Latest / Pastors Perspective / Pastors' Perspective-10/02/26

Transcript

Pastors' Perspective-10/02/26 · Pastors Perspective

0:19
Speaker 1: And welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
0:23
Speaker 1: It is Friday and we are here live in the
0:26
Speaker 1: studio to answer the questions you have about God's word.
0:31
Speaker 1: Christianity in general, religion, whatever you want to talk about.
0:34
Speaker 1: Phone lines are open until 4 o'clock at 888-564-6173, 888-564-6173.
0:43
Speaker 1: We are live streaming on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, so
0:46
Speaker 1: you can watch us that way if you'd like to.
0:48
Speaker 1: You can also submit your questions online through Facebook or
0:52
Speaker 1: Instagram or the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com.
0:56
Speaker 1: We likely would not see those questions today. So if
1:00
Speaker 1: you need an answer today, give us a call 888-564-6173.
1:06
Speaker 1: And answering your questions today, we've got Bill Buffington and
1:10
Speaker 1: Mike Whitford. Now, these two guys, I don't think have
1:12
Speaker 1: ever met each other. So, uh, Mike, tell some, tell
1:17
Speaker 1: Bill a little something about yourself, and then Bill, you
1:19
Speaker 1: tell Mike a little something about yourself. Bill and I
1:21
Speaker 1: both discovered that we're both going for the Dodgers, so
1:24
Speaker 1: there's that. Um, that's good.
1:26
Speaker 1: And, uh, SoCal natives down here. But, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm, uh,
1:31
Speaker 1: in Huntington Beach. Told Bill that as well. I think
1:33
Speaker 1: we covered everything and even those the names of my children. No,
1:35
Speaker 1: I'm kidding. We haven't gotten that far. But, uh, yeah,
1:38
Speaker 1: so Revive OC Church plant in Huntington Beach, and then
1:41
Speaker 1: obviously hang out here, uh, leading the, uh, Kingdom and
1:45
Speaker 1: Culture podcast, and then I get to do on-air radio
1:48
Speaker 1: stuff on Saturdays. That's fun. Fun, yeah.
1:52
Speaker 1: I am, uh, in Calver Chapel, Inglewood, and, uh, uh, he,
1:56
Speaker 1: he said Inglewood, right? You, you know, he said Inglewood
1:58
Speaker 1: with the hood on it, you know, so, um, praising
2:01
Speaker 1: God for what he's doing there, and, um, you know, that's,
2:04
Speaker 1: that's been my, my dream and vision for many years. So, uh,
2:08
Speaker 1: God's doing wonderful things there. Uh, we're excited about where
2:11
Speaker 1: we're at, where we are, what he's doing, and where
2:13
Speaker 1: we're going. So, uh, we're actually, we're praying, we're looking
2:16
Speaker 1: for a building so we can spread out a little bit.
2:19
Speaker 1: We need some room. So it's a good problem. It's
2:20
Speaker 1: a great problem.
2:22
Speaker 1: Um, and we're looking for the wait, waiting on the
2:24
Speaker 1: Lord to, to show us what, where and how. What
2:26
Speaker 1: about Sofi? Yeah, yeah, that'd be, that'd be awesome. Let us,
2:29
Speaker 1: let us in. I like that faith, Brian. That's right.
2:32
Speaker 1: That's right. That's a big faith right there. Philip Sofi.
2:35
Speaker 1: Claim it. Amen.
2:37
Speaker 1: 888-564-6173. You guys also hear Bill Buffington here on KWave
2:42
Speaker 1: weeknights at 9:30 on his radio program, A Transforming Word,
2:46
Speaker 1: which is also heard on the weekends on Kwave 11:10.
2:49
Speaker 1: So call in with your questions at 888-564-6173. We'll begin
2:55
Speaker 1: with at least one that was submitted online. This one
2:58
Speaker 1: through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com, which you can
3:01
Speaker 1: easily get to.
3:03
Speaker 1: By scanning the QR code if you're watching online right now.
3:06
Speaker 1: It's from Tyler, who writes, hello, I have a question.
3:09
Speaker 1: My girlfriend is Catholic. I am a Christian.
3:13
Speaker 1: Just recently getting back into it. I'm going to propose
3:16
Speaker 1: to her soon. She wants to raise the baby Catholic.
3:19
Speaker 1: I have no say in how we raise the baby.
3:22
Speaker 1: What do you think I should do? Do you have
3:24
Speaker 1: any advice? So I'm kind of reading into something here
3:26
Speaker 1: that perhaps, uh, you know, Tyler's girlfriend is pregnant with
3:31
Speaker 1: their child, um, because I don't think they would.
3:36
Speaker 1: Bring up, I don't think he would bring up the question,
3:38
Speaker 1: you know, raising the baby Catholic unless they mean future children.
3:41
Speaker 1: I don't know. But, uh, what do you guys think? Bill,
3:44
Speaker 1: we'll start with you.
3:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, um, I, I see some problems. So, uh, first thing, yeah,
3:52
Speaker 1: so you're, you're basically if we're unmarried and we're having sex, um,
3:57
Speaker 1: that's the first problem, right? We're living in fornication. Um,
4:00
Speaker 1: so that, you know, God will call you to repent
4:02
Speaker 1: from that. It's, it's, uh, your relationship with Him is
4:04
Speaker 1: more important than that. Um, the Bible says, uh, in Galatians, no, no,
4:09
Speaker 1: no one that lives that lifestyle, no fornicator will inherit
4:12
Speaker 1: the kingdom. So that, that's a, it's a big deal,
4:14
Speaker 1: something to be repented of.
4:16
Speaker 1: Um, then, as you look into the marriage, um, 2
4:18
Speaker 1: Corinthians 6 says that, that we should not be unequally
4:21
Speaker 1: yoked together with unbelievers. So if you're Christian, sounds like you're,
4:26
Speaker 1: you know, kinda light with it, just getting back into
4:28
Speaker 1: it is how you worded it. She's Catholic. Um, there's
4:32
Speaker 1: some big differences, uh, between Christianity and Catholicism. So, um,
4:38
Speaker 1: I would, I would, I would recommend that people marry,
4:41
Speaker 1: you know, you, you, you, the most important aspect of
4:44
Speaker 1: the relationship is gonna be what we believe, who we
4:46
Speaker 1: believe God is. That's gonna be the guiding force of
4:49
Speaker 1: the relationship. So if you guys are in disagreement about
4:51
Speaker 1: the most important part of your lives, uh, that's, that's
4:54
Speaker 1: not a good starting point for a marriage relationship. So, um, yeah,
4:59
Speaker 1: I would recommend not marriage, maybe some counseling and, and
5:03
Speaker 1: some discipleship, and really if he's just getting back into
5:06
Speaker 1: his walk with the Lord.
5:07
Speaker 1: Work on that relationship before you commit to another, um,
5:12
Speaker 1: you know, the, the wisdom that God may give you
5:14
Speaker 1: may instruct you how to handle the next relationships, you know, but, uh,
5:19
Speaker 1: moving forward in this relationship and making plans, um, it, it's,
5:22
Speaker 1: and then just, just fast forwarding, if you already have
5:24
Speaker 1: a kid, it's gonna be a terrible deal to
5:28
Speaker 1: Um,
5:29
Speaker 1: You, you said you have no say in how we
5:32
Speaker 1: raise the baby. That's bad. I guess, as in the
5:35
Speaker 1: god's perspective, the man is the spiritual leader of the home.
5:38
Speaker 1: You should absolutely have something to say about it. It's
5:40
Speaker 1: your kid, so.
5:43
Speaker 1: A lot wrong, uh, but my, I guess my first encouragement,
5:45
Speaker 1: I don't know where you go to church or, you know,
5:47
Speaker 1: how you're getting back into it, but I would say, man,
5:49
Speaker 1: get to a healthy church, find some, someone there that
5:53
Speaker 1: can disciple you, that you can talk directly to about
5:56
Speaker 1: these things, and before you jump into a marriage, which
5:58
Speaker 1: is a covenant for life, um, I would say slew,
6:02
Speaker 1: pump your brakes. Don't make, don't let, don't let one
6:04
Speaker 1: mistake become a second mistake.
6:06
Speaker 1: Get some counsel before you take another step, yeah, and
6:09
Speaker 1: if you guys don't have a church, you can go
6:11
Speaker 1: to Calvary Chapel Inglewood if you're in the LA area
6:14
Speaker 1: or Revi OC in Huntington Beach if you're in Orange County. Um,
6:18
Speaker 1: if you're in neither of those places, you can, uh,
6:21
Speaker 1: go to Calvarychapel.com, use the church finder feature there to
6:24
Speaker 1: look for a church near you. Mike, what do you
6:26
Speaker 1: say to Tyler? I mean, he, he stole all my thunder. Uh,
6:30
Speaker 1: the scripture is clear, uh, for, well, and first of all, hey,
6:33
Speaker 1: way to listen to pastor's perspective, dude.
6:36
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Keep doing that. Uh, I think the pastors
6:39
Speaker 1: that are here give you a great insight on a
6:41
Speaker 1: whole slew of things, but yeah, first and foremost, I
6:44
Speaker 1: did have that question. OK, is this a theoretical child,
6:47
Speaker 1: which case, you know, you can get to theoretical arguments
6:49
Speaker 1: and oh, it's going to be the baby's going to
6:51
Speaker 1: be raised Catholic, but, but, uh, it leads me to
6:54
Speaker 1: believe that that's not the case. Like you said, there's
6:57
Speaker 1: a specific child. Should we raise the child, not our children,
7:01
Speaker 1: which would be more theoretical. This sounds very specific. So yeah, problem.
7:04
Speaker 1: If you, uh, I've already had sex, OK, now if
7:07
Speaker 1: you both come to Jesus say forgive us for what
7:09
Speaker 1: we've done, God is gracious and compassionate, but that that
7:12
Speaker 1: behavior needs to stop as far as sex before marriage.
7:15
Speaker 1: But now that there's a baby, um, yeah, that child,
7:19
Speaker 1: that's the prime objective in terms of raising that child
7:22
Speaker 1: right now. Catholic Christian, I, I'm not here to, I,
7:27
Speaker 1: I'm Protestant. I would agree more with what you said. I,
7:29
Speaker 1: I've found that Protestant churches tend to be more inviting.
7:33
Speaker 1: Whereas if you're Catholic, um, uh, as a Protestant, I
7:37
Speaker 1: can't go to a Catholic church and take communion. They
7:38
Speaker 1: won't let me, uh, and, and none of us can
7:41
Speaker 1: unless the priest gives a special dispensation because it's a
7:44
Speaker 1: funeral or a or a wedding or something where all
7:46
Speaker 1: the people who believe in Jesus can take communion, but
7:49
Speaker 1: you're very restricted there. You have to be baptized in
7:51
Speaker 1: the Catholic Church. There's a lot of restrictions religiously speaking
7:54
Speaker 1: in the Catholic Church, whereas I would almost advise if they,
7:58
Speaker 1: these two people get that counsel.
8:00
Speaker 1: Uh, then they decide to marry that a Protestant church
8:03
Speaker 1: would be better for both because a Protestant church like
8:06
Speaker 1: a Calvary Chapel, the, the one thing that I think, uh,
8:10
Speaker 1: because I think it's important to discuss, like you said,
8:11
Speaker 1: what you believe about God is so important is, uh,
8:15
Speaker 1: what's best for the both of you if you truly
8:17
Speaker 1: love each other and if you are equally yoked.
8:20
Speaker 1: Because I think it says that in 2 Corinthians 6,
8:23
Speaker 1: don't be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. So you both
8:26
Speaker 1: believe in Jesus. Let's give them both the benefit of
8:27
Speaker 1: the doubt. Both believe in the virgin birth. I hope
8:30
Speaker 1: a Catholic does. I mean, that's one of their big things.
8:32
Speaker 1: We all do, right? That's, that, that is the deity
8:35
Speaker 1: of Christ, right? He is both God and man. That's good.
8:38
Speaker 1: So you both believe in Jesus, let's say. But like
8:41
Speaker 1: you said, there's a big problem. If this guy does
8:45
Speaker 1: not have a say in how the child is raised.
8:47
Speaker 1: That's a big red flag, bright shining spotlight, wake you
8:52
Speaker 1: up at 12 a.m. Don't go any further deer in
8:55
Speaker 1: the headlights, you better stop, collaborate and listen. Sorry, I
9:00
Speaker 1: don't know why my mind went there.
9:02
Speaker 1: Uh, in terms of just pop culture, but yeah, we
9:05
Speaker 1: just need to, uh, yeah, I would say stop and,
9:08
Speaker 1: and rethink what's going on here. Now, like you said, we're,
9:12
Speaker 1: it sounds like he's already in it, and this is
9:14
Speaker 1: gonna be rough. So counsel, biblical counsel is about the
9:18
Speaker 1: best thing that I could advise and wherever you can
9:20
Speaker 1: find that, um, and if he decides, no, I'm gonna
9:23
Speaker 1: go all in being Catholic, OK, then go all in
9:26
Speaker 1: being Catholic. But if you are, you need to have
9:29
Speaker 1: a say in how the child is raised.
9:31
Speaker 1: You, you, it's a, it's a partnership, um, and, and
9:35
Speaker 1: I agree the husband is the leader of the home
9:37
Speaker 1: according to Ephesians chapter 5, and, but also that means
9:40
Speaker 1: to sacrifice himself for the wife and the children. So, um,
9:45
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's a complex situation is what I'm hearing and, uh,
9:49
Speaker 1: before you get married, come to agreement with how you're
9:52
Speaker 1: going to raise children and how you're going to work together,
9:55
Speaker 1: not one person lording their authority over the other, that
9:58
Speaker 1: you have to work together.
10:01
Speaker 1: Anything else, Bill? Yeah, I just, I would say, uh,
10:03
Speaker 1: you know, interesting, you know, my, my, I had a
10:05
Speaker 1: child when I was unsaved. So when I was 18
10:08
Speaker 1: years old, I had a child. Then I got saved
10:09
Speaker 1: when she was 8 months, and the pressure was we'll
10:12
Speaker 1: marry her and make a family, but, um, I got
10:15
Speaker 1: saved and she didn't, you know, um, that wasn't God's
10:18
Speaker 1: will for my life, you know. It was, and I, I,
10:20
Speaker 1: I just say to him, it'd be better, it was
10:22
Speaker 1: better for me to remain a single dad and be
10:25
Speaker 1: able to raise my daughter when she was with me
10:27
Speaker 1: according to what I believed.
10:29
Speaker 1: Than it would have been to say I'm gonna lay
10:30
Speaker 1: down my faith and, you know, merge, you know, you know,
10:35
Speaker 1: and have no say or you know, just, you know,
10:37
Speaker 1: give authority over here. So it's not ideal, it's not
10:39
Speaker 1: the best case scenario, but you know, you get saved
10:42
Speaker 1: where you get saved and you obey God from that point.
10:44
Speaker 1: So if you're just coming back to the Lord now,
10:47
Speaker 1: I would say obey the Lord from where you are
10:49
Speaker 1: now and uh, yeah, I would, I would, I would
10:51
Speaker 1: press you to
10:53
Speaker 1: Focus on your relationship with the Lord primarily and let
10:56
Speaker 1: that influence how you proceed in your relationship with this lady.
11:01
Speaker 1: Tyler, thank you so much for sending in your question
11:03
Speaker 1: through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com. Now let's go
11:06
Speaker 1: to the phones. They're open till 4 o'clock, 888-564-6173 is
11:12
Speaker 1: our number. Pastors Bill Buffington and Mike Whitford are here
11:15
Speaker 1: to answer your questions, and we're gonna begin with Michelle
11:18
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles listening on KWave. Hi, Michelle, what's your
11:22
Speaker 1: question today?
11:23
Speaker 1: Hi, um, I'm just, um, I'm actually just, um, kind
11:27
Speaker 1: of battling, you know, kind of like if I'm doing
11:29
Speaker 1: the right thing, and I just wanted kind of like
11:31
Speaker 1: a pastor, pastor's perspective on it, and I love your show,
11:34
Speaker 1: by the way, I listen to you guys all the time, um, but, um, um,
11:38
Speaker 1: I have like a family member, and, um, and so, um,
11:43
Speaker 1: you know, he's mentally disabled and, um, he was, he's, he's, um,
11:48
Speaker 1: you know, he's diagnosed schizophrenic and then he's also.
11:52
Speaker 1: And then there was also um drug issues and, and
11:56
Speaker 1: homelessness and so forth. And so, um I ended up
11:59
Speaker 1: um having him, you know, move in and, and he's
12:02
Speaker 1: trying to get right in his church and so forth
12:04
Speaker 1: and so working with him, you know, but I just, um,
12:08
Speaker 1: you know, battling like outside influences that are not, you know,
12:11
Speaker 1: so Christian, like, you know, why are you doing this? And,
12:14
Speaker 1: and it is taking on a lot and um.
12:17
Speaker 1: And it's just like, you know, um, a lot like biblically,
12:21
Speaker 1: biblically the question is like, you know, um, I know like,
12:26
Speaker 1: you know, people say, well, you know, you're only supposed
12:27
Speaker 1: to do that for your like your immediate family, or,
12:30
Speaker 1: you know, and not really like extended family, like, you know, and,
12:34
Speaker 1: and it's like, you know, the Bible says, you know,
12:35
Speaker 1: to love and to help and, you know, to, to,
12:38
Speaker 1: to do these things and, and
12:40
Speaker 1: You know, I just can't, like he's my brother, he's
12:42
Speaker 1: my family, like I can't just, you know, leave him
12:45
Speaker 1: out on the homeless and he's trying to do right
12:48
Speaker 1: and he's not going to be able to be on
12:50
Speaker 1: the road and he'll most likely die, honestly, out there.
12:53
Speaker 1: And I just, um, it's not in my heart to
12:57
Speaker 1: I'm not the kind of person that can just leave
12:59
Speaker 1: him out there like that. Other people, you know, are
13:02
Speaker 1: more worldly in my family and are like, you know,
13:05
Speaker 1: you know, he, he made his bed lie in that
13:07
Speaker 1: kind of thing. So Michelle, quick question for you, and
13:10
Speaker 1: you said you're family. So who do you mean by family?
13:12
Speaker 1: Are you married with children, or are you talking about your,
13:15
Speaker 1: your parents, other people?
13:17
Speaker 1: Um, like my grown son who's, you know, who's like,
13:20
Speaker 1: you know, more into like, like the spiritual worldly type
13:23
Speaker 1: of spiritual, not, not biblically sound spiritual. Worldly type of spiritual.
13:29
Speaker 1: There's an oxymoron there, but, uh, Mike, we'll start with you.
13:32
Speaker 1: What do you say to Michelle? I mean, family is complex.
13:34
Speaker 1: I come from a broken home. My mom's with her
13:36
Speaker 1: third husband. Um, you know, I, I saw it from
13:39
Speaker 1: a kid's perspective, uh, she would often try and help both.
13:43
Speaker 1: Extended family and family, um, sometimes it was good.
13:48
Speaker 1: But most of the time it ended up not good
13:52
Speaker 1: and specifically for the kids, uh, brought a lot of
13:54
Speaker 1: abuse into our home. Um, in fact, people that she
13:57
Speaker 1: tried to help actually ended up abusing my sister directly
14:01
Speaker 1: in a horrible way, um.
14:02
Speaker 1: And so I think the first stage of a family
14:05
Speaker 1: member is to make sure that the immediate family is
14:09
Speaker 1: protected in this day and age, things are darker. Things
14:11
Speaker 1: aren't as what I would say, oh, they're family, therefore
14:14
Speaker 1: everything's gonna be OK. No, there are dark things in
14:17
Speaker 1: families that need to be guarded against and it's, it's
14:20
Speaker 1: really sad that we have to say that about our
14:22
Speaker 1: own families, but we have to be.
14:23
Speaker 1: On the lookout for our own children. So I would
14:25
Speaker 1: say make sure kids are protected, but I do want
14:27
Speaker 1: to point out first Timothy chapter 5, where, uh, Paul
14:31
Speaker 1: does tell Timothy to give instruction for people to take
14:35
Speaker 1: care of, uh, uh, relatives and immediate family. Uh, this
14:40
Speaker 1: is important. And so if you have the power to
14:42
Speaker 1: take care of your immediate family.
14:44
Speaker 1: Or your relatives, then the Bible does give instruction to
14:47
Speaker 1: do that. Uh, again, I would say with healthy boundaries,
14:50
Speaker 1: I think that's the key. Whether or not you welcome
14:53
Speaker 1: them into your home, you need to make sure if
14:55
Speaker 1: you are welcoming them, welcoming them into your home that
14:58
Speaker 1: you are protecting the people in the home, that they
15:01
Speaker 1: will not abuse you or the people around you if
15:04
Speaker 1: they do that.
15:05
Speaker 1: I don't think the Bible is calling you to, to
15:07
Speaker 1: inure and and bring on abuse that is not healthy.
15:12
Speaker 1: I think you have to have a healthy boundary. Uh,
15:15
Speaker 1: and if that means, hey, I want to help out my,
15:17
Speaker 1: my brother or my relative, um, if that means funding,
15:21
Speaker 1: maybe they go to a teen Challenge, which.
15:23
Speaker 1: I know is a great organization to help those who
15:25
Speaker 1: are in drug addiction or mental health issues, or, uh,
15:28
Speaker 1: a facility that can help them in that way, but you,
15:30
Speaker 1: you can help them in other ways. So, that's where
15:33
Speaker 1: I would say, are you welcoming, welcoming them into your home? Uh,
15:36
Speaker 1: if so, what are the boundaries you have to keep
15:38
Speaker 1: it healthy and good for both you and them? And then, uh,
15:42
Speaker 1: other ramifications that that may have, uh, and not, um, enabling.
15:48
Speaker 1: One's personal, uh, struggles, if you will, whether that's drug
15:52
Speaker 1: addiction or anything else, but it sounds like you said
15:54
Speaker 1: mental health is part of that, uh, problem. Um, and
15:57
Speaker 1: I do know, uh, and one more thing just to
15:59
Speaker 1: make it relevant, I had an uncle who was in
16:01
Speaker 1: and out of prison all the time and we would
16:03
Speaker 1: always be helping him. He would come, he would misuse
16:05
Speaker 1: our trust, steal things. Uh, in fact, my, me personally,
16:09
Speaker 1: I had a, a truck. Uh, he got into trouble
16:11
Speaker 1: with some drug dealers.
16:13
Speaker 1: My mom said I had to sign the truck over
16:16
Speaker 1: to drug dealers to save my uncle's life. So I
16:19
Speaker 1: literally signed the pink slip.
16:22
Speaker 1: Over to these drug dealers because she didn't want to
16:23
Speaker 1: bring the police in. Did you write drug dealers on
16:25
Speaker 1: the pink slip, I just signed it whatever name was
16:27
Speaker 1: given to me and I'm like, Mom, what do we
16:29
Speaker 1: just do? And she told me, I'm like, are you
16:31
Speaker 1: kidding me? You know, like 22 years old signing my
16:34
Speaker 1: truck when he was, I still was owed $1000 on
16:36
Speaker 1: that thing, so I never got saw the money, had
16:39
Speaker 1: to sign it over to these drugs. She's like, I'll
16:40
Speaker 1: take care of it. I'm like, yeah, OK, Mom, I've
16:42
Speaker 1: been here, done that. I'm older now, so I don't
16:44
Speaker 1: want to get too much into my story. I just
16:46
Speaker 1: want to make sure that when we do help our
16:49
Speaker 1: family members out.
16:50
Speaker 1: Put some good healthy boundaries up. You can't kick them
16:53
Speaker 1: to the curb, but you also can't put yourself in
16:55
Speaker 1: danger to help them because then it's not helping, it's enabling.
16:59
Speaker 1: So yeah, a couple of things. I, I, I wanted
17:01
Speaker 1: to ask you a few questions. Um, you know, who
17:04
Speaker 1: lives in your home? Are you married? Are you single?
17:07
Speaker 1: Do you have children?
17:08
Speaker 1: No, no, I'm, I'm, I'm sing, I'm single, and my
17:11
Speaker 1: son is 30, you know, so, so, you know, he,
17:14
Speaker 1: you know, so he's not a child, he's, you know,
17:16
Speaker 1: he's 30, um, you know, so, you know, so he,
17:20
Speaker 1: you know, so he's, he's a grown man, but he's,
17:22
Speaker 1: he's concerned, and I understand he's concerned. Yeah, so I,
17:25
Speaker 1: I think, you know, just everything that was just said,
17:27
Speaker 1: you know, just there, there should be healthy boundaries sometimes
17:30
Speaker 1: because you mentioned schizophrenic, but you also mentioned drugs.
17:33
Speaker 1: Uh, is, so schizophrenic, that's something that, you know, it's,
17:37
Speaker 1: it's something he's got to cope with and deal with.
17:39
Speaker 1: Drugs is another situation. Uh, are, are those things
17:43
Speaker 1: Both in, in action or is it just the schizophrenic
17:46
Speaker 1: that he's, he's dealing with? No, no, um, no, I'm
17:49
Speaker 1: definitely doing that. Um, like, like the other person said,
17:52
Speaker 1: I grew up, I grew up in, in, in a
17:55
Speaker 1: household like that where there was constantly like making enabling and,
17:59
Speaker 1: and we have to give up stuff to, to, to, to,
18:02
Speaker 1: there was no accountability, no responsibility for everything that everybody
18:05
Speaker 1: was done, but I grew up where I'm not going
18:07
Speaker 1: to allow anything like that. And, and so like that
18:10
Speaker 1: was the one thing about coming into my household.
18:12
Speaker 1: This is not gonna be. And so I do have that, um,
18:16
Speaker 1: established with boundaries and borders, border, you know, it's not
18:19
Speaker 1: gonna be tolerated and, and, um, you know, he's going
18:22
Speaker 1: to celebrate recovery and he's been clean since he's been
18:25
Speaker 1: at my house. Good, good. So yeah, then I, I,
18:28
Speaker 1: you know, the Lord's put that in your heart and
18:31
Speaker 1: it's not endangering anybody else and you're, you know, you're
18:34
Speaker 1: sacrificing and, you know, and doing so in order to
18:38
Speaker 1: love your brother who has some challenges, uh, I wouldn't listen.
18:42
Speaker 1: I wouldn't.
18:43
Speaker 1: I wouldn't let outside voices, you know, uh,
18:47
Speaker 1: Just, you know, persuade me away from how the Lord
18:51
Speaker 1: is leading, you know, um, and you know, there's, yeah,
18:53
Speaker 1: I think, I think that you're doing a great thing,
18:55
Speaker 1: and I pray that your brother is successful and does well.
18:59
Speaker 1: The Lord, um, Lord keeps him. Yeah, and I, I
19:01
Speaker 1: would add to that, yeah, um, I should have probably
19:03
Speaker 1: started with that question. Uh, do you have healthy boundaries
19:07
Speaker 1: in place because biblically, yeah, First Peter chapter 5, you
19:11
Speaker 1: should help somebody, especially if they want to get better.
19:13
Speaker 1: If they have a, if they're showing signs of like, no,
19:15
Speaker 1: I want this.
19:16
Speaker 1: Then yeah, you keep walking with that person. It's rough, but,
19:20
Speaker 1: but hey, that's good. That's a beautiful thing.
19:24
Speaker 1: Michelle, thank you so much for calling in today on
19:27
Speaker 1: Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number. Let's talk to Floyd,
19:33
Speaker 1: who works for the Department of Homeland Security. No, no, no,
19:35
Speaker 1: he's calling from Homeland California. Never mind.
19:39
Speaker 1: Floyd, welcome to Pastor's perspective.
19:43
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. Um, I listen to you guys
19:45
Speaker 1: almost every day. I, I have a quick question, really. Um, recently,
19:50
Speaker 1: our church ordained a woman pastor and we had a
19:55
Speaker 1: few members of our congregation leave because of that, and
20:00
Speaker 1: there are a couple others who question it, so I
20:03
Speaker 1: was just calling to ask, um, if women pastors are
20:07
Speaker 1: biblical because I know that there are a lot of, uh,
20:12
Speaker 1: Um,
20:14
Speaker 1: Women that uh have like television programs that preach um
20:20
Speaker 1: so just a quick question. OK, Bill, start with you, yeah, um,
20:24
Speaker 1: so I'll, I'll, I'll say this upfront. I, I, I don't,
20:26
Speaker 1: I don't, I know but everyone doesn't share my perspective, uh,
20:29
Speaker 1: but my perspective of what I, my understanding of scripture
20:32
Speaker 1: is that no, uh, that God has not, um, ordained
20:36
Speaker 1: women to pastoral ministry, um, that.
20:40
Speaker 1: Uh, I think the letters to Timothy where, you know,
20:44
Speaker 1: those are the letters where God is giving, um, order
20:48
Speaker 1: for the church and even deals with the sexes, you know,
20:51
Speaker 1: he deals with in chapter one, you know, that I,
20:54
Speaker 1: I want the men to pray everywhere. I want the
20:56
Speaker 1: women to adorn themselves in modest, chapter two, I mean,
20:59
Speaker 1: I want the women to adorn themselves in modest apparel,
21:01
Speaker 1: and he goes on and says, I, I don't permit
21:04
Speaker 1: that a woman would teach or be an authority over men, um,
21:08
Speaker 1: but to be in silence and
21:10
Speaker 1: Uh, then he goes into, he goes all the way
21:11
Speaker 1: back to creation, for the man was formed first, then
21:14
Speaker 1: the woman. So it's, it's not a cultural thing, it's not,
21:17
Speaker 1: it wasn't a Paul thing. It goes all the way
21:19
Speaker 1: back to God's original intent. When God made man, he said,
21:23
Speaker 1: I'll make, you know, then he said, um, it's not
21:24
Speaker 1: good that man should be alone in Genesis 2:18. I'll
21:26
Speaker 1: make him a helper comparable to him. The woman was
21:29
Speaker 1: to come alongside and help him. Um, the original fall,
21:33
Speaker 1: which he also references in 1 Timothy 2.
21:36
Speaker 1: Um, it says for Eve was deceived, and, you know,
21:39
Speaker 1: so the, the reason why they sinned was different. Eve
21:42
Speaker 1: was literally deceived by the serpent and um,
21:46
Speaker 1: You know, Paul, all this is all at the end
21:48
Speaker 1: of 1 Timothy chapter 2, as Paul is explaining, why not, um,
21:53
Speaker 1: why women are not in this position, why men are
21:55
Speaker 1: in this position. So, um, and I, I've, I've, I've
21:58
Speaker 1: wrestled with this. I know I have, I have friends
22:00
Speaker 1: that see it otherwise. And so as, as I walk
22:02
Speaker 1: through the gospels, Jesus, Jesus is very countercultural. He didn't,
22:05
Speaker 1: he didn't do what was culturally normal. He spoke to
22:08
Speaker 1: the woman at the well in the middle of the day,
22:09
Speaker 1: and there were women in the ministry with Jesus the
22:12
Speaker 1: entire time, but he never sent them out to preach.
22:15
Speaker 1: Um, when Jesus raised up the apostles, he picked men.
22:18
Speaker 1: He could have picked women, but he picked men. Um,
22:20
Speaker 1: as I look at the Book of Acts, as, as
22:22
Speaker 1: they understood it, as the church was sent out and
22:24
Speaker 1: people were, you know, assigned leadership, there were men, um,
22:29
Speaker 1: you know, that were overseeing churches and pastoring, and then
22:31
Speaker 1: as I get the pastoral epistles where it's explicit.
22:34
Speaker 1: You know, the instruction seems to be that there would
22:37
Speaker 1: be men in this role, that he, he must be
22:39
Speaker 1: the husband of one wife. He must rule his own
22:42
Speaker 1: household well, that these are in the qualifications. So, um,
22:46
Speaker 1: I think women can do everything except, um, oversee men
22:50
Speaker 1: in a church setting as a pastor. That's my understanding
22:54
Speaker 1: of the scriptures. Mike, uh, Floyd from the Department of
22:58
Speaker 1: Homeland Security said he just had a quick question.
23:01
Speaker 1: Floyd, you shouldn't lie. First of all, this question is
23:06
Speaker 1: one of the most controversial questions in our modern era, Floyd.
23:11
Speaker 1: So I just want to clarify the presentation of your
23:14
Speaker 1: question was an error. OK, I'm joking, but also, I
23:18
Speaker 1: mostly agree with my friend Pastor Bill.
23:21
Speaker 1: Um, now Floyd, can I ask what denomination is your church?
23:28
Speaker 1: Church of God. OK, yeah, that makes sense. Church of
23:32
Speaker 1: God and the Assemblies of God through whom I'm ordained,
23:34
Speaker 1: the Assemblies of God, so I will be more prone
23:36
Speaker 1: to say yes, women can be pastors. I'll just say
23:39
Speaker 1: it simply. Now that said, Pastor Bill does make some
23:43
Speaker 1: good cases, and I want to address it quickly from
23:46
Speaker 1: that 1 Timothy chapter 2 where Paul says women should
23:49
Speaker 1: learn quietly, submissively. I do not let, uh, and do
23:52
Speaker 1: not let women teach men or have authority over them.
23:55
Speaker 1: And that is something you can't get outside of that
23:58
Speaker 1: contextual passage where uh Pastor Bill referenced Genesis, uh, for
24:03
Speaker 1: it was a woman who was deceived first and this
24:05
Speaker 1: I think is probably one of the more tense verses
24:07
Speaker 1: that you, you really, it's not cultural, it's spiritual and there.
24:10
Speaker 1: Is an element that even in the garden at the fall,
24:14
Speaker 1: what the greatest sin I think Adam committed aside from
24:17
Speaker 1: pride and thinking he could do it on his own
24:18
Speaker 1: without God was that he abdicated his authority both to
24:21
Speaker 1: the serpent but also to his wife. He blamed the,
24:24
Speaker 1: it's the woman you gave me, Lord. First, this maybe
24:28
Speaker 1: the second sin of Adam was not being a leader.
24:31
Speaker 1: So one of the great things about the New Testament,
24:33
Speaker 1: the way I see it is that men get to
24:35
Speaker 1: be redeemed through Christ first and foremost, but they also
24:38
Speaker 1: get to lead in a way that maybe they failed
24:40
Speaker 1: to lead for eons, but since the fall. Now that's
24:44
Speaker 1: not to say women can't have authority because Pastor Bill
24:47
Speaker 1: already said it. Lydia, she had a base of operations
24:50
Speaker 1: in Philippi, and she was used by God to lead
24:53
Speaker 1: people in Bible studies in her own home.
24:55
Speaker 1: Uh, Paul was in her home. She brought people to Christ.
24:59
Speaker 1: Timothy's mom, Dorcas, she, uh, had authority in Timothy's life,
25:04
Speaker 1: and so it wasn't that, um, you know, women couldn't
25:06
Speaker 1: carry authority. It's the, the very conservative view is that
25:10
Speaker 1: there should not be authority over a man. Um, and so, uh,
25:14
Speaker 1: Mother Teresa, I just want to give this. I was
25:16
Speaker 1: at the prayer breakfast in 1999. President Bill Clinton was
25:20
Speaker 1: one of the speakers. Mother Teresa got up there.
25:24
Speaker 1: And she said, basically, she said, uh, that.
25:29
Speaker 1: Abortion was wrong. She looked at the president of the
25:32
Speaker 1: United States who was a Democrat who was pro-choice, pro-abortion,
25:37
Speaker 1: and she told the leader of the free world, it
25:40
Speaker 1: is wrong to kill babies. Now you can't tell me
25:43
Speaker 1: in that moment that Mother Teresa did not have authority
25:45
Speaker 1: over a man. There was clear spiritual authority in her voice.
25:49
Speaker 1: There was clear spiritual authority in her conviction, and I
25:52
Speaker 1: would say, now it's not a church setting, so that's different,
25:55
Speaker 1: but she carried authority. So it's not that women can't
25:57
Speaker 1: carry authority.
25:59
Speaker 1: My wife carries authority, trust me, I know no she
26:03
Speaker 1: is good in that I, I do lead our home spiritually.
26:06
Speaker 1: I want to make that clear. So this is a
26:07
Speaker 1: tense thing. This is almost as tense as once saved
26:10
Speaker 1: always saved, but it is an issue that I think
26:13
Speaker 1: the church continues to need to talk through respectfully.
26:17
Speaker 1: And to, uh, I think as the Bible says to
26:19
Speaker 1: submit ourselves to one another in the course of the church, um,
26:23
Speaker 1: and so getting back to it, do I think women
26:25
Speaker 1: can be pastors? Yes, I think the more tense thing
26:28
Speaker 1: is what do you mean by pastor? Children's pastor, women
26:32
Speaker 1: can be.
26:32
Speaker 1: That, OK, a worship leader, well, they can lead worship.
26:36
Speaker 1: Lead pastor. Oh, now, now you're in an area that
26:40
Speaker 1: I think we can have even further discussion. So I think, uh, Floyd,
26:44
Speaker 1: it is a big question. It is not a simple question.
26:46
Speaker 1: It is a very huge question, and thank you for it.
26:49
Speaker 1: It's not a yes or no question. No, it's not.
26:51
Speaker 1: I think maybe that's what Floyd, it's very nuanced, but Floyd,
26:54
Speaker 1: you're awesome, man. Bill, any other thoughts?
26:56
Speaker 1: Um, I think I said it. You know, I, you know, I,
26:59
Speaker 1: I think, um, like I said, there, there's, it's, it,
27:02
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be settled here on the air today,
27:04
Speaker 1: you know, but, uh.
27:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, uh, maybe an arm wrestle or something.
27:09
Speaker 1: Floyd Floyd, Floyd would win too, but, you know, and,
27:11
Speaker 1: and I, I, I do think that if, you know,
27:13
Speaker 1: people would, you know, we have to, we have to
27:15
Speaker 1: really look to the scriptures for direction on, you know, hey,
27:19
Speaker 1: who are we raising up, you know, do I see
27:21
Speaker 1: this modeled in the scripture, um, and I, I, to me,
27:25
Speaker 1: the strength of it when I look at it, I,
27:27
Speaker 1: I think when I look at all the New Testament, um,
27:29
Speaker 1: There's a couple of obscure things people pull out, you know,
27:32
Speaker 1: but in general I don't see it. I don't see
27:34
Speaker 1: women leading men. And then I have this instruction where
27:38
Speaker 1: it says, you know, where she does have authority at
27:40
Speaker 1: home with her children, disciple them, you know, um, and
27:44
Speaker 1: so that's what, you know, that's how I encourage. I
27:47
Speaker 1: encourage men, stand up, um, married couples, lead together, love
27:51
Speaker 1: the kids, um, wives disciple those babies, you know, pour
27:55
Speaker 1: into those kids, um, yeah, so Floyd, how you feeling?
28:00
Speaker 1: At, at this, at this point, she doesn't, um, actually
28:04
Speaker 1: present the sermon. She, uh, she may, uh, pray over
28:08
Speaker 1: the offering, um, and sometimes do the announcement. Actually, she's
28:13
Speaker 1: an associate pastor, um, so in, in my mind, I don't,
28:17
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't see a conflict there, um, but
28:22
Speaker 1: I was, I was just sort of put, put back
28:26
Speaker 1: that there were a couple of members of our congregation
28:28
Speaker 1: that actually left over.
28:30
Speaker 1: And, and a couple that, um, actually the keyboard player
28:34
Speaker 1: on the worship team that I'm with question as well, but, um,
28:38
Speaker 1: he doesn't attend our church. He just comes and plays
28:41
Speaker 1: with the worship team and then he goes to his
28:43
Speaker 1: son's church, but, um.
28:46
Speaker 1: He, he questioned it. So that was really the reason
28:49
Speaker 1: for call. Well, if I can add one more thing
28:52
Speaker 1: on a practical level, um, to, to relieve the tension,
28:56
Speaker 1: if you will, this is what I found, um, if
28:59
Speaker 1: a woman pastor at a church is in submission to
29:04
Speaker 1: a man who is a lead pastor, you still technically
29:07
Speaker 1: are fitting within the biblical framework that the, the authority
29:10
Speaker 1: of that congregation is still a man. If you want
29:12
Speaker 1: to be in the conservative realm of it.
29:14
Speaker 1: That you're still submitting to a man who is leading
29:17
Speaker 1: the church and so as long as she's in submission
29:19
Speaker 1: to a uh a male in that way, then I
29:23
Speaker 1: would say that that's quote unquote the gray area that
29:25
Speaker 1: she can still lead but uh under the authority of
29:29
Speaker 1: a man if you want to go with the conservative
29:30
Speaker 1: viewpoint on it.
29:32
Speaker 1: Floyd, thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective.
29:35
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be
29:36
Speaker 1: back with more of your questions. We've got Mike Whitford
29:39
Speaker 1: and Bill Buffington here to answer your questions till 4 o'clock.
29:43
Speaker 1: So call in, there's still time. 888-564-6173 is our number. 888-564-6173.
30:18
Speaker 1: Hello, we are back on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is the
30:24
Speaker 1: number to call until 4 o'clock. That's when we'll turn
30:27
Speaker 1: off the phone lines for the weekend.
30:29
Speaker 1: So if you need an answer to a question, better
30:32
Speaker 1: call in today. Of course, you can ask your pastor
30:34
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We totally are cool with that. I mean,
30:37
Speaker 1: we'd kind of prefer that you'd talk to your pastor,
30:39
Speaker 1: but uh we're here just kind of a supplement, you
30:42
Speaker 1: could call us. 888-564-6173 is our number. Bill Buffington and
30:47
Speaker 1: Mike Whitford are here to answer your questions, and we're
30:50
Speaker 1: gonna speak with Mary in Glendora, listening to Pastor's perspective. Hi, Mary.
30:56
Speaker 1: Hey. Hey, what's your question?
31:00
Speaker 1: Uh, so I just had a question. Um, I've been
31:03
Speaker 1: attending a small, very small church for the past 2 years.
31:08
Speaker 1: I came from a very big, um, church, abundance.
31:13
Speaker 1: And so, our pastor has mentioned a few times that
31:16
Speaker 1: all our tithes and offering are going to his native country. Um,
31:24
Speaker 1: He has, I guess, a few churches out there.
31:28
Speaker 1: I don't know, that, that, for some reason that doesn't.
31:32
Speaker 1: I don't know if I should be concerned or part
31:35
Speaker 1: of the mission. I don't know. am I, am I
31:38
Speaker 1: silly for being concerned that all our tithes and offerings
31:41
Speaker 1: are going?
31:43
Speaker 1: To his church in another country. Hm, Mike, we'll start
31:46
Speaker 1: with you. Well, I would say first of all, what
31:48
Speaker 1: does your bylaws say? Uh, I would ask your pastor,
31:51
Speaker 1: Hey pastor, what does our church bylaws say regarding tithes
31:54
Speaker 1: and offerings and
31:55
Speaker 1: And uh what, what is the protocol propriety for that? What,
31:59
Speaker 1: what goes to the storehouse that is the church that's
32:01
Speaker 1: there as an example, just so people listening will know,
32:04
Speaker 1: what do like the bylaws at your church say, Mike? Well,
32:07
Speaker 1: I mean in this regard, yeah, for example, we have a, well,
32:10
Speaker 1: there's like section, subsection, all these things in describing that, uh,
32:14
Speaker 1: the tithes and offerings would go to the tithe would
32:17
Speaker 1: go to the church and then for example, the Assemblies
32:19
Speaker 1: of God, it's expected that you do give 10%. You
32:23
Speaker 1: then as a church tithe to missions.
32:25
Speaker 1: Uh, to give to missions, you can go above and
32:27
Speaker 1: beyond that. In fact, you would also do a missions, uh, month,
32:31
Speaker 1: if you will, focusing, and then some ways God is
32:33
Speaker 1: very good at giving overseas, so.
32:35
Speaker 1: To answer your question simply, yes, it's great for a
32:37
Speaker 1: church to give money. Paul, when he was in Philippi,
32:40
Speaker 1: he took money and brought it back to Jerusalem for
32:42
Speaker 1: the church there and for the believers there who didn't
32:44
Speaker 1: have as much, but those in, in the Greece, uh,
32:47
Speaker 1: areas of Greece had a lot of money, so they
32:49
Speaker 1: would share and, and bear the burden of one another.
32:52
Speaker 1: So it is good for that. But if you are
32:55
Speaker 1: showing concern that all the money is going to this
32:57
Speaker 1: church overseas, well, I would then ask, well, hey, what, uh,
33:01
Speaker 1: what money goes to the church here so that we
33:02
Speaker 1: can do community outreach in our own backyard.
33:05
Speaker 1: And then what's to be brought to there now the
33:06
Speaker 1: bylaws may say whatever the lead pastor says, which I
33:09
Speaker 1: think is a problem because there's no accountability. So I
33:12
Speaker 1: think that's the big deal. The bylaws and church, um, uh,
33:15
Speaker 1: protocol are present, a church board are present so that
33:19
Speaker 1: there is accountability in how money is both acquired and spent,
33:24
Speaker 1: and that is necessary. And as a, as a church planter,
33:26
Speaker 1: that's one of those things that keeps me up at night,
33:28
Speaker 1: so to speak, and freaked out because money is a
33:31
Speaker 1: very touchy subject and so you have to have receipts
33:34
Speaker 1: for everything.
33:35
Speaker 1: And follow where it's going and why, why was it spent?
33:38
Speaker 1: What was it, uh, meant for? And so I would say, yeah,
33:41
Speaker 1: talk to your pastor with respect. Say, pastor, just out
33:44
Speaker 1: of curiosity as a, as a person attending here, you know,
33:46
Speaker 1: I give tithes here. I'm just wondering, do we have
33:48
Speaker 1: any bylaws or, or, uh, giving uh.
33:52
Speaker 1: Regulations, if you will, and how much stays, how much goes,
33:55
Speaker 1: how much, you know, I don't need to know your salary,
33:56
Speaker 1: but are you getting a salary? We want to make
33:58
Speaker 1: sure you're taken care of. So you give it the
34:00
Speaker 1: benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, you know,
34:02
Speaker 1: you have every right to ask questions, um, in a
34:05
Speaker 1: way that, uh, hopefully he would have an answer, Bill.
34:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I, I think the, the concerning part
34:11
Speaker 1: or the wording of the question was all our ties
34:14
Speaker 1: and offering because, uh, the tithes and offering is supposed
34:17
Speaker 1: to take care of the, the said church, the local church.
34:21
Speaker 1: So the tithes and offering that come into a church should,
34:23
Speaker 1: you know, should, you know.
34:25
Speaker 1: We pay the pastor should take care of the, the
34:27
Speaker 1: ongoing needs of that church and what it's able to
34:29
Speaker 1: do locally if all of it's going to another country, um, yeah,
34:34
Speaker 1: that would be very concerning. I would, I would, I
34:36
Speaker 1: would definitely, you know, I was, as Mike said, I would,
34:39
Speaker 1: I would ask some questions and find out if there's,
34:42
Speaker 1: you know, is there, is there a structure, is there accountability? Is, is,
34:45
Speaker 1: you know, um.
34:45
Speaker 1: Am I giving somewhere where, you know, I'm just, we're
34:48
Speaker 1: just funneling money to, you know, something, something he says
34:51
Speaker 1: he has going on in another country, um, and if
34:53
Speaker 1: that is the case, what, what is that? Yeah, then,
34:56
Speaker 1: then I would find a, a, a, I'd find a
34:57
Speaker 1: healthy church where, you know, things are above board in
35:01
Speaker 1: terms of how finances are dealt with and so most
35:04
Speaker 1: churches that are above board are gonna have, um,
35:07
Speaker 1: They're gonna have, you know, a layout of how these
35:10
Speaker 1: things should go. Um, it's not vague. It's not one
35:13
Speaker 1: man is not in control of all the money. Uh,
35:15
Speaker 1: there's a board, and there's, there's, you know, there's rules
35:18
Speaker 1: of operation. This much goes here, this much goes there, um,
35:22
Speaker 1: that sort of thing, as Mike was saying, you know, there's,
35:24
Speaker 1: you know, we have 10% goals in emissions, and if
35:26
Speaker 1: we want to do more than that, it's something that
35:28
Speaker 1: has to be prayed about, discussed between more than one person,
35:31
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah. What do you think, Mary?
35:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, so
35:37
Speaker 2: yeah, you guys answered my question. Um, my next question
35:40
Speaker 2: is though, it, it is a very small church. He's a,
35:43
Speaker 2: he's an excellent
35:44
Speaker 1: teacher,
35:44
Speaker 2: I must say. One of
35:46
Speaker 1: the
35:46
Speaker 2: reasons why
35:46
Speaker 1: I'm
35:46
Speaker 2: still there,
35:47
Speaker 1: it's a Spanish-speaking
35:48
Speaker 2: church,
35:48
Speaker 1: and one of the reasons I went there was because
35:50
Speaker 1: my parents felt very comfortable there, and he, he is,
35:53
Speaker 1: he's a great teacher, but I, I'm, I went for
35:56
Speaker 1: 25 years to a very big church, and, and I
35:59
Speaker 1: felt connected to that church. So I still, I'm still
36:03
Speaker 1: connected to that big church.
36:05
Speaker 1: So what I started doing also because I'm still connected
36:08
Speaker 1: to the big church is I, I kind of divided
36:12
Speaker 1: my ties between the big church because I, I still,
36:15
Speaker 1: I'm still connected to that church and the little church.
36:20
Speaker 1: I is, is, is that correct or is that wrong? They're,
36:23
Speaker 1: they're both local churches. Really quick question on that, Mary, uh,
36:27
Speaker 1: when you say you still are connected to that church,
36:30
Speaker 1: in what way? Like, do you attend any of their
36:31
Speaker 1: Bible studies, or is it just because you have a
36:33
Speaker 1: 25 year history with them?
36:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, so all the, a lot of their services are online,
36:39
Speaker 1: so I connect to, and they have the Wednesday service,
36:42
Speaker 1: so I go Wednesdays and I connect on Sundays, um,
36:46
Speaker 1: and then my small church, their services are in, it's
36:49
Speaker 1: a small church, so nothing's online, uh, but there's uh
36:52
Speaker 1: on Thursdays, so I do physically go there with my parents,
36:56
Speaker 1: and then on Sundays, I go there as well. OK, Bill.
37:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, in general, you want to share your tithes and
37:03
Speaker 1: offering with the church where you're being fed. If you
37:05
Speaker 1: have questions about how the church is feeding because maybe
37:08
Speaker 1: he's a great teacher, but there are, there are guys
37:10
Speaker 1: that are great teachers and poor finance, they're poor with
37:13
Speaker 1: finances or poor in other areas, you know, if they're,
37:16
Speaker 1: if things aren't being done.
37:19
Speaker 1: You know, appropriately or rightly, you know, then, you know, you,
37:22
Speaker 1: you should be at a church where I'm being fed
37:24
Speaker 1: and I can, I can confidently give to the mission
37:28
Speaker 1: of this church. If the mission of your church is
37:31
Speaker 1: funnel all your money to another country, if you're not,
37:34
Speaker 1: if that's not the mission that you're, you know, you're
37:36
Speaker 1: not in agreement with that mission, then I would say,
37:39
Speaker 1: you know, you, you probably should find somewhere else where
37:41
Speaker 1: you can both receive and give. Um, I think both
37:44
Speaker 1: are important. You should be giving.
37:46
Speaker 1: To a ministry that you are seeing that this is
37:49
Speaker 1: a fruitful ministry, they're, they're handling things well. This money
37:53
Speaker 1: is going to kingdom purposes. So I think that's important.
37:56
Speaker 1: I'd agree, uh, uh, if you are able, Mary.
38:01
Speaker 1: Focus on one congregation and, and be there all in. I.
38:07
Speaker 1: I understand this day and age you can be online
38:09
Speaker 1: here you can go over to that church there. I mean,
38:11
Speaker 1: Orange County, LA, everywhere, there's so many good churches we are,
38:15
Speaker 1: we are church inundated and I wanna praise God for that,
38:18
Speaker 1: you know, the Azusa Street revivals that just establish a
38:21
Speaker 1: spiritual beachhead if you would in Southern California and then
38:24
Speaker 1: the Jesus revolution, hello, Calvary Chapel, love it. Uh, we
38:29
Speaker 1: have a lot of great churches, but I would say
38:32
Speaker 1: just like we, you know, we would should focus on
38:34
Speaker 1: one spouse, one man with one woman.
38:37
Speaker 1: I think church relationship is very similar. I mean, even
38:40
Speaker 1: Jesus likens, we're the bride of Christ, and he's the groom.
38:43
Speaker 1: I think it wouldn't be so far fetched to say,
38:45
Speaker 1: so be committed to one spouse, one church community, and
38:50
Speaker 1: I think you will do better and that church community
38:53
Speaker 1: will do better for having you because they get to
38:56
Speaker 1: then have the blessing of all of the gifts you
38:58
Speaker 1: bring to the table.
38:59
Speaker 1: Not just your money, but your talents, your gifts, your time,
39:03
Speaker 1: and so I would say if this small church is
39:05
Speaker 1: where you want to be, focus 100% there. If you
39:08
Speaker 1: want to be at the big church, then tell your parents, hey,
39:10
Speaker 1: I'm going back here because I get fed more there.
39:12
Speaker 1: But I would say be where you can be fully.
39:16
Speaker 1: That's what I would say ideally is best for you
39:18
Speaker 1: and the church you attend. Amen.
39:21
Speaker 1: OK, hold on, I've got a devil's advocate question here.
39:23
Speaker 1: There are some people who maybe attend a big church
39:26
Speaker 1: and they say they're huge. They've got buildings, they've got
39:30
Speaker 1: park that they're huge. They don't even need my money,
39:32
Speaker 1: so I don't tithe at all. So in this case here,
39:35
Speaker 1: they might be thinking, Mary, just give the money to
39:38
Speaker 1: the little church because the big money doesn't, the big
39:40
Speaker 1: church doesn't need your money.
39:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, once again, um, you know, where you're being fed, uh,
39:46
Speaker 1: is where you should be sharing your financial gifts, your
39:49
Speaker 1: spiritual gifts. Um, there's, it's reciprocal. I'm fed and ministered
39:53
Speaker 1: to and poured into here, and then of, of everything
39:56
Speaker 1: you have belongs to God, I'm giving back of the
39:59
Speaker 1: resources God has given me right back into the place
40:02
Speaker 1: that's ministering to me and my family. So to steal
40:05
Speaker 1: it from.
40:06
Speaker 1: The place where you're being fed and siphon it off
40:08
Speaker 1: somewhere else is, I think that's wrong. Well, and Brian,
40:11
Speaker 1: that was a great one way to put it, for one,
40:13
Speaker 1: robbing Peter to pay Paul. You, you had a great
40:18
Speaker 1: devil's advocate moment because I believe the devil does give
40:20
Speaker 1: people that kind of logic. Like it's not up to us.
40:23
Speaker 1: That's why it's not up to us to decide whether
40:25
Speaker 1: or not a church needs your money.
40:27
Speaker 1: It's up to you to obey God and give what
40:31
Speaker 1: then you entrust hopefully to a good accountable, like we
40:34
Speaker 1: talked about earlier, leadership to then.
40:38
Speaker 1: Uh, give the money where it's right to pay the, well,
40:42
Speaker 1: right now, the air conditioning bill to pay for, to
40:45
Speaker 1: keep the lights, pay the rent, uh, you know, uh,
40:48
Speaker 1: make sure the staff is taken care of, um, and, and,
40:51
Speaker 1: and the ministries are fed, and then to give to missions,
40:53
Speaker 1: whatever that is, it is not our job to determine
40:56
Speaker 1: whether or not they have enough money because we don't
40:59
Speaker 1: see the budget per se. It's.
41:00
Speaker 1: Our job to be faithful to the Lord and to give.
41:03
Speaker 1: I think also a great, someone said this to me
41:05
Speaker 1: before and they're like, if, if everybody, when you're trying
41:07
Speaker 1: to decipher how to give, if everyone gave as faithfully
41:11
Speaker 1: as you, how, how much could your church do? And
41:14
Speaker 1: so if you, if you, if you don't give it
41:16
Speaker 1: all because you give it somewhere else, your church is done,
41:18
Speaker 1: how big it is, it's over. They're cooked, as the
41:21
Speaker 1: kids say. Exactly. If everybody served like you, uh, how,
41:24
Speaker 1: how faithful could your church be? How effective could they be?
41:27
Speaker 1: So be that.
41:28
Speaker 1: Be effective. Be the best you can be. All right.
41:32
Speaker 1: Great discussion today here on Pastor's Perspective, Mary. Thank you
41:35
Speaker 1: for your phone call. Next we're gonna go to, uh,
41:39
Speaker 1: let's see, Candice, and then Nick, you'll be on after that. Candace, hello.
41:42
Speaker 2: Welcome
41:42
Speaker 1: to Pastor's Perspective.
41:45
Speaker 2: Hi, um, good afternoon. Hi, um, my question is, OK,
41:49
Speaker 2: so me and my husband, um, just renewed our vows
41:52
Speaker 2: this past weekend, and me and my, my father are
41:55
Speaker 2: not like on speaking terms just because it's been a long, um,
41:58
Speaker 2: relationship with him, but my dad, I mean, my dad
42:00
Speaker 2: and my husband do talk sometimes, so apparently like a
42:04
Speaker 2: couple of weeks before this.
42:06
Speaker 2: Um, he told my dad that we're gonna renew our vows,
42:08
Speaker 2: and my dad asked, Oh, are you ready for that?
42:10
Speaker 2: He's like, What do you mean by that? He's like, Well,
42:12
Speaker 2: isn't Candice in menopause, which I am in menopause. And
42:15
Speaker 2: he was referring to my mom because my mom was like,
42:17
Speaker 2: apparently when she was in menopause, she was very like,
42:20
Speaker 2: had a lot of anger and a lot of temp
42:21
Speaker 2: tempers with.
42:22
Speaker 2: Hi, so he was insinuating that like why would you
42:25
Speaker 2: go do that with her when she's probably the same
42:27
Speaker 2: way as Mary and when he told me this, my
42:31
Speaker 2: husband told me this not to gossip, but to know
42:33
Speaker 2: the conversation that they had, um, maybe like a couple
42:36
Speaker 2: of days later it was his birthday, my dad's birthday,
42:38
Speaker 2: and I didn't, I felt like I didn't wanna text
42:41
Speaker 2: him because if I text him, maybe he would have
42:44
Speaker 2: responded to me in a, in a, in a mean
42:45
Speaker 2: way or whatever because.
42:47
Speaker 2: It's always been that way. If I text him, he'll
42:49
Speaker 2: text me something like kind of weird, and I at
42:51
Speaker 2: that time, I'm like, you know, Lord, like what do
42:53
Speaker 2: I do? Like now, now that I think about it,
42:55
Speaker 2: like I'm thinking cause on Saturday, tomorrow I'm gonna be
42:58
Speaker 2: speaking to some women about obedience and forgiveness and like being, um,
43:03
Speaker 2: being kind to others even when they're not kind to you.
43:06
Speaker 2: And then I go, I feel the conviction like, should
43:08
Speaker 2: I still my dad happy birthday regardless of what he said. But,
43:13
Speaker 2: and then so I'm wrestling with that like.
43:16
Speaker 2: I feel like the heaviness, like I should repent and
43:18
Speaker 2: ask God's forgiveness, but at the same time I'm like,
43:21
Speaker 2: I wasn't trying to justify the behavior because of the
43:23
Speaker 2: way he was acting, but for me, I was kind
43:25
Speaker 2: of like, why would he say something like that? And
43:27
Speaker 2: then I say happy birthday, but I'm just want to
43:29
Speaker 2: know your idea or what you, your perspective on it.
43:32
Speaker 1: So let me just give my perspective really quick. I'm
43:34
Speaker 1: not a pastor, nor am I a paid spokesperson for Hallmark,
43:38
Speaker 1: but at a time like this, maybe just send him
43:40
Speaker 1: a card because he can't respond to it. I mean,
43:41
Speaker 1: he could, he could, you know, still do that. But yeah,
43:44
Speaker 1: you send a text to somebody, they.
43:46
Speaker 1: And in this case it sounds like uh Candace's dad
43:49
Speaker 1: does text back but I don't know that's just me
43:51
Speaker 1: a great idea. I don't know it's a great idea, yeah, um, Candace,
43:56
Speaker 1: I would say this, uh, it sounds like you and
43:58
Speaker 1: your dad have a difficult relationship and um.
44:03
Speaker 1: Forever, for whatever reason you guys haven't been able to,
44:05
Speaker 1: you know, reconcile or, or get things in a healthy place.
44:09
Speaker 1: Um, but I'll, I'll just, I'll say this as, um,
44:13
Speaker 1: as a, as a believer, you know, we wanna do
44:15
Speaker 1: all that we can do. Um, the Bible says, um,
44:18
Speaker 1: as much as is possible with you, you know, be
44:21
Speaker 1: at peace with all men, and so sometimes there are
44:24
Speaker 1: people we're gonna love, uh, without reciprocation, you know, we're
44:28
Speaker 1: gonna be gracious without receiving it back, and sometimes those
44:31
Speaker 1: people are.
44:33
Speaker 1: It's, it's God's opportunity for us to be like Jesus.
44:36
Speaker 1: Jesus loves the unlovely, you know, he loved us even
44:39
Speaker 1: when we were yet sinners, you know, so not when
44:42
Speaker 1: we changed, not when we turned to Him, not when
44:45
Speaker 1: we cleaned up our act, but Romans 5:8 says that,
44:48
Speaker 1: you know, God demonstrated His love and that even while
44:50
Speaker 1: we were yet sinners, you know, Christ died for us,
44:53
Speaker 1: and so
44:54
Speaker 1: Sometimes those difficult family members and people, they are giving
44:59
Speaker 1: us an opportunity to, you know, to display Christ's kind
45:02
Speaker 1: of love. I'm not looking for anything back. I, I
45:05
Speaker 1: might even get back a, a, an unpleasant remark, but,
45:09
Speaker 1: but I wanna send it, you know, I, I wouldn't
45:11
Speaker 1: withhold love, uh, in that way. And then here's another thing,
45:14
Speaker 1: you know, your dad's gonna probably precede you in death,
45:18
Speaker 1: and at some point you're gonna look at this, and you,
45:21
Speaker 1: you gotta live with how you handled it, so.
45:23
Speaker 1: You won't regret loving him anyway. Um, you might regret
45:28
Speaker 1: withholding it. And so, um, you know, for him, for you,
45:32
Speaker 1: for Christ's glory, um, there's so many wins in just
45:36
Speaker 1: loving him anyway, doing the kind thing anyway, and just,
45:40
Speaker 1: you know, not responding if, if something weird or
45:43
Speaker 1: Unpleasant comes back, don't respond. You, you, you did what
45:46
Speaker 1: you needed. I, you know, I wished him a happy
45:48
Speaker 1: birthday and I told him I loved him, you know,
45:50
Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave it with that, um, because again, one
45:52
Speaker 1: day it'll be the last message, it'll be the last text,
45:55
Speaker 1: it'll be the last time. And so you don't wanna
45:58
Speaker 1: go off of him, you want to be led by
46:00
Speaker 1: the Lord in the things that you communicate and the
46:03
Speaker 1: things that come forth from you. Mike, that is so good.
46:06
Speaker 1: That is some good pastoral wisdom right there, Pastor Bill.
46:09
Speaker 1: I mean, that, that's good right there. And I would
46:11
Speaker 1: just add only this from
46:13
Speaker 1: Malachi chapter 4 verse 5 where uh Malachi writes, see,
46:17
Speaker 1: I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great
46:19
Speaker 1: dreadful day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts
46:21
Speaker 1: of the fathers to the children and hearts of the
46:23
Speaker 1: children to the fathers. There's something about God's heart even
46:26
Speaker 1: for unity between children and their fathers, and that is
46:30
Speaker 1: God's heart, uh, and that does come with forgiveness. And so, uh,
46:34
Speaker 1: you know, again, uh, it sounds like, uh, Candace, there
46:38
Speaker 1: is a difficult relationship between you and your dad, but.
46:41
Speaker 1: Sometimes unfortunately, such is the reality of life personality conflict
46:44
Speaker 1: even with our own uh uh family members but yeah
46:48
Speaker 1: I would say as far as it depends upon you
46:50
Speaker 1: to seek forgiveness and to forgive and and that's where Jesus,
46:55
Speaker 1: it's not just a hey guys I just want to
46:58
Speaker 1: encourage you to forgive. No Jesus commands it forgive because
47:02
Speaker 1: you have been forgiven.
47:04
Speaker 1: It doesn't say only if it's the stranger down the street, no, forgive.
47:07
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter who it is, we are to forgive
47:10
Speaker 1: even if we get offended by somebody's word and part
47:12
Speaker 1: of that process of forgiveness and hopefully reconciliation is coming
47:16
Speaker 1: together eventually to say, wow, I didn't know you meant
47:19
Speaker 1: that and I misunderstood that and that was a little
47:21
Speaker 1: abrasive and then that person could say, you know what,
47:23
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, you're right, I was abrasive. Hopefully they'll have
47:25
Speaker 1: the humility to apologize as well, but, uh, I would,
47:28
Speaker 1: I would go with Pastor Bill's pastoral wisdom on that 100%.
47:32
Speaker 1: That was, that was rich.
47:34
Speaker 1: And forgive even if they don't ask for forgiveness. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that,
47:38
Speaker 1: that's sometimes, sometimes that's, you know, that's, that's the option
47:40
Speaker 1: is that there, there, there may be people that they're
47:42
Speaker 1: never gonna come to the place where they ask for it.
47:44
Speaker 1: You just gotta give it to them. Um, you, you
47:47
Speaker 1: lead in, in the, in the, in the same way
47:49
Speaker 1: that Christ offered it to us when we weren't even
47:51
Speaker 1: looking for it.
47:52
Speaker 1: Thank God we'd be lost. We'd be cooked, cooked. There
47:57
Speaker 1: we are again with Cooked, and the day is cooking
47:59
Speaker 1: because it's like 100 degrees outside. Candace, thank you so
48:01
Speaker 1: much for calling us today here on Pastor's Perspective. And
48:04
Speaker 1: now here's Nick in Lake Forest. Welcome, Nick. You are
48:08
Speaker 1: on with Pastors Bill Buffington and Mike Whitford.
48:13
Speaker 1: Nick, are you there?
48:16
Speaker 1: Nick
48:18
Speaker 1: Did you put your phone on mute? Oh yeah, you did.
48:22
Speaker 1: How did I know? Well, because it always happens. Anyway.
48:26
Speaker 1: Hi, Nick, what's going on, man?
48:29
Speaker 1: All right, so I was listening to Matthew 11:11:12 as
48:34
Speaker 1: I was driving, and this first just caught my attention
48:38
Speaker 1: and just wanted your perspective on it. Um, it goes, truly,
48:42
Speaker 1: I tell you, among those born of women, there has
48:44
Speaker 1: not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever
48:47
Speaker 1: is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,
48:50
Speaker 1: and I was thinking, boy, that's a tall order, right?
48:54
Speaker 1: Like you have to be greater than John the Baptist.
48:57
Speaker 1: To be the least in heaven, and I was like, oh,
49:00
Speaker 1: am I not doing enough? Am I not trying hard enough?
49:03
Speaker 1: And then there's the verse afterwards about, you know, the
49:06
Speaker 1: kingdom of heaven is being attacked, and, uh, that verse
49:10
Speaker 1: has always kind of perplexed me, so I wanted to
49:12
Speaker 1: get uh some insight from you on, on the verse
49:15
Speaker 1: that follows also. OK, Bill.
49:18
Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, so, I guess the first part, um,
49:22
Speaker 1: You know, just referencing John the Baptist as, it, it
49:26
Speaker 1: seems like, you know, Jesus is saying this as great
49:28
Speaker 1: as he is, you know, uh, and Jesus did speak,
49:31
Speaker 1: you know, highly of him. Um, John, John was the
49:34
Speaker 1: forerunner for Christ. John spoke truth to power. Uh, he
49:37
Speaker 1: spoke to Herod and, and it cost him his head,
49:40
Speaker 1: ultimately got him put in prison. Um, and so Jesus
49:43
Speaker 1: is highlighting him and saying, man, just as great as
49:46
Speaker 1: he was, um,
49:48
Speaker 1: Um, and he said, you know, again, um, among those
49:52
Speaker 1: born to women, there's not risen one greater than John
49:54
Speaker 1: the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom
49:57
Speaker 1: of heaven is greater than he, and I think Jesus
50:00
Speaker 1: is pointing to even just the future, you know, those
50:03
Speaker 1: of us that are gonna come, those of us that
50:04
Speaker 1: have come after, you know, those that are least in
50:06
Speaker 1: the kingdom are greater than John the Baptist, and
50:10
Speaker 1: Um, I, I believe that has something to do with
50:12
Speaker 1: the ministry that we have, um, post, you know, John
50:14
Speaker 1: the Baptist ministry was, you know, really preparing people to
50:17
Speaker 1: meet Jesus. Um, we're gonna have a ministry and those
50:20
Speaker 1: that have, those that are in the kingdom of God, we're, we're,
50:23
Speaker 1: we're ministering even post the cross, you know, we're, we're,
50:25
Speaker 1: we've been, the ministry that we have as far as
50:28
Speaker 1: bringing people the gospel and helping people come into the
50:30
Speaker 1: knowledge of the truth is, um, in, in its impact
50:35
Speaker 1: is more significant, it's greater, um.
50:37
Speaker 1: There may be some other nuances there. Uh, I don't
50:39
Speaker 1: know if you want to jump in there, Mike, but, um, yeah, I,
50:42
Speaker 1: you know, looking at that context, uh, that basically being humble.
50:46
Speaker 1: So I actually wrote a note in my Bible app
50:50
Speaker 1: and I, I wrote this. So I'm gonna give this
50:52
Speaker 1: to you for free, Nick. This is straight out of my, uh,
50:55
Speaker 1: my devotion time. You don't have to tithe to Mike's church. Yeah,
50:57
Speaker 1: you don't have to tie unless you, yeah, unless you
50:59
Speaker 1: want to come and just be, be a tither. We're
51:01
Speaker 1: cool with that too. But, uh.
51:03
Speaker 1: I, I wrote this pursuing Jesus forcefully is godly, OK?
51:07
Speaker 1: And because the context here isn't forceful men like attacking
51:10
Speaker 1: the kingdom. This is people pursuing God. So pursuing Jesus
51:14
Speaker 1: forcefully is godly because he also says in Matthew 6:33, uh,
51:18
Speaker 1: to seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all
51:21
Speaker 1: these things will be added.
51:22
Speaker 1: And so I wrote this, there's an undignified recklessness in
51:25
Speaker 1: seeking Jesus that is blessed by him, and I think
51:28
Speaker 1: of the woman with the issue of blood. She pressed
51:29
Speaker 1: through the crowd just to touch the hem of his garment,
51:31
Speaker 1: and she received her healing. Guys who tore the roof
51:34
Speaker 1: off and lowered their friend down the paralytic, and he
51:36
Speaker 1: got healed, and he was both forgiven and he got healed.
51:39
Speaker 1: The woman who was seeking.
51:40
Speaker 1: Crumbs at her master's table and Jesus says, you know, hey,
51:43
Speaker 1: your faith has made you well. Uh, children that are
51:45
Speaker 1: pressing in with Jesus, and he's like, don't rebuke them
51:48
Speaker 1: for of such as the kingdom of heaven. I'm gonna
51:50
Speaker 1: keep going for a second here. The Roman centurion pagan
51:54
Speaker 1: who asked Jesus to heal his servant and Jesus said,
51:56
Speaker 1: I've not seen faith like this in all of Israel.
51:59
Speaker 1: Uh, uh, I mean, I'm now I'm gonna think of
52:01
Speaker 1: David who danced as the ark came into Jerusalem and
52:05
Speaker 1: quote unquote was undignified. I see these figures as forcefully
52:10
Speaker 1: advancing the kingdom.
52:11
Speaker 1: They're undignified in their worldly approach. I mean, in other words,
52:15
Speaker 1: people look at it going, oh, what a dummy. Why
52:17
Speaker 1: would you do that? How embarrassing. But it's these kind
52:20
Speaker 1: of people that God honors, the, the people that are
52:23
Speaker 1: willing to be embarrassed to the glory of God, because
52:26
Speaker 1: David said, I'll become even more undignified than this if
52:28
Speaker 1: it brings glory to my God, my King. And so
52:31
Speaker 1: in essence, humility is the key.
52:34
Speaker 1: To this passage, and that's why those who are greater
52:38
Speaker 1: are ones who are willing to be humble and not
52:41
Speaker 1: worried about what men and women think of them. And
52:44
Speaker 1: so that's, that's, I think the, the key there is
52:47
Speaker 1: to be willing to be humble and, uh, to not
52:49
Speaker 1: to try and be what you want to look like,
52:52
Speaker 1: where the coolest thing. I'm not against showers and wearing
52:55
Speaker 1: a good shirt or pants, but, but we, we definitely
52:57
Speaker 1: need to be willing to be, uh, undignified, if you will,
53:00
Speaker 1: like David. Yeah, Bill.
53:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I totally agree. And, um, I think also,
53:04
Speaker 1: you know, John, as great as he was, he, he
53:07
Speaker 1: was not born again under the new covenant, right? That
53:09
Speaker 1: was still that, that blessing was still to come. And
53:11
Speaker 1: so he lived and died before the completion of the
53:14
Speaker 1: work of Christ and the empty tomb. So we, um,
53:17
Speaker 1: we come after that, and so we, we incur a
53:19
Speaker 1: greater blessing. It's, it's not, I, I don't think we
53:22
Speaker 1: can look in the mirror and be like, you know, I'm,
53:24
Speaker 1: I'm better than, um, I'm, I'm, I entered into a
53:26
Speaker 1: better covenant, you know, Hebrews says a better situation than
53:30
Speaker 1: John the Baptist, so.
53:31
Speaker 1: Um, I think that's the heart of it. It doesn't
53:34
Speaker 1: make me more significant than him. I still look up,
53:37
Speaker 1: I look at John and think that's a, that's a,
53:39
Speaker 1: that's a dude, yeah, dude, right? And he did it
53:41
Speaker 1: without the blood covenant. Exactly. So, uh, I, I, I
53:45
Speaker 1: think he's better than me, but I, but I got
53:46
Speaker 1: a better. I got a better.
53:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got this side of the cross
53:49
Speaker 1: and the resurrection, so we love, so with all humility
53:52
Speaker 1: we need to hear that, yeah, plus we don't have
53:55
Speaker 1: to eat locusts and wild honey. I mean that right
53:57
Speaker 1: there is, I like wild honey. I like wild honey. Yeah,
53:59
Speaker 1: I like steak, so steak is better than locust. Yeah, Nick,
54:03
Speaker 1: does this help?
54:05
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, yeah, I might siphon off some, uh, my
54:08
Speaker 1: tithing to Mike and, uh, and you guys. No, no, no,
54:12
Speaker 1: you go to your church, bro. You go to, I
54:13
Speaker 1: don't want your pastor emailing me. Mike doesn't want your leftovers. No, joking.
54:19
Speaker 1: That's funny. That's funny. All right, Nick, thanks for your
54:21
Speaker 1: phone call today here on Pastor's Perspective, and that is
54:24
Speaker 1: all the time we have on today's show. Sorry that
54:26
Speaker 1: we couldn't get to everybody. We'll be back here on Monday.
54:29
Speaker 1: So really quick, if you're looking for a church.
54:31
Speaker 1: Home, Bill Buffington, tell them about your place. We are
54:34
Speaker 1: at Calvary Chapel, Inglewood. Uh, we meet every Sunday at
54:37
Speaker 1: 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and on Wednesday nights at 7.
54:41
Speaker 1: this Saturday morning at 9, our men's fellowship meets, uh,
54:44
Speaker 1: first and 3rd Saturday of every month, and, uh, we
54:47
Speaker 1: are loving Jesus, making disciples, and impacting our city for
54:51
Speaker 1: the glory of God. So, Inglewood, come through. Inglewood website.
54:56
Speaker 1: Calvary Englewood.org. Alright, Mike Woodford, Thursday night 6:30, revive OC.cc
55:03
Speaker 1: and uh all are welcome. Awesome, yeah. God bless you guys.
55:07
Speaker 1: Have a great weekend. We'll see you at church on Sunday,
55:11
Speaker 1: maybe one of these two churches, and we'll talk to
55:13
Speaker 1: you again here on Monday on Pastor's perspective. God bless.