Latest / Karl and Crew / Avoiding Spiritual and Biblical Deception with Dr. Sam Storms and Cultivating an Appetite for the Word of God with Nate Pickowicz

Transcript

Avoiding Spiritual and Biblical Deception with Dr. Sam Storms and Cultivating an Appetite for the Word of God with Nate Pickowicz · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Coming to you live in studio. It's Carl and crew
• 0:05
  S1: on Moody radio.
• 0:07
  S2: Is it in the Bible or is it not? Let's
• 0:11
  S2: play a little game. We'll pretend we've got some game
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  S2: show music. Nice. We'll pretend that there's a cheesy background.
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  S2: And I'm your host. Woo hoo! You'd be a great host,
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  S2: by the way. Game show host. Yeah.
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  S3: I think like a trivia game. You would.
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  S2: That would be so much fun. I used to I
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  S2: used to really enjoy watching those those game shows.
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  S3: Yeah. I mean, I know we're off tangent there, but
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  S3: I mean, when you said that I thought you would
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  S3: be a great host.
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  S2: So would you super die? You're the one who's got
• 0:41
  S2: experience since you're not a game show, but you were
• 0:43
  S2: on the, the the Bozo show. That's right.
• 0:46
  S3: That's right. I got major experience.
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  S2: Major experience. Okay. I want you to put your thinking
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  S2: caps on and I am going to read to you something,
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  S2: a phrase, a saying. And I want you to in
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  S2: your mind decide. is that in the Bible? Is it
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  S2: close but not quite. Or nope, not there at all.
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  S2: First question. Yes. For I know the plans I have
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  S2: for you. Yes, it's in there. Close, but not quite. Nope.
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  S2: Somebody else said that. What do you say?
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  S3: It's in there.
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  S2: I'm going to go with. Yes, it's in there. And
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  S2: that is correct. Jeremiah 2911 for I know the plans
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  S2: I have for you. Next up, God is in control.
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  S2: Is that in the Bible? Is that close but not quite.
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  S2: Or did somebody else say that close? I think I'm
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  S2: I think I'm with you. I think I'm, I think
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  S2: I'm it's a close, but not quite that it's true
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  S2: in principle, but I don't know if that is actually verbiage. Okay.
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  S2: We are this is a nope. Somebody else it this
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  S2: is a modern comfort phrase, not a verse. Though plenty
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  S2: of verses point at the idea. It's not actually explicitly
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  S2: stated in the Bible. It is. It is true that
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  S2: God is sovereign. We know that. God is in control.
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  S2: It's not a verse. All right, let's go a couple more.
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  S2: And if you have been listening this week, you better
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  S2: nail this one. God helps those who help themselves. Is
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  S2: it in there? Close to a knuckle?
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  S3: That was a terrible. That is zonker.
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  S2: But that is a nope. But that was said by
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  S2: somebody else that, as we talked about extensively on Monday,
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  S2: was from a fable. A farmer who gets his wagon
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  S2: stuck in the mud and then cries out for help
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  S2: from Hercules. And another is told, according to the fable,
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  S2: that essentially heaven helps those who help themselves put your
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  S2: shoulder to the wagon and push man.
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  S3: Is that where it comes? Put your shoulder to the metal.
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  S2: Or maybe, I don't know. That might have also been
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  S2: Aesop's Fable.
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  S3: Okay, yeah.
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  S2: I'm going to give you one more. As a dog
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  S2: returns to his vomit. So a fool repeats his folly.
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  S2: Think about it for a minute. Is that in Scripture? Yes.
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  S2: It's there. Close, but not quite. Nope. Somebody else.
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  S3: I'm going.
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  S2: Yes, yes, it is in there. That is correct. That
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  S2: is Proverbs 2611. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And now I'm
• 3:14
  S2: going to throw in one more bonus one before I
• 3:16
  S2: give you a link to the quiz, where you can
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  S2: take some more of these questions on your own time.
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  S2: What about this saying when God closes a door, he
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  S2: opens a window? Is it in scripture or is it not?
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  S2: What do you say?
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  S3: I think not.
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  S2: It is not in Scripture. And I did some digging
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  S2: on this yesterday and was absolutely delighted to find that
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  S2: the origin of that little phrase that is oft repeated
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  S2: when God closes a door. I'll say it in the
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  S2: voice that it said, and then you can figure out
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  S2: where this came from, right? When God closes it all,
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  S2: he opens a window that was said by.
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  S3: Your favorite.
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  S2: And The Sound.
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  S3: Of Music your favorite. Oh my.
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  S4: I have confidence in sunshine. I have confidence in rain.
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  S4: I have confidence that spring will come again. Besides which,
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  S4: you see, I have confidence in me.
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  S2: Yes, that was said when she's leaving the abbey. Because
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  S2: she gets this assignment to go and care for.
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  S3: The.
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  S2: Captain, the Von Trapp family and his children. She walks
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  S2: out and she's got her bag in her hand and
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  S2: her hat on her head, and she's nervous. And so
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  S2: she says, when God closes a door somewhere, he opens
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  S2: a window.
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  S3: He's got the accent and everything.
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  S2: I know the accents, the accents. Not not good at all.
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  S2: But it's fun trying.
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  S3: I did not know that was your where I originated.
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  S2: There are other versions of the of.
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  S3: That.
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  S2: Circulating. But that particular phrase. 1965 Sound of Music today.
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  S3: I was.
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  S2: Really excited.
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  S3: To learn that. Sure you were.
• 5:05
  S2: So I want to give you this quiz that Drew
• 5:07
  S2: Dickens Doctor Drew Dickens helped put together with the help
• 5:11
  S2: of AI. He put this together just for you so
• 5:13
  S2: that you can quiz yourself on some of these sayings.
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  S2: You're going to learn a thing or two. I have
• 5:17
  S2: not gotten a perfect score yet, and I've taken it. There's.
• 5:20
  S2: You can take it multiple times because it's it cycles
• 5:23
  S2: through about 100 plus questions, 18 at a time. So
• 5:26
  S2: if you want this quiz, just text drew to (800) 555-7898.
• 5:33
  S2: And I want to reiterate, this is just for fun.
• 5:35
  S2: There's no there's no gold stars awarded. There's no red marks.
• 5:38
  S2: If you miss some just text drew. Have some fun
• 5:41
  S2: with this. Drew to (800) 555-7898. Just text drew (800) 555-7898.
• 5:50
  S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the cast and
• 5:53
  S1: crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
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  S2: So it's not in Scripture that saying that originated with
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  S2: The Sound of Music. The best movie ever made. When
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  S2: God closes a door somewhere, he opens a window. You've
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  S2: heard versions of that, probably right? That when when God
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  S2: closes a door, some other door is going to open. And,
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  S2: you know, this is what's usually told to people in
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  S2: situations like what a the loss of a job or
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  S2: you didn't get the promotion or when some expected advancement,
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  S2: an open door is not given to you, it's denied
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  S2: to you or it's taken away from you. And so
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  S2: it feels comforting to tell somebody, okay, well, God closed
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  S2: that door. Surely somewhere else he's opened one.
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  S3: And I'm guilty of using that phrase in some way. Well, I.
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  S2: Mean, I wouldn't use the word guilty because.
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  S3: Okay.
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  S2: But let's coming up. Let's examine. We've already established that
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  S2: there's no verse that says that. But coming up, let's
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  S2: talk about open and closed doors. Is there any biblical
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  S2: basis for that at all? Well, examine coming up. You know,
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  S2: talking about these separating fact from fiction in the Word
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  S2: of God. There's a couple different categories here, and I
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  S2: want to be super clear. There are, as we will
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  S2: discuss later this morning, there are times when the Word
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  S2: of God is intentionally misused to try to deceive, to
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  S2: try to mislead. There are times when the Word of
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  S2: God is mistakenly misquoted, where there's not the same motives,
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  S2: but the impact of putting forth something as the Word
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  S2: of God that isn't there certainly can be problematic for
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  S2: a lot of reasons, but I want to free you
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  S2: up here. And I feel like I'm. Sometimes, even when
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  S2: Carl isn't here, sometimes I hear myself and I'm like, boy,
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  S2: I sound like Carl here because I can hear him saying,
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  S2: I want to I want to free you here.
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  S3: That's right.
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  S2: This is not a Diana. You mentioned you've used this
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  S2: when when God closes a door, you know, somewhere he
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  S2: opens a window or somewhere another door.
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  S3: Yeah, yeah.
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  S2: And and I want to I want to set you free.
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  S2: If you've if you have used some of these sayings
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  S2: that are so popular, I don't want you to feel
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  S2: a sense of shame or, or, or guilt or like, oh, no,
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  S2: I've misled. There are plenty of things that are true
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  S2: generally that maybe you don't have a chapter and verse,
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  S2: but we know several things about God. We know that
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  S2: God is sovereign.
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  S3: That that's just it. Knowing he is sovereign, his plan
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  S3: is far better than anything that we can ever put
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  S3: on paper ourselves, or in our mind or in our
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  S3: hearts that he is sovereign and he does all things.
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  S3: He loves us. He loves us. He can do all things.
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  S2: So it is okay to speak about the character of
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  S2: God and you're not presuming upon. I think the problem
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  S2: is when we when we think that. Okay, so this
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  S2: door is closed. So some as if it's some sort
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  S2: of a magical formula that like a door is closed,
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  S2: a window is opened. Like it's not. We know that
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  S2: God doesn't always work that way, that sometimes a door
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  S2: closes and you're not even sure what your next step is,
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  S2: but you trust that God has is going to direct
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  S2: and order your steps, because you can build a whole
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  S2: case for God leading his people.
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  S3: And at that time, more than ever, put your trust
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  S3: in God to go where that next so-called door will open.
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  S3: But so let's talk.
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  S2: Let's look for closed and open doors in Scripture. Is
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  S2: that biblical? I'm going to read a couple passages for
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  S2: you and and and you can draw your own conclusions.
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  S2: I want to first go to Colossians four three says.
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  S2: At the same time, pray also for us, that God
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  S2: may open to us a door for the word, to
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  S2: declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I
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  S2: am in prison. That's out of Colossians. Let's go to
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  S2: second Corinthians 212 and 13. When I came to Troas
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  S2: to preach, to preach the gospel of Christ, even though
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  S2: a door was opened for me in the Lord, my
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  S2: spirit was not at rest because I did not find
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  S2: my brother Titus there. So in both of those cases,
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  S2: the open door is speaking of ministry opportunities. One more
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  S2: for you. First Corinthians 16. I'm going to read to
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  S2: you five through nine. This I will visit you after
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  S2: passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia.
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  S2: And perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend
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  S2: the winter so that you may help me on my
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  S2: journey wherever I go. For I do not want to
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  S2: see you. Now, just in passing, I hope to spend
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  S2: some time with you if the Lord permits. But I
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  S2: will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door
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  S2: for effective work has opened to me, and there are
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  S2: many adversaries.
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  S3: So encouraging.
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  S2: How encouraging. Right?
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  S3: Super encouraging.
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  S2: Actually, there are three passages where clearly the language used
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  S2: here is a door being opened for ministry. So it's
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  S2: okay to look for open doors where God is providing
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  S2: opportunities for you in ministry, that his leading can often
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  S2: come in the form of open doors. But as we
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  S2: see in first Corinthians 16, there was a wide door
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  S2: open and there were many adversaries. So you would think, wow,
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  S2: if there's a lot of opposition that seems like a closed.
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  S3: Door, I want.
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  S2: It seems like a closed door, right? There's opposition that
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  S2: feels like a door being slammed shut in your face.
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  S2: Maybe not, maybe not. Yeah, because he's saying this is
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  S2: a wide door for ministry, and there are many adversaries.
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  S2: There's a popular Bible teacher who I have learned a
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  S2: lot from, and something she says often is we should
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  S2: not whisper where Scripture screams and we should not scream
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  S2: where Scripture whispers. And here's what she means by that.
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  S2: I think we have to be careful not to build
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  S2: a whole theology on things where there's the scriptures whispering.
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  S2: So I think where it comes to closed and open doors,
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  S2: I think there's some whispering there. And we don't we
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  S2: don't know exactly like how that always works. There are
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  S2: other places where Scripture screams, Scripture screams of grace and mercy.
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  S3: Do I have your attention? Do I have your attention?
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  S2: So we want to. So the takeaway is we don't
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  S2: want to build a whole theology on. So every closed
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  S2: and open door, if that's your primary or only way
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  S2: of saying where God's leading, I think we have to
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  S2: be careful because it could be the case that a
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  S2: door could appear closed, that God absolutely wants us to
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  S2: continue to try to knock on. Right?
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  S3: Right. Keep going.
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  S2: So I want to give you those passages if you're
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  S2: taking notes. Colossians four three, and then I was also
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  S2: in first and second Corinthians, first Corinthians 165 through nine,
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  S2: second Corinthians 212 and 13, where God closes the door.
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  S2: I don't know.
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  S3: Don't know.
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  S2: I don't know, but abide. So I think maybe a
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  S2: better way to say that is when God closes a door,
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  S2: seek him, trust him, trust that he's leading you. Abide.
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  S3: Yes.
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  S2: And look for open doors of ministry opportunities.
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  S3: Yes.
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  S2: I like that. Let's land there.
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  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 13:44
  S2: How long do you think it takes to write a book?
• 13:47
  S2: To write a full book. Get it published, get it printed,
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  S2: have it disseminated. It used to be that someone had
• 13:54
  S2: to write a full book to get their ideas out there.
• 13:59
  S2: Then you could do a website, which can happen much
• 14:03
  S2: more quickly. Now you can press a button on your
• 14:08
  S2: phone and instantly have a pretty wide audience to be
• 14:13
  S2: able to say whatever you like. How has that impacted
• 14:18
  S2: us spiritually? So many people talking, so many people with
• 14:24
  S2: a platform, saying some good things, some things that are biblical.
• 14:28
  S2: The gospel for sure is going out on social media,
• 14:32
  S2: on Facebook, on Instagram, on all of the different platforms
• 14:35
  S2: that maybe I'm too old to use. But then what
• 14:39
  S2: about the risk of false teaching? How do you know?
• 14:42
  S2: Will you be able to know when what you're hearing
• 14:46
  S2: is true or not true? Doctor Sam Storms is with
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  S2: us right now weighing in on this very important topic.
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  S2: It's never been easier to speak loudly to a lot
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  S2: of people at one time. And that can lead to
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  S2: a lot of deception. Just start there kind of the
• 15:06
  S2: moment we're in just with technology.
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  S5: Yes. In fact, it's interesting, as I was thinking about
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  S5: this before we came on the air, every single letter
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  S5: of the Apostle Paul, except for that short personal letter
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  S5: he sent to Philemon, contains warnings about false teachers and
• 15:22
  S5: false prophets, and alerts us to the fact that they're
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  S5: going to be present, that we are not to be
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  S5: naive or gullible. I think perhaps the most interesting one
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  S5: was when Paul was leaving Ephesus. He had the elders
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  S5: gathered around him and he says, I'm telling you that
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  S5: as soon as I leave immediately after my departure, fierce
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  S5: wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock
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  S5: and from among your own selves, from. Think of that
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  S5: from even among the elders at Ephesus, men will arise
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  S5: speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.
• 15:55
  S5: And that's why when Paul issues his said, be alert,
• 15:58
  S5: be conscious. And, um, don't be naive. Realize that, uh,
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  S5: people who maybe have good intentions or you, you may
• 16:06
  S5: have a good relationship with them. They can still be
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  S5: individuals who are promoting false teaching. So all through the
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  S5: New Testament, we are warned about this. And of course,
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  S5: we're seeing it very much in our day, I think
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  S5: probably more so now than ever before.
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  S2: So how rampant is spiritual deception? Is this how big
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  S2: of a problem is it?
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  S5: Yeah, that's a interesting question. I think really, anybody who
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  S5: has any degree of discernment can just open their eyes
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  S5: and ears and they see it everywhere. You just turn
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  S5: on the radio, Listen to some podcasts. Watch a television
• 16:38
  S5: show that on a Sunday morning. Um. It's everywhere. It's pervasive.
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  S5: And I think one of the reasons behind it for
• 16:46
  S5: a couple of reasons, number one is because oftentimes false
• 16:49
  S5: teaching is very appealing. Yeah, it sounds new. It sounds novel. Oh,
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  S5: I've got something to tell you that the church has
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  S5: never known before, which ought to be a red flag immediately.
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  S5: So it is very appealing. And then secondly, uh, it
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  S5: generates a lot of income for those who are who
• 17:04
  S5: are promoting this. Uh, you think, uh, somebody is going
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  S5: to hold a conference basically, uh, undermining certain biblical doctrines
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  S5: as over against another conference down the road that's simply
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  S5: going to do a verse by verse study of the
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  S5: book of Romans. Where are people going to go? They're
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  S5: going to go to the first. They want their ears tickled,
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  S5: as Paul said, and we have to be aware of that.
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  S2: So let's talk about some of the big trends or
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  S2: categories where you see this deception most clearly. Start with
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  S2: what you see is the. What's the biggest one right now?
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  S2: The biggest area from your vantage point of spiritual deception?
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  S5: I think probably the biggest one is the push back
• 17:44
  S5: against what I would call the exclusivity of the claims
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  S5: of Christ. The fact that John 14, where Jesus says,
• 17:52
  S5: I am the way, the truth, and the life, no
• 17:54
  S5: one comes to the father but by me. They're beating
• 17:57
  S5: up on that passage. They're trying to rewrite it, reread it,
• 18:00
  S5: reinterpret it, because they don't like the idea that the
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  S5: only way to be reconciled to the father is through
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  S5: faith in the the cross work of the son. And
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  S5: so it seems as if they try to portray themselves
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  S5: as well. We're really motivated by love. We just really
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  S5: are concerned about the people who seem never to have
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  S5: heard about Jesus. But they fail to remember that God
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  S5: will only hold people accountable for what he has revealed
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  S5: to them. And we're reading Romans one that he is
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  S5: revealed to all mankind his existence, his attributes, his power,
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  S5: his eternal nature, and also through conscience. So, um, it's
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  S5: not an unloving thing to, to maintain the standard of
• 18:41
  S5: teaching in Scripture that it is only through faith in Christ.
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  S5: I think coming along with that is this ever growing
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  S5: rejection of penal substitutionary atonement, the idea that when Jesus died,
• 18:52
  S5: he suffered the penalty in our place. There's the penal substitutionary, um,
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  S5: in order to atone for our sin. You know, there
• 19:00
  S5: characterized characterizing this as, oh, that's cosmic child abuse, which
• 19:05
  S5: is a horrible thing to say, uh, of the most
• 19:08
  S5: glorious thing that has ever done, namely the cross of Jesus.
• 19:11
  S5: But the rejecting that, um, there, there are others who
• 19:15
  S5: are advocating, you know, they come from the other end
• 19:17
  S5: of the spectrum that they wouldn't deny anything that I've
• 19:20
  S5: just said, but they're into this prosperity gospel where they
• 19:23
  S5: think that it's God's will to make you healthy and wealthy.
• 19:26
  S5: And that's primarily the promise of the gospel. Um, and
• 19:30
  S5: if you're not, it's because you lack the faith. So
• 19:33
  S5: there are all sorts of, um, false teachings that emerge
• 19:37
  S5: in our day. I think those are the ones that
• 19:39
  S5: are carrying the most weight. And let me just say
• 19:41
  S5: one more thing. The underlying assumption in all these views
• 19:46
  S5: is that the Bible is not the inspired and inerrant
• 19:49
  S5: word of God. It's it's a helpful guide. It's, you know,
• 19:52
  S5: describes for us the, uh, you know, the religious opinions
• 19:55
  S5: of people of that period of time in history, but, uh, they're,
• 19:59
  S5: they're ever increasing in their denial of the final authority
• 20:04
  S5: of the Bible. And that's why I think that the,
• 20:07
  S5: the best thing for Christians to do to avoid being deceived.
• 20:11
  S5: You've got to be biblically literate. It's biblical illiteracy. People
• 20:16
  S5: just don't know the fundamental truths of Scripture. They've kind
• 20:20
  S5: of turned away from the rigours of Bible study and
• 20:24
  S5: memorizing the text. But if you have a framework, a
• 20:27
  S5: mental and theological framework through which you process every claim.
• 20:33
  S5: And that framework, of course, is the truths of God's Word.
• 20:36
  S5: You won't be spiritually deceived. You will. You'll just have
• 20:39
  S5: that little red flag immediately come up in your minds.
• 20:42
  S5: Wait a minute. That doesn't that doesn't coincide with what
• 20:45
  S5: I read in Romans or that's inconsistent with what I
• 20:48
  S5: read in Genesis. So people, we just need to develop
• 20:52
  S5: a deeper biblical literacy, an awareness of what the Word
• 20:55
  S5: of God really does teach. And that way you won't
• 20:58
  S5: be caught unaware. You won't be caught, uh, in deception
• 21:02
  S5: and you'll know truth from falsehood.
• 21:04
  S2: Doctor Sam Storms, our guest right now. He's the founder
• 21:07
  S2: and president of Enjoying God Ministries. He has written over
• 21:11
  S2: 40 books. He's written extensively on a lot of different topics.
• 21:14
  S2: We'll have a link for you at the end of
• 21:16
  S2: our conversation. You know, as the parent of now two teenagers,
• 21:21
  S2: one of the things I see generationally, and I'd love
• 21:23
  S2: for you to speak to this is the pushback that
• 21:26
  S2: in their generation is often around what is loving and
• 21:31
  S2: what is not. So it's it's acceptable to say that
• 21:34
  S2: God is loving, but it extends to. Therefore, and there's
• 21:39
  S2: all a lot of different claims that are very popular for, for,
• 21:44
  S2: for their age. What do you say? Is that intergenerational
• 21:47
  S2: or is that a young person thing? So for example,
• 21:50
  S2: issues around gender and sexuality issues around how we view Israel,
• 21:56
  S2: it often lands with God is loving. Therefore this thing
• 22:00
  S2: must be true. What do you say about that? And
• 22:04
  S2: how do you counsel people who work with young people,
• 22:06
  S2: or even maybe some of our younger listeners, to wade
• 22:10
  S2: through that, because it can be disorienting?
• 22:13
  S5: Yes. You've raised an excellent point. And it's so true
• 22:16
  S5: that this, uh, basically the, the ultimate criterion for anybody
• 22:21
  S5: believing or rejecting something today is, is it loving? Instead
• 22:26
  S5: of saying, Is it true? Mhm. Let's just take one example,
• 22:30
  S5: which is a hot topic today, the homosexual and the
• 22:33
  S5: transgender debate that's going on in our society. And the
• 22:37
  S5: the reason why so many insist on acceptance of all
• 22:41
  S5: of these life choices is because we want people to
• 22:44
  S5: feel good about themselves. We don't want them to feel bad.
• 22:47
  S5: We want them to to know that we care for
• 22:49
  S5: them and love them well. Yes, we do want to
• 22:52
  S5: love them. We do want them to know that we care.
• 22:55
  S5: But here's the issue. What if a person is pursuing
• 22:59
  S5: a style of living that the Word of God says,
• 23:03
  S5: if they do not repent of, it will put their
• 23:05
  S5: soul in jeopardy of eternal damnation. That's the question I ask.
• 23:09
  S5: Does the Word of God speak to the issue of
• 23:12
  S5: our sexuality? And of course it does. I mean, it's
• 23:16
  S5: very explicit. He says those who practice homosexuality will not
• 23:19
  S5: inherit the kingdom of God. And the same for those
• 23:22
  S5: who live in unrepentant fornication. So it's not just same
• 23:27
  S5: sex sin, it's it's opposite sex sin as well. And
• 23:31
  S5: people say, oh, but that's just you're being unkind. You're
• 23:33
  S5: going to make people feel bad about themselves. Well, if
• 23:37
  S5: I really love that person, I'm going to warn them
• 23:40
  S5: of the threat that their behavior poses to their eternal welfare.
• 23:44
  S5: It's like, you know, uh, patient goes into a doctor
• 23:48
  S5: and they've got this massive tumor in their stomach. And
• 23:51
  S5: the doctor says, I really don't want to upset you
• 23:53
  S5: or hurt your feelings. So let me just prescribe some
• 23:56
  S5: medication and you'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Not
• 23:59
  S5: telling the patient that, in fact, they have stomach cancer
• 24:01
  S5: and they need immediate surgery. Um, so we have to
• 24:05
  S5: stand firmly on truth and to tell the truth is
• 24:09
  S5: loving to, to, to mislead people and let them believe
• 24:13
  S5: things that are false, that are ultimately and eternally damaging
• 24:17
  S5: to their soul. That's not love. Love speaks truthfully. Now
• 24:21
  S5: we have to speak it in a way that's kind, uh,
• 24:24
  S5: and not angry, but we have to speak it clearly
• 24:27
  S5: from what the Word of God says.
• 24:29
  S2: You know, you mentioned these spiritual red flag. Now we
• 24:32
  S2: know being anchored in the Word of God, and we've
• 24:35
  S2: been talking about that all week, is the that is
• 24:38
  S2: how we arm ourselves against deception. Let's talk about some
• 24:41
  S2: of these spiritual red flags. The things that, when this
• 24:45
  S2: is present, should automatically cause us to ask more questions.
• 24:49
  S2: I'll give you an example. There was a a popular, uh,
• 24:53
  S2: Christian leader. I'll leave it at that. And it has
• 24:56
  S2: a very large following and whom I can agree with
• 25:00
  S2: a lot of what they teach. But one thing that
• 25:03
  S2: I noticed was that so much of what they taught
• 25:06
  S2: was reliant on personal revelations from the Lord. So many
• 25:13
  S2: of the sermons would would be heavily based on this
• 25:17
  S2: is what the Lord personally revealed to me. And so
• 25:19
  S2: I decided that I did not want to follow that
• 25:22
  S2: person anymore. I didn't want to follow them on social media.
• 25:25
  S2: I have nothing negative to say about them, but I
• 25:27
  S2: was concerned about the overreliance on personal revelation. To me,
• 25:32
  S2: that was a red flag. What do you say on
• 25:34
  S2: that one? And what are ones that you see that
• 25:36
  S2: should immediately make us ask more questions?
• 25:39
  S5: Absolutely. I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm probably
• 25:42
  S5: thinking about the same person. But we will there are
• 25:46
  S5: there are quite a few of these. And and I
• 25:49
  S5: think the reason they do it is because it has
• 25:51
  S5: an incredible magnetic appeal. People want to have their ears tickled.
• 25:56
  S5: People want something that's new and novel. They don't want
• 25:59
  S5: something that's, uh, you know, been around for 2000, 3000 years.
• 26:03
  S5: They want new, fresh insights into into spiritual truth. But again,
• 26:09
  S5: I tell people all the time, if somebody stands up
• 26:12
  S5: and says, hey, God has revealed something to me that
• 26:15
  S5: nobody in church history has ever seen. You need to
• 26:18
  S5: immediately stop, get up out of your seat and walk
• 26:21
  S5: out because that is dangerous. Um, the finality of Scripture,
• 26:27
  S5: the sufficiency of scripture is foundational to, uh, being discerning
• 26:32
  S5: and being aware of various forms of deception. Another example
• 26:36
  S5: of this. There is an ever increasing movement among professing
• 26:41
  S5: evangelicals toward what's called universalism. The idea that in the end,
• 26:46
  S5: some way, some manner, uh, at some time, God will
• 26:50
  S5: reconcile all to himself and nobody will suffer eternal damnation. Well,
• 26:55
  S5: that has a real appeal to it. We like to
• 26:57
  S5: think of that, especially if our loved ones and friends
• 27:01
  S5: died without any faith in Christ. We like to think, oh,
• 27:05
  S5: surely God will give him a second chance or a
• 27:07
  S5: third chance. Those are the kinds of teachings and doctrines
• 27:12
  S5: that oftentimes proliferate through the evangelical world. A man can
• 27:16
  S5: get up like the one you're talking about and say,
• 27:18
  S5: you know, I was in Deep in Prayer the other
• 27:20
  S5: day and I asked the Lord about that very issue,
• 27:22
  S5: and I just felt this reassurance in my heart that
• 27:25
  S5: he was saying, don't worry, I will eventually reconcile all
• 27:28
  S5: to myself. And one of the things that that does
• 27:31
  S5: is it undermines our evangelistic outreach. Yeah. If God is
• 27:35
  S5: ultimately going to reconcile everyone, then why would we bother
• 27:38
  S5: sharing the gospel with them in this life? So there
• 27:41
  S5: are far reaching consequences for each of these denials of
• 27:45
  S5: biblical truth, and we need to be aware of it.
• 27:47
  S5: Let me give you another example. It's it's really growing
• 27:50
  S5: in its popularity. It's this idea that the Old Testament
• 27:53
  S5: God is different from the New Testament God, the Old Testament.
• 27:58
  S5: God is mean and vindictive, and he commits genocidal murder. Um, and,
• 28:05
  S5: but we see the real nature of God in Jesus
• 28:08
  S5: in the New Testament. Well, how many times did Jesus
• 28:12
  S5: refer to the Old Testament and affirm its authority and
• 28:14
  S5: its truth? So, and again, people say, oh, well, you know,
• 28:18
  S5: the God of New Testament, He's. He's really nice and loving,
• 28:21
  S5: not like the the brutal God of the Jewish people
• 28:23
  S5: of old. And I say, have you read the book
• 28:25
  S5: of revelation? Do you know what is coming upon the
• 28:29
  S5: unbelieving world, those immersed in idolatry? There is as much
• 28:33
  S5: about the wrath and justice of God in the New
• 28:35
  S5: Testament as there is in the old. But we've got
• 28:38
  S5: this tendency that people have of just kind of rejecting
• 28:41
  S5: the Old Testament. You know, read it because it's some
• 28:44
  S5: nice stories, but don't believe what it teaches. That's another
• 28:47
  S5: red flag immediately that people need to be aware of.
• 28:50
  S2: Doctor Sam Storms want to give you the final word
• 28:53
  S2: before we before we close this conversation, so much more
• 28:56
  S2: we could say, but what do you want to leave
• 28:58
  S2: the listener with? Because you can hear this and you
• 29:00
  S2: can feel a little unnerved. We. But we. This is
• 29:05
  S2: not to make you afraid, but to make us sober
• 29:07
  S2: minded and aware. Final word to our listener.
• 29:10
  S5: Final word. And the most foundational word that I can
• 29:13
  S5: give is growing deeper in your understanding of and your
• 29:18
  S5: belief in the final authority of the Bible, because every
• 29:21
  S5: issue in ethics. You know what is right, what is wrong,
• 29:24
  S5: every issue in doctrine, what is true, and what is false.
• 29:27
  S5: You have to make a judgment. You have to have
• 29:30
  S5: an authority that tells you what is and what is not.
• 29:34
  S5: And the only authority that we have been given is
• 29:36
  S5: God's Word. So I would just say to people, immerse
• 29:39
  S5: yourself in Scripture. Uh, let the Spirit of God form
• 29:42
  S5: in you a framework for processing everything that you hear
• 29:46
  S5: so you'll know truth from falsehood the moment you hear it.
• 29:49
  S5: If we can just simply return to a conscious reliance
• 29:53
  S5: upon the final authority and sufficiency of Scripture, we will
• 29:56
  S5: be far better off to face the challenges of today.
• 29:59
  S2: Doctor Sam Storms, founder and President of Enjoying God Ministries,
• 30:02
  S2: I want to point you to his website. Many more resources.
• 30:05
  S2: He's written extensively, both books and blogs. Just text storm
• 30:10
  S2: to 805 557898. Just text the word storm 805 557898.
• 30:19
  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
• 30:24
  S1: to Carl and crew.
• 30:26
  S2: I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. I'm grateful.
• 30:31
  S2: So grateful for the Word of God for so many reasons.
• 30:34
  S2: But when you think about how God reveals himself to us,
• 30:40
  S2: I'm very grateful that even though there are so many
• 30:44
  S2: great teachers and authors and experts and theologians, and boy,
• 30:50
  S2: do we get blessed by so many of them on
• 30:54
  S2: this show.
• 30:54
  S3: He took the words out of my mouth across.
• 30:56
  S2: All of the other programs on Moody Radio. There is
• 30:59
  S2: no shortage of wonderful, wonderful people speaking the truth about
• 31:03
  S2: the Word of God. But here's the thing. When we
• 31:07
  S2: have the Word of God, we are not reliant ultimately
• 31:13
  S2: on another person to correctly interpret it, interpret it for us.
• 31:21
  S2: Can you imagine if we did not have the Word
• 31:24
  S2: of God and had to trust that somebody else was
• 31:30
  S2: telling us correctly what it said? Think about that for
• 31:34
  S2: a second. At any given time, you can hear whatever
• 31:38
  S2: you hear on Moody radio. Whatever you hear on a
• 31:39
  S2: Sunday morning, whatever you hear on a podcast, you have
• 31:45
  S2: the ability and the freedom to go to open this
• 31:49
  S2: book for yourself. Say, are they telling me the truth
• 31:53
  S2: about what it says? Think about that for a second.
• 31:57
  S2: What an incredible privilege that is. Which is why we
• 32:01
  S2: just finished our conversation with Sam Storms. When the Word
• 32:05
  S2: of God is de-emphasized, when greater weight is given to
• 32:11
  S2: the words of man than the words of God.
• 32:16
  S3: That's the slope we don't want to be on at all.
• 32:20
  S2: It's just, I don't know, I just this, this hits
• 32:22
  S2: me because there are plenty of people. You ever been
• 32:29
  S2: disappointed by by a leader?
• 32:31
  S3: Oh, never. Never. Or any human. Yeah.
• 32:36
  S2: You've. You listening? You've experienced hurt in a church. You've
• 32:40
  S2: had a leader who maybe you thought was one thing
• 32:45
  S2: and they turned out not to be. Maybe you've stopped
• 32:49
  S2: going to church because people there let you down. That's real,
• 32:55
  S2: I get that. I've had my own share of church hurt.
• 32:59
  S2: There's a whole category now for that term. I've experienced it.
• 33:05
  S2: But aren't you grateful for the Word of God that
• 33:09
  S2: supersedes all of that? That you can go. And the
• 33:13
  S2: reason why you know that what happened at that church
• 33:17
  S2: or with that person. How do you know it was wrong?
• 33:21
  S2: The word of God. The abuse of power, the manipulation
• 33:27
  S2: that may have happened, that may have really happened. What
• 33:32
  S2: establishes it being wrong is God's Word and how much
• 33:36
  S2: he cares about his people. The warnings against those who
• 33:40
  S2: would put a stumbling block or who would lead his
• 33:43
  S2: people astray. You don't want that. So coming up, we're
• 33:48
  S2: going to talk about the Word of God. And maybe
• 33:51
  S2: you've gotten away from reading the Bible. Can we give
• 33:55
  S2: you some encouragement to get back to it coming up.
• 33:58
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 34:01
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 34:04
  S2: Have you ever heard the expression that someone devoured a
• 34:08
  S2: great book? You sat down with it. You couldn't put
• 34:11
  S2: it down. And you use the word devour. Like I
• 34:14
  S2: consumed the entire thing in the same way that you
• 34:16
  S2: might devour a tasty meal. Do we have that approach
• 34:20
  S2: when it comes to the Word of God? I've got
• 34:22
  S2: a special guest joining us as we talk about being
• 34:25
  S2: faithful to the Word of God, avoiding spiritual deception. Nate Pinkowitz,
• 34:30
  S2: he's written the book How to Eat Your Bible A
• 34:32
  S2: Simple Approach to Learning and Loving the Word of God.
• 34:35
  S2: The idea of devouring or consuming or eating so that
• 34:39
  S2: we're satisfied so that we're full. Talk about first, the
• 34:42
  S2: premise behind the book.
• 34:44
  S6: My desire was to give just a very easy approach
• 34:48
  S6: to learning the Word of God. I think a lot
• 34:51
  S6: of believers either struggle to get in or just don't
• 34:53
  S6: know how to approach the Bible. It's daunting at some times.
• 34:57
  S6: So I think just a guide to help people thinking
• 35:00
  S6: through just step by step, how do I read my Bible?
• 35:04
  S6: How do I understand it? How do I take spiritual
• 35:06
  S6: nourishment from it? Uh, there's so much value, but if
• 35:09
  S6: we can't get to it, then we're kind of at
• 35:11
  S6: a loss. So that's my hope, is to be able
• 35:14
  S6: to just encourage and help people to just grab their,
• 35:16
  S6: wrap their arms around scripture and be nourished and fed.
• 35:20
  S2: Nate is a teaching pastor at Harvest Bible Church in
• 35:23
  S2: New Hampshire. Before becoming a pastor, he worked in financial services.
• 35:27
  S2: He's an author of several books. Now, when it comes
• 35:31
  S2: to biblical literacy or biblical illiteracy, do you view that
• 35:36
  S2: as one of the greatest threats to the church in
• 35:39
  S2: the West today?
• 35:41
  S6: Absolutely. Because if we don't hear from God, if we
• 35:44
  S6: don't know what he has to say, we don't know
• 35:46
  S6: how to order our lives. We don't know what to do.
• 35:49
  S6: We don't know what to think, believe, feel. And so
• 35:52
  S6: without hearing from God's Word, I mean, there's a verse
• 35:56
  S6: in Scripture that says, without vision from the Lord, the
• 35:58
  S6: people perish. So, um, it's a huge problem. But I
• 36:01
  S6: think we're seeing sort of a spiritual uptick where more
• 36:04
  S6: people are interested in reading the Bible. I think, again,
• 36:08
  S6: the challenge becomes, how do you approach it in a
• 36:10
  S6: way that we don't over spiritualize or rip things out
• 36:13
  S6: of context? We want to make sure we read the
• 36:15
  S6: Bible the right way. So that's, I think that's probably
• 36:18
  S6: the biggest challenge, is just getting folks to understand how
• 36:21
  S6: to approach the scriptures in a way that's helpful for them.
• 36:23
  S2: So let's talk about the right way to approach Scripture,
• 36:26
  S2: which means that there must be wrong ways to approach Scripture.
• 36:31
  S2: Separate that out.
• 36:32
  S6: Probably what the most classic example is a person who
• 36:35
  S6: will do something that I've heard called Bible surfing or
• 36:38
  S6: lucky dipping, where they'll just open the Bible, close their
• 36:42
  S6: eyes and point their finger on a verse and say,
• 36:44
  S6: this is my verse for the day, or, or even
• 36:46
  S6: just try to read something into the text that isn't there.
• 36:49
  S6: They'll overspiritualize, you know, rolling the stones of adversity away
• 36:53
  S6: in our life when we're talking about the resurrection, you know,
• 36:55
  S6: things like that. But I think we have to treat
• 36:58
  S6: the Word of God for what it is. I mean,
• 37:00
  S6: it is a book written through the hand of God,
• 37:03
  S6: but certainly it is something that's written down. There are contexts,
• 37:06
  S6: there are things happening, real people, real events, real intention.
• 37:10
  S6: So we have to try to understand what's called the
• 37:13
  S6: author's intent. You know, what does God intend to say
• 37:17
  S6: to us through the word? And so that just takes,
• 37:19
  S6: you know, careful examination. You have to read, understand, uh,
• 37:23
  S6: there's a couple of useful tools, but I think just
• 37:25
  S6: trying to understand God's mind and heart. Why did he
• 37:28
  S6: put this here? What does he want me to know?
• 37:30
  S6: I think that's the first step.
• 37:31
  S2: Now, before we get to some of the tools, what
• 37:34
  S2: what was going on in your own life that triggered
• 37:36
  S2: you to start studying the Bible? What was the impetus
• 37:39
  S2: for your kind of your discovery here?
• 37:42
  S6: I had been a Christian for a few years at
• 37:44
  S6: that point. I was younger, probably in my early 20s. And,
• 37:47
  S6: you know, I would sort of spot read the Bible.
• 37:49
  S6: I knew it was a good thing to do, but
• 37:51
  S6: it was a huge, uh, deficit in my life. I
• 37:54
  S6: really didn't know God's word. I didn't really love God's Word.
• 37:57
  S6: I just felt guilty that I didn't read more. And
• 38:01
  S6: that was kind of what drove it. But then I
• 38:03
  S6: just began to pray and ask the Lord for desire.
• 38:05
  S6: I knew I needed his word, I was just scared.
• 38:09
  S6: I didn't know how to approach it. And so I
• 38:11
  S6: began to pray and ask the Lord for desire, and
• 38:13
  S6: then I. I stumbled into a Bible reading plan that
• 38:16
  S6: was different. It just approached each book individually. And so
• 38:20
  S6: I just started with the shortest book I could find
• 38:22
  S6: at the time, which was the book of Titus, just
• 38:25
  S6: reading every day and just studying, praying through, and just
• 38:28
  S6: went one verse at a time. So I think pulling
• 38:31
  S6: away from some of the overwhelming feelings, like I have
• 38:34
  S6: to master these huge books versus just saying, I can do,
• 38:37
  S6: I can do one page at a time. So that
• 38:39
  S6: was how I approached it.
• 38:41
  S2: So let's talk about some of the tricks or the
• 38:43
  S2: tools that have that you have found to be helpful,
• 38:46
  S2: both for you personally or just as you've done your research. Um,
• 38:50
  S2: Bible reading plans are, are, are really popular. Is that
• 38:54
  S2: a great place to start to read and understand Scripture
• 38:58
  S2: is to get a plan that maps it out for you.
• 39:00
  S2: Maybe reading through the Bible in a year. That's one
• 39:02
  S2: of the more popular ones.
• 39:03
  S6: Yeah, I think you have to know yourself as a student.
• 39:06
  S6: I think some people, you know, they're really good with the,
• 39:09
  S6: you know, with the regimens, with the repetition. I mean,
• 39:11
  S6: a lot of people do Bible in a year and
• 39:12
  S6: that's great. Um, I know for me, I work a
• 39:16
  S6: little bit differently. I like the repetition. Uh, so I,
• 39:19
  S6: I chose a plan that focuses more on one book
• 39:22
  S6: at a time for longer stretches of time. So, you know,
• 39:25
  S6: I read a small letter, say it's the book of
• 39:28
  S6: Titus or Ephesians every day for like a month. And
• 39:31
  S6: that just kind of nailed that down in my mind.
• 39:34
  S6: And I worked my way systematically through that. But I
• 39:36
  S6: think however you approach it, I think just working with
• 39:39
  S6: a plan that fits your own learning style, your reading speed,
• 39:43
  S6: what's comfortable for you, it shouldn't be painful or arduous
• 39:47
  S6: to read your Bible. It should be something enjoyable, something
• 39:50
  S6: you can handle. So, but I think just reading the Bible,
• 39:54
  S6: having carving out the time to get alone with God's
• 39:56
  S6: Word and just reading it at face value to start,
• 39:59
  S6: and then you can do some work afterwards. But yeah,
• 40:02
  S6: just getting into something that will help you get into
• 40:04
  S6: the Bible every day.
• 40:06
  S2: Yeah. I'm with you on the reading of the Bible
• 40:08
  S2: in the year has been, uh, has been a challenge
• 40:11
  S2: for me. I find that it just takes me longer
• 40:14
  S2: like that, that the pace of the in a year can,
• 40:19
  S2: can be intimidating. And so, you know, I'm glad that
• 40:22
  S2: you mentioned kind of going at a different pace because
• 40:24
  S2: sometimes when we feel like we are, we feel like
• 40:27
  S2: we're behind or we're not, we're, or we're reading, but
• 40:30
  S2: we have no idea what we're reading and we're trying
• 40:33
  S2: to kind of rush through it. How do we strike
• 40:36
  S2: that balance between not getting bogged down when we feel
• 40:38
  S2: like our brain can't keep up, but also not feeling
• 40:42
  S2: like I got to keep going so that I keep
• 40:44
  S2: up with this plan.
• 40:45
  S6: Yeah, I think if we consider the metaphor again, Scripture
• 40:48
  S6: talks about, you know, eating and consuming the Word of God.
• 40:52
  S6: I think if we think about even just how our
• 40:54
  S6: bodies process regular food, I mean, we eat every day,
• 40:58
  S6: but there are some days that you're hungrier. Other days
• 41:00
  S6: you're not as hungry. Some days you can digest this.
• 41:03
  S6: Other days you can digest that. I think the same
• 41:05
  S6: way goes with our spiritual life. I think there are
• 41:07
  S6: days when we're really locked in and we can spend
• 41:10
  S6: the time and focus. Other days it really is just
• 41:13
  S6: an obedience and we're kind of trying to figure it out.
• 41:15
  S6: But I think taking the pressure off and saying this
• 41:19
  S6: isn't something that it's, you know, life or death. If
• 41:22
  S6: I don't read, you know, this many verses today that
• 41:24
  S6: somehow I'm wrong. I think approaching it differently, like I
• 41:28
  S6: want to hear from God. I want to understand his mind.
• 41:30
  S6: I want to know him better. It changes how you
• 41:33
  S6: approach it. So yeah, I think everybody's different. But I
• 41:36
  S6: think that the discipline of engaging as often as you
• 41:39
  S6: possibly can daily at the very minimum. But I think
• 41:42
  S6: doing that in a way, um, again, knowing yourself and
• 41:45
  S6: knowing kind of how you function, but that's how I
• 41:48
  S6: think about it at least.
• 41:49
  S2: What are some helpful tools that you found that assist
• 41:52
  S2: in understanding, interpreting, and applying the word of God? Because
• 41:57
  S2: I know that many people start off, they'll open to
• 42:00
  S2: the book of Genesis and the narrative. It's. It's easy
• 42:04
  S2: to follow for a little while, but then you start
• 42:06
  S2: getting into Deuteronomy and Leviticus and it starts getting really
• 42:11
  S2: confusing quickly. And that's a commonly said. That's where a
• 42:15
  S2: lot of Bible reading plans go and die is when
• 42:18
  S2: you get into some of those passages, how, what are
• 42:21
  S2: some tools that help people who feel like. I just
• 42:24
  S2: don't understand what I'm reading, particularly in some of the
• 42:27
  S2: harder to understand Old Testament passages.
• 42:30
  S6: Pastorally, I usually encourage people who are new to the
• 42:34
  S6: Bible to start in the New Testament. It's not that
• 42:36
  S6: there's anything wrong with the Old Testament. The Old Testament
• 42:39
  S6: is wonderful, but I think to try to get the context,
• 42:41
  S6: I think, to understand the Gospels, to understand some of
• 42:44
  S6: the letters. And I think also knowing what you're reading.
• 42:48
  S6: You know, a gospel which is more of a story
• 42:50
  S6: narrative is different than one of the letters or the epistles,
• 42:54
  S6: which is different than the poetry of the Psalms or
• 42:56
  S6: the Proverbs. So I think knowing the genre of of
• 43:00
  S6: what you're reading, what kind of a book this is,
• 43:02
  S6: is really helpful. And then I also think slowing down
• 43:06
  S6: and trying to have some reading comprehension, what's happening, reading
• 43:09
  S6: the context around the verse, don't just jump on the
• 43:12
  S6: one verse, read the whole passage, you know, and just
• 43:14
  S6: try to see what's going on. But I've also found,
• 43:17
  S6: you know, there are study tools, commentaries, sermon series. There's
• 43:22
  S6: lots of other people who are really skilled at helping
• 43:26
  S6: teach and, and give light and help to understanding what's
• 43:29
  S6: going on. So I always encourage people to do that.
• 43:32
  S6: There are resources out there that can just kind of
• 43:34
  S6: help you along. But again, all that being said, you know,
• 43:37
  S6: nothing takes the place of just praying through the passage
• 43:40
  S6: and asking the Lord to give you understanding. And just
• 43:43
  S6: try to read it for for what it is. So
• 43:45
  S6: I think there are tools, there are helps. But the
• 43:48
  S6: Holy Spirit working through His Word is the greatest help.
• 43:50
  S2: Yeah. What's been the greatest joy for you as you have? Obviously,
• 43:54
  S2: you've written the book and you've talked a lot about it,
• 43:57
  S2: but in your own personal Bible reading, Bible study. And
• 44:00
  S2: then as you've seen others benefit from some of these tools,
• 44:04
  S2: what has been your greatest joy through this?
• 44:06
  S6: I love when I learn something new in the scriptures,
• 44:09
  S6: and I know that sounds like a weird thing to say,
• 44:11
  S6: but when you're teaching all the time, you know, it's
• 44:14
  S6: very easy to get caught up in just the teaching
• 44:16
  S6: of the same material that you think you know, but
• 44:19
  S6: then to pull away and just say, I'm not going
• 44:21
  S6: to read the Bible for a sermon today. I'm going
• 44:23
  S6: to read the Bible because I want to grow in
• 44:25
  S6: the Lord. And then when I'll read and I'll study,
• 44:27
  S6: and then something will, will either something new will hit me,
• 44:31
  S6: or it's a different application I haven't seen before because
• 44:35
  S6: I have so much to learn. So I think when
• 44:37
  S6: I when that happens, that's really encouraging. But I also think,
• 44:41
  S6: you know, when I talk to people, even in my church, um,
• 44:43
  S6: and they share things that they're learning and they'll ask
• 44:46
  S6: questions or they'll say, have you ever seen this before?
• 44:48
  S6: And sometimes they'll have an observation. They'll say, I didn't
• 44:51
  S6: catch that. That's really neat. Share that with me. So
• 44:54
  S6: I think there's sort of a communal aspect to understanding
• 44:57
  S6: and sharing and growing together. I think that's really exciting.
• 45:00
  S6: But I love when a newer believer or a younger
• 45:03
  S6: believer reads a book of the Bible for the first time,
• 45:06
  S6: and they're just overwhelmed and overawed by it. They love it,
• 45:10
  S6: and they just want to share that excitement. That gives
• 45:12
  S6: me excitement and joy, because the Word of God is
• 45:16
  S6: like a deep well, you just can't get to the bottom.
• 45:18
  S6: It's just wonderful. So those kinds of things really excite
• 45:21
  S6: me pastorally.
• 45:22
  S2: So last question for you. When somebody is ready to
• 45:24
  S2: start a reading plan and they're hearing this, and maybe
• 45:27
  S2: it's it feels like conviction because they've not been reading
• 45:30
  S2: the Word of God for a while. How can we
• 45:33
  S2: prepare our minds and our hearts? Because we know that
• 45:35
  S2: this is not like sitting down and reading a novel.
• 45:39
  S2: This is not just any other book. And so we
• 45:42
  S2: don't want to approach it that way.
• 45:44
  S6: I think, you know, carving out the time, you know,
• 45:47
  S6: don't try to have the TV on in the background,
• 45:49
  S6: carving out the time, sitting down with God's word. I
• 45:52
  S6: generally tell people to pick a book or, you know,
• 45:55
  S6: pick a passage they really just want to sit with.
• 45:57
  S6: Maybe it's the Gospel of John, quiet your heart. And
• 46:00
  S6: I would begin with prayer. Just pray first, ask the
• 46:03
  S6: Lord to give you understanding. I help them to get
• 46:06
  S6: all these other things, your shopping list and stuff out
• 46:09
  S6: of your mind, and really just try to carve out
• 46:11
  S6: the time, no distractions and pray through the passage. Read
• 46:15
  S6: it as it is. Try to understand what's going on,
• 46:17
  S6: and then asking the Lord to help you understand and apply.
• 46:21
  S6: What do you want me to know? Or what do
• 46:22
  S6: you want me to do or take away from this?
• 46:24
  S6: I think asking the Lord to grow you through His Word.
• 46:28
  S6: That's a prayer he wants to answer. He wants us
• 46:30
  S6: to be changed and grown through His Word. He wants
• 46:34
  S6: us to see and know him through His Word. I
• 46:37
  S6: think an earnest prayer and a humble heart to study
• 46:40
  S6: is always a good place to start.
• 46:43
  S2: With us this morning. The book is called How to
• 46:45
  S2: Eat Your Bible A Simple Approach to Learning and Loving
• 46:48
  S2: the Word of God. Just text eat to 800 805 557898.
• 46:54
  S2: We'll send you the details, just text eight 805 557898.
• 46:59
  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 47:03
  S2: Once we tackle these passages of Scripture and we want
• 47:06
  S2: to avoid spiritual deception by being handling rightly the Word
• 47:12
  S2: of God. So this one that I want to tackle,
• 47:17
  S2: this is one that actually is in Scripture. So this
• 47:22
  S2: is unlike the God helps those who help themselves, okay.
• 47:26
  S2: Which is not there.
• 47:28
  S3: So we're going the other way.
• 47:29
  S2: God closes a door. He opens a window close, but
• 47:33
  S2: not quite. This one is quoted often, and it's right
• 47:38
  S2: there word for word in the scripture. But it's commonly
• 47:43
  S2: misapplied in a way that I think can cause some confusion. Okay,
• 47:49
  S2: so I'm going to read you the verse. And then
• 47:53
  S2: because context is so important, I'm going to read you
• 47:57
  S2: a lot of the verses around so that we can
• 48:00
  S2: help sort out what does it say and what is
• 48:04
  S2: not being said here. Okay, so Proverbs 821, death and
• 48:10
  S2: life are in the power of the tongue, and those
• 48:13
  S2: who love it will eat its fruits. Death and life
• 48:19
  S2: are in the power of the tongue. What does that
• 48:24
  S2: what does that mean? Before I begin to kind of
• 48:29
  S2: explain what commentators say, I want to read to you
• 48:35
  S2: the verses around it, because Proverbs 18 actually talks a
• 48:40
  S2: whole lot about speech, about how the tongue is used,
• 48:45
  S2: about how words are used. Proverbs 182 says, A fool
• 48:51
  S2: takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
• 48:57
  S2: A couple verses down. Proverbs 184 the words of a
• 49:02
  S2: man's mouth are deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is
• 49:06
  S2: a bubbling brook. A couple more verses. Proverbs 186 A
• 49:12
  S2: fool's lips walk into a fight and his mouth invites
• 49:16
  S2: a beating. It goes on. Verse seven. A fool's mouth
• 49:19
  S2: is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to
• 49:22
  S2: his soul. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.
• 49:27
  S2: They go down into the inner parts of the body.
• 49:31
  S2: There are more. If one gives an answer before he hears.
• 49:34
  S2: It is his folly and shame. The one who states
• 49:39
  S2: his case first seems right. 17. Verse 17 says, until
• 49:44
  S2: the other comes and examines him. Then verse 20. From
• 49:48
  S2: the fruit of a man's mouth, his stomach is satisfied.
• 49:51
  S2: He is satisfied by the yield of his lips. And
• 49:54
  S2: then that back to verse 21. Death and life are
• 49:58
  S2: in the power of the tongue, and those who love
• 50:01
  S2: it will eat its fruits. So it's clear that Proverbs
• 50:05
  S2: 18 talks a lot about how we use our mouths,
• 50:09
  S2: how we use our tongue.
• 50:11
  S3: Yes.
• 50:11
  S2: It addresses quarrelsome words. Words that stir up controversy.
• 50:20
  S3: Right.
• 50:22
  S2: The rumor mill.
• 50:24
  S3: Gossip mill, the.
• 50:25
  S2: Gossip it addresses being quick to speak and slow to hear.
• 50:31
  S2: That one's interesting. So somebody who doesn't even finish.
• 50:35
  S3: Listening to what.
• 50:36
  S2: You're saying, but they they just delight in having their
• 50:40
  S2: opinion heard. Speaks to self-centered and opinionated Words.
• 50:46
  S3: Yes.
• 50:48
  S2: So with all of that in mind, verse 21, that
• 50:53
  S2: death and life are in the power of the tongue,
• 50:56
  S2: and those who love it will eat its fruits. There
• 50:59
  S2: are consequences for our words. Our words can be like
• 51:04
  S2: a deep bubbling brook where there's wisdom that flows out.
• 51:11
  S2: That's in that. Proverbs 18.
• 51:12
  S3: Refreshment and encouragement. Sure.
• 51:14
  S2: Yeah. Like verse four says, the word of a man's
• 51:16
  S2: mouth or deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is a
• 51:19
  S2: bubbling brook. But it also says a few verses later
• 51:22
  S2: that a fool's lips walk into a fight and his
• 51:25
  S2: mouth invites a beating. So with that in mind, that
• 51:29
  S2: death and life are in the power of the tongue.
• 51:32
  S2: Sometimes this gets misapplied, that somehow that we have creative
• 51:39
  S2: power with our words. And I'm not. I'm not knocking
• 51:47
  S2: any denomination here. But we have to be clear with
• 51:52
  S2: what the scripture says and it doesn't say. So if
• 51:55
  S2: you have heard this verse applied in a way that
• 52:00
  S2: leads you to believe that you can speak certain things
• 52:04
  S2: into existence, that by what you say or what you
• 52:10
  S2: don't say, that there's some creative power there. Proverbs 18.
• 52:17
  S2: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
• 52:18
  S2: That is not what's being said here.
• 52:20
  S3: No, no, no, no, not at all.
• 52:22
  S2: There are consequences to how we use our words. Those
• 52:26
  S2: who love it will eat its fruit. There's fruit that
• 52:29
  S2: comes out of words that are used poorly. Or your
• 52:33
  S2: words that are used well. The lips that walk into
• 52:37
  S2: a fight. Well, that's clearly using the tongue for death, right?
• 52:41
  S2: The lips that are like a bubbling brook. Deep waters. That's.
• 52:46
  S2: That sounds a lot like speaking life, right?
• 52:49
  S3: Right. I mean, either you have encouragement or you're speaking love.
• 52:52
  S3: Or are you speaking hate, criticism and shame?
• 52:55
  S2: Exactly. So I think it's just important to look at
• 52:58
  S2: the context around. And there's a lot of other places
• 53:02
  S2: coming up. We will go to the book of James
• 53:06
  S2: that also talks about words about the tongue. It's described
• 53:10
  S2: as being like a fire. We'll go there coming up.
• 53:13
  S2: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
• 53:16
  S2: That's not a Proverbs 1821. And we know because of
• 53:21
  S2: the context around it, that this is about how we
• 53:25
  S2: use our words, how we speak. Uh, this is not
• 53:30
  S2: a verse that should be utilized to assume that we
• 53:35
  S2: have some sort of creative power with our words. God has.
• 53:40
  S2: God can speak things into existence.
• 53:43
  S3: Absolutely. But only God.
• 53:45
  S2: And only God want to take you over to the
• 53:48
  S2: book of James. James three describes the tongue as being
• 53:52
  S2: like a fire. And verse seven it says, for every
• 53:55
  S2: kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature
• 53:58
  S2: can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but
• 54:01
  S2: no human being can tame the tongue. It is a
• 54:04
  S2: restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless
• 54:08
  S2: our Lord and father, and with it we curse people
• 54:11
  S2: who were made in the likeness of God. Ouch! From
• 54:16
  S2: the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers. These
• 54:19
  S2: things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour
• 54:23
  S2: forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
• 54:27
  S2: Can a fig tree, my brother's bear olives or grapevine
• 54:30
  S2: produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
• 54:35
  S2: That is so convicting. From the same mouth. We bless
• 54:42
  S2: our Lord and father, and with it we curse people
• 54:45
  S2: who are made in the likeness of God. From the
• 54:47
  S2: same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers things. These
• 54:51
  S2: things ought not to be so.
• 54:54
  S3: There it is.
• 54:55
  S2: Those words. Those words can bring death and they can
• 54:59
  S2: bring life. So when you hear somebody say, speak life,
• 55:04
  S2: the correct way to understand that is not that you
• 55:07
  S2: are speaking something into existence, but that you are using
• 55:11
  S2: your mouth to bring life by blessing people and not
• 55:16
  S2: cursing people.
• 55:17
  S3: And by doing that, you're bringing glory to God to
• 55:20
  S3: where it ultimately should land. Absolutely.
• 55:22
  S7: Hey, this is Carl with Carl and crew, and I'm
• 55:24
  S7: so grateful that you listened to this show cast. Thank
• 55:27
  S7: you mostly for being part of the boom crew as
• 55:29
  S7: we help you take your next step with Jesus, you're
• 55:32
  S7: a huge encouragement to us. We'll be here again live
• 55:35
  S7: every weekday morning from 5 to 9 a.m.. Godspeed.