John 21 is not simply the last chapter of a Gospel. It is the quiet heartbeat of restoration. It is where heaven walks onto a shoreline at dawn, where the resurrected Jesus steps into the private ache of a disciple crushed by regret, and where mercy rewrites a story that shame tried to finish. It is a sunrise of the soul — slow, soft, bright, and transforming.

It isn’t loud like the crucifixion. It isn’t triumphant like the empty tomb. It is intimate. Personal. Healing.

This chapter is where Jesus restores the one who believed he ruined everything beyond repair. And if you read it slowly — if you let each moment move through you — you will feel the pull of a God who meets broken people with breakfast and purpose.

John 21 is a beginning disguised as an ending.

RETURNING TO OLD WATERS

Before the fire of restoration comes the fog of confusion.

Peter declares, “I am going fishing.”

Not for leisure. Not for distraction. But because he isn’t sure who he is anymore.

He remembers the courtyard. He remembers the denials. He remembers the rooster. He remembers the grief in his Master’s eyes.

Shame has a gravity. It pulls us backward into identities we outgrew. It whispers, “Go back to what you were before God called you.”

So Peter returns to the familiar — the sea, the boat, the nets. The old identity that once made sense. And the others follow, not because it is wise, but because wounded leaders unintentionally draw others into their backward steps.

They fish all night. They catch nothing.

Empty nets are sometimes heaven’s refusal to let you succeed at being someone you no longer are.

THE VOICE AT DAWN

As the sun lifts over the edges of the water, a figure stands on the shore.

“Children, have you any food?”

He knows they don’t.

He wants them to say it out loud.

“No.”

A simple word. A heavy truth.

Then the instruction:

“Cast the net on the right side of the boat.”

Unconventional. Unfamiliar. Unreasonable.

But familiar in another way — an echo from a morning years earlier when obedience birthed calling.

They listen. They obey. The nets come alive with abundance.

Fish thrash. Ropes strain. The boat tilts under the weight of miracle.

John realizes first: “It is the Lord.”

And Peter does something wild.

He doesn’t wait for the boat. He doesn’t think about dignity or shame or explanation.

He jumps into the sea.

Love reaches before reason understands. Passion outruns fear. Grace pulls the heart toward Jesus even when shame tries to anchor it.

Peter swims through the water toward the One he failed.

THE CHARCOAL FIRE OF MEMORY AND MERCY

Then comes the detail that cuts straight to the soul:

A charcoal fire.

A charcoal fire burned the night Peter denied Jesus. A charcoal fire burns now as Jesus restores him.

Same smell. Same texture. Same setting.

Not to shame him. To heal him.

Because God often revisits the memory of the wound so He can rewrite it with grace.

Before Jesus speaks, before He addresses anything painful, before He touches the sore places of Peter’s heart…

He feeds them.

The risen Savior cooks breakfast.

This alone is enough to break you open — the One who conquered the grave kneels beside a fire to serve the men who ran when He suffered.

Grace feeds before it fixes. Grace welcomes before it corrects. Grace nourishes before it commissions.

Jesus says, “Come and dine.”

Those three words carry restoration inside them.

THE RESTORATION OF PETER

After breakfast, Jesus turns His eyes on Peter.

He does not call him “Peter.” He calls him “Simon, son of John.”

He takes Peter back to the beginning — to the identity before calling, before failure, before the nickname “Rock.”

Jesus is not undoing Peter’s destiny. He is resetting the foundation.

Then He asks:

“Do you love Me more than these?”

More than the fish? More than this old life? More than your comfort? More than your pride? More than the other disciples?

Peter answers with humility, not bravado: “Lord, You know that I love You.”

Gone is the pride. Gone is the false confidence. Gone is the boasting.

Honesty remains.

And Jesus responds with commission, not condemnation: “Feed My lambs.”

Jesus gives leadership back to the man who denied Him. Jesus places responsibility on a man who once ran from pressure. Jesus trusts the broken because grace restores what shame tried to bury.

Then Jesus asks again. And again.

Three times. Three wounds reopened. Three wounds healed. Three denials redeemed.

The third time, Peter is grieved. Jesus has reached the deepest layer of the wound.

And Peter says something raw, something real, something absolutely holy: “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

It is the confession of a man who has nothing left to hide. Nothing left to prove. Nothing left to pretend.

He stands before Jesus exposed — and loved.

Then Jesus says it again: “Feed My sheep.”

He does not merely forgive Peter. He reinstates him.

Grace does not bring you back halfway. Grace restores you all the way to calling.

THE PROPHECY OF COURAGE

Jesus continues:

“When you were young, you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands…”

This is prophecy. This is honor. This is Jesus saying:

“You will not fail again.” “You will be brave.” “You will glorify God in death as you failed to do in fear.” “You will finish well.”

Then the words that started everything return:

“Follow Me.”

After failure. After shame. After regret.

The calling never changed.

THE END OF COMPARISON

As they walk, Peter turns and sees John following.

“What about him?”

Comparison always creeps in where calling grows.

And Jesus stops it cold:

“If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Your calling is yours. His calling is his. My plan for you is not My plan for him.

Comparison kills destiny. Focus feeds it.

Jesus is saying: “Stay faithful to your path.” “Do not measure your calling by someone else’s story.” “Do not compare.” “Just follow Me.”

THE FINAL THUNDER OF JOHN’S GOSPEL

John closes with a sentence so massive it shakes the soul:

“If everything Jesus did were written down, the world itself could not contain the books.”

This is John’s way of saying:

“I haven’t told you everything — but I’ve told you enough.” “Enough to know Him.” “Enough to follow Him.” “Enough to believe.”

The Gospel ends on earth, but continues in the hearts of believers who rise from their own failures into grace.

WHY JOHN 21 SPEAKS TO US TODAY

Because people still run back to old identities when they feel unworthy of new ones. Because shame still tells lies that God has walked away. Because believers still think failure disqualifies them. Because disciples still whisper, “I’m going fishing,” when they cannot see how God could still use them. Because hearts still break beside charcoal fires of regret. Because souls still need the voice of Jesus saying, “Come and dine.”

John 21 is the chapter for the discouraged. The ashamed. The weary. The ones who think they ruined God’s plan. The ones who feel like they do not belong anymore.

Jesus meets them on familiar shorelines. Jesus builds fires where memories hurt. Jesus cooks breakfast for the broken. Jesus asks questions that heal. Jesus restores what people believe is destroyed. Jesus recommissions those who ran. Jesus rewrites endings.

Peter walked into that morning sure he was unworthy. He walked away destined to lead the early church.

And the same Jesus who restored him restores you.

---

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Your friend in Christ, Douglas Vandergraph

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In Summary: * On the upside, it's been great having these two IU games to follow! On the downside, arthritis aches, soreness, and clumsiness has been no fun today.

Prayers, etc.: * My daily prayers.

Health Metrics: * bw= 223.55 lbs. * bp= 139/86 (68)

Exercise: * kegel pelvic floor exercise, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups

Diet: * 06:40 – mini-cupcakes, 1 banana * 07:20 – cornbread and butter * 08:35 – whole kernel corn * 11:10 – 1 fresh orange * 11:30 – baked ham * 13:20 – cooked vegetables with shrimp and meat * 16:20 – pumpkin pie

Activities, Chores, etc.: * 05:00 – listen to local news talk radio * 06:30 – bank accounts activity monitored * 07:30 – read, pray, listen to news reports from various sources, and nap * 11:00 – tuned into The Home For IU Women's Basketball ahead of this afternoon's NCAA women's basketball, Gonzaga Bulldogs at IU Hoosiers * 12:45 to 14:15 – watch old TV game shows and eat lunch at home with Sylvia * 14:30 – reading, writing, praying, listening to relaxing music * 17:30 – listening to The Flagship Station for IU Sports ahead of tonight's Old Oaken Bucket Game between the IU Hoosiers Football Team and Purdue Boilermakers. I'll stay with this station for the call of the game.

Chess: * 11:30 – moved in all pending CC games

I probably spent too much on music today. I tend to do that on Bandcamp, especially when labels are having sales on their entire catalogs so I can buy multiple titles and save on shipping costs. “Hey, its supporting small and independent artists and labels,” I tell myself.

I recently discovered a label called business casual. Founded in 2013, they first specialized in Vaporwave but have since expanded to include a variety of electronic genres and styles. And they love to release their albums on cassette. I'm starting to focus more on that format since deciding to ditch vinyl, so I jumped on the sale and ordered a handful of tapes and a CD.

• Broadcasts by Sonnig 991 & Simple Syrup
• Twin Palms by GammaFlow
• Jewel in the Crown by Bart Graft
• In Place Of Power by Full Eclipse
• Lake Hiareth by Ghostmemory
• Rainbow Smears by maggie.wav

I also bought digital versions of a couple albums from Farfalla Records, a French label specializing in 70s and 80s Library music.

• Occhio Occhio by Eleven76
• Heatwaves by Pleasurewood

These are the first albums I've bought from either label and I look forward to exploring them.

I actually had to pare down my original cart for business casual – lots of interesting albums there.

I'll be playing the physical media on my Twitch stream hopefully soon.

#100DaysToOffload (No. 115) #music #libraryMusic #vaporwave #synthwave #electronicMusic #Bandcamp #physicalMedia #cassette #compactDisc

The news business has survived many existential threats. Television didn't kill radio. The internet didn't kill newspapers, though it came close. But what happens when artificial intelligence doesn't just compete with journalism but consumes it whole, digests it, and spits out bite-sized summaries without sending a single reader, or penny, back to the source?

This isn't a hypothetical future. It's happening now, and the numbers are brutal.

When Google rolled out AI Overviews to all US users in May 2024, the impact was immediate and devastating. Travel blog The Planet D shut down after its traffic plummeted 90%. Learning platform Chegg reported a 49% decline in non-subscriber traffic between January 2024 and January 2025. The average click-through rate for the number one result on AI Overview keywords dropped from 7.3% in March 2024 to just 2.6% in March 2025. That's not a decline. That's a collapse.

Zero-click searches, where users get their answers without ever leaving Google, increased from 56% to 69% between May 2024 and May 2025, according to Similarweb data. CNN's website traffic dropped approximately 30% from a year earlier. Industry analysts estimate that AI Overviews could cost publishers $2 billion in annual advertising revenue.

But the traffic drain is only half the story. Behind the scenes, AI companies have been systematically scraping, copying, and ingesting journalistic content to train their models, often without permission, payment, or acknowledgement. This creates a perverse feedback loop: AI companies extract the knowledge created by journalists, repackage it through their models, capture the traffic and revenue that would have funded more journalism, and leave news organisations struggling to survive while simultaneously demanding access to more content to improve their systems.

The question isn't whether this is happening. The question is whether we're watching the construction of a new information extraction economy that fundamentally alters who controls, profits from, and ultimately produces the truth.

The Scraping Economy

In November 2023, the News Media Alliance, representing nearly 2,000 outlets in the US, submitted a 77-page white paper to the United States Copyright Office. Their findings were stark: developers of generative artificial intelligence systems, including OpenAI and Google, had copied and used news, magazine, and digital media content to train their bots without authorisation. The outputs of these AI chatbots brought them into direct competition with news outlets through “narrative answers to search queries,” eliminating the need for consumers to visit news sources.

The economics are lopsided to the point of absurdity. Cloudflare found that OpenAI scraped a news site 250 times for every one referral page view it sent that site. For every reader OpenAI sends back to the original source, it has taken 250 pieces of content. It's the digital equivalent of a restaurant critic eating 250 meals and writing one review that mentions where they ate.

Research from 2024 and 2025 shows click-through rate reductions ranging from 34% to 46% when AI summaries appear on search results pages. Some publishers reported click-through rates dropping by as much as 89%. The News Media Alliance put it bluntly: “Without web traffic, news and media organisations lose subscription and advertising revenue, and cannot continue to fund the quality work that both AI companies and consumers rely on.”

This comes at a particularly brutal time for journalism. By the end of 2024, the United States had lost a third of its newspapers and almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005. Newspaper advertising revenue collapsed from $48 billion in 2004 to $8 billion in 2020, an 82% decrease. Despite a 43% rise in traffic to the top 46 news sites over the past decade, their revenues declined 56%.

Core copyright industries contribute $2.09 trillion to US GDP, employing 11.6 million workers. The News Media Alliance has called for recognition that unauthorised use of copyrighted content to train AI constitutes infringement.

But here's where it gets complicated. Some publishers are making deals.

The Devil's Bargain

In December 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, accusing them of using millions of articles to train their AI models without consent or compensation. As of early 2025, The Times had spent $10.8 million in its legal battle with OpenAI.

Yet in May 2025, The New York Times agreed to licence its editorial content to Amazon to train the tech giant's AI platforms, marking the first time The Times agreed to a generative AI-focused licensing arrangement. The deal is worth $20 million to $25 million annually. According to a former NYT executive, The Times was signalling to other AI companies: “We're open to being at the table, if you're willing to come to the table.”

The Times isn't alone. Many publishers have signed licensing deals with OpenAI, including Condé Nast, Time magazine, The Atlantic, Axel Springer, The Financial Times, and Vox Media. News Corp signed a licensing deal with OpenAI in May 2024 covering The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Barron's.

Perplexity AI, after facing plagiarism accusations from Forbes and Wired in 2024, debuted a revenue-sharing model for publishers. But News Corp still sued Perplexity, accusing the company of infringing on its copyrighted content by copying and summarising large quantities of articles without permission.

These deals create a two-tier system. Major publishers with expensive legal teams can negotiate licensing agreements. Smaller publications, local news outlets, and independent journalists get their content scraped anyway but lack the resources to fight back or demand payment. The infrastructure of truth becomes something only the wealthy can afford to defend.

The Honour System Breaks Down

For decades, the internet operated on an honour system called robots.txt. Publishers could include a simple text file on their websites telling automated crawlers which parts of the site not to scrape. It wasn't enforceable law. It was a gentleman's agreement.

Nearly 80% of top news organisations in the US were blocking OpenAI's web crawlers at the end of 2023, while 36% were blocking Google's artificial intelligence crawler. Publishers attempted to block four times more AI bots between January 2024 and January 2025 using robots.txt.

But the honour system is breaking down.

TollBit's report detected 436 million AI bot scrapes in Q1 2025, up 46% from Q4 2024. The percentage of AI bot scrapes that bypassed robots.txt surged from 3.3% in Q4 2024 to 12.9% by the end of Q1 2025. Recent updates to major AI companies' terms of service state that their AI bots can act on behalf of user requests, effectively meaning they can ignore robots.txt when being used for retrieval-augmented generation.

The Perplexity case illustrates the problem. Wired found evidence of Perplexity plagiarising Wired stories, reporting that an IP address “almost certainly linked to Perplexity” visited its parent company's websites more than 800 times in a three-month span. Ironically, Perplexity plagiarised the very article that called out the startup for scraping its web content.

Cloudflare claimed that Perplexity didn't just violate robots.txt protocols but also broke Web Application Firewall rules which specifically blocked Perplexity's official bots. When websites blocked Perplexity's official crawlers, the company allegedly used a generic browser that impersonated Google Chrome on macOS, and used multiple unofficial IP addresses to bypass robots.txt rules.

Forbes accused Perplexity of plagiarism for republishing its original reporting on former Google CEO Eric Schmidt without citing the story directly, finding a plagiarised version within Perplexity AI's Pages tool with no reference to the media outlet besides a small “F” logo at the bottom of the page.

In response, Cloudflare became the first major internet infrastructure provider to block all AI scrapers accessing content by default, backed by more than a dozen major news and media publishers including the Associated Press, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Dotdash Meredith, Fortune, Gannett, The Independent, and Time.

The technological arms race has begun. Publishers deploy more sophisticated blocking. AI companies find new ways around the blocks. And in the middle, the fundamental question remains: should accessing journalistic content for AI training require explicit consent, or should it be freely available unless someone actively objects and has the technical capacity to enforce that objection?

The Opt-In Opt-Out Debate

The European Union has been grappling with this question directly. The EU AI Act currently operates under an “opt-out” system where rightholders may reserve their rights to prevent text and data mining for commercial purposes. Providers of general-purpose AI models need to obtain authorisation from rightholders if they want to carry out text and data mining when rights have been expressly reserved.

But there's growing momentum toward changing this system. A July 2025 European Parliament study on generative AI and copyright concluded that an opt-in model would more fairly protect authors' rights and rebalance negotiation power, ensuring active consent and potential compensation. The study found that rightholders often lack the technical means or awareness to enforce opt-outs, and the existing system is ill-suited to the realities of AI training.

The United Kingdom has taken a different approach. In December 2024, the UK Government launched a consultation proposing a new exception allowing materials to be used for commercial purposes unless the content creator has “opted-out.” Critics, including the BBC, argue this risks undermining creators' rights and control over their work.

During parliamentary debate, the House of Commons removed provisions on AI transparency which had been added by the Lords. After rewriting, the House of Lords reinstated the amendments, but the Commons again rejected them on 22 May 2025.

The opt-in versus opt-out debate isn't merely technical. It's about where we place the burden of enforcement. An opt-out system assumes AI companies can take content unless told otherwise, placing the burden on publishers to actively protect their rights. An opt-in system assumes publishers have control over their content unless they explicitly grant permission, placing the burden on AI companies to seek consent.

For large publishers with legal and technical resources, the difference may be manageable. For smaller outlets, local news organisations, freelance journalists, and news organisations in the developing world, the opt-out model creates an impossible enforcement burden. They lack the technical infrastructure to monitor scraping, the legal resources to pursue violations, and the market power to negotiate fair terms.

Innovation Versus Preservation

The debate is often framed as “innovation versus preservation.” AI companies argue that restricting access to training data will stifle innovation and harm the public interest. Publishers argue that protecting copyright is necessary to preserve the economic viability of journalism and maintain the quality information ecosystem that democracy requires.

This framing is convenient for AI companies because it makes them the champions of progress and publishers the defenders of an outdated status quo. But it obscures deeper questions about power, infrastructure, and the nature of knowledge creation.

Innovation and preservation aren't opposites. Journalism is itself an innovative enterprise. Investigative reporting that uncovers government corruption is innovation. Data journalism that reveals hidden patterns is innovation. Foreign correspondents risking their lives to document war crimes are engaged in the most vital form of truth-seeking innovation our society produces.

What we're really debating is who gets to profit from that innovation. If AI companies can extract the knowledge produced by journalists, repackage it, and capture the economic value without compensating the original creators, we haven't chosen innovation over preservation. We've chosen extraction over creation.

A 2025 study published in Digital Journalism argued that media organisations' dependence on AI companies poses challenges to media freedom, particularly through loss of control over the values embedded in AI tools they use to inform the public. Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index found that the global state of press freedom has reached an unprecedented low point. Over 60% of global media outlets expressed concern over AI scraping their content without compensation.

Consider what happens when the infrastructure of information becomes concentrated in a handful of AI companies. These companies don't just distribute news. They determine what constitutes an adequate answer to a question. They decide which sources to cite and which to ignore. They summarise complex reporting into bite-sized paragraphs, stripping away nuance, context, and the very uncertainty that characterises honest journalism.

Google's AI Overviews don't just show you what others have written. They present synthetic answers with an air of authority, as if the question has been definitively answered rather than reported on by journalists with varying levels of access, expertise, and bias. This isn't neutral infrastructure. It's editorial judgement, exercised by algorithms optimised for engagement rather than truth, and controlled by companies accountable primarily to shareholders rather than the public.

Who Owns the Infrastructure of Truth?

This brings us to the deepest question: who owns the infrastructure of truth itself?

For most of modern history, the answer was relatively clear. Journalists and news organisations owned the means of producing truth. They employed reporters, paid for investigations, took legal risks, and published findings. Distribution was controlled by whoever owned the printing presses, broadcast licences, or later, web servers. But production and distribution, while distinct, remained largely aligned.

AI fundamentally separates production from distribution, and arguably introduces a third layer: synthesis. Journalists produce the original reporting. AI companies synthesise that reporting into new forms. And increasingly, AI companies also control distribution through search, chatbots, and AI-powered interfaces.

This isn't just vertical integration. It's a wholesale reorganisation of the information supply chain that places AI companies at the centre, with journalists reduced to raw material suppliers in an extraction economy they neither control nor profit from adequately.

The parallel to natural resource extraction is uncomfortably apt. For centuries, colonial powers extracted raw materials from colonised territories, processed them in industrial centres, and sold finished goods back to those same territories at marked-up prices. The value accrued not to those who produced the raw materials but to those who controlled the processing and distribution infrastructure.

Replace “raw materials” with “original reporting” and “industrial centres” with “AI model training” and the analogy holds. News organisations produce expensive, labour-intensive journalism. AI companies scrape that journalism, process it through their models, and sell access to the synthesised knowledge. The value accrues not to those who produced the original reporting but to those who control the AI infrastructure.

Local news organisations in the US bore the brunt of economic disruption and increasingly tied themselves to platform companies like Facebook and Google. Those very companies are now major players in AI development, exacerbating the challenges and deepening the dependencies. Google's adoption of AI-based summarisation in its search engine results is likely to further upend the economic foundation for journalism.

The collapse of the mainstream news media's financial model may represent a threat to democracy, creating vast news deserts and the opportunity for ill-intentioned players to fill the void with misinformation. One study published by NewsGuard in May 2024 tallied nearly 1,300 AI-generated news sites across 16 languages, many churning out viral misinformation.

What emerges from this landscape is a paradox. At the very moment when AI makes it easier than ever to access and synthesise information, the economic model that produces trustworthy information is collapsing. AI companies need journalism to train their models and provide current information. But their extraction of that journalism undermines the business model that produces it. The snake is eating its own tail.

The Democracy Question

Democracy requires more than free speech. It requires the structural conditions that make truth-seeking possible. You need journalists who can afford to spend months on an investigation. You need news organisations that can fund foreign bureaus, hire fact-checkers, and employ editors with institutional knowledge. You need legal protections for whistleblowers and reporters. You need economic models that reward accuracy over clickbait.

These structural conditions have been eroding for decades. Newspaper revenues declined by nearly 28% between 2002 and 2010, and by another nearly 34% between 2010 and 2020, according to US Census Bureau data. Newspaper publishers collected about $22.1 billion in revenue in 2020, less than half the amount they collected in 2002.

AI doesn't create these problems. But it accelerates them by removing the final economic pillar many publishers were relying on: web traffic. If AI Overviews, chatbots, and synthetic search results can answer users' questions without sending them to the original sources, what incentive remains for anyone to fund expensive original reporting?

Some argue that AI could help journalism by making reporting more efficient and reducing costs. But efficiency gains don't solve the core problem. If all journalism becomes more efficient but generates less revenue, we still end up with less journalism. The question isn't whether AI can help journalists work faster. It's whether the AI economy creates sustainable funding models for the journalism we need.

The European Parliament's study advocating for opt-in consent isn't just about copyright. It's about maintaining the structural conditions necessary for independent journalism to exist. If publishers can't control how their content is used or negotiate fair compensation, the economic foundation for journalism collapses further. And once that foundation is gone, no amount of AI efficiency gains will rebuild it.

This is why framing the debate as innovation versus preservation misses the point. The real choice is between an AI economy that sustains journalism as a vital democratic institution and one that extracts value from journalism while undermining its viability.

The Transparency Illusion

The EU AI Act's requirement that providers publicly disclose detailed summaries of content used for AI model training sounds promising. Transparency is good, right? But disclosure without accountability is just performance.

Knowing that OpenAI trained GPT-4 on millions of news articles doesn't help publishers if they can't refuse consent or demand compensation. Knowing which crawlers visited your website doesn't prevent them from coming back. Transparency creates the illusion of control without providing actual leverage.

What would accountability look like? It would require enforcement mechanisms with real consequences. It would mean AI companies face meaningful penalties for scraping content without permission. It would give publishers legal standing to sue for damages. It would create regulatory frameworks that put the burden of compliance on AI companies rather than on publishers to police thousands of bots.

The UK parliamentary debate over AI transparency provisions illustrates the challenge. The House of Lords added amendments requiring AI companies to disclose their web crawlers and data sources. The House of Commons rejected these amendments twice. Why? Because transparency creates costs and constraints for AI companies that the government was unwilling to impose in the name of fostering innovation.

But transparency without teeth doesn't protect publishers. It just creates a paper trail of their exploitation.

Future Possibilities

We're at a genuine crossroads. The choices made in the next few years will determine whether journalism survives as an independent, adequately funded profession or becomes an unpaid raw material supplier for AI companies.

One possible future: comprehensive licensing frameworks where AI companies pay for the journalism they use, similar to how music streaming services pay royalties. The deals between major publishers and OpenAI, Google, and Amazon could expand to cover the entire industry, with collective licensing organisations negotiating on behalf of smaller publishers.

But this future requires addressing the power imbalance. Small publishers need collective bargaining power. Licensing fees need to be substantial enough to replace lost traffic revenue. And enforcement needs to be strong enough to prevent AI companies from simply scraping content from publishers too small to fight back.

Another possible future: regulatory frameworks that mandate opt-in consent for commercial AI training, as the European Parliament study recommends. AI companies would need explicit permission to use copyrighted content, shifting the burden from publishers protecting their rights to AI companies seeking permission. This creates stronger protections for journalism but could slow AI development and raise costs.

A third possible future: the current extraction economy continues until journalism collapses under the economic pressure. AI companies keep scraping, traffic keeps declining, revenues keep falling, and newsrooms keep shrinking. We're left with a handful of elite publications serving wealthy subscribers, AI-generated content farms producing misinformation, and vast news deserts where local journalism once existed.

The question is which future we choose, and who gets to make that choice. Right now, AI companies are making it by default through their technical and economic power. Regulators are making it through action or inaction. Publishers are making it through licensing deals that may or may not preserve their long-term viability.

What's largely missing is democratic deliberation about what kind of information ecosystem we want and need. Do we want a world where truth-seeking is concentrated in the hands of those who control the algorithms? Do we want journalism to survive as an independent profession, or are we comfortable with it becoming a semi-volunteer activity sustained by wealthy benefactors?

Markets optimise for efficiency and profit, not for the structural conditions democracy requires. If we leave these decisions entirely to AI companies and publishers negotiating bilateral deals, we'll get an outcome that serves their interests, not necessarily the public's.

The Algorithm Age and the Future of Truth

When The New York Times sued OpenAI in December 2023, it wasn't just protecting its copyright. It was asserting that journalism has value beyond its immediate market price. That the work of investigating, verifying, contextualising, and publishing information deserves recognition and compensation. That truth-seeking isn't free.

The outcome of that lawsuit, and the hundreds of similar conflicts playing out globally, will help determine who controls truth in the algorithm age. Will it be the journalists who investigate, the publishers who fund that investigation, or the AI companies who synthesise and redistribute their findings?

Control over truth has always been contested. Governments censor. Corporations spin. Platforms algorithmically promote and demote. What's different now is that AI doesn't just distribute truth or suppress it. It synthesises new forms of information that blend facts from multiple sources, stripped of context, attribution, and sometimes accuracy.

When you ask ChatGPT or Google's AI Overview a question about climate change, foreign policy, or public health, you're not getting journalism. You're getting a statistical model's best guess at what a plausible answer looks like, based on patterns it found in journalistic content. Sometimes that answer is accurate. Sometimes it's subtly wrong. Sometimes it's dangerously misleading. But it's always presented with an air of authority that obscures its synthetic nature.

This matters because trust in information depends partly on understanding its source. When I read a Reuters article, I'm evaluating it based on Reuters' reputation, the reporter's expertise, the sources cited, and the editorial standards I know Reuters maintains. When I get an AI-generated summary, I'm trusting an algorithmic process I don't understand, controlled by a company whose primary obligation is to shareholders, trained on data that may or may not include that Reuters article, and optimised for plausibility rather than truth.

The infrastructure of truth is being rebuilt around us, and most people don't realise it's happening. We've replaced human editorial judgement with algorithmic synthesis. We've traded the messy, imperfect, but ultimately accountable process of journalism for the smooth, confident, but fundamentally opaque process of AI generation.

And we're doing this at precisely the moment when we need trustworthy journalism most. Climate change, pandemic response, democratic backsliding, technological disruption, economic inequality: these challenges require the kind of sustained, expert, well-resourced investigative reporting that's becoming economically unviable.

The cruel irony is that AI companies are undermining the very information ecosystem they depend on. They need high-quality journalism to train their models and keep their outputs accurate and current. But by extracting that journalism without adequately compensating its producers, they're destroying the economic model that creates it.

What replaces professional journalism in this scenario? AI-generated content farms, partisan outlets masquerading as news, press releases repackaged as reporting, and the occasional well-funded investigative outfit serving elite audiences. That's not an information ecosystem that serves democracy. It's an information wasteland punctuated by oases available only to those who can afford them.

What Needs to Happen

The first step is recognising that this isn't inevitable. The current trajectory, where AI companies extract journalistic content without adequate compensation, is the result of choices, not technological necessity. Different choices would produce different outcomes.

Regulatory frameworks matter. The European Union's move toward stronger opt-in requirements represents one path. The UK's consultation on copyright and AI represents another. These aren't just technical policy debates. They're decisions about whether journalism survives as an economically viable profession.

Collective action matters. Individual publishers negotiating with OpenAI or Google have limited leverage. Collective licensing frameworks, where organisations negotiate on behalf of many publishers, could rebalance power. Cloudflare's decision to block AI scrapers by default, backed by major publishers, shows what coordinated action can achieve.

Legal precedent matters. The New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI will help determine whether using copyrighted content to train AI models constitutes fair use or infringement. That decision will ripple through the industry, either empowering publishers to demand licensing fees or giving AI companies legal cover to scrape freely.

Public awareness matters. Most people don't know this battle is happening. They use AI chatbots and search features without realising the economic pressure these tools place on journalism. Democratic deliberation requires an informed public.

What we're fighting over isn't really innovation versus preservation. It's not technology versus tradition. It's a more fundamental question: does knowledge creation deserve to be compensated? If journalists spend months investigating corruption, if news organisations invest in foreign bureaus and fact-checking teams, if local reporters cover city council meetings nobody else attends, should they be paid for that work?

The market, left to itself, seems to be answering no. AI companies can extract that knowledge, repackage it, and capture its economic value without paying the creators. Publishers can't stop them through technical means alone. Legal protections are unclear and under-enforced.

That's why this requires democratic intervention. Not to stop AI development, but to ensure it doesn't cannibalise the information ecosystem democracy requires. To create frameworks where both journalism and AI can thrive, where innovation doesn't come at the cost of truth-seeking, where the infrastructure of knowledge serves the public rather than concentrating power in a few algorithmic platforms.

The algorithm age has arrived. The question is whether it will be an age where truth becomes the property of whoever controls the most sophisticated models, or whether we'll find ways to preserve, fund, and protect the messy, expensive, irreplaceable work of journalism.

We're deciding now. The decisions we make in courtrooms, parliaments, regulatory agencies, and licensing negotiations over the next few years will determine whether our children grow up in a world with independent journalism or one where all information flows through algorithmic intermediaries accountable primarily to their shareholders.

That's not a future that arrives by accident. It's a future we choose, through action or inaction. And the choice, ultimately, is ours.

---

Sources and References

1. Similarweb (2024-2025). Data on zero-click searches and Google AI Overviews impact.
2. TollBit (2025). Q1 2025 Report on AI bot scraping statistics and robots.txt bypass rates.
3. News Media Alliance (2023). White paper submitted to United States Copyright Office on AI scraping of journalistic content.
4. Cloudflare (2024-2025). Data on OpenAI scraping ratios and Perplexity AI bypassing allegations.
5. U.S. Census Bureau (2002-2020). Newspaper publishing revenue data.
6. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006-present). Newsroom employment statistics.
7. GroupM (2024). Projected newspaper advertising revenue analysis.
8. European Parliament (July 2025). Study on generative AI and copyright: opt-in model recommendations.
9. UK Government (December 2024). Consultation on copyright and AI opt-out model.
10. UK Information Commissioner's Office (25 February 2025). Response to UK Government AI and copyright consultation.
11. Reporters Without Borders (2024). World Press Freedom Index and report on AI scraping concerns.
12. Forum on Information and Democracy (February 2024). Report on AI regulation and democratic values.
13. NewsGuard (May 2024). Study on AI-generated news sites across 16 languages.
14. Digital Journalism (2025). “The AI turn in journalism: Disruption, adaptation, and democratic futures.” Dodds, T., Zamith, R., & Lewis, S.C.
15. CNN Business (2023). “AI Chatbots are scraping news reporting and copyrighted content, News Media Alliance says.”
16. NPR (2025). “Online news publishers face 'extinction-level event' from Google's AI-powered search.”
17. Digiday (2024-2025). Multiple reports on publisher traffic impacts, AI licensing deals, and industry trends.
18. TechCrunch (2024-2025). Coverage of Perplexity AI plagiarism allegations and publisher licensing deals.
19. Wired (2024). Investigation of Perplexity AI bypassing robots.txt protocol.
20. Forbes (2024). Coverage of plagiarism concerns regarding Perplexity AI Pages feature.
21. The Hollywood Reporter (2025). Report on New York Times legal costs in OpenAI lawsuit.
22. Press Gazette (2024-2025). Coverage of publisher responses to AI scraping and licensing deals.
23. Digital Content Next (2025). Survey data on Google AI Overviews impact on publisher traffic.
24. Nieman Journalism Lab (2024-2025). Coverage of AI's impact on journalism and publisher strategies.

---

Tim Green UK-based Systems Theorist & Independent Technology Writer

Tim explores the intersections of artificial intelligence, decentralised cognition, and posthuman ethics. His work, published at smarterarticles.co.uk, challenges dominant narratives of technological progress while proposing interdisciplinary frameworks for collective intelligence and digital stewardship.

His writing has been featured on Ground News and shared by independent researchers across both academic and technological communities.

ORCID: 0009-0002-0156-9795 Email: tim@smarterarticles.co.uk

On MusicBrainz.

This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Advent, so here is a Christmas album recommendation for y¦all. I won¦t claim that this is the best Christmas jazz compilation, or even a particularly good one, but it is the one we had growing up. I would be willing to bet that this album got more play than any other in our household—the only reasonable competition would be A Winters Solstice by Windham Hill Records.

Despite being a budget compilation of random jazzy tracks in Sony¦s vault, including two different renditions of “Have Yourself A Merry Christmas” (one with vocals and one without), it is hard to go wrong with Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and the like. When I am inevitably humming holiday tunes during the winter months, it¦s probably one of these arrangements I am singing.

Favourite track: “Our Little Town” by the Heath Brothers. This might be the least overtly festive track on the album, but its vibes are choice for a cold day snuggled in blankets with hot cocoa.

#AlbumOfTheWeek

Pluribus Episode 5: Got Milk

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Being yourself is lonely. After Carol's interrogation of Zosia backfired, making the whole world hive-mind cry, the Others are giving her the silent treatment. They convoy out of Albuquerque and rely solely on recorded updates and drone interactions. Her only social outlet is video messages to the other twelve soloists. 

Sparked by moments of action and levity with her co-opted police car, Carol's solitude, with help from a pack of canines, lets her grieve Helen.

Carol becomes Agatha Christie as a series of clues eventually leads to an abandoned dog food factory and a classic episodic TV cliffhanger.

Watch it.

#Pluribus #TVReview #VinceGilligan #ScienceFiction #Larrys100 #Drabble #100WordReview #100DaysToOffload

Some sunrises feel ordinary. Some feel gentle. Some simply begin a new day.

But the sunrise of John 20 did not just begin a day. It began a new reality.

This is the morning when the earth remembered how to breathe again. The morning when sorrow loosened its grip. The morning when the grave lost its authority. The morning when the heart of God broke through stone and darkness.

John 20 is not a chapter to skim. It is a chapter to enter slowly — like stepping into holy ground. Every detail carries the weight of heaven. Every moment pulses with divine tenderness.

And at the center of it all is a heartbroken woman walking toward a tomb.

============================================================

Mary Magdalene moves through the early darkness long before dawn. Her footsteps are careful, not because she fears danger, but because grief makes every movement heavy.

She is not expecting joy. She is not expecting hope. She is not expecting resurrection.

She is expecting to cry.

This is the woman who followed Jesus when the rest of the world wrote her off. The woman who stood near the cross when others ran. The woman who watched His body taken down and sealed inside stone.

She comes not because she believes a miracle is waiting — she comes because love refuses to let her stay away.

But when she reaches the tomb, the world does not look the way she left it.

The stone has been moved.

Not cracked. Not shifted. Not tampered with.

Moved.

The darkness around her feels suddenly unstable. Her breath catches. Her heart begins to race.

This does not look like a miracle. This looks like desecration. Another wound on top of the ones she already carries.

She turns and runs. She finds Peter and John, her voice shaking with panic:

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him.”

In her grief, resurrection is not even an option.

Loss has shaped her expectations too deeply.

============================================================

Peter and John run together toward the tomb. John reaches it first but pauses at the entrance, overwhelmed by what he sees.

The linen strips. The emptiness. The silence.

Peter arrives moments later, and he walks straight in — just as impulsive, just as bold, just as willing to face whatever truth waits in front of him.

He sees the linen lying in place. He sees the cloth that covered Jesus’ head, folded separately, placed intentionally.

Nothing about this looks stolen. Everything about this looks purposeful.

John enters the tomb after Peter.

And he believes.

He does not understand everything yet — but something in his spirit awakens. Something whispers that this is not chaos, but victory.

Still, neither disciple meets Jesus in that moment.

So they leave.

But Mary stays.

The resurrection comes first to the one who refuses to walk away.

Her love keeps her rooted where her hope feels broken.

She stands outside, crying — grief shaking her shoulders, loss tightening her chest.

She bends down to look inside the tomb again.

And this time, she sees what the others did not.

Two angels.

One at the head. One at the foot.

Like heavenly witnesses guarding the place where death was defeated.

They ask her:

“Woman, why are you crying?”

Her answer spills from a wounded heart:

“They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

She turns around.

And Jesus is standing there.

But she does not see Him for who He is.

Grief can blur the presence of God. Pain can distort recognition. Tears can hide resurrection.

She thinks He is the gardener and pleads with Him:

“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

Mary is willing to carry what she cannot lift. Willing to find what she cannot possibly retrieve. Willing to do what her heart demands even if her strength cannot.

This is what love looks like when it refuses to abandon devotion.

And then — Jesus speaks.

He does not preach. He does not explain. He does not correct.

He speaks one word:

“Mary.”

Her name. Her identity. Her story. Her heart.

And with that one word, the world inside her resurrects.

She turns and recognizes Him instantly.

“Rabboni!” Teacher. Master. The One she thought she lost forever now stands alive before her.

She reaches for Him, but Jesus gently tells her:

“Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them…”

And what He tells her to say changes everything:

“I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.”

Not just His Father. Yours. Not just His God. Yours.

The resurrection does not only defeat death — it draws humanity into the family of God.

Mary becomes the first messenger of the risen Christ. A woman who once wept now becomes the one who carries the greatest proclamation ever spoken:

“I have seen the Lord.”

============================================================

Later that day, the disciples hide behind locked doors. Not from danger alone — from fear. Fear of being next. Fear of the unknown. Fear of a future they cannot imagine without Jesus.

And into that fear…

Jesus appears.

Without knocking. Without entering through the door. Without warning.

He stands among them.

And His first words are:

“Peace be with you.”

Not correction. Not disappointment. Not frustration.

Peace.

He shows them His hands and His side — the marks of love still visible, still speaking, still proving that the cross was not a tragedy but a triumph.

The disciples rejoice. Their fear dissolves into awe.

Jesus breathes on them and says:

“Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The same breath that animated Adam in the garden now animates the new creation standing before Him.

He commissions them with purpose.

But Thomas is not there.

And when they tell him what happened, he cannot accept it.

Thomas gets labeled for his doubt, but what he asks for is simple:

He wants to see what they saw. Touch what they touched. Experience what they experienced.

A week later, Jesus comes again.

The door is locked. He appears anyway.

“Peace be with you.”

Then He turns directly to Thomas.

Not with anger.

With invitation.

“Put your finger here. See My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas breaks open:

“My Lord and my God!”

This is not the cry of a skeptic. It is the cry of a man finally standing face-to-face with the truth he longed for.

Jesus replies:

“Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Blessed are you. Blessed are all who trust Him now. Blessed are the ones who cling to hope unseen.

John ends the chapter by telling us why he wrote these things:

“That you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Life.

The kind of life that breathes again. The kind of life that rises again. The kind of life that walks out of graves and finds its Savior speaking names in the dawn.

============================================================

Your friend in Christ, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee

#faith #Jesus #GospelOfJohn #John20 #resurrection #hope #ChristianLiving #encouragement #inspiration

❞ If you keep gazing at your inspiration, you could become a genius. ~ me

Starting a journey to fix loneliness.
Not building another social app — building Person Media.
First question: What if your online identity wasn’t a profile, but a person? 🧵

---

1/

I’m Nigerian — and growing up, depression wasn’t something we truly understood.
In nursing school, it appeared in textbooks like hypertension or malaria:
“a condition… treated with medication.”
Simple. Clinical. Detached.

Until I left home.

---

2/

Traveling and working as a nurse, I discovered a truth that broke my heart:

Depression is often rooted in loneliness — and loneliness doesn’t respond to medication.
It responds to presence.

---

3/

I’ve seen loneliness in busy cities, crowded trains, silent cafés.
Everyone “connected,” yet everyone alone.
Personal space became emotional walls.
The walls became normal.
The normal became unhealthy.

---

4/

And social media?
It took those walls and added an algorithm.

So instead of reaching for each other, we reach for screens.
We scroll. We perform. We disappear.
Presence replaced by content.
Humanity replaced by feeds.

---

5/

Then something strange happened — the moment that pulled me back to my idea.

One day, I got home from work and found a big card slipped under my door.
It listed services from someone in the area:

• Home tidying
  
• Dishwashing
  
• Errands
  

But the last item stopped me:

Companionship.

---

6/

It was written in Finnish — I can’t remember the exact word —
but the meaning was unmistakable: spending time with someone.

I froze. Bag still on my back. Winter jacket still on.
Just standing in my room, staring at the card.

---

7/

Then something else hit me — something deeper:

Before I could feel inspired, I felt fear.

Who is this?
A man or woman?
What age?
What reputation?
Are they safe?
Can I trust them?
I can’t just let anyone into my room.

And right there, I realized:

To cure loneliness, we need to cure identity first.

The card wasn’t dangerous because of companionship —
it was dangerous because of identity uncertainty.

The problem wasn’t the offer.
The problem was the person behind the offer.

That’s when everything clicked.

---

8 — The Right Order/

Loneliness isn’t chaotic because humans are chaotic.
Loneliness is chaotic because identity is chaotic online.

To calm loneliness, we don’t need more rules —
we need the right order:

PERSON → PRESENCE → RELATIONSHIP → TIME

• Person answers who
  
• Presence answers what can they do?
  
• Relationship answers what are they to me?
  
• Time answers what are we becoming?
  

This is the natural foundation of companionship.
And this is what the digital world has completely broken.

---

9/

That’s why Person Media exists:
A digital world that starts online… and flows naturally offline.
A world where the person is the medium.
Where presence replaces performance.
Where relationships have structure, safety, and meaning.
Where time with people actually counts.

---

10/

The first prototype is the World Calendar —
a living map of human presence, not content:

• Yesterday’s mood
  
• Today’s presence
  
• Tomorrow’s companionship windows
  

A gentle reminder that humanity is still here —
just harder to see.

---

11/

This is the beginning of a four-year public journey.
I’m building Person Media openly, slowly, and honestly.

Because I’ve met loneliness face-to-face.
And I’m not willing to let it keep winning.

---

12/

Say hello to Person Media.
A new kind of world — starting first online.
Built for identity.
Built for presence.
Built for companionship.
Built for humanity.

More soon.

---

Before you go — I’m curious:

Have you ever experienced a moment that made you rethink loneliness or connection?
When did you first notice that digital connection wasn’t real connection?
What moment made you realize how powerful real presence or companionship can be?

John 19 is the chapter where the weight of the world shifts. Where eternity leans forward. Where heaven becomes quiet. Where love proves itself deeper than nails, stronger than hatred, and more powerful than death.

Some chapters in Scripture speak to the mind. Some speak to the emotions. But John 19 speaks directly to the soul.

This is the chapter where the story of salvation is not just taught — it is lived, embodied, displayed, and fulfilled. This is the chapter where Jesus does not simply talk about love — He carries it. This is the chapter where the Lamb of God completes what began before the foundation of the world.

John 19 is holy ground.

It is not just a recounting of events. It is the beating center of the Christian faith. It is the moment when God’s heart breaks open in the form of surrender, sacrifice, and unstoppable love.

And today, we walk slowly through it — with reverence, awe, and a spirit ready to feel the depth of what Jesus endured for us.

============================================================

The chapter begins inside the courts of power. Pilate stands in front of a decision he does not know how to make. He has Jesus in his custody — innocent, calm, unwavering. And he has the crowd outside — furious, demanding, unyielding.

Pilate is torn between conscience and pressure, truth and politics, justice and fear.

But the crowd will not let up. Their voices rise. Their demands intensify. Their accusations echo through the stone corridors.

Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Crucify Him.

Pilate tries every option to avoid condemning Jesus. But nothing works. He has tried diplomacy. He has tried compromise. He has tried symbolic gestures. He has declared Jesus innocent multiple times.

But the crowd’s fury grows louder than his hesitation.

So Pilate orders Jesus to be flogged.

This is not a minor punishment. Roman flogging was brutal. It shredded skin. It tore muscle. It left men unrecognizable. Many did not survive it.

Jesus stands and receives every strike — silently, willingly, with love stronger than the whip.

This is not weakness. This is surrender with purpose.

The soldiers mock Him. They twist a crown of thorns and force it onto His head. They dress Him in a purple robe. They strike His face again and again.

And yet Jesus does not curse. He does not threaten. He does not retaliate.

He stands as the embodiment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.”

============================================================

Pilate brings Jesus out and presents Him to the crowd.

Behold the Man.

He hopes they will see the suffering and relent. He hopes they will understand that Jesus is no threat to Rome. He hopes pity will weaken their anger.

But the crowd has no pity. They see blood and demand more.

Crucify Him.

Pilate hesitates again, trying once more to release Him.

But the leaders’ voices cut deep: “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

Fear spreads across Pilate’s face.

He is cornered by political pressure. He is trapped between conscience and career. He is torn between doing right and protecting himself.

So he sits on the judge’s seat and makes the decision that will echo through eternity.

He hands Jesus over to be crucified.

============================================================

Jesus carries the cross.

The weight digs into His torn back. The wood scrapes the wounds left by the flogging. The journey is long. The pain is deep. The exhaustion is overwhelming.

But He continues.

Not because He is forced. But because He is committed to the mission of redemption.

At Golgotha, the soldiers stretch out His hands. They drive nails through flesh. They lift the cross upright.

And the Lamb of God begins His final hours.

Above His head, the sign reads: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek — the languages of religion, empire, and culture.

He is declared King to every part of the world.

The leaders protest the wording. Pilate responds with a sentence that echoes prophecy: “What I have written, I have written.”

Heaven whispers: Amen.

============================================================

Soldiers gamble for His clothing — fulfilling another prophecy as they cast lots for His garments.

Every detail of this chapter is Scripture being woven into reality. Every moment echoes ancient promises. Every action affirms that Jesus is fulfilling the Father’s plan down to the final breath.

But one of the most tender scenes in all of Scripture happens next.

Jesus looks down from the cross. He sees His mother. He sees John.

In the middle of cosmic redemption… In the middle of unimaginable pain… In the middle of carrying the sin of the world…

He sees a grieving mother.

He sees her pain. He sees her fear. He sees her heartbreak.

And He speaks the words of a loving Son:

“Woman, behold your son.”

Then to John: “Behold your mother.”

Even in agony, Jesus cares for others. Even in suffering, He makes sure Mary is not alone. Even on the cross, He fulfills the law and honors His mother.

============================================================

Then Jesus says something profound:

“I thirst.”

This simple statement holds galaxies of meaning.

He thirsts physically — His body breaking down from hours of suffering. He thirsts prophetically — fulfilling Psalm 69:21. He thirsts spiritually — representing the deep longing for the completion of the Father’s plan.

A jar of sour wine sits nearby. A sponge is lifted to His lips. He tastes it.

And then the moment comes — the moment history has waited for since Eden.

Jesus says:

“It is finished.”

The Greek word: tetelestai. A word of completion. A word used for debts paid in full. A word used when a mission reached its end. A word spoken not in defeat but in victory.

The work of salvation is complete. The price of sin is paid. The prophecy is fulfilled. The veil between God and humanity is ready to tear open.

Then Jesus bows His head and gives up His spirit.

He is not killed by force. He lays His life down willingly.

============================================================

Because it was the Day of Preparation, the leaders request that the bodies be removed before the Sabbath. The soldiers break the legs of the criminals to hasten death.

But when they come to Jesus, He is already dead. So they do not break His legs.

Instead, a soldier pierces His side with a spear. Blood and water flow out.

John pauses the story to testify: “He who saw it has borne witness… his testimony is true.”

The physical signs confirm the spiritual truth: The Lamb of God has been slain. The water symbolizes cleansing. The blood symbolizes atonement. The flow symbolizes life poured out.

Not one bone broken — fulfilling prophecy. Pierced in His side — fulfilling prophecy. Lifted up between sinners — fulfilling prophecy. Buried in a rich man’s tomb — fulfilling prophecy.

Everything aligns. Everything unfolds according to divine design. Everything points to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah.

============================================================

Then a surprising figure steps forward:

Joseph of Arimathea — a quiet believer, a secret disciple, a man of influence and courage.

He asks Pilate for the body of Jesus.

This is an act of devotion. This is an act of honor. This is an act of love.

Then Nicodemus appears — the man who once visited Jesus at night with questions. Now he arrives in daylight with a gift: a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about seventy-five pounds.

Together, they wrap Jesus’ body in linen and spices. They lay Him in a new tomb in a garden.

A garden — just like Eden. A garden — just like the place of betrayal. A garden — about to become the place of resurrection.

The world grows silent. Heaven holds its breath. The earth waits.

John 19 ends with Jesus in the tomb. But the story is far from over.

Love carried the world to the grave… so love could carry the world out of it.

============================================================

Your friend in Christ, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee

#faith #Jesus #GospelOfJohn #John19 #ChristianLiving #hope #encouragement #resurrection

Some chapters of Scripture read slowly, gently, and softly. John 18 does not.

John 18 crashes into the reader with intensity. It is a chapter soaked in tension, betrayal, political pressure, fear, violence, and divine stillness. It is one of the most emotionally charged nights in all of human history.

And yet, while humans shake, Jesus does not.

This is the night when torches burned through the darkness but could not expose weakness in the Son of God. This is the night when soldiers carried weapons, but God carried authority. This is the night when fear overwhelmed the disciples, but courage overflowed from Christ. This is the night when earthly powers flexed their muscles, but heaven refused to retreat.

John 18 reveals a Savior who does not run from suffering, does not bend under pressure, and does not lose Himself in the middle of chaos.

This is the night God’s courage filled the darkness.

============================================================

The chapter begins in a garden. Not just any garden—a familiar one, one Jesus visited often, one Judas knew well.

Jesus chooses this place intentionally. He does not hide from what is coming. He does not take a different route through the city. He does not find a more discreet location.

He goes exactly where Judas expects Him.

Because Jesus is not avoiding His purpose. He is embracing it.

A detachment of soldiers approaches. Torches flicker in the night. Lanterns glow. Metal armor clinks. Weapons shine in the dim light.

The world arrives armed, but Jesus steps forward unarmed.

He asks, “Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they reply.

And then He speaks the divine name—the name spoken from the burning bush, the name with cosmic weight:

“I am.”

And the soldiers fall backward.

They do not fall because of a push. They fall because Truth spoke. They fall because God stood before them. They fall because the Word that created galaxies let them hear His identity with unfiltered force.

They rise again, shaken. Jesus repeats the question. They repeat their answer. He repeats His identity.

Then He says something astonishing in the middle of chaos:

“If you are looking for Me, let these men go.”

Even as danger closes in, He protects His disciples. Even as betrayal surrounds Him, His compassion does not shrink. Even as the journey to the cross begins, He still places Himself between His people and harm.

This is Jesus—love in action under pressure.

============================================================

Then Peter moves. Peter, who loves passionately. Peter, who acts before he thinks. Peter, who feels deeply and expresses it loudly.

He draws a sword and swings, cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant.

Peter wants to defend Jesus. Peter wants to fight for the kingdom. Peter thinks the moment calls for force.

But Jesus immediately stops him.

“Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”

The kingdom of God is not advanced by violence. The kingdom is not upheld by earthly weapons. God does not need human force to complete divine purpose.

Peter is fighting the wrong battle. Jesus is stepping into the right one.

============================================================

Jesus is bound and led away. Hands tied. Surrounded by soldiers.

But the binding of Jesus is not the binding of God’s power. He is not being captured—He is walking willingly. He is not being controlled—He is fulfilling Scripture. He is not being overpowered—He is embracing the path set before Him from the foundation of the world.

He is taken to Annas. Then to Caiaphas. Then eventually to Pilate.

Inside these walls, earthly authority tries to intimidate Him. But Jesus does not flinch.

============================================================

Meanwhile, outside, Peter warms himself by a fire. Fear claws at him. His courage drains. His confidence crumbles.

A servant girl asks, “Aren’t you one of His disciples?”

“I am not.”

Another voice asks. His answer is the same.

A relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off recognizes him. “I saw you with Him.”

“I do not know Him!”

And the rooster crows.

Peter’s heart shatters. Shame ignites. Fear overwhelms him. The disciple who once vowed to die for Jesus now denies Him three times.

But the grace of Christ is larger than Peter’s fear. This night will not define Peter’s ending. This night will become the beginning of his restoration.

John 18 teaches us this truth: God knows your weakness before you fall—and He plans your restoration before you rise.

============================================================

Inside, Jesus is questioned about His teaching. He responds with clarity:

“I have spoken openly… I said nothing in secret.”

A guard strikes Him.

The contrast is breathtaking:

A sinful creation strikes the sinless Creator. A fragile human raises a hand to the One who breathed life into him. A servant attempts to silence the Author of truth.

But Jesus remains composed.

“If I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?”

He does not retaliate. He does not argue. He does not posture.

Truth does not crumble under pressure. Truth stands—even when struck.

============================================================

Jesus is taken to Pilate, the representative of Roman power. Pilate, the man used to being the most powerful voice in the room. Pilate, the man who rules by fear and intimidation.

But something about Jesus unsettles him. Something about this prisoner feels different. Something about this silence carries authority.

Pilate asks, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

And Jesus responds with supernatural calm: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

He does not say His kingdom is imaginary. He says it is undefeated.

He does not say His kingdom is small. He says it is eternal.

He does not say He is not a king. He says His kingship is unshakable.

Pilate presses further. Jesus tells him:

“For this reason I was born… to testify to the truth.”

Pilate then utters the most tragic question of the night: “What is truth?”

He asks the question while staring into the face of Truth Himself.

Few moments in Scripture reveal human blindness more clearly.

============================================================

Pilate tries to release Jesus. He declares Him innocent multiple times. He attempts compromise. He attempts negotiation.

But the religious leaders stir the crowd. Fear intensifies. Politics override justice.

Barabbas, a violent criminal, is set free. Jesus, innocent and holy, is condemned.

But this is not a failure. This is not the unraveling of hope. This is not the victory of darkness.

This is the plan. This is the purpose. This is the mission Jesus came to fulfill.

This is the Lamb of God stepping toward the cross to carry sin, shame, and the weight of the world.

============================================================

John 18 is a landscape of contrasts:

Jesus stands forward— soldiers fall backward.

Jesus speaks truth— leaders speak lies.

Jesus protects others— Peter protects himself.

Jesus remains steady— Pilate trembles.

Jesus surrenders willingly— Barabbas is freed unwillingly.

Jesus embodies divine strength— human systems reveal their weakness.

Light shines— darkness reacts.

And through every contrast, one truth is unmistakable:

Jesus is the only unshakable presence in the entire chapter.

He is the same today.

When your world feels unstable— He stands steady.

When fear tries to silence your faith— He remains near.

When chaos tries to consume your peace— He speaks calm.

When betrayal breaks your heart— He holds your future.

When systems around you fail— His kingdom remains.

John 18 shows us a Jesus who is powerful enough to knock soldiers to the ground with a sentence and humble enough to walk willingly toward suffering for the sake of love.

This is the night God’s courage filled the darkness.

This is the Savior who walks beside you today.

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Your friend in Christ, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee

#faith #Jesus #GospelOfJohn #John18 #ChristianLiving #encouragement #hope #spiritualgrowth

The moon is shining down its energies on me. It’s the only celestial body visible on the dark blue almost black sky, but tonight this is just what I need.

The radiance of silver

I have been struggling with some uncomfortable realisations which are settling in. It hurts like hell, like there’s a broken bone which didn’t heal right in me, which now ruthlessly had to be re-broken in order to heal straight.

No wonder then, that I am at the brink of tears whenever this broken bone tries to support my weight.

But it will heal back stronger now.

Do you know the way some kickboxers kick against bamboo trees to strengthen their chins.

It’s like that almost.

The cool warmth of the moon on the blue almost black sky I have as a fixture in my head.

I use it to navigate this world which I didn’t know as well as I thought.

It’s never too late for a lesson on humility it seems.

GO HOOSIERS!

Today brings me two IU games to cheer for. First up was the Indiana Women's Basketball Team facing off against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in an early afternoon game as part of the GEICO Coconut Hoops Tournament. Indiana won this tightly contested game by a score of 76 to 72.

My second game will feature the IU Hoosiers Football team vs the Purdue Boilermakers tonight in a classic rivalry, The Old Oaken Bucket Game being played this year on Purdue's home field in West Lafayette.

And the adventure continues.

The Prayer That Holds Eternity: Discovering the Depth of John 17

There are chapters in Scripture that teach, chapters that correct, chapters that reveal miracles, chapters that confront the heart, and chapters that shine with prophetic power. But then there are chapters that feel like stepping barefoot onto holy ground. John 17 is one of those chapters—unique, sacred, untouched by anything else in the Gospels.

This is not a parable. This is not a sermon. This is not a confrontation with religious leaders. This is not a miracle meant to strengthen faith.

John 17 is a prayer spoken in the night. A prayer spoken in the shadow of the cross. A prayer spoken in the stillness before everything breaks open. A prayer spoken by Jesus directly to the Father, with no crowds, no interruptions, and no distractions.

If the Gospel of John is a diamond, then chapter 17 is its glowing center. This is the heart of the Gospel laid bare. This is Jesus revealing what matters most to Him, what weighs deepest on His spirit, and what He longs for—for Himself, for His disciples, and for everyone who would ever believe in His name.

And when you read it slowly, you begin to understand something that changes everything: this is the moment where Jesus prayed for you.

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“Father, the hour has come…”

The prayer begins with a line that rings across eternity: “Father, the hour has come.” Throughout the book of John, Jesus has spoken about His “hour,” the moment when His mission would reach its fulfillment. For years, the hour had not yet arrived. But now, as Jesus stands on the doorstep of betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion, He declares that the hour is here.

This moment is monumental—not because Jesus is about to be defeated, but because He is about to be victorious. His hour is not tragedy—it is triumph. It is the hour of redemption. The hour when heaven will open the gates of grace to the world. The hour when salvation will be purchased with blood.

And instead of praying for rescue, Jesus prays for glory.

He says, “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.” Jesus is not seeking recognition. He is seeking fulfillment. He is seeking the revelation of God’s love through the suffering He is about to endure. He is showing us what true surrender looks like: not the avoidance of pain, but the willingness to let God reveal His purpose through it.

Jesus prays with a clarity that cuts through fear and darkness. His mind is not fixed on the cross—but on the meaning of the cross. Not the agony—but the victory. Not the nails—but the redemption those nails will secure.

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Jesus Prays for Himself: A Heart Anchored in Purpose

When Jesus prays for Himself, His prayer is not self-centered—it is mission-centered. He says, “I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.” This is the purest expression of completion, the declaration of a life poured out exactly as the Father intended.

Jesus lived every day on purpose. Every step was intentional. Every word carried divine weight. Every act of compassion revealed the Father’s heart.

And now, with the cross standing directly in front of Him, He prays to be restored to the glory He shared with the Father before the world began. This is a powerful reminder that Jesus did not begin in Bethlehem—He entered the world in Bethlehem. Before creation existed, He existed in glory, unity, and love with the Father.

His prayer for Himself is not a cry for help—it is a declaration of destiny.

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Jesus Prays for His Disciples: Love Covering Their Future

After praying for Himself, Jesus turns His heart toward His disciples—the ones who walked with Him, learned from Him, trusted Him, and still didn’t fully grasp what was about to unfold. Jesus knows their hearts are fragile. He knows fear will try to overwhelm them. He knows pressure is coming. He knows persecution is coming. And so He prays with a depth of tenderness that cannot be overstated.

Jesus prays for four things for His disciples—four things He knows they will desperately need.

He prays for protection. “Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name.”

Jesus does not pray that the disciples will avoid trials. He prays that they will survive them. He prays that their faith will hold firm. He prays that evil will not destroy them.

Protection from Jesus’ perspective is not protection from hardship—it is protection from falling away.

He prays for unity. “Make them one as We are one.”

Unity is one of the supernatural signatures of the church. When believers love each other the way Jesus loves them, the world sees the nature of God reflected in their relationships. Unity is not uniformity—it is harmony. It is the shared love that binds the hearts of believers in Christ.

He prays for joy. “I say these things so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them.”

This joy does not depend on circumstances. It is the deep, unshakeable joy of belonging to God, even in the middle of storms. Jesus wants His disciples to carry His joy—a joy that cannot be extinguished by fear or persecution.

He prays for sanctification. “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”

Sanctification is the slow, beautiful work of the Holy Spirit shaping believers into the likeness of Christ. Jesus prays that His disciples will not simply believe the truth, but be transformed by it.

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Jesus Prays for All Future Believers: The Prayer That Crosses Time

Then comes the moment that makes John 17 astonishingly personal. Jesus says, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message.”

This is the moment the prayer stretches across time itself. This is the moment the prayer enters the future. This is the moment Jesus prayed for you.

He saw your life. He saw your struggles. He saw your victories. He saw the days when your faith would be strong—and the days when it wouldn’t. He saw the world you would live in. He saw the culture you would face.

And He prayed for you.

He prays three powerful things over every future believer:

He prays for unity. “May they all be one.” Jesus wants His followers across every nation, culture, and generation to be united in love, truth, and purpose.

He prays that we will reflect His glory. “The glory You gave Me, I have given them.” We reflect His glory when His character is seen in our lives. The world does not need perfect people—it needs people who carry the love of Christ wherever they go.

He prays that we will be with Him forever. “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am.”

Jesus does not simply want us near Him temporarily—He wants us near Him eternally. Heaven is not a reward—it is a relationship fulfilled.

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What This Chapter Reveals About Jesus

John 17 opens a window into the very heart of Jesus.

It reveals:

His love is personal. His mission is intentional. His desire for His followers is unity. His heart aches for believers to be transformed. His dream is for us to be with Him forever.

John 17 is the spiritual blueprint of the church. It reveals the kind of community Jesus envisioned—a people united in love, anchored in truth, filled with joy, protected by the Father, and shaped by holiness.

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What John 17 Means for Your Life Today

John 17 is not ancient history—it is living truth.

It means you were seen before you were born. You were chosen before you believed. You were loved before you knew His name. You are protected even when you feel vulnerable. You are shaped by truth even in seasons of confusion. You are part of a global family of believers. You are desired by Jesus Himself.

You live inside the prayer of Jesus.

When He prayed this prayer, He carried you into the presence of the Father. And that truth changes how you see yourself. It changes how you see the world. It changes how you see the purpose of your life.

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Final Reflection: You Are Held Inside the Prayer of the Savior

This prayer was spoken in a quiet moment before the storm of the cross. And yet, Jesus did not pray for an easier path. He did not pray for escape. He prayed for glory, for His disciples, and for future believers—including you.

This means your life is not a coincidence. Your faith is not accidental. Your belonging to Christ is not fragile.

You are held by the prayer He prayed. You are covered by the love He poured out. You are wanted by the One who died for you.

John 17 is not just the prayer of Jesus— it is the prayer that holds eternity.

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Your friend in Christ, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee

#faith #Jesus #BibleStudy #GospelOfJohn #ChristianEncouragement #SpiritualGrowth

During yesterday’s Thanksgiving Parade broadcast, nearly every commercial break featured a Facebook ad. It was a good one about real-life human connection supported online through the Facebook friends network. It’s a long shot, but wouldn’t it be great if Facebook cut the nonsense and returned to its roots as a social network? A place where you can stay connected with friends and family around the world. In the late 2000s, you could meet someone, become friends on Facebook, and stay loosely in touch. “Are you on Facebook,” was a less intrusive question than “What is your phone number?” Today, of course, many people avoid visiting Facebook altogether because of the endless stream of useless information they never signed up for.

Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be Thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil

Amen

Jesus is Lord! Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus! Christ is Lord!

Zelenskyy (pt. 2)

Son of Easter, It is ringing to you A frozen island blessing your grip Of course there were dozens, But this name is yours- And has been, In Jesus Christ And you are competent and ablaze For the fortieth dimension Which is one man an hour, taking the pride of entirety And building Senates and courthouses, and appointments.. I am aground, And look to see you again Where cut off from my cue, The turnstile of war There are blessings- That are rivers But they pale in time With water so precious, A piece of the pie The Dnipro is yours, in weary amounts.

For other people, in Christ, Unabandoning war- There are moments of affliction that cannot be known And in this war, of the interlocutors, One more intruant Cares not for Ukraine The man of maga- satan’s power And nine in the heart With metals and bones Thinking of putin Treachering you I know this reach to Greenland It studies my wellness In two states of flow, Your water and ice To baptize and heal In Christ, [Amen] To Ukraine!