Player FM - Internet Radio Done Right
Checked 20h ago
Hozzáadva ötvenegy hete
A tartalmat a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast alkalmazás
Lépjen offline állapotba az Player FM alkalmazással!
Lépjen offline állapotba az Player FM alkalmazással!
Grounded with Chuck Quinley
Mind megjelölése nem lejátszottként
Manage series 3551717
A tartalmat a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.
Grounded is a podcast by Chuck Quinley covering the power of our personal narrative, mindset, relational network, and meaningful work, all from a Christian perspective.
www.quinley.com
…
continue reading
www.quinley.com
23 epizódok
Mind megjelölése nem lejátszottként
Manage series 3551717
A tartalmat a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.
Grounded is a podcast by Chuck Quinley covering the power of our personal narrative, mindset, relational network, and meaningful work, all from a Christian perspective.
www.quinley.com
…
continue reading
www.quinley.com
23 epizódok
Minden epizód
×Well, I think I’ll start the new year off doing something unusual for me, a poem. (no charge :-) Here goes… Light From Beyond “All you need to know is inside of you.” But I have lived long enough to ignore fools. I know what I know and nothing more. Experience might teach me something new ... Another source is what I need. Not my thoughts. Not my mind. Revelation Light from beyond Help from above Hearing from God If I could have one wish for me and for you it would be to hear from God more this year. I don't claim to hear God speak every day. When he does talk to me, it seems to be in very short sentences, but I treasure everything he has ever said to me. Nothing could make a bigger difference in my life this year than to somehow open my own awareness to him and receive more revelation from him. So today this is my prayer for you. Let's talk about revelation. The Process of Revelation Most true things are apparent. One known thing connects to another. Truth connects to truth, the way Lego bricks assemble themselves into a house or airplane. The parts are all there in front of us and, once we get the idea, we can reason out for ourselves how to fit them together. Other things require outside intervention because there is a missing piece of information beyond the scope of our own understanding or even our imagination. Without outside intervention in these cases we can never even conceive of these new things. “Eye has not seen…” "For my thoughts are not your thoughts…” "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways….” Revelation is a leap. It starts with one new truth of which we are currently unaware. This new truth is our breakthrough. It’s the key that allows us to enter a new room of truth and see things as they really are (and have always been). It will become the foundation for our future development. That moment in between There is a moment where we stand at the edge of this process, on the cliff of our existing knowledge. We realize that there is something else right in front of us. Even though we cannot grasp it right now, we perceive it the same way we can feel the presence of a silent person in a room behind us. “We know in part. We prophesy in part.” We know it’s there. We just don’t see it yet. Revelation is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to humans who are seeking to move from what they know to what they should know. That crossing requires faith from the human. It requires that we believe there is more truth out there and that this truth is real, and that God is the one leading us to it. Things we gain through Revelation belong to us. They are our treasures of divine knowledge. Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV): "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." Revelation is a delicate, living thing. It must be nurtured. What I’m Going to Do So here’s my plan to become more receptive to God’s revelation this year. * Consciously remind myself that revelation is going on everywhere at all times. God is “streaming” 24/7. * Attempt to intentionally tune in to the revelation going on around me. According to the Bible God has always been revealing himself through everything created: humans, animals, plants, planets, stars—all of it is a channel of revelation. God also speaks through human conversations. He reveals through dreams. He reveals things directly into the spirits of his children. Amazing insights just drop into our minds and we can see things clearly in an instant. It’s all happening all the time like sunshine. We just need to tune in to it. There are so many channels of revelation. The Bible is the one we think of first, and it will yield endless depths of revelation to those who are persistent readers and thinkers, but it’s not the only channel of revelation. We know this because the Bible says so. It’s actually a latecomer to the work of revelation. Humans interacted with God directly for thousands of years before we had a written book of revelations. We honor the Bible so much, not because it is God (it’s not), but because it’s such a rich and trustworthy revelation of God. The Bible is not the end of revelation. It’s a foundation stone and a standard of truth (so we can test “ideas” that pop in our head against something unchangeable), but God has been walking with man before there was a Bible and when we don’t need a Bible in the new world, He will still be walking with us and revealing himself throughout eternity. Receiving revelation is our birthright. I want the focus of my attention directed to God Himself, knowing that He is revealing himself to me. Some are scared of this and want to limit all revelation to the words of the Bible. The problem with this is two-fold. First, it’s based out of fear (which is not the criteria for making decisions as children of God) and secondly, the Bible itself is filled with stories of God speaking and revealing things to his children outside of the technology of reading written words. If we are the children of God through the rebirth Jesus brought, then we are fully capable of hearing from God ourselves—no pastor, prophet, or bible scholar needed. * I’m going to prioritize a routine place and time daily to spend time alone with God for revelation. I was never a morning person before, but for the past year, I have been waking up well before sunrise, and I have learned to love it! I love my times in the word and I also love my times walking and talking with God in the early morning light. I consider this time the beginning of a day-long conversation with the Father. I never say, “Amen.” * As much as possible I want to avoid doing things that keep my focus distracted (like scrolling). I want to be always in the present moment, slow down my mind, and posture myself before God like Samuel, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” So that’s my devotional focus for the year. I want to tune my heart so I can hear from God. My human focus is “conversations.” I want a year full of amazing conversations with friends and random people. I heard someone say recently, “Conversations lead to conversions.” I like that too. I hope some of these conversations lead people to Christ if they don’t know him already. Thanks for reading Grounded! This post is public so feel free to share it. May God bless you in your efforts to become more tuned to revelation, light from beyond. Help from above. I’d love to hear from you on this topic: “Which of the many channels of revelation (Bible, nature, conversations, dreams, etc.) is the clearest source of revelation to you and why?” Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Well, I hope you got a good nights sleep. I'm in India and it means that I'm awake at three or 4 AM most days. Just can't get the transition right this time. Well, you can look at things as a curse or a blessing. I'm trying to find good use for all the extra time from waking up super early rather than just watching TV or looking at my phone. Today, I spent hours digging through the story of Cain and Abel. It's so tragic that in the first generation of natural-born humans the first baby grows up to be a murderer. Take a minute right now to read the story in Genesis 4 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” [ d ] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” There’s a lot Here It’s a very nuanced story, with lots of insights discretely woven into the way the narrative is delivered. I’m in love with Genesis 1-12. It’s a masterpiece. Every verse is important and I think this story has a lot to say to us—if we can just figure out what verse 7 is saying. More on that later. I guess the thing that's always bothered me in this story is how much Spotlight is on Cain, the selfish, entitled, stubborn, immature man-child, not Abel, the good guy who was sincere and did everything right. Abel is the first martyr, a man killed for his worship of our Creator. The scene describing the background and moment leading up to his murder is so painful. I can hardly read the story. Family is so important to me and to think that a big brother would use his little brother’s innocent trust to lure him away from the family so he could murder him just breaks my heart again and again. Which makes it even harder to understand why God spends so much time in this story engaging Cain and trying to help him process his emotions. Ruled by Emotions Emotions, man, that’s the Gen Z theme! If the Eskimos have 1000 words for snow, young people today may end up with that many words for their feelings. In our generation, we were just told to suck it up and get on with life and not expect everything to be great. "Your attitude determines your altitude.” On the other hand, something very real is happening inside the minds of young people. New Zealand, of all places, leads the world in suicides by young men age 12 through 17. Cain was a man ruled by his emotions. In general, humans are portrayed as moral infants in the book of Genesis. God is working with us so we will grow up and assume the role for which we've been created. We are made to be the likeness of God in the world. We all have a long way to go. Perhaps Cain never got there. His name in the Old Testament is connected to the line of rebellious humans who always resist everything God wants to do. And yet, God is patient with Cain. He’s comforting him when most of us would kill him for what he had done to his innocent kid brother. (Maybe they were both teens, who knows?) How does this story affect you, emotionally? Leave a comment to share your processing of this tale. Word Salad in Verse Seven Scholars tend to hover around verse seven, the most “obscure” (incomprehensible) Hebrew in the Old Testament. The English translations have simplified it by ignoring all the problems in it. The editors just come to the conclusion that the verse is about the power of sin, and they harmonize the pronouns that are out of whack. It's understandable to want to make things clear for the reader, but it's a real problem when you do it as a translator, in my opinion. I believe that everything in the Bible is there on purpose, so if a verse runs in the face of a cherished doctrine I think it's a dangerous practice to just "fix the verse”. I could show you a dozen places in any translation of the Bible where this has been done. I'm not saying that the English translation of this verse is heretical, just that the ancient writer knew his language perfectly, and if he wanted it harmonized, he would have used the proper gender in his pronouns. I explain more about all this in the video so if you're interested, I hope you will watch it. The point is whether this is a story where God warns Cain about the power of sin which is like a crouching lion ready to devour him, or maybe it’s a story where God reminds Cain that in order to walk with God, you have to do things God's way, regardless of your emotions or whether you think you have a better idea. Driven by Emotions Either way, Cain is wrestling with his own stubbornness, and is being driven by his emotions away from a posture of humble obedience to God. He is losing his proper desire to help other people know God and worship him properly. Cain was the head of his tribe, the one whose example would set the direction for worship for future generations. It seems that the idea to make a sacrifice to God was actually initiated by him and enthusiastically joined by his little brother. How could something so beautiful so wrong? Another Insight In at the end of verse 7 the Hebrew says something more like “His emotional urge is toward you But you will rule over him.” which could generally mean either: * Abel feels the need for your attention so even though he is in the spotlight now, you aren’t being unseated as the leader. You will continue to lead him. -or it could mean— * Even though Abel is now correcting you for doing the sacrifice wrongly on purpose, you just have to take it and do an animal sacrifice rightly. But relax, you will still end up being his leader when all this is fixed. Which is correct? What do you think? Do your own research and make a comment here. Where to look for answers? You can start with asking any Bible questions in the Google search bar (or use chat GPT from open.ai if you are brave about new technology. It may amaze you). You can also follow links to Bible scholar forums. I love the wealth of everyone bringing their best thinking to a task. We all do the work and we all celebrate in the harvest. Thanks for reading Grounded! This post is public so feel free to share it and help us reach more people. In the journey together! Chuck & Sherry Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
10,000 Years from Today If you believe the Bible, then you will know that you will be alive and conscious somewhere 10,000 years from today. Oh, your current existence will be behind you and you will have probably passed through death into the new creation, but you will be alive again with the memory of the year 2024. Your current concerns about a stock market crash will seem silly then. For that matter, all your worries will be exposed as a complete waste of time and energy. You will be in the new kingdom of the Lord Jesus, the undisputed victor of the war for the world. He will reign in the New Jerusalem forever. On that day, you and I are going to really wish we had done a better job with this season in our lives. We will be in the group that can tell the story of what it was like to live in the post-Covid era of total surveillance, the early dominance of technology, and the open worship of Satan at the Grammys, the Olympics, and a host of other formerly normal events. These were the beginning of the sorrows. Some disciples will be highly honored for letting their light shine and using these days to evangelize and share their testimony daily. Others won’t have much to show for their life as a believer. They basically lived as quiet and comfortable a life as they could and they went to church sometimes. Persecution Prepares us to Face the Lord No matter your view of the end times (I’m mid-trib) you cannot escape the reality of persecution. “…All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Ti.3.12 NKJV Christians have always been persecuted. Sometimes it's cultural pressure fueled by the devil. He always resists the message of Jesus and the true embrace of the kingdom of God. At other times persecution is bloody. We’ve have 2000 years of Christian blood shed across the world. When Sherry and I moved to Asia in 1990, that region of the world was averaging 250,000 martyrs a year. The 90’s saw the resurgence of radical Islam and many precious believers were killed from Saudi Arabia to Iran for following Jesus. Persecution in America???—Never! I never dreamed there could be federal persecution of Christians in the United States of America. When I heard this preached as a boy, it just seemed totally impossible that churchgoing America could ever become a place where believers might be persecuted. The behavior of the government from President Clinton using RICO extortion laws to jail abortion protesters, to the weaponization of the FBI justice department, and the collaboration of internet media giants from Google to Facebook reveals that the persecution of believers has, in fact, already started. The only question is how far, how fast? You can lose your job now for simply stating what the Bible says. In England, over 3,000 people were arrested last year for something “offensive” they said on Facebook, Twitter, or on a post-it note on their desk. One man’s crime was posting Bible verses on a screen in his small store. First, we are witnessing a campaign to silence us and get our voices off the internet. Then the narrative can be controlled and all the “breaking news” stories can paint Christian individuals and groups to be dangerous monsters, intolerant, and right-wing extremists with no one to say differently. What Should We Do About it? The #1 thing Jesus said about living in these days was to not be anxious from overthinking about it. Sherry and I have seen a spirit in people from the persecuted church that is bold and confident, hardened by their own response to the pressure that wants them to bend. Those who will not bend become stronger from the pressure. Think of the three Hebrew boys when threatened by the fire of the king. “ 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not , let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Dan. 3.16-18 NKJV Fire hardens steel. Persecution prepares God’s true people to shine. Let’s not waste these days. Let this early pressure steel our resolve to sit among the valiant ones 10,000 years from today. Sherry and I are determined to live more confidently and boldly than ever. We want to be more loving and careful in all our words, especially toward those who are opposed to our Lord, but to make certain that everyone in the heavenlies and those around us know that we honor Jesus for all he has done for all of us. We want everyone we meet to receive a chance to know him too. That’s what’s keeping Jesus from coming already so let’s get stronger and bolder day by day. In His Love, Chuck and Sherry The attached video is about believers overcoming the rise of the Beast in Revelation 13. Hope it ministers encouragement to you. Thanks for reading Grounded! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
One of the best parts of creating and posting content online is the occasionally great conversation you have with someone who follows you. In the last week I’ve been talking with someone who has walked away from faith in Christ. He/she disagrees with me on most points fundamentally, but we’ve have an honest dialog that hasn’t gotten snarky. That’s a big deal in the online world. When I hear of someone walking away from Jesus and Christianity it always seems they are primarily walking away from doctrines and traditions and their family habits of church. It makes me wonder if they ever had a personal encounter with Jesus. Knowing Jesus or Going to Church I didn’t fall in love with the teachings of Jesus, the doctrine of the cross or how awesome our pastor’s preaching was. Jesus himself intercepted my life. He followed me around in my consciousness and would not let me go. This personal encounter started my transformation, but it didn’t stop there. He’s never left me alone since. I’m challenged, encouraged, inspired, and instructed daily by the voice of Jesus working in me through the Holy Spirit. This experience isn’t unique to me. It’s the new birth and it is offered to everyone who will return to him and submit to his lordship. Most of you reading this doubtless have your own story to tell. This is our testimony, the origin story of how we were and then what Jesus did to “fix” us once we opened to him. The stories are always so fascinating to Sherry and me. Once we know that a person is in Christ, we always ask how it happened for them. They smile immediately at the opportunity to share again all that the Lord has done for them. This installment is a video I made for newbies to help them in their first steps. Rather than saying, “Find a good church and read your Bible,” I want to say, “Get to know the LORD and spend time with him daily.” Jesus will reveal himself personally to them and guide them directly. Church and Bible are great, but knowing Jesus is essential. You can walk with Jesus even if you are illiterate, blind, deaf or isolated from others. That’s the approach we take in our missions work in SE Asia. We lead people to know the Lord personally and the rest will sort itself out. I’d love to hear your story. Medialight can teach you how to share your story through short videos online if you’d like. Just visit Medialight.network for more. Walk with Him! Chuck Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Hi! I don't know if you fly much, but we’ve done millions of miles and lately we get the feeling that our airline infrastructure is crumbling. Recently, it took us 48 hours to travel from Portland, Oregon to Atlanta—four canceled flights, two overnight delays. It was clear from the stranded business crowd and the airline personnel that this was now quite normal. Then there’s this week’s big world news as the steep crash in the Japanese stock market has sent ripples throughout the stock markets of other nations also since the markets are connected. A Big Little Book This week I want to promote another important book. It’s a lightweight 80 pager about a weighty matter. It’s called Immoderate Greatness, Why Civilizations Fail by William Ophuls . Ophuls explains what makes every attempt at building a great society fail. It starts with the dream itself. Each civilization dreams of their own greatness. To get there, they make endless growth an obsession. By demanding growth month after month, year after year, they drain their abundant resources, then enter into endless wars to take the resources of other nations. As they create new technologies, their systems become increasingly complex. When they are rich and fat, they fall apart morally. Finally, they collapse on the weight of their own unchecked “greatness” as the weight of their endlessly expanding support system pulls them under. Is there still time for us to learn this lesson? Living on the Outer Edge Complex systems operate right at the edge of failure. “As long as nothing goes wrong” the system buzzes along, but when one part fails, the failure cascades. There has never been a more complicated system than our current civilization. Don’t Our Leaders Know? Leaders even from the Roman Empire days knew all about the past failures, yet astonishingly, each new civilization still follows the same path as their predecessors, somehow expecting a different result, because they believe themselves “special”. "Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them." —François-René de Chateaubriand Hard to Put it Down Despite its ominous outlook, the book is incredibly engaging. Ophuls writes with clarity and eloquence, making complex ideas easy to understand. I think it’s important to make ourselves think about unpleasant things like writing a will, getting life insurance, and going to the doctor to check on that lump. Crises will come into every life. We can’t always stop them, but by thinking ahead we might keep a systems problem from becoming a total disaster. Is There a Happy Ending? Ophuls listens to his critics who complain that he isn’t giving us a “solution.” His reply is that the only solution is for a change in the human heart. He explains that throughout the centuries and in every culture, human motivations are selfish. Our greed is insatiable. We refuse to limit our consumption. We will not cap our greatness. So, the weight of our excessive lifestyle, the cashflow it requires, and the upkeep on the massive infrastructure puts an impossible load on an ever-crumbling system. The final stage before the great breakdown, according to Ophuls, is intentionally allowing economic inflation. “Why would anyone do this?” you might ask. The simple answer is that inflation allows a nation to pay their bills and still avoid having to make sacrifices. It’s like putting all your debts on a new credit card each month, letting the interest accumulate. The ones in charge don’t want the party to end on their watch, so they play games with the economy to let the good times can go on a little while longer. It’s like watching a dam break in slow motion. Can one election solve such a situation? Sadly, Ophuls says, “No, the entire system that runs the “greatness” of the nation is the problem.” The nation would have to be willing to sacrifice so they could put things right and no civilization has ever been willing to do that. My Favorite Insight—God is Smart My favorite insight from this book is, “The only way to avoid the bust is to cap the boom by not allowing cheap credit in good times.” It made me think about the Sabbath Year and, especially, The Year of Jubilee in the law God gave Moses for Israel. Jubilee was a total economic leveling experienced once in every generation. All greatness was dismantled. All properties reverted to the family that originally owned it. Slaves went free. All debt was cancelled. The banks had zero loans on their books. A system like this is the only way to prevent the collapse of a civilization. Sadly, we don’t find a single time in Bible history when Israel followed this law. What Can We Do? * Anchor our heart to God and His coming Kingdom. It’s the permanent solution for this recurring problem. * Pull Together as Families. * Do what we can to avoid personal catastrophic loss. This isn’t a good time to “bet the farm” on a new idea. Play defense. Cut back on your own “greatness” of lifestyle and get a solid home base for your life. * B ecome more self-reliant in as many ways as we can . (You can buy 90 days of dried food with 2,000 calories a day for $600 and it will keep for 25 years. Not a bad price for catastrophe insurance, I think.) * Fill Your Days With Worship. Sing boldly to the Lord and strengthen your grip on His presence. “Don’t let your heart be troubled,” was the constant reminder of Christ as he talked about the birth pains needed for His Kingdom to be born upon the earth. Exercise your faith daily and sing the King in as his Kingdom approaches us. * Reach out! Share your hope in Christ with everyone you can. Brag on Jesus and tell them what he’s done for you. People are open right now in a new way. Pagan Los Angeles saw 6,000+ young people baptized in one day at the beach recently (Yep! It was at the same beach where Jesus Revolution was filmed.) One day we’ll be known for how we lived in the last days. This is our one chance to feel we’ve done our best to be an overcomer in these challenging times. Keep the Faith! Love, Chuck and Sherry (and tribe—7 more now) Here’s the YouTube Version: Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Hi! I hope you're having a great day. This is the newsletter I've been waiting a long time to create. The video is as long as a church service, so if it feels too long you can either change the speed to 1.5 (just click the arrows by the play button) or just watch it in pieces but I hope you’ll watch it. Here’s what it’s about: Why is Satan the god of this world? It is always bothered me that the New Testament calls Satan, the “god of this world,” and that no one denies this as a fact, not even Jesus. I have always wanted to know how he got into this position. No Easy Answer There's no Bible story where God gave the devil the key to the world. I have read widely on this subject and asked many Bible-loving people their theories, and I am largely unsatisfied with the answers. I also don't agree that the Fall of Adam & Eve in the garden gave him the keys to the planet because I don't see that in scripture either. My Working Theory I have developed a working theory that makes sense to me and I want to share it with you in this video. To build the theory, we have to visit three different scriptures and tie them together. I do not present this as doctrine, but it is the best theory I can come up with since the Bible is generally silent about the workings of the demonic world. Satan loves attention and I think the Bible is determined to keep the spotlight off of him, but I think there is sufficient light to build a working theory. So this video is my offering to you on this subject. Next I want to develop a theology of blood and a view of the cross that focuses on the crucifixion offering as an act Spiritual War (since that’s mostly how Jesus himself talks about what he will do on the cross). Something happened on the cross that gave humans their first chance to break free from the “god (Elohim) of this world”. So that’s where we are headed in weeks to come. Why Does This All Matter So Much? Honestly, it's a fair question. I know I've been going on forever about Genesis 1-11, and I'm pretty much finished. It's just essential to get the backstory straight for the rest of it to make any sense. So many people are halfhearted in their faith. They get eight hours a day of screen time programming straight from hell and very little time spent digging through the word of God, so Yes! I'm concerned! I'm trying to help interested people build a mental framework to understand the truth about our world and the central message of the Bible. Jesus came primarily to free humans from Satan's power. When I hear him describe his own mission, this is what he says. The first thing that happens in his story is that he goes to the desert and fights the devil there. Then he starts casting out demons everywhere he goes. In the last week as he faces the cross event, he says "now the ruler of this world is cast down.” I think it's the most important aspect of the gospel and we won't understand how good the news is until we understand how bad the true situation is for the earth. There is an organized demon army in charge of every nation of the world. Every human institution is, invaded by their power. That’s where we’re headed. Here’s where we’re at today. Hope you are strengthened from this teaching. AND THANK YOU!!! to everyone who stands behind us as a couple on a mission! Your support keeps us engaged fully on mission in Asia and online as well. We love you and we pray for you, Every Blessing! Chuck and Sherry helpkidsfindfreedom.com ere’s the YouTube Version Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Hi Friend, YouTube Version is Here Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe
1 The Fall of Man and the Invisible War Behind it: What The Bible Says Is Really Happening Around Us 18:39
In his last years, my dad struggled with Dysautonomia which would suddenly drop his blood pressure to 50 or 60. When this occurred, something unusual happened to his sight. He said that the world went to grey except the human he was talking with. They alone remained in the image and they were clear. Our vision is a mysterious thing. Most of our brain’s power is assigned to creating images from the signals received through the eyes. Even then, we don’t see everything surrounding us. The Sun sends us at least 5 kinds of light, but the blue light is the only one we can see. Other light that bathes us is actually invisible to us. To believe the Bible is to believe that there is an entire society unseen to us, yet all around us. There are literal entities, personalities, and even the remaining consciousness of the dead surrounding us as “witnesses.” (Hebrews 12.1). Some of these entities are benevolent . They even protect and assist us at times. Other entities are malevolent. They hate us and will destroy us if they can. We survive by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. I’ve never lived in an age where these two invisible camps were so close to being visible. Jesus said that although we cannot see the wind itself, we can see the things in the world that it acts upon. So it is with these heavenly beings. Our society is convulsing from their activity among students in colleges, leaders of tech companies, and upon those who hold the power of government and media. Maybe reality looks like this… Or something like this… We really don’t know. The Bible really doesn’t allow much of a spotlight to fall on this dimension of our world. (The powers of darkness love to be glorified so maybe that’s why we are given only the necessary details.) The Heavenly Society is Fractured One thing we do know is that the free-willed heavenly society is broken. Some of the sons (that is what the Bible calls them) are loyal to the Father. Others are enemies of their Creator and do all they can to frustrate His will on earth. Maybe it all started when God said, “Let us…” make a world and beings in our image. They didn’t expect it when God put the humans in charge of this new world, not the heavenly sons. The heavenly sons were clearly superior, yet although this world was for everyone “in heaven and on earth,” it was the humans who were elected to have the dominion. Maybe this is what started a slow resentful rebellion among some of the heavenly beings. We can’t be sure, but there’s evidence for this theory. In this edition of the podcast we enter into the Garden of Eden and the moment the serpent/dragon is introduced into the Big Story of the Bible. It’s just the seed story, but the concept develops through the centuries of progressive revelation until the New Testament where Mark’s story of Jesus opens with Jesus in a desert doing direct battle with Satan, the dark prince of this world. Let’s explore it in the chat together. Hope you enjoy the video. Here’s the YouTube Version Thanks for reading Grounded! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Hi Friend, Thanks so much for joining me in the study of God’s Word. This episode of the Grounded podcast was a labor of love. I really didn’t feel well but I had a cool paid location locked in so I rallied to do it. I started the podcast and this newsletter because I meet so many people raised in church who are becoming shaky in their faith (largely because they spend 8 hours a day watching TV and consuming other anti-God online content without spending even an hour a week feeding on God’s word). My burden for the first six months of this podcast has been on reestablishing the big story of the Bible. Once you understand the first three chapters of the Bible, you get a better feeling for who God is, what he has designed humans to be, and His plans and commitment to our world. I’m, so fascinated by the Genesis narrative. It’s bottomless, like John’s Gospel. In this episode I’ll cover: * Why it’s Not the “Tree of Good and Evil” * Why did God put a tree there if He knew they could ruin creation by eating from it? * What does God want from us anyway? * What does all this have to do with my life today? I hope you’ll watch the video and share your comments either on YouTube or here. I read them all and I’m so grateful for your engagement. What I didn’t get to talk about in the video is how often God does his business with humans around a tree. * In the garden * Moses burning bush experience (baby tree) * Abraham’s visit with God near the trees of Mamre * Gideon encounters an angel of the Lord under an oak tree OK, so that’s the game. I got it started. Trace how far this Tree concept goes throughout the whole Bible and post what you think of it in the chat here. What’s Next? In the next episode I want to talk about whether the devil/angels are really spirit creatures or also material in some way. Does the current “news” from the military and other sources about ongoing encounters with non-human beings of higher intelligence have any connection with the demons and principalities of the Bible? Lot’s to think about for another week or two. I’m praying for you if you’re on this mailing list. These are days of great upheaval and transition as we shift between the modern age into the unknown age (they’ll name it after we’re deep into it) and it’s getting pretty crazy in all directions. We can all be grounded even if the world is shaking. That’s the promise of God. Every Blessing! Chuck (and Sherry) PS: Some keep asking me what I’m reading lately so I’ll also be posting a few videos about the two latest books that have my attention. Thank you for reading Grounded. Please share it. YouTube Version Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
I don't know what challenges you're facing, but one thing I do know for certain--you are so much more than you know. In the Bible, God reveals the truth about what humans are. It's a powerfully encouraging message from our Creator who has built us with superpowers so we can bring positive direction upon the earth. Thanks for reading Grounded! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Everything in the creation narrative so far has set the stage for day six. * The three great threats to all life have been conquered and restrained. * The Universe has been filled with the Shekinah light of God’s personal presence. * A protective skydome has been established to avoid catastrophic loss * Earthland has risen from the primordial deep, pregnant with every seed the earth will ever need. * Sun, Moon, and stars have been created as a celestial metronome to set a reasonable, recurring tempo of activity and rest for all life on earth. * The life force has been released in the seas and skies and millions of creatures are multiplying. * The same power of life has been spoken across the land and new forms of life are bursting fourth in the insect, reptile, and mammalian families. Now the great moment for us occurs…. And God said, “Let us make man in our image…” In the case of all the other creatures, the formula of words has been “Let them have life “according to their kind.” With humans things are different. God's creative word to them is, “You can have life ‘in the image of God. ’” Whatever we think that means, it means more. At the foundation level it says: * We’re created to be so close to God that we reflect Him —our heart so aligned with His that our actions toward everything in creation would be his. We’re to love what He loves and hate what He hates. * We’re his co-regents over planet earth , wardens over all creatures, stewards over plants, seas and soil making sure everything has what it needs to thrive and protecting the creation from abuse. * We’re each accountable for our actions and the state of the world we impact, reporting directly to the Creator. * We have the Creator’s resources and authority behind us. It’s more than enough. (Paul said it was “above all that we can ask or even think.” Ephesians 3:20) I really wish we could all grasp the vision God has concerning us. So, I can confidently say to you, without fear of contradiction, that whatever you think of yourself and your capacity, your estimation is way, way too low. I worked hard on the video so I hope you’ll check it out and forward it to others. I’d love to hear your insights and discoveries from developing your own potential and champion’s mindset. Here’s the link to the YouTube Version. I’m in your corner. Every Blessing! Chuck Thank you for reading Grounded. This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
In the beginning technology seem like such a great idea. It liberated us from the hardest parts of manual labor. But then it just kept invading our lives deeper and deeper until most of us now feel that tech is running our lives and actually has power over us instead of just being our tool. AI is coming and things are only going to get worse. That’s what this week’s podcast is about and I hope you’ll check it out. For my part I’m on a weeklong fast from all forms of social media. This is a bit difficult for someone whose ministry involves media to a growing extent, but exactly because of that, it felt even more important to do. Once I start checking what’s happening on social, sometimes it’s hard to get my full attention back for the rest of the day. Does that happen to you? I’m on day six of my social media fast and I’m definitely going to change my interaction schedule with it going forward. I just feel more present now and more in charge of the attention of my mind. So, that’s one important part of this discussion. We need to limit the domination of screens in general so we can have a full life. How is your interaction with social media affecting your life? How are you controlling it? I’d love to hear from you about that. More Than Media It’s more than media, however. It’s technology in general. We’re talking about everything electric, starting with electric lights. In this episode, I talk about the massive shift that was initiated by the introduction of artificial light, lengthening the usable day to 24 hours. Artificial man-made electric light created the modern world, bright cities, nightlife, Shiftwork, the end of families growing their own food, people cocooning around their devices, living mostly inside comfortable homes, and kids hitting puberty at age 12. A lot has changed in the past 125 years since the first cities started to use electricity. Imagine that? All this change to the world in just over a century! A century later we got that other electrical invention, the personal computer, in desktop and handheld versions. Now, it’s the AI revolution. The change we’ve been through in our lifetime has disrupted the way humans have lived for 10,000 years. One of the side-effects has been a growing disconnection of humans from the normal rhythms of nature. Why Genesis Matters I think the Genesis narrative is a blueprint for living successfully. Day four of the creation story tells us to allow the Sun and moon to rule us. The two of them set a natural rhythm for each day and create the cycles of darkness and light, evening and morning, day and night, weeks, months, quarters and years. They divide life into seasons and enforce a pleasant and necessary cadence in living—if we follow this cycle vs overpowering it with technology. Now we can have light all the time if we want. We can control our climate and most of us do the same things daily regardless of the seasons. We live above nature. This is a mistake. We are part of nature, and natural rhythms are purposeful. They are part of the original creation design. Thanks for reading Grounded! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Back to Nature There are many ways to reestablish our conscious connection with nature. I mention quite a few in the podcast. It seems like it needs to start, however, with an established daily pattern that honors the coming and going to light. It seems like an insult to the Creator not to watch the sun go down every day, like drawing the blinds to a 4th of July fireworks extravaganza. It seems like the grand finale to the day’s light show should start some cherished evening pattern of settling in with our loved ones, planning for the next day, filling our mind with good thoughts, worshipping our Maker again, then resting securely under His watchful eye and expecting revelation in our dreams while our body is restored. Actually, since sleep is so very important to our health, it seems like we ought to get some kind of parental instruction as children in how to sleep well. Never heard of anyone getting any though. Something to think about parents. Life is health and the more we flow with the ebb and flow of nature, surely, the healthier we will be. What morning and evening rituals help you to connect your body to the coming of day and night? Drop a comment in the chat. Hope you enjoy this podcast and will pass it to others. I work hard on it and I appreciate your support in the effort. Sherry and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important subject in the comments section below and in the chat box. Blessings on every aspect of your life, dear friend, Chuck (and Sherry) Quinley Here’s a link to the video version on YouTube ============ Here’s a Transcript of the Video/Audio podcast: (00:00:00): Welcome to the Grounded Podcast. (00:00:02): Today, (00:00:03): we're talking about the invasion of technology into our lives, (00:00:07): and we're looking back at the blueprint of how God designed humans to pattern their (00:00:13): life on the earth. (00:00:15): I think we're gonna learn a lot from this lesson. (00:00:17): It's got everything to do with a holistic view of what life should be like, (00:00:23): and God is leading us forward so that we can live a life that is healthy, (00:00:28): that has deep relationships and a life where we overcome our challenges every day (00:00:35): and a life that's productive and fruitful because that is the original design. (00:00:41): And in this passage in Genesis chapter 1, (00:00:43): back in the creation narrative, (00:00:45): we're going to see the way God designed life to function. (00:00:50): You know, (00:00:50): technology seemed like a great idea, (00:00:52): but it just keeps making intrusions into our life, (00:00:57): deeper and deeper invading our world. (00:01:00): And now they're talking about this little chip to go inside all of our heads so (00:01:05): that we can be online 24-7. (00:01:06): This is nuts. (00:01:12): It wasn't always like this in the beginning. (00:01:14): They were mainly labor-saving devices. (00:01:16): They helped us with the burden of our farm work, but it has just never stopped. (00:01:21): And so we've got to ask ourselves, is this how we're supposed to be living our life? (00:01:27): What is the solution? (00:01:29): Well, the solution clearly is not more technology to govern our use of technology. (00:01:34): Oh, you need an app, so you'll know if you're using apps too much. (00:01:37): or more chemicals in our body. (00:01:39): You need sleeping pills. (00:01:41): When the problem is the blue light and the constant buzz that we're getting from (00:01:46): our devices all day long. (00:01:47): What we need is a holistic, natural, God-given way to live our life. (00:01:54): And God did not create humans to swim in a sea of technology. (00:02:00): He's got a clear vision for our life, a beautiful vision for our life, but our lives need structure. (00:02:06): And that structure... (00:02:08): Humans have struggled to figure out how to best structure lives. (00:02:13): Now, about 200 years ago, we started the Industrial Revolution. (00:02:17): And when we did that, (00:02:18): we all of a sudden seized on machinery and the concept of time, (00:02:25): that we could control time. (00:02:27): We could become more... (00:02:29): time efficient and so all over the world you can see this in in towns all over the (00:02:34): planet they built these towers in the middle of the town about 150 years ago it was (00:02:40): the thing to do and they put a clock mechanism a human built machine to govern time (00:02:47): now that isn't how time was ever looked at before farmers know it's almost sunrise (00:02:52): then oh it's the dawn it's mid-morning (00:02:56): it's noon time it's the afternoon it's the evening oh it's the darkness and late at (00:03:01): night but no that wasn't good enough we had to know it's exactly 8 10 and we (00:03:06): started slicing time thinner and thinner and we started wearing this human (00:03:11): invention of the watch (00:03:13): and carrying them around on our body all the time. (00:03:15): It went from that, and it continued to go even deeper, and then we had our phones. (00:03:20): And through our mobile devices, we had all kinds of other ways to try to build a structure in our life. (00:03:27): And now they're telling us that we each need our own personal artificial intelligence, (00:03:33): a counselor, (00:03:34): a wise person with endless knowledge that knows everything there is to know about (00:03:40): about everything and you can ask them for help as you go along your day and as you (00:03:46): build your life is this how humans are supposed to live the bible is not about the (00:03:52): bible the bible is about life (00:03:55): It is a blueprint for living in the way that God intended His creation to flow and (00:04:02): function because He intends to be part of this creation and He will enter into (00:04:07): creation with us and He will be present with us and we will live in partnership (00:04:13): with Him. (00:04:14): And so that's where we come to in Genesis chapter 1. (00:04:20): Genesis chapter 1 verse 14 talks about (00:04:24): the creation of sun, moon, and stars, and the imprint of designated cycles of nature upon the planet. (00:04:37): Just really quick recap. (00:04:40): We start off this creation story with a world in chaos, a world without life. (00:04:45): It's not possible to have life because there are these threats, (00:04:48): these three great threats to life, (00:04:50): but God conquers them. (00:04:52): and he puts his presence throughout the universe. (00:04:55): He bathes the universe in Shekinah glory light, the glow of God. (00:05:02): This is not photon lights. (00:05:05): It's not any of the lights that are created later. (00:05:09): Now we're not down to day four. (00:05:12): He creates sun, moon, and stars. (00:05:15): And that begins an entirely new chapter for life on earth. (00:05:21): I'll read two verses, verses 14 and 15. (00:05:24): Then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night. (00:05:30): Let them be for signs and seasons for days and years. (00:05:34): And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. (00:05:38): And it was so. (00:05:40): Then God made two great lights, the greater to rule the day, the lesser to rule the night. (00:05:46): And he made the stars also great. (00:05:50): Let's look down at the end of verse 18. (00:05:52): And God saw that it was good. (00:05:55): So the evening and the morning were the first day. (00:06:01): So, OK, we've got sun and moon and stars. (00:06:04): We've been told we know scientifically. (00:06:07): That the sun provides us with five different kinds of light. (00:06:11): One of those is visible. (00:06:12): The other four we can't see. (00:06:14): But the one that's visible creates photosynthesis. (00:06:17): It causes our planet to be able to have life. (00:06:21): We can't exist without this light from the sun. (00:06:25): That light is not warm. (00:06:26): There's another light that is warm. (00:06:28): We feel it and we think it's all the same thing, but it's not. (00:06:31): That's infrared light. (00:06:32): It's a totally different light. (00:06:34): We can't see it, but we can feel it. (00:06:36): And then there's other kinds of light besides that. (00:06:40): So the sun is the energy pack that runs our world. (00:06:44): The moon, without the moon, the tilt of the earth would spin off. (00:06:48): And so we also could not have a living world without a moon that large. (00:06:52): It influences us and it keeps the tilt of the earth just right for our orbit. (00:06:59): It controls our climate. (00:07:01): And besides the moon, we've got the stars. (00:07:03): And the stars rain down on us every day, tons and tons and tons of elements from exploding stars. (00:07:12): That's where all the heavier metals, everything heavier than iron comes from above. (00:07:17): It filters down from the sky, and it does it every single day by the ton. (00:07:24): And so we are a planet whose elements come from the stars. (00:07:28): We have the sun every day as our energy source. (00:07:32): Without it, we die immediately. (00:07:33): We have the moon to regulate us. (00:07:35): Our planet exists and is kept in stasis because of sun, moon, and stars. (00:07:43): What is this telling us? (00:07:45): What's the spiritual lesson and the practical lesson? (00:07:48): Number one, it's that we are connected to something much bigger than ourselves. (00:07:55): We're not just the smart ape. (00:07:58): We are part of a created order. (00:08:00): It is a universe designed by a benevolent creator. (00:08:03): We look up, and up is where we see all of our source, all of our resource. (00:08:10): It's coming from above us. (00:08:12): And so that lets us know our life is more than just our life. (00:08:15): It's not just my one little life. (00:08:18): But I'm being invited by the God who made the world to reach up and connect to him. (00:08:24): And as I look up and as I connect my heart to his heart, (00:08:28): he will help me live a productive life, (00:08:31): a life that's got meaning here. (00:08:34): And he does that by establishing a natural system of light and dark in the world. (00:08:42): Now we have, as always, humans resist everything that God has done. (00:08:47): So he gives us the sun. (00:08:49): He gives us the moon. (00:08:50): He says clearly in this passage, these are to govern the way you live your day. (00:08:57): They should rule you in the day and in the night because they create a cycle. (00:09:03): They create an ongoing cycle that we've come to just call nature. (00:09:09): And this cycle, (00:09:11): if you'll let it, (00:09:12): it will govern you and it will give you the structure that you need so that you can (00:09:17): weave the fabric of your life. (00:09:20): because all of us are trying to build a life, and a life has a lot of components. (00:09:24): It's got relationships. (00:09:26): It's got a physical body. (00:09:27): I've got a certain limited supply of resources and time and strength and energy. (00:09:34): We've got the schedule that we keep. (00:09:36): We've got the activities that we do. (00:09:39): We have our family connectedness. (00:09:42): We have our calling. (00:09:43): We have our skills that we're developing and that we put to use to bring value (00:09:47): to society, and as we bring value, we are valued, and we have exchanges of goods and services that way. (00:09:55): And so we've got all this to work out how to build a life. (00:09:59): And so God gives us sun and moon and stars, (00:10:04): and these are, (00:10:05): we're told, (00:10:06): you are to live by the seasons and the patterns of the sun. (00:10:13): Well, we decided that wasn't quite good enough. (00:10:16): So we invented 150 or so years ago, we invented artificial light. (00:10:21): And here's five things that light, (00:10:23): artificial light did, (00:10:25): because up to this point, (00:10:26): the only light on planet Earth was sun and moon. (00:10:29): And then we had learned how to use fire. (00:10:31): So we had candlelight, lamplight, or firelight, but that was it. (00:10:37): And then the Industrial Revolution kicked in. (00:10:39): We invented artificial light so that we could do even better than light and (00:10:45): darkness as a pattern of our day. (00:10:48): And we would extend light. (00:10:50): So what did we do? (00:10:51): We extended our working hours to 24. (00:10:55): And we allowed for there to be night shifts and for people to move around at night (00:11:00): and even to create night life so that we didn't have to sleep. (00:11:04): And we've got city's (00:11:05): All over the planet now that never sleep. (00:11:09): activity never stops. (00:11:10): There's never a moment that someone isn't at work 24 hours a day only because of artificial light. (00:11:18): Second thing artificial light did to us is it wrecked our sleep. (00:11:23): We had a very set, (00:11:25): stable sleep schedule because, (00:11:28): say that five times quickly, (00:11:31): we had the dawning of the sun. (00:11:33): It was the wake up time. (00:11:35): We had the setting of the sun. (00:11:36): It was the calm down and everybody, (00:11:39): was inside their house because the world went dark at night. (00:11:42): It isn't safe to be out. (00:11:43): And so went home, locked things down. (00:11:47): Everybody had good long nights of sleep. (00:11:51): But now we have light 24-7. (00:11:54): It advanced puberty by five years. (00:11:57): And so now young people are coming sexually mature at a very, (00:12:02): very young age because of a combination of diet and electric lights that are always on. (00:12:09): Plants and animals, (00:12:10): because the entire planet, (00:12:11): when we electrified it, (00:12:13): we affected the life of everything that lives on the planet. (00:12:18): And so I guess the last thing that this electric light did, (00:12:22): urbanization, (00:12:23): and it's we built cities because we had a way to electrify our lives. (00:12:28): Then that drove everything else that built these huge mega centers across the world. (00:12:34): You know, my wife Sherry is from Amish country, and the Amish basically opted out of electricity. (00:12:41): When it came along, (00:12:42): they just saw all the problems and everything it would bring into their life, (00:12:46): and so they continued to farm with horse-drawn mechanical systems, (00:12:51): and you would think that they would be the most worn-out people in the world, (00:12:56): but we go back to Pennsylvania every year, (00:12:59): and in fact, (00:12:59): they seem to have a lot of time (00:13:01): to socialize and you'll see them outside by three o'clock in the afternoon playing (00:13:06): baseball and their gardens are absolutely beautiful and their families are hanging (00:13:11): out together with the neighbors because they live by circadian rhythm. (00:13:17): They let their lives be governed (00:13:21): by the rising and setting of the sun and the moon and the presence of the stars above. (00:13:27): What would happen if we live by circadian rhythm? (00:13:30): Well, number one, you have improved sleep quality. (00:13:35): And with improved quality of sleep, (00:13:37): because of the absence of electrical interference in our lives, (00:13:42): we get enhanced mental health. (00:13:46): Because we're completely down, our body has long good days, (00:13:50): dark season to restore itself and it lifts us out of depression and anxiety because (00:13:57): there is a natural sleep system that goes with the world the birds go to sleep (00:14:04): animals (00:14:05): burrow down in the night. (00:14:06): There's a thing that's going on all over this planet except among humans and you can drive. (00:14:12): I've done it. (00:14:13): I've driven through Cambodia in the middle of the night and looked and you'd see (00:14:17): complete darkness because they lacked the infrastructure and you would see the dark (00:14:23): outline of huts but in every one of those huts there was a blue light that (00:14:28): glowing inside because by battery power they were running their tv sets and cell (00:14:34): phones into the darkness so if we live by circadian rhythm we're going to have (00:14:39): better mental health because we're going to have better sleep and because of better (00:14:43): sleep and mental health we're going to have better metabolic health we're going to (00:14:48): have better (00:14:49): energy levels to deal with life. (00:14:51): This sense of fatigue is not usually something that comes out of a tired body (00:14:57): because our bodies are rested when we sleep. (00:15:00): It's a tired mind because we never give it a break. (00:15:04): And with all the technology we're surrounded by, a lot of it causes us to always be elsewhere. (00:15:11): You know, we're sitting right beside living humans, but we are somewhere else in our mind. (00:15:17): We're never where our body is. (00:15:19): And this is, it's tearing us apart. (00:15:22): And God has given us a system to get this, to get our life back together. (00:15:28): And it has to do with following the circadian rhythm of sun and moon. (00:15:32): Let the world change. (00:15:34): Keep spending and work with it. (00:15:36): It's going to give us a stronger immune system. (00:15:39): It's going to lead to more longevity of life because we'll be rested and we'll be (00:15:45): walking in step with nature, (00:15:50): following the path of the sun as God intended. (00:15:54): Well, what would it be like? (00:15:56): If the world went back to following the sun, (00:15:59): actually, (00:15:59): I don't know that we can make the world do that, (00:16:01): but you and I can do it. (00:16:02): We can choose to build our life on the movement of the natural movement of the sun (00:16:08): and moon and stars and take charge of technology and its presence in our life. (00:16:15): Well, that would mean we would align our work hours with daylight. (00:16:21): And as the daylight waned, (00:16:23): you need to have completed your work because nighttime is not a time for working. (00:16:28): And if you notice it, (00:16:29): you know, (00:16:30): in the summertime when there's more to do, (00:16:32): there's crops to plant, (00:16:34): we get more daylight. (00:16:36): It's all built into the system. (00:16:37): And in the fall and the winter, (00:16:39): our light is shortened and that's a signal of a new season for us and a new way of living. (00:16:46): So our work hours would need to be (00:16:48): Aligned with daylight, (00:16:49): we would need to be flexible with the seasons and start to live according to the (00:16:56): schedule of a season. (00:16:58): It would mean that we would have less exposure to artificial light. (00:17:02): We would allow the darkness to come on in the evening rather than flooding our (00:17:07): house with screens and artificial light. (00:17:10): We would just let the darkness gradually take over our home. (00:17:14): Hopefully this could lead to revival. (00:17:17): of some cultural festivities that we had before. (00:17:21): We had the excitement of spring and the spring festivals as new life breaks out everywhere. (00:17:28): We had the summertime, (00:17:30): just the busyness of summer and the outdoor activities and get-togethers out in (00:17:35): public picnics and family get-togethers. (00:17:39): And then in the fall, we had the celebration of harvest. (00:17:43): And we can still do that. (00:17:44): We can bring things in from nature inside our house to celebrate each of the seasons. (00:17:51): We can change our decor. (00:17:53): We can change the clothing that we wear. (00:17:56): We can change the pattern of our life because that's what Genesis said to do. (00:18:01): It said that the sun and moon were supposed to set the seasons of our lives together. (00:18:07): They're supposed to govern us. (00:18:10): And I think if we would walk with nature, we will find ourselves stronger and healthier. (00:18:17): What it says to me, (00:18:19): what I think God is telling us in this passage is, (00:18:23): number one, (00:18:24): we are part of something bigger than ourselves. (00:18:28): It doesn't matter that you can squeeze more work into an hour than anybody else. (00:18:32): He's not called you to do that. (00:18:35): He has put sun and moon above us so that we would look up and realize that although (00:18:40): we are physical creatures, (00:18:42): we are part of a universe that is very complicated and very wonderful. (00:18:48): And there is a heavenly realm and it is providing for us. (00:18:53): And there is a God who created us and he gives our life meaning and purpose and (00:18:58): protection and provision. (00:19:01): And we can rest and enjoy our physical activity of life on earth, (00:19:06): knowing that we can tap resources that are beyond ourselves. (00:19:11): the physical world. (00:19:13): We can reach into the world beyond. (00:19:15): And that's what worship does. (00:19:17): That's what prayer does. (00:19:18): It bridges this gap because we're moving in our study of Genesis to see what a human is. (00:19:27): But that's coming soon in our story. (00:19:30): But right now, (00:19:31): we're talking about the context and the world that God has built for us to live in, (00:19:39): that this world is governed by higher powers. (00:19:43): Our very existence is a constant collaboration between heaven and earth. (00:19:49): We would be destroyed every day except for the protection of God and the provision (00:19:55): God and this great provision of Sun Moon and stars and I think the second thing (00:20:01): that God is telling us through this creation story is that we are integrated into (00:20:07): the created order we are we are heavenly in a way we are earthly made from the soil (00:20:15): and returned to the soil we are this planet the earth of this planet raised up to (00:20:21): interact with God to know God to walk with God and (00:20:25): but we affect you know the sun a heavenly body affects us and we affect the rest of (00:20:33): creation we are part of one integrated system i really think christians ought to be (00:20:40): the most you know not the silly side of environmentalism but i think christians (00:20:45): ought to be tree huggers and animal lovers (00:20:48): and good to the earth and the least likely to ever pollute and the most likely to (00:20:55): take care of earth because this is our Father's world. (00:20:59): He built it as His eternal home. (00:21:03): And if you just read the rest of the story, (00:21:05): read the last pages of the Bible, (00:21:08): God very much intends that this planet be renewed and fulfill a purpose that He (00:21:14): created it for. (00:21:15): And so he has given us at this season of our life the ability to draw strength from (00:21:22): heavenly bodies and to create vitamin D from the light of the sun. (00:21:29): And for the animals and the insects and the plants to draw their life from the sun (00:21:34): and the strength of the moon and the elements that rain down on us every single day (00:21:41): from the stars. (00:21:42): We are connected to a huge system of life. (00:21:47): And it's just a beautiful thing, (00:21:48): and it ought to give us all hope and a lot of comfort that nothing's going to (00:21:53): happen to this world. (00:21:55): This is our Father's world, and we are part of it. (00:21:58): So let's just do our part to make this as much a Garden of Eden as we possibly can. (00:22:04): God has governed the circumstances around your life, (00:22:09): and you and I are born for this exact moment in history. (00:22:14): He's called us to be here and he is giving us a way, (00:22:17): even in an age of technology, (00:22:19): he is giving us a way that we can return to a more ordered, (00:22:23): natural way of living. (00:22:26): And we can govern our days by the simple waning of light. (00:22:31): darkness every day let's just start with that and start unplugging in the afternoon (00:22:37): and let our house be as as tech-free as possible in the evening go back to quiet (00:22:44): evening spent with other people go back to conversations go back to phone calls if (00:22:49): you don't have anybody living in your house and (00:22:51): and not just allow our mind to be wired to the Internet until the last second of (00:22:57): our consciousness every day. (00:22:58): It's not good for us. (00:23:00): We know that, and it's breaking us down. (00:23:02): So here we're given the pattern, sun, moon, and stars. (00:23:07): God's in your corner, and so am I. So let me know if there's any way I can help you. (00:23:12): We'd love to hear your comments or your insights on these lessons in the comments section below. (00:23:17): We'll see you next time. Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
I was talking to a young person on a college campus just this week. I asked if he was worried about the future. “Anytime I get depressed about the state of the world or even my own life, I just think about all the amazing things that have to happen just to make life possible on Earth. It lets me know that it’s not all on me.” That’s what this week’s podcast is about—the divine marvel of Earth, the living planet and that way its fruitfulness inspires us to hope and work. We are working our way through the Genesis creation narrative. In previous episodes, we talked about how our Creator filled the universe with his presence. Then he built the protective skydome to shield Earth from catastrophic disaster. He conquered darkness and limited its power by 50%. He did the same to the power of the watery deep. Everything done up to this point has been preparation. Now it's time to deliver the baby. Day Three In this episode, we look at the third “day” of creation, the rise of Earthland, and the gathering of the waters into Seas. You’ll find the story in Genesis 1:9-13 which begins with, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. Ge.1.9 NKJV God issues the command and Earthland rises up into the spotlight from the watery deep. She is gloriously pregnant with every kind of seed earth life will ever need. Thoughts about Seed I can’t say I’ve ever given much thought to seed before researching the results of God’s creative work on day three. I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about it in preparation for today’s newsletter and I’m amazed at the wisdom of God to create something so small and yet, so vital for all of us. Seeds are essential not just for plant reproduction but also for human civilization. They are a primary source of food (grains, legumes, nuts, and many fruits). They provide us with materials such as cotton and linen. Additionally, seeds play a critical role in ecosystems, supporting the diet of animals and the creation of habitat. Seeds are unique in three ways; * Propagation: Seeds allow plants to spread to new areas, sometimes far from the parent plant, through various dispersal mechanisms such as wind, water, and animals. * Survival: Seeds can remain dormant for extended periods, allowing plants to survive through unfavorable conditions until circumstances are right for germination. * Nutrition: Seeds often contain significant amounts of stored food (e.g., fats, proteins, carbohydrates), which sustains the embryo during germination and early growth. Did you get that last part? A seed is a plant embryo. In the nucleus of the seed’s embryo, the cells have genetic instructions written in DNA code. This code instructs the cell on how to care for the development of the plant and when to make the proteins that will be needed for the plant to survive in the environment, thrive, and bear fruit with even more seed Just Add water When you add water to a seed it triggers the growth of the embryo. The seed coat breaks open, and the young plant starts to emerge, using its stored nutrients until it can produce its own food as a plant through photosynthesis. What are the Odds? * Of being hit by lightening? That’s 1 in 15,000 (You would think it would be more rare, right?) * Of being hit by lightening twice? Much less odds, only 1 in 9 million * Of Winning the Powerball Lottery? Almost impossible, its only 1 in 290 million * Of planting a single seed carefully and seeing it produce fruit and multiply 1000 times? Amazingly, it’s close to 100%. That’s how much the earth rewards human care. It’s Spring, right? Experiment with one tomato plant, which comes from one tiny seed, and see how much return you receive from tending to it. Your single seed plant should easily produce fruit with between 3000-9,000 seeds. We have an invested Creator. He loves his creation and is determined to build a physical world of free beings who can thrive and develop and make full use of their creativity. Unlike the destructive powers of “the universe,” the default state on Earth is set to yield fruitfulness to those who tend to her carefully in terms of: Plants, animals, and natural resources. You’ll probably never win the lottery, but earth will reward you richly if you care for her. That’s how God designed seed to multiply for those who sow them. "The land is a gift because the people who possess it did not create it.” —Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land— The amazingly good news of Day 3 in the Genesis narrative is that life on earth is designed to flourish. You can build a wonderfully satisfying life here. In fact, you can ONLY build a wonderfully satisfying life here. After spending billions in SETI research and developing satellite listening stations to the edges of our solar system the clear verdict is that we can find absolutely no signs of life anywhere but on Earth. Our planet is alive. It literally pulsates with something called dynamic geography. It moves around like an active baby in a woman’s belly, rolling and bulging in an active exchange of minerals, lava and gasses still creating and repositioning mountains and valleys above and below the sea. The earth is alive and full of seed, just waiting to be tended by humans hands. At the end of the work of Day 3, the Creator critiques his own work and announces for the first time that Earth and Seas are “Tov” (good for life, constructive). Later He will plant a tree to commemorate all that is Good. Discussion Question for the chat: Has your media feed affected your feelings about the future? Do you dread what is coming or honestly look forward to where God is taking all of us? We look forward to discussing this with you in the chat (Yes, it’s back on! I don’t know how it got switched off. I’ve been missing your insights). Subscribe to gain access if you haven’t already. Please forward the Grounded Podcast to your friends and family so we can reach more people with God’s encouraging word. Thanks! We deeply appreciate it! Thank you for reading Grounded. This post is public so feel free to share it. YouTube Version: Click Here Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
We all want to get ahead in life. Every healthy person has dreams and visions of a better life they want to build. In the past, it was a dream about a career and building wealth, but I think people are starting to wake up to the need for a broader vision of life that starts with a healthy body, an upbeat mindset, a robust community, the anchor of family, and a meaningful body of work. You may be surprised to discover that God wants all of this for you. Humans were actually created to enjoy a wonderful experience of life. In this episode of the podcast will go deeper into the Genesis one narrative to receive God's unchanging wisdom about how to live successfully in this relational/physical/spiritual world. The Lure of Quick Success The allure of rapid success is particularly strong among the youth, captivated by tales of making millions in a matter of months or achieving instant fame through clever strategies. By midlife you start to know people who were once rich but lost it all to the economy, their partners, or in a nasty divorce. We have friends who were once such strong pillars now drinking way too much. Former “alpha males” lose their health and stature overnight to a stroke. In a universe with powerful forces of destruction like entropy and “the darkness” (from our previous videos) it doesn’t take much for things to go bottom up. The First Order of Business The Bible is here to guide us on a journey to knowing the God who made us, and walking with Him throughout the journey of building our little worlds in a way that reflects his values and dreams for all humans. In our last episode we witnessed the grace gift of God’s presence being seeded throughout the physical world so we can find God’s presence in the field, the house, and at work. God is everywhere for us. That makes life possible. We’re invited to dream big and bring those dreams to Him for review and blessing. We’re so excited to start on our bold vision, and ready to bet the farm on the new idea, but the first order of business, according to the Genesis narrative, is actually to mitigate loss. Not very exciting. The gun goes off and we’re double-lacing our shoes while others charge ahead. But our universe is hostile against us. That’s the first lesson to the wise. No fairy tales about “the universe” bringing our dreams true. In the Genesis story, the one thing you can count on from the default forces of the universe, is to resist your efforts, create friction at every turn, and to help you pick up so much speed going downhill that you’ll never make that curve. The universe wants to destroy all life. That’s why the moon is not a tropical paradise. To our best knowledge, there’s not a single living bacterium on Mars, Jupiter or anywhere else. Ours is a hostile universe. It kills all life throughout the galaxy—except here on Earth and there’s just one reason. God is our friend. He’s the only way we survive. If we’re going to make it to the end of the race and see our vision of a great life become a reality, we’re going to have to walk in step with Him and constantly mitigate the catastrophic loss that’s hovering above us. Ge. 1.6-7 NKJV Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters....and it was so." The “Firmament” In the Genesis story, after God seeds his presence (Shekinah light) everywhere to allow life to spring forth, He creates a defensive barrier, the Firmament (key idea is “firm”). The Firmament is a sky shield to protect us from catastrophic dangers above. In biblical language, it keeps the watery deep from swallowing earth from below and above. Again, this is symbolic language, but it has parallels in nature, like in the way our oxygenated atmosphere protects us from being struck by 48 tons of meteoroids each day (* NASA ). The Lesson to Us The point is that comfort is not our friend. We can’t coast our way to a good life. If we want a great experience on earth, we have to work against the anti-creation forces and make the life we want. In later passages we’ll learn that we have the power to make this happen, but not without intentionality on our part. To build a great life we must first establish an atmosphere of protection around ourselves and our little worlds. "A disaster is an emergency poorly met." Can We Avoid Catastrophic Loss? While we can’t avoid all forms of tribulation (squeezing) in the world, the Bible’s message is that Yes!, we can mitigate catastrophic loss and seize the kind of life we dream of, because it’s the one God intends for us. We can live fulfilling lives, have strong families, and build wealth as a defense and a gift for future generations. Such ambition pleases God. He will, actually, join us on the endeavor, as He did with Abraham and use the events and challenges we face to shape us in His image. It’s just that we shouldn’t get too invested in the work of building until we create a security perimeter around the key areas of our lives. Building and maintaining, those defense structures keep our labor in play and preserves it from being brought to nothing later. * Marriage. If you are married, the universe wants to see your love die. The anti-creation forces around you will work to tear you apart and leave you hating the thought of each other, ruining every holiday for your kids. So, what are you going to have to do about that to make your good marriage become great and survive all the tests of time? * Wealth. OK, Bitcoin is the next great thing, but we need to think about capital preservation more than explosive growth in our financial strategy. If we never lose, then we keep growing our base year by year. That’s why Warren Buffet is the Oracle of Omaha. * Our bodies have to last till we hit our 90’s. A bag of chips a night and a comfy recliner insures 25 years of pain in the last half of our life. What is your daily system for keeping your body healthy? * Our minds. The physical universe is tough enough, but the digital one wants to fill you with anxiety, despair, and drift. Unless we dream of life in the Matrix, we need to turn off the screen, put our phone in a box 15 hours a day, use our brains, and develop a champion’s mindset. What’s your firmament plan to keep your mind strong? Building and maintaining a firmament at all times is job one. That’s the lesson of the firmament to me. We all need a secure atmosphere all around us in order to thrive. “The only thing harder than planning for disaster is explaining why you did not.” Questions Consider what persistent concerns signal vulnerabilities in your life. What can you do to take action to protect yourself in that area? CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VERSION Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
I hate election years. I didn’t always feel like this, but since 2016, elections have become a blood sport and all the power of the internet and traditional media is honed to do maximum damage. Families and friends have become divided. You can lose your job for just saying what you think. It’s never been like this in my lifetime. I’m not sure what it will take to change it. Changing the behavior of even one other adult is a challenge—unless that adult is me. The question is, “Can I develop an inner source of light and just drive by that guidance throughout life without needing any outside reference?” That’s what this episode of the newsletter and podcast is about. The Bible Opens With Darkness in Charge The Big Story of the Bible opens on a universe bathed in darkness, making life impossible. Nothing can survive, much less thrive. We are absolutely dependent upon Light for our physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual life. Tragically, we cannot produce it. This episode is about the grace gift of light. In Genesis 1, God walks on the stage and His first words are the command, “Let there be light!” That's when hope enters the story. The power of the darkness is broken and life can now begin. Light is the central hopeful symbol of the Bible Genesis 1:3-5 NKJV Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. What we learn The immediate thing we learn is that light wins. Even in a tomb of darkness, one match can light your way. Darkness can’t extinguish light. There's nothing the darkness can do to turn itself up and become more dark. Light defeats darkness instantly. The Bible introduces the Creator as the champion of life in our universe. He rises up and defeats the darkness in an instant with his own inner light, allowing life to burst forth. This isn’t the light of the Sun or Moon. (In the narrative, they aren’t created for three more days). This light is the radiance that comes out of God himself. It is the presence of God bathing the universe. There is no place you can go in the galaxy without being bathed in the Shekinah light of God’s presence. It’s the Creator’s first, and most essential, gift. David pondered this. Ps. 139 NKJV 7Where can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in [ c ]hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall [ d ]fall on me,”Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness [ e ]shall not hide from You,But the night shines as the day;The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Before there anything could live anywhere, the presence of God had to saturate the darkness and weaken its power. The thought of God’s presence being everywhere to guide, comfort, protect and provide security is one of the great sources of hope for those who are walking in submission with Him. God glows and so do his people In the Bible, everyone who encounters God faces an overwhelming radiance as bright as lightning. Those who spend time in an encounter with God glow from the experience. One way to get more of God’s light is to hang out with those who glow. There’s so much more to say. The podcast is a better place to share it. Hope you’ll give it a listen so you can hear the answer to the question of whether we can, in fact cultivate inner light that guides us without additional help. And so, dear friend, I hereby deliver to you this week’s video podcast. This substack is very convenient. You can watch the video above or on YouTube . You can also listen to the audio version on your computer or on your phone through Spotify or Apple Podcasts or by clicking this link . If you find value in these podcasts please share this newsletter with your friends. I deeply appreciate those who help Grounded to grow. It’s a ton of work, but it’s worth it all to know that others are being helped by it. Discussion This week, let’s read 1 John every day and post what we get from it in the chat. Everyone who has subscribed has access to the chat box. See you there! Walk in the Light! Chuck YouTube Version Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Each of us has a life battle to fight against the intelligent darkness that is seeking to pull us away from God and his righteous path. Sometimes the darkness appeals to something unnoticeable to others like nursing a grudge against a family, member or coworker. There are so many dark emotions, and any of them can become a lever to move us from our grounded position into a place of greater vulnerability. The devil does his work in darkness. In this episode of the podcast we're going to break down eight ways the Bible describes the work of darkness, eight layers of it’s presence. It begins with simple ignorance and ends with an eternity in darkness. Will we escape the darkness? Thankfully, that’s up to us. Jesus is the light of the world and he has come to give light to everyone. We can leave the light and walk with him in the light. He gives us the power and the invitation to come to him and escape the darkness. “In your light, we see light” Ps. 36.9 Even if you don’t watch the whole video please pay attention to the first two points. They show how darkness generally works in people with religious convictions—people trying to do the right thing. It’s an important point. Check out the video or audio and put your thoughts in the chat here. What are your favorite Bible verses related to darkness versus light? I’d love to hear from you on this. Walk in the Light! Love, CQ Listen to the audio podcast Watch the YouTube Version Get full access to Grounded at www.quinley.com/subscribe…
Üdvözlünk a Player FM-nél!
A Player FM lejátszó az internetet böngészi a kiváló minőségű podcastok után, hogy ön élvezhesse azokat. Ez a legjobb podcast-alkalmazás, Androidon, iPhone-on és a weben is működik. Jelentkezzen be az feliratkozások szinkronizálásához az eszközök között.