There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
What a field day for the heat (Ooh ooh ooh)
A thousand people in the street (Ooh ooh ooh)
Singing songs and they carrying signs (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mostly say, “Hooray for our side” (Ooh ooh ooh)
It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away
We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
You better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
You better stop
Now, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
You better stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?
“Blowin’ in the Wind” – Bob Dylan | Vietnam War Montage
Edwin Starr – War (Original Video – 1969)
Uploaded on Dec 6, 2007
Original video of Edwin Starr singing his famous song: “War” [Original Music video from 1969]
Originally written under the Motown label, and first performed by The Temptations, “War” was later re-released as a single with Edwin Starr as vocals. This version is considered a more emotional version and has become the most popular protest song ever.
Lyrics:
War, huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, oh hoh, oh
War huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again y’all
War, huh good God
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
Oh, war, I despise
‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears to thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives
I said
War, huh good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, just say it again
War whoa Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Oh war, is an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction, then destruction who wants to die
War, good God, y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it, say it, say it
War, uh huh, yeah, huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
War, it’s got one friend that’s the undertaker
Oh, war has shattered many young man’s dreams
Made him disabled bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious to spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life it can only take it away, ooh
War, huh, good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace love and understanding tell me
Is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way
War, huh, good God y’all
What is it good for?
You tell ’em, say it, say it, say it, say it
War, good Lord, huh
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it, nothing
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
Best of 60s and 70s Music Songs | Vietnam War Music | Psychedelic Music | Hippie Music Mix
00:01 The Bob Seger System – 2 + 2 = 02:48 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son 05:11 The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for The Devil 11:30 The Animals – House of The Rising Sun 15:48 Janis Joplin – Mercedes Benz 17:34 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising 19:51 Johnny Wright – Hello Vietnam 22:57 The Rolling Stones – Paint it Black 26:40 Alice Cooper – Eighteen x ( muted ) 29:32 The Moody Blues – Nights in White Satin 33:54 Steppenwolf – Born to Be Wild 37:07 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have you Ever seen The Rain (1x) 39:45 The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter 44:17 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have you Ever seen The Rain (2x) Very Nice Song 😀 46:55 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Hello Mary Lou
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 8 Rolling Stones – Hoo Doo Blues Blue & Lonesome is the album any Rolling Stones fan would have wished for – review 9 Comments Evergreen: The Rolling Stones perform in Cuba earlier this year CREDIT: REX FEATURES Neil McCormick, music critic 22 NOVEMBER 2016 • 12:19PM The Rolling […]
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 7 Rolling Stones – Everybody Knows About My Good Thing The Rolling Stones Alexis Petridis’s album of the week The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome review – more alive than they’ve sounded for years 4/5stars Mick Jagger’s voice and harmonica drive an album of blues covers that returns […]
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 6 Rolling Stones – Just Like I Treat You Music Review: ‘Blue & Lonesome’ by the Rolling Stones By Gregory Katz | AP November 29 The Rolling Stones, “Blue & Lonesome” (Interscope) It shouldn’t be a surprise, really, but still it’s a bit startling to hear just how well […]
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 5 Rolling Stones – Everybody Knows About My Good Thing Review: The Rolling Stones make blues magic on ‘Blue & Lonesome’ Maeve McDermott , USATODAY6:07 p.m. EST November 30, 2016 (Photo: Frazer Harrison, Getty Images) Before the Rolling Stones were rock icons, before its members turned into sex […]
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 4 Rolling Stones – Little Rain Rolling Stones, ‘Blue & Lonesome’: Album Review By Michael Gallucci November 30, 2016 1:34 PM Read More: Rolling Stones, ‘Blue & Lonesome’: Album Review | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rolling-stones-blue-lonesome-review/?trackback=tsmclip The Rolling Stones were never really a thinking band. A shrewd one, for sure, […]
MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 3 The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger chats about new album “Blue & Lonesome” on BBC Breakfast 02 Dec 2016 Rolling Stones – I Gotta Go Rolling Stones – ‘Blue & Lonesome’ Review Barry Nicolson 12:52 pm – Dec 2, 2016 57shares The Stones sound their youngest […]
_____________ Carpenters Close To You Karen Carpenter’s tragic story Karen Carpenter’s velvet voice charmed millions in the 70s… but behind the wholesome image she was in turmoil. Desperate to look slim on stage – and above all desperate to please the domineering mother who preferred her brother – she became the first celebrity victim of […]
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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes
After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix
—
episodes will be released on January 14th.
Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows
January 5, 2022 Ricky Gervais
London, W1F 0LE UK
Dear Ricky,
Lisa and Tony enjoyed their time together and had lots of laughs!
Lisa: Thoughts?
Tony: Best snowman ever!
Lisa: Snowperson!
Tony: Oh. Yeah.
Lisa: Yeah.
Tony: My bad. Could be either gender.
Lisa: Mm-hmm.
I wrote you a series of letters back in 2017 looking at the 6 areas that Solomon probed while trying to find the meaning to life and one of was LAUGHTER!!!
In the third episode in season 2 of AFTERLIFE Matt takes Tony to a comedy club with front row seats and this is what happens:
The comedian is getting huge laughs but Tony never laughs.
Comedian: You are a wonderful crowd. I am glad you are a wonderful crowd. I have had some bad news this week. Friend of mine actually committed suicide last week. He went upstairs and swallowed everything in the bathroom cabinet and choked on a tampon. (Crowd laughs heartily.) This guy in front row absolutely hated that joke. Cheer up mate! What is your name and what is your story?
Tony: My name is Tony. My wife died early this year with breast cancer and it broke me. Not a day goes by that I didn’t think of killing myself. I just don’t see any point in living.
Comedian: (Long pause of silence.) Umbrellas are weird aren’t they?…
Probing the area of LAUGHTER was one of Solomon’s first places to start. In Ecclesiastes 2:2 he starts this quest but he concludes it is not productive to be laughing the whole time and not considering the serious issues of life. “I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” (2:2). Then Solomon asserted the nihilistic statement in Ecclesiastes 2:17: “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes would appeal to because of the science in it!!! Did you know that EcclesiastesChapter 1 has some highly advanced scientific knowledge in it concerning hydrology? Take a look at a quote from John MacArthur’s sermon that can be seen on You Tube under the following title, “Biblical Inspiration Validated By Science, Part 2 (Selected Scriptures):”QUOTE FROM JOHN MACARTHUR:Christians believe that God is there and as Francis Schaeffer says…and He is not silent. He has spoken throughout His creation…Let us take some simple categories and look at them. First of all, hydrology…hydrology. This deals with the subject of water…of water, the waters of the earth. You can get all the way in to the seventeenth century, the sixteen hundreds, and you will find scientists puzzled about the source of water, talking about subterranean reservoirs where water is held down in the belly of the earth and comes up from there. But in the seventeenth century, scientists such as Edmé Mariotte, Pierre Perrault, and Edmond Halley, all three in the seventeenth century, opened up the modern understanding of hydrological motion, or the hydrological cycle, how there is only an original mass of water. It is always the same, it always has been the same, it always will be the same. This is the first law of thermodynamics. This same mass of water, this same cycle of the combination of H2O moves continually through a process of evaporation, transportation, precipitation and irrigation, and then run off back to start the process all over again. The Bible is absolutely accurate in the way it presents the hydrological cycle. Listen to the language of Isaiah 55 and verse 10. “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout and furnish seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be which goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I said it.” Now the point of that statement by the prophet is to show that the Word of God always accomplishes its purposes as God sends it forth. But the analogy, and the Bible isn’t a book trying to teach you science, but when it uses a scientific analogy it is an accurate one. It’s as the rain comes down from heaven and returns there but only after its watered the earth that you see the hydrological cycle.Ifyou turn with me for a moment to Ecclesiastes chapter 1, you find again a reference to this. In verse 6 it talks about how the sun rises, the sun sets, hastening to its place. It rises there again, blowing toward the south and turning toward the north. The wind continues swirling along. Talks about wind currents as well. And on its circular courses the wind returns, the wind runs in circles. This is before they knew the earth was a circle. But the wind is running the circle of the earth. You have in verse 7 hydrology, all the rivers flow into the sea yet the sea is not full, or the sea does not overflow. Why? Because when all the water flows into the sea, it evaporates back out of the sea up to the heavens where it is retained in the clouds and then deposited again on the earth and runs the same cycle again and again.In Job, perhaps the first book ever written, talking about the same time as the Pentateuch would be written, you have this in Job 36 verses 27 and 28, “For He draws up the drops of water, He draws them up, they distill rain from the midst which the clouds pour down. They drip upon man abundantly.” Now it’s starting to put together the rain and the snow come out of the sky, they come down, they irrigate the earth, they go into the rivers and the streams, they flow into the sea, the sea never overflows because the water is drawn up and distilled in the clouds. The clouds move over the land and they drip upon man abundantly and the cycle goes on. Psalm 135:7, “He causes the vapors to ascend to the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain.” There you have all of those elements of evaporation, transportation, precipitation, irrigation and run off and the cycle goes on again.And Scripture speaks about this not infrequently, but quite frequently. Just a couple of other passages that show this. The twenty-sixth chapter of Job verse 8, “He wraps up the waters in His clouds and the cloud does not burst under them.” God collects the evaporated water in the clouds and the clouds as…as thin as they are, as seemingly weak as they are…hold the water. They hold massive, massive amounts of water as we well know who have lived through severe storms when those clouds bring that water, collecting it off the sea as they go and bursting upon the land even to the degree of hurricanes and their horrific deluges.There is in Psalm 33:7, and I don’t want to go to every passage, I’ll skip a few. Psalm 33:7, “He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap.” This pictures the great ocean reservoir. “He lays up the deeps in storehouses.” God’s storehouse for the water is the deep, is the ocean. In Job 38:22 it says, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow? Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?” That is to say, have you ever ascended into heaven and gone into a cloud?Water is an amazing thing. I was reading this week about a mole…m-o-l-e…. It is a collection of molecules and in one mole of water which is 18 grams of water, you have six-hundred-billion-trillion molecules. It is a staggering amount of material in one mole of water. And this massive amount of water moves in this continual cycle that God has designed and simply explained in Scripture not as a scientific explanation but almost in each case either to show the ignorance of man and the inability of man to ascend into the place where God dwells, or to use as an illustration of some spiritual truth.You can see that we evangelicals do actually have evidence to back up the claim that the Bible is both historically and scientifically accurate. Let me quote from Adrian Rogers who was my pastor when I was growing up at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee in the 1970’s and you can hear the whole
Adrian Rogers is pictured below and Francis Schaeffer above.
message on You Tube under the title, “Adrian Rogers: How You Can Be Certain the Bible Is the Word of God [#1725] (Audio).”QUOTE FROM ADRIAN ROGERS:Skeptics seem to think that the Bible is full of scientific errors. However, before an individual can make that assertion, they had better make sure they know both science and Scripture. You see, I have heard unbelievers state that the Bible is not a book of science, but a book of religion, which is basically true. It is not written to teach us about science, but to teach us about God. But the God of salvation and the God of creation are the same. Science doesn’t take God by surprise. A close look at Scripture reveals that it is scientifically accurate.Every now and then science may disagree with the Bible, but usually science just needs time to catch up. For example, in 1861 a French scientific academy printed a brochure offering 51 incontrovertible facts that proved the Bible in error. Today there is not a single reputable scientist who would support those supposed “facts,” because modern science has disproved them all!The ancients believed the earth was held up by Atlas, or resting on pillars, or even seated on the backs of elephants. But today we know the earth is suspended in space, a fact the Word of God records in Job 26:7: “He . . . hangeth the earth upon nothing.” God revealed the facts of cosmology long before man had any idea of the truth.For centuries man believed the earth was flat, but now we know the earth is a globe. The prophet Isaiah, writing 750 years before the birth of Christ, revealed that “God sitteth upon the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word translated here as “circle” was more commonly translated “sphere.” In other words, Isaiah explained that the earth was a globe centuries before science discovered it.WhenPtolemy charted the heavens, he counted 1026 stars in the sky. But with the invention of the telescope man discovered millions and millions of stars, something that Jeremiah 33:22 revealed nearly three thousand years ago: “The host of heaven cannot be numbered.” How did these men of God know the truth of science long before the rest of the world discovered it? They were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the truth. God’s Word is not filled with errors. It is filled with facts, even scientific facts.When the black plague was killing one quarter of Europe’s population in the fourteenth century, it was the church, not science, that helped overcome the dread disease. The leaders in the church noticed the instructions given by the Lord to Moses in Leviticus 13:46: “All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.” These early believers did not know microbiology or understand what germs were, but they could understand a clear teaching to quarantine someone who was sick. So they followed the Biblical dictum, quarantined those sick with the plague, and stopped it from spreading. The Bible had its science correct even before man discovered the truth! Don’t accept the charge that the Bible is filled with scientific errors. Modern science seems determined to explain God away, and refuses to acknowledge any evidence of the supernatural. But the science of Scripture is one reason to accept the Bible as God’s word.
— After Life Season 3 Ending Explained & Review —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 5, 2022Ricky Gervais London, W1F […]
— After Life season 3 review: Its greatest strength is also its biggest weakness “Let’s just carry on, and nothing changes.” Netflix By Abby Robinson 3 weeks ago 3.0 out of 5 star rating To say a fair bit has happened since the arrival of After Life’s second season back in April 2020 would be a […]
— Ricky Gervais & Tony Way Talk After Life Season 3, Male Friendship And Shooting Outrageous Scenes BY BOYD HILTON | POSTED ON21 01 2022 Ricky Gervais is one of the creative minds behind some of Britain’s most classic comedies – Extras, The Office, Derek, to name a few. With Netflix series After Life, he took on a topic altogether more vulnerable, […]
— In episode three, Ewen plays a fells who gets chucked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet for eating too much AfterLife Season 3 – All You Can Eat Scene {Keith from office} Ricky Gervais: “The people in ‘After Life’ aren’t freaks. Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp – they’re freaks!” As his melancholic Netflix drama draws to […]
— Kaths best moment from After Life season 3 ‘After Life’ season three review: Ricky Gervais’ humanist hit goes out on a high The final scene, moving and poignant, is among its creator’s greatest works ByJames McMahon14th January 2022 Facebook Twitter They don’t make television like After Life anymore. They don’t make them much like Ricky Gervais either. This, the third […]
— —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 28, 2022 Ricky Gervais London, W1F 0LEUK Dear Ricky, “JUST SOUNDS?” OR DO […]
— Tony and Kath care for each other but they love to argue too! NETFLIX Most Powerful Moment In After Life and great Review — — —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just […]
— — After Life season 3 review: Ricky Gervais’ show is a terrific closure to a story of grief and acceptance After Life season 3 review: The third iteration in this Ricky Gervais series about grief and loss serves as an emotion-laden, poignant closure to the story. – Written By Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | January […]
— After Life 2 – Brian’s stand up performance David Earl plays Brian — —- —- —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy […]
— Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark (Official Music Vi… Why Is After Life So Popular? Afterlife Season 3 – “I wish I had a brick” —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events |Tagged Bible Prophecy, john macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)
Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)
Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E
On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:
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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris
6 My child,[a] if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger— 2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— 3 follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. 4 Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. 5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
12 What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, 13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. 14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. 15 But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
16 There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
20 My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. 21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. 23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. 24 It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. 25 Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. 26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,[b] but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. 27 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? 28 Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? 29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. 31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. 32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. 33 He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. 34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35 He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
I remember like yesterday when I first heard my former pastor Adrian Rogers first preach on the topic “God’s Grace in the Workplace.” That was the first time in his first 35 years of ministry that he had dedicated a complete message to the subject of how a Christian should look at his secular job.
Rogers noted, “Does work have eternal significance? Daniel may have wondered the same thing, as he was handling taxation, public relations, law enforcement, building projects, meetings and diplomacy. But yet he served God continually (see Daniel 6:16 and 20).”
Daniel 6:16-20
The Message (MSG)
16 The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the lions’ den. But he said to Daniel, “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this.”
17 A stone slab was placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed the cover with his signet ring and the signet rings of all his nobles, fixing Daniel’s fate.
18 The king then went back to his palace. He refused supper. He couldn’t sleep. He spent the night fasting.
19-20 At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?”
I remember hearing Dr. Adrian Rogers say that if he had to do it over again he would read from Proverbs every day to his kids. They turned out to be great kids and they were raised right. Nevertheless, if he had to do it over again he thought a more emphasis on Proverbs is the way to go. That is why I am spending so much time in Proverbs with my kids today.
John MacArthur does a great job on Proverbs and here is a portion of his sermon on Proverbs.
Number eight. Teach your sons…”Son, pursue your work…pursue your work.” Teach your boys how to work, father, by word and example. Look at the ant, he says in chapter 6, he’s giving this lesson to his son…Son, go to the ant, in verse 6 in chapter 6, and look at this ant, observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief officer or ruler. The first thing you want to do is teach your children how to work without a boss around, even an ant does that. Now your children will work if you stand there with a whip. But the issue is…will they if you won’t? Because they’re going to have to in life. And they also need to be taught how to plan ahead. The ant even knows to prepare her food in the summer anticipating the coming winter. She gathers her provision in the harvest. Teach them to work. How long will you lie down, O lazy son? When will you arise from your sleep? Get your children up. And they’ll say…a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Sure. And your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man.
You’re going to make yourself poor if you don’t learn how to work. Teach them to pursue work. A sluggard is a lazy man. He’s just an ordinary man really, with too many excuses, too many refusals, too many postponements. According to Proverbs the lazy man will suffer hunger, poverty, failure. Why? Because he sleeps through the harvest. He wants but he won’t work. He loves sleep, is glued to his bed and will follow worthless pursuits trying to get rich quick. On the other hand, the man who pursues his work earns a good living, has plenty of food, is rewarded for his effort and earns respect even before kings…it says in chapter 22 verse 29. Teach your sons to pursue their work…so very important.
Chapter 10 verse 4, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely. But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully. Teach your son to work and to plan ahead in his work.”
In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
Proverbs 14:23
So many people wake up in the morning, take a shower, scald their throat with a cup of coffee because they’re running a little late, fight traffic, and get to work. Then, they come home, take a couple of aspirin, watch the evening news, perhaps discuss a few things with a roommate or spouse, maybe putter around the house or yard a little bit, then go to bed.
Now, I’m not saying they don’t love and serve God, perhaps they do. But most of these people think the only time they serve God is when they get off work! They end up giving their prime time to the employer and their leftovers to God!
Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). I call this split-level living.
You may think there’s nothing exciting about you or your job, but God takes ordinary people and He gives them extraordinary power to do extraordinary things for His glory!
Your job may be putting hub caps on tires. You may be keying data at a computer. You may be digging ditches or washing dishes. You may be doing one of a myriad of what you think are mundane things. But I want to tell you, if you are a Christian, your work is to be the temple of your devotion and the platform of your witness. Every Christian is a minister doing full-time Christian service.
The Sacredness of Everday Work
Your job does not become sacred when you become a minister, missionary, or a staff member of a Christian organization! Every job, if it is done in the power of the Holy Spirit, is a sacred job. Every one!
Let’s look at someone who lived this out from the Word of God – his name was Daniel. In the book of Daniel, we learn that he was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and carried to Babylon from Israel. There, he found a secular job as a government bureaucrat (see Daniel 8:27). The government trained him, then pressed him into service.
In this ordinary line of work, Daniel served the Lord Jesus. When Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den because he refused to bow to another god, King Nebuchadnezzar and many others came to believe in our Almighty God.
If you work in the name of Jesus, unto His glory, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, you will receive the same reward for doing that job that I receive for doing my job. God knows about you and is watching you. Every Christian, wherever he serves, is in full-time Christian work.
The SERVICE of Everday Work
Does work have eternal significance? Daniel may have wondered the same thing, as he was handling taxation, public relations, law enforcement, building projects, meetings and diplomacy. But yet he served God continually (see Daniel 6:16 and 20).
Even the home of Jesus was the cottage of a workingman. And whether He was mending plows or mending souls, Jesus was doing the work of God because people need houses to live in and furniture to sit on.
If you know you’re serving the Lord, that’ll put dignity in whatever you are doing: running a machine, greasing automobiles, typing letters, carrying mail, painting houses, digging ditches, cutting yards. Tell the Lord, “I’m doing it for You! And I’ll do it with all my might! As much as any missionary or preacher or evangelist!” That kind of attitude will put a spring in your step.
Simply said, God wants His people to prosper wherever He plants them. You are a priest of God, a minister of God, and in full-time Christian service, and if that doesn’t ring your bell, your clapper’s broken.
Remember, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Ephesians 3:20 promises that, “God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
This article is taken from a sermon by Adrian Rogers
One final question: WHAT DOES THIS VERSE MEAN?
Proverbs 14:23
Amplified Bible (AMP)
23 In all labor there is profit, but idle talk leads only to poverty.
The Message (MSG)
23 Hard work always pays off;
mere talk puts no bread on the table.
To say a fair bit has happened since the arrival of After Life’s second season back in April 2020 would be a gross understatement, but in the third and final instalment of Ricky Gervais’ black comedy, time has largely stood still.
With the exception of a few mostly minor developments – we’ll spare you specifics to preserve your enjoyment and surprise – both Tony Johnson and the sleepy town of Tambury remain unchanged. There is a mention of coronavirus, but it has no impact on the story whatsoever, which left us wondering why Gervais felt the need to mention the pandemic at all. The less said about that, the better.
For many, that lack of substantial development, particularly between seasons 2 and 3, will be a comfort rather than a disappointment; in an age where uncertainty rules, knowing what to expect, with no threat of the rug being pulled out from under you, certainly has its merits. But we were left wanting more, and those who previously argued that After Life should have been a limited series will likely double down on that assertion.
The narrative’s fixed status stems from Tony who, unsurprisingly, remains utterly bereft following the death of his wife. As in the first two seasons, he continues to spend much of his time sinking bottles of wine while watching old videos of Lisa (Kerry Godliman) during her illness and in happier times, before the gloom descended.
It’s an authentic depiction of grief and is undoubtedly the show’s most laudable trait, with Gervais delivering a solid performance as a man who is existing, but not living. Godliman’s performance feeds into that yet again, conveying Lisa’s vibrant, warm and generous spirit in the scattering of moments in which she appears. You only have to spend a second in her company to understand why Tony cannot envisage a world without her.
But that central component of the show, which is so well executed, is also where it stumbles.
Netflix
Grief adopts many different forms. Some seek out fresh distractions, tearing down their home in a bid to begin anew, aesthetically at least, or head out on a thousand-mile solo hike to cleanse the mind and gain some perspective. Tony, by contrast, sinks into a state of inertia.
If it wasn’t for his friends and colleagues’ pleas for him to honour Lisa’s life by living his own – and the imploring gaze of his German Shepherd Brandy – he would remain glued to his sofa permanently, with videos of Lisa on a never-ending loop. But having sat through two seasons of that previously, this latest chapter feels intensely familiar to the point of tedium.
Even with the shift in Tony’s worldview that occurs in the finale, that acute sadness and gargantuan sense of loss remains ever present, and further emphasises why TV shows about grief are few and far between. It’s a tricky theme to navigate in a single season, let alone three, and while Gervais succeeded in making it bearable, even entertaining, in After Life’s premiere, it has stalled here.
“I don’t know why we can’t just carry on like this?” Tony says to Emma (Ashley Jensen) in season 2. “Let’s just carry on, you know, and nothing changes. Groundhog Day.”
After Life doesn’t quite adhere to that, but it’s not far off.
Netflix
And yet, what Gervais has served up tracks because it mirrors the reality of adjusting to a life that has had the heart ripped out of it. His world, once technicolour, has dimmed as he is unable to comprehend a future without the person he loves most in the world.
The very act of mourning is heavy and monotonous, and Gervais refuses to sugarcoat that, instead leaning into its permanence. As a result, After Life has become something of an endurance test, and even Penelope Wilton (Anne) isn’t able to lift us with her character’s more hopeful dialogue
But, that being said, it’s a given that the swathes of people who have followed the series from the very beginning (100 million households, according to Netflix) will relish the show’s final chapter. They are simply happy to spend time in that bubble, enjoying the many faces and their respective idiosyncrasies.
Looking ahead, Gervais is working on a new project for Netflix, although he told RadioTimes.com that if he had wanted to make a fourth season, the streamer would have left him to it. But he’s chosen to move on, which is undoubtedly the right move. It is unclear where this story could possibly go next without retreading the same ground.
But while we’re ready to wave goodbye to Tony, there will be millions who will mourn his departure from their lives. Gervais has his critics, but that’s an unarguably impressive legacy.
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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes
After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix
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episodes will be released on January 14th.
Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows
February 4, 2022
Ricky Gervais
London, W1F 0LE UK
Dear Ricky,
Emma: It’s nice out there again today, isn’t it? Maybe get you outside for a wee walk.
Tony: Sorry about last night. Obviously nothing to do with you. I just… I can’t stand people interfering. Sure. It was all so forced and in public and…
Emma: Do you fancy a drink tonight, then?
Tony: Just… Just us? No.
Emma: Really?
Tony: Joking. Of course I fancy a drink.
Emma: Where do you wanna go?
Tony: Nowhere. I drink on the couch.
Emma: Okay. Maybe I can come and sit on a couch nearby. Yep. Got any gin?
Tony: Got everything.
Emma: Tonic?
Tony: I meant everything alcoholic
In episode 2 of the second season of AFTER LIFE is the following discussion:
Tony: Sorrow about the thing with the meditation. He knows it was not your fault because he was being an annoying prick. Matt: Listen Tony had you been drinking before that? Tony: No. I had little one after to calm down. Matt: I imagine that was his fault to?
Tony: Not just his fault because most things are a good excuse for a drink. I have always got drunk, but I used to drink because I was happy and that was alright but now I drink when I am sad and that is not so good is it? It happens more often and a little earlier. Matt: Just stop then. Tony: Brilliant. Matt: I am serious. If you have a problem you should go to AA or rehab. Tony: Why?
Matt: To get better. Tony: Drinking is not my illness. Matt: It is bad for you. Tony: Everything is bad for you. We are all dying. Being healthy is just dying more slowly. Matt: Okay so you will live longer. Tony: Yeah but why? Matt: What do you mean “Why?” So you can do more of the things you enjoy. Tony: I enjoy a drink.All drunks hurt themselves but the trick is to be a good drunk and not hurt other people.
Matt: Look at that Tony you calling yourself a drunk.
Tony: Only half the time. Whatever you want to label it. I drink in times of trouble. I can’t help it the world is filled with trouble. It is a horrible place. Everyone is screwed up in someway. Everyone has worries like money or health or famine, war. We are chimps with brains the size of planets. No wonder we get drunk and try to kill each other. It is mental.
Matt: Always good to talk.
Tony: I was just explaining my new plan is to drink myself to death till I eventually implode in on my own evolution.
In season 1 as Julian Kane and Tony drink alcohol and do heroine together the song INTO MY ARMS by Nick Cave plays in the background with these words:
I don’t believe in an interventionist God But I know, darling, that you do But if I did, I would kneel down and ask Him Not to intervene when it came to you Oh, not to touch a hair on your head Leave you as you are If he felt he had to direct you Then direct you into my armsInto my arms, oh Lord
Nick Cave makes his theological views very clear at the beginning of this song and it is why I think it describes well Tony’s humanist outlook on life. Solomon is seeking in Ecclesiastes answers between birth and death in life UNDER THE SUN without God in the picture.
Again Ricky Gervais has done a great job of placing the great songs at the perfect places in the episodes. Both Tony and Julian have lost their soulmates and they want to numb their pain with wine and drugs. Solomon in Ecclesiastes looks for love UNDER THE SUN (without God) in the picture and he never finds his soulmate after bedding 1,000 women. Solomon at this point also turns to stimulate his body with wine.
Francis Schaeffer discusses the views of Solomon on drinking:
In Ecclesiastes 1:8 he drives this home when he states, “All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. THE EYE IS NOT SATISFIED WITH SEEING. NOR IS THE EAR FILLED WITH HEARING.” Solomon is stating here the fact that there is no final satisfaction because you don’t get to the end of the thing.
What do you do and the answer is to get drunk and this was not thought of in the RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KAHAYYAM:
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. 2 I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with winewhile my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaventhe few years of their lives.
Earlier in this post I asserted:
Ecclesiastes is truly the book of modern man because modern man’s philosophy has brought him to the nihilistic conclusion that all is vanity and meaninglessness. This appears to be the place that the atheist Tony Johnson has landed and many of the characters around him.
This is the reason so many of them have tried to drown themselves in the bottle or kill themselves with drugs and that is because they haven’t found a lasting meaning for their lives. It sounded crazy when Ricky wrote the lines for Tony “Everything is bad for you. We are all dying. Being healthy is just dying more slowly.” However, from a secular point of view without an afterlife, these words are totally logical. Check out I Corinthians chapter 15 and see where the apostle Paul says this very thing!!
I did read something that Ricky said on a taboo subject that troubled me:
By Cole Moreton For Event Magazine22:01 16 Feb 2019, updated 00:30 18 Feb 2019
He won’t mind being challenged about his desire to shock, but then how could he? His character Tony also gives money to his drug supplier in After Life, knowing it will be used for his suicide.
‘I think that’s the much more contentious bit,’ says Gervais. ‘I am in favour of assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia.’
Episode #4 Tony meets up with his acquaintance from work Julian who is a heroine addict and while doing drugs together this conversation happens:
Tony: This must be a habit. You know I know how you feel.
Julian: Every minute of every day that I have my wits all I can think about is getting some [drugs] before I become too conscious…I am already dead inside. I am still in the worst kind of pain.
Tony: I still can not believe we have so much in common.
Julian: We don’t have anything in common!
Tony: Why do you say that?
Julian: The big difference is you haven’t given up yet, have you? Me I would quite happily die right now. If I had enough money I would take as much drugs as I possibly could.
Tony gives Julian lots of money and says “Don’t waste it on food.”
The last scene of episode 5 is Julian injecting an overdose of heroine into his arm and then dying as the song “Youth” by the musical group DAUGHTER sings the words:
Shadows settle on the place, that you left Our minds are troubled by the emptiness Destroy the middle, it’s a waste of time From the perfect start to the finish lineAnd if you’re still breathing, you’re the lucky ones ‘Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs Setting fire to our insides for fun
Then in episode 5 there is discussion between Tony and brother-in-law Matt when Tony admits at first that he helped Julian get the overdose on purpose but then he backtracks when Matt threatens to keep Tony’s ten year old nephew from seeing him again:
Tony: Julian was a heroine addict. That is what he did and it was what he wanted.
Matt: Tell me that you didn’t know that he was gonna kill himself or I am not gonna let you see George again.
Tony: I didn’t know. Obviously not.
Matt: Okay you didn’t know.
Tim Plester was born on September 10, 1970 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. He is an actor and director, known for After Life (2019), Game of Thrones (2011) and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
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Ricky may say ‘I am in favour of assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia.’ but I don’t think he really means it is okay to help someone commit suicide when in the case of Julian he could have been helped to overcome his addiction and live a long life! In fact, Tony’s conscience causes him to lie to Matt because he knows Matt was right!!!
— After Life Season 3 Ending Explained & Review —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 5, 2022Ricky Gervais London, W1F […]
— After Life season 3 review: Its greatest strength is also its biggest weakness “Let’s just carry on, and nothing changes.” Netflix By Abby Robinson 3 weeks ago 3.0 out of 5 star rating To say a fair bit has happened since the arrival of After Life’s second season back in April 2020 would be a […]
— Ricky Gervais & Tony Way Talk After Life Season 3, Male Friendship And Shooting Outrageous Scenes BY BOYD HILTON | POSTED ON21 01 2022 Ricky Gervais is one of the creative minds behind some of Britain’s most classic comedies – Extras, The Office, Derek, to name a few. With Netflix series After Life, he took on a topic altogether more vulnerable, […]
— In episode three, Ewen plays a fells who gets chucked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet for eating too much AfterLife Season 3 – All You Can Eat Scene {Keith from office} Ricky Gervais: “The people in ‘After Life’ aren’t freaks. Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp – they’re freaks!” As his melancholic Netflix drama draws to […]
— Kaths best moment from After Life season 3 ‘After Life’ season three review: Ricky Gervais’ humanist hit goes out on a high The final scene, moving and poignant, is among its creator’s greatest works ByJames McMahon14th January 2022 Facebook Twitter They don’t make television like After Life anymore. They don’t make them much like Ricky Gervais either. This, the third […]
— —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 28, 2022 Ricky Gervais London, W1F 0LEUK Dear Ricky, “JUST SOUNDS?” OR DO […]
— Tony and Kath care for each other but they love to argue too! NETFLIX Most Powerful Moment In After Life and great Review — — —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just […]
— — After Life season 3 review: Ricky Gervais’ show is a terrific closure to a story of grief and acceptance After Life season 3 review: The third iteration in this Ricky Gervais series about grief and loss serves as an emotion-laden, poignant closure to the story. – Written By Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | January […]
— After Life 2 – Brian’s stand up performance David Earl plays Brian — —- —- —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy […]
— Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark (Official Music Vi… Why Is After Life So Popular? Afterlife Season 3 – “I wish I had a brick” —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events |Tagged Bible Prophecy, john macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)
Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)
Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E
On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:
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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. 2 Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. 3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.[a] 6 For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: 8 Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! 9 If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. 10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. 11 In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. 12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! 13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? 14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”
15 Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife.[b] 16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?[c] 17 You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. 20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
21 For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. 22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. 23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
I remember hearing Dr. Adrian Rogers say that if he had to do it over again he would read from Proverbs every day to his kids. They turned out to be great kids and they were raised right. Nevertheless, if he had to do it over again he thought a more emphasis on Proverbs is the way to go. That is why I am spending so much time in Proverbs with my kids today.
John MacArthur does a great job on Proverbs and here is a portion of his sermon on Proverbs.
Fifth, control your body. Any witting father who has any sense at all realizes that young men are going to develop passions that can lead them in to tragedy upon tragedy unless they learn how to control their body, their bodily desires. And as you get in to this section, this is THE dominant theme throughout these first few chapters of Proverbs. Go to chapter 2 for a moment, verse 16, this is repeated and we don’t have time to go in to all of it but I’ll give you a little sense of what the writer says…2:16, he’s talking about wisdom and wisdom alone, that is the wisdom of God, spiritual wisdom that a father is supposed to teach his son, is able to deliver you from the strange woman. Well what does the word strange mean? Foreign. Why do you have to worry about a foreign woman? Because she’s away from home. Well what does that mean? Well she’s away from her husband, she’s away from her family, she’s away from her friends, she’s away from accountability and so being…she’s the out‑of‑town woman, if you will. And it’s real easy for her to act any way she wants because the constraints are off. You beware of that roaming woman who is away from the point of her responsibility. Beware of the adulteress who flatters with her words, that leaves the companion of her youth…that’s her husband…and forgets the covenant of her God…that’s her marriage vow. Beware of her because her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead. Why? Because adultery by biblical prescription required the death penalty. She’ll bring you to death.
Some think that this is a reference also to a venereal disease or even to the divine intervention of God in an act of punishment. But I think the primary issue here is way back to Deuteronomy chapter 22 where God says people who commit adultery are to be executed. Passion is as strong as it is, however, as evidenced by the fact that men who would know they would have perhaps to lose their life would still follow their passion. At the moment in time lust for sex outweighs the desire to live. Stay away, teach your son sexual self‑control, Father, so he doesn’t destroy his life, destroy his family.
Chapter 5 follows it up. Verse 1, “My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding that you may observe discretion, that your lips may reserve knowledge.” Here’s a very important lesson for the son, “The lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech, her kisses are sweet and she’s going to sweet talk you but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two‑edged sword, her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of Sheol, she doesn’t ponder the path of life, her ways are unstable, she doesn’t know it. And now then, my sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth, keep your way far from her and don’t go near the door of her house and don’t give your vigor to others.” That is, don’t procreate through others. Don’t give your years to the cruel one and let strangers be filled with your strength and your hard earned goods go the house of an alien. Don’t have to support the children of some woman that isn’t even in your home. Don’t give away your seed to someone else. Don’t create children through someone else. Don’t give your strength to another family and have to spend the rest of your life paying some kind of alimony or whatever. In the end your flesh and body are consumed. You’ll say, “How I have hated instruction and my heart spurned reproof and I haven’t listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to my instructor.” Some day you’re going to say I wish I would have done what my dad told me. Teach your son sexual purity.
Chapter 6 takes it further, verse 20 and all the way down to the end, pick it up in verse 24, “Wisdom is given to you to keep you from the evil woman, the smooth tongue of the adulteress, don’t desire her beauty in your heart, don’t let her catch you with her eyelids, for on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread.” She’ll turn you into nothing quick. An adulteress hunts for the precious life. There you are, this precious life, she just wants to hunt you. Can you take fire in your bosom and your clothes not be burned? Can you walk on hot coals and your feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife, whoever touches her will not go unpunished. It’s going to cost you and it’s going to cost you dearly. Verse 32, “Anyone who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense. He who would destroy himself does it.” Why do people do that? “Wounds and disgrace he will find. And his reproach will not be blotted out.” Let me tell you, an adulterer has a reproach not blotted out. You know, that’s a good thing to keep in mind when you remember that it says in 1 Timothy 3 that one who is an elder must be above reproach. And if an elder or a pastor falls in to sexual sin and adultery, this text says that approach will not be blotted out. And once you bear that reproach and that stigma, it appears to be a permanent one, a permanent disqualification. That’s a heavy price to pay.
Chapter 7, the whole chapter is devoted to a fascinating scenario. We can pick it up in verse 6, here’s the victim, this hair‑brained, feather‑headed, naive guy wanders in to temptation. He’s in the part of town he shouldn’t be in. She’s at the window of the house looking out through the lattice. I saw among the naive, I discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense…just the kind she likes. Who was passing through the street near her corner and he takes the way to her house. He knows what he’s doing, he’s down in a part of the city he has no business being in, he’s roaming around in his stupidity, not knowing what he’s going to get in to. That’s the victim.
The hunt starts in verse 10. There he is in the twilight in the evening in the middle of the night and she comes, verse 10, she comes to meet him dressed as a harlot, cunning of heart, boisterous, rebellious, her feet do not remain at home, she is now in the streets, now in the squares and lurks by every corner. That’s the hunt. The tactics…look at how she goes after this guy. Verse 13, this is what’s known as the direct approach, she seizes him and kisses him. Whoa! I remember walking through Iponema(?) one time in Brazil and having a harlot grab me and a harlot pull on my coat and literally…I kept walking and she kept yanking on my coat insisting that I go with her. That was the direct approach. And I kept whacking at her hand to get off my coat. Nothing new, they’ve done it that way before, I guess. Verse 14, she gives him this business…I was due to offer peace offerings, today I paid my vows. In other words, help me celebrate, this is a big religious day for me so will you come and help me with my religious celebration? And then comes flattery in verse 15, “O therefore I have come out to meet you to seek your presence earnestly and I…you’re just the guy I was looking for.” Sure. Just the one I sought.
Then the sensual seduction, “I spread my couch with coverings, with colored linen of Egypt, sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon, come let us drink our fill of love until morning, let us delight ourselves with caresses.” This is sensual seduction. And then she gives him the safety pitch, verse 19, “The man is not at home, he’s on a long journey, he’s taken a bag of money with him, at full moon he’ll come home.” In other words, he’s got so much money because he’s got so much business to do and he’s going to be there a while, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
And after all of those attempts she finally tries to kill him with words, verse 21, “With her many persuasions she entices him with her flattering lips she seduces him.” She talks him to death, just talk, talk, talk, keep the seduction going. Then comes the kill. Suddenly he follows her…stupid feather‑brained naive guy…as an ox to slaughter and one in chains to the discipline of a fool until an arrow pierces through his liver as a bird hastens to the snare, so he doesn’t know that it will cost him his life. The end of verse 27 says he goes into the chambers of death.
Teach your son that. Teach your son sexual purity. Teach your son to control his body. Chapter 9 verses 13 to 18 go further through that scenario…a woman of folly who wants to lead you to the grave. Sure stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant but it will kill you…it will kill you. Teach your son, keep mentally away. Don’t go to certain places in town. Don’t get caught in certain comprising situations. Keep your hands to yourself. Stay away from women like that. Guard your feet. Guard your eyes. Guard your ears. Teach your son that. Control his body for purity and he’ll be a delight to you and blessed by God.
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ONE FINAL QUESTION: WHAT DO THESE VERSES MEAN?
PROVERBS 5:1-6
1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;
listen very closely to the way I see it.
Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;
what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.
3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your mouth,
a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She’s dancing down the primrose path to Death;
she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life,
about who she is or where she’s going.
BY BEN MCQUAID JANUARY 20, 2022JANUARY 23, 2022 5 MINS READ
The third and final season of Ricky Gervais’ drama-comedy series After Life has been released on Netflix.
The show follows Tony (played by Gervais), who has suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts after the death of his wife Lisa. Although Tony is no longer suicidal, and is trying to be nice to others, he still struggles to care about life in a small town in England, where he works for a local newspaper.
These themes of grief and perseverance have touched fans all over the world, which has led to Netflix renewing the show for this third season, despite some controversies in recent years about Gervais.
I have been watching After Life since it first launched in 2019 and thought season one was a masterpiece. It had a real emotional compelling arc and great comedy. Tony’s outbursts in public were hilarious, especially when he gets annoyed at mundane things like someone eating crisps too loudly in a pub.
Whilst I enjoyed season two and it had many emotional moments, I felt it did not live up to the first series and lacked purpose – unlike the second season of Gervais’ show Extras and The Office, which I loved.
Season three, though still not as good as one, was far better than the second and a rewarding end for the show.
The main plot about Tony struggling to move on was done really well and I appreciate that it didn’t go the easy route and have him move on happily. Most of the sub-plots were also funny and did a good job of developing the characters; my favourite was probably Kath’s (played by Diane Morgan), which had many humorous and sad scenes.
Gervais continues to give an emotional performance and has many funny moments throughout. I was worried that they were going to take his character down a predictable route, but they avoided it and his arc seems appropriate. Ashley Jensen also does a really good job as the potential love-interest for Tony, and it was nice that she got more to do in this season. Kerry Godliman played Tony’s departed wife Lisa – I think she should get more credit for because if her profound performance didn’t work I don’t think the show would’ve been as effective.
Credit: Netflix
The supporting cast also gave good and often funny performances, such as Diane Morgan, Tony Way and Penelope Wilton, who were all standouts in an overall fantastic cast of actors.
Unfortunately, not all of the cast has returned for this season, including Mandeep Dhillon (who could not make it due to scheduling conflicts) and Roisin Conaty, whose character was not included. This was disappointing as their characters added more humanity to the show and their screen time seems to have been given to some characters that were not quite as engaging.
As for complaints, not all of the comedy lands and some jokes go on for a bit longer than they should. I think a reason why no season has been as funny as the first is because Tony is trying to be nice, which makes sense for his character development, but this means less awkward public outbursts, which made the first season very entertaining.
Thankfully, the final episode did a good job at wrapping every thread up in a satisfying way. The last scene has caused debate on Twitter, however Gervais has said that it shows simply that life goes on, which I think made for a powerful ending to the show.
Overall, I really enjoyed the final season of After Life. There are only 18 episodes of the whole show and they are fairly short, so if you’re looking for something funny, yet heartfelt, I would suggest giving this a go.
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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes
After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix
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episodes will be released on January 14th.
Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows
February 3, 2022
Ricky Gervais
London, W1F 0LE UK
Dear Ricky,
Penny: I thought it would be nice to document my 50th novel.
Tony: Fifty? Wow. How long have you been writing?
Penny: Oh, been writing all my life, dear. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Wrote my first published novel when I was 15 and I’ve written at least one a year ever since.
Tony: Wow. Who is your publisher?
Penny: Self-published, dear. I designed the cover and everything. It’s very professional. Not in a… Not in a money-making sense. I’ve actually lost money, but, you know, it’s a passion, isn’t it? Yep. I’ve got to leave something behind. I never married or had children or anything, so, you know…
Tony: How do you make your money though?
Penny: I’m a medium.
Tony: Right.
Penny: I read people’s auras or palms or crystal balls, tea leaves, anything. But this is my passion. Novels.
Tony: And they’re all about one person, are they?
Penny: Yes. Dr. Barnaby Love, MD. I combine medical drama with erotic fiction. “Dr. Barnaby Love, MD, in Two in a Deathbed.”
Tony: Why is it “Dr. Barnaby Love, MD, in Two in a Deathbed”?
Penny: Well, I always hoped it’d be picked up as a long-running series, like Columbo. But sadly not. Mm, my first choice, back in the day, was Roger Moore, but nowadays it would probably be someone like George Clooney. I mean, he’s played a doctor, hasn’t he? He’d know what he was doing. Probably knows more than me.
Tony: You haven’t had any medical training?
Penny: No.
Tony: How do you get the technical stuff right?
Penny: Eh, just pick things up. Sure. Would you like me to read a bit from my latest one?
Tony: Yeah.
Penny: Open Wide. Not that bit. That’s filth. Let’s have a look. Here’s a good bit. So Dr. Barnaby is, um, operating on someone that all the top surgeons in the world said could not be saved. But Dr. Barnaby disagrees. Okay. “Nurse Stacey mopped his brow.” “‘Is that better, Doctor?’” “Their eyes meet over the masks you have to wear in operating theaters.” “‘Please, call me Barnaby.’” “She blushes. ‘Okay, we’re going in!’” “He injects the medicine into the patient’s main artery.” “‘That should do the trick, ‘ said Barnaby. ‘Okay, stitch him up, Nurse.’” “‘Dinner later?’ ‘Ooh, yes, please, ‘ she said. ‘See you at 8.’” There.
Lenny: Does he live?
Penny: Who, dear?
Lenny: The patient.
Penny: Oh, I didn’t say. Didn’t bother with that.
Tony: I’m sure he’s fine if they got the medicine into the main artery.
Penny: Exactly.
Tony: I wonder why all the top surgeons around the world didn’t think of that.
Penny: Eh, Dr. Barnaby’s special, isn’t he? He’s best in the world. A randy bugger, too, which never hurts.
Tony: Good. Take a picture. Yep. Smile. Ooh. Great.
Penny: Will this be in next week’s paper, dear?
Tony: Yep.
Penny: Could you mention that I’m doing a live reading and book signing at the Tambury Fair?
Tony: Sure.
Penny: Oh, good. And do bring your wife along. It’s mostly for women.
Tony: I, uh… I don’t have a wife.
Penny: Oh, gay? Even better
Tony: . I’m not gay. Just… I, uh… I lost my wife. Oh, I’m sorry.
Penny: Would you like to contact her?
Tony: With all my heart.
Penny: Okay. Well…
Tony: No, I mean… I… I don’t… I don’t believe in all that. But… But thank you.
Penny: This is for you. —-
Today I want to start off talking about your life’s work and your accomplishments. Penny wanted to leave a legacy behind and so have you Ricky!!!
You have been tremendously blessed in your talents and your life work has brought you much in financial rewards and notoriety in your field. With that in mind in today’s letter I want to compare you to King Solomon and look at what both you and Solomon have accomplished in the area of LABOR (or his life’s work).
“You don’t need whatever religion gives you. Just be kind.”
Ricky Gervais is best known for his television comedies The Office and Extras, and for stand-up comedy, but he has also been a musician and worked in radio.
He is a philosophy graduate (London University), and after graduation worked at the University as entertainment manager for the Students Union, where he began developing the character of “Seedy Boss”, later to become David Brent in The Office.
His comedy is often controversial, and he has managed to offend a wide range of people, including the disabled, religious believers, and celebrities and film stars in his hosting of the Golden Globe Awards – but he has also managed to coax self-deprecating and very funny performances from stars who can take a joke against themselves such as Kate Winslet (in Extras) and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter (in Small People).
He told Kirsty Young that he is an atheist during his 2007 interview for BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs (you can listen to his interview here), and later said that he had lost his faith at the age of eight. He has also said that he and his long-term partner chose not to marry because “there’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God”, and has defended his atheism in the Wall Street Journal. Interviewed by Elizabeth Day in The Observer in February 2013, he said:
“…I don’t believe there is a God but there’s nothing wrong with spirituality if that makes you a happier, nicer person. But religion is something else, it’s a way of controlling people. It’s no coincidence that the people in charge of religion aren’t the kindest or most forgiving. My point is that… you don’t need whatever religion gives you. Just be kind.”
As you know in these series of letters I am looking at the 6 L words that Solomon pursued in the Book of Ecclesiastes and today I am looking at LABOR (Solomon’s life work). Now that we have looked at some of your accomplishments, let us take a look at SOLOMON. I consider you a very successful man in your field and in that sense you are similar to SOLOMON, and by comparing you two I am in no way trying to belittle your accomplishments. However, I do want to point out some of SOLOMON’s own words of analysis concerning his legacy from Ecclesiastes (which is Richard Dawkins favorite book in the Bible).
SOLOMON was remembered for his WISDOM and his success with the LADIES, but he was also remembered for his LABOR (his life work). For Solomon that basically came down to the labor he commissioned in his building campaigns through out his kingdom plus the effort he put forth building his own palace and the temple in Jerusalem.
Below are the comments of Francis Schaeffer on SOLOMON and the Book of Ecclesiastes:
Leonardo da Vinci and Solomon both were universal men searching for the meaning in life. Solomon was searching for a meaning in the midst of the details of life.
Francis Schaeffer noted:
The classic work Leonardo da Vinci, published in Italy and translated in English in 1963, contained a section by Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944) on Leonardo’s thought-forms. He spells out the fact that Leonardo really grasped the problem of modern man. Leonardo anticipated where humanism would end:
(Giovanni Gentile pictured below)
GENTILE, Giovanni
From Galileo’s day on rigorous scientific method has limited itself consciously to what are called appearances or phenomenon as they later were to be termed of nature that is to the surface but Leonardo while looking to such an ideal of scientific knowledge can not be satisfied with the surface his keen unsleeping eye penetrates deeper and on observation the experience that is so greatly praised and exalted no longer serves him he intuits or invokes the inner life the secret soul setting in motion the great machine that he has taken apart and studied piece by piece, watching, and spying and scrutinizing by means of mathematics, mechanics, anatomy and every instrument that might enable him to follow the operations of nature step by step.
Hence the anguish and the innermost tragedy of this universal man divided between two irreconcilable worlds, hence the desperate life long labor of this implacable self torture whose marvelous work of gleaming of art spread from full hands day by day on paper, on canvas and on storied walls and of precise concepts and inspired researches which in many fields of scientific knowledge are pretentious anticipations of the future leaves in mind an infinite longing made up as it were of regret and sadness. It is the longing for a different Leonardo from the Leonardo that he was, one that could gathered himself up at each phase and remained closed himself off either altogether in his fantasy or altogether in his intelligence in order to taste the pure joy of divine creation (that’s not God’s creation but his own). It is anguished longing such as always welled up in Leonardo’s heart each time he put down his brush, his charcoal or his rod where he had to break off setting down his secret thoughts.
(Painting of Leonardo below)
What Gentille is putting forth here is that Leonardo was not satisfied with living in two worlds at once. He was not satisfied with being the modern man who would put his aspirations and his longing for unity and meaning in one compartment to be taken out and looked at when he can’t stand the pressure of the details. And Leonardo realized that these two things based on the beginning of man from himself would absolutely lead in this direction…Leonardo was looking for a meaning amidst the details of life.
His struggle was to find the MEANING OF LIFE. Not just plans in life. Anybody can find plans in life. A child can fill up his time with plans of building tomorrow’s sand castle when today’s has been washed away. There is a difference between finding plans in life and purpose in life. Humanism since the Renaissance and onward has never found it. Modern man has not found it and it has always got worse and darker in a very real way.
We have here the declaration of Solomon’s universality:
1 Kings 4:30-34
English Standard Version (ESV)
30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men…and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
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Here is the universal man and his genius. Solomon is the universal man with a empire at his disposal. Solomon had it all.
Ecclesiastes 1:3
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Solomon took a look at the meaning of life on the basis of human life standing alone between birth and death “under the sun.” After wisdom Solomon comes to the great WORKS of men. Ecclesiastes 1:14, “I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is [p]vanity and striving after wind.” Solomon is the man with an empire at this disposal that speaks. This is the man who has the copper refineries in Ezion-geber. This is the man who made the stables across his empire. This is the man who built the temple in Jerusalem. This is the man who stands on the world trade routes. He is not a provincial. He knew what was happening on the Phonetician coast and he knew what was happening in Egypt. There is no doubt he already knew something of building. This is Solomon and he pursues the greatness of his own construction and his conclusion is VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT.
Ecclesiastes 2:18-20
18 Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity. 20 Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
He looked at the works of his hands, great and multiplied by his wealth and his position and he shrugged his shoulders.
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
22 For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.
Man can not rest and yet he is never done and yet the things which he builds will out live him. If one wants an ironical three phrases these are they. There is a Dutch saying, “The tailor makes many suits but one day he will make a suit that will outlast the tailor.”
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Many have tried sexual exploits just like Solomon did, and many have thrown their efforts into business too. Sadly Solomon also found the pursuit of great works in his LABOR just as empty. In Ecclesiastes 2:11 he asserted, “THEN I CONSIDERED ALL THAT MY HANDS HAD DONE AND THE TOLL I HAD EXPENDED IN DOING IT, AND BEHOLD, ALL WAS VANITY AND A STRIVING AFTER WIND, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
Many people through history have reminded me of Solomon because they are looking for lasting meaning in their life and they are looking in the same 6 areas that King Solomon did in what I call the 6 big L words. He looked into learning (1:16-18), laughter, ladies, luxuries, and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and LABOR (2:4-6, 18-20).
Then in last few words in the Book of Ecclesiastes he looks above the sun and brings God back into the picture: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events |Tagged Bible Prophecy, john macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)
Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)
Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E
On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:
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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris
After Life: Meet the owners of Netflix’s number one dog
By Maisie Olah BBC News, West MidlandsPublished6 hours ago
Image caption, The final series of After Life reached number one on Netflix the weekend it was released
“Your dog looks like the one from After Life” is a phrase Ashley Foster and Beth Heale hear a lot.
They are the proud owners of Antilly, the German Shepherd who plays Brandy in Ricky Gervais’s After Life.
The hit Netflix comedy follows Tony Johnson, played by Gervais, as he comes to terms with the death of his wife from cancer.
Brandy supports Tony through grief and Ms Heale said: “What she is to Tony, is what she is to us in real life.”
The show, which started in 2019, follows Tony as he grapples with his emotions and finds glimmers of hope from within his own life.
Much of that glimmer comes from his dog and watching videos of his late wife Lisa, played by Kerry Godliman, playing with her.
“We don’t have children, just like how Lisa and Tony don’t in the show,” said Ms Heale.
“It sends a poignant message throughout – dogs are there for you when people can’t be and Antilly is always there.”
Image caption, Mr Foster was there when Antilly was born and trained her up as a stunt dog
Antilly was born in Hereford to Mr Foster’s parents’ dogs, before moving to Bicester, Oxfordshire, with her new owner.
Mr Foster and his pet soon began competing in the dog sport IGP (Internationale Gebrauchshund Pruefung), which tests obedience, agility and commands.
Antilly’s first sniff of fame was when she visited the set of The Dark Knight Rises at just 10 weeks old. Mr Foster, a TV and film extra, was playing one of Bane’s henchmen with both of Antilly’s parents starring as attack dogs.
After a few more IGP qualifications, Antilly followed in her parents’ footsteps and signed for the agency Stunt Dogs and Animals.
Often typecast as a police dog or guard dog, she has featured in Midsomer Murders, Doc Martin and 2016 film Denial among others.
Image caption, The couple’s other dog Wylie also featured in series three of After Life
The third series of After Life, released in January, quickly became the streaming service’s number one show and Antilly, 10, captured the hearts of viewers from around the world.
“I’m pleased people can see her as the cute pet she is,” said Ms Heale.
Antilly was personally chosen by Gervais in 2018, when he told the owners he was looking for “a Scooby Doo-type dog”.
“He told us, if I had to describe to aliens what a dog is, I would show them a picture of Antilly,” said Ms Heale.
The actor and Antilly hit it off straight away, the star posting a picture on Instagram with the caption: “Spent a lovely day casting for my leading lady in #AfterLife. This beautiful girl got the part.”
Image caption, Antilly enjoys swimming, long walks and cups of tea
An average day on set for Antilly involves many tricks and treats, said Ms Heale.
“Because you can’t explain to a dog what to do, they have to keep practising. There are lots of rehearsals with Ricky and his understudy,” she said.
While the actors were learning their lines, for Antilly, it was muscle memory.
“Eventually, she gets used to going over to Ricky and walking with him,” she added.
Series three also features the couple’s other dog, Wylie, who is adopted by Diane Morgan’s character Kath.
Wylie is a rescue dog in the show and in real life, and Ms Heale was an extra in the scene to keep him company.
Image caption, Antilly has helped fundraise for the Florence Nightingale Hospice that Ms Heale works for
While Antilly was seen by many around the world in the first two seasons of the show, Ms Heale said it had been the final series that really brought her to people’s attention.
The online sales manager for the Florence Nightingale Hospice in Buckinghamshire recently organised a fundraiser for the charity.
After a photoshoot of Gervais and Antilly was done by Hamish Brown from the Radio Times, she was amazed to discover that Mr Brown’s mother was cared for by the same hospice.
A photograph was donated and Antilly signed it with her paw.
‘Nothing fazes her’
When she isn’t behind the camera, Antilly enjoys swimming, playing with her big blue rope as well as “cuddling up on the sofa and a cup of tea with oat milk”.
She recognises her bark when the family sits down to watch her on TV.
“How she is on After Life is how she is in real life,” said Ms Heale.
“She’s very calm and steady, nothing fazes her, and she’s also very loving – it’s difficult to take a selfie with her because she just wants to give you kisses.”
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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes
After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix
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episodes will be released on January 14th.
Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows
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February 2, 2022
Ricky Gervais
London, W1F 0LE UK
Dear Ricky,
Why did Tony think Anne was a Christian?
Tony: I didn’t want to do the stupid soiree. I was doing it for you.
Matt: You were making life more interesting.
Tony: My fault, yeah. We’ve both learned a lesson, haven’t we?
Matt: Which is?
Tony: “Never help anyone, ever.”
Matt: “Great. Great lesson.”
Ricky you sard that you made Tony an atheist and that he turns selfish after losing his wife and wants to strike out at the world but then he discovers that the only way he can feel better is by helping others. I assert that helping others is a byproduct of being a true Christian and that is why you initially thought Anne was a Christian.
On the bench in the graveyard Anne sits everyday with Tony and she often pronounces moral statements such as: “We’re not just here for us, we’re here for others.”…“Happiness is amazing. It’s so amazing it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not… A society grows great when old men plant trees the shade of which they know they will never sit in….Good people do things for other people. That’s it. The end.” Anne identifies herself as an atheist, but when Tony first meets her after hearing her philosophy he suspects she is a Christian!!!! This is because she talks like a Christian!!!
Tony and his wife Lisa who died 6 months ago of cancer
My question is “HOW is there a moral basis for these assertions from an atheist?” Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyovsarcastically summarized the ethical reasoning of the secular humanist like this: „Man descended from apes, therefore we must love one another.‟”
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Ricky Gervais plays bereaved husband Tony Johnson in AFTER LIFE
Tim Keller, in his book Making Sense of God noted:
“I read a commentator on a New York Times article about the meaning of life that said:
When the Hubble space telescope pointed to a black spot in the sky about the size of an eraser head for a week, it found 30,000 galaxies over 13 billion years old with many trillions of stars and many, many more trillions of inferred planets. So, how significant are you? You are not a unique snowflake, you are not special; you are just another piece of decaying matter on the compost pile of the world. Nothing of who you are and what you will do in the short time you are here will matter. Everything short of that realization is vanity. So celebrate life in every moment, admire its wonder and love without reservation. (Steven Pinker)
The first part of the statement provides a bracing no-holds-barred materialistic view of the world. You are made strictly of matter without any soul. You were not created for any special purpose. There is no after-life. Nothing you do here: be it kind or cruel, will make any difference in the end. But then, with the word „so‟ indicating a logical sequence, we are told that we should therefore live a life of celebration and love. However, if we are just a decaying piece of matter in a decaying universe and nothing more significant than that, how does it follow we should live a life of love toward others? It doesn‟t. Why shouldn‟t we live as selfishly as we can get away with? How do beliefs in individual freedom, human rights, and equality arise from or align with the idea that human beings came to be what they are through the survival of the fittest? They don‟t! Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyovsarcastically summarized the ethical reasoning of the secular humanist like this: „Man descended from apes, therefore we must love one another.‟”
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events |Tagged Bible Prophecy, john macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)
Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)
Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E
On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:
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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris
4 My children,[a] listen when your father corrects you. Pay attention and learn good judgment, 2 for I am giving you good guidance. Don’t turn away from my instructions. 3 For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.
4 My father taught me, “Take my words to heart. Follow my commands, and you will live. 5 Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them. 6 Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. 7 Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. 8 If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will honor you. 9 She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown.”
10 My child,[b] listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. 11 I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. 12 When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. 13 Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.
14 Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers. 15 Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way. Turn away and keep moving. 16 For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble. 17 They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!
18 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.
20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.
One of the hardest things to do is to keep your speech clean. I have been on many sports teams through the years and many times the coaches of these teams are the worst offenders when it comes to cursing.
I never will forget sitting on the second row in 1987 in Pine Bluff when the University of Arkansas (UALR) Trojans beat California in a NIT playoff game. In 1986 UALR had beaten Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament and then lost in double overtime to NC State in the second round. Therefore, I was thrilled to pick up several tickets for seats on the second row behind the UALR bench. Little did I know that Mike Newell who was the head coach was a foul mouth jerk during the game.
It is my opinion that a coach can have just as big an impact on the game if he behaved like John Wooden or “Clean” Gene Bartow.Think of what other people think of you when you curse. THEY DON’T THINK MORE HIGHLY OF YOU!!! That is the big lie from the devil. THEY THINK YOU ARE ON A HIGHER LEVEL IF YOU DO NOT CURSE!!!! That is the fact of life that no one wants to admit but it is true. My former pastor Adrian Rogers used to call it the “fool’s sin” because you don’t get anything out of it. At least when you steal you get what you steal!!!! When you curse you get nothing!!!!!
Gene Bartow coaches the Memphis State Tigers on January 22, 1972.
John MacArthur
I remember hearing Dr. Adrian Rogers say that if he had to do it over again he would read from Proverbs every day to his kids. They turned out to be great kids and they were raised right. Nevertheless, if he had to do it over again he thought a more emphasis on Proverbs is the way to go. That is why I am spending so much time in Proverbs with my kids today.
John MacArthur does a great job on Proverbs and here is a portion of his sermon on Proverbs.
There’s a flip side of that. You say, “Well if you teach him that too strong and then when he gets married he won’t appreciate the joys of marital sex, so you have to balance it.” Point number six, teach him, “Son, enjoy your wife.” While it is forbidden prior to marriage, it is exalted afterwards. Go back to chapter 5. This is so beautiful the way it is articulated. Verse 15 says, “Drink water from your own cistern,” and this is following on the passage about the harlot. “Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well.” When you’re thirsty, find your satisfaction with your own wife, that’s what it means. When you’re physically thirsty, find your satisfaction from your own wife. Drink water from your own cistern and your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
You know, one of the things that people wouldn’t want to see in that particular part of the world in ancient times was just water flowing through the street. Nobody in their right mind would just take buckets of water and throw them across the street, just throw them down the pavement or the dirt. Why? Because water was very precious. And not only that there wasn’t much of it, it was hard to get at to get. And nobody was going to be just wasting water and he uses that as an analogy as people would be considered foolish who just threw water in the streets, you are considered an absolute fool if you just go out in the street and spread your stream everywhere and produce babies by other people. Don’t do that. A fool would do that…foolish and wasteful is a man who fathers children all over town, all over the street. Let them be yours alone, he says, and not for strangers with you. “Let your fountain…your procreative capacity…be blessed, and here it is, and rejoice in the wife of your youth as a longing hind and a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times, be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?” And he reminds him in verse 21 that God is watching and sees everything. Enjoy your wife, be exhilarated with her love, let her breasts satisfy you at all times, rejoice in her…teach your son that.
Teach your son by the way you treat your wife and by the things you say to be totally fulfilled in his own marriage. Teach him what Proverbs says that a wife is a gift from God, more precious than jewels. Teach him that a wife is given to be his best friend and companion, that a wife is to serve his needs and that of the children and she is to be rewarded for her efforts and praised, as Proverbs 31 says. Teach him the beauty and the wonder and the blessedness of a gift of a wife and teach him to enjoy his wife. And you will teach him best if you enjoy yours.
The wife father, what is he doing? He’s saying to his son…fear your God, guard your mind, obey your parents, select your companions, control you body, enjoy your wife…those are the key lessons. Let me give you just a few more. Number seven, watch your words…watch your words. Teach your son to be careful how he speaks. Chapter 4 verse 24, “My son,” he says in verse 20, down in verse 24 he adds, “Put away from you a deceitful mouth, put devious lips far from you, make sure you don’t speak lies, make sure you don’t speak hypocritically, make sure you don’t speak perversely, make sure you don’t speak deceitfully, speak pure true words.”
Certainly one of the things that I grew up with was that lesson. I am about as far away from using any curse word, or one remotely related to a curse word as any human being in the earth because I had my mouth washed out numerous times for words I didn’t even understand or pronounce correctly. My mother used to wash out my mouth with Fel’s Naptha Soap if I come home and said, “Daddy, what does (blank) mean?” In went the soap. That’s what’s called aversion therapy. We have passed that on to our children so that what comes out of their mouth is the word hopefully of the righteous. Proverbs says, “The lips of the righteous speak wisely…the lips of the righteous are a fountain of life and a tree of life…the lips of the righteous are like choice silver, they’re satisfying, they feed others, they bring healing and deliverance. They are patient, kind, wise, truthful, honest, pure, soft, gentle, slow to anger and are mouth pieces for the Lord.” Teach your son to watch his words.
Chapter 5 verse 2, your lips may reserve knowledge. Chapter 6 verse 12, stay away from the one who walks with a false mouth. Chapter 10 is magnificent, look at verse 11, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.” What a great statement. Verse 13, “On the lips of the discerning wisdom is found.” Verse 14, “The mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.” Quite a contrast. Verse 18, it says, “He who conceals hatred has lying lips. He who spreads slander is a fool.” Don’t do that. Don’t lie. Don’t slander. That’s another thing we taught our children was never to lie. Our children, and I am sure this is correct and Patricia and I have talked about this in recollection, never lied in their life that we know of more than once because the first time we caught them in a lie there was a major unforgetable event that took place…which event lasted long in their memory. And it told them, in effect, that is a very bad thing to do and attached to it is immense pain. They seemed to get the message. Teach your children to speak the truth.
Verse 19, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable.” “Teach them not to always talk. He who restrains his lips is wise. The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,” it just goes on like this. Teach them to watch their words…to watch their words. That’s a major matter of wisdom. The mouths of fools pour out endless speech, crooked speech, foolish speech, violent speech, hateful speech, malicious speech, strife, ruin, slander, belittlement, gossip, disgrace, scorching fire, mischief, perversity, on and on it says in Proverbs. Fathers, teach your children to watch their words.
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ONE FINAL QUESTION: WHAT DOES PROVERBS 4:24 MEAN?
Put away from you a deceitful mouth, put devious lips far from you, make sure you don’t speak lies, make sure you don’t speak hypocritically, make sure you don’t speak perversely, make sure you don’t speak deceitfully, speak pure true words
But even I was surprised to see this tweet, which shows how so many parents in New York City seek alternative educational opportunities for their children.
What makes these numbers so shocking is that parents are forced to pay for government schools. So when they opt for alternatives such as private schools, they’re paying twice.
But they decide the extra cost is justified because they know government-run schools don’t do a good job (and those failures have become even more apparent because of coronavirus).
For instance, David Harsanyi indicts government schooling in an article for National Review.
“Public” schools have been a catastrophe for the United States. …State-run schools have undercut two fundamental conditions of a healthy tolerant society. First, they’ve created millions of civic illiterates who are disconnected from long-held communal values and national identity. Second, they’ve exacerbated the very inequalities that trigger the tearing apart of fissures. …No institution has fought harder to preserve segregated communities than the average teachers’ union. …Prosperous Americans already enjoy school choice — and not merely because they can afford private schools. …This entire dynamic is driven by the antiquated notion that the best way to educate kids is to throw them into the nearest government building. It’s the teachers’ unions that safeguard these fiefdoms through racketeering schemes: First they funnel taxpayer dollars to the political campaigns of allies who, when elected, return the favor by protecting union monopolies and supporting higher taxes that fund unions and ultimately political campaigns. …most poor parents, typically black or Hispanic, are compelled to send their kids to inferior schools… Joe Biden says he’ll create not a child-oriented Department of Education but a “teacher-oriented Department of Education.” By teachers, Biden means unions. …It’s likely that left-wing ideologues run your school district. They decide what your children learn. …The embedded left-wing nature of big school districts is so normalized that parents rarely say a word. …a voucher system creates opportunities for all kinds of students, not just wealthy ones.
I suppose it should explicitly stated that those opportunities would produce better results, both for taxpayers and for kids.
In an article for the American Institute for Economic Research, Gregory van Kipnis compares government schools and private schools.
Only when there is a monopoly are we denied choice. The negative consequences of that are well known… Monopolies produce goods and services at a higher price and a lower quality than would be obtained in a competitive market. That is certainly the case with public education. …society should be interested in data about the costs and outcomes of different approaches to education, namely public versus private schools, and how this data should affect our choices and behavior.
And what does the data tell us?
…currently (as of 2018), a public school education in the US costs 89% more than private education; that is, $14,653 for a public school and $7,736 for a private education. The high relative cost of public school education has persisted since the earliest period for which the data has been collected – 1965 (Chart 1a). …Private education is significantly less expensive.
Here’s the chart showing that government schools are far more expensive.
This raises a separate question: Are government schools more expensive because they’re producing better results?
Nope.
While the generally accepted knowledge is that private education produces better results than public school education, …Chart 4…shows the trends and levels in the composite ACT test results (meaning for math and reading combined) for the period 2001-2014, for private, public and homeschooled children. …The results speak for themselves – private schools test at a significantly higher level than public schools, and the gap is widening.
Here’s a chart showing the difference.
So what’s the bottom line?
Consumers of any product know they get better outcomes, as measured by quality and price, if the product is offered in competitive markets. This is true even in markets that have only limited competition. Any competition is better than none. Just as that principle is true in the markets for cars and cafes, so it is true in the market for educational services. …It is manifestly cheaper to get a private education and get a far better education in a private school. The problem holding back the growth in private education is that you have to pay twice to get it. The economics and facts support the logic of freeing parents to obtain private education and alternative public education for their children. To further facilitate this decision, parents should be given vouchers and credits equal to the cost of public school in their area, which they can freely use to fund their choice of better education in the private sector.
Libertarians and others are often torn about school choice. They may wish to see the government schooling monopoly weakened, but they may resist supporting choice mechanisms, like vouchers and education savings accounts, because they don’t go far enough. Indeed, most current choice programs continue to rely on taxpayer funding of education and don’t address the underlying compulsory nature of elementary and secondary schooling.
Skeptics may also have legitimate fears that taxpayer-funded education choice programs will lead to over-regulation of previously independent and parochial schooling options, making all schooling mirror compulsory mass schooling, with no substantive variation.
Friedman Challenged Compulsory Schooling Laws
Milton Friedman had these same concerns. The Nobel prize-winning economist is widely considered to be the one to popularize the idea of vouchers and school choice beginning with his 1955 paper, “The Role of Government in Education.” His vision continues to be realized through the important work of EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Education Choice, that Friedman and his economist wife, Rose, founded in 1996.
July 31 is Milton Friedman’s birthday. He died in 2006 at the age of 94, but his ideas continue to have an impact, particularly in education policy.
Friedman saw vouchers and other choice programs as half-measures. He recognized the larger problems of taxpayer funding and compulsion, but saw vouchers as an important starting point in allowing parents to regain control of their children’s education. In their popular book, Free To Choose, first published in 1980, the Friedmans wrote:
We regard the voucher plan as a partial solution because it affects neither the financing of schooling nor the compulsory attendance laws. We favor going much farther. (p.161)
They continued:
The compulsory attendance laws are the justification for government control over the standards of private schools. But it is far from clear that there is any justification for the compulsory attendance laws themselves. (p. 162)
The Friedmans admitted that their “own views on this have changed over time,” as they realized that “compulsory attendance at schools is not necessary to achieve that minimum standard of literacy and knowledge,” and that “schooling was well-nigh universal in the United States before either compulsory attendance or government financing of schooling existed. Like most laws, compulsory attendance laws have costs as well as benefits. We no longer believe the benefits justify the costs.” (pp. 162-3)
Still, they felt that vouchers would be the essential starting point toward chipping away at monopoly mass schooling by putting parents back in charge. School choice, in other words, would be a necessary but not sufficient policy approach toward addressing the underlying issue of government control of education.
Vouchers as a First Step
In their book, the Friedmans presented the potential outcomes of their proposed voucher plan, which would give parents access to some or all of the average per-pupil expenditures of a child enrolled in public school. They believed that vouchers would help create a more competitive education market, encouraging education entrepreneurship. They felt that parents would be more empowered with greater control over their children’s education and have a stronger desire to contribute some of their own money toward education. They asserted that in many places “the public school has fostered residential stratification, by tying the kind and cost of schooling to residential location” and suggested that voucher programs would lead to increased integration and heterogeneity. (pp. 166-7)
To the critics who said, and still say, that school choice programs would destroy the public schools, the Friedmans replied that these critics fail to
explain why, if the public school system is doing such a splendid job, it needs to fear competition from nongovernmental, competitive schools or, if it isn’t, why anyone should object to its “destruction.” (p. 170)
What I appreciate most about the Friedmans discussion of vouchers and the promise of school choice is their unrelenting support of parents. They believed that parents, not government bureaucrats and intellectuals, know what is best for their children’s education and well-being and are fully capable of choosing wisely for their children—when they have the opportunity to do so.
They wrote:
Parents generally have both greater interest in their children’s schooling and more intimate knowledge of their capacities and needs than anyone else. Social reformers, and educational reformers in particular, often self-righteously take for granted that parents, especially those who are poor and have little education themselves, have little interest in their children’s education and no competence to choose for them. That is a gratuitous insult. Such parents have frequently had limited opportunity to choose. However, U.S. history has demonstrated that, given the opportunity, they have often been willing to sacrifice a great deal, and have done so wisely, for their children’s welfare. (p. 160).
Today, school voucher programs exist in 15 states plus the District of Columbia. These programs have consistently shown that when parents are given the choice to opt-out of an assigned district school, many will take advantage of the opportunity. In Washington, D.C., low-income parents who win a voucher lottery send their children to private schools.
The most recent three-year federal evaluationof voucher program participants found that while student academic achievement was comparable to achievement for non-voucher students remaining in public schools, there were statistically significant improvements in other important areas. For instance, voucher participants had lower rates of chronic absenteeism than the control groups, as well as higher student satisfaction scores. There were also tremendous cost-savings.
In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has served over 28,000 low-income students attending 129 participating private schools.
According to Corey DeAngelis, Director of School Choice at the Reason Foundation and a prolific researcher on the topic, the recent analysis of the D.C. voucher program “reveals that private schools produce the same academic outcomes for only a third of the cost of the public schools. In other words, school choice is a great investment.”
In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program was created in 1990 and is the nation’s oldest voucher program. It currently serves over 28,000 low-income students attending 129 participating private schools. Like the D.C. voucher program, data on test scores of Milwaukee voucher students show similar results to public school students, but non-academic results are promising.
Increased Access and Decreased Crime
Recent research found voucher recipients had lower crime rates and lower incidences of unplanned pregnancies in young adulthood. On his birthday, let’s celebrate Milton Friedman’s vision of enabling parents, not government, to be in control of a child’s education.
According to Howard Fuller, an education professor at Marquette University, founder of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, and one of the developers of the Milwaukee voucher program, the key is parent empowerment—particularly for low-income minority families.
In an interview with NPR, Fuller said: “What I’m saying to you is that there are thousands of black children whose lives are much better today because of the Milwaukee parental choice program,” he says. “They were able to access better schools than they would have without a voucher.”
Putting parents back in charge of their child’s education through school choice measures was Milton Friedman’s goal. It was not his ultimate goal, as it would not fully address the funding and compulsion components of government schooling; but it was, and remains, an important first step. As the Friedmans wrote in Free To Choose:
The strong American tradition of voluntary action has provided many excellent examples that demonstrate what can be done when parents have greater choice. (p. 159).
On his birthday, let’s celebrate Milton Friedman’s vision of enabling parents, not government, to be in control of a child’s education.
Michael Harrington: If you don’t have the expertise, the knowledge technology today, you’re out of the debate. And I think that we have to democratize information and government as well as the economy and society. FRIEDMAN: I am sorry to say Michael Harrington’s solution is not a solution to it. He wants minority rule, I […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
PETERSON: Well, let me ask you how you would cope with this problem, Dr. Friedman. The people decided that they wanted cool air, and there was tremendous need, and so we built a huge industry, the air conditioning industry, hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous earnings opportunities and nearly all of us now have air […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
Part 5 Milton Friedman: I do not believe it’s proper to put the situation in terms of industrialist versus government. On the contrary, one of the reasons why I am in favor of less government is because when you have more government industrialists take it over, and the two together form a coalition against the ordinary […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
The fundamental principal of the free society is voluntary cooperation. The economic market, buying and selling, is one example. But it’s only one example. Voluntary cooperation is far broader than that. To take an example that at first sight seems about as far away as you can get __ the language we speak; the words […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
_________________________ Pt3 Nowadays there’s a considerable amount of traffic at this border. People cross a little more freely than they use to. Many people from Hong Kong trade in China and the market has helped bring the two countries closer together, but the barriers between them are still very real. On this side […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
Aside from its harbor, the only other important resource of Hong Kong is people __ over 4_ million of them. Like America a century ago, Hong Kong in the past few decades has been a haven for people who sought the freedom to make the most of their own abilities. Many of them are […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
“FREE TO CHOOSE” 1: The Power of the Market (Milton Friedman) Free to Choose ^ | 1980 | Milton Friedman Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 4:20:46 PM by Choose Ye This Day FREE TO CHOOSE: The Power of the Market Friedman: Once all of this was a swamp, covered with forest. The Canarce Indians […]
If you would like to see the first three episodes on inflation in Milton Friedman’s film series “Free to Choose” then go to a previous post I did. Ep. 9 – How to Cure Inflation [4/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) Uploaded by investbligurucom on Jun 16, 2010 While many people have a fairly […]
Charlie Rose interview of Milton Friedman My favorite economist: Milton Friedman : A Great Champion of Liberty by V. Sundaram Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who advocated an unfettered free market and had the ear of three US Presidents – Nixon, Ford and Reagan – died last Thursday (16 November, 2006 ) in San Francisco […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
Stearns Speaks on House Floor in Support of Balanced Budget Amendment Uploaded by RepCliffStearns on Nov 18, 2011 Speaking on House floor in support of Balanced Budget Resolution, 11/18/2011 ___________ Below are some of the main proposals of Milton Friedman. I highly respected his work. David J. Theroux said this about Milton Friedman’s view concerning […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)
Milton Friedman: Free To Choose – The Failure Of Socialism With Ronald Reagan (Full) Published on Mar 19, 2012 by NoNationalityNeeded Milton Friedman’s writings affected me greatly when I first discovered them and I wanted to share with you. We must not head down the path of socialism like Greece has done. Abstract: Ronald Reagan […]
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman, President Obama | Edit | Comments (1)
What a great defense of Milton Friedman!!!! Defaming Milton Friedman by Johan Norberg This article appeared in Reason Online on September 26, 2008 PRINT PAGE CITE THIS Sans Serif Serif Share with your friends: ShareThis In the future, if you tell a student or a journalist that you favor free markets and limited government, there is […]
Ricky Gervais is one of the creative minds behind some of Britain’s most classic comedies – Extras, The Office, Derek, to name a few. With Netflix series After Life, he took on a topic altogether more vulnerable, playing a man struggling with intense grief after the death of his wife. With the third and final season of After Life streaming now, we caught up with Ricky and co-star Tony Way to talk (in fairly spoilerific detail) about the show’s emotional ending, cake continuity problems, and that belly-busting cafe scene. Read the highlights below, and listen to the interview in full on the Pilot TV podcast.
Pilot TV: Ricky, I’m going to get straight into it with a scene, possibly the scene of the series, where you end up in a cafe with a hipster cunt wearing an orange beanie. And you start blowing on Lenny/Tony’s belly, and calling him a cunt.
Ricky Gervais: Right. I’d written that scene, and that was an afterthought. I even thought that it might not work, that it might be too mad for this, too out there. But I thought we’d do it anyway, that we’d do one with it and one without. What you’ve got to remember is, when I do that, that’s not one take. I’ve then got to do it from every angle, 15 different times. I mean, it wasn’t great for Tony either. And it was during COVID, so I’m thinking, can you catch belly COVID after this? Then the first time, I went ‘Oh, you’ve got aftershave on’. [laughs] So I was actually blowing raspberries, on his naked belly–
Tony Way: I believe it was Sure deodorant.
Gervais: [laughs] I mean, yeah, it did make me laugh. And why I went with it, even though it seems sort of a bit mad, was that this situation obviously made [Ricky’s character] Tony so angry. And when people are angry they sometimes do funny things, because they’re not in control. He’s trying to hurt this guy’s feelings, he’s frustrated. And he uses Lenny as a prop to get back at this guy. There’s a lovely little bit where I when I sort of say to Lenny, “Yeah, all right, fine”, and he thinks he’s got away with it. And then I’m like, “who’s a big fat cunt?”, and he’s like ‘Oh, I haven’t got away with it. Here we go’. It’s an observation that I wanted to get in about this hipster being really loud in a cafe about his two-year-old liking quinoa. I’ve been there.
We’ve all been there. The hipster is wearing an orange beanie, and I see so many of them wearing orange beanies. That is such a great observation. Was that from you, or the costume designers?
Gervais: I auditioned him [Tom Andrews]on zoom. I said [for filming] – and it probably sounds like an insult, but I think he actually dressed up like that for the audition – I said come as you are, come dressed like that. I told costume, ‘He’s got his own things’. But I don’t think he is that guy, I think he just thought that he’d audition camera ready. It was just perfect. His attitude was perfect, and his passive aggression was perfect. Sometimes you get those things – you go ‘That’s the guy in my mind. That’s exactly the character’. He absolutely nailed it. The only thing we were worried about was that we had to do it without the kid there, because I’m shouting the f-word and c-word.
Lenny is Tony’s human stress ball. He accepts it. He makes him feel good.
Way: It’s the only scene, I think, where you’ve said out loud to everyone in the room – halfway through blowing a raspberry on my belly, you suddenly stopped and looked up and went – “have I gone too far?” Your actual words were, “Have I gone too far? Is this too mental?” And everybody went, “It’s all right, it’s fine.”
Gervais: [laughs] Yeah, that’s true. I do remember that. I didn’t want it to look like it wasn’t part of the show. I didn’t want it to look like it was suddenly slapstick, but hopefully it is in character for Tony. Because Tony, my character Tony, he is an acerbic bloke. He used to be fun and muck around. So he always had that in him, and now he uses it as a weapon. So I think it’s totally justified that he went crazy and lost his temper in a funny way. But yeah, I think people have got to realize that behind the scenes, I am really blowing a raspberry on a big man’s belly. That’s what you’ve got to remember.
Way: There’s no faking that. That happened.
Gervais: Lenny is Tony’s stress ball. He accepts it, he’s a mate. I thank him at the end of it. He is my human stress ball. He makes me feel good. And it’s clear that I love him. I love him as a mate.
Tony, you have been directed by people like David Fincher and Doug Liman. How is Ricky in comparison?
Way: He laughs a lot more. I think the main difference is – and we won’t just talk about raspberries on the belly – but normally, the person directing that isn’t doing it, and hasn’t written it as well.
Gervais: [laughs] That does seem odd now, doesn’t it.
Yeah. Fincher’s not doing that.
Way: Yeah. They’re all comparable though. They’ve all got a similar thing. Good directors have got a good eye, and they basically all want it to be great. They want it to look good. They have an eye for detail. I think that’s something all those directors share.
Gervais: It’s not the worst thing that’s happened. Ethan [Lawrence] had to be in the bath. Joe [Wilkinson] had to have a bath. You know, that’s not good. I had to go in the sea. I had to play tennis and squash all in one day. I couldn’t walk the next day. We all suffer for our art.
What’s funny about a town full of wonderful, successful people? You want a bunch of losers that fall over, for our pleasure, but they get back up again.
Ethan had to be in the bath while David Earl was on the toilet. That scene struck me as being like your version of a British horror. It was so grimy.
Gervais: I mean, think of that – you move in with someone, because of your situation… I love that though, out of the frying pan and into the fire. I love that. He wants to get away from his mother, and then it gets even worse for him. I love the anger that Ethan has in the bath. To be naked, with all the crew around you and shouting. That’s a tiny bathroom as well. That’s for real, that wasn’t a set. That was a real bathroom where we all had to cram in. I wanted it to be a bit like Laurel and Hardy, you know, when it gets out of hand and everyone’s suddenly there. I do like those silly moments, those slapstick moments, that are real life as well. Everyone does all these things. They all have baths and go to the toilet, it’s just putting it in this context that’s a little bit awkward. People often say to me, particularly American journalists, ‘Oh, it’s like a bunch of crazy characters, and they’re all so weird-looking”, and I think, ‘I know. That’s England. That’s how most people look’. Most people are like us. Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp – they’re the weird ones. This is what England’s like. We look like Brian Gittins [Earl’s character] and Joe and me.
Yeah. There’s no slick, beautiful people in it.
Gervais: No. And also, those people aren’t funny either. I don’t mean those actors – I mean a town full of infeasibly wonderful, successful people. What’s funny about that? You want a bunch of losers that fall over, for our pleasure, but they get back up again. That’s the thing about it: they get back up again.
Do you remember the first season, when I showed you Tony’s desk? He liked the fact that he was sitting down. And he had snacks everywhere, right? But then after about a week, it was filled with flies, because they were sort of half-eaten snacks. And so we had to start again, because it was this disgusting environment. [laughs]
Way: It was a nice idea that Harry, the lovely props guy, and I had, which was that each episode there should be more empty wrappers from the episode before but with a bit more added on top. But obviously you can’t just leave a load of half-eaten biscuits.
Gervais: No. This is how filming works. So, the scene in series two where Brian and James have to eat cake, right? There’s no reason for that to be there other than it’s funny and that it went on for ages. But filming that, because David kept laughing every time, it took ages. Now at one point I thought I’d killed a man, where he was gonna overdose on cake. After about the 10th take, he was spitting the cake out afterwards, because you know, he’d eaten a fucking whole cake right? We couldn’t get it. That was a Friday, and this has never happened before, but we didn’t get it. So I said “We’ll have to pick it up Monday.” And that’s never happened before. But with continuity, they kept our costumes in the fridge! So we had to put back on these clothes covered in cake for that! And it stank!
Way: I don’t think mine ended up in the fridge. I think mine was left out in the sun. It was disgusting. A side note to that, by the way, is that them eating a cake wasn’t even in the scene. That was something you came up with on the day. We’d shot the scene. The scene was done!
Gervais: Yeah. So it was just for my amusement.
The two of you together, over the three series, have many of my favourite scenes. I love the scenes where the two of you, as writer and photographer for the newspaper, visit these freaky people – whether it’s the swingers, or the guy dressed like a baby. Tony, do you have a favourite of those?
Way: For this series, I think the swingers one. There’s two favourite things with this – the favourite filming experience of a scene, and there’s the favourite in terms of watching it back.
Gervais: Tony likes those scenes because usually, his line is “Smile.”
Way: Usually I take a picture and I say “Smile.” That’s it.
Gervais: He’s there to be very reactive. But it wouldn’t work without him. And you do have quite a lot of lines actually, but what I liked about that was, that one line that he usually says comes back at the end and is really poignant. And you don’t see it coming. Because it’s all about their friendship. They don’t have to be there, being nice to each other. They’re already friends. They’re mates. I put that bit in about “Nothing will ever be normal again. Normal used to be getting drunk and you sleeping on the couch” because I just wanted people to remember that there’s a history. This is not just a work mate. This is my best mate, who’s been through everything with me and lets me get away with murder.
The strapline on the billboard this time is ‘Every end is a new beginning’, and the ending itself is about that; that life goes on.
Yeah, that’s a really moving moment. That one line fills in the history. I spent much of those episodes welling up, but that got me a lot, because friendship is part of what the whole show is about, isn’t it?
Gervais: It’s about friendship and the world changing and moving on. Even the strapline on the billboard this time is ‘Every end is a new beginning’, and the ending itself is about that; that life goes on. And nothing lasts forever, but you’ve got to appreciate it while it’s there. I think we do take friends for granted. We don’t keep calling up our friends and saying ‘Thanks for being a mate’. We don’t do it. But it’s there.
Especially British friends, and British men. So that one line felt like a way of those guys acknowledging their friendship and love.
Gervais: Right. That’s exactly right.
Way: Lenny and Tony’s relationship is like every other male friendship I’ve got in that they don’t talk about anything like that. Which is probably good for Tony, that they don’t talk about it all the time. But it’s really even better for him when they do now and again check in with each other. We’re an awkward bunch, British men.
So, the ending. Tony – Lenny plays a key role, because he takes that photo, which is a significant moment. And there’s a shot of you kind of having a think, when you see Ricky walking off.
Way: I think I’m being the viewer there. With the ambiguity of the end, it’s left open. It’s left like it should be, which is that not everything is resolved. Loads of stories are resolved at the end of this series, but they’re all beginnings – someone gets a puppy; someone’s in a new relationship. So none of it’s ended. It’s just that a part of their life is ending and it’s moving on.
Gervais: That’s right. That smile is a lovely way to… you know, he’s never taken a picture of me before. Why would he? It’s usually someone else. So that’s nice, that I’m now at the Tambury Fair along with anyone else, so I’m going to be part of that record. Me saluting him is what worries him. He thinks, ‘He’s never done that before. That was a lovely, sincere thing to do. He doesn’t do that. He usually grabs the back of my neck or calls me fatty’. So what’s that? Why has he done that? And so you are meant to worry – is that a goodbye? But it’s not. I will say now, the ending is not that. As I said before, the ending is – everyone dies but not today.
Way: Also, that’s the only time I think I’ve ever actually said to Ricky on a job, “What happens to Lenny in this scene?” Because with all of the people’s final scenes, you were writing quite late on, if I remember rightly. I remember like a week before the end, saying to you “Where’s Lenny? What’s he doing?” And you said “Don’t worry.” And then I think it was the week before, I got an email from you with that scene.
Gervais: I remember. I was so excited.
Way: I was like, this is amazing. People are gonna have a breakdown. I think I’ve got the best ending.
Gervais: It’s very sweet how important that relationship was. Very important.
What kind of stage directions did you have for that final scene?
Way: It was literally as it’s filmed. That’s the reason that Lenny roams quite a lot in the fair. It’s exactly as you see it with the little salute – it cuts back to me smiling, cuts to you saluting, cuts back to me. It’s exactly that. You clearly had an idea or a picture in your mind of that, Ricky.
Gervais: It was just the mood. The tricky bit was whether I did that bit in slow motion or not, because I’d started the slow-mo on the fair, and I didn’t know whether to go back to natural things for that, or keep it going. I think I did a bit of a hybrid, so you don’t see the join. I did want it to be a bit dreamy, as well. Not to the point where people wondered if it was happening or not, but I did want it to be a little bit dreamy. Particularly because I knew what music I was using [‘Both Sides Now’, by Joni Mitchell]. I knew the pace of the music as well, so that dictated the pace of the dolly. We filmed it at 50 frames, to slow it down. These things are probably boring to most people, but it matters. The fact that you know the song that you’re filming for is a big bonus. Usually in TV, the music budget is what’s left over. But I got these things cleared before we filmed. And that’s rare as well, because I knew I could afford them and get them. So I was shooting to the music. The crew knew what the tune was. So that really made a difference in those tiny little moments.
Way: I think that makes that whole end scene – the way you shot it, and with the music – it makes it feel oddly timeless as well. It doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily happening then. It’s got an almost reminiscence about it as well.
Gervais: Particularly the ending, where – if people notice, I think they might – in the walk away, the leaves change colour and fall from the trees with CGI. So that’s meant to say, you don’t know how long this walk away is.
Your two characters have developed that relationship so much over the three series. Tony – did you have any inkling at the start that it was going to end up like this? Or has it constantly surprised you?
Way: I had no idea really. I loved the idea of the show, and I really wanted to go and work for Ricky, is the truth, at the beginning. And that’s all I really thought about. I don’t think I got it into my head that it was a Netflix show. It wasn’t until the end of the first series that I cottoned on to the fact that 100-and-something countries are gonna watch this. It was dropped to millions of people. And I saw the potential there. The reaction to the first series was… you can’t even hope for that. You can’t even pray for that sort of reaction. And the second series just seemed to completely double down on it. I think being in lockdown helped, because people wanted it. People are desperate for it, they properly love it. So no, there’s no way I could have known. I knew it was gonna be a good show. I didn’t know how good it was gonna be. I was happy when I first saw it, but the reaction is just extraordinary.
After Life Season 3 is streaming on Netflix now.
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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes
After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix
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episodes will be released on January 14th.
Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows
February 1, 2022
Ricky Gervais
London, W1F 0LE UK
Dear Ricky,
James: Yeah. As for me, like, Ken’s getting me a couple of auditions here and there. Like small bits and stuff like that. sh1t. What?
Brian: I can’t believe it. My ex-wife and Micky the Gypsy.
James: Is he violent?
Brian: Absolutely psycho. Mind you, I’ve seen her bottle a traffic warden. Aye. You do the mathematics. Heya. All right? All right. All right, Micky? Micky the Gypsy.: Yeah?
Brian: James, this is Micky. And this is my ex-wife, Elizabeth.
James: Hiya.
Elizabeth: All right?
Brian: Still together, then?
Elizabeth: On and off, yeah.
Micky: She was shagging Spud Head for a while.
Elizabeth: He caught us at it, didn’t you?
Brian: Awkward.
In the sermon ‘THE PLAYBOY’S PAYDAY” in 1984 Adrian Rogers discussed Proverbs 5. In that message he gave an example about a man who loved oranges and he compared that love of oranges to the way some men treat women sexually.
(Adrian Rogers at White House with Ronald Reagan)
remember a visit in 1976 that Adrian Rogers made to our Junior High Chapel service at EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL. He gave a message on Solomon’s search for satisfaction
He was searching for meaning and satisfaction in life in what I call the 6 big L words in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He looked into Learning (1:16-18), Laughter, Ladies, Luxuries, and Liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and Labor (2:4-6, 18-20).
When he got to the issue of LADIES he gave the same example concerning oranges and here it is:
Solomon happens to be talking to his son; that’s why he’s talking to his son about the girls. But I just want to say a word to some of you girls, also, about some of these guys. You know what a man will do? He’ll come to a girl and date a girl and take her out and wine her and dine her and then he’ll begin to say to her, I love you. I really love you. He’ll tell her that several times. He’ll just pour the sugar in her ear, and then he’ll say to her, Do you love me? And if she says, Yes, then he’ll say, Prove it. And what he means by that is he wants her to show her love, to prove her love by sexual immorality. If there’s one thing that doesn’t prove love, it’s that.
Do you know what proves love? Do you know what really proves love? You are able to appreciate and enjoy a person and that person’s character without having to sully their purity by doing it.
This guy says to this gal, Oh, I just can’t wait. I just can’t wait! I just can’t wait! The Bible says Jacob waited for Rachel seven years because of the love that he had for her, and it seemed as a few days. You see, lust can’t wait. Love can wait. Lust wants to get. Love wants to give. And when that guy says, I love you, I love you, I love you, what he really means is I love me, I love me, I love me. Oh, he loves you, but not with Bible love.
A man goes out here in an orange grove. He gets one of those big succulent oranges. He takes his pin knife and cuts a plug out of it, puts it up to his mouth, and squeezes all of the juice out of it. Then he throws it on the ground like a piece of garbage, wipes his mouth and says, Man, I just love oranges. Young lady, that’s the way he loves you! And when you’re left like a piece of garbage, he says, Boy, that was wonderful. Aren’t oranges good! But what he really means is, I love me.
Ecclesiastes 2:8-10The Message (MSG)
I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms. I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and—most exquisite of all pleasures— voluptuous maidens for my bed.
9-10 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day’s work!
1 Kings 11:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)
11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
Francis Schaeffer observed concerning Solomon, “You can not know woman but knowing 1000 women.”
King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:11 sums up his search for meaning in the area of the Sexual Revolution with these words, “…behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
Many people have tried to find meaning in their lives by trying to add to their sexual conquests! Below are other examples of that found in AFTER LIFE 3:
— After Life Season 3 Ending Explained & Review —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 5, 2022Ricky Gervais London, W1F […]
— After Life season 3 review: Its greatest strength is also its biggest weakness “Let’s just carry on, and nothing changes.” Netflix By Abby Robinson 3 weeks ago 3.0 out of 5 star rating To say a fair bit has happened since the arrival of After Life’s second season back in April 2020 would be a […]
— Ricky Gervais & Tony Way Talk After Life Season 3, Male Friendship And Shooting Outrageous Scenes BY BOYD HILTON | POSTED ON21 01 2022 Ricky Gervais is one of the creative minds behind some of Britain’s most classic comedies – Extras, The Office, Derek, to name a few. With Netflix series After Life, he took on a topic altogether more vulnerable, […]
— In episode three, Ewen plays a fells who gets chucked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet for eating too much AfterLife Season 3 – All You Can Eat Scene {Keith from office} Ricky Gervais: “The people in ‘After Life’ aren’t freaks. Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp – they’re freaks!” As his melancholic Netflix drama draws to […]
— Kaths best moment from After Life season 3 ‘After Life’ season three review: Ricky Gervais’ humanist hit goes out on a high The final scene, moving and poignant, is among its creator’s greatest works ByJames McMahon14th January 2022 Facebook Twitter They don’t make television like After Life anymore. They don’t make them much like Ricky Gervais either. This, the third […]
— —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows January 28, 2022 Ricky Gervais London, W1F 0LEUK Dear Ricky, “JUST SOUNDS?” OR DO […]
— Tony and Kath care for each other but they love to argue too! NETFLIX Most Powerful Moment In After Life and great Review — — —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just […]
— — After Life season 3 review: Ricky Gervais’ show is a terrific closure to a story of grief and acceptance After Life season 3 review: The third iteration in this Ricky Gervais series about grief and loss serves as an emotion-laden, poignant closure to the story. – Written By Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | January […]
— After Life 2 – Brian’s stand up performance David Earl plays Brian — —- —- —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes will be released on January 14th. Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy […]
— Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark (Official Music Vi… Why Is After Life So Popular? Afterlife Season 3 – “I wish I had a brick” —- — World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix — episodes […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events |Tagged Bible Prophecy, john macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)
Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too. I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)
Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology, Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Edit|Comments (0)
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E
On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:
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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris
Now, I’m not saying they don’t love and serve God, perhaps they do. But most of these people think the only time they serve God is when they get off work! They end up giving their prime time to the employer and their leftovers to God!
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