Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness and it's a Chamber of Comments episode. And in the Chamber of Comments, I don't tell stories but I do answer the emails that I've been sent recently. You can email me anytime, darron at WeirdDarkness.com. Before I get into the emails that I've received recently, though, a huge thanks to everybody who went in and voted for Weird Darkness and the podcast awards. I got a notification today that I did make the finalists in both the true crime and the storyteller drama categories. Thank you so much to everybody that voted. I will not know if I have won those categories until Thursday, September 30th. That's national podcast day, I think is actually what that's called, and that's the day that they release the names of all the winners. So until then, we're just going to have to bite our fingernails and hope for the best. We'll see how it goes. There was over 5 million people that did vote and there's about 20,000 or 20,000 people right now that have been asked to vote on the final nominees. So if you're one of those people, congratulations, you're one in five million. Well, let's take a look at some of the emails that have come in. I'm actually responding to emails that came in in response to the previous Chamber of Comments episode. We talked a lot about the SUV that we have, the Weird Darkness SUV, the truck, the machine, whatever we want to call it. In fact, that's the problem. I don't know what to call it. And so I was asking all of you to come up with a few names for me. These are not the only names that we're going to go with, but this is what we've had so far. So we'll just start here. Amanda sent in an email saying, hey Darren, maybe this is too simple, but what about the weird wagon or the weirdo wagon? Whatever you choose, I'm sure it would be awesome. Hope all as well. Just another weirdo in Christ, Amanda. Well, thank you, Amanda. You're actually the second person to recommend that because my wife's best friend also said the weirdo wagon. So there's actually a couple of votes for that right up right up in the beginning. Let's see here. Moving on to... Oh, okay. This is DJ. He's one of my Patreon members, actually. He says, congrats on making to the next round of voting, podcast awards, final slate, voting's underway. Happy they picked a weirdo to vote in the final round. Oh, so you are one of the weirdos to vote in the final... You're one of those 20,000. Well, thank you very much, DJ. And hopefully in your final voting, you'll choose Weird Darkness in the true crime and storyteller drama category. Jose sent in an email saying, hey Darren, I hope you're doing well. I wanted to tell you that you doing an episode just to read comments and emails is a great idea. Also, since you mentioned you needed input for a name of your vehicle, I was thinking of two. One, the weird wagon. Two, the dark rider. No taking much of your time. Thanks again for all you do. God bless you and your bride, your brother in Christ, Jose. Well, thank you, Jose. You know what? I really need to start writing these down here as I'm doing these. So we have the dark rider and then we also have the weird wagon and the weirdo wagon. So let me put that down here. The weird wagon. I should have been a bit more prepared for this, if you think. Sorry, folks. Weirdo wagon. Okay, moving on. So that was Jose and let's go to Brandy. She said, why not weird darkness excursion as you'll be taking excursions in it? Not a bad idea. Brandy, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I was originally calling it the weird darkness explorer because it was going to be an explorer. I ended up with an expedition, so weird darkness expedition, but weird darkness excursion kind of fits both of those. So thank you. Moving on to Max. He says, you got to be getting tired of hearing from me from time to time. No, I don't, Max. You know what? You can email me anytime you want to. But I had some inspiration regarding naming. Expedition darkness machine or the weird darkness explorer? Okay, so Max is just going with what I just said. He talked about the explorer. I'm not going to use that. I'm not going to add explorer to the list because it's not a weird darkness explorer. It's not a Ford Explorer. It is an expedition. So the expedition or the darkness machine, actually, a weird darkness machine. That's kind of what I've been calling it without really knowing what else to call it. So thank you, Max. Appreciate it. Andy emailed me saying, hey, bud, how about rolling darkness? I like the ring of that. God bless. Andy G. in St. Joseph, Michigan. Rolling the weird darkness, rolling darkness. Hmm, rolling darkness. Alright, I'll add it to the list. We'll see what people think about that. Thanks, Andy. This one comes from Chris saying, hey, Darren, how about calling the SUV the weirdo wagon? So again, another vote for weirdo wagon. Let's see here. Moving on to... Okay, actually, we'll come back to those because those actually that's a different topic that we'll come to. Scott said, I was listening today when I heard that you were looking for a name for the car. I was thinking that if there was a play on words, what I came up with took part of the name from the podcast calling it dark nessie. Also, I can't recall if it was brought up, but the Marlar Mobile has a good ring to it as well. So dark nessie. Now the Marlar Mobile, I think that would be Marlar Mobile. The thing is, I don't know if people would... I'll add it to the list, just in case. So we've got the weird darkness, dark nessie, and the weird darkness Marlar Mobile. Okay, I'll write that one down there as well. Okay, thanks, Scott. Appreciate that.  Oh, if only it were also a transformer, how cool would that be? We could transform it into nessie. We could transform it into the Loch Ness Monster. Okay, so the weird darkness Optimus Grim, that's cool. I like that. Okay, moving on. Let's see, Rachel. Let's see. Okay, no, actually, that's something else. I'm sorry, I won't touch on that one. Layla sent me something, the weirdo expedition. She says it's pretty good. So we've got the weirdo wagon, and then we also have the weirdo expedition. I'll put that in there as well. Weirdo expedition. Okay. Now, if Ford was actually sponsoring the road trip, I'd definitely put expedition in the title somewhere, because that would make sense for them. Let's see here. We've got Jill who emailed me saying, hey, Darren, love the podcast. Have a suggestion for naming the new car, the four-wheel weirdo, or the wheeled weirdo. It's the same as us with added rubber. Now I can't stop laughing. You're the best, Jill. Well, thank you, Jill. All right, I'll add those to the list as well. So not only do we have the weirdo wagon and the weirdo expedition, we've got the four-wheel weirdo, and the wheeled weirdo, that's what it was, wheeled weirdo, the weird darkness wheeled weirdo. Okay. We're coming up with some pretty fun names, more than anything else. And like I said, I had a lot of people that got back to me on this one. Mb sent me one. He says weird darkness wagon. So did we already have that one? We have the weird wagon, we don't have the weird darkness wagon. Okay, so we'll put that one as part of on our list. He says the weird darkness pod car, which is also pretty good. I like that. I actually thought that once I get the new license plate for the car, which I still got to do, thanks you, thank you for the reminder. I thought maybe the license plate would be great as podcast. If it's available here in Illinois, that would actually be a nice license plate, because then they would see weird darkness all over the vehicle. They'd see the license plate, this is podcast, and it'd be all self-explanatory. They'd know exactly what it is. Mb also suggested weird darkness terror plane, which is actually, it's a play on terror plane, a type of car from the 1930s. And I'll add it to the list, but I don't know if I would use that one, because it sounds like terror plane, like an airplane, and it's not an airplane. I know that's not what it's actually referring to, but that's what it sounds like. And then he came up with a really clever one, the weird darkness forward exorcism. Not an expedition, not an explorer, an exorcism, the weird darkness forward exorcism. I don't know if Ford would appreciate me using that one, but I love it. Anyway, it continues, I think the Christian thing is to be kind and merciful and graceful. And I think John was that way. You know what, I'll come back to that. No, it's okay, I'll go ahead and continue it now, because I think that's all the car names that came in. But he's referring to the complaint emails that I received because of the Wendigo episode, which ended up using the N word within the context. He says, I think the Christian thing is to be kind and merciful and graceful. And I think John was that way to you about the N word, and I'm not sure you're especially kind or merciful and definitely not graceful in your response to it. You didn't really listen to it. I think it really is as simple as not saying a word, especially if you don't like it yourself to begin with. I was disappointed and saddened by your response. Always enjoy your show and play it as I fall asleep. Lots of love and best of luck, MB. Well, thank you, MB. I appreciate it. And I was a bit tired when I recorded that Chamber of Comments episode. So I might have been a bit terse in my replies. And if I was, John, if you're listening, I'm very, very sorry if I came across that way, because I definitely respect the way you came to me. You were very, very diplomatic in the way you came. You weren't antagonistic. You weren't trying to start an argument. You weren't pointing fingers at me and calling me names. You were just respectful and came and said, hey, I think this is something you probably shouldn't have done. So for those of you who did not listen to that episode, the N word is in the story, The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. And it's not actually said by the author. It's said by one of the characters the author is writing for. And it just happens to fit into the story that way. And I did debate whether or not I should use it. And I did put, if I remember correctly, I did put a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode saying that a certain word or maybe words were used that may not be appreciated by some listener discretion advised. But I'm not going to put in the disclaimer certain like in this episode, the N word is going to be used. I just that doesn't seem that seems a little overkill to me. The reason that I left it in though is because it is a classic piece of literature and I don't believe in censorship. Now, when it comes to something new that's sent to me like a creepypasta or a piece of horror fiction sent to me by one of you, my weird listeners, I will edit it for content. But when it comes to a classic piece of literature by a well known author, I just don't feel it's right to to remove it. Somebody did have a suggestion, which might be in one of the emails that I that I get back to here in a second. Somebody did have the suggestion of me just bleeping it out rather than changing it or or skipping over it. I thought that might be a good compromise.  So I don't know. Let me know if y'all think that maybe just a bleep sound would work better for you or if you would prefer that I keep the words in there. And it's not just the N word. I mean, the F bomb has also been in in a few of those classic stories or either that or they're a story that's very, very popular on like creepypasta.com and I didn't want to change it too much. So anyway, just let me know your thoughts on that. But I just I want to get away from being afraid of certain words. There are certain words that I don't want to use that that would be one of them. I think I think it's ridiculous that only one one one skin tone of people can use a word and others can't. I think that's ridiculous. A word is a word. And if you don't want the word used, don't use it, period. And if you don't want if you don't want people other than African Americans using it, then don't use it yourself. It's it's it's a double standard when it comes to that. And I just don't believe in double standards. So that's the reason I went ahead and used it. You may or may not agree with me. So let me go back to to a couple of those emails that came in. This one comes from Donnie. And she says, Hey, Darren, I just wanted to say thank you for addressing your complaints and the Chamber of Comments episode. I agree with those who have the complaints that the language is not what I expect. But I also agree with you that we are adult enough to recognize it's not coming directly from you. It's coming from another author. I have a suggestion. And maybe you consider it censorship. I'm not sure. But in the future, if you read a story with such offensive language as in the n word, could you just bleep it out? Thanks for what you do. Keep up the good work.  Donnie. So yeah, that there you go. I thought somebody had mentioned that in a previous email. So there you go. Thank you, Donnie. I appreciate that. And we'll end with Stephanie. Good morning, Darren. I'm just listening to your Chamber of Comments episode. And I just wanted to say that I appreciate you not wanting to censor historical documents slash stories. I think we've gotten too sensitive about every little thing out there. You do have warnings at the beginning of episodes for specific content or language. Keep doing what you're doing. Your podcast has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. I love the content and your voice is just perfect. Haven't found another podcast with similar content that I like even remotely close to as much as I like yours. Thank you, signed Stephanie. Thank you, Stephanie. I appreciate those kind words. And I also appreciate your two cents regarding whether or not I should use certain words. So there you go, folks. Let me know about the whole language thing and also still looking for names of what you think I should call the vehicle. And so here's what we came up with in just this episode. We've got the Dark Rider, the Weirdo Wagon, Weird Darkness Wagon, Weird Darkness Podcar, Weird Darkness Terrorplane, Weird Darkness Ford Exorcism, the Weirdo Expedition, the Four-Wheel Weirdo, Weald Weirdo, Weird Darkness Excursion, the Darkness Machine, the Rolling Darkness, Dark Nessie, the Marlar Mobile, and Optimus Grimm. So that's just a few. Well, that's actually not a few. That's all of the suggestions that have come in so far. But I'm hoping it's just a few. I would love to hear what your ideas are. So send them to me at Darren at WeirdDarkness.com. Again, Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. Thanks for listening in. And of course, if you like the show, please share Weird Darkness with those who love the paranormal, strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do. Sharing the podcast like that, that's what helps it to stay alive, to keep it healthy and growing, and I can't do that without you. You're the ones that make that happen. So thank you very much. We'll see you again in the next episode. God bless.


So, this is Brandon K. Thorpe and I am here in the business class lounge of Miami International Airport with James Randy. We are about to leave for Zurich and then on to Helsinki to begin the sleep of reason tour if you're up 2010. Hi Randy. Hello Brandon. Hey.  How long has it been since you've been to Finland? Oh, it's been several years now. Quite a while.  I'm back in full gear now and I intend to prove it. What do you like about Finland? Can you tell me about one of your previous trips there? Well, Helsinki alone for its architecture is really something to see. A lot of Rudolph Steiner stuff and every house looks different from every other house in some of these streets and I think it's really worth a tour, just a walking tour of Helsinki just to see the different styles of architecture that can be found there. That sounds wonderful. Will you be eating any reindeer while you're there? No, not unless a reindeer has to fall on the street in front of me and offer up a chop or two. I see. That's probably not going to happen. Do you mind if I do? No, please don't. I know you will. Tell me a little bit about what you're going to be talking about on the sleep of reason tour. Well, sleep of reason tour will be sort of framed around the usual talks that I give, but we're going to try to work a little more religion and skeptic attitudes about skeptical attitudes about religion into the talk as well. I believe we need that. I think we have to adopt a much more skeptical attitude about the nonsense that has been given to us for hundreds of years now, trying to tell us that there's a great spirit somewhere in the sky and that when we die, we don't really die, we go someplace else. Are you telling me that's not the case? I highly doubt it. Let's put it that way. Damn it, Randy. This interview is over. There you go.


Hey, good morning once again. Hope you all are doing well. Hey, good morning Karen, Ariella, Riku. Thanks for joining in You want fan? It's gonna yeah Sorry guys, maybe you can put that fan on over there and And I mean for them if you want it you can turn on that one Yeah It's on yeah, it's yes Hi, Surya Thanks for joining. I'm audible right for you those online Are you able to hear me? Okay clearly? Yes. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Cool. Cool. Cool Anyways, everyone so serious Great, okay All right, let's pray and we'll get started. Yeah, father. We submit this time into your hands This hour into your hands Lord Even as we once again meditate from your word I pray holy spirit that you would open our eyes to the wonderful things of your word and you are the word Jesus I Pray that they would be in you and a fresh revelation of who you are God today Come holy spirit.  I pray amen Amen. Amen. Okay All right. Once again, I hope you all are doing well It's been quite a journey in this course at least we've covered five chapters praise and worship chapter 1 to chapter 5 we finished chapter 5 last class and I hope that you've been learning something and I hope it's Been teaching you to you know, I don't know Make your lifestyle as a worshipper better Has it helped anyone so far? This is five more chapters to go. It's a short course. So as this course helped anyone so far. Yes. No, maybe a little bit Awesome. Thank you. I'm glad So we move into chapter 6 now becoming a worshipper Becoming a worshipper We begin this chapter by understanding the difference between Spiritual worship and fleshly worship. Okay, so out of memory who can What what what is one of the things that John chapter 4 was 22 to 24 says what does it say? John chapter 4 was 22 to 24. What does it say? Okay, God is seeking for true worshippers Who worship him in? Spirit and truth truth and spirit what not, right? So God is seeking seeking is what searching he's looking to and fro True worshippers if there is true worshippers that means there is False worship. Yes. So if there is true worship, it is false worship And if there is and then goes on to say that he is looking for Worship true worshippers who will worship him in spirit and truth, okay, so Spirit spiritual worship the opposite of spiritual worship is fleshly worship. It's non-spiritual That simply means a fleshly worship. Okay God is spirit. Yeah, thanks Nina.  It's like These government officials who are trained to find out these counterfeit notes You know this fake currency They don't sit and study all the thousands of fake currencies that's there What they do is they they study the original really well Right, they study the original note 100. We know whichever 2,000 rupees note. I guess they study it really well and Then they're able to find out what the false worship. I mean I mean the false currency is all about right So so there's an opinion is it's very important for us to understand spiritual worship and it will open up our minds About everything what fleshly worship is about. Okay, so let's start off with can someone help me read first Peter chapter 2 verse 5 first Peter chapter 2 was 5 and Thank you. So first Peter chapter 2 was 5 yeah, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house To be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, okay. So tell me some of the things Is everybody there first Peter chapter 2 was 5? Yeah Okay So let me read it one more time very slowly for a follow along You can read it in your own language as well. So it says you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ So what are some of the things that stand out in that verse? To you what are some of the Things the key words that is like sticking out to you Acceptable, okay, so okay, so accept it has to be acceptable to God. That's one of the things What else is standing out to you?  Like they mentioned, okay, so spiritual house spiritual sacrifice We are being built up as spiritual sacrifices. Yeah, okay Acceptable to God, okay, I'm looking for one more key thing Through Jesus Christ, okay, there we go through Jesus Christ Okay, but that's very important, isn't it through Jesus Christ So in a lot of places in the scriptures in another translation instead of the word through it will the word in accordance According will be used right according to Jesus Christ in accordance with Jesus Christ, right? It simply means a chord in the middle of that word according everybody say according Okay, it's like saying according to him her She's like this according to her, you know, we use that word right according to me It's it looks little dark in here today You know, so the middle of the word according. Yeah, it's kind of blocked In the middle of the word a chord is what the word chord is there We all play a chord some of us play a chord right like three no, it sounds together in harmony, right? And so in harmony with Jesus Christ in other words in one accord with Jesus Christ We are being transformed into a spiritual house So we are into a holy priesthood who will bring spiritual sacrifices, right? Someone read Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15. Please. Thank you, right? So the previous verse first Peter chapter 2 verse 5 Peter ends that verse by saying through Jesus Christ Here the Hebrew writer he starts with Jesus Christ. It says therefore Okay, anytime I always say this right if you see the word therefore You need to ask Why is it therefore? Okay, so you see so you have to go back and read the previous one. But anyways, so therefore by Him who's the him? Sure, fucker. We lock it. Okay Therefore by him or through him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise Stop if we try to offer worship without Jesus If it's not going through him If it's not in accordance or in line with what he has done on the cross for us There's no spiritual worship Are you with me? There is no spiritual worship, but through Jesus Christ. It is through his blood We entered the throne of grace, right? So that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name Okay, someone very quickly Romans chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 a very famous popular Scripture, right Romans chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 once again this verse begins with therefore therefore by the Mercies of God is that right? I urge you brethren I in other translations says I beseech you So beseech isn't simply another word for It's a very polite word to say beg Okay, so I beg you so who wrote the book of Romans? Well, so he's Paul Okay He was known as the Pharisees of the Pharisees Apostle Paul like that means Some of the scholars say that the Education of Paul or his wisdom and knowledge of Paul is equivalent of having 20 PhDs 20 PhDs in here we are trying to finish a degree Right Paul was highly educated like he was trained by the most finest Pharisee the teacher of the law Apostle Paul And he is coming and saying I beg you Right saying I'm begging you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy Acceptable to God right again remember from the first Peter chapter 2 It has to be acceptable to God right our worship guys Our worship must be acceptable to God if your worship is not being acceptable Useless throw it don't do anything just pack it and keep it Right Which is your reasonable service Verse 2 it goes on to say do not be conformed to this world Do not be conformed What is it saying it's like okay, don't let the world influence you Okay, just because the world is doing that You don't think okay, I mean chalta here Okay, that chalta here attitude I'm using it correctly nickel. What is chalta? It's just it's like it's okay It's okay. Just one puff It's okay. Just one shot It's just one bad word It's just one nude scene in that movie. Yeah, but the movie story is nice Chalta You get what I'm saying Don't let the world Influence how you lived your life Are you with me? That's the beginning of understanding spiritual worship is you not letting the world influence you Then paul goes on to say what? but be Transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god? Okay Another recurring thing in the three verses that we've read so far is sacrifice We read spiritual sacrifice in first Peter chapter 2 verse 5 right here. We are seeing living sacrifice Has anybody witnessed? A sacrifice happening like the sacrifice being offered has anybody seen You've seen what sacrifice Head of the goat the goat is still alive. No When they do it Yeah, okay, but the head is separated. That's what they go for no Yeah okay, so Sacrifice offer yourself He's saying offer yourself as a living sacrifice Now for them to offer a sacrifice there was an altar Right, they have to build an altar on which the the offering will be placed. Isn't it? Um There's a beautiful study on Abraham. We learn about that in the third year Abraham is known as the man of altars. He built altars everywhere god took him right? Altar is a sign of surrender. It's a sign of sacrifice again, right? He kept building altars Here paul he's saying don't just be build altars You have to be on the altar Okay, paul is saying don't just build the altar by our Now it's time for you to get on the altar Offer yourself as a living sacrifice Welcome Sean right Sacrifice eventually dies.  You can't offer spiritual worship Because god is spirit you have to worship him in spirit And in a truth, okay, all right All right, you guys are still alive, right? Yes Okay, last verse philippians chapter three verse three It says for we are the circumcision who worship god in the spirit Rejoice in christ jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Give me who worship god in the spirit rejoice once again rejoice in paul Rejoice in christ jesus and have no confidence in flesh have no confidence simply means Like don't rely on the flesh Like i hope you all are understanding the seriousness of it The The seriousness of fleshly worship.  Okay so far Now let's look at fleshly worship. We've kind of briefly understood spiritual worship We've all been transformed being built into a holy priesthood You know, one of the things what priests did The priests in the book in the old testament They never went before god empty-handed Right, they never went before god empty-handed Um, and that kind of sheds When we look at the new covenant a new testament, right? And we look at the life of jesus Why are all these verses and there are more verses by the way in just four verses mentioned in your notes But there are so many verses that says through jesus christ through jesus christ in christ jesus in accordance with him why Jesus was not only our offering He was also the offerer And we see we read that in the book of hebrus, right? He was not only our sacrifice He was also our high priest He is also our high priest We need to understand that okay Jesus is not only our offering or our sacrifice that died on the cross. He is also the offerer Right, he's not only our sacrifice, but he is also our high priest, right So that is a significance of us understanding the beauty of jesus, okay, so now very quickly. Let's look at our fleshly worship um We leave the scriptures mentioned in the notes for a second, but let's look at can someone read for me isiah chapter five Verse 12 is a chapter five verse 12. Can you read it one more time, please? All right But they do not regard the work of the lord nor consider the operation of his hands, right? Is there another translation? I think that's nkjb, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, please But they do not What the lord is doing. Okay, let's present continuous. Okay. Yeah, any other translation? Which one was that shon? News, okay NIV, okay Which one is that which verse is that? Oh, no, no, so I was asking to read of isiah five verse 12 once again as I have five was to No respect for the work of his hands. Okay, so there can be music happening all around Same instruments that we use and whatnot, but still have absolutely no respect For who god is it's a sella moment. You know, it's a sella moment is like this pause It's a thinking moment right there In everything that we we are doing in in our singing in our playing whatnot A question for us again. I'm okay is Am I honoring him? Am I giving him all the respect all the honor that is due his name, right another classic scripture? Let's go to emos chapter five Is in the book that is in the bible Just in case you're wondering emos chapter five. Yes We will go to Let's go to we'll read from verse 22 We'll read from verse 22 and stop at verse 23 Stop though you offer me Burnt offering and your grain offerings I will not accept them. Okay What are some of the things that we kept reading in the previous the spiritual? Worship passages is Acceptable a worship must be acceptable Right if the one who we are worshiping is not accepting your worship. What is the point of it? Right and here god is like, okay Although you're offering, you know offerings are their sign of their way of saying their way of worshiping, isn't it? I will not accept them. Go ahead Continue continue. No Thanks. Uh, right. There's another scripture, which uh Okay, no, that's fine There's one interesting line there from verse 23 says take away from me those uh from the noise of your Songs Okay, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments There's another word there. It's like saying, uh But actually I just want to read the whole thing. Okay. Um, the rest of the thing verse 24 It says but let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream Okay, like mighty stream. Uh, did you offer me or we read that?  Okay. Um, this is like the beginning of uh, the fleshly worship, right? The downfall of israel in the in the old testament time and time again that you will read is They went back into idolatry Right time and time again They went back into idolatry. Okay. So if you read the book, uh, Say judges And if you haven't read the book of judges, I would encourage you to read it One of the scary chapters in the bible is in for me at least A judges chapter 19, uh, but if you read the book of judges first Samuel second Samuel, um First chronicles second chronicles orders first kings second kings everything. There's one cycle There's one pattern to israelites, uh life how they lived, right? They would do idol worship Followed by punishment followed by repentance And forgiveness god will forgive them and they go back into idol worship One nice cycle circle. Okay and time. Yeah, shan Yeah Sin gets just, you know more creative ways of Right, um And you see that from the beginning god takes Abraham, right? He takes Abraham from this land of Ur He was part of what we call it as a polytheism say polytheism is multiple gods You have many gods poly polytheism, right And he says, okay, I'm going to take you from here And now I'm making you a monotheist Mono means one, right one god So overnight it's like, uh Like I mean How do I explain the god taking a chinese person and say, okay, you're an indian now Just like that only god can do that something right overnight so god takes him and say, okay, and then even in the commandment You will not have any other Gods before me are you with me right exodus chapter 20 verse 3 to 5 i'll just read it for us Exodus 23 to 5 you can turn if you want to exodus exodus Chapter 20 verse 3 to 5 it says you shall have no other gods before me You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or Or on the earth beneath or in the waters below you shall not bow down to them or worship them For I the lord your god am a jealous god Right it starts off by saying you shall have no other gods before me. He's a jealous god. He's an all-consuming fire Uh, do you remember when we read Psalm 115? Verse 4 to 8 let's refresh our memory. Psalm 115 Verse 4 to 8 can Thank you Right those who make them verse 8 will be like them and so will all who trust in them Okay, that's like the key verse for us to understanding idol worship idolatry.  What is adultery? What is adultery? Oh, this is not just seeing bro this is Adultery, okay. So, um adultery is say a married man, right a married couple, whatever If either one of them is Cheats on the other person by like having sexual relations outside of the marriage with another person That is what adultery is Okay, are you with me? So idolatry Is spiritual adultery? Okay idolatry is Spiritual adultery. It's and god takes this very why does he hate idolatry? It's like god is saying i'm a jealous god.  I am yours. I purchased you With my blood, right? You are mine.  Let's what let's read more scriptures. I hope that's okay. Let's go to second kings chapter 17 verse 14 to 20 second kings is after first kings second kings chapter 17 Verse 14 to 20, okay. It says, uh, I hope you're there. Should I repeat second kings chapter 17 Verse 14 to 20 it says But they would not listen And were as stiff necked as their ancestors Who did not trust in the lord their god? They rejected his decrees and the covenant he made with their ancestors and the sit and the statues He had won them to keep They followed Worthless idols I Don't know what language. I mean what words are used, but you should you ought to highlight it.  They were giving Worth the ship to something that is absolutely worthless Okay, uh, and themselves became worthless. So look at that line.  They foresook all the commands Of the lord their god and made for themselves two idols Cast in the shape of calves and a share a pole They bowed down to all their starry host and they worshiped bal They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought Omens and sold themselves to the evil They sold To do evil in the eyes of the lord arousing his anger So the lord was very angry with israel and removed them from his presence Only the tribe of juda was left only the tribe of juda was left And even juda did not keep the commands of the lord their god They followed the practices israel had introduced Therefore the lord rejected all the people of israel. He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunders Until he thrust them from his presence This is very serious guys This is very very serious Before I talk about the consequences of idolatry. There's one more passage of scriptures that I want to read Uh, I hope that's all right With everyone those online Let's go to numbers chapter 24 Numbers chapter 25. Sorry You guys are alive now Learning something Learning something Nice pants nickel. I told that already Numbers chapter 25 Okay How many of you like the book of numbers? Hey, you know, you know, you can ask this question say hey, which is your favorite book Now no christian would say numbers is my favorite book Right But this is an absolute this chapter No chapter 25 I'm not going to go into the details of it, but it's the turning point in the history of israel Okay, we're not going to study this whole thing, but this chapter numbers chapter 25 What happens before and after Is very very crucial to understanding the history of israel. Okay, but we're not going to get into this So number step 25 verse one onwards While israel was staying in shittim The men began to indulge in Sexual immorality with Moabite women Okay pause Before when god brings them out of exodus god says You guys better be careful.  They have different practices. Their culture is different. Everything about them is very different God says very clearly Don't indulge in any of their practices Right. Don't indulge in any of their practices What do israelites do? That is exactly what they do. It's like telling a kid don't do that. I will go do that Don't put your finger in that.  It's like You know But that's exactly what happened. Yes It's it's in our nature. You know, it's like rebelliousness But that exactly is what happening here god told them not to do it, but this is exactly what they are doing. Okay um, so First one again when men were there they began to indulge in sexual immorality with moabite women Now, how did they end up over there? Okay Verse two, this is very important before they indulged in sexual immorality. Look at that Who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods? Right who invited them to Sacrifices to their gods what was the first thing it's like Come let's worship our gods It begins there right False worship. I mean every every immorality the consequences of idolatry guys remember the consequences of fleshly worship In other words idolatry It leads to immorality Okay idolatry leads to immorality. So that's exactly what would happen. These men came You know with the honey in their lips and nice makeup and the some spray or whatnot.  Uh, the people ate and they bow down before these gods. So israel Wow, the israel joined in worshipping the ball of pure and the lord's anger burned against them Um, as I mentioned, I'm not going to go into the details of this entire chapter But god was very very angry Okay, god was very very angry. Uh, let's um Let's look at Actually, I'm going to read this uh quite a bit. Is that okay guys because I feel this is very crucial. Okay. So the lord said to moses Verse four take all the leaders of these people kill them And expose them in broad daylight before the lord so that the lord's fierce anger may turn away from israel So moses said to israel judges each of you put to death those of your men who have joined in worshipping the ball of pure God just doesn't tolerate sin or idolatry Um verse six This is crucial. Okay verse Six then an israelite man brought to his family a midianite woman right before the eyes of moses and the whole assembly of israel while they were Weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting What is happening? Everybody's wailing is like they're you know, they're like moses their leader is there And this man in broad daylight Is bringing a median a woman into the camp For what? To commit sexual immorality Right and there is a time where it comes where sin will not hide in the night Sin is no longer secret It's wide open in the front of the leaders But then verse seven when fini he has Son of eliezer the son of eran the priest saw this he left the assembly Took a spear in his hand and followed the israelite to into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them He drove the spear. You know what a spear is gharbar types he drove the spear through both of them Through the israelite and into the woman's body then the plague against the israelites was stopped But those who died in the plague number 24,000 was 10 The lord said to moses fini he has son of eliezer son of eran the priest Has turned my anger away from the israelites for he was zealous as i am for my honor amongst them So that in my zeal i did not put an end to them verse 12 therefore Tell him i am making my covenant of peace with him verse 13 he and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood Because he was zealous for the honor of his god and made atonement for the israelites The name of israel who was killed that the medianite woman Was zemri and salu the leader of the simonite family and the name of the medianite woman was put to death Was 16 the lord said to moses treat the medianites as enemies and kill them Because they treated you as enemies pause So god is stopping While there is sin that is happening all around us Right, that's what the world that we are living in is is crazy Where the sin is like it's no longer secret. It's like everything is cool one night stand is cool sexual immorality is cool Right using filthy language is cool While all of this is happening just like we read well sin is happening all around us god is saying Is there a finnehaeus? Can I see is Will a finnehaeus rise for me who's zealous for my name? And i'm sure that's exactly how he's looking at y'all is Okay, as my worshipers i use zealous for my honor as i am for my honor But check out the result of finnehaeus's action is god just doesn't bless him God comes and say i'm going to make my covenant not just to him But his entire generation Right, that is the beauty of when you say i'm not gonna do i don't you know i'm not gonna Do any idol worship but then choose god This is how he blesses us now you might i'll all ask is like hey roshan, but I don't i don't bow down to an idol or a statue I don't worship How is this applicable to me? All right Our modern day idolatry can look like money Our modern day idolatry can look like career What else a modern day idolatry can be like Uh Anything that we want whatever like sports whatever shan Yeah, we love someone more than god Self You know this uh, I studied in uh about idolatry in 2017 uh, not because I wanted to It's because god gave a nice little nudge on you know Tap on my shoulder. So I think it was 2017. Um I spent Out of the 12 months in 2017 a solid nine months I was only thinking about One guitar Right i'm a musician, you know musicians will have their dream guitars. I mean like gadgets like others who don't like instruments, you know Out of 12 months i'm i'm not i'm just i'm not proud about that But i'm just sharing this because god in it he was graceful and he was merciful to me, right? So for nine months of the 12 months in that year I researched everything about that guitar I studied a lot about acoustic. I learned a lot. That's another thing right about uh, how the guitar is designed The engineering of the guitar The wood everything about different species of wood which wood is best combination for to make a guitar I learned all of that but 24 seven Week after week after week everybody around me Would know I'm talking about that guitar.  I just made that guitar my idol My affection my devotion my time my energy my thinking Everything was only about that guitar But eventually someday I might get that guitar, but that's a different story right But then he just reminded me and said You've just built an idol for yourself roshan So I want to bring this class to an end and ask this question to you all Have you built an idol for yourself? Only you can recognize the idol that you have built right Only you can recognize the idol that you have Built for yourself It can be something or someone are you with me?  You can play all the songs the best instrument the best equipments you have Yes, mama Yeah Yeah, yeah Are you asking if you if you did witchcraft? that I don't think that was witchcraft it was like strategically placed intentionally so that he can keep benjamin back In egypt so that he can bring jacob his father to israel. I mean to egypt So it's not witchcraft Yeah, it's it I mean it was an important come for the egyptians But I don't they didn't do any practice on it or what not so it was he just puts it in the sack So that he can keep benjamin back saying that he stole it We'll talk about that. Yeah, okay I don't want to go too much into this but there's a lot more content on this but we'll stop here but I hope you answer that question to yourself as in have you built an idol for yourself? Because only you can recognize your idols and Yeah Cool, so we'll take a break now. We'll pause the recording and we'll come back to a second session and resume from where we left I guess see you all in 10 minutes


This is why the narcissist hates you.  But if you ask them, they couldn't explain why. Because they lack self-awareness. But it's because they feel inferior to you.  And to make you feel miserable. When you are just trying to be nice, you are just trying to love them. But they cannot receive your love. Because they're very insecure with who they are as a person. And they see your success and accomplishments as something that happened by luck or coincidental event. They don't consider the work that you put in. All they see is the finished product of who you've become. And they admire that initially. But then they start to turn against it. When they realize that they are not you and they cannot control you.  Which is why they never give you credit. They never praised or complimented you on your achievements or success. They never congratulated you. Because they don't see the hard work or dedication. They only see the finished product. They don't see the steps that you took to get there.  Because they wish they were you. They wish they had what you had. But they know they can't have that. Because they lack the ability to maintain an activity or commitment. Despite fatigue and difficulty. They lack discipline. And they're very ungrateful. They never satisfy with anything. They're also very lazy. They're unwilling to work or use energy. They lack determination, strength of character and firmness of purpose. Which are typical traits of someone who hates or someone who is a narcissist.  Even though you have the determination, strength of character and firmness of purpose. You've made use of those qualities to get to where you are today. Because you had a different mindset. And that is what made you successful. But they don't acknowledge those qualities. Because they're only concerned with instant gratification. They're just looking for an immediate reward. They don't want to work on anything. They don't want to commit. Which is why they will try for a short period of time. But then they will disappear very quickly. Because they don't have the right mindset that produces success. Which results in them becoming very envious and jealous to where they end up hating you. Because they're unable to produce what they strongly desire. They take on a victim mindset to where they feel like the world owes them. They develop a strong sense of entitlement. Because in their minds they're no different to you. So it's very unfair. Because it makes them feel worthless. Which is why they're so arrogant. It's why they have to exaggerate their sense of their own abilities and importance. Because they're trying to compensate for their feelings of worthlessness. So this is why they have to exaggerate a lot of who they are. It's to act in opposition to how they really feel about themselves. But they're not doing anything to change the situation that they are in. So their lack of accountability prevents them from achieving a result as well. Because they don't want to work on anything. And that is why they develop a victim's mindset. Because they feel like they're never going to achieve what they really want. Or get what they really want to have. And that is what causes them to engage in such extreme behavior. It's what causes them to cheat, lie and steal. Because in their minds they're victims and it's unfair. So why should they have to act right? Why should they have to play by the rules? It's why they're so impulsive. It's why they make a lot of reckless decisions that leave them even more worse off or that affect other people's lives. Because they have an inability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions. They're out of touch with things that should be usual, typical and expected. So they don't have an exit plan. They don't see a way out of it. They just feel like everything is unfair to them. So they become a hater. They have a lack of regard for what you have accomplished and achieved. They disrespect it or they don't care. Because it's not them. But they secretly desire and wish that it was them. They don't respect it in you. They're just looking for a way to steal it from you or con you. Because they don't want to put in the effort and work. They don't believe in behaving honestly and honorably. They don't believe in following the rules. So when they see you progressing it affects them. Because you're happy and you're doing well. But they don't believe it could be done fairly. They think that you have to lie to people and manipulate them. So they end up hating you. They can't stand you. Because it takes a lot of energy for them just to get a mere fraction of what you can do effortlessly. Because you've figured out how to do it and how to do it well. By using your own qualities, talents and skills which they don't have so irritates them. Because while it's so effortless for you, they have to put in a lot of time and effort. Their entire life becomes a state of great activity. Where they're forcefully encouraging people to buy something. Where they're having to work rapidly and tirelessly. Which creates great disturbance, confusion and uncertainty. Because everything is unpleasantly rough. Everything's unkind, cruel and harder. So by having that way of life and then having to see you presumably have it easy. Because they don't understand the hard work that you put in. It affects them.   In more ways than one. Thank you for watching. If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up. Share your thoughts in the comment section. Hit the subscribe button to receive the notifications. If you would like to support the channel, you can donate at paypal.ini-naq-survivor. You can book a one-on-one with me on my website. It's the NAAC survivor that could at UK. Thank you for watching and I'll talk to you soon.