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Speaker 1: Well, good morning, faithful listeners. Today we're going to be

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Speaker 1: talking about the last chapter of Collostions, and we'll be

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Speaker 1: discussing a few different concepts today, specifically how Paul's words

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Speaker 1: spurred Christians to abolish slavery, and also our prayer lives

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Speaker 1: and why we should be focused and awake when we

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Speaker 1: are praying, which a big shocker. I'm usually not I

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Speaker 1: usually fall asleep. And lastly, we'll be talking about how

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Speaker 1: to properly evangelize to people, So stay tuned for today's episode.

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Speaker 1: Like many of you, I am shocked and saddened to

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Speaker 1: hear about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. He was a

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Speaker 1: brother in Christ, and he also was a strong Christian evangelist,

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Speaker 1: and I am deeply, deeply saddened for his wife and

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Speaker 1: his two kids who are going to grow up not

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Speaker 1: having their father around. So I am heartbroken over that

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Speaker 1: he was only a couple months older than me. So

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Speaker 1: I encourage all of you guys to pray for healing

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Speaker 1: and comfort for his family. And also, as of right

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Speaker 1: now when I'm recording this, they have not found the shooter.

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Speaker 1: He is still at large, so maybe pray that they

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Speaker 1: do find the shooter and justice is able to be

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Speaker 1: done for Charlie Kirk's wife. But speaking of prayer, we

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Speaker 1: are going to talk about that today. So we're going

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Speaker 1: to be reading Colossians for one through six, and as always,

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Speaker 1: I will be reading from the web, but I'll be

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Speaker 1: switching over to the AMP a handful of times today

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Speaker 1: because of how the AMP words things. I think is

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Speaker 1: really good for today's discussion. So grab your cup of

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Speaker 1: coffee and let's jump right in. Masters, give to your

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Speaker 1: servants that which is just an equal, knowing that you

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Speaker 1: also have a master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer,

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Speaker 1: watching in it with thanksgiving, praying together for us also

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Speaker 1: that God may open up to us a door for

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Speaker 1: the word to speak the mystery of Christ, for which

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Speaker 1: I am also in bonds, that I may reveal it

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Speaker 1: as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those

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Speaker 1: who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always

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Speaker 1: be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know

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Speaker 1: how you ought to answer each one. On Tuesday, we

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Speaker 1: talked about Paul's instructions for Christian households, how husbands and

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Speaker 1: wives should relate to each other, how parents and children

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Speaker 1: should relate to each other and how slaves and slave

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Speaker 1: masters should relate to each other, because you know that

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Speaker 1: was very common back in Paul's day, where half of

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Speaker 1: the ancient world actually was comprised of slaves. But in retrospect,

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Speaker 1: looking at verse one of our passage for today, I

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Speaker 1: probably should have talked about this verse on Tuesday, and

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Speaker 1: I did not. It says, masters, give to your servants

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Speaker 1: that which is just and equal, knowing that you also

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Speaker 1: have a master in heaven. But even though we talked

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Speaker 1: about slavery on Tuesday, which you should go check out

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Speaker 1: that episode if you haven't yet, we can definitely get

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Speaker 1: into the meat of this verse and how this verse

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Speaker 1: was certainly one of the catalysts for Christians actually abolishing slavery.

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Speaker 1: Like I said on Tuesday, it was Christian abolitionist movements

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Speaker 1: that eventually dismantled slavery throughout all of the world. It

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Speaker 1: was Christians who took that on. Slavery was pre Christianity,

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Speaker 1: pre judaism. Even you know, the Egyptians had Israelite slaves

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Speaker 1: way back from the beginning, before Israel was even a

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Speaker 1: sovereign nation. Slavery was instituted by the world Christianity helped

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Speaker 1: dismantle it completely with verses like this, where it says, masters,

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Speaker 1: give to your servants that which is just and equal,

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Speaker 1: knowing that you also have a master in heaven. So

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Speaker 1: notice the language that Paul's using here. He is not

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Speaker 1: telling slave masters to be kind and gentle to their slaves.

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Speaker 1: He's saying, treat them with justness and equality because you

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Speaker 1: also have a master in heaven. You know, I have

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Speaker 1: two dogs, right. I don't consider them my slaves. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I'm probably their slave more than they're my slaves. If

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Speaker 1: they want something, they usually get it. But they're my pets,

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Speaker 1: and I generally treat them very kind and I do

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Speaker 1: my best to take care of them and treat them

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Speaker 1: very sweetly. But they are my property. They are my animals.

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Speaker 1: I own them. Paul here is not telling these masters

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Speaker 1: to treat their human servants as if they are pets. Oh,

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Speaker 1: just treat them very kindly and you know, give them

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Speaker 1: what they need. He is not saying that at all.

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Speaker 1: He is using strong language here and making it very

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Speaker 1: clear that these servants are human beings that deserve fairness,

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Speaker 1: equality and justice. You know, pets don't really get that.

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Speaker 1: They don't get equality with me and my husband. They

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Speaker 1: just don't. I love my dogs, but they are not

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Speaker 1: on the same level as my husband is. If I

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Speaker 1: absolutely had to, and this breaks my heart, if I

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Speaker 1: absolutely had to, I would sacrifice my animals to save

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Speaker 1: my husband's life. I just would because they are not

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Speaker 1: on the same level as myself or my husband. But

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Speaker 1: human beings are all equal, and that is what Paul

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Speaker 1: says here. Treat your servants with justice and equality. So

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Speaker 1: those servants are to be treated fairly and as equals

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Speaker 1: with those masters, because they truly are equals. He You know,

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Speaker 1: this was language right here that started the abolitionist movement

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Speaker 1: that slaves were not below masters, and masters were not

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Speaker 1: above slaves, but that every single man is created equal

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Speaker 1: under God. And actually these words of Paul had an

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Speaker 1: almost immediate effect. You can see that in the Letter

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Speaker 1: to Philemon, where Phileman was a slave owner and Paul

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Speaker 1: actually encountered one of Philemon's slaves named Onissimus. Philemon was

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Speaker 1: also a Christian, and Onissimus became a Christian as well,

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Speaker 1: and Paul specifically wrote a letter to Philemon asking him

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Speaker 1: to have mercy and treat his slave Onisimus, who had

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Speaker 1: run away with kindness, and that Paul would actually pay

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Speaker 1: whatever debt the slave had. Whatever the slaves stole from Philemen,

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Speaker 1: Paul said he would pay it back, and he asks

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Speaker 1: Phileman to do this favor for him. But about one

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Speaker 1: hundred ish years after Paul wrote these letters, when Christianity

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Speaker 1: started becoming very, very persecuted. There are some famous stories

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Speaker 1: of slaves and slave masters who stood together being persecuted

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Speaker 1: for the gospel message to get One of the most

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Speaker 1: famous stories is a story of Perpetua and Felicity. Perpetua

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Speaker 1: was a noble woman who became a Christian, and Felicity

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Speaker 1: was likely one of her slaves. This is an article

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Speaker 1: from the Voice of the Martyrs which is the story

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Speaker 1: of Perpetua and Felicity. It says Perpetua bravely held Felicity

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Speaker 1: in her arms, anticipating their death together as sisters in Christ.

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Speaker 1: Felicity died quickly. When Perpetua's executioner hesitated, she herself helped

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Speaker 1: guide his blade into her body. The Colosseum had never

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Speaker 1: before seen such a spectacle. Perpetua came from a wealthy family.

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Speaker 1: Her father was Pagan, but her mother and brothers were Christians.

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Speaker 1: Felicity was a slave and pregnant. Since Roman law prohibited

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Speaker 1: the execution of pregnant women, sentence was delayed. Felicity gave

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Speaker 1: birth in prison to a baby girl that would be

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Speaker 1: adopted by Christians. These two women from different classes showed fortitude, determination,

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Speaker 1: and remarkably even joy at the prospects of public humiliation

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Speaker 1: and suffering. And then the ending says such courage made

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Speaker 1: a mark on the Romans. Several spectators converted to Christianity

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Speaker 1: as a result, including the governor of Rome. And that

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Speaker 1: is a story of two women from completely different social

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Speaker 1: classes who recognized their equality with each other as being Christians,

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Speaker 1: and were even able to die together equally, holding each

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Speaker 1: other as the gladiators were killing them. And then here's

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Speaker 1: another story, and this one actually made me cry, so

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to read the whole thing, but this

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Speaker 1: is the story of Blandina and her companions. Blandina was

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Speaker 1: a servant girl who lived in France in one seventy

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Speaker 1: seven eighty. She was a Christian who was inflicted with

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Speaker 1: so much torture because of her Christian faith, and actually

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Speaker 1: her female slave master also became a Christian, and they

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Speaker 1: died together. And it was a extremely extremely sad story

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Speaker 1: of just everything that Blandina and her master went through,

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Speaker 1: like really sickening stuff. But regardless, these two women, Blandina

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Speaker 1: and her master recognize their equality with each other and

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Speaker 1: face this torture and martyrdom together, not believing that one

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Speaker 1: was above the other one, but that they were both

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Speaker 1: equal under Christ. So Paul's words had a almost immediate

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Speaker 1: effect in the ancient world, where Christians were beginning to

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Speaker 1: understand that everyone is equal under Christ and that human

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Speaker 1: beings should not be owned or be treated as if

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Speaker 1: they are underneath another person. But continuing on in Colossians four,

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Speaker 1: verse two, it says, continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in

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Speaker 1: it with thanksgiving, praying together for us also that God

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Speaker 1: may open up to us a door for the word

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Speaker 1: to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I'm also

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Speaker 1: in bonds, that I may reveal it as I ought

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Speaker 1: to speak. So now Paul talks about prayer once again,

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Speaker 1: and something I didn't actually realize until a listener of

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Speaker 1: this podcast emailed me recently is that Colossians talks a

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Speaker 1: lot about the importance of prayer and how powerful prayer

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Speaker 1: really is. And I didn't even realize that I had

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Speaker 1: been talking about prayer that much in Colossians, but yet

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Speaker 1: here it is again, continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in

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Speaker 1: it with thanksgiving. The Greek root word for continue steadfastly

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Speaker 1: actually means something along the lines of be strong in

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Speaker 1: So be strong in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.

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Speaker 1: And actually, let me switch over to the AMP version,

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Speaker 1: because the AMP words it in a different way that

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Speaker 1: I think is really good. It says be persistent and

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Speaker 1: devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer

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Speaker 1: life with an attitude of thanks In other words, we

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Speaker 1: are to be awake when we are praying. This actually

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Speaker 1: convicted me because generally when I do my prayers, I

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Speaker 1: do them at night, and about two minutes into my prayer,

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Speaker 1: I am dead asleep almost every single night. I'm not

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Speaker 1: gonna say that that's wrong to do every single time,

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Speaker 1: because I do think that God wants to hear from us.

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Speaker 1: And you know, just as a child falls asleep talking

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Speaker 1: to their parents and the parents think that that is

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Speaker 1: very sweet, I don't think that God specifically has a

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Speaker 1: problem when we're talking to him and we start falling asleep,

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Speaker 1: you know, because we find peace in Him. There's something

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Speaker 1: very peaceful about prayer, and sometimes I do use it

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Speaker 1: as a way to fall asleep at night because my

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Speaker 1: mind is just going crazy. And then finally, when I

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Speaker 1: lie down at night to pray, it's just so peaceful

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Speaker 1: and I actually can like turn my mind off and

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Speaker 1: fall asleep. But I felt convicted because I've been using

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Speaker 1: prayer as a way to fall asleep and not so

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Speaker 1: much much as a way to actually communicate with God.

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Speaker 1: And I recognize now that that motivation is very wrong.

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Speaker 1: I shouldn't be using prayer as a way to fall asleep,

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Speaker 1: but I should be using it as a way to

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Speaker 1: communicate with God and be strong in the Lord. So

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Speaker 1: we are supposed to be awake and focused in our

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Speaker 1: prayer life. That sounds to me like sitting down and

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Speaker 1: actually taking time and effort to say prayers to God

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Speaker 1: and also finding ways to make sure that we are

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Speaker 1: focused during our prayer life. Another problem that I have

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Speaker 1: with praying, even if I am not using it to

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Speaker 1: fall asleep, to my prayers just feel sort of boring,

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Speaker 1: and then my mind starts to drift and I'm no

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Speaker 1: longer praying anymore. But I'm thinking about, you know, the

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Speaker 1: TV show that I watched twenty five years ago. Instead

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Speaker 1: of having our minds drift all over the place, are

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Speaker 1: there things we can do to stay focused in our

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Speaker 1: prayer lives? And I'm sure that there are. Maybe it's

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Speaker 1: by keeping a journal. You know, I do have one

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Speaker 1: that I keep. It's more of my planner. I have

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Speaker 1: like a weekly planner, and I do write down prayer

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Speaker 1: requests of people who email me and other various things

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Speaker 1: that I want to pray for, and that does help

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Speaker 1: me stay focused with my prayers as compared to not

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Speaker 1: writing things down. So maybe there's ways that we can

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Speaker 1: find that help us stay focused while we are praying

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Speaker 1: to God. It could even be just like walking around

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Speaker 1: the house or taking a walk and dedicating that time

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Speaker 1: to prayer, like shutting the music off, shutting the phone

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Speaker 1: off so that we can focus that time on prayer.

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Speaker 1: I did used to do that. I found that prayer

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Speaker 1: walks were very helpful for me. I stopped doing them recently,

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Speaker 1: but I noticed that at like the thirty minute mark,

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Speaker 1: that is when my prayer during that walk really starts

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Speaker 1: to get going and I start like finding myself in

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Speaker 1: this cycle of prayer where I just want to keep going.

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Speaker 1: I want to keep walking and I want to keep

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Speaker 1: talking to God because my mind at that point just

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Speaker 1: got very f phonocused. So yes, prayer does take effort,

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Speaker 1: I have found, and for me it's that almost exactly

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Speaker 1: thirty minute mark where I start really getting going with

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Speaker 1: my prayer. But then after that, man, prayer is super

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Speaker 1: cool when you can get into the mindset of prayer

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Speaker 1: where you're just in it and you are talking to

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Speaker 1: God about everything that you are thinking about and feeling

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Speaker 1: and remembering. It is such a neat and connecting feeling

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Speaker 1: that I unfortunately don't put enough effort in to do

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Speaker 1: on a day to day basis. But yes, our prayers

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Speaker 1: are supposed to be more like that. They are supposed

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Speaker 1: to be much more focused, I think than the majority

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Speaker 1: of people. With all of the distractions we have in life,

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Speaker 1: specifically the black rectangle that is always in our hands

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Speaker 1: aka the phone. All these distractions are in our lives

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Speaker 1: and we have a hard time focusing on prayer, which

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Speaker 1: is why Paul says it takes some effort to continue

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Speaker 1: steadfastly in prayer and keeping awake alert when we do

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Speaker 1: it with Thanksgiving is also the other thing Paul says,

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Speaker 1: So not only are we supposed to be praying for

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Speaker 1: other people and for ourselves for things that we want

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Speaker 1: or need, but we're also supposed to be giving thanks

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Speaker 1: to God as well, which is a very important thing

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Speaker 1: and we've definitely talked about that on the podcast, because

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Speaker 1: if we're constantly just asking God for things all the time,

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Speaker 1: what kind of a relationship is that we should be

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Speaker 1: thanking Him also for the things that He has already

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Speaker 1: given us. And that of course is going to help

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Speaker 1: us personally become healthier individuals who aren't always expecting things

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Speaker 1: from God but just remembering the good things that God

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Speaker 1: already gave us. And then Paul asks for a prayer

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Speaker 1: for himself, which you'll notice that this prayer that Paul

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Speaker 1: asks for is very not selfish. It's more that Paul

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Speaker 1: will have the strength and ability to continue to give

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Speaker 1: the Gospel message to other people. I do think that

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Speaker 1: Paul struggled with fear in his life. He kind of

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Speaker 1: implies it on a few occasions, and right here he's

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Speaker 1: asking for prayer so that he can reveal the Gospel

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Speaker 1: as he should. And you know, considering the fact that

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Speaker 1: Paul was currently in prison writing this. There could have

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Speaker 1: been some fear now and again that popped up in

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Speaker 1: Paul's life, and he's asking that that fear in him

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Speaker 1: gets squelched so that he can properly proclaim the Gospel

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Speaker 1: message the way he knows he should, though he is

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Speaker 1: in chains at the moment that he is writing this. Then,

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Speaker 1: in verse five and six, to conclude today's episode, walk

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Speaker 1: in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

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Speaker 1: And this reminds me of a verse from Fhesians chapter five,

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Speaker 1: fifteen and sixteen. Therefore, watch carefully how you walk, not

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Speaker 1: as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the

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Speaker 1: days are evil. So what does that mean to redeem

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Speaker 1: your time? Well, that means to make an opportunity of

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Speaker 1: every time that you have. If you flip over it

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Speaker 1: to the amp version once again of Colossians four, it

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Speaker 1: says in verse five, conduct yourself with wisdom in your

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Speaker 1: interactions with outsiders or non believers. Make the most of

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Speaker 1: each opportunity, treating it as something precious. So what Paul

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Speaker 1: is getting at is that Christians are supposed to shine

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Speaker 1: their lights in every opportunity that they can get to

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Speaker 1: people who are not Christians aka outsiders, people who are

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Speaker 1: outside of the church. Christians are supposed to make the

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Speaker 1: best of every opportunity. If they find an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: witness or evangelize, they should take that opportunity. And this

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Speaker 1: also shows that Christians are to act in a way

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Speaker 1: that is not off putting to the outsider. That's not

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Speaker 1: to say that you agree with the lifestyle of the outsiders,

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Speaker 1: But if a Christian is acting holier than thou, or

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Speaker 1: if they're just like the outsider, that is not making

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Speaker 1: the most of the time, that is not making the

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Speaker 1: best of every opportunity. In fact, they could be causing

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Speaker 1: more harm for the Gospel message than they are for good.

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Speaker 1: So Christian is supposed to walk in wisdom toward those

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Speaker 1: who are outside, not being holier than thou and certainly

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Speaker 1: not living the same lifestyle as the outsiders, but making

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Speaker 1: the most of every opportunity. And the way you do

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Speaker 1: this is by letting your speech always be with grace,

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Speaker 1: seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you

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Speaker 1: ought to answer each one. Now, I don't know about you,

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Speaker 1: but there's not much better than a delicious bunch of

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Speaker 1: salty French fries from McDonald's. The only fry that I

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Speaker 1: really enjoy is from McDonald's. But unfortunately, McDonald's French fries

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Speaker 1: are only good if they are warm and if they

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Speaker 1: don't have too much salt on them, and more often

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Speaker 1: than not, unfortunately these days, when you get French fries

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Speaker 1: from McDonald's, they are cold and over salted and they

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Speaker 1: are disgusting. But a warm, perfectly salted French fry from

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Speaker 1: McDonald's that is the best French fry that you can

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Speaker 1: get from a fast food restaurant in my opinion. That

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Speaker 1: being said, those French fries that are over salted you

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Speaker 1: can barely eat them. So when you talk to somebody

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Speaker 1: and your speech is overly salty, that means that you

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Speaker 1: are overly critical, maybe acting once again holier than thou,

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Speaker 1: maybe treating somebody as a sinner that you don't want

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Speaker 1: to associate with. They are not going to want what

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Speaker 1: you have to say. But on the flip side, if

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Speaker 1: you are overly gracious, because Paul says right here, let

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Speaker 1: your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so

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Speaker 1: grace is like the french fry itself, but non salted

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Speaker 1: French fries are also very disgusting, and actually that has

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Speaker 1: happened with McDonald's friend tries before as well, where like

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Speaker 1: you get almost no salt on them and they're disgusting.

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Speaker 1: And likewise, if you are talking to a non Christian

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Speaker 1: and you are overly gracious, meaning you are not talking

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Speaker 1: to them about sin, you are not talking to them

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Speaker 1: about the consequences of their actions or about the harder

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Speaker 1: aspects of the Gospel message, the salty aspects, I would say,

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Speaker 1: then you are not doing them any favors whatsoever. That's

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Speaker 1: why grace and salt must go together. The French fry

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Speaker 1: is the primary product, not the salt. But a French

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Speaker 1: fry without salt is disgusting, as is a French fry

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Speaker 1: with too much salt. So the perfect amount of salt

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Speaker 1: is necessary for those French fries to be appealing to people.

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Speaker 1: When you communicate with non believers, you are to be

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Speaker 1: gracious and kind to them, treating them very fresh, but

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Speaker 1: also telling them about the Gospel message. And the Gospel

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Speaker 1: message includes sin. You have to talk about that if

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Speaker 1: you are going to have this person really understand their

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Speaker 1: need for a savior. So your speech has to be gracious,

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Speaker 1: but also seasoned with salt, so that you will know

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Speaker 1: how you ought to answer each person who comes to

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Speaker 1: you with questions who wants to know why you are

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Speaker 1: a Christian and what is different about your life and

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Speaker 1: your beliefs as compared to their beliefs, or their friend's'

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Speaker 1: beliefs or their parents' beliefs. They want to know what

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Speaker 1: makes you different, So treat them kindly, treat them with respect,

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Speaker 1: be friendly towards them, but tell them what the Gospel

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Speaker 1: message really is. And that perfect blend of seasoning is

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Speaker 1: really going to go a long way when evangelizing to

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Speaker 1: somebody who is not a Christian. I hope the analogy

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Speaker 1: of the French Fries made sense and didn't confuse you guys.

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Speaker 1: Even more. If you guys like the analogy, let me

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Speaker 1: know if you didn't get it. Also let me know

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from all of you guys. And

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Speaker 1: speaking of when you contact me, if you have a

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Speaker 1: prayer request, please share it with me and I will

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Speaker 1: write you down in my little planner, my little prayer

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Speaker 1: journal here, and I will pray for you for the week.

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Speaker 1: You will find my email listed in the description of

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Speaker 1: this episode. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and absolutely wonderful

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Speaker 1: rest of your day. I will see you guys all

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Speaker 1: not tomorrow unless you are a member. If you want

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Speaker 1: to know how to become a member, click the link

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Speaker 1: that says kofie and it will take you from there.

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Speaker 1: But if not, I will see you guys on Monday

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Speaker 1: for an episode from First Chronicles. Until then, happy listening,

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Speaker 1: happy weekend, and God bless