Forgiveness isn’t approving of, excusing, justifying or pardoning an offense. It doesn’t have to include reconciliation and it doesn’t mean we deny, turn a blind eye or forget the sin against us. We don’t have to refuse to take a wrong seriously or pretend that we weren’t hurt by it. But forgiveness is necessary. “Just as God forgives people without approving of their sin, we also must learn that forgiving people does not imply an endorsement of their evil deeds.” So let’s take a look at what forgiveness is.

The Power of Now by Jentezen Franklin from YouVersion devotional Acres of Diamonds. We love this writer, listen in!

Andi and Brian Hale bring you good news in a world of darkness with daily devotionals, book reviews, and stories of faith. You can LISTEN IN or READ! PRACTICING GRATITUDE Celebrate the Good The Bible promises that seeing the good in daily life leads to peace.

Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. —Luke 22:26 Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term servant leadership, saying that it “begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” And although Greenleaf coined the term, Jesus coined the concept and explained it to his glory-seeking disciples: Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, ‘In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called “friends of the people.” But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.’  —Luke 22: 24-26 Jesus did not measure greatness by the number of people who served him but by the number of people he served. The effectiveness of a servant leader is not measured by rank or position, rather it’s measured by the legacy the leader leaves behind. All leaders should ask themselves, “Does my leadership cause personal and professional growth in others?” Servant leaders submit themselves to others voluntarily and not under compulsion. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, cast out demons, and chastised the Pharisees when he deemed it necessary. He was a strong leader. Servant leaders give selflessly without expecting anything in return. Servant leaders seek to know the following of those they lead: What are your aspirations? What are your key motivations? How can I help you get from here to there? Because servant leadership embraces self-giving without self-glory, it is an ideal leadership style. Let’s look at a few of the benefits and cautions of this style. Benefits of Servant Leadership It’s Not About Just One Person: Many leaders focus on their best interests rather than on the needs of the many. However, servant leaders make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization as a whole rather than just one or two people. It Improves the Work Culture: Many of us have worked for different companies during our careers, and we can attest that some work cultures are more pleasing than others. When the person at the top is a servant leader, it affects the atmosphere and the people who work there in a positive manner. It Promotes Customer Retention: Customers often do not know what’s going on behind the scenes in an organization, but they can feel the effects of poor leadership. When employees are unhappy, they pass that on to the customers they serve. In the same way, when employees are happy and love what they do, customers naturally want to do business with them. It Promotes Innovation: Nothing is more disheartening than to feel that your ideas don’t count. For this reason, servant leaders keep an open mind when their subordinates suggest new ways of doing things. They don’t agree just for the sake of agreeing, but they genuinely consider and embrace those things that would enhance the organization as a whole. It Keeps the Ego in Check: In a traditional leadership role, the person in charge makes all the decisions, communicates what needs to be done, and then takes credit for the completed project. On the other hand, servant leaders give credit where credit is due to help others reach higher standards of performance. Whenever you feel like elevating yourself, remember the example of Jesus. Philippians 2:6-7 tells us that Jesus was “in very nature, God, [yet] did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” His mission was not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

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On this edition of the ODPH, the panel sits down to discuss: - The latest trailer for Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania! - What we think of the first 2 episodes of season 2 of The Bad Batch! The latest show from the Star Wars universe! - And the news that TV producer Greg Berlanti (and Arrowverse creator) has re-signed with WBTV! All that and much more! For more #ODPH Content, check out our website! For #ODPH Social Media, here’s our directory! Sign up for the ODPH Patreon! THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING PATRONS! Check out the ODPH Merch Store at TeePublic! ODPH Entertainment Edition Intro Music provided by Shout At the Robots

Flipping the Blessing Now, I know what you may be thinking. Am I promising health, wealth, and prosperity? The answer to that is an unequivocal no! God promises us something so much better than physical health or material wealth. Plus, some of God’s greatest blessings are blessings in disguise. The blessing of God is not an immunity card against pain and suffering. Jesus said point blank, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV). He Himself endured far more than His fair share of earthly troubles, including the cross! What makes us think we can become like Jesus without going through some of the same struggles He did? But take note—this promise doesn’t end with “trouble.” Don’t make the mistake of putting a period where God puts a comma! In the same breath, Jesus declared, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” In fact, God has postured Himself to bless you from the very beginning. The Hebrew word for “blessing,” barak, is repeated 330 times in the Old Testament. It means to bless the one who blesses you. And in the New Testament, we get two flavors of blessing—makarios and eulogētos. The concept of blessing may be Greek to you, but I want you to understand that blessing is the central storyline of Scripture from start to finish. Some of God’s blessings are as simple and straightforward as the sunrise. Others are more difficult to discern, like the blessing of brokenness. But of this I’m certain: the blessing of God is the solution to your biggest problem, the answer to your boldest prayer, and the fulfillment of your bravest dream. Yet just as “trouble” doesn’t have the final word in our lives, the endgame of God’s blessing is not getting but giving! God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living. God blesses us to raise our standard of giving. That idea is as old as the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:2–3. Even better, the old covenant has been updated and upgraded by what Christ accomplished on the cross. Simply put, we are blessed to bless. The way we turn a blessing into a double blessing is by flipping the blessing. In other words, we get a blessing by giving a blessing. That is counterintuitive and countercultural, but that is the miracle. And you will be a bigger blessing to more people because of it.

The New World Order isn’t coming to America. It’s here. From the day Satan was kicked out of heaven, he has attempted to create the New World Order, in total rebellion against God. The anarchists in America are trying to destroy our democracy. They are not patriots. We cannot function without the rule of law. Historically, every attempt to establish the New World Order began with rebellion. Evil can have a religious face and kill you. What is the deep state church, and how is totalitarianism creeping in? Wake up, America! Pastor John Hagee delivered this sermon last spring based on his book Earth’s Last Empire. The New World Order is not a new concept. It’s objective from Genesis to today is to rebel against the authority of God. It all began with Nimrod, who’s name means revolt, when he proposed to build the tower Babel. Known as a murderer of men and a rebel against God, Nimrod was Satan’s disciple. Babel means confusion and God is not the author of confusion. Nimrod gradually changed the government into tyranny, to turn men from the fear of God and to bring them into constant dependence on his power. Josepheus Sounds familiar, right? Nimrod’s compulsion for absolute control set the foundation for The New World Order. Nimrod intended to become the dictator of both the government and the counterfeit religion that he and his wife put together. He declared himself King and his bride, Samiramus, as the Queen and high priestess of idolatry. Here at Babel is the first organized idolatrous religious system and is survives today. Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:1-9 Samiramus knew enough about the revelation of God to know that God had promised the seed of the woman would bring blessings to the world (Gen. 3:15). She had a son and named him Tammuz. She claimed that he was the divine fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. She made herself and her son the symbols of worship, called the mother child cult, with the mother holding the child in her arms. This cult spread to Phoenicia and then to Pergamum and on to Rome. And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. Revelation 2:12-13 We are on this Earth to be salt and light. Salt stops corruption; it irritates. Light destroys darkness. Satan is the prince of darkness. Socialism is darkness, but we are the source of the truth to a nation that’s now stumbling in deception because of our national leadership. We are the source of hope, we are built on the solid rock Jesus Christ who is hope to the hopeless. God is with us! We will press on because God is with us and everything is going to be alright. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 2 Corinthians 6:17 Samiramus set herself up as the only approach to God. She adopted the title of The Queen Of Heaven. She taught that salvation came through her by the means of sprinkling of water and ceremonial cleansing. There was a pergetorial cleansing after death. She created temple virgins, now known as nuns, to pray for her son, who was killed by a wild beast. They were to fast for 40 days, which is now called lent. At the end of those 40 days, they would celebrate Isthar, which we now call Easter. They gave colored eggs to each other to celebrate eternal life. We are still doing it today. We, the body of Christ, celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and nothing else! We celebrate His victory over death, hell and the grave. Because He lives, we shall live also! This mother child cult spread to Israel, when Ahab, the King of Israel, married Jezzabel, who was raised in the mother child cult. She immediately began to put the prophets of God into prison. Why? Because a socialist dictatorship cannot stand a bible preaching ministry. Soon after, Israel started worshiping Baal and God sent severe judgement upon Israel. Abraham was called out Ur and out of a home that worshiped the mother child cult. His father kept his idols until the day he died. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Joshua 24:2 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 There must be separation between light and darkness. What you are willing to walk away from will determine what God can bring you to. You must walk away from darkness before you can embrace the light. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 2 Corinthians 6:17 We are not trying to be like the world. We are the light of the world. Turn on the light! But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. Jeremiah 44:5-6 God tells us why he’s coming to send the children of Israel into captivity. It’s because they worshiped the mother child cult. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 That’s not a request, that’s a command! In Ezekiel 8 we see the Jewish people in the temple of God who are worshiping idols to the Queen of Heaven. God sent Ezekiel to the temple to peek through a hole in the wall to see what the people in the temple were doing. They were praying to the Queen of Heaven. This is the Babylonian cult of Nimrod and Samiramus. The people continued to worship the mother child cult, which remains a global and powerful religion that will clash with the antichrist for global control in the near future. Why? Because they both want the same thing. The antichrist wants to control the world and the false religion that’s coming is going to want to dominate the world. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; Revelation 18:20-21 The bible clearly teaches that Rome will be completely demolished as the antichrist destroys the mother child cult and becomes an instant global dictator. Listen closely! There is one mediator between God and man. It is not the Queen of Heaven. It is not a man. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Who was crucified for you and I. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name Philippians 2:9 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11 We celebrate Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us at the cross. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Jesus, who washed us whiter than snow, Jesus, who took our poverty at the cross and gave us the wealth of Abraham, Jesus, the great physician who heals our body, Jesus, who gives us peace in the midst of the storm, Jesus, who bears our burdens when we can't go forward, Jesus, who hears us personally when we pray, Jesus, who gives us confidence in the storms of life. There is no Queen of Heaven. There is only God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The second appearance of the New World Order, Satan came to Jesus and said: And

5 Days to Slay Your Dragon by Daniel Kolenda on YouVersion read by Brian and Andi Hale Most of the dragons that threaten us are ones we have incubated, nurtured, and raised in our own hearts. Lust, pride, greed, selfishness in all its forms, hatred, the abandonment of responsibility, lack of self-discipline—these are the kind of dragons that usually destroy us.

Power of a Simple Prayer : Day 3 of 5

Day 5 of 5 New Year, A Fresh Start from YouVersion