#think I may name this one after that one Bible verse

[hurdy-girly]

[adolin]

may i humbly request a director’s commentary for any part of as long as it is day

omg omg very happily!! Writing that fic was a fantastic experience I love chatting about it

as long as it is day (The Locked Tomb, Time Loop, Gideon-centric; Gideon & John; Gideon & Wake; Gideon/Harrow)

Nonagesimus, you owed me so big. You spat on my gift of a perfectly good soul, you trapped me in the back of your head like a bad dream to be forgotten and brought me back to fight disgusting bloody wasps, and then you got me stuck in a nightmare whirl of the worst fucking night of my life. Which, you know. That’s really saying something.

This fic was written for a fic exchange for @augustmourn who had THE most beautiful collection of prompts ever. It was a struggle to pick only one to fill. I landed on the time loop idea and picked the ending of HtN because it's such a WTF moment for Gideon, with everything happening at once, and discovering who John and Wake are to her literally seconds before disaster.

I decided from the start I wanted Gideon to fight Heralds a lot and die a lot. I spent probably days sliding into @nikkicafeina's DMs to figure out the best John & Gideon's dynamic and we landed on John would be absolutely delighted to have a secret daughter!! who's also Harrow's cav!! That man loves finding His People. Meanwhile, Gideon who just watched John do HtN Act 5 would be extremely wary and pissed off at him. She is NOT impressed with her newfound father. Half the John & Gideon scenes in the fic are John going like, "Wait are you MAD at me?" and Gideon who reluctantly goes from "I want nothing to do with you but unfortunately you're literally God and I need your help to find my girlfriend" to, like... remembering that she grew up as a foundling on the Ninth daydreaming of the day somebody would come for her. She never had anybody before (Harrow is complicated) and now John wants to play cards with her while they're stuck in a time loop. Is he a good person? No. Does it matter? No. Nobody ever even pretended to care about her before.

Gideon & Wake was my favourite part to write. It was hard because Wake as a character is so complicated to me — the strength of her convictions but meanwhile she's sleeping with her mortal enemy on the DL! She will do anything to free her people up to and including killing millions! She only ever saw Gideon as a bio weapon but she says "I'm sorry" the first time they meet face to face! Ultimately, the version of Wake that Gideon meets is a revenant who only wants one thing. Gideon, who grew up talking to her mother's bones, has to put an end to Wake's mission because she needs John to help her find Harrow. As I said in the tags: the universe's WORST family reunion. I'm actually pretty proud of how the final Wake & Gideon scene came out because I gave myself feelings.

Random thoughts:

I love naming TLT fics after Bible verses especially when they are sort of ironic. This one is from John 9:4. “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.” <- this means. Gideon baby girl you're not getting ANY sleep

I'm really pretty proud of how the Gideon voice came out ngl

Gideon POV grasp of the Lyctors and their dynamics was a blast to write. She does NOT care about the Lyctors, they could die for all she cares (should die probably) but I think she's in a unique position to understand their fucked up codependency. Nobody else understands what is like to go through immortality other than another immortal. She witnessed Mercy and John and Augustine all trying to kill each other the first time around. But she understands fucked up codependency and why John would never let Wake kill any of HIS Lyctors. They're HIS.

Gideon confronting Wake with the fact that the Ninth House nuns named her after the guy who killed her. I'm always thinking about whatever the fuck must have gone through between Wake and G1deon; I loved writing this line: “There are worse names,” she conceded. “He killed me, but he made it quick. Others wouldn’t have.”

Gideon (a normal person) describing the Heralds (disgusting space wasps) and the Mithraeum (bone palace central). I feel strongly that she'd actually like the Mithraeum! She grew up with Crux telling her "and even after you're dead you'll serve the Ninth as a skeleton". I feel like, to her, the idea of bones being used as decoration in a beautiful place instead of as manual labour is quite soothing.

I'm gonna be honest and admit I only came up with section header names so I could call one "2Emperor 2Murder". I think it captures the spirit of the books.

I had SO much fun with pronouns. Gideon-in-Harrow's body sometimes refers to the body she's inhabiting as Harrow's (I bit your lip) and sometimes it's both of them (I looked at the woman behind those eyes. She looked at us.) <- all of these are intentional and were fun to write.

John is the person who designed the #aesthetic of the Nine Houses. It's very important to me that he has a cool wizard sword of his own and he's absolute shit at using it. He's never had to get his hands dirty at close range before. He made himself cool weapons for cool factor and that's it.

I feel like a hack because SO many people liked the last line and it wasn't even mine.

I thought: Harrow, I’m coming. Which, you know. That’s what she said.

^ credit for this goes to @theriverbeyond who's THE Gideon expert in my life <3

WOW TURNS OUT I HAD A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS FIC. THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME <3333

[fanfic writers director’s cut meme!]

[birdsareblooming]

im so tired of having to defend myself on both sides

like. ok. i'm queer right. bi, demigender, aro, etc. also you know a girl, demi or not. all the time i have to defend myself from american christians who via mistranslations and misinterpretations spread by horrible leaders for generations have been led into a cult-like hierarchy that tells them to hate me when hate for us isn't in their book or supposed to be in their ways.

i'm also "christian". i hesitate to use the full term because of how bad american christianity has gotten. but i believe in the same god nontheless. every day i feel i have to defend myself from queer people as well

like. i so get it. as i have just established american and european christianity has gotten so fucked up and literally off-script that i'm shocked we haven't gotten another 95 thesis and a completely new branch. it's awful horrible and people who believe in such ideas should not be in power. to the point where calling myself a christian feels wrong. at least in america.

i need ya'll to have some nuance.

firstly the understanding that those who hate queer people, non-white people in any form, women, whatever else. isn't even in the text they follow. people have misused it since it was written. preaching just the verse saying wives should care for their husbands and not the one right after saying husbands should love their wives. taking out verses referring to god's "womb." about adam might not even being a man, as in, more likely nonbinary, the verse about david getting an errection when hugging johnathan. changing verses about cleanliness into women and men not wearing the same cloths. changing verses about cultural codes and allowing a world where people have to resort to prositution into verses condemning homosexuality. [X]

like. you know the matrix. was written as a trans metaphor. then a bunch of alpha sigma grindset rich white boys took it and appropriated it, misinterpreted it, used it to boost themselves and hurt women. it's like that. those people don't make the matrix a bad movie, they just don't know it's a trans metaphor. and trans people who enjoy the matrix are like. normal and cool.

as you can see i am passionate about this. i have all this stuff memorized not only to defend my queerness but my christianity as im doing now.

there are queer christians. there are certainly poc christians as right now, south america and south africa have the highest christian populations, to the point where they're sending missionaries to america.

again i'm asking for some nuance. when i see posts basically saying "the christian god is dumb" or "satan was right actually" and blantent misinformation about what the bible says. like those kind of posts hurt my heart. my god made me queer and loves me for it, i believe in a kind god, most good christians do. i feel like other religions don't get this treatment and it's just to spiritually piss off your catholic parents.

speaking of, in doing so you seem to forget about other abrahamic religions.

i once saw a post criticizing something directly from the old testament, out of context of course. saying god was cruel and the belives were flawed and all this due to one verse. people tend to forget, or not know, that the "old testament" is the tenoch. slightly different book order, same writings.

christians, muslims, jewish people, worship the same god. different names for god, some god, same base. if you make jokes about christianty willy-nilly, you're going to accidentally hit someone else. and even if you don't, you may hurt someone still.

it doesn't hurt because i think it's "sacrilegious" or i think you're going to hell. it hurts because my community doesn't care. my community doesn't see the nuance in people and decided a specific religion is the enemy. a specific group of people is the enemy. ive been marked as the enemy

it's casual jokes to you, to me it's making fun of my god

listen, by all means make fun of the assholes. i make fun of them every day. millionaires who use privet jets than preach and love to overlook the many verses condemning the rich and saying rich people don't go to heaven. people saying that as a woman of god you shouldn't enjoy sex. weirdos online and irl that seem to think patorizing random people will get them to church. dumb white people. it's great. fuckn. mormons and jehovah's witness leaders who are straight up running a cult based on a thread of the original intention. and it's funny because they're the assholes.

but don't attack the base religion itself. understand that the religion isn't inherently harmful, certain branches, beliefs, misinterpretations, and leaders certainly are. but please be kind to the people who are normal

before you make a post saying you're gonna. i dont know 'kill the uncaring god' that you're hurting people like me, any abrahamic religion, anyone who believes in a god possibly. also that's basically my parent, it's like you're insulting my awesome mom to my face bc my older sibling sucks. like thats just mean to her for no reason.

i'm just. tired. im stuck in the middle and i hate that i have to make this post because like. this is my home and my people and im tired of seeing this shit from my peers and family. just. have nuance. care about people. don't just say shit about a religion if you don't know its true.

im tired.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 9/18

What am I feeling today?

I will admit I’m still feeling a bit anxious. I have my first pediatric exam today and I haven’t prepared that much. It’s been a minute since I’ve taken an actual exam and I struggle a bit with this area. But I’ve prayed about it and I’m feeling a bit better. I just know I have to study and pray and trust that God will see me through because He has never let me down before!

Bible Plan: Prayers for Contentment

These verses remind us that true contentment does not come from our circumstances or our material possessions, but rather from our relationship with Jesus Christ. No matter what we may be facing in life - whether we have plenty or are in need - we can find true contentment and strength in Christ.

So if you're struggling with feeling content in your current situation, turn to Jesus. Trust in Him and His promise to give you strength and peace, no matter what life throws your way. Lean on Him and find contentment in His love and grace.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come before you today seeking your wisdom and guidance on how to find contentment in my life. I know that I have often struggled with wanting more and feeling discontent with the stage in which my life is at and my relationship status. I can look too far into the future and think things will be better then instead of staying peaceful in the present and knowing everything is playing out the way that it is meant to.

Help me to trust in your provision and to always be grateful for what I have been given.

I pray that, like Paul, I would learn to be content in all circumstances, as stated in Philippians 4:11-13. "For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of eating well or going hungry, of facing either plenty or poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me."

I also pray that you would help me to be content leading a quiet and peaceful life, attending to my own business and work with my hands, as 1 Thessalonians 4:11 advises. Help me to find joy and fulfillment in the simple, everyday tasks that you have called me to do.

Help me to see the eternal purpose and significance of simple day to day tasks.

Lord, I thank you for your grace and provision in my life. I pray that you would continue to teach me how to find contentment in you, rather than in the things of this world.

In your precious name I pray, Amen.

Luke 3:14 NIV

“Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.””

The context of the scripture is John the Baptist talking to the crowds. There were people who wanted to be baptized but John refused to do so because they were struggling with certain things. In this instance he’s talking to soldier and one of the things he states here applies to us during this day and age. He says, be content with your pay! We should not be greedy, the Bible tells us so, instead let us find peace in what we do receive. That is not to say that you can’t pursue a degree or job that would allow you to make more money, instead it’s saying for us to be content in all circumstances of what we make and not to make money an idol, something we seek after more than seeking God and His kingdom.

Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

I already briefly touched on this. But here it’s Paul speaking and he is saying how he has learned to be content in all his circumstances. There are times when he has been in need (think of the time he spent in prison) and times when he has had plenty (think of when he was persecuting) - Paul is saying here that regardless of what his life looks like, he is content through it all and the reason he is able to be content is because of the strength he gets from Jesus!

[alllostinmythoughts]

My Story

How it all started

I was not born in to the religion but i do consider myself a born in. It’s all I’ve known. My mother was baptized when I was five or six and soon after married my step-father. I do not remember any birthdays, Christmas’, or any other holidays before that point in my life.

My step-father was a fourth generation born in and the religion was everything to his family. We were to carry that legacy on in whatever way possible. Whether by volunteering our time in service or our money in helping others in the congregation. We were to make sure we did nothing to “bring reproach on Jehovah’s name”. It was serious business. Our life revolved around the religion. Not only in our spiritual life but our work and personal life.

My mother was no slouch either. She may have “come from the world” but she was a serious and studious student of the bible. She was a good JW wife and mother. Took care of house and home. Served the congregation as best she could despite her ailments. Our house consistently had brothers and sisters in and out for dinners, barbecues and other get togethers.

I became an un-baptized publisher somewhere between 10 and 12. Not because I felt a calling or anything but because I knew it was expected of me and I already went on service every week with my mother so really it didn’t change anything. I just now had to report those hours I preached.

Doubt

I started to doubt as a preteen. Evolution was one sticking point. I had a very science oriented mind as a child, still do. I just didn’t understand how science could say we evolved but Witnesses say we didn’t. I questioned my mother and she tried to explain it to me and then did what every witness parent does. Pointed me to the “creation book” or Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? I read it cover to cover but I still couldn’t shake the idea that hundreds of well educated people came to the conclusion that we came to be through an evolutionary process. But eventually, I knew there was no fighting it, so I just let it go.

Then came doubts about the bible itself. There is so much in the bible that makes me question the organization’s narrative of a loving God verses what God does in the bible. If a person was to do what God did in the bible, I would say that that person was a sociopathic war criminal who should be tried for their crimes against humanity. If you’re someone who believes in the Christian God and believes that the things written in the bible are literal, I’m sorry but this is just my opinion.

Eventually, the expectation of baptism came. At that point, the reasons for me being hesitant wasn’t that I didn’t believe, because I really didn’t know what I believed. I know I wanted to believe, but that was because I knew that if I expressed that anything other than belief, it would alienate me from my family.

Since I wasn’t baptized and underaged, I knew I wouldn’t be kicked out. But it would definitely strain the relationship I had with my mother and sisters. Looking back now, I realized that I would have been in for lecture after lecture from my step-dad. It wouldn’t have been the loving (guilting) approach of trying to bring someone back into the fold I would be reproached for making what he thought was bad and idiotic decision.

I knew there really was only one decision I could make. So, I set the date when there would be an assembly, so I would have to be baptized in front a huge crowd, and I started the questions to be done with two elders. I was baptized in my mid teens.

I look back on that day and I feel numb. I think I felt relief at the time because it was done. The anxiety of knowing that people would constantly be looking at me with the expectation of my baptism would stop. I know now that I didn’t do it for the right reason. I didn’t believe. I just did it, because I knew there was no other choice.

My Step Father

And I continued being miserable. I struggled with my belief and it was not helped by my family life. Like I said, serving Jehovah was supposed to be everything in my family, and that included everything little thing in someones life. How one kept there home, how someone conducted themselves in front of someone else, how someone’s attitude towards work was. And to my step-father there was only one correct way of doing things, and if you didn’t do things that way then as a person, something was wrong with you fundamentally. My father’s way of thinking was based on what the Watchtower taught but to an extreme that I didn’t see in many other family in the organization.

So if the family wasn’t perfect in everything we did, that was not acceptable to my father and we were berated and shamed for it. Sometimes, it felt like nothing my mother did could ever be enough. She strove to keep the house clean to his standards but sometimes she was too tired or there was too much on her plate and he would berate and belittle her. It felt like us kids were never allowed to be kids, we were expected to just get it. You make a mistake once and that was it. Sometimes even a mistake wasn’t allowed. It felt like we were just supposed to know how to do things without explanation.

We would be subject to lectures that would last hours. He would bring up my mothers life before being baptized to shame her. He would imply that she somehow passed on some of her “undesirable” traits on to us kids and that’s why we acted in a way that he didn’t approve of. He would criticize everything little thing we did. Honestly, looking back, some of the things he would criticize us for, was kinda ridiculous. Things that were really not important. In the end, you were left feeling worthless. Trying you’re best would never be enough because if you try your best and you fail, then to him, that means you weren’t trying your best.

Turning Point

After a particular grueling and emotionally exhausting fight, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I went to my mother and told I couldn’t do it anymore. I told her I didn’t believe anymore and that I was agnostic. I told her I would move in with my biological father. Although I was still underaged, I still felt the need to move because I knew the tension would be too much for me. She told me alright but she also reminded me that I wouldn’t be able to talk to my siblings or her anymore. That I wouldn’t be able to see my youngest sister, who was a baby at the time, grow up. That broke my heart, but I said I knew and she said we would talk with everyone later.

That lasted about the day. The reality of my decision caught up to me and I couldn’t take the thought that I could never speak to my family again. Before we could talk to the family I went to her and told her the reason I said all those things was because I couldn't live in a house where in our religion we’re taught one thing but at home we are expected to live an extreme way that one can never attain and that I wanted to stay and I would continue going to meetings.

This reason was partially true. What I was experiencing was what broke the camels back but I was also still questioned my beliefs, I just didn’t want her to know that. And so I started to push everything away, or at least I tried to. They were there, I just ignored them. I overcompensated what I could do to counter the fact that I knew I had doubt and didn’t do more to be involved in the organization. I made sure to keep up to date with everything. I did research for meetings and I probably knew about more events in the bible than my sisters who regularly went out on service and gave bible studies.

Sometimes I look back and wonder if taking everything back and staying was a good idea. I sometimes regret it. I feel I might have saved a lot of heartache.

Leaving

2021. Coming up two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. My sister got married on the 21st of November. On the 28th of November my mother wakes me up. It seems that my parents were waiting for my sister to be married to tell the rest of us, so as not to ruin my sister’s wedding.

I was having one of my bad health days and just couldn’t muster up the energy to get up for meeting. I initially thought she was coming to see if I would be getting up for meeting. She tells me that’s alright, she and daddy just need to tell the family something and after that I can go back to sleep. My hackles immediately rise. Family discussions are usually a toss up on how they can go. I would have never even guess what was about to be discussed.

I walk downstairs with my blanket wrapped around me and sit on the couch. I notice that my mother’s laptop is dialed in to Zoom but not connected to the TV as it usually is, so our family can view the Zoom meeting on a bigger screen. We wait for the everyone to settle in. When everyone is settled my mother moves the laptop to the next room and closes the door because although everybody is usually muted she says she’s any thing can accidentally happen and our conversation could be broadcasted. I get more and more confused by what is happening.

My father and mother look a little nervous. I can’t remember if my mother or father was the one to speak first but they just came out with it immediately. Told us that they would not be going to meetings anymore. I couldn’t believe it. They told us about several things that led them to making that decision.

They told us what they found out about the organization’s hypocrisy with their dealings with the ‘world’. They were a NGO in the UN in the 90’s. If you’re a witness you know that the UN is regarded as the wild beast in Revelation in the bible and that as a witness you are to stay politically neutral and not be a part of any governmental organization. So them being apart of it is kind of a big deal, even if it was only for a decade. They told us of the white-washing of the organizations history. The failed predictions. The double standards expected of different countries.

I remember at one point they turn to my youngest brother and apologize to him and tell him that he was right. You see, a couple of years ago, my brother made it known that he did not believe in the organization and that he was an atheist. That definitely put a strain on the family.

I do not remember who brings it up, but somebody mentions the child sexual abuse in the organization. I have always told myself that that was a line that could not be crossed. That if I found out that the organization was implicit in the cover up of child abuse, that that was it. I could never be in an organization like that.

So that was that. They told us that they wouldn’t stop us from still attending if so desired. They offered to send us all the stuff they found out about if we wanted. They knew that my youngest brother wouldn’t anymore for obvious reasons. My youngest sister was only 8 so, she was just glad to not have to have to wake up early and still for meetings anymore. My oldest youngest brother was past the age that people expected to get baptized, because he always wanted to be 100 percent sure of something before he committed for something and I guess he couldn’t get committed because he wasn’t convinced.

And as for me, I think my mum already had an inkling of where my mind was at, based on previous conversations we have had and provided that time I had told her I couldn’t be a witness anymore. Even if that was years ago. I didn’t give a definitive answer but based on what I said in the conversation, the could infer that I wasn’t going anymore as well.

I let it stew for about two or three days. I guess I just had to let myself come to terms with this big thing that would change everything. I found that I was probably the calmest I had ever been in my entire life. I felt no anxiety. I realized I felt light like a weight had been lifted. I asked mum for all the stuff she found. It didn’t change anything, just gave me concrete proof of what I already suspected.

Aftermath

Unfortunately, we did not leave unscathed. We decided to fade. For those not in the know. Fading is when someone decided not to announce that they will no longer be a Jehovah’s Witness anymore. They will stop going to meetings, without saying anything. This way the elders technically cannot disfellowship (ex-communicate) you. So technically family and friends brave enough can still talk to you without the elders telling them anything.

My parents decided they would tell my sisters, not everything but just that they found stuff out and that they could not in good conscience be apart of the organization. That did not go over well for one of the three sisters and later a second one.

The youngest sister of us four oldest basically told us she had to shun us. She was on my parents insurance and requested to be removed even though she is incredibly sick right now and needs it. She sold the car my parents gave as a wedding present. She only calls to update my mum on her health condition. Because the youngest is not baptized, she still talks to her. She tried to keep in contact with the oldest brother but he would try to ask questions about the organization that’s he could not answer and he got frustrated, so they don’t talk anymore.

The third oldest at first seemed like she wasn’t going to shun us. It seemed just strained at first, which was expected but then she just disappeared. She quit working at my parents business and would not tell my mother where she would be working now. When mum would try and text her, she would only give one word answers and so communication petered out.

The oldest after me still talks to us. She works for my parents and regularly calls my mother. My youngest sister goes over to her apartment almost every Friday. Though the relationship has recently become strained because she is in between my sisters and us. Trying to be neutral but that obviously can’t last forever when my sisters ask her not to talk about them.

Now

Now it’s been 1 year, 4 months, and 14 days since that day. (Yes I did look up exactly how long it’s been.) I have missed two memorials, and have not attended one meeting, assembly, or convention since then. I have gotten therapy. (Shout out to my amazing therapist) Birthdays have been celebrated. We celebrated Christmas last year for the first time. My sister got to dress up for Halloween.

I am trying to move forward. Trying to find myself in the rest of the world. This blog is supposed to be a first step. Hopefully I get there.

[rockshortage]

For val: 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15

5. Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech! Will they give one, and what about?

I think she needs to be more fleshed out before I can name a specific thing, but:

Whoever asked her to give a speech will be regretting it very soon, because there is one topic she is always prepared to ramble on about. It is some sort of insane and passionate opinion she holds about something. Perhaps how it should be illegal to recycle the parts of a defeated battle robot into a new robot, those parts are now tainted with defeat, and they have no right to enter the battlegrounds again because the defeat will rub off on the new robot and make it suck more and she has the detailed tournament history charts to prove it!!

6. Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

She will always listen to what her lil bro Gabriel has to say – although that doesn't necessarily mean she’ll follow the advice.

Definitely not taking any advice from RedEye, she cannot take a single thing that guy says seriously.

8. Do complex puzzles intrigue or frustrate them?

They frustrate her more often than not. The only time she likes figuring things out is when she’s messing with robots, but even then she needs to step away pretty soon after hitting a snag with something. Why won’t this thing just work the way she wants it to? 😠 She has a bunch of unfinished projects because of it.

11. They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?

Maybe she’ll put a little bit to the side for emergencies but most of it will be spent in no time. First, the happy occasion demands a big ol’ party with no expenses spared. Then you need to take care of a bunch of things for yourself and your friends. Maybe some strangers too while you’re at it, fuck it. And while you do that you nourish yourself on expensive foods and drinks you’ve always wanted to try and hey – remember all that work you have to do that you don’t want to do? You can afford to employ an assistant now to do all that crap. Because of this, you will have more time to plan elaborate pranks on Redeye, which may require bribing a person or two (*cough* Gage *cough*).

13. Name one thing their parents taught them.

Maybe this is a bit clichée for a Lone Wanderer but I need to start somewhere ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That bible verse James teaches her early on in life, that was so important to the mother she never got to know, really becomes important to her too. There’s the core message of generosity in there, and it often guided her through her quests in the capital wasteland, even if it was to her detriment sometimes. She’s still generous these days, even as part of a raider gang, but perhaps a little smarter about it. Not as naïve as she used to be.

15. What would they consider a waste of time – other than school or work?

Hmmm, none of the options I came up with really grabbed me, but I think this one is the least boring of the bunch:

That whole courtship song and dance when someone is interested in being in a relationship is needlessly complicated and a drag to Val. What happened to just walking up to a person and asking them straight up if they’re interested? The whole romancing and flirting stuff comes after establishing a first baseline of what each person is looking for. Much easier that way.

[softguarnere]

Like A Girl (Like A Man)

Shifty Powers x OFC

Chapter 9: An Inconvenience

Summary: Then the word reaches them: tonight.

A/N: A stormy day, but tumblr actually let me upload the moodboard, God bless 😌🙏��� I managed to make some progress in my term paper, so here's an update that I've been anticipating for a while. This chapter plus the next two have been giving me brain rot for months, so sharing them has me feeling like I can breathe a sigh of relief 🤭

Warnings: mentions of war and death

Taglist: @liebgotts-lovergirl @mrs-murder-daddy @latibvles @lieutenant-speirs

England, 1944

The verdict is in: those who hadn’t already thought Sobel to be an inept leader lose faith the second that he gets Winters transferred into Battalion Mess. Hopes had started to sway after Luz’s little prank with his Major Horton impression, but the court martial against their favorite officer sends them all over the edge – the kind of edge that they can’t come back from: a mutiny among the NCOs.

A mutiny they get extremely lucky with. Sobel gets shipped off to a jump school, Winters returns, and Lieutenant Meehan of Baker Company gets put in charge of Easy. Most importantly, Zenie doesn’t have to watch any of her friends get taken out back and shot for their bravery and audaciousness. Whatever or Whoever they all believe in must be working overtime.

Lieutenant Meehan is a good leader. Very fair. Shifty tells her that he thinks their company goes back to normal under his leadership. Zenie is inclined to agree.

As normal as they can get, anyway.

The longer they’re in Aldbourne the higher their tensions climb. Like a plane, inching higher, higher, higher into the sky until the green light comes on. Paratroopers drink like it’s the last drop of alcohol they’ll ever taste. Fights break out in the pubs. Girls are picked up. Hearts get broken. It’s all a blur of hurry up and wait while they wonder what’s coming.

The whole of Easy Company seems to breathe a sigh of relief when they get the orders to move out in late May. The night before they leave, a few of them who are quartered in the stable carve their names into its wood as a sort of farewell. After everyone else has fallen asleep, Zenie rolls over in her bunk, flips open her pocket knife, and carves hers up near the roof. Zena B McGlamery. The first time she’s written it in a while. Now no matter what happens to her, someone, one day, might look at this and know that she was here, just like all these men who surround her. She will have left her mark.

Uppottery is a different kind of blur – of orders and plans and preparations and studying. The mood shifts from restless to excited as the realization hits them that it’s finally happening. Luz gets plenty of practice with his Colonel Sink impression as he takes to quoting the man’s, “Three days and three nights of hard fightin’!” the way that people back home quote Bible verses when they have seemingly nothing else to say.

“Don’t seem like a problem,” Shifty says that night at dinner. He seems sincere enough, in that completely and honestly earnest way that he has of expressing himself. He shrugs. “I reckon a man can make it through just about anythin’ as long as it’s only three days.”

Popeye cracks a grin. “As long as we throw everythin’ we got at ‘em, those Krauts ain’t gonna last even one!”

His proclamation earns cheers and laughs of agreement. Somehow, Zenie finds that she laughs the loudest. If she and everybody else had that much gusto, then maybe the Virginian’s estimation will prove to be correct. All they have to do is make it from the plane to the ground, stir up some trouble to take German attention and resources away from the beaches, and stay alive. Simple. It’s the moment that they’ve spent years preparing for.

Then the word reaches them: tonight.

The airfield becomes a flurry of activity. Once again the tension climbs higher, higher, higher, with no sign of release in sight.

All around, men are streaking their faces with paint to darken them so that they won’t reflect in the moonlight. Some are staring watery-eyed at letters that they tuck close to their hearts before pulling their gear on. Prayers can be heard in between the sounds of laughter and barely controlled chaos. Joe Liebgott is giving people mohawks.

“Hey Tommy,” he calls out as she passes. He gestures towards the hair of the man sitting under his scissors. “You want one?”

For the second time since commencing this whole charade, she’s faced with the choice of cutting her hair. Sure, Liebgott has trimmed her hair for her throughout their time in the army, but this is more than a trim. Suddenly she’s a child again, sitting on the back porch watching Granny trim Matthew's hair and telling her, "But never yours, Zenie. That's where you keep your knowledge. That's where you keep your strength." Ironic, how cutting her hair to run away had taken the most strength and courage out of anything she had ever done in her life. But to cut it again?

She watches the paratroopers around her, all securing their equipment and darting around with adrenaline. She’s one of them, until the end. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Liebgott catches the change she flips him with ease as she takes a place in line. "Do your worst."

And she would let him do it, if it weren’t for Shifty nodding to her as he passes by.

She steps out of line and falls into step with him. “Where ya goin’?”

“Gotta sign my life insurance policy. You signed yours yet?” The question is much deeper than the one that he presents. The real one is written in the curious look he gives her: can a person committing fraud commit even more fraud without getting caught?

Zenie waves it off. “Nah. I figure if I die, they won’t be too keen on giving my family any money. Someone’ll probably send ‘em a letter of condemnation instead. If, you know . . .”

Shifty frowns and she immediately feels bad for joking about it. In her defense, she’s already accepted things as they are . . . For the most part, anyway. That little crease appears between Shifty’s eyebrows in a way that tells her that he’s puzzling through this.

“But your family should get the money somehow.”

Making sure Mama gets the money would be nice. But her father would probably get ahold of it somehow. Magician that he is, he would have no trouble making it disappear to God knows where. He would probably blow through it before Mama could even think about getting Zenie some sort of marker up in the Bird Town cemetery by Granny. If she doesn’t hate Zenie for what she’s done, anyway.  

My family doesn’t know I’m in the Army, she had explained to Shifty once in a half-truth. She hadn’t been able to tell him why at the time, but the fib must make sense to him now.

“Zena,” he says her name – her real name – quietly so that no one around them will hear it. Her heart beats so uncontrollably at the sound of it that she’s sure it’ll bring everyone’s attention to them, but no one seems to notice. “If somethin’ happens to you –“

McClung brushes past them, cutting him off. “Hurry up, slow pokes! We’re gonna be late to the feast!”

For this night only, they’re treated like kings. Steaks, potatoes, milk. Even ice cream for dessert! They all make the most of it, vaguely aware that this might be their last meal, although everyone has the decency not to point this out.

Toye snickers as he digs his spoon into his ice cream. “As long as they don’t make us run Currahee after this.”

Running Currahee. Sobel. The spaghetti. It all seems like so long ago. All that time to prepare her for being here, today, for this jump.

There is no running Currahee after their last supper. Instead the tension that’s been steadily building all day deflates like a popped balloon when it’s announced that the jump is cancelled.

Despite the cocktail of excitement, resignation, and adrenaline pumping through her veins, Zenie breathes a sigh of relief as she sheds her gear and heads off to watch a movie with the others. So much for tonight being the night of nights.

She’s just about to step into the tent with the movie screen when someone shouts for her.

“Tommy!” Sergeant Lipton’s light hair weaves through the crowd as he pushes his way toward her. He’s a kind man, and always looks at each in their company with solemn eyes that seem to take in everything. Absolutely inscrutable himself, though. Now that he’s trying to catch up with her, Zenie wishes more than ever that she could figure out what’s going on in his head.

She offers him a salute that he waves off.

Okay, so she’s not in trouble then.

“Been looking everywhere for you.” He brandishes an envelope and holds it out to her. “Got stuck in between some of my mail. And we all need some words of encouragement from home before we go.”

Bobby’s usually neat slant adorns the outside of the envelope in letters that are darker and spaced closer together than usual. The envelope feels thicker than the other ones that he’s sent her in the past. It’s rushed, just restraining itself from frantic, the way that he used to write on his homework in between serving tables at the diner.

She nods her thanks, expecting the end of it.

“Tommy?”

“Yes?”

Lipton eyes the letter in her hand. “You didn’t fill out the life insurance policy.”

There’s no question mark at the end of his words – it’s a statement of fact. How does he know? Then again, how does he know any of the things he always seems to have knowledge of?

“No, Sir.”

“There’s no one back home that you want that money to go to?”

She wants the money to go to her mother. But there’s no way of sending it to her without giving herself away. After all, Tommy Driver’s father’s name appears on every form she’s filled out up until now. Asking a Lily McGlamery to receive money in the event of her death might raise some eyebrows.

“There’s no one that I can send the money to.” Before he can gain the upper hand by asking something she might not be able to answer, she tries to explain it away with a conclusion she’s reached on sleepless nights of waiting. “If I die, it won’t be an inconvenience to anyone. They won’t need money to fill my space.”

A frown tugs at Lipton’s mouth. His eyes dart back to the letter in her hands. “I’m not entirely sure that’s true. I think that someone would miss you.” When she doesn’t respond, he turns to go. “Maybe just reconsider it, Driver. After all, the money doesn’t have to go to a direct family member.”  

He leaves her by herself to consider it. A direct family member. She could leave it to Bobby, maybe. He could make sure that the money goes to her mother.

Quiet – the first quiet that she’s experienced since coming to Uppottery – settles over her little solitude as the movie inside the tent starts up. She stands, alone, outside of it, a slight breeze whipping at her hair as she watches Lipton retreat. Silence has never been her friend. It’s always allowed her too much time to get inside her head. Especially back home, in her room – a reminder of siblings that have gone, family that have passed, and friends that did not exist.

Before it can consume her, she tears open Bobby’s letter. She’s watched everyone else get letters from loved ones. Watched as the men soaked up their words and carried them like a badge that will fortify them through the big jump. Hell, Tab even got sent a gun by the cops in his town as a gift. Part of her, she can admit now, was jealous in knowing that she wouldn’t have that.

Well, now she does. Good old Bobby.

Multiple pages slide out of the envelope. But it doesn’t seem like Bobby has all that much to say. Because the top page is a short note written in his rushed, anxious handwriting:

Dear Tommy, it begins. Please don’t be mad. I swear I didn’t tell anyone.

[timeoverload]

Today was a pretty easy day for me. I had 29 cases but it wasn't as stressful because they weren't moving too fast. Nothing bad happened except I still haven't found that muscle hook. Hopefully it turns up tomorrow. I was happy that I got to eat breakfast and lunch and it wasn't terrible.

I did get very angry with the morning team lead earlier. He started telling me how he feels about trans people and I do not agree with his opinions. I told him I didn't want to have a debate about it but he wouldn't stop so I sort of blew up on him. He was telling me that he thinks trans people are mentally ill and he refuses to treat them with respect because he doesn't believe in that. He's always preaching about God and going to church every Sunday but obviously it hasn't taught him how to be a compassionate person. I remember a verse from the bible that says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." I think he needs to read the book again. I believe if God exists then they created trans people and Jesus loves everyone. They have always existed and it's not a trend. He tried to argue that they are just "seeking attention" but I don't believe that's the case. I think all humans can be attention seeking and that's just the way we are. He needs to stop hating people just because he doesn't understand them. He said that we will have to agree to disagree and I was so mad that I had to leave the room. I also don't think that was an appropriate conversation to be having at work period. I don't want to be forced to be around a transphobic asshole. I barely said a word to him the rest of the day. He says so many horrible things and thinks it's funny. I don't think he realizes how mean he is. He was talking about one of the surgical techs and couldn't remember her name so he referred to her as "the ugly bridge troll". He makes so many disrespectful comments about women. He told me he would leave his fiancée if she didn't shave her legs and I think that's shallow as fuck. He believes a man should make all of the decisions in a relationship and I don't agree with him. He is just so rude and has the biggest ego. He's always pissed about something. I know I have been complaining about him a lot but I am forced to spend hours of my life working with him by myself. I hate coming in to work in the morning now. I think maybe karma is starting to catch up with him because he has been having a lot of bad things happen to him. He has been having a health issue and may need to go on leave. I don't want anything bad to happen to him just because I don't like him but it would be nice to not be around him for a while. He said he is going to come back to work the next day after his procedure because he "lives to work". He's crazy and irresponsible. He also spends at least half of his day talking instead of working anyway. I already know his doctor isn't going to let him do that. He thinks it's fine for him to come in to work anyway and is expecting everyone else to wait on him and bring him stuff to do while he sits. I'm not doing that and that's a bad idea for so many reasons. I really need to stop talking about him but I have been bottling it up and he has been driving me bonkers. I am going to try to stay away from him as much as possible. I'm sorry for going on a rant.

Anyway, there was an add-on at 4:15 and that didn't get done until 4:45. I didn't leave on time because it took me a while to get everything cleaned up but it's ok. I'm so glad I'm home and that it's almost the weekend. I am feeling strange right now. I think I might be getting sick but I can't tell. I have a sore throat but it's not that bad so maybe I will feel better in the morning. I am very tired and achy though. I'm sorry I haven't been on here as much. It's hard to use my phone at work and when I get home I am so sleepy. I am probably going to order a new phone on Friday. I have fallen asleep several times lately with the light on and my keyboard in my lap. I think I need to go eat something really quick and get ready for bed. I need to relax because I have 32 cases tomorrow and it might be a rough day but I hope it isn't. I don't like Thursdays very much but I will try my best to make it a good day.

I hope everyone else has a wonderful day tomorrow!!! Thank you for listening to me vent because that means a lot to me. Talking about stuff usually helps me feel better. I love you all!!! :) 💖💖💖

[addictedtostorytelling]

hi aj! i'm still on that csi rewatch (just venturing into season 7 now... so good) and i was thinking about how csi was different with naming their characters. i.e. sara instead of traditional sarah, nick and warrick having (nick)names that rhyme, super dave and hodges having the same first name, hank the paramedic + hank the dog. do you think this is all on purpose or it's just stuff that happened? i actually like those details because it's stuff we rarely see on tv and we know it happens in real life. thanks 🤍 have a great week!

hi, rewatch anon!

good to hear from you again!

re: your question:

unfortunately, the only bit of trivia i have ever encountered regarding character naming decisions on csi is that anthony zuiker originally intended to call gil grissom "gil sheinbaum," but billy petersen dissuaded him from doing so. zuiker then selected the replacement surname "grissom" as a tribute to real life nasa astronaut gus grissom, one of billy's heroes.

—which is to say i don't know why csi so often breaks the "one-steve limit" rule most other tv shows tend to as a matter of course adhere to.

the sara instead of sarah thing i can understand, as "sara without an h" was at least a somewhat popular spelling variant for american gen x babies born in the 70s and 80s, but having nick and rick, dave and dave, and hank and hank—to say nothing of gilbert and albert, dr. jane gilbert and dr. gilbert grissom and the gilbert institute for the deaf, lou vartann and lou gedda, sam vega and sam braun and sam the dog, and all of the recycled oddly-specific surnames of perps and victims (e.g., the name "kessler" crops up a lot, and not just for people related to lady heather)—is a somewhat more eyebrow-raising choice, i admit.

while of course in real life, one will often find people who share names or whose names happen to rhyme with each other or otherwise sound alike in most sufficiently large groups—case in point: i currently have three students with the same name in one of my classes, and they all choose to sit next to each other every day; two of them even have last names that begin with the same letter—in fiction, that kind of "doubling up" is usually avoided for the sake of clarity (i.e., so both the characters within the universe of the show and the audience outside of it don't have to constantly keep asking, "okay, but which one do you mean—the asshole boyfriend or the dog?").

whether the csi writing staff actively chose to forgo that particular storytelling convention for the sake of veritas or just stumbled into the name reuse thing more accidentally—as, after all, theirs was a "rotating writing room" which saw dozens of scriptwriters come and go over the years, not all of them equally well-versed in the "show bible"—i can't really say, though i somewhat suspect the latter option.

after all, the nick/rick thing would be easy enough not to notice at the time when those characters were first being named. "nicholas" and "warrick" aren't similar to each other either graphically or phonetically, and even "nick" and "warrick" have different syllable counts despite the end-sounds being the same when spoken aloud, so the "nick" and "rick" thing might just have slid by them, particularly before they were at a point when they really knew the characters or had an idea that "rick" might be a nickname warrick would occasionally go by.

hell, "rick" might not have even been a nickname the writers came up with themselves—it very easily could have been an on-set ad-lib (perhaps a paul guilfoyle innovation, as brass is the first character to refer to warrick that way back in s1).

so that one, i can very much see being unintentional—something that just wasn't really on the writers' radars during the character creation phase.

as for the issue of two daves, i do know that shows will sometimes supply minor characters with the same given names as their actors in order to keep things simple on set (particularly when the minor character in question may or may not ever end up becoming a recurring one), which is very much the case with "david phillips" and "david berman."

why the csi writers would take that tack with super dave but then name a second character david/dave later on—particularly when that actor's name is wallace and he goes by "wally"—i can't say for sure, but i have a sneaking suspicion that timing played a role, as three seasons elapse between the introduction of the first character and the introduction of the second (i.e., super dave first appears in episode 01x05 "friends & lovers;" hodges first appears in episode 03x11 “recipe for murder").

especially since super dave does not appear in episode 03x11 "recipe for murder," methinks the episode's writers, ann donahue and anthony zuiker—who is notorious for not knowing a damn thing about his own show—just forgot that super dave phillips was already in existence when they originated david hodges.

the fact that hodges is most usually referred to by his surname may have also contributed to the doubling, as they may not have been thinking about him as "dave" when they first set the concept of him down on paper.

as a side note: i cannot imagine how confusing it must have been on set filming episodes written by david rambo in which david berman playing david phillips appears alongside robert david hall—whom i believe also often goes by "david"—playing albert robbins and then david hodges played by wallace langham is also there. all i can say is it's a good thing hodges seldom makes trips to the morgue.

i'm disposed to believe something similar may have happened in the case of hank peddigrew and hank the dog, though on an even larger scale.

bad boyfriend hank gets written out of the show mid-s3 and is never seen or heard from again.

goodest boy hank doesn't get his official name on the show until episode 08x06 "who & what" when sara is the first character to say it.

between s3 and s8, the vast majority of the csi writing staff had turned over.

that so, i tend to suspect "that one shithead sara used to date all those years ago" wasn't really on anyone's minds when they were deciding what to name her dog—particularly since richard catalani, the writer who penned the episode, hadn't even begun working on the show until s4.

—though, of course, all of the above is just conjecture on my part, which i have no way to actually substantiate, and i could very well be wrong.

as for why no one consulted the show bible regarding this stuff—i mean, maybe they did and just decided the repetitions weren't that big a deal?

however, again, i tend to suppose that most of the time, they just didn't care to.

some writers are more fastidious about maintaining continuity and internal narrative coherence than others are, and, honestly, the csi writing staff (and especially zuiker) were never, even in their heyday, particularly careful in that regard; they typically cared more about case details than character biographies.

in any case, like you say, regardless of why it happened, the fact that there are so many characters on csi who share names does lend it a touch of realism that not all primetime tv dramas have.

fwiw, per the us social security administration, "david" was the second most popular name for american boys of the 60s (when hodges likely was born) and the fourth most popular name for american boys of the 70s (when super dave likely was born), so the statistical likelihood of there being two davids working in the same lab in the early 2000s would have been very high.

anyway, sorry i can't give you a more definitive answer! thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

and enjoy your rewatch!

[clubheavenofhelen]

🕊️ Short introduction

So I've got a feeling that it would be nice having my own space here. For my own thoughts. I'm gonna post here photos taken by myself as well as the ones I've found somewhere on the Internet. Maybe some recommendations like songs I'm listening to a lot at any given moment, books, movies. Anything that's gonna come to my mind.

🕊️ List of topics:

• 100 days of productivity challenge

🕊️ Some facts about me

• My name's Helena.

• I'm Polish.

• I've got 4 siblings. I'm the oldest one (yeah, I think it's a big part of person's identity).

• I speak polish, english, french.

• I'm a proud catholic, so Bible verses may be present, too (been to a catholic school also). Mary Magdalene is my patron saint of confirmation.

• I am studying Romance philology, but I don't see myself working in this field. I don't think I will continue my studies after obtaining my bachelor's degree.

• I'm an artist. I'm so grateful for being blessed with a natural talent for drawing, painting and everything that comes with that. I'm a creative person. I love art of all kinds. I was also learning to play guitar for some time thanks to my love for music. I'm writing (ever since I was a little child, I dreamed of writing my own book).

• I would like to become a graphic designer. I'm currently working on it.

• I'm also working hard on my mindset. Learning to be positive. Good vibes only. Unfortunately, I am very anxious and emotional person, so there's a lot to work on.

• I keep pushing myself to work out regularly.

• I've been listening to a lot of podcasts for some time now. Usually the ones focusing on self-care, motivation and the others girly things, you know. It keeps me going.

• I drink a lot of tea, water, love flowers, pretty pictures, essential oils, Eurovision, decadent poetry, fashion, history, long road trips. Travelling (especially airplanes!!!). Planning my own wedding. I would dream of living in Florence, if it weren't so crowded...

• I am interested in natural medicine.

• Currently learning how to cook and getting rid of my social media addiction.

Fav things:

• Music: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Nessa Barrett, Aurora, Sanah, Palaye Royale, My Chemical Romance

• Books: The Poppy War, The Secret History, A Little Life, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games

• Movies: Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, My Own Private Idaho, Hacksaw Ridge, Call Me by Your Name, Coraline, Mulan, Memoirs of a Geisha

• Series: American Horror Story

• Games: I enjoy playing Anno, Kingdom Come, League of Legends (LUX SUP + TFT top). The Sims is nice too one time a year.

Hope you're all having a good day!

xx

Helena

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Sincere and Honest Faith

As a reader, I have to say that too many “inspired” books strike me as less along the lines of the spirit moving through a character,

and more along the lines of the technical meaning of inspire - heavy breathing. As in loud declarations of Bible verses, ecstatic or despairing prayer, and so many sweeping swells of It Was Meant To Be that you could capsize an aircraft carrier.

I suspect this tendency comes from writers putting in how they think faith should work than how it actually works in their life, or the lives of those they know. And I think it does a great disservice to readers, and to faith. Any faith. All faiths.

If you’re trying to portray a character who truly believes in their faith, instead of the fanatical True Believer cardboard cutout, the “light in the eyes shines through the hole in the back of the head”, then you need to research what people actually believe. Crack open a Bible; also, make sure you know which Bible. (There have been different translations at different times, and the King James Version has small but important differences from the one currently used by the Catholic Church today.) Read the Tanakh, Confucius’ Analects, the Koran. Find out what church and temple doctrine says, what it doesn’t say, and what various factions of the same or related faiths start punching each other over.

(The history of Buddhist monasteries making war on each other and on secular governments in Japan is long and bloody, to name just one example. There are many, many others.)

Above all try to wrap your mind around what a realistic, sincere believer will do - and won’t do. Like praying out loud. Many sincere Christians may never pray out loud; and doubly never in public. After all, one of the points made in the New Testament is that you are not supposed to make a show of piety. Pray, fast, deny yourself that which may lead you to sin - then go and wash your face and live your normal life. You follow your faith for your soul’s sake. To make a show of it makes it all about you, not about faith.

Too many of these “inspired” books can’t seem to imagine readers appreciate subtlety. Or actions speaking louder than words. But they do. They always do.

If you want to write a sincere believer, don’t shove your character’s faith in your readers’ faces. Be subtle. Be gracious. Instead, show how your character lives their beliefs. What they do, because it is right. What they refuse to do, because it is wrong. What they wrestle with and are tormented by; because it’s human nature to want things you maybe shouldn’t have, ever, and to want horrible, bloody revenge on anyone who threatens what you love.

Don’t preach faith. Show it. We need all of it we can get.

[dailyaudiobible]

1/30/2023 DAB Transcript

Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11

Today is the 30th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to gather together around the Global Campfire and just enter this place of peace and serenity and allow the Scriptures to wash over us and into us. I am so grateful for this community and this place that we create each and every day. So, let's do what we do every day, which is to take the next step forward together. We are pretty well enmeshed in the book of Exodus at this point, a showdown is happening. God is desiring to set His people free, people that began with Abraham, Isaac then Jacob, who was Israel and then Israel had children, the children of Israel. Joseph was one of those children who is taken into slavery in Egypt but as things turned around, Joseph became second in command of all of Egypt, which brought the household to Egypt 70 people, but now 400 years have passed and those 70 people have turned into a multitude, a great and mighty people that have made the Egyptians nervous, so they have enslaved the Israelites. And then we met Moses and God calls Moses to go back to the land that he came from, the land of Egypt, and set his people free. And there's lots of twists and turns along the way. We've gone through them all. That's where we are. Now, Moses and Aaron are confronting Pharaoh regularly and plagues are descending upon the land and things have gotten beyond what the magicians of Egypt can replicate. And so, now, people are taking notice, like this is the finger of the Almighty God. This isn’t a trick. But Pharaoh's not convinced and that's where we pick up the story, Exodus 10 verse 1 through 12 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Okay so, we have navigated our way in the book of Exodus, all the way to the precipice of a freedom for this enslaved Israelite population. Egypt has been destroyed by plague after plague after plague, each increasing in intensity, each very, very clearly showing the hand of God and the distinction that He is making between the Israelite’s, His people and the people of Egypt, not because he hates the people of Egypt but because their faith is in what is false and you can bet they are crying out to their gods to take these plagues away and it's not happening and people are respecting Moses, but their respecting God. God's name is being elevated among the Egyptian population. The fear of the Lord is descending over the population. But Pharaoh, believing that he has supernatural powers and is descended from deity himself, cannot submit himself to a God that's invading his land. And so, we hear that God is hardening Pharaoh's heart. And we read that like Pharaoh doesn't have a choice in the matter; this is his destiny. But when we think of hardening hearts, we need to think about how our hearts get hardened and if somebody just shows up and starts telling us what to do and how we should do everything and how we must submit and how we must obey, we will probably resist against that, and we may even dig in our heels and say I will not do that. And our heart has become hardened to the situation. We will not move in that direction. At any point, this whole thing could have been called off. In fact, it didn't have to happen. The people could've just been set free to begin with. But that would radically have changed Egypt and its economy and there are all kinds of implications to letting a whole slave population go free. And the increasing intensity of the plagues have made it clear that, there isn't a choice in the matter, one way or the other God is leading His people out of slavery in Egypt. And so, we see the institution of well, the instructions for Passover, to gather together and have this meal and so, they are painting the blood of the animals over the door posts of their homes, marking themselves as God's people, under a covenant, protected by God for God's purposes, which are to reveal God to all the nations of the world. Protected by God and prepared to walk into their freedom. Ironically, it's Passover, when we come into the Jesus story and we’re not that far actually from experiencing this for the first time in the gospel of Matthew. And it's Passover time. And through the death of Jesus, all are led into freedom.

And then we turn over into the book of Matthew and it was a couple of days ago where a question was posed to Jesus about who is the greatest in the kingdom. The GOAT; who’s the GOAT in the kingdom of God. And then, Jesus uses a series of teachings and examples that lead us all the way today, to where He explicitly answers the question, but He uses children as the example, the innocence, the humility, the wonder of a child. And He warns very gravely against anyone who would steal that innocence away, not only from a child, we would all agree that stealing the innocence from a child is a horrible thing, a horribly abusive thing to do. But what, by way of expanding that Jesus expands it to those who believe in Him. Anyone who steals the innocence and wonder and awe away from a believer, woe to that person. But in today's reading the issue kinda comes up again, like who is aware in the hierarchy of authority and closeness to God. Jesus takes His disciples societies on his way to Jerusalem. And He lets them know what can be expected to happen in Jerusalem and what can ultimately be expected is that Jesus will be killed, but He is promising to rise again. So, that is a weighty conversation to have, whether your Jesus and you have to go through death by being brutally executed or whether you're one of the disciples who has left everything to follow Jesus. That's a weighty conversation for your rabbi to say we’re…we’re on our way to Jerusalem, and when we get there, I will be taken from you and killed. It seems like that would be a somber kind of thing that would leave everybody sort of walk…at some point walking in silence, really, contemplating what's gonna happen. But as the story reads, Jesus gets done saying this is gonna happen and then the mother of the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down and asked Jesus to make her two sons in the hierarchy of things to be seated one on his left and one on his right when he enters this kingdom. And the funny thing is, He's been teaching about the kingdom, He’s been telling parables about the kingdom, He’s been describing the kingdom and they’re still expecting a different kind of kingdom. They have this inherent understanding of what the Messiah is gonna look like and Jesus looks like that person, except for, except for the uprising part. Like, go get your knives and daggers and hatchets and plows and let's go to war part. Jesus is describing a kingdom that doesn't do that. But they still expect the Messiah to rise up and defeat their enemies, which in this case is the Roman empire. So, if Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for a showdown, then this is about happen and everybody better jockey for position because once He gets going, it's not going to stop. So, when the other disciples come to the understanding about what's happened with the sons of Zebedee and their mom, they get angry about it. And then Jesus simply lays out who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, as He responds to this tiff that's going on, this jockeying for position and the anger among the disciples. And Jesus says and so, certainly we need to take it to heart because Jesus is saying it, but Jesus is saying it to explain the hierarchy of God's kingdom and we…we don't live into this. Like, for some reason we still think the opposite is true. But let's look at what Jesus says, I quote, “you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you, must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you, must be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Our cultures do not operate this way. Most of us live in cultures were trying to make distinctions about how we are superior, in some sort of way, a master at something in some sort of way. In order to climb up ladders and gain notoriety and increase wealth and increase influence, are like Paramount, like this is even dominant in church culture. Like the goal is to be a celebrity pastor or the goal is to attend the biggest church in town. And I’m not saying you're in any of that is wrong. I'm saying that's not the characteristics for greatness in God's kingdom, according to the King of the kingdom. The criteria for greatness in God's kingdom is available to anyone. It doesn't require a person with money or a person with power, or a person with influence or connections or whatever. It requires understanding that how we take care of each other is what matters in God's kingdom. Anybody can participate in that. When we’re flipped over and trying to climb ladders for us to win, somebody has to lose. We may have to step on some heads as rungs to the latter that were climbing up to get there. But when we get there, we’ll sure do an awful lot of good. That's not how God's kingdom works, according to the King of God's kingdom. How we take care of each other is how it works in God's kingdom. I quote again, “it must not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Let's give it some thought today, as we observe ourselves and not just our actions, not just after we've done something and go, why did I do that. But the motives of the heart. Are we here to serve one another, are we, or are we here trying to get ourselves in a position that we can be served. Things to think about.

Prayer:

And Jesus, we invite You into those things because they are paramount things. You came to earth and began to reveal that life is from within and this exterior life can't work without the interior one and putting them back together so that a person can live true from within and without and be true, that this is possible. This is what You've come to do that. This is what You are offering to us. And when we participate in such a way that we have to arrange for everything and we have to climb ladders and we have to have certain levels of visibility, these things are fine, they can be achievements, they can be goals, but if we've lost the plot of the story that this is all boiling down to how we take care of each other in Your kingdom, then we’re missing the point. Help us retrieve the point and move in the direction that is what Your kingdom is like, and Your kingdom is like You. May we be more like You today, than we were yesterday. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudioible.com is home base, unless of course you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, which you can download free from the App Store that is connected to your device and then that's home base as well. And so, come to home base, check it out, check out the Community Section. This is where you can find links to the different social media channels that we participate in and it is good to find that platform and follow along. That way messages of encouragement and messages of the community will maybe…maybe show up in your feed. But it’s a good way to stay connected. But there in the Community Section is also the Prayer Wall and the Prayer Wall is a resource here that has been always on, never off for over a decade. It’s always available to us. We can always go and pray for each other. We can always go and ask for prayer and share our stories, write them down and watch as brothers and sisters come alongside of us to pray for us and encourage us. So, that is the Prayer Wall, that is in the Community Section, so check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If the mission here to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone, anytime, anywhere and to build community around that rhythm, as we navigate our days and weeks and months and stitch them all together and make a year of it in community, if that is life-giving than thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you're using the app can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning family. This is Bridgette from New York City. Today is January 26th. I’m just excited to share just what I am just sensing the Lord say to my spirit after Brian read Exodus. I love the Old Testament. It just shows you the heart of man and a lot of the heart of God. And I’m just blown away that when Moses approached the bush, right, God didn’t say to him you know, hey, I saw you and what you did to that guy in Egypt. You know, I…I…I saw what happened. He didn’t bring up anything from the past. He just brought up that He is aware of you know, his people and the cry of his people. And how oppressed they are and wow. I’m just blessed this morning because while we sometimes sit just focused on you know, the past of ourselves or the past of other people. God does not even look at that, He just looks at the cry, the oppression, the cry of His people. So, I just wanna encourage you guys that God hears our cry. He hears us even when we don’t know what to say, even when we don’t know Him, when we don’t follow Him the right way, when we don’t seek Him. It’s not gonna be perfect but He knows. He’s called us and He knows His people’s cry. Hallelujah! I pray that blesses this morning. Love you guys. Bye.

Good morning DABers, King Richard aka Strong In His Grace. I was just gonna reach out. I heard on, I was listening to some music on January 21st, wanted to reach out. There was a man, I didn’t catch his name, but he was separated, going through a divorce and wasn’t able to see his kids. I just wanted to reach out to him. And reach out to all men that are going through separations right now. All men that are going through divorces and are not able to see their kids. Father God, I just ask You to touch them in Your mercy Father God. Father God, all those whom all the sores, those hurts, You would heal them. If you mend them, Father God, with Your grace and Your mercy. And that that Your Holy Spirit would take control and give us, those men hope, through this prayer. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. God bless you DABers, have a great day.

Good morning DABers, this is Duncan Holmes, The Piano Man, on the road in Glovingsdale, New York, where we’re getting a lot of snow. I’m on the road to play an engagement soon but I’m finishing up on Saturday and this is the 27th, 26th. Pray for us. It’s been a great tour but we’re heading home, Saturday. And just pray that I can safely get home without any weather hazards or anything. I’ve done some nursing homes and I’ve done other; I’ve done some, played two churches and a couple other places that I’ve played. I’m a pianist and it’s mostly. My prayers go out for all of those broken-hearted people who have been cheated on. I’m especially praying for, my heart goes out to the lady who’s wrestling with God and dealing with a lot of issues right now. And my heart’s with you. I’ve been involved there, been there, did that, whether we want to admit it or not. Lord Jesus, this is very gentle. Take care, heal these broken hearts. Move them Father, towards forgiveness. It’s gonna take time and a lifetime maybe. We, Lord Jesus, be very, very present with them. Lord, those who have all these illnesses they’re battling with. I don’t mean to be so general, but we have very little time. You know my heart, Lord. My heart, Your heart goes out much even more. Thank You Jesus. In your blessed sweet name, we pray. God bless you. I’ll talk to you again when I get home.

Hey, this is KV from Miami. I’m calling to ask for prayer cause I need it right now, more than ever. The last week I’ve moved out of my family home cause they’ve been stealing from me for some time now. I found out and nobody wants to take responsibility. And honestly, they were stealing from me before I gave them and then it happened again. Even worse this time around. Even after they knew I had nothing, and I don’t have a job. But I luckily, thanks to the Lord, got a little part-time three-day thing that, it’s gonna be able to get me to eat and find some places to stay for, for some time. But I’m still need God’s guidance, your guy's prayers to help me through this, part of my life. I’m not gonna blame anybody for where I am because I did, have my own living arrangements but I did. I’m on my own power to lose from enemy. Making me do things that are not me. They’re not Godly, they’re not something that God would want me to do. So, because of those things, I lost. But I pray for guidance to, to just make the smart decisions. And not to be proud. Cause I found myself with lots of money that I could have been a good steward of, and I wasted it on things that weren’t important. And now I find myself in a situation. I’m blaming myself. So, I just ask you guys to pray for me and give me some extra prayers. Thank you DAB.

Good morning DAB family. I love you guys so much. I appreciate hearing God's word read fresh every day; I appreciate listening to your voices at the end of each podcast. You guys are my family. I love you. I just want to put a word out there for anyone feeling discouragement due to self-condemnation and addiction, mental illness. You know, perhaps you’ve heard my story, but I’ve listened to Daily Audio Bible, I’m on year 17 now. And my life has been a rollercoaster. I struggled with addiction and compulsive disorders before Daily Audio Bible and searched for healing. Begged, bargained, pleaded for healing and deliverance. I went to churches, seminars, people who I thought maybe would say the magic prayer. I just want you to know that I don’t know how because it’s a miracle. But listening to God’s word everyday transformed me, healed me, delivered me. I can’t explain it. I listened to God’s word in terrible states of mind, but I knew it was alive. I knew to keep listening. And all of the struggles and trying to find a key to my prison door, to find deliverance, all of that work just, it just went away. The struggle went away and pouring God’s word into my life every day, totally healed me. You guys, stay in God’s word. I can’t explain it and you can’t explain it but it is God’s word, and it is alive. So, hang in ..

Hey family, this is Eyes of a Dove. So, I’m having a hard time. I’ve lost about 25lbs or so, just to get down to a healthy weight. Anyways, it’s caused a hard time with coffee. Coffee is making me more anxious and stressful, and the Lord’s been talking to me about maybe switching off of coffee to green tea. It’s hard, I’m really addicted to coffee. But it makes me stressful. On top of that, I don’t know if you guys know but my mom has, was diagnosed with bipolar/schizophrenia, when I was very young. There was an incident involving me when I was little, and her, where she attempted to take my life and hers. I love my mom, she’s been medicated all these years, but in the last couple months, she all of a sudden had a revelation that God healed her from the medication and she’s seeing her doctor said she could get off it. Which none of us really believe. And she’s starting to get very manic and went to church with me and it was just very triggering. And I had a really hard time with it because I love my mom but it’s hard to be around her without triggering. And then this morning, she sent me a six page message on revelation about dragons and how my daughter wears dragons on her shirt and mini me. And that mini me will go to hell if she continues to wear these dragons on her shirt. Cause it’s my only daughter it reminds me of me being that little girl. And then my mom brought up revelation and tried to take my life. So, this morning, I’m just really spinning. My brothers are stressed, cause their helping to care for my dad who’s got late-term Alzheimer’s. And my mom and my dad live together with a walk-in nurse. And then this will all be worked out in the Lord’s hands. I just need peace in my heart to get through my workday. So, I’m starting off my work feeling emotional, and I need Shalom. I need Shalom.  

[yhwhrulz]

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional for December 5

Tozer in the Morning Knowing Our Weakness and God's Power

Moses was not a fluent man. His words spoken to God must be accepted as being a sincere and fair appraisal of the facts: "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue" (Exodus 4:10). The Lord did not try to cheer up His doubting servant by telling him that he had misjudged his ability. He allowed Moses' statement to stand unchallenged. But He said to Moses, "What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well." God gave Aaron an "A" in speech. He was undoubtedly an eloquent man. Yet it was the halting Moses, not the fluent Aaron, who faced Pharaoh time after time in defense of Israel; it was Moses, not the eloquent Aaron, who wrote the brilliant and beautiful story of the creation; it was Moses who penned the Book of Deuteronomy, one of the most poetical and mov ing books ever written. Was Aaron too fluent for God to use after all? I do not claim to know why, but whatever the reason, we have but few samples of Aaron's words in the Bible and countless pages of Moses'.

The reason back of all this is that great emotions rarely produce fluency of speech, whereas shallow feelings are sure to express themselves in many words. We tend to use words in inverse proportion to the depth of our feelings. Some of the profoundest emotions of the heart utter themselves in a chaste brevity of words, as when John tells us of Christ's sharp grief at the grave of Lazarus. He says simply, "Jesus wept." With exquisite good taste, the scholars who divided the Bible into verses allowed those two words to stand alone. Nothing more is needed to reveal the mighty depth of Christ's love for His friend.

Tozer in the Evening Knowing the Incomprehensible

The glory of God has not been revealed to this generation of men. The God of contemporary Christianity is only slightly superior to the gods of Greece and Rome, if indeed He is not actually inferior to them, in that He is weak and helpless while they at least had power.

If what we conceive God to be He is not, how then shall we think of Him? If He is indeed incomprehensible. . . how can we Christians satisfy our longing after Him? The hopeful words, "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace," still stand after the passing of the centuries; but how shall we acquaint ourselves with One who eludes all the straining efforts of mind and heart? And how shall we beheld accountable to know what cannot be known? . . .

The answer of the Bible is simply "through Jesus Christ our Lord." In Christ and by Christ, God effects complete self-disclosure, although He shows Himself not to reason but to faith and love. Faith is an organ of knowledge, and love an organ of experience. God came to us in the incarnation; in atonement He reconciled us to Himself, and by faith and love we enter and lay hold on Him.

"Verily God is of infinite greatness. . . more than we can think; . . . unknowable by created things; and can never be comprehended by us as He is in Himself. But even here and now, whenever the heart begins to burn with a desire for God, she is made able to receive the uncreated light and, inspired and fulfilled by the gifts of the Holy Ghost, she tastes the joys of heaven (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 16-17).

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. . . Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:5,24-26).

Copyright Statement This material is considered in the public domain.

[vinceleemiller]

Loyalty in the Struggle | 1 Samuel 20:42

Do you have a covenantal relationship with a loyal spiritual friend?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

Shameless plug today. Don't forget to check out the Vince Miller Show. I put a link to the Show below. There will be a new episode every week. The difference between what we do here in the Daily Devo and the Show is that here, we are going to continue to work through the Bible devotional one book at a time. Over in the Show, we will tackle topics and series relevant to your life in a biblical, thematic, and practical way. I am super excited about this new endeavor, and I need you to pray for us as we launch it.

This week, we are in 1 Samuel 20. I've titled this chapter "Friendship and Loyalty in Adversity."

In the last chapter, we left off with David leaving Saul's house, never to return, leaving behind his good friend and wife. This chapter is a chronicle of David trying to figure out if there is a permanent change in Saul after Saul's experience with the Spirit in Naoith. So David will secretly consult with Jonathan to see if it is safe to return. Of course, it's not. But the final verse of this chapter punctuates a covenant that the two men make between each other.

Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'" And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. — 1 Samuel 20:42

If we survey David's whole life, we can divide the segments of David's life into four seasons:

The Shepherding Season.

The Struggling Season.

The Soldiering Season.

The Sovereign Season.

We are about to enter the "Struggling Season" or the "Hiding Years." Chapter 20 begins a 12-15-year stretch during which David runs from King Saul for his life. That's a long time!

Long seasons of trials are trying. When we enter them, we often have no idea what we are getting into. David had no idea what was about to happen or how long it would take for him to move from being anointed king to his appointment as king. But he did have one thing. He had a friend, a confident, and a brother in Jonathan, and they were going to depart from each other, making a covenant agreement that would be fulfilled many years from now after Jonathan's death.

Covenants between godly men are missing from the modern church. Believers have become too causal and transactional in their relationships. We enter into most relationships "to get" not "to give" and are unwilling to commit to the initiative and investment that covenantal relationships require. But every person encounters a Struggling Season. For some, this is short, and for others, it may be prolonged. But a covenant agreement with a loyal and godly friend makes the journey much easier. It's like an anchor. It anchors us to the Lord. It anchors us to a godly believer. It anchors us to an unchanging agreement. It anchors us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually when we question the future.

Are you going through a struggling season? Then maybe it's time to make a covenant. Perhaps it's not exactly like the one Jonathan and David made, a lifelong covenantal promise that extended to future generations. But maybe you need to make a covenant agreement with a brother for a season. Who is that person, and what is that covenant? And if you cannot think of either, maybe it's time to take some initiative and make an investment to discover the spiritual blessings that await.

It's time to bring back the covenant of relationship.

#CovenantFriendship #LoyaltyInAdversity #SpiritualBrotherhood

Ask This:

Considering David and Jonathan's covenant, what qualities are essential for a loyal spiritual friendship? How can we cultivate these qualities in our relationships?

Have you experienced a "Struggling Season" in your life? How did your relationships—whether supportive or lacking—impact your journey during that time? What role could a covenantal friendship have played in that experience?

Do This:

Initiate a covenant.

Pray This:

Father, thank You for the gift of loyal friends and the strength of covenant relationships. Help me to be intentional in cultivating these bonds, especially during my challenging seasons, so that I may anchor myself and others in Your love and truth. Amen.

Play This:

Back to the Father.

Check out this episode!

[marysittingathisfeet]

Meet Mole: One Of The Seven

2 Chronicles 34: 14B- 16A- Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king,

Jerusalem was in the middle of a revival thanks to Josiah the king who was only 26 at the time. Josiah was only 8 when he became king. When he was 16 he started seeking out God. When he was 20 he bean to purge the land of all the idol worship. When he had reigned for 18 years the land had been purged so Josiah then commissioned that the temple be repaired. In the process of the repair the book of Moses which was under debris was found. How long had it been since the word of God had been read in the land of Judah? (Note: don't think that the young cannot be used by God)

2 Chronicles 34: 18-21- Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

Now Hilkiah was High Priest in Jerusalem at that time. He was the spiritual head of the kingdom. It's like the Pope in the Catholic Church. He is supposed to be closest to God. Shaphan was a scribe- I am assuming he was the chief scribe if Hilkiah brought the the laws of Moses to him. What is a scribe? In ancient Judah, scribes were learned men who were experts in the law of Moses. They were to prepare copies of Israel's sacred literature on parchment scrolls. Therefore, they were experts in the law. They not only ensured accurate copies of the scriptures, they created legal documents such as marriage, contracts, land purchases, divorces, and etc. They were also known as teachers. In addition at that time scribe and wise man were synonymous because the men were so learned that they were considered wise.

Josiah instructs these 2 men along with other leaders to seek out what God wants them to do. Now why didn't Josiah trust Hilkiah to seek the Lord? After all who better to seek out God's will than the High Priest of the land. I don't know. Maybe they were so distressed knowing that the laws of Moses had been ignored for so long, Could God have spoken through them? Sure. Instead they sought out a prophetess. This implies she was well known and respected even by the king.

Now traditionally there are only 7 prophetess in the old testament. They are Miriam, Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Abigail, Esther, and Huldah. Her name was Huldah. This means mole or shrew. Not very noble or romantic. Almost insulting. Maybe she was a tiny lady, but very vigorous. her name suggests that her origins may have been humble at first. She had to have received an education at some point to be able to read and interpret the Bible. She must have had many prophecies for Josiah the king to know of her. However, these prophecies are not recorded. But her reputation as a woman of God was obviously well established.

2 Kings 22:14 - So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her.

Note: There was a group of men besides Hilkiah who met with this humble prophetess. What do we learn about Huldah from this verse? We can see she was a wife. She was married to a Levite who was a keeper of the wardrobe. Only those of Levite descent could work in the temple. Because of this she would have had a lot of contact with the spiritual leaders of Jerusalem. Somehow God used her position to lead and guide the men who visited her husband. She had to have been bold enough to speak out to the men at first. In this patriarchal society, she would not have been initially consulted. I imagine the men sitting around a table laughing and talking. One of them brings up a point in the law. As Huldah is filling their cups with wine, she makes a point that none of the men had considered. At first they were angry. How dare a woman disagree with them. But later after studying the texts, discover she is correct. Slowly over time they came to not only socialize, but seek out her wisdom. They recognize that the Lord speaks profoundly through her.

Huldah's prophecy does confirm that Judah will be punished for their years of idolatry. But because Josiah had humbled himself before God, the destruction would not come until after Josiah died.

She is never mentioned again. But what she prophesied had a powerful impact on Josiah who summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, all the priests, and all the people and they read the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord's temple. Josiah and the people rededicated their lives to the Lord. Huldah was most likely in the crowd that day.

What do we learn from this. Never underestimate how God can use you. Being obedient to God and stepping out in faith may lead us down paths we never imagined.

[pastortomsteers]

Our Service for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 25, 2024

Pastor Tom Steers

Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto

Our Opening Hymn is: “O Christ Our True and Only Light”

Lutheran Service Book, 839 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITcK0kBrrHg

We begin our service with the Invocation:

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Confession and Absolution LSB page 184

The Introit –

Psalm 26:1-2, 6-7; antiphon: Ps. 26:8

O Lord, I love the habitation of your house

and the place where your glory dwells.

Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;

test my heart and my mind.

I wash my hands in innocence

and go around your altar, O Lord,

7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,

and telling all your wondrous deeds.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

O Lord, I love the habitation of your house

and the place where your glory dwells.

Our Collect Prayer:

Almighty and merciful God, defend Your Church from all false teaching and error that Your faithful people may confess You to be the only true God and rejoice in your good gifts of life and salvation; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Our Bible texts:

Old Testament – Isaiah 29:11-19

Psalm 14 (antiphon v. 7a)

Epistle - Ephesians 5:22-33

Gospel – Mark 7:1-13

The Apostles’ Creed –

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God

the Father almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Our Hymn of the Day is: “Lord Help Us Ever to Remain”

Lutheran Service Book, 865 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn7dxm3eI8

The Sermon,

The Word of God verses the word of man --

This morning Mark the Evangelist describes a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees.

A confrontation between the Word of God and the word of man.

A confrontation that will bring Christ one step closer to the cross.

The encounter is also an occasion for Mark to paint the picture of Christ and His people persecuted for the faith.

Behind all this Mark ultimately sees the hand of our real enemy, satan.

As you hear the dispute with the Pharisees, see this as more than a historical record.

It is, as well, the opposition Jesus continues to face today, through false Christian doctrine, and in persecuted Christians such as our Brothers & Sisters in Afghanistan.

When Christ confronts Saul on the road to Damascus, He asks, “Why do you persecute me?”

Jesus, of whom Mark writes, is truly and actively present in the people of God, then and now.

We see Christ in conflict with the teachers of the Law.

The issue is human thinking versus the “spirit” of God’s Word, which they violate.

Our verses from Isaiah come from a section where the prophet tells of a great calamity to befall the people because they’ve fallen away from God.

We read this passage today because it connects so well with our Gospel text.

In Isaiah, God is frustrated with His people.

He says it’s been like giving them a book they either won’t open or can’t read.

They have His Word, the truth is right in front of them, but it does no good.

The Israelites are blind, deaf, not on the same page as the Almighty.

Surrounded by the love of God and His gracious teaching, they ignore it.

God promises to take action, and that’s actually grace on God’s part, although a frightening grace.

He’ll pry their ears open so they can hear His Word.

God will do wonders and signs before them, just as He did of old.

The ‘human’ wisdom of the wise will perish.

Isaiah 29:14 is the exact verse Paul has in mind when he writes Chapter One of his first letter to the Corinthians.

The people try to hide their ways from the Lord, try to do things in secret, away from Him who knows all.

Their wisdom is foolishness, it doesn’t reflect reality.

In their world the roles of the potter and clay have reversed, with the clay making the potter.

The same is true today.

The false religion of our culture, secular materialism, would have us believe the universe, matter, created itself.

God is considered a myth, or His image and Word distorted.

The basic, simple logic of first cause, that someone brought this vast universe into being, is a reality ‘science’ has no answer for, so it ignores it.

Our society does as well, because many would rather be their own ‘gods,’ making up rules that suit them.

Isaiah warns God will answer this foolishness, and every eye will see and knee bow, as Paul declares in Philippians 2:9-11.

In our Psalm reading we hear this again:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.”

Through the Psalmist God asks: “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?”

Paul quotes the third verse of this Psalm in his indictment of humanity in Romans Chapter 3.

These words of God put an end to any thought of human-based righteousness, of ‘do-it-yourself’ salvation in whole or part, of hypocritical self-sanctity.

The image of the rich, the powerful devouring the poor like a loaf of bread is horrifying, and tragically accurate.

Human, secular reasoning is used today to justify the murder of unborn children, this despite God’s Word, despite the Fifth Commandment, ignoring Bible teaching that unborn children are God’s creation, loved by Him.

We see God’s call to protect and respect the unborn in verses like Jeremiah 1:4-5; Job 31:15; Psalm 22:10-11; Psalm 139:13-16 and so many others.

Isaiah and history tell us ignoring God’s Word isn’t new.

But the results of falling away from God are tragically the same.

Untold millions have died.

It didn’t matter if it was a government of the so-called left or right; whether it was Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung; whether today it’s North Korea or Iran or for that matter North America.

Since abortion was allowed in Canada and the U.S., more than 65 million people, unborn children, have been killed.

It’s a Holocaust.

And people ask who will stop it?

What’s the answer?

Who has the solution?

It is not ultimately with government.

Governments and politicians come and go.

It’s not with a human strategy or tactic.

The answer is found back in the 7th verse of today’s Psalm reading.

It is when God comes in.

It’s when people turn back to Him.

We know God, His will and way, from His Word, the Bible.

Today secular society turns away from God’s basic social building block: marriage.

The world would have us believe marriage is either not important or can be something other than the joining of one man and one woman.

Again, this ignores God’s Word in verses like Genesis 2:22-24; Matthew 19:4-6; and today’s reading from Ephesians Chapter 5.

The world sees marriage as a human institution to do with as it will.

The Bible sees marriage as an act of God.

It was intended for us before the fall into sin, and it is the image of something perfect, the relationship Christ established with His Church.

Paul in our passage from Ephesians is speaking of a love relationship where man and woman submit to and love one another as Jesus loves His bride, the Church.

This love and submission mirrors the submission Christ had to the Father when He went to the cross out of love for us.

Paul describes the Church as presented pure, without spot, cleansed by water and Word.

We are cleansed through the water and God’s Word in Baptism.

In marriage a man and woman become one flesh.

We become one flesh with Christ, and other believers, through the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

In our Gospel teaching from Mark, we’re again faced with the imperfect word of man and perfect Word of God.

The Pharisees go after Jesus because His disciples haven’t washed their hands before eating.

This breaks their regulations and human tradition.

Christ calls them hypocrites; they are.

Jesus quotes today’s text from Isaiah.

The Pharisees have allowed people to ignore their needy parents if they contribute to the church establishment they’re part of.

The parents can go hungry if the kids have a donation receipt.

The Son of God says this is wrong.

Jesus cites God’s Word, the Fourth Commandment to honour your parents.

He tells the Pharisees they’ve made, “void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”

These religious authorities ignored God’s Word and replaced it with man-made regulations.

This is what Martin Luther confronted the Church of his time with.

The ‘catholic church’ had abandoned the Bible, created false human traditions, and taught salvation not through Christ alone but through obedience to rules.

The same is true today of that false church and others, and that’s why the Lutheran Reformation continues.

In our readings we’ve seen strong words of correction.

But there are even stronger words of Gospel.

Today Jesus calls us to remember that God is at the centre of the universe, not ourselves.

Our very Creator sent His only Son down to us to take on human flesh to save us, out of love, and only He could do that.

God defines us and life itself, in this world and the one to come.

Christ reminds us to be guided by God’s Word, His priorities, not our own agendas.

He calls us to a humility manifested in love and service to Him and one another.

To honour life that He alone creates.

To honour His institution of marriage as He defines it.

Jesus is in conflict with the Pharisees.

By the end of the short Gospel of Mark the only perfect man who ever lived will die on a cross to pay for our sins and be raised for our justification.

Christ’s death will be wrought by dishonest men who hypocritically condemn Him because they rely on their own salvation, their own righteousness.

Christ sets the priorities right in word and deed.

In love for His creation, that transcends our understanding, He will die, even for the stubborn Pharisees who confront Him.

As Christians, the first readers of this Gospel were also experiencing persecution.

Mark puts their experience into context.

They’re one with Jesus.

God will work with and through them in just this sort of conflict.

Their suffering is not God’s failure, but a situation God uses for good, for their witness to the Gospel.

It’s painful, even torturous, but so was the cross for Jesus.

We, as well, should not despair from persecution and difficulties the world throws at Christians, because we know that through them God can work His good purposes.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, I do not seek suffering, but I suffer in hope.

In the darkest of days, the light of Christ shines brightest.

Amen.

The Benediction –

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and + give you peace.

Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT  Page 194

THE LORD’S PRAYER  Page 196  

THE WORDS OF OUR LORD  Page 197

Pax Domini Pastor: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Congregation: Amen.

THE DISTRIBUTION

Post Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page 201

Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202

Our Closing Hymn is: “Lord of Our Life”

Lutheran Service Book, 659 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLnwC-poLEs

1 Lord of our life and God of our salvation,

Star of our night and Hope of every nation:

Hear and receive Your Church's supplication,

Lord God Almighty.

2 See round Your ark the hungry billows curling;

See how Your foes their banners are unfurling

And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling,

O Lord, preserve us.

3 Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us;

Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us;

And in the day when hell itself assails us,

Grant us Your peace, Lord:

4 Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging,

Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging,

Peace when the world its endless war is waging,

Peace in Your Heaven.