congresswoman Michele Bachmann called it “absolutely heartbreaking” to observe the events that have unfolded since Oct Listen to the latest episode of “Quick Start” whose roots supporting the Middle Eastern state go far back recalled living in a kibbutz when she was a teenager “And just to see people that I knew were killed there … it was horrific to watch that.” who now serves as dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach said she has also been heartened to see God working amid the chaos we’ve seen one miracle after another,” she said we are living in the days that the prophets long to see and that’s how I feel: we’re watching God fulfill His word through the power of His faithfulness.” that what man intends for evil — and clearly there were jihadists that intended for evil … God will use for good.” She said there’s no replacing the people who were killed or those who have suffered as hostages but she believes God will use the evil the world has witnessed “for His glory.” “He is lifting up the Jewish people in the Jewish state in a different way,” Bachmann said also going on to highlight President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel stances thus far but we’re living in a time when the hinge of history is turning.” She said people today are watching the “hand of God” move — and she expects more to come “I think we’re going to see even more miraculous “Not only just within our lifetime — I think in the next months and year we’re going to see remarkable things we could have never imagined happen that is good to benefit Israel and the Jewish people.” Bachmann said “Israel’s central” to those Scriptures “If you want to know what’s going on with the Bible and God’s prophetic time clock “The whole world is focused once again on Israel It seems like we’re all anticipating with bated breath.” Bachmann believes the world is watching the “truth of the Bible” play out with eschatology and current events converging in truly fascinating ways Bachmann said the Bible is clear that God will take care of them as she said the Lord is advancing His kingdom even amid the chaos and consternation of the day “The fruit that’s coming forth is more than we could have ever hoped or imagined for,” Bachmann said even though you hear ‘wars and rumors of wars,’ what we’re seeing is the fruit of God in the middle of all that there are miracles that are playing out every day.” Bachmann said Christians should support Israel pointing back to Scripture as the litmus test and a call that should spark this connection “It’s in alignment with the word of God,” she said “The word of God is very clear — we’re to bless Israel and not curse Israel which implores people to “comfort” God’s people proclaiming that such a proclamation is currently needed Bachmann encouraged Christians to comfort Israel and suggested perhaps some were too late in doing so after Oct You are signing up to receive general newsletters from CBN. By signing up, you are consenting to our privacy policy You can specify preference after sign-up and opt out at any time A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization "Pope Francis' life and preaching continue to inspire us to go where there is darkness and be light to go to the forgotten and bring them the love of God..." This is how Bishop José Luís Mumbiela Sierra the leader of Central Asia's Bishops and the Bishop of Santissima Trinità in Almaty in Kazakhstan On 2 May 2022 the newly created Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia elected Bishop Mumbiela as its first president The Bishops Conference includes Bishops and Church delegates from Kazakhstan Pope Francis would make an Apostolic Journey to the nation especially in the context of Central Asia," he said "what comes to mind first is his deep sensitivity to those far from the centers of the world not only in a geographical sense of course but also in terms of public attention."  Pope Francis was the first Pope in history to visit three countries of their region in such a short time He did not go only where there are millions of Catholics but also where the local Church consists of just a few thousand believers as he recalled the late Pope's 2016 Visit to Azerbaijan "Each of these visits," Bishop Mumbiela said “Each of these Visits became a kind of living gospel small Catholic communities in Kazakhstan and other Central Asia countries," he observed this was "not merely a diplomatic gesture," but "a gesture of love and of hope." "During Pope Francis' meeting with clergy in Kazakhstan," the leader of Central Asia's Bishops continued leads us to understand that we cannot build the Church's mission solely on our own abilities.'" structures or any human importance," and therefore "it is better to be led by the Lord and to humbly devote ourselves to serving others."  "Pope Francis helped us see that smallness is not a weakness but an invitation to trust more deeply in God's strength but a call to live the Gospel more authentically has become especially meaningful for Central Asia's Catholic communities “Pope Francis helped us see that smallness is not a weakness but an invitation to trust more deeply in God's strength.” "We came to understand that our mission is not to compete with other religions or cultural traditions to live the Gospel amongst the people with whom we share one land one set of joys and challenges." "often emphasized that the Church should not be a closed system guarding its borders," but "a space of openness," as well as "of dialogue and of hope." The special calling of the Church in our countries is "is not to be a group that clings to what it has and unlocks itself in a shell because it feels small burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit." In this way open to newness and the signs of the times" and is "inspired by the Gospel logic of the seed that bears fruit in humble and fruitful love." became "a compass for us," especially in places where Catholics are often the first people others meet in the path to Christ the Bishop suggested that Pope Francis' visit to Kazakhstan "reached far below Church circles," but "was heard by the entire nation." "His respectful attitudes toward Catholic culture and traditions and his calls for peace and dialogue," he said "were received with sincere gratitude." "heard about the Catholic Church for the first time through Pope Francis' visit." "Those unfamiliar with Catholicism," he noted "heard not only a friend in his voice people of different faiths and backgrounds came to our churches in silence simply to share the sorrow of loss with Catholics “Those unfamiliar with Catholicism heard not only a friend in his voice "speaks to his deep humanity and to the way Pope Francis touched hearts." The Bishop noted that as the President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia "I can personally testify the words and actions of Pope Francis have left a profound mark." "I thank God for his gift to the Church and the world He inspired us not to fear our smallness but to recognize it as gospel strength not for our own glory but for the glory of God and in service to our neighbor." "The legacy of Pope Francis," Bishop Mumbiela concluded "is a call to bring hope where it is least expected." "His life and preaching," the President of the  Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia said "continue to inspire us to go where there is darkness and be light to go to the forgotten and bring them the love of God." “His life and preaching continue to inspire us to go where there is darkness and be light to go to the forgotten and bring them the love of God” Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here 2025Courtesy of HBO.Save this storySaveSave this storySaveIf you know a fan of The Righteous Gemstones bidding adieu to its cast of stunted but heartfelt televangelists is Gemstones turns its lens toward a mega-rich cast of characters who are simultaneously larger than life and achingly real: Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) pastor and family patriarch; his often petulant adult children Jesse (Danny McBride) and Kelvin (Adam DeVine); and their respective spouses It joins the legacy of Vice Principals and Eastbound & Down before it—shows produced by McBride and David Gordon Green about fundamentally flawed but lovable characters McBride has a talent for creating characters that are ostensibly outrageous—problematic even maniacal—without ever turning them into caricatures “Gemstones is really Danny’s baby,” says Hill about his longtime collaborator It’s a show imbued with a profound humanity; a pain “Making them see themselves in someone who they would never assume they would see any traits of themselves in It’s not about trying to create sympathy for those kinds of people—it’s about making something interesting.” “You have to ground their circumstances in the real world,” says Walton Goggins who plays Eli Gemstone’s brother-in-law Baby Billy Baby Billy is a narcissist…albeit a lovable one “Danny and the creative team at Rough House [Pictures] are able to walk that line between silly and absurd while keeping the characters grounded,” says DeVine and the goal is to make people laugh and forget their problems for a little bit.” The dynamic on set was one of both collaboration and trust. Emmy Award–nominated costume designer Christina Flannery says she rarely got notes on her work, which is as vivid and singular as the show’s writing like with Teen Demon,” she says of costuming the devil in Baby Billy’s latest endeavor: a television show about Jesus as a teen we have to have the stilts.’ My crew was like “But it obviously turned out great.” On another occasion Hill came up with an Easter egg for Flannery to nestle into her costume design: He suggested that when the Gemstone kids travel by boat to retrieve their missing father they wear outfits inspired by the Sea Org uniforms worn by Scientologists But it also doesn’t want to mock or alienate anyone who might see themselves or someone they love in that world “And I remember [that conversation] on set ‘I don’t like that they’re making fun of her.’ I said ‘Do you know what the literacy rate is in America?’ A lot of people have difficulty reading in this country It’s part of her reality and it’s part of her humanity It’s not that she can’t learn—it’s that she hasn’t learned.” The Righteous Gemstones makes itself a conduit for understanding “I think it cuts so close to the bone and it is so relatable because it is based in truth,” says Cassidy Freeman Not because the show believes in one thing or another—but because it brings everybody to the table no show with this much old dick should have you on the verge of tears every episode because how else are we going to get through it?” It would be easy for a show about televangelists to marginalize its female characters—making them the butt of jokes relegated to positions devoid of both power and complexity The Righteous Gemstones’ unmistakable superpower has been the way it positions its female characters Edi Patterson has been in the writers room since season one and she speaks at length about balancing vulgarity with heart but I only find ’em funny if they’re smart I’m not a fan of nasty just for nasty’s sake—that may shock people,” she laughs “It’s got to have specificity and meaning and uniqueness.” That attention to detail helps Judy’s crass one-liners about leaving “snail trails” on her chair and “finger dancin’ on [her] snap drags” outrank even her brother’s raunchiest jokes “She makes me laugh to the point where I mess up takes Patterson never lost sight of her character’s deep pain—her pent-up anger about the loss of her mother Judy is always teetering on the edge of seething horniness and suffocating bitterness and I love how wild she is,” says Patterson I just root for her.” Whether we want to admit it or not there’s at least a little bit of Judy in all of us “We all have a full wild animal inside,” she says Judy’s counterpart is Amber Gemstone—endlessly measured and patient particularly toward her buffoonish husband to be in a bit of an antiquated relationship,” says Freeman I understood her.” From literally shooting her husband in the rear to offering marital advice to Judy and BJ Amber is always at the ready with a solution—something she’s able to do because of her keen ability to choose her battles “She reminds me of my mother if she had actually accepted the church and she really did not like [the misogyny] She did not like the way the church treated gay people But I see parts of Amber in my mom in that no matter what the relationships between the show’s female characters are fraught; other times “There are just certain things that happen in a woman’s life whether we have children or not—there is just something about our energy where we’re just innately better at giving Innately better at stretching,” Freeman says In a world where all too often women are still the punch line “I’ve never been someone who thinks comedy exists for one sex; it’s not something I can even get my head around,” says McBride whose own sisters and daughter helped inspire Judy she and my sisters would prank call people all the time I have two sisters who can relentlessly break my balls It’s not even something we’re trying to do—it’s just how I see the world.” the show follows five very different love stories: Jesse and Amber Navigating his character—a new widower—was initially fraught for Goodman because everyone else was having fun—of course I was having fun between takes—but I was playing the straight man.” By season four And while we only see Aimee-Leigh in flashbacks her lingering presence motivates many of the show’s characters “It was his great love story,” says Goodman but I’m pretty sure she was his spiritual awakening.” their partners are redeemers—and their tethers to reality ‘BJ is the eyes of the audience,’” says Baltz Despite BJ’s gentle and wholesome demeanor he never begrudges Judy for being herself; on the contrary “He is someone with unconditional love for his wife written in a way I have never seen before,” says Baltz “One of my favorite lines is at the end of season two ‘I’d love nothing more than to bang your played-out-mother pussy for the rest of my days.’ It’s such a crass thing to say but it’s so indicative of their relationship.” Even the most unlikely of couples—the elderly Baby Billy and the much (much) younger Aunt Tiff—have beaten the odds “Aunt Tiff and Baby Billy’s love is so pure,” says Goggins “One of the best parts of this experience was getting to shape this relationship with Valyn Their dynamic is so funny and full of heart… she imagined what Tiff would do if Baby Billy died “I came to the conclusion that she would hide the body so they wouldn’t have to do a funeral—because as long as he’s not buried That’s when I realized she’s not a gold digger.” Arguably one of the most unique love stories on television is that of youth pastor turned LGBTQ+ church leader Kelvin Gemstone and Keefe the reformed Satanist he rescued from a life of sin the loved-up scenes between his character and Kelvin were Cavalero’s favorite “What’s so beautiful about their relationship is this deep admiration even as they’re still sorting it out,” the actor says their will-they-won’t-they plot had reached a fever pitch ‘I’d really love for them to kiss.’ Sure enough ‘Did Danny talk to you about the whole kiss thing He wants you to fully go for one,’” says Cavalero “And [after] that take the whole crew was cheering and clapping For a show that celebrated love in all its forms—for better and worse—it’s fitting that the final season closes with Kelvin and Keefe’s wedding And it’s hard to deny the statement that Gemstones is making by letting a gay wedding have the final word—an event that’s fully accepted and celebrated by the entire Gemstone family he knew it was probably going to be the end of The Righteous Gemstones “I didn’t want to even admit it to myself,” he says “It’s really difficult to create something like this and to then be the person who’s pulling the plug on it you know?” But he also didn’t want the show to overstay its welcome—and Hill agreed: “I love the idea of ending a show before it gets stale.” they didn’t tell the cast until days before shooting wrapped you can kind of see an actor saying goodbye to their character and it can seem cringey sometimes,” says McBride “I want you to take those characters with you and kind of in your brain imagine what they do next.” But those who can’t accept that should know that Patterson and Baltz agree hands down that Judy and BJ are endgame McBride and Freeman feel much the same about Jesse and Amber as do Goggins and Hall about Billy and Tiff And while DeVine says it might be interesting to see how Kelvin explores life as a single man one day Cavalero is resolute that he and Keefe will go all the way as well It’s not just the show that cast and crew had to part with McBride famously shoots his projects on his home turf in South Carolina which everyone agrees he made feel like home—whether it was inviting everyone over to watch Game of Thrones on Sunday nights or taking cast and their families out on a boat day or to a ball game Some cast members even bought property nearby so they’d have a base in South Carolina too The sum here is greater than the parts—and the parts are pretty fucking awesome,” says Baltz “After seeing how Danny holds himself and how he leads his cast and crew When asked what he will miss most about the Gemstones world Goodman’s answer was simple: “Just being with everybody There were no jerks on set,” he says with a laugh “I don’t expect to do anything like it ever again Met Gala 2025 Live Updates: A-listers Prepare for Fashion’s Biggest Night Hawk Tuah Opens Up About Her Crypto Scandal Revisit the Most Unforgettable Met Gala Looks Alan Alda on Life With Parkinson’s Designer Prabal Gurung Recalls His First Met Gala How Miriam Adelson Went From Big MAGA Winner to Casino Loser in Trump’s First 100 Days The UK Has Found Another Reason to Be Mad at Meghan Markle Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein How Sebastian Stan Became Hollywood’s Most Daring Shape-Shifter Meet Elon Musk’s 14 Children and Their Mothers (Whom We Know of) SearchBethel Music’s ‘We Must Respond’ a clarion call to worship GodLog InSubscribeThe Christian Post To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. 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Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience 2025Jenn Johnson of Bethel Music | Bethel MusicTo be lost in the heart of worship is something that all Christians aspire to do To be moved by God's presence due to His goodness is something so strong and profound that it can't easily be put into words Popular worship artist Jenn Johnson definitely agrees For the last 25 years, she and Bethel Music have sought to bring music to the masses that invites listeners to take hold of their true identity and pursue intimacy with God above everything else "I think that anytime that you're in the Word of God that brings you to speak about who God is and His nature," says Johnson who co-wrote the Sunday morning church staple "Those moments with Him are so profound and powerful that it's an exchange we really pushed our team to get these songs to a place of being great but really leaning into the lyrics and crafting them," said Johnson who co-founded Bethel Music with her husband Brian Johnson "We really wanted to hone them to be great songs that would carry the same weight and excellency as they do in the spirit of the song as well in the heart." Johnson joins us on the "Crossmap Podcast" to talk about the new album and how its title is a declaration of sorts Listen as she explains why she considers each song a "holy exchange" for listeners She shares her perspective on the future of praise and worship music Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage. WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- President Donald Trump posted an image that appeared to be created by artificial intelligence depicting himself as pope just days after making a comment to reporters that he would like to become the next pope The image drew condemnation from some church leaders and commentators Trump posted the AI image of himself in what appeared to be the traditional vestments of the pope late in the evening on May 2 on his website Truth Social But the image sparked controversy when it was shared on the official White House X account professor emeritus of American studies at the University of Notre Dame who critically observes the modern American presidency “Donald Trump has a strange sense of humor.” “He recently told Time that his vow of quickly ending the Ukraine war on ‘day one’ of his presidency ‘was said in jest,” Schmuhl said May 3 “Now he’s circulating an image of him as the pope Millions of Catholics in America and abroad certainly won’t think so.” which he called “deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new Pope.” “He owes an apology,” Bishop Paprocki said “‘Make no mistake: God is not mocked’ (Galatians 6:7) By publishing a picture of himself masquerading as the Pope a right-leaning political advocacy organization that endorsed Trump’s presidential bid “Trump’s joking meme depicting himself as the pope was obviously intended to be humorous.” “There is no need to imagine that he believes he could be pope or that he intended to mock the papacy,” Mercer said “Memes depicting famous people as the new pope have been playfully circulating on social media everywhere for the past week.” But the New York State Catholic Conference wrote on X “There is nothing clever or funny about this image “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St “It is difficult to say what the president’s intent was in posting the photo but a reasonable person would easily conclude that it would likely be offensive to Catholics especially as we are still mourning Pope Francis.” “I don’t believe President Trump is anti-Catholic but the post was definitely shocking and offensive to many and I hope he pulls it down and stops this peculiar line of trolling or whatever it is he is doing,” Poust said “The fact that the official White House X account shared it made the whole thing worse in my mind since it gave the post the weight of the Office of President as opposed to just being perhaps a crude joke by Donald Trump The post came a few days after Trump was asked by a reporter about who he would like to see become the next Catholic pontiff we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good so we’ll see what happens,” in reference to Cardinal Timothy M whom Trump named to a religious liberty commission the same week “Today’s loudest critics were shamefully silent for four years as President (Joe) Biden this is a solemn time of prayer and discernment for the whole Catholic Church that should not be diminished,” Mercer said “Everyone understands what happens in Rome in the coming days will have lasting significance for the whole world The Church has survived far worse over the past two millennia.” Vice President JD Vance defended Trump on X I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance wrote in response to a post from Bill Kristol asking whether Vance was “fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father.” wrote on X in an apparent reference to the controversy “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to checking your timeline once in a while.” anything to keep the algorithms from eating your soul,” he said Schmuhl added the post was “more sacrilegious -- and ridiculous -- than his marketing of the so-called ‘Trump Bible.’” McCormick professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University also mentioned Trump’s effort to sell branded Bibles telling OSV News he is “first and foremost and above all a businessman,” and has “found an angle to try to sell more Trump Bibles.” Trump attended the funeral of the late Pope Francis on April 26 Password reset instructions will be sent to your registered email address As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important America’s voice is in the conversation about the church and the world. 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Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions | May 5, 2025 | | | | | Please email comments to letters@livingchurch.org People were bringing even infants to [Jesus] that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:15-17 Being both a priest in an aging denomination and a relatively new parent I find myself increasingly attuned to Scriptures about children and to discussions about children in church I read this passage from Luke’s Gospel largely through an individual lens: We welcome children into the family of God because children are precious in his eyes Now my perspective is becoming more communal they also offer the body of Christ something that adults cannot They show us who we are in God’s eyes; they are an embodied God’s Fatherhood is central to Christian theology It is the standard opening for our services of worship Most of our eucharistic prayers lead with it But there is a corollary theological principle here: If God is our Father but the problem with taking it for granted is that after we become adults and the painful—but the more we learn what is socially acceptable and how to look intelligent and act sophisticated the more we convince ourselves that we have left childhood behind The veneer of maturity that we have as adults covers impulses and tendencies that are very childlike that we have simply learned to hide or adapt to seem more grown up to those around us I was keenly aware of the tension of colleagues complaining about their students’ procrastination all the while with stacks of papers sitting on their desks that they had not graded in weeks that our behavior is often a grown-up version of theirs Being able to recognize this deepens our understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ there is a small group of 3-year-old girls who have become attached at the hip Our practice at Communion is for people to walk up single file to receive the host from a priest and then the wine from a chalice bearer These girls recently have begun approaching to receive their hosts together eager to receive and blissfully unaware of taking turns Then they move on to the chalice bearer for intinction in the same manner It strikes me as a real-life picture of how the body of Christ that we receive in the Eucharist builds us together into the body of Christ These little ones sense something that we adults in our orderly lines gloss over How often have we asked around to find out who is going to be at a church (or diocesan) event before we decided to go The childhood impulse to find a friend and keep that friend close does not leave us; we simply get better at looking mature while doing it We find safety and comfort in being with people we enjoy and get along with Community draws us together and fear of isolation or feeling awkward keeps us apart It is the more complicated flipside of the sweet image of three little girls receiving Communion together and it can impoverish us if we use it to avoid those who are different from us and who might challenge our assumptions and beliefs He hands us a kingdom that we receive in community He gives us each other because we sharpen each other and because we each have something to offer the other in the kingdom And he knows that because we receive this kingdom in community we will in our sinfulness also exclude and hurt each other he stands ready to forgive us and to help us forgive each other And the children in our midst show us this as they interact with each other Our Sunday school program for children meets during the sermon but occasionally there are children who do not want to go downstairs and prefer to sit with their parents We provide them with activity pages to keep them occupied if they want While I support offering age-appropriate worship for our children I also appreciate the child who wants to stay upstairs with the adults Being in a service of worship is formational even if that child is not absorbing the sermon and the liturgy the way we think we do And I chose that phrase intentionally: “the way we think we do.” Especially as a priest I would like to think that I am fully focused in every church service in which I worship But the reality is that my mind is much like the coloring book in which that child in the pew is scribbling Something my rector says in his sermon triggers something that I was thinking about for my sermon the next week and all of a sudden I am mentally writing my sermon instead of listening to his Or maybe something personal is making me anxious and then I realize I did not hear the second half of the Old Testament reading just like children; we just know how to keep it on the inside Like that kid who wants to stay with the adults in worship even when I cannot make myself focus the way that I should It is not about my ability to understand it perfectly or worship perfectly but rather it is about the Spirit working on me through the liturgy This is why Jesus says that we receive the kingdom of God like little children It is not a call to make ourselves innocent again somehow It is a realization that we never outgrow the tendencies of childhood and therefore we always need God as our Father We do not interact with our Father in heaven as grown children do with their parents relying on our maturity and growing worldly wisdom to have something to offer in the relationship We are little children to him; we need his patience we need children in our churches and as part of all we do as a church This is why Jesus corrected the disciples when they turned them away especially when they eat all the donuts at coffee hour before the adults can get to them Molly Jane (MJ) Layton is the associate rector for congregational care and worship at the Parish of Calvary-St Sally Wingert is by turns gentle and caustic in a show that shows God is the ultimate entertainer Paul in the body of a great Minnesota actor to give it to you straight Taking over the commanding voice and razor wit of Sally Wingert the Divine One is showing jazz and standup comedy proclivities at Six Points Theater In “An Act of God,” she shows that she’s prone to riffing and calling attention to her own thigh-slapping jokes She also seems to go off script from time to time Part corporate-style liturgy with a direct sermon-like address and part festive game show with buzzers and bells “Act” is a 90-minute one-act staged lightheartedly by Craig Johnson on a set by Michael Hoover that suggests St Having grown frustrated by the fact that her testaments and divine inspiration have been mostly reduced to the Ten Commandments God explains that she wishes she didn’t have to be like Don McLean who is weary of singing his hit “American Pie.” And so as she paces or sits beneath two large commandment tablets where the text is digitally inscribed instead of chiseled in or hammered out God has come to deliver 10 new commandments God is attended by similarly white-clad and winged archangels Michael (Kevin Brown Jr.) and Gabriel (Andrew Newman) Michael has a mic and seems to field questions from the audience Gabriel taps buzzers to ring bells and read passages on cue The new commandments include ones around sex (“do not tell whom to fornicate”) and thinking of God as a personal assistant or servant (“Do not tell me what to do”) As for some of the contradictions and questions around evolution and science God explains that there’s a good amount of fakery that she had to engineer to backdate dinosaur bones and the like she created the world in a short week and was misheard when she sent the flood “Faith is the sausage that’s best not seen made,” God tells us Playwright David Javerbaum cut his teeth on “The Daily Show,” and the humor in “Act” is similarly withering The show does not shy away from any of the issues of the day God wants to know the biblical verses supporting firearms By turns gentle and scolding, witty and sardonic, Wingert inhabits the role with poise and precision comforting one moment and striking lightning the next a Big Mama who wants to hold her wayward children to her comforting bosom or smack them into tomorrow is fighting against being a personal attendant that we summon to help win games or awards Tickets: $28-$40. 651-647-4315, sixpointstheater.org. Rohan Preston covers theater for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Stage & Arts The “Bad Boys” star is near the end of his comeback tour Rhiana Yazzie’s new play is highly creative but occasionally feels overstuffed Pope Francis’s successor will avoid a page out of American politics the new pope will not be the “Trump of the Vatican” – a pope that is a reaction to the policies of his predecessor just like we are seeing with President Donald Trump’s reactionary stance to former President Barack Obama The conclave of cardinals is set to begin their deliberations on May 7 The word conclave is from the Latin meaning “with key,” a descriptor of the group primarily composed of cardinals which must remain barricaded inside the Vatican until they reach a two-thirds majority in voting for the next pontiff They could choose someone who will align with the late Argentinian pope’s open-minded sense of reform Or their choice could be a reaction against the progressive stance of Pope Francis a step back toward the traditionalism exemplified by Pope Benedict XVI Consider what happened in American politics when the emergence of Donald Trump was fueled in part as a counter to the historic election of Barack Obama There is no denying that what had been racial dog whistles during the first Trump administration aren’t hidden at all now Trump displays a vulgar animus to the racial progress the nation made with the election of its first Black president in Obama His presence in the White House did not completely upend inequities and racial hatreds deeply embedded in our society simply observing the Obama family live their lives in the public eye with grace Those who didn’t vote for Obama might have disagreed with some of the administration’s policies even on matters concerning race that might not have been raised by a non-Black president in a write up of the work of Emory political scientist Andra Gillespie and her book “Race And The Obama Administration: Substance Symbols and Hope,” Obama issued more executive orders addressing issues of concern to both African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities” than did his predecessors “He also nominated – and maintained – a more ethnically diverse group of Cabinet-level candidates and senior-level staff.” The nation is upended by Trump’s obsession with degrading anything that reminds us of our country’s diversity of our deep history of civil rights and of the fact that many immigrants today are brown To label something “woke” is a verbal signal a starting point for screeds against what feels too liberal for conservatives Pope Francis firmly walked a path that caused many conservatives in the church to recoil He offered olive branches where some church authorities preferred to erect barricades extended a level of respect and acceptance — like his much-dissected comment on the LGBTQ community Pope Francis didn’t change church teachings on homosexuality emphasizing every human as a creation of God Pope Francis appointed more women to prominent roles placing them on boards and in senior roles at the Vatican In recognizing and honoring the diversity of the Roman Catholic faith he not only recognized the countries where the Catholic faith is rapidly expanding – Africa and Asia – he ensured that more of the world’s cardinals came from those regions the makeup of the church hierarchy shifted under Francis This move is vital given that Africa makes up 20% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics North America is home to only 6.6% of the world’s Catholics The conclave that will choose Pope Francis’s successor will be larger and more diverse Eight out of 10 of the cardinals have been elevated to their role by Pope Francis That doesn’t mean that all of them align with his views Some of the African cardinals are traditionalists But the prospect of a Black pope has been raised one or more of the first millennium popes might have been Black The faith’s growing diversity will be only one factor as the cardinals assess what the world needs from the next pope or home nation of their choice will be of lesser concern What would be beneficial is if that person continues an embrace of developing nations To take the opposite stand is to deny the realities of the faith The world would continue to benefit if the open-minded global embrace of Pope Francis isn’t allowed to end with him Mary Sanchez writes for the Tribune Content Agency SearchNathan Gamble reflects on Hollywood burnout, journey back to God and starring in modern 'Pilgrim's Progress' Log InSubscribeThe Christian Post starring in “Dolphin Tale,” “Marley and Me” and as Brad Pitt’s son in the 2006 film "Babel,” Nathan Gamble found himself in what he describes as a “wilderness,” both spiritually and professionally "I was working a lot from age 7 to 19," Gamble but it was all secondhand faith from my mom my hair was falling out … and then I came down with a nasty case of depression and loneliness while I was living in Hollywood by myself at 18 But It was in that solitude that an unlikely series of introductions led him to California Coast Bible College in Ventura "A guy who knew a girl who knew a guy who knew a dean of a Bible college asked if I’d ever considered going But something about the people he met intrigued him "Plot twist: it was the Spirit of God," Gamble said "I went just to make friends and ended up getting saved." who had worked consistently throughout his childhood surrendering his career entirely: "If You never want me to act again the script for “Miracle on the Precipice,” a modern cinematic retelling of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress starring “Hercules” and “God’s Not Dead” actor Kevin Sorbo Directed by Nathan Todd Sims and produced by FusionFlix Entertainment the film tells the story of the Lightly family a fractured group struggling with rebellion A trip to the mountains turns into a fight for survival forcing each member to confront their faith and flaws the prodigal son whose journey mirrors the classic allegory "The film came from a story my dad used to talk about: Pilgrim’s Progress," Gamble said But this film illuminated it in a new way." What made “Miracle on the Precipice” especially meaningful was not just the role "I was probably crying every single day on set," Gamble shared but because I was so overwhelmed with gratitude I never thought I’d be in this position again." Having grown up on massive sets with little spiritual grounding Gamble said the project felt entirely different That sense of divine appointment permeated the production describing moments when the cast and crew would pause after emotional scenes overcome not by performance but by presence "There were times when they yelled 'cut' and we just stood there That only happens when the Spirit of God is leading." Gamble stressed that spiritual resonance isn’t exclusive to faith-based films explaining it’s also seen in stories that uphold biblical values "’Dolphin Tale’ had a message of hope straight out of Scripture," he said We’re all created with a spiritual tuning fork He hopes “Miracle on the Precipice” will offer that same resonance for both believers and skeptics alike "This movie is for both my Bible college friends and my friends from the industry," he said but also to the faithful ones who feel forgotten like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son." especially those wary of faith-based films Gamble said that the forthcoming project offers an authentic representation of the Christian walk It shows what a walk with God really looks like Making the movie also deepened Gamble’s own faith He compares his journey to Joseph in Genesis who waited years for a dream to be fulfilled a dream realized after a long season of silence." but prepared him to cherish what came next "If I had jumped back in right after getting saved Gamble said he sees storytelling as a sacred calling and he’s learning to embrace the slow pace  "I want to tell stories that stir something eternal," he said "Whether that’s on a faith-based set or in a mainstream project I want to carry the presence of God with me." "The most dangerous prayer you can pray is "If ‘Miracle on the Precipice’ is the last film I ever make “Miracle on the Precipice” hits theaters later this year Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com “Of the many facets of a person with the long life and responsibilities that he had to carry out I would like to highlight Pope Francis’ dimension of ‘man of God’” offered that summary of the late Pope’s life at a press conference held on Thursday He expressed the Society of Jesus’ “grateful memory” of the Argentine-born Jesuit Pope “His approach to people and the situation in each context in which he lived is only grasped in its depth from the recognition of his spiritual experience” always sought to put into practice God’s will so that he could contribute “to the transformation of humanity to make this world a worthy home for all human beings” Fr Sosa said the Pope did not seek to measure his performance by other people’s standards but only to assimilate the Gospel of Jesus and invite all people to become saints “The important thing was to listen to one another” “to dialogue with the complexity of reality to scrutinize the signs of the times and in prayer to discern what is most appropriate at any given moment” The late Pope Francis dreamed that all people might live a dignified life and that the world might truly be a “common home in which we can all live as brothers and sisters” The Pope was “a man who knew how to acquire God’s merciful gaze on human complexity and gave his life to open up greater spaces for common life” the Jesuit Superior General recalled that no matter who is elected to succeed Pope Francis the Jesuits will faithfully fulfil their fourth vow of obedience to the Pope about the mission to be carried out L'Osservatore Romano00120 Vatican City.All rights reserved Longtime neighbors who used to pass through its gates for a brief respite from the hurly-burly of the Upper West Side or who took the shortcut through campus from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue and guards make sure no one enters without proper ID Columbia is now an island within the very island that drew so many of its students and faculty to its shores in the first place Perhaps the new rules will limit what that earlier academic gatekeeper once called “outside agitators.” Perhaps they will spare the statue of Alexander Hamilton the indignity of more red paint and graffiti Perhaps Columbia will return to the business of—as Miss Jean Brodie once boasted—putting old heads on young shoulders sharing a pre-war apartment on West 110th Street with my wife and daughter I had made the down payment on our condo with the proceeds from the option on a film that never got made and the check cleared the same day that the Writers Guild went on strike we hired our out-of-work actor friends to help us renovate the place; and with a lot of sweat equity and enough paychecks from a peripatetic writer’s life A methadone clinic stared back at us from across the street while crack vials and needles littered the playground in Riverside Park you entered Frederick Law Olmsted’s sylvan creation at your own risk but the daylight hours were not much safer My evening walks with Gretel followed a prescribed route: a brisk outing from our front door within the line of sight of our part-time doorman we ventured farther—to the grounds of that massive a Bar Mitzvah boy who had left whatever faith he had in the graveyard where his father was buried back in Georgia My last prayer was uttered when they tossed the dirt on the coffin three months short of my fourteenth birthday I would remain in my seat while my wife and daughter took communion John the Divine—the apostle or the pile of stones that bore his name Despite a sign that read “No Dogs Allowed,” once a week—as regular as Sunday School—Gretel and I would pass through the gates The greatest danger was the chance of being hit by an errant frisbee While Gretel rolled in the grass and flirted shamelessly with the students I enjoyed the vicarious thrill of being on an Ivy League campus imagining myself climbing the steps to the magnificent library sitting in the shadow of Hamilton’s statue with my classmates as a learned professor unlocked the key to Columbia’s celebrated core curriculum convinced that the future was mine for the taking If there was anything amiss in this earthbound gospel the Homecoming Queen of my smalltown high school as popular as I was pimpled when we were left at home with our widowed mother painful days when our father’s absence filled the house—teaching me how to dance encouraging me to have confidence in myself It’s no exaggeration to say that my cheerleader sister gave me the courage to get on with the business of living but to my surprise she flew to New York for a few days eager to spend some time with me and see the sights I didn’t ask if there was something wrong at home It never occurred to me that there could be anything wrong in my sister’s world where my sister found herself sitting near Mick Jagger I was the cool kid able to show her a thing or two But as the evening wore on and Mick vanished into a limo I began to sense something was troubling my sister It wasn’t her marriage or her children; it was something deeper something she couldn’t name but that seemed to cast a cloud over our cassoulet I suggested we take Gretel for her late-night walk For some reason I broke with routine and headed for Columbia unaware that the illness that would one day claim her life had begun to take root in her body because my cheerleader sister began to talk to me in a way she never had before and the Mashed Potato was seeking answers from her little brother not to see a Broadway show or shop at Saks Fifth Avenue but to share that same emptiness we both had felt since we lost our father I wish I could say I looked up into the night sky and suddenly saw the spire of St John the Divine shining like a beacon upon the campus below unable to pay its electrical bill to keep the lights glowing at night I was in the dark with my dog and my sister she taught me one more dance step and didn’t even know it after Laura retired to the guest room and Gretel fell asleep on the rug I told my wife that I wanted to be baptized I don’t claim that Columbia was my Damascus I wasn’t struck by lightning or the hand of God because Columbia opened its gates to a neighbor who was searching for something One year subscription including unlimited web access to the current issue and the online issue archives A common criticism of Christianity is that the God of the Old Testament is irreconcilable with that of the New British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins rants: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty Jesus is a huge improvement over the cruel ogre of the Old Testament.” He is “morally superior” to Yahweh and “was not content to derive his ethics from the scriptures of his upbringing I do not know whether Dawkins has read the Old and New Testaments in their entirety but his views reflect very selective summaries of each To refute them properly would be a book-length endeavour but a little Scripture goes a long way to get us started Christ frequently quoted the Old Testament so much so that it’s hard to quote him without simultaneously quoting the Old Testament and forgiveness before he mentions dealing with sin And he backed up those words with action – the Old Testament is replete with examples of his mercy toward his wayward creation When the first humans sinned, Dawkins’ “cruel ogre” would have taken pleasure in annihilating them on the spot. Instead, even as he issued punishments for Adam and Eve, God’s curse was pregnant with promise about a future Deliverer who would crush the serpent’s head.  Similarly, when Cain killed his brother Abel, God’s righteous judgment of the crime included a protection for the guilty Cain even weaving their stories into his grand plan of salvation.  The whole book of Hosea is a living metaphor God chose for himself – that of a jilted lover he often had that in common with Jesus as well the writer of Hebrews claims the “two” Gods are not only wholly reconcilable “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word….” Hebrews 1:1-3 replying to a disciple’s request that he show them the Father “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) he reflected God’s moral excellence as revealed in Exodus 34 Christ embodied God’s mercy and grace in spades; sinners flocked to Jesus because of his patient He forgave the paralytic man’s sins before healing his body dined at Zacchaeus the tax collector’s home and went out of his way to meet the Samaritan woman at the well He promised the thief on the cross paradise and forgave Peter his personal betrayal.  Why doesn’t it bob to the surface of the popular understanding of Jesus I can only guess it’s because judgment in general is extremely out of fashion in our day But it’s right there in black and white on the pages of the Gospels When Jesus was preparing his disciples to go and preach the good news of the kingdom, he said this of towns that would not hear their message: “Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matthew 10:15) Interestingly, popular culture, and even some Bible teachers, seem to summarize Jesus’s message as something like, “You do you. Never change, you special angels.” But this is a fantasy. If there’s any doubt left, consider John’s visions of the ascended Christ in the book of Revelation Lewis answers the burning question in Mere Christianity:  he is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger – according to the way you react to it Whether we encounter a wrathful or merciful God depends entirely on our own choices depending on an individual’s reaction to his provision for salvation.  All that said, something absolutely profound did change between the Old and New Testaments. I’ll explore that change more in a couple weeks but, for now, take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand the degree to which you’re serving the God of the Bible or a god of your own making. Any understanding of the Lord that does not make equal room for both his wrath and his mercy will necessarily fall into the latter category. Join over 325,000 readers discerning news differently or if you have further questions or general feedback If you met TV Personality Julie Chen Moonves seven years ago she would tell you that she was a self-made success thanks to her long-time career in front of the camera she’ll be the first to tell you that she owes all her success to God and all her career highs and lows were a “dress rehearsal” to get her where she is now “The old Julie was very work driven, took all the credit for all her successes” Moonves told Sheila Walsh on TBN’S PRAISE “God blessed every single job I’ve had, the tough ones, the easy ones, the good ones, the bad ones,” she continued “[T]hat was a dress rehearsal to now use any and every platform He blesses me with to promote His Word to tell people about how He has changed my life.”  After becoming a born-again Christian in 2018 Moonves’ outlook on her purpose in life drastically changed “Now, new Julie’s like, I want to use my voice to serve Him and His word and to promote it accurately and effectively,” the BIG BROTHER host said “I want Him to correct me where I’m wrong she revealed in her audio memoir But First God that her leaving the show in 2018 was more of a forced departure that left her feeling betrayed “The hardest part about losing that job was because of two of my co hosts who I thought had grown very close to, and, you know, were friends. I felt betrayed,” Moonves shared in a previous interview with 700 CLUB host Charlene Aaron “They went and said that they didn’t want to work with me anymore and so it was kind of like they had to make a choice It was after a former coworker who went on to become a pastor and her aunt sharing about Christ that led her to seek God for answers “You know, it’s during these dark times that the light shines the brightest,” the New York native recalled “And it was because I was down on my knees asking God for answers that I actually found Him and I took the time to look up instead of have my world around me and acknowledge that I needed Him Since reading the Bible and growing in her faith, she has learned to forgive those who have hurt her. Related: How Anchor Julie Chen Moonves Learned to Forgive: ‘God Before Anything and Everything’ “My purpose is to worship him. We were all born to glorify Him, and sitting there stewing in my house is not glorifying Him,” the 55-year-old said and that’s when I found peace…holding on to this grudge was not hurting anyone but myself and my relationship with God.”  Moonves often shares about her faith on social media and recently reflected on how she has changed “I feel so blessed to have been on this journey. It’s so important to remember where you came from so you never lose sight of where you’re headed. 🙏🏼🙏🏼” Moonves posted on Instagram alongside her high school photo.  A post shared by Julie Chen Moonves (@juliechenmoonves) Read Next: Julie Chen Moonves Uses Platform to ‘Create More Disciples Of Christ’ We are only able to make a difference because of your generous support Your access to this service has been limited If you think you have been blocked in error contact the owner of this site for assistance If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send" You will then receive an email that helps you regain access Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 5 million WordPress sites The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site You can also read the documentation to learn about Wordfence's blocking tools or visit wordfence.com to learn more about Wordfence Click here to learn more: Documentation 5 May 2025 22:32:27 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString()); some fans are starting to question if Craig has a God complex It’s like you can do no wrong.” Gabby didn’t hold back as she added “Taste is questionable in my opinion,” sharing Craig was the “perfect picture” of her example Gabby’s interview came on the heels of Paige’s appearance on Watch What Happens Live The podcaster told viewers Craig was lying “I disagreed with all of it,” she said at the time “I loved listening to it because I was like ‘What a fun story.’” Craig has also tried to deny that the breakup was mutual “I felt like he was saying that because he wanted to be the victim Fans have noticed that Craig often refused to embrace Paige’s success Paige claimed she never wanted to move to Charleston ‘I don’t want to have children in Charleston I don’t want to raise them in Charleston.’ He was like Paige spoke about being the breadwinner and that her moving never made sense The conversation ended with Paige realizing she wasn’t being treated fairly “I feel like I’m being gaslit into things that I need to compromise on.” During their hangouts Craig often tried to pressure Paige into his way of life It was clear that Paige was struggling with the thought of settling down Each decision seemed weirder than the last the entire cast admitted that they were scared of Craig due to his angry outbursts Austen was heard sharing, “I am terrified of Craig. I feel like, I’m just going to get backhanded for, like, stepping out of line.”  Rodrigo Reyes spoke with Us Weekly to elaborate as to why he and his castmates took issue with Craig and sometimes that can come across as being domineering I guess.”  Whether it is a God complex or straight-up hubris Craig should take notes and figure out how to tweak his bad attitude Southern Charm is available to stream on Peacock and Hayu in the UK and Ireland TELL US – DO YOU THINK CRAIG BELIEVES HE IS SOME SORT OF BRAVO GOD Jennifer O'Brien has been a fan of reality TV ever since Jessica Simpson asked "Is this chicken or fish?" Jennifer's favorite shows consist of everything Bravo including the 'Real Housewives' franchises Jennifer's passion for reality TV shines through as she often tries to get to the bottom of major plot lines like Vanderpump Rules' "Scandoval." I want to give you ten reasons why persevering in Christian preaching — expository exultation — is a great privilege I mean the straightforward dictionary definition: “a benefit enjoyed by a person beyond the advantages of most.” But I don’t want to overstate the privilege lest I come under Jesus’s rebuke of the 72 disciples who returned to Jesus with the excited claim that they enjoyed the privilege that the demons were subject to them but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20) One of my very first hospital visits as a brand-new pastor in 1980 was a visit to a dying old statesman of our church who had spent the last twenty years of his life caring for his invalid wife It was the first and (I think) last time that we met He reached out and took this young pastor’s hand and said the greatest thing in the world is to be saved.” Yes the note sounding from your pulpit should not mainly be “I am thrilled to be your pastor!” (which is a good thing to say) “I am thrilled to be saved!” And then your people will watch you but what it’s like to be thrilled that you are saved among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he the greatest thing in the world is to be saved that’s not what Kevin asked me to talk about but rather the privilege — indeed The way I have approached the preparation of this message is this: After a season of prayer during which I was crying out for wisdom and faithfulness and usefulness folded an 8.5-by-11 blank sheet of paper in half took a 0.5mm mechanical pencil (I buy them by the dozen on Amazon) “the privilege of preaching.” This half-sheet would be a jumble within a matter of minutes and I would have to use five or six of these I opened my Bible on the computer screen (I use Logos) with the ESV in one column and the original language in the other column Where in the Bible does it say something about the privilege of preaching What in my own experience of preaching over the last fifty years have proven to be the privileges of preaching And those two questions oscillate back and forth There’s no neat sequencing of exegesis first with experience second And that half sheet becomes a catchall for ideas from the texts and for everything that jumps out from my experience When I hit upon a text that describes a privilege And when I think of something in my experience that has seemed especially precious as a privilege I want biblical precedent and biblical authority for everything I say to you And I commend to you this oscillation of exegesis and experience as you prepare messages I think it is unrealistic in preaching — indeed probably damaging — to try to bracket fifty years of God’s work in life while I focus on a text What matters in preparing a message is not which comes first or second — exegesis or experience What matters is what’s in control: God’s word or your experience the insights that can come in exegesis when the process of exegesis is permeated by your real-life experience and your real-life experience is tested by good exegesis Here are the privileges of Christian preaching Christian preaching is a great privilege because it immerses us in the supremely valuable and supremely enjoyable word of God The preacher has the enormous privilege of making his living by living in the divinely inspired All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food I remember when I got my very first job teaching biblical studies at Bethel College in 1974 I held up the contract to my wife and said They pay me for studying the Bible and telling people what I see.” Six years later, I resigned from my teaching job and became a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church. On July 13, 1980, in my first Sunday evening message Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today The word of God is more precious than gold but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) “The words that I have spoken to you,” Jesus said What a privilege to have your very vocation in life defined as swimming in the ocean of God’s word Christian preaching is a great privilege because God feeds those who feed his people He supplies his preachers with the spiritual insight and wisdom that we need to do what he calls us to do in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will How many times does the Christian preacher hear the Lord say “I don’t have anything except this tiny lunch of five loaves and two fish What good is that among so many?” To which Jesus responds He works a miracle with your meager contribution I testify that for fifty years the Lord Jesus has not failed to feed me when I feed the sheep For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you When God called me from academia to the pastorate I wrote in my journal what I thought I would be losing I was afraid that God would not feed me with the wisdom and the insight and the glory of his word if I had to live with the pressures of the pastoral ministry I believe that God delights to give exegetical breakthroughs and fresh expressions to desperate pastors who give him their five loaves and two fish Christian preaching is a great privilege because it compels us to be full of the Spirit and truth in season and out of season You don’t always get to choose when you must preach That uncertainty is a privilege because it compels you to be full of the word all the time And what a blessing to be full of the word all the time “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) — that is when you expect to preach and when you don’t Rollin Erickson was the most respected statesman in our church He was on the search committee that called me to the church I got a call that his wife had a heart attack and was on her way in the ambulance to North Memorial Hospital I jumped in my car and felt very satisfied that I would be there in no time I was in such a hurry that I neglected to take my little handheld Bible there were about a dozen people when I walked in and got down on my knees at my prayer bench and said to the Lord That will never happen again.” And then I memorized Psalm 46: There is no crisis that does not find help in Romans 8 Do you think that experience in the hospital with Rollin was not a blessing to me to be ready out of season is a great privilege for the Christian preacher Christian preaching is a great privilege because it demands that we gladly work for the people’s gladness in God who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice Love seeks to enthrall the beloved with what is supremely and eternally satisfying — namely What a privilege that it is the life calling of a pastor to pursue the happiness of his people in God I am overflowing with joy” (2 Corinthians 7:4) [Your leaders] are keeping watch over your souls Let them do this with joy and not with groaning we must be glad in the pursuit of their gladness in God This calling is a happy and glorious privilege Christian preaching is a great privilege because by it we become agents of God’s eternal salvation [God] made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How will they call on him in whom they have not believed And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard And how are they to hear without someone preaching The faithful preaching of the word of God saves sinners and brings them safely home to eternal life and it preserves them over the decades from making shipwreck of their faith he would come to church every Sunday with his believing wife and sit directly in front of me in the first row of the balcony Our eyes would lock every communion service when I explained that unbelievers should not eat of this precious bread and drink this cup And then one day he took my hand at the door and said “We need to talk.” We met on Wednesday night after the prayer meeting was — to her dying day — joyfully thankful to God and to me that her husband was willing to listen until he could resist no longer and who was the happiest person I have ever known what’s the key to staying happy in Jesus?” Without a pause “Leading souls to Christ.” Faith comes by hearing That is a great privilege of the Christian preacher Christian preaching is a great privilege because by it we sustain the faith of saints through trauma and loss and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30) None of those who are called into the fellowship of his Son is ever lost leading you to fall away from the living God as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end Whether through daily mutual exhortation or weekly preaching we become the means of sustaining the faith of the saints “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary” (Isaiah 50:4) which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21) “I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10) Your faithful preaching is saving the saints every Sunday Every faithful sermon is a salvation sermon You feel the sweetness of this privilege when a young mother who has sat under your ministry for ten years gives birth to a disabled child who will never walk or have the mental capacities beyond a three-year-old and she comes to you a year later and says I would have gone insane if you had not taught me all those years that God is sovereign and has good purposes in all our sorrows.” Oh how many stories could be told of how God has preserved the faith of his saints through preaching Christian preaching is a great privilege because the suffering it brings is a tribute of faithfulness Then [the apostles] left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name If you are insulted for the name of Christ because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul how much more will they malign those of his household it is for your comfort and salvation” (2 Corinthians 1:6) and “[Do not] lose heart over what I am suffering for you Christian preaching is a great privilege because by it we impel people into Christian ministry and missions The Lord of the harvest sends workers because we pray and we preach (Matthew 9:38) I make it my ambition to preach the gospel “Those who have never been told of him will see and those who have never heard will understand.” (Romans 15:20–21) Is it not remarkable that Paul did not trace his peculiar calling back to the Damascus-road experience but traced it to Isaiah 52:15 This is God’s ordinary way of causing people to change the entire course of their lives toward full-time Christian ministry They are sitting under the ministry of the word and something inexplicable happens as a word from the Lord takes root and grows into an irresistible calling and a lifetime of ministry It certainly happened to me that way — in the summer of 1966 listening to Harold John Ockenga preach in Wheaton’s Chapel “I want to handle the Bible like that.” My whole life was turned by the preaching of the word of God Give yourself to the preaching of God’s word and the ripple effect of your life will be immeasurable Christian preaching is a great privilege because it brings the unfading crown of glory Shepherd the flock of God that is among you as God would have you; not for shameful gain but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge you will receive the unfading crown of glory Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness a nourishing table of spiritual food for your people then the words of Jesus apply to you in Luke 14:14: “You will be blessed For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17) The greatest privilege of preaching does not come to us in this life but the next when the chief Shepherd puts the crown on our head Christian preaching is a great privilege because we are unworthy of it though I am the very least of all the saints to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ Paul had his very good reasons for feeling unworthy When I look back on the follies of my teenage years — the anxieties the self-absorption — what can I say except Grace upon grace has been poured out on my life “Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7) The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life to the degree that you feel unworthy of this calling as a Christian preacher let that feeling intensify your enjoyment of the privilege On Wednesday of Holy Week, while most Christians were preparing to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a proclamation of a different kind: “Autism destroys families.” He went on to say that autistic children “will never pay taxes many of them will never use a toilet unassisted … ” I have gotten accustomed to people being casually dismissive of autistic people or thinking that our lives are tragic or deficient But I did not ever expect to hear it from a sitting HHS secretary standing at a podium with the American flag behind him While others have already addressed just how incorrect these blanket claims that RFK Jr such an approach only addresses part of the problem and many neurotypical people may be able to do none of them But this isn’t just a question of getting the facts about autism wrong is getting one of the essential facts about humanity wrong You would be hard-pressed (though some have tried) to make a biblical case for those as fundamental markers of inherent human dignity or value the two earliest and most fundamental claims about the value of human beings come for exactly the same reason God makes the very first covenant with humanity As a part of this great covenant with all of humanity God forbids murder: “Whoever sheds human blood by a human his blood will be shed; for in the divine image God made human beings” (Genesis 9:6) Murder is unacceptable because of how humanity was created and whose image it is that humanity bears Humankind has value because in it — in every last member of the species — God can be seen in some way Theologians have disagreed over the intervening centuries about exactly how it is that we see God in humanity but Scripture makes it simply inescapable that all of humanity bears the divine image And bearing that image is what gives us value; it is what makes the elimination of human life unacceptable Human life is of infinite worth because of the image of our maker that we bear — that we all bear This is the theological heart of the problem: RFK Jr.’s comments assume the value of human life is found in human capacity He laments what he considers to be the inherently tragic nature of autistic lives simply because they may not share the same capacities he expects human beings to have He believes autism is a “disease” that “destroys families” because it means that the lives affected by it are somehow worth less than other lives Autism “destroys … our children” if they can’t play baseball this means that autistic children lack something essential about what it is to be human All of this is made possible when we fail to see the image of God in autistic people — even though God has already told us it is there — and the value that image gives to every human life even if we treat this as merely a theological question Devaluing any human life is a denial of the image of God It is a refusal to see the goodness of God in God’s own creation In the parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 25:31-46 the defining difference between the sheep and the goats is that some people treated Christ with respect and charity and some didn’t: “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear I was in prison and you visited me.” Those who took care of the vulnerable Christ went on to eternal life and those who didn’t faced the much grimmer prospect of unending fire All of them — sheep and goats alike — were surprised to find that Christ had been present in the form of those they held of no account: “when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you have done it for me.” We can claim no such ignorance cannot say we have no idea that Christ is always present among us; we have already been told that every human being bears the image of God Matthew 25 turns the imago dei into a challenge: Are we willing to see the face of Christ in everyone we meet Or do we limit it to those people to whom we have already deemed worthy would be so willing to devalue the humanity of autistic individuals regardless of what abilities or capacities they do or do not possess But perhaps it isn’t my condemnation that he ought to fear RFK Jr.’s comments make clear that he does not see God’s image, does not see Christ’s face in autistic people. As a society, however, we need not replicate his error. Seeking out the face of Christ in each other — regardless of ability or capacity — is no less than a Gospel imperative. In autistic people, as in every member of the human species, God is pleased to dwell. Every one of us bears the image of God — the only question is whether or not we recognize it when we see it. Ian Lasch is an autistic Episcopal priest. He is currently studying for his PhD through the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Autism and Theology, and his dissertation is on autism and the imago Dei. He is married to Loren, also an Episcopal priest, and father to two neurodivergent children. Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback! Robert F. Kennedy JR, President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, is seen in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington DC, as he meets with Senators on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA) Even if the White House were to prove its claims that these men broke the law, there is no justification for what President Donald Trump and his subordinates are doing. Pilate used fear and blame to mask unjust actions; there's a lesson for us as Trump defies court orders. "The very act of her getting up and pressing and pushing to her rightful healing is an act of resistance." Vanessa Martinez Soltero is an activist bridging her Christian faith and Indigenous traditions to sustain herself and community. A National Day of Prayer appeal to Christian values failed to buoy Trump's approval rates. Those of us who have met Trump's first 100 days with lament and anger are neither alone nor powerless. The musical opens at the Imperial Theatre on April 10. Get the best deals and latest updates on theater and shows by signing up for TheaterMania's newsletter today! To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications The God of War franchise may be in a bit of a limbo at the moment with fans unsure what will be next for Kratos and Atreus this free download is a way to pay tribute to our favourite Spartan warrior whilst also giving you an incentive to dive back into the epic series once again Check out the 20th anniversary trailer for the God of War series below It is hard to believe that the first God of War title was released way back in 2005 considering that many player’s first experience with Kratos was during the series’ 2018 God of War reboot Santa Monica Studio has also released God of War Ragnarök back in 2022 and it is safe to say that the reboot series has been a success with us now unsure as to which direction the studio is going to take next it could be a while before we get to see Kratos in action once again Luckily, as a way to show our appreciation for both him and the series, PlayStation Stars is giving away an exciting freebie PlayStation Stars is a free membership scheme from Sony that allows users to earn points by taking part in various campaigns as well as earning points which can be exchanged for free store credit members can also earn some free collectibles which can be showcased on their PS Stars profiles This is the case this time around as God of War fans will be able to grab the rare Blades of Chaos collectible all you have to do is play any of the following God of War games either on the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5: God of War (2018) Simply activate the campaign on the PS Stars app and then dive into any of the aforementioned games before 29 May to earn the collectible Topics: God Of War, Santa Monica Studio, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr recently shared the news of his wife’s tragic miscarriage but they are continuing to place their faith in God above all “Yes, I have a shoulder injury,” Carr began in his sermon for ChurchLV “Despite what ESPN says and what some lady on the podcast might think We’ve been in constant communication and we’re going to go forward with that.” Carr’s brother David told the NFL Network they believe the injury was sustained during the Saints’ Week 14 game with the Giants in December Carr also broke his wrist and suffered a concussion He said he’s been “dealing with” the injury as well as “people lying about me,” but right now Heather sustained extensive second-degree burns after a fire pit she was trying to light exploded It’s unbelievable what God has done.” She had been dealing with some “health stuff,” but after some tests the doctors told her she was “completely fine.”  “All we’ve prayed is that she would be OK which came to a complete shock and surprise to us is that we had a miscarriage.” and now we’re hit with this and this emotional toll of We have three little boys and a little girl and we’ll get to meet the other one when we get to heaven someday,” Carr concluded Despite these recent hardships, Carr continues to trust in God’s plan, saying, “The only opinion that matters…is the Word of God. And everything must bow at that.”Related: Derek Carr Heads to New Orleans Saints: ‘I Do Have Faith, and I Do Believe’  He also pointed to a recent bright spot; his three sons have all been baptized “It doesn’t really matter what we’re going through right now,” Carr said “That is the biggest win you could ever give me If our children will follow Jesus and openly declare that they want to follow God for the rest of their life Carr is open about his Christian faith, with his official website reading “The three most important things in my life are faith He is the reason I play football,” the website continued “Football is God’s gift to me and I am thankful He chose me to be the steward of this gift Being a quarterback is what I do but it does not define who I am I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ and I look forward to what God has in store for me on my journey through life.” In 2024, Carr co-hosted a Night of Worship event, where he shared his testimony, telling the audience He radically transformed and changed my life and I can’t help but tell people about Jesus.” Please keep Carr and his family in your prayers as they continue to navigate this difficult time Read Next: Raiders QB Derek Carr Finds His Identity in Christ: ‘I’ve Been Able to Minister to Thousands of People’ For comedian Nate Bargatze, creating clean comedy that a range of people — from kids to grandmothers — can enjoy is a fulfilling “calling,” he said in a recent interview with The New York Times Appealing to nearly everybody goes against the grain of the comedy world but Bargatze has always been up for the challenge In 2024, Bargatze put on the highest-grossing comedy show of the year, outperforming comedy juggernauts like Jerry Seinfeld and Adam Sandler, per Billboard “When I started in comedy, some comics would be like, ‘Well, I’m not for everybody,’ and I’d be like, ‘Why would you not want to be for everybody?’" Bargatze told The New York Times “Most of the comics I was around were the complete opposite of everything I did,” he added “I didn’t want you to notice that I was clean.. but he is motivated by “a bigger purpose.” “I am second to God. Second to your family, second to the audience, second to everybody,” he told The New York Times so it‘s very much a calling in that aspect.” “I just want to make something where all of them can be in the room together and I always loved that because I don’t think there’s much being made that they could go to.” Bargatze said he is “grateful to be a vessel” for the work he is doing during a January appearance on stand-up comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes’ podcast, "Funjelah." “It can’t be about me,” Bargatze told Johnson-Reyes Bargatze has shared how his Christian upbringing has guided his comedy “I come from a Christian family and Southern Christian, so I wasn’t allowed to watch anything,” he told Fox News in 2023 “And so growing up and only watching clean comedians During a 2023 conversation with comedian Joe Zimmerman on his “Nateland” podcast they could get disappointed real fast at you.” On his upcoming “Big Dumb Eyes” tour, Bargatze will stop at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, for three shows, as previously reported by the Deseret News Bargatze will perform at the Delta Center on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., he announced Salt Lake City is one of just five cities Bargatze will stop in on his upcoming tour Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker By Ed DeanAn analysis by Vox finds that Gen Zers (individuals born between 1997 and 2012) are coming around to embracing religion The story suggests that around or after COVID-19 came on the scene a movement among younger Americans started to focus on religion after years of decline In February of this year, Pew Research said Gen Z increase in religion is as almost as older Americans Pew says after showing years of a downward spiral the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable Why the increase of Gen Zer’s move toward faith Vox says there are 3 potential explanations: feels lonelier and more isolated from each other and society in during and after Covid Vox says anywhere from two-thirds to three-quarters of Gen Z reports feeling isolated a dynamic that has bled into the way they socialize Something about post-COVID seems to be bringing youth back to Christianity Some have attributed this dynamic to the rise of social media and smartphones in the pandemic lockdown period that defined the adolescence of so much of Gen Z and a resulting “mental health crisis” in response It’s possible there’s a right-leaning political or social shift of younger people There’s a sharp gender divide in who is driving the Gen Z religious shift Young Gen Z men are becoming much more religious while young women who keep a religious affiliation are shifting to more politically liberal and tolerant faith traditions “This gender divide is quite dramatic: Gen Z men are significantly more likely to attend religious services than Gen Z women,” the analysis found.   We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful If you sign up to subscribe to Florida Daily’s e-mail newsletter you will provide us your e-mail address and name and we will never obtain any of your contact information that you don’t voluntarily provide HOW WE USE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS IF YOU VOLUNTARILY PROVIDE IT TO US: If you voluntarily provide us with your name and email address we will use it to send you one email update per weekday Your email address will not be given to any third parties You will have the option to unsubscribe to our E-mail update at anytime by clicking an unsubscribe link that will be provided in each E-Mail we send Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences “God’s Gateway and the Devil in the Dark” from Christian Faith Publishing author J Grams is a powerful account of one man’s extraordinary encounters with the unseen forces of good and evil blending real-life experiences with profound spiritual revelations During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries unmarried men powerfully on the mission field — many of whom were deeply shaped by the life and writings of David Brainerd the great missionary to China; Henry Martyn who first translated the Bible into Persian (Farsi); and William Chalmers Burns a man known for powerful preaching as a missionary in China the single male missionary proved the rarest of sights They appeared more often in support ministries — as airplane pilots or accountants — than as frontline church planters What has changed over the last couple of centuries Let me offer three reasons for why I think young unmarried men rarely make it to the front edges of gospel advance along with three remedies that might help get them there When our family returned from Papua New Guinea to San Diego our son promptly joined the high school water-polo team Water sports are big in southern California and the workouts and practices were wild to watch (Treading water with a full five-gallon jug over your head for fifteen to thirty minutes is no joke.) But it astounded me that these athletes became so sluggishly immersed in their phones once out and a host of other apps demanded their attention when not immersed in the water Distraction has become so common that it’s strange to see someone younger than thirty not on his phone during downtime Distraction eats at the soul of the Christian Goals that could be achieved get pushed off or dropped The sands of time slide away in the warm glow of small screens The allure of entertainment rivets young minds to the present keeping them from dreaming about how their lives might be of service in the great history of gospel advance One of the unspoken idols among some Christians today is the family Don’t get me wrong: I am a huge proponent of godly families and parents who raise up young men and women to glorify God by enjoying him forever But the common error of glorifying the gift and not the Giver has captured many in our day is too often ruled out before even considered as an option Every true follower of Christ loves the idea of the nations being reached with the gospel — as long as it’s not our own sons sent to do it I have the privilege of running a missionary training school that has equipped over four hundred frontline church planters these young people are the cream of the crop and the comforts of their own culture for the sake of the Great Commission the chief obstacle they face is Christian parents The hope of handing the family business to the next generation enjoying Christmases together for years to come and having a host of other good things trump the call to the nations parents subtly tilt the table to keep those dangerous ideas down and to put forward a more palatable future One of the lamentable aspects of Western culture is that there are no rites of passage for boys to become men The closest thing we have is getting a driver’s license or turning eighteen hardly accomplishments of great significance When my family moved in among the YembiYembi people we discovered that a boy becomes a man when he kills a wild boar at night with a spear by himself not able to marry and not able to enter the house of men (a clubhouse of sorts where men exchange food and stories) he is carried into the village on the shoulders of his family to shouts of praise — praise to him for the kill and to his family for having raised a man The underlying message: We have grown stronger as a tribe Many young Christian men are disillusioned about what their purpose is When life is reduced to the best college option the most gratifying job I can do while still making decent money it’s no wonder that a man made in the image of God grows listless and unattuned to the things of eternity How do we counteract this stew of distraction I dislike the company of Christians who don’t cheer hard at sporting events should press in on life and seize it by the neck no matter what God gives us We don’t belong to the timid tribe that shrinks back and is destroyed but to those who believe and are saved (Hebrews 10:39) knowing that this is not where our home or treasure is Young men who have a vision for the world to come live differently They have more time for those who need them; they worry less about looks and more about heart; they are all in on whatever they are doing If there is one thing I would wish for every young man it is that he would have a Christ-follower in his life he respects one who presses him to go hard after what he knows to be good and true become known as someone who runs hard at life This will bode well for you in ventures foreign and domestic you will stand with no shame on that great day If parents and pastors would read and recommend missionary biographies to young men And note this about missionary biographies: The good ones don’t gloss over the warts of the missionary and they highlight the grace of God in each season Young Christian men who read these stories can see themselves in them and can aspire to great things — not because of who they are now but because our unchanging God will be with them young men can do incredible things when they trust an all-powerful God Finding something worth living for is somewhat easy; finding something worth dying for is much harder my father told me the story of my grandfather enlisting in the U.S The prospects of living through the next four years were dim for him but the call to arms was so stirring that men en masse enlisted in the military So powerful was the call to arms that some men who were found unfit to enlist committed suicide a war is raging for the eternal souls of men The front where this war is fought most ferociously often lies in other lands and other languages The world was liberated from the Nazis in my grandfather’s time; the war for liberation from sin Entire language groups know nothing of God’s grace in the person of Jesus Christ The God of the ages summons you to this fight What will you do with the days you have been given Come fight for the King — not with guns but with words strongholds that have existed for centuries are pulled down worldviews that trap men in pain and death are destroyed But you find the desire for this fight only when you are willing to lay down your life for something great Heed the call of J.C. Ryle: “Young men of the present day, you are wanted for God. . . . A wide field of usefulness is open before you, if you are only willing to enter upon it. The harvest is great, but the laborers are few (Luke 10:2). Be zealous of good works. Come, come to the cause of the Lord against the mighty” (Thoughts for Young Men give up small dreams and come fight for the cause of the King “Faith and Fortitude in the Armor of God” from Christian Faith Publishing author Teresa Baker is an inspiring and deeply personal exploration of the emotional and spiritual challenges of living with long-term illness offering comfort and encouragement to readers Internet Explorer is no longer supported. Try downloading another browser like Chrome or Firefox If you already have an account, Sign in. Some try to state that the Spirit is referred to with feminine descriptors or that verbs attributed to femininity are used; therefore But this is a faulty conclusion based on an incomplete understanding of Hebrew (and Greek) cases and darkness was over the face of the deep And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word for hovering here is רחפ rachaph and is translated in the English versions as hover or move some paraphrases use brood to translate this Hebrew word and people have tried to force this to mean the Spirit is acting like a mother bird and and hover or move is by far the preferred translation so using the word brood here makes no sense No living thing (with the possible exception of angels) had been created yet so brood cannot be the proper word choice here The usual argument for the Holy Spirit being feminine (or having feminine qualities) is based on the personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8:1–9:6 wisdom and understanding are described with feminine pronouns But aside from the fact that the passage is poetry it is not describing the Godhead’s gender—“wisdom” is never called the Spirit or Holy Spirit and is made plain that it is a characteristic of the entire Godhead God did not at some point before creation “possess” the Holy Spirit—he is an eternal part of the Godhead The Hebrew word here is קנה qanah and can mean to “buy,” “obtain,” “possess,” or “get.” The word established is the Hebrew (nacak) which literally means to be anointed or poured out like oil on the new king’s head (like in 1 Samuel 16:13 and 1 Kings 1:39) Then Proverbs 8:24–25 uses a very interesting Hebrew word (chyl) to describe wisdom. It basically means to “be born through labor” and is often translated to describe childbirth. These verses are saying that God brought forth wisdom—something which could never be said of the Holy Spirit But when they try to associate the Holy Spirit with a feminine wisdom they completely ignore Proverbs 3:19–20: “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open ‘You are my sister,’ and call insight your intimate friend.” It is clear after reading those passages that Solomon is personifying wisdom and intelligence (two characteristics of God) and making them easy to identify in poetic form It is saying nothing about the Holy Spirit’s supposed feminine gender The other commonly used argument (and this may be the most common one in Latin America) is that the Hebrew word ruach is a feminine noun That word can mean anything from “wind,” “breath,” “spirit,” or “Spirit.” But in many cases spirit is in the lowercase and is most often referring to the spirit (feminine noun) of a man (masculine noun) I could have included hundreds of verses like these a feminine noun has been used many times to describe an obvious male’s spirit (his inner self) Spirit is not a stand-alone noun but used as a descriptor of God (masculine noun) the phrase is “The Spirit of the Lord” or “The Spirit of God.” like Hebrew and Greek (and even modern ones like German) the masculine or feminine case of a noun actually means little if anything relating to gender in most words you basically have three genders in German—masculine and neuter—and although English has the same three genders they play a very different role in German grammar Gender in English is what’s called natural gender; for instance boy and girl are examples of masculine and feminine gender words while computer is an example of a neuter gender word So instead of referring to a word’s meaning The three gender markers that mean the (singular) in German are der (masculine) The plural form of the definite article is die English has only one gender marker for the definite article of all nouns where you have all three bases covered: der Löffel (the spoon) Don’t worry if you don’t see any logical pattern here because there isn’t one except that Hebrew does not have gender markers So breath (as the examples of spirit above) in Hebrew is always a feminine noun This is also the case with spirit which is the same Hebrew word (ruach) Look for example at the verse here in Isaiah 2:22: “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath the word breath or spirit or Spirit is usually pneuma which is a neuter noun I know of no passage in the original Hebrew or Greek or the English translations where the Holy Spirit is ever referred to with a feminine pronoun. There is no “she” or “her” ever used in connection with the Holy Spirit. In fact, there are three times where Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit with masculine pronouns: Paul uses masculine pronouns twice to describe the Spirit: Peter also uses a masculine pronoun for the Holy Spirit: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you but on your part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:14 NKJV) the cases of nouns may be either masculine but they rarely refer to the “gender of the object” (and when they do it is almost always in reference to animals that are indisputable [heifer vs Gender is mostly left for the pronouns to elucidate and clarify God is Spirit and has no physical or biological gender but is consistently portrayed as relationally male—he is Father When God the Son (not daughter) became incarnate Attempts to identify God with feminine or neuter pronouns are not supported by Scripture and Thank you for signing up to receive email newsletters from Answers in Genesis You can also sign up for our free print newsletter (US only) Please follow the instructions we emailed you in order to finish subscribing Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ Learn more our daily lives involve us in primarily artificial things We eat food bought from a store or restaurant We travel around on artificially straight roads made by machines by means of vehicles whose speeds and environments are similarly artificial We spend hours watching or reading things artificially presented to us mediated through screens whose hardware and software are produced in one sort of factory or another We are habituated to believe and feel that our whole world Of course, “artifice” is not necessarily bad. Human writing, a loaf of bread, and painting are all “artificial” because they are made by human beings. But there is a “threshold of artificiality” beyond which more negative effects start to accrue Perhaps the worst effect is our increasing difficulty of seeing that God is the Maker and Giver of all things How can we see God as the generous Giver of all good things if all we daily use has man as its maker Maker of heaven and earth.” We know from the Bible that the things God has made declare that they are his creations But the rich bounty of our world doesn’t merely tell us that God is its Maker (though it certainly does that) The Scriptures and the world also declare that God is creation’s perfectly good Giver That creation is not God is not a throwaway sentiment; it tells us something very important This fact reminds us that God does not need creatures for him to be God It also reminds us that our whole existence is dependent upon his willed generosity: God’s fullness doesn’t “overflow” involuntarily but rather willingly creates life where once it was not He happily wills to give life and being to all and God’s act of giving life to creatures is an act of love a well-cultivated garden can bear witness that God is “the Lord and Giver of life.” If God is Good and creatures are by analogy good then both God and creatures are worthy of our delight and enjoyment creatures have a proper order in which they exist: a way of being themselves in harmony with everything else sin having brought disorder into the world sin has not annihilated created things or their goodness Even sin and injustice bear a negative witness to the original order that once was (and will be again one day) part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to renew our minds and hearts that we might see and know rightly the true relation that creatures have to their perfect Creator and come to know and love him in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:3; 2 Corinthians 4:1–6) We human beings are given life “in the image of God.” In this similarity to our Maker we are given “dominion” over other created things (Genesis 1:26–27) Yet how are we to exercise this under-lordship At least one way seems clear: Since we are made in the image of the Lord and Giver of life the Maker of a home for us in which creatures can live and flourish then we should find ways of acting that are analogously life-giving so that creatures flourish in their proper place These ways would honor the things given to us as God has given them treating them with knowing admiration and fitting gratitude toward God (Psalm 92:4) these life-giving ways would honor the Giver who gave us these specific things to know He himself delights in them (Genesis 1:31; Zephaniah 3:17) The psalmist calls upon the Lord to rejoice in the works of the Lord (Psalm 104:31) and those works include his gifts of rain and spring water (104:10–13) and the grass and other plants that grow as a result of that water (104:14) The psalm reflects upon the feeding of the plants the fish: The Lord God feeds them all so that they live This litany of the Lord’s works then includes the human works of bread and wine (104:14–15) it seems to me that if these man-made works are going to glorify the Lord who gave us the whole ecosystem that produces wheat and grapes (including the animals who spread their seeds and fertilize their soils) then our making and use of bread and wine should be good in as many ways as possible their natural life-giving properties not destroyed but enhanced by our actions upon them and the least damage to other creatures done in our use of them our human life would be nourished as well as the life of the other creatures upon whom our lives depend if the grass that becomes our bread is also grown by God to feed the livestock (Psalm 104:14; Genesis 1:28–30) then part of our God-honoring use of grass includes not destroying it for future generations — of human beings and of other creatures If we could learn to enjoy God’s creatures and to steward them according to working with the grain of their God-given fecundity we’d begin to see more clearly how they — and we — reflect the infinite and infinitely inexhaustible life of the triune God The same Paul who tells us that God gives us all things richly to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17) also tells us that gratitude to God the Giver is one of the most effective ways to prevent idolatry the sin that forgets God’s generosity and wickedly puts a creature in God’s place (Romans 1:20–23) If we can discipline our minds to give thanks to God for the particular gifts of water soul — things that God absolutely did not need to make — then a loving delight in and use of those gifts will come from that gratitude that gentle and delighted gratitude in God’s gifts will glorify God Legendary reggae act I-Octane found early success for his new album, God & I, as it debuts at No.1 on Apple Music's Reggae/Dancehall charts The artist's seventh album marks a turning point in his life led by God he reflected on the album's concept of divine timing as he witness a car accident in front of him on his way to the interview The album is about trusting the journey and remaining faithful God & I marks a powerful return to his roots after years in dancehall cementing his place as one of reggae’s enduring voices I-Octane is considered a legend in reggae and dancehall because of his rare ability to merge emotional depth and streetwise authenticity into a consistent body of work that spans over two decades the album blends spiritual introspection with raw storytelling and modern production allowing reggae’s roots to guide the music while embracing sonic evolution “This album reflects my journey—through struggles and everything in between,” I-Octane shared More: Dancehall Legends I-Octane & Shane O Take Advantage As An "Opportunist" God & I's standout track is the previously released "Opportunist." Featuring Shane O the single was produced by I-Octane’s five-year-old daughter The track explores the need for self-preservation and its striking video brings that urgency to life Not only in reggae and dancehall, the album’s reach extends beyond to rap. Several tracks cracked Itunes Top 100. At one point, it even outranked Kendrick Lamar's music this is an achievement that speaks to the I-Octane’s genre-defying sound From early hits like “Lose a Friend” to this new chapter he plans to continue on his new journey with God by his side The reggae and dancehall landscape is ever changing And with Afrobeats seizing the moment of today's music I-Octane returns to a boarder landscape that is more competitive than ever More: Frank Ocean A.I. Tracks Net Scammer Thousands In Sales