The End of Self-Help: When Better Isn't Better

WEBVTT

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This is Jimmy Pruitt, Pastor Jimmy Pruitt, and

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I have a special guest today. It is Pastor Brian

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Mandel. Hello, everybody. Man, we're excited.

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We're pumped up. We just came out of, this is

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going to sound weird. We just came out of a staff

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meeting and we're fired up. I know that sounds

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bizarre. Our board meetings are the same way.

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It's like being in a revival sometimes. It is

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not normal, but you know, I've never done anything

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normal. Why be normal? Right? Well, when you've

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done a bad staff meeting, it's nice to have a

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good one. You know what I mean? We don't hardly

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ever have bad staff meetings, but sometimes there's...

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just a lot to be celebrated and a lot because

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God's moving on so many levels right now that

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basically it turned into, all right, tell us

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what God did with you, Leslie. Okay, Brian, what

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did God do? Is he okay? Brian Haley, our youth

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pastor. Annette, tell that story. I mean, it

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was like... Just testimony after testimony. Naomi,

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what's going on in the schools there here in

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Fredericksburg? So we want to say thank you to

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our folks that are listening. We are happy to

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have you, excited to have you. And we're excited

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to come here with kind of a special edition living

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up. You know, we've talked to Annette and I are

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going to start this back again. We're trying

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to target every other week. And but also we want

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to do some special edition type things like what

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we're going to do today, which is a little bit

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different. But we want to highlight Just a couple

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of messages that that God put on my heart a while

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back I begin to realize as I look out across

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our country, but also the landscape of the church

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That we talk a lot about salvation being born

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again We throw those terms around you got to

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be saved And we and when you've been in it as

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long as we have it's easy to forget or make assumptions

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that everyone knows what that means and it really

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dawned on me because what you folks that are

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listening don't know, or maybe you do, but our

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church is a non -denominational and probably

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more accurate inter -denominational church. So

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we're made up of Catholics, we're made up of

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Southern Baptists, we're made up churches of

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Christ. Lutheran. Lutheran. We're in a German

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town, so we have a Lutheran church on every corner.

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So we've just got this wide variety and mishmash

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of people that come together who although we're

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all loving Jesus, we're all praying to God, all

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welcoming the Holy Spirit, but we have different

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code language for doing those things and lots

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of different nuances of beliefs within those

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different denominations and or non -denominations.

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So I just thought we need to get down to some

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brass tacks on things and make sure we're all

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on the same page, we're rowing our boat in the

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same direction. So I came up with Reborn and

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I had on my heart, I don't even know where this

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popped up in my mind, but re -words, you know,

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like rebuild, reshape, reform. I mean, you can

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go a long ways on that. So as we were looking

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into the fall, we were trying to go a different

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direction and looking at 1st and 2nd Thessalonians

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as a series and talk a little bit about end times,

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eschatology, things like that, but I couldn't

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shake this. It kept... getting on me, and I'm

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not even sure why. Maybe it was a conversation

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I had with someone. You never know. God speaks

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through so many different things. But anyway,

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I landed on Reborn as kicking this thing off.

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I had Faith do a video about it, and she just

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crushed it. And I just realized, we're going

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to stay on this for a while. I've developed a

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three -part sermon, which was three points, and

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it's turned into three full sermons. So I got

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two under my belt. Welcome to the show, brother.

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Thanks for having me back. It's so good to be

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here again. I love doing this. This is fun. And

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you're so good at this, brother. You should have

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your own podcast. Maybe someday someday. Well,

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you got the studio and you got the people around

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you to do it. So when you get ready to pull the

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trigger on it, we will we will get you set up.

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All right. So as far as the way this has been

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going. So I started out with reborn. Why? Because

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in John chapter three, Nicodemus has a meeting

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with Jesus and he kind of comes undercover because

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he's one of the Sanhedrin. He's one of the big

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leaders in the movement. He's supposed to have

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all the answers already. Exactly. The Sanhedrin

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is interesting because it's made up of 70 people,

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mostly religious. There were others that were

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civic leaders, but it's pretty much the Pharisees,

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Sadducees, the different groups that make up

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all of that. So they had both civil government

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and religious government on their shoulders.

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So they were extremely powerful, quite feared,

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but they were also under the thumb of Rome. So

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it was a real two -tiered thing. So not only

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did you have to answer to these religious leaders,

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you also had to answer to Rome. And either one

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of them could be bad, bad news. And so it was

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an interesting dynamic. So for someone, a member

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of the Sanhedrin, who is, as Jesus called him,

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a teacher of teachers, a teacher of Israel, he

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called him. Man, he had to come undercover. But

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some things happened that got him interested

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in that. And so do you have anything to add to

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that? But as far as why would he even want to

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meet with Jesus? Well, you know, it's really

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depicted well in The Chosen as you mentioned

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in the service. they depict, you know, where

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Mary Magdalene is delivered from seven demons

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and has a radical life changing experience. She

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was one person and on the other side of meeting

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with Jesus was a completely different person.

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Yeah. And Nicodemus gets to see her in both conditions

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and recognizes this is not possible unless God

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is at work in this woman. And so he wants to

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know what happened to you. And Mary Magdalene

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didn't have some like just outrageous theological

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dissertation to give to Nicodemus about this.

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It was just real simple. She said, all I know

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is I was one way and now I'm a completely different

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way and what was in between was him, was Jesus.

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That is like one of the most powerful lines in

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the movie and the whole series. I mean, when

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she said that it rocked my world, when I watched

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the TV series, The Chosen, because this is in

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the first season, And Nicodemus, remember, he

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tried to cast demons out of her. Right. And he

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fell short and it shook him. Yeah. Because he

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didn't have the power and the authority that

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he thought he did. Exactly. That, which was a

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game changer for him, but what it did, it launched

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him in a panic search for truth stage. You know,

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he just was like, I'm not sure about anything

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right now. Well, there's a lot of things that

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look good on paper or in theory until you put

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them into practice and you find that Maybe it's

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not what you thought it was. And I think that

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was what this really comes down to for Nicodemus

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is he knew everything in his head, but experientially,

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he didn't know God personally. And that's, I

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think, what this whole meeting with Jesus ended

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up being about. Exactly. You know, in his understanding,

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and this would have been the understanding in

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the first century from the Pharisees and all

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the religious leaders and the people who attended

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synagogue, the Jewish people, was that a messiah

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was coming back and he was going to rescue them.

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But their understanding of it, he's going to

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rescue them from Rome. Jesus sat down with Nicodemus

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and just flipped the script. and help Nicodemus

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understand, you're not being rescued from Rome,

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you're being rescued from sin. And that was a

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game changer for Nicodemus. But what set the

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meeting up was this encounter with Mary. Now

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the chosen, I love the way they depict it, they

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use a term called plausible. So like when they're

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building the TV series, this could have happened,

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might have happened, or it would be a great way

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to illustrate. But for whatever reason, Nicodemus,

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the real Nicodemus and the real Jesus got together

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for a meeting and Nicodemus had questions. And

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I love the way Jesus handled him in John chapter

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3. He even said at one point, he said, you're

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a teacher of Israel and you still don't understand

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these things. Because Jesus used this line on

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him in John chapter 3, verse 3. He said, you

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must be born again. And Nicodemus tripped all

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over that. He's like, wait a minute. Took him

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very literally. Yeah, exactly. He says, can a

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man return to his mother's womb a second time?

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His mind was spinning out anyway because he's

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sitting there with the Messiah and he's starting

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to have this realization this is not a normal

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man. Something's different here. And so, and

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that's not just in the TV show, that's in the

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scripture. in John chapter 3. So when Jesus tells

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him that, it sends him into this thought process

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of which way is up. I mean, he's literally like,

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he's got vertigo, spiritual vertigo. Well, you

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know what's interesting about that is it illustrates

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that Nicodemus didn't seem to have much of a

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conception between the difference between, you

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know, your flesh and your body, and then the

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spiritual part of who you are, your spirit, and

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that those are two distinct parts of who you

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are. And that's really kind of what Jesus has

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to explain to him. Like, yeah, you were born

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naturally, but there's more than that. There's

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another part of you that needs to be born. Yeah.

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I love that. That's so good. It's so true because

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he thought, like any religious ruler or person

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would think in the first century, that it was

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your good deeds. It was your obedience to the

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law, which were the old Levitical laws that were

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given back in the Old Testament, Old Covenant.

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And not only did they have the Levitical laws

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originally as God gave them, but then they had

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added on top of those laws upon laws. They had

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layers of laws, over 600 and something laws.

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But then they had all these nuanced laws. It

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was sort of, you had the written laws and you

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had the unwritten laws, kind of like going into

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a new job. They give you a manual and yet they

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don't give you the invisible manual. That's the

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one that matters. That's the one that matters.

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It's the culture. It's the culture manual, but

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that's never written down. It's always just assumed

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and it's a part of the culture and you've got

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to learn it. Well, it's the same kind of thing

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with this. So they had all these laws that they

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were putting on people. It was weighing people

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down. There was no way they could live up to

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it. So, people lived in discouragement and defeat,

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but their hope was a Savior, a Messiah, Yeshua

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HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah. They didn't know

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it was Jesus, they just knew a Messiah was coming

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to rescue them. And Orthodox Jews today, you

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know, in Israel and around the world still think

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Messiah is coming, but we know Him as Jesus.

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And that was the game changer for us, who are

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Gentiles, non -Jews. So, they're having this

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discussion. Nicodemus is like starting to freak

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out, like I don't get what's going on here. And

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what I did, I just walked through that and extrapolated

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some things out. I'm going to pull my notes up

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from that. Just extrapolated some things out

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because there's so many layers. You know, when

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you read scripture, if you don't have any context,

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it can just be flat confusing. You know, like

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without context all kinds of terrible things

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can happen like cults and various bad things

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show up. So we called this Reborn. It was out

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of John 3. But I want to start with one of the

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big ideas of the message was you don't need a

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better version of your old life. You need a brand

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new life in Christ. What does that mean to you?

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Why don't you just hear that statement? Well,

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I mean, the picture all throughout the New Testament,

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is of your old self passing away, of death. Even

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the picture of baptism is that you're buried

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in the waters of baptism and that you emerge

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from that into new life. Not just a refinement,

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not a refurbishment of some things that needed

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to be polished or whatever. It's not just you

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living your best life. Right. It's that there's

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this whole part of you that God made to be in

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communion with Him that's not even alive at all

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until this experience, until this moment of surrender

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to Jesus. And then there is a birth, a new life

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that's created. You become a new creation in

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Christ Jesus. And it's not poetic language. It's

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very tangible and real and impacts your entire

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life, the way you think, the way you talk, the

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decisions you make, your plans. who you are is

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not who you were. And it's like in 2nd Corinthians

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517, it says all things are made new. All things.

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All things. Your heart, your mentality, everything.

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But here's the thing, when you grow up a certain

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way, you just grow up, period, you're imprinted

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and informed by everything around you, plus genetics.

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I mean, there's a lot of things involved in that.

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He's saying now you need to die to that and be

00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:50.120
born again, reborn. and you're going to be raised

00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.340
in Romans 6, raised to walk in newness of life,

00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:56.580
raised to walk out a new life is what that means.

00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:02.440
And so here you are, for me it was, I was 18.

00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:05.519
When did you make the pledge? I was 19. You were

00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.580
19. So we're about the same age. So yeah, we

00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:10.039
get it. And we felt like we'd lived a lifetime

00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:12.799
before that because we were sinners and we were

00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:16.990
good at it. So sadly. And so Brian and I some

00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:19.330
parallel tracks in terms of our behaviors and

00:14:19.330 --> 00:14:22.210
things we got into as young people that were

00:14:22.210 --> 00:14:26.070
very anti -Christ life. Professional center,

00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:31.649
right? Yeah, exactly. Good at it. So when I gave

00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:34.669
my life to Christ, I invited him to take over

00:14:34.669 --> 00:14:38.429
my life and surrender to that. I wanted to be

00:14:38.429 --> 00:14:41.950
born again. I knew I needed that because I knew

00:14:41.950 --> 00:14:45.360
it wasn't working out well for me. And so when

00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.080
that happened, I did, I literally, it was as

00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:52.019
though when I was baptized, at First Baptist

00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:55.840
Church, post Texas, I mean, small church, beautiful

00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.299
pastor, amazing, amazing, Pastor Reese was wonderful.

00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.620
But when I was baptized, I was taught that this

00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:07.539
is a symbol, this is an outward expression of

00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:09.720
an inward reality. You gave your heart to Christ,

00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.539
therefore you're buried with him in baptism.

00:15:13.060 --> 00:15:15.179
Raised to walk in newness of life. That's that

00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:18.279
Roman six piece and that's exactly what it was

00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.320
I was the old me 1 .0 Went down in the waters

00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:26.159
and 2 .0 came out and I began a new journey and

00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.600
it was no joke I mean you were a different person

00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.059
after that totally Oh, man, it flipped my world

00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:34.080
upside down and it's not different like a different

00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.159
person in the sense that now you're perfect Oh,

00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:40.940
no, it's that your desires your motivations your

00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:46.159
what you're focused on, all of it just shifts,

00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:49.980
and it's unexplainable except for the work of

00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:53.299
God in your heart. Everything changed. I mean,

00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:57.320
my mindset changed, what drove me, what motivated

00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:00.980
me, all those things changed. Now, let me just

00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:03.299
say this, that doesn't mean my behavior changed

00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:07.000
immediately. I was in a complete state of confusion

00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.179
because like Mary said in The Chosen, I was this

00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:14.440
way. I was one way. Yeah. And now I'm this way.

00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.480
I'm different. And as if you were born fresh,

00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:19.899
it's almost like I got to learn to walk again.

00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:21.980
I got to learn to speak again. I got to learn

00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:24.179
to think again. I got to learn to comprehend

00:16:24.179 --> 00:16:25.700
again. I mean, it's like you're starting over

00:16:25.700 --> 00:16:28.740
in a lot of literally everything gets reframed

00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:31.519
everything. Yeah. And when about the time you

00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.259
think you've got that figured out about three

00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:36.240
months later, then you get curve ball after curve

00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.740
ball after curve ball of wow I never thought

00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:41.360
right about that or I had bad my perception was

00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:44.320
wrong and this goes into every area of your life

00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.059
so we're not just talking about a few things

00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:48.940
like like I decided to quit drinking or quit

00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:52.220
partying it's not that those are my those are

00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:55.120
nothing those are just little things it's the

00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.639
deeper rooted motivations and drivers your core

00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.500
values shift who am i and why am i here boy what

00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:05.380
am i here for That's, of course, every 18, 19

00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:07.279
-year -old asking that question anyway, right?

00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:10.059
But now it's like we're getting the answers though,

00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:14.140
because Christ begins to define our purpose.

00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:16.660
And if you're listening and you haven't taken

00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:19.140
that step, I want to encourage you in this because

00:17:19.140 --> 00:17:22.400
it literally redefined my purpose. I know that

00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:25.779
did that for you, Brian, as well, where we woke

00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:29.440
up on Tuesday morning with something on our mind

00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.279
as opposed to, oh Lord, it's Tuesday. Now I wake

00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.160
up TGIT, thank God it's Tuesday. I did, I woke

00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.319
up and it was like, what is wrong with you? I

00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:41.640
mean, I was so buzzing this morning. I got up

00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.480
at 5 .45, so excited. I wrote my daily grind

00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:47.180
devotional, something I do every day as part

00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:50.380
of my quiet time. And I was just so buzzing with

00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:53.200
just excitement, even about coming to work today.

00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.700
I couldn't wait to see everybody. It was like,

00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:59.269
man, we get to do this. And that's what... Following

00:17:59.269 --> 00:18:02.269
Jesus puts that spirit in you that we get to

00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:05.789
do this. I'm thankful. I'm grateful for every

00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:08.769
day I have. Sure, I want to go to heaven, but

00:18:08.769 --> 00:18:11.670
I want to do some stuff before I go. I want to

00:18:11.670 --> 00:18:16.289
make a difference. I want to come before my King

00:18:16.289 --> 00:18:19.490
when I finally do Passover, when I'm promoted

00:18:19.490 --> 00:18:23.569
into heaven and say, Lord, what a privilege it

00:18:23.569 --> 00:18:26.369
was to serve you and to serve your body, your

00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:29.269
church. And I'm so thankful I get to do that.

00:18:29.509 --> 00:18:33.069
Not so I'll get rewarded, but just so I can say,

00:18:33.549 --> 00:18:37.690
this is what I got to do. I didn't have to do

00:18:37.690 --> 00:18:40.990
it. I got to do it. It's a different motivation.

00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:45.809
Once I was born again was some of the first experiences

00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:48.549
I've ever had in my life of having those moments

00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:51.829
where you feel like I was made for this. I was

00:18:51.829 --> 00:18:55.690
made to do this. And as I began to figure out

00:18:55.690 --> 00:18:58.750
what It was that God put me on this planet for

00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:02.269
and who he made me to be. You for the first time,

00:19:02.269 --> 00:19:05.150
you have that experience of like, this is it.

00:19:05.230 --> 00:19:08.069
This is what I was made for. And yeah, I have

00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:10.789
a ton to learn and I'm not even good at it yet,

00:19:10.930 --> 00:19:12.890
but I know I was made for this. Like when I.

00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.140
when I first started working for you all those

00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:18.059
years ago, and you brought me on the team to

00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:20.240
be a youth pastor, which is the one thing I had

00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.519
told God, I was like, God, I'll do anything to

00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.380
serve you except be a youth pastor, anything

00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:25.240
but. And then you're like, I need you to be my

00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:29.359
youth pastor. And so went into that feeling very

00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:32.059
inadequate and insecure, even though I was born

00:19:32.059 --> 00:19:35.460
again. But also sensing that prompting of like,

00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:37.720
I think I'm supposed to do this. I don't know

00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:40.039
how I'm going to do this. I have no, I don't

00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:41.980
think I'm going to be good at this, but I think

00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:45.539
God wants me to do this. And then every step

00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:49.960
of the way, grace met me, right? Because that's

00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.319
part of what comes in this package of being born

00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.240
again is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So

00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:57.359
you're never alone in anything God calls you

00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.960
to do. He says, I'm literally going to be with

00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.660
you and I'm going to be in you. And if you're

00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.119
walking with him, if you're following his voice,

00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.119
there's always power, there's always grace, and

00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:09.680
there's always ability for anything you're called

00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.119
to do. And it's always beyond you. It's always

00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.019
beyond anything you would have naturally thought,

00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.400
I can do this. You remember playing sports and

00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.720
you would say to yourself, or you'd be in a situation,

00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:20.859
you go, man, I'm really in over my head. Oh,

00:20:20.900 --> 00:20:23.599
yeah. I mean, these guys are all better than

00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.819
me. I got to play out of my head. I got to play

00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:28.440
out of my mind. I got to, I got to elevate to

00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.240
that. When you, when you're walking with Jesus

00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:34.829
and you, he shows you something that leads you

00:20:34.829 --> 00:20:36.589
into something you know you're supposed to do

00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:38.390
it. You just know, you know when you're nowhere.

00:20:39.589 --> 00:20:41.430
I mean, I'm supposed to get involved in that.

00:20:41.430 --> 00:20:43.410
But then you look at it and go, but I can't do

00:20:43.410 --> 00:20:47.769
that. That's not my strength. That's not my natural

00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:51.630
gift. That's not my gifting. And what I found

00:20:51.630 --> 00:20:55.369
very quickly, because I did, the thing that happened

00:20:55.369 --> 00:20:57.150
for me, and it didn't happen for everybody, but

00:20:57.150 --> 00:21:00.569
I just had this big time heart for the Word of

00:21:00.569 --> 00:21:03.430
God. the Bible. I couldn't put it down. I took

00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:06.410
it with me to work at the time I was working

00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:10.150
for an electric company, doing electrical construction.

00:21:10.670 --> 00:21:13.789
I'd take my Bible in the truck, four guys, three

00:21:13.789 --> 00:21:16.170
or four guys in a truck, going out to the job

00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:19.250
site. In my 15 -minute break, then my 30 -minute

00:21:19.250 --> 00:21:21.049
lunch, my 15 -minute break in the afternoon,

00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:23.609
I'd run to the cab of the pickup and I'd start

00:21:23.609 --> 00:21:27.230
reading scripture just as much as I could get.

00:21:28.409 --> 00:21:30.509
Before that, I was working for my dad right when

00:21:30.509 --> 00:21:33.430
I got saved. So I had more time in the shop.

00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:35.390
I was welding, doing stuff. He owned a fence

00:21:35.390 --> 00:21:38.250
company as well as being a firefighter. So I

00:21:38.250 --> 00:21:40.549
did all of his welding for him. So I had time

00:21:40.549 --> 00:21:42.589
alone all day long. I could listen to a Christian

00:21:42.589 --> 00:21:45.450
radio station that had all these different preachers.

00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:51.109
I mean like J. Vernon McGee, John McArthur, Chuck

00:21:51.109 --> 00:21:53.920
Swindoll, even Kenneth Copeland. And I didn't

00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.960
know the difference between any of them. I just

00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:58.259
knew they all love Jesus, so I love them. I didn't

00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:00.619
care who they were. Just teach me the Bible.

00:22:01.099 --> 00:22:03.759
And so I listened to hours and hours of teaching

00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.500
every day, all day long. Because this Christian

00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:10.339
radio station called KJAK stands for Keeping

00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:14.779
Jesus as King. Go figure. They played talk radio

00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:17.119
all day long. So all these different preachers

00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:20.619
and teachers, I got to hear them all day long.

00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:24.759
A lot of stuff got deposited in me very quickly

00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.500
and that changed everything for me. It gave me

00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:30.940
a love for God's Word. So I took this Bible everywhere.

00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:33.819
I mean, I tore that thing up. It sat on the dash

00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:37.450
of the truck in West Texas heat. the cover curled

00:22:37.450 --> 00:22:39.890
on it. I didn't care. I just, man, I couldn't

00:22:39.890 --> 00:22:41.470
get enough of it. Especially in those early days

00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:43.450
and you start devouring the Bible like that.

00:22:43.609 --> 00:22:45.970
I mean, what do you think the percentage is that

00:22:45.970 --> 00:22:48.109
you actually even understood as you're reading

00:22:48.109 --> 00:22:51.289
it? For me, it was like, I think I get 10 % of

00:22:51.289 --> 00:22:53.950
this and the other 90%. I don't even know what

00:22:53.950 --> 00:22:55.529
this means, but I know I need to be reading this.

00:22:55.529 --> 00:22:59.730
I didn't care. It was like, I can't even explain

00:22:59.730 --> 00:23:03.930
it. I just knew. Jeremiah says, I read your words

00:23:03.930 --> 00:23:06.769
and I did eat them. And it's exactly the same.

00:23:06.809 --> 00:23:08.450
It's like you're eating something and you can't

00:23:08.450 --> 00:23:10.589
get enough, even though you don't understand

00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:14.009
what it is. I don't know what those calories

00:23:14.009 --> 00:23:16.130
are doing inside my body when I eat food, but

00:23:16.130 --> 00:23:18.089
they're doing something. We went to the Philippines

00:23:18.089 --> 00:23:21.150
back in the day on a trip and we were eating

00:23:21.150 --> 00:23:23.190
in this hotel. And I'm like, I don't know what

00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:25.589
any of this food is, but I'm hungry and it's

00:23:25.589 --> 00:23:27.990
good. There's no telling what it was. I don't

00:23:27.990 --> 00:23:29.910
even want to know what it was. But it didn't

00:23:29.910 --> 00:23:32.230
matter because I was hungry. Because when you're

00:23:32.230 --> 00:23:34.640
hungry, you'll devour. Everything tastes good.

00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.160
And somebody listening needs to really hear that

00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:39.720
for yourself today. Maybe the reason you're not

00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:41.720
reading the Bible is you're like, I don't understand

00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.859
this. That will come later. Like, just get it

00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:49.769
in you. Just make a deposit. and then let God

00:23:49.769 --> 00:23:52.529
bring it to life. Let God remind you of things

00:23:52.529 --> 00:23:54.849
you read a month ago in a key moment in your

00:23:54.849 --> 00:23:56.589
life. That's what always happens, right? You

00:23:56.589 --> 00:23:58.430
end up in a situation and something that you

00:23:58.430 --> 00:24:00.269
read at the time that didn't hit all of a sudden

00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:04.009
hits a month later. Well, for example, at our

00:24:04.009 --> 00:24:06.990
staff meeting, my wife Annette was telling about

00:24:06.990 --> 00:24:10.369
us talking to this lady we met at the store,

00:24:10.569 --> 00:24:12.569
Neiman Marcus. We had to go take some stuff back

00:24:12.569 --> 00:24:16.140
and And she had a beautiful accent. And Annette

00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:18.619
first said, where are you from? And I said, you

00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:21.019
have a beautiful accent. So we double teamed.

00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:24.019
And she said, she looked at us and she said,

00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:25.920
and she kind of joked with us for a minute. And

00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:29.740
then she said, I'm from Iran. And you know, right

00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:32.180
now in the United States, that could land a lot

00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:36.420
of ways. She was not ashamed of it. She was not

00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:38.880
ashamed, but she wasn't boastful. She was just

00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.910
matter of fact, I'm from Iran. And I said, I

00:24:41.910 --> 00:24:44.529
love your accent. It's beautiful." And then we

00:24:44.529 --> 00:24:46.410
just both begin to talk to her and then begin

00:24:46.410 --> 00:24:49.450
to say, oh, we pray for the people of Iran at

00:24:49.450 --> 00:24:52.650
our church. We pray for you. We pray. And then

00:24:52.650 --> 00:24:54.450
I said, do you have family there? She says, I

00:24:54.450 --> 00:24:56.289
have a lot of family. Then she went into telling

00:24:56.289 --> 00:24:59.210
us about that. Broken hearted, the tears came.

00:24:59.690 --> 00:25:02.890
She's stressing over them. But while she's saying

00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:06.549
this, the phrase popped into my mind where Jesus

00:25:06.549 --> 00:25:09.930
said, I am the Prince of Peace. And she was saying,

00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:12.799
I go to bed with my phone and the last thing

00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.200
I see is what's happening over there on the news.

00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.680
I wake up and the first thing I do is check to

00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.619
make sure there hasn't been new bombings. And

00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:25.039
she said, I'm so afraid for my family. And I

00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:28.579
said, do you mind if I pray for you? And she

00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:31.880
said, oh, wonderful. And I said, Jesus is the

00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:34.240
Prince of Peace. And that's what you need right

00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:36.980
now. And she was beautiful. I don't know if she

00:25:36.980 --> 00:25:39.119
was a Christian. I get a feeling she was. I think

00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:41.799
she's a believer. And she didn't say it specifically,

00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:45.069
but. We know God's been moving the Iranian people.

00:25:45.089 --> 00:25:47.109
God's been working there for sure. And we talked

00:25:47.109 --> 00:25:50.849
about 1979 when that regime came in, the evil

00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:54.410
regime came in and dominated and destroyed a

00:25:54.410 --> 00:25:55.630
beautiful country. There was a beautiful country

00:25:55.630 --> 00:25:59.089
before that. Oh, you see film footage or pictures

00:25:59.089 --> 00:26:01.450
from before that? Very modern. It looked like

00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:03.990
the West. And then they were going to school,

00:26:04.029 --> 00:26:06.450
they were enjoying life, they were making, they

00:26:06.450 --> 00:26:09.210
had jobs and they were free market in the sense

00:26:09.210 --> 00:26:13.380
of able to make a living. Now that it's been

00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:15.599
devastated and destroyed women have been treated

00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:18.380
like trash. I mean worse than that sometimes

00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:21.640
So anyway, and she was saying through tears.

00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.980
She's saying it's so evil there. It's so evil

00:26:24.980 --> 00:26:27.740
But when I grew up, it wasn't it was a beautiful

00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:31.160
country and Annette said the people of Iran are

00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:33.619
beautiful people and we pray for you all the

00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:35.460
time So we prayed for her right there in the

00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:39.779
store. But the thing is I haven't set and memorized

00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:41.859
a verse talking about Jesus being the Prince

00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.079
of Peace. It just came out of nowhere. In fact,

00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:46.440
I don't even think of that phrase, hardly ever.

00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:49.660
It just came when she said that. It was there.

00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.579
And that's sort of like when you plant a seed

00:26:52.579 --> 00:26:54.680
into the ground, you don't always know what that

00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:56.839
plant's going to look like. Sometimes, I've planted

00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:58.519
seeds as a kid and I didn't know what the plant

00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:00.140
was. I didn't know what was going to happen.

00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:02.640
I'd always get surprised, but it would come up.

00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.710
It would bring a harvest. It would grow. And

00:27:05.710 --> 00:27:07.769
so when you're putting the Word of God in, you're

00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:10.289
reading it and you're thinking, I really don't

00:27:10.289 --> 00:27:12.089
understand all this stuff. I mean, I'm looking

00:27:12.089 --> 00:27:15.349
down here at John 3, Pharisees, Nicodemus, the

00:27:15.349 --> 00:27:18.009
Jewish ruling council. What is all that? Rabbi,

00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:19.609
I mean, all the language. I could go down there

00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:21.289
and go, there was a time I didn't know what any

00:27:21.289 --> 00:27:23.890
of that meant, but I read it and I stayed in.

00:27:23.970 --> 00:27:26.950
And what it did, it was like depositing or planting

00:27:26.950 --> 00:27:30.569
seeds in the soil. And then it began to grow

00:27:30.569 --> 00:27:33.819
over time. the Holy Spirit, the water of the

00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:35.740
refreshing of the water of the Word. This one

00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:38.279
of the scriptures says, so somewhere along the

00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:41.720
line, I had read about the Prince of Peace, and

00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:44.240
that was exactly what she needed to hear in that

00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.000
moment. And it came up as a random thought, but

00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:50.289
it wasn't random. It was the Lord. You know,

00:27:50.289 --> 00:27:53.089
you made a statement in both of these last two

00:27:53.089 --> 00:27:54.849
Sundays that I thought was so good and maybe

00:27:54.849 --> 00:27:56.769
you can kind of expound on it for a moment, but

00:27:56.769 --> 00:28:00.609
you said both weeks, religion can't do what rebirth

00:28:00.609 --> 00:28:03.730
can. Religion can't do what rebirth can. What

00:28:03.730 --> 00:28:06.529
does that mean? Yeah, I mean, because what happens,

00:28:07.769 --> 00:28:10.130
religion can be couched in a negative light,

00:28:10.289 --> 00:28:14.210
right? Like religion becomes code word for the

00:28:14.210 --> 00:28:16.589
do's and don'ts of scripture or the do's and

00:28:16.589 --> 00:28:19.130
don'ts of a denomination or a church movement.

00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:22.900
particular type. So it can be very negative,

00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:25.119
and it's usually used in a negative context for

00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:30.279
the most part, these days especially. So religion

00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:32.960
can't do what rebirth can. In other words, what

00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:35.700
rebirth does, it puts you in a relationship with

00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:38.500
God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and

00:28:38.500 --> 00:28:42.200
the life, and no man comes to the Father except

00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:46.869
through me. but he doesn't say, I am a way, a

00:28:46.869 --> 00:28:50.190
truth, and a life, and anybody can come to the

00:28:50.190 --> 00:28:53.170
Father in any way, you know what I mean? He makes

00:28:53.170 --> 00:28:56.650
it very exclusive, very narrow, like this is

00:28:56.650 --> 00:28:59.750
how you get to God, and that's what rebirth does.

00:29:00.269 --> 00:29:02.769
Whereas religion is you're trying to do better,

00:29:02.890 --> 00:29:05.269
you're trying to, I use these simple points because

00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:08.420
this might help you understand. you can attend

00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:11.940
church and still miss Jesus. Christianity isn't

00:29:11.940 --> 00:29:14.619
self -improvement, it's spiritual transformation.

00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:17.759
That's why Nicodemus said, you must be born again.

00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:22.079
And Jesus reserves some of his harshest criticism

00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:27.559
for religious people. I think, well, my observation,

00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:31.500
and I'm somewhat a product of this, is that the

00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:35.019
people that it is hardest for to wrap their minds

00:29:35.019 --> 00:29:39.299
around the idea of I need to be reborn, are not

00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:43.059
the people that are far from God, you know, out

00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:45.980
of church, living like wild and crazy people,

00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:49.559
taking it to the max in their sin. It's usually

00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:52.859
the quote unquote good people, the religious

00:29:52.859 --> 00:29:55.039
people, the people that have been in church but

00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:57.700
don't have a relationship with Jesus, the people

00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:00.380
who have inherited their faith rather than embracing

00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:05.359
it in their own heart and approaching Jesus themselves.

00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:07.619
It's hardest for them, especially for people

00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:09.019
who are in a place where they go, man, I'm a

00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:12.079
pretty good person. Yeah, I need God to tweak

00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:15.099
a few things in my life. I need Him to round

00:30:15.099 --> 00:30:17.400
off a few rough edges for me and refine me a

00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:19.900
little bit. But to have this idea like, no, no,

00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:23.579
no, no, you need to start over. Like you need

00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:26.960
a reset and to be reborn, made a new creation

00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.559
completely not just tweaked. It's the difference.

00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:32.900
That's so good, Brian. It's the difference between

00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:36.960
believing in Jesus and believing into Jesus.

00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:40.720
Now, there's a very real distinction in the Greek

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:44.900
language. We see the N as a primary participle,

00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:47.519
so we see that as, oh yeah, I believe in the

00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.099
Easter Bunny. Or if you have a chair sitting

00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:52.400
there and you say, I believe in that chair, and

00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:54.119
I'm looking at it going, yeah, I do too. I can

00:30:54.119 --> 00:30:57.079
see it. But if you never go sit in the chair,

00:30:57.369 --> 00:30:59.890
You've not believed into it. You just believe

00:30:59.890 --> 00:31:02.990
that it's there as a fact, but you haven't believed

00:31:02.990 --> 00:31:06.349
into it in terms of experience. So to believe

00:31:06.349 --> 00:31:09.750
into goes back to the word trust, back to the

00:31:09.750 --> 00:31:12.970
word faith, which means to put all or the whole

00:31:12.970 --> 00:31:16.529
of your weight upon it or in it. So when we say

00:31:16.529 --> 00:31:19.829
we believe in Jesus, we're not saying we just

00:31:19.829 --> 00:31:21.549
believe in Him like we believe in Santa Claus

00:31:21.549 --> 00:31:23.910
or the Easter Bunny, some myth or fairy tale.

00:31:24.410 --> 00:31:27.049
We're saying we believe into Him. I'm putting

00:31:27.049 --> 00:31:30.269
the whole of my weight. I'm giving my entire

00:31:30.269 --> 00:31:34.430
life. I'm betting everything on this. You're

00:31:34.430 --> 00:31:36.670
going all in, as you said, 20 something years

00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:39.410
ago in a sermon. And I still remember you're

00:31:39.410 --> 00:31:41.410
going all in. You're pushing all your chips to

00:31:41.410 --> 00:31:43.549
the middle of the table. And you're saying, I'm

00:31:43.549 --> 00:31:46.410
all in, period. And if this thing goes down,

00:31:46.430 --> 00:31:49.279
I go down. That's right. And that's what faith

00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:52.359
is, saving faith, coming to be reborn. You got

00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:54.779
to have that level of faith. And it's not like

00:31:54.779 --> 00:31:57.660
you got to have it in its fullest sense. It's

00:31:57.660 --> 00:32:02.940
just a sense of, I am surrendering. And I don't

00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:05.680
even know exactly what I'm surrendering to. I

00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:08.700
just know I need Him. So whatever that looks

00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.250
like, that's where I'm going. One way to distinguish

00:32:11.250 --> 00:32:13.130
this in your mind is, you know, the difference

00:32:13.130 --> 00:32:16.549
between saying, I believe that versus I believe

00:32:16.549 --> 00:32:19.210
in. In other words, I could say, I believe that

00:32:19.210 --> 00:32:22.930
Jesus is the son of God. I believe that Jesus

00:32:22.930 --> 00:32:27.589
died for our sins. But to believe in him means.

00:32:27.869 --> 00:32:31.670
I am personalizing that for me, for my life,

00:32:32.089 --> 00:32:35.109
for every moment, for everything that I am, I'm

00:32:35.109 --> 00:32:37.410
putting myself into Him. And that Greek word,

00:32:37.789 --> 00:32:40.630
in, when it says to believe in Jesus, it literally

00:32:40.630 --> 00:32:43.950
means into, correct? Yes, absolutely. Yeah. I'm

00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:46.690
believing into Him where now I'm becoming one

00:32:46.690 --> 00:32:49.329
with Him. Yeah. I mean, that's putting the whole

00:32:49.329 --> 00:32:52.319
of everything. So, That was a great distinction.

00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.519
And so I want to say something too, because this

00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.380
may help people in terms of what being religious

00:32:57.380 --> 00:33:01.319
means. I just jotted these down, rules without

00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:03.880
relationship. In other words, don't do this,

00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.559
don't do that, do that, don't do that, more don'ts

00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:10.259
than dos, but there's no relationship. That's

00:33:10.259 --> 00:33:13.380
believing that or believing in as opposed to

00:33:13.380 --> 00:33:17.690
in to. Ritual without reality. How many churches

00:33:17.690 --> 00:33:20.210
have we been to over the years in different scenarios

00:33:20.210 --> 00:33:23.150
where there's a lot of amazing rituals and ceremonies?

00:33:23.690 --> 00:33:25.609
Most of them we're going, I don't even know what

00:33:25.609 --> 00:33:27.390
that means. I don't even know what's going on

00:33:27.390 --> 00:33:31.269
here. But it's not reality. It's not a reality

00:33:31.269 --> 00:33:33.650
in your life personally. There's the difference.

00:33:33.769 --> 00:33:36.450
Another one is performance without transformation.

00:33:38.210 --> 00:33:40.450
I've got the bracelet, the What Would Jesus Do

00:33:40.450 --> 00:33:43.130
bracelet. I've got the Lord's Gym t -shirt. I've

00:33:43.130 --> 00:33:45.609
got all the stuff, the accoutrements. I've got

00:33:45.609 --> 00:33:47.890
a Bridge Church sticker on the back of my car

00:33:47.890 --> 00:33:49.829
on my window. Please don't if you're driving

00:33:49.829 --> 00:33:53.789
bad. So, anyway, represent well. But I've got

00:33:53.789 --> 00:33:56.410
all the accoutrements. I've got the code language

00:33:56.410 --> 00:34:01.490
down. I can speak the lingo, but I have not been

00:34:01.490 --> 00:34:03.809
transformed. I've not been born again, reborn.

00:34:04.569 --> 00:34:07.140
I'm the same. I'm no different than I was before.

00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:10.019
I just look different. Well, and Jesus went out

00:34:10.019 --> 00:34:13.219
of his way to try to highlight this even in using

00:34:13.219 --> 00:34:15.619
very, very strong terms at times, you know, he

00:34:15.619 --> 00:34:18.239
would address some of these religious people

00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:21.659
and he described them at one point as like whitewashed

00:34:21.659 --> 00:34:25.099
tombs. In other words, they were power washed

00:34:25.099 --> 00:34:28.119
on the outside, glistening, but they were full

00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:30.099
of dead men's bones is what he said on the inside.

00:34:30.099 --> 00:34:33.010
He compared them to a dung heap. That's a bunch

00:34:33.010 --> 00:34:35.610
of crap. A crap heap. I mean, it's like, I'm

00:34:35.610 --> 00:34:37.610
not going to say the S word, but you don't have

00:34:37.610 --> 00:34:40.110
to be a genius to figure that out. He said it

00:34:40.110 --> 00:34:43.489
straight up. It's hardcore. Here's another one.

00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:45.710
Why don't you comment on this one? Knowledge

00:34:45.710 --> 00:34:52.349
without intimacy. Knowledge without intimacy,

00:34:52.530 --> 00:34:55.150
which is a way to describe a relationship with

00:34:55.150 --> 00:34:59.960
God, can actually be destructive. You know, the

00:34:59.960 --> 00:35:04.280
more you know without putting it into practice,

00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:07.880
it tends to harden you versus soften you. It

00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:12.519
tends to create separation between you and the

00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:14.920
people, the very people that God means for you

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.619
to have influence and impact on because what

00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:19.780
it does, knowledge will puff up, the scripture

00:35:19.780 --> 00:35:23.320
says. But you know, what we're supposed to do

00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:26.380
is be edified by our relationship with God, which

00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:30.010
means built up and then to build up others. And

00:35:30.010 --> 00:35:32.489
when all you have is knowledge, what you see

00:35:32.489 --> 00:35:35.090
is yourself is better than other people. We're

00:35:35.090 --> 00:35:38.050
knowing more than other people. Another dynamic

00:35:38.050 --> 00:35:41.170
of that, or at least a facet of it, is that knowledge

00:35:41.170 --> 00:35:43.849
without intimacy means you know about something,

00:35:44.010 --> 00:35:46.670
but you don't know them by intimacy. You don't

00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:48.889
know them by experience. And really the word

00:35:48.889 --> 00:35:51.949
gnosko, which is a Greek word, that means to

00:35:51.949 --> 00:35:56.030
know by experience. So, you know, we know our

00:35:56.030 --> 00:35:59.090
wives because we've lived with them. We know

00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:00.750
what they look like when they get up. They know

00:36:00.750 --> 00:36:02.289
what we look like when we get up. They've seen

00:36:02.289 --> 00:36:04.769
us in our worst. They've seen us on our worst

00:36:04.769 --> 00:36:07.429
day, our bad moods, and they've seen us at our

00:36:07.429 --> 00:36:11.429
best and they love us the same. So that's knowing.

00:36:12.130 --> 00:36:15.010
And so here's another one, duty without delight.

00:36:15.969 --> 00:36:19.190
This is a big deal for me. Man, if you don't

00:36:19.190 --> 00:36:22.389
have joy in the journey, man, what are you doing?

00:36:22.539 --> 00:36:26.360
to me following Jesus and walking with Him, it's

00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:29.639
led me into some hard things, but there was always

00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:33.019
joy in the midst of it. There was always good

00:36:33.019 --> 00:36:35.199
in the midst of it. I mean, when Annette and

00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:37.820
I went through our desert season, which ended

00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:40.679
up being about four years, there were so many

00:36:40.679 --> 00:36:42.880
good things that happened in that, yet it was

00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:45.320
a desert. It was a hard time. It was a hard season,

00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:51.230
but we found joy in that journey. what happens

00:36:51.230 --> 00:36:52.969
when you get the cart before the horse. There

00:36:52.969 --> 00:36:56.610
you go. It's not that we have no duty or that

00:36:56.610 --> 00:37:00.769
we have no responsibility in Christ or for what

00:37:00.769 --> 00:37:03.530
He's blessed us with or given us or the assignments

00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:05.389
that we have. I mean, the Bible is clear. We

00:37:05.389 --> 00:37:07.489
have assignments. We have a calling. We have

00:37:07.489 --> 00:37:10.630
all of these things. But if that comes before

00:37:11.139 --> 00:37:14.059
the delight of your relationship with God, it

00:37:14.059 --> 00:37:16.320
will crush you and kill you. And it will suck

00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:19.400
all of the life out of everything. And it made

00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:21.079
me think of the scripture. This is one of those

00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:22.840
examples of the Holy Spirit prompting you, right?

00:37:22.940 --> 00:37:25.179
It says the scripture say to delight yourself

00:37:25.179 --> 00:37:28.300
in the Lord. And then it says, and he will give

00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:31.360
you the desires of your heart. And what that

00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.579
means isn't that he will... fulfill your wish

00:37:33.579 --> 00:37:37.039
list. It means he will redefine your wish. Exactly.

00:37:37.340 --> 00:37:40.380
He will. He will form in you desires that you've

00:37:40.380 --> 00:37:43.400
never had so that you will desire things that

00:37:43.400 --> 00:37:46.239
are your duty rather than them feeling like a

00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:49.019
religious duty. I know that's why I say we get

00:37:49.019 --> 00:37:52.300
to do this. That has been become one of my things

00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:55.920
that I say it 50 times a day and I mean it every

00:37:55.920 --> 00:38:01.110
time we get to do this. Also say it sarcastically

00:38:01.110 --> 00:38:03.210
when I don't want to do something I'll say I

00:38:03.210 --> 00:38:05.110
get to do this Yeah, I'm trying to talk myself

00:38:05.110 --> 00:38:07.969
into it, but I really mean that in that sense

00:38:07.969 --> 00:38:12.329
of where This is a privilege to do this why because

00:38:12.329 --> 00:38:16.329
he's changed my desires Yeah, I want to do things

00:38:16.329 --> 00:38:19.110
that I never wanted to do before man. No kidding

00:38:19.110 --> 00:38:22.030
examples You and I both standing before a group

00:38:22.030 --> 00:38:25.530
of people talking for 30 40 50 minutes I was

00:38:25.530 --> 00:38:27.909
the opposite of what I used to what I wanted

00:38:27.909 --> 00:38:30.230
to do. I would have never Dreamed I would be

00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:33.349
a preacher ever ever neither would my friends

00:38:33.349 --> 00:38:35.090
in high school. They're still like scratching

00:38:35.090 --> 00:38:37.690
their heads all these years later Here's another

00:38:37.690 --> 00:38:40.150
no, go ahead. Yeah. No, it's good man You know

00:38:40.150 --> 00:38:42.590
the the scripture talks about how you know We

00:38:42.590 --> 00:38:45.869
have natural giftings and we have spiritual giftings

00:38:45.869 --> 00:38:48.610
and this idea of being born again Jesus describes

00:38:48.610 --> 00:38:51.630
it as you know, you were born of water ie naturally

00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:54.760
It says, but you're also, you will be born of

00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:57.920
the Spirit. And as your Spirit comes to life

00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:01.659
and into relationship with God, there are gifts

00:39:01.659 --> 00:39:04.000
of the Spirit. In other words, there are things

00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:06.760
that you will become good at that you were not

00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:08.539
good at before. That's right. And they're not

00:39:08.539 --> 00:39:11.099
natural gifts. They're supernatural gifts. Supernatural.

00:39:11.260 --> 00:39:13.480
That's why when somebody says, I'm sorry, that's

00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:15.719
not in my gifting, I'm going, doesn't matter.

00:39:15.739 --> 00:39:20.079
Yet. If God calls you to it, He'll prepare you

00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:23.440
and equip you for it. That's right. And so I

00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:25.619
quit saying a long time ago, no, I don't do that.

00:39:26.179 --> 00:39:28.099
Even Annette, she jokes, you're no good with

00:39:28.099 --> 00:39:30.019
numbers. I'm like, I've been good with numbers

00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:32.340
before when I needed to be. I mean, God had an

00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:34.480
argument with Moses about this, didn't he? He

00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:37.460
said, I called you to go speak to Pharaoh. And

00:39:37.460 --> 00:39:39.380
he says, I can't even talk. What are you talking

00:39:39.380 --> 00:39:42.039
about? You know, like speak to Pharaoh. Yeah,

00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:44.659
yeah. Paul telling Timothy, hey, don't worry

00:39:44.659 --> 00:39:47.880
about your youthfulness. Don't say you're a youth

00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:50.320
and your words don't matter. Right. You know?

00:39:50.380 --> 00:39:52.260
God will give you what you need when you need

00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:54.699
it. Here's another key thought. God didn't come

00:39:54.699 --> 00:39:57.500
to make bad people good. He came to make dead

00:39:57.500 --> 00:40:01.300
people alive. I see dead people. I mean, you

00:40:01.300 --> 00:40:02.920
remember that line. That's a great way to say

00:40:02.920 --> 00:40:05.019
what we've been saying. Yeah. He came to make

00:40:05.019 --> 00:40:07.920
dead people alive because at the end of the day,

00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:11.099
we're spiritually dead until we are born again,

00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:14.380
because we're born into sin. And some of that,

00:40:14.380 --> 00:40:16.159
man, I don't have anything to do with that. That's

00:40:16.159 --> 00:40:19.050
not my fault. Well, I'm sorry. It started that

00:40:19.050 --> 00:40:21.570
way with the fall of man in the beginning. So

00:40:21.570 --> 00:40:26.289
we inherited this sin nature from birth. Just

00:40:26.289 --> 00:40:28.630
ask any parent, what's the first word we learn?

00:40:28.949 --> 00:40:34.550
Mine? Mine? Me? No? I mean, even our language

00:40:34.550 --> 00:40:38.010
as children comes out that way, and you're having

00:40:38.010 --> 00:40:40.070
to teach them and correct them right away. You

00:40:40.070 --> 00:40:43.210
know, mine, mine, give me that. You know, it's

00:40:43.210 --> 00:40:47.039
mine. That's part of that sin nature that's innate.

00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:50.639
It's in us. So we have to be born again spiritually,

00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:53.519
not naturally, spiritually. And that can come

00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:57.300
at various times in a person's life. And why

00:40:57.300 --> 00:40:59.960
do we need to be born spiritually? Because the

00:40:59.960 --> 00:41:03.239
Bible says God is spirit. You know, when Jesus

00:41:03.239 --> 00:41:05.239
was speaking with the woman at the well, he told

00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:07.739
her, he said, the days are coming. When those

00:41:07.739 --> 00:41:09.539
who worship me, he said, they're going to worship

00:41:09.539 --> 00:41:14.940
me in spirit and in truth. And now is from that

00:41:14.940 --> 00:41:18.300
point forward, he was right there. Yeah. And

00:41:18.300 --> 00:41:20.039
what he was saying to her is he said, Hey, you

00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:23.440
know, it's great externally, you know, to sing

00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:25.760
songs to me and worship me and acknowledge me

00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:27.380
and all that. He says, but I'm going to give

00:41:27.380 --> 00:41:31.239
you a capacity to commune with me, to worship

00:41:31.239 --> 00:41:34.340
God, to interact with God, to hear from God.

00:41:34.619 --> 00:41:37.579
that's only possible when your spirit is alive

00:41:37.579 --> 00:41:40.719
because God is spirit. That's right. So how do

00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:46.679
we help someone listening today who's maybe exploring

00:41:46.679 --> 00:41:49.079
or examining Christianity, they haven't taken

00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:51.539
the step, you know, the plunge as we say, you

00:41:51.539 --> 00:41:55.019
know, how do we help them understand just in

00:41:55.019 --> 00:41:58.599
the very most simplest words of what they need

00:41:58.599 --> 00:42:01.300
to do? If they're looking at really you know,

00:42:01.300 --> 00:42:03.800
I think I want to do this. I think I want to

00:42:03.800 --> 00:42:05.860
step into this. I'm exploring it. I've been thinking

00:42:05.860 --> 00:42:09.639
about it. What do I do now?" Yeah. Well, luckily,

00:42:09.820 --> 00:42:12.699
you know, God doesn't make these things complicated.

00:42:13.559 --> 00:42:16.860
It's very real. And there are things to consider.

00:42:17.019 --> 00:42:19.039
I mean, Jesus flat out told people, He said,

00:42:19.179 --> 00:42:22.000
you should count the cost before you come follow

00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:26.800
Me. Why? Because it'll cost everything. You have

00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:30.090
to look at your life as it is. And then you got

00:42:30.090 --> 00:42:34.570
to look at him and go, I want you more than anything

00:42:34.570 --> 00:42:37.570
else in my life. I want you more than my own

00:42:37.570 --> 00:42:41.210
way. I want you more even than my own family

00:42:41.210 --> 00:42:43.969
or my plans or any of it. I want you, God. I

00:42:43.969 --> 00:42:46.869
want to know you, God. I want to be born again.

00:42:47.030 --> 00:42:51.570
And it's that asking from a heart that's willing

00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:54.829
to accept whatever that looks like, knowing full

00:42:54.829 --> 00:42:56.570
well that he's not going to show you in advance

00:42:56.570 --> 00:42:59.400
everything that that looks like. There's gonna

00:42:59.400 --> 00:43:01.320
be a lot of surprises along the way. And let

00:43:01.320 --> 00:43:04.880
me help you listening because you're thinking,

00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:07.179
well, I don't know, I don't think I'm there yet.

00:43:07.500 --> 00:43:09.059
But here's something that's interesting. In Romans

00:43:09.059 --> 00:43:12.579
chapter 10 verse 17, it says that faith, because

00:43:12.579 --> 00:43:15.039
what do we need to do this? We need faith, right?

00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:18.559
To enter into that relationship, to embrace Him,

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:23.199
to be born again. We need faith. So it says this,

00:43:23.380 --> 00:43:27.239
that faith comes by hearing, and hearing... It's

00:43:27.239 --> 00:43:29.480
translated by the word of God, but the actual

00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:32.059
word means the message of Christ. In other words,

00:43:32.719 --> 00:43:35.599
the gospel, that's code word for the good news.

00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:38.099
So when you hear the word gospel, preaching the

00:43:38.099 --> 00:43:41.059
gospel, all that means is the good news. And

00:43:41.059 --> 00:43:43.139
the good news is the good news that Jesus Christ

00:43:43.139 --> 00:43:46.199
is Lord, he's savior. He wants to have a relationship

00:43:46.199 --> 00:43:48.980
with you. That's the good news. He lived the

00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:51.960
life we couldn't live. died the death we couldn't

00:43:51.960 --> 00:43:54.739
die and he did it in our place. So he took, he

00:43:54.739 --> 00:43:57.360
was a great exchange that happened. So I want

00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:01.219
to encourage you in that because faith comes

00:44:01.219 --> 00:44:05.460
by hearing, by hearing what? The message of Christ.

00:44:05.699 --> 00:44:07.940
What we're talking about today is the message

00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:10.920
of Christ. And it's, somebody's listening and

00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:13.300
it's stirring something in you. You're thinking,

00:44:13.360 --> 00:44:16.440
I really do need this. I have thought about this.

00:44:16.820 --> 00:44:19.860
I've pondered this. I do need this. Because,

00:44:20.619 --> 00:44:23.780
I mean, I don't want to just do spoiler alerts

00:44:23.780 --> 00:44:28.420
here, but there are some benefits to this. Massive

00:44:28.420 --> 00:44:31.500
benefits. And one is what I talked about earlier

00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:33.980
and I shared with that precious lady from Iran,

00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:37.960
the Prince of Peace. Who doesn't need peace in

00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:41.079
this crazy world right now? Who doesn't need

00:44:41.079 --> 00:44:44.630
hope? That's another piece. now remains these

00:44:44.630 --> 00:44:47.429
three, faith, hope and love. The greatest of

00:44:47.429 --> 00:44:49.329
these is love, but they're all great and they

00:44:49.329 --> 00:44:52.769
all actually are one part of the other. So I

00:44:52.769 --> 00:44:55.670
want to encourage you that if you think you don't

00:44:55.670 --> 00:44:57.929
have the right kind of faith or enough, Jesus

00:44:57.929 --> 00:45:01.869
made this simple statement. All it takes is faith

00:45:01.869 --> 00:45:04.869
the size of a mustard seed. And if you've ever

00:45:04.869 --> 00:45:07.230
held one in your hand, they're tiny. Little dabble,

00:45:07.289 --> 00:45:10.010
do you? It's like, that's a seed. I mean, I thought

00:45:10.010 --> 00:45:13.269
it was a speck. And he says, that's all the faith

00:45:13.269 --> 00:45:16.849
you need. And all you do is you turn your heart

00:45:16.849 --> 00:45:20.030
to him. Right where you are listening to this

00:45:20.030 --> 00:45:23.269
program, you can say, Jesus, I want this. I want

00:45:23.269 --> 00:45:27.050
you. Yeah. Come into my heart. Come into my life.

00:45:27.289 --> 00:45:30.380
Take over. Remember the song, Carrie Underwood,

00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:33.179
Jesus Take the Wheel? It's another way of saying

00:45:33.179 --> 00:45:35.719
it. I mean, you're saying, here you go, I've

00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:39.860
been driving, I let go, now you take the wheel,

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:43.360
you take my life. So here's another piece of

00:45:43.360 --> 00:45:46.260
this that just I want to touch on. The new birth

00:45:46.260 --> 00:45:49.539
is a work of the Holy Spirit. So you have to

00:45:49.539 --> 00:45:51.619
understand the fact that you're even thinking

00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:55.800
like this, leaning toward this, wondering about

00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:59.079
this, that in and of itself is a work of the

00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:01.780
Holy Spirit. In other words, the Spirit of Christ,

00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:04.059
that's what the Holy Spirit is, it's His Spirit,

00:46:04.059 --> 00:46:08.179
it's Holy, is working in you to bring you into

00:46:08.179 --> 00:46:11.119
a relationship with Jesus. That's the thing.

00:46:11.460 --> 00:46:13.820
So, you're not alone. He's helping you already.

00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:17.179
In fact, His name is even defined as helper.

00:46:17.449 --> 00:46:20.469
Comforter counselor friend advocate intercessor

00:46:20.469 --> 00:46:23.849
all these amazing things. That's who he is He's

00:46:23.849 --> 00:46:26.289
helping you right now Even the fact that you're

00:46:26.289 --> 00:46:28.889
listening to this and you're still with us still

00:46:28.889 --> 00:46:31.349
hanging in That's because the Holy Spirit's at

00:46:31.349 --> 00:46:33.250
work and I want to encourage you in that listen

00:46:33.250 --> 00:46:37.010
to this You can't earn it You can't work for

00:46:37.010 --> 00:46:39.570
this this whole thing. We call salvation or being

00:46:39.570 --> 00:46:43.130
saved or being reborn You can't manufacture it.

00:46:43.130 --> 00:46:46.659
You can't buy it You can't get it by being good

00:46:46.659 --> 00:46:49.239
or doing good deeds, and that's a huge misnomer

00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:51.960
in the world. I remember when I was sharing my

00:46:51.960 --> 00:46:54.659
faith with my mom, and she said, well, Jimmy

00:46:54.659 --> 00:46:57.420
Dale, I'm a good person. And you know what? She

00:46:57.420 --> 00:47:00.400
was a really good person. She was known for that.

00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:03.360
And I said, Mom, that doesn't matter. That's

00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:06.480
not it. I had to tell my mother, which was really

00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:09.320
hard to do. Yeah, I'm a new Christian trying

00:47:09.320 --> 00:47:11.860
to help her understand. Yeah, you are amazing.

00:47:12.139 --> 00:47:14.969
You're my mom. But that's not enough. It was

00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:16.730
really interesting. But the world thinks that

00:47:16.730 --> 00:47:18.610
way. People think that way. Well, the Bible uses

00:47:18.610 --> 00:47:23.530
words like yield and surrender and receive. Yeah.

00:47:23.670 --> 00:47:25.769
Those are hard words. That's an R word. There's

00:47:25.769 --> 00:47:28.849
an R word. It's a hard word for people to go,

00:47:29.110 --> 00:47:33.110
okay, I can't make this happen. I have to allow

00:47:33.110 --> 00:47:36.130
God to do it. There it is. You know, you can't

00:47:36.130 --> 00:47:38.349
receive something unless you open your hands,

00:47:38.710 --> 00:47:41.650
open your arms. The whole act of hugging somebody

00:47:41.650 --> 00:47:44.050
is receiving somebody. And this is what you're

00:47:44.050 --> 00:47:45.789
doing with Jesus. You're doing with this truth.

00:47:45.989 --> 00:47:48.489
You're saying, I want this. And you're literally

00:47:48.489 --> 00:47:50.989
wrapping. But to do that, you're exposing your

00:47:50.989 --> 00:47:53.730
heart. You're exposing your organs. You're exposing

00:47:53.730 --> 00:47:57.590
everything. It's the most non -defensive position

00:47:57.590 --> 00:48:00.530
a human being can be in. is to open your arms.

00:48:00.809 --> 00:48:03.070
And that's what you do in a very real way. If

00:48:03.070 --> 00:48:05.409
you've ever watched people worship in a church

00:48:05.409 --> 00:48:07.489
or you've seen this on TV and they've got their

00:48:07.489 --> 00:48:10.030
hands up to the Lord and their arms are open,

00:48:10.670 --> 00:48:13.269
they're in a place of surrender. That's all that

00:48:13.269 --> 00:48:15.210
is. It's not, look at me, look at me, wave my

00:48:15.210 --> 00:48:19.730
arms. It's, I'm surrendered. I'm open, I'm wide

00:48:19.730 --> 00:48:24.369
open and I'm as, I have no defense. Come in and

00:48:24.369 --> 00:48:27.929
it's that invitation. Well, you know, I like

00:48:27.929 --> 00:48:32.050
the word surrender because it has this implication

00:48:32.050 --> 00:48:36.690
of admitting defeat. And I think before you can

00:48:36.690 --> 00:48:40.070
win and who God made you to be, you got to first

00:48:40.070 --> 00:48:42.789
admit defeat and who you've tried to be on your

00:48:42.789 --> 00:48:45.849
own. Another way to say that in a churchy way

00:48:45.849 --> 00:48:48.389
is you have to confess your sins. Confess not

00:48:48.389 --> 00:48:50.469
your sins, but confess that you're a sinner.

00:48:51.010 --> 00:48:54.230
That's really what you're doing. And to repent,

00:48:54.369 --> 00:48:56.570
you probably heard that word, that simply means

00:48:56.570 --> 00:49:00.190
you do an about face and you face Him. You know

00:49:00.190 --> 00:49:04.170
what a lot of us do, what I used to do, is what

00:49:04.170 --> 00:49:08.170
happens to a gambler who's on a losing streak

00:49:08.170 --> 00:49:11.030
at the casino and the deeper they get in the

00:49:11.030 --> 00:49:13.789
hole, the deeper they just keep on digging because

00:49:13.789 --> 00:49:15.829
they keep imagining that somehow they're going

00:49:15.829 --> 00:49:18.269
to make those losses back. They're going to,

00:49:18.269 --> 00:49:20.769
if I just keep betting, if I just keep, I'm going

00:49:20.769 --> 00:49:22.989
to eventually, I'm going to hit it and people

00:49:22.989 --> 00:49:26.650
wipe themselves out and get into massive debt

00:49:26.650 --> 00:49:28.449
thinking that's going to work. It's the same

00:49:28.449 --> 00:49:31.510
thing that we do. So true. Trying to make our

00:49:31.510 --> 00:49:33.949
own lives work apart from the help of the Holy

00:49:33.949 --> 00:49:37.010
Spirit, apart from being born again. Here's another

00:49:37.010 --> 00:49:40.329
one. You can't obtain it because your parents

00:49:40.329 --> 00:49:43.409
were born again. And that's another misnomer.

00:49:43.610 --> 00:49:46.590
Well, my family have been Christians. They're

00:49:46.590 --> 00:49:49.030
third, fourth generation in the Catholic Church.

00:49:49.030 --> 00:49:50.869
I was born Christian. In the Lutheran Church,

00:49:50.929 --> 00:49:53.670
the Baptist Church. Yeah, I was born into this.

00:49:53.829 --> 00:49:56.570
You're not born into this. You have to be born

00:49:56.570 --> 00:50:00.969
again into it. Reborn. Here's another one. And

00:50:00.969 --> 00:50:03.389
this is not a can't. This is what you do. You

00:50:03.389 --> 00:50:07.329
receive it as a gift by faith. Just what you

00:50:07.329 --> 00:50:10.250
were saying, Brian. We throw our arms open. We

00:50:10.250 --> 00:50:14.409
say, Lord, I need your help. I can't do this.

00:50:15.010 --> 00:50:18.369
So Jesus, I receive what you did for me into

00:50:18.369 --> 00:50:22.550
my life right now. Just open my arms. I'm defenseless.

00:50:23.409 --> 00:50:26.010
I'm wide open. It's just, it's humbling yourself

00:50:26.010 --> 00:50:28.289
before God. But he promised, he said, anyone

00:50:28.289 --> 00:50:30.190
who humbles himself before me, he says, I'll

00:50:30.190 --> 00:50:33.309
lift them up. I'll exalt them. Beautiful. Beautiful.

00:50:34.110 --> 00:50:35.989
So here's another key thought. We're going to

00:50:35.989 --> 00:50:37.869
land the plane pretty quick though. Religion

00:50:37.869 --> 00:50:42.280
says do more. Jesus says, believe in what I've

00:50:42.280 --> 00:50:48.420
done. I've got tattooed on my arm here. You can't

00:50:48.420 --> 00:50:51.000
see it because we're not on video, but it's the

00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:54.280
word to Telestai in ink and I have a cross running

00:50:54.280 --> 00:50:57.820
through it, a blue cross. And that word to Telestai,

00:50:57.940 --> 00:51:00.480
you know what it is, what is it? It is finished.

00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:02.860
Those are the last words that Jesus uttered on

00:51:02.860 --> 00:51:06.599
the cross before he bowed his head and died physically.

00:51:06.920 --> 00:51:10.679
and then was resurrected spiritually and physically.

00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:14.340
But that word, I put that on my arm because I

00:51:14.340 --> 00:51:17.059
live out of the finished work of Christ. He did

00:51:17.059 --> 00:51:21.679
it, which means I don't have to. Now I receive

00:51:21.679 --> 00:51:25.400
His life and I walk with Him. And now I don't

00:51:25.400 --> 00:51:28.960
have to do anything. I get to do things. I get

00:51:28.960 --> 00:51:31.440
to do this life. And you get to do it with Him.

00:51:32.039 --> 00:51:34.980
Yeah, you're not on your own. I think I started

00:51:34.980 --> 00:51:37.400
the service saying that one of the I said you

00:51:37.400 --> 00:51:40.900
are not on your own You're not alone. You'll

00:51:40.900 --> 00:51:43.760
never be alone because he's with you and he says

00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:46.900
I'll never leave you I'll never forsake you so

00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:50.320
good man What does that mean to believe in what

00:51:50.320 --> 00:51:57.320
he's already done? Well for me, I mean that I

00:51:57.320 --> 00:52:03.150
Think it just means recognizing that I already

00:52:03.150 --> 00:52:08.170
in Christ have everything I need to do and be

00:52:08.170 --> 00:52:11.710
everything He wants me to do and be. It's already

00:52:11.710 --> 00:52:15.469
there. If He really lives on the inside of me,

00:52:15.510 --> 00:52:19.230
if I believe that, and I believe that His grace

00:52:19.230 --> 00:52:21.869
is enough for me, His grace is sufficient, like

00:52:21.869 --> 00:52:25.210
the apostle Paul said, then even if I don't have

00:52:25.210 --> 00:52:28.750
the answer, even if I, man, I've done the same

00:52:28.750 --> 00:52:35.130
stupid thing for the 150th time, It's this rehumbling

00:52:35.130 --> 00:52:36.889
of myself and coming back and saying, all right,

00:52:36.989 --> 00:52:39.789
God, you promised that what you did is enough.

00:52:40.010 --> 00:52:42.889
You promised that your grace is enough and it

00:52:42.889 --> 00:52:45.210
was poured out for me because of your shed blood

00:52:45.210 --> 00:52:47.429
on the cross and because you rose from the dead,

00:52:47.650 --> 00:52:51.050
proving that you're the son of God. Then whatever

00:52:51.050 --> 00:52:53.909
I need, you've already given it to me. And just

00:52:53.909 --> 00:52:57.489
just reminding your own heart and spirit and

00:52:57.489 --> 00:53:01.070
mind of that. brings you into the presence of

00:53:01.070 --> 00:53:04.150
God and allows that grace to begin to activate

00:53:04.150 --> 00:53:07.250
and flow, I believe. Yeah. And there's a beautiful

00:53:07.250 --> 00:53:09.889
picture of that. It's a story that Pastor Josh

00:53:09.889 --> 00:53:12.110
Howerton told. I'm going to play that story.

00:53:13.150 --> 00:53:16.570
And he was on an interview or on a podcast with

00:53:16.570 --> 00:53:19.570
Sean Ryan, which is… getting right up there with

00:53:19.570 --> 00:53:22.269
Joe Rogan these days. I mean, he's gone big and

00:53:22.269 --> 00:53:24.989
he invited Josh Howerton onto the show. Pastor

00:53:24.989 --> 00:53:28.090
Josh, he's a young pastor in Rockwall, Texas,

00:53:28.329 --> 00:53:31.409
East Dallas area, across the lake there at a

00:53:31.409 --> 00:53:34.469
great church who has, it's a small church. He

00:53:34.469 --> 00:53:36.949
has around 30 ,000 people coming every weekend.

00:53:37.130 --> 00:53:39.489
Yeah, a little church there. Actually a lot,

00:53:39.489 --> 00:53:41.849
what, three times bigger than our city here.

00:53:42.230 --> 00:53:45.719
So anyway, and that's just every Sunday. I've

00:53:45.719 --> 00:53:48.059
followed Josh for years. In fact, we named this

00:53:48.059 --> 00:53:51.800
church Bridge Church after Josh's church when

00:53:51.800 --> 00:53:54.699
he lived in Franklin, Tennessee. Our Spring Hill,

00:53:54.699 --> 00:53:57.480
Tennessee, called the Bridge. And so when we

00:53:57.480 --> 00:54:00.400
needed to come up with a name in 2019, that was

00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:02.119
the first thing that came to my mind, Bridge

00:54:02.119 --> 00:54:06.300
Church. So he's had an impact on us seven years

00:54:06.300 --> 00:54:10.539
ago. So Josh moved from Tennessee. He's a Kentucky

00:54:10.539 --> 00:54:14.429
boy. grew that church, the bridge in Spring Hill,

00:54:14.670 --> 00:54:18.269
huge, overflowing. And then he gets called to

00:54:18.269 --> 00:54:21.489
come and take over a great church, Lake Point

00:54:21.489 --> 00:54:23.750
Church in Rockwall, Texas. It was Church on the

00:54:23.750 --> 00:54:26.730
Rock. Yeah, years ago, 80s. We're talking 80s.

00:54:26.869 --> 00:54:28.909
Yeah, way back in the day. And there was a huge

00:54:28.909 --> 00:54:32.030
move of God back then. So that building, that

00:54:32.030 --> 00:54:35.250
property has actually some pretty significant,

00:54:35.250 --> 00:54:39.070
you know, just grace on it. You know, some good

00:54:39.070 --> 00:54:41.960
things happened there in the kingdom. He ends

00:54:41.960 --> 00:54:45.780
up on this podcast. I'm going to play it through

00:54:45.780 --> 00:54:48.039
here, so it's not going to be the best in the

00:54:48.039 --> 00:54:50.800
world. We'll see. But Sean Ryan asks him the

00:54:50.800 --> 00:54:53.300
question, why did Jesus have to die on the cross?

00:54:54.539 --> 00:54:57.719
And Josh Howerton has a great story to tell about

00:54:57.719 --> 00:55:04.789
that. Why did he have to do it? I don't fully

00:55:04.789 --> 00:55:08.449
understand why it had to happen if he is God.

00:55:08.710 --> 00:55:11.230
Why couldn't he just forgive? Exactly. Yeah.

00:55:11.469 --> 00:55:14.710
My favorite way to illustrate this is by a story.

00:55:15.050 --> 00:55:17.909
It's the best illustration of why Jesus had died

00:55:17.909 --> 00:55:19.670
on the cross I've ever heard. It goes like this.

00:55:19.670 --> 00:55:22.130
Once upon a time, in a far -off kingdom, there

00:55:22.130 --> 00:55:24.269
was a king who was known by everyone in the kingdom

00:55:24.269 --> 00:55:27.630
to be the most just and loving king who had ever

00:55:27.630 --> 00:55:29.769
lived. But then it was discovered that somebody

00:55:29.769 --> 00:55:32.369
was stealing from the king's treasure. and so

00:55:32.369 --> 00:55:34.989
the king being a just king, he sent out an edict

00:55:34.989 --> 00:55:37.050
that whenever it was discovered, he was stealing

00:55:37.050 --> 00:55:38.949
from the king's treasury, that that person would

00:55:38.949 --> 00:55:41.769
receive 10 lashes. Well, the theft continued,

00:55:41.869 --> 00:55:44.250
and so he issued another decree. When it's discovered

00:55:44.250 --> 00:55:46.130
who's stealing from the king's treasury, it'll

00:55:46.130 --> 00:55:49.230
be 20 lashes. The theft continued, 30 lashes.

00:55:49.349 --> 00:55:51.769
Until finally, the king issued a final decree,

00:55:51.829 --> 00:55:54.269
and he said, when it's discovered who's stealing

00:55:54.269 --> 00:55:56.210
from the king's treasury, it will be a sentence

00:55:56.210 --> 00:55:58.610
of 40 lashes. Now, the problem with that was

00:55:58.610 --> 00:56:01.670
that 40 lashes was a death sentence. And so the

00:56:01.670 --> 00:56:04.530
theft continued until eventually it was discovered

00:56:04.530 --> 00:56:08.469
that none other than the king's daughter was

00:56:08.469 --> 00:56:10.570
the one who was stealing from the treasury. So

00:56:10.570 --> 00:56:12.929
then a question began to ripple through the kingdom.

00:56:13.230 --> 00:56:14.789
What would the king do? Some thought he would

00:56:14.789 --> 00:56:16.650
forgive her, but then how would he be just? Some

00:56:16.650 --> 00:56:19.289
thought that he would issue the sentence, but

00:56:19.289 --> 00:56:21.110
then how would he be loving? The king sat down

00:56:21.110 --> 00:56:23.690
and decided, you know what? The sentence is just.

00:56:23.969 --> 00:56:27.110
The punishment must fall. And so the decree stands.

00:56:27.409 --> 00:56:29.530
And so one day the entire kingdom was gathered.

00:56:29.960 --> 00:56:31.519
In front of everybody, the king's own daughter

00:56:31.519 --> 00:56:33.760
was marched up to the podium in front of the

00:56:33.760 --> 00:56:36.440
entire kingdom, and she was bent over the podium,

00:56:36.699 --> 00:56:38.940
and the back of her shirt was ripped open, and

00:56:38.940 --> 00:56:41.780
the executioner stood there, and he began to...

00:56:41.849 --> 00:56:44.869
raise his whip to land the first lash and as

00:56:44.869 --> 00:56:48.429
soon as he did the king yelled stop and there

00:56:48.429 --> 00:56:50.989
was a silence that fell and the king strode forward

00:56:50.989 --> 00:56:53.590
and he took off his own shirt and he bent over

00:56:53.590 --> 00:56:56.170
and he wrapped his body around his own daughter

00:56:56.170 --> 00:56:59.250
and looked back up over his shoulder and he said

00:56:59.250 --> 00:57:02.590
now hit her and the executioner objected and

00:57:02.590 --> 00:57:05.150
he said the king those lashes they'll fall on

00:57:05.150 --> 00:57:07.829
you and he said the sentence must stand it's

00:57:07.829 --> 00:57:12.099
just hit her and so 40 lashes fell the body of

00:57:12.099 --> 00:57:15.099
the king that protected the body of his daughter

00:57:15.099 --> 00:57:18.320
and the king died in the stead of his daughter.

00:57:18.780 --> 00:57:22.039
What happens in that story is the king was both

00:57:22.039 --> 00:57:24.980
just because payment for the sin had to be made

00:57:24.980 --> 00:57:28.800
and the king was the justifier of the ungodly.

00:57:29.119 --> 00:57:31.940
She went free because he took the penalty. See

00:57:31.940 --> 00:57:34.500
the reason Jesus had to die on the cross is because

00:57:34.500 --> 00:57:37.179
God is just and so payment for sin has to be

00:57:37.179 --> 00:57:39.699
made. Like if somebody walked into a courtroom

00:57:39.699 --> 00:57:41.800
and a judge just went, you know what, man? You

00:57:41.800 --> 00:57:44.539
raped that girl when she was young, but you're

00:57:44.539 --> 00:57:47.159
real sorry and I have the power to do it. You're

00:57:47.159 --> 00:57:51.119
forgiven. Nobody would think that was a just

00:57:51.119 --> 00:57:54.840
judge. So penalty for sin had to be made, but

00:57:54.840 --> 00:57:58.400
God is love. So he made the payment himself.

00:57:59.079 --> 00:58:03.199
Why did you? Wow, that's so good. Man, when I

00:58:03.199 --> 00:58:07.320
played that for the church on Sunday, I was wrecked.

00:58:07.889 --> 00:58:10.389
because I was like, now I've got to come up and

00:58:10.389 --> 00:58:13.610
say something. I looked out across the congregation.

00:58:13.650 --> 00:58:16.369
We had a full house, both services this weekend.

00:58:16.409 --> 00:58:18.909
We were packed. And there were tears. There were

00:58:18.909 --> 00:58:22.050
people crying everywhere, weeping because it

00:58:22.050 --> 00:58:25.070
finally dawned on them through a story, the power

00:58:25.070 --> 00:58:29.929
of story that Jesus did for them, for each of

00:58:29.929 --> 00:58:32.789
us, what that King, because Jesus is the King

00:58:32.789 --> 00:58:35.889
of Kings. He wrapped His body around ours and

00:58:35.889 --> 00:58:40.340
took the blows. The church is his bride Like

00:58:40.340 --> 00:58:43.719
a daughter in a way. Oh, man. He did it out of

00:58:43.719 --> 00:58:47.059
love. He did it for love and he did it for us

00:58:47.059 --> 00:58:52.159
and it just It drove the point home and even

00:58:52.159 --> 00:58:55.099
for me I've been a Christian four plus decades

00:58:55.099 --> 00:59:00.900
and yet when I hear that Just my heart breaks

00:59:00.900 --> 00:59:04.260
that he was willing to do that for me. I've never

00:59:04.260 --> 00:59:08.340
forgotten How powerful that is to understand

00:59:08.340 --> 00:59:11.579
that Jesus actually gave his life for me. He's

00:59:11.579 --> 00:59:15.000
willing to die for me You know that the verse

00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:17.139
he referenced there is out of Romans chapter

00:59:17.139 --> 00:59:20.440
3 in verse 26 and it says that he Jesus might

00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:24.340
be just and the Justifier of the one who has

00:59:24.340 --> 00:59:28.420
faith in there. It is Jesus into into the primary

00:59:28.420 --> 00:59:34.400
preposition. Yeah, yeah, he's Perfectly just

00:59:34.400 --> 00:59:38.789
like His very nature requires a full accounting

00:59:38.789 --> 00:59:42.429
for all things both good and bad. Yeah a Price

00:59:42.429 --> 00:59:45.449
had to be paid price had to be paid for everything

00:59:45.449 --> 00:59:49.909
But he loves us so much That he's the justifier.

00:59:49.909 --> 00:59:53.250
He said I'm also gonna be the fix for this. Yeah

00:59:53.250 --> 00:59:59.010
for anybody who is in me anyone Wow, I mean that's

00:59:59.010 --> 01:00:02.639
so cool that it wasn't a invitation to the elite

01:00:02.639 --> 01:00:04.760
few, but it was an invitation to anyone. There

01:00:04.760 --> 01:00:07.380
it is. You're an anyone, I'm an anyone. Whoever's

01:00:07.380 --> 01:00:10.280
listening, you're an anyone. Yeah. In Romans

01:00:10.280 --> 01:00:13.340
chapter 10, it says, for whosoever or who or

01:00:13.340 --> 01:00:16.059
anyone or everyone who calls upon the name of

01:00:16.059 --> 01:00:19.820
the Lord will be saved. And so if you're listening

01:00:19.820 --> 01:00:21.760
to this today and you just heard that story and

01:00:21.760 --> 01:00:24.320
you've heard what we've been talking about, we've

01:00:24.320 --> 01:00:26.760
got good news for you today. We've got gospel

01:00:26.760 --> 01:00:30.059
for you today. And that is that Jesus died for

01:00:30.059 --> 01:00:36.239
you. He took the penalty. He took the consequences

01:00:36.239 --> 01:00:39.400
of our sin. He took the consequences of your

01:00:39.400 --> 01:00:44.699
sin on His own body and He died. And the Scripture

01:00:44.699 --> 01:00:48.920
even says that in one moment God turned His face

01:00:48.920 --> 01:00:51.719
away from Jesus on the cross because God can't

01:00:51.719 --> 01:00:55.699
look upon sin. Jesus when He took that on Him

01:00:55.699 --> 01:00:58.989
for a moment God could not even look at him.

01:00:59.070 --> 01:01:02.369
I mean, I can't even imagine. I'm a daddy. You're

01:01:02.369 --> 01:01:06.329
a daddy. You can't even imagine being willing

01:01:06.329 --> 01:01:11.090
to let your son take on the sins of one person

01:01:11.090 --> 01:01:15.809
and lose his life for that, much less billions.

01:01:16.730 --> 01:01:19.849
And he did, and he did that for you, for you

01:01:19.849 --> 01:01:23.480
who are listening. And if this is stirring something

01:01:23.480 --> 01:01:25.719
in your heart, that's because faith comes by

01:01:25.719 --> 01:01:28.099
hearing and hearing by the message of Christ.

01:01:28.780 --> 01:01:31.059
That's because God's working in your heart and

01:01:31.059 --> 01:01:34.940
drawing you to Him. And as we land the plane,

01:01:35.320 --> 01:01:38.719
I just, man, I want to encourage you right now,

01:01:38.739 --> 01:01:40.340
wherever you're listening to this, you may be

01:01:40.340 --> 01:01:42.480
driving down the road during, you know, commute

01:01:42.480 --> 01:01:45.159
time, you know, or you may be listening while

01:01:45.159 --> 01:01:47.539
you're doing something, but I want to invite

01:01:47.539 --> 01:01:52.219
you to pause right now where you are. And I'm

01:01:52.219 --> 01:01:54.119
just gonna lead you through something very simple,

01:01:54.139 --> 01:01:57.900
very short, very to the point of really moving

01:01:57.900 --> 01:02:01.159
into that posture of receiving and accepting

01:02:01.159 --> 01:02:04.960
and surrendering to Christ. Not just believing

01:02:04.960 --> 01:02:09.800
about Him, but believing into Him. And the scripture

01:02:09.800 --> 01:02:12.900
says this, when you do this, you can be saved.

01:02:13.179 --> 01:02:16.300
In Romans 10, where I quoted that verse a minute

01:02:16.300 --> 01:02:20.550
ago, up just before that, it says that, If you'll

01:02:20.550 --> 01:02:22.730
believe in your heart that God has raised him

01:02:22.730 --> 01:02:25.289
from the dead and you'll confess with your mouth

01:02:25.289 --> 01:02:29.170
that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. That's

01:02:29.170 --> 01:02:32.750
believing into. And so I want to invite you wherever

01:02:32.750 --> 01:02:35.969
you are, if you can, if it's even possible to

01:02:35.969 --> 01:02:38.150
close your eyes or if it's possible just to,

01:02:38.309 --> 01:02:40.170
even if you're driving, you can do this wherever

01:02:40.170 --> 01:02:44.590
you are. But pause for a minute and just put

01:02:44.590 --> 01:02:48.719
these words into your words. But here's how I

01:02:48.719 --> 01:02:52.300
did it, leaning over the hood of a 71 Ford pickup

01:02:52.300 --> 01:02:57.320
back in May of 1980, just outside of Post, Texas,

01:02:57.360 --> 01:03:00.440
right outside my granddad's cabinet shop. I leaned

01:03:00.440 --> 01:03:03.199
over that pickup. I could feel the heat from

01:03:03.199 --> 01:03:06.099
the day earlier in the day. I remember everything

01:03:06.099 --> 01:03:10.420
about that moment. And a youth pastor had me

01:03:10.420 --> 01:03:16.760
say this prayer, and here it is. Today I confess

01:03:16.760 --> 01:03:23.800
to you that I have sinned. I am a sinner and

01:03:23.800 --> 01:03:28.039
I need you in my life. I need you to change my

01:03:28.039 --> 01:03:33.300
life. I need to be saved. I've been trying to

01:03:33.300 --> 01:03:36.739
do this by myself on my own. It's not working

01:03:36.739 --> 01:03:41.079
and I know I need a Savior. I need help. I need

01:03:41.079 --> 01:03:46.559
rescue. So Jesus, I want you to know I believe.

01:03:47.440 --> 01:03:49.960
I don't know everything I believe. I don't understand

01:03:49.960 --> 01:03:54.099
it all. But like Mary said in that show, The

01:03:54.099 --> 01:03:57.260
Chosen, I want to be where I used to be this

01:03:57.260 --> 01:04:02.239
way. And now I'm here. And in between was Him,

01:04:02.460 --> 01:04:08.320
Christ. So Lord, I give you my heart. I give

01:04:08.320 --> 01:04:12.679
you my past. I give you my present. And I give

01:04:12.679 --> 01:04:18.960
you my future. I repent of my sin and my sins.

01:04:20.460 --> 01:04:24.840
I turn away from them and I turn to you. Jesus,

01:04:24.880 --> 01:04:29.940
save me. Change me from the inside out. Transform

01:04:29.940 --> 01:04:34.800
me. I will live the rest of my life honoring

01:04:34.800 --> 01:04:38.840
you, learning about you, glorifying you, getting

01:04:38.840 --> 01:04:44.570
to know you. I receive you as my Savior. and

01:04:44.570 --> 01:04:50.530
the Lord of my life in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

01:04:51.250 --> 01:04:53.929
Wow. First thing I'd say is if you're driving

01:04:53.929 --> 01:04:57.550
down the road, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

01:04:58.710 --> 01:05:00.750
Don't just be introduced to Him and then go about

01:05:00.750 --> 01:05:03.889
your business. You want to find a church. You

01:05:03.889 --> 01:05:07.639
want to find something. where you can get helped,

01:05:07.739 --> 01:05:09.699
where you can get taught, where you can get—we

01:05:09.699 --> 01:05:11.739
use the word, discipled. You know, we become

01:05:11.739 --> 01:05:14.119
a learner. The word, disciple, simply means learner

01:05:14.119 --> 01:05:18.079
or student. And one of the ways you can do that

01:05:18.079 --> 01:05:21.059
is you can tune into The Bridge. We do this every

01:05:21.059 --> 01:05:24.239
Sunday morning, Central Standard Time, 9 a .m.

01:05:24.719 --> 01:05:28.659
and 11 a .m. And myself or Pastor Brian or sometimes

01:05:28.659 --> 01:05:31.679
we'll have a guest, but we're doing this every

01:05:31.679 --> 01:05:35.139
Sunday. helping you learn how to worship, helping

01:05:35.139 --> 01:05:37.980
you learn what it means to walk with Jesus and

01:05:37.980 --> 01:05:41.340
to live this life. We want to help you do that.

01:05:41.480 --> 01:05:44.000
And it's easy. You simply tune in. You can catch

01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:47.500
us on YouTube, Facebook, or on our website. Our

01:05:47.500 --> 01:05:54.099
website is bridgefbg, as in Fredericksburg, bridgefbg

01:05:54.099 --> 01:05:57.809
.com. And on that front landing page, You can

01:05:57.809 --> 01:06:00.929
go down and see, we do it live or you can go

01:06:00.929 --> 01:06:03.469
up to the top and click on sermons and you can

01:06:03.469 --> 01:06:05.789
find our sermons there, find our messages. We

01:06:05.789 --> 01:06:08.489
video those so you can get the whole thing there.

01:06:08.989 --> 01:06:10.969
You can get it on YouTube as well. We have a

01:06:10.969 --> 01:06:13.750
YouTube channel under Bridge Church, Fredericksburg,

01:06:13.829 --> 01:06:15.869
Texas. Make sure you put Texas in there or you'll

01:06:15.869 --> 01:06:19.570
end up in Virginia. So anyway, those are ways

01:06:19.570 --> 01:06:21.730
you can find us and every Sunday we're doing

01:06:21.730 --> 01:06:24.670
this. And if you did give your heart to Jesus,

01:06:24.769 --> 01:06:27.920
I want to ask you to do something I'm going to

01:06:27.920 --> 01:06:31.179
ask you to go to livingupinadownworld .com. That's

01:06:31.179 --> 01:06:35.159
super simple, livingupinadownworld .com. Subscribe,

01:06:35.239 --> 01:06:38.019
but you can also write a note on there. You can

01:06:38.019 --> 01:06:40.400
write a review. You can subscribe. I would love

01:06:40.400 --> 01:06:43.480
to hear from you that if you did this, you gave

01:06:43.480 --> 01:06:45.960
your heart to Jesus. We want to celebrate with

01:06:45.960 --> 01:06:48.559
you and we want to pray for you and help you

01:06:48.559 --> 01:06:51.039
do that and help you walk that walk out. What

01:06:51.039 --> 01:06:53.420
do you got to add to that, PB? Wow. I'm just,

01:06:54.079 --> 01:06:57.349
man, congratulations to anybody. who joined us

01:06:57.349 --> 01:07:02.349
in that prayer and raise your expectation. Go

01:07:02.349 --> 01:07:06.949
about your day today expecting for moments where

01:07:06.949 --> 01:07:10.329
you encounter the presence of God, the voice

01:07:10.329 --> 01:07:13.630
of God, the interactivity of God in your life.

01:07:13.789 --> 01:07:16.849
You'll begin to notice and see things that never

01:07:16.849 --> 01:07:20.079
stuck out to you before. So pay attention. Amen.

01:07:20.539 --> 01:07:23.679
Amen. Hey, another web, another podcast I'd love

01:07:23.679 --> 01:07:26.619
for you to check out. We get to do this. Adam

01:07:26.619 --> 01:07:31.019
Curry and myself started this podcast 45 episodes

01:07:31.019 --> 01:07:35.420
ago, 44, 45 episodes ago, and it is rolling and

01:07:35.420 --> 01:07:39.159
catching traction and steam and growing and come

01:07:39.159 --> 01:07:42.539
check that out. He and I, we talk about really

01:07:42.539 --> 01:07:46.039
the crossroads or intersection between Christianity

01:07:46.039 --> 01:07:48.719
and culture. looking at what's happening in the

01:07:48.719 --> 01:07:51.320
world around us right now, currently, everything,

01:07:51.699 --> 01:07:54.019
and then we unpack that through the biblical

01:07:54.019 --> 01:07:56.980
lens or what's called a biblical worldview. Like

01:07:56.980 --> 01:07:59.840
what does the Bible have to say about, you know,

01:08:00.059 --> 01:08:02.820
the Strait of Hormuz? What does the Bible have

01:08:02.820 --> 01:08:06.679
to say about Iran, you know, and what's going

01:08:06.679 --> 01:08:09.320
on in the war there, or all these different things?

01:08:09.400 --> 01:08:11.780
We unpack those, but look at them. What does

01:08:11.780 --> 01:08:14.679
the Bible have to say about Dr. Fauci? I mean,

01:08:14.760 --> 01:08:17.079
we go there, we go there on everything and Adam

01:08:17.079 --> 01:08:20.460
brings the culture. I bring the worldview and

01:08:20.460 --> 01:08:22.840
we have an amazing meeting at that crossroad.

01:08:23.220 --> 01:08:25.340
So you can find us on the Godcaster. It's an

01:08:25.340 --> 01:08:27.859
app, easy to download or you can go to Godcaster

01:08:27.859 --> 01:08:32.560
.fm. You can find the Godcaster on bridgefbg

01:08:32.560 --> 01:08:35.819
.com as well and go to our Godcaster. You can

01:08:35.819 --> 01:08:37.939
find it right there in the menu at the top over

01:08:37.939 --> 01:08:40.239
towards the right. and click on that and you

01:08:40.239 --> 01:08:42.319
can listen to those episodes or you can listen

01:08:42.319 --> 01:08:45.640
to streaming music 24 -7 there. But the name

01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:48.199
of the podcast is We Get To Do This, God, The

01:08:48.199 --> 01:08:50.859
World, and Other Things with Pastor Jimmy Pruitt

01:08:50.859 --> 01:08:53.460
and Adam Curry. So check that out. That'll be

01:08:53.460 --> 01:08:56.340
a way we can encourage you. And again, thanks

01:08:56.340 --> 01:08:58.899
for being with us. Pastor Brian, thanks so much

01:08:58.899 --> 01:09:00.899
for hanging out today. It's a great conversation.

01:09:01.380 --> 01:09:03.939
Man, we just love talking about Jesus. Man, stick

01:09:03.939 --> 01:09:06.239
a mic in front of us or not. It doesn't matter.

01:09:06.439 --> 01:09:08.319
We would have had this conversation whether these

01:09:08.319 --> 01:09:10.880
mics were here or not. But it's fun to have that.

01:09:11.039 --> 01:09:13.579
And hopefully our folks that are at Bridge Church

01:09:13.579 --> 01:09:16.939
that'll tune into this will find themselves encouraged,

01:09:17.319 --> 01:09:20.029
reviewing material. I don't know about you, I

01:09:20.029 --> 01:09:22.130
need to hear things repetitively. I'm not that

01:09:22.130 --> 01:09:24.689
smart to hear one thing. Yeah, to hear something

01:09:24.689 --> 01:09:26.729
once. And that's why we're doing this special

01:09:26.729 --> 01:09:28.909
edition of Living Up and Down World. Thanks for

01:09:28.909 --> 01:09:31.069
joining us today. Thanks brother for joining

01:09:31.069 --> 01:09:34.430
us today. You guys have an amazing week on purpose.