https://youtu.be/ypBV3EBbvTk?si=0o-JvIPblCIi6JBW

• 🚇 My partner and I drove to Montreal on New Year’s to spend some time with our friends there. It’s always nice to get on the metro, check out some stations, and walk around downtown Montreal. It was very cold (-20°C), so being able to walk through Montreal’s underground city was very welcome!
• 🐧 My #linux Journey is going well. It was actually easier than I thought to make the switch to Ubuntu. A consequence of this change is also moving away from Microsoft and Google services for my personal digital life. So far, pCloud and Fastmail have been working well for my needs. I’m testing Fastmail’s calendar, which seems good enough, and I like that I can sync it with GNOME Calendar.
• 🗓️ I started using a mini Happy Planner which I find is the perfect size for me. It’s much more portable, so it’s easier to have it with me. I don’t use it to track hourly appointments; instead, I use it for weekly/monthly planning and logging cool things.
• ⛸️ I'm back on my ice skating classes! I was so happy that in the first class this weekend, I was able to remember how to do cross-overs in both directions. I mean, I wasn’t as afraid anymore to actually lift my feet and cross over! I used to have a terrible mental block with this movement. So, I think the muscle memory is there, I just need to work more on it now (I can’t do them in sequence yet; I only do one at a time, slowly). It also looks like there will be lots of backward skating practice this time around.
• 🌊 I took some time to do my Yearly Review and set some intentions for 2026. The overall theme for me will be continuing the good things that I established last year. I chose the word FLOW for 2026: trusting my routines & tools, creating less friction, focusing on what brings me joy, and being open, relaxed, and grounded.
• 🏠 We completed another maintenance project in our house: upgrading our attic insulation to R-60. We hired a contractor to do blown-in cellulose insulation, adding to the existing Rockwool batt insulation we installed there when we moved in. One more house task checked off the list.
• 🎿 I was supposed to start classic ski lessons this past weekend, but because of the weather (it warmed up to +7C and rained) the trails were closed. The entire three-day weekend class was cancelled, and the only option offered was to enroll in evening classes instead. So, starting tomorrow, I'll have ski classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of the month! I'm very excited because I've never done this before and I want to build a solid foundation before hitting the trails on my own. It's gonna be tough, since the classes start at 8pm, and will disrupt my bedtime a bit, but it's only for two weeks, so I think I’ll survive.
• 📖 I started reading Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (Book 7 of The Expanse series). I'm loving it! I forgot how much I LOVE this series! I keep finding excuses to stop what I'm doing just to read. And it's even more fun because we are doing an online book club. Thanks, Joel, for inviting me!
• 🎮 I want to get back to playing video games this year. I barely played anything after last summer. So I made a list of games I want to continue or start in 2026: Stardew Valley, Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Citizen Sleeper, Trine 4 and Temple of Elemental Evil (the Steam updated edition!)

📌 Cool online reads:

• Gaming Recap 2025 by Joel: Wow, this is an impressive log! It has stats, finished/started/completed/in progress games divided by platform and even purchase costs.
• The Case for Blogging in the Ruins by Joan Westenberg: Great discussion on the importance of reclaiming our own spaces by writing blogs. I loved that it starts with Diderot’s Encyclopédie.
• Thinking about email workflows | Brain Baking : I like this approach to processing email inboxes.
• Why You Need A Stack of Thinkpads by R.L. Dane: Hey, I got one already! (but not the old ones...) But mine will be old someday!
• Winnie Lim » may 2026 be a boring year: Yeah, boring is underrated.
• Spreading misinformation on the internet – 82MHz: It's scary how we can't trust online information anymore. I agree we should all make an effort to publish accurate information out there, whenever possible.
• I'm a wanted criminal in Italy. Well, maybe. Probably not – 82MHz: A fun read!

📺 Cool Videos:

• The War on Privacy | Nebula by Jared Henderson: Interesting discussion about the right to privacy, with insights from philosophy and history.
• You're Wrong About Birth Rates & Aging Populations by Philosophy Tube: A well-researched video that explores population growth beyond the usual “infinite growth or economic collapse” framing. A refreshing broader perspective.
• Having Kids Vs Child Free: What's the Right Choice? by Philosophy Tube: This is a continuation of the previous video, presenting different points of view and arguments around the choice of having children. As a child-free woman in this day and age, I really appreciated the honest exploration of the topic.
• Pourquoi l’internet est brisé, et comment le réparer? Avec Cory Doctorow | Décrypteurs: Cory Doctorow’s interview on Radio-Canada discussing Enshitification! (the interview is in English, the intro is in French)

—-

#weeknotes

Revelation 9 is one of those chapters people either sensationalize or avoid. It is full of imagery that sounds like something from a nightmare—smoke pouring from a bottomless pit, creatures like locusts with human faces and scorpion tails, a king over them named Abaddon, and a torment that lasts five months. Many have turned it into horror fiction, conspiracy theory, or end-times spectacle. But Revelation was never written to entertain fear. It was written to awaken truth. And Revelation 9, more than almost any other chapter, exposes something modern culture desperately needs to face: the real nature of evil, the real cost of rejecting God, and the hidden prison people willingly walk into when they try to live without Him.

This chapter does not describe a future movie scene. It describes what happens when spiritual restraint is removed. It describes what happens when human beings, after rejecting light for long enough, are finally allowed to live fully in the darkness they chose. The abyss is not just a pit under the earth. It is the consequence of a heart that refuses God. Revelation 9 is the moment when God stops forcing people to be protected from the lies they insisted on believing.

John begins by seeing a star fallen from heaven. That star is given the key to the bottomless pit. Notice what is happening. This is not Satan breaking into something he does not own. He is given permission. That is important. The abyss exists already. It is not created in this moment. It is unlocked. God allows what has been restrained to come forward. Evil does not gain new power. It simply loses the leash.

When the pit opens, smoke rises so thick that it darkens the sun and the sky. That detail is not random. In Scripture, light is truth, clarity, revelation, and presence. Darkness is deception, confusion, and spiritual blindness. What is coming out of the abyss does not just hurt people—it blinds them. It clouds the mind. It makes it harder to see reality, harder to hear God, harder to distinguish what is real from what is false. This is the psychological side of spiritual warfare that Revelation 9 captures so accurately. Before the torment comes the fog.

Out of that smoke come locusts. But these are not insects. They are described as having faces like humans, hair like women, teeth like lions, iron breastplates, wings that sound like chariots, and tails like scorpions. They are a grotesque mixture of things that should not belong together. And that is the point. Evil is not simply ugly. It is distorted. It is something that looks almost human but isn’t. It imitates life without having life. It mimics identity without having substance.

These creatures are given power to torment people for five months. But there is a crucial line most people miss. They are not allowed to harm the grass, the trees, or the earth. They are only allowed to torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. That tells us something profound. This is not random destruction. It is targeted. It is spiritual. It is inward.

The torment is described as being like the sting of a scorpion. Anyone who has experienced severe nerve pain knows how brutal this is. It is not immediate death. It is agony that makes you want death. Revelation says people will seek death and not find it. That is one of the most heartbreaking verses in the Bible. It describes despair so deep that people want to stop existing—but they can’t.

This is not God being cruel. This is God allowing people to fully experience the spiritual environment they chose. The torment is not inflicted on believers. It is inflicted on those who refused God’s seal. In other words, those who refused His protection, His truth, His presence. They wanted autonomy. They wanted to be their own god. They wanted to decide right and wrong for themselves. Revelation 9 shows what that really looks like when all illusions are stripped away.

We need to talk about what the abyss represents. The abyss is not just hell. It is not the lake of fire. It is the realm of chaos, deception, and spiritual captivity. Throughout Scripture, the abyss is associated with demonic imprisonment. In Luke 8, when Jesus confronts the man possessed by a legion of demons, they beg Him not to send them into the abyss. Why? Because the abyss is where lies collapse. It is where demons lose their ability to masquerade as something else. It is the place of naked spiritual reality.

Revelation 9 is the moment when that hidden spiritual prison opens and spills into human experience. People who lived their lives believing they were free suddenly discover what has really been influencing them. The torment is not random pain. It is the realization of bondage. It is the agony of seeing truth after a lifetime of self-deception.

This is why the locusts are told not to kill. Death would be mercy compared to what is happening here. The pain is revelation. It is exposure. It is the soul realizing what it has aligned with.

The king over these creatures is named Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek. Both mean “Destroyer.” This is not Satan in his prideful rebellion. This is Satan in his true nature. The destroyer does not build. He does not create. He does not even rule well. He destroys identity, hope, connection, meaning, and truth. Revelation 9 shows his kingdom for what it really is.

What makes this chapter so unsettling is how closely it mirrors the world we are already living in.

Look around. We see unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, addiction, isolation, identity confusion, and despair. People have more comfort, more technology, more entertainment, and more knowledge than ever before—and yet suicide, self-harm, and emotional collapse are everywhere. People are not dying physically as much as they are dying internally. That is Revelation 9 energy.

The smoke that darkens the sun is the flood of noise, misinformation, ideology, and distraction that clouds the ability to think clearly. The locusts are not literal bugs. They are the forces that torment the mind: shame, fear, comparison, addiction, lust, bitterness, rage, and hopelessness. They sting but they do not kill. They make life unbearable without ending it.

People are seeking escape everywhere—substances, relationships, money, fame, fantasy, spirituality without God—but nothing actually frees them. They want the pain to stop. They just don’t want God. That is exactly what Revelation 9 describes.

The seal of God is not a tattoo. It is belonging. It is identity rooted in Christ. It is knowing who you are, who you belong to, and where your life is anchored. When the smoke rises, those with God’s seal still see light. When the torment comes, they are protected. Not because they are perfect, but because they are connected.

There is another detail we cannot ignore. The locusts are given authority. Evil does not run wild on its own. God is still sovereign. Even in judgment, there are boundaries. The torment lasts five months. It is not forever. It is not random. It is measured. Even when God allows the consequences of rebellion to unfold, He still limits their reach.

This tells us something deeply important about God’s heart. Revelation is not God losing control. It is God allowing truth to finally be seen.

After the first woe, John says two more are coming. But before we get there, we need to understand why Revelation 9 matters so much for us right now.

This chapter is not just about the end of the world. It is about the end of illusions. It is about what happens when humanity finally sees what life without God really is. The torment is not just pain—it is clarity. It is the removal of spiritual anesthesia.

People often ask why God allows suffering. Revelation 9 shows us the deeper question: what happens when God stops intervening?

When God restrains evil, even unbelievers benefit. They experience love, beauty, joy, creativity, and connection because God is still holding the world together. But when that restraint is lifted, when the abyss opens, what comes out is not neutral. It is torment.

That is why this chapter is not meant to terrify believers. It is meant to wake up those who think they can live without God and still be whole.

The most haunting verse in this chapter is not about monsters. It is about people begging for death and not finding it. That is what hopelessness looks like when it is fully exposed.

And yet, even here, God’s mercy is still present. The torment is not annihilation. It is an invitation to repentance. Pain has a purpose. It is meant to drive people back to God.

But Revelation tells us something tragic. Even after this torment, many still refuse to repent. They cling to their idols, their violence, their lies, and their self-made gods. That is not because God is cruel. It is because pride is powerful.

Revelation 9 is not about bugs from hell. It is about what happens when the human heart refuses light for so long that darkness becomes its home.

In the next part, we will go deeper into the sixth trumpet, the four angels at the Euphrates, the massive army, and what it all means for the spiritual condition of the world—and for your own heart right now.

Because Revelation 9 is not about someday.

It is about what is already happening, and what God is still offering before it is too late.

Revelation 9 does not stop with the first wave of torment. The chapter moves into something even more sobering, because after the five months of spiritual agony have passed, after people have been forced to feel what separation from God truly produces, the world is not healed. It is hardened. That is where the sixth trumpet comes in, and it reveals something even more unsettling than the locusts: when people refuse repentance long enough, the problem is no longer external evil. The problem becomes what the heart has learned to love.

John hears a voice from the golden altar before God telling the sixth angel to release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. That detail is loaded with meaning. The Euphrates was the boundary of ancient Israel’s enemies. It was the edge of the known world, the line between safety and threat. In Genesis, it is one of the rivers flowing from Eden. In later Scripture, it becomes the highway of invading empires. Spiritually, it represents the place where blessing and danger intersect. Releasing angels there is symbolic of something crossing a boundary that was once held in place.

These four angels are not benevolent. They are not protectors. They are restrained forces of judgment that have been waiting for a specific hour, day, month, and year. That phrase is not poetic. It is precise. It means God’s sovereignty is exact even when judgment unfolds. Nothing is late. Nothing is early. Everything happens when the moment is right.

When these angels are released, they lead an army of two hundred million. John describes their horses as breathing fire, smoke, and sulfur. Their riders have breastplates the color of fire and brimstone. Their tails are like serpents. This is not a literal modern army. It is the embodiment of violent, destructive power unleashed without restraint.

A third of mankind is killed. That is not symbolic of a few people. It is massive loss of life. And yet, even after this devastation, the final verses of Revelation 9 tell us something that should shake every reader. The survivors do not repent. They do not turn to God. They continue worshiping demons, idols of gold and silver, and they refuse to give up their murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts.

That line is devastating. It means that even when truth is undeniable, even when suffering is overwhelming, even when death is all around, some hearts would still rather cling to darkness than surrender to light.

This is the ultimate message of Revelation 9. It is not about monsters or war. It is about the human will.

God is not forcing people into hell. He is honoring what they chose. When someone spends their entire life rejecting God, rejecting truth, rejecting love, rejecting humility, rejecting repentance, Revelation shows us what happens when those choices finally become reality.

Hell is not God torturing people. Hell is God allowing people to have a world without Him.

The locusts reveal what life without God feels like inside. The armies reveal what life without God looks like outside. One destroys the soul. The other destroys society.

We are already watching both happen.

Look at how quickly anger turns into violence. Look at how easily lies become law. Look at how entertainment has replaced meaning. Look at how sexuality has been reduced to consumption. Look at how people dehumanize one another online. Look at how despair is normalized. Look at how children are confused about their identity. Look at how truth is treated as hate and lies are treated as virtue.

This is not political. This is spiritual. It is Revelation 9 unfolding in slow motion.

The smoke is everywhere. The torment is everywhere. The confusion is everywhere. But so is God’s mercy.

Because Revelation is not just a warning. It is an invitation.

The seal of God still protects. The name of Jesus still saves. Grace is still available. Repentance is still possible. No one has to go through the abyss.

Revelation 9 is terrifying if you want to live without God. But it is comforting if you belong to Him. It tells you that no matter how dark the world becomes, you are not abandoned. The locusts cannot touch you. The destroyer does not own you. The abyss is not your home.

Your identity is sealed.

The most important truth in this chapter is not that evil is powerful. It is that evil is limited. It has a king, but it is not the King. It has authority, but it is borrowed. It has time, but it is measured.

God is still on the throne.

Revelation 9 is God pulling back the curtain and saying, “This is what your choices lead to. Choose wisely.”

If you feel overwhelmed by the world right now, if you feel the smoke in your mind, if you feel stung by anxiety, shame, or despair, this chapter is not condemning you. It is calling you. It is saying there is still a way out of the pit before it ever opens.

Jesus is that way.

The abyss does not have to define you.

The destroyer does not have to rule you.

The torment does not have to claim you.

You can be sealed.

You can be free.

You can belong.

And that is why Revelation 9, as terrifying as it sounds, is actually a chapter of mercy.

Because it shows us what we are being saved from.

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

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I really wanted to write about pineapple and pineapples.

For my thirtieth birthday, we took a cruise ship. I was wearing my yellow polo shirt and drank Piña Colada — my favourite drink — through a straw.

With me were some of my favourite people,

my family.

Some of them,

they hurt me.

I am not yet able to tell the tale plainly.

I don’t understand enough.

It’s not the type of thing that has a clear timeline. Rather, it’s exactly like they were the pineapple in my fruit salad and I was (in this analogy) allergic.

It might have developed suddenly or over time, as these things do. At some point, I kept eating — the same way I always had. It left me with (metaphorical) blisters on my tongue, without me knowing why they were there.

Some time during the following years, I concluded that my tongue was supposed to be swollen. Like that was just the way of things.

Until I stopped thinking there was anything wrong with it to begin with. Even as it kept growing, were someone to ask what was up with my tongue, I wouldn’t have even understood the question.

Finally, the pineapple was too much — the allergy so intense that it almost suffocated me. I stood there in front of the mirror, having reached some final threshold, and realised:

• It’s not supposed to hurt like this to speak.

• Breathing shouldn’t be this hard.

• Most people don’t have tongues this swollen, with blisters all over them.

When it dawned on me that it was all from the pineapple — which I love so much — something broke inside of me.

It hurts.

Even though I know there are other fruits you could put in there instead, like oranges — small representations of the sun — it’s never going to be the same.

And physalis.

I am not sure whether I will ever be able to eat pineapple again. Realistically, I could probably eat it once a year. But is it worth it?

(It’s not)

It has indeed been awhile since I posted on here. Entries on here will be a little more sporadic over the next few months as this is my busy time of year for my actual job. I know I'm a little late to the party here but I want to wish everyone a happy new year!

Sportsbooks, media rights, and leagues themselves have created a triangle of sorts over the past few years. We have sportsbooks who have their names on networks, we have leagues who have deals with sportsbooks, and of course we have the media rights deals leagues have with the networks and apps. While this makes a whole bunch of money for the stakeholders of all those parties (some of which have massive conflicts of interests), it's the fans who lose out. First though, I want to discuss what is going on with Main Street Sports, the operator of the FanDuel RSNs.

Main Street Sports, the company that operates what are now known as FanDuel Sports Networks, is in dire straits and if they do not get bought out soon, they will go bankrupt. The Major League Baseball Teams who had media rights deals with FanDuel RSNs opted out of their broadcast deals to paint a picture of how bad the situation is. This does not affect the nationwide FanDuel TV, which used to be TVG, that is a whole separate entity which I will get into in a bit. First, RSNs (Regional Sports Networks) are mostly dying out as the media landscape is changing. Companies like Main Street Sports and others who solely operate RSNs are feeling the pinch of lower advertising revenue along with higher costs for the broadcast rights of the teams that they air. This dynamic is why RSNs would not be a viable way for the proposed Brand New Shield to distribute its media rights. Second, the FanDuel Branding I believe hurt the RSNs just like the Bally's Branding before it because of the fact those brands were built on gambling. It was different when they were Prime Sports Networks or Fox Sports Networks or NBC Sports Networks (a few of the NBC Sports Networks are still around). The naming rights deals with the Sportsbooks to me were one of the gravest mistakes the RSNs made which is why a company like Main Street Sports is in such a bad predicament. Many people do not associate premier sports television coverage with sports betting, and quite frankly they never will.

Now there is also the national FanDuel TV which used to be TVG (which was primarily a horse racing channel). FanDuel TV has turned into more of a sports talk/sports betting channel with personalities like Kay Adams and such leading the way on their programming. They also have a deal with the Indoor Football League to air games including the championship game. While this could be great for the IFL, it comes at a costs in terms of league image and integrity. As I've mentioned before, I don't believe FanDuel TV would offer such a deal unless they could get betting revenue from it. The IFL just doesn't have the footprint for FanDuel to offer such a deal without such a benefit for FanDuel involved. While the IFL will undoubtedly get more exposure and the opportunity to grow the fan base, they will also face similar questions like the NFL does in terms of its relationship with FanDuel. Is there a script? Are games rigged? Establishing such a relationship creates these questions regardless if there's any foul play involved or not.

I'd still like to think that integrity still matters at an organizational level in Sport Management. That is why I ask these questions and post about these types of relationships on here so that if/when the opportunity to do better comes along, we do better when that opportunity arises. The gambling and media rights landscapes for sports are ever-changing and maybe, just maybe, there's a chance to change them for the better.

There is a moment in Revelation 8 that is so strange, so emotionally unsettling, and so spiritually heavy that most people read past it without really letting it hit them, and yet it may be one of the most important verses in the entire book of Revelation for anyone who has ever felt forgotten, delayed, or unheard by God. John writes that when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Not thunder. Not angels singing. Not the sound of worship. Not the roar of judgment. Silence. Heaven, the place that never stops praising, the place that never sleeps, the place that never stops moving, suddenly goes quiet. That silence is not emptiness. That silence is attention. It is the sound of all of heaven leaning forward. It is the sound of eternity pausing because something on earth has finally reached God in a way that demands response.

This chapter is not primarily about disasters falling from the sky. It is not mainly about trumpets and fire and hail and blood. It is about what happens when prayers that were whispered in pain, cried in secret, and spoken in despair finally reach the throne of God in full. Revelation 8 is where the suffering of the saints stops being ignored and starts being answered. The judgments that follow do not come from anger alone. They come from justice awakened by intercession.

John is allowed to see what no one on earth gets to see. He sees seven angels standing before God, and they are given seven trumpets. Trumpets in Scripture are not background music. Trumpets announce something that cannot be ignored. They declare that what was hidden is now revealed. They are used for coronations, for war, for divine announcements, for the arrival of God’s authority into human history. But before any trumpet sounds, something else happens. Another angel appears. This angel is not blowing a trumpet. This angel is carrying a golden censer, and he is standing at the altar. He is given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.

That one sentence changes everything. The incense is not symbolic decoration. In Scripture, incense represents prayer rising before God. What John sees is not just angels and altars. He sees every prayer that was ever prayed in faith and pain now being gathered, mixed, and presented before the throne of the living God. That means the prayers of the persecuted church, the prayers of parents who buried children, the prayers of believers who were imprisoned, the prayers of those who died alone in faith, the prayers of people who were mocked, beaten, silenced, and ignored for following Jesus, all of it is now in one place. Heaven is not silent because nothing is happening. Heaven is silent because everything is happening.

This is where Revelation 8 becomes intensely personal. Because it means that none of your prayers were wasted. None of your tears were lost. None of your cries vanished into the air. None of your whispered pleas were ignored. The silence in heaven is not God hesitating. It is God listening. It is the pause before divine response. It is the intake of breath before the storm of justice is released.

Then John sees something terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The angel takes the censer, fills it with fire from the altar, and throws it to the earth. That fire had been burning in the presence of God. That fire had been touching the prayers of the saints. When it hits the earth, there are peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. What that means is that prayer does not stay in heaven. Prayer comes back to earth as power. Prayer returns as consequence. Prayer returns as God’s will breaking into human systems that have been resisting Him.

Too many people think of prayer as passive. Revelation 8 shows it is explosive. The prayers of the saints are what release the judgments of God. The world is not shaken by politics. It is shaken by intercession. Empires do not fall because of armies. They fall because heaven has decided that enough is enough. And heaven makes that decision because of what God’s people have been crying out for.

When the first trumpet sounds, hail and fire mixed with blood are hurled down upon the earth, and a third of the earth is burned up. A third of the trees are burned up. All green grass is burned up. This is not random. In Scripture, trees and grass often represent human systems, prosperity, growth, and stability. What is being judged here is not just nature. It is the illusion of human self-sufficiency. God is striking at the things people trust more than Him. He is touching the economic systems, the agricultural systems, the environmental structures that make humanity think it can survive without God. A third is burned, not all. Judgment is still restrained. Mercy is still present. Even in wrath, God limits destruction because His desire is repentance, not annihilation.

The second trumpet brings something like a great mountain blazing with fire that is thrown into the sea. A third of the sea becomes blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea die. A third of the ships are destroyed. In the ancient world, the sea represented commerce, trade, travel, and global connection. God is now touching the flow of the world. The systems of profit, the systems of movement, the systems that connect nations and economies. Revelation is not anti-creation. It is anti-idolatry. When humanity builds a world that worships money, speed, power, and expansion, God will shake those foundations.

The third trumpet brings a star called Wormwood that falls on the rivers and springs of water, making them bitter so that many people die from the waters. In Scripture, water represents life, truth, and sustenance. Wormwood means bitterness. This is not just a physical poisoning. It is a spiritual one. It is what happens when truth is corrupted, when lies are normalized, when deception flows through the systems people depend on. A poisoned culture eventually poisons its people. Revelation is showing what happens when humanity drinks from sources that are no longer clean.

The fourth trumpet darkens a third of the sun, moon, and stars. Light is reduced. Night becomes longer. Day becomes dimmer. This is not just astronomical. It is spiritual. God is withdrawing clarity. When people reject truth long enough, darkness becomes the norm. Confusion becomes the atmosphere. Revelation 8 is showing a world that no longer knows where to look for light because it rejected the Light when He came.

But through all of this, the most shocking truth remains this: none of this started with anger. It started with prayer. The entire chain of events in Revelation 8 begins at an altar where incense and prayers rise before God. That means that what is happening in the world is connected to what God’s people have been saying to Him. Heaven is responding to the cries of the faithful.

This should change how you see your own life. Because if the prayers of persecuted believers can move heaven and shake earth, then your prayers are not small. When you pray for justice, for healing, for restoration, for God to act, you are participating in the same spiritual mechanism that moves Revelation forward. You are not ignored. You are being collected. Your prayers are being stored. They are being weighed. And one day, they will be answered in ways you cannot yet see.

Revelation 8 is not meant to make you afraid. It is meant to make you confident. It shows that God is not distant. He is not detached. He is not slow because He does not care. He is slow because He is listening to everything. And when He moves, He moves with the full authority of heaven behind Him.

This chapter is the proof that God has a memory. He remembers every injustice. He remembers every martyr. He remembers every act of faith. He remembers every tear. He remembers every prayer. And when the time is right, He answers in ways that reshape the world.

What you are seeing in Revelation 8 is not a cruel God. You are seeing a just God who has finally decided to respond to the cries of His people. The silence in heaven was not absence. It was focus. It was the moment before eternity spoke back to history.

And when heaven speaks, the earth listens.

The most sobering truth about Revelation 8 is not what falls from the sky, but what rises from the altar. Everything that shakes the world in this chapter is born in prayer. That alone should radically change how you understand both suffering and intercession. The persecuted church was not powerless. The oppressed believers were not forgotten. Their cries were not just emotional expressions of pain. They were legal appeals in the court of heaven, and Revelation 8 shows us the moment those appeals were answered.

When the eagle flies in mid-heaven and cries out, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth,” it is not because God enjoys destruction. It is because humanity has ignored mercy for so long that justice must now speak. Even here, God warns before the worst arrives. Revelation never shows God ambushing humanity. He always sends signals. He always gives time. He always calls people to turn back.

What makes this chapter so powerful is that it connects prayer to history. Too often believers think prayer is about changing how they feel. Revelation 8 shows prayer changes how the world moves. The saints did not stop Rome by swords. They stopped it by faith. They did not overcome persecution by violence. They overcame it by endurance and truth. And heaven recorded every moment of that faithfulness.

The incense was not just fragrance. It was testimony. It was proof that the church endured. It was proof that faith survived. It was proof that love did not die even when hatred ruled. When God threw that fire back to the earth, He was not throwing punishment alone. He was throwing validation. He was saying that every act of faith mattered.

This is why Revelation 8 should give you courage when you feel unseen. If heaven keeps records of prayer, then nothing in your life is wasted. The season where you felt like nothing was happening was actually the season where everything was being recorded. The silence you experienced was not abandonment. It was accumulation.

God is not slow. He is thorough. He waits until the full weight of prayer has been gathered before He acts, because when He acts, He acts with perfect justice. No innocent cry is ignored. No faithful tear is forgotten.

This chapter also exposes something about the modern world. We live in a culture that believes power comes from platforms, armies, money, and influence. Revelation 8 reveals the real engine behind history is intercession. The most dangerous people on earth are not the ones with weapons. They are the ones who pray. They are the ones who refuse to stop believing that God hears them.

That is why tyrants fear faith. That is why oppressive systems try to silence worship. Because prayer moves something they cannot control.

The trumpets are terrifying not because they are loud, but because they announce that God has stepped into history in response to the cries of His people. What follows in Revelation is not chaos. It is accountability. It is the collapse of a world that was built without God.

If you ever wondered whether your faith matters in a broken world, Revelation 8 answers you. Heaven is listening. Earth will respond. And nothing done in Christ is ever forgotten.

This chapter stands as one of the most profound promises in Scripture: God hears His people, and He will answer them in ways that shake the world.

Your prayers are not small. They are part of something eternal.

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/douglasvandergraph

Immediately after the death of Charlie Kirk, many on the political left celebrated and mocked his death as getting what he deserved, while many on the right called for retribution in the form of violence. There were not calls from either side to stand down. There was not even agreement that his assassination was a tragedy worthy of lament and mourning. People on both sides of the political spectrum were stoking the sparks of dissent into anger.

Immediately after the death of Renee Good, many on the political right celebrated and mocked her death as getting what she deserved, while many on the left called for retribution in the form of violence. There were not calls from either side to stand down. There was not even agreement on what just happened. People on both sides of the political spectrum were fanning the flames of anger into rage.

Clearly, this event is BY NO MEANS THE MORAL EQUIVALENT of Charlie Kirk's assassination. It is potentially far worse. It is potentially far less serious. If it turns out that Good was gunned down by an overzealous law enforcement agent of the state, it is far worse than Kirk's assassination by a private citizen. It if turns out that the use of deadly force against Good was justified by law enforcement, her death is still tragic, but it is nowhere near morally comparable to Kirk's.

Here's the thing...we do NOT know which one of the above evaluations is correct. That judgment does not come in an instant from social media, talking heads on cable news, or politicians. That judgment comes as the result of a deliberate, impartial investigation by individuals qualified to do it. So far, that has not happened.

Here's what we do know...both sides of the political spectrum have abdicated their moral authority by cheering either death and should be soundly rebuked. Both sides are wrong to celebrate the death of either of these individuals, regardless of motivation. Both sides are being irresponsible and are part of the ever-growing cancer of division that has metastasized through these United States. Though there are clearly times when violence is necessary and right, anyone celebrating and glorifying death (regardless of cause) is acting as a lackey of Satan, willingly or unwillingly, and is directly contributing to the destruction and collapse of our nation.

It is time to stand down. It is time to mourn the destruction of lives, the destruction of the ability to debate and disagree, the destruction of civility, and the inevitable destruction of our nation that will come as a result of the normalization and celebration of political violence. Stand down. Everyone.

Better yet, time to fall down on our knees and pray...that is the only way out.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

#culture #politics #theology

heal my heart ease my pain give me the strength to love again

00:59:03 h

https://on.soundcloud.com/eP73tSaqvcsBT6sg54

Why I Can't Stop Thinking About Iran Right Now

I usually talk about other things here, but I feel like I have to speak up about what’s happening in Iran. To me, it’s the most important story in the world right now.

Over the last week, we’ve seen tens of thousands of Iranians take to the streets to stand up against a regime that has been brutally repressing them since 1979. It’s not just about politics, though; it’s about survival. The economy there is basically in a freefall. To give you an idea of how bad it is, one U.S. dollar is now worth 1.47 million rials. The currency lost 80% of its value in just one year. People can’t afford food, and they’re dealing with constant power outages and water rationing.

What makes it even more infuriating is the hypocrisy. You have a government that brutalizes young girls for how they wear a hijab, while the families of those same officials are all over social media flaunting their wealth and “living it up.” The corruption is everywhere.

On the global stage, we know Iran is the main sponsor behind groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. They were the only major country to actually celebrate the October 7th attacks. It reminded me of Masih Alinejad, a dissident living in New York. The regime didn't just arrest her family back home to silence her; they actually sent assassins to her house in Brooklyn. It’s a miracle she’s still alive.

There’s really no other word for this leadership than evil.

Despite the government’s “savage” response—shooting protesters, making thousands of arrests, and cutting off the internet—the people are still marching. Every hour feels like history in the making. Seeing the courage of everyday Iranians, young and old, is honestly inspiring. They are literally risking everything for a chance at a normal life. It feels like this time, things might actually change.

But the reality is, they probably can’t do it alone. We’ve already seen the U.S. take action with the strikes on nuclear facilities six months ago, and there’s been a clear warning that there will be consequences for killing protesters.

In my opinion, the world—and especially the U.S.—would be so much better off if this regime fell. This is a once-in-a-generation moment to support people who are fighting for the same freedoms we often take for granted.

I really hope we don't let this opportunity pass.

If America stands for anything, it should be moments like this.

Si vous suivez de près l'actualité de l'intelligence artificielle, vous êtes probablement déjà familier avec Claude Code. Depuis l'automne 2024, Anthropic entraîne ses modèles non seulement à discuter, mais à naviguer et utiliser des ordinateurs à la manière d'un humain. Jusqu'à présent, cette vision s'exprimait principalement via un agent de codage destiné aux développeurs, leur permettant d'automatiser des tâches techniques fastidieuses. Mais dès aujourd'hui, la donne change radicalement. L’entreprise ouvre ces capacités au grand public avec le lancement d'une nouvelle fonctionnalité en prévisualisation baptisée Claude Cowork.

Anthropic présente Cowork comme une méthode simplifiée permettant à n'importe qui (et pas seulement aux ingénieurs informatiques) de collaborer directement avec Claude. Le principe est étonnamment simple et puissant. Une fois que vous accordez au système l'accès à un dossier spécifique sur votre ordinateur, l'IA peut lire, éditer ou créer de nouveaux fichiers en votre nom. C’est une évolution qui transforme cette dernière d'un simple chatbot passif en un véritable agent actif capable d'exécuter des tâches concrètes.

https://youtu.be/WBNZpAWhw5E

Pour illustrer le potentiel de cet outil, l’entreprise américaine met en avant plusieurs cas d'usage quotidiens qui pourraient changer notre façon de travailler. Imaginez demander à Claude de mettre de l'ordre dans votre dossier de téléchargements en renommant intelligemment chaque fichier pour qu'il soit identifiable en un coup d'œil. Plus impressionnant encore, vous pourriez lui soumettre des captures d'écran de factures et lui demander de générer automatiquement un tableur pour le suivi de vos dépenses.

Grâce à un plugin Chrome et au framework Connectors maison, Cowork peut même naviguer sur le web ou interagir avec des applications tierces comme Canva. L'objectif est de fluidifier le travail. Vous n'avez plus besoin de copier-coller du contexte manuellement ou de reformater les réponses de l'IA. De plus, il est possible de mettre des tâches en file d'attente pour que Claude les traite en parallèle, sans attendre qu'il ait terminé une action pour en suggérer une autre.

Naturellement, l'idée de laisser une telle technologie accéder à ses fichiers locaux peut susciter des inquiétudes légitimes. Anthropic se veut rassurant en précisant que Claude ne peut ni lire ni modifier ce qui ne lui a pas été ouvert explicitement. L'entreprise ne cache pourtant pas certains risques. Le système pourrait théoriquement effectuer des actions destructrices, comme la suppression accidentelle d'un fichier important ou une mauvaise interprétation d'une commande. C'est pourquoi il est vivement recommandé de fournir des instructions extrêmement claires et sans ambiguïté. Anthropic avertit également sur les risques d'injection de prompt, soulignant que l'utilisation d'un agent autonome demande plus de vigilance qu'une simple conversation textuelle.

Pour la société, le défi est de taille. Il s'agit de convaincre le grand public de l'utilité de ces agents là où d'autres, comme Copilot de Microsoft, peinent encore à s'imposer malgré des années de présence. Le succès critique de Claude Code auprès des développeurs pourrait toutefois jouer en leur faveur. Pour l'instant, l'accès à Cowork reste un privilège. Il est réservé aux abonnés de la formule onéreuse Claude Max possédant un Mac avec l'application installée. Les autres devront patienter sur une liste d'attente, le temps que cette technologie prometteuse mûrisse.

I felt happy today:

After lunch and numerous long meetings, I made a fresh cup of hot coffee, put some 2Pac on, and started refactoring some unit tests. It’s like sudoku, but I can have my mind wandering or else focus deeply — up to me.

And 2Pac sings about shooting some other gangsters while I drink my coffee and look out through the window at the dark evening sky, and the snow.

The clock isn’t even that much, it all feels absurd.

Why this short moment filled me so with joy, I cannot explain.

It’s not like I don’t have anything to worry about

Who doesn’t?

Each day, I make a sincere effort to journal using two distinct pages. One is a weekly page that allows me to track daily and weekly habits on one side and to reflectively plan for the week on the reverse. The other is dated blank page that provides space for writing down memories, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial interpretations of my day. I say initial, because even through the lens of contemplative examination, I want to hold open the possibility that a more nuanced and anchored understanding of the experience might emerge through my ongoing practice and meditation.

When I write, aside from brief corrections when I misfire with my pen, I don’t edit while I’m reflecting. I simply let whatever flows from the pen land on the page and trust that what I have added is essential in some way, and that what I have already forgotten is not something I should worry about.

This is less about making sense of what I have experienced than it is about documenting my experience and providing mile markers that I can use to ponder later, though not forever as rumination is not the same thing as meditation. In fact, I have made a practice of looking over things within the quarter in which I write them, and then I recycle the removable pages from my journal like the temporary art of a sand mandala. Each new quarter brings a chance to be present with what is happening now while gently setting down the work of what has gone before. In my experience, that which is going to resurface over time, simply will if I give space in the silence.

I really enjoy the analog experience of writing with pen and paper, and while I try not to accumulate endless journals or notebooks, I do keep my daily pages separate from my planner, my poetry/prayer journal, and my meeting notes. I prefer the focus that comes with having fewer purposes in one set of pages, though you may want to experiment with the system that works best for you.

Practice:

Here are some tips for beginning your own daily pages journal.

• Decide how many purposes this journal will have, fewer total uses might allow for greater focus.
• Blank pages or bullet pages offer the greatest flexibility for laying out a single day
• You may want to find inserts or a page layout for a habit tracker/weekly look ahead to remind you of your intentions for the week
• Don’t edit or revise while writing. Your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial impressions are worthy in their own right.
• Make a plan for what to do with your journal when it is full? Will you save it? For how long? How can you hold these first impressions loosely and allow the Spirit to continue its work in you?
• Don’t panic if you miss a page. There’s a really good chance that you chose the most necessary thing instead. Return to the practice as soon as you can, and with grace and gentleness.