Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Tuesday August 11, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, good morning, everybody. It is Tuesday, August 11th. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is the latest edition of the Leach Ballotin Bulldogs. As you can see, I am once again coming to you from beautiful Desk in Florida. So we're gonna ⁓ we're gonna focus on the scripture portion of today's episode. ⁓ and then I'm gonna go pop my booty down there on the beach and enjoy this place. ⁓ today's today's message comes from what is I think one of the ⁓ a kind of an odd question when you think about it, and and most people the answer won't immediately pop into your mind. ⁓ but in in the Gospel of Mark, when was Jesus first publicly identified? And and and who publicly identified him first? It wasn't Peter, it wasn't John the Baptist, it wasn't any of the disciples. In fact, in the Gospel of Mark, the the first time Jesus was was truly identified, it was it was by a demon. And that kind of makes you stop and think, or at least I feel like it should, because I think it raises a a bigger question. If If a demon could correctly identify Jesus before anyone else did, then what makes having a a a saving faith different from simply just knowing the right answers? Getting i i in in Mark chapter one, we we'll find out. Jesus had had just recently begun his public ministry, and people all over are just amazed at the way he teaches. He teaches with a with an authority unlike anything they had seen or heard before. And then right in the middle of a synagogue teaching, a a man who had been possessed by a demon. Cries out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. Hang on right there. Like read that again. I know who you are. True, true statement, completely true. The demon recognized exactly and knew exactly who Jesus was. And in fact, he like I said, he recognized Jesus before many of the people sitting in the synagogue then. The people who had been looking and waiting on Jesus for for years, thousands of years. So here's the question if if the demon in fact told the truth, then why does Jesus immediately respond by saying, Be silent and come out of him? Why silence someone who had spoken accurately and spoken the truth? And this is where I think the the message is really leading us. And I think sometimes if if we're not careful, we might miss something. The the demon knew about Jesus. He did not belong to Jesus. He recognized Christ's authority fully. But in no way did he submit to Christ's authority. He understood who Jesus was, but he did not love him, he did not trust him, and he did not worship him. He rebelled against him. And that distinction matters. But Christianity has never been simply about knowing or processing the correct information. It's about being transformed by the one that that information points you to. In the book of James, James writes us in chapter two, verse 19. You believe that God is one. Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. The demons don't doubt God's existence. They don't doubt Jesus' identity. They don't question it. They don't argue whether or not he is Lord over all things. They know and they tremble. James isn't saying the doctrine doesn't matter. It absolutely does. He's saying that the correct doctrine by itself is not the same as having faith. It's not the same as having a saving faith. There is a world of difference between believing the facts about Jesus and entrusting your life to him completely. Here's a few uncomfortable questions that I want us to wrestle with today. And these are things that as I've been getting deeper and deeper into my Bible study that I think a lot about. And that's, you know, is it possible to know a lot of scripture and still have a very cold heart? Is it possible to win theological arguments? But become a lot less like Christ in the process. Is it possible to know and be able to tell every Bible story, but still struggle to forgive and embody the things that those stories are are telling us to do? Is it is it possible to truly know all these things and still struggle to serve, to love, to surrender your pride? I I think sometimes in our society we mistake the gathering of information for transformation. We think because we know more, we must be growing more. But Jesus never called us or never called the people to merely learn about Him. He calls us to follow Him. Knowledge is important, but obedience is essential. So here here's the question I've I've been asking and as I've been kind of reading through this this morning. And you know, has has my knowledge of Jesus, has has this Bible study, has this path I've chosen to go down, has it changed the way I treat people? Am I more patient than I was? Am I Am I more forgiving? Am I more humble? More generous? Am I more willing to admit when I'm wrong? Because at the end of the day, if if the Bible study only fills my head, but doesn't reshape my heart, then I've misused and totally missed the purpose of God's word. The goal of scripture isn't simply to make us informed, it's to conform us to the image of Christ. Think about the disciples. Early on, they completely misunderstood Jesus all the time. They asked foolish questions. They doubted him entirely. They feared things. They had no business fearing. They didn't always understand or recognize what he was doing or who he was, but they followed him. The demon had perfect recognition. The disciples had growing relationship. And over that time, that relationship changed them. And that's the invitation of the gospel. Jesus doesn't simply invite us to know the facts about him as a historical figure. Which he was, he invites us to walk with him, to trust him, to surrender completely to him. And he tells us to become more like them. That's a relationship. That's not just information. So so let's leave it with this one question, they and and we've had this one kind of in similar facets before. If someone truly examined your life, would they conclude that you merely know about Jesus or that you know Jesus? Because there's a big difference. One fills your mind. The other transform your heart. The other one wins arguments and the other changes lives. Let's not settle for just knowing the right answers if we're unwilling to follow the one who is the answer. Have a great day, guys. Study his word, read it carefully, and not just reading it to learn something, read it to become something. As always, guys, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.