{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Reflections","title":"Monday of the Tenth Week After Pentecost","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":263,"description":"August 18, 2025Today's Reading: Jeremiah 23:16-29Daily Lectionary: 2 Samuel 7:18-29; 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:16“[The Lord says] ‘I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.’” (Jeremiah 23:21)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.You cannot rightly judge a preacher based on his personality, his popularity, or his effectiveness. You cannot rightly judge a preacher based on how many or how few people come to hear him. You cannot rightly judge a preacher based on how you feel about him. God instead directs you to judge a preacher on how his preaching and teaching align with God’s Word.Only Scripture is the fountain and source of our theology, our teaching, our practice, how we worship, how we live, and who we are. We must remember that, so the devil does not lead us astray. The devil has his own prophets, who preach according to whatever the modern sensibilities are at the time. We are caught up in the world, surrounded so much by the world’s ideals that we are not even aware of them. This is the poisoned air we breathe, and we don’t even realize how much the world has taught us to follow it.But a preacher who preaches the Word rightly is to be highly honored, for he teaches the Word that is always true and always constant, even when the world shifts on unstable footing. In season or out of season, when that Word is loved or if that Word is despised, yet he stays constant and true to God’s Word. He proclaims the Law in its full strictness to self-righteous sinners are brought to repentance. And he proclaims the Gospel in its full sweetness to crushed sinners, so they are given the spiritual relief, comfort, and peace that God gives us in His Son.Jesus crucified, risen, and forgiving is the content of every true sermon. It doesn’t matter if it’s a regular Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent, or even on Christmas Day. Faithful pastors still proclaim Jesus, bloody but wonderful. They proclaim and apply this Word to you in all your...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/P3eUvssXYVZBQK4BZg1UEKstUh8zuVz_CoZCK6YjRSs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI1MTcyLzE3MDI0/Mjg1MzAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}