Latest / Relish: a Christian podcast / Introducing: RELISH

Transcript

Introducing: RELISH · Relish: a Christian podcast

• 0:00
  Music.
• 0:11
  Just sufficient to flavor, to be pleased or gratified by, enjoy.
• 0:16
  We are hoping that what we bring to your table today might add some spice to your life.
• 0:22
  Well, welcome, ladies and gentlemen. We have Don here. How are you doing,
• 0:27
  Don? Doing all right, Rowan. How are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Good.
• 0:30
  We are continuing the TMAD series without Alex this time, and I am attempting to take his place.
• 0:39
  So I've come with some questions prepared and- Excellent. Let's go for it. I'll just fire away.
• 0:44
  First one, what if a member of a Christian church doesn't tithe?
• 0:49
  Well, there's no mandate, but then if you don't, then where's your heart really at?
• 0:56
  I think Jesus said it, can't hardly do better than Jesus.
• 1:00
  In Matthew 6, what I remember Jesus saying is that where our heart is,
• 1:08
  Where our treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• 1:11
  And so he's talking about where we store up treasure since heaven.
• 1:15
  That's Matthew 6, verses 19 through 21.
• 1:19
  And I think what it does is reveals the fact that, okay, where's your priority?
• 1:25
  And your priority will be echoed in your lifestyle and your choices.
• 1:29
  So if you choose not to tithe, then it reflects that, well, maybe God's not
• 1:35
  all that important. Maybe the church isn't all that important.
• 1:38
  I would go so far as to say, when I didn't tithe, I didn't get the blessing that I got when I do.
• 1:46
  Now, I'm not going with a theology that says, okay, you give a little bit more
• 1:52
  to the church and you'll get that much better blessing.
• 1:54
  No, we're not going there. That's not going to make it. But what I am noticing
• 1:59
  in my personal life is when I was willing to give 10% of what I was receiving,
• 2:06
  God, I felt better about what God was doing in my life.
• 2:09
  I don't know whether it was magic or what it was, but I felt better about what
• 2:14
  God was doing because I was able to contribute.
• 2:16
  Yeah. It became an investment.
• 2:20
  Things changed, priorities changed. And what's interesting is, you know, that's 10%.
• 2:28
  I mean, really, it's not, I mean, you're still living on 90%.
• 2:31
  And I knew a preacher who wrote a tremendous book and it really sold well.
• 2:37
  And it was a New York Times bestseller for weeks and weeks and weeks on end.
• 2:44
  And so he reverse tithed. He
• 2:47
  gave 90% to the church and he was starting a church and it was a new work.
• 2:52
  And so you could use the money.
• 2:54
  And he gave 90% to the church and lived off at 10% and drove that Ford Escort
• 3:00
  at the time until it was on its last wheels.
• 3:03
  And yet he was a bestselling author.
• 3:06
  And that to me said quite a bit. When a Christian is willing to put that much
• 3:11
  forward of what they're doing into the work they're doing, that's cool.
• 3:15
  So the tithe, it's not required, but then I think it's still a pretty good idea.
• 3:22
  Yeah. Kind of like what you were saying. I've heard several people in the church,
• 3:26
  we're talking about this in small group and a couple of sponsors are saying
• 3:31
  how when they started tithing and like consistently,
• 3:35
  like a lot of their financial problems went away.
• 3:39
  I would say the very same thing. My financial problems went away when I tithed,
• 3:43
  but I can't make that a promise, and there's no guarantee that we're going right on.
• 3:48
  But it just seemed like if it changed something in me enough to see it differently,
• 3:53
  maybe, but it happened, it was good.
• 3:57
  So I'd say do it. It's worth doing. Definitely.
• 4:01
  So then next question is, are all denominations of Christianity saved?
• 4:09
  Oh my goodness. Ron, where'd you get that question?
• 4:15
  Are all denominations of Jonah?
• 4:20
  That's a really good one. That's almost a Don, that's a Don stumper.
• 4:24
  I know it's not your decision to make it.
• 4:26
  No, I really am not judge and jury. And I praise the Lord for that.
• 4:30
  I guess I would say this. I would have little red flags if they don't hold to
• 4:36
  the things that are common to the Christian Orthodox beliefs.
• 4:40
  Like the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, hold those things that are common
• 4:46
  to Orthodox Christianity.
• 4:48
  It means one God, creator of all things.
• 4:51
  Son, Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, lived and taught among us
• 4:57
  and died upon the cross for our sins and was raised on the third day. Those kind of things.
• 5:02
  The Holy Spirit, which is a counselor and leader in this life and gives gifts
• 5:09
  to the followers of Christ.
• 5:12
  It's almost in every hymnal, the things that are orthodox.
• 5:16
  Now, then, you know, like the Anabaptist faith goes beyond orthodoxy and it
• 5:21
  has seven distinctives of the Anabaptist faith.
• 5:24
  As long as you're keeping those things that are marks of orthodox Christianity,
• 5:29
  I don't think salvation between denominations is a big question.
• 5:34
  If that group says, well, there's many ways to God, then no, that group is in danger.
• 5:40
  I mean, really, from an earthly perspective, which is what we have to work from
• 5:44
  right now, that group is in danger because that's not orthodox.
• 5:50
  Jesus said in John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
• 5:56
  No one comes to the Father except through me.
• 5:59
  That's John 14, 6. That's scripture.
• 6:02
  It doesn't get much clearer than black and white, and that's what it says.
• 6:07
  I like that answer. Good.
• 6:10
  Now you got to stump me again.
• 6:14
  Yeah. I've got a million of them. He says this one.
• 6:21
  Yeah. We'll see about this one. How close are we to the second coming of Jesus?
• 6:25
  Oh, I think we're closer than we want to think we are.
• 6:28
  As I see things rolling down historically, what's happening in Israel right
• 6:34
  now, I think is important to keep our eyes on because that's fulfilling scripture.
• 6:39
  The moving of the embassy, that was pretty major because it brings the center
• 6:46
  back to the city of Jerusalem for Israel.
• 6:49
  We're seeing, yeah, I don't know that we're that far, but what a few well-placed
• 6:56
  answers to prophecy would put us there.
• 6:59
  Okay. I really, I'm not anxious about it.
• 7:04
  I'm not anxious about Christ coming again. I want it to happen. Yeah.
• 7:08
  Yeah. I'm anxious that we haven't got enough work done and got the gospel out
• 7:13
  far enough for it to happen.
• 7:16
  But yeah, I watch the news and, oh, yeah, red moons. Yeah, could be.
• 7:24
  So you want to throw out a number or? No, I really don't.
• 7:28
  Because every time some godly person throws out a number, Satan makes sure it doesn't come true.
• 7:34
  I mean, he does his part to mess things up all the time.
• 7:37
  So I don't want to do that for two reasons. Nobody will know.
• 7:41
  Nobody, yeah. It'll for sure not happen then.
• 7:44
  But the pieces I see coming together would indicate it's closer now than it has ever been.
• 7:52
  But then I think Jesus said that back in Matthew 24.
• 7:56
  So at least I've got a good reference behind me. You know, Matthew 24,
• 8:01
  yeah, it's closer now than when we first begun.
• 8:04
  Good question. but when we watch the news let's watch for it don't be afraid don't be antsy about it.
• 8:13
  We are closer than when we first began, when we first believed.
• 8:17
  Yeah. Okay. So. Got another Don Stumper there? I do.
• 8:23
  This is. You're good at this. I was going through the Sermon on the Mount with
• 8:27
  like a Bible study group I have at school.
• 8:29
  Kind of, we're trying to work through and memorize it.
• 8:32
  Oh, really? Yeah. That is cool. We're about through chapter five right now or so. Wow. And.
• 8:39
  That's major. Kudos to you guys. It was somewhere. let's turn to Matthew 5 I
• 8:44
  forget I got it right here what section it was,
• 8:47
  tell me what you're looking for and I'll tell you where it's at I was gonna
• 8:51
  want I was asking if there's a tier system in heaven because it said how.
• 8:58
  Somewhere it said if you do this you'll be seen as a lease and if you okay you're
• 9:03
  in verses 17 through 20 so it talks yeah there we go do not think that I've
• 9:09
  come to abolish law I've come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
• 9:13
  I'll tell you the truth, and until heaven and earth disappear,
• 9:16
  not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen will by any means disappear
• 9:20
  from the law until everything is accomplished.
• 9:23
  There you go for the last question you got going.
• 9:26
  Anyone who breaks one of these least of these commandments and teaches others
• 9:30
  to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
• 9:33
  but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
• 9:37
  I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and
• 9:42
  the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
• 9:46
  And so your question was, is there a tier system in heaven?
• 9:50
  And that's a little hard for us to know, but there are certain indicators of it.
• 9:55
  One would be the seventh heaven, the different layers of heaven that Paul saw in his vision.
• 10:01
  And we know that we're at least three.
• 10:03
  The first would be the heaven that we see just above us.
• 10:07
  The second would be that heaven in which the stars and the sun and moon travel
• 10:14
  in, would be in ancient times considered the second heaven.
• 10:18
  The third heaven would be where God himself exists and resides.
• 10:23
  So there's tears that way, according to what Paul was talking about.
• 10:27
  The thing that I find in this passage that's interesting is you notice that in In verse 20,
• 10:34
  it talks about righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees and teachers of
• 10:38
  the law, and their righteousness was law-driven, and if you didn't keep all
• 10:43
  these laws, then you weren't good.
• 10:47
  And I think Jesus is saying, you could get there that way, but he's actually
• 10:53
  going to reveal on the cross a better way that has to do with grace through his blood.
• 11:00
  He talks about anyone who breaks the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same.
• 11:06
  You know, he'll come out in the same passage in Matthew 18 and talk about those
• 11:10
  who would trick up children.
• 11:13
  He says, if you teach others to do what you're doing wrong, it's actually better
• 11:19
  for you to have a millstone put around your neck, which is sort of a sinking feeling. Yeah.
• 11:26
  So that being the case, that would be one layer. That's not to be done.
• 11:32
  I think there is some, and I think that 1 Corinthians 3 passage that we talked
• 11:39
  about earlier in a question is one of those that says,
• 11:42
  okay, you got gold on your foundation, or do you have silver on your foundation,
• 11:47
  or costly stones, or wood, hair, and straw?
• 11:50
  That's sort of different from one person to the next as to what's actually going
• 11:56
  to be there on that foundation and what you've got in the kingdom when you get there.
• 12:00
  Jesus would, I'll put it just a little bit farther.
• 12:03
  If you go to chapter six, he says, do not store up for yourselves treasures
• 12:08
  on earth where moth and rust destroy,
• 12:11
  where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven
• 12:16
  where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
• 12:21
  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• 12:24
  To me, that says there is a way of getting equity if you will,
• 12:30
  in heaven, investing in heaven.
• 12:33
  And so if there's investment in heaven, then if you're investing more heavily
• 12:37
  than I am, likely you've got a different spot than I do. Does that make sense? It does.
• 12:44
  What would that, I guess we don't really know, but what would that look like then?
• 12:49
  It's really a good question. I go to James chapter one and then realize that
• 12:53
  there's crowns that you can have in heaven, wow, that's equity that I hadn't really banked on.
• 13:00
  I was just wanting a nice place to live.
• 13:02
  But when you get to James 1, and he talks about brother in humble circumstances
• 13:10
  and high circumstances, and then he goes on and says,
• 13:14
  blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the
• 13:18
  test, verse 12, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
• 13:23
  So crowns. Cool. Yeah.
• 13:26
  I like that. I never thought of myself as royalty.
• 13:31
  That could be really cool. Marcus Warner has us thinking of ourselves as royalty,
• 13:36
  and Deaver Walk talks about that. I like that.
• 13:39
  As if we're kingdom people. Okay, here's his story.
• 13:43
  So I think some of us have a hard time getting a handle on who are we in Christ? Who are we in Christ?
• 13:53
  So if Jesus Christ is the Son of Almighty God and His blood on the cross actually
• 13:59
  saved us from our sin, When we believe in that, Romans 6,
• 14:04
  then we take on that person.
• 14:09
  In Romans 8, it says, then we are sons of God.
• 14:13
  As if, it says it better than I can remember it off the top of my head.
• 14:20
  It says, therefore, but the Spirit has put to death the misdeeds of the body
• 14:25
  you live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
• 14:29
  For if you did not receive the spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,
• 14:34
  you received the spirit of sonship.
• 14:36
  And by him, we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit
• 14:40
  that we are God's children. Okay, what does that mean?
• 14:44
  It means a sense of adoption. So let's say in a kingdom, the only means for
• 14:51
  you to get by as an orphan would be to steal and get your apples off the cake and not pay for them.
• 14:58
  And so you'd have this spreadsheet, if you will, of your deeds that need to be somehow dealt with.
• 15:05
  What if the king all of a sudden put out a decree that if you came to him and
• 15:12
  you could get a script that takes care of all that background and wipes it clean.
• 15:19
  And so you sort of don't think you're going to do that.
• 15:22
  And you see some of your friends do that and they get script and yes,
• 15:25
  they're free of their old debt.
• 15:27
  And so that becomes exciting. So you participate in that you go ahead and you
• 15:30
  go to the King and his people give you a script that makes you free of that debt.
• 15:36
  That's all well and good. That feel good? Now, would that make it so that you wouldn't sin more?
• 15:41
  No. I mean, really, there's no incentive. Yeah. Got it all wiped away once,
• 15:45
  and you still have to live. Yeah. You still have to live.
• 15:48
  But if the king comes into town, and your name, personally, your name,
• 15:54
  is being called out from all of his servants.
• 15:58
  They're calling your name and wanting you come to the chariot, to the king.
• 16:03
  And you're sort of scared that
• 16:05
  maybe there's a witch hunt here or a head hunt, a number on your head.
• 16:09
  And so your friends say, no, this is the chariot. You're to go to see the king.
• 16:16
  And you go and they take you in the chariot to the castle.
• 16:20
  You meet the king and the king says, I know who you are and I know your parents.
• 16:27
  And they were good people. And because of who they are and who they were, I want to adopt you.
• 16:35
  And not only will I adopt you, you will be my child.
• 16:39
  You will carry my name. You will be part of my kinship.
• 16:45
  Right now, you can't live in the castle until my son comes back.
• 16:49
  But when my son comes back, you'll be there.
• 16:52
  Now, if we lived from that perspective, would it change anything?
• 16:56
  Then we're royalty, right? We're royalty.
• 16:59
  That's pretty cool. Thank you, Marcus.
• 17:02
  Yeah, it really is cool because I think we often struggle with who are we as
• 17:07
  God's children? Who are we in Christ?
• 17:11
  And then that really does shape how we live out our discipleship.
• 17:17
  Yeah, that was a good question. I got a lot of mileage out. You got that one.
• 17:21
  Wow. Okay. You hit all of that one. And a few other things too.
• 17:27
  Thank you, Rowan. yeah thank you Don thank you guys for listening in hope you
• 17:32
  enjoyed and stay tuned for next time Lord willing we'll be here.