#its about being persecuted for being different and being persecuted for joy. and staying together because of that

[artanogon]

the fact that so many terf/"divine feminine" type people think kiki rockwell's music is the poster child of "female rage" while one of her most notorious lines is "if god created man for me / why am i not quite a she" and them + their best friend are both trans/enby is both hilarious and a little bit sad

[letterboxd]

Best of Sundance 2021.

From pandemic-era stories, via portraits of grief, to the serendipitous 1969 trilogy, the Letterboxd crew recaps our favorite films from the first major festival of the year.

Sundance heralds a new season of storytelling, with insights into what’s concerning filmmakers at present, and what artistic innovations may be on the horizon. As with every film festival, there were spooky coincidences and intersecting themes, whether it was a proliferation of pandemic-era stories, or extraordinary portraits of women working through grief (Land, Hive, The World to Come), or the incredible serendipity of the festival’s ‘1969 trilogy’, covering pivotal moments in Black American history: Summer of Soul (...Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Judas and the Black Messiah and the joyful Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.

The hybrid model of this year’s Sundance meant more film lovers across the United States—a record number of you, in fact—‘attended’ the prestigious indie showcase. Our Festiville team (Gemma Gracewood, Aaron Yap, Ella Kemp, Selome Hailu, Jack Moulton and Dominic Corry) scanned your Letterboxd reviews and compared them with our notes to arrive at these seventeen feature-length documentary and narrative picks from Sundance 2021. There are plenty more we enjoyed, but these are the films we can’t stop thinking about.

Documentary features

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Directed by Ahmir-Khalib Thompson (AKA Questlove)

One hot summer five decades ago, there was a free concert series at a park in Harlem. It was huge, and it was lovely, and then it was forgotten. The Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 brought together some of the world’s most beloved Black artists to connect with Black audiences. The star power and the size of the crowds alone should have been enough to immortalize the event à la Woodstock—which happened the same summer, the film emphasizes. But no one cared to buy up the footage until Ahmir-Khalib Thompson, better known as Questlove, came along.

It would have been easy to oversimplify such a rich archive by stringing together the performances, seeking out some talking heads, and calling it a day. But Questlove was both careful and ebullient in his approach. “Summer of Soul is a monumental concert documentary and a fantastic piece of reclaimed archived footage. There is perhaps no one better suited to curate this essential footage than Questlove, whose expertise and passion for the music shines through,” writes Matthew on Letterboxd. The film is inventive with its use of present interviews, bringing in both artists and attendees not just to speak on their experiences, but to react to and relive the footage. The director reaches past the festival itself, providing thorough social context that takes in the moon landing, the assassinations of Black political figures, and more. By overlapping different styles of documentary filmmaking, Questlove’s directorial debut embraces the breadth and simultaneity of Black resilience and joy. A deserving winner of both the Grand Jury and Audience awards (and many of our unofficial Letterboxd awards). —SH

Flee Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Flee is the type of discovery Sundance is designed for. Danish documentarian Jonas Poher Rasmussen tells the poignant story of his close friend and former classmate (using the pseudonym ‘Amin Nawabi’) and his daring escape from persecution in 1990s Afghanistan. Rasmussen always approaches tender topics with sensitivity and takes further steps to protect his friend’s identity by illustrating the film almost entirely in immersive animation, following in the footsteps of Waltz With Bashir and Tower. It’s a film aware of its subjectivity, allowing the animated scenes to alternate between the playful joy of nostalgia and the mournful pain of an unforgettable memory. However, these are intercepted by dramatic archive footage that oppressively brings the reality home.

“Remarkably singular, yet that is what makes it so universal,” writes Paul. “So many ugly truths about the immigration experience—the impossible choices forced upon people, and the inability to really be able to explain all of it to people in your new life… You can hear the longing in his voice, the fear in his whisper. Some don’t get the easy path.” Winner of the World Cinema (Documentary) Grand Jury Prize and quickly acquired by Neon, Flee is guaranteed to be a film you’ll hear a lot about for the rest of 2021. —JM

Taming the Garden Directed by Salomé Jashi

There’s always a moment at a film festival when fatigue sets in, when the empathy machine overwhelms, and when I hit that moment in 2021, I took the advice of filmmaker and Sundance veteran Jim Cummings, who told us: “If you’re ever stressed or tired, watch a documentary to reset yourself.” Taming the Garden wasn’t initially on my hit-list, but it’s one of those moments when the ‘close your eyes and point at a random title’ trick paid off. Documentary director Salomé Jashi does the Lorax’s work, documenting the impact and grief caused by billionaire former Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s obsession with collecting ancient trees for his private arboretum.

“A movie that is strangely both infuriating and relaxing” writes Todd, of the long, locked-off wide shots showing the intense process of removing large, old trees from their village homes. There’s no narration, instead Jashi eavesdrops on locals as they gossip about Ivanishvili, argue about whether the money is worth it, and a feisty, irritated 90-year-old warns of the impending environmental fallout. “What you get out of it is absolutely proportional to what you put into it,” writes David, who recommends this film get the IMAX treatment. It’s arboriculture as ASMR, the timeline cleanse my Sundance needed. The extraordinary images of treasured trees being barged across the sea will become iconic. —GG

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World Directed by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström

Where Taming the Garden succeeds through pure observation, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World relies on the complete participation of its title subject, actor Björn Andrésen, who was thrust into the spotlight as a teenager. Cast by Italian director Lucino Visconti in Death in Venice, a 1971 adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella about obsession and fatal longing, Andrésen spent the 1970s as an object of lust, with a side-gig as a blonde pop star in Japan, inspiring many manga artists along the way.

As we know by now (Alex Winter’s Showbiz Kids is a handy companion to this film), young stardom comes at a price, one that Andrésen was not well-placed to pay even before his fateful audition for Visconti. But he’s still alive, still acting (he’s Dan in Midsommar), and ready to face the mysteries of his past. Like Benjamin Ree’s excellent The Painter and the Thief from last year, this documentary is a constantly unfolding detective story, notable for great archive footage, and a deep kindness towards its reticent yet wide-open subject. —GG

All Light, Everywhere Directed by Theo Anthony

Threading the blind spots between Étienne-Jules Marey’s 19th-century “photographic rifle”, camera-carrying war pigeons and Axon’s body-cam tech, Theo Anthony’s inquisitive, mind-expanding doc about the false promise of the all-seeing eye is absorbing, scary, urgent. It’s the greatest Minority Report origin story you didn’t know you needed.

Augmented by Dan Deacon’s electronic soundscapes and Keaver Brenai’s lullingly robotic narration, All Light, Everywhere proves to be a captivating, intricately balanced experience that Harris describes as “one part Adam Curtis-esque cine-essay”, “one part structural experiment in the vein of Koyaanisqatsi” and “one part accidental character study of two of the most familiar yet strikingly unique evil, conservative capitalists…”. Yes, there’s a tremendous amount to download, but Anthony’s expert weaving, as AC writes, “make its numerous subjects burst with clarity and profundity.” For curious cinephiles, the oldest movie on Letterboxd, Jules Jenssen’s Passage de Vénus (1874), makes a cameo. —AY

The Sparks Brothers Directed by Edgar Wright

Conceived at a Sparks gig in 2017 upon the encouragement of fellow writer-director Phil Lord, Edgar Wright broke his streak of riotous comedies with his first (of many, we hope) rockumentary. While somewhat overstuffed—this is, after all, his longest film by nearly fifteen minutes—The Sparks Brothers speaks only to Wright’s unrestrained passion for his art-pop Gods, exploring all the nooks and crannies of Sparks’ sprawling career, with unprecedented access to brothers and bandmates Ron and Russell Mael.

Nobody else can quite pin them down, so Wright dedicates his time to put every pin in them while he can, building a mythology and breaking it down, while coloring the film with irresistible dives into film history, whimsically animated anecdotes and cheeky captions. “Sparks rules. Edgar Wright rules. There’s no way this wasn’t going to rule”, proclaims Nick, “every Sparks song is its own world, with characters, rules, jokes and layers of narrative irony. What a lovely ode to a creative partnership that was founded on sticking to one’s artistic guns, no matter what may have been fashionable at the time.” —JM

Narrative features

The Pink Cloud Written and directed by Iuli Gerbase

The Pink Cloud is disorienting and full of déjà vu. Brazilian writer-director Iuli Gerbase constructs characters that are damned to have to settle when it comes to human connection. Giovana and Yago’s pleasant one-night stand lasts longer than expected when the titular pink cloud emerges from the sky, full of a mysterious and deadly gas that forces everyone to stay locked where they stand. Sound familiar? Reserve your groans—The Pink Cloud wasn’t churned out to figure out “what it all means” before the pandemic is even over. Gerbase wrote and shot the film prior to the discovery of Covid-19.

It’s “striking in its ability to prophesize a pandemic and a feeling unknown at the time of its conception. What was once science fiction hits so close now,” writes Sam. As uncanny as the quarantine narrative feels, what’s truly harrowing is how well the film predicts and understands interiorities that the pandemic later exacerbated. Above all, Giovana is a woman with unmet needs. She is a good partner, good mother and good person even when she doesn’t want to be. Even those who love her cannot see how their expectations strip her of her personhood, and the film dares to ask what escape there might be when love itself leaves you lonely. —SH

Together Together Written and directed by Nikole Beckwith

Every festival needs at least one indie relationship dramedy, and Together Together filled that role at Sundance 2021 with a healthy degree of subversion. It follows rom-com structure while ostensibly avoiding romance, instead focusing on how cultivating adult friendships can be just hard, if not harder.

Writer-director Nikole Beckwith warmly examines the limits of the platonic, and Patti Harrison and Ed Helms are brilliantly cast as the not-couple: a single soon-to-be father and the surrogate carrying his child. They poke at each other’s boundaries with a subtle desperation to know what makes a friendship appropriate or real. As Jacob writes: “It’s cute and serious, charming without being quirky. It’s a movie that deals with the struggle of being alone in this world, but offers a shimmer of hope that even if you don’t fall in fantastical, romantic, Hollywood love… there are people out there for you.” —SH

Hive Written and directed by Blerta Basholli

Hive, for some, may fall into the “nothing much happens” slice-of-life genre, but Blerta Basholli’s directorial debut holds an ocean of pain in its small tale, asking us to consider the heavy lifting that women must always do in the aftermath of war. As Liz writes, “Hive is not just a story about grief and trauma in a patriarchy-dominated culture, but of perseverance and the bonds created by the survivors who must begin to consider the future without their husbands.”

Yllka Gashi is an understated hero as Fahrjie, a mother-of-two who sets about organizing work for the women of her village, while awaiting news of her missing husband—one of thousands unaccounted for, years after the Kosovo War has ended. The townsmen have many opinions about how women should and shouldn’t mourn, work, socialize, parent, drive cars and, basically, get on with living, but Fahrjie persists, and Basholli sticks close with an unfussy, tender eye. “It felt like I was a fly on the wall, witnessing something that was actually happening,” writes Arthur. Just as in Robin Wright’s Land and Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come, Hive pays off in the rare, beaming smile of its protagonist. —GG

On the Count of Three Directed by Jerrod Carmichael, written by Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch

It starts with an image: two best friends pointing guns at each other’s heads. There’s no anger, there’s no hatred—this is an act of merciful brotherly love. How do you have a bleak, gun-totin’ buddy-comedy in 2021 and be critically embraced without contradicting your gun-control retweets or appearing as though your film is the dying embers of Tarantino-tinged student films?

Comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s acerbic directorial debut On the Count of Three achieves this by calling it out every step of the way. Guns are a tool to give insecure men the illusion of power. They are indeed a tool too terrifying to trust in the hands of untrained citizens. Carmichael also stars, alongside Christopher Abbott, who has never been more hilarious or more tragic, bringing pathos to a cathartic rendition of Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’. Above all, Carmichael and Abbott’s shared struggle and bond communicates the millennial malaise: how can you save others if you can’t save yourself? “Here’s what it boils down to: life is fucking hard”, Laura sums up, “and sometimes the most we can hope for is to have a best friend who loves you [and] to be a best friend who loves. It doesn’t make life any easier, but it sure helps.” Sundance 2021 is one for the books when it comes to documentaries, but On the Count of Three stands out in the fiction lineup this year. —JM

Censor Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond, written by Bailey-Bond and Anthony Fletcher

The first of several upcoming films inspired by the ‘video nasty’ moral panic over gory horror in mid-’80s Britain, Prano Bailey-Bond leans heavily into both the period and the genre in telling the story of a film censor (a phenomenal Niamh Algar—vulnerable and steely at the same time) who begins to suspect a banned movie may hold the key to her sister’s childhood disappearance. Often dreamlike, occasionally phantasmagorical and repeatedly traumatic, even if the worst gore presented (as seen in the impressively authentic fictional horrors being appraised) appears via a screen, providing a welcome degree of separation.

Nevertheless, Censor is definitely not for the faint of heart, but old-school horror aficionados will squeal with delight at the aesthetic commitment. “I’m so ecstatic that horror is in the hands of immensely talented women going absolutely batshit in front of and behind the camera.” writes Erik. (Same here!) “A great ode to the video-nasty era and paying tribute to the great horror auteurs of the ’80s such as Argento, De Palma and Cronenberg while also doing something new with the genre. Loved this!” writes John, effectively encapsulating Censor’s unfettered film-nerd appeal. —DC

CODA Written and directed by Siân Heder

A film so earnest it shouldn’t work, with a heart so big it should surely not fit the size of the screen, CODA broke records (the first US dramatic film in Sundance history to win all three top prizes; the 25-million-dollar sale to Apple Studios), and won the world over like no other film. “A unique take on something we’ve seen so much,” writes Amanda, nailing the special appeal of Siân Heder’s coming-of-ager and family portrait. Emilia Jones plays Ruby, the only hearing person in her deaf family, at war between the family business and her passion for singing. While Heder is technically remaking the French film La Famille Bélier, the decision to cast brilliant deaf actors—Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant—makes this feel brand new.

But it’s not just about representation for the sake of it. A sense of authenticity, in humor as much as affection, shines through. With a script that’s 40 per cent ASL, so many of the jokes are visual gags, poking fun at Tinder and rap music, but a lot of the film’s most poignant moments are silent as well. And in Ruby’s own world, too, choir kids will feel seen. “I approve of this very specific alto representation and the brilliant casting of the entire choir,” Laura confirms in her review. Come for the fearless, empathetic family portrait, stay for the High School Musical vibes that actually ring true. —EK

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun

Perhaps the most singular addition to the recent flurry of Extremely Online cinema—Searching, Spree, Host, et al—Jane Schoenbrun’s feature debut ushers the viewer into a haunted, hypno-drone miasma of delirium-inducing YouTube time-suck, tenebrous creepypasta lore and painfully intimate webcam confessionals. Featuring an extraordinarily unaffected, fearless performance by newcomer Anna Cobb, the film “unpacks the mythology of adolescence in a way that’s so harrowingly familiar and also so otherworldly”, writes Kristen. Not since Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse has there been such an eerily lonely, and at times strangely beautiful, evocation of the liminal spaces between virtual and real worlds.

For members of the trans community, it’s also a work that translates that experience to screen with uncommon authenticity. “What Schoenbrun has accomplished with the form of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is akin to catching a wisp of smoke,” writes Willow, “because the images, mood and aesthetic that they have brought to life is one that is understood completely by trans people as one of familiarity, without also plunging into the obvious melodrama, or liberal back-patting that is usually associated with ‘good’ direct representation.” One of the most original, compelling new voices to emerge from Sundance this year. —AY

Judas and the Black Messiah Directed by Shaka King, written by King, Will Berson, Kenneth Lucas and Keith Lucas

It was always going to take a visionary, uncompromising filmmaker to bring the story of Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party, to life. Shaka King casts Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton, and LaKeith Stanfield as William “Wild Bill” O’Neal, the FBI informant whose betrayal leads to Hampton’s assassination. Both actors have never been better, particularly Kaluuya who Fran Hoepfner calls “entrancing, magnetic, fizzling, romantic, riveting, endlessly watchable.”

Judas and the Black Messiah is an electric, involving watch: not just replaying history by following a certain biopic template. Instead, it’s a film with something to say—on power, on fear, on war and on freedom. “Shaka King’s name better reverberate through the halls of every studio after this,” writes Demi. A talent like this, capable of framing such a revolution, doesn’t come around so often. We’d better listen up. —EK

Pleasure Directed by Ninja Thyberg, written by Thyberg and Peter Modestij

A24’s first purchase of 2021. Ironically titled on multiple levels, Pleasure is a brutal film that you endure more than enjoy. But one thing you can’t do is forget it. Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature follows a young Swedish woman (Sofia Kappel) who arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of porn stardom under the name ‘Bella Cherry’. Although Bella is clear-eyed about the business she’s getting into, Thyberg doesn’t shy away from any of the awfulness she faces in order to succeed in an industry rife with exploitation and abuse. Bella does make allies, and the film isn’t suggesting that porn is only stocked with villains, but the ultimate cost is clear, even if it ends on an ever-so-slightly ambiguous note.

Touching as it does on ambition, friendship and betrayal in the sex business, Pleasure is often oddly reminiscent of Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls. Or rather, the gritty film Showgirls was claiming to be, as opposed to the camp classic it became. There’s nothing campy here. Kappel is raw and fearless in the lead, but never lets the viewer lose touch with her humanity. Emma puts it well: “Kappel gives the hardest, most provocative and transfixing performance I’ve seen all festival.” “My whole body was physically tense during this,” writes Gillian, while Keegan perhaps speaks for most when she says “Great film, never want to see it again.” —DC

Coming Home in the Dark Directed by James Ashcroft, written by Ashcroft and Eli Kent

A family camping trip amidst some typically stunnin—and casually foreboding— New Zealand scenery is upended by a shocking rug-pull of violence that gives way to sustained terror represented by Daniel Gillies’ disturbingly calm psychopath. The set-up of this thriller initially suggests a spin on the backwoods brutality thriller, but as Coming Home in the Dark progresses and hope dissipates, the motivations reveal themselves to be much more personal in nature, and informed on a thematic level by New Zealand’s colonial crimes against its Indigenous population. It’s a stark and haunting film that remains disorientating and unpredictable throughout, repeatedly daring the viewer to anticipate what will happen next, only to casually stomp on each glimmer of a positive outcome.

It’s so captivatingly bleak that a viewing of it, as Collins Ezeanyim’s eloquent reaction points out, does not lend itself to completing domestic tasks. The film marks an auspicious debut for director and co-writer James Ashcroft. Jacob writes that he “will probably follow James Ashcroft’s career to the gates of Hell after this one”. Justin hits the nail on the head with his description: “Lean and exceptionally brutal road/revenge film … that trades in genre tropes, especially those of Ozploitation and ’70s Italian exploitation, but contextualizes them in the dark history of its country of origin.” —DC

The World to Come Directed by Mona Fastvold, written by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard

Mona Fastvold has not made the first, nor probably the last, period romance about forbidden lesbian love. But The World to Come focuses on a specific pocket in time, a world contained in Jim Shepard’s short story ‘Love & Hydrogen’ from within the collection giving the film its name. Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby are Abigail and Tallie, farming neighbors, stifled by their husbands, who find brief moments of solace, of astonishment and joy, together. What shines here is the script, a verbose, delicate narration that emanates beauty more than pretence. “So beautifully restrained and yet I felt everything,” Iana writes.

And you can feel the fluidity and elegance in the way the film sounds, too: composer Daniel Blumberg’s clarinet theme converses with the dialogue and tells you when your heart can break, when you must pause, when the end is near. “So much heartache. So much hunger. So much longing. Waves of love and grief and love and grief,” writes Claira, capturing the ebb and flow of emotion that keeps The World to Come in your mind long after the screen has gone silent. —EK

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[mrlnsfrt]

Love and Joy

Context

In this post, I will be taking a closer look at John 15:9-17, but I find that the following points highlighted by G. L. Borchert are helpful in giving us an idea of some of the key themes John has been developing throughout the book.

The Circle of Love in the Gospel according to John:

the Father loves the Son (cf. 3:35; 17:23),

and the Son obediently loves the Father (cf. 10:17; 14:31);

the Son loves his followers, and they are to love and obey him (cf. 13:34; 14:15, 23);

loving and obeying the Son means being loved by the Father (cf. 14:21, 23; 17:23);

being loved by the Son also implies loving one another (cf. 13:34; 15:12, 17);

God not only loves the disciples but loves the world and gave his Son for its people (cf. 3:16);

but many in the world love darkness and do not do the will of God (cf. 3:19; 14:24).

 (Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 146). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Love a cheap gospel?

Some may have a kneejerk reaction to someone summarizing the gospel as loving as Jesus did as watering down or cheapening the gospel. I agree that when we fail to properly understand love, the gospel is cheapened and watered down by a shallow and weak definition of love. However, I find that when I come to the Bible and allow it to define and describe God’s love, it is the purest and most powerful understanding of the gospel available to us.

For example, a study of 1 John makes it clear that true disciples of Jesus must not love in words only but in actual deeds of love (cf. 1 John 3:18) and that hating one’s brother is actually an indication of not loving God (cf. 1 John 3:15) because love is the sign of knowing God (cf. 1 John 4:7). (Borchert, p. 146) Therefore, I would argue that instead of avoiding defining the gospel as loving as Jesus loved, we should invest more time and study into learning what the Bible teaches us about God’s love.

In my previous post, I studied the first 8 verses of John 15 and how it is vital that we focus on abiding in Jesus. After all, bearing fruit means loving others as God loves them and giving witness to the world and such fruit bearing is possible only by abiding in Jesus, the Vine. (Borchert, p. 146)

Let’s dive into the text and see what we can learn.

Abide

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. - John 15:9 NKJV

Here Jesus reveals to us that He loves us just like the Father loves Him. He tells us to remain in His love. This is interesting since a request or command for us to remain in His love implies that we can leave His love. But how can I reconcile this with the words of Paul in Romans 8?

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39 NKJV

How can Paul say that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God while John records Jesus telling us to abide in His love?

In my mind, these two verses do not contradict each other. Paul is stating that no force or situation or condition in the universe outside of myself is able to forcibly separate me from the love of God. God will never stop loving me and nothing can make Him stop loving me, (the same way God loves you and everyone else on earth). Meanwhile, Jesus understands that even though His love for us is constant we have the freedom to walk away from a loving relationship with Him. His love does not stop, but I can choose to disregard it. That is why Jesus tells us to not leave, to not give up, to not rebel against His love, but rather to remain, stay, live in His love.

Love and Commandment Keeping

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. - John 15:10 NKJV

I can imagine this verse making many uncomfortable. It seems like Jesus is basing His love on our actions, like we have to earn His love, which causes His love to not seem very loving. Let’s compare this verse to a similar one from the previous chapter in John.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. - John 14:15 NKJV

Some translate this verse as

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. - John 14:15 NASB

(To see different translations of this verse check out BibleHub.) When we compare these two verses we see that Jesus is teaching us that the keeping of the commandments is an outward sign that we love Him, that we are abiding in His love. The keeping of the commandments then does not cause the abiding, but rather is a manifestation of our abiding in Jesus. In other words, you cannot have one without the other. Loving Jesus, abiding in His love, and keeping His commandments go hand in hand.

Also, keep in mind that our relationship to Jesus in terms of obedience and love is modeled on the relationship of the Son to the Father. Jesus is not asking us to do anything that He was not willing to do while He walked the earth as one of us. He is our perfect example, and we are to love as He loved and obey Him as He obeyed the Father.

Joy!

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. - John 15:11 NKJV

Between my last post and this one, I have been discussing obedience, love, fruit bearing, being pruned... All this could be viewed as rather painful and demanding ideas that scarcely suggest excitement or desirability. But the purpose of abiding in the vine is to provide a sense of delight to those who are authentic disciples of Jesus, even though they will face pain or persecution (and sometimes both at the same time). But the words of Jesus, especially His promises, are meant to bring us joy not take it away. Jesus wants us to experience His joy! That is how our joy can be full.

Besides this present verse, all the uses of the noun and the verb concerning the theme of joy in the Farewell Cycle are directly focused on Jesus’ departure from the world and his desire to provide his beloved followers with a sense that they must not fear the future but rejoice in what is being done through him. They must look beyond their anxieties.

- Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 147). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

When we obey Jesus, as we abide in His love, we do not live a life that is less than, but rather we experience joy. Jesus is not a killjoy, rather He is guiding us to a fuller and greater joy than we would be able to experience as a result of selfish pursuits. If you are interested in experiencing true joy, give keeping the commandments a try. Rebellion against the explicit will of God as revealed in the Bible will never lead to true joy.

Joy is the second of the graces of the Spirit listed by Paul (Gal. 5:22). True joy is not found in noisy laughter or in giddy excitement caused by the world’s shallow pleasures. The Christian finds his joy in resting in the love of Christ, in victories won, and in unselfish service for humanity. Joy will reach its highest realization in the world to come, but a high degree of joy may be experienced here and now by those who abide in Christ.

- Nichol, F. D. (Ed.). (1980). The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Vol. 5, p. 1043). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Being a follower of Jesus is not just about experiencing joy in heaven, but also about experiencing greater joy right now as we live and struggle on this sinful planet.

Love one another

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. - John 15:12 NKJV

Loving one another keeps coming up as the mark of an authentic disciple of Christ.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35 NKJV

Jesus gives us the correct understanding and application of the commandments of God. God’s character and His law are all about love. This is how Jesus puts it.

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:28-31 NKJV (bold mine)

Despite what some might think, Jesus is not changing the commandments or giving new ones, rather He is helping us have a proper understanding of them. Jesus is actually quoting the Old Testament here.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. - Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NKJV

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. - Leviticus 19:18 NKJV

Jesus is not updating or changing God’s requirements. Jesus is actually helping us understand what God has revealed to us through the scriptures. We were always called to love God, God always wanted us to love each other, love is merely a reflection of God’s character and His desire for our lives. So many times I have heard it said that Jesus did away or changed God’s requirements but I simply do not see evidence for that in the biblical text. Jesus is reminding us, and we need this reminder, that obedience must flow out of love. Love must be our core motivator in all we do. Our love for God is expressed in our lives as we live a life of obedience. Our obedience does not purchase God’s love, rather it reveals our love for Him.

My obedience/good deeds are a response to God’s love. Not the cause of it.

Greater Love

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. - John 15:13 NKJV

John 15 begins with a great emphasis on the importance of a vibrant relationship with Jesus. As the chapter progresses we see a natural shift to obedience, especially as it is expressed in love for one another.

Love is one of those words that you can say and have people understand it as a wildly different thing than what you had in mind. John has a specific understanding of love, based on his relationship with Jesus.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. - 1 John 3:16 NKJV

John strongly believes in sacrificial love, and in obedience, and it is all wrapped up in Jesus and the example He left us. I may not be at that level yet, but at least I know what to aim for. My goal is to reflect the character of Christ, to reveal the heart of the Father, and as I remain in Jesus and He abides in me He continues that process in my heart. My interactions with the world around me are an overflow of what God is doing in me and for me. Jesus set the bar high, it would take a miracle for me to reach it, and that is the way it should be. This keeps me humble, and it keeps me relying on Jesus. There is no room for pride when I am trying to live and love as Jesus did. A life of perfect obedience, total dedication, and radical acceptance. Jesus mingled with and embraced the sinner, but never left the sinner the way He found them. Jesus forgave, healed, and strengthened according to their needs, and He also invited them to follow Him and live a new life.

Friendship Defined

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. - John 15:14 NKJV

At first glimpse, this seems a bit harsh. This is not how friendships work on a human level. This seems manipulative. What makes it even more challenging for us is that these are the words of Jesus, recorded by John, the bible writer who mentions love more than any other. How can John give us such beautiful verses as John 3:15, but also give us John 15:14? Can I pick and choose which verses are true and which are false, which are inspired and which are not? I believe we have to accept the whole Bible as inspired, so the only option must be to properly interpret the words of Jesus as recorded in this passage.

The concept of being a friend of God is applied in the Old Testament to Abraham (2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; cf. Jas 2:23) and implicitly to Moses (Exod 33:11). Likewise, Jesus can refer to Lazarus as “our friend Lazarus” (John 11:11). (Borchert, G. L. p. 149) But nowhere in scripture do we see a blanket statement about Jesus being a friend of humanity. Jesus loves all of us, but John has a different approach to friendship and here he continues to highlight Jesus’ divinity. Jesus is the Vine and is not to be confused with a branch. We are to obey Jesus because He is God, He knows what’s best for us, He died for us, why would we not want to obey His every command?

When I find myself struggling to obey Jesus, I need to be challenged by the implications of my rebellion. Do I not desire to be a friend of a God who has done (and continues to do) so much for me? Once again I wish to highlight that I do not obey by my own strength, it is something that God does in me (John 15:5). But when I reject, refuse, and rebel against the will of God, I am also removing myself from His circle of friends. God still loves me and wants to save me, but I am willfully and intentionally choosing to distance myself from His loving will for my life.

Friends vs Servants

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. - John 15:15 NKJV

Maybe you’re beginning to feel like all this talk of obedience is beginning to feel more like slavery or servitude than friendship. I can see how it might feel that way. But here Jesus clarifies the difference. He shares plans, He reveals His will to us, and invites us to participate. We are not in this blind. We know exactly how everything will end, we know what following Jesus entails. We may not know exactly the day of the hour but we know that He is coming again.

We may not always have an easy day but we know that God loves us and wants what is best for us. All we have to do is think of the cross and the sacrifice made at Calvary. God has revealed His will to us, we are His friends, we are invited to participate, to join the winning team. Imagine that, we get to face life and all its troubles already knowing we will be victorious. Not because of ourselves, but because of what God does for us!

When we neglect the study of the Bible we are neglecting the revelation from God that makes us His friends as opposed to simply servants. God wants us to be more than just servants, He wants us to be friends, to be aware of what He is doing. Do we care about what God has revealed to us? Do we take time to read, study and familiarize ourselves with His words?

Chosen

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. - John 15:16 NKJV

Jesus had chosen His disciples, and I believe that you have also been chosen. This means that you do not bear fruit or remain in the love of Jesus because of anything you did or do, but rather because He chose you. As we mentioned earlier, this does not mean that you have no choice in the matter, that’s why Jesus invites His disciples to abide/remain in His love (John 15:9). Keep in mind that the “choosing” and “appointing” of the disciples is not merely for some privilege of being selected to an elite group but for the specific purpose of bearing fruit. When you say “yes” to being a follower of Jesus you are also given a mission, to make disciples in other words to bear fruit.

It is absolutely crucial whenever one discusses the subject of election to realize that election is not about privilege but purpose.

 - Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 150). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Jesus makes that purpose very clear in Matthew 28.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. - Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

When you want to bear fruit that is also what God wants for you, so whatever you ask the Father in the name of Jesus for this purpose will be given to you. I discuss this in more detail in my post The One Thing. The main idea for me is that when we pray in accordance with God’s will it is His pleasure to give us what we ask for, and God clearly wants us to bear fruit and that our fruit remain. This is not to be a brief mountaintop experience but rather a lifestyle.

Focus on Love

These things I command you, that you love one another. - John 15:17 NKJV

All this talk of bearing fruit and making disciples and obeying God can become a bit confusing and even overwhelming. So Jesus keeps coming back to a simple and practical way to remember everything He is teaching us. Love one another! If you ever find yourself unsure what to do, choose love. As we grow and mature in our faith we gain a better understanding of what it means to love as Jesus does. So prayer and growth and study and obedience are all extremely important. but the final product should always be a deeper and greater understanding of God’s love as revealed in Jesus.

With all that said, I strongly belie that we must resist the temptation to water Christianity down to the point that we don’t even need God to be Christian anymore. The love Jesus calls for is a sacrificial love, the kind of love that can only exist when we are abiding in Jesus and He is abiding in us. It is a supernatural kind of love that cannot be forced, humanly fabricated, or coerced in any way. This love must freely flow from a life of obedience and dedication to God. This only happens as we allow God to come in and shape us daily.

Practical Application

Would you like to join me in praying this prayer? Feel free to modify it

“Father God, thank you for choosing me to bear fruit. Please cause me to do so today for your honor and glory. I invite you into my heart and give you permission to mold it according to your will that my life may more closely resemble Christ’s.”

[dailyaudiobible]

11/17/2020 DAb Transcript

Ezekiel 35:1-36:38, James 1:1-18, Psalms 116:1-19, Proverbs 27:23-27

Today is the 17th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy to be here with you today around the Global Campfire taking the next step forward. And we’re still working our way through the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament but when we get to the New Testament we’re moving into entirely new territory and we’ll talk about that because, I mean, we’re gonna be hearing from a totally different voice than we've heard from so far in the whole Bible. So, we'll talk about that when we get there. But first, Ezekiel chapters 35 and 36. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Introduction to the book of James:

Okay. So, for the most part in the New Testament we’ve…we’ve read the Gospels, of course, and we read the Acts of the Apostles, of course, which was written by Luke or the same author that wrote the gospel of Luke. Luke and Acts are two volumes from the same author. But then we’ve spent most of the rest of our time reading the letters of the apostle Paul. Then of course we got to the letter to the Hebrew's and its author is debated…well it has been debated for centuries and so most people just would say unknown. The origin, the absolute de facto for sure author of the letter of Hebrews is unknown, as scholars’ debate about some of the…the letters of the apostle Paul. Nevertheless, not to get too far in the weeds we’re moving into new territory now, territory that we haven't been in before with a voice that we haven't heard before, although we know this person. We’re about to read the letter of James, and James is known to be the brother of Jesus. But like all of the rest of the Scriptures that have been poured over for thousands of years by everybody from laymen to scholars to theologians to clergy and teachers. Billions of people over thousands of years have poured over the passages, every passage that we find in what we now know of as the Bible. So, James, the letter of James, has fallen under the same kind of scrutiny and scholarship as we would expect, and that includes debates about which James we’re talking about here. Which James wrote the letter of James? Which makes it difficult than to date James because which James we’re talking about would matter. And although there isn’t like 100% consensus there's really not 100% consensus about a lot of things in the Bible. There is a scenario that's maybe…maybe the most likely and that would be that the letter of James's probably really was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus. And this James that we’re talking about, the half-brother of Jesus didn't believe in Jesus or His ministry or His claims during His earthly ministry. James emerges as a leader and even like a foundational pillar of the early church after the resurrection. And it was James, if we remember from the book of Acts…if we remember from Paul's letters, we have talked so many times about the Jew / Gentile distinctions and the problems and the controversies and the challenges that the early church faced. And one of the earliest challenge…challenges was, “if God is doing a new thing in the world and Gentiles are allowed to be a part of it, how do they get in? Like, what governs that? How does it work?” And the first counsel that we know of, the first major decision in the church era was the Jerusalem Council, which is referenced in the book of Acts. It was James, the leader of the mother church, the Jerusalem church, the half-brother of Jesus who presided over that counsel. And, so, the reason that…that James, the half-brother of Jesus, is the leading, by far, candidate for who wrote the letter of James is in many ways because it was preserved. You know, if just some James decides to write some letter and nobody knows who this James is, and he writes this letter and gives it to somebody, I guess theoretically it could be preserved, but probably not preserved and passed around other churches and held in high esteem or even low esteem, as we'll see in a second. Whoever wrote this letter had credibility. Same way with the letter to the Hebrews. Whoever wrote this people knew who they were. They were recognized, and it seemed as if they should save what was written down. So, you would think that James, the half-brother of Jesus the Christ fit the criteria necessary to maybe hold onto the letter and would maybe give it credibility and significance in a way that…that there are no other candidates that could fill. So, although there's debate, James was probably written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, the leader of the Jerusalem church. And this letter really gives us glimpses into the Hebrew side of the early church. Most of what we look at, most of what we examine is examined through Gentile eyes. And certainly, the apostle Paul spoke to Hebrew people and tied the story of Jesus to the Hebrew narrative that had always been going on. Certainly, he did that, but his primary mission was to bring the good news of the gospel to the Gentiles. And we know that after the Jerusalem Council not everybody was on board with those decisions. And, so, we get a look in this letter from James into the early Hebrew believer’s perspective of the faith. It's…it's addressed to the 12 tribes, the scattered 12 tribes, the diaspora, for those who have been dispersed. And, so, that tells us it's a pretty broad audience that this is sent to bring the gospel. But it may have been...it may have been more specific than just those who have been carried away in exile. Persecution, marginalization, these kinds of things had begun and the gospel had begun to spread because of that. So, if a person lost their job and they were marginalized in their neighborhood and nobody was being nice to them anymore because they believed in Jesus and they decided they'd had enough and God is leading them to another city and they pack up their things and move to another city than they take the gospel with them to that city, a place where it's more receptive and the gospel than spread throughout the empire, the Roman world of the time. And of course, the stoning of Stephen that we read about in the book of Acts would and could have been a large catalyst. So, if that scenario's true than James would possibly be writing to the early believers who had been in his pastoral care in Jerusalem but had now begun to spread out. And the believers who received this letter wherever they received this letter, they had fled in all different directions to find a place of peace where they could just live their lives. But they would've always felt connected to the place that they found their faith in the Jerusalem church. And that's the mother church. So, a letter from the Jerusalem church. But that would've been something that would been treasured and kept and preserved especially…especially if James wrote it, the half-brother of Jesus, the leader of the church. And what we’re about to see is a little bit of the nuance that is a very important one. In Paul's letters and in the letter to the Hebrews we’re exploring faith and we’re going all the way back to the beginning of the Hebrew story, all the way back to Abram and seeing that it was his faith. And remember in the book of Hebrews we read the hall of faith. So, all of these…example, after example, after example in the Scriptures showing that faith is the essential activator of everything in relation to God. James believes that very thing, but he makes a very important distinction that is basically yes indeed faith is the essential piece. We must absolutely live by faith; however, faith without works is dead. That distinction has not always been popular throughout the journey in the history of the Christian faith. Even the reformer Martin Luther would have preferred to omit James from the canon of Scripture because Martin Luther, among other things, held a conviction of solo fide, it’s faith alone…faith alone that saves you. James wouldn't argue with that, he would just say, “there's a way of evidencing that you have faith, and that is how you live your life, your works. You can say whatever you want to say but there are ways of speaking that are far more powerful than words. Anybody can say anything, but you live what you actually believe.” So, the reformer Martin Luther may have called a letter of James, a letter of straw, but James probably couldn't, wouldn't have cared less. Because we’re about to hear a new tone in the Scripture. James is very, very forthright, very direct, very…attempting to be very clear so that there are no misunderstandings. And, so, we really are entering into the portion of Scripture that is about probably to kick our butt. And our butts will be kicked throughout James and the letters of Peter. So let's just get ready for that and let’s just be grateful for it out in front because sometimes it's the things that challenge us or disrupt us or kick our butt that make us stand up and wrestle with it and move forward instead of staying stagnant. And, so, with that, let's begin. James chapter 1 verses 1 through 18.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another day, another day of life and another day to be in community together in Your word. And we thank You for this new territory, this letter of James that is certain to challenge us. It challenges me every year. And, so, we welcome that. We often try to minimize disruption and challenge and anything that we might have to endure, anything that we might have to go through even though it's the very thing that will make us stronger. We try to avoid those things but we’re grateful that in the Scriptures You confront everything, You touch everything. You move into whatever is going on with us and force us to ask the right questions about where we’re headed and we’re grateful that James begins to unpack that this very day by telling us when our faith is tested our endurance has a chance to grow. And we should let that happen. We should let it grow because if our endurance is completely developed, we’ll be perfect and complete, needing nothing. We’re also told that if we need wisdom, which we do, we’re to ask You Father and You will give it to us generously You’re not gonna rebuke us for asking for wisdom. So, we’re asking for wisdom. Give us wisdom as we move into this new territory in the Bible and as we move into this new territory in the world. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is…it is the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here as I say most all the time. So, stay tuned and stay connected.

We are doing the Global Campfire initiative right now and that will come to an end tomorrow. And that is just the converging of a few things, like I shared last week. The Heart album, Heart a contemplative journey that we released in July really came at a time that it was needed. And, so, just a lot of really, really wonderful feedback about things that God did through that project and continues to do through that project. And then there was the reemergence or reawakening a new affection for an old technology, that being vinyl albums and just the love to…the love for having album artwork and stuff available kind of how they…how it used to be. And then there's the Daily Audio Bible app that we are pouring in sowing resource into continually with the objective that it continues to become the portal, it continues to become the way that no matter where we are, it’s just in our back pocket or in our purse. We have a way to be connected no matter what. And, so, we pressed up some vinyl of the Heart album and we’re just inviting anyone while the supplies last. And they’re about by gone. Anyone who can give $100 or more into this initiative, specifically earmarked to sow deeper into app development, then we want to send you the Heart album on vinyl. I want to say it's a collector’s edition because it's beautiful. It's something to treasure. I think I said it a few days ago and I hadn’t planned to say it but when I said it I was like, “that rings true.” It's one thing we can hold onto from 2020 and say this was a good thing. And there are many things in hindsight, we will see about 2020 that are a good thing, but a lot of…a lot of us are gonna acknowledge it was a difficult trip around the sun, to say the least. But this is a bright spot in that. So, here's how you get there. Go to dailyaudiobible.com or open up the Daily Audio Bible app. If you are at the website at the .com look for Initiatives. Click Initiatives and you'll find the Global Campfire initiative. If you're in the app push the little icon in the upper left-hand corner, it’s a drawer that will open up, press Initiatives and you'll find the Global Campfire initiative. And I thank you. I thank you profoundly for your partnership.

If you have a prayer request or encouragement you can use the very app that we’re talking about here. One of the things that we were able to incorporate in the last year because of the continued building is the Hotline button and that's the little red button of the top. And I talk about it all the time. You press that no matter where you are in the world and you can…you can share, you can reach out, you can pray, you can ask for prayer right there. So, that's what you do or if you prefer, you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

[nightmaresindreamland]

HC: Fear

The past three years has not been kind to our favorite wizard. Things have gotten more scary, some things have stayed the same, but overall, his ability to react to things he finds intimidating has stayed the same.

Nightmare’s never really been a timid or fearful person, at least, that’s how it would appear. His fear conjures itself in ways that are non-typical, and ways that have baked themselves into his very personality.

Fear of isolation

Fear of betrayal

Fear of abuse

Fear of abandonment

Nightmare’s fear of isolation is perhaps his strongest one, which most of his outlook on life is rooted in. He always feels as though that the people around him will leave him, not through death, but justifiable reasons. He is an evil warlord, after all, it’s only natural they won’t want to stay. 

Most people aren’t evil, so Nightmare has to lower himself and let them command him (see; Jae, CS, Olimar) to avoid them leaving him or becoming dissatisfied with him. He knows people can’t genuinely like him, that’s impossible, so purchasing ‘allies’ through normal evil means (i.e money, power, goods) is the only way he feels he may have company. That or if he’s forced to through contract (see; Nana).

Something good happening to him is never not backed with something horrible happening next. He constantly sees that with the people he’s in relationships with. Having ‘allies’ is a special form of mental torment, because he feels obligated to wait on them to stave off pain they’ll inevitably inflict on him. There is no saftey, still, in his allies, but at least it’s better than having friends.

Friends are just blatant lies. They’re people out to exploit, deceive, and destroy.

Paranoia

Persecution complex

It’s only reasonable that everyone is out to get him. You’d have to be insane not to be against him. He is the self proclaimed emperor of evil, and he’s done nothing but slaughter and hurt people for as long as he can remember. It’s only natural for him to think that anyone and everyone hates him. He revels in the hatred and the fear, of course, being a demon of the latter. But at times, a switch flips in his brain and he’ll get angry about it instead.

He feels no matter what he does, no matter what body he is in, no matter how he acts, he’s predestined to be hurt. That the universe itself has it out for him, and will always hurt him regardless of how he acts. He knows it’s cosmic karma for the war, and that he deserves it, but he still doesn’t want it. 

His paranoia is only ever confirmed true both through rps with characters that seemingly know he’s evil on first glance despite not knowing who he is, as well as the canonical existence of Star Warriors; an entire race of people who exist to wipe his face into the mud. He always feels hunted, which makes him constantly lash out against people, even the people he trusts.

I mean, how can he really trust anyone if he always suspects everyone wants to hurt him? No matter how much someone is tested, no matter how much he intimidates or submits, that person’s going to hurt him. It doesn’t matter if it’s not in their best interest, it doesn’t matter if they seemingly have no motive, they will. It’s going to happen. It can’t not happen.

Fear of being wrong

Inability to trust own judgement

Dependency

This fear is one that only produced itself post-war, when Nightmare became acutely aware that the opinions of mortals mattered towards his well-being. Economic anxiety was frequent among the employees he’d spoken to, and he’d frequently would be told about how his actions affected the wellbeing of his company; his pride, joy, and singular place of safety he’d ever been granted.

Nightmare slunk down into the pits of ‘inoffensiveness’ as the years waned on, killing less, lazing more, and keeping to himself in order to ensure his company could run. He wanted to murder, he wanted to kill, but he trusted the judgement of his mortal employees (see; CS) more than he trusted his own. This trickled into an extreme degree as of late, as Nightmare developed paranoia in rp. He cannot trust his own actions or thoughts, lest he lose someone to them, be left alone, or killed.

Nightmare is dependent on the people he forms relationships to do things he feels he’s incapable of doing, leading to them usually running his life for him (again, see; CS). He knows mortals run the universe, he’s a singular demon amongst a crowd of people. It’s better they have control over him than he have control over himself, lest he lose everything he built on their corpses and backs.

It’s why some can glare at him and tell him what to do without any consequence. They know better than he does, and at the very least he’s aware of that.

Fear of inadequacy

Nightmare believes that his existence is evil from the get-go. Even if he didn’t have a war, he would be evil and worth scorning regardless. He is conceptually evil, which, if you don’t know, is kind of a bad thing to be. He feels he has to convince people to tolerate him because of this, because he is a defective creature rather than a person.

Due to this, Nightmare lashes out at feelings of inferiority against nearly next to everyone who fits some level of a ‘normal’ person (see; Kirby) with extreme prejudice. He hates feeling ashamed of himself, so he doesn’t. Instead, he just becomes incredibly hateful towards people who ‘have an easy life’ just by being born into the right body. Then again, maybe even if he were born different, he would still be beaten to death regardless.

Nightmare feels the need to constantly prove himself to be worthwhile to people, that he has a use, that he shouldn’t be killed or tortured because x, y, z, even when no threat is present. He feels like he must prove himself, even to people he doesn’t know. 

Nightmare feels an intense need to please other people, and actively will not do things he wants to do if he feels it will hurt someone he arbitrarily finds to be important. Other people are in charge of Nightmare’s dignity, and he can’t afford to hurt it.

Nightmare knows that if he can’t be liked, genuinely, the very least he can do is be useful. Maybe then people won’t betray him, kill him, and destroy all of his stuff. But that’s a hard maybe. Nothing can change his fate, he feels, but he’s still trying to anyways. Maybe next time, paying someone and being submissive to their whims finally will be enough. But it probably won’t be. It never is.

Nothing he ever does is ever enough to keep him from pain. That’s just the problem with being born wrong.

Fear of intimacy 

Fear of affection

This was connected to the fear of abandonment, but I had a lot to say about it so it gets its own part here.

Nightmare needs the ability to talk to people and be intimate with them in order for his brain to not collapse in on itself. However, most things that people do together are off limits.

He feels no one can satisfy his needs in any of his relationship without them hurting him in some capacity, so he settles for being deprived instead. It’s better than to ask, better than to risk his pride, or worse, his life. He believes he has no intimate needs at all, and has forgone them entirely for the sake of being safe. 

Nightmare doesn’t want the faux comfort of physical affection. It makes him revolted when he receives it, because he knows it’s fake, only meant to have him drop his guard. It’s better to reject all of it than to accept it and be even more hurt when a betrayal inevitably happens.

Not like he needs it, anyways. He can live without it, can’t he? That’s normal. Besides, it’s not exactly villainous to be getting hugs.

Fear of imprisonment

Fear of powerlessness

Fear of Eggman

Fear of electricity

Fear of rain

Fear of Christmas

Nightmare’s fear of imprisonment and entrapment has been around generally his entire life. The idea of being helpless to someone doing things to him is awful, and being unable to escape is equally unnerving. 

If he had the ability to have dreams, most of his bad ones would be about being contained somewhere he couldn’t leave, and being unable to defend himself from someone inparticular. Someone he doesn’t see, or can’t remember the face of when he wakes up.

Good thing he can’t dream. Good thing he’s never been captured.

Not in recent memory, anyways.

Conclusion

Nightmare’s fear manifests itself, mostly, as anger. The most amount of fear he’s shown in recent years has been in roleplays with Jae and her telling him to not do x, y, z. 

His fear has cooked itself so much into his personality that he believes there is no other way for him to live other than this. He’s accepted them so much that he viciously has to defend himself whenever questioned on why he acts the way he does.

He justifies his fears under the umbrella of ‘well, I’m evil, and thats how being evil works’ in order to not reflect on his own shortcomings. Or, ‘well, the world is made by mortals so naturally I need to listen to them’ as a courtesy. 

Being without things that he fears makes him more scared. Because anything that’s a deviation from the norm is the universe reeling up a hard swing to crush his entire face in.

But still, Nightmare is far from timid. He’s very evil. 

There’s no other way for him to live and be happy with his existence, in his opinion.

[clericbyers]

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

[funkymbtifiction]

Chocolat: Vianne Rocher [ESFP]

OFFICIAL TYPING by Charity / The Mod

Functional Order: Se-Fi-Te-Ni

Perceiving Functional Axis:

Extroverted Sensing (Se) / Introverted Intuition (Ni)

Vianne is a wandering nomad who moves into a town temporarily to introduce decadent sweets to its inhabitants, then packs up her bags and moves on, in search of another sensory experience. She takes great joy in decorating the shop to her taste and in the hard work involved in opening up a business. She knows the delicate tastes and smells of her chocolate and prides herself in reading people from their mannerisms and the conclusions they draw from looking into her spin-plate. She believes she’s good at “knowing” what each person’s favorite dessert is, and is often right. Vianne pays attention to the world outside her. She notices things about people, and finds ways to bring them together, such as using a child’s interest in art to get him to come into her shop and spend time with her grandmother. She’s such a free spirit, she gives little thought to settling down or establishing roots, relying on her low Ni to give her flashes of insight into people’s tastes rather than their motives.

Judging Functional Axis:

Introverted Feeling (Fi) / Extroverted Thinking (Te)

“I don’t go to church, but thank you.” Vianne instinctively understands herself and how she differs from others, but makes no great strides to in any way conform to the society around her. They are doing Lent. She is making chocolate. They are going to celebrate Easter. She wants to bring dancers into the main square for a pagan festival the same day. The townspeople ignore the marginalized outsiders, so she befriends them. Vianne does not care if she’s included, but she doesn’t like to be persecuted. She has an attitude of “as long as you are harming no one, you can decide what you want to do and live how you want.” She doesn’t realize being honest about herself (“Oh, I have never married”) will have consequences for her business (that woman is immoral!) in a small, traditional community. Her Te shows in her ability to organize her store, set her prices, sell her wares, and in the brutal smack-downs she occasionally lays on people.

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

House Traits: daring, nerve, and chivalry.

Vianne has a restless spirit. She’s also brave. She comes into a new town and tries to “start over” where she has failed to make a home for herself elsewhere. She faces down the local mayor without fear, finding pleasant ways to integrate herself into society and become necessary. Vianne plunges into the river when she thinks her child is in danger. She is a risk-taker and a plainspoken woman who prefers the truth. She doesn’t mind a bit of risk or scandal now and again.

Enneagram: 7w8 so/sp

Tritype: 729 The Peacemaker [7w8 2w1 9w8]

Vianne has adopted her mother’s “free spirit” lifestyle of staying for a little while, then packing up and moving on. Though she knows her daughter hates it, she continues to run away whenever things become too stifling or difficult. In the process of the story, she learns to stop hiding from her problems and to put down lasting roots in a community. She is a bright-spirited, cheerful woman who quickly recovers from difficulties through humor and forgiveness. She brings delicious treats and trifles to the town, hoping to tempt them into sweet indulgences. Her 8 wing shows in her occasional aggression and her defiance of the “authorities” (the mayor and his henchmen). She uses kindness and helpfulness to attract others to her (2 fix). And though she becomes angry, ultimately she makes everything okay, agrees to forgive, and keep others’ secrets, and finds pleasant ways to connect to others (9 fix). As an so/sp, she cares very much about whether others like and accept her, she tries to impact the community in positive ways, and is also aware of her own physical needs.

[focusontheeasternlightning-blog]

Trials Are Special Blessings of God

By Xuanxuan, Taiwan

After my husband and I met and fell in love, we got married, and then I gave birth to an adorable son and a lovely daughter.

 I managed our marriage with my heart, but gradually, I found that it was not easy to do it well. Because of differences in our family backgrounds and life habits, my husband and I often quarreled and it got more and more bitter. We went so far as to even want a divorce. Just when my marriage was on the rocks, I accepted the Lord Jesus’s gospel. After I knew that the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross and shed His precious blood to redeem mankind, I was moved by His love. Later, from the Bible I saw that the Lord Jesus has patience and tolerance for man, so I resolved to follow the Lord Jesus’ example to be humble and patient. I discussed it with my husband and then became a Christian. Brothers and sisters often shared the Lord’s grace together, supported and helped each other, living in God’s love. I was filled with joy and peace.

As time went by, most of my brothers and sisters in the church began to become busy making money, and during the small group meetings, what they talked about had nothing to do with the faith in the Lord, but instead were eating, drinking, and playing. Additionally, the pastor’s sermons were the same old platitudes. I got no enjoyment out of listening to them, with my mind often being empty.

Sometimes as soon as I attended meetings, my eyelids started fighting to stay open. In my daily life, I also involuntarily committed sins, my relationship with my husband didn’t improve, and I couldn’t live out the requirements of the Lord at all. I felt more and more like the Lord was not with me, and all I could do was pray to the Lord in my heart and ask Him not to abandon me. Meanwhile, I practiced spiritual devotions more and read the Bible more. However, my spiritual condition was without any improvement.

In June, 2017, I got acquainted with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. Through fellowshiping about the truths together with them several times, I understood: The reason why our church is desolate is that the Holy Spirit’s work has moved. Because now God has begun His new work, the work of the Holy Spirit has moved to those who have accepted it. I also understood: In the Age of Grace, in order to redeem us, the Lord Jesus personally became flesh and was crucified as the sin offering for man. When we confessed our sins to the Lord in His name and repented, the Lord would forgive us. But we haven’t escaped from the bonds and the restrictions of sin, so we still need God to do another stage of work of removing sins so that we can be purified. Then the brothers and sisters also fellowshiped about various truths, such as the three stages of God’s work and the formation of the Bible, and so forth. I felt what they fellowshiped was quite in line with the Bible and contained the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, it solved many confusions and problems that I had in my belief in the Lord as well. Thereupon I decided to seek and study Almighty God’s work of the last days.

Once, when I was surfing online, I inadvertently clicked on a link, and found that it was all the negative propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party government and the religious world judging and convicting Almighty God. This struck cold to my heart at the time. I thought: The CCP government, an atheist party, has been persecuting religious beliefs all the time, and also has labeled the Bible as a cult book. For the sake of its dictatorship, the CCP is capable of doing any evil thing, such as falsifying, discrediting, smearing, and framing, this is a fact known to all. So what the CCP says cannot be relied upon. But why do so many prestigious pastors and elders in the religious world unite with the CCP government to judge and condemn The Church of Almighty God? What is really going on here?

Subsequently, when I came into contact with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God, I started observing them secretly. After a period of time of contact, I found that they were sincere, behaved properly, and were moderate in their words and actions. When in gatherings, they would communicate the truths, such as how to be an honest person, how to live out a normal humanity, how to revere God and shun evil, and other aspects. Especially at the time that I encountered difficulties, the brothers and sisters all fellowshiped about the truths to me so that I could know God’s will. Attracted by the truths they shared in fellowship and moved by their sincerity, slowly, I no longer guarded myself against the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. Afterward, as long as I had time, I would watch all sorts of videos and movies on The Church of Almighty God’s app. The more I watched the more spiritual nourishment I obtained, and I enjoyed the living water of life that flows from the throne. I confirmed that Almighty God is the appearance of the Lord Jesus, thus feeling even more at ease, and also happy to have contact with the brothers and sisters of the Church.

However, I still could not understand why the religious leaders condemned The Church of Almighty God, so I raised this question in a meeting. Then a sister fellowshiped with me, “Let’s first look at some verses in the Bible. In 1 John 5:19 it says: ‘the whole world lies in wickedness.’ And in Luke 11:29: ‘This is an evil generation.’ We all know that since ancient times, the true way has always been suppressed. Just like in the Age of Grace, when the Lord Jesus did His work, He not only gave us man the way of repentance but also performed many signs and wonders, such as feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, making cripples walk, making the blind see, resurrecting the dead, and so on. The scribes and Pharisees of that time all admitted that the Lord Jesus’ words and work had authority and power, yet in order to protect their own positions and livelihoods, they intentionally made up rumors and framed the Lord Jesus, did their utmost to block believers from following the Lord Jesus, and in the end even colluded with the Roman government to crucify the Lord Jesus on the cross. From the fact we can see that the true way will always suffer the rejection and condemnation of atheist regimes and religious world.

In the last days, Almighty God has expressed the truth to do the work of judgment and chastisement, and all kinds of MVs, movies, and the books of God’s words have been posted on the internet to openly bear witness of Almighty God’s work of the last days. All those who love the truth and long for and await the appearance of the Lord have begun to return to Almighty God, one by one, whereas those who hate the truth and resist God have been revealed by God’s work. Like the Pharisees, today’s religious pastors and elders see that the words expressed by Almighty God are all the truth, yet because more and more believers have returned to Almighty God, to protect their status and livelihoods they fanatically resist and condemn The Church of Almighty God. From this we can see their nature and essence of hating the truth and resisting God. If we are not able to discern or seek the truth, but just blindly listen to the words of men, then we will lose the opportunity of God’s salvation. In fact, in the last days God uses the forces of Satan to do service for perfecting His chosen people, so that we can see through their essence, and then reject and betray them. This is precisely the wisdom of God’s work.” Through the sister’s communication, I came to know: The reason why these pastors and elders of the religious world condemn the work of Almighty God is because they know Almighty God’s words are the truth, and that as long as those who love the truth and thirst for God’s appearance hear these words of Almighty God they will follow Almighty God and reject them. So, for the sake of preserving their own positions and meal-tickets, they do everything possible to block people from coming before God, and they even spread various rumors, making people not dare to study Almighty God’s work of the last days. Being deceived by the rumors, untold numbers of people have lost this once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the Lord. These religious pastors and elders are too despicable and too evil. If it weren’t for God pitying and saving me, I would also miss the chance to greet the Lord.

As I was awash in the joy of welcoming the return of the Lord, a spiritual battle secretly befell me. When my husband knew I believed in Almighty God, he searched for “The Church of Almighty God” on the internet, and saw a lot of words originating from the CCP and the religious world that resisted and condemned the Church. Deceived by the negative propaganda, my husband angrily said to me, “Do you know anything about The Church of Almighty God? Do you know there are many negative words online about The Church of Almighty God?” I replied to him, “I accept the work of Almighty God because I have read many Almighty God’s words. His words not only have solved lots of my problems in my real life, but also teach me to live out the normal humanity. The words of Almighty God are the truth and God’s voice. Almighty God is the appearance of the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, after this period of interacting with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God, I can see they are all devout Christians.” At the moment, I remembered that the sister had fellowshiped with me: Since we believe in God we must have a heart that reveres God, otherwise we will become Satan’s accomplices and follow it to resist God. Just like when the Jewish people at that time blindly listened to the lies of the Pharisees, but didn’t investigate whether or not what they said was true; in the end, they followed the Pharisees to nail the Lord to the cross, walking the God-resisting path. This led to the destruction of Israel. At the thought of this, I told my husband that he couldn’t follow the herd and blindly believe the rumors on the internet, for they were all lies. But my husband didn’t listen to my words at all. He said to me: “From now on, you are not to attend meetings with them. I forbid it!”

Afterward, whenever my husband discovered that I still had gatherings, he would seem to change into another person, with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Seeing him like this, I was very afraid in my heart, for during the years of our marriage, though sometimes we quarreled, I had never seen that kind of expression in his eyes. I recalled that in the past when I believed in the Lord, he never persecuted me, but now when it came to my believing in Almighty God, he seemed to completely lose his reason. No matter how I explained it to him, he didn’t listen to me, making me feel restrained in gathering with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. Later, a sister heard my situation and fellowshiped with me, “From the outside, what you have encountered today appears to be the obstruction from your family, but in reality this is a spiritual battle. God intends to save us, but Satan is unwilling to see that. Therefore, it thinks up every conceivable way to disturb us and use our weak points to attack us, attempting to make us stray from God. At the same time, this is also God’s trial of us. God wants to see whether we can maintain our faith in Him and stand witness for Him in persecution.” The sister also read me a passage of God’s words: “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony to Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony.” Thank God for His enlightenment. Through the sister’s fellowship, I understood: In fact I am experiencing a spiritual battle. The thing that happens to me now is a wager Satan makes with God. From the outside it is my husband obstructing my belief in Almighty God, but actually, it is Satan using my husband to disturb me. Satan wants me to become negative and weak, blame and misunderstand God, and eventually leave my church life, betray God, and return under its domain. After knowing this, I was determined to bear witness for God and not to be used by Satan and become its captive anymore. However, I still felt some weakness in my heart, for every time when I was going to the meetings, my husband would make some sarcastic remarks. Once the meeting time came, I always felt very nervous, afraid that if in future we quarreled every day then life would be difficult for me.

In pain, I came before God and prayed: “Oh God, the environment I am facing now is Your test for me. I don’t want to be restrained by my husband, but I am very weak. God, please give me strength and courage. Amen!” A few days later, a sister sent me two passages of God’s words: “You must have My courage within you and you must have principles when facing relatives who do not believe. But for the sake of Me, you must also not yield to any of the dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow the conspiracies of Satan to take hold.” “You must quiet your hearts at all times, live within Me; I am your Rock, your Backer.” After reading these God’s words, I had faith and strength inside. I also felt God was by my side, that He understood my situation and knew I was flustered, and that as long as I called on Him He would help and guide me. Right! God is my reliance. God is my strong rock. I can’t shrink back any longer, I should rely on God to face such an environment. With this in mind, thereupon, I said to my husband, “I will do all the housework properly, but please don’t interfere with my belief in God. My resolution to believe in God will not be changed anyway.” Hearing my words, my husband was extremely angry, yet I was not restrained by him anymore, and after that, I still regularly gathered with brothers and sisters.

Later, my husband changed his attitude toward me. He suddenly treated me very well and said that we should work on our relationship. Then, every day he would actively accompany me to do exercises in the morning, and invite me to watch TV and chat with him at night. On holidays, he asked me to take our children to my former church, and he also said that he was gonna believe in the Lord with me. Previously, I looked forward to living such a life, but now, faced with my husband’s attentions, I just couldn’t feel happy anyhow, for in my heart I knew it was also a trick of Satan. Satan used various tricks to entice and deceive me, didn’t it want me to give up believing in God and ultimately lose the opportunity of God’s salvation? Satan is too despicable and too evil! Then I thought of some God’s words: “You must not throw away the truth for the sake of a peaceful family life, and you must not lose your life’s dignity and integrity for the sake of momentary enjoyment. You should pursue all that is beautiful and good, and should pursue a path in life that is more meaningful. If you lead such a vulgar life, and do not pursue any objectives, do you not waste your life? What can you gain from such a life? You should forsake all enjoyments of the flesh for the sake of one truth, and should not throw away all truths for the sake of a little enjoyment. People like this have no integrity or dignity; there is no meaning to their existence!” Yeah, I cannot lose the opportunity to gain the truth for the sake of coveting the comforts of the flesh. Now that Almighty God’s work is the true way, I should walk the path without hesitation. At the moment, I thought of Job. He had principles in treating any person, event, and thing, and he treated his wife, sons and daughters, and friends all based on the principles of truth instead of emotions. I should follow Job’s example and be a person who acts with principles. So, I said to my husband, “As your wife, I can accompany you, but when it is time for me to attend meetings I must go.” To my surprise, this time my husband didn’t say a single word, and I felt that his attitude toward my faith was slowly changing.

Not long after that, my husband tried another trick—he asked me to give a call to the pastor’s wife of my former church in Taipei. I did not think it was necessary to do so, yet he insisted, and in the next few days he kept asking me whether I had called her or not. Unable to bear that, finally I called her telephone. At first, when we made small talk my pastor’s wife spoke to me in a gentle tone; however, when I asked what she thought about The Church of Almighty God, her tone suddenly changed, and she said many words that opposed and blasphemed against God. At the moment, my heart leapt into my throat, because my phone’s speaker was turned on and my husband could hear every word she said. I worried that after he finished hearing these words, he would prevent me from believing in Almighty God even more. Very nervous, I silently prayed to God in my heart: “Oh God, in the face of such an environment, I don’t know what to do. I ask You to give me Your wisdom.” At this time, some God’s words occurred to me, “Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things and He is guiding us on the whole earth. We shall often be close to Him, and come before Him in quietness; never shall we miss a single moment, and there are things to learn at all times. The environment around us as well as the people, matters and objects, all are permitted by His throne. Do not have a complaining heart, or God will not bestow His grace upon you.” God’s words made me understand: Almighty God is the one true God who created heaven and earth and all things and rules over all things. All matters and things are in His hands. The environment I encounter today is authorized by God, and within this is His good will. Now what the pastor’s wife says is resisting God and blaspheming Him, I should stand up and bear witness to God so as to shame Satan. So, I asked her, “Is there any factual basis for your words?” She hesitated a bit and said, “No. I just heard this from others.” Hearing her words, I said to her, “Without any factual basis, you’d better not speak randomly. If it is so, say it is so. If it isn’t so, say it isn’t so. We, as a Christian, must have a heart of reverence for God; otherwise, we will resist God easily.” When I finished my words, the atmosphere became embarrassed, and then we closed our talk hastily. After hanging up the phone, I had an unspeakable joy within. Meanwhile, I also saw that God’s wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s scheme. Through this call, I gained some discernment about the essence of the pastors and elders. These shepherds did not have a shred of reverence for God nor a heart of seeking the truth, and toward God’s new work, they took a convicting, resisting, and blasphemous attitude. From this I saw their truth-hating and God-hating nature. I said to my husband, “Thank you for asking me to make this call. If not, I wouldn’t be able to discern these false shepherds.” My husband found it quite unbelievable, saying, “How could your pastor’s wife be like this? Without knowing the truth, she actually shot her mouth off. As a shepherd, she is too irresponsible.”

Since then, my husband didn’t obstruct me from attending meetings any longer. Moreover, he told me that since I believed in Almighty God, he had felt my changes—I could tolerate and understand others, no longer lost my temper easily, and also wasn’t in a high position suppressing our children anymore. Now he has installed the new network on the third floor of our house, and told me that only in this way could I attend meetings in peace. I know behind all of these things it is God who has opened up the way for me. I also have felt God is by my side, and that when Satan’s tricks come upon me, as long as I rely on and look up to God, He will guide me to get through every difficulty.

After experiencing the twists and turns of these days, I have understood some truths, and gained some discernment about the schemes carried out by Satan in the spiritual world. All of these are the most precious wealth God has granted me. In retrospect, it is God’s hand that has led me along the way. Thank God for allowing me to hear His voice and return before Him. All the glory be to Almighty God! Amen!

[deepinsightslibrary-blog]

My Last Argument

This is my final argument against backsliding. In this chapter you will see in very real terms the folly of backsliding. You will hear the testimonies of real Christians who made it to the very end. You will also hear the last statements of the backslidden and lost souls, and what they said as they approached the gates of Hell. You will see how really terrible backsliding is.

In our walk with God there is a certain line that we must not cross. There is a point of no return. I have heard believers say that they will backslide, but will come back to the Lord after some time. They forget that there may be a point of no return.

The Point of No Return

We will all stand before the presence of God to account for our lives. When that time comes and you are ushered into the presence of God, what will you say?

Will you be ready? Will you have done what God wanted you to do?

A Christian brother was committing fornication when he heard a loud blast. He thought it was the sound of the trumpet heralding the return of Christ. So he jumped out of the bed, but was not caught up to heaven. He was so worried, because he thought that he had been left behind at the rapture. This anxious Christian was overreacting to the honk of a big bus. A backslider lives in fear and uncertainty.

God Wants to Reason with You

Come now, and let us REASON together…

Isaiah 1:18

God is a rational Being, and He wants to reason with you.

Many people think that when you deal with spiritual things you must put aside all reason and stop thinking rationally. But the Bible records that God wants us to reason with Him. If God tells you to reason, then He must be a God who thinks logically and sequentially!

I am going to reason with you and argue with you about backsliding. You could call it “Arguments for and against backsliding”.

I will show you certain people who were happy and full of joy as they entered into the rest of God. These were Christians who served the Lord and did not fall away.

On the other hand, I will show you what some dying backsliders said as they left this earth. These testimonies alone should make you decide never, never, never to backslide.

The Saints

First, I want you to notice what Bible saints had to say when they were moving from this world to the next.

Apostle Paul

Apostle Paul was in prison when he knew that his time of death was near. He said, "For to me…to die is gain." In other words he was happy to be dying. How many people are happy to die? If you are confident of your relationship with God you will not fear death.

Jacob

When the Patriarch Jacob was dying in Genesis 49:33, the Bible declares that after commanding his sons, "…He gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost..."

What a way to go! He knew that he was going. He had time to instruct his children with confidence. After commanding his sons, he gathered his feet onto the bed and died. You see, the death of the righteous is very different from the death of the wicked. Balaam the prophet said;

...Let me die the death of the righteous...

Numbers 23:10

Now let's study how some ordinary people, after living a life without backsliding went on happily to be with the Lord.

Ignatius

Ignatius lived in 100 AD. He was the Bishop of Antioch, and a personal disciple of John the Apostle. He was sentenced to death, and as he was dying, his last words were, "I thank thee, oh God, that thou hast honoured me with thy Word, praise God!"

These were the last words of a man who was sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Some other people would have been screaming, defaecating and salivating. But this man died praising God!

Father Polycarp

Father Polycarp, another disciple of John lived during the reign of Emperor Nero. He was also sentenced to death. He was taken to court, and there, he was given an option to either denounce Jesus or be burnt to death. Polycarp suffered much for Christ's sake. The Roman Proconsul commanded him to swear allegiance to Ceasar, saying, "Swear, and I will set thee at liberty; reproach Christ." How courageous and magnificent was Polycarp's reply!

He said, "Eighty and six years have I now served Christ, and He has never done me the least wrong. How, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?"

Further efforts to make him deny his Lord failed and Polycarp was condemned to be burned at the stake. When the day came for him to be burned alive, those responsible for the burning wanted to nail him to the stake, but he protested: "Let me alone as I am: for He who has given me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to stand without moving in the pile."

Finally he exclaimed, "Oh! Lord, Father of the Beloved Son Jesus Christ. I thank thee that thou has allotted me a place among the Martyrs."

Augustus Montague Toplady

Augustus Montague Toplady (1710-1778), will ever be famous as the author of one of the most evangelical hymns of the Eighteenth Century, "Rock of Ages," which was first published in 1776. During his final illness, Toplady was greatly supported by the consolations of the Gospel.

Near his last, awaking from a sleep, he said:

"Oh, what delights! Who can fathom the joy of the third Heaven? The sky is clear, there is no cloud. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"

He died saying, "No mortal man can live after the glories which God has manifested to my soul."

And with those words he went to be with the Lord.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the world's outstanding figure in literature, of whose life, times and works a whole library of books has been written, lived near his Bible as the numerous quotations from it in his plays and dramas prove.

A Famous Man Knew the Lord

His end came when he was only 52 years old. His last will that was written in the year he died revealed his faith in God.

"I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting, and my body to the earth, whereof it is made."

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry (1662-1714), was the eminent non-conformist theologian who gave the Church the devotional commentary which held a foremost place in its field. He died a week after his settlement in London as pastor of a church in Hackney, but his end was full of confidence in the Saviour's grace.

His last words were: "A life spent in the service of God, and in communion with Him, is the most comfortable life that anyone can lead in this present world."

John Wesley

John Wesley, the founder of the great Methodist Church said, "The best of all is, God is with us." I really love these last words of this great founder.

John Wesley, of whom it has been said that eternity alone will reveal what the world owes to his mighty ministry, was active to the very end. Until the end, he was full of praise, counsel and exhortations.

The Great Founder Dies in Peace

In his last moments with what remaining strength he had, he cried out twice over, in holy triumph:

"The best of all is, God is with us."

The very last word Wesley was heard to articulate was: "Farewell!"

Then, without a lingering groan, the evangelist of the highways and by-ways, beloved pastor of thousands, and father of the great Methodist Church, entered into the joy of his Lord.

Notice again, death to the confident Christian - It was a peaceful transition from one world to another!

Adoniram Judson

Adoniram Judson was a missionary to Africa. In fact, the first American missionary to Africa. He went to Burma, wrote and translated the Bible into the Burmese language.

The Departure of Africa's First American Missionary

He also wrote a dictionary for them. When he was dying he said, "No one ever left this world with brighter hopes or warmer feelings."

Don't be afraid, death will not surprise me. In spite of what I say, I feel so strong in Him."

This is a man who had strength when most people are weak. Let's all pray for such staying power, that we may all prevail until the very end.

Charles Bridgman

Charles Bridgman died at the age of twelve. As a child he loved to read his Bible and desired spiritual knowledge. Young Charles would often rebuke his brothers if they forgot to thank God at meal times. When he became ill, he was asked whether he would rather live or die, he answered "I desire to die, that I may go to my Saviour."

The Strength of a Little Boy

As his time drew near, his last words were: "...Into thy hands I commend my soul! Now close mine eyes. Forgive me, father, mother, brother, sister and all the world! Now I am well, my pain is almost gone, my joy is at hand. Lord have mercy upon me. O Lord, receive my soul unto Thee." How many young boys of today would speak the way this young man spoke?

Robert Bruce

Robert Bruce, one of the most distinguished men of his time, entered the ministry and became prominent in Edinburgh. Scrupulously maintaining the established norms of the church, he exposed himself to much persecution for the truth's sake.

At the time of his death, he called for the family Bible and said to his daughter:

"Cast up to me the eighth chapter of Romans, and set my finger on these words, 'I am persuaded that NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE ... SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE ME from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.'"

Then Bruce said, "Is my finger on them?"

"Yes," said his daughter. Then he replied:

"Now God be with you, my children. I have just breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus this night."

How exciting it must be when you know you are ready! There can be no reason to backslide when you hear these exciting testimonies.

And Many Others

Another dying Christian said, "How bright the room, how full of angels!"

Some other Christian said confidently, "The battle is fought. The battle is fought, and the victory is won." With those words, he went to be with the Lord.

Alexander II, full of divine faith, exclaimed: "I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb."

Someone else said, "I wish I had the power of writing to describe how pleasant it is to die."

Another one exclaimed, "Oh! That I could tell what joy I possess. I am full of rapture, the Lord shines with such power upon my soul. He is come, He is come."

One surviving believer said, "I shall soon be with Jesus. PERHAPS I AM TOO ANXIOUS!"

Is It Always Sweet to Die?

Another person said, "IT IS SWEET TO DIE." How will you be able to say, "It is sweet to die" when you have backslidden and you know judgement awaits you?

One Christian brother questioned, "Can this be death? What? It is better than living. TELL THEM I DIED HAPPILY IN JESUS."

Another one said, "They sing. The angels sing. IS THIS DYING? NO, IT IS SWEET LIVING."

One lucky backslider, Oliver, a doctor of philosophy, had lived the life of an infidel. But shortly before his death he repented and turned to the Saviour.

His final word was one of deep regret: "Would that I could undo the mischief I have done! I was more ardent to poison men with infidel principles than any Christian is to spread the doctrines of Christ."

The Sinners

Now, let us consider what some backsliders and sinners said as they were dying. The pride and rebellion of these wicked people did not help matters as they approached the gates of hell and accountability. Some of these people were backslidden Christians. They died as frightened, screaming and hopelessly lost souls. The first person I want us to consider in this category is a man called Tom Paine.

Tom Paine

Tom Paine (1737-1809) was considered to be a literary giant.

He wrote “The Age of Reason” and lived during the revivals of John Wesley and George Whitfield. He lived a life that was against God, and drew people away from God. I believe that this is one of the people who have made Europe so anti-Christ and atheist in their way of thinking. One person who witnessed his death said, "He is truly to be pitied."

Although he did not believe in God, at the hour of death on his bed he said, "I would give worlds, if I had them, that 'Age of Reason' had not been published. Oh! Lord help me. Oh! God, what have I done to suffer so much?" Then after that he said, "But there is no God. Yet if there is a God, what will become of me in the world after? If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one."

He Was Frightened to Die

When an elderly woman attending him wanted to leave the room, he said, "Stay with me. For God's sake, I cannot bear to be left alone. For it is hell to be left alone."

The very last words of Tom Paine were, "My God, my God why has thou forsaken me?" And with these words he died. This is the death of the wicked. Utterly helpless and hopeless in the presence of a righteous God!

Voltaire

Whenever I go to Geneva, I cross over into Ferney- Voltaire, a little French village named after a noted infidel Voltaire (1694-1778). One night I drove with the pastor of my church in Geneva to look at a statue of this man.

I saw all of the tributes that were written to his name and all of the good works that he was said to have done for the community. But this man also lived and fought against Christianity.

The Man Who Cursed Christ

Notice what this noted French infidel said of Christ our Saviour: "Curse the wretch!" How on earth can you gather so much confidence to curse Christ and call Him a wretch?

He once boasted, "In twenty years, christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear."

These are the people who have laid the foundations for the atheism that is so prevalent in Europe today.

Shortly after his death, the very house in which he printed his foul literature became the depot of the Geneva Bible Society. The nurse who attended Voltaire said: "For all the wealth in Europe I would not see another infidel die."

He Was Helpless and Desperate on His Deathbed

The physician, Trochim, who was with Voltaire at his death said that he cried out most desperately:

"I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six month's life. Then I shall go to hell, and you will go with me. O Christ! O Jesus Christ!"

Notice the desperation and helplessness of this blasphemer as he descended into the abyss. He himself admitted that he was on his way to hell.

My dear Christian friends, let's make no mistakes about the reality of Heaven and Hell.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1674), was a noted English political philosopher whose most famous work was “Leviathan”.

This cultured, clever skeptic corrupted many of the great men of his time. But what regret was his at the end of the road! What hopelessness permeated his last words:

"If I had the whole world, I would give it to live one day. I am about to take a leap in the dark!"

The good news is: Christians do not take leaps into the dark! When they die they go to Heaven!

Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell (1540), who became Earl of Essex, was the noted English statesman who was next to the King in power and influence. He was responsible for the digging up of the bones of Thomas Becket, and their burning as those of a traitor.

The Man Who Was Seduced

Over ambitious, Cromwell lost his influence and also his head, for he was executed. Historians tell us that as he died, he said in a speech:

"THE DEVIL IS READY TO SEDUCE US, AND I HAVE BEEN SEDUCED, but bear me witness that I die in the Catholic Faith."

Notice how people want to associate with God at the last moment. This man was insisting that he was in the faith!

Thomas Cork

Thomas Cork cried out in anguish as he was dying. He said, "Until this moment I thought there was neither a God nor a devil. But now I know, and I feel that there are both." He exclaimed, "I am doomed to judgment by the judgment of the Almighty."

Robert Green Ingersoll

He Wrote About the Mistakes of the Bible

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899), famous American lawyer and prominent agnostic, lectured on Biblical inaccuracies and contradictions. His famed lecture "The Mistakes of Moses" led one defender of the Bible to say that he would like to hear Moses speak for five minutes on The Mistakes of Ingersoll!

Do I Have a Soul?

When he came to the gates of hell he was frozen with terror and he said, "OH GOD, IF THERE IS A GOD, HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL - IF I HAVE A SOUL."

Sir Francis Gilfort

Sir Francis Gilfort, was taught early in his life about the gospel.

The Potential Minister Who Backslid

He was a backslidden Christian. In fact, it was expected that he would become a minister, but he fell into bad company. When he was passing on to eternity, he said,

"From where is this war in my heart? What arguments do I have to assist me in matters of fact? Do I say there is no hell when I feel one in my bosom?

AYE, AM I CERTAIN THAT THERE IS NO JUDGMENT WHEN I FEEL PRESENT JUDGMENT? Oh, wretch that I am. Whither shall I flee from this?

That there is a God, I know, for I continually feel that of His wrath. That there is a hell, I am surely certain.

Oh! That I was to lie upon the fire that never quench for a thousand years to purchase the favour of God, and to be reverted to Him again. But it is a fruitless wish.

Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer to the end of my torment. Eternity, eternity!"

Do You Want Anyone to Pray For You?

As the distress of this man increased, he was asked whether he wanted some people to be invited to pray for him. He responded "Tigers and monsters, are you devils to come to torment me? Will you give me the prospects of Heaven to make my hell more intolerable?"

Then he said, "Oh! the insufferable pangs of death." And with that he died. How frightening!

William Pope

William Pope, was a born-again Christian, and knew the love of God. But he backslid when his wife died, and he followed Tom Paine. Not long after he backslid, he contracted tuberculosis, which was known at that time as The Consumption.

He is said to have been the leader of a company of infidels who ridiculed everything religious.

They Kicked the Bible and Tore it up

This was a classic backslider who said when he was dying, "No case is comparable to mine, I cannot revert, God will damn me forever."

One of the exercises of he and his friends was to kick the Bible about the floor, or tear it up. Friends who were present in his death-chamber spoke of it as a scene of terror.

A Frightening Scene of Death

His eyes rolled to and fro as he was dying on his bed, and he lifted up his hands as he cried out, "I have no contrition. I cannot repent. God will damn me. I know the day of grace is past...You see one who is damned forever... Oh, Eternity! Eternity... Nothing for me but hell. Come, eternal torments... Do you not see? Do you not see him? He is coming for me. Oh! the burning flame, the hell, the pain that I feel. Eternity will explain my torment."

And with these words, he died.

These were the very last words of a backslider!!

Dear Christian friend, what else can I say? I have shown you the real life testimonies of real people just like yourself. If that is not enough to make you believe and stay with God, then perhaps…

I have bargained for your soul, sharing with you all that a pastor can. I have shown you why you should not backslide. I have shown you the causes of backsliding, the descriptions of backsliding, and the symptoms of backsliding. I have shown you how people who backslide behave when they approach the gates of eternity. On the other hand, I have shown you the happy farewells of Christians with staying power to the very end.

My prayer for you is that you will find Christ and STAY in Christ. For on Christ the solid rock we stand. Amen!!

To the making of many books there is no end. May this book bless your ministry. Amen.

by Dag Heward-Mills

[pope-francis-quotes]

9th June >> (@ZenitEnglish) #Pope Francis #PopeFrancis Homily on Pentecost (Full Text). ‘The Holy Spirit Rejuvenates the Apostles’.

On 9th June 2019, Pentecost Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square. During the Eucharistic celebration, after reading the Gospel, the Pope gave the homily that we report below:

******

Pentecost arrived, for the disciples, after fifty days of uncertainty. True, Jesus had risen. Overjoyed, they had seen him, listened to his words and even shared a meal with him. Yet they had not overcome their doubts and fears: they met behind closed doors (cf. Jn 20:19.26), uncertain about the future and not ready to proclaim the risen Lord. Then the Holy Spirit comes and their worries disappear. Now the apostles show themselves fearless, even before those sent to arrest them. Previously, they had been worried about saving their lives; now they are unafraid of dying. Earlier, they had huddled in the Upper Room; now they go forth to preach to every nation. Before the ascension of Jesus, they waited for God’s kingdom to come to them (cf. Acts 1:6); now they are filled with zeal to travel to unknown lands. Before, they had almost never spoken in public, and when they did, they had often blundered, as when Peter denied Jesus; now they speak with parrhesia to everyone. The disciples’ journey seemed to have reached the end of the line when suddenly they were rejuvenated by the Spirit. Overwhelmed with uncertainty, when they thought everything was over, they were transformed by a joy that gave them a new birth. The Holy Spirit did this. The Spirit is far from being an abstract reality: he is the Person who is most concrete and close, the one who changes our lives. How does he do this? Let us consider the Apostles. The Holy Spirit did not make things easier for them, he didn’t work spectacular miracles, he didn’t take away their difficulties and their opponents. The Spirit brought into the lives of the disciples a harmony that had been lacking, his own harmony, for he is harmony.

Harmony within human beings. Deep down, in their hearts, the disciples needed to be changed. Their story teaches us that even seeing the Risen Lord is not enough unless we welcome him into our hearts. It is no use knowing that the Risen One is alive unless we too live as risen ones. It is the Spirit who makes Jesus live within us; he raises us up from within. That is why when Jesus appears to his disciples, he repeats the words, “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19.21), and bestows the Spirit. Peace is not a matter of resolving outward problems – God does not spare his disciples from tribulation and persecution. Peace is about receiving the Holy Spirit. The peace bestowed on the apostles, the peace that does not bring freedom from problems but in problems, is offered to each of us. Filled with his peace, our hearts are like a deep sea, which remains peaceful, even when its surface is swept by waves. It is a harmony so profound that it can even turn persecutions into blessings. Yet how often we choose to remain on the surface! Rather than seeking the Spirit, we try to keep afloat, thinking that everything will improve once this or that problem is over, once I no longer see that person, once things get better. But to do so is to stay on the surface: when one problem goes away, another arrives, and once more we grow anxious and ill at ease. Avoiding those who do not think as we do will not bring serenity. Resolving momentary problems will not bring peace. What makes a difference is the peace of Jesus, the harmony of the Spirit.

At today’s frenzied pace of life, harmony seems swept aside. Pulled in a thousand directions, we run the risk of nervous exhaustion and so we react badly to everything. Then we look for the quick fix, popping one pill after another to keep going, one thrill after another to feel alive. But more than anything else, we need the Spirit: he brings order to our frenzy. The Spirit is peace in the midst of restlessness, confidence in the midst of discouragement, joy in sadness, youth in aging, courage in the hour of trial. Amid the stormy currents of life, he lowers the anchor of hope. As Saint Paul tells us today, the Spirit keeps us from falling back into fear, for he makes us realize that we are beloved children (cf. Rom 8:15). He is the Consoler, who brings us the tender love of God. Without the Spirit, our Christian life unravels, lacking the love that brings everything together. Without the Spirit, Jesus remains a personage from the past; with the Spirit, he is a person alive in our own time. Without the Spirit, Scripture is a dead letter; with the Spirit, it is a word of life. A Christianity without the Spirit is joyless moralism; with the Spirit, it is life.

The Holy Spirit does not bring only harmony within us but also among us. He makes us Church, building different parts into one harmonious edifice. Saint Paul explains this well when, speaking of the Church, he often repeats a single word, “variety”: varieties of gifts, varieties of services, varieties of activities” (1 Cor 12:4-6). We differ in the variety of our qualities and gifts. The Holy Spirit distributes them creatively so that they are not all identical. On the basis of this variety, he builds unity. From the beginning of creation, he has done this. Because he is a specialist in changing chaos into cosmos, in creating harmony.

In today’s world, lack of harmony has led to stark divisions. There are those who have too much and those who have nothing, those who want to live to a hundred and those who cannot even be born. In the age of the computer, distances are increasing: the more we use social media, the less social we are becoming. We need the Spirit of unity to regenerate us as Church, as God’s People, and as a human family. There is always a temptation to build “nests”, to cling to our little group, to the things and people we like, to resist all contamination. It is only a small step from a nest to a sect: how many times do we define our identity in opposition to someone or something! The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, brings together those who were distant, unites those far off, brings home those who were scattered. He blends different tonalities in a single harmony because before all else he sees goodness. He looks at individuals before looking at their mistakes, at persons before their actions. The Spirit shapes the Church and the world as a place of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. These nouns come before any adjectives. Nowadays it is fashionable to hurl adjectives and, sadly, even insults. Later we realize that this is harmful, to those insulted but also to those who insult. Repaying evil for evil, passing from victims to aggressors, is no way to go through life. Those who live by the Spirit, however, bring peace where there is discord, concord where there is conflict. Those who are spiritual repay evil with good. They respond to arrogance with meekness, to malice with goodness, to shouting with silence, to gossip with prayer, to defeatism with encouragement.

To be spiritual, to savor the harmony of the Spirit, we need to adopt his way of seeing things. Then everything changes: with the Spirit, the Church is the holy People of God, the mission is the spread of joy, as others become our brothers and sisters, all loved by the same Father. Without the Spirit, though, the Church becomes an organization, her mission becomes propaganda, her communion an exertion. The Spirit is the first and last need of the Church (cf. SAINT PAUL VI, General Audience, 29 November 1972). He “comes where he is loved, where he is invited, where he is expected” (SAINT BONAVENTURE, Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Easter). Let us daily implore the gift of the Spirit. Holy Spirit, harmony of God, you who turn fear into trust and self-centeredness into self-gift, come to us. Grant us the joy of the resurrection and perennially young hearts. Holy Spirit, our harmony, you who make of us one body, pour forth your peace upon the Church and our world. Make us artisans of concord, sowers of goodness, apostles of hope.

[01024-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

9th JUNE 2019 15:05FRANCIS

[fevie168]

Sunday (February 24):  "Do good to those who hate you"

Scripture: Luke 6:27-38  

27 "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. 31 And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. 32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most  High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Meditation: What makes Christians different and what makes Christianity distinct from any other religion? It is grace - treating others, not as they deserve, but as God wishes them to be treated - with loving-kindness and mercy. God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate and abuse us. Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return.

Give and forgive - the two wings of prayer Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) describes Jesus double precept to give and forgive as two essential wings of prayer:

"Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given you. These are the two wings of prayer on which it flies to God. Pardon the offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need" (Sermon 205.3). "Let us graciously and fervently perform these two types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn pray the Lord to give us things and not to repay our evil deeds" (Sermon 206.2).

Bless and do not curse Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil. How can we possibly love those who cause us harm or ill-will? With God all things are possible. He gives power and grace to those who believe in and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. His love conquers all, even our hurts, fears, prejudices and griefs. Only the cross of Jesus Christ can free us from the tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and gives us the courage to return evil with good. Such love and grace has power to heal and to save from destruction. That is why Paul the Apostle tells those who know the love and mercy of Jesus Christ to "bless and not curse.. nor take revenge.. and to overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:14,17,21). Do you know the power of God's love, mercy, and righteousness (moral goodness) for overcoming evil with good?

"Lord Jesus, your love brings freedom and pardon. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and set my heart free with your merciful love that nothing may make me lose my temper, ruffle my peace, take away my joy, nor make me bitter towards anyone."

Psalm 103:1-4,8-9,11-12

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with mercy and compassion, 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The virtue of charity, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"Love is commanded when it is said, 'Love your enemies' so that the saying which was uttered already before the church may be fulfilled: 'Set in order love in me' (Song of Solomon 2:4). For love is set in order when the precepts of love are formed. See how it began from the heights and cast the law underneath the backs of the Gospel's blessing. The law commands the revenge of punishment (see Exodus 21:23-36). The gospel bestows love for hostility, benevolence for hatred, prayer for curses, help for the persecuted, patience for the hungry and grace of reward. How much more perfect the athlete who does not feel injury!"  (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.73)

Saturday (February 23): "This is My Son, the Beloved - Listen to Him!"

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:2-13

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. 11 And they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" 12 And he said to them, "Elijah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

Meditation:

Are you prepared to see God's glory? God is eager to share his glory with us! We get a glimpse of this when the disciples see Jesus transfigured on the mountain. Jesus' face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white

(Mark 9:2,3)

.

When Moses met with God on Mount Sinai the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God (see Exodus 34:29). Paul says that the Israelites could not look at Moses' face because of its brightness (2 Corinthians 3:7). In the Gospel account Jesus appeared in glory with Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, and with Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, in the presence of three of his beloved apostles - Peter, James, and John.

What is the significance of this mysterious appearance? Jesus went to the mountain knowing full well what awaited him in Jerusalem - his betrayal, rejection and crucifixion. Jesus very likely discussed this momentous decision to go to the cross with Moses and Elijah. God the Father also spoke with Jesus and gave his approval: This is my beloved Son; listen to him. The Father glorified his son because he obeyed. The cloud which overshadowed Jesus and his apostles fulfilled the dream of the Jews that when the Messiah came the cloud of God's presence would fill the temple again (see Exodus 16:10, 19:9, 33:9; 1 Kings 8:10; 2 Maccabees 2:8).

The Lord wants to share his glory with each of us The Lord Jesus not only wants us to see his glory - he wants to share this glory with us. And Jesus shows us the way to the Father's glory: follow me - obey my words - take the path I have chosen for you and you will receive the blessings of my Father's kingdom - your name will be written in heaven.

Jesus succeeded in his mission because he went to Calvary so that Paradise would be restored to us once again. He embraced the cross to obtain the crown of glory that awaits each one of us, if we will follow in his footsteps.

Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD), an early church bible scholar and writer, shows us how the transfiguration can change our lives:

"When he is transfigured, his face also shines as the sun that he may be manifested to the children of light who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, and are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the sons of day, and walk honestly as in the day. Being manifest, he will shine unto them not simply as the sun, but as demonstrated to be the sun of righteousness."

Stay awake spiritually - Don't miss God's glory and action Luke's Gospel account tells us that while Jesus was transfigured, Peter, James, and John were asleep (Luke 9:32)! Upon awakening they discovered Jesus in glory along with Moses and Elijah. How much do we miss of God's glory and action because we are asleep spiritually?  There are many things which can keep our minds asleep to the things of God: Mental lethargy and the "unexamined life" can keep us from thinking things through and facing our doubts and questions. The life of ease can also hinder us from considering the challenging or disturbing demands of Christ.  Prejudice can make us blind to something new the Lord may have for us. Even sorrow can be a block until we can see past it to the glory of God.

Are you spiritually awake? Peter, James, and John were privileged witnesses of the glory of Christ. We, too, as disciples of Christ are called to be witnesses of his glory. We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Lord wants to reveal his glory to us, his beloved disciples. Do you seek his presence with faith and reverence?

"Lord Jesus, keep me always alert and awake to you, to your word, your action, and your daily presence in my life. Let me see your glory."

Psalm 145:1-5,10-12

1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name for ever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the L

ORD

, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O L

ORD

, and all your saints shall bless you!

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power,

12 to make known to the sons of men your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The transfiguration of Jesus, by Jerome (347-420 AD)

"Do you wish to see the transfiguration of Jesus? Behold with me the Jesus of the Gospels. Let him be simply apprehended. There he is beheld both 'according to the flesh' and at the same time in his true divinity. He is beheld in the form of God according to our capacity for knowledge. This is how he was beheld by those who went up upon the lofty mountain to be apart with him. Meanwhile those who do not go up the mountain can still behold his works and hear his words, which are uplifting. It is before those who go up that Jesus is transfigured, and not to those below. When he is transfigured, his face shines as the sun, that he may be manifested to the children of light, who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12). They are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the children of day. They walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine to them not simply as the sun but as he is demonstrated to be, the sun of righteousness." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12.37.10)

Friday (February 22): the keys of the kingdom of heaven

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-19  (alternate reading: Mark 8:34 - 9:1)

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth  shall be loosed in heaven."

Meditation: At an opportune time Jesus tests his disciples with a crucial question: Who do men say that I am and who do you say that I am? He was widely recognized in Israel as a mighty man of God, even being compared with the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah. Peter, always quick to respond, exclaimed that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  No mortal being could have revealed this to Peter, but only God.

Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD), an early church father comments on Peter's profession of faith in Jesus:

Peter did not say "you are a Christ" or "a son of God" but "the Christ, the Son of God." For there are many christs [meaning anointed ones] by grace, who have attained the rank of adoption [as sons], but [there is] only one who is by nature the Son of God. Thus, using the definite article, he said, the Christ, the Son of God. And in calling him Son of the living God, Peter indicates that Christ himself is life and that death has no authority over him. And even if the flesh, for a short while, was weak and died, nevertheless it rose again, since the Word, who indwelled it, could not be held under the bonds of death. (FRAGMENT 190)

Jesus plays on Peter's name which is the same word for "rock" in both Aramaic and Greek.  To call someone a "rock" is one of the greatest of compliments. The ancient rabbis had a saying that when God saw Abraham, he exclaimed: "I have discovered a rock to found the world upon". Through Abraham God established a nation for himself. Through faith Peter grasped who Jesus truly was. He was the first apostle to recognize Jesus as the

Anointed One

(

Messiah

and

Christ

) and the

only begotten Son of God

. The New Testament describes the church as a spiritual house or temple with each member joined together as

living stones

(see 1 Peter 2:5). Faith in Jesus Christ makes us into

rocks

or

spiritual stones

.

Jesus then confers on Peter authority to govern the church that Jesus would build, a church that no powers would overcome because it is founded on the rock which is Christ himself. Epiphanius, a 6th century Scripture scholar who also translated many early church commentaries from Greek into Latin, explains the significance of Jesus handing down the "keys of the kingdom":

For Christ is a rock which is never disturbed or worn away. Therefore Peter gladly received his name from Christ to signify the established and unshaken faith of the church.… The devil is the gateway of death who always hastens to stir up against the holy church calamities and temptations and persecutions. But the faith of the apostle, which was founded upon the rock of Christ, abides always unconquered and unshaken. And the very keys of the kingdom of the heavens have been handed down so that one whom he has bound on earth has been bound in heaven, and one whom he has set free on earth he has also set free in heaven. (INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 28)

The Lord Jesus offers us the gift of unshakeable faith, enduring hope, and unquenchable love - and the joyful boldness to proclaim him as the one true Savior who brings us the kingdom of God both now and forever. Who do you say he is to yourself and to your neighbor?

"Lord Jesus, I profess and believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are my Lord and my Savior. Make my faith strong like Peter's and give me boldness to speak of you to others that they may come to know you personally as Lord and Savior and grow in the knowledge of your great love."

Psalm 23:1-6

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; 2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil;  for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;  you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;  and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)

   "Note that he is not asking them their own opinion. Rather, he asks the opinion of the people. Why? In order to contrast the opinion of the people with the disciples answer to the question 'But who do you say that I am?' In this way, by the manner of his inquiry, they might be drawn gradually to a more sublime notion and not fall into the same common view as that of the multitude.    "Note that Jesus does not raise this question at the beginning of his preaching but only after he had done many miracles, had talked through with them many lofty teachings, and had given them many clear proofs of his divinity and of his union with the Father. Only then does he put this question to them.    "He did not ask 'Who do the scribes and Pharisees say that I am?' even though they had often come to him and discoursed with him. Rather, he begins his questioning by asking 'Who do men say the Son of man is?' as if to inquire about common opinion. Even if common opinion was far less true than it might have been, it was at least relatively more free from malice than the opinions of the religious leaders, which was teeming with bad motives.    "He signifies how earnestly he desires this divine economy to be confessed when he says, 'Who do men say the Son of man is?'" for he thereby denotes his godhead, which he does also in many other places. (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 54.1.6)

[firstumcschenectady]

“Perplexing” based on Acts 2:1-18 and John 20:19-23

Drew, today's confirmand, planned this worship service.  He had a lot of leeway.  I was surprised at how little of it he used, and how intentional he was in the decisions he did make.  Drew likes worship the way we usually do it, but there were some tweaks.  Please pay attention to the labeling of the music at the beginning and end of worship ;)

Some of the leeway Drew had was in picking the scriptures for today.  He asked what was traditionally read on this day and we read together the Pentecost texts from the Revised Common Lectionary, year A. After questions about the texts themselves, he decided that we should read the two different versions of the Pentecost story from Acts and John.  When we discussed the sermon he suggested that I compare and contrast the stories, and then pull out the meaning that is in both of them for all of us.

I like this young man's idea of a sermon ;)

The Christian liturgical calendar follows the Luke-Acts narrative about Pentecost, placing it 50 days after Easter.  The Greek ordinal number for 50?  Pentecosto.  Pentecost was a part of the Jewish Celebration of Booths (sometimes called Tabernacle), celebrated 50 days after the Passover, and was a harvest festival.  Luke's placement of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is saturated with meaning.  The harvest festival becomes a harvest of new Jesus followers.  The harvest festival was celebration of the bounty as a sign of of God's care for the people, and Luke reimagines it as a celebration of God's care for the people through the sending of the Holy Spirit.

It is on this basis that Christianity celebrates the Season of Easter for 50 days, starting on Easter Sunday and culminating in Pentecost. We do it because Luke and Acts tell us that the gift of the Spirit came 50 days later.

John, however, disagrees.  Neither Matthew nor Mark present any version of this story, so the debate is simply between Luke-Acts and John.  (Ah, I should explain my language.  Luke and Acts are written by the same person and meant to be parts 1 &2 of the same book, however the order of the New Testament messes this up.)  John's gospel places the gift of the Holy Spirit on Easter evening.  We may sometimes gloss over this story, because it gets used as an opening to the story about Thomas, who wasn't there when the Spirit was given.  The story is less often heard standing alone, and it didn't get prime attention in the creation of the Christian calendar, which prefers Luke's version.

The stories are VERY different.  Luke-Acts takes place in the morning, a fact we are reminded of because Jesus' followers are again being accused of being drunk.  John's version takes place at night. Luke-Acts's version happens in public, others see the impact of the Spirit, and they hear the preaching, and many are converted.  John's version involves a large group of disciples as well, but without an audience.  There is more FUSS in Luke-Act's version, more description of the event, more of a miraculous feel.  John's version is relatively quiet.  It mostly focuses on Jesus speaking.

In Luke-Acts, the crowd responds to the disciples speak.  It says they were amazed, bewildered, and perplexed.  The movement of the Spirit and its impact seemed startling, and not in particularly comfortable ways.  The Spirit is known to blow as she will, and that often makes people uncomfortable.  

(An aside:  the last time I read about the Spirit, the Bible translation I read from referred to the Spirit with feminine pronouns.  Afterward I was asked about it, and had the chance to share the fact that the Spirit's pronouns in Hebrew are feminine, and some translators follow the Hebrew, despite the fact that in Greek the Spirit is gender neutral and in Latin the Spirit is masculine.  Since the Creator most often gets male pronouns in the Bible, I also tend to want to follow the Hebrew pronouns for the sake of balance within our conceptions of God.)

In both texts the Spirit comes to the Body as a WHOLE.  The Spirit is NOT received by one person, but instead by many.  In Luke-Acts, given that the occurrence is during a Jewish pilgrimage festival, faithful Jews had filled the city to be witnesses, but the people in the house together all receive the gift together.  

The writer in the New Interpreter's Bible, has a fantastic comment on the fact that the faithful Jews from around the diaspora took note that the Galilean men were speaking to them in their languages.  They could still tell that the men were Galilean, including by their speech.  Robert Wall says, “The language of the Spirit is not communicated with perfect or heavenly diction, free from the marks of human identity; it is the language of particular human groups, spoken in their idiom.  God works in collaboration with real people – people who are filled with the Spirit to work on God's behalf in their own world.”1 I rather love that idea.  The Spirit moved, and certainly in unexpected ways, but still worked within the people as they were, including with their existent accents!

Now, likely because of the tradition doing so, I associate the story in Acts as the normative Pentecost story, which means that I'm intrigued by the version in John.  As previously mentioned, it also involves the Spirit coming to a group of Jesus followers, it was likely NOT just the 12 because John doesn't tend to think in terms of just the 12 and he didn't designate them as such.  A group of followers were simply gathered, and they had an experience of the Risen Christ, which IMMEDIATELY involved receiving the gift of the Spirit.

Jesus speaks in five sentences, and two of them are saying “Peace be with you.”  This is a particularly apt greeting for the frightened followers who had fearfully locked themselves into an upstairs room - after hearing the women's Easter story!  The double naming of peace both sounds like a traditional greeting imbued with God AND serves as a reminder that fear need not define their lives.  Those faithful disciples were going to face significant persecution in coming days and years, but Jesus, God, AND the Spirit were calling them to do so in a different way, with the Peace of God within them.  

In this version the gift of the Spirit is the gift given so that the followers of Jesus can continue his work, they become HIM and are empowered to do as he had done.  He was sent, so they are sent.  He breaths on them as God has breathed on the first humans in Genesis. A new life is beginning, one that is defined by peace.

Now, I have never much liked the LAST line of this passage, John 20:23, which has Jesus saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."  My objections aren't particularly deep.  I j shy away from sin language, as I've too often seen it lead to guilt and shame rather than to a free and abundant life of peace and joy with God.  

However, Gail O'Day's commentary on John (also in the New Interpreter's Bible) fixed a lot of problems for me, and made me rather glad that line was included.  She says that, “In John, sin is a theological failing, not a moral or behavioral transgression (in contrast to Matt. 18:18). To have sin is to be blind to the revelation of God in Jesus.”2 Furthermore, given this understanding, “The forgiveness of sins must be understood as a Spirit-empowered mission of continuing Jesus' work in the world.”3 And, finally, this work is the work of the community, and never one person alone.  

So, let me see if I can remake those words so they fit with O'Day's insights.  But maybe first, you should know that Gail O'Day is Dean and Professor of New Testament and Preaching at Wake Forest School of Divinity, and was previously professor of homeletics at Candler school of Theology at Emory.  She's an amazing scholar, and especially well respected as a scholar of the Gospel of John. Following her insights, it would be as if Jesus said, “If you work together to help people see God at work in the world, they will be free from their fears and able to live in peace with you.  If you leave people in the fear they already know, there they will stay, without the blessings that you now live with.”  

In O'Day's reflections on this text, she continually turns back to John 14-17, which is called the Farewell Discourse.  Within it are the defining words, in John 15:12, “ ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” O'Day reflects on the continuity between the passages, “By loving one another as Jesus loves, the faith community reveals God to the world”4 Thus, the seemingly problematic line that the institutional church has often used to claim authority over people's lives and access to forgiveness is really about inviting the followers of Christ to share God's love, and in doing so to show other people the possibility of living life in peace, love, joy, and freedom from fear.

Perhaps it isn't so perplexing after all.  Perhaps the story of Pentecost is the story we already know:  God calls us to love one another and be examples of the gracious and abundant love of God in the world.  And that can change everything, because it is the completion of the Easter narrative – no matter when it happened ;).  Thanks be to God for the opportunity we have to extend love into the world.  Amen

1Robert W. Wall, New Interpreter's Bible Volume X: Acts Leander E. Keck editorial board convener (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002) 58.

2Gail O'Day, New Interpreter's Bible Volume IX: John, Leander E. Keck editorial board convener (Nashville: Abingdon Press,1995) 847.

3O'Day, 847

4New Interpreter's Bible, John, 848.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/ https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

[dailyaudiobible]

09/29/2020 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 57:15-59:21, Philippians 1:1-26, Psalms 71:1-24, Proverbs 24:9-10

Today is the 29th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue the journey, the voyage that we embarked on so many days ago, 200…I don’t know…270 something days ago we started our journey and here we are moving forward through one of the strangest years we've ever experienced in the rhythm of the Scriptures and our lives. It's been such a gift to have in our lives. It’s been such a gift to have each other to take this journey with. So, we’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week and we’ll pick up where we left off in Isaiah. And then when we get to the New Testament, we’ve got a new letter from the apostle Paul. It's known as Philippians and we'll talk about that when we get there. But first Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15 through 59 verse 21.

Introduction to the book of Philippians:

Okay. This leads us to the letter to the Philippians, although of note…and I don't usually like talk right here in the middle but the we see yesterday we…we read as we were closing, Ephesians about putting on the whole armor of God and we see the inspiration for this in Isaiah today. But anyway, let's move forward. Philippians. So, there’s…there's very little debate among biblical scholars about whether Paul wrote Philippians, and there's really not a lot of debate about sort of the circumstances behind Philippians, what ill Paul's circumstances where. He was incarcerated. He was in Rome. He had appealed to the Emperor and he was awaiting trial. So, as Paul writes this, he is imprisoned. And the letters that he writes from…from…from incarceration are known as his prison letters, right, his prison epistles. We should also note that Philippians, as well as all of Paul's letters, that these are some of the earliest, and in some cases, the earliest Christian writings, documents, that still exist. So, this letter that we’re going to read, even though we’re well into our year, this letter is earlier than the New Testament for sure. It became part of the New Testament. But there was no New Testament for this letter to be added to. This is a letter that predates the Gospels, predates the book of Acts. All of that stuff came a little later. And, so, this letter is roughly, couple, three decades after the life of Jesus, His earthly life and ministry. And Philippi itself, this is a Roman colony in the region of Macedonia, which is northern Greece today. And it was a prosperous city but the church that was founded there, they weren’t particularly powerful or wealthy or influential. What we’ll find is that they are rich in love and their rich in their concern about Paul who had come to them and brought the Good News. And, so, part of Paul writing this letter is just to encourage them and thank them because they've encouraged him. So, basically when the church in Philippi found out that Paul was in prison they sent a man named Epaphroditus, who was part of their congregation, to Rome to bring…to bring a gift, but also to bring the gift of love, like to lift his spirits and to find out how he's doing and to bring word back. And of course, Paul being imprisoned in Rome, receiving a visitor, like a friendly face, you can only imagine the joy and the comfort and peace that that would bring. And, so, Epaphroditus stays with Paul while he's in prison kind of trying to help care for his needs and just…just be there for him. But while he was in Rome with Paul, he became deathly ill and in fact, we’ll find out in the letter, like nearly died. And, so, when he recovered and was restored to health Paul was...was determined to send back Philippi and he carried this letter back to Philippi with him. And it shares of the circumstances and it's meant to be…it's meant to be encouraging. It…it's meant to lift up those that read it. And as we’ve mentioned before, these letters, these letters…like we’re actually reading these letters as they were originally read. They weren’t silently read. Like you didn't go to church, and you know to congregation one day and there are Xerox copies of a letter that had just come in and everybody gets a copy and then they just sit there and silently read. That’s not how letters worked. So, the letter would've been recited. It would have been read aloud before the congregation as if the reader were Paul. And in some of Paul's letters, we even hear him saying, “although I'm not with you present…like I'm not physically with you, I'm with you in Spirit.” Those are in the letters, and those are supposed to be read aloud, like “I'm with you in spirit” that people took that to heart. Not literally like there's some kind of a metaphysical thing going on here. More like the spirit of Paul, like what Paul is trying to convey, somebody else's voice is being used but these are the words that are actually being said. The spirit of what's being said is from the spirit of Paul. And what we see that he’s trying to convey, like what his spirit is trying to say to them is encouraging, is to lift them. Even though he's in chains, even though persecution and marginalization is beginning to occur he wants to talk about the joy of salvation. And we’ll see that he wants to talk about perseverance, which we won't be able to escape as we move forward. The idea of endurance as a necessary component of the Christian life is impossible to avoid as we move forward into the New Testament. So, like it's…it's been crazy out there. Like I know you guys have noticed. It's been a crazy year. It's been crazy. And it’s still kind of crazy…like it's still crazy if we’re just being honest. This has been a very disruptive year. Just a lot of uncertainty and a lot of divisiveness. And that's only gonna amp up here, especially in the United States since we have an election year. So, it is kind of a crazy year with a lot of disruption. And, so, Philippians kind of comes in right now when we need it most, with joy and encouragement, I mean, with lots of things, but fundamentally, with words of encouragement and perseverance. And, so, we begin. Philippians, chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We love You Lord. We just…we’re continually thanking You for the gift of each other and the gift of Your word and we are grateful every day, but we worship You. We just take a moment to worship You. And it's because of who You are, but the benefits that are bestowed upon us that we cannot get any other way that are just gifted to us when we reach out to You in faith, is unspeakable. It's good news. And, so, we are grateful. We love You and we thank You. And as we move through Philippians, we invite Your Holy Spirit to bring words of encouragement into a very discouraging time. Come Holy Spirit and lead and guide us. May we put on the full armor on a daily basis knowing that we are equipped, that nothing can get to us, nothing can get to our spirits to destroy the union that we have with You, nothing can access that spot, that place unless we allow it. And we don’t. We declare it. Nothing is getting between You and us. You have never left. You have always, always been there for us. We confess we have come and gone more times than we could possibly count. But there's nothing getting between us now. We need You now more than ever and we thank You for the opportunity for…for the odd circumstances that surround us to make us aware of our utter dependence upon You. And, so, we rest in that. We get to depend on You. We are fortunate. We have a rock and a redeemer. And, so, we rest in You. Lead us forward we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it's where the Global Campfire is, it's…it’s where we gather, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here, its where we get connected. So, let's do just that and stay connected on our journey as we continue forward.

The Community section will be a great place to start. That's where the Prayer Wall is and different links to different social media channels that we are on. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you, first of all. Thank you, humbly and gratefully. This mission that we started so long ago to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day for anybody who would listen to it has grown into this community that we now have and the Global Campfire that we come around every day and that has happened because we've done this together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning DABbers today is Friday, September 25th this is Lelah from Virginia. I’m a 9 or 10 year listener but first-time caller. I don’t often listen to the prayer requests but this morning I did, and I know God kept me on the program to hear the heart of Denise from North Carolina. Denise I too am in a 3- year marriage with no intimacy. I suffer greatly as you are suffering now, longing for connection to the one I love. Being lonely in a house full of people is so a very hard to endure. I am praying for you sister. Praying that your heart would be totally enveloped with the love of God for you, praying that you would not be jealous of your friends who have these seemingly perfect soulmates as spouses. My ability to endure and have peace about the situation came when I recognized that my desire for my marriage to be more had become an idol to me. I desired that more than I want to God. I was able to let it go and became satisfied with the companionship. It’s still not easy but it’s so much less painful. I’m praying for peace for you. The situation may never change but God will never change, and He loves you. Sink into His love dear sister. Cry in His arms. He is there for you. You are not alone. You have never been alone. I love you. I love all of you DABbers. Thank you for being such an important part of my life. Thank you, Jill, Brian, China and the rest of your family. May God bless you all richly. Thank you.

Good morning fellow DABbers Joe the protector from Georgia it’s Friday, Friday, September 25th 7:54 in the morning. Just got finished listening to the DAB and I heard Pelham from Alabama call in and state how he wanted to start a new…a new part of his life by calling in for others and encouraging them. And, I don’t that is much as I need to or should. But Terry the trucker did call in the other day. Terry you’ve been a part of this community for a while and we should all be encouraging you. But I can remember just a couple years ago you called in when you had your accident. And brother, you know, I know you’re away from your family do to the COVID but you’ve been through worse, you know. If I remember correctly, you told us that…that you almost or could have died from that accident and you went down an embankment if I recall correctly. So, you know, you’ve been through a lot and the Lord’s still with you. He hasn’t a left you. And just consult Him as we all know we should at all times. Alright fellow DABbers you all have a blessed and wonderful day. See y’all.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Preston from Sunnyvale California today is September 25th. I want to lift up today the people of Dubai or at least the people working there. Seems like we’ve been getting a few prayer requests from different people whose job situations seem to be in somewhat a challenging situation. So, I’d like to pray for them. Dear Father, we thank You for those of us who are called to work in foreign countries. We thank You for those of us who make the choice to live and work in places that are not their home. Father we love You and we thank You for calling us to…to…to be in those places Father. We ask that for those individuals who have called in, that You would make their work situations viable, that You would make those work situations…just smooth out those paths where they are crooked and make it so that they can continue to live and work and prosper in where they are. Father we love You and we thank You for sending Your son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. We thank You that You sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper in these difficult times and we just ask that Your Holy Spirit make…make Dubai a hospitable place for these individuals who have called in. In Your precious name Jesus.

Hello, I just want to ask everybody to pray with me for Denise who called in from the Carolinas seeking intimacy with her husband. And Father we lift up Denise to You and her husband and we ask Lord that You would bless them with a battery relationship Lord God. We ask Lord God that by Your Holy Spirit You would move in each one of their lives and bring them together, knit their hearts together, knit their love life together Lord and bless them and their marriage Father in the name of Jesus. Denise is a believer looking to You and crying out to You and we thank You Father for moving in that situation in Jesus’ name. And if it would be good for them to go to counseling Lord God we ask that You would put that desire in their heart and lead them and guide them and direct them to a good godly counselor and we thank You for doing that Father. Thank You for Denise. Thank You Lord that everything is important to You, every need we have is important to You and that is an important thing that she is believing for You to work in. And we thank You for doing that work, for Your glory in the name of Jesus.

Well hello again fellow DABbers this is James the Mighty Warrior. I called in a couple of days ago. I really just was more or less edifying, exhorting the DABbers and expressing my regards for this….for this…for this family but I do have something to pray about this time and I’d like for you guys to pray with me. Actually, my wife and I, we’ve been separated for about two years and I hadn’t heard or seen her but maybe once or twice since then and it was very, very brief. But I called a friend of mine today and he told me that she had called his wife and explained to her that she had met some guy from O wherever and she’s going to be get married and she’s going to be filing for a divorce and all of that kind of stuff. But it’s so…it’s like a coincidence because over the last three weeks I’ve been dreaming about her, seeing her in visions and things like that. And, so, the Lord laid on my heart to fast and pray for her today and I did and I got on messenger and I hadn’t heard from my friend in a long time but anyway he told me that, you know, what had transpired. She had talked to his wife and she told em that we’re getting divorced and all this. So, guys, I just ask you all the pray for me, with me, that we could get the mind of God on this thing. I really don’t want a divorce even though we haven’t been around each other in about two years because I just don’t want another divorce, you know, for whatever reason. And I believe God is into reconciliation...

Hello this is the first time I’ve ever called. I’m Melissa from Louisiana. I was calling…I wanted to pray…I have a prayer request of my own. I’ve had multiple eye diseases for the last 20 years. About 18, 19 surgeries in both eyes. Last month I had a macular hole repair in the left eye but the doctor says that the right eye his family, my pressures a 4. It’s because the capillaries keep bleeding into the eye and it’s…it’s been inflamed for 10 years. I’ve been using steroids and it is not responding to the steroids. So, the inflammations causing everything from the macular…the eye is failing. So, I just…I believe in the Lord and I need everybody’s faith to help carry me to a miracle. I am believing for an absolute miracle, that the Lord will heal my eyes so I can see out of this eye, so it doesn’t hurt when I blink or move from left to right. So, there’s just a lot of pain and issues in this right eye and I just pray for a miracle in Jesus’ name. Thank you, DABbers.

[dfroza]

Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms

for Saturday, february 27 of 2021 with Proverbs 27 and Psalm 27, accompanied by Psalm 69 for the 69th day of Winter and Psalm 58 for day 58 of the year

[Psalm 27]

Light, space, zest—

that’s God!

So, with him on my side I’m fearless,

afraid of no one and nothing.

When vandal hordes ride down

ready to eat me alive,

Those bullies and toughs

fall flat on their faces.

When besieged,

I’m calm as a baby.

When all hell breaks loose,

I’m collected and cool.

I’m asking God for one thing,

only one thing:

To live with him in his house

my whole life long.

I’ll contemplate his beauty;

I’ll study at his feet.

That’s the only quiet, secure place

in a noisy world,

The perfect getaway,

far from the buzz of traffic.

God holds me head and shoulders

above all who try to pull me down.

I’m headed for his place to offer anthems

that will raise the roof!

Already I’m singing God-songs;

I’m making music to God.

Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:

“Be good to me! Answer me!”

When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”

my whole being replied,

“I’m seeking him!”

Don’t hide from me now!

You’ve always been right there for me;

don’t turn your back on me now.

Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;

you’ve always kept the door open.

My father and mother walked out and left me,

but God took me in.

Point me down your highway, God;

direct me along a well-lighted street;

show my enemies whose side you’re on.

Don’t throw me to the dogs,

those liars who are out to get me,

filling the air with their threats.

I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness

in the exuberant earth.

Stay with God!

Take heart. Don’t quit.

I’ll say it again:

Stay with God.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 27 (The Message)

[Psalm 69]

For the worship leader. A song of David to the tune “Lilies.”

Reach down for me, True God; deliver me.

The waters have risen to my neck; I am going down!

My feet are swallowed in this murky bog;

I am sinking—there is no sturdy ground.

I am in the deep;

the floods are crashing in!

I am weary of howling;

my throat is scratched dry.

I still look for my God

even though my eyes fail.

My enemies despise me without any cause;

they outnumber the hairs on my head.

They torment me with their power;

they have absolutely no reason to hate me.

Now I am set to pay for crimes

I have never committed!

O True God, my foolish ways are plain before You;

my mistakes—no, nothing can be hidden from You.

Don’t let Your hopeful followers face disgrace because of me,

O Lord, Eternal One, Commander of heaven’s armies;

Don’t let Your seekers be shamed on account of me,

O True God of Israel.

I have been mocked when I stood up for You;

I cower, shamefaced.

You know my brothers and sisters?

They now reject me—they act as if I never existed.

I’m like a stranger to my own family.

And here’s why: I am consumed with You, completely devoted to protecting Your house;

when they insult You, they insult me.

When I mourn and discipline my soul by fasting,

they deride me.

And when I put on sackcloth,

they mock me.

Those who sit at the gate gossip about me;

I am shamed by the slurred songs of drunkards.

But, Eternal One, I just pray the time is right

that You would hear me. And, True God,

because You are enduring love, that You would answer.

In Your faithfulness, please, save me.

Pluck me from this murky bog;

don’t let it pull me down!

Pull me from this rising water;

take me away from my enemies to dry land.

Don’t let the flood take me under

or let me, Your servant, be swallowed into the deep

or let the yawning pit seal me in!

O Eternal One, hear me. Answer me. For Your enduring love is good comfort;

in Your great mercy, turn toward me.

Yes, shine Your face upon me, Your servant;

put an end to my anguish—don’t wait another minute.

Come near; rescue me!

Set me free from my enemies.

You know all my opponents;

You see them, see the way they treat me—

humiliating me with insults, trying to disgrace me.

All this ridicule has broken my heart,

killed my spirit.

I searched for sympathy, and I came up empty.

I looked for supporters, but there was no one.

Even more, they gave me poison for my food

and offered me only sour vinegar to drink.

Let them be ambushed at the dinner table,

caught in a trap when they least expect it.

Cloud their vision so they cannot see;

make their bodies shake, their knees knock in terror.

Pour out Your fiery wrath upon them!

Make a clean sweep; engulf them with Your flaming fury.

May their camps be bleak

with not one left in any tent.

Because they have persecuted the one You have struck,

add insult to those whom You have wounded.

Compound their sins; don’t let them off the hook!

Keep them from entering into Your mercy.

Blot out their names from Your book of life

so they will not be recorded alongside those who are upright before You.

I am living in pain; I’m suffering,

so save me, True God, and keep me safe in troubled times!

The name of the True God will be my song,

an uplifting tune of praise and thanksgiving!

My praise will please the Eternal more than if I were to sacrifice an ox

or the finest bull. (Horns, hooves, and all!)

Those who humbly serve will see and rejoice!

All you seekers-after-God will revive your souls!

The Eternal listens to the prayers of the poor

and has regard for His people held in bondage.

All God’s creation: join together in His praise! All heaven, all earth,

all seas, all creatures of the ocean deep!

The True God will save Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah

So that His servants may own it and live there once again.

Their children and children’s children shall have it as their inheritance,

and those who love His name will live in it.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 69 (The Voice)

[Psalm 58]

For the worship leader. A prayer of David to the tune “Do Not Destroy.”

Can you, panel of judges, get anything right?

When you judge people, do you tell the truth and pursue justice?

No, your real selves have been revealed. You have wickedness in your heart,

and many people have suffered by your hands.

Evildoers are naturally offensive, wayward at birth!

They were born telling lies and willfully wandering from the truth.

Their bite is painful; their venom is like the deadly poison of a snake;

they are like a cobra that closes up its ears

To escape the voice of the charmers,

no matter how enchanting the spells may be.

O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths!

Render the young lions harmless; break out their fangs, O Eternal One.

Let them run off like the waters of a flood,

and though they aim their arrows, let them fly without their heads.

Let them melt like a snail that oozes along;

may they be like a stillborn that never catches its first breath, never sees the sun.

Before your cook pots know the furious flame of a fire of thorns—

whether green or burning—He will blow the wicked away.

Cheers will rise as the right-living watch Him settle the score,

their feet washed in the blood after the onslaught of the wicked.

And it will be heard, “Those who seek justice will be rewarded.

Indeed, there is a God who brings justice to the earth!”

The Book of Psalms, Poem 58 (The Voice)

[Proverbs 27]

Never brag about the plans you have for tomorrow,

for you don’t have a clue what tomorrow may bring to you.

Let someone else honor you for your accomplishments,

for self-praise is never appropriate.

It’s easier to carry a heavy boulder and a ton of sand

than to be provoked by a fool and have to carry that burden!

The rage and anger of others can be overwhelming,

but it’s nothing compared to jealousy’s fire.

It’s better to be corrected openly

if it stems from hidden love.

You can trust a friend who wounds you with his honesty,

but your enemy’s pretended flattery comes from insincerity.

When your soul is full, you turn down even the sweetest honey.

But when your soul is starving,

every bitter thing becomes sweet.

Like a bird that has fallen from its nest

is the one who is dislodged from his home.

Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy,

for good friends are like the anointing oil

that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.

So never give up on a friend or abandon a friend of your father—

for in the day of your brokenness

you won’t have to run to a relative for help.

A friend nearby is better than a relative far away.

My son, when you walk in wisdom,

my heart is filled with gladness,

for the way you live is proof

that I’ve not taught you in vain.

A wise, shrewd person discerns the danger ahead

and prepares himself,

but the naïve simpleton never looks ahead

and suffers the consequences.

Cosign for one you barely know and you will pay a great price!

Anyone stupid enough to guarantee the loan of another

deserves to have his property seized in payment.

Do you think you’re blessing your neighbors

when you sing at the top of your lungs early in the morning?

Don’t be fooled—

they’ll curse you for doing it!

An endless drip, drip, drip, from a leaky faucet

and the words of a cranky, nagging wife have the same effect.

Can you stop the north wind from blowing

or grasp a handful of oil?

That’s easier than to stop her from complaining.

It takes a grinding wheel to sharpen a blade,

and so one person sharpens the character of another.

Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat.

Serve the Master’s interests

and you’ll receive honor that’s sweet.

Just as no two faces are exactly alike,

so every heart is different.

Death and destruction are never filled,

and the desires of men’s hearts are insatiable.

Fire is the way to test the purity of silver and gold,

but the character of a man is tested

by giving him a measure of fame.

You can beat a fool half to death

and still never beat the foolishness out of him.

A shepherd should pay close attention to the faces of his flock

and hold close to his heart the condition of those he cares for.

A man’s strength, power, and riches will one day fade away;

not even nations endure forever.

Take care of your responsibilities

and be diligent in your business

and you will have more than enough—

an abundance of food, clothing, and plenty for your household.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 27 (The Passion Translation)

[writingguide003-blog]

'Sometimes I laugh at this farce': six writers on life behind bars in Turkey

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/sometimes-i-laugh-at-this-farce-six-writers-on-life-behind-bars-in-turkey/

'Sometimes I laugh at this farce': six writers on life behind bars in Turkey

Six persecuted writers describe the mental and physical toll of living in the country that jails more journalists than any other

Photograph: YouTube

Ahmet k

Age 46

Profession Author, investigative journalist and trade unionist

Charge Terrorist propaganda

Time behind bars Four months and counting, and one year and one month in 2011-12

Possible maximum sentence Seven and a half years

Turkey disclaimer

It is hard to be in prison. Its even harder when its because your typical acts of journalism have been criminalised. We are surrounded by emptiness: stuck between a past that we dont belong to and a future that we cant predict.

The only link that connects me and my fellow inmates to the outside world is the little bit of sky that winks at us beyond an eight-metre wall. A little piece of sky, barely as big as my palm, which is also obstructed by razor wire.

Books and letters would bring a sense of freedom to a place like this, where everything is so rigid and unjust. But they are forbidden. The newspapers and television do not give us much comfort.

For a long time there has been a world of difference between what appears on the screens and pages and the actual reality of what is happening in Turkey.

Right now, I feel what anyone would feel if their freedom was taken away if they refused to be a journalist that obey their president.

Being in my situation is like being awoken from your sleep in a place that you are completely foreign to. You feel deaf although you can hear everything, you feel blind although you can see everything, and you feel muted although you can explain everything. This is where Im at right now.

Testimony collected by Ahmets wife, Yonca Verdiolu k

Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images

Necmiye Alpay

Age 70

Profession writer and advisory board member at Ozgr Gndem

Charge terrorist propaganda

Time spent behind bars released after four months pretrial detention, trial still pending

Maximum possible sentence life imprisonment

Towards the end of August 2016, I was out of Istanbul when I found out that I was wanted by the police, together with the other members of the advisoryboard.

I was advised to give testimony. So, with my lawyer, we went to the prosecutors office where I was told that Ozgr Gndem is an organ of the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers party] PKK, and every name on its masthead is suspected of being a kind of terrorist propagandist.

I explained that I supported freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and I believed in a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, but that I didnt condone violence or terrorists.

I was arrested that day. The moment you say youre in solidarity, youre finished.

When you are put in prison you must spend one, two or three days in solitary so they can observe you. Perhaps theres a logic in this. My bed was clean and I was given water and soap. I slept a lot.

I was moved to the PKK ward. We were 21 or 22 women in the ward and I was happy to know them. It was the first time I was living with Kurdish people. It was quite easy to live with them because they had their communal rules almost like a student dorm.

I had been imprisoned during the 1980s after the military coup when the prosecutors used to request capital punishment. Now the requested punishment for me is life imprisonment.

We were accused of the same crime as Abdullah calan, the founder of the PKK. It is a kind of torture, to frighten you, a way of using the law to punish you for your opinions, for something you didnt commit.

The only evidence for our crime was our names published on the masthead. I was mad, but from time to time I was laughing, because it is a kind of farce.

When I was imprisoned my work was stopped. I could no longer continue the book I was preparing. But I tried to profit from the situation and began to learn Kurdish. I didnt cry in prison. Perhaps I should have, but no.

Perhaps the worst thing was the not knowing will we be free soon, or will we stay here? Its the same with Turkey today. We cannot be sure what awaits our country.

Photograph: Handout

Ahmet Altan

Age 67

Profession journalist, author, columnist

Charge attempting to bring down the government

Time spent behind bars five months and counting

Possible sentence three consecutive life sentences

My experiences in prison are writing themselves into a memoir which will become a book some day. I had a novel in mind before they put me here. I think of that all the time.

Three of us stay together in one cell. We only have a very small patio to walk around on. We dont see anyone else during the day.

I do not feel a physical danger from other inmates or the authorities. Anyone who would dare to threaten me physically should give up on themselves.

As I am held under the state of emergency laws, sending and receiving letters [or any written communication] is absolutely forbidden. We meet our lawyers once a week but all of our communication is verbal.

It is true that the charges against us are ludicrous. They make no sense but the problem is today that this nonsense has become the lifestyle in Turkey. It is as if I live on a desert island. I feel like Robinson Crusoe but I dont know if my ship will ever arrive.

Testimonies collected verbally by Ahmets lawyers and translated by Yasemin ongar at p24, a platform for independent journalism.

Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images

Asl Erdoan

Age 50

Profession writer, novelist, columnist for Ozgr Gndem

Charge terrorist propaganda

Time spent behind bars released after four months pretrial detention, awaiting trial

Possible maximum sentence life imprisonment

I have been broken and twisted in more ways than I can imagine. I feel very damaged. The day I was arrested the police came and searched my apartment for seven and a half hours while I waited sifting through thousands of books and reading materials.

I was in a solitary cell for five days, only allowed one hour in the courtyard. You could go crazy after a while. I spent 48 hours without water when I first arrived. I was in shock which worked a bit like an anaesthetic.

The authorities try to make you not feel like a human being. Firstly its being behind bars, and when they come to talk to you they just open the lower hatch on the door. Thats how they give you bread too.

I was put in a prison ward with women accused of being PKK militants, because I was accused of supporting terrorism. I was arrested under article 302, but you would need to have an army, or be the founder of the PKK, to be guilty of what I am accused of.

I was very angry because it was so openly lawless. A newspaper cannot be a terrorist organisation and I hadnt written a column since 2013.

Plants were banned in prison, but some of the girls were trying to grow them in the bathroom anyway the way they took care of these plants was incredible. Then they were caught and begged to keep them. That made me cry.

When it was warm I would go out to the courtyard and practice ballet when it was free from 12-2pm. My fellow inmates found it a little strange, but it gave me a sense of normality. When I got a fever they took care of me like I was a baby.

I missed so many things . Walking without walls; listening to classical and jazz music; dancing; the earth; the sea. You cant see the sunset or sunrise, just a small piece of sky and barbed wire.

Being released [after an intervention from the European court] was an adjustment process too. I woke up nauseated and screaming on the first night. I found it hard to remember what coffee to order.

I recently went back home for the first time. I had been staying with my mother. My phone books and bank cards were gone. I broke down when I couldnt find my ballet slippers.

They had rummaged through everything. Everything was scattered around. I am someone who never throws out a scrap of paper from her apartment. It felt like I had been raped. I know they do this to writers now because they know how much it hurts.

Photograph: YouTube

Mehmet Altan

Age 64

Profession academic, author and journalist

Charge attempting to overthrow the government

Time spent behind bars five months and counting

Possible sentence three consecutive life sentences

We are three people in the ward [a different one to my brother Altans]. We cant communicate with our loved ones, let alone correspond with the outside world. We cant write letters. People cant write to us. What I am saying here has to be transcribed by my lawyers.

Although I have never felt in physical danger I have had to postpone all my existential emotions and ideas. We are contained in an environment where no needs of a mature mind are met. It is like wearing striped pyjamas. It is a very narrow life without any joy or feeling to it.

Should the rule of law reign in Turkey again one day I am confident that I wont be considered a suspect even for a second. I am a suspect now only because I demanded democracy.

Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images

Erol nderoglu

Profession journalist, Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders

Charge terrorist propaganda

Time behind bars released after 10 days pretrial detention, trial pending

Possible maximum sentence 14 and a half years

I was arrested because my name appeared as one of the editors of the Kurdish daily Ozgr Gndem on 18 May. In fact, I didnt edit the paper, nor had I read the articles; my name was there as a symbolic statement of support.

The day I was charged I went to court by myself, to see the prosecutor. His message was: We dont care whether this was part of a campaign. If you are defending media freedom, we are charging you with spreading propaganda in favour of the PKK.

I said clearly that the articles published about power struggles among the security forces and the ongoing operations against the PKK were in the common interest of the Turkish people. For two decades I have protected freedom of expression for all political factions. This was no different.

On 20 June I was detained and spent 10 days in two prisons an extremely short time compared to what some colleagues are experiencing.

I was released thanks to international pressure, which is now quite low as Erdoans diplomatic rows suck up the energy. While I wasnt physically harmed in jail, I was left with the feeling that my profession is no longer welcomed by the government and is perceived as a threat: journalists and civil society have been wiped out.

The hardest thing was when my wife and son came to visit and I could only talk to them from behind a glass wall. I was also surprised that I lost my muscles so quickly. Outside I am quite active.

People who have gone before me have been systematically convicted, and while I am still fighting my case it will happen eventually. I try to not dwell on it though. In this situation you are not yourself, but just one among all in this picture.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

[shalomkaiman]

Pesach 5779

Pesach 5779

Earlier this year we kicked off a “Year of Kindness and Compassion” and the past six months have been truly inspiring. Together we have made a significant impact in the community to demonstrate our commitment to the Jewish values of “chesed and g’milut chasadim”. We have reached out far beyond the wall of our congregation in both large and small ways to demonstrate the Jewish commitment to building a better world.

Today I ask a slightly different question for consideration: What is the beginning of kindness and compassion? Where does it come from? The answer may help us to understand the mission of kindness and compassion. And indeed, I think the answer helps us to understand the essence of the holiday of Pesach even better.

Any act that expresses compassion or kindness must at its core respond to the needs of an individual other than ourselves. And what does it take to respond? It takes the ability to listen. And listening is not always easy to do. Our hearing is so easily clouded and distracted. We are constantly bombarded by innumerable requests. Even with the best and most pure of intentions we must necessarily filter out these many requests for aide because we simply cannot respond to everything that is sent our way. How many street beggars have you passed today? How many emails for charity have you deleted today? How many pieces of mail soliciting donations have found their way to your trash can today? We must filter if we are going to survive in this crowded world of many needs.

Every once in awhile however we ARE able to open our heats, hands and wallets. We DO respond when possible. Just a few weeks ago B’nai Israel delivered thousands of dollars in support to Rahma Mercy Clinic as our community made a statement about our refusal to stay silent in the face of the New Zealand massacre. I could give you countless examples of which many include the donation of time, muscle and effort and not just money.

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for nearly 400 years. Pharaoh had long forgotten the favors of his viceroy Joseph and the good fortune that had been bestowed upon him by this son of our patriarch Jacob. The memories became distant and slowly the Israelites descended into the pain of enslavement. And then God heard:

**וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־נַאֲקָתָ֑ם וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּרִית֔וֹ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶת־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב׃”

God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.” Exodus 2:24**

It was this hearing that would bring Moses directly to the burning bush where he would receive his instructions to demand freedom for the Israelites. This, of course, is the beginning of the story of Exodus that we will celebrate and observe on Pesach.

God’s response of chesed-compassion in responding to the cries of the Israelites becomes our paradigm of how God’s compassion can make a real difference in the lives of our people. Our liturgy constantly recalls the Exodus to remind us that cries to God do not go unheard. Our own lives of freedom are testimony to God’s deliverance from bondage.

Passover, at its very heart, is about God’s hearing. It is about reminding us in good and bad times that God responds in mercy to the cries of pain. And if we, created in the image of the Holy One are meant to model God’s example in our own lives then we, too, must respond to the cries of those in need. Yes, of course we cannot respond to everything but when we DO respond it will lead to the acts of kindness and compassion that will literally bring redemption to the entire world. And that is, at least in part, the message of this pivotal holiday of the Jewish calendar.

____

A Prayer for the Seder (recited just before the meal)

Dear God,

Tonight we have gathered to recall the miracle of redemption. We have explained the symbols that recall the pain, terror and bitterness that our people faced.

Tonight we have tasted the tears of slaves who felt abandoned and bereft of future and hope. We have sung with great joy the songs that celebrate our ultimate deliverance. The miracle of survival is evident in our very being here together.

And yes, God, we know that our celebration reminds us that you heard the cries of those bent in labor and pain. Tonight we pray that WE too, be allowed to hear the pain and cries of those who still face persecution, enslavement and terror. We pray that your example will lead us, each and every day of our life, to seek to build a world where freedom, justice, dignity and love will fill every heart in every land.

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.

Amen.

___