Jesus smiled down at me. “Yes, my son,” he said, his tone gentle now. All the others who had arrived with Jesus began to gather around me, tending to my needs. Several brought basins of fresh water, sponging away the dried blood and dirt from my various swollen cuts. One trimmed my nails from my hands and feet. One draped a cloak over my shoulders. One tilted a mug of water to my parched lips. It all overwhelmed me.  I was used to people running from me and shunning me. I did not know how to respond to kindness.  “Jesus, look!” one of them said, in the midst of these ministrations. The speaker pointed at the cliff where the pigs were. They scampered this way and that, squeaking and squawking in an utter chaos that seemed to me a perfect representation of the way my mind had felt for ever so long. The men who must have been tending the pigs were running the other way, down the mountain. Then, a few of the pigs ran off the cliff and into the sea. More of them seemed to notice this as a means of escape, and within moments, every single one of them flung themselves into the water. I knew exactly how they felt; anything was better than playing host to those demons. Abruptly, the unearthly squeals of the pigs ceased. “We do not have long now,” Jesus observed. “The people will hear the story from the swine herds shortly and will make their way here.” “The owner won’t be happy,” muttered one of Jesus’ disciples, and Jesus shook his head in agreement. “No, indeed,” he agreed. The other disciples continued their ministrations to me, trimming my beard and combing my matted hair. One shared food with me: bread and cooked fish. It was the first normal food I had tasted in years. As grateful as I was, though, I was significantly less concerned with my physical needs at the moment. All I wanted was to hear what Jesus was saying to the disciples nearest him. The man who trimmed my beard noticed that I was staring after Jesus longingly, straining to hear his words. He approached him for me, pointing in my direction, and Jesus walked over to me again. As much as I had wanted Jesus’ attention again, now that I had it, I trembled with shame. He looked ordinary now, but the sharp memory of his glory made me shrink back and drop my gaze. Jesus must have understood. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and said gently, “Son, take heart. Your sins are forgiven.” I dared to look up at him again, hopeful now, and whispered, “Do they all know who you are?” I pointed at all the other disciples around. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Sometimes they know, but they forget easily. Not all have seen what you have seen.” I was about to reply, but Jesus looked beyond me to the crowds from the town. Evidently the swine herds’ story had already reached their ears, and they came to see who had caused such a commotion. I turned, and saw all of the townspeople glancing at Jesus, then fixating upon me. I knew by their expressions and whispers that they recognized me. I stood up, pulling the cloak around me, and tried to reassure them. “It’s okay!” I called, and attempted a smile. It was probably more like a grimace, though, given how out of practice my facial muscles were. “I’m… me again! See?” I wiggled my fingers in the air, as if to demonstrate that they were under my control. “I won’t terrorize you anymore. You don’t have to be afraid!” Unfortunately my words seemed to have the opposite effect. They all drew back, their whispers coming fast and furious now. Some of the other disciples with Jesus stepped forward to try to explain, too. “Jesus cast an entire legion of demons from this man,” one said, and another added, “the demons asked to be sent into the pigs. Jesus just gave them permission.” Another added, “We’re… sorry about your herds…” The expressions in the crowd all looked terrified. One man, whom I vaguely recognized as a magistrate or someone important, cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Please, leave us now.” His voice was low and even. He looked mostly at Jesus, but at the other disciples as well. “We do not know what manner of power can do such a thing, but we do not want it here. Please go.” I looked back at Jesus to see how he would take this. He met the man’s gaze squarely, and did not apologize, but he did incline his head in understanding. “As you wish,” he said, and gestured to his disciples to get back into their boats. I leapt to my feet at once. “Wait!” I pleaded, running after them. “Take me with you! I—I want to be one of your disciples too!” Jesus turned back to me, his expression full of compassion. I deflated as soon as I saw it, knowing what it meant. “No, son,” he said, and gestured behind me to the townspeople with his eyes. “You go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” I absorbed this disappointment, but then stood up straighter. “I will, Lord,” I promised. “I will tell them all every day, every chance I get, whether they want to hear it or not!” Jesus grinned in spite of himself. “I believe you will,” he said. “We’ll be seeing you again, I’m sure.” *** “And now you know all that I know,” I finished, speaking to the small crowd still gathered on the hill top. I beamed, and declared again, “I’m free! The Lord has set me free!” They all marveled at my story. The town magistrate shook his head at me in wonder, looking off into the distance where the boats had long since disappeared. “Well,” he murmured at last. “Now I rather regret running him off like that.” “My sister is crippled,” said another woman. “I wonder if he could have healed her?” “And I’ve had this pain in my back for ever so long…” murmured another. “I haven’t slept properly in thirteen years!” cried a third. “He’ll be back,” I said to them all with confidence. “He promised! And if he can set me free from two thousand demons, all of that stuff will be nothing for him!” “Maybe he can,” muttered the magistrate. “But will he? After we asked him to leave?” I shook my head. “You don’t understand, he’s not like you and me! He doesn’t hold grudges.” How I knew this when I’d barely spoken to him, I couldn’t have said. But I did know it, from that glory cloud alone. Tears pricked my eyes, and I added in a whisper, “He’s absolute perfection.”  

I am so grateful to The Newsstand Studio at 1 Rockefeller Plaza for providing a place for me to record this episode for y’all! No more Brooklyn closet recording!!!   I never thought I’d be talking about things like sexual desire and masturbation, but the masturbation series broke records for downloads. So many of you reached out saying it was what you had been needing to hear. So here I am, back to talk about sexual desire. My heart today is to unpack for you a biblical vision surrounding sexuality and desire and for you to walk away with clarity and practical tools to walk out your sexual desire well in whatever season you may be in.   "You can't talk about sexuality without talking about how we were made. And that will inevitably lead you to who made us. At some point you have to talk about God. Sex. God. They're connected. And they can't be separated. Where the one is, you will always find the other.” —Rob Bell, Sex God   God is NOT Afraid of Your Sexual Desire The rhythm and repetition of the Creation account is filled with erotic language. “The climax of creation is the creation of humanity.” Song of Solomon: Hebrew boys weren’t allowed to read it because it was so erotic. Anyone that says this is just a metaphor for Jesus and the church is dismissing the layered and blatant text. Psalms: And again, “I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you…your love is better than life…on my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night…I cling to you (Ps.63:1-8 emphasis mine).  When was the last time you cried out to God with such visceral language because your longing for Him was so strong?   “God is not shy or embarrassed or afraid of desire or erotic language.”   What is Sexual Desire? “Spirituality can be described as a vast longing that drives us beyond ourselves in an attempt to connect with, to probe and to understand our world. And beyond that, it is the inner compulsion to connect with the Eternal Other, which is God. Essentially, it is a longing to know and be known by God (on physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual levels). This is why we are called to worship God with all that we are—body, mind and soul (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Mark 12:29-31)…   …Sexuality can be described as the deep desire and longing that drives us beyond ourselves in an attempt to connect with, to understand, that which is other than ourselves. Essentially, it is a longing to know and be known by other people (on physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual levels). It thus forms part of what it means to ‘love others as we love ourselves’ (Mark 12:29-31)…Our deepest longings as human beings are to be in relationship with God and our neighbor—this really and simply is the human condition…   —Debra Hirsch, Redeeming Sex, page 16 (parantheses quote from Alan and Debra Hirsch, Untamed   Sexual Desire vs. Desire for Sex  Sexual desire is the desire to connect outside of ourselves with others—this includes a natural desire for sex—but to say that our sexual desire is the same as our desire for sex is to take a multi-faceted 3-D experience and flatten it into 1-D stick figure. Sexual desire is way more expansive than just bodies touching and fluids exchanging.  God didn’t say humanity is good…but your sexual desire is only good in marriage—he just said it’s very good. There has to be a way to embrace sexuality outside of marriage + outside of sex in a way that’s honoring. This is really good news! Especially for those of us who are single! Having sexual desire is one of the most common human experiences—in fact, if you didn’t have desire—that’s a whole other conversation. Ultimately our sexual desire is a shadow of our desire for God.   Is My Sexual Desire Sinful? God put the penis on the man, and he put the testicles on the man, and he filled those testicles with sperm. He created all tissue—some that would expand, some that would secrete; he filled the man with testosterone to walk through all creation and name the animals, to exercise God-given authority. When Adam was done with that, before sin entered the world, God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him’.   I want to say it again: God’s the one who created and wire this whole thing. In Genesis 2, sin hadn’t even entered the world yet, and God said it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone. So he knocked him out, pulled out a rib, and shaped the woman. And as he shaped the woman differently, he gave her larger breasts, rounder hips, and a vagina. He filled the woman with a different hormone, estrogen. The woman’s body was not the Devil’s idea; it was all God’s doing.” —Matt Chandler, The Mingling of the Souls, page 13   Genesis 1 teaches us that GOD CREATED HUMANS AS HOLISTIC BEINGS. Our sexuality and desires are not a surprise to God; it’s not shameful or taboo: He created it and then called it good. Something about it reflects an aspect of who He is.   “God doesn’t make bad or gross or shameful things. All of who you are reflects the Genesis 1 God image in you.”   Resources Listen to Purity Culture, Painful Sex + Debunking Shame Narrative with Dr. Celeste Holbrook Sign up for my How to Embrace Your Sexuality Course here:https://bit.ly/Trw-embrace Get your free guide 6 Tips to Activate Your Dating Life here:ly/trw-datingtips Here’s my IGTV “4 Reasons Why Purity Culture is Missing the Mark” Purchase Matt Chandler’s The Mingling of the Souls Purchase Debra Hirsch’s Redeeming Sex Purchase Rob Bells’ Sex God If you want to stay in touch about my book Sexless in the City, click here for all updates.   Thank you so much to this week’s sponsors of The Refined Collective Podcast!!   As a 35-year-old, the one thing I wish I knew in my 20s is that it’s never too early to start taking good care of your skin. I’ve recently become obsessed with Beauty Bio. They have an incredible microneedling tool called the GloPro. It helps create firmer, smoother, and younger looking skin with tighter pores. It’s financially accessible AND time efficient! Go to beautybio.com and check out their GloPro microneedling regeneration tool. Use TRC15 for 15% off your first order.   I am so grateful for my friend Stephanie May Wilson and he her heart to create content to help me walk into a place of God’s presence with trust. She has a new journal called The Between Places: 100 Days to Trusting God When You Don’t Know What’s Next. It’s a prayer journal for seasons of waiting, uncertainty, transitions, and making big decisions. You can pick up your journal at smaywilsonshop.com and use code REFINED for 15% off!