Latest / 4-Freedom Podcast / 165. The Price of Offense

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165. The Price of Offense · 4-Freedom Podcast

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I found my freedom in you. I found a toy I can't lose, and
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thank God it's true. You wrapped your arms around me
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and heaven broke through. From the moment she found me.
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I found. Welcome to the Four Freedom
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Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the
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freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with
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everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, James
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Seyfried and Brett Marks. Well, welcome back to the Four.
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Freedom Podcast and you know 4 freedom Christ has made us free.
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We are just so so thankful to be here.
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We just enjoy coming to you. We enjoy recording.
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We enjoy coming up with content. We me and James sit around all
1:05
day thinking about our podcast, about our listeners, what we can
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do to make it better for you, how we can make it better and
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listen. We want to talk to you.
1:15
We, we don't want to be a podcast that just passively has
1:20
listeners don't interact with them.
1:22
We want to interact with you on social media.
1:26
We want you to message us and IM us and Facebook comment and we
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want you to talk to us on social media.
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If there's an issue or if you've got a suggestion for us, we are
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open to those suggestions. So hit us up on social media,
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but in the meantime, we've got a good episode planned out for you
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today. So let's drop in and check in on
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James. James, how's your day going so
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far? Brett, this week has been a busy
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week, man, we are. I know you had spring break last
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week and you've got midterms for college right now, man, we're
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just in a season of just busyness right now and I love
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it. It's great.
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Part of it is this is self-inflicted busyness.
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So, so my schedule yesterday, I'm I'm in spring ball for
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football right now. And so we had football practice
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at 3:00 after school practice went to about 5:00.
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After practice, went home, scarf down some food.
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Brody and Hudson both had baseball practice.
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So I took them to baseball practice till about 738 o'clock.
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Allison took Jade to volleyball practice from 6:30 to 8:00.
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Got home, got the kids ready for bed, put the kids in bed, woke
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up, got a game today. I mean, it's just, it is just
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non-stop right now. I love it.
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It's great. I was praying with our pastors
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this morning at the association and you know, sometimes it's
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good just to stop and reflect and think through some things
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and pray with some men. And so that was a blessing and
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encouragement. But man, ministry's been busy.
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It's been great. Family's been busy.
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My youngest son just turned 4 this past Saturday.
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And so, yeah, it was, it was it was awesome.
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So yeah, things are going great with us.
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How things are going great over here.
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We're getting geared up for Easter.
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It's coming up on the Easter season, so we've got some
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different things we're doing in church.
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Try to get people here on, on Easter Sunday.
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And then we've got some other activities.
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We've got a crusades that we're planning for later on this year
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with Alex McFarlane. We're also going to try to have
3:33
Alex on the podcast. Some of you might know Alex from
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American Family Radio. It's kind of a, a big name in,
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in, in the radio land. And so we're going to have him
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on our podcast, hopefully soon. We've got some great things
3:47
planned for you. But one of the things that we've
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got planned coming up, I'm just going to go ahead and mention it
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now, even though it might be out of order, is is the Israel or
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Israel trip. James, I got a message this week
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from Marcus Merritt, Doctor Sir Marcus Merritt, MD, PhD.
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All the letters you can put at the end of his name.
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And he contacted me from Mount Carmel, sent me a video, and he
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is there. He's with a group.
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Everybody's safe, Tours are open, flights are coming in.
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So Israel is open for business. Yes, they've got a little
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skirmish down in the South, but that's not affecting anything.
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And we are looking forward to our For Freedom in the Holy Land
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trip. The dates for that are January
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30th through February 7th of 2026.
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And we want you to go ahead and come with us to the Holy Land.
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Check out our website with password is Jan 26 and check it
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out. Look at our itinerary.
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We've got good prices. Go ahead and reserve your spot
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now because the spots are going to fill up fast.
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We want to try to have all the deposits in by June, July.
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So we want you to go ahead and reserve your spot now, Put the
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deposit down. You can make payments throughout
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the year to go with us to the Holy Land.
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I cannot wait to go back to Israel.
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I've been looking forward to this for a couple of years now.
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Yeah, I've got a one of the guys that's there with Brett right
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now or with Marcus right now. His name is Russ Bilio and Russ
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is a pastor real close to where I'm at.
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And we've had Brett, we've had coffee once and we've got some a
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lot of mutual friends. And so we're able to talk and
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hang out. But he's there with them and
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he's sharing all the places that we went to when we were there.
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He's sharing all the pictures and I'm like, I'm envious.
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I'm watching it and I'm looking at his videos and I, you know,
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he was at Magdala this morning and you know, because of the
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time change, they were there and they're, they're going through
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everything. He, he took a picture of his
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outside of his window at the Sea of Galilee and they were on the
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boat and I'm just like, we were there.
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We're going to be there soon. And so I'm, man, I'm so excited
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watching it and, and getting to hear his perspective when he
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gets back of, of how it was and how the environment was while he
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was there. But everything I'm seeing right
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now, that man, they're safe, they're good.
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And so, yeah, we are excited about our Israel trip in
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January, also excited about our convention meet up here soon in
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Dallas and excited about being there with you guys and your
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family there in June. And I would love for you guys to
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meet up with us while we're down there.
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Absolutely. We want to.
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We want to meet you. If you're there, you're in the
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Texas area and you like to come meet us, meet us in Dallas.
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We've got some of the RFP fam already planning on meeting us,
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you know, a little for free to meet up there.
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And then we've got some some work.
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I got some things planned and we are going to look forward to
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that. James, we've got something going
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on with our cigar line. You want to tell people about
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that? Yeah, man, we're doing well.
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Things are so really picking up. We're getting some orders going
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out, we're getting some reviews coming in.
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Everyone that's enjoyed it has has has had it has enjoyed it.
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My brother-in-law, he's a big time cigar smoker and he got a
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pack of them and he called me and said when can I get more
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because it's one of the best cigars I've ever put in my
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mouth. And so he's he's really excited
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about it. And we're about to roll out with
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a box of 20 for all of our lines and our sweet line is about to
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come out. We've got some samples in that
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that we've got to investigate and try through those.
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And once we get settled on the one we won't, we'll be rolling
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out that and we'll have our full line of four cigars.
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And I'll be in the summer. We've got some really exciting
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news with some partners that we're going to be partnering
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with, some opportunities for you to be able to support some local
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missionaries, some local businesses that are starting up.
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And we're going to be partnering together with them, with our
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cigar line to help them out, to help plant churches and to be
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able to help do some wonderful things.
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And so we're very excited about what we've got going on with
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that, the connections that we've made and just some wonderful
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things that we've got going on. We also got me and Brett are
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planning our second annual was almost like an annual thing now
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fishing trip in September down to Nicaragua and our churches
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are partnering together to lead that group down there.
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So looking forward to that. James, why did this cigar go to
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therapy? Do not know, Brent.
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Because it kept getting burned out.
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I love it. That's great.
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Part of great A content we bring the table here at the Fort
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Freedom Podcast. Absolutely.
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I've got a friend of mine, Paul Schrontz is his name.
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I'm sure he doesn't listen to the podcast, but he's a local
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pastor in Alexander County and he's one of those guys he has to
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start every sermon with a couple of jokes just like that.
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And it's like he just, he just oozes out of them.
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When I'm sitting in a room with him, he'll just pull out a
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random joke out of nowhere. And like he, I think he tries
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out a couple of jokes about the week to see how they land, and
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then he gives them to the church on Sunday.
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But all the time and he's he's throwing out jokes.
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He's throwing out little funny stories.
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I just, I just, that's not my personality.
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I don't do it. I don't but but it works well
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for him. I had a pastor friend of mine,
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he said, yeah, I tried starting with a joke, but it just didn't
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land like Paul does. And so I just don't do it.
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Yeah, I, I've always been a big fan of humor.
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You know, the church I'm at now, and I'm not afraid if they hear
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me say this because I've told this to them from the pulpit.
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They are really hard to get to get to chuckle, to laugh, you
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know, so, but so they make me work for it.
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So when I do get a, get a chuckle out of them, I've, I've
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earned it. But you know, I try to
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incorporate it here a little bit.
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You know, it's always good to kind of dump on the local
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football team. You're always, you're always,
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you know, that's a surefire way to get a reaction little laugh
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out of them. And so we've been doing that
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here lately. But But yeah, so.
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You know, in North Carolina, you're either a Carolina fan or
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a Duke fan. You can't be both.
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You can't be a Duke fan and the Carolina fan.
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It's impossible. And where I'm at, we've got a
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bunch of NC State fans and a lot of my family's NC State fans as
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well, a lot of farmers. And I'm a Carolina guy.
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Well, I've learned that there's two types of NC State fans.
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There's NC State fans that like North Carolina and there's NC
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State fans that like Duke, but they don't like both.
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And so whenever I'm able to give a nice little jab at NC State or
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Duke, I do. And yeah, I'll always get a
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good, good laugh and a good, you know, layer up when I get to
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talk about the two colleges or get to to bash on one of the
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other. So yeah.
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I was standing up the other day and you know, we, we, we are
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right here beside is it no Starkville.
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So we're right here by Mississippi State.
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And I was saying something the other day about losing and in
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the pulpit and I said, you know, you, you, you state fans should
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be used to losing by now. Aw, man, that was I got, I got
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the looks, I got the chuckles. They're at some of them ready to
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throw hymnals at me. It was.
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It was full of the spirit that day.
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I love it. I love it.
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Well, Brett, we've got some we're we're in our continuing
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our series and our woke series. We've only got like two or three
11:57
episodes of this left and that we're going to close in a couple
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of weeks with our woke series on the slippery slope.
12:06
As we talked about last week, the slippery slope of of the
12:09
topic of last week, we want to look at not cultural relativism
12:16
as we talked to that, but but what happens when people do
12:18
begin to go woke? And there's a story that the New
12:22
York Times or the LA Times, I can't remember which one ran a
12:25
couple of weeks ago and that we're going to deep dive into
12:28
that story and sort of show the results of what happens.
12:32
Often times people say, well, why are you guys talking about
12:35
this? Right?
12:36
This isn't, this isn't dealing with legalism.
12:38
This isn't dealing with spiritual abuse, but what it
12:41
does, it can lead to a lack of everything.
12:45
And so we want to address that from a biblical worldview, from
12:49
a Christian's perspective. And then we're going to finish
12:52
out this season beginning to talk through some different
12:54
camps of the IFB, some different Bible colleges.
12:57
How's Anderson, Bob Jones, Crown, I'm sorry, the Crown
13:01
College of the Bible, different camps that have come out of it.
13:06
And then we'll that'll be leading up into our summer
13:09
break. And so excited about this today.
13:11
We're talking through being offensive and what that looks
13:15
like as we begin to unpack some of these truths.
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And so we're going to jump in to our opening at this time.
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We cannot truly worship. God while we stay.
13:37
Silent on injustice in all kinds of areas.
13:40
And I know as a white pastor I have blind spots, so I am part
13:44
of the problem. James Paul elected to unhitch
13:50
the Christian faith. From their Jewish scriptures and
13:56
my friends, we must as well. White people fear black men.
14:06
That's not fair. But it's true, Jesus repents of
14:12
his racism and extends healing to this woman's daughter.
14:16
I love this story because it's a reminder that Jesus is human.
14:19
He had prejudices and bias and when confronted with it, he was
14:22
willing to do his work. I believe in the non binary God
14:29
whose pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus Christ, their
14:34
child who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads and saw
14:40
everyone as a sibling child of God.
14:44
I believe in the rainbow spirit who shatters our image of 1
14:49
white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.
14:55
I believe in the Church of everyday Saints, as numerous
15:00
creative and resilient as catches on the 8th quilt, whose
15:05
feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars and
15:10
wonder. I believe in the calling to each
15:13
of us that love is love is love. So beloved, let us love.
15:20
I believe glorious God help my unbelief.
15:25
Amen. This woke self loathing and we
15:36
will. Never let the woke left take it
15:38
away. It's because they're putting
15:40
woke ideology to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman
15:44
is. In this season of the Four
15:54
Freedom Podcast, we want to bring to you some enlightening
15:56
topics that deal with the wokeness of the church.
16:00
We want to bring to light some issues that are often
16:03
overlooked, and we hope that it'll be a blessing to you in
16:07
your listening. Experience.
16:13
Everybody OK. It was a simple comment, an
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offhand remark shared casually on social media, a tweet, just a
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few words. But in the world we live in now,
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a moment like this can shift a person's life forever.
16:54
A well known writer, someone who had been once celebrated for
16:57
their bold voice, spoke out about a topic, something that
17:02
seemed innocent at first. Something people had discussed
17:07
1000 times before, but this time it landed differently.
17:14
This time it cut through the silent tension of society on
17:18
edge, where every word was weighed and measured.
17:23
This tweet wasn't attacking anyone.
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It wasn't meant to cause harm. It was an opinion, one that had
17:31
been shared by millions of others, but this time it was
17:36
labeled offensive. The backlash was immediate.
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The comment was picked apart, magnified, distorted.
17:48
The writers found themselves thrust into a whirlwind of
17:51
outrage, each retweet, each angry response, like a like a
17:59
strike of lightning in a storm. The virtual world was
18:04
unforgiving. And just like that, a person's
18:08
reputation was torn apart. This wasn't just a debate over
18:14
differing views. It wasn't a conversation about
18:17
differing perspectives. No, it was personal.
18:23
It was a moral judgment. How dare they say that?
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How could they hold such an opinion?
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It didn't matter that the writer had a history of integrity.
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It didn't matter that their past actions spoke louder than this
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one moment in the court of public opinion.
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Offense was the only thing that mattered now.
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The media picked it up, the outrage spread faster than
18:52
wildfire, and soon their entire career was at risk.
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The cancellations came in waves. First a book deal was pulled,
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then a speaking engagement. Social platforms suspended them.
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Sponsors dropped them like a hot potato.
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No one wanted to be associated with someone who had offended
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the masses. Their crime?
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A single I'll timed comment that didn't align with the consensus
19:28
of the moment. This wasn't an isolated
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incident. This is the reality for so many
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today. The world we live in has become
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a place where offense, real or perceived, doesn't just lead to
19:44
disagreement, it leads to exile. No room for redemption.
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No space for mistakes and a culture of outrage.
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The price for offending someone is high.
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And as we move through this storm, we are left to wonder,
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can anyone truly speak freely anymore?
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But here's the question we need to ask.
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Is this really the world we want to live in?
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One where silence becomes the safest answer?
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Or is there another way? A way to stand for what's true
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without the fear of being. Cancelled.
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In today's episode, we're going to unpack what it means to
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offend others and more importantly, what it means to
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stand for truth even when it's uncomfortable.
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Welcome back to the today's episode.
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We're excited to be with you today, excited to talk about
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this very, very important topic of offending others and what
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that looks like from a biblical world view.
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Brett. Right, we're going to dive into
20:55
a major topic in today's culture, the fear of offending
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others. It's a huge thing in what
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culture, isn't it James? Yeah, Brett, we have all felt
21:05
the pressure in one way or another, whether it's everyone
21:08
tiptoeing around each other, someone else, someone's afraid
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of saying the wrong thing or causing someone else to get
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offended. But today we want to ask, do
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Christians need to avoid offending anyone?
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I don't know, Brad, if you've ever been.
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I don't. I've been on staff at many
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different a couple different churches and maybe a Deacon and
21:30
maybe another staff member where you can just tell the room
21:33
changes because you're afraid to say something, You're afraid to
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do something. Because if this person gets mad,
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the entire room, the entire atmosphere changes.
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Right. You just got to walk on egg
21:47
shells around certain people. And, you know, you've been
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around somebody for any length of time.
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You know who those people are, you know, and in our current
21:56
world, it feels like you can offend someone just by
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breathing, right? I mean, I mean, whether you
22:02
meant to or not, whether it's something small like using the
22:06
wrong word or something bigger like standing firm on on a
22:11
biblical truth. And it seems like people live on
22:14
this razor's edge in this hair trigger of being offended.
22:18
And it's like, it's the if somebody is offended, oh, it's
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like the end of the world. Yeah, and that's what we're
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going to be tackling today. We're going to explore the
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notion that Christians should never offend anyone and we'll
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examine what Scripture says about it.
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We've all heard the verse give no offense.
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If anything, 2nd Corinthians 6 three and some people use it as
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sort of as a as a golden rule of Christianity never offend anyone
22:45
ever. In the Southern Baptist world,
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Brett, we we commonly refer to this as the 11th commandment,
22:53
right. Speak no I'll of your SBC
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brethren, and this is this is the thought right?
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We can't say anything bad. We can't offend someone,
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especially if they believe like we do.
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Exactly. And you know, the the reality,
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though, is a little bit more complex than that.
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The the idea of avoiding offense, it's pervasive in our
23:15
culture and it affects how people interact, especially on
23:19
social media. It's the reason why so many
23:22
avoid difficult or controversial conversations.
23:26
It's the reason some churches are watering down the message of
23:29
the gospel, afraid of offending people.
23:32
But the Bible, does the Bible really teach that we should
23:37
avoid offending people at all costs?
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And you know, this, this fear of offending, it's fueled by the
23:45
social media era that we're in. You know, I was talking about
23:49
people the other day talking about watching the news and how
23:52
when we were kids, you know, you got 30 minutes for the news.
23:55
And that was it. That was your only option.
23:58
But on your phone today, you can get the News 24 hours a day,
24:02
seven days a week. And I said we were never meant
24:05
to carry the weight of the world around in our back pocket.
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And this, this, this social media, it's like a firestorm
24:13
where it takes just just a little bitty thing to set people
24:16
off. Yeah, you're exactly right.
24:19
We're going to dive into this question today.
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Is this fear of a fencing offending someone something we
24:26
should carry as Christians, right?
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Can we find biblical foundation for always been concerned about
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causing offense? And what does Paul actually mean
24:35
when he says we give no offense in anything?
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It's sort of the premise of what we're going to talk about and
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sort of be the launchpad of today's episode.
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And to help us understand this, we'll be bringing in some
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examples from modern society where people get outraged and
24:51
offended over seemingly small things.
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And we'll also take a look at how this plays out in the church
24:58
and in our everyday lives. Plus, we'll look at a few key
25:01
scriptures along the way and see what they have to say about this
25:05
issue. We've got a lot to cover today,
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so without further ado, let's dive right in.
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Absolute Brett won't. When we begin starting with with
25:14
and talking about the culture of offense that we see today.
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You don't have to look too far to see how sensitive our world
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has become. Brett, you know this as well as
25:23
I do. The smallest slip up or an
25:25
unintended comment on social media.
25:28
Even a joke that doesn't land well can result in people being
25:33
shunned, cancelled, or labeled as out of touch.
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I mean how many times on social media has a comment that was
25:42
some meant to be a on X was meant to be just a joke towards
25:47
someone. It turns around and someone
25:50
takes that joke and they twist it and they turn into something
25:53
else because, well, my brother or my sister or so and so had
25:57
this happen to them and all of a sudden this entire huge
26:00
firestorm breaks out. Exactly.
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You can get cancelled today. You can offend people just by
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saying that you're a Republican. You can offend people just by
26:10
wearing a MAGA hat or make your Make America Great Again hat.
26:14
It doesn't take much. And a lot of these comments and
26:18
videos are taken out of context on purpose.
26:21
Like few episodes we go, we talked about that that kid that
26:24
was just standing there minding his own business and this Native
26:28
American man came up to this guy and started chanting in his
26:31
face. And people thought that the kid
26:35
walked up to the old man and start just start stared at him.
26:39
But in actuality, the whole video, the Native American man
26:42
walked up to him when he was just minding his business.
26:46
And so things like that could be comments and things like that
26:49
can also be taken out of context.
26:52
But yeah, like we've been saying, social media has just
26:54
really amped this up. It's really amplified this.
26:57
People are getting cancelled left and right for things they
27:00
said years ago or for things they didn't even realize were
27:05
offensive at the time, because at the time they weren't.
27:08
There's this huge emphasis on pit political correctness,
27:12
right? And, and it's spreading
27:14
everywhere, from workplaces to schools and even in churches.
27:19
People are getting scared to speak up because they don't want
27:22
to step on anyone's toes. You know, everybody there was a
27:27
joke that was said in a movie 20 years ago.
27:30
And 20 years ago, everybody laughed at everybody thought it
27:32
was fine. But today people are getting
27:36
canceled over a joke that was funny 20 years ago.
27:40
And it's just spread everywhere. Yeah, Brett.
27:43
And I think this is where it can begin to get really tricky.
27:47
You know, as Christians, we care about love, we care about grace,
27:51
we care about truth. And we begin to balance in our
27:56
mind, is it possible to love people while still offending
28:02
them or not offending them, Right.
28:04
We don't want to speak out even though it's speaking biblical
28:07
truth. How do we aim this?
28:09
How do we do this without a without offending people at all
28:13
calls? What does the scripture say?
28:15
How does the Scripture encourage us?
28:17
Right. Jesus says, I'm sorry, the
28:19
Colossians says speak the truth in love, even when it might
28:23
offend someone. And so we have to be people of
28:27
truth and and understand there's got to be some grace and love in
28:31
that. Let me.
28:33
Make a statement accountability demands offense accountability
28:41
just demands it if we're going to be accountable as Christians
28:44
that demands offense in Jesus. What was the premium example of
28:50
this right. He's the premium example of like
28:53
you said, speaking truth in love.
28:57
That's that, that's a great, that's a great question.
28:59
And and this is where the whole don't offend anyone idea doesn't
29:04
quite line it with Scripture. I mean, just look at Paul's
29:07
words and 2nd Corinthians 6 three, for example, where he
29:11
says we give no offense in anything that our ministry may
29:16
not be blamed. So here's what people do.
29:19
They take this as a blanket statement saying Christians
29:25
should never offend anyone. And they hold this up as a proof
29:28
text, Say, look, look, look, Paul said it.
29:31
Paul said it. We don't need to offend anyone.
29:33
Is is that? Is that actually what it's
29:35
saying? But you know, when you look at
29:37
it and you actually look at this verse in context, because we're
29:40
called not to take things out of context, but to bring them into
29:43
the context that they're in, Paul is saying something
29:46
completely different, right? The word offense here in the
29:49
Greek, and I'm sure I'm going to butcher this brief Greek word,
29:53
but it's pro scopean, all right? And then what it means is it
29:57
doesn't really mean offending someone's feelings as we think
30:01
of today, but it refers to as a stumbling block or something
30:05
that maybe gets in the way of someone walking with the Lord.
30:08
So Paul was literally saying like this, I won't put anything
30:12
in the way of the gospel that would discredit my ministry.
30:17
Exactly. You know, it isn't what it isn't
30:21
what does the word mean to us today?
30:24
It's what did the word mean to the original audience?
30:27
And that's what we're looking at.
30:28
That's that's proper exegesis today.
30:31
We want to take words and fit them in our context and redefine
30:35
them to what we think they are. But we need to look at what was
30:38
Paul saying to his original audience?
30:41
And Paul to his original audience wasn't saying don't
30:46
ever hurt anyone's feelings. He's not saying that.
30:49
He's saying don't let anything you do become an obstacle to
30:54
people hearing the gospel. That's a big difference.
30:58
That's a big tone shift change there.
31:01
The message Listen, the message of Jesus is offensive to people.
31:07
The. Cross is offensive.
31:10
You know, if we're always trying to avoid offending someone,
31:14
we're going to end up watering down the truth.
31:16
That's the danger of this. There are liberal left atheists
31:21
that mock us for wearing torture devices around our necks,
31:28
wearing crosses, wearing ancient torture devices.
31:32
But but listen to you know, you know, if someone else wears, you
31:38
know, the Crescent moon of Islam or they wear, you know, a Dharma
31:42
will of Buddhism, that's nothing is said about them.
31:46
They only mock the cross. There's a reason for that.
31:49
Absolutely. You know, and and really we need
31:51
to get to this point, Brett, as we begin to talk through this up
31:55
why the truth is offensive. Why is it when we speak truth is
32:00
offensive and, and hear, hear what I'm saying, not what I'm
32:03
not saying. We're not talking about opinion
32:06
kind of offense, right? If I if I think women should
32:10
only wear skirts and if and that's going to be offensive to
32:13
someone or I get up and I say you shouldn't do this or that
32:16
and someone takes an offense to it.
32:17
We're not talking about opinion. We're talking about the truth of
32:20
God's word, right? We're we're talking about the
32:22
truth of the gospel. God's word can be tough to hear.
32:27
As preachers, we understand we'd live the message in our life all
32:32
throughout the week as we're preparing our message.
32:34
It is tough enough for us to process what we're preaching on
32:37
Sunday. And so just think about the
32:39
message of the cross, right? It says that we're sinners in
32:43
need of salvation. No one likes to hear that
32:46
they're wrong. No one likes to hear that
32:48
they've done something to offend someone, especially the Almighty
32:52
God. And yet God is saying that we're
32:55
sinners in need of salvation. And you can do nothing about it.
33:00
You cannot save yourselves. And Brett, for a lot of people,
33:04
that's just offensive and that's downright offensive.
33:07
And they won't listen to you because that right there, the
33:10
message of the gospel is offensive to them.
33:13
Right, just saying the words Jesus is the only way to heaven
33:18
is offensive. Yeah, when he said I am the way
33:21
the truth, the life no man cometh from the Father, but by
33:25
me that has I have seen that statement offend people before
33:31
people get fighting mad. What about people that didn't
33:34
hear the gospel? What about people on a deserted
33:37
island that what about these people that were born in other
33:40
countries and you repeat the truth.
33:44
Jesus is the only way no man goeth them to the father but by
33:49
him. OK, and that's, that's the
33:50
reason why in the Old Testament, everybody hated the Jews.
33:55
Everybody hated the Jews because the Jews, everybody else would
33:59
say, OK, we've got our God, you've got your God, we'll all
34:02
get along. But you said, no, all your gods
34:04
are fake. Our God is the only true God.
34:07
And that's why people hated the Jews.
34:10
And and we go into the New Testament, we see the example of
34:13
Jesus. He didn't, Jesus never shield
34:16
away from saying things that offended people.
34:18
He was not afraid to hurt your feelings.
34:21
He wasn't afraid to offend you. Like when he told the Pharisees
34:25
that they were, they were whitewashed tombs, you know,
34:28
that was offensive to them. When he was called Herod, a fox,
34:32
that was offensive to him. Jesus was speaking truth and it
34:36
offended their pride. It wasn't a personal offense.
34:41
It was the offense of truth clashing with their worldview.
34:46
And that's what happens when the truth of the gospel confronts
34:50
people who don't want to hear it.
34:53
Yeah. You know, Paul had the same
34:55
experience Brett in Galatians 511.
34:57
He said he he was being persecuted not for not preaching
35:02
a man made ideology of circumcision that was for the
35:05
Jews only for a specific period of time for the people who still
35:10
held that Jewish law. It was an offense for Paul that
35:14
he wasn't holding to that while he was preaching.
35:17
And I'm here to say this, Brett, the truth of the gospel always
35:21
confronts our pride and our self-sufficiency.
35:24
We are built up people who think we can handle things on our own,
35:28
who think that we know what's right when all of a sudden the
35:32
Bible or biblical truth approaches us and it tears down
35:37
what we think we are. Because we are nothing and God
35:40
is everything and Jesus sacrificed everything for us and
35:44
it's offensive to us when we are put in our place of you are not
35:48
self-sufficient, you are reliant on God.
35:51
Exactly. And I don't, you know, I think
35:53
of the example of Paul confronting Peter for not eating
35:57
with the Gentiles, you know, just call them out at a potluck
36:01
in front of everybody. I always love that story that
36:04
Paul tells because he wasn't afraid to keep him accountable,
36:08
to put him in his place. Look, when you hold up the
36:11
standard of God's word to anybody that's offensive to
36:15
them. When you hold up the measuring
36:18
stick of the Bible, people always get offended.
36:22
And then they'll look and say, well, you hold the Bible up to
36:26
them and then they'll look to their neighbor and they'll say,
36:28
well, I'm at least I'm better than this group of people over
36:31
here. But that's pride.
36:33
Not, not that, that this all this all.
36:36
I think that the root of this is pride.
36:39
Pride is the root of so much of our sin.
36:42
And it's a prideful to say, you know, you know what?
36:47
You're it. It's humble to say yes, the the
36:50
word of God tells me that I need to change.
36:53
You're right. It's prideful to say Oh well, at
36:56
least I'm, I'm better than these people over here, you know so.
37:00
So with that in mind, what does this mean for us today as
37:04
Christians? OK, we're not, we're not called
37:07
to go around trying to offend people just for the sake of it,
37:10
although me and you know some IFB preachers who do just that,
37:17
you know, you know, you got your, your, your, your Tony
37:21
Hudson's and you got your, you know, your, oh, what's his name?
37:28
A list goes on and on if. A list goes on.
37:31
You. You've got all those people that
37:33
are just out for shock value. They're just out there to try to
37:37
offend people, so we're not out here trying to do that just for
37:41
the sake of it, but we also can't find the truth out of fear
37:46
of offense. Yeah, We also understand some
37:49
people do this for the fact of getting clicks, getting
37:52
clickbait, getting the attention of others, saying something that
37:57
maybe be preferential, that is going to allow people to watch
38:01
and listen to them. But Brett, the fear of offending
38:05
shouldn't control us. In fact, if we're really living
38:08
out the gospel, and I don't mean to say this in a hard way or a
38:12
harsh way, but if we're living the life that Jesus has called
38:17
us to live, we will offend people, right?
38:20
Just as Jesus and Paul did. If, if I am walking through life
38:25
and someone comes up to me that is living a different lifestyle,
38:29
let's say a homosexual lifestyle or a, a same sex attraction
38:33
lifestyle. And, and I have to approach that
38:36
with a biblical perspective and, and, and guard my children and
38:40
guard my family from that because I'm living for Christ
38:44
and because I'm living for truth, they are not living in
38:47
truth and that's going to offend them.
38:49
And so it's important to note that the offense should come
38:52
from truth. It should not come from our
38:55
attitude or our approach. It should always come from the
38:58
realm of truth. When truth is offensive, it's
39:01
not on us. And this is where it gets tricky
39:03
in today's world. We need to make sure that our
39:06
desire is not necessarily to offend someone, but we must also
39:11
not compromise the gospel. We must speak the truth in love
39:15
because love and truth always go together in God's Word.
39:19
Every time we see grace, we see love and we see truth that God
39:24
calls us to be people who are of love and truth.
39:29
And you know, I'm glad you bring that up because let me say that
39:34
if you're not willing to offend someone with truth, then you
39:40
don't love them. Exactly.
39:42
You don't. If you are not willing to tell
39:45
someone the truth, even though it may hurt their feelings, even
39:48
though it may hurt your relationship, even though you
39:51
might offend them, if you're not willing to do that out of love,
39:56
then what that means is you love yourself more than you love that
40:00
person. If you're not willing to offend
40:02
them, if you want to just keep the peace and not say anything
40:06
and hold your tongue. Rather than tell them the truth.
40:09
I deal with this sometimes with family members.
40:13
I have family members that are going astray and I sometimes I
40:18
catch myself wanting to hold my tongue rather than tell them the
40:23
truth because my pride gets in the way.
40:25
But I have to stop and say, look, I love this person.
40:29
I need to tell them the truth no matter if it offends them or
40:32
not. That's how I show them that I
40:35
love them. I tell them the truth and, and,
40:38
and to take it a step further, we need to be careful not to let
40:42
the world dictate what's offensive either.
40:44
OK, We don't know if the world tell us what's offensive.
40:47
If we're living by God's Word, we will inevitably offend
40:52
people, especially when we speak the truth about sin and we speak
40:56
the truth about salvation. But listen, that's not our
41:01
fault, OK? Our goal isn't to offend people,
41:04
is to share truth in a way that's clear and loving.
41:08
Yeah, and Brett, finally, I think it's what we should be
41:11
looking at is the way this plays in the church.
41:14
Sometimes Christian feel that it's a pressure to avoid
41:18
offending someone. So what happens is, is we begin
41:21
to water down the message. I often think of Joel Osteen, we
41:26
mentioned this last week with cultural relativism, where we
41:30
water down the message of the gospel, where we say that there
41:33
I hold up my Bible in my hand and I'm not going to speak
41:35
anything with steel will because the word of the Lord is here and
41:40
and we're just going to tell stories and never approach the
41:42
gospel from a biblical perspective.
41:45
And I think that if I'm too bold, people may not come back,
41:49
right. Joelston gets up and he says if
41:51
I preach sin is sin and sin is wrong, then my 20,000, I don't
41:57
have 50,000 people. Whatever he's got, they may not
42:00
come back. They may not come back in here.
42:03
And that is not the biblical model we see all throughout
42:06
Scriptures. I'm preaching through Acts right
42:08
now, men who get up and they preach the word unashamedly.
42:14
I'm, I'm into the, the passage where Stephen is getting up and
42:17
Stephen's about to preach the gospel of the, of, of what these
42:22
people did to Jesus. He starts with Moses and they
42:25
look at him and they say you have offended us and so we're
42:28
going to kill you. He knew that, right?
42:31
He knew that they were going to kill him because they killed
42:34
Jesus. And he's preaching the same
42:36
message that Jesus preached. And so if the church isn't
42:40
supposed to be in a place where we say only what we want to
42:43
hear, then there will not ever be truth proclaimed.
42:47
And we must stand up and we must speak it.
42:50
Even when it's hard to hear, even when it's hard for us to
42:53
say the truth, even when it's difficult to call out sin, we
42:57
are called to do that. So, Brett, we've got some
43:00
examples that we're going to go to.
43:01
Any thoughts on that as we begin jumping through this?
43:05
Well, you know, I think since you talked about old Joel, you
43:09
should take the first one. So this is an example of a of
43:13
some of the some of the things that we've talked talked about.
43:16
Why don't you take this first example?
43:18
Let's do it. Many churches today shy away
43:19
from preaching on traditional biblical teaching about sin,
43:23
such as the reality of hell, the need for repentance, and the
43:26
exclusivity of Christ as a way of salvation.
43:30
May sound familiar to anyone. In an attempt to not alienate
43:33
non believers or to avoid confrontation, some churches opt
43:38
to present I mail more feel good message focusing only on God's
43:43
love without addressing the necessity of repentance and
43:47
faith in Christ. This leads to a watered down
43:49
gospel that emits the need for transformation and salvation
43:55
through Jesus. Man, if if old Joel's not the
44:00
poster boy for that one. I don't know what is.
44:03
Just never preaches on anything negative, never preaches on sin.
44:08
And then you've got other seeker sensitive churches that all they
44:12
do is preach fluff. And you know, look, if you there
44:17
is no gospel without sin, there is no gospel without repentance,
44:25
there is none. You cannot save people unless
44:29
they know what you're saving them from.
44:32
And so you know he doesn't want to offend people because he
44:35
fills Astrodome up three times on a Sunday.
44:39
That's his gravy train. And so as long as he preaches
44:42
feel good self help fluff, he still got his money coming in
44:47
OK, even though hurricanes come through and he won't open up his
44:51
church. That's another story for another
44:53
day. But this just this this, this
44:56
grinds my gears here. There's really works me about
45:00
him. I know we pick on Joel and we're
45:03
going to continue to pick on Joel.
45:05
So. But let's go on to the next one.
45:10
I'm pulling up Joel Osteen's most recent books.
45:12
Let's let's look at at his most recent books here.
45:16
The abundant mindset. Oh, how to live an abundant
45:20
mindset, the living your best self now, right.
45:24
This is this is pray boldly the as we speak the blessings of our
45:30
life 13 ways to live longer and healthier.
45:36
Here's here's a good one ready you can live the dream.
45:40
Your your greater is coming. Your greater is coming.
45:44
Don't worry about it. The greater is coming and you
45:47
get ready for it. I like this one Brett.
45:49
Rule your day. Don't let someone rule your day.
45:53
You rule your day. This is this this fluffy feel
45:58
good type of here you go again. I don't ever look at any of
46:03
Joel's books or stuff empty out the negative.
46:07
Let's get rid of the negative in our life and let's live a life
46:11
that is full of positiveness ready the the power of I am 35
46:18
life oceans. Hopefully it's talking about
46:22
Christ as the I am, not him as the I am.
46:25
But these are things right? This is the, the, the modern
46:29
world that is helping you in this self help world that's
46:32
making you feel good. So there's no confrontation and
46:37
you're going to feel good on your way to hell.
46:39
And that's the, the problem with it is there's no confrontation
46:43
of sin. And when there's no
46:45
confrontation of sin, why would you need to repent of anything?
46:50
Good old uncle Aristotle says that good intentions are always
46:54
paved with the path of leading to hell.
46:56
You may have good intentions, but if there's no repentance
46:59
then you're going to split hell wide open.
47:01
Exactly. Exactly.
47:03
The next example of this is changing stance on same sex
47:07
relationships. So in some modern churches, the
47:11
traditional biblical stance on merits and sexuality has been
47:14
adjusted or ignored to align with more more with the views of
47:20
culture that is increasingly accepting of same same sex
47:24
relationships. To avoid offending those in the
47:27
LGBTQ plus community or those who support same sex marriage,
47:33
some churches have chosen to reinterpret or downplay the
47:36
scriptures that speak against same sex relationships, choosing
47:40
instead the focus on messages of inclusion and love.
47:45
Just like our open love is love is love.
47:49
This may be done with good intentions, but it compromises
47:52
the truth of the gospel and the clarity of the church's moral
47:56
teachings. Listen, listen.
47:58
A progressive pastor is not a pastor.
48:01
A progressive church is not a church.
48:04
It's just not. When you're not speaking the
48:07
truth of God's word, you're a poser.
48:09
You're the synagogue of Satan, and that's exactly what you are.
48:13
You make you make people Christ, the child of hell that you are
48:18
when you when you, when you do this.
48:20
And so this is something we have to stand firm on.
48:24
And it's not about hate. We speak the truth in love.
48:28
We don't want to hate anybody. We're not going to turn anybody
48:31
away from coming into the church and listening to the truth.
48:35
But if they're going to be a disciple of Christ, they've got
48:38
to accept the truth that of the word of God that we preach.
48:43
And so, and this is something that is so pervasive in our
48:47
society, it's everywhere. And any chance they get to put
48:51
this type of stuff in your kids cartoons or in every new show
48:56
that comes out or every commercial that you watch, they
48:59
try to shove it down our throats to make it normal.
49:02
And some people are taking the bait and they're saying, Oh
49:04
well, this is the new normal. We need to reinterpret scripture
49:07
and update it for modern times. No, we need to stick by the
49:11
truth. Truth that is always been.
49:14
Those words in the Bible have meant the same for 2000 years
49:18
and they're not going to change in the last 20 because of
49:21
culture. Yeah, that and the.
49:23
Person that we would use for this illustration here would be
49:28
an Andy Stanley, right? He he preached the whole message
49:31
on the new normal where he and we talked about it I think on
49:34
here one time where he brought the homosexual couple up and he
49:38
said this is the new normal when he showed the graphic right.
49:40
This is what we're leading to. And I want to piggyback on one
49:44
thing you said before I jump into the next one.
49:46
You know, if Joel Osteen were to get up this next Sunday and say
49:51
church, I've sinned, I've been preaching the wrong message.
49:56
I'm needing repentance. I need to seek the Lord and
49:59
forgiveness. We, we are in the wrong
50:01
direction. We need to forsake the things
50:04
we're doing and and preach the truth of the word of God.
50:07
I would applaud that. I would stand behind him.
50:10
I would be gracious as a brother and, and welcome him in because
50:15
there was repentance and there was a recognition of what he did
50:19
wrong and his stance of where he's been at wrong.
50:22
So it's not like we're saying, no, we're never going to accept
50:25
it. If they begin to see the Bible
50:27
as truth and change their perspective and their message,
50:32
then yes, by all means we're going to welcome them in.
50:34
But if they're going to continue to never preach on sin and never
50:37
preach on repentance and accepting the world the way it
50:40
is, then then that is the opposite of what Jesus preached
50:44
on some churches in the efforts to attract larger congregations
50:50
or to avoid wealthy donors. I'm sorry to avoid offending
50:54
wealthy donors. They emphasize the teaching that
50:56
aligned with the what we call prosperity gospel.
51:00
This teaching asserts that following Jesus will lead to
51:03
financial success, health, wealth, and prosperity.
51:07
It avoids the more challenging parts of Scripture that talk
51:11
about suffering, sacrifice, and the important of laying down
51:14
one's life for another. By focusing on the benefits of
51:19
material blessings and avoiding the more difficult teachings of
51:22
Jesus, these churches continue to water down the message of the
51:27
cross. They make following Jesus about
51:30
a personal gain rather than an eternal Kingdom.
51:36
Exactly, You know, and when it comes to this, this prosperity
51:40
gospel stuff, they have this, you know, they say, oh, well, we
51:47
God wants you to have life more abundantly.
51:50
Jesus came so you would have life more abundantly.
51:53
That doesn't mean having a fat bank account.
51:56
That doesn't mean having all the good, all the nice toys.
51:59
It's about being spiritually filled with peace and
52:04
contentment and love and hope. And you know, that's what that's
52:09
what this this live a more abundant life if it's about it's
52:14
not about having all the toys. And you know, there I heard
52:18
somebody say the other day that Jesus doesn't want you.
52:22
I can't remember who said it, but Jesus doesn't want you to be
52:27
poor. Jesus doesn't want you to be
52:30
persecuted. Jesus, you know, and actually
52:34
Jesus promised us that these things would happen.
52:37
He promised us we'd be persecuted.
52:39
He promised us that the world will look down on us and we have
52:43
a hard time. So I don't buy into that
52:46
prosperity gospel junk either. Another issue that we have is
52:51
emphasizing tolerance over truth.
52:54
This is the age of tolerance. Tolerance is highly prized.
52:59
Some churches have shifted their emphasis away from calling
53:03
people the repentance and change in favor of simply being
53:06
tolerant of all views. While there is a biblical call
53:11
to love everyone and to meet them where they're at, this is
53:14
often been taken to an extreme where choices where churches
53:19
avoid proclaiming difficult truths, such as the call to
53:22
holiness and living according to biblical standards in order not
53:27
to offend. Instead of a lovingly
53:29
confronting sin and inviting people into a transformed life,
53:34
the message is simply that everyone is fine as they are,
53:38
leading to a shallow faith that lacks the life changing power of
53:43
the gospel. It is so ironic to me, James,
53:46
that this culture that preaches tolerance so much is so
53:52
intolerant to people that don't think like them.
53:55
Like, they'll have the Coexist bumper stickers with all the
53:59
different religions on there, but they really don't mean that,
54:02
OK, if you're Christian or conservative or you have
54:05
conservative views, you have a different way of thinking.
54:09
They are in fact, intolerant of people.
54:13
And they will shut people out of their lives.
54:15
We've said this several times. There's no room for forgiveness.
54:18
There's no room for repentance. And so this this preaching
54:23
tolerance is just a smokescreen for more intolerance in my
54:28
opinion. Yeah, absolutely.
54:31
We're talking about the prosperity gospel.
54:33
I went ahead and Googled real quick the richest pastors in the
54:37
world. And this came out in 2023, and I
54:41
want you to hear this, Brett. Brett, the first one that came
54:45
up was Brett Martin for some reason, and I had to continue
54:49
searching, but Kenneth Copeland is the richest pastor in the
54:54
world. In 2023.
54:56
It's estimated at $760 million, almost most a billionaire.
55:00
As a pastor, he's the founder of Eagle Mountain International
55:04
Church, 1500 acre campus. The campus has a private
55:08
airstrip with a hangar that houses his $17.5 million jet and
55:14
other aircrafts. He also has a $6 million
55:17
lakefront mansion where him and his wife Gloria reside.
55:21
He was converted to Christianity in 1960.
55:25
He's going to have plenty of time to spend that because God
55:28
told him he's going to live to 120.
55:30
Yeah, so I mean, and then this is just this overwhelming like
55:33
man, what are you, what are you doing with what God's given you,
55:37
right. Are you are you taking the stuff
55:39
that God's given you and sitting on it?
55:41
And you're going to be ashamed when you stand before the Lord
55:44
or you just spreading the gospel with the money that God's given
55:47
you. Last one here we'll look at
55:51
before we close this out is the overemphasis on social issues at
55:55
the expense of the gospel. And I at the end of this, I'm
55:59
going to talk about one of our SBC brethren here.
56:03
Some churches have increasingly focused on the political or
56:07
social issues, sometimes to the exclusion of preaching the
56:11
gospel. While addressing social justice
56:14
issues is important, there's a danger of focusing more on
56:17
cultural engagement and avoiding biblical truth that might be
56:21
seen as controversy in some instances.
56:24
Churches avoid teaching on personal salvation, sin, and
56:28
grace in favor of addressing political charge topics in a way
56:32
that may allocate their congregation or to appear woke.
56:37
The message of Christ's redemption and the call to
56:40
follow hymns become secondary in favor of the social causes and
56:44
don't necessarily reflect the core of Christian doctrine.
56:48
Brett I'm, I'm, I'm guilty of this as well, right?
56:51
Political, social issues or the heart of where I'm at.
56:54
I love politics. I love the engagement of it, but
56:58
often times I can find myself being distracted by it.
57:02
And I think that our dear brother Al Mohler, this can
57:06
happen to him as well. He spends a lot of time on the
57:09
briefing and spending time researching.
57:12
I think sometimes he becomes a distraction to the things that
57:15
are true, the things that are right and the things that need
57:18
to be addressed, even in the old seminary of Southern Seminary.
57:22
And I believe that if he took as much time investigating the
57:27
things, the political ideologies of the day, and he spent some of
57:31
that same time of investigating some of the Miss Wrong
57:38
teachings, I guess I should say at Southern Seminary, we would
57:41
begin to see some one of our flat, our flagship seminary
57:45
change for the better. But I think often times we get
57:50
charged up talking about political topics and we forget
57:53
what's right there and our front door.
57:55
And I'm guilty of that as well. And so we'll just a challenge
57:58
there of the social issues that we can get caught up in.
58:02
Exactly. You know, Jesus is, we're called
58:05
a priest, Christ crucified, and that that's what we're here to
58:08
do. And on the subject of social
58:11
issues, I want to say that Jesus did meet physical needs, but
58:16
Jesus never met a physical need without addressing a spiritual
58:20
need. Because even when he said to the
58:25
lame man, he didn't say stand up and walk first.
58:30
He said your sins are forgiven because even though the man
58:34
couldn't walk, he couldn't stand his bigger need was his
58:39
spiritual need was his need for salvation.
58:42
So we we have yes, we address physical needs, but that
58:46
dressing physical needs is just an Ave. to addressing spiritual
58:51
needs because that's where the true need is.
58:55
You know, at the end of the day, we have to live by truth.
58:59
It's truth that sets people free.
59:03
That's that's why we think that this is in our sphere of, of
59:10
subjects that we can talk on. We have a four Freedom podcast
59:13
and it is truth that sets people free of what we've been giving
59:17
you today is is all truth, you know, not sugarcoat, not sugar
59:23
coating it so we can avoid stepping on people's toes.
59:27
OK, you know what? We should be mindful of how we
59:31
speak to others, but we should never avoid speaking the truth
59:35
just because it might offend someone.
59:37
Never do that. Absolutely.
59:40
That's well said there, Brett. Not avoiding things to offend,
59:44
but as long as it's in truth, in love and grace, it's a great way
59:49
to do it. And I think that's going to wrap
59:51
up today's episode. We hope this has helped you in
59:54
thinking through the balance of truth and love and fear of
59:56
offending as we go through the world that we live in today,
1:00:00
Remember, our goal is not to avoid offending people at all
1:00:05
cost, but it is to speak truth in love, just as Jesus and Paul
1:00:09
did. And sometimes love has to be
1:00:12
tough. There's times where Jesus spoke
1:00:15
the truth in love. And it was still rough for him
1:00:17
to call those people whitewashed tombs.
1:00:20
It was tough for him to step up and whip the criminals out of
1:00:24
the courtyard and said, you're turning my father's house into a
1:00:27
House of thieves. It was tough for him to do that.
1:00:30
But he was doing it out of love, out of purity, out of the
1:00:33
purging his church. Think about how tough it was for
1:00:36
him. Think about how tough it was for
1:00:38
him to stand up in his hometown. Oh man, yeah.
1:00:42
And say what he said to them, to the people that he that saw him
1:00:46
as a kid, that saw him as a teenager.
1:00:49
And he knew that they would reject him.
1:00:51
And he knew that he would never ever be ever could ever go back
1:00:56
to where he grew up. And he was shown from there
1:00:59
forever. He can never see his home again.
1:01:02
He never went back to Nazareth after that.
1:01:05
Think of how hard that was for him.
1:01:07
But he didn't anyway because he loved them.
1:01:10
So my final words are this. Look, speak truth in love,
1:01:15
because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what man thinks
1:01:18
of you and only matters what God thinks of.
1:01:22
Absolutely, I love it. Well, until next time, to God be
1:01:25
the glory. Great things he has done.
1:01:29
A new name found that good grace, found that healing.
1:01:35
And the tears fell down my face when I found my beginning and
1:01:39
has no ending. I found that second chance,
1:01:41
found my best friend, found my forgiveness, found my happiness.
1:01:43
I've been singing ever since I found my freedom.
1:02:00
Thanks for listening to the Four Freedom Podcast.
1:02:03
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