Matthew 6:25-30 ESV
[25] “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Pastor Billy Graham | The difference between your body and your soul. #body #soul

Your environment has a powerful influence on your growth. The people around you, the conversations you entertain, the content you consume, and the spaces you spend time in can either strengthen your spirit, soul, and body or pull you away from growth.

In this episode of Growth Academy, discover how to protect your mind, choose your influences wisely, and intentionally build an environment that supports the person you are becoming.

In this episode, you'll learn: • How your environment influences your thinking and behavior
• Why the people around you matter
• How to protect your mind from negative influences
• How to create an environment that supports growth
• Why protecting your purpose requires intentional choices

Continue your growth journey:
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Some church folk eagerly talk about the latest scandal in the Body of Christ, but cannot tell you the last person they led to Jesus. Philippians 2:12 says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Sound the Alarm

By Jenni Poling

August 19th, 2026

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand.” Joel 2:1

To take a stroll in late summer in Southern Illinois is to be treated to a symphony, day or night. The air is filled with the sound of insects, including crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and cicadas. There is a seemingly endless array of melody and percussion.

No song is louder than that of the cicada, however. In fact the Australian green grocer cicada is considered one of the loudest insects in the world. Cicadas can produce sounds up to 120 decibels—loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans at close range. The male cicada doesn’t deafen himself, however. He is equipped with the ability to protect his own eardrums by shutting them down while singing.

So what are these noisy creatures? At first glance, they might appear to be enormous flies, but closer inspection reveals that they have wide-set eyes, short antennae, and membranous wings held close to the sides of their body. The largest cicada—the empress cicada—has a head and body length of 2.8 inches and a wingspan of 8 inches! Another amazing fact about the cicada is that it comes engineered with the first known biomaterial that can kill bacteria. Its wing surfaces are covered with nanoscale-sized spikes that simply tear the bacteria apart.

Cicadas spend the majority of their life underground, tapping into the roots of trees and emerging for only a few short weeks to mate and lay eggs. There are two major groups of cicadas: the annual and the periodic types. All spend considerable time underground, but the periodic cicada broods are synchronized to emerge all at once every thirteen to seventeen years. And when this happens, it’s quite an event because the sight and sound are tremendous!

Cicadas like to sing during the daytime, but especially at dawn and dusk. One evening, while we were on one of our walks, it occurred to me that they sounded like so many alarms going off, and that got me thinking. What are alarms used for?

Well, there are alarm clocks to wake you up. There are also fire alarms, burglar alarms, and car alarms, among others. The message of these alarms is about the same: if you want to avoid trouble, get up, get ready, and get going! I wonder, might there also be some internal alarms going off? Alarms that tell us to shake off our lethargy and observe what is happening around us in the spiritual realm? Is there something that tells us to wake up and be roused to action? Listen, because the alarms may be sounding loudly for you!

So as you enjoy your evening walks, and if you are in a place where you can hear these “alarms,” think about the message God may be trying to give you. Don’t forget to listen and heed the alarms, trusting God to get you through.

Let's talk about it.
DYING AND GOING STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN IS A FALSE DOCTRINE

The Bible does not teach that the dead immediately go to heaven as conscious spirits.

When Lazarus died, Jesus said plainly:

“Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” — John 11:11

And Martha said:

“I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” — John 11:24

She did not say Lazarus was already alive in heaven. She understood that his hope was the resurrection.

Scripture repeatedly describes death as a sleep:

“The dead know not any thing.” — Ecclesiastes 9:5

“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” — Psalm 146:4

The Christian hope is not an immortal soul leaving the body at death. It is the resurrection when Christ returns.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven... and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16

The teaching that the dead remain consciously alive opens the door to one of Satan’s oldest deceptions — the claim that human beings do not truly die.

“Ye shall not surely die.” — Genesis 3:4

Once people believe the dead are conscious and able to communicate, they become vulnerable to spiritualism — apparitions, supposed messages from the dead, and deceptive supernatural manifestations.

Scripture warns that powerful spiritual deceptions will occur in the last days.

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders...” — Matthew 24:24

God’s Word gives the safeguard:

The dead are unconscious.
They do not communicate with the living.
They await the resurrection.

Our hope is not in supposed spirits of the dead.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ and the resurrection at His coming.

In Colossians 1, Paul uses two closely related but distinct concepts to describe the unmatched status of Christ. To understand the distinction, we have to look at the flow of Paul's argument and the specific Greek words he uses.

The Distinction in the Text

Preeminence (πρωτεύων - *prōteuōn*)
In verse 18, Paul writes that Christ might be preeminent (or "hold the first place") in everything. The Greek word prōteuōn is a present participle meaning "to be first in rank, influence, or position."

Preeminence speaks to rank, dignity, and rightful position. It answers the question: Where does Christ stand in relation to all other things? The answer is that He stands at the absolute top. He holds the chief place. In the immediate context of verse 18, this preeminence is specifically tied to the new creation—He is the head of the body, the church, and the firstborn from the dead. Because He conquered the grave, He rightfully holds the highest rank in the renewed creation.

Supremacy (πρωτότοκος - *prōtotokos*)
While English translations sometimes use "preeminence" and "supremacy" interchangeably, the concept of supremacy in this passage is anchored in the word prōtotokos ("firstborn"), used in verses 15 and 18.

Supremacy speaks to authority, power, and sovereign right. In the ancient Near East, the firstborn was not just the oldest child; he was the heir who held the highest authority over the household and received the double portion of the inheritance. When Paul says Christ is the "firstborn of all creation" (v. 15) and "firstborn from the dead" (v. 18), he is not saying Christ was created. He is declaring Christ's supreme authority over creation and over the new creation. Supremacy answers the question: Who has the power and the right to rule? Christ does, because all things were created through Him and for Him (v. 16).

How They Work Together

Think of it this way:
Supremacy is the basis of His authority. He is the sovereign heir and creator. He has the absolute right to rule because He is the agent of creation and the victor over death.
Preeminence is the result of that authority. Because He is supreme, it is only fitting that He holds the first place in rank, honor, and affection in all things.

Paul builds this argument to counter the early heresies creeping into Colossae, which suggested you needed Jesus plus something else—angelic worship, secret knowledge, or ascetic practices (Colossians 2). Paul's response is that Christ's supremacy and preeminence mean He is entirely sufficient. The fullness of deity dwells in Him bodily (1:19). There is no higher rank to reach, no hidden knowledge to acquire, and no spiritual power to supplement. He holds the first place in everything.

When you read this passage, you are looking at a deliberate, poetic structure where Paul establishes Christ's supremacy over the original creation (vv. 15-17) and then His supremacy over the new creation through redemption (vv. 18-20), culminating in the conclusion that He alone is preeminent in all things.

THE BODY OF THE WORD IS A LIBRARY.

What if the most valuable library you could enter is not filled with books—but with revelation?

The Kitchen’s Digital Library is a growing treasury of teachings on The Body of the Word—where Scripture is not merely studied, but understood as a living architecture for life, wealth, work, leadership, economics, creativity and enterprise.

This is not religious information.

It is the Word made intelligible for living.

Hundreds of conversations, teachings and discoveries are waiting for you.

Listen on:
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Enter The Kitchen.
Explore the Digital Library.
Discover the Body of the Word.

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The Kitchen by Omodolapo Ogunye
Celebrating The Body of the Word.

The Fleshy Word (The Image of the Invisible God)

The Kitchen by Omodolapo Ogunye

How can we see the invisible God?

In this episode of The Kitchen, the exploration of The Body of the Word moves into another profound dimension: the Body of the Word is the image, form and detailed revelation of the invisible God.

Building on the revelation that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, the episode explores what His body reveals about the Father. The head, eyes, face, hands, voice and other members of the Body are presented as revelations of the Person of God.

The episode draws together Revelation, Colossians, Hebrews, John, Ezekiel and Daniel to develop a central proposition: if the Father is invisible, then the Body of the Word gives us the visible revelation of who He is. To study the Body of the Word, therefore, is to pursue a deeper understanding of the Father.

One of the most striking ideas in the episode is that the various members of the Body are “working pictures” of God—different revelations of the same Person in different expressions, positions and functions.

This makes The Fleshy Word (The Image of the Invisible God) an important episode in the unfolding journey of The Body of the Word. It moves the conversation from simply asking Who is the Word? to asking What does the Body of the Word reveal about the Father?

I recommend this episode to anyone who wants to explore the knowledge of God through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Listen slowly and follow the progression: the Word, His Body, and the revelation of the invisible Father.

Listen to “The Fleshy Word (The Image of the Invisible God)” on The Kitchen

Available on:
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• Apple Podcasts
• Amazon Music
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Listen to The Kitchen on Acast

The Kitchen by Omodolapo Ogunye
Celebrating The Body of the Word.