#i think in the english adventurers bible it says she ‘talks like a man’ or smtng along the lines of that. (can’t find it rn tho)

[jessiescock]

also i dont really think the squeaky voice fits otta

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀‼️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[britcision]

Alright, it’s time to talk about Lycion and dysmorphia and being a trans allegory

Because… yeah, I think a lot of people can really relate to being scared of mirrors because you hate everything you see in them, and going to extreme lengths to get a body you love

It’s not a complicated allegory

But, and I think this is pretty important and possibly more useful to the trans community than declaring him ours and trans… dysmorphia and dysphoria are not exclusive to trans people

They’re not even particularly related to any part of the body; it can be any part of it

And like 15 years ago when I was learning about trans issues and shit, I went and did a little research, because I eat knowledge. And y’know what fully settled any questions I had?

Found a case about a lady with what is currently being called body integrity/identity disorder, which is basically dysmorphia so severe that people have otherwise healthy limbs amputated to be able to live life in a body they can stand

This lady got both legs fully amputated, got a wheelchair, and became a pillar of her community where before she was almost bed bound

And y’know what, if that’s a thing that can happen and we can all agree that removing her legs was integral to her health, y’know what seems completely trivial by comparison?

Every gender affirming surgery ever

And y’know what is even more trivial?

All the other transition measures that have nothing to do with surgery, like hormones, puberty blockers, and social transitioning

Being trans has become a super political idea for basically no reason whatsoever, but it’s harder to maintain that ideology if you learn about things like dysphoria and dysmorphia as just medical conditions that absolutely anyone can get, and then look at what that means for gender dysphoria

Cuz if peoples’ brains can decide an entire limb has Got To Go then yeah, they’re probably also capable of deciding “that pronoun is Wrong” and we can take that just as seriously; it’s a much easier fix and also free

Basically I’m saying Lycion is our gateway drug cuz if you can understand this elf hates his body so hard he became a werewolf about it, are you really gonna throw a fit over someone getting a packer?

None of this to say you can’t or shouldn’t headcanon him as trans (and unless it comes directly and unambiguously from Ryoko Kui it’s a headcanon, nothing wrong with that it’s what fanon is for)

Just, y’know. Sound folks out on him without mentioning that part right away for your own safety and possibly entertainment 😁👉👉

Oh and super important: he’s not canonically cis either. Pretty sure it was just never specified. Enjoy and apply this knowledge across every character ever whose assigned birth gender isn’t brought up in canon

The thing Lycion definitely is in canon is a goddamn furry and an otherkin allegory, and arrested for awoo crimes. He’s one of only 5 characters in the Adventurer’s Bible with a stated gender (the others being Otta, Kaka, Kiki, and Inutade - everyone else has pronouns but no gendered nouns in English at least)

(Lycion’s “definitely a man” - or “definitely male” in the official translation, which technically excludes him from the gendered committee altogether)

You are, of course, welcome to disregard canon in all things you do - I personally encourage it, it’s much more fun to play in the space and do your own thing, and Dunmeshi has deliciously efficient story telling; there is so much empty space to play in

[melodicwitchlight]

arcaneprophesied ☀️ ivar the boneless :

During the entire 'transaction', Ivar watched the expressions on Athena’s face. The fear and distrust pulled a smile from the crippled king, who was known for his bouts of cruelty and unchecked anger. He wonders which stories have made their way to the Vestmenn - the Irish - which tales of battle have they heard? Or perhaps some version of Sigurd's death floats in their mind now.

When the deal is struck and the woman leaves, Ivar looks to Athena with a smirk. Boneless doesn't know the Celtic language spoken by the Vestmenn, though he knows English and his morsmål- given that the deal had been finalized in English, he wonders if Athena knows any Norsk. "Sitte," comes Ivar's command, gesturing to a seat nearby. "Snakker du Norsk?" He asks and before even gaining a response, he continues. "Mitt navn er Ivar den Beinløse og Jeg er din nye konge."

“If you do not speak our tongue, you will learn,” he warns.

she is in the village, finding herself by the seashore where she had seen the waves in. where am i? she thinks. as water is trickling through her face, as she touches her skin.

as she wanders, her feet digging into the grains of sand ( as she had no shoes or slippers ), she sees the houses, thatched straw roofs ( wheat for chocolate biscuits ). she nodded in thought, closing her eyes briefly and sighing in tiredness ; an inclination of nervous tick.

she then sees a boy, pensive and looking through a book. he had found her bible, fluttering away to wind, and he grasped the delicate crumbling object, so as to not lose it to thor. he was looking for answers, amidst his drug haze. he said his name was hvitserk during their conversation, she noting he looked ill or suffering tremendously, and saying ‘ please take care of your health ‘ ; a sirach passage.

as athena entered the house, a man is talking to a person called baldur who said he was a norse god and they had discussed business of trade. baldur had on a black suit with white buttoned blouse. he himself, of course was one. as encouraged by freydis, when he had thought he was a crippled monster. she sits next to him on her own throne, blond braided hair and wearing a dress. she was very beautiful, he and her attending ballroom dances. he had once seen a blonde male there looking out the window, with blood dripping down his chin -- or was it wine?

after business concluded with baldur, ivar looked at the next person in line. she says, ‘ hi, earl ragnarsson,‘ to him and bowing in respect. she is holding her bible ; hearing him say he worshiped norse religion to baldur. she remembered deutoronomy had abhorred norse, there being a passage where thiago demolished karou and akiva’s pagan shrine.

she starts to say a starting passage from it, ‘ when you cross the jordan to search and occupy mount gerizim and e’bal, you shall bless it….’ as she is used to reading the bible, and it weaving in conversations with others.

ivar had gestured for her to continue, she beginning to say something about adventure, as he liked stories, interested in what people had to say, his mother aslaug spoke stories to sing he and his brothers to sleep. intrigue in his blue eyes, as he leaned on forward in chair. she was an newcomer to kattegat, he thought, as he hadn’t seen her before. she was likely a foreigner from the far isles, as there was a fishing dock nearby.

yet she realised during, ‘ you must demolish completely all the places, search out and destroy that do not serve our god…’ he looked quite scary and remembering she was in pagan land, and paused. she is quiet and blinked nervously. in the monastery, father cuthbert had been quite mean when he was performing her monk duties, when she was a male. he did not even listen to her, she working to the bone, and he saying, ‘ sit down or shut up. ‘ ivar’s expression slowly changes to one of suspicion, during this time, wondering who or what she was saying and planning of demolishing, and he glares.

her eyes widen at hearing him say he owned her, at her silence, ‘ perhaps you are to be a thrall since you have lost your tongue, ‘ and she is startled. she didn’t want to continue on the passage, as he might kill her!

he is angry she wasn’t responding after a long time ( perhaps she is an enemy ), as she looked like she was judging him. he recalled killing when he was a child with his little axe, the other children teasing him. and his mother aslaug had soothed him, saying it’s all okay. he had many angry rages, yet thinking he may endure being boneless, despite the mocking words around him that he was not a man. he had endured much. he slides down from the chair ; the coils of a snake 🐍 slithering to the ground and held his crutches next to him to calmly walk to her. ‘ you must surrender to me!!’

she thinks he is about to strike her, slithering in for the kill, and shrieks, backing away. she wishes for a prince to carry her in her arms, not kill or harm her in any way.

‘ brother! ‘ hvitserk rushes to where ivar was, and says, ‘ let’s try to understand her strange runes. ‘ ivar stares at his brother, and says, ‘ alright, alright, ‘ he calms down, anger shadowing in his chest.

‘ this is my house. you must remember. so sit, ‘ he gestures to a seat across from him, gesturing at her hesitancy, and she sits down. he himself makes his way back to his throne, walking on his cane. ‘ do you speak norse? my name is ivar the boneless and I do not speak your tongue. I understand a little of what you say, from our travels to england. ‘ and there was sinric, the translator whom was not with them right now. ‘ yet why do you stop in your story, hmm? ‘ they could have found some way to continue communicating in the heart of all the noise and confusion. ‘ now, what were you saying of destroying? ‘

hvitserk gave her some bread, as she is shaking, she thanking him. he said, 'this is your house too, only yours.' he looking at her with his blue eyes, trying to see if she understood that. it was a french delicacy that they brought from france 🇫🇷 during their raid there ; brioche bread. as she chews, she thinks on what to say. she looks at where she left the story off in her bible. the fragrant incense of beauty calmed her a little, she looking briefly around her, and seeing ivar was seated next to her, with no more indication of real insidious intention nor that her speaking in the bible didn’t make god strike her when she stood. ‘ I wasn’t thinking of destroying anything. it is a passage from my bible, ‘ as she holds her bible tightly, yet in unison of the pages in beautiful calming thought.

[dailyaudiobible]

02/19/2021 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 7:28-9:6, Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalms 37:12-29, Proverbs 10:5

Today is the 19th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we round the corner here. We’re at the end of another week just about and we’ve transitioned into two new books this week and we’re getting’ moved into those and enjoying that. So, let’s…let's continue…let's continue with the journey. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Leviticus chapter 7 verse 28 through 9 verse 6.

Commentary:

Okay. Let's…well…let's talk about harvest today. Jesus talked about it. And, you know, harvest…harvest is definitely a scriptural…a scriptural term that Jesus talks about, being the Lord of the harvest or sending workers, the laborers are few to go into the harvest. So, this is definitely a scriptural term but it’s…it's an agricultural term as well. We understand that seedtime and harvest that's…that's how we get our food. And, so, if you are a farmer you want to seed to go into the soil, you want it to…to yield fully to its full potential, and we understand these things. So, Jesus is talking about different kinds of soil that the seed gets planted into and depending on the kind of soil really dictates the kind of harvest. So, the seed can be awesome seed but planted in not so awesome soil it's not gonna be an awesome harvest, but good seed planted in good soil does produce a great harvest. Jesus was teaching this in a story, in story form, in parable form, as He often did. And it's easy enough, and this is a popular…popular enough parable that we sort of understand the lay of the land. And Jesus was pretty explicit in giving an interpretation of the parable that He had given. We all want that 100-fold harvest, right? We all want a bountiful harvest in our lives. Maybe we need to start thinking about gardening. Maybe this is the point in our journey through the year and our journey in life that we need to turn inward and see our heart, see our hearts as a field of soil. What kind of soil is there? Because whatever kind of soil is there is going to dictate the harvest, no matter how good the seed is. So, God is nourishing us through His word every day here as we take this journey through the Bible. This is good seed we could say, but are we, are our hearts good soil for this good seed. So, if the seed falls and cannot take roots then it’s just gonna lay there on the surface and it's gonna get snatched away. If…if our hearts are hard and stony and difficult, then there's nowhere for the seed to take root. And if we’re just distracted and anxious and full of worry or we’re just distracted and chasing other things, other desires…well…then the soil of our heart is thorny and it's gonna choke the seed out. We can understand this. We can even…we should be able to visualize this. We’ve seen rocky ground we’ve seen thorny ground. Like, we should understand this and we can even visualize how difficult it would be for a bountiful harvest to grow under those conditions. If our hearts are in that condition than they are not going to yield the bountiful harvest, we are hoping for. In other words, God’s gonna do His part here, but we have some gardening to do. We have our part. Our role to play in. And maybe it's time to dig up the stony ground and do away with the thorn bushes and make ourselves fertile and ready for anything that God wants to bring in this adventure that we call life, this dance that we are in together with Him.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You. Thank You for this wisdom. It's very clear. It's abundantly clear. We know the hard places in our lives. We know the thorny places in our lives. We know the shallow places in our lives. And we just need help. We need You to guide us and show us how to become good soil. So, come Holy Spirit as we contemplate this, as we consider, as we meditate upon this, show us the areas in our heart that need some gardening. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

H family it's Mica I haven't called for over a year. So much as has happened I could never catch you up in about a minute and 30 seconds; however, I…I did really need you guys help. You’re the closest thing I have to a family for a long long time. And I’ve spent a year homeless and been in a domestic violence shelter and lost all my stuff add my car and I was put in jail and you name it. Right now I'm out because of an injury from work and because there's some hold up and misunderstanding about the last time I was on unemployment. I am waiting for the determination so that I can get my workman's comp and things like that because I was injured back on January 7th. I haven't been working since. I've been borrowing money from people and leaning on people and I am just tired of it. I need I…need things to go right and I need __ things to stay away from me. Most of all I…I need to be right with God again and I need a family too. Please family help me __.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Natalie. I'm calling because I just wanted to leave a quick prayer for… I've been listening to a lot of the prayers of the people and I just wanted to just do a little prayer for each and every person. I may not know the name or the…where you're from but I know we are all connected in God’s family and the spirit of God is with us and…and He can intercede on our behalf. So, heavenly Father I thank You Lord this day for each and every person who's called in who had a prayer or who had a concern Father. You tell us Lord Jesus that Lord we are connected as a family and we can come boldly before Your throne to ask for mercy in our times of need oh God. Father I pray for those that are sick Lord. There was one gentleman who said he had a heart attack, and he was struggling…they diagnosed him with bipolar Father and we…we…we come against that Father because we know Lord God that You are the author and finisher of our faith and we know that by Your stripes we are healed Father and I pray for healing on those people Father God. What man says is one thing but what God says the final authority. Father I pray for those people that are struggling with their jobs, with their families, those that are not saved Lord. I ask Lord God that You Father God Lord You said that we just need to plant the seed and You would do the growing Father. Father I pray over those people Lord Jesus that have…have…have been one Young lady said that her…her Father committed suicide in December of 2020. Father I pray for peace in that family Lord Jesus. Father You said that You would work all things together for the good of those that love You and are called according to Your purpose. And, so, I pray Father God that everything that we go through in our lives, everything that she is going through and her families going through that Lord You would…You would receive the glory from at all. You said what the enemy meant for evil You will turn it around...

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Ethan of Ashburnham MA in the USA. I have a prayer request that I've been meaning to ask for…for a long time. I have a friend his name is Chris he's going through some sort of crisis that I won't go into detail here. He…he's walked away from Christ and truth be told I am really scared for his future. I know I shouldn't be. I'm not responsible for his future but I am. I just…without Christ there's this void in him that he's trying to fill with everything money can buy, physical items, but as we all know those don't fill us up. And also, I'm starting to become concerned that this is becoming an unhealthy relationship for me. I feel like I have to be in his life to just try and bring him back to Christ but that's not my responsibility. I shouldn't be doing that and subjecting myself. Please pray for my friend Chris. God knows who I'm talking about. He's been my dear friend for over 15 years, and he was one of the few people I thought with absolute certainty would never abandon me during a time in middle school when I thought nobody liked me. He's been one of my closest friends for over 15 years and I'm heartbroken of the way that he's becoming but I choose to trust in Christ and His strength.

Hi guys this is Margaret from Southern California. I'm calling in for Tiffany and Tony of Cleveland. Tiffany had called again asking prayer for joy after the loss of her daughter Gianna. And I remember your original first call and my heart sank because I can relate to this loss of your precious daughter. I lost my baby girl 11 years ago. She was a full-term stillborn baby girl, 9-pound beautiful baby and I delivered her still. And I know she went to heaven when she was in my tummy but at the time, I couldn't see straight for anything and I absolutely lost all joy. And I just want to encourage you guys that God has brought me alone and my husband so far these past 11 years and we truly have joy. We feel that God has done everything for us and as far as healing and mending our hearts and giving us more children after that and…but mostly I think that He's giving us a perspective of knowing that she's in heaven and we're going to be with her again. And I want to encourage you guys. Gianna, you're going to be with her again. And one day down on earth is one day closer to heaven for eternity and perfection with Jesus and I just can't wait for that day. And I just want you guys so badly to be able to experience that. And you know what, it may not be tomorrow but just keep…keep on keeping on and have that faith that the Lord will deliver you from this despair. I love you friends.

Good morning DAB family today is the 16th day of February and I'm just sitting in my car. I just finished listening to Daily Audio Bible for the 15th. Again, Brian it's just amazing listening to you. So, this is Janet from…from the UK and I'm just calling to ask for prayer for my mom. It's been 2 weeks. She's been diagnosed with breast cancer. And even though she lives in America I live in the UK I do have a sister and brother that's in the US also but they're not really active in her life and she's literally at the house by herself, but thanks be to God we do have friends that are taking care, helping to take care of her. But I’m going to try to go over to the UK. So, I'm asking for prayers, journey mercies as I leave from the UK to go to America to help take care of my mom. And I also pray for my mom because she has like diabetes and all these other stuff that…other combabilities as they call it. But I'm asking for prayer because I know I have the best…I have the best family, the most prayerful family powerful in prayer. So, I'm asking family that you help me pray that God will see us through, that He would just give us one day at a time as He normally does and that we’ll appreciate it and that my mom would be OK. Thanks family. Thank you so much for your prayers. God bless.

Hi family this is Melissa from Albertville Alabama. Brian, Jill, and Ezekiel bless you for all that you do for the body of Christ. I have a…a…a couple of prayer requests. And my sisters pastor his name is Darrell Davis his son was shot and he's not doing well, and he's developed Covid. Please pray for that family. And my nephew Elijah, I've called in several times. He has alopecia and he’s suffering from mental illness. He has left home and said he didn't want to anything to do with our family or God. He’s somewhere in California. We have no idea where he is. Please pray for him. Kingdom Seeker Daniel, Lord your call. I'm praying for you brother. I'm praying. God is so able. My sister who has metastatic breast cancer I didn't catch your name. God knows who you are. You said you had a compression fracture, I think. I'm praying for you. Jeremy Neph, please call if you can let us know how you're doing. So many calls have been so heavy on my heart. Just y'all just keep praying. Don't stop praying. God has us. I'm going through some health issues right now. I can't even go to church. But God is good. I love you family. You all keep us prayed up. Bye-bye.

[scifrey]

In February of 2017 I had the great pleasure of addressing the Grant MacEwan University English Department with a keynote speech titled “Your Voice is Valid.”

This speech was all about Mary Sues, fandom, and marginalized voices, and is a direct response to the negative reactions that media texts receive when they announce a protagonist that is deemed to be a "Mary Sue".

In the intervening years I think the message of my talk has become even more vital to creators, so I thought I’d record a  new video of the speech to share with a wider audience.

 If you liked this video, you can find more of my writing advice on my website.

Read the full speech on Wattpad, or below:

(Text may not match the video exactly as I did alter some of the phrasing.)

*

My friends, I have a declaration to make. A promise. A vow, if you will. And it is this:

If I hear one more basement-dwelling troll call the lead female protagonist of a genre film a ‘Mary Sue’ one more time, I’m going to scream.

I’m sure you’ve all seen this all before. A major science fiction, fantasy, video game, novel, or comic franchise or publisher announces a new title. Said new title features a lead protagonist who is female, or a person of color, or is not able-bodied, or is non-neurotypical, or is LGBTQA+.

It might be the new Iron Man or Spider-man, who are both young black teenagers in the comics now, or the Lt. Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery, or the new Ms. Marvel, a Muslim girl. It could be Jyn Erso, the female lead of the latest Star Wars film or Chirrut, her blind companion. It could be the deaf FBI Director Gordon Cole from Twin Peaks or Clint Barton from Fraction and Aja’s Hawkeye graphic novel series. It could be Sara, of Dragon Age fame or Samantha Traynor from Mass Effect, both lesbians, or Dorian also from Dragon Age, who is both a person of color and flamboyantly queer. Maybe it’s Lt. Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber, played by Anthony Rapp of (best known for his time as Mark in Rent) and Wilson Cruz, both open out gay men playing openly out gay men in a romantic relationship in Star Trek Discovery. It could be Captain Christopher Pike, from both the original Star Trek series and the reboot film, who uses a wheelchair and assistive devices to communicate. Or maybe it’s Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, fights with a prosthetic arm in the comics, or Iron Man, whose suit serves as Tony Stark’s ego-tastic pacemaker.

And generally, the audience cheers at this announcement. Yay for diversity! Yay for representation! Yay for working to make the worlds we consume look more like the world we live in! Yay!

But there’s a certain segment of the fan population that does not celebrate.

I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

This certain brand of fan-person gets all up in arms on social media. They whine. They complain. They say that it’s not appropriate to change the gender, race, orientation, or physical abilities of a fictional creation, or just protest their inclusion to begin with. They decry the erosion of creativity in service of neo-liberalism, overreaching political-correctness, and femi-nazis. (Sorry, sorry – the femi-“alt-right”).

It’s not realistic. “Women can’t survive in space,” they say, “It’s just a fact.” (That is a direct quote, by the way.) “Superheroes can’t be black,” they say. “Video game characters shouldn’t have a sexual orientation,” unless – it seems - that sexual orientation is straight and the game serves to support a male gaze ogling at half-dressed pixilated prostitutes.

“And strong female characters have to wear boob armor. It’s just natural,” they say.

These fan persons predict the end of civilization because things are no longer being done the way they’ve always been done. “There’s nothing wrong with the system,” they say. “So don’t you dare change it.”

And to enforce this opinion, to ensure that it’s really, really clear just how much contempt this certain segment of the fan population holds for any lead protagonist that isn’t a white, heterosexual, able-bodied, neurotypical, cismale, they do everything they can to tear down them down.

They do this by calling that character a ‘Mary Sue.’

When fan fiction author Paula Smith first used the term ‘Mary Sue’ in her 1973 story A Trekkie’s Tale, she was making a commentary on the frequent appearance of original characters in Star Trek fan fiction. Now, I’m going to hazard that most of these characters existed as a masturbatory avatar – wanna bone Spock? (And, um, you know, let’s face it who didn’t?) They you write a story where a character representing you gets to bone Spock.

And if they weren’t a sexual fantasy, then they were an adventure fantasy. Wanna be an officer on the Enterprise? Well, it’s the flagship of the Starfleet, so you better be good enough to get there. Chekov was the youngest navigator in Starfleet history, Uhura is the most tonally sensitive officer in linguistics, and Jim Kirk’s genius burned like a magnesium flare – your self-representative character would have to keep up to earn thier place on that bridge. This led to a slew of hyper sexualized, physically idealized, and unrealistically competent author-based characters populating the fan fiction of the time.

But inserting a trumped-up version of yourself into a narrative wasn’t invented in the 1970s. Aeneas was totally Virgil’s Mary Sue in his Iliad knock off. Dante was such a fanboy of the The Bible that he wrote himself into an adventure exploring it. Robin Hood’s merry men and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table kept growing in number and characteristics with each retelling. Even painters have inserted themselves into commissioned pictures for centuries.

This isn’t new. This is not a recent human impulse.

But what Paula Smith and the Mary Sue-writing fan ficcers didn’t know at the time was that they were crystallizing what it means to be an engaged consumer of media texts, instead of just a passive one. They had isolated and labelled what it means to be so affected by a story, to love it so much that this same love bubbles up out of you and you have to do something about it, either in play, or in art. For example: in pretending to be a ninja turtle on the play ground, or in trying to recreate the perfect version of a star fleet uniform to wear, or in creating art and making comics depicting your favorite moments or further adventures of the characters you love, or writing stories that encompass missing moments from the narratives.

‘Mary Sues’ are, at their center, a celebration of putting oneself and one’s own heart, and one’s own enjoyment of a media text, first.

Before I talk about why this certain segment of the fan population deploys the term ‘Mary Sue’ the way it does, let’s take a closer look at this impulse for participatory play.

Here’s the sixty four thousand dollar question: where do ‘Mary Sues’ come from?

I’d like you take a moment to think back at the sorts of games you enjoyed when you were about seven years old. Think back. Picture yourself outside, playing with your siblings, or the neighbour’s kids or you cousins. What are you doing? Playing ball games, chase games, and probably something with a narrative? Are you Power Rangers? Are you flying to Neverland with Peter Pan? Are you fighting Dementors and Death Eaters at Hogwarts? Are you the newest members of One Direction, are you Jem and the Holograms or the Misfits? Are you running around collecting Pokémon back before running around and collecting Pokémon IRL was a thing?

That, guys, gals and non-binary pals, is where Mary Sues come from. That’s it. It’s as easy as that.

As a child you didn’t know that modern literary tradition pooh-poohs self-analogous characters, or that realism was required for depth of character. All you knew was that you wanted to be a part of that story, right.  If you wanted to be a train with Thomas and Friends, then you were a train. If you wanted to be a magic pony from Equestria, you were a pony. Or, you know, if you were trying to appease two friends at once, then you were a pony-train.

Self-insert in childhood games teach kids the concept of elastic play, and this essential ability to imagine oneself in skins that are not one’s own, and to stretch and reshape narratives is what breeds creativity and storytelling. It shapes compassion.

Now, think of your early stories. As a child we all told and wrote stories about doing what, to us, were mundane everyday things - like getting ice cream with the fictional characters we know and love.

My friend’s three year old tells his father bed time stories about going on walks through Home Hardware with his friends, the anthropomorphized versions of the local taco food truck and the commuter train his dad takes to work every morning. He doesn’t recognize the difference between real and fictional people (or for him, in this case, the stand-ins that are the figures that loom large in his life right now as a three year old obsessed with massive machines). When you ask him to tell you a story, he talks about these fictions as if they’re real. And he does not hesitate to insert himself into the tale. “I did this. I did that. We went there and then had this for lunch.” He is present in all his own stories because, at this age, he understands the world only from his limited personal POV.

As we grow up, we do learn to differentiate between fantasy and reality. But, I posit that we never truly loose that “me too!” mentality. We see something amazing happening on the screen, or on the page, or on a playing field, and we want to be there, a part of it.

So we sort ourselves into Hogwarts Houses. We choose hockey teams to love, and we wear their jerseys.  We buy ball caps from our favorite breweries. We line up for hours to be the first to watch a new release or to buy a certain smartphone. We collect stamps and baseball cards and first editions of Jane Austen and Dan Brown. We want to be a part of it. Our capitalist, consumer society tells us to prove our love with our dollars, and we do it.

And for fan creators, we want to be a part of it so badly that we’re willing to make more of it. Not for profit, but for sheer love. And for the early writers, the newbies, the blossoming beginners, Mary Sues are where they generally start. Because those are the sorts of stories they’ve been telling yourselves for years already.

But as we get older, as we consume more media texts and find more things to adore, we begin to notice a dearth of representation – you’re not pony trains in our minds any more. We have a better idea of what we look like. And we don’t see it. The glorious fantasy diversity of our childhoods is stripped away, narratives are codified by the mainstream media texts we consume, and people stop looking like us.

I’m reminded of a story I read on Tumblr, of a young black author living in Africa – whose name, I’m afraid, I wasn’t able to find when I went back to look for it, so my apologies to her. The story is about the first time she tried to write a fairytale in elementary school. She made her protagonist a little white girl, and when she was asked why she hadn’t chosen to make the protagonist back, this author realized that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she was allowed make her lead black. Even though she was surrounded by people of color, the adventures, and romance, and magic in everything she consumed only happened to the white folks. She did not know she was allowed to make people like her the heroes because she had never seen it.

This is not natural. This is nurture, not nature. This is learned behavior. And this is hegemony.

No child grows up believing they don’t have place in the story. This is something were are taught. And this is something that we are taught by the media texts we consume.

I do want to pause and make a point here. There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with writing a narrative from the heterosexual, able bodied, neurotypical, white cismale POV in and of itself. I think we all have stories that we know and love that feature that particular flavor of protagonist. And people from that community deserve to tell their stories as much as folks from any other community.

The problem comes from a reality where when it’s the only narrative. The default narrative. The factory setting. When people who don’t see themselves reflected in the narrative nonetheless feel obligated to write such stories, instead of their own. When they are told and taught that it is the only story worth telling. ‎

There’s this really great essay by Ika Willis, and it’s called “. And I think it’s the one – one of the most important pieces of writing not only on Mary Sues, but on the dire need for representation in general.

In the essay, Willis talks about Mary Sues – beyond being masturbatory adventure avatars for young people just coming into their own sexuality, or avatars to go on adventures with – but as voice avatars. Mary Sues, when wielded with self-awareness, deliberateness, and precision, can force a wedge into the narrative, crack it open, and provide a space for marginalized identities and voices in a media-text that otherwise silences and ignores them.

This is done one of two ways. First: by jamming in a diverse Mary Sue, and making the characters and the world acknowledge and work with that diversity. Or, second: by co-opting a pre-existing character and overlaying a new identity on them while retaining their essential characterization. For example, by writing a story where Bilbo Baggins is non-binary, but still thinking that adventures are messy, dirty things. Or making Sherlock Holmes deaf, but still perfectly capable of solving all the crimes. Or making James Potter Indian, so that the Dursleys prejudiced against Harry not only for his magic, but also for his skin color. Or making Ariel the mermaid wrestle with severe body dysphoria, or Commander Sheppard suffer from severe PTSD.

I like to call this voice avatar Mary Sue a ‘Meta-Sue’, because when authors have evolved enough in their storytelling abilities to consciously deploy Mary Sues as a deliberate trope, they’re doing so on a self-aware, meta-textual level.

So that is where Mary Sues comes from.

But what is a Mary Sue? How can you point at a character and say, “Yes, that is – definitively – a Mary Sue”.

Mary Sues can generally be characterized as:

-Too perfect, or unrealistically skilled. They shouldn’t be able to do all the things they do, or know all the things they know, as easily as they do or know them. For reasons of the plot expedience, they learn too fast, and are able to perform feats that other characters in their world who have studied or trained longer and harder find difficult. For example, Neo in The Matrix.

-They are the black hole of every plot – every major quest or goal of the pre-existing characters warps to include or be about them; every character wants to befriend them, or romance them, or sleep with them, and every villain wants to possess them, or kill them, or sleep with them. This makes sense, as why write a character into the world if you’re not going to have something very important happen to them? So, for example, like Neo in The Matrix.

-A Mary Sue, because it’s usually written by a neophyte author who’s been taught that characters need flaws, has some sort of melodramatic, angsty tragic back-story that, while on the surface seems to motivate them into action, because of lack of experience in creating a follow-through of emotional motivation, doesn’t actually affect their mental health or ability to trust or be happy or in love. For example, like the emotional arc of Neo in The Matrix.

– A Mary Sue saves the day. This goes back to that impulse to be the center of the story. Like Neo in The Matrix.

-And lastly, Mary Sues come from outside the group. They’re from the ‘real world’, like you and I, or have somehow discovered the hero’s secret identity and must be folded into the team, or are a new recruit, or are a sort of previously undiscovered stand-alone Chosen One. Like, for example, Neo in The Matrix.

Now, as I’ve said, there’s actually nothing inherently wrong with writing a Mary Sue. Neo is a Mary Sue, but The Matrix is still a really engaging and well written film. And simply by virtue of the fact that an individual with ingrained cultural foundations is writing a story, that story is inherently rooted in that writer’s lived life and experiences. As much as a writer may try to either highlight or downplay it, each character and story they create has some of themselves in it. The first impulse of storytelling is to talk about oneself. We write about ourselves, only the more we write, the more skilled we become at disguising the sliver of us-ness in a character, folding it into something different and unique. We, as storytellers, as humans, empathize with protagonists and fictional characters constantly – we love putting our feet into other people’s shoes. It’s how we understand and engage with the world.

And we as writers tap into our own emotions in order to describe them on the page. We take slices of our lives – our experiences, our memories, our friend’s verbal tics or hand gestures, aunt Brenda’s way of making tea, Uncle Rudy’s way having a pipe after dinner, that time Grannie got lost at the zoo – and we weave them together into a golem that we call a character, which comes to life with a bit of literary magic. I mean, allow me to be sparklingly reductionist for a second, but in the most basic sense, every character is a Mary Sue.

It’s just a matter of whether the writer has evolved to the point  in their craft that they’ve learned to animate that golem with the sliver of self-ness hidden deep enough that it is unrecognizable as self-ness, but still recognizable as human-ness.

For years, mainstream western media has featured characters that were primarily heterosexual, able bodied, neurotypical, white cismales. And, regrettably, because of that, this flavor of human is now assumed to be the default for a character. When people from other communities speak up requesting other flavours, for characters for whom the imbedded sliver of humanity remains just as poignant and relatable, but the outer shell is of a different variety, this is when that certain segment of the fan population looses their cool.

That certain segment of the fan population has been telling us for years that if we don’t like what we see on TV or in video games, or in books, or comics, or on the stage, that we should just go make our own stuff. And now we are.

“Make your own stuff,” they say, and then follow it up with: “What’s with all this political correctness gone wild? Uhg. This stuff is all just Mary Sue garbage.”

Well, yes. Of course it is. That’s the point.

But why are they saying it like that?

Because they mean it in a derogatory sense.

They don’t mean it in the way that Paula Smith meant it – a little bit belittling but mostly fun; a bemused celebration of why we love putting ourselves into the stories and worlds we enjoy. They don’t mean it the way that Willis means it – a deliberate and knowing way to shove the previously marginalized into the center. They don’t even mean it the way that I mean it in my own work - as a tool for carefully deconstructing and discussing character and narrative with a character and from within a narrative.

When a certain segment of the fan population talks about ‘Mary Sue’, they mean to weaponize it. To make it a stand-in for the worse thing that a character can be: bland, predictable, and too-perfect. Which, granted, many Mary Sues are. But not all of them. And a character doesn’t have to be a Mary Sue to be done badly, either.

When this certain segment of the fan population says ‘Mary Sue’, they’re trying to shame the creators for deviating from the norm - the white, the heterosexual, the able bodied, the neurotypical, the straight cismale.

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I don’t believe people like this are interesting enough to be the lead character in a story.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I don’t think there’s any need to listen to that voice. They’re not interesting enough.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “This character is not what I am used to a.k.a. not like me, and I’m gonna whine about it.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “Even though kids from all over the world, from many different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds have had to grow up learning to identify with characters who don’t look or think like them, identifying with characters who don’t look or think like me is hard and I don’t wanna.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: ”Even though I’ve grown up in a position of privilege and power, and even though publishing and producing diverse stories with diverse casts doesn’t actually cut into the proportionate representation that I receive, and never will, I am nonetheless scared that I’ll never see people like me in media texts ever again.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “Considering my fellow human beings as fellow human beings worthy of having stories about them and their own experiences, in their own voices, is hard and I don’t wanna do it.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I only want stories about me.”

They call leads ‘Mary Sues’ so people will stop writing them and instead write… well, their version of a ‘Mary Sue.’ The character that is representative of their lived experiences, their power and masturbatory fantasies, their physical appearance, their sexual awakenings, their cultural identity, their voice, their kind of narratives.

Missing, of course, that the point of revisionist and inclusive narratives aren’t to shove out previous incarnations, but to coexist alongside them. It’s not taking away one entrée and offering only another – it’s building a buffet.

Okay, so who actually cares if these trolls call these diverse characters Mary Sues?

Well, unfortunately, because this certain segment of the population have traditionally been the group most listened-to by the mainstream media creators and the big money, their opinions have power. (Never mind that they’re not actually the biggest group of consumers anymore, nor no longer the most vocal.)

So, this is where you come in.

You have the power to take the Mary Sue from the edge of the narrative and into the centre. And you do can do this by normalizing it. Think back to that author who didn’t think little black girls were allowed to be the heroes of fairy tales. Now imagine how much different her inner world, her imagination might have been at the stage when she was first learning to understand her own self-worth, if she had seen faces like hers on the television, in comics, in games, and on the written page every day of her life.

And not just one or two heroes, but a broad spectrum of characters that run the gamut from hero to villain, from fragile to powerful, from straight to gay, and every other kind of intersectional identity.

You have the power to give children the ability to see themselves.

Multi-faceted representation normalizes the marginalized.

And if you have the privilege to be part of the passing member of the mainstream, then weaponize your privilege. Refuse to work with publishers, or websites, or conventions that don’t also support diverse creators. Put diverse characters in your work, and do so thoughtfully and with the input of the people from the community you are portraying. And if you’re given the opportunity to submit or speak at an event, offer to share the microphone.

The first thing I did when actor Burn Gorman got a Twitter account was to Tweet him  my thanks for saving the world in Pacific Rim while on a cane. As someone who isn’t as mobile as the heroes I see in action films - who knows for a fact that when the zombie apocalypse comes I will not be a-able to outrun the monsters – it meant so much to me that his character was not only an integral and vital member of the team who cancelled the apocalypse, but also that not once in the film did someone call him a cripple, or tell him he couldn’t participate because of his disability, or leave him behind.

Diversity matters.

Not because it’s a trendy hashtag, or a way to sell media texts to a locked-down niche market, but because every single human being deserves to be told that they have a voice worth listening to; a life worth celebrating and showcasing in a narrative; a reality worth acknowledging and accepting and protecting; emotions that are worth exploring and validating; intelligence that is worth investing in and listening to; and a capacity to love that is worth adoring.

White, heterosexual, neurotypical, able-bodied cismales are not the only people on the planet who are human.

And you have a right to tell your story your way.

Calling something a ‘Mary Sue’ in order to dismiss it out of hand, as an excuse to hate something before even seeing it, is how the trolls bury your Narrative and your Identity.  We are storytellers, all of us. Every person in this room. Whether your wheel house is in fiction, or academia, or narrative non-fiction, we impart knowledge and offer experience through the written word, through the telling of tales, through leading a reader from one thought to another.

And we none of deserve to be shouted down, talked over, or dismissed. No one can tell you that your story isn’t worth telling. Of course it is. It’s yours.

And don’t let anyone call your characters, or your work, or you a ’Mary Sue’ in the derogatory sense ever again. Or I am going to scream.

[overanalyzinglifesince1992]

Thursday

As my notebook sits in my lap while driving the winding roads of Echo Canyon and I scribble these thoughts onto the page, I know I must write. There is a being inside me screaming to get out. Clawing its way to the surface not knowing what form to take but yearning to be seen and heard - but where to begin? Maybe I’ve had it all wrong and the beginning isn’t the place to start at all. Maybe the answer is in the present moment in the form of this small town in Wyoming. Maybe the answer is to work my way back to the beginning.

“If you ever hear that crying in the distance like some siren. Maybe there's a singer with no ring around their little finger, no love And If I lose my voice If I have no choice but to go quiet Won't you sing for me a melody into the night there Well, if I die too young, if the wolf he comes Fee-fi-fo-fum If I die too young, oh, if the locust come Well then, run, run, run Free,”

Kevin Morby sings to me in my headphones and I recall my day. 

How do I go from helping run a company and having 40 or so employees to suddenly lying in bed with no place to go,” I think to myself. I can already tell by how high the sun is that I’ve slept too long. My phone begins to ring and I am painfully reminded that my work here is not yet done. I feel stuck and ashamed that even though I wish I had more to do it feels like too much of a challenge to answer the phone and say, “hello,” as if I wasn’t stuck in my head contemplating my existence.  None of the calls were from M which made me sink my face further into the pillow. It takes me a while to get out of bed but I eventually make my way to the kitchen and boil water for the french press. As I look around at the disheveled room I muster up enough energy to throw some clothes in the wash and file the paper work accumulating at the foot of my bed. I throw away old coupons and scribbled notes only to uncover a few envelopes addressed to ------ “little bit” MD which I hover over a moment before ripping up and throwing away only to panic and piece them together one last time as if it would save our friendship. I look at my phone and toss it to the bed after I see a few missed calls and texts from all the wrong people. I eat my breakfast and spend too much time cleaning and tinkering but not actually getting anything done besides listening to the same  song on repeat which I’m convinced I must have set a record somewhere. 

This is how my life goes. I get grand ideas and just as I start to go after them I let myself get side tracked by an adventure or man and feel as high as the moon until I’m disappointed to the point of oblivion or loneliness and next thing I know I’m off on a run trying to shake the feeling, eating a cookie in my car in the middle of the night, or sitting alone in my room wondering how so many hours have passed waiting for the next bout of inspiration.

NOON

I’m late for my meeting and it’s at this moment M decides to tell me how happy and free he is followed by a picture of him and his lover. It sounds as if he is saying goodbye after being MIA for a day and a half and I try not to curse as I realize things will never change. I have been a slave to his insecure temperament or better yet my own. While in the meeting I hear people share about needing one another and living a life we don’t deserve and all I can say before getting choked up to the point of embarrassment is that the insidiousness of my  alcoholism and dis·ease creeps up and makes me so uncomfortable I could crawl out of my skin and how grateful I am to have their support. Some days I shine so bright I could light the souls of everyone in the room and stand up against old fuddy duddy’s trying to scold newcomers into staying sober and some days saying something -anything - out loud seems like a triumph. I talked with M A after the meeting and agreed to stop by her house to potentially rent it and again looked at her with appreciation and my first smile of the day as she talked with a big grin followed by an innocent giggle after talking which always warms my heart and leaves me wanting to heal her broken and newly sober heart after the passing of her husband, almost as if she was my own grandmother.  

Lunch with G, a retired english teacher and pastor, and J, the retired hot shot executive who now walks with a cane but never misses a moment to share one of his wild stories of the high life never fails to make me laugh. Today they both gave me praises about being a joy to the rooms and started to pry about my love life and family. We had a lengthy conversation about my unwillingness to give up my autonomy to settle down followed by some of J’s stories of past wives and luxury problems like a prince wanting to marry his wife and how he worked too much and his children didn't like him dating someone his own age. G and I laughed and then I dove into my many questions about love and loss and why they thought the relationships failed adding in talk of finance and how they both got from point a to point b. By the end of the talk we had discussed the bible and religion, a woman on a leash getting out of a limo in Las Vegas, and a couple fatherly nudges to pursue my own career. There was talk of job opportunities and the argument about going to school to pursue money vs. dreams and if I was on the hunt for love or God or both.  We eventually  hugged and parted ways. I internally thanked them for filling my head with confidence.

Later, after walking around a local farmers market and running into a few friends I cruised over to M A’s house and spent an hour talking about her late husbands archeological work and her art work and then a story of how the two met. I watched her eyes sparkle as she reminisced about the beginning of their relationship and found myself feeling better and better. As she spoke about falling in love with the last blind date she ever went on I was reminded how much joy it brings me to simply have the privilege to hear so many stories. What a simple yet beautiful gift to peek into the lives of others gaining a bit of insight on what makes them tick. There seems to be some sort of answer or truth in it all but I can’t quite figure out what. 

On my way home I received a call from --- inviting me to stop by and since I was on a roll I did just that. He drank and smoked pot and we laughed at how crazy of a summer it has been. We sat on the porch and looked over the acres of land and maybe it was the sunset or the booze talking but somewhere in our reflection of the difficult times and agreeing on the importance of having each others back he began to cry. For whatever reason on this particular night he shared with me what happened to him at age 27, a freak accident on the farm in which he backed over his friend, taking his life. It was all so heavy and I flashed through our entire friendship and his drug and alcohol use in the few years I knew him and before I knew what I was saying I asked if he believed in God or a higher power. I turned towards him and said, “it’s okay to forgive yourself. Do you know that?” I pointed to the mountains and the sun setting and insisted that there had to be a beautiful loving higher power with a greater plan and that some things happen for no reason. “It’s okay to let go and move forward. It was an accident and you can let go now. it’s okay.” And just like that, there was my inspiration. It’s in the stories of these strangers and friends. It is kinsmanship following tragedy. It is the shared moments in between all the things we ever hoped for. And just like that the gratitude for my life set in. I realized what strength is within me and how precious life is. So precious that I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for knowing what I want in my career, in my love life, and with my time. If I can experience this much in one day without worry about a HIM or an IT then what would life look like after a week or a month. If I can be so filled up after just half a day spent with others then what might I look like if I practiced letting those moments fill my spiritual cup rather than the connections I have? 

I know this day was special but I’m too tired to continue. 

Until soon. 

[secretlessvicki]

Charades and Masquerades

He was a devote Catholic. She was the direct descendant of Madame Marie Laveau. Could he bring her to the side of God and holiness? Or would she show him the ways of magic and sin? 

What happens when a string of murders in one of the most haunted cities brings together two people who never planned to see each other again? And how this all tie into an infamous treasure?

Prologue   Ch 1

Chapter 1

It was another night of tossing and turning for Lieutenant Killian Jones. Being aboard a naval ship never alluded to a good night's sleep. But it wasn’t just the crashing of the waves and the sways of the ship that always had Killian waking in the morning feeling just a tired as he had been when he went to bed.

The empty rum bottle that sat on his desk and the memories of abandonment and betrayal plagued his mind. His mother passing just before his sixth birthday. His father not returning home one night after work. And an endless string of foster homes only homing he and his brother for the paycheck not really caring how the boys fared. And then there was her.

“Get your bloody arse out of bed!”

A sudden splash of water woke Killian from his sleep. “What the fuck, Liam? You couldn’t have just woke me with an alarm like everyone else?”

“I tried. That blasted device has been blaring for half an hour.” He pointed to what looked like a previously working alarm clock. Now it was just a pile of wires and plastic parts all across the cabin floor. “Did you go through another bottle again? Killian, when are you going to stop all of your self-loathing?”

Liam Jones, older brother extraordinaire began tossing away empty bottles with a roll of his eyes. He had been there with Killian through everything. The morning their mother passed, Liam was there holding his baby brother as he cried into his shirt. When their father did not come home, it was Liam who watched over his little brother. The day he turned eighteen, Liam fought with everything he had to earn custody of Killian. It meant working two jobs while also making sure that the rebellious Killian attended school and was clothed and fed. By the time Killian was old enough they were both in their respective ports serving in Her Royal Majesty’s Navy.

“Liam, the bloody fucking sun is not even out. Why in God’s name do I need to be up before it’s light out?” The faint pounding in his head increasing with each blink of his eyes. He almost swore someone was wielding a sledgehammer behind his eyes.

“You know better than to take his name in vain, little brother. Did you forget everything you learned in Bible study?”

A sudden memory of a nun slapping a ruler against a chalkboard flashed in Killian’s mind. He didn’t remember everything but he knew the important bits. Jesus turned water into wine. The Ten Commandments. It’s not as if any of it had helped him recently.

“Are you going to tell me why I am sitting awake on wet bed sheets? We are suppose to be on liberty. That means sleeping in.”

“You are only sleeping in because you stayed awake all night. Now put a shirt on and meet me in the Mess. I’ll fill you in over breakfast.” Liam threw a pillow at his brother before leaving.

After a string of incoherent curses, Killian rummaged around his bunk to find his uniform. Without a window in the cabin, he took a guess at what the weather would be like. The coast of Ireland in April could always be deceiving and he was sure Liam was going to take them both out for the day.

It took Killian almost 10 extra minutes to get down to where he was sure his older brother was waiting for him. He could almost hear Liam drumming his fingers against the metal table each time he had to stop because a fellow sailor commented on his red eyes or the dark circles underneath. Every time he opened a bottle he would tell himself that he would only have a shot or two. But two shots would turn into an entire glass, and after two glasses Killian would ditch the useless tumbler and drink straight from the bottle. He knew what would happen. No matter how much water he drank or how many painkillers he took, the result would always be the same. One massive headache and a piss poor mood.

His mood was even worse when he walked into the Mess to find that Liam had a glass of some awful green concoction. It could only be one thing. Liam Brennan Jones’ version of a hangover cure. One thing for sure was that the bloody drink would taste absolutely terrible.

“What ever happened to a good English breakfast after a night out on the town?”

“First of all, you did not spend the night out on the town. You wallowed away in some pub all night only to drink yourself unconscious in your bunk.

Second, you can do whatever you please at the end of the month when you get discharged. Until then you will continue to follow not only the royal navy’s rules but mine as well. I will still be your older brother even when I am no longer your captain.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Killian saluted. “In two weeks you will have a new lieutenant to push around.”

“Aye, sometimes I look forward to the day. But until then you are mine, little brother. Now drink up. I want you more coherent. Something big came about last night.”

“Younger brother.” Begrudgingly, Killian drank his hangover cure. He flagged down one of the steward’s for a proper breakfast, finally settling in for Liam’s big news.

“Are you ready?”

Trying very hard not to roll his eyes, Killian slowly nodded his head. The movement felt like his brain was hitting the inside of his skull but Killian managed not to wince. At least he hoped not.

“We found something!” Liam vaguely explained.

“We? As in you and me? Because I certainly do not remember finding anything of importance. Or do you mean the crew? If that is the case I must be far more hungover than I thought, because I was almost positive our latest mission was a recon.”

“Just shut it you git and let me explain. Petty Officer Morgan…”

“Oh you mean that American you have been chatting with in your free time?” Killian suddenly was more interested in this story. Especially when it involved his prude of a brother and a woman.

“It is not like that Killian and you know it. Get your mind out of the gutter so I can explain. She and I have been emailing back and forth since we meet when you and I were stationed at the U.S. Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans. Reylin is into history same as we are. In fact, she actually did a semester abroad at Imperial College the same time you were in your second year.”

“So she likes history. Sounds like the two of you were made for each other.”

“Stop it, Killian. Would you let me get to the point? She likes history and her favorite subject is lost treasures of the world. She and I have been talking about our hobbies outside of our respective navys and she mentioned looking into an old New Orleans legend. Jean Lafitte.”

If Killian hadn’t been interested before, he was certainly now. While he was not as enthusiastic about history as his brother, Killian Jones did have a love of pirates, fiction or real.

“So you two were talking about a man who was one of the lesser known pirates? What is so important about him?”

“What is important is that to the people in the southern states, Lafitte is not just a second rate pirate. There he is a legend. And before you interrupt me again I wanted to tell you that Morgan has been looking into an old legends about Lafitte. More specifically his last buried treasure.”

“And she found it?”

Pirates and buried treasures had not been what Killian had thought he would be spending his morning talking about. And honestly, he still wished he wasn’t, his bed and pillow were screaming for him to return.

“Not exactly. But she has been digging and she found coordinates to a possible location.”

“Liam, what does this have to do with us?”

“I was thinking that you will be discharged at the end of the month and I will be on leave from my tour. And what better bonding than going on a treasure hunt?”

Killian was thankful that in that moment the steward had brought him his breakfast. He was going to need more protein to get his brain functioning if he was going to deal with Liam and another one of his grand ideas of adventures. The last time the two of them spent bonding time together, Liam ended up in a naval hospital in Brazil after finding out he was highly allergic to a thorny plant in the jungle.

“You want to go on a treasure hunt?” Killian began scanning the room. “Are you pranking me? Or is this some type of documentary for National Geographic? You honestly think it is a good idea for the two of us to fly to the colonies to help a Yankee sailor hunt for an unknown buried treasure? Are you sure you are not trying to impress this lass? Because trying to become Indiana Jones sure sounds like it.”

There was silence between the men as Killian ate and Liam sulked. It was when Killian’s eyes didn’t seem so heavy and his proper posture returned that Liam spoke again.

“You are telling me that you do not want to go? Killian Jones- Mr. ‘I love a challenge’ does not want to help a pretty woman find a long lost treasure? What else would you be doing besides wallowing away in your apartment?”

What was he supposed to say to that? Killian huffed and slouched in his seat. He could tell that Liam knew he had won. 

The next week and a half was spent listening to Liam and Officer Morgan talk about what the possibilities were at the end of the coordinates Reylin had. Killian had to admit that it was all very interesting and that he often found himself wondering what the treasure could be. Realistically he knew that the chance of finding something valuable was slim to near impossible. But it didn’t stop Killian from reading up on Jean Lafitte in his spare time.

As it turned out there was more to the man than it seemed. He had no loyalties to anyone but the person paying him. He looted supplies from ships belonging to Britain, France, and America. But what was interesting was that much of the loot that was stolen was dispersed by Pierre Lafitte, Jean’s half-brother. From his reading, Killian could tell that Jean and Pierre were close. Enough so that he could see the similarities between these brothers and he and Liam.

Jean was the romantic type. A number of legends and tales told of his seduction of women and his charm. Liam had almost choked on his dinner one night when Killian read the latest biography. “Sounds like a certain young lieutenant I know.” He had coughed.

Pierre was more reserved. He was the brains of the operations. It was his job to make sure that all treasures were sold or taken care of. While Jean was out having fun raiding the ships, it was Pierre who was keeping them both out of jail. Until he unfortunately found himself behind bars in a rat infested jail in New Orleans that is. Killian kept that news away from Liam.

Late one-night, Killian sat at his desk lost in a rabbit hole of information. If he was going to go on this adventure with his brother and some American lass, he wanted to know what it was that they were going after. His search started with possible treasures that one might look for with pirate hunting. It was after one in the morning, that Killian ended up on a forum made up of men and women across the world that discussed possible leads in hunts, myths and legends, and even a few experts on famous lost treasures. One post in particular caught Killian’s attention.

The lost treasure of Jean Lafitte is considered one of the world’s greatest lost treasures. It is believed that Lafitte hid the treasure somewhere in the city with clues left behind for his brother to one day find. To this day it has never been recovered.

The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans herself spent much of her life dedicated to finding out what was in the lost treasure of Jean Lafitte. No one knows why she wanted the treasure so badly. Was it for the money? Was the treasure powerful? Could it have possibly been tied to the city? To magic? Was the treasure a person? Perhaps the treasure is the long lost Fleur de Lis.

There were more posts and comments that all led to the same thing. The Napoleon Fleur de Lis. It was a pure gold statue encrusted with the finest cute diamonds and rubies. The fleur de lis itself was priceless without even considering it’s history. Napoleon had the statue commissioned as a physical representation of his family crest. Before his exile the statue had gone missing only for it to turn up in the hands of the American government after the Louisiana purchase. The government then gave the Fleur de Lis to the city of New Orleans as a gift. Years later the very statue went missing again, never to be seen again. At the same time, Pierre Lafitte had been imprisoned for the murder of an American sailor (was later exonerated) and his brother had moved all operations to Galveston.  

This was it. It had to be it. The treasure that Reylin and ultimately Killian and Liam were hunting.

With a quick text message to the group chat between the members saying he found a lead, Killian sat back in his chair with a grin on his face. Maybe this whole treasure hunting thing wouldn’t be so terrible after all. It could be just the distraction he needed from his constant thoughts of her eyes. Or the three faint lines she would get on her forehead when he said or did something that annoyed her.

That night he fell into a restless sleep. Dreams of a conversation from a time long before his own flashed behind his closed eyes. But just before he woke the next morning, the mystery man in Killian’s dreams faded into an image of himself. Green eyes full of tears broke his heart as he spoke to her.

“I told my brother. He knows to come find you. Keep it safe.”

[agoodmanisdead]

Chapter 3: Casting, professionalism and… some backstage stories

At the beginning of any journey, whereas you are an experienced on what you’re proposed to do or not, there’s load of uncertainty and unpredictability.

As I was just starting the project, everything was possible, specially not good surprises on the way. The moment I shared in the group that we would need help with things like digital marketing, production, edition and so on, things started to become different.

We had two actors out of the project. Both said they wouldn’t able to make it, as they had a busy life, with their jobs and personal stuff.

Then I talked with Valeria (Rizzato): "ok, we all have personal questions to do, and they are our priorities in our lives, we need to survive, pay the bills etc, but… we need to do what is needed to do! I mean, if we want to take our artistic careers seriously, we have to find time to develop it".

At this time, I was starting to be part of a Brazilian group called Integral Artist Community (Portuguese: Comunidade do Artista Integral, see how similar are these Latin originally words!) and one point that our mentor, Marcela, said is that we need to see our jobs, as artists, not like the other ones.

If we choose to be artists, professional ones, that want to make a living from that, we need to understand that our journey is quite different from the other ones.

In other words, we need to be entrepreneurs of ourselves, otherwise, the chances we live by our artistic careers would be close to zero, as we’d depend on selections, auditions, other people hire us (and for unknown, this is even harder, we all know that).

This way, we kept the track and tried to figure out how to solve this. Even the characters were created specially for these actors, things like that can happen at any production, and now I understand why other scriptwriters advise to not create a character for an actor (or exclusively for a specific one).

Thankfully, the new faces were right on the road, closer than anything and with a special touch: a spontaneous touch of comedy on their acting.

Anavi Ruiz, Spanish, I met during an Extra job in Ireland, when we exchange contacts and kept talk in the posterity. Marcello Fidelis (picture), Brazilian, I met during a stand up gig also in Dublin: my first and, so far, unique stand up comedy in English (or, at least, a trial). He was on the audience and did a good job on the stage.

I invited both and they were really open-minded to be part of the project.

Recently, I heard from an experienced producer, writer and actor, that the key to invite people for your artistic project (despite no budgeted) is to show professionalism. Today (10-08-21), as I was listening to the Stearable podcast at Spotify, I got even more confident about how reasonable is this.

Instead of just invite them to be part, I sent them the series bible. At that time, I had a document telling the AGID objective. Every series has one.

They read it and see that, even if they were investing their time with no money evolved, they were part of a serious project, not just an idea in the air. As they said YES, we booked a meeting and the process kept the track.

Baby Jane

After a few days, Anavi told me she was, unfortunately, unable to be part of it, as her parents were seriously ill and she had to stay closer to give support.

Note: I have to say that this project really changed myself not only professionally, but mainly personally. I don’t remember loads of experiences in my life where I had enough courage to command a group.

When the process started seriously, I had to be a leader. I had the ideas on my mind and everyone needed to be clear about them. I researche and this series would be my project for the master. There were no options. I had to move on.

So I just said to her: "Ana, really sorry about your situation, I totally understand; just think a little bit more about your decision. We won’t take loads of hours of your life. We can handle it easily, no pressure".

She apologized and left.

I started to look for another actress to Jane’s role.

A few days later, she texted me asking to be part again.

She still on the project and her performance, as Jane, is outstanding. She is naturally funny, expressive and flexible to hear directions. A talented, intellectual and professional artist. The egocentric and feeling hurt Jane is on good hands.

Jane’s character is directly an inspiration from Robert Aldrich’s 1962 classic “What ever happened to Baby Jane”, which shows a falling actress who fights to not accept her career ending.

Jane's character not only aims to be an aesthetics inspiration from the film and its respective psycho-biddy genre, but herself has a very own voice: she claims about film industry prejudice against mature actors.

Backstory

In A Good Man Is Dead, Jane, in the past, lived her golden years in theatre and low-budget films, but her egocentric personality took her to be evolved with controversial stories in the backstage of the productions she was evolved.

She met the photographer Winston Lumiere still on his earlier professional years. Not experienced, he took loads of pictures of her with almost no payment. In exchange, she introduced him to other people.

Because of this, she claims she was “responsible” for his rise in the artistic world and that he left her after his take off (she talks this during her monologue in the “zero” episode / pilot).

Years later, to survive, Jane has to work as an Extra. Her connection with “Dorian” (my character) starts when she meets him in a cheap restaurant in Dublin, where both live.

Dorian (I’ll talk about him in other chapter) works as waiter and sings jingles for almost each client who pops up to have a meal on his place. He creates old-fashioned-styled songs for people with a little or any patience to listen, as they are hungry. One of this is Jane, that eats on his restaurant only because of the prices.

Jane also is connected to Oscar, a transmale model (deserves a special chapter). She falls in love with him and, just like Winston, introduces him in her social circle. He rises in his career and they break off as soon as he gets notoriety. The story repeats and she complains about his narcissistic personality all the time (as if herself wouldn’t be a narcissus one).

Jane is naturally funny and a complex character. Whoever I showed the 1st season trailer, people were really delighted by Ana’s performance. Jane/Ana is a promising character with a huge potential to get laughs from audience (even I’m thinking to reserve her some dramatic moments, in a way to give her a balance on the comedic tone).

A new Laura

When I thought that finally we could begin, we had one more rock on the road. The actress who would perform Laura, the mysterious, noir-styled politician, was totally mute on the group. She rarely said one word on the whatsapp. For myself, she took days to answer and I had to insist constantly to have her response.

At that time, the monologues were already shared between all the components. Time was going by and I didn’t want it to take longer than necessary.

So I was talking directly with each one, giving them support on their questions, actively. This actress silence took me to have a little word with her and say a see you soon.

I told her she could be part on the project in another moment (as we have one more female character to be part in the last season). She didn’t say anything, as usually. Goodbye, little princess.

Laura’s role was now looking for another woman. It had to be an actress with some sex-appeal, as the reference for Laura was born from the noir crime films.

In my mind, one more friend: Monique Angeli. Brazilian, I met her during an acting workshop placed in a Dublin’s bar underground (The Dublin Actors Workshop).

A few months later, we were sharing an apartment with other mates, between Brazilians and Mexicans (my entrance on this house is a film itself. I need write personal memories urgently).

Though Monique had a not long formation on acting, she was naturally funny, sarcastic, like if with a spontaneous theatrical mood/personality. That was the most important.

I offered the role. Nervous and Anxiously, she agreed, and a few days after, she promptly record Laura’s monologue, in a very good shape. And she is still with the group and loving the crazy surprises we’re creating for the story and her character.

After Ana, Monique and Marcello’s integration, we could carry on.

And in the next chapter I’ll talk about the adventure of not only be an actor and writer, but the experience of being a director. The actors needed someone to help them to explore the nuances and internal characteristics of the persons they were acting.

The role to do this was up to me (but Valeria Rizzato helped me substantially on this goal, and she deserves a special chapter as well, with her “Weirdo Wendy” and her participation on all the steps of A Good Man Is Dead”).

SEE YOU SOON!

AND, OF COURSE: TO BE CONTINUED

(let's keep this vintage charming sentence).

[stupendousbananatiger]

EP 12 | You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) 12.Bölüm/Episode 12 [ENGSUB] FOX Türkiye

Watch You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Season 1 Episode 12 1–2–3–4–5–1–7–8–9–10 Full Episode You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Temporada 1 Capítulo 12 Sub English / Español 2020 ➤ http://watchepisode.online-tvs.com/series/383383/1/12 VISIT HERE ➤➤ http://watchepisode.online-tvs.com/series/383383/1/12

Finally in the end Serkan made his declaration of love. Now it is Eda's turn. But it is not going to be easy to obtain Eda's declaration. Serkan waits patiently in order to hear that Eda is in love with him. Now we also have to deal with keeping this a secret from the families. Since Eda's aunt learned about the engagement agreement, she cannot tell her that she and Serkan and now a real couple in love. With Eda's insistence, Serkan agrees to keep this a secret. But they and their relationship is going to go through many adventures while they keep this secret.

🎬 You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Episode 12 Online Free 🎬

Title : You Knock on My Door Episode Title : Episode 12 Release Date : 30 Sep 2020 Runtime : 120 minutes Genres : Comedy , Drama , Romance Networks : FOX Türkiye

You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı)

Eda, who ties all her hopes to her education, confronts Serkan Bolat, who cuts off her international education scholarship and leaves her with high school diploma. Serkan Bolat offers Eda to give her scholarship back if she pretends to be his fiance for two months. Although Eda rejects the offer of this man as she hates him, she has to accept it when the conditions change. While pretending to be engaged, Serkan and Eda begin to experience a passionate, challenging relationship that will make them forget all they know right. Because love is difficult. And that's why it's amazing.

Show Info

Network: Turkey FOX Türkiye (2020 - now) Schedule: Wednesdays at 20:00 (120 min) Status: Running Language: Turkish Show Type: Scripted Genres: Drama Comedy Romance

With dozens of films genre being released each year, a typical one that gets overlooked by the more popular ones (action, drama, comedy, animation, etc.) is the subgenre category of religious movie. These films (sometimes called “faith-based” features) usually center around the struggles and ideas of a person (or groups) identity of a religious faith, which is, more or less, has a profound event or obstacle to overcome. While not entirely, the most commonplace religious type movies focus on the religion of Christianity, sometimes venturing back into the past in cinematic retelling classic biblical tales, including famed epic films like Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (the original 1959 version) to some more modern endeavors from Hollywood like Risen, The Young Messiah, and Paul, Apostle of Christ. Other Christian “faith” films finds a more contemporary setting to tell its story, with some being “based on a true-life account” like the movies Unconditional, Heaven is Real, Unbroken, I Can Only Imagine, Indivisible, and Miracles from Heaven, while others might find inspiration from literary novels / fictionalized narratives like The Shack, Overcomer, War Room, and Same Kind of Different as Me. Regardless, whether finding inspiration from true life, references from the bible, or originality, these movies usually speaks on a person’s faith and the inner struggle he or she has within or one society’s views, spreading a message of belief and the understand of one’s belief. Now, after the success of 2018’s I Can Only Imagine, directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) and Lionsgate studios release the 2020 faith-based film / music biopic feature I Still Believe. Does the film walk a fine line between its religious aspects and cinematic entertainment or does the movie get entangled in its own faith-based preaching?

THE STORY

Its 1999 and Jeremy Camp (K.J. Apa) is a young and aspiring musician who would like nothing more than to honor his God through the power of music. Leaving his Indiana home for the warmer climate of California and a college education, Jeremy soon comes across one Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson), a fellow college student that he takes notices in the audience at a local concert. Falling for cupid’s arrow immediately, he introduces himself to her and quickly discovers that she is attracted to him too. However, Melissa holds back from forming a budding relationship as she fears it will create an awkward situation between Jeremy and their mutual friend, Jean-Luc (Nathan Parson), a fellow musician and who also has feeling for Melissa. Still, Jeremy is relentless in his pursuit of her until they eventually find themselves in a loving dating relationship. However, their youthful courtship with each other comes to a halt when life-threating news of Melissa having cancer takes center stage. The diagnosis does nothing to deter Jeremey’s love for her and the couple eventually marries shortly thereafter. Howsoever, they soon find themselves walking a fine line between a life together and suffering by her illness; with Jeremy questioning his faith in music, himself, and with God himself.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Sorry if this sounds a bit familiar pieces from my review of I Can Only Imagine, but it definitely says what I feel about these films. While I am a devout Christian (not a crazy zealot or anything like that) for my bases of religion and my outlook beliefs in life, I’m not a huge fan of the “faith-based” feature films. That’s not to say that they’re bad or that I find them deplorable to the other more popular movie genres out there, but sometimes they can a bit preachy and corny / honky in their religious overtones and overall dramatic direction. Personally, I like the more biblical tales that Hollywood as put over, with Cecil B. Demile’s The Ten Commandments and William Wyler’s Ben-Hur; both of have proven to stand the test of time within filmmaking. Of course, Hollywood’s recent trend of put out more “remakes” movies puts an overcast on those biblical epics with 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings and 2016’s Ben-Hur; both of which failed to capture a sense of cinematic integrity and had a messy religious outlook in its zeal aspect. Of late, however, Hollywood as retreated more into contemporary pieces, finding narratives that are, more or less, set in a more “modern” day and age to their Christian-faithful based features. As I mentioned above, some have found success in their literary forms (being based on a book and adapted to the big screen), but most derive their inspiration from true life accounts, translating into something that’s meant to strike a chord (with moviegoers) due to its “based on a true story” aspect and nuances. Again, some are good (as I liked Unbroken and The Shack), while others kind of become a bit too preachy and let the religious overtures hamper the film, making them less-than desirable to mainstream audiences or even members of their own faiths. Thus, these religious-esque films can sometimes be problematic in their final presentation for both its viewers and in the film itself; sometimes making the movie feel like a TV channel movie rather than a theatrical feature film. This brings me around to talking about I Still Believe, a 2020 motion picture release of the Christian religious faith-based genre. As almost customary, Hollywood usually puts out two (maybe three) films of this variety movies within their yearly theatrical release lineup, with the releases usually being around spring time and / or fall respectfully. I didn’t hear much when this movie was first announced (probably got buried underneath all the popular movies news on the newsfeed). My first actual glimpse of the movie was when the film’s movie trailer was released, which looked somewhat interesting to me. Yes, it looked the movie was gonna be the typical “faith-based” vibe, but it was going to be directed by the Erwin Brothers, who directed I Can Only Imagine (a film that I did like). Plus, the trailer for I Still Believe premiered for quite some time, so I kept on seeing it a lot of time when I went to my local movie theater. You can kind of say that it was a bit “engrained in my brain”. Thus, I was a bit keen on seeing it. Fortunately, I was able to see it before the COVID-19 outbreak closed the movie theaters down (saw it during its opening night), but, due to work scheduling, I haven’t had the time to do my review for it…. until now. And what did I think of it? Well, it was pretty “meh”. While its heart is definitely in the right place and quite sincere, I Still Believe is a bit too preachy and unbalanced within its narrative execution and character developments. The religious message is clearly there, but takes too many detours and not focusing on certain aspects that weigh the feature’s presentation. As mentioned, I Still Believe is directed by the Erwin Brothers (Andrew and Jon), whose previous directorial works include such films like Moms’ Night Out, Woodlawn, and I Can Only Imagine. Given their affinity attraction religious based Christian movies, the Erwin Brothers seem like a suitable choice in bringing Jeremy Camp’s story to a cinematic representation; approaching the material with a certain type of gentleness and sincerity to the proceedings. Much like I Can Only Imagine, the Erwin Brothers shape the feature around the life of a popular Christian singer; presenting his humble beginnings and all the trials and tribulations that he must face along the way, while musical songs / performance taking importance into account of the film’s narrative story progression. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t without its heavier moments, with the Erwin, who (again) are familiar with religious overtones themes in their endeavors, frame I Still Believe compelling messages of love, loss, and redemption, which (as always) are quite fundamental to watch and experience through tragedy. This even speaks to the film’s script, which was penned by Erwin brothers playing double duty on the project, that has plenty of heartfelt dramatic moments that will certainly tug on the heartstrings of some viewers out there as well as provide to be quite an engaging tale of going through tragedy and hardship and finding a redemption arc to get out of it. This is especially made abundantly clear when dealing with a fatal illness that’s similar to what Melissa undergoes in the film, which is quite universal and reflective in everyone’s world, with the Erwin Brothers painting the painful journey that Melissa takes along with Jeremy by her side, who must learn to cope with pain of a loved one. There is a “double edge” sword to the film’s script, but I’ll mention that below. Suffice to say, the movie settles quickly into the familiar pattern of a religious faith-based feature that, while not exactly polished or original, can be quite the “comfort food” to some; projecting a wholesome message of faith, hope, and love. Personally, I didn’t know of Jeremy Camp and the story of he and Melissa Henning, so it was quite a poignant journey that was invested unfolding throughout the film’s proceedings. As a side-note, the movie is a bit a “tear jerker”, so for those who prone to crying during these dramatic heartfelt movies….get your tissues out. In terms of presentation, I Still Believe meets the industry standard of a religious faith-based motion pictures. Of course, theatrical endeavors like these don’t really have big budged production money to invest in the film’s creation. Thus, filmmakers have to spend their money wisely in bringing their cinematic tales to life on the silver screen. To that effect, the Erwin Brothers smartly utilized this knowledge in the movie’s creation; budgeting the various aspects of the background and genetic theatrical make-up that feel appropriate and genuine in the film’s narrative. So, all the various “behind the scenes” team / areas that I usually mention (i.e. production designs, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography, etc.) are all relatively good as I really don’t have much to complain (whether good or bad) about them. Again, they meet the industry standard for a faith-based movie. Additionally, the musical song parts are pretty good as well. As mentioned, I really didn’t know anything about Jeremy Camp, so I couldn’t say what songs of his were good, but the songs that are presented in the film were pretty decent enough to certain highlight points throughout the movie. Though they are somewhat short (assuming not the whole song is being played), but still effectively good and nice to listen to. Might have to check out a few of the real songs one day. Lastly, the film’s score, which was done by John Debney, fits perfect with this movie; projecting the right amount of heartfelt tenderness in some scenes and inspirational melodies of enlightenment in others. Unfortunately, not all is found to be pure and religiously cinematic in the movie as I Still Believe gets weighed down with several major points of criticism and execution in the feature. How so? For starters, the movie feels a bit incomplete in Jeremy Camp’s journey. What’s presented works (somewhat), but it doesn’t hold up, especially because the Erwin Brothers have a difficult time in nailing down the right narrative path for the film to take. Of course, the thread of Jeremy and Melissa are the main central focus (and justly so), but pretty much everything else gets completely pushed aside, including Jeremy’s musical career rise to stardom and many of the various characters and their importance (more on that below). This also causes the film to have a certain pacing issues throughout the movie, with I Still Believe runtime of 116 minutes (one hour and fifty-six minutes) feeling longer than it should be, especially with how much narrative that the Erwin Brothers skip out on (i.e. several plot chunks / fragments are left unanswered or missing). Additionally, even if a viewer doesn’t know of Jeremy Camp’s story, I Still Believe does, for better or worse, follow a fairly predictable path that’s quite customary for faith-based movie. Without even reading anything about the real lives of Jeremy and Melissa prior to seeing the feature, it’s quite clearly as to where the story is heading and what will ultimately play out (i.e. plot beats and theatrical narrative act progression). Basically, if you’ve seeing one or two Christian faith-based film, you’ll know what to expect from I Still Believe. Thus, the Erwin Brothers don’t really try to creatively do something different with the film…. instead they reinforce the idealisms of Christian and of faith in a formulaic narrative way that becomes quite conventional and almost a bit lazy. There is also the movie’s dialogue and script handling, which does become problematic in the movie’s execution, which is hampered by some wooden / forced dialogue at certain scenes (becoming very preachy and cheesy at times) as well as the feeling of the movie’s story being rather incomplete. There’s a stopping point where the Erwin Brothers settle on, but I felt that there could’ve more added, including more expansion on his music career and several other characters. Then there is the notion of the film being quite secular in its appeal, which is quite understandable, but relies too heavy on its religious thematic messages that can be a bit “off-putting” for some. It didn’t bother me as much, but after seeing several other faith-based movies prior to this (i.e. I Can Only Imagine, Overcomer, Indivisible, etc.), this particular movie doesn’t really rise to Cursed in Love and falls prey to being rather generic and flat for most of its runtime. As you can imagine, I Still Believe, while certainly sincere and meaningful in its storytelling, struggles to find a happy balance in its narrative and execution presentation; proving to be difficult in conveying the whole “big picture” of its message and Jeremey Camp’s journey. The cast in I Still Believe is a mixed bag. To me, none of the acting talents are relatively bad (some are better than others…. I admit), but their characterizations and / or involvement in the film’s story is problematic to say the least. Leading the film’s narrative are two protagonist characters of Jeremy Camp and Melissa Henning, who are played by the young talents of K.J. Apa and Britt Robertson respectfully. Of the two, Apa, known for his roles in Riverdale, The Last Summer, and The Hate U Give, is the better equipped in character development and performance as the young and aspiring musical talent of Jeremy Camp. From the get-go, Apa has a likeable charm / swagger to him, which make his portrayal of Jeremy immediately endearing from onset to conclusion. All the scenes he does are well-represented (be it character-based or dramatic) and certainly sells the journey that Jeremy undergoes in the movie. Plus, Apa can also sing, which does lend credence to many of the scene’s musical performance. For Robertson, known for her roles in Tomorrowland, Ask Me Anything, and The Space Between Us, she gets hampered by some of the film’s wooden / cheesy dialogue. True, Robertson’s performance is well-placed and well-mannered in projecting a sense of youthful and dewy-eyed admiration in Mellissa, especially since the hardships here character undergoes in the feature, but it’s hard to get passed the cringeworthy dialogue written for her. Thus, Robertson’s Melissa ends up being the weaker of the two. That being said, both Apa and Robertson do have good on-screen chemistry with each other, which certainly does sell the likeable / loving young relationship of Jeremy and Melissa. In more supporting roles, seasoned talents like actor Gary Sinise (Forest Gump and Apollo 13) and musician singer Shania Twain play Jeremey’s parents, Tom and Terry Camp. While both Sinise and Twain are suitable for their roles as a sort of small town / Midwest couple vibe, their characters are little more than window dressing for the feature’s story. Their screen presence / star power lends weigh to the project, but that’s pretty much it; offering up a few nuggets to bolster a few particular scenes here and there, which is disappointing. Everyone else, including actor Nathan Parsons (General Hospital and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water) as musical talent and mutual friend to both Jeremy and Melissa, Jean-Luc Lajoie, young actor Reuben Dodd (The Bridge and Teachers) as Jeremy’s handicapped younger brother, Joshua Camp, and his other younger brother, Jared Camp (though I can’t find out who played him the movie), are relatively made up in smaller minor roles that, while acted fine, are reduced to little more than just underdeveloped caricatures in the film, which is a shame and disappointing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The power of faith, love, and affinity for music take center stage in Jeremy Camp’s life story in the movie I Still Believe. Directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) examine the life and times of Jeremy Camp’s life story; pin-pointing his early life with his relationship Melissa Henning as they battle hardships and their enduring love for one another through difficult times. While the movie’s intent and thematic message of a person’s faith through trouble times is indeed palpable as well as the likeable musical performances, the film certainly struggles to find a cinematic footing in its execution, including a sluggish pace, fragmented pieces, predicable plot beats, too preachy / cheesy dialogue moments, over utilized religious overtones, and mismanagement of many of its secondary /supporting characters. To me, this movie was somewhere between okay and “meh”. It was definitely a Christian faith-based movie endeavor (from start to finish) and definitely had its moments, but it just failed to resonate with me; struggling to find a proper balance in its undertaking. Personally, despite the story, it could’ve been better. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is an “iffy choice” at best as some will like (nothing wrong with that), while others will not and dismiss it altogether. Whatever your stance on religious faith-based flicks, I Still Believe stands as more of a cautionary tale of sorts; demonstrating how a poignant and heartfelt story of real-life drama can be problematic when translating it to a cinematic endeavor. For me, I believe in Jeremy Camp’s story / message, but not so much the feature.

[pixie-skull]

# 12 Post: Top 10, OFFICAL Animated Men List, part 4

So to explain myself, I made a list of men from different studios, yet unlike my women’s list ( https://nerd-indigo.tumblr.com/post/168587304582/post-12-part-2-finally-top-ten-2d-animated ) from different animation studios I can own up my list, I felt my men was not as official who I have crushed on ( https://indigo-psyduck.tumblr.com/post/168600736687/post-12-part-3-finally-top-ten-2d-animated-mens ). Yes spoiler, mostly Disney and Dreamworks. XD Rules - - - > https://indigo-psyduck.tumblr.com/post/167091245072/post-12-part-1-rules-for-animated-crush-list and a few repeats, as well one tie.

10. 1978′s The Lord of the Rings: Frodo Baggins

Yes went from honorable mention to actual member of list. XD Now if someone can look at me like he does to Samwise. Now on to why I like this Hobbit. One huge reason, younger me was borderline (or was) obsessed with The Lord of the Rings. I rewatched all the movies a lot (I first saw the movies when I was maybe near five-seven ( I am blanking, yet was somewhere in this age range by the last movie) years old,in theaters. No shaming my parents, one of my older siblings watched the movies for a birthday movie thing), blush like an anime character at the mere mention of Frodo. So in attempts I guess find a kid friendly film, my family found this animated gem. XD Years later watch this video (as in video cassette. Yup 90′s kid here) and read the books, this animated Frodo closer to books, which earns more cute points. Even Frodo thanks for your part in my taste in men.

9. Ben Ten Ben Ten, series of both Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, Ben.

As the first list with men before, his reasons still apply. Only 10 for combined with personality, younger me did crush, yet not as much as the rest. Here is the reasons: “He is kinda a smart alec (or donkey), yet not too bad. He is funny, a good family member and quick on his feet. Plus his green eyes so cute. I enjoyed the show started to let him grow up and found fun see how it is grow almost together.“ It is nice too he has green eyes. :D

8. 2004′s Howl’s Moving Castle, Howl.

As the first list with men before, his reasons still apply. Here the given reasons, “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwROgK94zcM Please note I do NOT count for my Disney entry. XD So this character starts as a womanizer or something similar (which not a fan of), yet he clearly wears a mask of insecurities, and grows. Also, has colorful hair (blonde[not a fan of blonde look], ginger, maybe an odd ball color, and black). I like how he willing have adventures, I enjoy someone take me on one, as long not overstimulated due to Autism does that to me. :( I see him as Pan. I have as 7 for as much I like his design and his arch, I am not a fan of a mask, just be yourself, unless that means you hurt others, then no. XD”. I am typically attracted to a something like androgynous and feminine, so Howl fits this so well. 

7. 2003′s Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Kale tied with Proteus 

Yea a new character crush that differ my old list, well two. XD Now besides being tied for being in the same movie, they do differ. Both are just drawn to be sooooo attractive (Kale seems to be a love child of one of my formally dated [that smirk and muscles, kinda voice, who was my first guy kiss {my first kiss was with a woman} ] and a guy friend who I have a crush on. [playful nature and go with flow, pierced ears, and hat taste] XP and Proteus just from long hair ( @thenamelessdoll  you get this struggle XD ) to willing to help citizens, sacrifice his life, and more. I am sadden these two get such little love. Yes Kale does win by a few slim points. Yes this movie is jammed back with so many attractive characters (not counting Sinbad for he comes off to Brad Pitt like and I am not attracted to Pitt).

6. 2002′s Treasure Planet Jim Hawkins

Like 10, started out as honorable mention, then bumped onto list. So besides being voiced by the inspiring feminist and cutie Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the baby blue eyed Jim liked for; how sincere he cares about others, smart, has a nice punk edge, and many other reasons other swoon him.

5. Static Shock series and DC Comics, Virgil Ovid Hawkins AKA Static.

Here are the reasons of why I liked him on my other list, “Even though not shown on the show, Virgil’s best friend, Gear, is openly gay, yet the shows does show and explore issues of life.  I crush on Virgil for he showed more a realistic at high school, he had a similar humor like Spider-Man, only not as mean jabs at the baddies. He was not as much a dork, actual more the calm and fun laid back friend everyone would maybe want. I do like nerds (like movie and comics), yet I rather have a heart than just a brain.”

4. 2003′s Brother Bear’s Sidka

I am aware he has less than most on this list, yet he still showed traits I find attractive. Caring about his family, a voice of kind reason, funny, a relax nature, and more. Plus his long hair and voice. ^_^ Without spoiling, so sad what happens to him. :(

3. 2001′s The Road to El Dorado, Miguel.

^ First  can someone please make that character he flirty with an edit of me? Just swap gown to be indigo and hair a lighter brown (like Don Bluth “Anastasia”) with violet tips. Back on to the list, so yes the fact he and Tulio were originally meant as a couple do not escape my mind. So with this fact and my headcanon he is gay, why is he on my list? Because even if gay, he is cute. XD Also not the first time for me to crush on someone who happens to be gay. Miguel is one of very few characters with a full set of facial hair I can like. I tend not to like that. Any ways yes, unlike most top tens, who ties him with Tulio, I personally can not like Tulio. He just seems not as genuinely kind as Miguel. Also Miguel just a goofy goober and that is good be funny and understanding. Plus he seems to love life and not need to steal to enjoy it. Also dark green eyes are a nice bonus.

2. Sailor Moon (90′s Version), Mamoru Chiba AKA Tuxedo Mask

Reasons from other list, “I admit the English dub (the bad one, where they take away lots of LGBTQ+ themes and characters), his American dubbed name and since then very much like the name Darien. So he would have number 1, if after rewatching the show (yes I got a gift from a family have all five seasons, three movies, and more goodies) I realized how unnecessary Tux’s teasing went. Luckily by season two and mostly afterwards become the cutie I know little kid me had a crush on him. He is likable in how romantic, supportive, had his funny moments, was both a hero and could be fine being saved too. Plus physically he is attractive, from messy dark (sometimes deep green), tux, Prince and King outfits, (mini spoilers) a nice dad, and more. I want to say he could be Bi, I am not sure why, just a feeling. Like Biromantic Hetrosexual.By the way not sure, yet these gifs make the Sailor Moon characters seem more white, sadly not Japanese”.

1. 1998′s Moses, Moses.

That smile is so precious. Also his speaking and singing voice are both so kind and can be powerful. I admit he looks better with facial hair. 

Now on to the reasons from my past list, “I have to admit he or Joseph (Prince of Dreams) were both runner ups. I ended up with Moses because when upset and even hurt by loved ones, Joseph felt a sense of revenge. To an extend valid for (spoilers) sold to slavery and mistaken as dead, but to want hurt someone just feel equal, not fair at all in my book. To be the better person to me, means try to forgive, maybe talk out, and think ahead. That momentary sense of revenge could take a life and that is something to never get back. Yes maybe after a lot of pain and the person seems there a limit, but again think ahead. Also, yes in the Bible Moses I know an old man, yet that is another reason like this film, it does not follow that, so to enjoy the few changes, make me feel it is fair to like Moses more. I like him for the above, personality, love for family, sense of right and wrong, and more...”

LAST ONE

0. 2002′s Lilo and Stich David

“... Any who why I like him. He a HUGE romantic and supporting person. He is also great with kids and animals or I suppose Aliens is more accurate? David understands no and gives Nani time to figure out things before he feels she would be ready to date. Plus so much more. :D Looks, well he has the plus having little body hair, not that little is bad, yet I tend not like chest hair. XD ... “ 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I admit I tend to like my men lean or not have a lot of muscles, not sure why, I do know I like being stronger. XD As long in good shape then that works for me. XD I task @thenamelessdoll @sailorzelda94 @myhollie1911 AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO :D

[burnt-kloverfield]

So every night my family tries to read some scriptures together and say a prayer before we go to bed. Usually, im the one to read, but my little sister wanted to read tonight so I sat next to her to help her read the family friendly New Testament we have that has things like word definitions and explanations about circumstantial stuff in the scriptures so that we can understand what was being said. Now I've got my own little system down of how I add these little helps in when I read so it goes pretty smoothly but my little sister is just 9 and has only just discovered the world of chapter books and so is a very careful out loud reader. So I sit right next to her to help her say the big unfamiliar old English words of the King James' Bible and tonight she decides to add in the extra material which is an adventure I'm cool with. So nothing too exciting, some helping with word pronunciation, she's got reading the definitions down, she can even do the extra bits fairly well though she needs more help reading unfamiliar words and our parents are jumping in with their weird combination of parental moral lecturing where my dad shares a story of how he helps get some shoes for a man he volunteers with and how our mom talks about how if he had wanted to be seen doing this that that's not how we should give, you know that whole parent thing where one person shares something and then the other shares something else in such a way where it undermines the other because they don't think that the point that the other is sharing is the important part? Anyways that's not the story I'm sharing. What I wanted to share was that at one point my sister stops and she's looking for the footnote on something and it takes a moment until I look over and by then, my parents are all over her, already reading the verse, defining words, lecturing as these parents do, and I can tell they're just getting impatient and just want to be done with all this since they've given their parent lecture of the moment you know, confident that they have cleared all confusion and enlightened us all. And now that they've stopped and I actually have a point where I can jump in, I tell them that she was only fumbling because the word she stopped at was red instead of blue which only meant that the word was defined earlier in the book and that the definition was not at the bottom of the page like normal and that she hadn't fumbled because of a lack of not understanding the concept or how to read the word, but she fumbled because she wasn't sure about the pure surface formatting. And it just made me think about how different parents explain things trying to do the best they can and teach their children but are blatantly oblivious to what is actually slipping them up and it would all be solved if instead of trying to parent on high with all of this experience and wisdom to enlighten the minds of their children, they would stop and come next to the child's side, actually look at what they are looking at and wait a moment before stepping in to correct the wrong problem

[dailyaudiobible]

08/09/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezra 8:21-9:15, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Psalms 31:1-8, Proverbs 21:1-2

Today is the 9th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as we collectively reach out and twist the knob and throw open the door and step into this new week together, shiny and sparkly, all new out in front of us just waiting for us to write the story of our lives upon as we go through this week. And, so, it's great to be here with you at this threshold as we step into the new week and as we invite God's word to speak into this week and tell us what we need to know as we continue to navigate forward. So, brand-new week, which means we’ll read from a different translation. This week we’ll read from the English Standard Version and we will pick up where we left off yesterday. Ezra chapter 8 verse 21 through 9 verse 15.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for bringing us across this threshold into a brand-new, shiny, sparkly week and we refer to it that way because it's a new beginning, and we just…we have these markers along the way that make up the story of a year and the beginning of each week is one of those markers and we have 52 of those markers and we know this, we gauge our lives kind of around the rhythm of the year and we thank You that we have that and we thank You that we have Your word involved every single day. And, so, as we cross…cross every threshold we are reminded all things have been made new. Every threshold is a new start and here we are at one of them. And, so, we become aware of Your presence, we become aware of Your Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives and we seek to follow Your direction and Your counsel every moment of this brand-new shiny sparkly new week. We need You. We’re not going to navigate this successfully without You. We can't navigate the next five minutes successfully without You. And, so, come Holy Spirit, we become aware of You and we invite You to lead us in every way possible as we move into this new week. Come Jesus we pray. In Your precious name, we ask. Amen.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

DAB family this is Jordan in Texas just wanted to say to Standing Firm in South Carolina your…your kind of confession that when you make calls you in one way or another kind of make it about yourself, you know, recognition or wanting to look important. And I just want to thank you for saying that. It took courage and boldness and you saying that to all those others who may feel that way you’re not alone. And, so, that’s me because I was actually thinking about doing the same thing, saying something. And, so, I do say that now, just confessing that…that like the three or four times I’ve called in to pray for others kind of having that feeling of, “I hope I hear” you know “I hope I hear a little bit of accolades about how cool my prayer was.” And it’s ridiculous and embarrassing and I just want to bring that before you guys and the Lord. And anyways, I…I also want to just by way of you guys getting to know me because I love getting to know you, ask for prayer for my marriage. My wife just had our second son, he’s 16 days old and, you know, just the emotions and hormones kind of can swing one way or another and I lose patience with her and get short with her and even knowing that…that her hormones are kind of up and down and whatever it just…there’s…it’s hard for me to give her grace. And I know that comes from wounding in my life. And anyways if you’d pray for that. And also please my older son he’s 2 ½ and he’s so sweet and so gentle with baby brother Benjamin and…but Caleb is just having a hard time adjusting…

Hello this is All the Treasures from Wyoming and I have an urgent prayer request please for anybody who hears this message. There’s a young lady here who is in our ICU hospital her name is Emily and she developed blood clots and those blood clots broke loose and went into her heart and she almost died. They had to do emergency surgery and she almost bled out and she’s in really bad shape. And anybody who hears this message, if you could please pray for her. I don’t know if she knows the Lord, but I’ve been praying that He would meet her right where she’s at and that she would live to tell about it and have a wonderful testimony of His goodness. Please join me in praying for her. Again, her name is Emily…

Hello everybody this is Tony the Narrator. Michael and Elijah, please let us know how you guys are getting on now. You know, this…we…we your’re…you’re still in many of our prayers, probably the majority of us pray for you. We love you we miss you. Please let us know what’s going on. And a big shout out to everybody else, you all know who you are. Thank you so much for the prayers for my brole life and I promised you my testimony. So, with a minute and 23 seconds here we go. So, on November the 24th, 2009 I was doing 65 miles an hour in a 70 mile or road on my motorbike going for a job interview with an electricity company where I was going to be going door to door going, “do you want to change your electric company?” All right by then…which I was actually really looking forward to. But anyway, so this guy in a van pulled out in front of me and my groin hit the fuel tank at 65 miles an hour, I broke my pelvis in four places, my spine, I broke my wrist in four places, my thumb was hanging backwards, I broke both my hands - various different breaks. I did…I bruised my lungs, I bruise my ribs, I did soft tissue damage in various different places and also brain damage. I should be dead. I was bleeding out and laying there, I ended up having to have four pints of blood that day. I shouldn’t be here and my dad got on the phone and he said, “son, if you don’t become a Christian you’re gonna die!” Just like God’s Smile he’s from Lancaster too. And, so, I became a Christian that day. Praise the Lord. I love you guys, God bless…

Heavenly Father I pray that You would set all those free who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and mental illness. You have the power to set us free, so I ask that of You right now. I also pray You would give direction to those who don’t yet know You and what their calling is in life. I also pray for all those who don’t know You yet and have hardened hearts toward You. I pray that You would soften their hearts and bring people into their lives to speak truth. Allow them to be open to the gospel to hear Your good news and Your powerful news. In Your powerful name.

Hi, so I’ve never done this before, but I thought it was a good opportunity to try it out. So, my parents moved recently and because of that they both had to quit their jobs. And luckily my mom was able to find something again, but my dad has really been struggling. It’s really taken a toll on him. He is a man who needs to feel like he’s doing something, like he’s contributing, like…like he has a purpose. And, so, it’s been really hard for him and for us seeing him like this. And I would just ask that whoever hears this will stand in agreement with me, will pray with me, not just that my dad would get work but that he would get something that he is passionate about, something that is worthwhile and that he would just keep good spirits and keep on praying and keep talking to the Lord about it and that he won’t just isolate himself and, you know, give into that feeling of uselessness. Thank you very much.

Hi this is Teresa from Indiana God bless you all. I just want to mention a couple people. I feel like I’m just growing so close to everybody. I’ve never met one of you but we’re all so connected. Mike…Mike I’m just proclaiming every day. I’m praying for you and am proclaiming that Annie is delivered from drugs. She is whole and that baby is healthy. In the name of Jesus, I’m…I’m…I’m proclaiming it every day. The Bible says to call those things that aren’t as though they were. So, I am doing that, and she is delivered from drugs in the name of Jesus. She’s whole, she’s healthy, she saved, she’s delivered, and you have peace in the name of Jesus. Daniel from Singapore, O, God bless you sweetheart. That’s so precious, so precious. I’ve just listened to that song and your prayer every single day. This is August the 6th. So, it’s been like four days later and I’m still listening to it. I’m going back to it. It’s…it’s so precious. Remember all the things that David the great man of the Bible went through, David and Paul. The Psalms, how many times there was an attempt on David’s life. My husband preached last night so many times someone was trying to kill him he was crying out to God. So many things that Paul went through, you know, being stoned and shipwrecked and all the things that he went through being in prison for so long for nothing just for loving Jesus and proclaiming his good news. And, you know, we have to go through these things I guess because we wouldn’t be who we are without…without the fires and the trials in our life. It makes us closer to God. It brings…we pray more it…it just…it just…it just molds us into who we are. We need that. I love you guys. God bless you.

[superjournalslibrary-blog]

Why the Kingdom of God Must Be Your First Passion

But seek ye first (PROTON) the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

God wants the first part of everyone’s life.  The first part of our lives is the season of productivity.  It is the period in which people abound in faith, hope, love and fertility.

Seek the kingdom of God before you seek your personal kingdom of wealth, comfort and security.  There are many reasons why the kingdom of God must be sought first and in the first part of your life.

1. The kingdom of God requires an early start.  The kingdom of Heaven also requires a lot of time and attention.

The commonest characteristic of large churches is that the pastor has been there for many years.  It takes a long time to grow a congregation from the fellowship stage to the mega church stage.  If you think that the work of God can be done in a few weeks, or months, you deceive yourself and the truth is not in you.  It takes many years for something substantial to be accomplished in ministry.

Let me give you an exercise.  Take any well known and large ministry and find out when the pastor really began his ministry.  Jesus Himself began His preparation for ministry as a child.  Samuel the prophet was brought to the temple as a child.  The preparation takes many years.

This is why Levites became priests only by the age of thirty.

From THIRTY YEARS OLD and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Numbers 4:3

This is why Jesus started His ministry by the age of thirty:

And Jesus himself began to be about THIRTY YEARS OF AGE, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Luke 3:23

Because the work of God requires so much time both for preparation and actual ministry, it must be the first thing in your life.

Many people put off the ministry because they actually despise it; they feel that it is something that can be done within a short time.

2. The kingdom needs young people.

There are many things that only young people can do.  There are things I did when I was younger that I cannot do today.  For instance, I remember when I was in secondary school, I fasted for almost one school term.  I wonder if I could do something like that today.

I used to hold “dawn-broadcasts” (open-air preaching at dawn) in many places.  As a student, I did many exciting things for the Lord.  All night prayer meetings, dawn broadcasts, twelve-hour prayer meetings, seven-hour prayer meetings etc.  Although I basically do the same things today, there are obvious changes in the intensity and style.

I really cherish the more youthful years I spent in Christ.  In those years I memorized entire chapters of the Bible.  It is the verses I learnt in those days that form the basis of my Scripture knowledge today.

Perhaps you do not know why God wants you to take Him as the first thing in the first part of your life.  Perhaps you want to give God your years of weakness and trembling.  The first part is the best part: when you are strong, energetic and zealous.  That is the part that God wants!

3. The kingdom of God needs faith, hope, and love.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Ecclesiastes 12:1

The kingdom of God needs energetic people for the ministry.  There is a lot of stress and strain in the ministry.  Contrary to what people think, pastors are often very stressed and very tired.  They rarely have time for themselves and their families.

In the first part of your life you are full of faith, hope and love.  Watch the older people and you will notice that they have less “spring in their gait”.  Tiredness and weariness has set in.  Bad experiences have made them weary and suspicious of everyone.  They trust no one and are unwilling to try new things.  The spirit of adventure is gone.  They are hardened by their lives’ experiences.  Older people have seen pain, bitterness and death.  Yes, they believe in God but it is a little different from a younger person’s faith.

In the first part of your life, you are not yet broken-hearted.  It is this part that God badly wants.  God wants the first part of your life.  The book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12, aptly describes this.

Keep your creator in mind while you are young! In years to come, you will be burdened down with troubles and say, “I don’t enjoy life anymore.” Your body will grow feeble, your teeth will decay, and your eyesight fail.  The noisy grinding of grain will be shut out by your deaf ears, but even the song of a bird will keep you awake.  You will be afraid to climb up a hill or walk down a road.  Your hair will turn as white as almond blossoms.  You will feel lifeless and drag along like an old grasshopper...

Ecclesiastes 12:1,3-5 (Contemporary English version)

It is said that King Solomon wrote the book of Song of Solomon in his youth, the book of Proverbs in his middle age and the book of Ecclesiastes in his older years.  You will notice that the mood of each of these books is different.  In the Song of Solomon, he is excited and in love.  In the book of Proverbs, he shares practical wisdom for regular life.  But in the book of Ecclesiastes, his mood is quite different.  He describes many of life’s experiences as inconsequential, vain and futile.

Nothing makes senseI have seen it all––nothing makes sense.

Ecclestiastes 12:8 (Contemporary English version )

This drop in mood greatly affects the work of God.  It takes faith and hope in Heaven to take up your cross and sacrifice for an unseen God.

I enjoy the company of the younger Christian leaders in my church.  They seem to enjoy what I preach more than the older ones.  Many times they crowd around me after church just wanting to chat with me.  They seem to believe everything I say, no matter how hard it sounds.

I remember one day in particular, I was talking to a group of older pastors.  The younger university folks gathered around me as usual.  As I continued chatting with them, I noticed as the older ones slunk away one after the other until I was left with only the young people.  I wasn’t saying anything in particular that pertained to young people, but the older guys were just not interested.

In the first part of your life you are very responsive, zealous and teachable.  God can reach out to you and turn you in almost any direction.  As you get older you become uninterested and disillusioned.  There seems to be a teachable and humble spirit in the first part of our lives.

4. The kingdom of God cannot be despised.

There are many jobs that require job-seekers to be below the age of thirty.  Why do you think many companies recruit people below a certain age? Because they want to get the best out of them!

Don’t despise the church.  There are people who say they will work for God when they retire.  Which occupation can be compared with the high calling of ministry? Medicine, law, engineering, architecture, carpentry, computing, banking, journalism, research, pharmacy, mining, management, acting, singing, dancing, plumbing, masonry or piloting cannot be compared with the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for ChristYea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Philippians 3:7-8

The priesthood is the high calling of God.  And that is what I am involved with.  On this earth, the priesthood is despised.  I once had a pastor who couldn’t find a wife because he was a pastor.  The mother of his would-be bride, refused to allow her daughter to be engaged to a pastor.  She felt that a pastor was an aimless, jobless man without prospects.

On one occasion, she even sent an emissary to find out if he really worked with the church as he claimed.  She also wanted to find out what kind of work he could possibly be doing.  The bride’s mother’s envoy could not hide her surprise when she found out that the church actually had offices and that there was a lot of work going on in these offices.

5. The kingdom cannot be delayed.

Some people think their marriages cannot be delayed, their schools cannot be delayed and their work cannot be delayed.  But let me tell you what cannot be delayed: the kingdom of God! Jesus said we should not say that there are yet four months till the harvest.  In other words don’t say that there is more time.  Don’t introduce delays for the kingdom of God.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?  Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

John 4:35

Unknown to many people, this earthly life is very time- related.  Every instruction or opportunity is time-related.  Hear this and hear it very well: every instruction that God has given to you has an invisible timer on it.  A countdown begins from the moment God speaks to you.  The available time to perform that duty reduces with every passing hour.  Many think they are just biding their time and will take God seriously later.  Do not be deceived! The expiry date of your grace period is fast approaching.

When Princess Diana was going out with her Egyptian boyfriend, she didn’t know that she had a few more hours to live.  She was oblivious to the fact that she was to be the subject of the largest funeral of all time.  She didn’t know the time.  Do you know the time? Do we know the time?

If God has called you to the ministry a clock has begun to tick.  A time will come when you will no longer be able to fulfil that instruction.  Sometimes God speaks to you, “Finance my Kingdom.” Perhaps that comes along with a five-year period wherein you can obey Him.

Perhaps He tells you, “Go out as a missionary.” Maybe that has a ten-year period wherein you could fulfil it.  Some people spend seven years of that period doing other things and then in the last three years attempt to obey God.  But their time is almost up.  Nothing effective can be done in the remaining three years.

6. Jesus rejects all those who put their family, business or personal wealth before the kingdom of God.

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I HAVE BOUGHT A PIECE OF GROUND, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I HAVE BOUGHT FIVE YOKE OF OXEN, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I HAVE MARRIED A WIFE, and therefore I cannot come.

Luke 14:17-20

Many decent Christians hide behind their families or legitimate businesses to stay away from obeying God.

Unfortunately, Jesus specifically mentions these things as reasons that will not stand before Him.  Nothing and I mean nothing is more important than God and our service to Him.  When God calls you, you have no right to use your wife, husband or children as a reason to stay away.  When God calls for you, you have no right to use your business or personal wealth as a reason to stay away.

Read it for yourself.  Contrary to what many dignified and self-righteous people think, your service to God is more important than any of these things.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church had major problems with his wife.  She did not want him to continue corresponding with some of the congregants in his parish.  John Wesley preached on Sunday, got married on Monday and preached the next day.  In less than a month, he was on the road again.  Neither wife nor family could stop him from doing what his heart loved most.  Today, the Methodist Church stands as a veritable testimony to the unyielding commitment of John Wesley to the things of God.

by Dag Heward-Mills

[dailyaudiobible]

07/09/2020 DAB Transcript

1 Chronicles 7:1-8:40, Acts 27:1-20, Psalms 7:1-17, Proverbs 18:22

Today is the 9th day of July welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy and an honor to be here with you today as we move ever deeper into the summer and the summer heat. And I know those of you in the southern hemisphere are experiencing winter and moving into winter, which is always so odd to think about, but it's the world we live in and it’s the one we've got, and it's such a beautiful gift from God. So, it’s great to be here with you wherever you are on this big beautiful blue planet we call home for now. And let's take the next step forward in the Scriptures on the adventure of a lifetime that we find ourselves in this year. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today first Chronicles chapters 7 and 8. And yeah, as we began Chronicles, we’ve been working through genealogies, lots and lots of names, fathers who fathered who fathered who fathered and how the people came to be. But within the next couple of days we will kind of come…come to a conclusion of the genealogies and move into the narrative, but today we’ll continue with what we've been doing. First Chronicles chapter 7 and 8.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we can talk about, you know, the genealogies and the movement forward. We could talk about Paul.

Now Paul’s on his way to Rome to stand trial before the Emperor and is having a rough go. They’re being tossed around the ocean, the Mediterranean Sea trying to get to Rome.

But let's focus on one solitary verse today and perhaps this is the thing to meditate upon all day long and it’s from the book of Psalms. “Behold the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.” So, you know, probably everybody who's listening to me understands the nature of things, where babies come from and how long it takes to incubate a baby before birth can be given to the baby and that's called pregnancy. And then birth is given and then there's the new child. And, so, this happens over a period of time and it's all very intimate, right? Conception is about as intimate as two people can get. And pregnancy, I've obviously never been pregnant, but I've been through pregnancies and watched my wife and watched the changes in her and the way that she is getting to know the baby and the way we’re thinking and dreaming about the baby and feeling that baby kicking. And, so, this is pregnancy leading way to birth. “The wicked person conceives evil.” This is very intimate. “And is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.” So, if we become intimate with evil, right, allowing it within us…I don’t want to get overly graphic here, allowing it within us, we can be impregnated with mischief that will give birth to lies, which should tell us that we should be very careful about what we are letting inside of us. This is just a different way of discussing the law of sowing and reaping, right? You reap what you sow. You give birth to lies after you have been pregnant with mischief because you have been intimate and conceived from evil. Now understand what we’re reading here. This is poetic language. So, those of us who are like, “give me the literal way to just kind of…just tell me what to do. I don't want esoteric thinking or meditating.” Just…then you’re not gonna get that out of poetry. It’s hard to get that out of songs because what art does is open us up to deeper, wider, higher truths, a larger awareness because talking about certain things, where do you…how do you get there? Like, how do you describe love with…without getting into any kind of poetic language whatsoever because you are talking about something that is bigger than the word itself or bigger than a phrase. So, we have poetry here and in poetic language. So…so, the Bible isn't telling us, “if you think an evil thought it's like you are having sex with evil and you've gotten yourself pregnant and you’re gonna do bad things.” It's…it's a poem and it's here for us to meditate upon and consider what we are allowing within us, what we are allowing to be conceived within us and it’s using this language to help us understand that this is very intimate what we’re doing and it can lead us into deep darkness.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. And as we think it over today, we invite Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit come and show us the places that we are getting too intimate with evil. We need none of that. We need intimacy and oneness in union with You and You alone and we want nothing else. So, come Holy Spirit. Indwell us, fill us, lead us in the way that we should think. Lead us into the things that we should say, lead us in our actions today we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here around the Global Campfire and the community we share. So, check it out.

Check out the Community section, that's…definitely gives you the links to get connected.

Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop that are created for this journey. Also, the resource, of course, this isn’t in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, you have to get this at the iTunes store or at the Google Play store, but the new resource called Heart, a contemplative journey that has just released and is vastly more popular than I was expecting. And, so, so grateful…so grateful that this reaches the ears of…of so many and yea…just the feedback that I've heard has been so encouraging that journey that I took for so long just trying to pour my own heart out in musical form, just to like speak beyond words to the depths of my own soul and the prayers that kind of were coming from that in my own life, to see that, yeah, I wasn't...I'm not alone, we’re in this together and that this has been an encouragement. That has been…that has been a true joy. And, so, Hearts, a contemplative journey. Even though we released it for the long walk and it's perfect for the long walk, it’s perfect for any time we need to re-center and re-orient and that sems to be needed now more than ever. We just have a little bit of time to step away and remind ourselves, we are the children of God. He's got us. He's got us. All we have to do is slow it all down enough to become aware that. His presence is all around us. So, Heart, a contemplative journey is…is…is that journey. And, so…so, that's…that's available at iTunes, the iTunes Store or the Google Play store. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you're using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

[dailyaudiobible]

01/23/2019 DAB Transcript

Genesis 46:1-47:31, Matthew 15:1-28, Psalms 19:1-14, Proverbs 4:14-19

Today is the 23rd day of January. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it's great to be here with you today as we continue forward and take the next step in our adventure that we have embarked on as a community to take one step a day every day for a whole year and read the entire Bible. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and we are rounding the corner and, you know, in a few days we’ll finish the first book of the Bible, which is the book of Genesis. We’re not quite there, we have a few days to go, but we are also rounding the corner on this Joseph story that we've been tracking for a while and what a drama it is so. So, Joseph, you know, Jacob, Joseph's father has now discovered that Joseph, in fact, isn't dead and all the grief that he's had for all of those years mourning him may turn into joy. And, so, we’ll pick the story up. Genesis chapter 46 and 47 today and we’re reading from the English Standard Version. Sid I already say that? I don’t know. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’re beginning to see the antagonism between Jesus and the religious establishment and we kind of know where this story goes. The religious establishment is gonna do everything they can to ill Jesus in the end and in the end they’ll succeed. So, in today’s reading, the religious establishment is questioning why Jesus does the things that He does and why He does them the way that Ge does them because He is breaking the religious traditions. And Jesus pushes back by simply exposing the fact that they also break their own religious traditions. What he's trying to do is help them understand their religious traditions and what they have made of the law is not what it was intended to be. And, of course, this calls into question all kinds of things, you know, what the religion is about, how God will feel about these changes, how to control the population and keep them devout. Like, all kinds of things begin to come up and it's antagonizing because what Jesus is talking about is deconstruction. Ironically, the kind of antagonism that Jesus faced with the Pharisees early in his ministry, you have to wonder if He wouldn't be in just as much trouble if He came here today speaking the same message to Christians. I know that sounds odd but at the end of Jesus confrontation today He said it all, “for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said this, this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Okay, Jesus spoke this 2000 years ago when He was speaking of a prophecy that was like 700 years older than that. So, this has been going on a long time and it's still going on. And I'm a product of the church, right? I grew up in the church, the son of a pastor. I have been in ministry a long time. Like, if there's something that I do understand I think it's…it’s the ways of the church and it's been an interesting journey for me over the course of 14 years reading the Bible every day. And looking at stuff that Jesus is saying and then going back in the context of why they're mad at him and realizing that we’re repeating the same cycle in so many ways, right? So, for example, what is the message of the gospel? If like…if we were…if we were to articulate what the message of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ is, we would say, “it doesn't matter where you’ve been, it doesn't matter what you've done, it doesn't matter what has brought you to this point, if you will believe and accept Jesus as your Savior, your sins, all of them, no matter what they are, no matter what they have ever been, they will be washed away and you will be clean and God's mercy will overshadow you and you will be born into the family of God and become a part of the body of Christ, brothers and sisters all over the world.” Right? So, that’s what we would say and that is what we believe. That is absolutely the truth. Ironically, that grace, that hovers over you in the pitch, right, to accept Jesus, that seems to go away after you do because after you do you better never sin again, or your brothers and sisters will crucify you. This is the behavior Jesus is pressing in on here. The religious establishment had gotten about the business of trying to corral the people into a fundamentally uniform process of obeying the law, and yet the spirit of the law had been lost. And, so, we have wrote traditions to follow with the whole thing being about modifying behavior as opposed to experiencing union and intimacy with God. And if you do a 360 around you we see this is still going on. We just have Christian traditions instead of Jewish Hebrew traditions to enforce. And this so quickly turns to judgment and, O my gosh, and you can just go out on social media and find the wars. And so often they boil down to what somebody did say or what somebody didn't say or what opportunity somebody missed when they should have said this or how they might be believing something that we don't believe and that that can’t be right. And, so, we’ve absolutely become Pharisees thinking that we are protecting God and that we are holding onto the traditions and enforcing what God would have us do in protecting the true doctrine. But the bottom line is the true doctrine, like, the true religion can be destroyed over time when mankind tries to interpret and enforce everyone else about it. So, Jesus is pressing into exactly this with the Pharisees today, but all we have to do is just harken back to what he's been saying all along. “judge not lest you be judged. The way that you judge others is the way you are going to be judged. Forgive and you will be forgiven. If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven.” These are all things Jesus has been laying out all long since we started the journey. So, we have to consider our own posture of heart in the way that it is that we look at our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, especially, especially our brothers and sisters who do not see things the same way that we do. We can find ourselves being very, very pharisaical and then we have to listen to Jesus words, “for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.” So, may we not be people who will honor the Lord with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him, because that is vain worship which means not doing anything and may we be very careful not to teach as doctrines the commandments of men.

Prayer:

Jesus, we come to You, these are Your words that we are speaking about, so we come to You. You said these things and they do prickle us, they do make us go, “wait, what are we talking about here”, because on some level we don't want to be the Pharisees but on the other side of it we want to do right. And, left to our own devices, this will lead us to judging others, this will lead us to unforgiveness, this will lead us into all kinds of things that make our religion nothing more than a tradition when what You are inviting us into is a personal, dynamic, always on, never off, life-giving relationship with You, and that is what we seek. But we do have the tendency to try to box that up and make it dogma and tradition as opposed to life-giving relationship. So, we need You. So. We’re coming to You Jesus. What are You bringing up? What are You speaking to us in this regard? Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

If you’re at dailyaudiobible.com and you click the Community section, that's where you’ll find all the links to different social media channels and as I’ve mentioned a couple of times, it's a good idea to follow us on Twitter and maybe follow us on some of the other social media channels like Facebook .This way, if there’s an announcement, if there's something going on, if we’re having technical difficulties which we…I mean…this is a seven day thing so occasionally something's not working on one of the servers or whatever, it just is helps us to get the word out. So, that's a good idea, but there are also other groups like DAB Friends to get involved with where there’s conversation juts happening naturally and kind of always. So, you can find all those things in the community section at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link that is on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DAB family my name is Walla, I’m calling from London. Hi Brian, hi Jill and happy new year to all. This call is for, I think his name is Brendan. He just called for the community prayer, so, the week starting the 20th. And Brian you’ve liked the girl for 11 years…I’m sorry, Brendan, you’ve liked the girl for 11 years but you’re not sure if you should ask her out. Matey, ask her out and if she says no, so be it. __ in her, please talk to this girl, and I’m assuming you’re not called to singleness. So, I mean, if she’s not the right person God would bring someone else. And, yeah, God bless you, I had to pause the community prayer to just talk to you. I’ll be praying for you brother. Alright, have a blessed day, I love you all. Bye.

Hi this is __ from northern Colorado and I wanted to pay for the young man who just called in and said that he’s been diagnosed with MS. Lord, I just lift him up to You and I just pray that he would feel Your comfort in a way that he’s never felt before. Lord, I pray that You would bring a strong support group around him of Christians Lord that would help him to look to You Lord. I just thank You that he has been doing that and that has changed his life Lord. We just thank You that, yeah, he’s had the courage to go another day and that we pray that You would continue to fill him with Your courage Lord and that that courage would grow and multiply in his life Lord. Help them to find his way in this Lord. But if You don’t want to do that and You want to heal him, we’ll take that too Lord. Just pray that You would have Your hand on his life and that You would guide him and that You will provide for his finances, that You’d provide for his support, that You were to reach out and comfort him in a way that he’s never been comforted by the Holy Spirit before Lord. Just do a mighty work and help him to shine Lord, help him to realize while he does have a __ disease that he’s not worthless at all Lord that You can still use him and that You have a plan for his life and I pray that You would help him to complete all the plans that You have ordained for him to do. Amen.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, my name is Kat and I am a first-time this year listener. This is my first year going through it. My boss really recommended that I start doing it. She’s a wonderful Christian lady and I love it. I love waking up at listening to it. So, I just thank you so much for providing that. And I just…I’ve had this on my heart for a couple days now or a couple of weeks now but I recently had sort of been talking with a young guy who…we just sort of were dating but I realized very quickly that he is Buddhist and does not know the Lord and his name is Aaron and I just had to end things basically with him and it was very painful but I just knew that…I know that God is gonna work in him. Like I have this hope that he belongs to Him and He has that work, but I would really appreciate any prayers that he would just find Jesus. I just feel like it’s hopeless right now…I mean I don’t really…obviously I know God can work but it’s hard for me to believe that I guess, but I just pray that not even for my sake but just for his own sake that you would just…that he would find God and that he wouldn’t be satisfied in his own faith but that he would just hunger and thirst for righteousness and that he can only be filled by the Holy Spirit. So, yeah, thank you so much for your prayers. I listen to everybody else’s prayer requests on here and there’s some really amazing people of faith. And I know we’ll all meet one day, which is very exciting. Alright, thank you, have a great day.

Hi, my name is Dr. Russ, I live in California and I am responding to God’s Light request for being uplifted in prayer. I’m a first-time caller and I’m not calling for prayer, I’m calling to pray. I’m calling for God’s Light. God’s Light I was diagnosed with MS 25 years ago. I have lived a full life depending and relying upon Jesus every day since that time. And take note of this thought, pray through this thought, if we choose to end our lives, if we choose to take things in our own hands, do we not then say that Christ’s blood was spilled in vain and is worthless? Because if it is worth something then it redeems and if it redeems then it changes. And I can assure you, it does change everything. So, hang on. I’m praying for you, you have hundreds and perhaps thousands of people in the DAB family praying for you right now as I’m going to at this moment. Dear Father, for those who are afflicted with disease or things that they can’t understand and we all at one time or another are in that boat. Lord, show Yourself strong the week. Make Yourself that strength that is needed, the gap between where my brother says he is and where You are. Show Yourself Lord, strong to every individual has disease, who has shortfalls, who has shortcomings, and that includes all of us in this human race. Lord, may there be a collective strength of your body for that person. My dear friend, God’s Light…

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Kat in the UK. I’ve been listening for number of years now and have called on a couple of occasions but I’m now trying to call more regularly having missed the Christmas greeting last year. I really felt inspired this month to call and pray for those suffering with poor mental health. So here goes. Lord, we just thank You for who You are, for Your grace and mercy. We thank You that You are a God who wants us to have a spirit of love, and power, and of a sound mind and not a spirit of fear. Lord I just lift You, everyone in the Daily Audio Bible family who is struggling with poor mental health. I pray that You will be their rest, You will be their safe place, and You will be their anchor. Lord, in Your grace restore them, make them whole, and let them feel a lightness that comes from knowing You. In Your name. Amen.

Hi family this is Viola calling from Maryland I hope you’re all doing well. Brian and Jill God bless you. China, I’m watching all of the posts on Facebook. Congratulations again for your upcoming wedding in April. Woo hoo. You will make a great bride. O, I have just two minutes to say this. This sister that’s been calling about her son who has been saying horrible things, had a gun, talking about how he will kill somebody and everything. Sister, remember the __ women in the Bible who went to Jesus pleading on behalf of her child. You can still that. It’s __ authority over whatever has gotten in that boy and be gone in the name of Jesus. I am telling you sister this works. So, we are praying with you. Every time you call I’ve been praying, and I pray you will call back and give your testimony. And if he comes and he says everything __ , you begin to refute him with the word of God and say in the name of Jesus. The word of God says that you will be __ the Lord and it will bring you peace. I declare that peace for you right now in the name of Jesus. I bind every spirit harassing you. Begin to speak that to your son’s life and see everything come around you __. And I pray that will be true for you in the name of Jesus. Condon, I’m praying for your marriage. London from Maryland I pray that God will reconcile both you and your wife and there will be much forgiveness, you will make allowance for each others faults and God will just make everything afresh and just make it new again. In the name of Jesus. Lastly, I want to pray that sister who called in about her green card and paying the Lord will make away for you, the Lord will step into your situation, He will give you favor with the authorities, with ICE, and everything will be perfect quickly and speedily. Family, lastly, if you could pray for my son Daniel __ from college. Woo hoo. He’s looking for a good job and we pray that he will get one. God bless you.