Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / “How Sound Theology Shapes Real Discipleship (and Real Muscles)”

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“How Sound Theology Shapes Real Discipleship (and Real Muscles)” · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast for My Dad. Coach
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Alex van Houghten helps you get stronger and mind, body,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and spirit. He believes that your body's a temple, so
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: taking good care of it is an actual worship.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: I should know.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I live with him. Every week. He brings truth from
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the Bible, tool from science, and stories that will set
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: your heart on fire. May God bless you to become
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: everything He made you to be, just one percent better
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: every single day.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: What's up guys, Coach Alex van Houten here Faithful Fitness Podcast.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Our mission is to help you make the most out
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: of the body God's given you, and I have a
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: question for you that comes from today's episode. The question
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: is where are you getting your spiritual protein? Is it
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: coming from milk or is it coming from meat. Today's guest,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Gabe Agidri, is an expositional pastor and also the host
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: of the YouTube channel Expositor ninety nine, and he and
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: I are going to dig deep into God's word together.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: He also has a background as a bodybuilder, and so
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about both the fitness aspect
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: of digging deep, but also the faith aspect of digging deep.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: If you're a Christian, you are not meant to spend
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: your entire life on the milk of Christianity, just like
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: babies aren't meant to get all of their protein from
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: milk for the rest of their lives. Hopefully they grow
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: and mature to be able to chew on something more substantial.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I can't wait for you to hear this episode, and
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: if you haven't already, I need you to get meaty
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: with your faith and fitness by picking up our devotional
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: at faithfulfitnessdevot dot com. You can find the link in
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the show notes. Let's get into it. What's up, guys.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: This is coach Alex Vanhuan on the Faithful Fitness Podcast.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I'm super excited to have you today. Thank you for
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: dropping by. Our mission is to help you make the
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: most out of the body God's given you, and I
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: know this conversation we're having today is going to do
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: just that. I am joined by our awesome guest Gabe Egiriy.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: What's up, brother? How you doing? Man?
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: Doing good?
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: My friend?
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  Speaker 3: How are you?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I'm doing so good? And as we were talking pre show,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: it's just so good to see you. It's been some years.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: You and I had the opportunity to work out together
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and to train together before we were It's not like
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: a past life, you know, because that would be very
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: not Christian to say, but but it feels kind of
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: like that because we were both pursuing personal training with
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: a large corporate gym chain, and I know both of
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: us are doing very, very different things, but fitness is
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: still a deep and important part of our life. So
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to say thank you for taking the
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  Speaker 2: time to hop on here. I'm excited to have this conversation.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I'm excited to be here. And while you bring up
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: that memory, you know, when you can when you work
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: in a gym, and I've worked in a lot and
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: I worked in a lot of companies. A lot of
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: times gym teams can be kind of clicky, and we
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: can experience that, but there's always a few that stand out,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: few individuals that stand out to you that have this
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: welcoming spirit, this kindness, and it can be really apparent
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: who the believers fellow believers are on a team, and you,
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  Speaker 3: along with a couple of others, really just stood out
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  Speaker 3: to me with the kindness that you guys showed to
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  Speaker 3: me in that time frame. And I'll never forget that.
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  Speaker 2: Oh man, thanks, thanks for that. At that time of
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  Speaker 2: my life, it's so interesting to reflect back. I was
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: really struggling with God. Yet That's not something that somebody
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: would would know just by just by hanging out with
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: me on the fitness floor or whatever. But I was
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: really struggling with God. I knew he was there, I
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  Speaker 2: knew he was a deep and important part of my life.
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  Speaker 2: But I hadn't I hadn't submitted my whole life to
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  Speaker 2: Christ yet. And so so I lived in such a
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  Speaker 2: way that or at least I did my best. I
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  Speaker 2: did my best to live in such a way that
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  Speaker 2: I was exemplifying God on earth, trying to But man,
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  Speaker 2: I had I didn't know what I didn't know. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: So during that time, during that time you come we
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  Speaker 2: come from a time together actually where you were pursuing
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: personal training in bodybuilding. And we'll talk about bodybuilding later
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: and some of the pitfalls and some of the cool
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: things about it as a sport and stuff. But I've
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  Speaker 2: got to ask in when did it occur to you
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  Speaker 2: that it was time to pursue ministry, Because right now
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  Speaker 2: you're a itinerant pastor, you are well I might have
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  Speaker 2: that terminal. Is it a tinerant preacher or a tenant pastor?
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  Speaker 3: Is there is there if I tend to deal with
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  Speaker 3: the term preacher just because it's more accurate. A pastor
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: does a lot of stuff in their hats, like counseling,
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: providing marital counseling. They have a lot of sessions throughout
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: the week where they do a lot of shepherding and so, uh,
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: and they do meetings, they do budget meetings. There's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of little things under that iceberg that a true
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: story pastor does. We're more accurate. I do itinerant preaching.
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  Speaker 3: So the pastor is sick, he needs a sub sub Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: send me in. And then I just approached, so I
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  Speaker 3: really don't do anything else. I just preach. And then
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  Speaker 3: the same thing with the rescue MISSI here in the
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Coachella Valley. They need someone to come in and preach
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: and come in, preach and leave. Yeah awesome, Well probably
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: with people they need it, but you know what I mean, like, sorry, sure,
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  Speaker 3: you're a specific distinct role. So thank you for uh
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  Speaker 3: shedding light on that terminology.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely And and and so you also
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  Speaker 2: have a YouTube channel Expositor ninety nine. If somebody is
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  Speaker 2: listening to this and they want to connect with with
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  Speaker 2: the theological discussion we're having today, your your channels full
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  Speaker 2: of that. I I want it to be very popular
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  Speaker 2: because I think it's extremely important for Christians to understand
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  Speaker 2: and discern good theology. And these are these are terms.
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  Speaker 2: Let's let's dig into it while we're at it. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: what what does exposition mean? Expositor ninety nine, Like, what, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: what does it mean? And why as as a follower
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  Speaker 2: of Christ is it important to us to be trained
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  Speaker 2: and practiced and exposition?
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: Well, it's it's not a term. It's a great question.
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  Speaker 3: It's not a term limited to theology. It's not a
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  Speaker 3: term limited to studying the Bible. But it is how
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: you should study the Bible. And so exposition, I believe
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  Speaker 3: it means you're exposing the text. That's the literal definition
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  Speaker 3: is you're exposing what is in the text. And so,
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  Speaker 3: if you were taking English literature, if you were taking
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: something secular and it was a literature class, you would
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  Speaker 3: still do exposition. You would just be exposing that text.
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  Speaker 3: You're diving into that Shakespeare work or that poem or whatever.
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  Speaker 3: It is, and you're exposing what's in the text. And
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  Speaker 3: so when we do exposition of a Bible passage, we're
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  Speaker 3: pulling apart, word for word, phrase for phrase, what is
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: in that text. So I have a Bible right here,
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  Speaker 3: actually have stacks of them, but my camera is not
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: low enough. So if I'm here in Genesis one one,
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  Speaker 3: it's gonna read in the beginning, God created the heavens
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: and the earth. It's justis one to one. So if
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to exposit that text, I'm going to go
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  Speaker 3: through each phrase. I'm going to go through each word
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  Speaker 3: in the Hebrew, and if I'm in the New Testament
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  Speaker 3: in the Greek, and I'm gonna study the meaning and
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  Speaker 3: pull out the meaning from each word. So each line,
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  Speaker 3: I'm pulling out the meaning of that text as I
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  Speaker 3: teach it, and the the value and the necessity in
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  Speaker 3: that is to get the actual intended meaning of the text.
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  Speaker 3: So again not just limited to studying theology and scripture,
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  Speaker 3: I can't make Macbeth about whatever I want it to
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  Speaker 3: be right as an intended meaning by its author William Shakespeare. Likewise,
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  Speaker 3: if I'm reading the Gospel of Matthew, I want to
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  Speaker 3: be able to study it in context, so I can
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  Speaker 3: get with the Holy Spirit and placed on Matthew to
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  Speaker 3: give to the audience. So by studying it expositionally and
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  Speaker 3: and reading it within its full context, line by line,
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  Speaker 3: I'm able to then get the best get the author's
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  Speaker 3: intended meaning for the reader.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think of this as a and tell me
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  Speaker 2: if i'm I'm I'm wrong here. But in my mind
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  Speaker 2: I think about it is the difference between the milk
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  Speaker 2: and the meat that Paul was talking about. So when
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  Speaker 2: Paul says, Hey, I really love to teach you some
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  Speaker 2: really deep things, I think he's speaking specifically to the
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  Speaker 2: Galatians in this reference, but he says, I really like
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  Speaker 2: to teach you some deep things, but you're not ready
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  Speaker 2: for the meat. I've got milk for you. And and
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  Speaker 2: so he's speaking topically throughout his letter about things that
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  Speaker 2: are important, practical, pertinent to the church. Right, But there's
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  Speaker 2: that underlying as if you know an infant, you don't
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  Speaker 2: give them a ribbi because they'll joke. They won't make it,
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  Speaker 2: you know. So here's some milk, here's some nutrients, here's
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  Speaker 2: some here's things you need to grow immature. But when
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: when you do start to grow and mature. You don't
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  Speaker 2: stay on the milk. You got to chew on the stuff.
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  Speaker 2: You got to chew on the good. I think of
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  Speaker 2: exposition as chewing on scripture. Is that a decent way
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  Speaker 2: to think about it.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's a great way to put it. And
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  Speaker 3: so even if that wasn't the direct thing Paul's addressing there,
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  Speaker 3: I think you can definitely apply that phrase to what
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  Speaker 3: we're talking about here. And so why I'm so passionate
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  Speaker 3: about expositional preaching so much so to name the channel
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  Speaker 3: inspire the name of the channel by it is, I
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  Speaker 3: think it's it's really lacking, really lacking today in the
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  Speaker 3: Christian community, within the church with the capital C is.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we're just getting a lot of preaching that
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  Speaker 3: there can be a time and place for topical. So
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: don't get me wrong, but we're getting Yeah, we're getting
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of milk, a lot of
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  Speaker 3: baby food. And I think we're underestimating how many people
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  Speaker 3: really want to give me give me the word, I
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  Speaker 3: want the meat? Yeah, how many people actually hunger for
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  Speaker 3: God's word?
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  Speaker 2: Yes? And we.
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  Speaker 3: What what's the word looking for? We can think, oh,
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: assume people want to be played down to. We can
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: assume people want it dumb down, but the reality is
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: there's so many people there are seeing the pews hungry
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: for the meat of God's word and passionate about giving
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: that to them and see the need there for that.
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  Speaker 2: Amen, well as somebody who serves the church regularly. Thank
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: you very much for that, because, like you said, I
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  Speaker 2: believe there's there's a time and place for topical preaching.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: I think I think sometimes as a pastor, milk to
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: the congregation lowers the barrier to entry for individuals who
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: are seeking and want to understand but aren't familiar with
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: God's word. But at the same time, if that's all
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: that's coming from the pullpit, we're leaving behind those who
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: have said, yes, I want to follow Christ, I want
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: to become a disciple. Give me, give me something to
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: work with here. And so I got some meat from
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: a recent conversation you had with doctor Waldron. I wanted
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: to share it with you because I thought you might
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: appreciate it, and I also think it might be worth
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: talking about. And that is uh, you guys dove into it.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: It was just one sentence and it's in context, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Peter is recognizing Christ as the Messiah, and Jesus says this,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: you are, Peter on this rock, I will build my
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
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  Speaker 2: And doctor Waldron spent some time on that, and you
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: you kind of you know, bounced it back and forth
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: with him. He talked about that specific word prevail, and
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: he said, hey, there's something really encouraging here. He said
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: that the word prevail, the way it's used there and
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: the way it's used throughout scriptures, it's actually would be
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: better translated that the gates of Hell would not be
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: able to defend against the Church. And what that means
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: is that the word prevail, as it's used there, is
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: generally used as like a city that's trying to fortify
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  Speaker 2: itself against an encroaching army and they're not letting them in.
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  Speaker 2: They're they're defending well, that they're they're prevailing in their defense.
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  Speaker 2: And he says, hey, look, the way it sounds is
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: that Hell is attacking the church, but the Church isn't
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: going to fall to it. It's like it's actually the
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: opposite way around. If you actually dig into the meaning
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: of this word, that that Hell's on the defense. Hell's
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: on its heels. It's like, oh no, and the Church
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: is like, no, we're taking territory and you can't keep
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: it because because God's Church is on the offense.
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  Speaker 3: And I was like, because, yeah, I've never heard it
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  Speaker 3: put that way before.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, right right, And then that changes. You know, when
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: you wake up in the morning and you're you feel
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: like you're being attacked on all sides, and you read
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: something like that, You're like, Okay, I'll stand on God's promise.
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  Speaker 2: Hell will not prevail against the Church, and I'm going
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: to keep keep you know, fighting the good fight and
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: dealing with the the burden. Blah blah blah. You can
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: have that, have that heart toward it. But when the
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit says no, you're on offense, yeah, it's not
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: going to stand our attack, right yeah, right, like we're
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: taking we're taking territory from Hell. Today. You wake up,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: you're like, let's go, let's I'm fired up. Let's get
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: this thing man. Yeah, that was the.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: Imagery he used. So it's a big book. It's this
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: theology book right there. It's a it's a thick What
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: took me all of June to read this book and
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: he uses our imagery from Lord of the Rings, Return
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: of the King, and that that imagery is actually really
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: helpful and understand the concept that he was bringing forth
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: there from the Greek of you know, you've imagine you've
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: seen the.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Movie, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, all right and multiple times.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Eric Gorn is leading uh gon Door and all
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: the troops with him against the gates of more Door.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: And so he's saying you should look at it like that. Yes,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: the Church and we they're not going to prevail against
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: this because we're gonna with we're gonna overcome them.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Taking the fight to them. Yeah, yes, yes, that's right.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: So so that was some meat that I got. And
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: like that's one that's the cool thing about scripture. It's
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: one line, man, it's one line. And if and if you'll,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: if you'll dig deep enough, that line has deep roots
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: and it will encourage your spirit. It will it will
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: change the way you understand your relationship with with God,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: his calling on your life, and with Christ. And so
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: so thank you for what you're doing uh in in
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: expositional preaching, and thank you for what you're doing in
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: the YouTube space. It might for some people it might
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: feel over their head I would encourage them to keep
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: listening and it will grow on you, I promise. Yeah.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Actually your question brings it really helpful and bringing an
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: example to your earlier question on give an example of
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: helping people understand why expositional preach and why is exposition
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: important is So you see behind me, these are primarily commentaries.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: The average Lakers doesn't know what a commentary is. I
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: didn't really know any words that I went to seminary.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: So if I'm doing a passage on the Gospel of John,
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: pull this out and this is an entire book on
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: the Gospel of John. It's a commentary. So they'd be
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: a scholar, and that's his expertise, is the Gospels or
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: or the Gospel of John says by da Carson. Okay,
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: And so if I'm doing a passage on John chapter three,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: then I would come in here and there is all
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: of this explanation, pages and pages on John chapter three.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: So if I'm going to teach this, then I go
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: and refer to what these experts have done. So how
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: doctor Waldren would know that one you often have to
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: take Greek when you go to seminary, but two you
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: would dive into a commentary like this on I believe
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: the passages quoting was in Matthew, or it might have
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: been in Mark, and you would study that and that's
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: where you would get those little insights from now to
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: the average person that isn't going to preach or or
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: isn't leading a Bible study, maybe they don't need, you know,
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: an entire library of commentaries, but I would recommend just
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: getting a good study Bible. I have a ESV Study
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: Bible right here. There's the NIV Theological Study Bible that
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: we used in seminary. So a good study Bible that
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: you come to a phrase and you don't understand would
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: that mean? Come down to the bottom and there's little
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: footnotes and so it's not as extensive as a commentary.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: But those study Bibles are made so that you can
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: get a scholarly explanation to those little questions that should
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: pop up in your mind as you're reading it. You
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: know it's written thousands of years ago. You should have
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: questions as you're reading this text, and then explains that
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: and then you can read on as you understand more.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Mm hmmmm, awesome. Thanks for that, man. I appreciate that.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: And I there's a quote. I want to say it
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: was D. L. Moody, but I could be wrong, and
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: and so I might need to look this one up
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: before I keep quoting it. But but it was the
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: quote was so powerful that stuck in my mind. It
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: was like, this could be timeless, it doesn't matter who
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: said it. And it was that that the the powerful
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: thing about God's word for for him was that that
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: it's it's shallow enough that a child can get in
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: without drowning, but it's so deep that we've been swimming
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: around in it for thousands of years and we still
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: haven't reached the bottom. That was his That was his
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: his look at at both the how how the milk
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: can be nurturing, but that that you know, you're not
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: made to splash around on the kiddie pool for the
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: rest of your your walk with Christ. Like get in
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: the deep end man, learn learn how to swim around
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: because because it doesn't stop, it doesn't stop going to
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: the bottom. And that that is a corollary, in my mind,
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: to the parable of the sower. And and I want
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: to I want to bring our conversation to this piece
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: because I believe in our world today this is very
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: relevant and that that is, as the parable of the
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: sower goes. Jesus tells a story where a man is
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: sowing seeds and it lands on four different types of soil,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: the path, the thorns, the rocky soil, the shallow soil,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: and the good soil. And what Jesus tells us is
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: that when when the seed falls on on rocky soil
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: the shallow soil, the root is too shallow. The plant
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: springs up quickly, but the root is too shallow to
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: withstand the scorching sun. And when he explains it to
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: his disciples, he says, this is this is like those
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: who hear the word. They receive it with gladness, but
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: they're not rooted deeply enough for when life happens. Basically,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: but plus remind us a few phrases there, and I
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: believe this is so pertinent and important in the church,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: particularly with what just happened over the last couple of
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: weeks in our nation. There are people flocking to the church.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you saw church attendants in your
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: area go up for our church. We saw thirty percent
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: more adults and children in our congregation in the weeks
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: following the Charlie kirkincident. And when you look at that,
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: it's like, oh my gosh, the spirit's moving in the world.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: People are people are seeking truth, they're looking for God,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: which is amazing. But if we as Christians do not
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: have deep roots, then how are we going to show
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: them how to grow deep roots? That like this idea
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: of expositional preaching, being able to dig deep into the
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: word also has a lot to do with the soil
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: of our church, the soil of our hearts to grow
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: deep roots and show other people how to do the same.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: And I wondered if if you had anything to add there,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: because I think like, you didn't start your YouTube channel
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: because of what happened in our nation. You've been at
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: this for years, you went to seminary school, you're you're
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: you know, preaching. You you start a YouTube channel, and
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I know that's not easy work, doesn't even sound like
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: it has a lot to do with your actual job,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: But but you're doing it because because the deep rooted
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: thing is is necessary and important regardless of the time frame,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: but right now it seems particularly important. How's your how's
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: your heart? And thoughts on that?
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Well, there's a lot of directions where you go right there.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: So you asked me as we were getting ready to
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: start and kind of build live here, I want to
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: ask what is theology and why does theology matter? And
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: I'm going to bring back to going deep and all
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: that theology is the study of God. You know. Uh,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: in seminary we kind of go more specific called theology proper.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: You're studying the real God, the God of the Bible.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: But yeah, theology is the study of God.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: If anything, ology is the study of that theme. Theology
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: is the study of theos God. And I was going
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: through with final chapters in Mere Christianity with our small
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: group with the men's group, and there's this chapter where C. S.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Lewis is talking about He's saying, there's a lot of
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: people that think, oh, we don't need theology, we just
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: want a practical religion. Well give it, just give us
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: practical stuff. We don't need theology. And the reality is
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: if why that thought process is so wrong is if
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: you don't study it and get to know who God
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: is by his revealed word God. We have we worship
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: with God who has spoken and he's told us what
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: he's like and who he is, and we don't engage
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: then stay that and gets and see who he is,
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: who he's declared himself to be. Then we don't really
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: know God, we don't really know him. And so and
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: our theology impacts the practical living. Our theology impacts all
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: our other aspects of theology.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: If you look at any of Paul's letters Romans we
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: mentioned Galatians earlier, Colossians, he always starts with the gospel.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: He always starts with theology. Well he has agreed, you know,
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: but the bulk of the first three chapters in any
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: Appaulline letter is theology. And then he gets super practical.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: So here's the gospel, Here's what Jesus has done for you.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: Here's how you've been reconciled to God through the work
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: of Christ. Now here's what you should do about it. Now,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: here's how you should live. Here's how you apply it
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: in society. Then you get into Ephesians chapter four and five.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: You know, then this is how it plays out in
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: your house, this is how it plays out in government.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: Here's how it plays out society. So you have the
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: need for theology to then know how to actually apply
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Christianity in your day to day life. You're asking me, Oh,
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: the need to go deep and and the need for
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: that depth. Otherwise you're like that seed that got that
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: got choked because it was on shallow ground. Okay, so uh,
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: without getting getting too personal in the details, you know,
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: I I went through divorce in the last two years
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: and a very painful thing. And and when you go
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: through tragedy and loss like that, you you question everything.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: You know, if you lose a loved one, you you
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: question anything. Do I really believe this? Do I really
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: want to continue to follow this guy? You know, you
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: see someone go through a lot of loss and they question,
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: is this really what I wanted it to be? You know?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: And so it was important that I had good theology
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: then yes, because I had to. I had to reckon
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: with the fact that you know, if I believed some
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: kind of prosperity gospel message that hey, God promised me
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: that I would, I wouldn't ever endure these kind of
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: hard times, that I'd just be healthy, wealthy and wise.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Because I tied. No, Because I understood good theology, I
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: knew that that suffering is part of it that Jesus says,
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: you know, in this world you will have tribulation, but
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: be of good cheer. I have overcome the world because
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: I faithfully studied theology, because I faithfully knew was about.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: I knew that going through loss wasn't anything that I
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: had been promised I wouldn't have if anything every day
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: is a gift from God, and God doesn't owe me
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: anything that A lot of times when we have bad theology,
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: we can have a more entitled attitude. We go about, well,
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: a good God wouldn't let me go through this, or
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: or I went to church this many times, so I
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: should have this like no, no, no. When you study theology,
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: you know is by God's grace that we're here talking.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: And so I needed to have good theology in that moment.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: I needed the apologetics that I studied to hold on
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: and understand the truth. Because when you go through loss,
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: you want to believe a lot of lies, a lot
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: of lies of despair come your way, you know, of
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: wanting to give up and so forth. But I knew
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: the truth of God's word, and so I hung tight
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: to that. I hung tied to the fact that now
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: I need to cling to the Gospel. Right now, I
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: can't get into despair. I need to cling to the
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: beauty of the gospel beauty, that I've been saved by
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: grace through faith, and that it's nothing that I've done.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: So what do I have to be entitled about?
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: Mm hm, you know, yes, well said and that. So
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: as you were speaking, there was thinking two things. The
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: first thing that came to mind is probably the most relevant.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: But is that that when when we do go through suffering,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: and we will like that's the Jesus said, follow me.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: He didn't say it was going to be easy. He said, yeah, right,
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: he said, he said, my burden is light, which is
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: a little different from this is this might be a
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: hard road, the narrow way, the straight path is difficult
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: that leads to life, and few there will be that
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: find it. Uh. But but when when he says that
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: we know we are going to go through suffering, whether
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: it's the illness of ourselves or a loved one loss,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: or grief like like you're you're mentioned there with divorce.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: There's there's all kinds of things that we are going
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: to go through. And when we go through those things,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: if we are deeply rooted, like a plant can wilt,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: a plant can can cease to bear fruit for a season.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: But if we're deeply rooted, we'll come back, we'll keep growing,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: like it'll be okay, you know, next next season's leaves
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: will be be greener and and whatnot. But but if
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: we're not deeply rooted, then then trials and tribulations will
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: will eat us all the way up. And those are
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: the times when when Satan and his minions like to
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: inject lies into our life, and and we might not
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: even need his help. We can come up with playing
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: of them all on our own. And and and when
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: when we are deeply rooted, those those lies they might
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: be like I just had a conversation with somebody about
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: I've got a rosebud tree out front, and it grows
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: these little sucker plants on it. It's still rosebud tree.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: But but these little sucker roots will steal nutrients from
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: the rest of the tree. And so so every year
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: I've got to go out there and make sure I
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: cut those off at the bottom and yank them out
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: and throw throw them out. But it's because the tree
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: already has good, deep roots that I can recognize the
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: suckers for what they are, right and and in my mind,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: that's that's what good theology is, good deep strong roots
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: that when the suckers show up, you're not a sucker. Yeah,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm going to root that sucker out because
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: because it's not going to steal from the tree of
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: my life. It's not going to steal from from what
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: what God has has taught me, which is to be
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: rooted as as Jesus said to be to be joined
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: to the vine. I am the vine the branches. And
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: when you abide in me and I and you, you
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: will bear much fruit. But apart from me you can
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: do nothing, he says in John. And so so that
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: that that theological truth and the study of theology is
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: necessary for the depth roots. Now I have a confession
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: to make.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, before you get to that, I was thinking of
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: something as you were talking. Go ahead, how suffering and
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: tribulation and how that's relevant to the first question of
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: why expositional preaching? Why expositions as here and so especially
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: the answer this other answer that popped in my head
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: here is uh, shallow or water down preaching doesn't prepare
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: the listener for trials and tribulations. True that, and so
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: there's some difficult things in this book. You know, there's
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: some difficult things in this Bible I avoid those because
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't want to offend people are Oh,
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: let's just go with this easy top a message here.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: But if I actually preach line by line through the
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: Bible and xpos about it's more difficult. Let's there's gonna
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: be more uncomfortability. But the here, the congregate, the person
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: listening online, they're going to be more prepared and equipped
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: for trials and tribulations that are going to come away.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: That's that's so well said. I was walking through TJ
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Max with my wife. I don't I don't like TJ
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Max and I don't like the shop, but but you know,
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: this is a good husband will walk through TJ Max.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: And there was a there was a mug, a coffee
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: mug said uh and no harm shall befall her psalms, YadA, YadA.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: I don't remember what the And I was like, I've
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: been a Christian for a while, I've read the Bible
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: through multiple times, and I'm thinking like, it never makes
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: that promise that like like some poor, some poor chick
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: somewhere is holding this off mug, thinking like I'm not
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: going to get flat tires and everything's going to go
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: my way, you know, And so I looked it up
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: and it was Jerusalem. It was it was talking about
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: the city of Jerusalem under God's protection in the in
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: the Promise of the future. Right, no armshall befall her,
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: which makes plenty of sense to me. Right, But if
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: some poor person has taken they don't understand what the
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: verse means, they don't understand it in the context that
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: it was written. They don't, they don't, they don't have
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: deep roots. Then then this faith, this faith is very
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: shallow and easily broken, easily easily overcome by by just
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: the everyday vicissitudes of life. Is that that will that
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: will eat shallow root up and and what you're saying
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: there has so much, so much power and validity. Did
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: you have another thought?
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: Uh? No, I think it was sos. I'm forty six
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: to two. I want to say, because I think it's
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: the Lord's with or she shall not fall. And I
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: see a lot of He's trying to this is my
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: this is my life verse.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: She is Jerusalem, Yeah, she is Jerusalem. Yeah. Probably more
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: like if you're going to relate it to anything, it
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: might be close more closely related to the Bride of Christ.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Not the same thing, but more closely related to the
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: Bride of Christ than some individual chick who everything's going
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: well for her. Yeah.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, context matters. Yeah, you were asking me how that
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: pertained to the assassination of Charlie Kirk or could you
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: make uh specify what you were asking with there that
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: I can give my best answer possible.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Well, so, in my mind, we're in this very important time,
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: and I think this brings me to this conversation about
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: the body. Actually two, so we can we can We're
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: in this very important time where it's obvious. It's obvious
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: to me. I don't know if it's obvious to you
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: as a believer, but I believe it's obvious that that
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: God's moving in our land in such a way that individuals,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: even despite themselves, are turning in His direction. Doesn't mean,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: like you know, there's some like magical conversion peppering the
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: land or anything, but but the spirit of God is
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: obviously moving in the hearts of individuals who would never
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: have anything to do with church, wouldn't pick up a Bible.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: It's it's obvious to me that this is the case.
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: And and so so we we have individuals who are
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: coming seeking the truth, whether to Christians they know are
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: outwardly Christians. Uh, to churches that you have, you know,
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: a billboard somewhere, and they're like, I'm going to church.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: I don't know anything about church, but I'm going, you know, yeah,
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: and so and so this there's this this obvious seeking
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: for truth and and I have a this is related
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: to fitness in my mind. You'll you'll appreciate this. Other
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: my listeners might be like, what are you talking about, Alex.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: But but you know how you go to a gym
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: and there's a dude doing curls in the squat rack.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: You know that feeling inside you're both like frust when
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: you have.
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: A client and they're supposed to do squad and there's
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: this guy just and there's this guy.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: What are you doing? Bro? You're doing curls in the
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: squat rack. You can do curls anywhere in the gym.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: The squat rack is for squats and and and you know,
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: because you can't do heavy barbell squats anywhere else in
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: the gym, not without hurting yourself real good so so uh,
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: but the guy's at the gym, which which separates him
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: from everybody else who didn't come to the gym today, right,
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: So there's this like pain in my heart for for
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: individuals who have come to the right place, are willing
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: to do the work, but the work they're doing is wrong,
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: Like they're like that, there's a there's a pain in
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: my heart from a fitness perspective, but also from a
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: faith perspective. I came to church, I got my family up,
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: but you know it's hard, as it's so hard to
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: get a three year old out of bed and dressed
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: and ready for church. It's just so hard if you
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: had a few of those little ones running around, Like
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: it's a big deal for somebody to bring their family
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: to church. And then we're going to sing some songs
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: and stuff. And then they hear from the pulpit milk
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: and it's like, okay, cool, I'm picking up what you're
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: putting down. And then they do it again next week,
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: and then they do it again react next week, and
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: then something happens in their life where milk's not enough
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: and they don't know where to find the meat. So
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: for me that I see this and I'm like, oh,
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: it's such an important time right now for Christians to
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: be deeply rooted to understand truth from lies to understand
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: how to open the Bible. And I love I love preaching,
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: I love things coming from the polepit, but you got
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: to be able to open the Bible and feed yourself too.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: You got to be able to find the sustenance that's
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: in the words. So I guess that's what I'm talking about,
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: is it's obvious that in our present world there are
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: things happening that are causing people to turn and look
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: to find the truth. And and it's uh, I'm asking you,
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: you know, part of part of your work, I feel like,
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: is equipping the body of Christ to be able to
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: expositionally read the Word, to to to understand the difference
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: between bad theology and actually sound doctrine and so and
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: so that's what I was talking about.
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: Thoughts on that, Yeah, as far as seeing this response
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: within the last few years of you're seeing you're noticing
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: a lot of people that were adamant atheists. You know,
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: I see a lot of attention on like, Hey, Joe
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: Royan was this adamant atheist, and now you see him
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: open to going to church and having biblical scholars on
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: the show. And you see other celebrities and you see
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: this move of people wanting to embrace the at least,
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: at the very least the values of the Bible. And
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: it reminds me of in First Corinthians, there's this there's
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: this individual that is excommunicated, uh and he's committing uh
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: incests with most scholars believe his stepmother. And Paul says,
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: we're going to hand him over to Satan. And so
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: it's a strange, it's interesting phrase to use, but essentially, uh,
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: we're going to give him over to this worldliness. We're
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: going to let him go and then with the intention
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: that he will come to repentance and come back.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: So in Second Corinthians, now Paul saying, receive him back
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: as a brother, receive this guy back in repentance. And
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: I think we're seeing something very similar within society, within
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: our nation is I think in a lot of ways
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: there was this Uh. There's a lot of worldly answers given.
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of people being turned over to worldliness
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: and they tasted it and they're spinning out like no,
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: thanks that whatever truth is, it wasn't that. What do
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: you have to offer?
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: Like the prodigal son, right, you got the one the
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: one who stayed with dad, who had this problem. By
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: the way, it was a little frustrated with the prodigal Yeah.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: But but then the one who went and ended up,
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: you know, hanging out with the pigs actually talked about
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: it in uh. I talked about in the devotional work
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: we're putting out this month, which is which we call
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: it a mud moment. But but the moment I'm down
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: with the pigs and the mud and I'm like, this
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: isn't this isn't right, This isn't how I was supposed
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: to live. This is not what my father wanted for me.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of a lot of people in
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: our society today in the last few years, they're there
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: in the pig slop and and they they tried the
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: answers that the world was shoveling to them and there
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: and they came to this realization, this isn't what I
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: thought it was. This isn't the answers that I thought
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: it was. And now they're coming and they're open to
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: hearing the truth. They're open to hearing the Gospel, and
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: they're saying, Okay, this what what you're saying here about jeus,
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: what you're saying about the Bible, this explanation of creationism.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: This makes more sense. Tell me more.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Mm hm.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: We at least have people hooked right here where they're
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: they're at least you're seeing a lot of people that
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: are open to tell me more. And that's a great
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: place to be. We need to be ready and equipped
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: for that to hand those answers over.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: Well said.
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: Well said, Now you also see within these last couple
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: of weeks, you've also seen a very negative response. And
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: I like being optimist, and I do see the glory
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: on God at that memorial service and all these people
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: sharing the gospel. But we also saw a response of
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: a lot of hatred and a lot of negativity towards
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: the body of Christ and towards Christianity. But this goes
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: back to what you're asking me about the necessity of
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: being in the Word. Because as I pondered just through
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: this response, and I looked at particularly from gen Z,
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: you know gen Z on this side, on the political lifside,
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: but particularly from gen Z what I observed, and there
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: were some people being really negative and hateful that we're older.
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: But primarily what I saw I was observing from gen Z,
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: and I think what we're seeing is a biblically illiterate generation.
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: We're seeing a generation that they're so removed from understanding
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: the Bible as their worldview, understanding God's word as their
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: authoritative lens of right and wrong, that it's literally that
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: pronouncement of judgment. Jeremiah, woe to you who call good
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: evil and evil good. And the answer is that you
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: just got to be in the word. You got to
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: be in a word and allow that to be authoritative
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: in your life. Allow that to direct your understanding of
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: right and wrong. Otherwise you know the world is going
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: to shape it and direct you in the opposite direction.
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: And so my advice to someone listening that you're not
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: in you're about carve out a time in your day
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: that you do it every day.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: Every day.
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: I get up, I set my coffee to brew. I'm
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: half awake, the dogs are just looking in like where's
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: the dog food? And then I know in that coffee things,
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna get my black coffe. I'm gonna sit down
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: and be in the word. And this obviously has parallels
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: to fitness. If you want this to get rolling, you
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: need to just make it a part of your day,
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: no matter what, and that's how you will be shaped
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: by God's word and it will then gradually become your worldview.
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: And I think too many people today, even within the
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: conservative sphere, will often allow the news to shape their worldview,
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: you know, and it's like, okay, well that's missing the market.
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: We want God's word to shape our worldview. We want
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: God's word to be our anchor to truth. Nothing on television,
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: not reels, not social media, not the newspaper. Dating myself here, No,
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: we want God's word to direct our understanding of what
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: truth is.
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: Amen and that even if somebody's listening to this or not,
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: they're not really really deep into their faith, because that
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: that could easily be preaching to the choir. You got
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: people who are like, yeah, Bible every day done, Like
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: I couldn't live without it, right, But if you're if
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: you're not in your Bible every day, I want to
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: challenge you and encourage you at the same time. Here,
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: here's the thing over at ninety five percent, and this
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: is this is actually a well researched fact. Stanford and
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: Harvard did very similar studies on this front with a
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: large sample size. Over ninety five percent of what you'll
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: be exposed today has been produced in the last forty
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: eight hours, so YouTube channel, social media, TV production, all
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: that stuff. Even if you don't understand what you're always
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: reading in God's word. God's word is old, it's ancient.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: It's like it's way way before you remember anything. A
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: lot of people can't even tell me their great great
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: great grandfather's name, Like that's only four generations. I don't know.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Unless you've done some genieology work, you
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: don't know either. But the words written in the Bible
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: are they're ancient, and they they were powerful then. And
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: what's really cool is they're going to live on way
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: after you, Like they're going to keep going. Jesus said
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: that heaven and earth will pass away, but my word
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: will not pass away, Like that's going to continue. And
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: so like, think about it. If I'm going to go
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: about my day today and I'm going to deal with
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: whatever the world's thrown at me, whatever my family's thrown
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: at me, whatever I've thrown at myself, whatever is God's
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: asked me, whatever path he's asked me to walk in
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: the good work he has in front of me today,
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: doesn't it make sense that I should be deeply rooted
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: in something that has been and will be as opposed
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: to allowing myself to be rooted in I think of
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: it as bitter water. But as as as something that's
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: that's going to change every twenty four hours, every forty hours,
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: it's gonna shift, it's going to change, that's right. Psalms
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: one says that that blessed is the man who walks
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: not on the council of the young godly, nor stands
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: with sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: For his delight is in the law of the Lord,
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: and on it he meditates day and night. And it
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: goes on about him being a tree planted by rivers
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: of living water. But it says this in five and six.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: It says the ungodly are not so, for they are
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: blown about like a chaff in the breeze, and they
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: will not stand in the day of judgment. Like that's
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: such a to me, that's such a poignant picture. It's
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: just a point like I can be rooted by rivers
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: of living water. I can bring forth good fruit, my
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: leaves will not wither faith because I'm rooted in God's word,
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: or or I can just like every day. Oh no,
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: now we're mad at this person. Oh now we're worried
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: about this thing. Oh now I gotta go do this,
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: and like, man, what a way to live? Like what
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: a rough way to live. If that's you, I'm so sorry.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Stop it. Like, get in the Bible.
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: I'm so glad you bring up the how timeless or
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: how long the longevity of scripture because it's interesting. A
• 43:11
  Speaker 3: lot of skip, a lot of skeptics will attack Christianity
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: and say, oh, well, the Bible's outdated or you believe
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: that book it's so old. It's like, well, actually, that's
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: its strength, is uh is standing the test of time? Yes,
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: speak of a concept that someone brings up a concept
• 43:28
  Speaker 3: and then it just dies away. Well, yeah, it didn't
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: stand the test of time. And there's this interaction in
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: Acts where the the apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: and they're being questioned and they're the Pharisees are deliverering
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: what do we do with them? They really want to
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: execute them and so forth, but they're they're boldly saying,
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: we're not going to stop preaching the name of Jesus.
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: And then it talks about this wise versus named Gamaliel
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: and Gamaliel says to him, if he mentions a bunch
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: of false messiahs that popped up, if this guy had
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: a big following and then he died and it fell apart,
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: and then they all dispersed. And then this guy came
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: up and he had a big following, and then he
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: died and the movement stopped. And so then he tells
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: the other the other people in the fand the Sanhedrin,
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: he says, if this isn't from God, it'll go away
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: on its own, it'll die off. And then he warns them.
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: It's so interesting how prophetically warns him, but if this
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: is from God, you may find yourself in the position
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: of fighting God. And I was like, whoa. And the
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: thing about that, he says this two thousand years ago,
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: over two thousand years ago. Yes, and that's the timeless
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: nature scripture. That is scripture, the truth of Scripture standing
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: the test of time.
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: Mm hmmmm hmmm. Yes, such such a testament. And if
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: and if you want to live your life in a
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: way that's rooted in something that stands the test, you
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: don't have a choice. You gotta get to scripture. There's
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: nothing else that has that staying power in life. And
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: and so I guess it in a strange way, this
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: kind of brings me to the body and I'm so
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: glad this is a scriptural conversation. I love talking Bible,
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: and I'm so grateful for the work that you're doing.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: And here on the Faith and Fitness podcast, my goal
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: is to bring the intersection of faith and fitness. I
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: like to say a tongue in cheek tagline, put more
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: faith in your fitness. I don't think you need to
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: put faith in fitness as opposed to faith in Christ.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: But I do believe that fitness is a space that
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: faith can be injected into and is necessary because because
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: otherwise we as a as a body of Christ, in
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: many ways, we kind of seed that that seed ce
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: d e seed. We we we relinquish, We surrender that
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: space to the enemy. We let the enemy have fitness
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: and nutrition and here yeah, yeah, yeah, here, here have it.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: We don't want anything to do with bodybuilding. You should
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: you let Satan own that? Like no, no, So I
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: want to I want to ask. I want to ask
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: for you. You and I. You and I met on
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: the on the fitness floor working with clients and whatnot.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: We've gotten to work out together, which I can't say
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: that about everybody that I've interviewed on this podcast, which
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: is great. You you undertook the discipline of bodybuilding, and
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: I have a lot of respect for for bodybuilding as
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: a discipline because there's a what it's not easy, I mean,
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: it's like it's like intentionally one of the hardest things,
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: I think, one of the hardest sports you can do.
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: They say that hitting a golf ball really well is
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: the hardest thing you can do athletically, and they obviously
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: haven't trying to grow good lads, because calves grow grow,
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: calves grow, lads grow grow quads, you know. But but bodybuilding.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: But I have a contention with the bodybuilding community as
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: as a as a trainer and as a health coach
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: and nutritionists because for many people in the bot not everybody.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: I've met some awesome people in the bodybuilding community, but
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: in the bodybuilding community, it looks like vanity. It looks
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: like look how good I look? Look how look the
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: poses I can strike? You know, look, look how bodybuilders
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: aren't really that concern with how much weight they can
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: bench press. We know better, like hyperturr fhee doesn't require
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: really really heavy weight and you have to spend your
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: shoulder as well. Right. But you in your life, God
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: has brought you into a place where you have been
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: able to take on a cool physical discipline like bodybuilding.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: But I know that in your training as a preacher
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: that there's no room for vanity, there's no room for
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: the pursuing of vanity. Yet you're not done being You're
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: not done lifting weights. So can you talk to me
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: about some of the work God's done in your heart
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: to show you what the discipline of bodybuilding, the discipline
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: of pursuing that every day, what does that have to
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: do with His work in your life and growing your faith?
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: Absolutely?
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 48:10
  Speaker 3: So that is a question that I've gotten a couple
• 48:12
  Speaker 3: of times. Uh. Sometimes people haven't asked it as kindly.
• 48:16
  Speaker 3: They'll ask, you know, like, uh, how how do you
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: reconcile being a bodybuilder and being a Christian or being
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: a preacher and busy impliance not compatible? But I think
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: what the cautions that i'd bring it to, you know,
• 48:31
  Speaker 3: bring let's say someone newly saved and they're they're looking
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: to have a bodyguling in their life. One I would
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: just caution, well, with anything, be cautious of idolatry and
• 48:46
  Speaker 3: idolatry you know, we know from Renal Testament licture, we
• 48:49
  Speaker 3: have this imagery of oh yeah, there's a giant statue
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: and they're bringing sacrifice to it. Well, idolatry is just
• 48:55
  Speaker 3: putting anything in the place of God. So granted we're
• 48:58
  Speaker 3: not making giant statues like nab a Kanazar statue or
• 49:01
  Speaker 3: Dagon statue falling the arc, No, but are we putting
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: things in the place of God? And idolatry can very
• 49:09
  Speaker 3: easily be a good thing that we're turning into a
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: God thing. So you know, when you're when you're in
• 49:16
  Speaker 3: your single years, you can put getting married and finding
• 49:19
  Speaker 3: that spouse on this pedestal where it is idolatry, like
• 49:23
  Speaker 3: you're making it more important than your walk with Christ.
• 49:26
  Speaker 3: But your career on this pedestal where you're making it
• 49:29
  Speaker 3: more important than your walk with Christ. Whatever the case,
• 49:32
  Speaker 3: those are good things. As you as you parent kids
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: that get to sport age and you go like, I
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: want them in sports, Okay, are they are you missing
• 49:42
  Speaker 3: church and fellowship with the body because they have to
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: go and do these tournaments? You know, are you making
• 49:48
  Speaker 3: a good thing into a god thing? You know, and
• 49:51
  Speaker 3: so that that that would be my caution, and that
• 49:54
  Speaker 3: would be where where things are totally different now is
• 49:59
  Speaker 3: is things need to be in their proper place, you know.
• 50:02
  Speaker 3: And so fitness can be great to steward your body.
• 50:06
  Speaker 3: To see, God's blessed me with the body, I need
• 50:10
  Speaker 3: to properly take care of it in the same way
• 50:11
  Speaker 3: He's blessed me with a house, blessed me with the car,
• 50:13
  Speaker 3: blessed me with with dogs that are loving and kind.
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: I need to steward these things He's give me. I
• 50:18
  Speaker 3: need to take care of them and take care of
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: them well. And so essentially, bodybuilding is more the style
• 50:24
  Speaker 3: in which I exercise, if that makes sense. And so
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: a lot of people exercise in a CrossFit style or
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: a what's the race thing with the like a spartan
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: race kind of style of.
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: Fish obstacle course racing, yeah, iron training, sure.
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: Right, or maybe what gets them in the gym is
• 50:44
  Speaker 3: doing like group style classes or so forth. Bodybuilding is
• 50:49
  Speaker 3: the style in which I exercise because I feel high
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: perchavy in the long run is going to a high
• 50:55
  Speaker 3: perchy focused regimen and the long run is going to
• 51:00
  Speaker 3: to the best metabolism and ultimately allow me to have
• 51:03
  Speaker 3: a more healthy body, fat and eat the foods I enjoy. That.
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: That's why I look at my style of training is
• 51:13
  Speaker 3: still a bodybuilding style. I still train like a like
• 51:16
  Speaker 3: a bodybuilder in the gym, though I don't compete anymore.
• 51:21
  Speaker 3: And so yeah, I touched on the and then I
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: would also explain the vanity aspect to the to the
• 51:29
  Speaker 3: person outside the fitness community. I can definitely see why
• 51:33
  Speaker 3: they think that. But what drew me to bodybuilding was
• 51:37
  Speaker 3: a lot of my love for art. It just kind
• 51:40
  Speaker 3: of mixed really well. I was really into drawing when
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: I was in middle school. I've been drawing back there
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: from an old Testament scene, but the glare doesn't really
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: allow you to see it. But bodybuilding is almost more
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: like a performing art sport at times. Yes, so if
• 51:57
  Speaker 3: you were to watch me make this drawing and again,
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: and you can't see the details in the glare, But
• 52:02
  Speaker 3: if you and I have a painting in my living room,
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: I stared at it a lot. I stared at this
• 52:07
  Speaker 3: painting a lot. I had to look at every little
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: imperfection and look how it could improve it and see
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: if these colors are mixing well or do I want
• 52:14
  Speaker 3: to shade this more and what's this lacking? And it's
• 52:18
  Speaker 3: that eye that you see a lot of bodybuilders in
• 52:21
  Speaker 3: the gym doing when they're looking at themselves in the
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: mirror and they're having the eye of a sculptor. They're
• 52:27
  Speaker 3: having the eye of a painter or someone putting a
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: lot of time into a drawing, and they're looking, how
• 52:33
  Speaker 3: can I perfect this art? So is that some of
• 52:36
  Speaker 3: that There is there some vanity going on at times
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: with people glorifying themselves and trying to get as much
• 52:43
  Speaker 3: likes as the count social media. Yeah, that does take place. Sure,
• 52:46
  Speaker 3: there's also an aspect where the bodybuilder's looking at themselves
• 52:50
  Speaker 3: in the mirror and the gym is like an artist
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: just looking at their canvas trying to think how they
• 52:55
  Speaker 3: can make it a better painting.
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: M h. Yeah, very well, said very well, said I
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: I have. I have a deep appreciation for for the
• 53:03
  Speaker 2: bodybuilding style of training. I have. I have a genetic
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: disorder called Elers dan Loos. So my attendons and ligaments
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: don't do the job that they're supposed to do holding
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: my joints together. So we only have one other connective
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: tissue and that's muscle. So for for me, hyperchaphy training
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: that's a fancy word for those of you who don't know,
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: for for muscle growth. That's that's what we're talking about.
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: And I'm so grateful that you're a you're a seminary
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: graduate who doesn't say hypertrophy, hyperchurvy. Uh, the growth of
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: muscle tissue. That is a very powerful health benefit that
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: if you, if you train it in your life, your
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: your muscle can serve you very very well. For me,
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: it keeps me healthy, It keeps my uh, my brain
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: and my body functioning in the way that they need to.
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: But also, man, you know, sometimes we were talking about
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: suffering earlier and it kind of brings it full tilt
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: for me. Yeah. The root word for a disciple of
• 54:01
  Speaker 2: Christ is the same root word for discipline. And when
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: I approach the weights, what's really cool is whether I
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: feel like it today, no matter what's going on, whether
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: I'm grieving or happy and joyful, whether I've been an
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: awesome dad or not an awesome dad, whether I've you know,
• 54:23
  Speaker 2: loved my wife as Christ loved the church, or I've
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: really blown it as a whatever. It is a come
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: to the weights, and the weights are like they're like, well,
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: they're always a bit of suffering. If you're not suffering
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: a little bit, you're doing it wrong, like you need
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: to work out a little harder. But the weights allow
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: the opportunity to You were talking about an artist. I'm
• 54:48
  Speaker 2: going to bring drama into it to dramatize that process.
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: I am on purpose with discipline, coming back to this
• 54:56
  Speaker 2: thing I've done ten thousand times, and I'm going to
• 54:59
  Speaker 2: do it well, and I'm going to do it with focus.
• 55:02
  Speaker 2: I'm going to do it with intention. My body's going
• 55:04
  Speaker 2: to respond to it, and then that's going to shape
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: the way that I eat. That's going to shape the
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: way that I rest. Hopefully it shapes the way that
• 55:11
  Speaker 2: I think. And what's really cool and the reason I've
• 55:15
  Speaker 2: got a big giant cross here in my garage gym
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: and the reason for writing a forty a devotional about it,
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: is that in that arena of purposeful suffering, in that arena,
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: God's Word comes to life in a memorable and powerful
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: way for me, and I regularly encourage my clients to
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: engage in God's Word in that way to set an
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: intention for their workout that's scriptural, to pray through some
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: difficult things sometimes, Man, I don't know if you've ever
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: had this experience. I'm in the middle of something hard.
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Dumbbell snatches come to mind. That's not
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: a very bodybuildings move, but it's.
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: Explosive, right, any of those.
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: But I don't know, but I do. And dumbell snatches, man,
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: And and something in me I'm I'm wrestling with with
• 56:04
  Speaker 2: something that I need to give to God, and I'm broken,
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: I can't continue, And and a prayer comes out of
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: me that wouldn't have come out of me if I
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: wasn't lifting weights, like something's real, and and and rite
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: about that. And then by the end of my session, Uh,
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: not not only have have I come closer to God's heart,
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: but but it's something that I get to carry with
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: me today. And and so I I think of my
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: my weight training. I didn't start out thinking of weight
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: training as a spiritual practice. But the more Christ's lordship
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: over over over arches my entire life, my weight training
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: has no choice but to be a spiritual practice. At
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: a certain point. It sounds like you went through something similar.
• 56:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, where you come to this realization that your relationship
• 56:55
  Speaker 3: with Christ should permeate every aspect of your life that
• 57:00
  Speaker 3: I didn't just check a box this morning. Well, I
• 57:02
  Speaker 3: spent time with God. Close the door. No, Now I'm
• 57:06
  Speaker 3: going to meditate on his word as I go to
• 57:09
  Speaker 3: the as I go train my morning client, and then
• 57:11
  Speaker 3: we'ren't engage in dialogue there that's glorifying to God. And
• 57:15
  Speaker 3: my drive home, I'm thinking about that and ruminating on
• 57:19
  Speaker 3: the truth that I read this morning.
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: And then.
• 57:23
  Speaker 3: Everything that I go about my day says I work
• 57:26
  Speaker 3: remotely and emailing back and interacting with parents and students.
• 57:29
  Speaker 3: I'm doing this to the glory of God. I'm doing
• 57:32
  Speaker 3: this as a servant of Christ. It wasn't just a
• 57:35
  Speaker 3: box I checked at the start of the day or
• 57:39
  Speaker 3: on Sunday. Close the door. No, everything I do twenty
• 57:43
  Speaker 3: four to seven is as a follower of Christ, and
• 57:46
  Speaker 3: so and every aspect of that. You have a very
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: secular job, You're doing it unto the glory of God.
• 57:51
  Speaker 3: You're doing it Christ. But on that last question, before
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: I forget to kind of summarize my answer, because I
• 57:59
  Speaker 3: know I give along with it answer three different directions
• 58:03
  Speaker 3: to summarize my answer, like how how can a preacher
• 58:08
  Speaker 3: or how can a believer engage in bodybuilding, I would
• 58:12
  Speaker 3: give it with these two qualifiers that I would tell
• 58:16
  Speaker 3: someone how they engage in anything that to avoid idolatry,
• 58:21
  Speaker 3: everything needs to have its proper place. Nothing comes before
• 58:25
  Speaker 3: the priority, nothing comes before the nothing comes before Christ Christ.
• 58:32
  Speaker 3: It needs to always have that prominent place in your life.
• 58:36
  Speaker 3: And so avoid any extremes of idolatry and do all
• 58:40
  Speaker 3: things unto the glory of God that we're looking at.
• 58:44
  Speaker 3: You're talking about invading space that we're looking at, these
• 58:46
  Speaker 3: to gain platforms to glorify God. You see football players
• 58:50
  Speaker 3: do it all the time, microphone in their mouth. They're Oh,
• 58:53
  Speaker 3: God gave me this ability. Now I'm gonna put the
• 58:57
  Speaker 3: glory back on Him, and I'm gonna point the direction
• 58:59
  Speaker 3: to the Gospel. And so whatever we do, you know,
• 59:03
  Speaker 3: we could be in ministry specifically, and we could be
• 59:07
  Speaker 3: doing it to the glory of ourself, and we could
• 59:09
  Speaker 3: be putting our ministry in our platform on display instead
• 59:13
  Speaker 3: of pointing to Christ. So we could do something that's specific,
• 59:17
  Speaker 3: you know, but if we're doing it with the wrong motive,
• 59:20
  Speaker 3: then it's not glorifying to God. So my answer is, yes,
• 59:24
  Speaker 3: you can engage in in bodybuilding as a hobby, as
• 59:28
  Speaker 3: even a lifestyle, as long as you are not engaging
• 59:31
  Speaker 3: in idolatry of any kind, that you understand that Christ
• 59:35
  Speaker 3: is Lord above all, and that whatever you do, you're
• 59:39
  Speaker 3: doing it unto the glory of God. Whatever your hobby,
• 59:43
  Speaker 3: you're you're what you like to re find for exercise,
• 59:47
  Speaker 3: whatever you do it unto the glory of God.
• 59:50
  Speaker 2: Amen. Amen. I think that's a that's a great note
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: to close down this conversation. I just wanted to say
• 59:56
  Speaker 2: thank you so much for coming. I'll pray over you
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: in just a second. But this this has been a
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 2: very powerful conversation. If individuals want to connect with your
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: work more, the YouTube channel is exposor Groom ninety nine.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 3: Correct, precisely perfect.
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 2: I'm going to put that on there.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 3: You'll find a preaching archive that I've gradually just been
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 3: putting together all the books of the Bible, and one
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 3: day I'll have every chapter on there. But yeah, gradually
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 3: building a preaching archive. You'll find a lot of YouTube
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 3: short highlights and then a lot of interviews with apologists
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 3: and theologians that I've just been gradually accumulating.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: Awesome, awesome, very good, Thank you. For that work. Let
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: me pray over you, Gabe, and let me pray over
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: your ministry, and then we'll close down this conversation. Okay,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: Father God, thank you so much for this day. Thank
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 2: you for the opportunity to reconnect with my brother Gabe,
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: and thank you for the path that you have led
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: him to walk. God, I pray your blessing over his ministry.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: I pray your blessing over his life. I pray that
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 2: you would imbue him with wisdom and knowledge so that
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 2: when he speaks, he can speak with boldness and with
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 2: the assurance of the backing of your Holy Spirit. Lord.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 2: I also pray for his body. Bless him as he exercises,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: and bless him as he helps others to do the same.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 2: As an example of somebody who's doing his best to
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: steward the body you've given him. I pray Lord that
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 2: in that ministry as well, you're a glorified and how
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 2: he moves and you're a glorified and how he stands
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 2: in when other pastors are sick or need a break. Lord,
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: bless him and bless his channel in Jesus' name. Amen.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 3: Amen, awesome, Well, thank you so much. I'm honored to
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 3: be the interviewee for.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah man, Yeah, well we'll do this again soon because
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 2: we're not done talking about theology.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 3: I'm sure no. Now, we could have kept going and going,
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 3: but yeah, I got to get back to work and
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 3: imagine you've got a lot of duties due to yourself.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 2: One hundred percent. So to our audience, guys, thank you
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: so much for joining us on the Faithful Fitness podcast.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: This has been coach Alex vn Houghton And until next time,
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: you guys know what I'm going to say next, train hard,
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 2: but pray harder.
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, if this episode helps you, jare it with someone
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: who needs to hear it, and don't forget to subscribe
• 1:02:14
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• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: find Faithful Fitness. Oh and my dad's new devotional is
• 1:02:22
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• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: and then join our free community at Better Daily by
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: clicking on the links in the show notes below. We
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: all have a cross to carry, but it's lighter when
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: we do it together, so check out both links in
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: the show notes. Don't be a big well Bob, just
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: do it. Until next time, don't forget, Train hard and
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: pray even harder.