I'm declaring my independence day!

2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.


Ephesians 4:14
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;


1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

I'm tired of it. I'm sick and tired of it. This life is very hard-especially living for God. Life is hard enough, but it seems that when a person decides to give their all for Jesus, the naysayers come out of the woodwork.

Living for Jesus is good and honorable. It is holy and righteous in the eyes of God. It all sounds fantastic to the young Christian. When the preacher/teacher begins to discuss living for God, the young child of God gets an almost euphoric feeling. They see things as rose colored and wonderful.

Then, when they begin- through prayer and effort- to implement the changes in their life that the scriptures declare they need to, it's "Katy bar the door" from their "friends" and "loved ones." Then comes the battles.
They begin to hear things like:

                              "Do you think you're better than us?"
                              "That's not how I raised you to live."
                              "It's not necessary to live that way."
                              "Don't you think you're taking this Jesus stuff a bit too far?"
                              "Well, Jesus loves us all and we don't all have to live that way."
                           
My personal favorite is when you've never said a word to the person about how they live. All you've done is change how you live. Then, they get mad at you? Ever heard this one? "How dare you tell me that I'm living wrong!" The truth is that your lifestyle is stepping on their toes without you ever speaking a word.

I've been living for God for nearly 22 years, now. I've made many mistakes in that time. I've stumbled and fallen along the way. I've hurt some folks along the way- unintentionally.

I've worried and lost sleep sometimes over the opinions of people that I love and friends that I care about. I've suffered from that very human disease- trying to win people's approval. Let me tell you that this has added more than a few gray hairs to my head.

Folks will share a scripture that they think contradicts what God has shown me, and I go through a time of worry. Am I wrong? Did I mishear God? I begin to pray and search it out. Sometimes, I discover that I was wrong and my understanding changes. Other times, I discover that the person who gave me the scripture was wrong in their understanding. I then gently try to explain the correct understanding- usually to an increasingly angry person.

This causes more stress to me. If the word of God tells us how to live. If the word tells us something different than how we've been living, don't get mad at the messenger. We need to change our lifestyles to adapt to the word of God. Not the other way around.

I'm tired of the finger pointing. I'm tired of the nay-saying. I'm tired of worrying about the opinions of others who have no heaven or hell to send me to (no matter how much they may personally wish me to go to either place).

Therefore, today- as we celebrate the July 4th holiday- I'm declaring my own independence.

No more will I concern myself with the opinions of others. No longer will I worry about the finger pointers and Pentecostal fruit inspector's alike. Let the chips fall where they may. As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord in word and deed. If folks don't like how we live, that's their prerogative. If folks don't like the way we look- don't look. Don't like what we say? Don't listen. Have issues with what I write? Don't read it.

Hard times will come. But, we will stand- stedfast and unmoveable. Nay-sayers will come and go, but we will stand for Jesus. It's not that I don't care about you, it's that I care about Jesus MORE than I care about you. I'm not trying to run anybody off, but if I have to choose between Jesus and you, I choose Jesus- every time.

It's a free country and you have a right to move on down the road if you don't like my house (or writing, or Facebook page). I'm done worrying about you. I'm free. Why? Because "he whom the son hath set free is free indeed."

What about the Epistles? Are they for everyone?

Romans 1

 "¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

 ²(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

 ³Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

 ⁴And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

 ⁵By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

 ⁶Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:"

1 Corinthians 1

 ^1"Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

 ²Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:"

2 Corinthians 1

 ^1"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:"

Galatians 1

 ^1"Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

 ²And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:"

Ephesians 1

 ^1"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:"

Philippians 1

 ¹Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Colossians 1

 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

 ²To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1

 ¹Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1

 ¹Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Timothy 1

 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

 ²Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Timothy 1

 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

 ²To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Titus 1

 ¹Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

 ²In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

 ³But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

 ⁴To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Philemon 1:1
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,

Hebrews 2

 ¹Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

 ²For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;

 ³How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

 ⁴God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

James 1

 ¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

1 Peter 1

 ¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

 ²Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

2 Peter 1

 ¹Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

1 John 2

 ¹My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2 John 1

 ¹The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

3 John 1

 ¹The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

 ²Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

 ³For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

 ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Jude 1:1
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

2 Timothy 2:15

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁵Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth 

 I realize that this is a whole lot of scripture- much more scripture than I usually use in a typical post. To some this will seem like overkill. However, sometimes, in order to understand a truth of the word of God, this is necessary.

There are many groups out there that espouse many different doctrines. They all point to scripture and on the surface, from a certain point of view, they all seem to make some logical sense. Yet, they cannot all be correct. Scripture commands us to study the word of God and to RIGHTLY DIVIDE (correctly understand) it.

There are many different beliefs on how to be "saved", or "born again". Everyone points to a pet scripture to try and prove their belief. One of the more popular ones is to use these verses: 

Romans 10:9-10

King James Version (KJV)

 ⁹That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Ephesians 2: ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.

1 John 1: ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.                                   

They say, from this- and adding John 3:16 to it- that we are saved by simple belief in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and all we have to do to access this is to believe and repent. 

Sounds good on the surface! Yet, in order to correctly understand a scripture, we must first understand the context of the verse. What is the conversation about? Who is the verse written to? This second question is the sincere point of this blog post. 

Who was Romans 10 written to? Sinners? Or saints? Unregenerate people who have never known the saving Grace of God? Or people who have already become God's children?

Answer:Romans 1: ⁵By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

 ⁶Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:"                                 

So Romans 10 was written to people who have already been saved! The same can be said about 1 John 1:9. Who was this Epistle written to? 

1 John 2: "¹My little children..." What does John mean by this? His fleshly children or spiritual children? 

 John 1

 ¹The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

3 John 1

 ¹The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

 ²Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

 ³For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

 ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

It is evident from these scriptures that John called his spiritual converts his "children". He's not alone in this. Paul did the same thing in 1 and 2 Timothy 1 and Titus 1, calling Timothy and Titus his sons in the Gospel. 

What about Ephesians? Who was this Epistle written to? 

Ephesians 1

 ^1"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:"

So, again, this letter is written to people who are already saved. Indeed, all the letters (Epistles), from Romans through Jude are written to already saved people. 

So does it follow that the doctrine of the majority of today's "Christian churches" is true? No. 

Does the Bible give any examples of teaching salvation to unsaved people? Yes. What does it say there that we must do to be saved?

^{John 3:1}There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

 ²The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

 ³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 ⁴Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

 ⁵Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

 ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 ⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

 ⁸The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

 ⁹Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

 ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

 ¹¹Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

 ¹²If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

 ¹³And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

 ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

 ¹⁵That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 ¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Here Jesus explains that we must a) believe (verse 16), b) be born of water and of spirit" (verse 5). 

Most groups whole heartedly accept verse 16, but either ignore or try and explain away verses 3-5. Rather than try and argue here, lets look at how this teaching translated into what the Apostles taught to unsaved folks. 

Acts 2: ³⁷Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

The day of Pentecost comes and the "church" is born (Acts 2:1-4). People gather and Peter preaches the first sermon of the church's history. The power and truth of his words is so convicting that his hearers become convicted of their own sins. They immediately ask, in essence, "How do I rid myself of this sin". 

It's a valid question. It's not very hard, if a soul is honest, to admit that we are sinners in the eyes of God. So what do we do with that knowledge? Peter gives us the answer.

Acts 2: ³⁸Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

This answer agrees with everything Jesus taught in John 3. Jesus said we must believe. A person will not repent of their sins unless they first believe God exists and that they are indeed a sinner in need of a savior.

Jesus said we must be "born of water". Peter said we must be "baptized in Jesus name for the remission of sins". Paul says in Romans 6:4 that we are "buried with him (Jesus) in baptism". Peter says in his Epistles that we are saved by water in baptism, just as Noah and his family were saved by the waters in the flood. 

Jesus said we must be "born of the spirit". Peter said we would "receive the gift of the Holy Ghost". Paul said in Romans that if we don't have the spirit then we are "none of his". 

Read Acts 19:1-7 and Acts 8 and 10. The same plan of salvation is taught here as Peter taught on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The Epistles are great scripture, but they are all, as you can see by the scripture references above, written to already saved people- explaining how to stay saved, not how to get saved. 

To get saved, do what Jesus, Peter, and Paul all taught:

Acts 2: ³⁸Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Truth and Love

We seem to live in a society that rejects absolutes. As I once heard Br Arnold say, "Black is white and white is black, and whatever's gray, have a happy day"!
Our whole society screams "LOVE ME", while at the same time, trying very hard to cover up who we are.
We don't like our looks? Let's have plastic surgery to change them. We don't like our relationships? Instead of making the hard choices and looking at ourselves to see what part of the problem we play, we ditch the relationship to find a "better" one. We get hurt by people in our relationships and we decide to either have no more relationships, or to stop having normal relationships and seek relationships in ungodly ways (Homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, bisexuality, Transvestitism, etc).
When it is pointed out, truthfully, that these ways of living, are wrong, we scream, "Don't judge me", or "I thought you loved me- How can you speak to me that way?"

The truth is that God's love requires a truthful answer. God loved us so much that he robed himself in flesh to die for our sins. He loves us for who we are (though he hates the sin that inhabits us), but he also loves us too much to allow us to stay that way! He does, however, love us so much that he gives us a choice- our sinful ways of doing things, or his better way. One path leads to hell. The other to eternity with him.

How does that play out with us on a daily basis? When in a conversation with someone and we hear them saying things that are wrong, do we let it fly on by and say nothing? Or do we speak the truth IN LOVE?

Truth is just that- truth. There is no changing it. It is written in stone- never changing. Truth is absolute and truth is not an emotion. Truth, absolute truth, is probably sitting on most peoples coffee table or book shelves. It's called "The Holy Bible". It is the ultimate truth. It is God's word to us. It is his instruction manual for life, love, and everything else. Incidentally, where science "fact" and the Bible disagree, science hasn't caught up to God yet- believe the Bible every time.

When someone says something to you that's wrong, prayerfully give them a loving AND biblical answer. Say it gently, but speak the truth! Jesus does! Aren't we supposed to be like him?

The Exchange and the Partnership

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your weary souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Matthew 11: 28-30

When most of us have read this passage, or heard this passage, we've mostly understood it to speak of an exchange. We bring our burdens to Jesus, he takes them and frees us from them. Then we go on our merry way, leaving all those heavy burdens with him. But, is that really what this passage teaches? Let's have a closer look.
The passage begins with Jesus saying "Come unto me...". He didn't say "Come to my religion", or, "Come to this philosophy". He calls us to enter into a relationship with himself!
Who is he calling? Everybody? No. Though he does want everyone to be in relationship with him, he only calls the heavy laden. What does that mean? In the Greek it means "loaded up and overburdened". Why does he only call these folks?
Humans are basically proud. As long as everything is going smooth for us, we think that we are just fine and in NO need of help. This is why God allows troubles and trials in our lives. When things begin to pile up and life seems to be more than we can handle- when we just don't think we can take another step- that's when Jesus tells us to come to him! It's at this point that he understands that we know that we are not as big and bad as we think we are. During the hard times, we know that we MUST have outside help, if we are going to be able to make it to the other side of the valley that we're in. At this time, we are humbled enough to ask for and accept the help that we need.
So what happens when we come to him? First of all, we humans are sinful creatures. Sin has a way of piling up on us like barnacles onto a ship. Left unchecked, these barnacles will slow us down, effect our navigation, and eventually, destroy our ship- causing us to sink and die. However, he made a way, through his death, burial, and resurrection, to remove these barnacles from our lives. When we are obedient to the Gospel message (Acts 2:38), an awesome exchange happens! Jesus was made "sin for us..., that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."(2 Cor 5:21).
What an awesome event! Our whole past is washed and made new to the glory of God! Our sins are washed away in his blood and our spirits are made new! He has given us a new nature. Instead of the old sinful one, if we will walk in his spirit, we will then be able to make heaven our home.
It is here that the Matthew scripture picks back up. Jesus takes his analogy a little further. He tells us to take his yoke upon us. What is a yoke? In those days, the oxen or beast of burden they were using were grouped together in yokes of twos. A yoke was the device that was used to strap the two animals side by side and make them work together. It actually made it easier for their master to keep them headed in the right direction, as well as making it easier for the individual animals involved to pull the load. This analogy actually began when Jesus told "all that are heavy laden" to come to him. If the burden becomes too heavy for one animal to carry, it will either stop moving or fall under the weight.
Jesus is telling us that we need help. In order to make it safely through and accomplish what he has given us to accomplish (take his YOKE upon US), we need help. He is telling us that, though he may have given us a lot of work to do, if we will but allow him to place a yoke on us, HE will help us. Who are we working with, who are we plowing with? JESUS!
When I was in the Army, I was an enlisted soldier. By military statute, I had to obey the orders of all officers. It didn't take me long to discover that there were two types of officers. One type used his authority to order those under his command to GO and DO whatever the task was. Either he, or his representative, would be back to check on your work at a later time. These were the officers that you did only what you had to do out of respect for his rank. You didn't have much use for the man behind the rank, but you obeyed the rank.
The other type were the ones that used their authority to say, "Let's Go do..." whatever the task was. These officers understood that they commanded men that needed to be respected. They understood that when they showed respect to their men, not only did the task get done, it was done well- many times above what was actually needed. They didn't think themselves better than their men. They thought it a privilege to lead these fine men and cared for the welfare of each and every one of them. These officers could give nearly impossible orders and knew that their men would put their lives on the line in order to try and accomplish the goal!
Jesus, the king and creator of the universe, became a man and describes himself as "meek and lowly of heart". Think about it. Our creator doesn't think himself better than we are! Our creator made a way for us! Our creator BECAME SIN FOR US, so that we can BECOME HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! It's the becoming part that he refers to, when he says for us to "take (his) yoke upon" us. Here, take this yoke and let me help you to become my righteousness in a very unrighteous world.
Jesus is saying, "I realize that I've given you a big job to do. I'm asking a lot of you. But, I've taken care of the barrier that was between us (sin), and If you will enter into relationship with me- attach yourself to me- I'll help you pull the load that I've given you to pull! I'll help you become what I plan for you to become. Just attach yourself to me, and stay attached to me, and I'll see you through to glory!"
Jesus is calling us to relationship (Acts2:38) and Partnership! What a great idea! I, for one, say YES! What will you say?

Buy the truth and sell it not!

" Buy the truth and sell it not..." Proverbs 23:23

"What is truth?" Pilate famously asked Jesus (John 18:38). That's really the crux of the worlds problems today, isn't it? Everyone's trying to figure out the answer to Pilates very poignant question.

Scientists study their data sheets searching for truth. Philosophies try to stretch our brains to accept more and more "truth". Religious teachers are all scouring their sacred texts to try and figure out the next great leap of truth with which to excite the masses and start a movement. Teachers have given up on finding "the truth" and concentrate instead on each person finding his or her own truth. Is "the truth" important?

Jesus said "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32) But what is that singular truth that we must know? What is that singular truth that, when we know it, it will set us free? This would seem to be important. After all, if knowing that truth sets us free, then not knowing that truth leaves us bound up.

Furthermore, scripture declares that many will perish because they recieved NOT the love of "the truth", that they might be saved! (2 Thes. 2:10) Apparantly, we cannot stop at simply knowing the truth, we must LOVE the truth. Proverbs tells us to buy (pay the price for) the truth and to sell it not.

So, we like Pilate ask, what is truth? In answer Jesus says, "I am THE TRUTH..." (John 14:6). Truth is not a scientific discovery. Truth is not a political or moral philosophy. Truth is not a religion. Truth- THE TRUTH- is a man. But not just any man. This man- Jesus Christ- is the God/man. The God who loved us so much that he became flesh for us to die for our sins and make a way for us to really know him! To know him, biblically, is not simply head knowledge. It is an intimate and loving relationship with God almighty. It is Jesus indwelling us with his spirit and giving us the power to obey him. It is Jesus guiding us every step of the way.

There is a popular old song in pentecostal circles that says, "For whatever you have to do to me, Don't let me be lost for eternity, for above ALL else, I must be saved." That's what Proverbs means when it tells us to "buy the truth and sell it not."

Whatever gets in the way of my relationship with almighty God has got to go! Everything else in life comes second to the man who willingly died and rose again for me. Let's plaster this everywhere we need to: "Buy JESUS, and sell him NOT"!

Lord, Help us to really love you (the truth). Help us to hold onto you with every ounce of strength that we have! We don't need another fact, another doctrine, another philosophy- we need YOU! In Jesus name!