Podcasts about Wretched

Ep. 422 Wretched Hives of Scum and Villainy in Movies and Pop Culture by Bonehead Weekly

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

Another week, another injury. The woes for the Melbourne Storm continue in what has been the tale of the tape for Season 2026. This time, Captain Harry Grant succumbed to a hamstring issue which will sideline him for the next few weeks. Stormy Daniel reviews the narrow loss to the Rabbitohs, where Melbourne had did enough to win the game only for a schoolboy like error by mercurial fullback Sua Fa'alogo to turn from hero to villain. Defensive fragilities were again on display which is an area Storm need to rectify and fix before the next season. Stormy Daniel gives an update on the club's pathways teams, covers off on all the Storm News, including some speculated player movement, your listener questions and team list Tuesday. Could another debutant or two be about to pull on the purple jersey against the Bulldogs this Friday night? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

Send us Fan MailThe most frustrating part of the Christian life is also one of the most clarifying: you can love God, delight in his law, and still feel a fierce inner war. We sit with Romans 7 at its breaking point where Paul stops sounding polished and starts sounding honest: “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” That cry is not theater and it is not hopelessness. It is what happens when you finally stop scanning everyone else and actually see yourself.From there, the focus shifts where it has to shift. The solution is not buried deeper inside your willpower. Deliverance comes “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” and that changes how we interpret the daily struggle with sin, temptation, and spiritual warfare. We talk through the tension of serving God with the mind while the flesh still pulls hard, why sanctification is not instantaneous, and why ongoing conflict does not cancel genuine faith.We also explore why the “body of death” points to the necessity of resurrection, how accountability matters for sins done in the body, and why debates about the Ten Commandments can expose a subtle religious pride. You will leave with a clearer view of law and grace, a steadier expectation for the fight, and a stronger confidence that Christ gives real dominion now while promising full redemption later.If this helped you name what you're experiencing, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. What part of Romans 7 feels most personal to you right now?Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Send us Fan MailYou can believe the gospel and still feel pulled, tempted, frustrated, and tired of your own sin. That tension isn't automatically hypocrisy, and it isn't proof that grace failed. We lean into Romans 6 and Romans 7 to name what many Christians experience but struggle to explain: sin is still present, yet it no longer has dominion. Sanctification is the long road where indwelling sin loses power over time, not a switch that removes every evil inclination overnight.We also tackle the question beneath the question: is the physical body itself evil? The answer matters because Jesus took on real flesh. We talk about what Scripture means by “carnal” and why the real battle starts in the inner person, then works outward into what we do with our hands, eyes, and habits. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount comes into view here, because it exposes heart level sin and shows why the deepest need is not cosmetic change but a new heart and a renewed mind.From there, we connect Paul's words, “I delight in the law of God,” to assurance. That kind of delight is a mark of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and it explains why believers feel a war that the unregenerate don't. We also zoom out to the doctrines of grace and why total depravity, unconditional election, particular redemption, effectual calling, and perseverance of the saints are not just debate topics but anchors for real security in Christ. If you've ever wondered why the fight won't stop, or whether the fight itself means you belong to Jesus, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who's discouraged, and leave a review telling us what part of Romans 7 you most relate to.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Send us Fan MailYou can mean it with your whole heart and still fail five minutes later. That's not a quirky personality flaw, it's the conflict Paul lays bare in Romans 7 and we slow down to follow his logic without softening the weight of it. We talk honestly about the moment you realize you sinned, the rush to apologize, and the deeper question underneath it all: why does the pull toward wrong feel so close even when we truly love Christ?We unpack Paul's line that hits like a hammer: “in my flesh dwells no good thing.” For us, “flesh” isn't just skin and bones, it's the resident sinful inclinations that linger after regeneration. We also dig into what the Holy Spirit actually changes: new desires, a real will toward righteousness, and a new hatred for sin, while the battle remains real enough to keep us humble and dependent.Then we confront a tension many churches gloss over: if Paul says he cannot reliably “perform” the good he wills, how can anyone claim an unbeliever can will themselves into salvation by raw free will? Along the way we talk about “good people,” motives, why grace can't be replaced by effort, and the principle Paul calls a “law” that feels as consistent as gravity: when we would do good, evil is present.If you've ever felt discouraged by the fight, this conversation aims to give you categories, Scripture, and hope that points you back to Jesus. Subscribe for more Bible-centered conversations, share this with a friend who's tired of shallow answers, and leave a review with the line from Romans 7 that you can't stop thinking about.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Send us Fan MailThe most confusing part of the Christian life is also one of the most revealing: why do we still feel a war inside us after we've come to Christ? We open Romans 7:16 to 17 and take Paul's words seriously, especially “it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” That line can sound like an excuse until you see what Paul is actually doing. He's separating the believer's renewed identity from the remaining corruption that still clings to us, while keeping full moral responsibility on the table.We talk about the law of God as good, holy, and righteous, and why our grief over sin is a kind of agreement with God's standard, not a sign the standard is broken. The struggle itself becomes evidence of regeneration, because only a renewed heart hates the sin it commits and longs for conformity to God's will. From there we move into salvation and assurance, connecting Romans 10:17 to the idea that faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by God's command, like Christ calling Lazarus from the dead, not like a negotiation with spiritually neutral people.To make sanctification concrete, we use a blunt image: sin is a squatter in a house the Lord owns. Its dominion is broken through union with Christ, but its presence remains until glorification. We close with a real-life application from the group about how seasons of loss, fear, worry, and loneliness can flare up new battles, reminding us the fight is daily until God brings us home. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who's discouraged, and leave a review. What part of Romans 7 feels most personal to you right now?Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

FROM THE VOID: Halle poses for a selfie with The Wretched, though she can't help feeling like she's forgetting something? Or someone? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of the classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

This is a reupload of Ben's playthrough of classic journaling RPG, The Wretched.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.Support the show here

How did Algiers become a centre for revolutionaries from around the world in the 1960s? What happened to the “pied noirs” white settlers after Algeria gained independence? Who was Frantz Fanon, and why did he end up in Algeria where he was inspired to write Wretched of The Earth? Why did the Black Panthers, the Viet Cong, Nina Simone and Maya Angelou all arrive in Algeria in 1969?  In Episode 5 of the series, William and Anita explore the aftermath of independence in Algeria. Summer sale is here: get an annual Empire Club membership for an extra 20% off with code SUMMER26. That's ad-free listening, early-access, every bonus episode, and full access to our exclusive members' series. Sale ends August 31st, so grab it before summer's over. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Editor: Charlie Rodwell Social Producer: Charlie Johnson Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christians Need to AVOID These 5 Types of Preachers at All Costs - YouTube https://youtu.be/DmFny1CoL-o?si=EOP_GdWUH_H2QeKa  Why I Don't Believe In The 7 Year Tribulation - Part One  

The showdown continues with Chapter 77: The Wretched Dark. I wasn't going to release this until later this week or over the weekend, but I managed to set aside some time before I get too bogged down by work.Enjoy!Cast Credits Author______ FakeJake93 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6429588/70/Majora-s-MaskCaroCabaConiVO _______ Link Thank you to the following Patrons for supporting this channel and podcast. Joseph Sigler Millan KollarcikPreston Dohrer Hero of Snow CassieOBecky, R.TyFire02ModstinTyler, S.The Biggest ChillsNugget AutomotiveShaun AlbertDaniLumineO. ManleyHonestly Reckless Gareth & WellsAnonymous Book ReaderFischerkingMusic CreditsTerrible Fate by TheophanyA Perfect World from Fable 2Song of Healing by R3 Music BoxInside the Moon by RozenMajora's Mask- Final Battle by Noble DemonMajora's Wrath by Theophany Light & Shadow from Twilight Princess OSTPicture CreditsDr-Adrihttps://www.deviantart.com/dr-adri/art/The-Moon-Children-417313528

Liza Libes is defending literature like it's under siege, and after this conversation, you will understand why. Liza went to Columbia wanting to study Tolstoy and came out having read more Edward Said and Sartre she signed up for. We got into how her English degree turned into a theory degree overnight, why Anna Karenina isn't the feminist manifesto her professors taught it as, and why so much of what gets published now has had the backstory and the beauty edited right out of it by agents chasing a formula. Liza's family fled the Soviet Union, and her grandfather was imprisoned for being Jewish. Watching that same ideology resurface in new packaging on American campuses is terrifying. Find Liza at PensandPoison.org She also runs Advictus Prep and is shopping her first novel, which is basically a love letter to beauty written in spite of a literary world that's decided beauty is suspect. If you've been meaning to finally pick up that classic on your shelf, this is your sign! Memorable Quotes: "I don't think I met anyone in the English department who had the same reaction... A lot of people I think were actively trying to push this agenda because it had been sold to them." — Liza "Good fiction is inherently moral. That's not to say moral in one specific restricted sense, but good fiction should teach us something about the way to live our lives." — Liza "A lot of our art today is ironic, nihilistic, cynical, and just downright amoral." — Liza "If your response to [boredom in a marriage] is I'm just going to abandon this whole thing that gives everyone meaning, then that is going to lead you to a dark place." — Liza, on Anna Karenina "People will hold onto their identity more than the truth." — Polina, paraphrasing Chase Hughes "My family kind of went through horrific examples of antisemitism twice, just in our personal lives... and it's horrific that it's happening again." — Liza "If you're going to make one change in your life to lead a more full and fulfilling life, read classic literature." — Liza Follow us on Instagram  @thecuriousmiddlepod Our Website: https://curiousmiddlepod.com Email us: thecuriousmiddlepod@gmail.com Substack: https://curiousmiddle.substack.com Episode Time Stamps 04:32 — Arriving at Columbia expecting to study literature, getting Edward Said and postcolonial theory on Jane Austen instead 06:36 — Same pattern outside the English department — a philosophy class teaching Hegel through the lens of BLM, and why she eventually stepped back from academia 08:46 — How Pens and Poison started, and the slow, stuck-at-20K-followers climb before it took off 11:05 — The daily messages from silenced students and aspiring writers — and how the same ideological capture spread into publishing 13:15 — Columbia's Core Curriculum as a partial exception, and why STEM friends noticed the politicization more than English majors did 15:29 — Pausing to unpack just how deep this runs — you can't study literature today without studying Marx 17:39 — Edward Said and the "settler colonist" framing; Sartre's introduction to The Wretched of the Earth 19:57 — More on Sartre's radicalization, Simone de Beauvoir, and the ideas of theirs still taught as fact 22:10 — Derrida, deconstruction, and the postmodern claim that literature has no objective meaning 24:21 — Paulo Freire and how "social justice as the point of education" filtered into every subject, not just humanities 28:55 — Why you don't need to be a humanities major to benefit from literature — it as a stand-in for religious meaning 31:19 — Anna Karenina as a case study: Tolstoy's actual argument vs. balancing tradition with modern life 33:37 — T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, the cost of losing ritual, and the case for reading fiction (not just nonfiction) 38:12 — My Year of Rest and Relaxation as an example of fiction that critiques without offering anything — the retreat from beauty and sincerity in "serious" art 40:14 — Does bleak fiction reflect a bleak culture or create one? Introducing her novel-in-progress, inspired by Mann's Doctor Faustus 44:44 — The same pattern in music, art, and publishing; does fiction need a moral lesson, or is beauty enough? 47:06 — Noticing beauty as the theme of her novel, and the one contemporary book she's excited to read — Theo of Golden, rejected by publishers, self-published, then sold millions 49:12 — Why contemporary fiction gets rejected or forced into a formula: word counts, no backstory, action on page one 51:37 — What's lost without backstory or physical description — fiction that never lets you rest with an idea 53:39 — Her own reading habits: rereading Dostoevsky in the original Russian, and why she's wary of new bestsellers 55:44 — Life-changing book #1: Mann's The Magic Mountain and how it reshaped her sense of time 58:06 — Life-changing book #2: Zweig's The World of Yesterday and the loss of creative freedom 1:00:29 — Why so many young people can't name their own values 1:02:41 — How literature classrooms swap out "morality" for ideology without saying so (Anna Karenina as "anti-feminism") 1:04:58 — Othello and The Merchant of Venice taught through one narrow lens instead of the whole picture 1:07:08 — Social justice as a stand-in religion, and the Columbia encampments 1:09:25 — Her family's history: fleeing the USSR on political asylum, her father imprisoned and her great-grandfather killed for being Jewish, and where to find her — Pens and Poison (pensandpoison.org)

Sermon for the Midweek of Pentecost VI Wednesday, 8 July A+D 2026 Rev. Matthew D. Ruesch

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/family-devotions/20260708fam.mp3 Listen to Devotion Read: Romans 7:15-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:24-25a (ESV) Jesus Does What I Can’t In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. At seven years old, on the way home from church, Matt sat in the back seat of the car and proudly announced to his parents that he wasn't going to sin anymore. Both of his parents chuckled, and his dad told him that he hoped he was right. Matt's promise was short-lived. After arriving home, he didn't like what his mom made for lunch and complained about it. Shortly after lunch, he and his brother had to go to timeout for fighting over Legos. Then before bed, he got in trouble again for sneaking cookies after he brushed his teeth. Matt really did mean it when he told his parents he wasn't going to sin anymore. But by the end of the day, he had already broken his promise several times! Have you ever told yourself that you weren't going to sin anymore only to find yourself still doing wrong things? Maybe you promised not to argue with your brother or sister. Maybe you said you would stop complaining or always obey your parents right away. But sometimes we still do the wrong thing, even when we don’t want to. That happened to the apostle Paul too. He loved God and wanted to do what was right. But he still struggled with sin. That is why he cried out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Notice what Paul does not ask. He doesn't ask, “How can I try harder?” or “What rules can I follow to fix myself?” He asks, “Who will rescue me?” Paul knew he needed more than self-control. He needed a Savior. A deliverer. And then Paul gives the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). Your peace with God does not depend on you finally getting it right. It depends entirely on Jesus who already got it right for you. The harder you try to save yourself, the more tired you become. The more you trust Jesus, the more rest you find. Jesus does what we can’t. True rest begins when you reach the end of yourself and find Christ waiting there. So, rest in Jesus! Prayer: Lord Jesus, we confess that the good we want to do, we so often fail to do. Forgive us for trying to rely on our own strength. Thank you, that getting to heaven doesn’t depend on what we do for you, but on what you have already done for us. Give us true peace, knowing that we are safe in your loving hands. Amen. The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire. Questions for Younger Children In the Bible verse, Paul asks who will rescue him from his mistakes, and then he says, “Thanks be to God through . . .” Who is the Savior Paul is thanking? Have you ever tried really hard to be good (like sharing your toys or listening right away) but still made a mistake? How does it feel to know that Jesus always forgives you and loves you anyway? Questions for Elementary Age Children Why couldn’t Paul save himself from his sin? Paul didn’t ask for a checklist of rules to fix himself but instead asked who would rescue him. Why is looking to a person (Jesus) better than just trying to follow a checklist of rules when we mess up? Questions for Middle School and Above True or False: We are both a sinner and a saint at the same time. Sometimes Christians keep struggling with the same sins. How does knowing that Jesus has already forgiven you help you avoid giving up or feeling hopeless? Download Family Devotions Family Devotions are brought to you by WELS Discipleship. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

In today's lecture, we explore Caribbean history through the lens of cinema and globalization. We begin with Chapter 11 of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance by Renaldo McKenzie. This chapter examines the use of documentary films as forms of resistance and demonstrates how cinema can serve as a powerful medium for social critique and social change.The lecture centers on the documentary Life and Debt, analyzing how globalization has disproportionately affected the peoples of the Global South, particularly in the Caribbean. Students examine the contradictions and ironies of globalization, decolonization, and denationalization, while questioning whether political independence has translated into genuine economic and cultural liberation.Drawing on the works of Frantz Fanon, particularly The Wretched of the Earth; Homi K. Bhabha and The Location of Culture; and V. S. Naipaul and his literary contributions as forms of resistance and social commentary, the lecture explores the intellectual foundations of Caribbean thought and postcolonial critique.Students are introduced to and discuss key concepts including nationalism, colonialism, decolonization, postcolonialism, mise-en-scène, globalization, the Global South versus the Global North, and the ways visual storytelling can shape historical consciousness and political understanding.The lecture then transitions into a historical timeline of the Caribbean, beginning with ancient Kemet over 5,000 years ago, examining early African civilizations and pre-Columbian societies before tracing the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the profound transformations that followed. Through this historical journey, students are encouraged to rethink conventional narratives about the Caribbean and situate the region within broader global historical processes.Delivered live via Zoom, this lecture is part of the Caribbean Thought course at Jamaica Theological Seminary and reaches students across the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, and beyond. The course is taught by Professor Renaldo McKenzie, author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance, President of The Neoliberal Corporation, and creator and host of The Neoliberal Round Podcast. Professor McKenzie delivers the lectures from Philadelphia, bringing together history, philosophy, political economy, and media studies to challenge students to critically examine the Caribbean's past, present, and future.For more information, email info@theneoliberal.com.Visit theneoliberal.com and renaldocmckenzie.com.Learn more about Jamaica Theological Seminary at https://jts.edu.jm.

A sermon for Pentecost 6 (July 5, 2026) Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Romans 7:15-25a I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

It's Mailbag Friday! You've got questions, we've got answers. Segment 1 • Anonymous: Should a Christian parent stay overnight in the home of a son living in a same-sex relationship? • Jonathan: How can socialism become a bridge to sharing the gospel? • Darcy: Why doesn't Wretched lead people in the sinner's prayer? Segment 2 • Carrie: Would God answer the prayers of someone living in an unrepentant same-sex relationship? • Michelle: Are the stopped clocks on the Wretched TV set hidden Bible references? • Ashley: How can Road Trip to Truth best be used as a homeschool curriculum? Segment 3 • Jonathan: How do we know when the Lord is really "putting something on our heart"? • Jonathan: Why did John MacArthur warn against saying, "The Lord told me"? • Evan: Should Christians use nicotine pouches? Segment 4 • Todd: Can AI become dangerously personal—and even deadly? • Alexander: What does the Bible teach about cremation versus burial? • Alexander: Does it matter if my family ignores my burial wishes after I die? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

Luxa https://linktr.ee/LuxaStrata welcomes Literoin & Fr. Damiana to talk about the John Carpenter movie, They Live (1988) and a pop culture magic experiment inspired by the film. What did you see when you “put on the glasses”?Luxa shares about The Green Mushroom Project https://greenmushroomproject.com/ and Void House- creating consent centered magical spaces for conducting group work both in person and online, investigating the magical and alchemical properties of consent, and providing consent education to magically inclined people. Thanks for listening to the Lux Occult Podcast! Support the show by helping Luxa buy books and curtail other costs, as well as taking a bibliomancy break by giving on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/luxoccult . Or, Buy Me a Coffee.com is an option for a one time donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/luxoccultpod?new=1 We would love to hear from you! Please send your thoughts, questions, suggestions or arcane revelations to luxoccultpod@gmail.com or message on Instagram @luxoccultpod https://www.instagram.com/luxoccultpod/ and on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/luxastrata919.bsky.socialCheck out the Lux Occult YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn8n4oQIH1uo08NhMvjjlBMerch! https://www.etsy.com/shop/IlluminIndustriesCommunity Protection Salt Ritual https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Atu6rNWkCSajdF6Fp6KYiMSHk7Sai-6IAlZfopNKFOU/edit?usp=sharing Music for Good: A Mixtape for MN Mutual Aid by Community Aid Network MN (CANMN) https://canmn.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-good-a-mixtape-for-mn-mutual-aidCheck out The Consent Academy https://www.consent.academy/Find Luxa's work published in Serpents of Circe: A Manual to Magical Resilience edited by Laura Tempest Zakroff and Ron Padrón https://revelore.press/product/serpents-of-circe-a-manual-to-magical-resilience/Referenced in today's episode:Project Spex All Out of Bubblegum Ceremony https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mVTyd4yi9T9IqCAram2WdJ4AnznvExAbxEM4hes0Xz4/edit?usp=sharing‘They Live': John Carpenter's Brilliantly Simple and Hugely Enjoyable Assault on Reagan's America by By Sven Mikulec https://cinephiliabeyond.org/live-john-carpenters-brilliantly-simple-hugely-enjoyable-assault-reagans-america/John Carpenter Wants Internet to Stop Misinterpreting ‘They Live' https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/john-carpenter-they-live-twitter-internet-nazis-jewish-control-capitalism-1201764730/They Live: John Carpenter's action flick needs to be saved https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/jan/09/they-live-john-carpenter-neo-nazisGee, whiz: elephant relieves itself on floor of Texas Republican convention https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/13/texas-elephant-republican-conventionThey Live Trivia https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/trivia/The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wretched_of_the_EarthSaw the TV Glow (2024) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Saw_the_TV_GlowAbby Hoffman and Steal This Book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbie_Hoffman Albert Hoffman and LSD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_HofmannBud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud,_Not_BuddyLeak Exposes Members of Peter Thiel's Secretive ‘Dialog' Society https://www.wired.com/story/leak-exposes-members-of-peter-thiels-secretive-dialog-society/#intcid=_wired-verso-hptrending_693ebede-53d6-4172-80db-00ed15bc0d62_popular4-2 How the Peter Thiel-Linked Dialog Club Secretly Ranks Its Members https://www.wired.com/story/how-peter-thiels-private-dialog-club-secretly-ranks-its-members/

Opening/Closing Music: Dubstep Youtube Background Music- TatamusicLinktree for all our links: https://linktr.ee/smuttybookclubTikTok: the_smuttybookclubInstagram: smutty_bookclub04Email: thesmuttybookclub04@gmail.comAs always, be sure to share and subscribe.

 Movie Meltdown - Episode 661 The Meltdown Horror Club vicariously travels to an uncharted Caribbean island to discuss Del Tenney's cult film I Eat Your Skin. And while we strap a GoPro to the cat, we also cover… Hokum, Widow's Bay, The Wretched, Send Help, Good Boy, Remarkably Bright Creatures, adventurer Karen, just keep dancing when your hair falls off, Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek, dubbing, bead-face and bikinis, Wild Kingdom, Sam Raimi, the fashion and attitudes of the 60s, eyeball zombies, knock-off James Bond movies, an SNL cast member, shoddily put together, I just brought my goat here to see the dancing, The Devil's Hand, the decapitation, a long sleeve sleeveless shirt, a die-related injury, trying to make Rachel McAdams a mess, swanky yet threatening, a closet full of zombies, snake milking, Betty Gilpin, a spooky Halloween baby, exotic languages and what are the geological implications of blowing up an island?  Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for the 1971 movie "I Eat Your Skin" (aka "Zombies") ... so go watch the movie before you listen. "There is a considerable lack of skin eating, in a movie called - 'I Eat your Skin!".

Sacrifice for Kingdom Rewards (1) (audio) David Eells – 7/1/26 Eat Your Manna David Eells Don't miss any opportunity to eat your bread of life from heaven every day. Partaking of the Word of God and fellowship with those who share it is of utmost importance. Exo.16:4 Then said Jehovah unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. The Israelites didn't obey God in this, and they murmured and fell in the wilderness. When, because of worldly pursuits, we pass up the chance to eat our manna today with the excuse that we will do it tomorrow, we miss the only chance we had to eat that manna and prepare our soul for the wilderness. 19 And Moses said unto them, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was wroth with them. You see, either you eat it, or you lose it forever. If you have a phone, you can listen and program your mind daily. All excuses aside, people do what is important to them. If the Kingdom is not first in a person's life, God will find someone else who values what He has to offer. Mat.22:4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise. 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore unto the partings of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage feast. Luk.14:15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: 17 and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for [all] things are now ready. 18 And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. Jesus accepted none of these excuses to abstain from the Word. 21 And the servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame. 22 And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain [them] to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Manna Lost) 25 Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. (Even these cannot be an excuse.) 27 Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. I pray for you that God will be first in your life. You have a chance to prepare for the wilderness. Without taking advantage of this, you will fall and someone will take your place. “Let no man take thy crown”.   A Call to Sacrifice Debbie Fenske Prophesy 1/25/26 (My dear children, I am doing a work in each of you. My Beloved, I am preparing you. Have you sensed a preparation? Yes, I have been preparing you for a new thing. A new thing, by My Spirit, is coming to you. But it will take you seeking Me so much more than you do. It will take sacrifice. For I need your attention, My children. Attend to Me. Give ear to My words. Give ear to this, My dear ones, whom I have chosen to be in My Bride company. Not only have I chosen you, but you have been My choice pick. Yes, My children, precious to Me. My first pick. So, now comes the sacrifice. It is this one in particular. Give ear. There is much going on. There is much news. What can you trust? Who can you trust? You have been hearing and reading things that have been preparing you and helping you to know how to pray. But I see your confusion. I see doubt and uncertainty in things you are hearing and reading. It is time My children, to pull back. No more, for the time being, of being on your own, hearing and reading so much news. Pull back from letting your eyes see and your ears hear all this news going forth. Pull back and spend time seeking Me, speaking to Me, and hearing Me. Starting now, set that time for Me first. Your daily duties can follow. I appoint your leaders; your leader, David, and your leader, Michael, to give to you what is important for you to know, and to pray for, and to do spiritual warfare against. Whatever they give you to read, and whatever you hear from them, is My will for you to know about, and to do the job I have equipped you for: prayer and spiritual warfare. No seeking, and no sifting through the news, but seeking only Me and gleaning what I have for you from My Word, with ears and eyes wide open to the things of My Spirit. This will be a training for you. A training in sacrifice. For truly, the flesh is what drives you to know these things of the world. I say, listen to your leaders whom I have appointed over you. I know you can do this. I know you can seek Me and hear Me. And I know you can listen. I know you can lay down your life in this small way of sacrifice. My Beloved, you will be rewarded. And the time to let up on what I am putting on you right now will be revealed. But now is the time for sacrifice in this way, unto Me with obedience of heart. This is for your good, My Beloved. And as the days continue on, and as the news continues on, and as the things happening continue on, you will know for certain that this is for your good, and for the good of many, My Beloved. Be humble. Be faithful. Be true. Be obedient to Me out of your love for Me. And, remain in love with one another.   Rewards and Penalties David Eells I want to share a revelation the Lord gave me a few years ago (6/25/02). I was walking on the road next to a golf course, where I sometimes get some exercise. I immediately noticed golf balls here and there by the road, having been knocked out of the course. It is not unusual to see one or two like this, but I was seeing many now. Usually, this area is combed very well by earlier walkers. After picking up six or seven balls, I thought, “How unusual, I wonder if you are talking to me, Lord”. Then I saw a bright yellow advertisement on the ground, probably blown from someone's mailbox or front door. The unusual thing was that it was within inches of a golf ball that was the exact same unusual color. There was nothing else of that color as far as I could see. The chances against this happening are awesome, I am sure. Then I knew the Lord was speaking to me, but I was not yet sure what. I continued my walk, picking up nine golf balls. My pockets were bulging. On my way home, I had the distinct impression that I would find one more ball. I turned down my street, and just before reaching home, I found one more ball, quite a ways from the course. That made ten in all. I asked the Lord what He was saying, but received no answer until the next day. The Lord showed me that the golf course was like the believers' race to the finish line. I know little of golf, but I understand the trick is to follow that little ball (like we are to follow Christ) across the finish with as few strokes as possible. A hole-in-one, which would of course win the race for that particular hole, would necessitate hitting the ball only once. In disregard to God's command to merely speak to the rock, Moses “smote the rock with his rod twice” and it brought forth water. The penalty for this was that he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land with Joshua and Caleb (Num.20:8-13). 1Co.10:4 and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ. 5 Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Jesus, our Rock, who brought forth the water of life, was smitten once at the crucifixion. We are told that He is not to be smitten twice. We are told that those who walk in willful disobedience “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” Heb.6:6. The person who walks in obedience crucifies the old man (2Co.4:16), but those who walk in willful sin “crucify to themselves” the new man who is “Christ in you the hope of glory”. They smite the rock twice. Those who are twice born and continue to walk in this way will be “twice dead, plucked up by the roots” Jude 12. Heb.10:26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 A man that hath set at nought Moses law dieth without compassion on [the word of] two or three witnesses: 29 of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? Jesus bore all sin; He also bore the penalty for all sin, except willful disobedience. Notice that there is “no more a sacrifice” for that sin. Instead, there should be “a certain fearful expectation of judgment”. Many of us have been lied to about the cleansing of the blood. 1Jn.1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Notice that the blood cleanses the one who walks in the light of the Word, not in the darkness of willful disobedience. For willful disobedience, we are promised certain judgment. Those who knock the ball off the course cannot retrieve it and pay the penalty for losing a stroke, while everyone else passes them up. We pay the penalty for this sin here and now, as in the following verses: Mat.18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors (demons), till he should pay all that was due. 35 So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. God will use the demons to make us pay for the sin of the will. Mat.5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge (God), and the judge deliver thee to the officer (demon), and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing. The prison here is spiritual bondage to sin and the curse is administered by the demons. Jesus came “. . .to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound” Isa.61:1. Willful disobedience throws us back into the prison that Jesus delivered us from. David sinned willfully with Bathsheba. When he repented, Nathan the prophet said, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin”; but he also said, “The sword shall never depart from thy house”. In other words, I forgive you, but you will have to pay the penalty. This proved true, for David lost three sons and many people. His own son Absalom won the sympathy of the people and usurped the kingdom. David had to flee for his life. As parents, we do not spank our children for failure or mistakes, but for willful disobedience. Paul said, “For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not (or willed not), that I practice. But if what I would not (willed not), that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me” Rom.7:19,20. Paul was failing God in a sin that his will was against. Notice that he hated the sin and was not accounted guilty; the old sin nature was guilty. When we are against the sin, God takes our side against the sin. He takes the side of the spiritual man against the old man. In this state, Paul cried out to the Lord. 24 Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? Then he accepted God's promise of deliverance by faith. 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus bore the curse of the sin for a person who is repentant, like Paul, even before he overcomes the sin. There are types on top of scriptural types, and one does not negate the other. The clear type that the Israelites in the wilderness show us is that those who walk in rebellion and do not bring forth a measure of fruit will not enter the Promised Land, representing the Kingdom of Heaven. Many years ago, I saw another less-known type in the same text that is important here. In golf, as in life, there are penalties. Moses struck the rock twice and did not enter the Promised Land in his body as Joshua and Caleb did. He entered the heavenly Promised Land as a spiritual man. The Israelites who failed to totally walk by faith died in body, but their fruit, the spiritual man, represented by their children, entered the Promised Land of heaven. Num.14:30 surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones (Their fruit, Christ in You, the spiritual man), that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. After their bodies died, their little ones, that which was conceived in them and born from them, as is our spiritual man, entered the Promised Land of heaven. Only the seed, representing the spiritual man or new man, of those whose bodies died in the wilderness, entered the Promised Land of heaven. Mat.13:38 and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; ... The body is not a son of the kingdom or son of God, but a son of man. 1Co.15:50 ... Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Only a body born from above can enter the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb had their bodies under submission to the Word. In these days, the totally faithful, represented by Joshua and Caleb, will receive this body before dying, but “the soul that sins must die”. The ‘pre-wilderness all fly away' lie says that everyone will enter the Promised Land in their new bodies, but the penalty for not overcoming sin in the wilderness is that the body will die. In a nutshell, those who believe, like Joshua and Caleb, will enter the Promised Land in body after the wilderness trial. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The faithful will not die but be translated. Heb.11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: 6 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]. However, those who walk in a measure of unbelief will have to die in body in the wilderness and will enter only as the spiritual man. Num.14:33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, (The number of tribulation) for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation (meaning, the revoking of my promise). Contrary to popular opinion both those who sleep, whose bodies fell, and those “who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord”, like Joshua and Caleb, will go through the wilderness which God says is the tribulation (Rev.12:6, 17:3). Joshua and Caleb knew because of God's promises that they could conquer the carnal man (the Canaanite) and take the Promised Land. They spoke the good report (Num.14:6-9). Those who say that the carnal man is too strong for us, that we are always going to be sinners, and speak the bad report will die in the wilderness (Num.14:36, 37). To them, the carnal old man is a giant, but to little David they were nothing. Remember that Jesus already crucified the old man, and you are to “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus” Rom.6:11. God is able to do it for the people who believe it, as Joshua and Caleb did. Getting back to golf, the trick is to keep the ball in the fairway. That's the “fair” “way”. Those who do not run the race and keep their ball in the fair-way will fall into the hazards of the water, the sand traps, the rough, or out of the course entirely, like the balls that I found. These hazards are the penalty of costing golfers more strokes to get the ball back in the fairway while everyone else passes them up in points. The major penalty is losing the race to the one who does it right the first time and hits the ball the fewest times down the fairway. The water represents the curse of the Word that falls on those who are contrary to it. There are penalties written there for the disobedient. The sand traps are for those who do not stand on, or build their house on, the rock of Jesus. Mat.7:26-27 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof. The rough and sand trap is for those who are not on the fairway of the straight and narrow road, the manicured grass. Mat.7:13-14 Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. 14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. Pro.13:15 Good understanding giveth favor; But the way of the transgressor is hard. Those who knock the ball out of the course cannot retrieve it and pay the penalty of losing a stroke, while everyone else passes them up. I believe the Bride and the Man-child are hole-in-one golfers. Rev.3:11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. We struck the ball, the rock of Christ, once. Let us not do it again. I asked the Lord why there were ten balls. Ten represents the law of God, as does the Ten Commandments. Paul taught that God's law in our covenant is no longer written on tablets of stone but hearts of flesh, meaning it is to be a part of our nature (2 Cor.3:3). For much of the church, God's law has been struck out of the “fair way” like the balls I saw. The curse of the law is the penalty for this. When Moses was in the mountain of God getting the law, Israel took the opportunity to create their own God, the golden calf, to follow and called it in Hebrew YHWH and Elohim (Exo.32:4,5,11), much like the church today puts the name “Christian” on their own creation. When Moses came down and saw this, he cast the tables with the commandments down and brake them (Exo.32:15,19). The church is in much the same way today, and the Man-child is coming with the true Word that has been broken by them. Again, here is a true type in the midst of many true types. When Israel was in Egypt, as the church is in the world, the Egyptians represented the old carnal man, and the Israelites represented the spiritual man. Here is clear proof of this. When Moses (representing Christ), put to death the Egyptian (representing the carnal man who died on the cross), he left Egypt (the world) and married a Gentile bride, one of seven daughters (representing the seven churches - Exo.2:16; Isa.4:1; and Rev.3:10- who was the obedient Philadelphia Bride who escaped the trial.). These were daughters of one father, Jethro (Hebrew meaning: His excellence), who represents the Father. Paul also said that Israel was baptized in the Red Sea and, of course, the Egyptians, who represented the carnal man died there in a baptism. I said all that to say this. God smote the Egyptians, the old man, with ten strokes, from the waters being turned to blood to the Passover. The world is headed toward many strokes of judgment from the hand of God, but ten categories typified by these judgments. This represented the curse of the law that was broken. This was to cause Israel to repent and come out of Egypt, out from among them. In this type, they left the world represented by Egypt. A parallel revelation is that Israel tempted God ten times by not hearkening unto His voice in the wilderness (Num.14:22). The Egyptians took the penalty of ten strokes, while Israel missed out on seven of them because they abode in Goshen, representing Christ. It took three strokes before God made a division between Israel, the spiritual man, and Egypt, the carnal man (Exo.8:22,23). When Paul no longer willed to do sin, even though he was failing, God made a division between him and the sinner, the carnal man. Rom.7:20 But if what I would not (willed not), that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. After seven more strokes, they not only willed to give up sin, they gave it up. The old man was put to death in the baptism of the “washing of water with the word” Epe.5:26 in the Red Sea. I found the last ball when I was almost home. The Passover was the last great stroke that came on those not under the blood when Israel left Egypt, the world, to go home. That last great stroke will be the Day of the Lord at the end of the tribulation, when God pours out His wrath in a spiritual end-time flood of destruction as Noah lifts off. Now the following dream speaks to those disciples of Christ who abide in Him by grace through faith and have endured the trials to walk in His steps of His Word. 1Jn.2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. If Jesus lives in you by His Word and Spirit, He can do this. Joh.7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. 39 But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive…   Bride Rewarded for Building the House of God Eve Brast - 10/01/2017 (David's notes in red) (I was hesitant to send this, but I believe it primarily has a corporate meaning. I asked Father if He wanted me to send this dream, to give me all heads on three quarters, and He gave me all heads. So I think I'm representing the corporate bride body. Maybe it has individual meaning as well. But I believe the first fruits are about to be rewarded for diligence in “building the house” and being a habitation for the Lord to dwell in. :o) I dreamed that I was at the back of our local UBM meeting. (Which is a type of Larger UBM) I had been working very hard cleaning the house up with those white Mr. Clean “Magic Erasers”. (1Pe.4:8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins) (Eve and all of the Bride do work hard to clean up the house. They are very serious about pleasing God in this way.) Everyone was sitting facing the opposite direction than usual, and the musicians weren't in their normal places with their instruments. David had called a special meeting to make an announcement to everyone. (David here represents those Davids who will take the place of the Sauls to raise up Jerusalem, which John in Revelation revealed is the Bride. God said He is restoring the Kingdom of David, but in the spirit. Amo.9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.) In the meantime, while everyone was sitting and talking amongst themselves, waiting for the announcement, I was over in the back left-hand corner of the room, near the front door with a flat-edge shovel, shoveling a 3-foot diameter pile of leftover dust and red dirt into a container or bucket of some kind, in order to throw it out the front door. (Here are the first three mentions of “dust” in the Bible. Gen.2:7 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew = spirit) of life; and man became a living soul. (So the carnal man is dust. The spirit breathed into man is from God.) Gen.3:14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (So Satan, the serpent, can devour dust which is the carnal or fleshly part of the man. If we don't want Satan taking advantage of us we must lose our carnal life.) Gen.3:19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (1Co.15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. So dust goes back to dust and the fruitful receive a NEW heavenly body. So the dust must be swept out of the house of God, which is to be holy.) I was also patting down the red dirt into a hole in the floor with the shovel and trying to seal it up. (So that what is earthly is removed from the house of God and put under our feet. Red dirt reminds us of getting rid of the flesh of Esau and his faction against his brother. Esau was red, and his seed, Edom, means “red”. And dirt is what the flesh comes from.) This seemed like hard work in the dream, and I was breaking a sweat. (It is hard work. Eve worked a regular job, raised a family, and carried on her prophetic ministry, too. Also, this is great training for the Bride to deal with God's people in the wilderness tribulation.) David had been observing what I was doing with a smile while standing in the dining room. (This was true even in the letter.) He then walked swiftly past me into the room and took his seat, which was located near the restroom. I felt the wind (Greek word pneuma: wind, spirit) rush past me as he went by. As David sat down and began to speak, everyone settled down and became quiet. He said, “The Father has instructed me concerning a blessing for Eve Brast (As a type of the larger Bride body.) and here's why... Father gave me these verses....” 1Ch.22:3, And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight; (The Davids are preparing the “Words”, which are nails, to build the house of God, which is His people. They build the walls which separate us from the world. They build the gates that keep the enemy out and the sheep in. And Eve received this very fitting verse.) Ecc.12:11, The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one Shepherd. (Who is Jesus. Goads are sharp prods to keep the sheep or cattle in line. They are like nails in this regard. The “Words” keep the people in line and hold them together. The Word is what the people are made of. Like their Lord, they are the Word become flesh. Joh.1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. Heb.2:17 Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.) Exo.39:40, the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the nails thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; (All furnishings of the house of God, which is His people.) Ecc.2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; 5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; 6 I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared; (Houses, vineyards, gardens, trees, fruit are ways the scripture uses to speak of God's people, which are “builded” here by the wisdom of Solomon, son of David.) Pro.24:3 Through wisdom is a house builded; And by understanding it is established; 4 And by knowledge are the chambers filled With all precious and pleasant riches. (The wise and humble love to be taught truth, seeing it as riches. The wise teacher will separate the sheep from the goats by the Word. The sheep are the building blocks of the house.) Heb.3:4, For every house is builded by some one; but he that built all things is God. (God uses His Man-child reformers and five-fold ministry to build His house.) Eph.2:20 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (These have laid the foundation of the Church which is God's house), Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; (Jesus is a replica of the whole building and it is squared by Him.) 21 in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord (We, as individual buildings, are builded together as God's temple.); 22 in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. When I heard my name in the dream, I straightened up, and leaning upon the handle of my shovel, I stopped to listen. I was shocked that the Father had wanted to bless me like that. (The Bride is a humble and unassuming people.) I thought the blessing should be for someone more deserving and involved, someone who was more useful or important to His Kingdom. In my mind, all I had been doing was hard, menial labor in the background that didn't seem to amount to much. Then I woke up. (Eve has worked hard to clean up the Kingdom people who are the House of God being built in the verses given. She is a good type of the Bride. She worked full-time and had a household to take care of, but she took time to type up and think about the prophetic exhortations to the body, too. So this is a labor of love. I also believe there is an important larger view here, in that the Lord uses Eve as the bride of Adam, and the last Adam is Jesus. So the Bride, and Eve as part of the Bride, is working to perfect God's people, and we are so thankful to God for all of them.) (As David read the verses, the words nails, build, builded and house, stood out to me and were very important to his message to everybody. David read them as if they were one whole passage. He didn't give scripture references in the dream, so when I woke up, I searched for the key words nails, build, builded, and house. The Spirit helped to clarify which ones I had heard David read in the dream.) I asked Father for a personal word for me concerning this dream, if there was a personal aspect for me in it. (Because the dream doesn't seem to fit with my current reality. I've had to devote so much of my time to working in “Egypt”. The enemy tries to use this a lot to condemn me, which is probably why I was shocked in the dream and even afterwards, when I woke up and was pondering on what it could mean. [The enemy does a lot to keep us humble.]) So anyway, I received: Pro.8:31 (in context: 30-31) (my finger was on “habitable” from Pro. 8:31 in the Bible concordance.) 30 Then I was by him, as a master workman; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always before him, 31 Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men. (God delights in His builders who delight in His people. The wicked and the Pharisees hate them with a passion.) In the context of Proverbs 8, these verses seem to fit with the ones David read in the dream. :0) Very encouraging. Thank you, Father!

In this session, we cover the readings appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, falling on July 5, 2026.Of course, you may be in search of something “patriotic” to say with the Independence Day celebration (aka, July 4) in America. That's not really our bag here at the Lectionary Lab, but I'll see if I can't whip up a little something for the Thursday Sermon (on Wednesday) — which I will send out this week on Tuesday for the holiday!This Sunday turns a corner. Last week closed the four-week Matthew 10 sending discourse with the small image of a cup of cold water. This week, the Gospel offers what may be the most beloved invitation in all of Scripture: come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. After weeks of being called, sent, warned, and welcomed, the same Jesus turns to his disciples and says: come.The Old Testament tracks both lead toward that Gospel, but they get there along very different roads. Track One brings us a tender story from Genesis — the long account of Abraham's servant finding Rebekah — paired with either Psalm 45's royal wedding song or Song of Solomon's love poem. (The lectionary offers the two as alternatives, and this guide treats both fully.) Track Two brings us Zechariah's vision of a humble king coming on a donkey rather than a war horse, paired with Psalm 145's sweeping celebration of God's compassion for all. The Epistle moves into Romans 7 — Paul's honest, piercing description of the war between intention and action.A small but real continuity is worth noticing as you prepare. Rebekah's first kindness in Genesis 24, in the verses just before our reading, was to draw water for a thirsty servant — and then for his camels. That echo of last week's cup of cold water is the lectionary doing some quiet preaching on its own. For preachers following a sermon series, this Sunday opens a new arc; the Matthew 10 cycle is complete, and Matthew 11 begins a new movement that will carry into the parables in the weeks ahead.A small but real continuity is worth noticing as you prepare. Rebekah's first kindness in Genesis 24, in the verses just before our reading, was to draw water for a thirsty servant — and then for his camels. That echo of last week's cup of cold water is the lectionary doing some quiet preaching on its own.The ReadingsGenesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67First Reading (Track One) — The Finding of RebekahSummaryThis is selected portions of the longest chapter in Genesis. After Sarah's death, Abraham sends his trusted servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac. The selected verses give us three moments: the servant explaining his mission to Rebekah's family, his retelling of the prayer he had silently prayed at the well and how Rebekah had appeared at exactly the right moment, and the close of the story — Rebekah's choice to go, her family's blessing, her journey to Canaan, and the meeting with Isaac in the field. Isaac, the text tells us, brings her into the tent that had been his mother's, and is comforted after his mother's death.Photo by james ballard on UnsplashKey Ideas for Preaching* Rebekah's first kindness, in the verses just before our reading, was to draw water for the servant — and then to draw water for his ten thirsty camels. After last week's cup of cold water, the echo is hard to miss. What does it mean for your congregation that a story this important to the family of Israel begins with the small kindness of a young woman drawing water for thirsty strangers?* When the servant prayed, he says, his prayer was answered before he had finished speaking. The text holds together strong human action and quiet divine arrangement, neither one swallowing the other. Where does your congregation tend to imagine that God's providence and human kindness compete, and how might this text suggest they work together?* Rebekah's “I will go” is one of the clearest moments of agency for a woman in Genesis. She is asked, and she chooses. What does it look like to honor the women in your congregation by reading this story with careful attention to her voice, not just to the men around her?* The story closes with Isaac being comforted after the death of his mother. He has barely spoken since the binding two chapters ago — and now, quietly, the text tells us he is starting to heal. How might your sermon let your people feel that healing often happens slowly, in ordinary ways, after the wounds we cannot easily name?Significant Cautions* The story has often been used to bless arranged marriages or to model dating advice. The text is doing something much larger; do not flatten it into a prescription for modern relationships.* The servant's prayer at the well has sometimes been read as a model for laying out tests to see if God will give the right sign. That is a small and anxious use of a story that is mostly about quiet divine arrangement, not negotiated tests.* Sarah, who dies just before this story, was wronged in this family in ways the text does not resolve. Be honest that the comfort Isaac receives at the end of the chapter does not erase the harder family history that has come before.Psalm 45:10–17The Psalm (Track One, primary option) — A Royal Wedding SongSummaryA wedding song — one of the few psalms not addressed to God but to a king and his bride. The selected verses focus on the bride. She is counseled to leave her own people and join her husband. She is described in glorious clothing, accompanied by joyful companions, and brought with celebration into the king's palace. The psalm closes with a promise that her sons will be princes in all the earth.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm describes a celebration — joy at a wedding, glad procession, glorious clothing. After several weeks of demanding texts, what would it look like to let your congregation feel the goodness of celebration as a faithful response to God?* The Christian tradition has often read this psalm allegorically as the marriage of Christ and the church. There is real poetic richness in that reading. How might it shape your sermon to let the psalm be both a wedding song and an image of the love that holds the church?Significant Cautions* “Forget your people and your father's house” has been a difficult line throughout the psalm's history. In its original setting, it describes a foreign princess marrying into Israel — a major dislocation. Modern readers are right to feel the strangeness of the line. Do not preach it in a way that suggests God ever asks anyone to simply forget where they come from.* The psalm focuses almost entirely on the bride's appearance and her function as the producer of royal sons. That is one voice within Scripture, not the whole of what Scripture says about women. Be careful with how you handle the imagery in a contemporary congregation.Song of Solomon 2:8–13The Psalm (Track One, alternative option) — Arise, My LoveSummaryAn alternative reading to Psalm 45. The Beloved's voice rings out across the hills: “the voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” The lover calls the Beloved to come away. Winter is over. The flowers appear. The fig tree puts forth its early fruit. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.Key Ideas for Preaching* The book of Song of Solomon, surprisingly to many in the pews, is in the Bible — and most of what it celebrates is human, embodied love. What does it do for your congregation to hear that the Scriptures have room for an unabashed celebration of human longing?* The image of winter ending and the world flowering again has been used by faithful readers across generations as a picture of God's renewing work. How might your sermon let the text speak both as a love poem and as a picture of what God's love does to a frozen heart?Significant Cautions* The text has, for most of its history in the church, been allegorized into a song about Christ and the church or God and the soul. That tradition is rich. But it has sometimes been used to apologize for the book's frankly erotic content. The text was given to us as it is. Be careful not to scrub it for modern propriety.* Be careful, on the other hand, not to use this text to baptize any contemporary picture of romance. The poem describes mutual longing, mutual delight, and the breaking of seasons; it is not a manual for human relationships and should not be flattened into one.Zechariah 9:9–12First Reading (Track Two) — The Humble KingSummaryA vision of a king coming to Jerusalem — but not the kind of king the people are expecting. He is humble and righteous, victorious yet riding on a donkey rather than a war horse. When he comes, he will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem. The bow of battle will be broken. He will command peace to the nations, and his rule will reach from sea to sea. The reading closes with a word to the “prisoners of hope” — return to your stronghold, double restoration is on the way.Key Ideas for Preaching* The king Zechariah envisions is humble — he comes riding a donkey rather than a war horse. Power that does not look like power. This is the picture the Gospels will pick up at the entry to Jerusalem, and it is the picture Jesus offers of himself in today's Gospel as “gentle and humble in heart.” What does it mean for your congregation to follow this kind of king in a world that still measures power by chariots?* The peace this king brings includes cutting off the implements of war. Not making them better; getting rid of them. Where in your congregation has the language of peace been allowed to coexist with the quiet building up of weapons of one kind or another?* “Prisoners of hope” is one of the strangest and most beautiful phrases in the prophets. The people of God are imagined as captives — but captives of hope, not despair. What might it mean to your people to hear themselves named that way?Significant Cautions* This text is most often heard on Palm Sunday, when it gets read as a prediction of Jesus' entry to Jerusalem. Hearing it now, outside that context, gives a preacher a chance to let it speak first in its own voice. Be careful not to rush it toward Christ in a way that strips it of its own original power.* “Peace to the nations” has sometimes been used to bless military adventures branded as bringing peace. The text says the opposite. The peace comes from disarmament, not from victory.Psalm 145:8–14The Psalm (Track Two) — Good to AllSummaryA great hymn of praise to God's goodness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. God is good to all, and God's compassion is over all that God has made. All God's works give thanks; the faithful bless God. God's kingdom is everlasting. The Lord upholds those who are falling and raises up those who are bowed down.Key Ideas for Preaching* “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” That is a remarkably wide claim. Not good to the worthy. Good to all. Where has your congregation accepted, without thinking, the idea that some are inside God's compassion and some are not?* The psalm is full of universal language — all, every, all that he has made. This is one of the cosmic visions of God's reach in the Hebrew Bible. How might your sermon let your congregation feel the size of that reach?* “The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.” This pairs beautifully with the Gospel's invitation to come to Christ and find rest. What does it look like to preach to those who are falling — gently, without shame?Significant Cautions* “Slow to anger” can be heard bitterly by people who have been crying out for justice for a long time. Do not preach this verse without making room for that experience.* “Upholds all who are falling” can land cruelly on those whose loved ones did, in fact, fall and not get caught. Be careful with this verse near grief.Romans 7:15–25aThe Epistle — The War WithinSummaryOne of the most psychologically piercing passages in the New Testament. Paul describes the experience of doing what he does not want and not doing what he wants. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” He finds, he says, a kind of law at work in him — that when he wants to do good, evil is right there. He delights in God's law in his inmost self, but another law is at work in his body. The passage rises to a cry: “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And then, almost without taking a breath, it pivots: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”Key Ideas for Preaching* This is one of the most honest descriptions of the human condition anywhere in Scripture. Paul does not pretend to have mastered himself. He names the experience that everyone in the room recognizes — wanting to do better and finding the same old patterns returning. What does it mean for your congregation to hear that the Bible knows this experience by heart?* The cry “wretched man that I am” is not despair. It is honest grief that something is broken — and it leads directly to the cry for rescue. How might your sermon teach your people that naming what is broken in themselves is not the same as despairing of themselves?* The pivot at the end is not a quick fix. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” does not mean the internal struggle disappears overnight. Paul will go on in chapter 8 to describe how the Spirit groans with us in the meantime. Where might your sermon hold the honesty of the struggle and the hope of the rescue together, without rushing past either?Significant Cautions* This passage has been argued about for centuries — whether Paul is describing his pre-Christian past, his ongoing experience as a believer, or some other voice altogether. Faithful readers come down differently. Do not preach as if the question has been settled.* The passage has sometimes been used to bless moral failure — “even Paul couldn't do it, so why try?” That is a misuse. Paul is naming the struggle, not surrendering to it.* The “body of death” language has sometimes been used to disparage the physical body as the source of sin. That is not what Paul says. The whole human person, body and mind together, is involved in the struggle, not the body alone.* “Try harder” sermons that ignore Paul's actual point are common with this text. The point is not effort. The point is the rescue.Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30The Gospel — Come to Me, All Who Are WearySummaryTwo paired sections of Matthew 11. In the first, Jesus complains about his generation. They are like children in the marketplace who cannot be pleased — neither the dance music nor the funeral song moves them. John came as an ascetic and was called demon-possessed. Jesus came eating and drinking and was called a glutton. The wisdom of God will be vindicated, he says, by what it actually produces. The reading then skips ahead — past the harsh woes against the Galilean cities, which the lectionary omits — to Jesus' thanksgiving. He thanks the Father for hiding things from the wise and revealing them to infants. And then the famous invitation: come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Key Ideas for Preaching* The opening verses describe a generation that cannot be pleased by either austerity or celebration. Where in your own time do you see the same dynamic — a culture that rejects every kind of religious witness, on different grounds? How might your sermon take that pattern seriously rather than dismiss it?* Jesus says wisdom is vindicated by what it produces — its deeds. Not by its claims, its slogans, or its theology, but by what comes of it in actual lives. Where in your congregation has wisdom been measured by talk rather than by fruit, and how might today's text reset that?* The thanksgiving in verse 25 is for what God reveals to “infants” — the simple, the small. That has often been misread as anti-intellectual. It is not. It is a critique of the kind of wisdom that is too sure of itself to receive a gift. What does it mean for your people to come to God like infants — open-handed, not pre-loaded with answers?* The famous invitation — “come to me, all you who are weary” — is offered to everyone, no test required. After four weeks of Matthew 10's increasingly demanding sending discourse, this is the gentlest possible turn. How might your sermon help your congregation feel the contrast and receive the invitation?* A yoke is the wooden frame that binds two oxen together so they can pull a load. A well-fitted yoke makes the work bearable; a poorly fitted one is torture. Jesus offers an easy yoke — one that fits, one that pairs the weary person with him. What does it look like for your people to be yoked with Christ in their actual daily work?* “Rest for your souls.” Not just rest for the body, though that matters too. Rest in the deeper place. What kind of rest are your people most in need of, and how might today's text point them toward it?Significant Cautions* The “easy yoke” should not be flattened into the claim that following Jesus is without cost. We have just spent four Sundays on the cost of being sent. The yoke is easy because of who it is shared with, not because the work is small.* The “hidden from the wise” language has been misused to bless anti-intellectualism. Jesus is not against thinking. He is against the kind of self-satisfied wisdom that cannot receive what is given.* “Come to me, all you who are weary” has been preached in ways that minimize the systemic causes of human weariness. People are not just personally tired; many are exhausted by work conditions, economic pressure, racism, and political structures that are wearing them down. The invitation is real, but it does not let the church off the hook for addressing what is producing the weariness.* The “yoke” image has been used by abusive religious systems to bind people to harmful authorities. Be careful that nothing in your sermon sounds like that. Jesus' yoke is gentle. Anything that is not is not his.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center for the day, and it offers one of the most beloved invitations in all of Scripture. After four Sundays inside the Matthew 10 sending discourse — in which Jesus has called, sent, warned, and welcomed his disciples — the same Gospel now offers them, and us, a startling change of key. Come to me. Find rest. The same Jesus who was sending people out is the one who now invites them in.The Old Testament tracks both lead toward that Gospel along very different roads. * On Track One, Genesis 24 gives us a tender story of God's providence working through human kindness and choice. Isaac, whose binding we read about two Sundays ago, is now being comforted. Rebekah's voice (and her camels) carry forward last week's cup of cold water into a new generation. Whether you choose Psalm 45 or Song of Solomon, the paired text celebrates love that comes when winter ends. The whole track has the quality of a thaw — a turning toward warmth after the heaviness of recent weeks.* On Track Two, Zechariah's vision of the humble king on a donkey leads directly into the Gospel's “gentle and humble in heart” Jesus. Psalm 145 widens the scope: God's mercy is for all, God's compassion over everything that has been made. The track invites a congregation to see the kingdom of God as fundamentally gentle in nature.* Romans 7 sits inside the day in a fascinating way. After the Gospel's invitation, Paul's honest description of the war between desire and action gives a name to one of the heavy burdens we carry. The rest Jesus offers is not the absence of that struggle. It is the company in which the struggle is held.For preachers continuing a sermon series, this week opens a new arc. The four-week Matthew 10 sending discourse is complete. * Matthew 11 begins a movement that will carry into parables and signs in the weeks ahead. The transition from “go out” (Matthew 10) to “come to me” (Matthew 11) is itself the heart of this Sunday's word. Sending and rest are not opposites; they are two sides of the same life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Todaywe begin a new section in Philippians chapter 3. In the previous verses, Paulhas been sharing the great passion of his heart when he said, "That I mayknow Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of Hissufferings." Now, as we come to Philippians 3:12, Paul begins to describehis pursuit of Christ. He writes: "Not as though I had alreadyattained, either were already perfect..." Paul gives us one of themost important secrets of spiritual growth, and it is surprisingly simple. Thesecret is this: never become satisfied with where you are spiritually. Nowthink about who is making this statement. This is not a new convert. This isnot a believer who has only been walking with Christ for a few months. This isthe Apostle Paul. By the time he writes Philippians, Paul has walked withChrist for nearly thirty years. And yet, Paul says: "Not as though Ihad already attained, either were already perfect." The word"perfect" here does not mean sinless perfection. It means complete,finished, mature, or having fully arrived at the goal. Paulis saying, "I have not crossed the finish line yet. God's work in my lifeis not complete." What humility! The very man we would probably considerone of the greatest Christians who ever lived looked at himself and said,"I still have room to grow." One of the surest marks of spiritualmaturity is realizing how much more maturity is needed. The closer we get toJesus, the more clearly we see areas in our lives that need His transforminggrace. Have you ever noticed that when you first clean a window, it lookspretty good? But when the sunlight shines through it, suddenly you noticestreaks and smudges you never saw before.  1John 1:7 says: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we havefellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses usfrom all sin.”  The closer we walkwith Christ, the brighter His light shines on our hearts. We begin to seeattitudes, motives, habits, and weaknesses that need to change. That does notdiscourage a growing Christian. Instead, it motivates him. Paul had what wemight call a holy dissatisfaction. He was satisfied with Christ, but he was notsatisfied with his own spiritual progress. There is a tremendous differencebetween those two things. Paul had found complete satisfaction in Jesus Christ,but he still longed to know Him more deeply, love Him more fully, and serve Himmore faithfully. Sadly,one of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is spiritual complacency. Thechurch at Laodicea is a perfect example. In Revelation 3:17 they said: "Iam rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing."ButJesus saw them differently. He said they were: "Wretched, miserable, poor,blind, and naked."  They thoughtthey had arrived when in reality they were far from where they needed to be.That danger still exists today.  Sometimeswe compare ourselves with other Christians instead of comparing ourselves withChrist. Paul never compared himself to other believers.He compared himself to Jesus Christ. And when you compare yourself to Jesus,there is always room to grow. Psalm42:1-2 gives us a beautiful picture of holy dissatisfaction: "As thedeer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soulthirsts for God, for the living God." The psalmist was not contentwith yesterday's fellowship. He longed for more of God today. That was Paul'sattitude. That should be our attitude as well. A satisfied Christian is often astagnant Christian. The Christian race is not over until we see Jesus face toface. There are still lessons to learn, victories to win, prayers to pray,people to reach, and ways to become more like Christ. So let us embrace whatPaul embraced—a holy dissatisfaction that keeps us pursuing Christ every day ofour lives. 

EPISODE SUMMARY Dillin is more and more convinced that the One Shot studio is legitimately haunted, and gets closer and closer to the ghosts as his tower becomes unstable.  SHOW NOTES This Wretched House One Shot News & Updates One Shot Patreon One Shot TWITCH Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide Follow the cast here! Dillin Apelyan ----------------------------------------------------- Support WotC staff as they try to unionize! Find and call your representatives and be heard (US) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (Canada) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (UK) ---------------------------------------------------- Music Used in This Episode Abandoned Places, Material Gurl Big Band Twelve Days of Christmas, Ryan Saranich Editing and sound design by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shaghik Manè. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE SUMMARY Dillin is more and more convinced that the One Shot studio is legitimately haunted, and gets closer and closer to the ghosts as his tower becomes unstable.  SHOW NOTES This Wretched House One Shot News & Updates One Shot Patreon One Shot TWITCH Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide Follow the cast here! Dillin Apelyan ----------------------------------------------------- Support WotC staff as they try to unionize! Find and call your representatives and be heard (US) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (Canada) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (UK) ---------------------------------------------------- Music Used in This Episode Abandoned Places, Material Gurl Big Band Twelve Days of Christmas, Ryan Saranich Editing and sound design by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shaghik Manè. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wretched man...

EPISODE SUMMARY The One Shot studio is deeply haunted and Dillin is stuck inside alone with nothing but a Jenga tower to keep them company. SHOW NOTES This Wretched House One Shot News & Updates One Shot Patreon One Shot TWITCH Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide Follow the cast here! Dillin Apelyan ----------------------------------------------------- Support WotC staff as they try to unionize! Find and call your representatives and be heard (US) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (Canada) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (UK) ---------------------------------------------------- Music Used in This Episode Abandoned Places, Material Gurl Editing and sound design by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shaghik Manè. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode was originally recorded around Thanksgiving! Paul describes his own frustrating experience as a believer who wanted to obey God but couldn't because the temptations of his flesh were too powerful to resist. And then he suddenly explodes with thanksgiving. Immediately after crying out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" He joyfully shouts, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" He's able to give such heartfelt thanks because he's not living in defeat anymore. He's not being dragged around by appetites, emotions and old ways of thinking that still reside In his flesh. Even though those forces continue to pull at him and tempt him, he's found the keys to freedom, and he tells us what they are so we can be free too. Regardless of how challenging this past year may have been, as believers in Jesus Christ each of us has so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The amazing gifts Paul describes here are ours as well. And because we possess these gifts we know for certain the year ahead will be full of God's mercy and power so we can walk in increasing freedom from our old ways. We're forgiven, full of the Holy Spirit and freed from sin and when we lay hold of these truths real, lasting change takes place. We can thank God not only for His faithfulness during this past year, but because the year ahead will be even better. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series.  Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.  

EPISODE SUMMARY The One Shot studio is deeply haunted and Dillin is stuck inside alone with nothing but a Jenga tower to keep them company. SHOW NOTES This Wretched House One Shot News & Updates One Shot Patreon One Shot TWITCH Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide Follow the cast here! Dillin Apelyan ----------------------------------------------------- Support WotC staff as they try to unionize! Find and call your representatives and be heard (US) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (Canada) Find and call your members of Parliament and be heard (UK) ---------------------------------------------------- Music Used in This Episode Abandoned Places, Material Gurl Editing and sound design by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shaghik Manè. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What stops our progress, pulls us backward, paralyzing us with shame? The past—our past—the foolish, broken history that trails each of us. None can escape its power: all feel its painful weight. Even those the world calls saints are men and women who know their brokenness most fully. The great apostle Paul famously moaned, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24). When there's no one left to dazzle or impress, we cringe in the half-light of our memories. We're stalked by all the things we've done, and increasingly, by the good we've left undone. What could we have been thinking? But the grace of God shines as bright as the Son: “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). In kindness the Father offered us in Jesus the living, breathing, open-hearted embodiment of grace. Because He willingly embraced the weight of our mistakes while making none Himself, our lives can rise above the shadows and despair. He made His mission unmistakably clear: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Embrace that rich, abundant life. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

What stops our progress, pulls us backward, paralyzing us with shame? The past—our past—the foolish, broken history that trails each of us. None can escape its power: all feel its painful weight. Even those the world calls saints are men and women who know their brokenness most fully. The great apostle Paul famously moaned, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24). When there's no one left to dazzle or impress, we cringe in the half-light of our memories. We're stalked by all the things we've done, and increasingly, by the good we've left undone. What could we have been thinking? But the grace of God shines as bright as the Son: “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). In kindness the Father offered us in Jesus the living, breathing, open-hearted embodiment of grace. Because He willingly embraced the weight of our mistakes while making none Himself, our lives can rise above the shadows and despair. He made His mission unmistakably clear: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Embrace that rich, abundant life. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

In this sermon from Romans 7, we explore one of the most relatable struggles in the Christian life: the battle between our desire to serve God and the reality of our ongoing struggle with sin.Paul reminds us that the Law reveals God's holiness and exposes our sin, but it cannot save us. Even the most faithful believers experience an inner conflict between the flesh and the spirit. The good news is that our hope is not found in perfect rule-keeping, but in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.Key themes include: The purpose of God's Law  Why sin is "utterly sinful"  Paul's personal struggle in Romans 7  Freedom from legalism and self-righteousness  The power of Christ to deliver us from sin "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25)Whether you're struggling with temptation, guilt, or feelings of spiritual failure, this lesson points us back to the One who truly sets us free. #Romans7 #SetMeFree #ChristianSermon #BibleStudy #ChurchOfChrist #Gospel #JesusChrist #Faith #Grace #FreedomInChrist #ChristianLiving #PaulTheApostle #BibleTeaching #Salvation #RomansSeries

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“The belly is an ungrateful wretch, it never remembers past favors, it always wants more tomorrow.”~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich “…sin is treason against a Holy God… Sin lurks in our hearts and grabs us by the throat to do its bidding.”~Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, English professor and author “As if we could think of anything more difficult than to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength! Compared with this law, everything could be considered easy…[For] the law cannot do anything else than to accuse and blame all…, to convict, and, as it were, apprehend them; in fine, to condemn them in God's judgment: that God alone may justify, that all flesh may keep silence before him.”~John Calvin (1509-1564), French-born theologian and reformer “…reason is not king in human beings, the heart is. Therefore, to change your actions, you must change your desires. But your desires will change, only if the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible also writes his laws on your heart…. Now, in effect, justification gives us a heart transplant. For at the same time that we receive the gift of justifying faith by which we are credited with Christ's extrinsic righteousness, God also sheds abroad in our hearts a new love for him and one another. This new heart love for him, from him, naturally redirects our wills away from sinful selfishness towards a life lived in thankful obedience to God's commands. Even though we continue to have to struggle with the pull of concupiscence in our mortal bodies, the supernatural power of God's abiding love has fundamentally changed us….”~John Ashley Null, theologian at Humboldt University Berlin and North African Bishop “…the unique message of the New Testament is this: For those who are in Christ, and therefore in the Spirit, the battle against sin is to be fought in an atmosphere of victory, not defeat.… Our way of viewing ourselves should reflect this kind of victorious faith.”~Anthony Hoekema (1913-1988), Dutch-born theologian “The pharisee within usurps my true self whenever I prefer appearances to reality, whenever I am afraid of God, whenever I surrender the control of my soul to rules rather than risk living in union with Jesus, when I choose to look good and not be good….”~Brennan Manning (1934-2013), author and former priestSERMON PASSAGERomans 7:7-25 (NASB)Romans 6 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 7 1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man. 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me. 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body's parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. 1 Corinthians 1556 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Marriage, Divorce and Fornication (1) (audio) David Eells, 5/24/26   Scriptural Marriage and Divorce David Eells I know this can be a real can of worms and such a touchy subject when dealing with people who love each other, but we owe it to the brethren to speak the truth concerning their eternal life. We must consider scripture rather than human reasoning, which has gotten a lot of people in trouble and they don't know why they are there. Here are some basic things the Lord has shown from scripture on divorce and remarriage: Jesus' commands superseded the Jews' permission for divorce by His statements, so we cannot go to the law to justify divorce. (Mat.19:8) He said to them, Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. Once again religion is wrong. Hardened hearts cannot be turned easily but in respecting scripture there is safety. There is only one reason for divorce. (9) And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication (Numeric) and marries another woman commits adultery.” If a spouse commits fornication, whether outside of the first marriage or by illegal remarriage, the other is free to remarry because the first spouse broke the marriage bond. Being legally able to remarry does not mean this is God's will for you. God loves to restore. If your mate repents and asks your forgiveness, then forgive as Christ forgave you. Also, spiritual fornication of the heart is not an excuse, for the scripture speaks of physical fornication of the body. You may be concerned, thinking, “What can I do if I got married before I came to the Lord?” Don't worry about that, because everything we did before we came to the Lord was sin, and we can't go back and do anything about it. After you're saved, you are now a new creation in the Lord, and your sins are washed clean by the blood of Christ. The disciples admitted this was a hard statement, and many think so today, but it is better to obey than to bring yourselves under a curse that many endure. (Mat.19:10) The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” Even in the Old Testament, it was fornication for a believer to be married to an unbeliever but hear me out... (Ezr.9:2) For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. ... (Ezr.10:10) And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. (11) Now therefore make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women. Don't act here without reading on. And so it is in the New Covenant: (1Co.7:39) A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. Notice we are to marry “only in the Lord”. (1Co.9:5) Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer. Notice the condition, the wife must be a believer.. (2Co.6:14) Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? (15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? (If one becomes one with an unbeliever to some extent they are leavening themselves.)(16) And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17) Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you. Better not even to date an unbeliever, saints. You don't want to go there because it will bring you a lot of heartache and curses in the future. However, God makes a concession in the New Testament when a person comes to the Lord with an unbelieving spouse because the unbelieving spouse might eventually be saved through their faith. (1Co.7:12) But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to dwell with him, let him not leave her. (13) And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. (14) For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. If that spouse, as an unbeliever, departs, you can remarry. (15) Yet if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such [cases]... Even if you are remarried illegally many times before coming to the Lord, the commands are to Christians and are not retroactive to the old life, for we are a new creation, cleansed of all past sins. Also, Christians can do things in ignorance that are under the blood, for knowledge precedes sin in the New Testament, as before the Law. (Rom.5:13) for until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Rom.7:8)... for apart from the law sin [is] dead. (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (Joh.15:22) If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. This is not an excuse for someone to falsely claim ignorance because God looks on the heart and knows all; He knows what you understand and what you do not. Judgment is sure for fornicators and adulterers. (1Co.6:9) Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators (Basically illegal sexual actions), nor idolaters, nor adulterers (Sometimes this is marrying someone who is already married and not scripturally divorced), nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, (10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (Rev.21:7) He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (8) But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part [shall be] in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. Marriage and divorce can be a very convoluted problem. If, after diligently searching into all that the New Covenant teaches on this subject and asking elders with no satisfaction, remember what Moses did. (Exo.18:25) And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. (26) And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. God told Moses that he would be as God to Israel. For some things, we need to get a word from our Lord. But be careful that you don't receive a flesh pleasing answer from your own mind. Samson kept choosing women for looks rather than staying with scripture and it got him killed. Let's look at what Paul wrote to the Corinthians about marriage. (1Co.7:1) Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (2) But, because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (3) Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. (4) The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. (5) Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency. (6) But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. (7) Yet I would that all men were even as I myself. Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that. (If you're not married, then you won't be distracted, but not everybody has this gift to be celibate, and we're told, (Pro.18:22) Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, And obtaineth favor of the Lord.) (8) But I say to the unmarried and to widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. (9) But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. (10) But unto the married I give charge, [yea] not I, but the Lord, That the wife depart not from her husband (11) (but should she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband); and that the husband leave not his wife.  (I know there are circumstances where a believing or unbelieving husband can be very obnoxious, very overbearing, very sinful, and that's very crucifying to the wife, but that's not an excuse to leave. In most cases, unless he is asking the wife to willfully sin, there can be submission on her part. However, no one should stay in a situation where their life or the lives of their children are in physical danger. We have permission in such a case to flee (Matthew 24:16; Luke 21:21; etc.). (12) But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to dwell with him, let him not leave her. (13) And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. (14) For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. Sanctified here means that the influence of you Christian life can save them and also your faith can stand in for them. (15) Yet if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such [cases]: but God hath called us in peace. (Just know that in the New Testament, being married to an unbeliever is not grounds to leave them; again, only if they leave you, are you free. In the Old Testament, however, if a believer married a non-believer, they demanded a divorce over that because for Jews to be married to non-Jews was fornication (Nehemiah 13:23-30; Ezra chapters 9 and 10). (Neh.13:26) Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin. (27) Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women? Back to (1Cor.7:16) For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O husband, whether thou shalt save thy wife? …(25) Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy. (26) I think therefore that this is good by reason of the distress that is upon us, [namely,] that it is good for a man to be as he is. (27) Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. (28) But shouldest thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet such shall have tribulation in the flesh: and I would spare you. (29) But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that henceforth both those that have wives may be as though they had none; (In other words don't let this distract from your service to God.) (30) and those that weep, as though they wept not; and those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy, as though they possessed not; (31) and those that use the world, as not using it to the full: for the fashion of this world passeth away. (32) But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; (In other words, they're not divided in their attention. However, people don't have to be divided in their attention; they can be celibate or they can always put the Lord first.) (33) but he that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, (Well, if a man is married, it's necessary for him to please his wife, but not to the extent that he lets her be the head of the house; that's bad, very bad. That's like Jezebel and Ahab  and I'll share more on that later.) (34) and is divided. [So] also the woman that is unmarried and the virgin is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. (Is this a bad thing? No, it's commanded, as a matter of fact. It's not a bad thing; it's just that your ability to have your total attention on the Lord without being distracted by family situations is going to be limited. God created the family, so He's not against families. He's against families where they're not married, obviously. What Paul is saying is that if a woman is married, she has to please her husband.) (35) And this I say for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. (36) But if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward his virgin [daughter], if she be past the flower of her age, and if need so requireth, let him do what he will; he sinneth not; let them marry. (You have to understand that a woman was under the authority of her father until she married.)(37) But he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power as touching in his own heart, to keep his own virgin [daughter], shall do well. (38) So then both he that giveth his own virgin [daughter] in marriage doeth well; and he that giveth her not in marriage shall do better. (39) A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. (40) But she is happier if she abide as she is, after my judgment: and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.   Polygamy in the Church? Question from a sister: Someone told me that polygamy is allowed by God! I don't believe this, but I had no way to refute this claim. I tried finding some scriptures, but to no avail. When I looked this subject up on the internet, I actually found a “Christian” website promoting polygamy. What will they think of next? Can you share some scriptures that refute this claim? My answer: Under the Law, they were permitted to have more than one wife and divorce their wives because of their “hardness of heart” but under grace, there is no such permission. Jesus said a man could have one wife and “the two shall become one flesh.” (Mat.19:5-8) and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put [her] away? He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so. From the beginning, God gave Adam, the Son of God, one wife. It appears his righteous seed through Seth were monogamous also. Cain's evil descendant, Lamech, was the first to take two wives. (Gen.4:19) And Lamech took unto him two wives. In order that a line of Israel not be extinct, the next of kin was permitted to raise up seed to a dead man's wife. But the seed of New Testament spiritual Israel is passed on through the Word (seed or sperma) of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Although they disobeyed God, the Kings of Israel were forbidden to multiply wives. (Deu.17:17-19) Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the priests the Levites: and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them. The Apostles had one wife. (1Co.9:5) Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? All of God's people must be upright, but Paul required elders to be “without reproach” and “blameless” in that they were to be the “husband of one wife.” This is definitely one wife at a time because fornication is a legal ground for divorce and remarriage (1 Corinthians 7), and the death of a spouse is a legal ground to remarry. (1Ti.3:2) The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach. (12) Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling [their] children and their own houses well. (Tit.1:6,7) if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God's steward... If the elders or the mature in the Lord need to be upright in having one wife, all need to be this way to be mature. The husband is the head of one wife as Christ is the head of one church. (Eph.5:23-33) For the husband is the head of the wife (not wives), as Christ also is the head of the church, [being] himself the saviour of the body. (24) But as the church is subject to Christ, so [let] the wives also [be] to their husbands in everything. (25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; (26) that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, (27) that he might present the church to himself a glorious [church], not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (28) Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself: (29) for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church; (30) because we are members of his body. (31) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife (not wives); and the two shall become one flesh. (32) This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church. (33) Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and [let] the wife [see] that she fear her husband. Now, I want to share this, too. Men, do not appease a Jezebel spirit; it's going to seduce you and lead you astray. This is our command from God. (Eph.5:22) Wives, [be in subjection] unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (The Lord, not I, said this, but those who have a Jezebel spirit will still get angry, although this is the truth. We have to obey God's Word, or we can't call ourselves “disciples.”) (23) For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, (Just as much as Jesus is Head of the Church, the husband is the head of the wife.), [being] himself the saviour of the body. (If a wife does not obey her husband, she is not going to get saved.) (24) But as the church is subject to Christ, so [let] the wives also [be] to their husbands in everything. (To make this possible for the wife, we are then told,) (25) Husbands, love your wives (Feeling unloved isn't an excuse for a wife to disobey her husband, but love makes it easier for the wife to obey her husband.), even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it. Men, loving your wife does not include giving in to a Jezebel spirit. Giving in means you are putting yourself under a demon spirit and taking yourself and your family out from under God. If you do that, you will pay the price. On the other hand, do not judge the lost wife. God insists on Christ the Word being your Head. Don't judge her, but don't allow her to be your Head. If Jesus is not your Head, then you are following a false god. It's very plain. (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me… If, because of your stand for Christ, your wife leaves you, then suffer for Christ's sake. We all have to suffer in one way or another, but do not follow a false god. The Bible says, (1Co.7:15) Yet if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such [cases:] but God hath called us in peace If your spouse leaves because you follow Jesus, then so be it. You are not bound in such a case; God never really wants you to be married to an unbeliever anyway. He says to stay married to them only if they are content to dwell with you, because they can be saved through your witness. Amen! The wife who has an unbelieving husband should obey him up to, but not including, moral sin. (1Pe.3:1) In like manner, ye wives, [be] in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives. (Read our book on our site, Word Woman and Authority.) If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you have to follow the Word. If you want to be a “Christian” and not be a disciple of Jesus, you are not going to be saved. It's that simple. The word “Christian” is a very loose term in our day, meaning almost nothing. In the early days, people were called “Christians” because they followed Christ Jesus and did His works. Today, the word “Christian” should mean more, but, sadly, it doesn't mean much to people. Jesus told us, (Mat.10:34) Think not that I came to send peace on the earth (You might think, “Peace between me and my wife is the most important. I have to do whatever I have to do.” No, you don't. Jesus did not come to send peace on the earth.): I came not to send peace, but a sword. (And that “sword” is to divide those who are loyal to God's Word from those who are not.) (35) For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law (Now, there are many more relationships. He's just making a point.): (36) and a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. When you come to God, and they have not, you have no communion there. The Bible says, (2Co.6:14) Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? If you follow the Lord, they can be converted by your witness. If you don't follow the Lord, you have no favor from God, and in that event, don't expect your family to be saved. For your family to be saved, the most important thing for you to do is follow the Lord as a disciple of Jesus Christ and have favor from God. He will save your family if you believe Him for it. (Mat.10:37) He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. You can love people more than you love the Word. The Lord and Word are the same. If you love someone or something more than the Word, you are going to be deceived. It's possible to pity demon-possessed people and then, through demons manipulating that pity, to be deceived and fall right into their situation. Don't believe that all those who call themselves “Christian” are going to be saved, because (Mat.10:38) And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. (We are to die on our “cross” in order to gain our higher life, the life of the born-again man.) (39) He that findeth his life (This is the old psuche life.) shall lose it; (39) and he that loseth his life (Again, this is the old psuche life, the carnal self.) for my sake shall find it. Let me share with you a testimony we have on our site called:   Marriage Lost and Found William and Jamie Leek - 02/09/2010 My wife and I have been separated and near divorce twice since the year 2000 because we loved “our sin”, plain and simple. The first separation was in 2002 and 2003. This separation wasn't as bad as the second, but there were a lot of lies and deceit practiced by both parties during the first separation. We got back together in 2003, where our “Mother in the Lord” renewed our vows. The only problem with this is that we were still mocking God in our walks with Him and still “playing church.” We had made a “confession” of Jesus Christ, but we were not being taught the “whole counsel of God,” so we thought the Lord forgave our sin at the cross, and we were “Covered in the Blood.” According to Matthew 12:43-45, when we confessed Christ and His blood cleansed us from our sin and the curse, we allowed that sin to remain in our lives. The demons, which plagued us, brought seven more back with them, stronger than the first. Thus, we were worse off than ever before. We thank the Lord for His mercy, grace, and long-suffering with us. In 2004 came the second separation. This time, the Lord had given us both over to the desires of our very own wicked hearts and allowed us to sink to levels of darkness that we never knew we had in us. During our second separation, the Lord allowed us to see just how sick the human heart, will, and emotions really are (Jeremiah 17:9). During this time of separation, we both fled at top speed back into the world, and we returned to our old ways. I began to smoke pot again (all day EVERYDAY), and she began to drink more than she ever did. We both began to sleep around with other people outside of our marriage. We were separated for nine months, and the combined number of people the two of us slept with was 16. The Lord really allowed us to fall to the bottom of the depths of the sea of sin, which our lives had become. We were going to a little Pentecostal church at the time when these separations took place. It was here we met a woman I considered to be like a mother in the Lord. She loved my wife and family with all her heart. She took time to come to our home and share the scriptures with us once a week for an extended period of time. She believed with her whole heart that we were “called” to the ministry. She would call me in the middle of the night and say, “I woke up in tears, praying in tongues because I just had such a burden for your family.” The Lord would end up using this mighty woman of God and her fervent prayer life to reconcile our marriage and heal our family. She also told me during the 2004 separation that the Lord gave her a dream where He showed her my family living together in a home happier than we had ever been. This, of course, did not matter to me at the time because my heart was full of rage and hatred. I don't believe in accidents; I believe in the sovereign God written about in the scriptures. In January of 2005, I took a trip to Florida with a woman with whom I had been committing adultery. We drove down together, but for some reason at the end of the trip I made her get on a plane, and I drove home alone. On the trip home, my wife and I started to talk again. The Lord also began to really convict me of my sin. Even though, at the time, I did not understand the meaning of “conviction of sin.” All I knew was that I had an overwhelming feeling of guilt for what I was doing. I knew that a change had to come. In April of 2005, my wife and I really started to talk again on a regular basis. At the beginning of May, we had been together for the entire weekend when we received a phone call from a lady with whom we had gone to church. This lady had news that would shake my wife and me to the very core of our being. She told me that my Mother in the Lord, Shirley Summers, was dying of cancer. Well, this is where we know the Lord began to heal our marriage. When the woman shared this news with me on the phone, I began to weep. With tears streaming down my face, I shared the news with my wife, and we shared tears together. She looked at me and said, “I am going to my parents' house, and I'm getting my things, and I am coming home.” That was on May 4, 2005. The next day, my mom called me on the phone and told me that Shirley had gone on to glory. The reason this stands out as one of the most important events in our marriage is that this woman prayed for us fervently (James 5:16). She never stopped believing in our call to the ministry, and she stood in faith for our marriage when we couldn't. Also, the number “5” in the scriptures signifies “GRACE,” and we didn't realize that until a year later, that our Mother in the Lord had died on 5/05/05, a number and day of GRACE. The Lord was very long-suffering with my wife and me. It was not until after we reconciled that we ran across a website where we began to hear the “full Gospel” being preached. We had never heard all the important doctrines taught throughout the scriptures. We had not been taught about repentance, obedience, holiness, or real Bible faith. We also realized that neither one of us was truly saved, as spoken of in the Bible. The scariest thing of all is that we realized that if the Lord would have called our numbers, we would have gone to HELL! It has been a long journey for both of us, as we got rid of the leaven in our lives after leaving the organized church. Over the years, we have had to learn what it means to repent and to truly come to the Lord, believing who He is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We thank the Lord for UBM for standing for the “TRUE GOSPEL”! Deuteronomy 4:30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. Matthew 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Now, what about common law marriage? Is that biblical? Most states in America have abolished common law marriage, and only a few states recognize it as a legal marriage between two people who have not purchased a marriage license or had their marriage solemnized by a ceremony. The few states that do recognize it have conditional statutes. Scripture is clear that marriage is a binding commitment before witnesses and God; a public, covenantal relationship. It is a commitment agreement until death. When Christians marry, they commit to loving each other just as Christ loved the church. If you are not married, you are living in fornication.   Heterosexual and Homosexual Fornication Letter from a friend:  Hi! I have a neighbor friend with whom I've been having sort of an ongoing “discussion/argument” about whether sex outside of marriage is OK, according to the Bible. I know in my heart it is not, but he wants me to prove it to him with scripture. I haven't studied it extensively, but what I've read doesn't say it precisely enough to prove my point. There is one passage about two unwed people being found in the act and having to marry. Since the Ten Commandments do not say, thou shalt not have sex outside of marriage, he thinks it is ok. (LOL) Of course, the real issue is that he's not a born-again believer. But he asked me to prove it to him, so I'm going to try to do it. I don't know much about the Hebrew meanings of the words, etc. Can you help when you have time? :-) Thanks! My reply:  Fornication is the broad term that covers all sex outside of heterosexual marriage. Adultery, homosexuality, whoremonger, bestiality, and masturbation all fall under this category. The Greek word for fornication is “porneia”, from which we get pornography. Many commit fornication with pornography in print or on any visual screen, TV, social media sites, movies, etc. (Mat.5:28) but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. The same is true for any other illicit sexual desire. Repentance and faith deliver from these sins.   Heterosexual Fornication Everyone who has sex out of marriage is a fornicator. (1Co.7:1) Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (7:2) But, because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. All fornicators must repent or face eternal damnation. (1Co.6:9) Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, (10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. (15) Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. (16) Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh. (17) But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (18) Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. (1Co.10:8) Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. (Gal.5:19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness (License to “go beyond the things that are written”), (21) envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Rev.21:7) He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (8) But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part [shall be] in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. (Rev.22:14) Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right [to come] to the tree of life, and my enter in by the gates into the city (the bride). (15) Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie. (1Co.7:9) But if they have not continency (self-control of sexual appetites), let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. (1Ti.5:14) I desire therefore that the younger [widows] marry, bear children, rule the household, give no occasion to the adversary for reviling: (15) for already some are turned aside after Satan. (Job.31:1) I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin? (9) If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; (10) Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. (11) For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: (12) For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase. (Pro.2:16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; (17) That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God: (18) For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead; (19) None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: (Exo.22:16) And if a man entice a virgin that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. (17) If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. (Deu.22:28) If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; (29) then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty [shekels] of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days. Do you believe that because you are “saved” that you can get away with this willful disobedience? (Jer.7:9) Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known, (10) and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations? (11) Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah. (12) But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (13) And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not: (14) therefore will I do unto the house which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. (15) And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. That is just the Old Testament, you say? In any place that we are willfully disobedient, we need the fear of God. Sins of ignorance (Rom.5:13; 7:8,9) and sins of failure (Rom.7:19-25) are under the blood when we repent. However, we cannot claim the sacrificial benefits if we willfully walk in premeditated sin. (Heb.10:26) For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment... Jesus bore all sin; He also bore the penalty for all sin, except willful disobedience. Notice that there is “no more a sacrifice” for that sin. We would have “a certain fearful expectation of judgment.” Many of us have been lied to about the cleansing of the blood. (1Jn.1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. The blood cleanses the one who walks in the light of the Word, not in the darkness of willful disobedience. For willful disobedience, we are promised certain judgment. We pay the penalty for this sin here and now, as in the following verses: (Mat.18:34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors (demons), till he should pay all that was due. (35) So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. God will use the demons to make us pay for a sin of the will. (Mat.5:25) Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge (God), and the judge deliver thee to the officer (demon), and thou be cast into prison. (26) Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing. The prison here is spiritual bondage to sin and the curse, administered by the demons. Jesus came “...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound” (Isa.61:1). Willful disobedience throws us back into the prison that Jesus delivered us from. David sinned willfully with Bathsheba. When he repented, Nathan the prophet said, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin”, but he also said, “The sword shall never depart from thy house.” In other words, I forgive you, but you will have to pay the penalty. This proved true, for David lost three sons and many people. His own son Absalom won the sympathy of the people and usurped the kingdom. David had to flee for his life. As parents we do not spank our children for failure or mistakes, but for willful disobedience. Paul said, “For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not (willed not), that I practice. But if what I would not (willed not), that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me” (Rom.7:19,20). Paul was failing God in a sin that his will was against. Notice that he hated the sin and was not accounted guilty; the old sin nature was guilty. When we are against the sin, God takes our side against the sin. He takes the side of the spiritual man against the old man. In this state, Paul cried out to the Lord. (24) Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? Then he accepted God's promise of deliverance by faith. (25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus bore the curse of the sin for a person who, like Paul, is repentant. The curse of death is upon the one who will not save themselves for marriage. (Deu.22:13) If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,(14) and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity; …(20) But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel; (21) then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. Only repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus removes this curse. (22) If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband,(Adultery) then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away the evil from Israel. (23) If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; (24) then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them to death with stones; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee. (25) But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die: (26) but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter; (27) for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.   Homosexual Fornication (Jude 1:7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh (Men with men/women with women), are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. (2Pe.2:6) and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly; (7) and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked (8) (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed [his] righteous soul from day to day with [their] lawless deeds): (9) the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment; (10) but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. We have seen many people who fell into faction and ultimately into fornication of many kinds, and God reprobated them. Let me share a portion of a dream from Reynaldo Portela: In this dream, an angel put me in a room where a group of men was practicing homosexuality, and the angel told me, “The man who has sex with another man is going to regret it. God hates the practice of that sin.” (David: In the spiritual, we are reborn with Christ's spirit. Therefore, we should only sow Christ's spirit in our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions. If we receive the spiritual seed of “men”, we often lose our first love and become reprobate.) (Rom.1:24) Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: (25) for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (26) For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: (27) and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due. (28) And even as they refused to have God in [their] knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting (32) who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practise them. In an open vision, I, David, saw a factious group, and one of them that I knew left them and went behind a wall. The Lord said, “Follow him,” so I did. What I saw behind the wall was this man committing sodomy on 3 of his friends. Over the next day or two, I went to this man and told him my vision, and his eyes widened, and Michael and I both saw he was guilty. He didn't deny it, but later he threatened me. The factious leader told me about three times that he spoke with them during a certain time period, when he was supposed to be with us, and then he fell away three times. I told him he could not associate with them according to the Word. Eve Brast had a dream where they had captured her, and they were bisexual. Other factious leaders had the same problem and were also bisexual. They all have sexual perversion. Satan demands perversion from his servants. The DS are satanists also and are bisexual. They have the same spirits. God is always willing to deliver anyone like this if there is repentance. (Gal.5:19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (21) ...they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (1Co.6:9) Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, (10) ... shall inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. (Deu.23:17) There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. (18) Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God. (Rev.21:7) He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (8) But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part [shall be] in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. (Rev.22:14) Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right [to come] to the tree of life, and my enter in by the gates into the city. (15) Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie. Sodomite Crossdressers -(1Ki.14:24) and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Jehovah drove out before the children of Israel. (1Ki.15:11) And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as did David his father. (12) And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (Deu.22:5) A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God. (Lev.18:22) Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Lev.20:13) And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.   Bestiality (Exo.22:19) Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. (Lev.18:23) And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion. (Lev.20:15) And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. (16) And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Deu.27:21) Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.   Masturbation (Gen.38:8) And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother. (9) And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. (10) And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and he slew him also. Remember I said that through repentance and faith in Jesus and His sacrifice for us, there is deliverance from these sins and its curses. Now God knows that you did not necessarily choose this life, and some of you think you had this from birth, which is not true. A lot of you already know that you were molested at some point in your life, and you became a sinner. Well, these demons entered in then. Now the Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ bore this sin upon Himself for you, and He is offering you grace to repent and be delivered from it so you will never have these wrong desires and emotions again. He took away the sin nature of homosexuality and any sin of fornication. He wants you to repent and surrender your life to Him. Confess your sins as the Bible says in 1Jo.1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God will give you a new, clean spirit and a new nature, this free gift of His salvation! Let's pray. Father, we thank You, and we ask You, Lord, to reach out and touch the people out there who are in bondage to sin, homosexual, heterosexual, or any kind of sin, and we ask You, Lord, to reach out and touch them with Your convicting power. Father, we ask You to show them that Your word is true. We ask You to reveal Yourself to them, and to show them the Real True Good News that Jesus has already delivered them from this; He's already borne their sin on the cross, and they don't have to bear it any longer. Father, we ask it in the name of Jesus that You go forth right now and deliver those who are listening to us who believe what's been shared here. Please, Lord, go forth and deliver them now in the name of Jesus. We rebuke these demons from your life in the name of Jesus Christ! O Lord, we thank You for Your mighty power going forth to restore those that You have loved from the foundation of the world. Thank you, Father.  Now, friends, if you agreed and prayed this with us, you need to go and start reading your New Testament and believe what it says and know that the Lord is working in you both to will and do of His good pleasure. It's not by your works, it's His working in you! Now, I want to share a published article on a study done that proves there is freedom from homosexuality.   'Groundbreaking' study shows 'gays' can change  Posted: September 15, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com In the first longitudinal, peer-reviewed, scientific study of its kind, researchers have concluded that some homosexuals can change their “orientation” through religiously mediated guidance. Researchers Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse released the results of a three-year study on Thursday during an address at the American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference. Their conclusions contradict the claims of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, which contend that such a change in sexual orientation is impossible and attempting to pursue it likely will cause depression, anxiety, or self-destructive behavior. The new study concluded such changes do not cause psychological harm to the patient. Nicholas A. Cummings, former American Psychological Association president, praised the research. “This study has broken new ground in its adherence to objectivity and a scientific precision that can be replicated and expanded, and it opens new horizons for investigation”, he said. Exodus International, the world's largest Christian ministry to homosexuals, said it funded the research because of the absence of any scientific, peer-reviewed research on the topic. The major findings are reported in a book to be released by the evangelical Christian publisher InterVarsity Press, “Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation.” A homosexual-activist group called Truth Wins Out warned news organizations “to be highly skeptical of a biased 'ex-gay' sham study.” The homosexual group said, “Caution should be taken in prematurely critiquing the study until the full methodology is available. However, based on unconfirmed reports, there is great concern that these notorious anti-gay researchers did little more than professional ex-gay lobbyists and ministers from Exodus International, and ask them if they had 'changed.'” Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International and a former homosexual, said, “Finally, there is now scientific evidence to prove what we as former homosexuals have known all along - that those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction can experience freedom from it.” “For years, opponents of choice have said otherwise, and this body of research is critical in advancing the national dialogue on this issue”, he said. Chambers said, “the life-changing process of leaving homosexuality behind” is not easy, but “for thousands of us, the journey has been well worth it, and we are grateful that these study findings give credence to our existence as men and women whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ.” Jones, a provost and professor at Wheaton College, an evangelical school in Wheaton, Ill., told CitizenLink magazine in an interview he was prompted to do the study because of the “ever-increasing pessimism expressed in the professional world that sexual orientation could ever be changed.” “This was in contrast to the fact that I occasionally met individuals in Christian circles who claim to have experienced precisely such change”, he said. “When the mental-health field actually began to say that change is impossible - that sexual orientation cannot be changed - it formed the perfect scientific hypothesis to be able to conduct a study.” Jones noted there have been dozens of studies conducted suggesting change is possible for some people, but “the research is not of the highest quality and has been deeply and highly criticized.” After studying the criticisms of those studies, Jones and Yarhouse concluded the proper methodology would need to be both “prospective and longitudinal.” “Prospective means that you catch people before they begin the change process and follow them through the process, while longitudinal means that you're actually following people over time to see if the change is stable”, Jones explained to CitizenLink. “The scientific characteristics of the study are unique, in that no one has ever started early and then followed people over a long period of time like we did.” Jones said they found that, by following the subjects over time, “not everyone is successful, not even a majority is successful, but a very substantial group of people report fairly dramatic change.” “We found that 15 percent of our sample of about 100 claimed to actually have changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality”, he said. “These people experienced significant enough change that they really felt like they had left one sexual orientation to shift into another.” He acknowledged “life is still complicated for these people, and some still have some residuals of their homosexual attractions.” “However, they are people who report being able to function as heterosexuals, they're happy with their marriages, and they feel that their lives have changed dramatically”, he said. The other type of success he found - in almost a quarter of the subjects - was “people who left the homosexual lifestyle and experienced very substantial reductions in homosexual attraction by embracing the Christian discipline of chastity, not acting on their sexual impulses.” “These were people who felt like they were free now to orient their lives not on their sexual, erotic desires and needs, but on their relationship with God and on healthy, nonsexual intimacy with other people”, Jones said. The two groups together, those who converted and those who experienced chastity, made up about 38 percent of the sample. “We feel these changes observed over this substantial period of time provide a clear indication that the opinions of the secular mental-health field that change is impossible are simply wrong”, Jones said. The second area of the research focused on the secular mental-health community's claims that the attempt to change is harmful. Jones and Yarhouse administered a standard psychological inventory that measures psychological distress to subjects at every point along the way. “We found that there was essentially no change in their psychological distress over time”, Jones said. “On that basis, we feel that there is no evidence that the change attempt is harmful, and we found evidence that change is possible for some people.” He added, however, the research does not prove that anybody can change or that no one has ever been harmed from the attempt to change. “It just suggests that the forceful way in which the secular mental-health community is saying change is impossible and harmful is just not well-advised”, he said. Jones pointed out that the American Psychological Association has a blue-ribbon panel right now examining the question of how it should formulate its policies on the subject of attempts to change sexual orientation. Certain members, Jones noted, have already said publicly that change is impossible and harmful. Jones said he hopes “there will be enough of an open mind on the part of the secular mental-health community that they will not continue the movement towards banning these kinds of attempts to change sexual orientation, harassing them out of existence and labeling as unethical any professional person who cooperates with them.” “There is a need to respect the autonomy of individuals who are distressed about what they have experienced sexually and for religious or moral reasons want to try the attempt to change”, Jones told CitizenLink. “Those people first need to be fully informed about just how complex and difficult that process is, and then they should have the right as individuals, as an exercise of personal and religious freedom, to seek support in their attempt to change sexual orientation.”   Printer-friendly version

Abby and Patrick welcome clinician, activist, and writer Lara Sheehi, author of the brand-new book, From the Clinic to The Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures. Situating this book and her other work within the context of her background and experiences with psychoanalytic institutions, Sheehi leads Abby and Patrick on a frank and searching conversation with far-reaching implications. What does it mean to identify with psychoanalysis in the abstract, what are the tools psychoanalysis gives us for thinking about the political stakes of our identifications, and what does it mean when psychoanalytic institutions demand disidentification from lived experiences and urgent political concerns? What stories does mainstream psychoanalysis tell about itself, what histories does it repress, and what contemporary material realities does it disavow? What are the promises of a “despecialized” psychoanalysis, and how might a despecialized psychoanalysis put psychoanalytic concepts and approaches to liberatory use? Addressing these questions and more, the three discuss topics including: the history of psychoanalysis as a Eurocentric enterprise; its extensive weaponization as a tool of imperial domination and counterinsurgent repression; emancipatory and decolonial approaches to psychoanalysis via figures like Frantz Fanon; the complicities, contradictions, and enactments of contemporary psychoanalysis against a backdrop of transphobic legislation, genocide in Gaza, and more; psyops, psychological warfare, and military psychology; psychodynamic counterinsurgency theory; logics of blame, ingratitude, exclusion, and confusion; the work of “psychic intrusions” on the level of individual psyches and group dynamics; the necessity of “psychic militancy” as a concept and as a disciplined practice; and much, much more.Lara Sheehi, From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary FuturesLara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi, Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in PalestineSara Ahmed, Willful SubjectsErnesto Che Guevara, “On Revolutionary Medicine”Frantz Fanon, Black Skins, White MasksFanon, The Wretched of the Earth David Petraeus, FM 3-24: Counterinsurgency“A conversation between sword and neck” Ghassan Kanafani's 1970 interview with ABC's Richard Carleton in Beirut Lara's personal website The Psychic Militancy podcastHave you noticed that Freud is back? Got questions about psychoanalysis? Or maybe you've traversed the fantasy and lived to tell the tale? Leave us a voicemail! (646) 450-0847  A podcast about psychoanalysis, politics, pop culture, and the ways we suffer now. New episodes on Saturdays. Find us online:  http://www.ordinaryunhappiness.com X: @UnhappinessPod Instagram: @OrdinaryUnhappiness Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness Theme song: Formal Chicken - Gnossienne No. 1 https://open.spotify.com/album/2MIIYnbyLqriV3vrpUTxxO Provided by Fruits Music

This lecture was delivered on May 18th 2026by Rev. Renaldo McKenzie at Jamaica Theological Seminary to students in the Caribbean Thought course. Today we explored the concept of Afrocentricity and developing an Afrocentric Paradigm to the study of the Caribbean or o Caribbean Thought. Towards the end we reviewed the Course Outline.Notes:_________________I. Why This Inquiry MattersBefore we define these concepts, we must recognize one important point:Perspective shapes thought.The way we are taught to see the world determines how we understand history, religion, race, culture, and even ourselves. Caribbean societies emerged out of colonization, slavery, displacement, and resistance. Therefore, many of the ideas we inherit about civilization, morality, religion, and identity are rooted within colonial structures.The Caribbean person often lives within competing worlds:• African heritage, • European institutions, • Christian theology, • colonial education, • and postcolonial realities. Thus, Caribbean Thought requires critical examination of the foundations of knowledge itself.________________II. Defining Key Terms1. AfrocentricityAccording to Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama, Afrocentricity is a way of seeing and interpreting the world from the perspective of African people as subjects rather than objects of history.Afrocentricity seeks to:• center African agency, • restore African humanity, • reclaim African history, • and cultivate what Dr. Mazama calls a “consciousness of victory” rather than perpetual oppression. Afrocentricity does not necessarily reject other cultures. Rather, it insists that African people have the right to define themselves and interpret reality from their own historical and cultural experiences.In simple terms:Afrocentricity asks: What happens when African people become the center of their own narratives instead of existing only through European interpretations?ConclusionToday's lecture introduced the conceptual foundations for our study of Caribbean Thought.We examined:• Afrocentricity, • Afrocentrism, • Eurocentrism, • ethnocentrism, • colonialism, • and the Afrocentric Paradigm. We also explored how colonial consciousness continues to shape Caribbean identity, religion, culture, and historical understanding.Next week, we will move into African civilizations and early African contributions to world history as we continue developing an African-centered understanding of Caribbean identity and consciousness.Bibliography / Source ListMolefi Kete Asante. Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1988.Ama Mazama. “The Afrocentric Paradigm: Contours and Definitions.” Journal of Black Studies 31, no. 4 (2001): 387–405.Frantz Fanon. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press, 2004.Edward Said. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1978.W. E. B. Du Bois. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903.Marcus Garvey. Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey. Edited by Amy Jacques Garvey. Dover Publications, 1986.Bob Marley. Selected interviews, speeches, and lyrics on African consciousness and Rastafari.Homi K. Bhabha. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994.Course Papers and Lecture MaterialsRenaldo McKenzie. “Presentation on Afrocentrism and Afrocentricity: How Does Sarah Balakrishnan Approach Afrocentrism and Afrocentricity?” Class Paper, Temple University, October 31, 2024.Renaldo McKenzie. “Reflection Paper: The Afrocentric Paradigm.” Temple University, September 10, 2024.Sarah Balakrishnan. “Afrocentrism Revisited: Africa in the Philosophy of Black Nationalism.” Souls 22, no. 1 (2020): 71–88.___________Renaldo is President of The Neoliberal Corporation, Author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance, and Lecturer at Jamaica Theological Seminary.JTS: https://jts.edu.jmThe Neoliberal Corporation: https://theneoliberal.com

On the latest episode of the NCS Podcast we had Teagan Finnegan of the band Sostre! We've had Teagan on before for a coretalk and a short interview about Sostre! but now we are diving deep. We talked to her about her scene roots. We talked more about Sostre! now that they have more material out and we talked a bit about her dad Brandon. It was agreat conversation and I'm sure Teagan will be back again to talk about something.Episode Music is "Once Wretched" by Sostre!

Does decolonization require violence? In episode 172 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, “the bible of decolonization.” They discuss Fanon's bold stance on violence, his condemnation of rituals and dance, and some potential criticisms. They also question what the subjectivity of colonized people looks like given colonialism's psycho-affective effects. What does violence do for the colonized? Who gets liberation movements off the ground? And what are the challenges that a newly independent nation might face once a colonial power has been overthrown? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Fanon's critique of Africanism and some of the clinical cases Fanon incorporates into this important work.Works Discussed:Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of The EarthConcerning Violence (2014)Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, we unpack Paul's cry “O wretched man I am” (Romans 7:24), exploring sin, struggle, and the hope of deliverance through Jesus Christ.

At the end of Romans 7, Paul confesses his own struggles with temptation and points us toward Victory.

3. Guest Author: Eric J. Dolin. Charles Barnard rescues the *Isabella* castaways, but British Lieutenant D'Aranda betrays him, seizing the *Nanina* as a prize of war. D'Aranda abandons Barnard's hunting party, who survive 534 days in wretched conditions. Their survival is largely credited to Barnard's heroic dog, Scent, who hunted wild hogs. (3)1890 FALKLANDS