The greatest horrors of the Halloween season cannot come close to those perpetuated by humans on one another. And God placed Ezekiel in the midst of that horror, the only living man in a field strewn with tens of thousands of the dead.Why? What purpose could there be in visiting this place?It turns out, it was so you and I could be given hope.Grace and peace to you.Comments/questions? [email protected] to help The Salvation Army in Nevada County help others? https://grassvalley.salvationarmy.orgWant to hear more? Check out The Shield Online on your favorite podcast service or at our online home: http://bit.ly/shieldonline

Does resurrection matter? It's a crazy idea, right? In Acts 17, Paul's insistence on preaching Jesus raised from the dead runs head-on into a wall of educated disbelief. But they are willing to hear him out - for a few minutes, anyway. What happens next and why it may (or may not) matter to us is a big part of knowing what God expects from us and that's important, because it is the standard by which we will be judged by Christ.

In a world torn apart by evil actions and deep hurts, what are we to do? When an enemy has slaughtered our children, what are we to do?When the monsters are revealed and our anger is sharp and ready to be thrust into their hearts to rip them out the way they have done to us, what are we to do?Today, an examination of facing the impossible in an unexpected, but necessary, way.Grace and peace to you and to your enemies.

When someone says things to you which are different from the way you've always done things or different from the way you think or have been taught that the world works, what is the proper response? Do you cover your ears and yell LALALALALALALA! at the top of your lungs so that what they are saying can't leak in? Do you hide or burn their books? Do you run them out of town? Or is there another way? Something else you could do?This week we see how two very different groups respond to the idea that Jesus is Lord.Grace and peace to you!

God delights in me and my perfection. And if you are blameless and never turn from his ways or break any of his commandments, you can be perfect too. Worried that it may be too late? Oh, do I have some good news for you!Comments or questions? Post them here or email [email protected], there is an opportunity for a prize because I screwed something up during this recording and when that happened, I offered a prize to anyone who reaches out to me about... Something. (Gotta listen to find out!)Grace and peace to you all this week.

What Must I do to be Saved?That's the question, isn't it? And to get to the answer, we're going to start with Zeus having an affair, Apollo killing a dragon, Paul's group of evangelists being praised by a possessed slave, snake oil, acceptable police brutality, and finally God shaking things up a bit to get some people's attention. Then we'll know what we must do.Grace and peace to you this week!

Luke takes his time showing us the chain of events that God arranged to demonstrate that one particular conversion was absolutely ordained. I could have called this message "The first Christian in Europe." You should know who I'm referring to, but here in the Western world, we tend to downplay or ignore her, even though she is one of the most important figures in the early church.Questions or comments can be brought up here or by emailing [email protected] of past messages are available by finding The Shield Online with your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc.) or by visiting our host site at http://bit.ly/shieldonlineThe Salvation Army in Nevada County, CA has been actively reaching out to those in need since 1883. If you can contribute to help us help others, that's great. You can find our address or donation links online or by clicking here: https://bit.ly/donateGVGrace and peace to you all.

People can't be trusted. We are inconsistent and petty and self-serving and, sometimes, downright mean. Okay, not all the time, but every one of us has our moments, don't we?It's no wonder that people leave the church. Is there a reason to be Followers of the Way of Jesus if even our leaders may fail to live up to the standards of that Way? Questions or comments? Post them here or email Captain Roger at [email protected] this guy crazy? Check out our past videos here or our podcast archive at http://bit.ly/shieldonlineCan you help The Salvation Army in Nevada County? We provide utility assistance and clothing and housing and food and disaster aid and youth programs and emotional and spiritual care, among other things. You can make a gift here: https://bit.ly/donateGVGrace and peace to each of you.

Do we need to do conform to a certain set of standards to be holy or do we simply say that the grace of Jesus is enough and then live that out, whatever that looks like? That's the question which faced the growing movement of the Followers of the Way of Jesus back in Acts 15. Today we look at what they decided and what it might mean for people like us today.

Short one today. Mostly, I want to tell you a story.A story about bread. And hands. And what on earth is meant by a continual sacrifice of praise?