#of course joseph is the only one who can help him interpret these dreams

[direwombat]

Hmmm...what if I also gave augustine prophetic recurring dreams of the end of the world (much like his sister) but they only come to him in complete abstractions (unlike his sister) that have him waking up in the middle of the night screaming in terror and covered in sweat

[dailyaudiobible]

01/19/2023 DAB Transcript

Genesis 39:1-41:16, Matthew 12:46-13:23, Psalms 17:1-15, Proverbs 3:33-35

Today is the 19th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you on this 19th day of the brand-new year and it's great to be around the Global Campfire as we take the next step forward, the 19th step forward in the Scriptures this year, which will lead us back into the book of Genesis and back into the story of Joseph, who is one of the sons of Israel, Jacob’s sons. And, so, let's dive in. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Genesis chapter 39 verse 1 through 41 verse 16.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have several things going on as we do each and every day that we move through the Scriptures. And, so, looking back into the book of Genesis as we really get fully immersed in the story of Joseph, who is the favored son of Jacob, whose name has become Israel. And, so, he had the coat of many colors and he was a child in Jacob's old age and so his other brothers despised him in part because of the affection that his father had for him that was different than the real rest of the brothers but also because he's a teenager, he's a teenage boy. And, so, he has dreams and obviously like later on he becomes an interpreter of dreams. That's one of the things that we were reading about today. So, obviously these dreams have significant…significance in his life, but he's a kid and he doesn't know exactly how to interpret what he's seeing. And, so, he tells his family the way that the dreams go, are that the family ends up bowing down to him. And, so, he has a couple of dreams and the brothers just hate him for the dreams. Even his dad's is kinda like, really? You think we’re gonna bow down to you? And, so, as the story goes there's animosity specifically toward Joseph. Among all of the children of Israel there's some animosity toward Joseph. He's a boy coming of age and that can be problematic and a difficult time in any young boy's life and in the family's life as well. So, this is all going on, but there is favoritism going on as well. And Joseph kind of reports back to his dad what his brothers are doing. And, so, he’s kinda like the tattletale. And as it turns out Joseph is sent to find his brothers and find out how they're doing. And he has to go on a pretty long journey. If he's going from…from the south near the Negev all the way Shechem he’s gotta go pretty far to the north to find them. And as the story goes, they see him from far off, they decide let's end the dreaming by ending the dreamer. Let's kill him. Let’s be done with him. He ends up being thrown into a pit. They take his precious robe, his…this unique gift given to him by his father. This robe is taken from him. But he retains his integrity. His clothes aren't his character. He retains his integrity, even as he's thrown by his own family into a pit, while they figure out what they're going to do. And can you imagine Joseph in a pit in the middle of the desert screaming for help and no one coming to help him, just kind of being in this pit and left there. And then he gets pulled from the pit, only to be transferred into the hand of the Ishmaelites trafficked by his own family and he is taken into Egypt where he is sold into slavery. Well…sold…I guess as if…if you can think of it in those terms. He ends up in Potiphar's house. So, he ends up in a high-ranking officials home and his integrity is intact, and his hope isn't lost. He isn't bitter. He's…he's not in a corner going, how…why is this happening to me. He’s holding onto God to figure out where this whole story is going. And in short order, he becomes the...the supreme leader of Pharaoh's house. He's in charge of his household. And of course, Pharaoh's wife notices that he's handsome and well-built and she wants a little of that action. And, so, she goes and asks for it, and he won't. He won’t go to bed with her. And this goes on and on and on, right? She keeps pressuring him and pressuring him. And he keeps telling her, I can't…like I can't do that. I cannot break trust with my master. I cannot sin against God. And, so, one day they’re alone and she presses in on him and he has to remove himself and he flees and he…he leaves his robe behind. This is like the second time this has happened. His robe has been taken from him again. And yet he flees with his character and integrity intact. And for all of that, for this young man who is vital and handsome and good-looking and desirable, for all of his integrity and character where does he end up? In another dungeon and another pit. He had been thrown into a pit in the desert and now he is in a pit after losing his robe again. Now he’s in the dungeon and he hasn't done anything wrong and he has to stay there for years. And of course, he does interpret some dreams and those dreams come true, and it eventually gets him out of the dungeon and before Pharaoh. And that's gotta be crazy culture shock if you’ve been for years in a dungeon and the next thing you know guards are coming in going, get a bath boy. Shave. You're going to see Pharaoh. And he ends up in front of Pharaoh and he's told a dream that he needs to interpret. And we’ll pick up the story from there. But we’re watching a story unfold that has many many layers to it in. I mean one of those layers are that what Joseph is wearing is not who Joseph is. And even when we find ourselves in the corner going, why is this happening to me, the story of Joseph allows us to understand that maybe we’re in the middle. Maybe this is the part of the story where there is challenge and difficulties to overcome, but maybe this isn't the end of the story. Because as we will see in the coming days this is not the end of Joseph's story.

And then we move into the book of Matthew and Jesus begins now to teach with parables and they'll be many parables that we will encounter as we continue our journey through the book of Matthew. But a parable is a like an illustration story, a story that says more than just the words, pictures that mean more than the words and nuances that allow for many layers so that like a parable story can be pondered and looked at from many different angles and many truths can emerge from these parables. This is part of a rabbinic tradition, teach your disciples using parables. And in the parable today, Jesus says, consider the sower who went out to sow. When he sowed some seed…some seed. And, so, as the story goes, a sower goes out to sow and he sows a field that has different kinds of soil in it, different kinds of terrain. And the way that the seed gets established in the soil depends upon the soil that the seed fell upon. And in this case, Jesus gives the interpretation. When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. So, seed was sown along a path. For us we need to consider in our hearts what kind of soil are we. What type of soil is available to the seed of the good news of God's kingdom? If we are the path, then we hear the word about the kingdom, but we don't understand it and it's easily snatched away from us. So, if we’re the path, what we do? Seek understanding. The reason that it was stolen away was because the person didn't understand. But there's other soil. And…and I'm quoting Jesus, “and the one sown on rocky ground”…so seed that fell on soil that is rocky, “this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, but he has no root and is short-lived. When distress, or persecution comes because the word, immediately he falls away.” So, what do we do if we’re rocky soil? What do we do if we’re the person who hears and we rejoice and we’re like, yes, I am in. Yes, absolutely count me in. But there are rocks all around so that the roots cannot go deep. We cannot get routed because there is no soil to take root. And, so, when we’re challenged, according to Jesus, when distress, or persecution comes to when were challenged we aren't rooted and so we immediately fall away. And, so, what do we do if we’re rocky soil? I…I have to deal with rocky soil. Like, we have a farm and we have to take care of it and it has rocky soil. And I have learned that you can kinda deal with the rocky soil, you can work around it. But if you want it to be fertile, you want to use it for something, you gotta dig up the rocks. You gotta get them out of there. And, so, if we are rocky soil, if we believe in the good news of the kingdom of God but anytime we’re challenged internally we have to face hardship, we find ourselves shaking our fists at the sky going why are you letting this happen to me. Then we need to get routed. And in order to get routed we need to take a look at the soil in our hearts, the hardness, the rockiness and begin to work with the Holy Spirit in removing the rocks so that there is good soil. And then there's the thorny soil. So, some seed falls on soil that is thorny and according to Jesus this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. So, what do we do if we’re thorny? And isn’t that what it feels like, the worries of the world, the worries that we’re carrying around on our shoulders, the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, like this treadmill that we’re running on thinking that we can achieve and achieve and achieve and it becomes a distraction that we spend our whole lives trying to pursue. It feels like thorns. Anxiety and worry feel like thorns and our gut, right? So, what do we do if we’re thorny soil? We begin to become aware that the worries of life, the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of our pursuits are distracting us. And then finally there is seed that was sown on good ground, and it bore fruit, some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown. And, so, we look at this and go…I mean we can look at this from lots of different angles and it’s been taught from lots of different angles, but I read this and I go, well, what kind of soil am I because the goal here is to become good soil that bears fruit. And what fruit do we want to bear? The fruit of the Spirit. But we need to look at the soil. We need to get out and walk around and investigate the terrain of our hearts.

Prayer:

Father, we invite you into all this. That's a lot we've covered today, and we thank you for the examples that are in the story of Joseph. We thank you for all that they have for us to learn about our own lives and we thank you that the story of your people is unfolding before us in the book of Genesis. And Jesus, we thank you for the way that you taught, way that you are gentle and kind but…but willing to step into things when they were simply wrong and make corrections and the way that you have given us these stories to ponder and contemplate and consider. And, so, Holy Spirit we invite you to help us examine the soil of our hearts today. What kind of soil are we? The truth is, we can be all in these kinds soil in different areas of our lives, but it's our desire to be good soil that produces good fruit for your kingdom. Help us. We will never navigate this without you. Help us, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Community Prayer and Praise:

Coming soon. Day 6 of our missions trip to Nicaragua. Prayer and Praise will be posted when we return to the states...

[off-in-the-moors]

Joseph Kavinsky analysis, part 2

aka no voice and no dream pack

Warnings: spoilers for the whole Raven Cycle, mentions of: drug-use, abuse, death, s*cid, xenophobia

Part 1 // Part 2

Before starting, I wanted to thank for likes and support, not only on part 1 but also on my other posts. I was writing this more for the catharsis, after months of seeing and not really speaking about a lot of stuff. It’s nice to know, somebody read it. Some say, Kavinsky is their comfort character and, well, he will stay with me for a very long time. But enough of that. Let's talk about the point of view, xenophobia and the Dream Pack.

PoV

The running motif in TRC is, all antagonists get PoVs. No matter if they appear in one book (like Whelk) or reoccur (like the Greenmatles). The reader gets multiple chapters with their backstories, internal thoughts and goals. This move by the author is a double-edged sword, on one hand we get a better understanding of them but on the other, by knowing them better they become less effective antagonists and the air of mystery and surprise of what they're up-to/what they know is lost. E.g. In TDT we are first told about Colin Greenmatle and what is he capable of, making him a good threat for our main characters. But when we finally meet him in BLLB, with his attitude and scenes like dissing Ronan's Latin grammar or making cheese crackers while his wife is held at gun-point, he becomes more of a comedic antagonist than a villain to fear.

But here's the thing: I already lied to you. In TRC, all antagonists get PoVs, except for Kavinsky. It's a odd exception from the rule, considering Gray Man in TDT and The Wasp Demon in The Raven King, also got PoVs. But why? There are two things to look at. One I already mentioned. By giving a character PoV, the reader gets better understanding of them. By not giving Kavinsky one, Margaret didn't give anything to make K or his actions clear or understandable. By not knowing his motivations, K is left to pure interpretations, but how the reader will do it mostly will be influenced by his demonetization. Of course, not everybody will just accept what the book tells them without thinking for themselves but most fans don't.

"Bang", he said softly, withdrawing the fake gun. "See you on the street."

Alone, this single line can be interpreted in many different ways. Is it K being angry and threatening Ronan? Or maybe Joseph breaking inside because he was proofen, he really has no one? It all depends on the reader.

Second, when asked on her tumblr, if she'll ever write anything from K's pov (in 2015, before The Raven King was published), M*ggie said she won't, because: she already explored that type of character ("the thoughts and motivations of a powerful, suicidal, creative person with few inhibitions") in Sinner (2014, spin-off/companion book of her older series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, 2009-2011 for the main three) with Cole St. Clair; that writing through PoV of such character is emotionally and mentally draining for her (which is understandable); and even if she wanted to explore it again in the future, she would through a different character's lenses than K's.

Let's talk about St. Clair.

The characters of Cole and Kavinsky have some similarities: both are drug addicts, who are rich.

That's where they end.

Cole was a famous musician, having the stereotypical rock-star life (drugs, alcohol and sleeping with fans included) with good family relationships, while K was a son of a mobster who tried to kill him and a mother who was a drug-addict herself. While their perspectives would have similarities, there is also other problems. Cole St. Clair already got PoVs in his series and a stand-alone book, Joseph Kavinsky got nothing and will get nothing. Cole had friends that cared for him and helped him, Joseph Kavinsky had his Dream Pack (which whom we don't know what type of relation he had) and his customers who we can safely say, only cared for what he can provide them with, he tried to befriend or start a relation with Ronan who rejected even the idea of it and no one even reached out to him. Cole got his happy ending and (hinted at) a girl he loved, K got rejected by everyone and committed public suicide. (Now, I heard a opinion that K didn't commit suicide, because the dragon killed him. Here is the thing, K could move out of the way multiple times, even Ronan shouted to him to move. But he didn't. He watched the dragon fly towards him and just said "The world is a nightmare.". He choose death.)

People wanted K's PoV, because they wanted to know, what pushed him to do what he did in TDT. But, in my opinion, even if M*ggie gave K pov, she would use it to further demonize him than to make the reader understand him more. She already did write a whole post exaggerating and straw-manning the canon, just to also say "Kavinsky has a very logical backstory that leads him to this place". A backstory we as the reader never truly see and one she forgot to write into her book. At the end, she truly cared only about Ronan.

Xenophobia

The Raven Cycle is a very flawed and problematic series, there are already many other posts taking about racism, misogyny, lack of diversity and many other issues with it, but in regards to Kavinsky, I'll only touch on the xenophobia. (I could talk also about portray of metal-illness, but I'm not the person to talk about it and I would feel comfortable with it.)

Kavinsky is a stereotype of a Slavic person, one we see in American media since the Cold War, especially in 80s movies. The Evil Russian trope. The son of the mobster, drug-addict, forger who can get you anything even illegal stuff, a thief.

When describing Kavinsky, one of the things Ronan mentions is: "refugee's face, hollowed-eyed and innocent". One could argue, "refugee" has many meanings, but boiling it down, is a person who came to the country to escape and seek a refuge. Many people moved to America to find a better life, in the believe of the American Dream, and many of them where driven to do that, especially from ex-Eastern Bloc countries. Kavinsky's Bulgarian, unknown if an immigrant himself or a son of immigrants, but the point still stands.

About Blue’s comment "import from somewhere else" I don't need to say much. First, obvious: You don't import people, only foreign goods, like cars. Second: this shows, he is "the other" in the eyes of the characters.

There is more to it, then just the physical description. We need to look at the outfit he wears. White tank top, white sunglasses, a small earring in one ear and a gold chain around his neck. This gives two images: one of a typical douche-bag, party asshole and the rich kid; the second of a Slavic stereotype, especially of a Russian criminal. If Margaret wanted to make K even bigger stereotype, she would dress him like a dress/gopnik, in a tracksuit.

The thing is: M*ggie could had saved the situation if she had subverted the stereotypes. E.g. K didn't wanting anything to do with the crime live, his family was forced into by circumstances or K being the guy to get stuff from, but he isn't doing it for any gain.

The truth is, K being Bulgarian doesn't add anything to his character, except for xenophobia. (Personally, I tried to find where the surname "Kavinsky" came from. It is Slavic, that much I can tell you for sure, but the rest is my speculation and searching. My best guesses are: Russian (it appears most commonly in Russian, after USA and a use in Russia set novel) or Polish (because it has uncanny simulates to the surname "Kawiński", if it was anglicized like e.g. "Kamiński" into "Kaminsky"). This isn't a common surname and with Peter from the To All the Boys trilogy and the musician, it's hard to find any information.)

But for now, K's portray is one of the many issues.

The Dream Pack or the lack of it

The Dream Pack is the unofficial name for K's group, with whom he parties and races (the canon name is "Kavinsky's Pack of Dogs" which is ugh). They're unfortunately, a non-characters. It's bolt to even call them background characters. Their portray, or again, lack of it, leaves them as props, their only role is to be K's followers and to show K as a leader on a equal ground as Gansey. We're lead to believe, they are like Kavinsky, yet another raven boys, and to make are main characters so “not like the other raven boys”. Problem rises in connection to the previous point, out of four members, only one has an English surname.

Prokopenko is a Ukrainian surname and for his description, we get "ears like wingnuts", "crooked shoulders" and his voice as "milky with drugs". It's said he had "recently attained official crony status", and was noted being in close desecrate to K for a while. Later we discover Proko is a forgery, a dream creature like Matthew and Aurora. It's heavily implied the real Prokopenko is dead, but if K had something to do with it, is unknown. He is the only character to "chortle", which Margaret said she hates and also "fratty boys and the chortling men they turn into". From this we can deduce, that not only the Dream Pack and people at K's parties but all raven boys (with the exception of the main characters) were writen like this on purpose as the personification of everything M*ggie hates. We are also informed, he drives a Golf.

Skov, who according to a deleted scene, full name is Blake Skovron, is polish (or at least anglicized version of it). In said deleted scene he's described as "major asshole, minor bigot" (unfortunately I couldn't find it to confirm it). The only canon stuff about him is: he drives a RX-7 (Mazda RX-7).

Jiang is Chinese, making him one of three canon Asian characters we see in the series (not counting Henry's father, because he's just mentioned, same goes for the Vancouver crowd). Like Proko, his role is a little bigger. In the Raven King, after Ronan finally returns to school after a long time of skipping, he tells him: "Hey, man, I thought you'd died". Ronan doesn't respond, but tells the reader he doesn't want to see Jiang outside of his car, racing. The only other thing we know about him: he drives a Supra (Toyota Supra).

Swan is the only one with an English name, but all we know about him is: he drives Volkswagen Golf, one that matches Proko's.

(For future writers: what car a character drives, isn't a personality trait.)

With the already minimal diversity, this shows the non-Americans as the antagonists or at least "the worst". On the opposite side, we have our main characters. Richard Campbell Gansey III, who has the whitest and British name I ever saw; Adam Parrish, born and raised in Henrietta, Virginia; Ronan Lynch, son of a Irish immigrant, whose Irish identity starts and ends on tit-bits; Blue Sargent, who is half-tree and ambiguous, but was drawn as white by the author multiple times (Yes, I am aware of the Instagram post, but Margaret herself said, she isn't confirming anything that isn't already written in her books. She couldn't even confirm Adam's hair color and made a joke out of it.) The only exception is Noah Czerny, whose surname is Slavic (probably Czech), but this bares no effect on his character.

The Dream Pack are the whole communities babies, created by head-canons and fanons, their relations with Kavinsky and themselves are explored, who they are as people, their appearance, their interests... This is beautiful how many different versions and interpretations of non-existing characters is there. (I, myself also made a version for a rewrite, based partly on the fanon.)

But at the end of the day, the fans did the author's job of creating believe friend group and in the end, their only function was to show, Kavinsky is a king, just like Gansey.

[aion-rsa]

Scarface’s Tony Montana vs. Michael Corleone: Which Al Pacino is the Boss of Bosses

https://ift.tt/3haJ9K7

Scarface hadn’t been made when Pete Townshend’s 1974 song “The Punk and the Godfather” came out, but The Godfather certainly had. The Who’s anthem was a musical allegory about the rock scene, but the lyrics might as well be interpreted as a conversation between Michael Corleone and Tony Montana. Possibly right before they rumble.

Al Pacino played both men in both movies, and in each film, he begins the story as a punk. But in The Godfather, at least, he grows into the establishment. Michael becomes don. Tony was a shooting star on the other hand, one on a collision course with an unyielding atmosphere. Both roles are smorgasbords of possibilities to an actor, especially one who chased Richard III to every imaginable outcome. Each are also master criminals. But which is more masterful?

The obvious answer would seem to be Michael Corleone because he turned a criminal empire into a multi-billion-dollar international business, and lived to a ripe old age to regret it. Cent’anni, Michael. Tony Montana doesn’t live to see the fruits of his labor, but his career in crime is littered with the successes of excess.

Montana is a hungry, young, loose cannon, just like real-life’s “Crazy” Joe Gallo, who went up against the Profaci family in the street fight which Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola used as inspiration on The Godfather. Gallo stand-in Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) did a lot of damage while he was trying to muscle in on Don Vito Corleone’s territory, selling white powder. Montana leaves a larger body count in the wake of his cocaine empire career. 

Scarface is Pacino’s film. The whole movie is about Tony Montana and his meteoric rise through money, power and women. The Godfather is a mob movie, crowded with top rate talent in an ensemble case, but it belongs to Marlon Brando. While Michael inherits the position by The Godfather, Part II, he shares Godfather roles with Robert De Niro there, and people come away feeling a little sorry for Fredo. Michael isn’t the focus of an entire film until The Godfather, Part III, and by then folks were only distracted by his daughter. Tony Montana owns the screen from the moment it opens until his last splash in the fountain under the “World Is Yours” sign. The picture was his.

Making Your Bones on First Kills

Pacino brings little of the wisdom of his Godfather role to Scarface’s title character. This is by design. Every crime boss has to make his bones. In mafia organizations, real and cinematic, the button men on the street are called soldiers. And every soldier has to go through basic training before they’re ready to earn their button. Michael gets assassination training from his father’s most trusted capo, Pete Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) before he goes out to enjoy the veal.

Scarface doesn’t give us many details of the crimes Tony was involved in while still in Cuba, so he makes his cinematic bones executing General Emilio Rebenga in the American detention camp for Cuban refugees. The two scenes are polar opposites in all ways but suspense.

When Michael is sitting at the dinner table with Sollozzo and Police Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), he lets Sollozzo do all the talking, easing him into comfort before pulling the trigger. Tony barely lets Rebenga get a whimper in during his first onscreen hit, which plays closer to an execution. Tony covers the sounds of his own attack with a chant he himself begins. It is a brilliant overplay, especially when compared to another scene that resembles The Godfather, with Tony killing a mid-level gangster and a crooked cop towards the end of Scarface. 

A major difference between the two roles is best summed up in a line Tony says in Scarface. He learned to speak English by watching James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Montana comes from the Cagney tradition of broad gangster characterizations. In The Godfather, Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) asks Michael if he’d prefer Ingrid Bergman. The young soldier has to think about it. This is because Pacino is miles removed here from Bogart, who played Bergman’s lover in Casablanca. Pacino’s two gangster icons approached their criminality differently, and Pacino gets to play in both yards.

Pacino remains on an even keel in the Godfather films, but gives a tour de force of violent expression in Scarface, which burns like white heat.

The Handling of Enemies and Vices

In Scarface, Pacino gets to be almost as over the top as he is in Dick Tracy. His accent would never make it past the modern culture board at The Simpsons, but he pulls it off in 1983 because he says so. Pacino bullies the audience into believing it. It’s that exact arrogance which makes us root for Tony Montana. We don’t want to be on his bad side. But the chilled reptilian stare of Michael Corleone is a visual representation of why Sicilians prefer their revenge served cold.

Michael is diabetic, and is usually seen drinking water in The Godfather films. Sure, he has an occasional glass or red wine, and possibly some Sambuca with his espresso, but Michael always keeps a clear head. Tony, not so much. He makes drunken scenes at his favorite nightclubs, and not only gets high on his own supply, but gets so nose deep in it he develops godlike delusions of superheroic grandeur.

Montana is impulsive, instinctive, and decisive. Tony kills his best friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) immediately upon finding him with his little sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). Michael waits until his sister Connie (Talia Shire) is on a plane to Tahoe before he has her husband killed in a hit years in the planning. Later Michael hangs his head silently as the shotgun blast which kills his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), echoes in the distance.

Tony, meanwhile, continues yelling at Sosa’s right-hand man long after his brains are all over the automobile’s interior.

Clothes Make the Man

Tony is written to be charismatic. Even coked out of his mind, he’d be a better fit in Vegas with Fredo’s crowd than with wet blanket Michael in Tahoe. Tony sports white suits, satin shirts, and designer sunglasses. Michael accessorizes three-piece ensembles with an ascot. This isn’t to say Michael had any issues with getting somebody’s brains splattered all over his Ivy League suit. 

Designed by Theadora Van Runkle, Michael preferred dupioni silk. That’s smart. The dark navy wool chalk-stripe suit Tony wears in his death scene was designed by Tommy Velasco and carries the class of a tuxedo. It was after 6pm. What do you think he is, a farmer?

“I’m the guy in the sky, flying high, flashing eyes. No surprise I told lies, I’m the punk from the gutter,” Roger Daltrey belts out on “The Punk and The Godfather.” This is exactly against the no-flash advice Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) tries to impart on his young protégé in Scarface. Tony was raised not to take any advice other than his own. He also ignores his consigliere’s advice on several occasions. When Manny reminds Tony the pair of them were in a cage a year ago, the rebel gangster says he’s trying to forget that, he’s going after the boss’ girl. 

“I come from the gutter,” Montana proudly contends. “I know that. I got no education but that’s okay. I know the street, and I’m making all the right connections.” 

By contrast, Michael attended Dartmouth College and then dropped out to join the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Michael is both intelligent and well-connected, loosely modeled on Joseph Bonanno and Vito Genovese. He also accepts the wisdom of his father, who most closely resembled “The Prime Minister” of New York’s Five Families in the 1950s, mafia boss Frank Costello.

The Better Family Man

Pacino’s Don Michael Corleone has access to all his family’s connections, stretching back to the old world. He learns to expertly pull the strings of powerful men, like his father did, but as he grew, he bent. Michael is friends with senators, meets with the President of Cuba, has money in the Vatican, and confesses his sins to a Pope. Michael was insulated throughout his childhood and criminal career. If Tony gets in trouble, he has to get out of it himself, or with the help of a handful of low-level operatives.

Michael is the family rebel, risking his life and getting medals for strangers. He also gets to be both the prodigal son and the dutiful son. He gets the fatted calf and pays the piper. He even tips the baker’s helper for the effort. Michael comes back to both of his families, crime and birth, with a vengeance. He is there for his father the moment he is needed. Michael is the better family man. Tony’s mother is ashamed of him, and he completely ruins his sister’s wedding. Michael’s family means everything to him, and while he still manages to lose them, he actually maneuvers his two families well over rough waters for a very long run.  

Tony Montana is the rebel’s rebel. Even before he tosses off his bandana at the dishwasher job to make a quick score, we knew. He was born bad, in the cinematically good way. This also makes Montana a natural at crime. In The Godfather, Michael has it in his blood as a Corleone, but has his heart set on college, a straight career, and a shot to bring his whole family into the American Dream, which for Montana only exists as a wet dream.

Tony never gets past the hormonal teenage phase of his love of America. He wants to love his new country to death. He is turned on by the dream. He wants to take it. Not earn it. No foreplay necessary, as he claims his latest victim’s wife as his own.

Managerial Skills

Michael is pretty good with his underlings, when he’s not having them garroted on the way to an airport or advising them to slit their wrists in a bath. He promises Clemenza he can have his own family once the Corleones relocate to Las Vegas. He lets Joe Zaza (Joe Mantegna) get away with murder as the guy he sets up to run his old territory in The Godfather, Part III. Michael doesn’t keep turncoats like his trusted caporegime Tessio (Abe Vigoda) around for old times’ sake, and he doesn’t suffer fools at all. It may seem he cuts Tom Hayden (Robert Duvall) loose a little fast, and without warning or due cause. But if he was a wartime consigliere, he would have seen it coming.

While Tony Montana may have a competitive and fast-tracked entry program for new workers (“hey, you got a job”), he’s also the guy who shoots his right-hand man Manny for marrying his sister. Tony exacts a brutal and dangerous revenge for the death of his friend Angel Fernandez in the Miami chainsaw massacre, but doesn’t lift a finger when his cohort Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) is hanged to death from a helicopter by drug lord Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). Michael does have a tendency to have his soldato kiss his ring, but he’s not entirely a .95 caliber pezzonovante.

Read more

Movies

Scarface: Where Tony Montana Went Wrong

By Tony Sokol

Movies

The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone Proves a Little Less is Infinitely More

By Tony Sokol

One of the most important skills a boss must exhibit is how to delegate, and Corleone is a minor Machiavellian master at his delegation. He whispers orders from behind closed doors. Tony is more hands-on. The only reason he tells Manny to “kill that piece of shit” Frank is because he’s already humiliated his former boss into a shell of a real man.

Montana is in the trenches with his soldiers and sets standards by example. He shoots a guy on a crowded Miami street in broad daylight. Montana is a born triggerman and only reluctantly delegates the duty. He has 10 bodyguards when Sosa men raid his mansion fortress. He takes the invading force with one little friend, an M16A1 rifle with a customized grenade launcher. But it sure doesn’t help the employees getting murdered outside.

A Handle on Finances

We don’t know what kinds of criminal activities the Corleone family were involved in between 1958 and 1979. Still, Michael had proven himself a traditionalist and a bit of a prude, so he spends most of his career shaving his take from harmless vices and avoiding drugs, which he sees as a dirty business. But through whatever means, by The Godfather, Part III, Michael has earned enough capital to buy himself out of crime.

Michael gambles successfully on Wall Street, keeps the Genco olive oil company going, and invests in hotels, casinos, and movie studios. He’s got to be pulling in a billion dollars a year in legitimate business. He makes enough to pad the coffers of the Vatican, and his share of Immobiliare stocks pulls in another $1 billion.

Tony looks like he’s earning about $15 million a month. But it doesn’t look like he puts much stock in his future. He makes no investments, only purchases. His only visible holding is the salon his sister works in. But we also have to take into account that he built his empire from scratch. Michael inherited his. And while the head of the Corleone family can blackmail a U.S. senator with a tragic sex scandal, Montana fares no better than Al Capone with tax evasion.

Who Would Win in a Mob War?

Scarface is as violent as the 1932 Howard Hawk original. Blood is a big expense, and 42 people are killed in the 1985 film. It came out amid other over-the-top action blockbusters like First Blood and the contemporary reality of the South American drug trade. So, it would seem, the film has far more violence. But they are easily matched.

The Godfather has a horse’s head, Scarface has a chainsaw. Michael’s brother Sonny (James Caan) gets machine gunned to smithereens at the toll booth, Tony blows the lower limbs off his would-be assassins at a nightclub. Omar is lynched in a chopper, the upper echelon of the mob is taken out by helicopter fire in The Godfather, Part III. Tony and Michael each get to kill a cop.

Both mob figures survive assassination attempts. Michael loses his wife Apollonia in Sicily in a car bombing meant for him. He also avoids the trap Tessio sets at the meeting with Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), on his turf, where Michael “will be safe.” Tony lives through his initial professionally ordered hit, as well as being saved by Manny from certain death by chainsaw.

While Michael Corleone is able to take care of Barzini, Victor Stracci, Carmine Cuneo, and Phillip Tattaglia – the leadership of the five families – at the end of The Godfather, Tony Montana can only put up a good fight. The Corleone family would win in a protracted war against Montana’s cartel, but there is a possibility Tony would have outlived Michael while the battles raged. Expert swordsmen aren’t afraid to duel the best in the field, but they’re scared of the worst. 

As far as crime tactics and strategic villainy, Michael Corleone plays a game of chess. Tony Montana plays hopscotch. He wins by skipping cracks in the street, but he only rises as far as the pavement.

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[woodedcove]

How do I hear Him 2:  Phone Home

I was fortunate enough to grow up not only living near my grandparents but also having grandparents that were kind, loving, and intelligent people. During the summer months, I would often spend a few days with my grandparents. My grandmother (whom we always called Nana) taught me a little about watercolors and painting, helped me learn how to identify flowers and other plants, and read articles and stories to me. My Grandfather, (whom we always called Gaga) would play checkers and catch butterflies with me, teach me Morse Code and we would go on walks together.

Gaga taught me that a person can learn no matter how old they are. Nana taught me that a person can learn from anyone no matter how young they are. Case in point, one day Nana was reading an article to me and she mispronounced a word. I, being in high school at the time, corrected her. She stopped, went back to the beginning of the sentence and read it again, but she still pronounced the word incorrectly. I corrected her again. Again, she stopped, went back to the beginning of the sentence and reread it, this time pronouncing the word correctly. I remember sitting there as she continued to read and being completely amazed that she would listen to me and learned from me, someone that was 50 years her junior.

Years later, when I was in college, I came home to find out that Nana had breast cancer. It was scary but we hoped that the doctor had caught it early enough and that after the surgery to remove the cancer she would be fine. The rest of the year passed and I thought all was well. My parents hadn’t really kept me up to date on what was happening with Nana because they wanted me to be able to concentrate on my studies.

That summer, I had decided to stay in the LA area, rent an apartment with a couple of friends and work at Magic Mountain. So we found an apartment and at the end of the school year spent our Saturday moving in. One of the things we had to take care of in our move was setting up a landline phone service (there were no cell phones back then). I arranged for my phone service at school to be shut off on Friday. But our phone service in the apartment wouldn’t start until Monday which meant we were going to be spending the weekend without a phone.

Sunday, I went to church. But when I came home I was so tired from the move the day before that I decided to take a nap. While I slept, I had a dream. In my dream, I was sitting in a hospital room next to a bed where Nana lay. We were talking quietly while I stroked her hair from her forehead. The dream was so real and made so deep an impression on me that when I woke up, I got into my car, drove to the nearest payphone, and called home. As soon as my Dad answered he said, “You better come home right away. We’re taking your grandmother to the hospital.” Again, I had no idea that Nana was so sick.

I got back into my car and drove like a maniac to get from the LA area to my home town in the San Joaquin Valley of California, pushing my little Chevy Vega to 90 miles an hour as I came off the grapevine. Of course, I was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Through tears, I told the policeman that my grandmother was dying, but I guess he’d heard that excuse too many times and I got a ticket. At this point, I had completely forgotten about my dream. I set the ticket aside and tried to drive within the speed limit the rest of the way to the hospital.

I arrived and found the hall which held Nana’s room, Mom, Dad, and Gaga were outside in the corridor. My Mom told me that Nana was calling for me and encouraged me to go into the room and see her. When I went inside, Nana was sleeping. I sat down on a chair that was placed next to the hospital bed and began to softly stroke her hair from her forehead. Nana woke, looked at me, and said, “You’re here. You really are here. I thought it was just a dream.” And then I suddenly remembered my dream. It turned out that the surgeon hadn't gotten all the cancer. It had metastasized and gone to her lungs and brain. So this moment that I spent with her was one of the last times that Nana spoke before she passed away.

Why I was given this special experience? I’m not sure. But I do know that we have a loving and merciful Father in Heaven who, knowing that Nana wanted to see me before she passed on, gave me a dream, a warning that made me phone home. He gave us an opportunity to say goodbye.

I know that dreams are one of the ways our Lord can speak to us. Look at how many times in the scriptures the Lord has told someone something in a dream. Lehi was warned in a dream to flee from Jerusalem with his family before the people could kill him. Joseph was a dreamer of dreams and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams that warned of an impending famine. Some dreams are very direct and easy to understand, others may take prayer, perhaps fasting or maybe just time before the meaning becomes clear. Whatever the case, the dreams that deeply impress you, the ones that seem to be coming back to your mind, again and again, those may be the dreams that are worth writing down and pondering over. I would encourage you to do so because maybe the Lord is trying to speak to you.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Well, it would have been up to Napoleon to keep his first wife - he chose not to. Nobody forced him to dissolve it. No, not even circumstances.But when Napoleon-Franz says "with Josephine by his side Napoleon would not have ended up in Saint Helena" he implies that Josephine could have done something to prevent Napoleon being sent there. How would she have done that? I can only see two things that she could have done differently than Marie Louise.1/3

I can only see two things that she could have done differently than Marie Louise.1) In 1814, she might not have left Paris, and this might have saved the empire and Napoleon's throne. This is possible, but it also needs to be said that Marie Louise resisted as long as she could and that it was Napoleon himself (i.e., the letter and the orders he had given to Joseph) who made her leave. Later, when she desperately asks to be allowed to join Napoleon at Fontainebleau, he simply never tells her 2/3

he simply never tells her to come. It's some strange behavior from Napoleon's side.2) She might have joined him on Elba, and with his wife and son by his side, Napoleon might have forgotten all his ambitions and would have lived a happy life as a retired monarch in his miniature empire. The Hundred Days would never have happened. - Which admittedly sounds nice to me. But would Napoleon really act that way and give up on all his dreams of glory and greatness? 3/3

hey, I'm the anon and I was talking in general after reading your point of views about Josephine and marie louise.

--

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if you were responding to one post in particular or not. Mostly because, and this may not have been your intention, but it sounds in the first few sentences as if you’re implying I said it wasn’t Napoleon’s decision/out of his hands re: the divorce. Which I don’t believe I did - or, if a post reads like that, it wasn’t my intention. 

I will say, Napoleon, and the decisions he made, were influenced and informed by the circumstances he was in, the context of the world he grew up and lived in, the people around him, and so on. Because no decision is made in a void. Pointing out context isn’t a removal of agency or culpability, it’s just an attempt to explain what the person may have been thinking/what their reasoning may have been/what external factors may have influenced their decision. But of course, at the end of the day, Napoleon made the choices he made and he lived with the consequences of them. The divorce being one of them. Just in case that needed clarification. 

 But when Napoleon-Franz says "with Josephine by his side Napoleon would not have ended up in Saint Helena" he implies that Josephine could have done something to prevent Napoleon being sent there.

I haven’t seen a quote where the Eaglet says “with Josephine by his side Napoleon would never have ended up in St. Helena”. The quote I have seen is:  “If Josephine had been my mother, my father would not have been buried at Saint Helena, and I should not be at Vienna. My mother is kind but weak; she was not the wife my father deserved."

Which, to my reading, has a different meaning. I interpret this as Napoleon-Francois saying that had Josephine been his mother Napoleon would not have felt he needed to divorce Josephine for the purpose of producing an heir. Which was his stated motivation and this is an interpretation of events I am inclined to agree with. I think had Josephine and Napoleon had an heir he would not have divorced her. 

So, if Napoleon had an heir and didn’t divorce Josephine, would events post-1809/1810 gone differently? Who knows. I think if Napoleon had an heir earlier in his reign (let’s say circa 1800), he might have approached certain decisions differently. He might have felt more secure in his legitimacy and the succession of his empire (once he became emperor). Therefore, War As Another Form of Diplomacy might not have been his approach in as many cases as it was. 

Who knows. That’s such a difficult What If situation. Especially because of how one decision and it’s results/consequences naturally influence the choices made later, it’s impossible to say. 

The way I understand your ask/thought-experiment (time for ye olde gedankenexperiment, brought to you by your local exiled son of a former emperor) is that regardless of N and J having a hypothetical Eaglet themselves, everything else remains the same. I hope I got that right. 

I can only see two things that she could have done differently than Marie Louise.1) In 1814, she might not have left Paris, and this might have saved the empire and Napoleon's throne. This is possible, but it also needs to be said that Marie Louise resisted as long as she could and that it was Napoleon himself (i.e., the letter and the orders he had given to Joseph) who made her leave. Later, when she desperately asks to be allowed to join Napoleon at Fontainebleau, he simply never tells her he simply never tells her to come. It's some strange behavior from Napoleon's side.

I think Josephine would have remained in Paris. A huge push-pull for Marie-Louise was her Austrian family. Josephine didn’t have that to influence her decisions and I think she would have remained in the city with their hypothetical Eaglet which yes, could have saved the day. 

The letters between Marie-Louis and Napoleon were regularly intercepted by people (on all sides) who wanted that marriage to break up for political reasons - and also wanted to keep ML (read: the Eaglet) away from Napoleon. Napoleon did intend to meet up with ML at Fountainblue (I know he sent Marie Waleweska away) - I think that might have been a letter that was never received? Lannes’ widow did a lot of fucking around to try and turn Marie-Louise against Napoleon. I’m at work so I’ll double check sources when I get home. 

That entire situation - where Marie-Louis was being held by Joseph et al as insurance, then later was subject to an anti-Napoleon smear campaign (mainly playing off her insecurities and fears of his being with a mistress) - wouldn’t have happened with Josephine. 

A) She wouldn’t be useful as insurance with the Austrians for obvious reasons of not being related to the emperor. 

b) “Hey Josephine, Napoleon’s with his mistress. You still going to join him?” Josephine, deep sight, “First off, yes of course. Second off, Which one is it this time?” Basically, she was a little more inured to the bullshit in that she wouldn’t let it impact her response in this sort of crises situation. She would still give N an earful though.

Now, all of this said, the entire political situation would have been different had Napoleon not married Marie-Louise so it’s really hard to eyeball this and say one way or another what would have happened. 

2) She might have joined him on Elba, and with his wife and son by his side, Napoleon might have forgotten all his ambitions and would have lived a happy life as a retired monarch in his miniature empire. The Hundred Days would never have happened. - Which admittedly sounds nice to me. But would Napoleon really act that way and give up on all his dreams of glory and greatness?

She definitely would have joined him on Elba. Absolutely. And that could have influenced him to remain on Elba. But that said, Napoleon’s ambitions and ego were his own worst enemy and they might not have been satisfied with the retired life of mini-monarchy after what he once had. 

I’m inclined to think, in this hypothetical situation, that he still would have gone for retaking the throne. But, the subsequent handling of that might have been different. Who knows. 

Josephine, overall, didn’t really influence his political or military decisions. But her presence and the presence of the Eaglet in France might have changed things. Also, had the Eaglet been older (which I presume he would have been just due to menopause and Josephine being older than Napoleon - the Eaglet would have been born well before 1810) that might have had a stabilizing effect that a four year old can’t have. Had the Eaglet been 14/15/16 or something, that might change things. Hard to say. 

In the end, of course, poor Napoleon-Francois was just dreaming a sweet dream. And lord who can blame him. I’d be spouting hypotheticals left right and centre if I was in his situation. Bless him. 

Thank you for the ask (and the follow up clarification, most helpful) 

[tikkisaram]

Joseph Stalin — Terrible Tyrant, Great Poet

It is the year 1945. The Great Patriotic War has just ended, and a semblance of peace has been restored. Now, in the permanent winterland of Siberia — in the rubble-strewn streets of Stalingrad — in the scorched wastelands of Ukraine — all over the Soviet Union, the Soviet people struggle to stay alive under the iron fist of an uncompromising poet.

It is an oft-overlooked fact that Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili — Stalin's birth name — was a poet whose work commanded artistic respect. His poems — written in his native Georgian — were even featured in textbooks to be memorised by schoolchildren. These were not showpieces designed to propagate a cult of personality in the way Kim Jong-il's books1 were — they were published anonymously in his youth. When he found out that his NKVD lackey Lavrentiy Bertia secretly comissioned translations of them into Russian as a birthday present, he ordered the translators to stop work immediately. Perhaps he felt — arguably correctly — that these poems undermined his public persona by showing his sensitive, human, vulnerable side.

His poems truly do show a surprising fragility of spirit, and though some people might dismiss them as Romantic fluff, I think that they have a remarkable depth and that they can help us understand the person behind the myth. As they were written in Georgian — not one of the languages that I know — I was forced to read these poems in a variety of Russian translations, as well as the translations into English of Donald Rayfield and Vlad Osso, which I will be using in this blessay for the benefit of the reader. To avoid the difficulty of detailed cross-linguistic analysis, I will focus on the content, not form of the poems — though the reader should not assume technical ineptness based on translations, especially literal ones; this poetry is rhythmically sound and properly mellifluous in the original.

As an example of poetic prowess, we can look at the symbolic treatment of the moon in the ode To the Moon. It is given traits which we would normally associate with the sun, but also retains its own characteristic elements. Thus, its glow will "scatter the mist of the clouds" and its beams "play" in the sky; yet its darker aspects are still present — it will "sing a lullaby", because it brings night, not day; and the fact that it interacts with glaciers on a frozen mountaintop reinforces its own cold nature. It is "lovely" and joyful, but also dominating, as the speaker will "revere" it.2 It unites two opposite forces — it is the Yin and the Yang, the feminine and the masculine; its representation is, essentially, androgynous — one might even say polygendered.

The absolute reverence with which Stalin treats the moon, elevating it to an almost divine status, is only one example of religious themes in his poetry. In that same poem he includes this stanza:

Know for certain that once Struck down to the ground, an oppressed man Strives again to reach the pure mountain, When exalted by hope. 3

This is a clear allusion of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, in which Christ teaches us: "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!"4 Jesus is also symbolically the object of an untitled poem, in which a man goes "from house to house", telling "a truth profound, ... a lofty dream" but is executed with poison by people who tell him: "Your song is foreign to us,/We prefer to live in a lie!"5 This man is, if not Jesus himself, at the very least a Christ figure, and the Socratean hemlock cup brings the focus onto the kind of philosophical teachings addressed in To the Moon. Similarly, Old Ninika treats the decline of religion, symbolised by the aged man with a shepherd's crook, once powerful but now weak, whose state Stalin laments; yet the ending is optimistic, showing a religious hopefulness — in the closing line Ninika "smiles with relief".6 These poems show that Stalin was more religious than is often assumed.

It has already been noted that Stalin had homosexual tendencies,7 and it is difficult not to see queer aspects in his poetry. The fusing and merging of genders in To the Moon is one example, and the poem ends on a blatantly homosexual treatment of the moon as a phallic symbol which 'ejaculates' light, before which the speaker stands naked and submissive:

But I shall undo my vest And thrust out my chest to the moon, With outstreched arms, I shall revere The spreader of light upon the earth! 8

At a level separate from the religious interpretation, Old Ninika can be read as a representation of queer love suppressed by societal pressures, and there is more than a hint of homoerotic fascination in the lines:

Bare-chested, at the end on the cornfield He must have suddenly burst out with a roar. 9

and:

And on his face governed by dripping sweat Fire and smoke must have poured out. 10

The poem that Osso translates as Morning, on the other hand, shows a wishful longing for sexual liberation, with the symbolically queer, sexualised phallic flowers in the first stanza:

The bud has blossomed; now the rose Touches the tender violet. 11

and the birds in the second stanza, which symbolise freedom but also characterise the poem as a 'flight' of fancy:

The lark, signing its chirping hymn, Soars high above the clouds; 12

The acute reader will spot countless other instances of queer allusion in these poems.

Of course Stalin was a ruthless leader, whose wartime brutality and peacetime purges made him rightly infamous, and admiring his poetry in no way precludes condemning his actions. Neither should praise for his artistic work be in any way seen as an endorsement of his other 'achievements'. Still, his poems should be considered on their own merits, and they also constitute an important piece of evidence for understanding him. They can help us interpret other historical facts by shedding light on Stalin's hidden feelings and beliefs. It is a pity that other important figures so rarely leave poems behind, because there is truly nothing that can lay someone's soul bare before us more effectively than poetry.

Who allegedly wrote hundreds of them. ↩︎

All of these quotes are from To the Moon, translated by Donald Rayfield. ↩︎

ibid. ↩︎

Matthew 5:10, Good News New Testament, Today’s English Version. ↩︎

Quotes from [He knocked on strangers' doors], translated by Vlad Osso. ↩︎

Old Ninika, translated by Donald Rayfield. ↩︎

“Stalin’s Crude Side Laid Bare.” The Independent, 19 Dec. 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stalins-crude-side-laid-bare-1845109.html. ↩︎

To the Moon, translated by Donald Rayfield. ↩︎

Old Ninika, translated by Donald Rayfield. ↩︎

ibid. ↩︎

Morning, translated by Vlad Osso. ↩︎

ibid. ↩︎

[darkknightrisea]

Dark Knight Rises, The (United States/United Kingdom, 2012)

For most superhero franchises, the third movie is a trap. It's there that the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher iteration of Batman started its rapid descent. It's there that the Christopher Reeve Superman saga had the wheels come off. It's there that Sam Raimi lost his way with Spider-Man. The list goes on. Movie #3, at least when it comes to a comic-book inspired series, is often one too many, the result of greed not creative necessity. It's a little different with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, because the second sequel, named The Dark Knight Rises, is also the last chapter. the dark knight rises movie download And not having to plan for a fourth installment affords the filmmaker an extraordinary opportunity: the ability to conclude a superhero saga. That's something we really haven't seen before (although it kind-of, sort-of happened with X-Men). In fact, it's so rare that it could be argued that Nolan has ventured into virgin territory.

Nolan's decision to make The Dark Knight trilogy a self-contained series allows us to consider the previously unthinkable going in: Could Batman die? If there's a given in any superhero movie, it's that the title character will be around at the end credits. No spoilers here - I'm not going to reveal the Caped Crusader's fate - but the potential of his demise will be in many viewers' thoughts before they see the movie. And that's the genius of the way Nolan has sold and constructed his films. Never have the stakes been higher in a product of this genre.

There will probably never be a darker superhero series than what we have seen with Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises; these movies have forever altered the way viewers see superhero stories and the way filmmakers approach them. Before Batman Begins, there was a standard template that most superhero movies followed (some more closely than others). Batman Begins cracked the mold and The Dark Knight smashed it. Those weren't lightweight entertainment for popcorn-munching Saturday matinee viewers. They were deep, rich motion pictures - films that could proudly stand alongside any serious Oscar contender released in November or December (although, inexplicably, The Dark Knight was snubbed in the Best Picture category, with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button getting a nod instead). Now, makers of superhero movies are faced with a choice: either go huge like The Avengers or go serious like The Dark Knight. Nolan has helped render the traditional approach obsolete.

The Dark Knight Rises is the longest, darkest, and most ambitious of the three. In the final assessment, it must be acknowledged that Nolan has perhaps overreached in trying to top The Dark Knight, yet this is by no means a failure. The structure is a little unwieldy, there's too much exposition and too little Batman, and one twist is transparent from the early going. The Dark Knight Rises ultimately justifies its length (in fact, a good argument could be made for a longer cut) and the last 45 minutes is nothing short of spectacular. From the point where the narrative takes a leap of faith, it never lets up.

Fans of the Caped Crusader have a long wait before he makes his appearance and, when he finally arrives, he isn't what he used to be. A commentary on mortality, perhaps? It's not the only philosophizing Nolan does. As was true in the previous installments, he shows an obsession with sociology and the essence of human nature. When faced with the grimmest possible outcome, do people turn rabid? Or, as The Joker learned, is there something more enlightened buried deep within mankind? A lot of what happens during the course of The Dark Knight Rises hearkens back to Batman Begins not only in terms of thematic content but in terms of narrative thrust.

The story opens eight years after the conclusion of The Dark Knight, when Batman rode off into obscurity to allow the image of the disgraced Harvey Dent to remain unsullied. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse, a broken man hidden away in his rooms with only his faithful butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), to tend to his needs. He pines for a lost future with the long-dead love of his life, Rachel. Enter Bane (Tom Hardy), the masked mercenary once ex-communicated from The League of Shadows by Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson, seen only in flashbacks and dreams). He has come to Gotham to wreak havoc, an activity at which he is an expert. Not unexpectedly, this is a cover for his true motives. Only Batman can stop him, but Batman is no more. By the time Bruce pays a visit to Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and see what new gear this Q-like tinkerer has invented, he has acquired two sidekicks. The first is Detective John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a disciple of Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman). The second is a nimble cat burglar named Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). Bane, however, proves to be far more than the aging, injured Batman can overcome and Selina is not as trustworthy as Batman initially believes her to be.

The level of suspension of disbelief for The Dark Knight Rises is high, but not as high as that for The Avengers or The Amazing Spider-Man. Despite its dark tone and sometimes lugubrious approach, this is first and foremost a superhero movie, as is evidenced by some kick-ass action sequences. Most of these are more hardware-oriented than physical in nature, although there are a couple of one-on-one grapples between Batman and Bane, and Catwoman/Selina gets her kicks in on more than one occasion. But the highest octane action comes with vehicles attached: Batcars, Batplanes, and a Batcycle with new and improved handling. Nolan knows how to use this stuff without overdoing it. No fear of CGI overload here and, thankfully, no 3-D! (You can't get it even if you want it, although I'm not sure who would fall into that category. You can get IMAX, though, if you wait long enough for a seat to open up.)

Batman is more heroic, more flawed, and more conflicted than in either of the previous two movies. At times, he makes Hamlet look decisive. In the end, we get the character we yearn for, but a lot has to happen for the movie to get to that point. Jonathan Nolan admits to having been influenced by Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities when writing The Dark Knight Rises, but one line more than any other became the seed that germinated the final story. You don't have to wonder about it; it's referenced explicitly.

Ambiguous endings have become something of a Nolan trademark, and one can interpret The Dark Knight Rises' final few scenes to be more or less optimistic, depending on your personal inclination. This is nowhere near as maddening as the concluding image of Inception, but neither is the resolution as clear-cut as it might initially seem.

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared REVIEW:

  Hello there everybody! My name is JoyofCrimeArt and I do review-y type stuff on rare occasion! I've been a fan of online original content ever since I was a kid, ever since I first got into "Homestar Runner" back in 2010 (before that most of my internet time was spent playing flash games online and listing to Phineas and Ferb songs on Youtube.) Me and my brothers fell in love with Homestar Runner, as well as the various spin-off series that came from Homestar like the "Teen Girl Squad" and the "Strong Bad Emails." While I'm sure there where some web series I had seen before then it was Homestar that was the first big one and ever since I have been enamored with online original content. As time went on I became fans of other online web series, like Death Battle, TOME, RWBY, and many many others. There is something I find just magical about online original content. It's completely unfiltered content. Online you can do or create anything you can imagine, have it run for as long as you want it to (assuming you have the money or dedication to keep producing it) without the threat of it "not meeting the right demo" or "not pulling in high enough ratings." If you can imagine it and have the gumption to put in the hard work you create anything you want to. It like the artist equivalent of the American Dream. You can do anything you want, and be as creative as you want to be! Sorry if that came off as a bit long winded and cheesy but that's how I feel about this exciting new medium. And while there are tonnes of web series I would like to talk about in a review at some point, (and hopefully I will get to some of them in the future) for today I want to talk about a web series that brings whole new meaning to the word "creative," Don't Hug Me I'm Scared.   "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" is a British web series created by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling. Also TomSka was an executive producer for episodes 3-6. Which...actually explains a lot. Basically DHMIS Is a six part miniseries that ran from July 29th, 2011 to June 19th 2016. The series is basically an education series in the style of "Sesame Street" starring three puppets named "Red Guy," Yellow Guy," and "Duck Guy." (And yes those are there official) names as they learn different educational lessons from different "teachers" in each episode. Now if you haven't seen the series yet I highly suggest you check it out before continuing the review because this is the kind of show where the less you know going in the better, plus combined the series is only about a half hour long. However, I feel like I must warn you, this series is not for young children. It is for adults. (Because come on, it something online and it looks wholesome. Of course it's actually fu*ked up.) Don't go into this series unless your in the mood to see some messed up sh*t. So before you advance be aware, SPOILERS!  Anyway, you back? Okay, so for those of you who already know the show or don't care about spoilers, the show is really a dark parody of pre-school televisions that should either be classified in the horror genre, the REALLY dark comedy genre, or BOTH, depending on ones personal point of view. Each episode tends to follow the same basic formula about some teacher showing up and trying to teach our main characters a lesson, but somewhere along the way the message becomes corrupted and usually ends with the puppets being traumatized or killed. Episode Two, for example, is at first about time, but slowly but surly ends up becoming about the impending death or everyone and thing. Episode Three starts talking about love and ends up being about cult indoctrination. It's pretty messed up stuff. But I know what you're thinking, who cares? There are tonnes of stuff that take kiddie things and makes them adult, especially on the internet. What makes DHMIS so special? Personally, I think want makes Don't Hug Me so special is the amount of detail and that was put into it. Even without the shock value the series is still a well made and interesting spectacle to see.  So let's talk about the characters. While this form of simple and short form series doesn't lend itself to any complex characterization the main three puppets still have distinct personalities, even if there not the deepest characters out there. Red Guy is the sarcastic and rational one, and always talks with a deadpan tone to his voice. He is the smartest one of the group and is the fastest to figure out that something wrong is going on. Yellow Guy is naive, childlike, and not very bright. He is the most excepting of all of the puppets. He's my favorite character in the series, because by the end you just feel so bad for him (watch the series if you want to know what I'm talking about, I don't want to spoil to much.) Duck Guy, honestly, is my least favorite of the main three puppets. He seems kinda foppish and a bit more likely to kinda acts as the smart one when Red Guy isn't used for that, but overall I feel he's the weakest of the main three characters and doesn't have as much character development.

(...) (What did you say to me, b!tch?)  And I say character development because, shockingly, all three characters do go through some character development as the series progressive. The characters become more self aware, and eventually start to expect something bad to happen once there weird "teachers" show up, instead of just going with it like they did in the earlier episodes. One of my favorite blink and you miss it style jokes in the series is when Duck Guy freaks out when The Computer mentions being able to tell the time, because he remembers the "lesson" about time he already learned from the clock. It's cool because they are learning form past experiences. Also there's individual arcs for the characters as time goes on like Red Guy learning to be less of a downer and being more creative.  The show starts following a basic formula, with a teacher teaching the puppets a lesson through song, then something messed up happening and the world resets. However what I really admire is that this show plays with that formula, starting with episode four onward. The shows starts to lose it's status quo and, as mentioned above, the characters start to become more self aware. The episodes start having frickin' continuity! For real! It's really unexpected and, in my opinion, was a really good idea. The audience where starting to see the formula, and after the first episode where just waiting for the episodes to become messed up. So they decided to create a story to draw the audience in. If they just keep doing messed up things over and over again the show would become boring but the twist of actually telling a story, couple with the brevity of the story, managed to keep the story interesting the whole way through.  The story is...weird. It's very much up for interpretation and cryptic. Sort of in the "Five Nights at Freddies" kind of way. Hints and Easter eggs are hidden in the various episodes and there are tonnes of theory videos online about what it all "really means." So if that's your kind of thing then you'll love this series. there are so many weird hints and recurring motifs that I haven't seen a single theory that covers everything. The final episode feels like the story is solved but heck if I know what the story even was about. I think the point of DHMIS isn't about actually solving the mystery but rather making up your own conclusion. I don't think there is a one hundred percent "definitive" answer, partially because of the theme of "creativity" that is in the series a lot and partially because Becky Sloan in an interview said in regard to fan theories that "they are all correct." and I love it when creators say that. They leave things up to the audience to decide what to take away form the series, instead of telling them.  Don't Hug Me I'm Scared's attention to detail goes beyond the recurring motifs and Easter eggs though. What I really appreciate about the series is the attention to detail when it comes to the parody aspect of the show. Now this is a subjective thing, but I've always felt that the best parodies are the ones that either respect the thing that they are parodying. If you like the thing that your parodying it will give you a better understanding of it and make it easier to parody, cause you know exactly why the thing works and is good. It is possible to parody something you hate if you really get what your parodying, but it may end up coming off as sounding bitter. (Not always mind you, but sometimes.) It is clear that there was respect and love for educational programming like Sesame Street, and thus the parody ends up working a lot better. The high production value also helps the parody aspect. The puppets in DHMIS look really good! They look like they could be legitimate puppets in a real children's educational television program. This ends up making the twist that it's actually a horror story even better because the audience doesn't know what to expect if there going into the series blind. They might stumble upon the video and think it's a clip from some real British television series. The series wouldn't be able to work the way it does now if the puppets looked creepy from the start, there would be no contrast. To be honest the puppets in this show look less creepy than some real children's educational puppet shows.

(That top pic is from 80's direct to VHS education series "Peppermint Park" by the way, and also sorry if I accidentally gave you any nightmares.)  Speaking of which, the production values of this whole show is frickin' incredible! Admittedly the production values for the first two episodes aren't as good as later episodes, but starting with episode three the series becomes amazing to look at. Every prop is is made of felt or cloth and the world is heavily decorated down to the smallest detail. The show also incorporates a multitude of different art styles throughout the series. Sure it's ninety percent puppetry but they also incorporate stop motion, flash animation, purposely bad CG graphics, and even some live action film making in certain parts. Every episode features a different song, and most are really catchy (Though the series tends to focus less and less on the songs as time goes on in order to focus more on plot, which is kind of a bummer.) The humor won't be for everybody, it's that sort of dry and surreal humor found in say, and old adult swim show. It's not for everyone but I really like it. It would be so easy to just make this show a kid show that ends up becoming disturbing, but this show does offer other positives so you can still enjoy the series after on re-watch.  If I had to pick a favorite episode out of the six I would probably say episode three. I like the song, moral, and environments the most out of any episode and I feel like the comedy in that episode is the best of the whole series. Episode three also acts like a nice breather episode as it's one of the least terrifying one. My least favorite episode would probably be episode five. The song isn't that catchy in my opinion and it keeps getting interrupted by the plot, which isn't bad for the episodes necessarily but it does hurt the song.) Also I honestly can't tell what the message is. Most other episodes have a message, even if it is a dark and twisted one, like how episode four is about the dangers on the internet, how it just wants information from you, and how easy it is to get sucked inside it. But episodes five's moral, I just don't really see it. I still like the episode but I just find it a bit subpar compared to some of the other episodes. And no disrespect to you if you love episode five or hate episode three, it's just my personal opinion.  So yeah, I highly recommend DHMIS. It's bright, it's disturbing, it's funny, it has incredible production value for a Youtube series, it has great songs, it has chicken picnic's and aspic, what more can anybody want! While it's in no way the perfect series it's a really creative show that I think really pushes the envelope of what a Youtube series can be, because honestly that's probably the most impressive thing about Don't Hug Me. It managed to become popular without feeling the need to conform to what everybody else on Youtube was doing. It is something completely unique. While there may be tonnes of online gamers and film reviewers (And I'm not trying to knock those type of Youtuber's as I am a fan of many people that fall into that category) but there is only one online surrealist, horror, dark comedy, musical, puppet show! And that's Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. It's not for everybody, but if your a fan of things like "Too Many Cooks" than you'll love this.  So that's my review of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared (Hopefully it didn't come off as too rambly and fanboy-y). Have you seen the series? If you have, what do you think? Do you have any theories or interpretations on the ending? What's your favorite episode? Tell me in the comments bellow if you'd like to. I'd love to have a civil discussion about it! I'd love to hear what you all have to think, even if you disagree with what I think. Also I'd love to know what you think about my review style, and what I could do to improve upon it in the future. Please fav, follow, and comment and If you liked the review and I will see you all next time! Have a great day! (I do not own any of the images in this review.) .......Okay, I change my mind. This guy is my favorite character.

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Don-t-Hug-Me-I-m-Scared-REVIEW-629975791 DA Link

[mrlnsfrt]

Persistence > Talent

Maybe you don’t feel like you’re talented. Perhaps you feel like everyone else seems to have more talent than you. Maybe that’s why you keep giving up. Things get hard and you quit, you fizzle out, you give up. You figure if only you had more talent you would keep going. Maybe you think that those who succeed do so because they are more talented. Sure, talent plays a role in success, but I would like to suggest that persistence is actually a bigger factor in determining success than just talent, especially when it comes to the spiritual realm.

Mersenne’s Prime

In 1644, a monk named Marin Mersenne gets obsessed for a while with prime numbers.

You remember prime numbers? They're like the atoms of math, indivisible. They cannot be divided by any other number than themselves. So 3 is a prime number. You can only divide it by 3. Versus 4, which you can divide by 2, and you can get 2.

Remember? OK.

So Mersenne had a formula that he thought could predict prime numbers, OK?

Paul Hoffman, who wrote about this in his book The Man Who Loved Only Numbers.

He says that mathematicians had been searching for a formula like this to find prime numbers for nearly 2,000 years at that point.

Euclid, way, way back, 2,300 years ago, had proved that there's an infinite number of prime numbers. But he gave no formula for how to find them. I mean, they're easy at small numbers. We can do the math in our head. 7's prime. Nothing divides into it. 11's prime. If I give you a really big number, now you're going to have to start calculating, OK?

So this monk, Mersenne, came up with a formula. He creates this formula. And he uses it to spit out prime numbers. And one of the prime numbers that he said that he discovered was-- and this is going to sound a little bit technical-- 2 raised to the 67th power-- that is, 2 times 2 times 2 times 2, 67 times-- minus 1. And if that was confusing, all you need to know is this number of Mersenne's, 2 raised to the 67th minus 1, was famous among mathematicians.

That's how his paper ended. He said it was a prime number. This is 1644. So 250 years later, we're into the 20th century. I think it's 1903. And you have this mathematician that shows up at a mathematical conference that takes place here in the United States.

His name is Frank Nelson Cole. And he gave his talk a very unassuming title. He titled his talk "On the Factorization of Large Numbers." And he went to a blackboard. And he wrote, 2 to the 67th minus 1--

He says nothing. He says not a word.

He just walks over to the blackboard and just, writes that. And of course, everybody in the audience knows that that's the famous Mersenne prime. And he writes, equals, and then he writes out a 21-digit number—(2 67 - 1 = 147,573,952,589,676,412,927)

In other words, when you take 2 and then multiply it by 2, 67 times, and then subtract 1, that is this number, 21 digits long. 147,573,952,589,676,412,927. OK.

Then he moved over to a blank piece of blackboard. And he wrote down two numbers. One is a nine-digit number, times a 12-digit number. He writes those two numbers out. 193,707,721 and 761,838,257,287

OK, so that's two numbers that were sitting there on the board, multiplication problem, and?

And then he did the multiplication, just like the way they taught us back in second grade to do it. 7 times 1, he put down the 7. He went through the whole thing, step by step.

Just long multiplication. He says not a word. Everybody sits there silently.

Now, remember, the whole idea of a prime number is you should not be able to take two numbers, and then multiply them together and get a prime number as a result. It's supposed to be indivisible. If you multiplied two numbers together and you got this 21-digit number as a result, then that 21-digit number is not prime. And if Mersenne thought it was prime-- which he did-- his formula supposedly spits out prime numbers, this one of them, then his formula, 250 years old, is just wrong.

So, picture it. There's Frank Nelson Cole at the blackboard, slowly doing long multiplication, these two huge numbers. It takes a while. They're big numbers. It takes minutes, as this room full of mathematicians just watches him, lots of them, I'm sure, scrutinizing him for any math errors. He still has not said a word. And then, he gets to his result.

And indeed, it ends up being that 21-digit number, 147sextillion, 573quintillion, 952quadrilion, 589trillion, 676billion, 412thousand, 927. Now, the whole place erupts into applause. Legend has it, this is the first time at a math conference that people got up and applauded. And he just returns to his seat without a word.

And then later, someone asked him, "How long did it actually take you to figure out that Mersenne was wrong, that indeed this number has two factors?" And he said that he spent three years of Sundays working on this.

Three years of Sundays. Paul says these three years of Sundays were probably spent solving the problem by trying every possible solution-- dividing that huge number, 2 to the 67th power minus 1, by one number and then the next number and then the next. Three years of Sundays is 156 Sundays. For 155 of them, Frank Nelson Cole failed. Until finally, on the 156th Sunday, Frank Nelson Cole found a number that would divide it evenly, which, Paul says, is par for the course.

Notice how we don't talk about the researcher who spent two years trying to find what this gene did and then gave up or spent three years trying to find a planet outside the solar system and gave up, and someone else eventually did. Progress and discovery are often a combination of insight and hard work. We talk about the ones who did not give up, the ones who persevered and persisted.

(Adapted From This American Life: TRANSCRIPT 450: So Crazy It Just Might Work Transcript ORIGINALLY AIRED 11.11.2011)

Joseph in Prison

Genesis 39 ended with Joseph being thrown in prison after being falsely accused of attempted rape. But while Joseph was in prison God blessed him and he became the second in command in the prison (blog post with more details here).

Genesis 40 picks up the story with the addition of two men to the prison.

It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. 4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while. - Genesis 40:1-4 NKJV

I believe it is worthwhile noting that even though Joseph had authority over all the prisoners who were in the prison (Genesis 39:22-23) Joseph did not use his position of authority to take advantage of the prisoners. Joseph did not “lord it over” them, it is almost as if Joseph had studied Matthew 20:25-28 in his small group meeting.

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:25-28 NKJV

As much as I would love to expound on this theology of leadership I will have to leave this for another post, though I briefly address it on this post.

Joseph was in charge of everything at the prison but chooses to serve the prisoners. Joseph uses his position of authority to serve and bless those around him. This relationship opens doors for Joseph to further help those under his authority. If Joseph had focused on how unfair life was and how he had been mistreated and how terrible his personal position was he would have missed an opportunity to witness and bless those around him. Joseph did not waste his time in mourning over the injustice of his accusers, which had deprived him of his liberty, rather he focused on his present and future doing his very best to bless those around him.

5 Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. 6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” - Genesis 40:5-7 NKJV

Joseph has shown that he cares, he has earned the right to enquire about the wellbeing of those under his care and they feel comfortable opening up to him and sharing what is on their heart. Their willingness to open up to Joseph will allow Joseph to further minister to them and their needs according to his abilities.

8 And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” - Genesis 40:8 NKJV

As the prisoners open up to Joseph he is able to witness to them about God, the true God! And those men were willing to open up to Joseph about what was happening in their lives.

9 Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, 10 and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 11 Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” - Genesis 40:9-11 NKJV

The dream was complex and odd. I would not have been able to interpret this dream, but as Joseph had clarified earlier, the interpretations belong to God.

12 And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13 Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. 14 But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. 15 For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.” - Genesis 40:12-15 NKJV

Joseph interprets the dream, and he is so sure of the meaning of the dream that he even added a special request since he was talking to the cupbearer

"The cupbearer was an important official in the Egyptian court. Because of the sensitivity of his position—he personally served wine to the king—his loyalty in what was a perpetually intrigue-ridden household had to be beyond reproach. Ready access to the monarch could make a savvy cupbearer a trusted advisor and place him in a position of great influence. Egyptian documents testify to the wealth and power of such officials."  -- Sarna, N. M. (1989). Genesis (p. 277). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

The chief baker noticed how the cupbearer received good news and was motivated to share his dream with Joseph as well. 16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. 17 In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

18 So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.” - Genesis 40:15-19 NKJV

Sadly the dream of the chief baker did not have a positive meaning. The commentaries I read did not agree regarding the details of the execution of the chief baker since the text is a bit confusing (death by beheading, hanging, impalement or some type of crucifixion) but they agreed that he would die and his body would be exposed to the birds.

"Thinking of his own two dreams, and realizing that God was still with him, Joseph sought to help the two dejected men in their perplexity. This desire to help others later proved to be the key to his own release from prison. Bearing his own unearned misfortunes with cheerful resignation and admirable fortitude, Joseph, by his friendly nature, was led to sympathize with other unfortunates, who lacked the inner strength that buoyed him up. It was not out of curiosity but with an earnest desire to assist those in need that Joseph offered the two men his assistance. At the same time he pointed them to God, his own source of strength and consolation."  -- Nichol, F. D. (Ed.). (1978). The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 442). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Joseph’s interpretation was correct and the dreams had indeed been revelations from God about what would happen in the near future.

20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. - Genesis 40:20-23 NKJV

As Joseph witnessed the fulfillment of the dreams he must have been reminded of the dreams that God had given him. I can imagine Joseph eagerly waiting for his freedom. Joseph had served and helped the butler at the lowest point of his life and surely he would remember Joseph now that he was re-established in a position of power and influence.

"[The cupbearer] had seen the interpretation of the dream exactly fulfilled, yet in his prosperity he forgot Joseph in his affliction and confinement."  -- Spiritual Gifts. (1858). (Vol. 3, p. 148). Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association.

Joseph was completely forgotten. Notice how the biblical text repeats the statement in two different ways highlighting the plenitude of the forgetfulness. It will still be two years before Joseph leaves his current condition.

Joseph was talented, he had the gift to interpret dreams. Joseph had also received dreams from God, though he might have reason to question the origin or veracity of the dreams he had a young man. Joseph had every reason to become bitter, to give up. Joseph could have said

“I tried being good. I tried following God. I was good, I was honest, I was kind, I always did my best. And what do I have to show for it? I betrayed by those closest to me, sold as a slave, I was falsely accused and thrown in prison, I was forgotten by those I helped…”

If Joseph had decided to give up, I would completely understand. I believe I have given up on things for less. But Joseph seemed to understand that it was not enough to be talented. Joseph seemed to understand that persistence was greater than talent. Sure, Joseph was talented, but without persistence, it would not have benefited him much.

In Genesis 37:2 we read that Joseph was 17 when his father made him the coat of many colors. In Genesis 41:46 we read that Joseph was 30 years old when he finally stood before Pharaoh. So even though we don’t have exact dates or references to Joseph’s age at this point we can know that he spent about 13 years of his life as a slave in or in prison. That is a long time to persist and persevere and press on. I wonder if Joseph could tell that during those years God was preparing him to rule one of the mightiest nations of the ancient world. I wonder if Joseph realized that because of his willingness to persevere, because of his persistence, God would use him to save the lives of many. I wonder if Joseph had any idea of how much power and wealth he would one day possess. Right now things were tough. Right now Joseph’s talent was not enough to make a significant difference in his destiny. Right now, all that Joseph had was persistence. He had to continue to trust God, to continue to do his best, to continue to learn and grow and care and bless, trusting that God was in control and that the dream that God had given him would one day come true.

But perhaps in your mind, you are arguing, thinking

“Sure, but that’s Joseph! He’s a Bible character. He is different. God gave him dreams and the ability to interpret dreams. But I am not talented like Joseph. It feels nearly impossible to persist in my situation.”

Well, I have another story for you.

Mary Jones

More than anything in the world, Mary Jones wanted to learn how to read. The main reason was her great desire to be able to read the Bible for herself. Like most people during the late 1700s, and especially in Wales, she only had access to the Bible when the pastor would read it at church once a week during the church service. But she was not satisfied with just a few stories once or twice a week. Mary wanted more, she wanted to read the Bible for herself. But there were no schools nearby to teach her how to read.

Finally, when Mary was about 9 years old a new school was started and it was only one hour away from her house! Mary longed to read the Bible and now it seemed like her dream would finally come true. She would wake up early so she could do all her chores and walk one hour to go to school. Mary was very poor. Her father had died when she was four years old and she was raised by her widowed mother. Her mother would go out and do whatever work she could at the neighboring farms and Mary would go to school.

Mary wanted to learn so much that she quickly rose to the top of her class. However, learning to read was only the first half of Mary’s dream. When Mary learned how to read she found a kind neighbor that allowed her to come over and read their Bible every weekend. Her kind neighbor lived two miles from Mary’s house. Mary would come over every weekend. Mary had heard some of the stories at church, but she found it so much better to be able to read the stories for herself. The Bible came alive to her, and the time would fly by. Soon, weekend visits were not enough. The hours spent at the neighbor’s house only fueled Mary’s desire to have a Bible of her own in the Welsh language.

However, there were very few Welsh Bibles and they were prohibitively expensive. So Mary began to save money and look for ways to earn money. She would do odd jobs, watch children for their parents, mend clothes, sell firewood, she began to raise chickens and sell the eggs. Mary spent six long years working hard and saving every penny she could. But this was not easy, sometimes some of her money had to be used to help feed the family. Many times Mary felt like it would be impossible to ever save enough money for her to have a Bible of her own. But after six long years, she finally had enough money to buy a Bible in the Welsh language.

Now that Mary had finally saved enough money sh had a new challenge to overcome. Welsh Bibles were exceptionally difficult to come across. They were very expensive, and there were very few of them. There were no Bibles that Mary could purchase in her village. However, Mary noticed that her new school teacher had a Bible, she asked him where he got it and he told her of a minister by the name of Thomas Charles who lived in the village of Bala, 25 miles away and had Welsh Bibles for sale.

Try to imagine Mary’s excitement! She had learned how to read, she had spent six years working and saving all that the could and finally had enough money to buy a Welsh Bible and now she knew where she could get one. So Mary began her journey, early in the morning she set off, barefoot, for a 25-mile journey over very rough terrain to the town of Bala. Her epic trip would be immortalized in history. Unknown to her she was also helping fulfill Bible prophecy.

When Mary finally arrived in Bala, it was late evening. Candles were starting to be lit. She knocked on the door of the house of the local minister who took her in for the night. The next morning he took her to see pastor Thomas Charles. Thomas Charles welcomed Mary and listened intently as she shared her story.

“I love the Bible,” Mary explained, “I have loved it my whole life, even from when I was much younger and would listen to the pastor reading from it at church. When I turned 9 they opened a school in my village and I was finally able to learn how to read. Now there is nothing I would love more than to have a Bible of my own so I can read it a much as I want whenever I can.”

Pastor Charles could hardly believe his ears.

“You walked 25 miles barefoot to buy a Bible?” He asked.

“Yes,” she said, “and I have the money right here!”

“How did you manage to get enough money to buy a Bible? I thought you said your father had died when you were young and that he had been a weaver, I don’t think your parents were very rich.”

“I worked very hard, I mended clothes for my neighbors, I raised chickens and sold the eggs, I gathered and sold firewood, I watched children, and cleaned and swept houses and saved every penny. And after six long years of working very hard, I finally have enough!”

The coins jingled softly in the purse she clutched in her hands.

Thomas Charles then turned to the other pastor and said:

“Mr. Edwards, isn’t it said that such a brave girl, such a smart and dedicated girl, such a consistent Christian who worked so hard and traveled so far just to have a Bible and I do not have one for her? I do not have a single Bible to spare and there is no hope of getting one either because the Religious Tract Society has decided to no longer print any more Bibles for Wales.”

“Do you mean to tell me that we do not even have one for this young girl?” the pastor asked.

“The few Bibles I do have were already promised to other people, I do not have any Bibles to sell to Mary, not even one.”

The words fell like heavy hammer blows on Mary’s ears. Her heart sank. She was devastated. She began to weep and then her body began to shake uncontrollably with heavy sobs. She could not stop weeping because of the thought of having to go back home empty-handed after a lifetime of wanting and waiting and studying and working so hard to be able to have and read God’s word. Her tears wet her cheeks and dripped from her chin. Mary could not stop weeping. Thomas Charles was moved deeply moved with compassion from the core of his being as he beheld Mary and pondered the tragedy of her story.

Pastor Charles got up from his chair and placed his hand softly on Mary’s head and said,

“Mary, you will have a Bible, no matter what. One of these bibles was going to a man who can also read English. So I will let him have an English Bible and I will give you the Welsh Bible that was intended for him.”

He went to his bookcase and got a Welsh Bible and gave it to Mary.

That day a very excited 15-year-old walked 25 miles home, hugging her very own Bible.

Pr. Charles was deeply touched by Mary’s story and in the year 1802, he went to a religious tract society meeting and told them what had happened. After he finished he asked the men there to consider starting a new society dedicated to printing and distributing Bibles in the Welsh language. During the discussion, as Thomas Charles made his passionate appeal for bringing Bibles to Wales in the Welsh language a Baptist minister named Joseph Hughes said that “surely a society could be formed for this purpose. But if for Wales, why not for the British Empire, why not for the entire world?”

That December day, the British and Foreign Bible Society was born. The society held its first meeting on March 7, 1804, and 700 Pounds were raised to begin printing and distributing Bibles all around the world. From God’s perspective this was a profound moment, for this was the catalyst for a global spiritual awakening opening the door for millions of people to have access to the Bible in their language. The moment had come for the fulfillment of Daniel 12:4

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” - Daniel 12:4 NKJV (bold mine)

One humble country girl with persistent and unshakeable faith paved the way for the whole world to read and learn about the love of Jesus. Not only that, but she also played a crucial role in the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.

When Mary walked the 25 miles to Bala in the 1800s, the Bible was available in only 67 languages.

By 1900 the Bible had been translated into 524 languages.

There were a total of 428.2 million scriptures being given out by international Bible Societies in 2014, including full Bibles, Testaments, Gospels, and other smaller scripture items. (source)

(I wrote this story by compiling information from several sources including https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbfKGmXkqkk&t=1005s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd5vUs0JDbc&t=1409s, http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/projects/mary_jones_story.pdf, https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/ )

If God used Daniel while he was a slave and while he was in prison. If God used a humble country girl. Imagine what God can do through you if you choose to persist?

God does not need talent, He is the one who gives the talent. What God needs from you is persistence. God needs you to not give up. If you persist, God will do amazing things. He wants to use you to bless others, to bring the good news to those who are living in ignorance. God wants you to be salt and light. We know it is His will. The question is, are you willing to persist long enough to accomplish God’s will in your life?

Sure, maybe you don’t feel like you have the talent you wish you had or that others seem to have. But I am not here to ask you about how talented you are, I am here to ask whether to not you are willing to be persistent.

[dailyaudiobible]

01/21/2020 DAB Transcript

Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalms 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10

Today is the 21st day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it's great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward through the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis we’re following the story of Joseph right now who is the great grandson of Abraham, and who has been sold or trafficked into slavery by his brothers, only to become the second in command of all of Egypt because he interpreted a dream that foretold of a coming famine and that has all come true. So, these very brothers who had sold their own brother into slavery are now before that brother not knowing who he is because…because they need food. But Joseph has accused them of being spies and has kept them under arrest for several days. He has not revealed who he is. He's observing them. He's seeing where their hearts are and that's where we pick up the story. Genesis chapter 42 verse 18 to 43 verse 34 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve been moving along pretty quickly and really tracking the stories of Genesis as well as following in the footsteps of Jesus in the book of Matthew as well as the Psalms and Proverbs. And, so, we've covered a lot of ground in a pretty short amount of time so far this year and we’ve focused on the teachings of Jesus a lot. So, let's just look at what we’re reading in Genesis right now with the story of Joseph because the story systematically shows us all kinds of valid and legitimate reasons to…to fall off the cliff into depression and bitterness and anxiety and then by the time we get to where we are in the story…every…everybody's being exposed here. So, Joseph was this young man and it does appear that in his youth he had some of the arrogance of youth, some of the fearlessness of youth, and the mouth of a young boy in his teens. He had been a favored son. So, he was raised up as a beloved son. So, it's like he has a charmed childhood, but his older brothers are jealous, and we know this from the Scriptures. And, so, we know how the story goes. Joseph has dreams. He shares his dreams. That further causes his brothers to hate him and even causes some problems with his dad. And then Joseph goes to check on his brothers and this is when his brothers decide to go to kill him and just be done with it and, not have to hear this…this kids dreams and his arrogance and all…just all of the favoritism…just all of the stuff they've been enduring, they’re done with it. What happens is that Joseph is thrown into a pit and then subsequently sold into slavery. We like…we…we can gloss over it, right? Because it's a story from the flannel board when we were in Sunday school. And, so, Joseph, being sold into slavery just happens so quick and then the next thing you know he's in Egypt. But this is a boy, a young man in his teens, and from the confession that we heard in today's reading from his brothers, he was terrified. He was begging. Like he was looking at the only people he knew, and they were his blood relatives and they were sending him off. They just sold him for money and now he's bound up on a wagon being hauled away further into the desert toward Egypt and he’s looking back at his brothers, terrified. So, this is a boy who is grown-up, protected and nurtured and his life as he knew it came to a sudden and abrupt, end. Even though he was still alive, like the life that he knew and people that he knew and the surroundings and everything that was normal for him was over. And it's a long journey down to Egypt. And, so, there were weeks for Joseph to contemplate his situation. And he gets to Egypt and he's sold again. If anybody has a right to fall into depression, right, if anybody has a right to cry injustice, if anybody has a right to say they are being oppressed or that their life has become supremely unfair it would be Joseph because it's true. Like he has every right to these things. He’s not just being self-absorbed and selfish and feeling sorry for himself. This stuff is really happening and it's awful. He just…that's the thing that's missing from this story though. That's the weird thing about it. That bitterness and that depression that he has a right to is missing from the story other than his deep longing to get out of the predicament that he's in. He trusts God as he goes to work for Potiphar. He honors God as he runs away from Potiphar's wife. And the Bible says Joseph is a good-looking guy. Like his countenance…like he’s handsome and he's well-built. So, Potiphar’s wife wants a little of that action. And Joseph’s a young man. So, like normally in that kind of a scenario, the young man's like a pretty willing accomplice. Joseph's not. He understands…like he was able with wisdom to look at the whole situation and realize, “she may be a woman and she may be throwing yourself at me a and she may be attractive, but she's not available. I am in command of this house and the only thing off-limits is her.” And, so, he…he…he doesn't betray his master, which throws him into the dungeon falsely accused of a crime that he wouldn't participate in. So, if anybody again has the right to these kinds of deep anguishing feelings, it's Joseph. It’s just missing from the story. And, so, Joseph sets about doing everything that he can in the situation that he's in to do his best and after the same fashion he becomes in charge of the prison. So, Joseph has become a leader everywhere he's been when he has every right to just sit and languish in his depression at the injustice. Like, he could spend his life rightfully crying injustice, but instead he becomes a leader everywhere he goes, because according to the Scriptures he trusted in God. And, so, we know the story leads him out of the dungeon because he interprets a dream for Pharaoh. We know that…I mean in the space of 24 hours it seems that Joseph goes from a desperate person who may be a leader, but he's leader of the dungeon and he is a resident of the dungeon. He goes from that place, kind of in the dark, underground, hidden completely, forgotten, utterly hopeless, he goes from that to being second command in Egypt in like the space of a day. And we can see in Joseph because he was just a young man when all this began, he was in his teens when this began. But we see that over the course of the years of him growing up without…I mean without anyone to guide him that he becomes very observant and very wise. And, so, when his brothers show up, he doesn't take revenge and he doesn't just expose who he is and have a family reunion either. He observes. Because now Joseph has learned about the heart of a person. And, so, before he makes a judgment about his brothers and his family he watches to see where their hearts are. Of course, we’re not done with the story. Joseph is able to see his…his full blood brother Benjamin and we’re seeing that Joseph is have…having a pretty hard time holding it together. Seeing them again is just rocking his world in a lot of ways. And that's where we are in this story. We’re not done with this story. There's much more to the story but that's where we are. And the first part of this story really gives us an opportunity to look at the things that, you know, that that we’re depressed about or the things that we’re in anguish about or that we’re facing anxiety over and then just contrast that with Joseph's story. Not to compare. Like Joseph’s story is a pretty tough story. Not too many people could top a story like that. It’s not a story to make you feel small because you have lesser problems, but they seem to be taking you out. So, just look at Joseph and how strong he is. That’s really not the point. The point is that through it all somehow Joseph navigated without becoming bitter toward God through all of it. And the things that were happening to Joseph are the things that would for sure estrange us from God were they to happen, which is funny because we read the story and God didn't do any of this. And it helps us to look at what we’re blaming God for in our own lives that He had nothing to do with, He's just getting the blame. It also gives us a chance to look at where we've sat down…like what are we wallowing in right now? Where are we wallowing? Because it's fine, we can wallow there as long as we like, but that's all we will ever be doing is wallowing there. Joseph's story would be a completely different story if that were his story if he just…like he made it to the dungeon and he was like, “what the heck? This woman threw herself at me. She's taking off her clothes. I'm trying to get out of there. I have to leave some of my clothes. I didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't be in this dungeon.” He could've wallowed there for the rest of his life. Somehow Joseph was able to have the long view and it would do us some real good inside if we would begin to get the long view. What we are wallowing in right now is temporary. Everything is temporary. Everything is changing. It's a constant. We’re being pulled forward, but we can fight to stay where we are and defend why we’re so depressed and anxious and all of the things that go on. We can fight to protect that, which only reveals to us that our wounds and our hurts, we’re using them to create an identity, one that's gonna keep us from moving forward, one that’s gonna keep us stuck. That's the ingredient that’s missing from this Joseph story and it changes the story dramatically as we’ll see as we continue forward.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another day in Your word and we thank You for all that You are revealing to us through Your word and all of the insight You are giving us into our own souls, into our own lives and the motives and the why’s of how we do what we do. We thank You. And, so, we take heed what the proverb told us today, that the beginning of wisdom is to want it, to get it, to go after it. And whatever we get, we are to get insight. And, so, Holy Spirit we’re not really capable of spotting all the insights along way. All of the wisdom that's flowing throughout the earth, we’re not able in our own strength to be successful. We need Your guidance. And, so, Holy Spirit, well up within us we pray. Come into all of these issues we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected. I

I have mentioned on a number of occasions the Daily Audio Bible Shop. I mention it because there are resources that…that…that really become friends for the journey as we make the journey through the Scriptures in a year. And, so, check that out.

While you're at it, you can visit the Prayer Wall. That is in the Community section.

All these things can be gotten or accessed through the Daily Audio Bible app as well. That is a great place.

You know, one of the things we were just talking about, sliding off into the world of depression and anxiety and injustice and all of this and just kind of contrasting that with Joseph's story. Joseph obviously kept busy at something. He didn't just show up in the dungeon and become the leader. He didn't just show up in Potiphar's house and become the leader. He obviously lived into that, which means that he didn't just sit down and quit and…and…and basically just get swallowed by the darkness. He had to turn his focus outward in order to do this. And one of the ways that we do this, and it's unbelievable in the way that it can help us with what overwhelms us, is to turn our focus away from ourselves and to our brothers and sisters understanding that we are all in this together. We are all going through stuff. We can hide it all we want. I don't understand. I mean like…the whole world is hiding and pretending to be like more perfect than we are. We are all going through all of these things. If we begin to realize we’re not alone and we focus our attention on others, it's profound what that does inside of us. And we’re a community of prayer. And the Prayer Wall is a place to go for that as well as all the calls that come in. If you are low, there's somebody to pray for who is lower and it's remarkable what that does inside of us. So, check that out. The Prayer Wall lives in the Community section or just press the little Drawer icon in the app in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There's a link on the homepage and I thank you profoundly for your partnership.

And if you have a prayer request or comment, you can dial 877-942-4253 or just press the little Hotline button, the little red button at the top of app and you can start…start sharing from there.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is for Harold in St. Louis. Brother, thank you for calling in. I’ve been a member of Daily Audio Bible for about 11 years and I’ve never called in until this moment and it’s because of you. Just hearing your story and hearing how you found Daily Audio Bible. Don’t think its happenstance that you called in and that you’re actually embarking on training for a marathon. This is what this is all about. This is what this whole Christian walk is and walk of believers is taking it step-by-step. And God has His interesting ways of whispering that you’re in the right direction. And brother you are. you’re in the right direction, you’re in flow, you’re in step. So, as you’re training for the marathon, see this whole year of listening to the Daily Audio Bible the same way and just know that already you’ve had an impact on this community, you’ve had an impact on me. You got me to call and share that because it’s important. And, you know, I just want to say congratulations brother and you’ve really found the greatest treasure by finding the DAB. You know, looked up Harold and I know it’s not…I know you spell HAROLD, I’m sure but I almost…it made me think of Hark the Herald and just know that the definition of Harold is a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen. So, know that something great is about to happen for you this year and you’re already a blessing. So, all right marathon Harold. God bless. Bye.

This is Bonnie from Maryland and this call is for Diana Davis. I heard your call on January 14th that there’s nothing more they can do for your cancer and I am so very sorry. I have been praying for you since I heard your story a couple of months ago and I want to pray again now. Dear Father God in heaven I ask that You be with Diana and with Michael and Elijah. I ask that You give them the peace that surpasses all understanding that only You can give. I pray for Diana, that the doctors will be able to keep her comfortable and as pain-free as possible at this time. And I pray for her children, Michael and Elijah. I pray most of all that they would be able to stay together and never be separated. I ask that You give Michael the resources and the wisdom and the strength needed to keep Elijah and take care of him. And that family and friends would come and help them and surround them with love, surround them with emotional support, physical support, financial support. Whatever their needs are, that they would help and guide them. And I pray that they will feel Your love and Your peace and Your presence enveloping them and that they continue to grow in their relationship with You. Just be with them all Lord at this time that is so difficult in Jesus’ precious and holy name we pray. Amen.

Hi, it’s His Welsh girl again, 15th of January. Brian, just thank you so much for your…your commentary today. It was so enlightening, and it helped me to understand the passage in Matthew where Jesus is saying about, He’s not come to bring us peace. And I’ve never really understood it, but you really helped me today. So, thank you. And I wanted to say hello to Harold doing the Chicago marathon training. It just made my heart glad to hear you phoning in. And, yeah, I just want you to know that that difference in your life, you know, that you feel happier and more at peace, that is God’s peace and He wants you and He loves you and I just, yeah, brilliant that you rang in. Diana, I heard your message yesterday and I felt so heartbroken and I’ve been praying that God will give you His peace about Elijah and Michael and reassurance about them, that something miraculous will happen so that you feel reassured that God is so close to you. And I pray for your courage and strength for you to. And I just wanted to say hi to Blind Tony. I just found a poem that I wrote out a few years ago of yours and it starts, “I immerse myself within myself and find myself in you.” It’s just such a great…it’s brilliant. It took me ages to write it out…but I just read it again and it’s brilliant. So, thank you Blind Tony. Okay, lots of love to you all. Bye.

Hi DAB brothers and sisters this is Byron out in Florida. I just want to give a shout out to a couple people I heard on the podcast today. To Harold you called in and had discovered the podcast as an alternative to a couple of other more mainstream items and are training for a marathon and talking about how the Bible is just totally changing you. I think that’s pretty awesome. I’ve been listening to the DAB for, I don’t know, eight or nine years now and your story’s probably one of the coolest that I’ve heard. And, so, keep on with it. Keep letting the Bible speak for itself and you’ll see how it will change you inside out. But I just wanted to welcome you to the community and hope that we get to hear more from you. Right after you called, Janet in SoCal you called and you just __ little things that happened to you in the morning. And I just want to thank you for sharing that. It’s so often in Christian-dom, even in our community where were focused heavily on the struggle and pains of life because life is a struggle and life is painful but that’s not all it is, it’s also fun, it’s also funny. And you quoted a proverb which I always thought was funny about greeting your neighbor with a cheery voice but there’s also another proverb that says laughter does good like a medicine. I just wanted to thank you for filling my prescription today. And love you all. Talk to you later. Bye.

Hello DAB family this is Shante calling from Metro Detroit and I just heard Harold’s call. Harold who is an unbeliever from St. Louis is training for the Chicago marathon. I just wanted to say, Harold thank you so much for listening and thank you so much for calling in. I’m just…I don’t know…I’m just really encouraged by your call and just grateful that you gave the Daily Audio Bible a chance and…and that you’re experiencing the benefits of feeling peace, the peace of God’s word. And, yeah, you know, I listen to a lot of podcast myself and…and yeah, that is definitely one of one of the wonderful qualities of the Daily Audio Bible, it’s just a great way to start your day. And…and also if you stay listening with us, and I pray you will, later on in the year we’ll get to Hebrews and it will talk about running with perseverance the race marked out for you or it’ll say for us. And, so, that’s just a little, you know, runner’s analogy. But, you know, I’m praying that your training goes well for the Chicago marathon. That’s a fantastic goal to have. And, yeah, we’ll be praying for you. So, all right everyone that’s all I have for today. Talk to you all later. Bye-bye.

Hi this is Marsha from Monument Colorado and I’m calling in today for three people that have called in in the last few days with prayer request and comments. The first person is Harold in St. Louis. I just want to say thank you so much for your call today. You have no idea how much your call encouraged me, and no doubt thousands of people that heard your call. So, thank you for calling in and I want to let you know that I am praying for you. I’m praying for your upcoming marathon and just praying for you in general and I’m hoping that you will call back and keep us posted on how the Daily Audio Bible podcast is affecting your life. I’m really anxious to hear. The next person is Kathleen in Mount Zion Illinois. You called in about her daughter who lives in Dubai with brain lesions and how much you want to be with her at this time and I just want you to know that I am praying for that. Yeah. And then the next person is Diana Davis. Diana I’ve been praying for you for a long time. I’ve heard probably most of your calls and I’m continuing to pray for your total healing and that your request that Elijah and Michael will be able to stay together. You have such a beautiful heart as a mother and I just know that the Father’s heart is so tender. He’s heard your prayers and I just want you Diana to be encouraged today and thank you for your call. And then lastly, I just want to say one more time, I’m always saying how thankful I am for the Daily Audio Bible and how much it’s changed…

Hi, DABbers it’s Carla Jean from Las Vegas calling because the last six months has pretty much been hell. I lost my job, I’m homeless, my kids are all kind of freaking out. My oldest daughters not speaking to me or her father since our divorce last January. And my son Noah is in the middle of a mental health crisis and I’m driving to lose it with him. I’m fearful for my own safety because he doesn’t sound very safe. So, I’m asking for prayers for that. My youngest daughter and her husband came to visit us at Christmas, and they stole from us. And I have a 14-year-old who is wonderful. But I’m just…I’m losing my faith guys. How has God not shown up yet? Please pray for me and pray for my kids, especially please pray for Noah, that whatever it is that’s going on he can get the help that he needs or maybe me just being there is going to be a help. I don’t know. I need you guys. Love you.

[libramonthlyhoroscope1]

Biblical meaning of holding a baby in a dream

A look at the biblical meaning of baby dream and what they could mean. We will look at different aspects of baby dreams like giving birth dreams, pregnancy dreams, and multiple babies in dreams.

Many people have baby dreams. Even men have dreams of having or carrying a baby. I know for me personally I have had tons of these dreams. And when I do….I pay attention!

I usually take these dreams in prayer and ask the Lord if He is trying to tell me something about the dream. And today I want to help you have a greater understanding of what your baby dream could mean.

Biblical meaning of holding a baby in a dream

Number 1 – Interpretation Comes From God

I am not here to interpret your dream. My goal is to help you gain clarity to your dream. There is only one who the interpretation belongs too…and that is God!

They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” – Genesis 40:8 ESV

Yes, God uses people at times to bring the interpretation. But it is the Lord is the one who gives the revelation of it’s meaning. And just to clarify our interpretation doesn’t come from the stars, tarot cards, angel numbers, or other occultic practices. As Christians we seek out God and His Word for truth in dream interpretation.

Number 2 – Not All Dreams Come From God

Not every dream you have comes from God. Some dreams are from the soul (desires, emotions, and more), our bodies, and some come from the enemy. We must be wise as we navigate the world of dream interpretation. Ask the Lord for discernment and confirmation if this dream is from Him.

Number 3 – The Bible Is Our First Source of Understanding Symbolism

A quick google search of what the color red means or symbolizes well bring forth a slew of different and sometime random answers. You will see cultural meanings, historical, occultic, psychological, and more. As Christians we should seek out what the Bible says about a specific symbol.

Now, some objects or symbols are not in the Bible. What do we do then? This is when prayer and simple natural deduction is helpful. For example, cars are not in the Bible. But what we do know is that cars are for transportation and to reach a destination. They take you from one place to another place. This could represent a career, your destiny, or ministry.

Another example that connects with babies is a baby strollers. Pretty sure there isn’t a Bible verses on the subject!

But what do we know about strollers? They are meant to transport a baby safely. It gives freedom and ease to the parent/guardian to bring the child with them. Where as carrying a child could become burdensome. Of course this depends on the dream. If the baby is in a stroller and falls out. Well, then it could mean something totally different.

Remember every dream is different and we must always go before God and His Word for understanding.

These three very basic dream interpretation tips are very important.

Baby Dreams: What does the Bible Say

When looking through the Bible we see numerous different types of dreams. None of them involved a baby. But babies are mentioned throughout the Old and New Testament.

And from there we can look at the symbolic meaning they carry.

The Symbolic and Spiritual Meaning of a Baby

I have a collection of Christian Dream Interpretation articles and symbolism can sometimes be tricky. But the spiritual meaning of babies is easier to understand.

And that’s because a lot of what the Bible says, is how we perceive babies in our modern culture.

A baby is a new life that we adore and take care of them. Babies can’t fend on themselves and need us to take care of them. They grow by using feeding and nurturing them.

Here is table to help you look see certain scriptures convey:Baby Symbolic MeaningBible ReferenceA baby can symbolize growth and expansion: New season or projectIsaiah 54A Young or New Christian: A baby can symbolize immaturityEphesians 4:14, Hebrews 5:13, 1 Corinthians 14:20, 1 Peter 2:1-2InnocenceMatthew 21:16, Job 8:9Early Stages – In need of help, guidance, and caringNumbers 11:12, Job 8:9, Exodus 2:6, 1 Peter 2:1-2THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF BABY DREAMS

I thought it would be helpful to break up certain types of baby dreams or what could happen with a baby within a dream. Again these are not meant to be interpretation. You have to look at everything going on in the dream not just the moment with the baby.

Holding A Baby in a Dream

Holding a baby could mean that you are carrying something new or young. This could be a new relationship, job, ministry, project…etc.

[romancatholicreflections]

18th December >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 1:18-24 for 18th December (Tuesday, Third Week of Advent): ‘You must name him Jesus’.

18th December (Tuesday, Third Week of Advent)

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Matthew 1:18-24

How Jesus Christ came to be born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 1:18-25

Jesus was born of Mary, the betrothed of Joseph, a son of David.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

Reflections (6)

(i) 18th December (Tuesday, Third Week of Advent)

When we hear the term ‘annunciation’, we think of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus by the angel Gabriel to Mary, which is to be found in Luke’s gospel. There is another story of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. Once again, an angel of the Lord announces the birth of Jesus, but, in Matthew’s version, the announcement is made to Joseph, not to Mary. Indeed, whereas it is Mary who is prominent in the various stories relating to the birth of Jesus in Luke’s gospel, in Matthew’s gospel, it is Joseph who is the more prominent one in the stories relating to the birth of Jesus. It is just one example of how the particular perspective of each gospel complements and enriches the perspectives of the other gospels. In our gospel reading, the angel announces the birth of Jesus to Joseph after he discovers that Mary is pregnant. Joseph was betrothed to Mary but they hadn’t come to live together as husband and wife. What was Joseph to think? His solution was to divorce her quietly, being sensitive to her situation, while being realistic about what had happened. The annunciation to Joseph was with a view to enlightening him as to what had really happened, ‘she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit’. Joseph was floundering until that moment. He speaks to our own experience as people of faith. We too can flounder when it comes to knowing what the best and decent thing to do is, what the Lord is asking of us. Our initial decision, well intentioned as it may be, is not always the best one. Like Joseph, we sometimes need the Lord’s guidance to take the path which is best for all. We can be sure of receiving it, if we ask for it in prayer.

And/Or

(ii) 18th December

When we hear the term the ‘Annunciation’ we probably think of the story of the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary in the gospel of Luke. This is the scene that has captured the imagination of artists all through the centuries. In Matthew’s gospel, however, there is no annunciation to Mary, but there is an annunciation to Joseph. That is the gospel reading we have just heard. In Luke’s gospel, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, ‘Do not be afraid’. In Matthew, the nameless angel says to Joseph, ‘Do not be afraid’. God was doing something new, something extraordinary, in the life of Mary and of Joseph, indeed, in the life of the human race. The unprecedented nature of what God was doing led to understandable fear and anxiety in the lives of those most directly affected, Mary and Joseph. Both of them needed a word of reassurance, ‘Do not be afraid’ at the beginning of this new phase of what God was doing. In times of transition when disturbing events are occurring around us, we all need to hear those words, ‘Do not be afraid’. They are words which assure us of God’s presence, God-with-us, Emmanuel, at the heart of all that is happening, even at the heart of Calvary.

And/Or

(iii) 18th December

Joseph features very prominently in Matthew’s telling of the story of the birth and childhood of Jesus. In this morning’s gospel reading, Joseph finds himself in a dilemma. Although betrothed to Mary and, therefore, legally husband and wife, they had not yet lived as husband and wife together and, yet, Mary was pregnant with child. This was a less than ideal situation for Joseph and he tried to do the decent thing by intending to divorce Mary quietly and informally. It was only subsequently that it was revealed to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was miraculous, the work of the Holy Spirit. Her child would be legally his but would be God’s child in a unique way. We often find ourselves, like Joseph, in situations that are not ideal. Things turn out in a way that we had not intended and had not wanted. We can be thrown by the unexpected course of events and we wonder what we should be doing. Sometimes what is asked of us is to do the decent thing, the good thing, the generous and noble thing. In doing that much, we open ourselves up to the Lord’s presence and to his life-giving work. In time he can reveal to us the good in the situation that we did not originally see.

And/Or

(iv) 18th December

In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus it is Joseph who features prominently, rather than Mary as is the case in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. In the history of art, Joseph tends to be depicted as an older man. In reality, he must have been a young, vibrant man, not much older than his young betrothed, Mary. He is described in this morning’s gospel reading as a ‘man of honour’. A more literal translation would be a ‘just man’. However, his was a justice that was tempered by mercy. Having discovered that Mary, his legal wife at the time, was pregnant with child before they had come to live together, the justice of the Jewish Law would have permitted Joseph to expose Mary publicly, and the consequences for Mary would have been very serious. Instead, Joseph decided to divorce her informally and quietly. He showed that quality of mercy that would characterize Jesus’ interpretation of the Jewish Law. It was subsequently announced to Joseph, by an angel, that Mary had conceived her child through the Holy Spirit and that she had not been unfaithful to Joseph. In obedience to the word of the angel, Joseph immediately took Mary to his home as his wife. Joseph is someone we can identify with in many ways. We resonate with his struggle to do the right thing, the decent thing, the good thing in the complex circumstances that life often throws up. In this struggle he was clearly open to God’s guidance and that openness ensured that, in the end, he did what God wanted of him. We can all learn from this good and decent man.

And/Or

(v) 18th December

Joseph features very prominently in the story of Jesus’ birth that we find in Matthew’s gospel. Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth places more of a focus on Mary. In this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew, Joseph is portrayed as finding himself in a very confusing and awkward situation. Although betrothed to Mary, they have not yet come to live together as husband and wife, and, yet, he discovers that Mary is with child. He can only conclude that Mary has broken the sixth commandment. In this situation his basic decency shows itself in his desire to divorce her in a way that protected Mary and spared her publicity. In those few verses, Matthew gives us a sense of Joseph as a decent man, a good man who seeks to do the very best in a difficult situation that was not of his making. A messenger from the Lord, that allowed Joseph to understand the real reason for Mary’s pregnancy. She conceived what was in her by the Holy Spirit. Once again, Joseph shows his decency, his fundamental goodness, his deep faith, in going on to do what the angel has instructed him to do, take Mary home as his wife. Reading that gospel story, we sense that Jesus was very fortunate to have such a special man for his father throughout his formative years. Joseph’s deeply rooted faith which shaped his character must have had a hugely formative impact on the child Jesus, enabling him to grow in wisdom and in favour before God and others. Joseph can be an inspiration to us all. He reminds us that we are all called to help the Lord to grow in each other. Our own goodness, decency and faith can be a very significant force for good in the lives of others. As we grow in our own relationship with the Lord, we are helping others to do the same, without us always realizing it.

And/Or

(vi) 18th December

In today’s gospel reading we find Joseph struggling to do the right thing, what he believed God wanted of him. Mary’s unexplained pregnancy left him in a very difficult situation. Presuming that her pregnancy indicated she had been unfaithful to him, Joseph found himself torn between what he understood God’s law required him to do, viz. divorce Mary, and his own affectionate feelings for her. In this confusing situation, the gospel reading tells us that Joseph received guidance from the Lord, - guidance he promptly followed. The complex situation in which Joseph found himself is not unlike the kind of situations in which many of us find ourselves from time to time. In so many of life’s situations the best way forward is not always immediately clear. Like Joseph in the gospel reading, we can find ourselves torn between what our head is telling us and what our heart is saying to us. The gospel reading today invites us to have something of the openness of Joseph to the Lord’s guidance. Joseph received the Lord’s guidance through an angel. The Lord’s guidance will come to us through more ordinary means, such as through those in whom we confide. Their perspective on the situation we are struggling with can often bring a new and a fresh light. We can also experience the Lord’s guidance through prayer. In prayer we allow the Lord to enlighten our minds and hearts so that we can move forward in the light that he provides.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  frmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

18th December >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 1:18-24 for The 18th December:  ‘She has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit’.

18th December

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 1:18-24

How Jesus Christ came to be born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 1:18-25

Jesus was born of Mary, the betrothed of Joseph, a son of David.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,    and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

Reflections (8)

(i) 18th December

On the 8th December, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter called “With a Father’s Heart”, in which he recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion of this Apostolic Letter, Pope Francis proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from 8th December 2020, to 8 December 2021. In his Apostolic Letter, the Pope describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows. He wrote the letter against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, although far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, the Pope says, they resemble Saint Joseph, whom he describes as “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” and, yet, played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.” In today’s gospel reading, Joseph consents to become the father of the child of his betrothed, Mary, a child conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading suggests that, when he first heard the news of Mary’s pregnancy, he decided to divorce her informally. He didn’t understand initially what God was asking of him. When he realized that what he had planned to do was not what God was asking him to do, he submitted completely to God’s will for his life, which was to immediately take Mary home as his wife. Like Joseph, we can all struggle to know and to do what God is asking of us. We can begin to go down a path which is not God’s desire for us, just as Joseph did. However, Joseph shows us that if we keep on seeking after what God is asking of us, God will somehow reveal his will to us. Joseph had to discern over time what God was asking of him, and that can be true of us all. In our efforts to discern God’s will, God’s desire, for our lives, Saint Joseph can be a good companion, someone we can turn to in prayer, for help with our discerning.

And/Or

(ii) 18th December

When we hear the term the ‘Annunciation’ we probably think of the story of the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary in the gospel of Luke. This is the scene that has captured the imagination of artists all through the centuries. In Matthew’s gospel, however, there is no annunciation to Mary, but there is an annunciation to Joseph. That is the gospel reading we have just heard. In Luke’s gospel, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, ‘Do not be afraid’. In Matthew, the nameless angel says to Joseph, ‘Do not be afraid’. God was doing something new, something extraordinary, in the life of Mary and of Joseph, indeed, in the life of the human race. The unprecedented nature of what God was doing led to understandable fear and anxiety in the lives of those most directly affected, Mary and Joseph. Both of them needed a word of reassurance, ‘Do not be afraid’ at the beginning of this new phase of what God was doing. In times of transition when disturbing events are occurring around us, we all need to hear those words, ‘Do not be afraid’. They are words which assure us of God’s presence, God-with-us, Emmanuel, at the heart of all that is happening, even at the heart of Calvary.

 And/Or

(iii) 18th December

Joseph features very prominently in Matthew’s telling of the story of the birth and childhood of Jesus. In this morning’s gospel reading, Joseph finds himself in a dilemma. Although betrothed to Mary and, therefore, legally husband and wife, they had not yet lived as husband and wife together and, yet, Mary was pregnant with child. This was a less than ideal situation for Joseph and he tried to do the decent thing by intending to divorce Mary quietly and informally. It was only subsequently that it was revealed to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was miraculous, the work of the Holy Spirit. Her child would be legally his but would be God’s child in a unique way. We often find ourselves, like Joseph, in situations that are not ideal. Things turn out in a way that we had not intended and had not wanted. We can be thrown by the unexpected course of events and we wonder what we should be doing. Sometimes what is asked of us is to do the decent thing, the good thing, the generous and noble thing. In doing that much, we open ourselves up to the Lord’s presence and to his life-giving work. In time he can reveal to us the good in the situation that we did not originally see.

 And/Or

(iv) 18th December

In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus it is Joseph who features prominently, rather than Mary as is the case in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. In the history of art, Joseph tends to be depicted as an older man. In reality, he must have been a young, vibrant man, not much older than his young betrothed, Mary. He is described in this morning’s gospel reading as a ‘man of honour’. A more literal translation would be a ‘just man’. However, his was a justice that was tempered by mercy. Having discovered that Mary, his legal wife at the time, was pregnant with child before they had come to live together, the justice of the Jewish Law would have permitted Joseph to expose Mary publicly, and the consequences for Mary would have been very serious. Instead, Joseph decided to divorce her informally and quietly. He showed that quality of mercy that would characterize Jesus’ interpretation of the Jewish Law. It was subsequently announced to Joseph, by an angel, that Mary had conceived her child through the Holy Spirit and that she had not been unfaithful to Joseph. In obedience to the word of the angel, Joseph immediately took Mary to his home as his wife. Joseph is someone we can identify with in many ways. We resonate with his struggle to do the right thing, the decent thing, the good thing in the complex circumstances that life often throws up. In this struggle he was clearly open to God’s guidance and that openness ensured that, in the end, he did what God wanted of him. We can all learn from this good and decent man

 And/Or

(v) 18th December

Joseph features very prominently in the story of Jesus’ birth that we find in Matthew’s gospel. Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth places more of a focus on Mary. In this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew, Joseph is portrayed as finding himself in a very confusing and awkward situation. Although betrothed to Mary, they have not yet come to live together as husband and wife, and, yet, he discovers that Mary is with child. He can only conclude that Mary has broken the sixth commandment. In this situation his basic decency shows itself in his desire to divorce her in a way that protected Mary and spared her publicity. In those few verses, Matthew gives us a sense of Joseph as a decent man, a good man who seeks to do the very best in a difficult situation that was not of his making. A messenger from the Lord, that allowed Joseph to understand the real reason for Mary’s pregnancy. She conceived what was in her by the Holy Spirit. Once again, Joseph shows his decency, his fundamental goodness, his deep faith, in going on to do what the angel has instructed him to do, take Mary home as his wife. Reading that gospel story, we sense that Jesus was very fortunate to have such a special man for his father throughout his formative years. Joseph’s deeply rooted faith which shaped his character must have had a hugely formative impact on the child Jesus, enabling him to grow in wisdom and in favour before God and others. Joseph can be an inspiration to us all. He reminds us that we are all called to help the Lord to grow in each other. Our own goodness, decency and faith can be a very significant force for good in the lives of others. As we grow in our own relationship with the Lord, we are helping others to do the same, without us always realizing it.

 And/Or

(vi) 18th December

In today’s gospel reading we find Joseph struggling to do the right thing, what he believed God wanted of him. Mary’s unexplained pregnancy left him in a very difficult situation. Presuming that her pregnancy indicated she had been unfaithful to him, Joseph found himself torn between what he understood God’s law required him to do, viz. divorce Mary, and his own affectionate feelings for her. In this confusing situation, the gospel reading tells us that Joseph received guidance from the Lord, which he promptly followed. The complex situation in which Joseph found himself is not unlike the kind of situations in which many of us find ourselves from time to time. In so many of life’s situations the best way forward is not always immediately clear. Like Joseph in the gospel reading, we can find ourselves torn between what our head is telling us and what our heart is saying to us. The gospel reading today invites us to have something of the openness of Joseph to the Lord’s guidance. Joseph received the Lord’s guidance through an angel. The Lord’s guidance will often come to us through more ordinary means, such as through those in whom we confide. Their perspective on the situation we are struggling with can often bring a new and a fresh light. We can also experience the Lord’s guidance through prayer. In prayer we allow the Lord to enlighten our minds and hearts so that we can move forward in the light that he provides.

 And/Or

(vii) 18th December

As we are only a week away from the feast of Christmas, the gospel readings for this week focus on the events associated with the birth and childhood of Jesus. This morning’s gospel reading is Matthew’s account of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus. In Luke’s gospel, the annunciation of Jesus’ birth is made to Mary; in Matthew’s gospel, it is made to Joseph. Artists have tended to depict Luke’s version of the annunciation to Mary much more often than Matthew’s version of the annunciation to Joseph. In both accounts, the angel announces that Mary is to conceive her child through the Holy Spirit. In both accounts there is a rich description of the unique identity of the child. Matthew’s account of the annunciation highlights two aspects of the identity of Mary’s child. He is to be named Jesus, a name which means in Hebrew ‘the Lord saves’, because he is to save God’s people from their sins. He is also to be named Emmanuel, which is Hebrew means ‘God is with us’. Combining these names indicates that Jesus is the presence of the loving mercy of God. When we look upon this child, we are looking upon God with us, or as Saint Paul says, God for us, working to reconcile us to himself. Jesus was born, lived and died, to reconcile us to God, to lead us back to God. At the last meal Jesus had with his disciples before his death, the last supper, he said, ‘this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’. It is because Jesus is the face of God’s mercy that we celebrate his birth with such gladness and hope. He has shown us that nothing need come between us and the love of God.

 And/Or

(viii) 18th December

When we hear the term ‘annunciation’, we think of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus by the angel Gabriel to Mary, which is to be found in Luke’s gospel. There is another story of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. Once again, an angel of the Lord announces the birth of Jesus, but, in Matthew’s version, the announcement is made to Joseph, not to Mary. Indeed, whereas it is Mary who is prominent in the various stories relating to the birth of Jesus in Luke’s gospel, in Matthew’s gospel, it is Joseph who is the more prominent one in the stories relating to the birth of Jesus. It is just one example of how the particular perspective of each gospel complements and enriches the perspectives of the other gospels. In our gospel reading, the angel announces the birth of Jesus to Joseph after he discovers that Mary is pregnant. Joseph was betrothed to Mary but they hadn’t come to live together as husband and wife. What was Joseph to think? His solution was to divorce her quietly, being sensitive to her situation, while being realistic about what had happened. The annunciation to Joseph was with a view to enlightening him as to what had really happened, ‘she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit’. Joseph was floundering until that moment. He speaks to our own experience as people of faith. We too can flounder when it comes to knowing what the best and decent thing to do is, what the Lord is asking of us. Our initial decision, well intentioned as it may be, is not always the best one. Like Joseph, we sometimes need the Lord’s guidance to take the path which is best for all. We can be sure of receiving it, if we ask for it in prayer.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[gospelmusic]

Sunnypraise Adoga - Spirit of Victory Full Album Download

Sensational gospel singer, Sunnypraise Adoga releases his debut album "Spirit of Victory".

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Recall that earlier in March, as a run-up to the studio album which he was working on, the artiste gave out some songs which are also available on all major music platforms and DSPs.

The songs include:

Ohonyeta

Wonderful Wonder

Everything I Want

Imela (Ainya)

The artiste who is a producer,  released a single in the later quarter of 2019 titled "Lover of My Soul"

"Spirit of Victory" is a debut from Sunnypraise Adoga which promises to be jam-packed with may beautiful tracks.

Listen to the story Sunnypraise Adoga has to share about the album:

"Spirit of Victory" tells a story of the victory and freedom we have in Christ. Christ has won us the victory by His death upon the cross which brought salvation to mankind. Before His death and resurrection, and before His ascension, He promised to send the disciples the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, who would teach them all things. This Holy Spirit came at Pentecost while they were gathered in the upper room. Before the descent of the Holy Ghost, the disciples were afraid, and could not show their faces, but had the doors locked. But the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them gave them unusual boldness, it gave them victory over fear, and they began to do what they could not do before. The Holy Ghost also filled them with unusual power. The benefits of the Holy Spirit of God, cannot be overemphasized. We are in the era of the Spirit, the dispensation where the Spirit of God leads the sons of God. All we could ever achieve can only be by His mighty grace, and the eminent working of His Holy Ghost. Are you down, you need the Holy Ghost, depressed, in bondage, in sin, lack faith, lack wisdom, lack freedom, you can't do without the Holy Spirit. The freedom we enjoy in Christ, is by His Spirit, which gives us the same freedom; for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

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Track One is a reinstatement of faith, one which echoes the praise of God, amidst all circumstances. Such faith, is what moves God. This entails that we worship, and praise Him for whom He is, and not what we stand to gain in so doing.

This transitions into the next track, a song which acknowledges the might of God. "MAJESTY", is a powerful song of praise; of course, God alone sits in the corridors of power, and in the realm of majesty. "Majesty" is also a vehement song of strong faith, one that says, "oh God, I won't let you go, until you manifest yourself", like Jacob held God to ransom yesterday, until he obtained his blessing that changed him and his generations forever. Often, we give up very early before the help we seek arrives.

Track three, "MIGHTY GOD", still praises the majesty of God, who sits upon his throne of majesty up above. It reiterates the unchanging nature of God, for the same power and might He possessed yesterday, is still at work today.

Of course, Christ is our solid rock upon which we stand. Because He is our foundation, we cannot be moved. Ebenezer praises the immovable indefatigable and unchangeable nature and power of God. The same God who was yesterday, He is today, and will forever be. Even demons know this truth, and so tremble at the mention of His name. When he shows, up sicknesses have not alternative, but leave, darkness have no place, but vanish. Such is the glorious power of our God.

EBENEZER unfolds into the story of our identity in Christ, "WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD". Having won us the victory by His blood shed upon the cross, we have this unique identity. The blood of Christ that speaks better things than the blood of Abel is our identity. By the shedding of this blood upon the cross, Christ won us the victory. By the same blood of the lamb, the angels in heaven overcame the dragon and his angels in revelations 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony;...". By blood, the angel of death bypassed the habitations of the Hebrews in Egypt, so is the blood of Christ our unique identity as Christians. The plague cannot come nigh our dwelling all by the shedding of his precious blood, and our identity in Him, hallelujah!

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Track six (6), is a prayer, much more like "THINK ON ME" Lord. Just like the popular song "pass me not oh gentle" saviour, this song is a humble cry and prayer unto God. The inspiration for the song actually came from the scripture. While studying the scripture on a faithful day,  reading through Genesis 40:12, after Joseph interpreted the chief butlers dream, he made this solemn request "Think on me".  We see in the scripture, God telling us to remind Him of His words. This is not because God forgets his promises but, on our parts, do we believe in those things which he has promised? For no word from God will ever fail (Lk 1:37 NIV).  Unlike the chief butler who forgot Joseph (Gen. 40: 23). Christ is faithful, and all who make such requests to God, will surely have their answers. He says: "...him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). The bible further says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32). If the robber who was already sentenced to death could still get his salvation before his death, just because he had the privilege of knowing and beholding the truth in Christ, grasping that truth, he vehemently called upon the Master to remember him in His kingdom. Our merciful saviour forgave him all his attrocities and promised him paradise. How much more if we call upon God from our hearts today. Just call upon the saviour. He is faithful to save!

The love of God for us is an eternal one (Rom 8:35; 38-39). It was this love that made God our Father, gave his only begotten son to die for our redemption (John 3:16). The track, "ETERNAL LOVE", is all about this unending love of God that takes away burdens, and all evil histories written against us, as Christ cleanses and redeems us by His own precious blood.

"THE REASON" is a track which makes advocates in lucid terms our reason for singing, for joy, for jubilation and rejoicing. Even when the world disappoints us, family and friends forsake us, when we can no longer trust anyone as a result of past experiences and disappointments; God is our sure focus. He never fails. Whom else could the reason be, and what else could it possibly be. God is our sure purpose. HE IS THE REASON.

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"OJUM" is an Idoma word, a Nigerian language which means SUFFICIENT FOR ME. The song which is sang in Idoma language, Igbo language and English language, is that of contentment, dedication, focus, faith, and faithfulness. This means that the grace, name, and power of God is sufficient for us at any time. We do not need to search anywhere. GOD IS WITH US, and what we need, HE WILL SURELY SUPPLY.

"Ojum(Sufficient for me) beautifully transitions into this calm and solemn song titled "WONDERFUL WONDER". While pondering one day, I thought about the majesty of God, His wonderfulness, His might and power, how He made all things out of nothing but by His word, and how He alone was never created. Everything was wonderful, and a mystery. Then the inspiration for this track dawned upon me like a gentle breeze, and this solemn piece was brought forth by the wonderful grace and inspiration of His Majesty, the God who sits upon the circles of the earth.

Track 11 is another song in Idoma language, "Ohonyeta" which means deliverer or saviour. It is God that is able to save and deliver His children from all predicaments, circumstances, trials, tribulations, diseases, pandemics, and any trouble whatsoever. 

"EVERYTHING I WANT" is a song of total surrender to God. What else could one possibly be searching for in a confused world full of so many activities and distractions, but to have one's focus on God.

"SEND DOWN YOUR SPIRIT" is a call on God to send down his Holy Ghost. Each day, and every moment that passes by, we need a fresh anointing. This anointing, and rekindling of the fire of the Holy Ghost burning in us, is what makes us powerful Christians. 

"SPIRIT OF VICTORY" is about the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit which gives us victory in all things.

Track 15 is still a call upon the Holy Spirit for His manifestations in our lives as we wait upon his revival.

"IMELA (AINYA) is a Christian makossa praise track that eulogizes the name of God, for His goodness, and for all He has done for us. The song was sung in Idoma, Igbo, and pidgin English.

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Download Sunnypraise Adoga - Spirit of Victory Tracklist

Track 1: Your Name be Praised

Track 2: Majesty

Track 3: Mighty God

Track 4: Ebenezer

Track 5: When I See The Blood

Track 6: Think On Me

Track 7: Eternal Love

Track 8: The Reason

Track 9: Ojum (Sufficient for Me)

Track 10: Wonderful Wonder

Track 11: Ohonyeta

Track 12: Everything I Want

Track 13: Send Down Your Spirit

Track 14: Spirit of Victory

Track 15: Holy Spirit We Wait

Track 16: Imela (Ainya)

[christsbride]

Are There Prophets Today?

Much like Apostles, there is the Office of The Prophet and gifts of prophecy; two separate things.  We know both existed and used in the days of The Bible but did they continue on after all the Apostles of Christ died?  The word itself, prophecy can mean various things.  We need to see the biblical definitions and uses of the word, then analyze the character of its use in scripture, research church history and compare with modern claims. The Office of Prophet We can peice together the bibical definition of the Office of Prophet in the information put forth in Exodus 6:28-7:2, Numbers 12:1-8, and Deuteronomy 18:9-22.  These verses make it clear that The Prophet is one who is chosen by God and speaks forth the message to people which God has revealed to him. Forthtelling and foretelling are two different types of messages.  The later is less frequent.  Forthtelling involved insight into the will of God; it was exhortative, challenging men to obey. On the other hand, foretelling entailed foresight into the plan of God; it was predictive, either encouraging the righteous in view of God’s promises or warning in view of coming judgment.  The divinely chosen person would be charged with God’s message, proclaimed it in oral, visual, or written form to the people on God's behalf.   It was their duty to admonish, reprove, denounce sin, threaten with the terrors of judgment, call to repentance, and bring consolation and pardon (Jonah 3:4).   Predicting the future was never intended merely to satisfy man’s curiosity, but was designed to demonstrate that God knows and controls the future, and to give purposeful revelation. The prediction given by a true prophet would be visibly fulfilled. Old Testament History of Prophets Now considering the historical perspective of this Office, it was rare.   Noah was technically the first Prophet post Adam.  God spoke directly to him and he attempted to relay the warnings of the coming judgement to the people of the world; but of course they didn't listen to him.  Him as prophet was validated by God flood.  Then God spoke directly to Abraham and the was validated by God faithfully proving what he had revealed to Abraham (Genesis 12:2–3).  Next was Jacob, whom God spoke to in visions and later foretold the future that also was faithfully validated (Genesis 49).  Then there was Joseph which God spoke to him through visions of the future and allowed him to interpret dreams (Genesis 37, 40, 41).  Then there is Moses.  No doubt God spoke to him directly and validated him as a Prophet.  God even made his brother, Aaron, a Prophet, and mouth peice of Moses (Exodus 7:1–7).  Moses' sister was also revealed to be a Prophet but nothing is recorded of what she declared besides the fact that eventually, her and Aaron spoke out of their own accord and not of God (Numbers 12).  The office of Prophet was temporarily given to The seventy elders of Israel during Moses' time as well (Numbers 11:25).  Got not only allows people to temporarily fill the office but also allowed for evil men to be Prophets as well.  Balaam was such a prophet (Numbers 22–24) who's sin Jude warns about (Jude 1:11).  After Moses died, Joshua took over and God spoke to him and validated him as well (Joshua 1:1–9).  Then came Deborah, the only recorded female judge of Israel (Judges 4:4).  In Judges 4:6–7, Deborah either passed on God’s message to the military commander Barak or enforced it; in Judges 4:9, she related a prophecy of future events.  Then came Samuel.  Samuel received his first message from God in 1 Samuel 3:4 when he was a small boy. He spent his life as God’s messenger; two of his most significant acts were anointing Saul (1 Samuel 9) and David (1 Samuel 1:13) to be king. Samuel’s words of God’s wisdom to Saul went mostly unheeded, and Samuel even returned from the grave to announce God’s punishment for Saul’s disobedience (1 Samuel 28:15–19). Again, another instance where God called another seventy prophets (1 Samuel 10:10).  Gad was a prophet to received a message from God to give to David (1 Samuel 22:5). Nathan seems to have been David’s primary link to God’s words. In 2 Samuel 7:4–17, Nathan told David that Solomon would build the temple. In 2 Samuel 12:1–15, Nathan rebuked David for committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband.  God spoke to King David revealing details about the coming Messiah (Psalm 8; 22; 110).  The Tabernacle musicians in First Chronicles 25:1–7 who were appointed by King David prophesied through their music.  In 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon in a dream if there was anything Solomon would like from Him. Solomon chose wisdom.   Elijah was probably the most significant prophet who didn’t write his own book. He proclaimed God’s word in the northern kingdom of Israel at the time of the evil King Ahab. It was he who ensured a widow was always supplied with oil and flour (1 Kings 17:8–16), who had a showdown with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:17–40), and who was strengthened by God’s still voice in his fatigue and depression (2 Kings 2:1–11). At the end of his life, a chariot of fire took him to heaven, and his mantle fell to Elisha as his successor (2 Kings 2:1–12).  Ahab had four hundred false prophets who told them God was with them, but Jehoshaphat insisted on a prophet who actually heard from God. Ahab knew of one, but was reluctant to call him, since he never had anything good to say. Micaiah revealed that God had sent a lying spirit to the four hundred prophets in order to lure Ahab to his death. Ahab went to battle anyway and was struck and killed by a random arrow (1 Kings 22:13–28).  Elisha was Elijah’s successor and the second-most important prophet without a book. He spent seven or eight years as Elijah’s apprentice before Elijah was taken to heaven. He then helped wipe out organized Baal worship (2 Kings 10:28), brought a widow’s son back to life (2 Kings 4:18–37), and cured Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5). His power and authority through God was so great that, when a dead man was thrown into Elisha’s grave, the man sprang back to life (2 Kings 13:2–21).   After Judah’s crops were obliterated by a swarm of locusts, Joel compared the devastation to what God would do if the people didn’t return to Him. Joel also predicted the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Joel 2:28; cf. Acts 2:16–21).  Amos was a Judean shepherd who was tasked with prophesying against Israel. His warnings were ignored, and Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria some time later.  God had Hosea marry a prostitute who remained unfaithful after they married. To show how God longed to forgive His people, He told Hosea to take Gomer back. In addition to the message to Israel of God’s faithfulness, Hosea includes a prophecy that Gentiles would one day follow God (Hosea 2:23).  Isaiah holds the record for being the prophet who is most quoted in the New Testament. He was an advisor to King Hezekiah of Judah but also had to walk barefoot and naked for three years as a portent against Egypt and Cush. His book contains prophecies of Jesus and John the Baptist, and Jesus used Isaiah 61:1–2 to begin His ministry in Nazareth. It’s possible that Isaiah was also a priest (Isaiah 6:4).  Micah served as a prophet during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah. His message mixed condemnation of sin with the promise of the coming Messiah. His book contains the only mention of Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth.  Jeremiah was one of the last prophets of the Kingdom of Judah and watched helplessly as it was picked apart by the Babylonians. Known as “the weeping prophet” because of how his words from God affected him, Jeremiah also gave the people a word of hope that they would return from captivity in 70 years. His counsel to submit to God’s judgment was ignored, and he was eventually taken to Egypt with the remnant of the royal family (2 Kings 25:26). Jeremiah also wrote the book of Lamentations, a lament for the fall of Jerusalem.   Habakkuk covered a lot of ground in such a short book. He prophesied Assyria’s fall, the Babylonian exile, and the future victory of the Persians. His prophecies were revealed in the context of a conversation with God, wherein Habakkuk asked God questions, and God responded.  In the visions and angelic encounters of Daniel 7–12, Daniel revealed more about the end times than any other book besides Revelation.  Ezekiel’s book of prophecy appears somewhat psychedelic, with its strange visions. Ezekiel was a priest exiled to Babylon in the second wave of deportations and relayed God’s judgment to the rebellious people. He also made several prophesies about the future, including the coming of Jesus, the New Jerusalem (Ezekiel 48:30–35), and the millennial kingdom (Ezekiel 44). Ezekiel was one of the few prophets who eagerly spread God’s message no matter what the resistance he encountered—although that may have been because God told him if he didn’t prophesy he would be held accountable for the souls of those he didn’t warn (Ezekiel 33).   Malachi was the last prophet to prophecy in Israel until an angel visited Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. As such, Malachi’s message was a call to obedience and a promise of the coming Messiah. Following Malachi’s oracle were 400 years of divine silence.  Not every single person who heard from God is named here but given the population of the world over these thousands of years, a Prophet of God was very rare. [1] In the New Testament, there are only 24 named Prophets of God or gifted with prophesy and 4 named false prophets.  Given the early church history; the 12 Apostles, 70 disciples, 500 eye witnesses of Jesus, and thousands of people who came to faith at Pentecost and thousands more during the ministries of the early church; again, a Prophet of God in the early church was also rare. Now considering the history from Noah, all the way to John, there were only a couple hundred prophets in scripture over the thousands of years.  The Office of The Prophet was every exclusive and rare; even after The Holy Spirit descended upon the church. Did The Office of Prophet Continue? In Ephesians 4:11 Paul notes the designations of Apostles and Prophets.  Some jump to the conclusion that because he notes this after Pentecost that this must mean they continued.  But considering the history and time of his statement, we see that many of the Apostles and Prophets in the NT were still alive; thus the chosen office holders were still alive, still holding the office.  Those positions were still in present tense at the time of his writing. This does not say anyone will be following after them.  Also, The Office of Prophet is not the same as the gift of prophecy. The Gift of Prophecy  Paul then explains how the gift is different from the office.  In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 he addresses the gift.  1 Corinthians 12:3 opens up and states "...no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit."  Does this then make every professing Christian hold the office of Prophet?  No.  He then reveals the 'gift' rather than the office when he states "Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit." in the next verse.  1 Corinthians 12:10 notes the gift of prophecy which is more specific and different than just professing simply Jesus is Lord.  In 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 he elaborates on this gift.  "Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in another language is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation."  He then continues "I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.".  Why is this kind of prophecy greater than speaking and interpreting languages?  He then goes in into 1 Corinthians 12:22-25 "But prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other languages and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. 25 The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”.  The big question here WHAT is being prophesied and what makes it greater than being able to translate and speak other langauges?  We see that The Prophets spoke the word of God to the people.  Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness".  Hebrews 4:12 declares "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.".   And there it is.  The Gift of Prophecy declares The Word of God; and THAT is greater than knowing more than one language.  The Word of God is for believers in that it teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains in righteousness.  The Word of God convicts and judges the hearts of unbelievers and when it penetrates their soul, they fall facedown and worship God!  REMEMBER the time period.  In most cases, during this time, not all the writings of the New Testament have been written.  The Apostles did a lot of traveling and were not always present at the churches.   How then did these early churches hear God's Word?  Through those who were gifted with prophecy in the absence of The Apostles.  Just as in the Old Testament, those who were gifted with prophecy could also be validated by those whom were gifted with miracles and healing; just as the Apostles themselves were validated.  This is why the gift of prophecy existed in the early church, during the time of the Apostles as Paul noted.  The big question is:  Where there gifts of prophecy in the church post-apostolic age?   Again, we must take into consideration the time.  By that time, after John, all the Apostles wrote Holy Scripture.   We can then look at the writings of the generations of the disciples of the Apostles to see if they record a continuance of the gift of prophecy.  Clement of Rome, appointed by Peter and disciple of John wrote pointing to the previous writings as his authority and did not exorcise any gift of prophecy.  Papias of Hierapolis, a disciple of John and friend of Polycarp who was also a disciple of John also did not note any continuance of the gift.  Ignatius of Antioch, appointed by Peter and a disciple of John, who was also friends with Polycarp does not note a continuance of the gift.  Polycarp of Smyrna, a friend of Papias and Ignatius, and disciple of John also does not in any of his writings note a continuance of the gift.  Irenaeus of Lyon, who was a disciple of Polycarp wrote extensively against heresies in his day, always referred back to what had been written by The Apostles and does not note any true continuance of the gift. Irenaeus does however give an account of a Marcus who claims to prophesy.  It is very interesting how this self proclaimed prophet teaches another woman to prophesy, because it sounds very familiar to the efforts of Word of Faith and Charismatic people now.  "It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy... he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive words as these: “I am eager to make thee a partaker of my Charis, since the Father of all doth continually behold thy angel before His face. Now the place of thy angel is among us: it behoves us to become one. Receive first from me and by me [the gift of] Charis. Adorn thyself as a bride who is expecting her bridegroom, that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou art. Establish the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive from me a spouse, and become receptive of him, while thou art received by him. Behold Charis has descended upon thee; open thy mouth and prophesy.” On the woman replying, “I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;” then engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her, “Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy.” She then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Charis. She then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him." (Against Heresies: Book I, Chapter XIII). How does Irenaeus know that this prophet and the gift of prophecy is false?  He is dedicated to the teachings of the Apostles "read with earnest care that Gospel which has been conveyed to us by the apostles, and read with earnest care the prophets, and you will find that the whole conduct, and all the doctrine, and all the sufferings of our Lord, were predicted through them."  (Against Heresies: Book IV, Chapter XXXIV) In 314AD, Miltiades, bishiop of Rome, wrote about the Montanist movement and their inability to validate their claims.  He paraphrases their claims: “For if after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they assert, the women with Montanus received the prophetic gift, let them show who among them received it from Montanus and the women. [they claim] For the apostle thought it necessary that the prophetic gift should continue in all the Church until the final coming. But they cannot show it [in scripture], though this is the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla.”  Only 14 years after one of Montanist's prophetess passes away and they still can not validate their claims.   Eusebius then adds "Miltiades to whom he refers has left other monuments of his own zeal for the Divine Scriptures".  Miltiades is focused on scripture and seeks to only validate claims through divine scripture; of which Montanist's can not.  The early church tests the prophets of Montanus of the mid 2nd centery and expose it.  Eusebius records Apollonius' writings of the 2nd century refuting them.  It is again ironic, how it seems as though he is describing the Word of Faith movement now.  He is quoted "[Montanus] to be making additions to the doctrines or precepts of the Gospel of the New Testament, which it is impossible for one who has chosen to live according to the Gospel, either to increase or to diminish." Already knowing Holy Scripture, Apollonius points out that these new prophets are "making additions" to the gospel.  Something Paul and John both warned about (Galatians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Rev. 22:19).

 "... he [Montanus] became beside himself, and being suddenly in a sort of frenzy and ecstasy, he raved, and began to babble and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the constant custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning... Some of those who heard his spurious utterances at that time were indignant, and they rebuked him as one that was possessed, and that was under the control of a demon, and was led by a deceitful spirit, and was distracting the multitude; and they forbade him to talk, remembering the distinction drawn by the Lord and his warning to guard watchfully against the coming of false prophets. But others imagining themselves possessed of the Holy Spirit and of a prophetic gift, were elated and not a little puffed up; and forgetting the distinction of the Lord, they challenged the mad and insidious and seducing spirit, and were cheated and deceived by him... secretly excited and inflamed their understandings which had already become estranged from the true faith... and filled them with the false spirit, so that they talked wildly and unreasonably and strangely, like the person already mentioned...."

Very interesting how these prophets, who violate what the Apostles taught, act like those who claim to be "slain in the spirit" or how they phrase 'in the spirit' now.  The church even met to consider their claims and actions to determine if they are in fact true or not.  When tested against Holy Scripture, it is easy to determine that they were not, but false prophets.

For the faithful in Asia met often in many places throughout Asia to consider this matter, and examined the novel utterances and pronounced them profane, and rejected the heresy...

Just as Paul encouraged (Acts 17:11) and John required (1 John 4:1).  They remained faithful the Word of God and rightly judged these prophets as heretics.

His [Montanus] actions and his teaching show who this new teacher is. This is he who taught the dissolution of marriage; who made laws for fasting; who named Pepuza and Tymion, small towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wishing to gather people to them from all directions; who appointed collectors of money; who contrived the receiving of gifts under the name of offerings; who provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine, that its teaching might prevail through gluttony... We show that these first prophetesses themselves, as soon as they were filled with the Spirit, abandoned their husbands...Does not all Scripture seem to you to forbid a prophet to receive gifts and money? When therefore I see the prophetess receiving gold and silver and costly garments, how can I avoid reproving her?...For although the Lord said, ‘Provide neither gold, nor silver, neither two coats,’(Matthew 10:9) these men, in complete opposition, transgress in respect to the possession of the forbidden things.  For we will show that those whom they call prophets and martyrs gather their gain not only from rich men, but also from the poor, and orphans, and widows...But if they are confident, let them stand up and discuss these matters, that if convicted they may hereafter cease transgressing. For the fruits of the prophet must be tried; ‘for the tree is known by its fruit.’ (Luke 6:43-45)... Exposing him, through him we expose also the pretense of the prophet [Montanus]. We could show the same thing of many others. But if they are confident, let them endure the test... when Maximilla was pretending to prophesy in Pepuza, resisted her and endeavored to refute the spirit that was working in her; but was prevented by those who agreed with her.” (Book V). 

Is it ironic that the Word of Faith movement and the Prosperity Gospel seem to go hand and hand?  Interestingly here, we see the same thing, only 1,830 years earlier.  What the Word of Faith and prosperity teachers claim now, is nothing new.  They claim to see visions, prophesy, and ask for monetary blessings as they live in mansions, wear expensive clothing, drive luxury cars, and brag about owning private jets and luxury boats.  All the while misquote, twist, and add to Holy Scripture and profit off of doing so. There are two extremely important factors here: (1) None of the disciples of the apostles, and their disciples, note the real continuation of the gift of prophecy, and (2) those who did claim be gifted with prophecy after the apostolic age fail when tested against Holy Scripture.  We CAN come to the conclusion that the gift of prophecy was not existent in the same fashion from the Apostles after they passed.  And that is just a fact of early church History. It is CRITICAL to note what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness."

He also states in Matthew 24:11,24:

"and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.... False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

Even Deuteronomy 13:1-3 makes known that false prophets can give signs and wonders THAT CAN COME TRUE.  That still does not make them a true prophet of God though.  A True prophet is seen in the message.  They make know the Will and Word's of God that will NEVER contradict each other or purposefully lead anyone to idolize anything.  Their message is supremely the Glory of God alone and no other Gospel than the one the Apostles preached. CAN There be a true Prophet or gifted prophet in our time? All the discussion above is about history up to this point.  CAN God gift someone prophecy? OF COURSE! God does as he pleases for his divine will.  Can a missionary go to a far away land where there is no source of scripture and boom, the Holy Spirit grants him the gift of prophecy to deliver to them God's Word?  OF COURSE!   The issue at hand is, are there CURRENT prophets or people who have the gift of prophesy?  Given the scriptural and historical evidences and testing the claims of popular modern teachers who claim it; not so far.  Current Prophets and those who have claimed the gift of prophesy have been nothing more than modern Montanists who either add to God's Word and/or flat out contradict it.  Who knows, there very well may be very humble faithful believers who are gifted with prophesy who are not widely known. Conclusion The Office of Prophet is chosen by God, ordained by God, in direct communication with God, the claims are in harmony with God, and validated by God.  The gift of prophecy was given by The Holy Spirit to those to proclaim God's Word in the absence of the Apostles before the completion of Holy Scripture.  After the passing of all the Apostles, there is no evidence outside of scripture of any Disciple of an Apostle or their disciples, in their own writings, prophesying or stating the continuation of the gift or office.  Any claim or attempted of post-apostolic prophesy has been disproven by the false prophets own contradictory claims or their contradictions of God's Word.  It is a historical and modern fact that the gift or prophesy does not exist the same way it did in the age of Apostles; or at least the known self proclaimed gifted prophets are not the same.  However, God, if he so chooses, could grant anyone at any time the gift.  Proof of the true gift is the prophesies faithfulness to all that God has already declared and consistency within itself.  There may be true gifted prophets out in the world but the ones on TV selling New York Times Best Sellers books are nothing more than modern Montanists for the digital age. 1.  http://ift.tt/2B9TwWc If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

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