*Sensitive material* We talk about rape in this episode. Can rape happen in dating relationships or Christian marriages? How do we trust that certain people won’t hurt us, even the people we love? Trust is very important in relationships. How do we trust people?

Can a marriage survive on love alone? What about respect? A very popular Christian marriage advice has been, men are to love their wives and women are to respect or reverence their husbands. But will this bring happiness. Should Christian marriages be happy? What is the purpose of marriage?

Will revenge give you peace? Does justice bring peace? When someone wrongs you and hurts you, do you get peace from the revenge or justice? Forgiveness ultimately brings peace but forgiveness is hard when you are only focused on revenge. If you are struggling with peace and forgiveness because someone has hurt you, I invite you to think about what you believe and what drives your actions. There is a way to find peace and it’s not the old saying of just suck it up, take the higher road, be more spiritually mature. There is another option. It might sound similar to what you’ve always been taught but keep listening to see if you hear a difference.

We fake our identities and manipulate circumstances out of fear to prove who we are and seek validation from others. This just ends up hurting ourselves and the people we love, losing our identity in the process. But when we are true to our identity and purpose, no one can take that away. It is who we are. How does the Holy Spirit and prayer help us find our identity? Go check out some of Paul’s prayers: Phil 1:9-11 Col 1:9-12 Eph 3:16-21 Eph 1:17-23

Who is your authority and why? What drives you? How do you make decisions? As we have seen, fear drives most people. When we feel threatened, we make poor decisions. We grasp for power and control. Our pride and ego is hurt so we manipulate people to make ourselves look better. It’s hard to have humility when you feel threatened. We are either an army or a church processional. Where do you see this in your own life and community? Unity and equality is a better choice. Is it possible to have unity?

As we come to the end of the first season of the Netflix series, The Last Kingdom, it seems there is peace in Wessex and beyond. And of course, that peace will not be the case for long. As Brida says paraphrased, “Peace makes people grow fat!” People get restless and want more. Starting the second season we see every character in the show, just like us, has a purpose, a motivation, a reason for why they do what they do. What is driving each of these characters? Alfred claims God is on his side ordaining his actions and power. Do Christians today still believe this way? Do we still believe God is ordaining the path of certain people groups? Are you part of the group God is ordaining? How do you know? Are you fully persuaded? Maybe you need to wash out your mouth.

Show notes:

Romans: 4:21 and 14:5 - fully persuaded

Baptism references:

Exodus 19:14 - Moses sanctified the children of Israel, and they washed their clothes

Exodus 30:20,21 - Aaron and his sons washed with water so that they would not die in the tabernacle

Exodus 40:31,32 - Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet, when they came near into the altar, they washed as the Lord commanded

Leviticus 8:6 - Aaron and his sons were washed with water

Matt 3:1-6 - John the Baptist water baptizing the children of Israel to prepare them for the kingdom

Matt 3:11- John talking about water baptism, Holy Ghost baptism, and fire baptism

Matt 3:16 - Jesus baptized with water and baptized with Holy Spirit, Spirit of God descending like a dove

Luke 12:49,50 - Jesus future fire(death) baptism

Acts 2:1-4 - Jews at Pentacost were baptized with Holy Ghost

Ephesians 1:13 - Body of Christ sealed with holy Spirit of promise

Ephesians 4:4-6 - Body of Christ has one baptism not 2, not 3, just one

Warning: Sensitive material.

Aleswith and Alfred seem to be the perfect Christians, blessed beyond measure. But their world is crashing around them. Their prayers are not working. What is God doing??? Maybe they need to pray harder or differently. Does God bless people more when they obey him more, go to church more, serve more, give more money, or pray better?

Hild, a devoted woman of God suffers a traumatic life event. Where is God? How is God all knowing, all powerful, and all present and yet chooses not to save everyone from every catastrophe? Is God trying to teach us a lesson, or maybe He is cursing us? How do you explain this? How do you reconcile this……..We think we have a different view than mainstream Christianity.

The struggle continues: Uhtred and Mildrith, Law and grace. The honeymoon is over. There is no reconciliation. Uhtred will never be accepted because he can’t turn a blind eye toward conflicting information in the church. Mildrith won’t budge from tradition and her church is shaming everyone and anyone who doesn’t fit their mold. Again, fear keeps people under control. Why do people blindly follow a tradition or culture without knowing the root of why we do what we do. If we truly understood why we do what we do, we wouldn’t need a law. Charity and grace can overcome fear and control.

“There’s no justice here, only the church.” - Uhtred. “It (Justice) comes to those who have faith.” - Mildrith. It can feel like the church of today and yesteryear, uses its power to manipulate situations for control. Why does the church need to have control? To us it seems like fear is driving that need for control. What does the church fear? The Saxons think they can expel their own fear with knowledge, so Alfred manipulates Uhtred and the written word. The Danes use the power of raw fear to manipulate people. We believe fear can be overcome with truth. Truth will lead us to justice. The truth sets us free. How do we find truth? Does the church hold the truth? Can we find truth using logic, science, and God’s Word? Can we have both, Justice and faith?

Grace doctrine allows us to question why we do what we do. And when that happens, the answers and discussions can ruffle a lot of feathers. The fourth episode of Season one of The Last Kingdom brings up some feather ruffling topics. And today, we go there. We are questioning. A scene where Alfred and Uhtred have a provoking conversation while overlooking this majestic scenery. It stirs up some deep seeded traditions and burdens to bear. Uhtred and Mildriths wedding has hidden agendas that lead to questions of God’s control or human manipulation and tithing. And a battle on the horizon won’t stop the Danes from continuing to come after what they want. They wear their feelings on their sleeves. They live life to the fullest. But the Saxons just see heathens coming to take what is given to them by God. Why do the Saxons seem so miserable? The Danes have omens and magic and the Saxons have signs and miracles. It might seem to an outsider that these practices are the same, but just have different vocabulary. Is there a happy medium? Can we find a balance?