Latest / How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack / Asking Pastor Patrick Womack YOUR Questions

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Asking Pastor Patrick Womack YOUR Questions · How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to the How to Faith a Life podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian woman.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you've subscribed to this podcast and your favorite podcast streaming services.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Review this podcast so other people can find it and share with other believers who want to ask the hard questions.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let's begin.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, and welcome back to the How to Faith a Life podcast.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Today I have a really fun guest.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: It is my father-in-law, Patrick Womack.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Or Reverend Patrick Womack.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_03: Patrick will do just not.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I always call Joe Pastor Joe.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: And people are like, do you call him that at home?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I just, you know.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I definitely prefer Pastor to Reverend.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: I'm saying that.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Patrick, uh, tell us about yourself.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, she knows everything, but uh Patrick Womack, I grew up in Western North Carolina, uh, went through public schools, attended Western Carolina University.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: God called me into the ministry in uh the oh the latter part of my high school years.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: And so after college, I ended up going to Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and graduated, and I've been in full-time ministry now for 31 years.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: I am the pastor here now of the Bay Presbyterian Church in Benito Springs, Florida.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: I have been here now for just over three years.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: I came down to be the associate pastor so that the church could uh could effect a transition.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: The um senior pastor who started the church had been here for uh, oh, some 15 years and looking toward retirement.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh, in order to try to do a smooth transition, they brought me down.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: I was associate pastor for two years, and then the congregation voted to call me as the lead pastor, and I've been doing that now for a year.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so far haven't messed up things too badly.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Not at all.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: So um from the very beginning, I remember like before Joe and I were even married, or even maybe we were dating, but like we weren't engaged.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: You've been a resource to ask questions about.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: And do you remember like sitting at like I think it was like Outback Steakhouse?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: I remember I remember it was a steakhouse in particular.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: I can't remember which one it was.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was grilling him about like theological things, um, church stuff, just all the and I don't know where I got the audacity, but I frequently say that about myself.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um anyway, I when I asked y'all some questions online on my community feed, I said, you know, I will ask a pastor, and he was the first person they had in mind that I would reach out to um to answer your honest questions.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think pastors are sometimes held at a distance.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Even yesterday we were um coming to the church and we encountered a person and I said, Patrick, they got nervous talking to you.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: They kind of like, oh, you know, like you're a little like whatever that is, maybe it's authoritative or celebrity fig.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, but they got nervous and it was fun for me to see that as a daughter-in-law, but then also really eye-opening in preparation for this podcast because I think so many of us have questions, but we don't feel comfortable asking pastors, and yet we know that they're a safe place to ask.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: And they also can feel like they're at a distance, and so I want to kind of take down that barrier and make this like a safe place for you guys to feel a little bit more seen, heard, loved in your questions.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: The only problem is is podcasts have limits.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: My camera itself has limits with storage and battery life.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, why does the battery already look low?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: But so we got like 200 questions.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, let's see, 200 and no, no, no, no.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: 191 comments in total.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So um, there's no way we're gonna be able to address all of these, but a lot of these are repeats.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Patrick, I'm gonna start you off on like probably the most repeated question throughout these, and it's in one way or another, how do you find a healthy church, or what are the signs of a healthy church as like a congregant?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's really a great question.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm thinking about it myself and evaluating.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: But if I were looking for a church and trying to think in terms of what a healthy church would look like, you know, first and foremost, it needs to be a church where they really take the scriptures seriously.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's not that they're perfect, it's not that they have every point of doctrine lined up perfectly with my own point of view, but do they take it seriously?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: Is the Bible viewed to be God's word and do they treat it in that way?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: Or do they just pay lip service to it?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: Some churches might say they believe the scriptures, but you hardly ever hear them referenced during the sermon or the worship services, and so you just need to be observant and make sure that that's uh that's the priority.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, there are other things that are extremely important too.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: If people are taking the scriptures seriously, then they're gonna love each other.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's one of the main commands that we have after all, isn't it?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: Love one another.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: And uh so it should be a a loving, nurturing congregation that's uh exalting the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, their doctrine is gonna match what they say they believe in terms of scripture as they love one another.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: And that they're intentional about loving not only each other but the community.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that they have a genuine desire to reach people, that they um, you know, go out of their way to do it.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um in exhibiting that love that Christ has for us that we might share it with others.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, it needs to be a safe place.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you mentioned that word and it just kind of sticks in my mind as I think about that phrase that people can uh feel like that they are genuinely loved and nurtured there and they're not gonna be put down because they have some viewpoint that at first at least doesn't agree with them, but they're gonna listen and uh walk with you through the challenges of life.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: So those are just some things that I can think of.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: On that note, do you have any words of advice for someone that's like, I'm not sure if it's time for me to leave this church?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of maybe feels that way.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't want to be a church hopper going to a new church every year or just when things get hard, you know, but there's also that line.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's always a challenge, isn't it?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: Because invariably any church that you're in, there are going to be things that happen that you'll disagree with.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, after all, uh every church on earth is composed of sinners.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was Billy Graham that used to say, if you ever find the perfect church, don't join it because it won't be perfect anymore when you do.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's just something you have to keep in mind.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: But when a church begins to stray um from the scriptures, from holding the truth that are truths that are clearly taught in scriptures, then that's a red flag.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, you can attempt to bring those issues to light and to mention them, hoping that correction will occur, but if they don't, um then it's it's probably time to leave.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: There was another pastor that used to say, you know, when they stop preaching the word, or if they're not preaching the word, you need to saturate that place with your absence.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: And he said, No, you tell me you can't leave because your grandmother's buried out back in the cemetery.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: And he said, Well, if she knew what was going on in that church, she'd want you to dig her up and take her with you.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that's pretty extreme.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: But still, there definitely is a point at which if that line is crossed, if that point is crossed, scripture's not being taught, uh people aren't loving each other as commanded in in the Bible, then it may be time to look for another church.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: But do it carefully.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Don't be quick to pull that trigger.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's so hard.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: I feel I look back in our lives, even like in the ministry, but also growing up as a kid, and my parents would overthink things or guilt trip themselves, and it's hard to make those decisions.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like we want somebody else to say, it's okay, you know, like it's okay to leave the church or whatever.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: And even the church sometimes can guilt trip you.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So what would you add to people in the leadership of the church that are feeling like, maybe I need to step down from this, from leading the small group, or this Bible study group, or this prayer group, or even from leading the youth group?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what would you give to church leaders?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's another question that I saw on here was people leading like youth group, small groups, and they're feeling like maybe it's too demanding on themselves or their family, or maybe that it's not the right season anymore, or maybe it's not even the right church anymore.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like that that's a whole nother level of like guilt and confusion.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's a good question.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's a challenging one.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, as you engage in ministry, whether you're like being a pulpit or whether you're leading a small group, you've got to maintain your priorities.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, if a responsibility begins infringing on your time with your family and draining you of emotions so significantly that you're of little use to them when you are at home and when you are free, then something's got to change.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: You've got to give.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: Now I know people who can do 47 things in one day and they come home and they've still got plenty of energy.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: We're all wired differently, too.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: You know, some people can just handle more things.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not one of those people.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: I can't juggle that many balls in the air at one time.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess you you need to be self-aware, you need to be conscious of the time and the energy that you have, and you have to budget that just like you do your money.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_03: There's a limited amount of time and energy that we have, just like we have limited resources in other ways.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: So just think how you can spread that out and still maintain your priority to your spouse and to your family, uh, and to those things that uh need to be at the top of the list.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, things that need to be down at the lower end of the list start inching their way up to the top, and the things that ought to have priority get moved down to the bottom.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: And that's a red flag.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, um what does it wait, does a pastor ever have doubts?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: If he does, how does he deal with them?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm always certain.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not always right, but I'm always certain.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: I am totally kidding.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Of course we have doubts.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: I I think if anybody's if any pastor says he doesn't have doubts, you better watch him because he'll probably lie about other things too.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: We do.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're bombarded constantly by the media with different ideas, with competing ideas, with contradictions.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, sometimes I'm lying there at night and I'm thinking, Lord, uh i is your word really right on this?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: Or is this really true?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then I have doubts about myself.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I look back in the past and I believe with all my heart that God called me to gospel ministry.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: But then there are days when I'm so wrung out when I feel like I'm not coming up with the right answers, when I'm not hitting on all cylinders, to use an old expression, and I wonder, Lord, are you still calling me?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: Is this what I need to be doing?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, sometimes I feel like a relic.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: You know, my viewpoints and my practices don't always match with what's going on in the present.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, sometimes I I doubt that and I'm I'm trusting in the Lord, but hey, I keep coming back to the fact that God uses the weak things to confound the strong and and um when I read that it gives me great comfort because I'm thinking, I'm about the weakest thing there is, so uh the Lord can do with me pretty much whatever he wants.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I surrender to that.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: But certainly I have doubts.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm grateful that his grace is sufficient even in those needs.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, I should probably read some of these names.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this account is called Still a Jesus Freak.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Still a Jesus Freak asks, what happens if I stray and continually stray and maybe even run from God even after being saved?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Does that mean I was never really saved?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: What do I do to fix my heart?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, the issue there is do you care?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: I've had people sit in my office.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: I can't tell you how many times I've had a conversation where somebody has confessed and acknowledged an ongoing sin in their life where they just, you know, they can't get it.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I tell them, I say, look, the fact that you're here talking to me about this tells me that the Holy Spirit is working in your heart.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, you wouldn't care.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: You wouldn't care what I think, you wouldn't care what the Lord thinks.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: You would just be running.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And we all have those battles.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're still in the fight, if it's still troubling you, if you realize that you are running and you don't need to be running and you're trying to figure out how to fix that running, that's an indicator that the Holy Spirit at some level is convicting you.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I would say that's good news on the one hand.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to encourage you in your sin.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: We all have to fight against that all the time.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: But uh that's that's a good thing.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so turn to the Lord.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: He knows we're weak.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Jesus was tempted in every way as we are.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, the difference is he never sinned, but he's able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: And that's how he's able to intercede for us so effectively and so sympathetically, and so keep turning to him, keep fighting.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's just a fact of our sinful nature that we're prone to wonder, as the hymn writer says, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: Our natural tendency is always going to be away from God, but by his grace we realize we're moving away from him and we have to keep running back to him.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: So keep running back to him.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds good.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do if we want to build confidence in our salvation or if we are scared and we have committed some unforgettable sin?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to be overly simplistic with my answer, but my answer is keep your eyes on Jesus.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: Our tendency is to focus on ourselves and to try to figure out why do I feel this way?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: Why do I have this weakness?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: When what we really need to do is get in Scripture, read about how loving and compassionate the Lord Jesus is, and look to Him and know that it's going to be by His strength and power that we persevere.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: We're not going to be able to dig deep and find it inside of us.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I would just encourage you to keep looking to Jesus, keep noticing how powerful He is.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: His is an indestructible life, his grace is sufficient in every need.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh, you know, Jesus has not brought you to this point to fail with regard to you.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he's he he instituted the new covenant two thousand years ago.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: And he didn't do that then to fail you now.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: So look to him, cast your cares upon him, and just the more that you learn about him and his ability to save, the more confidence you'll gain.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: I really believe that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um so what is so this is from Tracy Ray.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Tracy Ray asks, what is the Leviathan in Job, the fire-breathing dragon thing?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: Now this is going to be a highly technical answer, and I need you to stay with me.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things I've learned over 30 years of ministry is being able to learn how to say that.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_03: I know there's a lot of discussion about that.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I I think it's it's very possible that that's a human memory, and and I know this is gonna get derided and I'm gonna be made fun of, but I'm just gonna go ahead and say it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: I I think it's very possible that it's uh it's a human memory of dinosaurs on the earth.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we've got footprints that correlate human beings and dinosaurs.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_03: But short answer is I just don't know.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think it's uh that expression of this large creature that God has made and and the writer is just simply alluding to that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: Good question though.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: Let me know when you find out the answer.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to know myself.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Jessica's 1423.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: It says Um in biblical times, were all natural disasters considered God's wrath?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Or was it just the ones that were claimed as that in the Bible?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: So then when Jesus died for us, did that make all of God's natural disasters kind of wrath settle, or are natural disasters today still considered God's wrath?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's a very good question, also.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um of course, what we need to understand is that all consequences of sin are a manifestation of God's wrath in a certain sense.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Paul makes that clear in Romans.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: We are under God's wrath.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: But the question is, do specific storms, are specific storms, a particular manifestation of his wrath because they strike a particular city, where the sins are greater in that city than there were in other cities, and therefore he threw a hurricane at it.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's running off the rails.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: We need to look at storms and these disasters as a natural consequence of a world being in sin.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: We have, as human beings, we plunged it into this condition that we refer to as the fall.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it would be wrong to assume that any particular disaster is a particular manifestation of God's anger, just like it would be wrong, and it was wrong in the case of the of a man born blind, when everybody was debating, did he sin or did his parents sin?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_03: And Jesus essentially said neither.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so we need to be careful about that.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: Now in the ancient world, yeah, they they did have a tendency to say everything was a result of God's wrath and anger.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: We've done something wrong and we need to appease God or the gods.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: And that's just generally the way that people thought.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: But if we read the scriptures carefully, we will uh it will help us to avoid that kind of pitfall and that thinking that it was something specific.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't want to take too long on this question, but I do want to insert something.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: I know that uh back in 2005, I think it was when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: I had people in a small town where I was ministering saying things like, Well, those wicked people down in New Orleans, they got, you know, God was angry with them and he sent that storm.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: They said that in a gas station I was at one day, and I said, Guys, look, I said, they're not doing anything in New Orleans that people aren't doing on the internet right here in our little town.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: Why would you think that they're more sinful down there than we are here?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: If God works that way, then we're gonna be wiped off the face of the earth.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: People just tend to think that way, and it's just not helpful at all.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: So we're dealing with the consequences of a world that's been plunged into sin.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: We're living in the fall, and we're looking forward to the day when redemption occurs fully.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus died, yes, so that one day there will be no more sin, sorrow, death, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, mudslides.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: All of that will be no more.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: All right, here's a good one.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Sarah Sunshine asks, is it more important to tithe if you can't make your payments and just let your credit score, like your payments on your car and stuff like that, and let your credit score take a hit?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Or is it more important to honor your commitments by repaying the debt and not tithe?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: Well, the first thing I would say, Sarah Sunshine, is don't feel that legalistic burden that you need to pay a certain amount or give a certain amount to the Lord all of the time.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: God gives us grace.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: However, our giving is one of the ways that indicates, as you know, and I can tell you know this from your question, is one of the ways that indicates our true spiritual condition.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: So make giving to the Lord a priority.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not going to sit here and tell you how much that ought to be or whether that's got to be every month if you find yourself getting in a bind, falling behind on a payment and whatever that might entail.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um just continue to make giving to the Lord a priority.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_03: If you're not able to give as much one month as you did another month, you know God's not gonna hold that against you.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's not like you're gonna stand before him on the judgment day and he's gonna say, Everything's okay, but you remember that July back in 2003 when you weren't able it's not gonna happen.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: So listen, just trust the Lord, make him the priority in your life, and you know what you can do and and do that.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: How's that for a highly technical theological answer?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love it.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: That was actually one of the most straightforward answers I've gotten on tithe from pastor before.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think we've talked about tithe before with you.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um do you have any close friends, Patrick?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I heard years ago that local pastors are one of the loneliest peoples or occupations out there.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: I do have close friends.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, my closest friend is my wife.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: I married my best friend, and she remains my close friend, and I'm really thankful for her.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: We can talk about anything.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: She keeps things in confidence.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't ever have to worry about whether she's gonna pass something along that she shouldn't.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um she is absolutely wonderful.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: I have friends from growing up that I am still close to.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I have a hunting buddy that I'm close to.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: I can call up at any time and talk to him about anything and and I'll get good common sense and response.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: I've got a group of pastor friends, they're all Baptists, but uh I am the one Presbyterian in the crowd, and I am as probably as close to those guys as anybody I'm close to in ministry, and I love them dearly.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then I've got another uh uh man who's become a close friend uh who's a Presbyterian elder, not in my denomination, but uh we just in the last few years have become so close he's somebody I can call up and talk to.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: To about things and he does that with me, and I'm just extremely grateful for that.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_03: So good friends.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I don't always have them locally, right where I am, except for my wife, of course.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: But I do have friends here.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_03: The pastor that I work with is a good friend of mine, and we're able to talk with each other about things and be very open, even have hard conversations, which we've had.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I have come to value those friendships more and more through the years.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm thinking about what someone might ask or think was is interesting about your response.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I bet many people would be intrigued by the mention that you said that all your friends are Baptists and you're the one Presbyterian.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: In what ways do you kind of classify some of the big denominations and see some kind of there's like stereotypes or like divisions in the church, you know, like among denominations.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and this came up because Joe and I, well, really, I'm wanting to make a free course for new believers just to give out to new believers.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sitting there like racking my brain about like, what do I tell them when it comes to denominations?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like without having to immediately get super deep and super theological.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Where do I tell them to just go visit a church?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't want them to just go visit a Mormon church, you know?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so how would you direct somebody that's like super confused or maybe even just overwhelmed with denominational differences?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Where would you even tell them to start?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I'm being completely honest with you and everybody here, I would probably just be like, just go to a local Baptist church, because generally there's not they seem to be more in the middle as a whole.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody that claims the Baptist name in general than like even Presbyterians.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can get some really odd Presbyterians.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I agree.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what would you tell someone just in general beginning of a conversation?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's big.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it's one of those odd Presbyterians you were referring to.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I you know, the the thing is you're looking for a church that that falls within the parameters of what we call orthodoxy.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that uh that holds to the scriptures as God's word that would have no trouble affirming the historic creeds of the church, those essentials of doctrine.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like Nicene Apostles.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, that that affirms the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, for example.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: The Trinity in general, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each being a coequal, each each of them being uh fully God, a distinction in persons, yet nevertheless one God.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: We don't understand that fully, but that's got to be essential, along with the inerrancy of Scripture, and just you know, those things that that that we classify as being orthodox.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: So look for a church that believes that, and yes, so many times that's true of a Baptist church as opposed to others.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell I do think people should visit your church though, if they're in Bonita Springs area.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: We would love to have you visit our church or look at us online.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: The other thing that I was gonna say though, and the reason that I'm such close friends with these Baptist friends of mine is is not just that we agree on these matters of orthodoxy, obviously we disagree on the matter of b uh the mode of baptism.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we joke about that all the time.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: You're always threatening to hold me under.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: But uh but even so, you know, they have a love for the gospel.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: They they see the need for Jesus to be proclaimed in all the world and for people to have a loving faith in the Lord Jesus, and that's what draws us together.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I've said so many times, if you're ever in a town and you've got a choice between a a Baptist church where that gospel is being preached and where they really love Jesus, and a Presbyterian church where they don't do that, go to the Baptist church.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um you might have to hold your breath when they put you under.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: But uh You know, you just sometimes those decisions are necessary and you have to make them.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: We talk a lot about all of this stuff in my course, Theol Theology Bootcamp.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um in Theology Bootcamp, I break down differences in baptism, Calvinism versus Arminianism, um, all the different things.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: So if you guys want to inquire more about that, you can check out my course, Theology Bootcamp, and I'll have it linked down below in the description box.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: But again, really quick, what is your church in case somebody's ears perked up?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's in Florida, so Bonita Springs, Florida.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Bay Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, Florida.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Just Google it up, you'll see his bald face, and you'll say, Hey, that looks a lot like Joseph Womack, faith's husband.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um come listen.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Patrick is a great preacher and did our wedding, and some of my favorite Bible notes in my Bible are taken from his sermons.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: So go and check out Bonita Springs or even just listen to y'all's sermons online, aren't they online?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: So because we also have a lot of homeboy that can't go to church physically.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, bayprezbonita.org.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, just a few more.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's getting late.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, should we be worried that some Bible translations have missing verses?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, I know that's uh that's a big issue.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: And without getting into the technicalities of all of that, uh, you know, it comes down to which of the ancient manuscripts the Bible translators have deemed to be the most reliable.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: And let me say this at the outset: in in all of these issues, and there are modern translations, most of them do uh leave out some verses here and there.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: In none of those cases does it affect any of our essential doctrines or any of the essential matters that we understand with regard to scripture.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: It does not affect them at all.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: Is it a legitimate discussion to have?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Of course.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: Are those the most reliable manuscripts that we have, the ancient ones, the older ones versus what we call the Textus Receptus?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: That's a worthwhile conversation to have.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_03: But don't get overly concerned about that.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_03: What you need to look for is a Bible that seeks to translate accurately uh those texts that are used and not water them down or seek to uh, you know, change meanings in order to make them more palatable.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's where you have to draw a line.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: So even if they choose ancient manuscripts that you might not choose because it does leave out some things that you thought ought to be left in there, uh that's one issue.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_03: But mainly look for one that seeks to render the words to mean in our language what they meant when they were originally written.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Never are those verses like super important, and they're usually never removed unless they're like widely accepted to not be original.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, now we have even younger manuscripts that show that this was definitely added.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's a rating system, A to D.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think so.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: A to D.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And based on that, okay, we're like, it's a low rating.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're pretty sure this, like we're as sure as we can really get that this was an original, so we're going to remove it.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or sometimes it's just put in the footnotes.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, on TikTok a couple years ago, this blew up and you had young people, which I'm so glad they're in their word, but they were like, You see this Bible?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's missing.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mark 21, whatever, you know, and like freaking out.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you had the whole internet for like a week straight going, my Bible translation doesn't have this verse.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, wait, but it shouldn't.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like someone added that in.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's a good heart, but it's also very more often than not, like, all those conversations are really misinformed a lot of the times.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so I get like, I get kind of like jaded to it and like, uh, but it's it's important.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, we want, we want to have faithful, um, we want to be faithful to the scriptures and we and we don't want to add or take away from it.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, I would encourage you guys, like Google a lot of the times can help you with why is this missing in some translations or in some Bibles?
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can just see, you know, the where the discussion picks up and decide for yourself.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: I personally prefer when a study Bible especially will have a footnote, like um, this verse is missing.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it will say, um, oh, what's the wordage?
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like this verse is missing because of textual variance or whatever it may be.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it will let me know.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh, okay, cool.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Let me go use my other study Bible and read it and just see and maybe go down a rabbit trail.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: But um, again, it's I would rather us be informed rather than fearful, because the spirit of God is not one to be afraid of um, you know, the peoples and the translations and and the and the faces behind all that.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: More often than not, like they're putting how much money in a Bible translation and a Bible printing, it's all with good intentions typically.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I would be curious, and this is probably I'm guessing in one of the questions asked, what's your um opinion on the message and the amplified?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because I get those questions all the time.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think they can be helpful.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh if you're if you're wanting to get a good overview, uh, you know, it's kind of like you want to get the lay of the land, so you you fly across the country in a in a supersonic jet that that's at uh 50,000 feet.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so, you know, that gives you a good idea of what the United States looks like, or a satellite picture.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, if you're gonna get down there and start studying the individual little towns and villages and the countryside, you gotta fly lower and you gotta dig deeper.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: So you need to you need to find a more a more literal translation.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Yeah, I'm gonna steal that from you.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good metaphor.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I wouldn't advise somebody to do like word studies from the message.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it wasn't designed for that.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: In its defense, it was never intended to be for that purpose.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell But it's good for a new believer that's like struggling through NKJV or whatever it may be.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it can be great beginner or just resource.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like a commentary in some ways.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's it's it's you know, get the big picture.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm stealing that from you.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Not even asking permission.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just saying.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_03: I probably stole it from somebody.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_03: Just can't think of who it was.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: I came across James 2.24, which says we are justified not by faith alone, but also by works.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: This seems to contradict what Ephesians 2, 8 through 9 says about how it's not by works, but by grace through faith.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: How can I reconcile these two verses?
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: Well, this is a very good question, and I've gotten this through the years.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_03: What you first of all need to know is that James and Paul are speaking to two different audiences, and they're having to deal with two different issues.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: Dr.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: D.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: James Kennedy, who was very instrumental in my discipleship years ago, compared it to a damsel in distress with one band of outlaws approaching from one direction and another band of outlaws approaching from the other direction.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: Paul was having to deal with people who were saying uh, you know, things like, Well, you know, we've got to work.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: If we're gonna be right with God, we have to contribute our merit and our good works, and that's important.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_03: And Paul was saying, no, you're saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, period.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_03: James, on the other hand, apparently was having to deal with people who were saying things like, Well, you know, all I need to do is say that I believe in Jesus and everything's okay.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter what I do.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_03: And James says, No, if you're really saved, your life is going to show it.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_03: So what James actually says, if you say that you have faith and don't have works, I know that the translations generally say, can faith save you?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_03: There's actually a definite article in there.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_03: And what he literally says, if you say that you have faith and you don't have works, can that faith save you?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: In other words, a mere professed faith, and not a faith that you've actually exercised wherein you have trusted in Jesus.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: So just understand they're having to address two different sets of errors, but they're saying the same thing.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_03: We're justified on the basis of our faith.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: James is saying it's a faith that will be in evidence.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_03: And Paul is saying, yes, and it is faith in Christ alone, and it's not by works.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we are saved by the blood of Christ on the cross is substitutionary atonement.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: But now that we are saved, we should look different.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um i it should change things.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: If someone jumped in front of a bus to save your life today, your entire life would look different because you now know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you're living on purpose, that you're meant to still be here.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, someone gave up their life to save your life, just in the same way, even more so if God Himself has died to save us spiritually and also literally, like we should look very differently.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so um it should be a red flag in our own spiritual lives when we don't see that fruit.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I know when I'm losing my temper, when I um just trip up and do a silly thing spiritually, um, I don't know, whatever it may be, just think of the whole range of sin in a believer's life.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: It it should always be a level of a red flag whenever we are our eyes are open to see our sin and say, like, okay, well, why aren't I why am I not producing fruit?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because the spirit should be sanctifying all parts of me.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm not producing fruit here, like Holy Spirit, have your work, you know?
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I think a lot of the times we like to, I mean, like if I'm being honest, Patrick, every single time I say online, like, um, you are saved by grace, you know, like, and I emphasize grace in any certain way.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: I will always get a comment that's like, yes, but if you don't look different, if you don't dress modestly, yes, but and sorry, I shouldn't do that voice, but like it's that's how I read it.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because like I always get those comments that are like, yes, but it's like there's no but to the cross, you know, there's no adding to it, but there is a life change.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I did just say but there.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um there there it has to change our life if we truly believe it.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so I don't know.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a huge misconception, and a lot of people just talk past each other.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell Well, and it really comes down to this, doesn't it?
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_03: What did Jesus leave undone on the cross that you think you need to do in order to make up for that deficiency?
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: What was what was so deficient about the atonement of the Lord Jesus that you think you can do better than he did for your sake?
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_03: And and if you answer that question with anything other than I don't have anything, you're off the rails.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: Preacher, preacher.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um All right, one last one because this looks good.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do we really have free will?
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking here of Pharaoh and Saul, whether they're hardened hearts specifically, but is there also some other examples in the Bible like that?
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um God created us with the ability to make decisions, and Pharaoh exercised his decision.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Now the problem was without the saving grace of God in his life to free him from his sin nature, he's only going to exercise free will within the parameters of his fallen nature.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so Pharaoh did exactly what he wanted to do.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: He wanted to defy God, he wanted not to let the people go.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, he chose to do what he wanted to do, and so he experienced the consequences of those unbelieving decisions.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_03: So it really is not so much a matter of freedom, it's a matter of what ability do we have to choose and to make these decisions.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: And we need the Holy Spirit in us, giving us new life so that we can exercise a will that chooses the Lord Jesus, that puts trust in Him.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, we'll keep acting freely according to our nature, and that will always be a choice that is not toward God but away from Him.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: That was like a really concise in theology boot camp.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about this, and I talked about it for like two hours, and I feel like it was not nearly as concise as that.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: So listen, I've got Martin Luther here somewhere on the on you know, the the the bondage of the will, and it it's a lot longer answer than the one I just gave.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: But it it really does.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's so important to the Christian walk because I I mean I, as a new believer, and especially in high school, I like super overthought my will, I guess, and the Lord's will.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I just want to be in your will.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I just want to be uh do I do my homework right now, or do I go and sew right now because I was obsessed with sewing, you know?
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm afraid because if I don't do my homework now, then then maybe I won't get into the college I want to get into, and then maybe I won't, you know, and you just and and it's easy to do that.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I mean it even falls into our salvation, it falls into common grace stuff, like it falls into all things.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but again, this is another one of those things that like people don't really talk about because it is very complex.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what would you say to believers who are struggling with those fears of like being in God's will?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know now that I said that, there's gonna be someone that's like, that is how I'm feeling, you know.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how would you comfort believers if they are in Christ to I guess follow the spirit, to kind of follow the Lord's direction?
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the biggest con conversations that I get asked to talk about.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I guess first of all, I would just say remember that your essential identity is that you are in Christ.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_03: If you have repented of your sins and you are trusting in the Lord Jesus, you are accepted in the beloved.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: God is not gonna love you more tomorrow because of the decisions that you make then versus today than he loves you right now.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_03: He loves you in Christ Jesus.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, he's not gonna love you any more when you're in heaven and living a perfect life than he loves you right now if you're trusting in Jesus.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_03: So know that's your identity.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's the basis of your acceptance.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: Now, what am I supposed to do with my life?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_03: You keep surrendering that to the Lord.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_03: Every day it's a matter of of of dying to self and living to him and offering myself to him with my brokenness, my broken heart.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_03: Remember, that's the one acceptable sacrifice that we are told about in Scripture, as uh as John Bunyan, the tinker author of Pilgrim's Progress says so wonderfully.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: That one acceptable sacrifice is a broken heart, a broken and contrite spirit he will not despise.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: You continually offer that to the Lord, trusting him to lead you and to direct you in the way that you should go, and looking to his word, following the instructions that we have.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're always looking to pull something out of the air, but God's given us a lot of clear instructions on what to do in the here and now.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so follow those.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I believe as we do that, the other things will fall into place in good time.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_03: But be confident in his love for you because of your faith in Christ, not in your performance.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick, will you pray us out?
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: Let's pray.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_03: Our God and Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to have this conversation.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for faith and the wonderful way that you are using her and the way that I have learned from her.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm grateful, Father, for such a wonderful daughter-in-law, and please bless all of those who watch and listen.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_03: If we've said anything here that's not in accord with your word, just cause it quickly to pass from the minds of those who hear it.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_03: But Lord, those things that are in accordance with your word, we pray that they will lodge deeply in our hearts and minds and will never get away from them.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_03: And grant that our eyes will be open that we may trust in the Lord Jesus and follow him, regardless of what the culture or others may say.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_03: To the glory of your name.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_03: But please bless this ministry that faith has, that we all may have faith in Christ.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: We pray in his name.
• 41:41
  unknown: Amen.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.