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Daily Transcripts

09/02/2015
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22 ~ 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 ~ Psalm 46:1-11 ~ Proverbs 22:15
Today is September 2nd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a thrill to be here with you today around our global campfire that is burning bright with the Word of God. We all come in out of the cold and dark and warm ourselves together, orienting ourselves to God through his Word. And I love it and so it is great to be here with you today. We are spending our week reading from the New Life Version and we finished the book of Job yesterday. We’re kind of in a section of the Bible where we’re really diving into some deep human emotions that are maybe less of the happy variety and more of the wrestling variety which is how our life works. So we’re moving into today the book of Ecclesiastes.

Introduction of a New Book:

Ecclesiastes is traditionally known as a book that Solomon wrote. Some scholars believe it was written much later, but the reality is it was probably penned by Solomon and translated and updated as translations continue to be modernized even today. Solomon had the reputation as the wisest man in the world, the most powerful and wealthy man of his time and he was able to pursue whatever he wanted, right? I mean, this was a guy who could do whatever he wanted, whatever his heart desired no matter what it was. Nothing was off-limits to him, building projects, developments, women. No matter what he wanted, he could go after it. Although the book we’re about to read, Ecclesiastes, seems as if it nothing more than a depressing and hopeless outlook on life, it is actually a stark and deeply penetrating look into our hearts, the hearts of men.

We all pursue things in our lives. Very few of us ever get to do whatever we want whenever we want. We’re always able to say “if I only had that, then my life would be better.” We’re always doing that. “If I could just do this, then my life would be better.” Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes exposes the reality of what that looks like because nothing has been off-limits to him. He has pursued and achieved everything he ever set his hand to do. Now he is writing from later in life, toward the end of his life, but there has been a lot of mixture. A lot of his wives seduced him into idolatry. He's been seduced away from God and now he has turned around to look back over his life. The book of Ecclesiastes is that look back. It's beautiful in its honesty. It's beautiful in its narrative and its piercing as the scriptures can be to our hearts if we’ll open our hearts.

So may we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us what it is we’ve gone to for life that replaces what only God can give and I believe that God will use his Word through the book of Ecclesiastes to show us what life without him on our own terms with our own ambitions and pursuits without him looks like, even life that has achieved everything it went after. So we begin Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22 today.

Prayer:

Thank you, Father, for another day in your Word and how beautiful it is. How extravagant of a gift you have given us to penetrate our hearts, to expose things in us that we’re not even aware of, to surface them, and force us to deal with so many things as we are transformed, as we are changed, as we are sanctified, as we are about this process of being made new. And so we ask that you plant the book of Job deep within us as we wrestle with that and, as we move into the book of Ecclesiastes, it’s the same prayer that we prayed yesterday – we need you, we need all of you , we need nothing but you. And as Paul said today ‘now is the right time.’ So come Holy Spirit, now is the day to be saved. Come Holy Spirit and walk with us and be in us and around us. We desperately need you. There is no hope. Everything is utterly meaningless without you. Come, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website, home base, where you certainly do find out what’s going on around here. And what’s going on around here is kind of what I started unpacking yesterday – Reframe plus Promised Land: The Essential Pilgrim’s Edition. So we released yesterday to great response, the new Promised Land. It’s called ‘The Essential Pilgrim’s Edition’ and it is the quintessential. It’s like the whole library, like there may be a small handful of places that we can still film but they’re not hardly identified. Every place that’s been archeologically solidified we’ve pretty much filmed and have brought it as a master class of biblical geography and history. We have done our very best to bring the beauty of the land of the Bible and the places where the Bible happened and connected them to the stories that happened in them and have kind of finished this four year project that we were working on. And yes, we did release a version of Promised Land last year and yes, it’s amazing. But this is different than that, this is about twice the places and every single one of the films that we had previously released, we’ve gone back to, with only a few exceptions, and have added to it and changed to perfect them in the stories that we’re telling through them and its beautiful.

We went to so many places and filmed beautifully, beautifully places that no one goes, either because they can’t or it’s obscure, even though it’s important in the Bible, or it’s just plain hard to get to. Places like Dor, this regional leadership city, this strong city dating back way before Solomon. It’s definitely one of Solomon’s reigning cities and it sits gorgeously right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and it’s amazing. And to be able to film and fly over the aerial cinematography of it, it’s amazing.

Places like Ashdod, the Philistine stronghold; or Gibeah, where Saul made his home and where such tragedy happened when the Benjaminites, remember that story, when the Benjaminites wouldn’t give up those people who raped that woman to death and it causes unbelievable civil war that resulted in the total destruction, save 600 people, in the tribe of Benjamin. It happened in Gibeah and it is not an easy place to get to because it’s unbelievably contentious. It’s definitely in an Arab village and that’s okay, not a place you can take like a group on a bus to; but it’s got some recent history – the Jordanian king was building a palace there back when war broke out in 1967 and so the remains of the palace have been a hole on the top of that mound since then. So it’s kind of like just left there, it is just a tense place, but this is where Saul reigned and where all this tragedy happened. And we were able to go up there and film.

New places like Beth Shemesh where, when the Ark of the Covenant was attacked in war and captured by the Philistines, remember this story, and all the plagues that began to break out among the Philistines as they’re’ moving it from city to city to city. It’s just wreaking havoc on them until they put the Ark of the Covenant on an ox cart with some offerings to God and send the ox cart on its way and it makes a beeline back toward the Israeli people and the Ark of the Covenant comes back into Israel’s control at Beth Shemesh. This is a real place. The ancient ruins from that time are there.

Or these border cities that guarded the Valley of Elah, where David fought Goliath and how, as you see them in a line, things start making sense. This border between the Philistines and these Israelis with cities that have ruins that still exist like Shaaraim which is unbelievable or Adullam where David hid in a cave, or Socoh, or Asekah, these are all border cities and we were able to film them all and kind of bring context to the whole of the story of why the battle between David and Goliath kind of happened where it did.

Or the ancient Philistine stronghold of Gath, where Goliath made his home, and ironically where David defected to when he finally realized he can run and run and run from Saul, but eventually if he didn’t get out of the country, he would be assassinated. And so he defected to the King of Gath, where Goliath made his hometown. That ancient city exists.

And speaking of David, David and his men were given a city to kind of own and run and live in called Ziklag. The King of Gath gave it to him to be his dwelling place. It exists. It’s very hard to get to, like you got to go there in a 4-wheel drive. It’s hard to get to. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, but we filmed it.

So we have completed our journey and now present Promised Land: The Essential Pilgrim’s Edition and it’s amazing. The way it works is that it’s a 2-DVD box set. It’s beautiful. And when you get Promised Land, you’ll get that. We’ll send that to you, but you get immediately download access to the high definition files. And so whereas the DVDs are kind of more long play form, we’ve broken the high definition files into each individual location and so when you download the whole set, now you have each of them as a file that you can then use for your own reference, just to very, very quickly go – okay, as we read through the Bible and we come to certain places, you can immediately go to them and watch. But you can also use it in your Sunday school, your church. We were trying to create the best resources we can give you. And so that’s available now.

I also announced something that we weren’t able to do a month ago, that we can do for the month of September. When you pre-order Reframe the book at www.ReframeBook.com, you will get the Passages audiobook as a download instantly as well as the prologue and the first chapter of Reframe to get you going. When you pre-order Reframe, you will also get a voucher code that will give you $10 off of Promised Land. It is our intention always to do everything we can to give more than we ask, and so in exchange for your support of getting Reframe into as many people’s hands as we can and I would even ask to give the book to anyone that you can. Give the book to your pastor. I think it’s that important, but I’ll leave that to you. You read it and if you agree, then get it to people who need it, because boy, I needed it and I’ve been reading the Bible every day for 10 years and I needed it bad. So, I’m believing that it’s something that God gave me and I’m believing it’s something that’s needed. Help us get it to people and in exchange for, we’re trying to give everything we can to you. So, if you go to www.Reframebook.com and get Reframe, you will immediately be sent a link so you can download Passages, my first book and listen to that as well as the first chapter of Reframe. You will also get a big deep discount on Promised Land. Thank you for your help in all of this.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website, www.DailyAudioBible.com. There’s a link on the home page in the upper right hand corner. And thank you so much for your partnership. If you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.

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

Community Prayer Request and Praise Reports

Hello, Daily Audio Bible. This is Wayne from Maine calling. Just wanted to check in and let you guys know I’m on my way to the airport today. I go back to Africa for 6 weeks or so. I ask that you keep me in your prayers. I have about 8 countries that I need to travel to, so it’s going to be a little hectic and crazy. I had an absolutely wonderful summer here in the U.S. God has given us so much here in the U.S and I challenge all of us that live here not to take for granted the blessings that we have – the families, the communities that we have here at DAB. There just some simple conveniences of going to a store and having food. Wonderful blessing that we live here and I’m going to miss you guys. So I will catch you guys on the other side of the pond. Please don’t forget to act justly, have mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

[Singing “Count Your Blessings”] ‘When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.’ [End Song] Hi DAB family, this is Bola calling from England and today is my mom’s birthday and that’s her favorite song in the entire world. For mom, I suppose it’s more than just a song, it’s a mission statement, a motto that she lives by. She sings it, she believes, she lives it. And I guess the older I get, the more I appreciate the message of that song and just generally the values she instilled in me which has made me or helped shape me into the woman I am today. So, happy birthday mommy. Mommy is not a listener, she can be technologically challenged. I just wanted to declare that anyway. Thank you so much, Brian and Jill, for everything that you do to us. And a very quick shout out to Biola, Walta, Blind Tony and Christy from Kentucky. I just love the way you say ‘Amen!’ I just can’t keep the smile off my face. Anyway, love you all from UK, God bless.

Hi family, its Drew from the Bay Area. It’s the middle of the night and I’m calling in because the Lord prompted me to. Things are not going great. I wish I had a great praise report. I do have a praise report that I was down to my last few dollars, and God came through, as usual, like he always does. But the reason for my call today is, I’ll call back later and give you updates on the people that you all been praying for and things are going great. Please continue to pray for my friend, Michael W., who moved to Orlando. He is slight in stature, a man of a great faith and heart, and he needs a job. He has there to be reunited with his children. But I called, I wanted to pray for the lady that called in about pops dying. And ‘Slave of Jesus’, be careful what you pray for, brother, because I prayed a similar prayer. And God is wonderful, he delivers, but let us pray. Pastor Gene, I’m praying for you. And I wanted to mention Blind Tony, the shout out, because he sees more than most of us will in our entire lives. Heavenly Father, I thank you for all that you’ve done. I’ve been suffering, along with my son, whose friend was brutally stabbed and murdered and his body burned by his friend and all the sinful stuff going on, people dying. But yet, you keep delivering the light and you hold every planet, every star in place, surrounded by darkness and yet, we don’t seem to understand your glory. But Lord, years ago, you showed me your glory, just for a glimpse of it and I remember…

His, my name is Jane. I’m calling in from Switzerland. I’m a New Yorker. I’ve been living in Switzerland for 13 years. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible a year and a half now maybe. I’ve never called in. I have to call in because I was listening to the community prayer after the August 22nd and there was a woman, Cheryl, from Woodbridge, VA, and she was talking how she needs God to reveal himself to her and she doesn’t understand, she’s just doing everything. And I just want to say that I know 100% what you’re feeling and the only thing I can say is have faith, keep trusting, and believe me, I’ve been through so much and I would love God to just tap me on the shoulder and tell me you know when he’s going to get me on a plane back to New York and everything. But just hang in there and pray and I think it’s great that you called in. I’m also calling for Sarah in North Carolina and you came on, your voice came on exactly when I was thinking ‘Oh, I don’t stop and pray for these people.’ And then you started to say about how you don’t really stop and pray, but if we say ‘Yes Jesus’ and we say ‘Thank you Jesus’ along with the prayers and we’re agreeing, then we’re focusing. And I thought, ‘Wow, you said that exactly the moment that I was thinking it,’ because I’m behind. And I just think this is a blessing and I can say that it’s changed my life. I try to get people to listen to the DAB. I, you know, encourage them because I think it’s amazing to hear what people are going through, and yet, they never give up hope and they never stop trusting. And I think it’s encouraging and amazing. And I’m probably going to get cut off and I probably might not call that much because it’s very expensive. But I absolutely love the DAB. And yep, I guess I’ll see you on DAB Friends on Facebook. Bless you all.

This is Tito calling again from Southern California, although right now I’m not at home (I’m in Wisconsin); but I was wanting to reach out again because I was listening to the prayer line (I’m on a long car ride) and I was listening to the prayer line and I was really surprised to see how many people had a reaction to my call-in for Walta and my love for the community. And you know what, I wanted to encourage you guys even more to call in because I remember way back when I first started listening, there was a guy, I think his name was Roger, that was calling for a kidney. And I remember him calling over and over and I remember thinking like ‘I want to give this guy my kidney,’ and me, I just felt so bad for him. And then there was the huge miracle and he got it. And I started to become more and more interested in the prayer line because of the people like Tony and the prayer warriors. And you know, it just pulled me in and I really did start to fall in love with this community. And then something really amazing happened that I thought was one of the biggest blessings I’ve seen in my entire life and it was through the prayer line. And somebody called in from Florida, and I think it was last year or maybe the year before, and they said that they had been in a homosexual marriage and that they had been listening to the Daily Audio Bible and they had been praying and getting into a closer relationship with God and they decided that their relationship was not godly. And I thought, ‘you know, for all the times the Bible says get in community, get in a relationship with God, let God work and change your life,’ like, that’s what happened in this community and that was such an amazing, it’s like unconditional love here. And no judgment, people calling in and struggle with all kinds of things – homosexuality, pornography, people have serious issues with finances and family – and all you see in this community is love and prayer. And I truly believe that Brian is a great leader because he pushes toward a relationship with God, and that relationship with God is what transforms us. And I thought, ‘you know, what a lesson.’ But no condemnation, no one saying to do this or to do that. All we’re doing is getting into a relationship with God and look what kind of things happen – you see miracles, you see people’s lives changed – and all in a very loving environment. So, if you’re still sitting and you’re thinking, ‘I wonder if I want to call in?’ Call in. That’s a part of being in this community and that’s why I called in. I called in because I decided I was not going to sit by and just miss being a part of this beautiful community. So call in if you want to call in and be a part of this community, we’d love to have you.

Hey, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Sam from Vancouver, WA calling in. Actually, calling you as I’m walking to my sister’s house to watch a soccer game. Go Timbers! With my sister and brother-in-law. But the real reason for my call is a couple of years back I had called in regard to her and to her saying basically that she didn’t believe in God anymore and that her husband, he was in the same place basically. So I know they really enjoy us and our family and we love them, but I feel like it’s time to broach that subject again and just chat about it and see where they’re at and just love them where they’re at, but just check in with them. And so, I just need prayer for grace and wisdom and caring and love as I feel like it’s time to chat about that today. So, I appreciate you guys’ prayers as I do that, that I be speaking in love and grace and truth and that I wouldn’t feel pressured to say anything specific, but just express love and wanting to know where they’re at. So, anyway I love you guys. I couldn’t do this without you guys, so I appreciate it. Please continue to keep calling in no matter what the request. We love praying for you all. From Sam, Sidney, Grace, Serena, and Judah, we love you guys so very much. God bless you.

Tamarie 09/03/2015 00:05

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