It never has mattered whether you believe in God.

Not in the sense that the presence or absence of your belief in any way affects the truth.

God is, and no amount of unbelief can sweep them away.

It has always mattered, though, whether you believe in

God in that the presence or absence of your belief and the faith that does or does not grow out of it

has great effect on your own destiny. This is a story about which gods you choose to believe in, for we all sacrifice to something.

We all choose to place our trust somewhere.

And this is a story about how much that choice matters.

I'm Justin Gerhardt.

Welcome to Holy Ghost Stories.

Thank you. I'm Justin Gerhardt. Welcome to Holy Ghost Stories. Let's say you live in Israel in the 9th century BC.

You're a baker or a fisherman or a mother or a winemaker, and you spend your days in much the same ways that people have always spent their days.

Working, laughing with friends, smiling with family, arguing with family, making dinner, taking walks, dreaming of the future, trying to get ahead, talking about the weather and the latest

news, telling and listening

the stories, paying bills, and worshipping.

Worship has always been a central part of Israelite life.

And here, now, for you and for the people around you, that's no different.

But worship these days is, well, confusing. Since long ago,

the people who live where you live have worshipped Yahweh, the true and living God,

maker of heaven and earth, the one who brought Moses and his countrymen out of Egypt

across the Red Sea, the one who empowered King David to slay a lion and a bear and a giant.

Yahweh, the one who made a covenant with the nation of Israel, a special binding relationship, a mingling of law and love.

...