Mount Vigil

35 | A Christian Political Commitment Oct 28, 2024

To follow Jesus is to engage a political project: It is to submit to Jesus as he establishes his upside-down Kingdom by his Spirit through the Church.

Anthony and Blaine lay out a few core convictions for a style of political engagement that is anchored in the teachings of Jesus. Allegiance. Enemy love. Prayer. There is no more challenging, satisfying, and liberating way to minister to the life of the community than by embracing the foundational commandments of Jesus.

Mentioned in this episode:

A PDF of "A Christian Political Commitment"

Joshua Ryan Butler The Party Crasher
Daily Prayer for those far from Jesus
Matthew Bates Salvation by Allegiance Alone
Tyler Staton on Cultivating love of neighbor
Luke Bretherton
Jon Tyson on Christians in politics
Nigel Biggar Behaving in Public

34 | Resurrection People: The Church and Israel Part 2 Oct 22, 2024

What happened to the northern tribes after the Assyrian deportation? Were they ever gathered back from the nations? How does that relate to the diversity of church expressions today? Is that evidence of schism and disunity, or something else? In this episode Anthony and Blaine discuss Israel's narrative arc in the scriptures as well as an often-overlooked theme: over and over again, God uses the rending consequences of sin as a way to extend His grace to the ends of the earth.

Mentioned in this episode:

Jason A Staples: The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism
Jason A Staples: Paul and the Resurrection of Israel

33 | A Timely Encouragement from Mount Vigil Sep 29, 2024

Anthony and Blaine (and friends) interrupt their discussion of Church history with a brief, timely encouragement.

32 | God Cuts a Deal: The Church and Israel Part 1 Aug 27, 2024

Anthony and Blaine continue their conversation on the Church by examining the canonical relationship between God and His covenant partners.

As Joseph Ratzinger put it, "The history of the relationship between Israel and Christendom is drenched with blood and tears."

That's true but it need not be that way. The history of the relationship between Israel and Christendom is fundamentally a history of God's faithfulness, self-revelation, and ultimate redemption.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joseph Ratzinger Many Religions - One Covenant
NT Wright Paul and the Faithfulness of God
NT Wright and Rabbi Mark Kinzer "A Dialogue on the Meaning of Israel"
Moshe Weinfeld "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East"
The Bible Project Ezra and Nehemiah

31 | By Love For Love Jul 16, 2024

The Trinity is the fountainhead of reality and the mystery at the center of all things. And so it should go without saying (but it often doesn't) that the Church only makes sense when it's explored in terms of the triune God. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony start with the Trinity and survey salvation history to put the life of the Church in context. From the love of the Father to Covenant Theology, Dionysius the Areopagite's vision of creation to Russian Monastaries founded on perichoresis, this conversation lays the groundwork for a fruitful investigation of the Church.

Mentioned in this episode:

Scott Hahn A Father Who Keeps His Promises
NT Wright The Resurrection of the Son of God
Bruce Shelley Church History in Plain Language
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware The Orthodox Way
Bishop Robert Barron Word on Fire
Ian McFarland Word Made Flesh
James Torrence Worship, Community and the Triune God
The Wanderer
Gilgamesh
Hans Urs Von Balthasar Cosmic Liturgy
Athanasius On the Incarnation
Rob Avis Building Your Permaculture Property
Christopher Wright Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament
The Paradise King
Evlogetaria for the Dead
Stephen DeYoung The Religion of the Apostles

30 | How to Love the Church (aka What's Next for the MV Podcast) Jul 02, 2024

We're back.

In this episode, Anthony and Blaine map out the territory ahead and offer their thoughts on constructive engagement with Church history. In brief: be ecumenical, read like it's your job (wasn't it Aquinas who said "Beware the man of one book?") don't treat anyone (ancient or modern) as stupid, and plan to live differently.

Division in the Church is a matter of sin; unity and love in the Church reflects God's own desire. So buckle up: this series is going to be a ride.

You can catch up with Anthony and follow his writing career at https://x.com/anthonyashley
You can find Blaine at https://blaineeldredge.substack.com/

29 | An Announcement from Mount Vigil Dec 12, 2023

Mount Vigil is going on hiatus; we've wrapped up our two year long Story of God series and we'll be taking the next few months to pray into the future. We're living through the end of an age, as we've said before. That means we're facing unique pressures, and so we need to seek the face of the Lord as ask for His wisdom. We're not quite sure what will come out of this discernment process, but we'll be back next year. In the meantime, the Lord bless you and keep you. Warm regards from MV.

28 | Palestine, Israel, and Divisions in the Body of Christ Oct 31, 2023

In this conversation, Blaine and Anthony share a few thoughts on responding to current events in terms of allegiance to Jesus. The crisis involving Israel and Palestine is a divisive issue, if you hadn't noticed. The good news for us is that the Gospel of Jesus applies to situations exactly like this one and the Church is empowered by the Spirit to respond in an utterly unique way. We hope some of the thoughts here help you to love God, love your neighbor, and see and operate by the Spirit while Jesus makes it on earth as it is in heaven.

27 | The Paradise King Part 1 Oct 17, 2023

Blaine's written a book, folks! It's an epic introduction to Jesus in terms of the story of God. If you've been following MV, this book is for you. From night raids and necromancers to witch kings and dragons, Blaine and Anthony talk through the presentation of Jesus in our time.

You can find out more and sign up to get notified when it releases at blaineeldredge.com

26 | Apocalypse Sep 25, 2023

We've spent hours contemplating Revelation. Now it's time to hear the text itself.

This will be our acid test: Can our long-term engagement with theology, Church history, and culture transform our experience of the scriptures? Can we see Jesus in the Apocalypse? We hope so. But you'll have to listen and see for yourself. Enjoy this dramatic reading of Revelation: we hope you will directly experience Jesus, slain and risen king of the universe, as you hear the voice of God in scripture.

25 | His Government and His Peace - Revelation Part 5 Sep 11, 2023

This is it: the finale of the 5-part series on Revelation, as well as the finale of the 19-part series on the Story of God in the Bible. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony draw together the main threads of the podcast so far: God's design for the cosmos as revealed in Scripture, the nature of evil, and the restoration of all things through Jesus of Nazareth. "For I consider," said Paul, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).

Friends, there are good things to come. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Get show notes for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-his-government-and-his-peace-revelation-part-5/
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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

24 | Beasts and Harlots and Virgins Oh My - Revelation Part 4 Aug 21, 2023

In this series, Blaine and Anthony have argued that Revelation is the theological capstone of the Bible. Nevertheless, because its method of doing theology draws upon the Jewish (rather than the Greco-Roman) tradition, many of its claims go right over the head of modern readers. In this show, Blaine and Anthony drill down on some of the most notorious elements in Revelation: the 144,000, the Whore, the Beast, the Mark, and more. The actions of Revelation are not a disturbing fever dream. They are instead a profound picture of the world as it really is, and when we learn read our lives in terms of Revelation, we know how to follow Jesus as he establishes heaven on earth.

Get show notes for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-beasts-and-harlots-and-virgins-oh-my-revelation-part-4/
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23 | Seven Messages - Revelation Part 3 Jul 26, 2023

“While each church receives a message reflecting its own situation, there is one overarching issue: whether or not to compromise. Specifically, will these churches be faithful witnesses both to Jesus and like Jesus (and John!) by refraining from participation in the cultural norm of pagan religion, including the imperial cult, even if it entails serious consequences: social, economic, and political?” Gorman

In this third part of the series on Revelation, Blaine and Anthony continue their discussion on the major movements of the Apocalypse. In particular, they discuss the messages to the seven churches from 1:9-3:22 and the vision of heaven in 4 and 5.

Get show notes for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-seven-messages-revelation-part-3/.
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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

22 | The Capstone of the Bible - Revelation Part 2 Jul 03, 2023

In this episode, Anthony and Blaine continue their Story of God series by returning to the book of Revelation. Questions discussed in this conversation: How does John use the Old Testament? What is the structure of John's Apocalypse? Who is/are the seven spirits in 1:4? What is going in in John's prologue? We hope you enjoy.

Get show notes for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/the-capstone-of-the-bible-revelation-part-2.
Subscribe to the Mount Vigil Newsletter at https://mountvigil.org/subscribe.
You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

21 | Follow the Lamb - Revelation Part 1 Jun 19, 2023

“Revelation is not only one of the finest literary works in the New Testament, but also one of the greatest theological achievements of early Christianity.” So says New Testament Scholar Richard Bauckham, and yet few of us experience it that way. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on the literary and theological marvel that is Revelation, drawing on diverse scholarship to frame its historical and prophetic situation. The thesis of this episode is simple: Revelation is a discipleship manual. It orients the people of God to their situation, and it tells them how they should live in view of Christ's reality.

Sources

We know from experience Revelation is challenging. For all those of you who are looking to grasp the message and the blessing of the Bible's capstone book, here are a few recommended resource:

For a wonderful introduction, check out:

The Bible Project's Two-Part Overview
Part One:
Part Two:

For a good book on the whole of revelation:

Michael Gorman Reading Revelation Responsibly
Scot McKnight and Cody Matchett Revelation for the Rest of Us

For a more scholarly take:

Richard Bauckham The Theology of the Book of Revelation
Richard Baukham The Climax of Prophecy

For a book on key elements and Old Testament allusions:

Brandon Smith The Trinity in the Book of Revelation
Tremper Longman III Revelation Through Old Testament Eyes

20 | Two Questions at the Mount of Olives - The Return of Christ Part 2 Jun 05, 2023

When it comes to anticipating the return of Jesus, two New Testament texts loom especially large: The Olivet Discourse and the Revelation of John. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss the first: The Olivet Discourse from Matthew 24 and 25. On the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask two questions: when will the temple be razed to the ground, and when will the final marriage of heaven and earth take place? Jesus answers both questions. He places the destruction of Jerusalem in its cosmic context, and he tells the disciples how they should live in view of his return.

19 | The Lord Himself Will Come - The Return of Christ Part 1 May 22, 2023

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on the culmination of the Story of God: the bodily return of Jesus and the final marriage of heaven and earth.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

18 | Praxis Makes Perfect May 08, 2023

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss the everyday life of the people of God. The Church is a glorious reality; on the ground, it is also a gritty reality. The practice of dying to self is not abstract. It looks like loving real people. It looks like owning our sin. It looks like repenting. It looks like leaving church gatherings and then learning to hang in there. The local gathering is an eternal reality embodied by people in process. In this conversation, Blaine and Anthony share their personal experience of learning to live life in Jesus's Church.

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17 | Flesh of My Flesh - The Church Part 2 Apr 24, 2023

The Church is the Bride of Christ, and that, more than any other dimension of Church life, is an eschatalogical reality. It is a fact that anchors the purpose of the Church in the bodily return of Jesus and the final union of Heaven and Earth. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss Bridal Theology, sexual ethics, covenant, and the culmination of God's design for His free creatures.

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16 | Mysteries of the Kyriakon Doma - The Church Part 1 Apr 10, 2023

"If the Church is really supposed to be yours, you'll have to make that much more obvious than it is at present."
Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI, paraphrasing the temptations of Christ

The Church is a vital step in the Story of God. It hearkens back to Eden; it picks up the role of Israel. It is military, and it is political. It recalls themes from King David's time. It prophesies the Return of Jesus. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on God's people, discussing in particular the many names given to the followers of Jesus, names that weave together themes from the story so far.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-16/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

15 | Cloud Rider, Tongues of Fire Mar 27, 2023

In this episode, Anthony and Blaine discuss the Ascension and Pentecost, linking those events as two sides of the same coin in the story of God. In the Ascension, Jesus has anchored our humanity in the heavens. At Pentecost, the Sermon on the Mount and the Old Testament promises of covenant renewal have been fulfilled. Also in this episode: ancient representations of the creator God, dating Biblical events, Jewish calendars, the unfulfilled Sermon on the Mount, and events from the Second Jewish Roman War.

Get show notes (including our Ascension Liturgy!) and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-15/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

14 | The Carnal Solution - Jesus Part 3 Mar 13, 2023

In this episode, Anthony and Blaine discuss suffering, surrender, and incarnate spirituality as Jesus’s solution to the World and the Flesh. This is the third installment in a three-part series on Jesus as the crescendo of the Story of God.

Also in this conversation: dying to become human, the devil’s counterfeit power, the spiritual life lived in the body, and eros and agape fusing together in the form of the human being.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-14/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

13 | Siege on Hades - Jesus Part 2 Feb 20, 2023

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony continue their conversation on the work of Jesus: How, exactly, does Jesus deal with the problem of spiritual oppression? Why does it matter that Jesus reigns supreme over the council? Where is the gate of hades, and what would it mean for Jesus to build a church there? The life and work of Jesus specifically overthrows the spiritual powers of this world. Join the Mount Vigil team for a conversation on the faithfulness of Jesus, the recapitulation of the story of Israel, and more.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-13/.

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12 | Apocalypse Priest - Jesus Part 1 Feb 06, 2023

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony continue their series on the Story of God by arriving, at last, at Jesus. In particular, this show addresses the way in which Jesus deals with sin and death so that the story of Israel, with its law and sacrificial system to manage sin and its prophetic promises to manage death, is brought to its climax.

This show is the first installment in a 3-part conversation on the work of Jesus.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-12/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

11 | Israel Jan 24, 2023

Why did God choose to create the nation of Israel? How was God's decision to create a people where there was no people part of his plan to deal with sin, death, and spiritual oppression? How does the story of YHWH and Israel prepare humanity for the ultimate revelation of Jesus the Anointed? These are the questions we go after in this next installment in our Story of God series.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-11/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

10 | Examen Jan 09, 2023

In this special episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss self-examination. Self-examination, or Examen, is a practice that followers of Jesus have used for centuries to see their lives as God sees them, and, therefore, as they really are.

The 5 steps of the Examen:

1. Center yourself
Place yourself in God’s presence. Give thanks for the gift of this day and the gift of God’s love for you.

2. Ask for light
Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life. Ask for the ability to hear clearly and for covering from warfare.

3. Review the day
Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you carefully review the day just completed. Pay attention to specific moments and your feelings at the time.

4. Reflect, express gratitude, and confess
For those moments the Spirit highlights, reflect on what you did, said, thought. Were you drawing closer to God or further from him? What is the Spirit saying about these moments? Pay attention to moments of beauty; thank God for his provision.

5. Look forward to the new day and seek out spiritual friendship

What is the Spirit prompting you to ask for in the day to come? What is he calling you to do? Who can you seek out to discuss the themes and questions the Spirit is raising?

Get show notes and the links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-10/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

9 | Down From the Mountain of God May 18, 2022

In this episode we continue our Story of God series by talking about the the Fall, or more accurately the Falls. The falls of mankind and the falls of the powers. We explore the origins of evil in the world, including the first human sin, the role of depraved spiritual powers, and the descent into darkness that forms the backdrop for Jesus' salvation project.

Get show notes and links for this episode at mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-9/.

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8 | Eden Inception Apr 27, 2022

We're back from hiatus. In this episode we talk about the big questions: What is the meaning of life? Why did God create us? What are we here for?

We talk about how babies are like rainbow trout, regenerative agriculture, Edens within Edens, the trees at both ends of the scriptures, why people are idols, and fractal geometry.

Get show notes and links for this episode at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-8/.

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7 | Ukraine, Empire, and the Kingdom of God Mar 01, 2022

We're interrupting our series on the story of God to talk about the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Church's response to it.

Some of the things we cover in this episode:

What our fleshly responses and our repentance of those responses looks like
How Christians can find solid ground in the midst of a powerful media narrative
How the concept of the Dialectic is working it's way out in the world
The typology of empire and nations in the scriptures
The economics of war
What it looks like to be a prophetic, called out people who bring the Good News in the midst of the devastation of war

Get show notes and links at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-7/.

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You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Mount Vigil at https://mountvigil.org/donate.

6 | The Powers Feb 20, 2022

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss the spiritual powers described in the Bible: the elohim and the Divine Counsel, angels and demons. The Christian worldview this is not selectively supernatural; it embraces the story as we have received it in scripture, and this conversation explores that story.

Get show notes and links at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-6/.

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5 | Trinity Feb 04, 2022

This is the first in a series of episodes on the story of God. We've talked about seeing reality as a story, we've talked about Apocalypse or spiritual revelation as to the nature of that story, and in our Endgame episode we talked about what it's like at the end of the story. But exactly what story is it that we're in? Where does it begin and how did we get here?

We argue that the place to begin is with God. In doing so we talk at length about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, we spend some time discussing the hundreds of years the early Church spent developing this doctrine, we discuss what it means practically in our daily lives that God is a Trinitarian God, and we end with a practice that I think you will find helpful in restoring your relationship with the persons of the Trinity.

We are invited not only to form our minds around the doctrine of the Trinity but to encounter the Trinity in an immediate and personal way.

Get show notes and links at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-5/.

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4 | Endgame Jan 13, 2022

Grandmaster Jose Raul Capablanca said that to succeed "you must study the endgame before anything else.” In this episode we talk about endgame, an idea from chess that we extrapolate to answer the question, What is it like to be at the end of a great cosmic war?

We begin by following up on the question of apocalypse posed in the previous episode: what exactly is being uncovered?

Moving on we get into a little chess endgame theory as a way of charting the territory of this conversation.

We discuss the strategic environment of endgame and what conflict it is that we're at the end of.

We ask, who are the major players involved and what are their goals?

Finally we end with some words of encouragement for the Christian who is trying to follow Jesus in a world that seems increasingly chaotic.

Get show notes and links and signup for our newsletter at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-4/.

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3 | The Great Unveiling Jan 01, 2022

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In today's episode we talk about Apocalypse: the word, the genre of literature, the spiritual event. We attempt to develop a nuanced, robust, rounded-out sense of Apocalypse, which means "revelation," a sense that is grounded in the fact that, ultimately, the Good News of Jesus Christ is what is revealed to us in an Apocalypse.

We cut to the chase by answering the question, "If this is an apocalypse should I buy guns and crypto?" and then move on to discuss what apocalypse is in the scriptures and in the mind that has been formed by the story of God, and compare this perspective to the ideas that the broader culture have around apocalypse.

We discuss why it's important to seek spiritual revelation in the ways that have been given by God and at the pace he dictates and why the world's many offers of revelation outside of God's plan are so harmful to us.

We talk about the many challenges facing us when we attempt to have a conversation around the word apocalypse:

- Why does this word stress me out?

- Why does pop culture have a whole movie genre called post-apocalyptic?

- Is there a safe way to talk about this given much of the Church's misguided and harmful approaches to the subject?

We talk about the many senses of the word “apocalypse” in an effort to level-up our ability to think and speak about the subject.

We then look at the book of Revelation, otherwise known as the Apocalypse of Jesus given to John, and examine three key errors that often foul up our attempts to appreciate apocalyptic literature in the scriptures.

We wrap things up by asking the questions:

- What do we do in an apocalypse?

- What is the Good News for us in this time?

- How can we live free from fear?

We hope you find encouragement, comfort, and good counsel in a subject that, when mistreated, can often cause dread, anxiety, and misguided action. Apocalypse is a challenging subject–you may have a lot of baggage associated with it–but with God's help we think we can confidently navigate this terrain toward the goal of union with Christ.

Get show notes and links at https://mountvigil.org/mount-vigil-podcast-episode-3/

2 | Reality is a Revelation Dec 16, 2021

In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss a foundational ability, an ability on which the rest of the Mount Vigil work depends: seeing reality.

It’s never been easy to see reality well. But it’s especially difficult in our time: the fallout of postmodernism and critical theory, the rise of nihilism, the divisive strategies of social media giants, and the advent of post-human and transhuman ideologies have eroded our ability to hold on to a coherent story. We’re taught to doubt our experience. We’re gaslit by the knowledge brokers of our time.

In the first part of this conversation, Blaine and Anthony argue that reality is fundamentally narrative, and that a person’s ability to see reality is linked to the clarity of the story they’re living.

In the second part of this conversation, Blaine and Anthony explore some of the obstacles that stand in the way of a strong sense of reality: an incomplete Gospel, everyday trauma, and technological opposition.

In the third part of this conversation, Blaine and Anthony argue that a true sense of reality is dependent on a vision of Jesus, and then explore tactics to recover a strong sense of reality: engaging the real world, living in the family of God, and leaning on three effective discernment strategies. Those are the testimony of the Bible, the consensus of the Church, and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Get show notes and links at https://mountvigil.org/mv-podcast-episode-2/.

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