Transcript

Truth Set Free Q&A · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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Him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. Today's crosswalk is pre -recorded
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from True Set Free. Hello ladies and gentlemen,
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welcome to True Set Free. My name is Matt Lewis.
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This is Pastor Steve Winnery. We are coming to
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you from Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities, Kennewick,
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Washington. This is a question and answer show
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that we do every Wednesday at 3 30. If you just
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stumbled on the show you can post in the comments
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any Bible questions that you have and we'll do
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our best to get to them Facebook or YouTube if
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you have questions you can send them to me crosswalk
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radio at gmail .com I save those during the week
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and we just roll through so is there anything
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you want to say Steve before we jump in here
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no love it yeah yeah I'm gonna go on All right,
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my first one for today is from Crystal and this
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actually was a leftover that we were discussing
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on a previous podcast. We just never got to it.
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So that might be why it sounds kind of weird,
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but it says, why do people have a hard time with
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the 10 commandments, especially Catholics? And
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so I don't remember exactly what that was in
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reference to, but maybe you could. Was it a longer
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question? It was something we were talking about
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and she posted on Facebook during the discussion.
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Oh, okay. Sorry, I don't have much more info
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than that. As far as Catholicism and the Ten
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Commandments, I don't know if you're talking
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about people that you're in contact with and
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if this is... just a personal thing, or if you're
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talking about the differences between the listing
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of the commandments between Catholics and Protestants.
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And so, the Catholics split the commandments
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up differently. Do they? Yes, they do. Can you
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explain that? I don't know. When you start off,
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the first commandment is, I'm the Lord your God
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who brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
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out of the house of bondage. You shall have no
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other gods before me. Second commandment says,
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you shall not make yourself a carved image. No,
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no idols, no carved images. Third commandment
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is you're not to take the name of the Lord in
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vain. Fourth is remember the Sabbath day to keep
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it holy. Fifth is honor your father and mother.
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Sixth is you shall not murder. Seventh is you
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shall not commit adultery. Eighth is you shall
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not steal. Ninth is you shall not bear false
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witness. And then the tenth is, you shall not
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covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet
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your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor
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his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
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and so on. And what the Roman Catholics do is
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they combine the second and third commandment.
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And so they basically say, you shall have no
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other gods before me is the second commandment.
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And then they make the third commandment, you
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shall not take the name of the Lord, your God
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in vain. Wait, one, oh, you shall have no other
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gods before me is the first commandment. The
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second commandment is the one that they combine
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with that. First and second commandment are combined.
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And then their second commandment is, you shall
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not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
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And they obviously do that because there's a
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prohibition against making images. If you've
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ever walked into a Catholic church, there's lots
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of statues. Yeah, when we went to St. Peter's
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Basilica, my wife. left there almost sick because
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she felt like she was in an idol factory. And
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what they do is they take the 10th commandment
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and they split it in two. You're not to covet
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your neighbor's wife nor his goods. That would
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be the difference between the commandments for...
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Protestants versus Catholics. As far as why people
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don't like the Ten Commandments is basically
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there are moral issues there. If you have issues
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with honoring your father and mother, hating
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people and murder and adultery and stealing,
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then obviously you're not going to be in agreement
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with the commandments. And so, Crystal, I don't
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know specifically what you're addressing here
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as far as when you're talking about the Catholics.
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That's the differences between. Catholic and
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Protestant divisions. Cool. Yeah. All right,
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Steve Allen's on Facebook here, and this is his
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question. He says in First Corinthians 714, it
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says, and I'm just reading off of his post here,
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for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by
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the wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified
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by the husband. Otherwise your children would
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be unclean, but now they are holy. And then he
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says in the New King James Version, oh, sorry,
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that was the New King James Version. He says,
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But in the King James Version, it says, For the
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unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife,
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and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the
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husband. Else were your children unclean, but
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now are they holy. What is the actual application
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of the two versions? Does this mean the children
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with one or more saved parents go to heaven?
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And if so, at what point are the children not
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covered by their parents anymore? So unpack that
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for us. Yeah, when you're talking about clean
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and unclean in the Bible I actually like the
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King James Version there because it makes it
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a little bit more distinctive when you're talking
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about clean and unclean in the Bible it has to
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do with being set apart and The term holy, for
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example, is the same thing. It's a word that
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means to be set apart specifically for God's
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use. And so when you're talking about unclean
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in scripture, you're not necessarily talking
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about something that's filthy or something that's
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wicked or something that's evil. You're talking
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about something that is not set apart. in a situation
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like that. For example, in Jewish homes, they
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had what were called common dishes or unclean,
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they would be unclean dishes, and then they had
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sanctified dishes. So when it came up to time
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for Passover and things like that, They didn't
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have to do a ritual cleansing to make sure that
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the dishes were useful for the Passover meal
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or for the feast days. It's the same thing, you
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know, as you know, when we see unclean and clean,
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we think filthy and we think clean, pure, filthy
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and pure. And that's not necessarily what we're
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talking about. And so when you look at this situation
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here, when he says the unbelieving husband is
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sanctified by the wife, the unbelieving wife
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is sanctified by the husband, what you're talking
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about is being set apart. And so there's a setting
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apart that takes place when you have a believer
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in a household. When I'm explaining this to couples
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or in marriage studies, I'm... thinking in practical
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ways. So for example, if the wife is a believer,
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the husband is set apart in the sense that God
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is doing a specific work with him through the
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wife. So like literally, every morning he's waking
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up rolling over and looking into the eyes of
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someone who has Jesus living inside of them.
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And that's the same thing with a mom and her
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children. Even if a husband is an unbeliever,
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you've got a mom in the household who's a believer.
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Her children are being set apart in the sense
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that they've got a specific influence that is
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coming from that believer. that's working in
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the hearts of those children. And so no, I don't
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think that there's a difference between Christian
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and non -Christian children as far as whether
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or not they go to heaven. The Bible talks about
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the reason that people go to hell is because
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of rejection of Christ. And so babies can't reject
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Christ. And for the most part, little children,
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unless you're talking about somebody who's on
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a genius level, are not people who are rejecting
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Christ. And a lot of times when we're thinking
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of salvation, we're thinking of salvation in
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a more positive way in the sense of I need to
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accept Christ. And that's absolutely true. As
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many as received him, the Bible says he gave
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them the right to become the children of God.
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But when you're talking about little children,
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the issue is not whether or not they've accepted
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Christ, it's whether or not they've rejected
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Christ. And Jesus talks about this in John chapter
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three. If you start in verse 16 and go through
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the next four or five verses, you can see what
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he's talking about. He talks about the fact that
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people are condemned because they have not believed
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in the only begotten Son of God. And so their
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condemnation comes from rejection. And that's
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something that you need to keep in mind. That's
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why the Bible teaches that little children go
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to heaven. And so David talked about that. You
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see a number of instances in scripture where
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that's indicated. That's why little children
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don't need to be baptized. It is also why children
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need to be taught in the ways of the Lord. And
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at some point they have to come to a real relationship
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with Jesus. There has to come a time when a kid
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gets older, when they're turning away. from their
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sinfulness and they're giving their life to the
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Lord. But up until that time, God's not looking
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at a child from that perspective. He's looking
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at them from the perspective of the fact that
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they're innocent. And so it would be the same
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situation with unbelievers' children versus believers'
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children, you know, up until what's called the
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age of accountability. And that's going to vary
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for different kids. But this is just talking
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about the influence of a husband or a wife in
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a household when Jesus is in their heart. That's
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all it's talking about. Yeah. So sanctification
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is not salvation. It's a process. And my kids,
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because I mean, my wife first saved before we
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had kids, grew up totally different than when
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I grew up. Right. And so it's just totally applicable.
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They are set apart from the world in a way sanctified
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that I was not when I grew up. Right. And it's
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just because Jesus was in the home. It doesn't
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mean we are perfect. It doesn't mean my kids
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are saved because their dad's a pastor. In fact,
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a lot of times I'm pushing back on that because
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it brings up other things with church kids and
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attitudes and stuff. But they are for sure set
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apart from the world that we're living in today.
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Yeah, exactly. I was the same way. There was
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no influence like that in my life. And my kids
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grew up totally different than I grew up. And
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they came to the Lord, both of them came to the
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Lord really early in their life. Yeah, so when
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it says now they are holy, you know, I got teenager
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now and driving Permit whatever and so there's
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all the attitudes but as far as a heart For people
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I remember me and my sister fighting growing
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up and there's some of that but the heart they
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have for each other It's totally different. Yep,
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because all the junk. Yeah, so that verse rang
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true in my life. Absolutely. Yeah Good. Yep All
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right, this is my next one's from Felicia. You
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read this, right? So I'm not gonna read the whole
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thing. I'm just gonna paraphrase this, but it
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says, I have some questions for you regarding
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the idea that God has blessed this nation. You
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have presented some great points that I have
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taken to heart, but you have also not addressed
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what I would call my main objections to your
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position. She says the basic reason for my abstaining
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from politics is related to the fact that the
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Jews expected Jesus to show up. and be a political
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mover and shaker and they were stumbled by the
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only moving and shaking that he did which had
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to do with them and not Rome. He cleaned his
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house, his kingdom was not of this world, he
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set up a new kingdom that will never be brought
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to ruin. This seems to be related to a subject
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the church, sorry, this seems to be a related
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subject, the church and government politics.
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And then she goes on and says, why could God
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use Freemasons to establish a Christian nation?
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and she talks a lot about that. And then I'm
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going to end it with her last part. Freemasons
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also fit with the description of having two horns
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like a lamb, a false flag. I realize the Most
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High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth
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and gives them to anyone he wishes. So maybe
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he did use Freemasons in the same way he used
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Nebuchadnezzar. I remain ambivalent on the matter
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and would appreciate further feedback. So, a
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couple, three or four things going on there,
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but that's the gist of it. Okay. What would you
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say? So, first off, let's just talk about Jesus
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and politics. He was not quiet about political
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situations. So, for example, he had no respect
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for Herod. In fact, he called him a female fox
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at one point. A female fox. To the politician's
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face. So that's a little, that shows you a little
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insight. You tell that fox. Now the guy did,
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you know. Yeah, he was a mess. Yeah, and he killed
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his friends. I mean, there's things going on
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there, but... Yeah, exactly. And so, and he did
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have things to say about political matters. You
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know the passage where they bring a coin up to
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Jesus and say, should we pay taxes to Caesar
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or not? And he says, who's inscriptions on it?
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And then, give to Caesar what Caesar's, give
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to God what's God's. And so, he did talk about
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those things. When he addressed the people of
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Israel, specifically in Matthew chapter 23, he's
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addressing the scribes and the Pharisees. That's
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the political establishment at the time in the
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nation of Israel. Jesus is coming specifically
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to the Jews in his first coming and he does go
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through and talk about their practices. I've
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never seen a diatribe. on anybody like Matthew
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23, where Jesus goes after these guys. And that's
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all political, is the point that I'm making here.
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He just didn't do the politics of Rome. What
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he was dealing with was the politics of Israel,
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which is intertwined with their supposed relationship
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with God, because it was supposed to be a theocracy.
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And so you don't have Jesus not being political
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in the first place. The second point I wanna
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make with that is Jesus in his first coming is
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not coming to deal with the politics of the world
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specifically. He's coming to deal with sin, okay?
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And so that's why he came. And I know that you
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know that too, if you're coming to church here.
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So he came to deal with sin and he came to die
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on the cross. the second time he comes, he's
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coming to deal with politics. And he's coming
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to deal with politicians. And so he is going
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to come, and he's going to conquer the world.
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He's going to take it over, and he's going to
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remove these governments from power, like literally
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is what's going to be taking place. And so you
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can't— really go through, and when you're looking
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at what the Bible says about Jesus, you can't
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really go through and say that he was non -political
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because he wasn't. I mean, then he killed him
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over this. So, he was involved, and I know that
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you already pointed out he's related to the religious
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makeup in the politics of Israel and how the
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government system works. But it's not like he's
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sitting on the bench going to synagogues and
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doing nothing but church. He ruffled so many
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feathers in the political arena, they killed
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him. Right. Yeah, they were politicians who killed
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him. So you got to keep that in mind. As far
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as believers being involved in politics, 1st
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Peter talks about the issue of believers in the
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world specifically. It's in 1st Peter chapter
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2. It says this therefore submit yourselves to
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every ordinance of man for the lord's sake whether
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to the king is supreme Or to governors as to
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those who are sent by him for the punishment
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of evildoers And for the praise of those who
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do good for this is the will of god that by doing
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good You may put to silence the ignorance of
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foolish men as free Yet not using liberty as
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a cloak for vice but as bond servants of god
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honor all people love the brotherhood fear god
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honor the king And all that's talking about is
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being a good citizen, okay? And so in the Roman
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Empire, being a good citizen depended on where
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you were living. And so there was an emperor
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of Rome, and so you were under his authority.
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There were kings in different places, in different
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provinces in Rome. So for example, Herod was
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a king, and he was under the Roman Empire. And
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so it's going through talking about the way that
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we treat people who are in political positions.
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When you're looking at the United States, we
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don't have a king. We have a Constitution. And
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so everybody is to be obedient to the Constitution.
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When I look at what it means to be a good citizen
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in the United States, that means I need to obey
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every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. As
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Jesus said, I need to pay taxes. Paul in Romans
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chapter 13 talks about giving deference to those
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who are in authority. Paul in 1st Timothy chapter
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2 talks about praying for those in government
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authority. There's all these things that we are
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called to as Christians. And one of the things
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that these people never had was a vote. They
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never had a vote. They are subjects to the governing
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authorities. We are not subjects. We are the
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people who run the government. And so we, the
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people of the United States of America, in order
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to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
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and so on, you know the preamble to the Constitution.
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The Constitution is all about the fact that the
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people rule, not the governing authorities. And
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so we put them in place as representatives. This
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is a representative democracy. We put them in
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place as representatives to do our will. That's
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what's supposed to be happening. We don't put
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them in place to slavishly do our will. What
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they're supposed to be doing is making decisions
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that will basically please the populace. please
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the people. They're servants of the people. Yeah,
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they're servants of the people. And so we are
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not their servants. They are our servants, is
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the way that the American Constitution works.
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And so if they are going to be my servant, if
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God has placed me in this position in the United
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States of America, if they are going to be my
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servant, then I have to be responsible in giving
19:31
them their marching orders. And that's what voting
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is all about. And so, when I look at everything
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that I do as a Christian, I've got responsibilities
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all over the place. So, I am a husband. And so,
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I am in authority over my wife. I am responsible
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to my wife to treat her in the way that the Bible
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talks about. I'm responsible to make sure that
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she's walking with the Lord. I'm responsible
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to make sure that I'm providing for her. I don't
20:02
get to opt out on my responsibility there. And
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when I look at my responsibility to my marriage,
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the same thing. I'm supposed to be building up
20:11
my marriage, not tearing down my marriage. I'm
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supposed to be making sure that everything is
20:17
going the way that scripture says it's supposed
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to be going. This is my responsibility because
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God placed me in this marriage. I'm also the
20:25
father of children. They're out of my house now,
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but I'm still their father. And God has placed
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me in a position where I have influence and authority.
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over my children, and I need to be exercising
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my influence and authority. I don't get to abdicate
20:39
these things. If I abdicate them, bad things
20:42
are going to happen. I'm also a Christian, and
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so I have a responsibility to represent Jesus
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Christ in everything that I'm doing, whether
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it's in my work, or whether it's in my leisure
20:55
time, or whether it's in my relationships. I
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am responsible before God to be a good representative
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of the kingdom of God. in all of these relationships.
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And I don't get to abdicate that either. I'm
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going to be judged on these things. And I'm a
21:12
pastor and I have a responsibility here. I have
21:15
a responsibility to the employees that work for
21:18
me. Obviously a responsibility to the people
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who are coming to the church, including you.
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God's placed me in this position for a reason.
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There's privileges that are involved in this,
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but along with the privileges come the responsibilities.
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And I don't get to abdicate the responsibilities.
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No matter who's doing what in the ministry here,
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I'm accountable for these things before God.
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And so I need to not give up. on my responsibilities.
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The fact that I'm not over in Sunday school because
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I'm upfront teaching on a Sunday morning doesn't
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mean that I don't have responsibilities in Sunday
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school. And so I put people there who I delegate
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and who I believe are going to do my will and
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God's will in that position and then I check
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up on them. This is the same thing that I do
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with politicians. And so I have a responsibility
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there. I don't get to abdicate that. And I could
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go on in every one of my responsibilities as
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far as church goes, as far as my home goes, all
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these things that the Bible talks about specifically
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that God has given to me. He's also given me
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the United States of America. And I have a responsibility
22:37
as a citizen. And so I don't get to abdicate
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these things. And this is the problem with a
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lot of Christians. And I'm not just picking on
22:45
you. I'm talking about Christians in general.
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If Christians would go out and vote, and vote
22:49
with a biblical worldview, we would not have
22:53
most of the problems that we have in our nation
22:55
right now. We would not have the problems we
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have in Washington state right now. So for our
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state, we lost the governor election, something
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about like 400 ,000 votes. When I say we, it's
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like I'm not saying that my candidate was in
23:08
there. I'm saying I would not vote for Bob Ferguson
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as a Christian. So we lost by 400 ,000. How many
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Christians and churches in Washington sat the
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bench and go, yeah, whatever, I'm not going to
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get involved. I'm going to just sit here and
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read my Bible. Right. And so now we've got Bob
23:25
Ferguson, who's in there doing all kinds of completely
23:28
unbiblical things. Wicked. Wicked things. And
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he was doing wicked things. previous to being
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the governor when he was the attorney general.
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And so he got in because Christians sat the bench.
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And so I think that there's accountability there.
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Absolutely. And this is why I encourage people
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to be involved with the nation. Originally, when
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you are looking at... That's all the time we
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have for today. If you have questions for Pastor
23:59
Steve, please email me at crosswalkradio at gmail
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.com. or you can leave a voicemail or text message
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to 707 -872 -7677. The Crosswalk is the radio
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ministry of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities in Kennewick,
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Washington. If you're wanting to know more about
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what it means to follow Christ, then please contact
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our church office by phone at 509 -736 -2086.
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You can also look us up online at calvary -tricities
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.org. There you will find a wide variety of Steve's
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teachings to listen to or to download for free.
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If you want to join us for church sometime, we're
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located at 10 -611 West Clearwater Avenue in
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Kennewick, Washington. Our Sunday service times
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are 8 .30 and 10 .30 a .m. We also meet at 6
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p .m. Sundays and 6 .30 p .m. Wednesdays in our
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sanctuary. We hope you have been blessed today
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and will join us again next time on Crosswalk.