Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
Speaker 1: It is Thursday, the 5th of June, and here we
Speaker 1: are ready to talk to you, answer the questions you
Speaker 1: might have about the Bible, the Christian faith, 888-564-6173 is
Speaker 1: the number to call today. 888-564-6173.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, you don't have to be a Christian
Speaker 1: to call us just because we're a Christian radio program
Speaker 1: talking about the Bible, we would love your questions because
Speaker 1: you might have questions about the Bible or religion or
Speaker 1: whatever the case might be. Call us 888-564-6173. Answering your
Speaker 1: questions today, we've got Pastor Brian Broderson from Calvary Chapel,
Speaker 1: Costa Mesa. How's it going, Brian?
Speaker 1: Well, Brian, it is going quite well, and I'm so
Speaker 1: delighted to be sitting in the studio, not only with you.
Speaker 1: But with our dear friend Phil Metzger, who made it
Speaker 1: up from the deep South, the deep, deep South.
Speaker 1: The different deep South San Diego. The other deep South,
Speaker 1: exactly deep South to us, yes, yes, I'm glad to
Speaker 1: be outside. Phil and I were together. We were on
Speaker 1: a platform in the city of Budapest at Golgatta, the
Speaker 1: church there that Phil used to pastor, and we were
Speaker 1: having a fun time. That was a great time. That
Speaker 1: was great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, golly, that was fun. Well, it's good to have
Speaker 1: you here, man. We normally see you on the screen there, but, uh,
Speaker 1: you came up here today. It's so much better to
Speaker 1: be in person. Oh, totally. I, I love it. It's
Speaker 1: great to be with you guys. It's fun. Great to
Speaker 1: have you here. 888-564-6173 is the number to call if
Speaker 1: you've got questions for us today.
Speaker 1: Totally, totally. Oh yes I got questions for us today. Oh,
Speaker 1: you do. You're sounding like the Encino man a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know, the total.
Speaker 1: Bummer, dude. All right. uh, there's a few other ways
Speaker 1: you can get your question to us, and you can
Speaker 1: go to, uh, Facebook, find the Pastor's perspective page, and
Speaker 1: you can send us a message there through Messenger, or
Speaker 1: you can go to the pastor's perspective Instagram and DM us,
Speaker 1: or you can go to Kwave.com.
Speaker 1: And flick on my forehead and, uh, no, seriously, no, not,
Speaker 1: not in person. It doesn't work in person. Uh, only
Speaker 1: if you go online, uh Kwave.com, and uh that takes
Speaker 1: you to the page where you can submit your question. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're watching us on Facebook or YouTube or Instagram
Speaker 1: right now, do you see that little QR code there
Speaker 1: near the bottom of the screen? Yeah, you can.
Speaker 1: Zap that or whatever it is you do with your phone, and, uh,
Speaker 1: it'll take you to that page, so you won't have
Speaker 1: to flick my forehead. And I appreciate that because the
Speaker 1: more you guys flick my forehead, I'm getting all these divots.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to look like a golf ball, and that's
Speaker 1: not good. Uh, so, but the best thing to do
Speaker 1: is to call us at 888-564-6173. Nevertheless, Brian sent in
Speaker 1: a question, not you, or did you have a, uh, no,
Speaker 1: I had a comment. Um, so I, I just wanted
Speaker 1: to say I met some people today.
Speaker 1: Who wanted to tell me how much they love this
Speaker 1: program and that's great yeah and that's always fun, you
Speaker 1: know it is so a couple of guys just said, hey,
Speaker 1: love pastor's perspective uh another guy just moved out of state.
Speaker 1: Said, listening to you all the time, got the app
Speaker 1: on my phone. Oh, cool. Very cool. Thank you. Wherever
Speaker 1: you are, you can listen to us when you got
Speaker 1: that app. So here's Brian's question, not Brian Broderson, a
Speaker 1: different Brian. He wrote in and said, I'm finally at
Speaker 1: a place in my life where it seems that I've
Speaker 1: achieved most all my dreams and goals. Do you have
Speaker 1: any advice on how to refrain from becoming prideful in
Speaker 1: heart and therefore killing my witness to people who are
Speaker 1: still going through it?
Speaker 1: Now my advice to Brian would be, uh, go therefore
Speaker 1: sell all you have and give to the poor, but
Speaker 1: I'm not one to give answers on the question. I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: That's that that wouldn't be. But is this really Brian
Speaker 1: Perez asking them? No, it's a, I'll, I'll show this. No,
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't want to hold that up to
Speaker 1: the screen because then people would see his name and
Speaker 1: his phone number because I can't think of many Bryans
Speaker 1: that have succeeded in life and it's not a name.
Speaker 1: They're at the top. They're game and.
Speaker 1: I mean you are like rarefied air. I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
Speaker 1: I am in a good place right now. Let's do that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean Brian Wilson, you know, you know, in the
Speaker 1: Beach Boys heyday, he arrived, yeah.
Speaker 1: So what do you guys say to this, Brian? OK, what,
Speaker 1: what's the last part? How do you, is it like
Speaker 1: do you not be prideful? How do you not be prideful.
Speaker 1: Well
Speaker 1: Um, I mean, in some ways it's, it's, it's easy.
Speaker 1: You know, I, I was listening to this thing the
Speaker 1: other day, it was really fascinating, you know, uh, the
Speaker 1: first official sort of pope of the Roman Catholic Church
Speaker 1: was Gregory the Great.
Speaker 1: He, he wasn't actually, he was the bishop of Rome
Speaker 1: and you know, so people look back to him as
Speaker 1: kind of, well, actually Catholics look back to Peter as
Speaker 1: the first pope, but anyway, kind of officially, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so anyway, um, Gregory wrote this.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable, uh, text on like pastoral leadership. And it like
Speaker 1: for 500 years, it was used far and wide, not
Speaker 1: just in ministry, although he wrote it for ministry guys,
Speaker 1: it was used in the, you know, various courts of
Speaker 1: the monarchs throughout Europe and, you know, all this crazy stuff.
Speaker 1: And for Gregory, the key to everything when it came
Speaker 1: to leadership was humility. So he, and he said at
Speaker 1: one point, he said, you know, it it was funny
Speaker 1: the way he described it. He said, you know, even
Speaker 1: just the average person could, couldn't become prideful. That's just
Speaker 1: part of human nature. And he says, how much more
Speaker 1: someone who is in a position of authority that people
Speaker 1: look to, that people praise, that people tell them.
Speaker 1: You know how amazing they are and they are. I'm thinking, well,
Speaker 1: he's just describing exactly, you know, the life of a
Speaker 1: pastor and other people who are in that position. But
Speaker 1: what he said, and of course this is going back
Speaker 1: to Jesus as our model, um, remember the story in
Speaker 1: John chapter 13, the Jesus is washing the disciples' feet, right?
Speaker 1: And as he's washing their feet, he says,
Speaker 1: Um, you know, what are you doing, Lord? Peter says,
Speaker 1: you're never gonna wash my feet. If I, if I
Speaker 1: don't wash your feet, you have to part with me,
Speaker 1: Jesus says. But he says this, he says, um, you
Speaker 1: call me Lord and master, and that's right, because that
Speaker 1: is who I am. And if I, your lord and master,
Speaker 1: have done this for you, then you should do this
Speaker 1: for one another. And so I think we just have
Speaker 1: to remember, you know, one time it struck me, Matthew 11.
Speaker 1: Where God says I am meek and humble in heart,
Speaker 1: and I thought God is humble, right? That's like it's insane.
Speaker 1: Is that possible humble be, you know, and, and so
Speaker 1: let's just remember, whatever, it's like Paul the apostle said,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever I have, it's, it's, it's been given
Speaker 1: to me by God, and the same thing is true
Speaker 1: with you. So if it's, if it's been given to
Speaker 1: you by God, why do you boast about it as though.
Speaker 1: You know, you somehow made it happen yourself. And I
Speaker 1: think everybody, you know, for Brian, Brian, whatever you've done
Speaker 1: in life and your success, all of that is great,
Speaker 1: it's wonderful. Just remember.
Speaker 1: Why it happened? Because God in His mercy allowed it
Speaker 1: to happen. Don't take any credit for it. Don't walk
Speaker 1: around with a fake humility going, oh, don't, you know,
Speaker 1: don't congratulate me. Praise the Lord, that's weird. But just
Speaker 1: have a realistic, just have a realistic perspective on.
Speaker 1: By the grace of God I am what I am.
Speaker 1: That's the bottom line. What do you think? Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking too like, you know, that that verse where
Speaker 1: it says like, what is the profit a man if
Speaker 1: he gains the whole world but loses his soul? It's
Speaker 1: kind of like, and I'm I'm in the presence of
Speaker 1: two Brians, but I'm saying Brian, the other Brian, OK,
Speaker 1: the third Brian, the unseen Brian in the room, um.
Speaker 1: Dude, if you've accomplished every goal that you have, here's
Speaker 1: one way to stay humble. Your goals are too small.
Speaker 1: If you could finish them in your lifetime, there's much bigger,
Speaker 1: like there's so much more to life then. So like
Speaker 1: if you've accomplished a work goal, that's
Speaker 1: That's great, kudos to you, but then like, like relational
Speaker 1: goals never have a cutoff. It's like our friendship is
Speaker 1: gonna like like we've arrived, it's constantly growing, right? And
Speaker 1: so if I think of my life as goals accomplished.
Speaker 1: Then, you know, there's nothing beyond that. But if I
Speaker 1: think of my life as process that God's just walking
Speaker 1: me through different seasons, different opportunities, new challenges, new things
Speaker 1: to be a part of, then there's humility because it's
Speaker 1: like I haven't been on this road before. I've been
Speaker 1: on 52 roads that look like it, but the trees
Speaker 1: are different and the cars are different, like it's a
Speaker 1: new road and so I think we gonna have bigger
Speaker 1: goals if we're already accomplishing them all.
Speaker 1: Seriously, I mean, like, yeah, and, and move the goalposts
Speaker 1: and like, exactly. And OK, so like you said, maybe,
Speaker 1: maybe and you know, seems to indicate like in maybe
Speaker 1: in his profession or whatever, a lot of success there
Speaker 1: in life in OK, yeah, that's good, which is cool,
Speaker 1: by the way, yeah, but our, our goal, you know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like Paul said to the Philippians, he,
Speaker 1: he's talking about um.
Speaker 1: You know, he, he says that God has called him.
Speaker 1: Um, ordained him to be conformed to Christ, and he says,
Speaker 1: not that I have already attained.
Speaker 1: So Paul, heats in attain. And you know, he's kind
Speaker 1: of toward probably more toward the end of his ministry,
Speaker 1: but he still hasn't attained to all that God had
Speaker 1: apprehended him for. That's what he says. He says, you know,
Speaker 1: Christ Jesus apprehended me and so what am I doing?
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting the things that are behind and I'm pressing
Speaker 1: toward the goal for the mark.
Speaker 1: are the mark for the goal of the high high
Speaker 1: call of God in Christ. And so I think that
Speaker 1: whatever other things you might have accomplished and you feel
Speaker 1: satisfied with, that's fine, but there's still this attaining to
Speaker 1: all that God has apprehended you for that you haven't
Speaker 1: attained to.
Speaker 1: And you won't, but you will keep pressing forward. I
Speaker 1: love that, yeah. I remember several years ago there was
Speaker 1: a young either singer or actress in her twenties or something,
Speaker 1: and
Speaker 1: They had asked her to write her autobiography, you know, or,
Speaker 1: or whatever, and she's like, I'm only 22. If I
Speaker 1: wait till I actually, I mean, if the, if you
Speaker 1: want to hear my life story now, this, this tells
Speaker 1: me that you don't think I can do more, but let,
Speaker 1: let me, you know, come back in 20 years and
Speaker 1: let's see what I can.
Speaker 1: Accomplish, but, uh, yep, Brian, thank you for sending in
Speaker 1: your question on Kwave.com. And now we're gonna go to
Speaker 1: the phones beginning with Dina in Highland, California
Speaker 2: listening on
Speaker 1: FM 107.9. Hi Dina.
Speaker 2: Hi, Brian. Hi, gentlemen. Thank you so much. You are
Speaker 2: such a tremendous blessing. So my question is, uh, I
Speaker 2: noticed today, and I'm sure you will all agree,
Speaker 2: That the blaspheming of our Lord's name is everywhere. It's
Speaker 2: amped up in movies, TV shows. I was even in
Speaker 2: the supermarket, walked by a mother and a daughter, and
Speaker 2: she said, Jesus Christ, and I walked by and said,
Speaker 2: is Lord, you know, to myself, not to be obnoxious.
Speaker 2: But anyway, um,
Speaker 2: There's a particular show I like, and it seems like
Speaker 2: this man likes to use the Lord's name in vain.
Speaker 2: And I'm, it's like an arrow to me every time
Speaker 2: I'm watching it, but are we grieving the Lord when we're,
Speaker 2: you know,
Speaker 2: Listening to that. I mean, it's not excessive, but it's there,
Speaker 2: but it seems to be everywhere now, even more so.
Speaker 2: And
Speaker 2: Just wanted to know because honestly, I remember a Kwave
Speaker 2: pastor saying that uh even though the Lord's name is
Speaker 2: used vainly, that there's still power in His name, the
Speaker 2: fact that people are hearing that name above all names,
Speaker 2: and that's it. Thank you.
Speaker 1: OK.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks Dina, that's fun. Uh, uh, I think let
Speaker 1: me let me talk to you specifically, right? Since you're
Speaker 1: on the phone and we're talking right now and then I,
Speaker 1: then there's like a bigger broader group of everybody else
Speaker 1: for you, the way you described how you feel about
Speaker 1: the particular show that you're watching, the answer is you
Speaker 1: probably shouldn't watch it because the way that you feel
Speaker 1: and the way that you're describing that, does that mean
Speaker 1: that other Christians can't? No, it doesn't. Other people have liberties.
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem to me the way you described things
Speaker 1: that you have that liberty. So to keep taking advantage
Speaker 1: of that liberty you don't have may not do good
Speaker 1: for your own spiritual walk. As it relates to other people,
Speaker 1: not everybody's gonna have that same, I don't wanna say conviction,
Speaker 1: but that same like feeling about it, like, I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously the Bible talks about not taking the Lord's name
Speaker 1: in vain, and I believe that's maybe more important to
Speaker 1: believers than it is to unbelievers.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that I totally agree though I couldn't
Speaker 1: speak to what that other pastor had said, the idea
Speaker 1: that like, even if the name of Jesus is being
Speaker 1: said in a bad way, it's better than nothing. I,
Speaker 1: I don't really know if I feel that way. Uh,
Speaker 1: in fact, I'll just say I don't feel that way. Um,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, talking about Jesus is something really holy.
Speaker 1: And um you're not in some like weird mystical way,
Speaker 1: but just I think using it in a swear context
Speaker 1: wouldn't be somehow the power of God able to work
Speaker 1: through that. I think it's a bad bad usage, but
Speaker 1: for you, Dina, I think I'd avoid the show and um,
Speaker 1: but for others, you know, people have liberty and just
Speaker 1: need to kind of ask the Lord what's what's best
Speaker 1: for them. Brian.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I, um.
Speaker 1: Uh, for one,
Speaker 1: Of course, maybe it is heightened today. Obviously television entertainment, uh,
Speaker 1: is much different today than it was when I was young,
Speaker 1: you know, and did they have TV back then? Sorry,
Speaker 1: it just they get they get shots fired invented shots.
Speaker 1: Um, joking. So, you know, back then you, you didn't
Speaker 1: hear that kind of language, especially on your TV. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you went to a movie that was R rated
Speaker 1: or something, then you would, you would hear it generally. But,
Speaker 1: but I grew up in a context where I heard
Speaker 1: that language all the time. So it was just like,
Speaker 1: you know, it was what it was. And, and so again,
Speaker 1: I think it is, it's, it's more prevalent today because
Speaker 1: of just how communication has exploded.
Speaker 1: Um, so it's like on one level we're surrounded with
Speaker 1: that and it's inescapable. And even like TV shows, series
Speaker 1: that I like, uh, you know, they will use the
Speaker 1: Lord's name quite freely, unfortunately. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: you could, um, if you have a deep conviction about it,
Speaker 1: like Phil said, then I think that you probably say, well,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm I'm just not gonna do that out
Speaker 1: of principle.
Speaker 1: Um, if you don't have that same kind of conviction,
Speaker 1: because I don't think everybody would, uh, and if you're,
Speaker 1: you know, inclined, you might even say, you know, I,
Speaker 1: I really, you know, of course, this person's an actor
Speaker 1: and this is, you know, this is part of the script,
Speaker 1: and this is what they're doing. I have a friend
Speaker 1: who's a producer and he and his, you know, he,
Speaker 1: he ends up producing these programs with a lot of
Speaker 1: vulgarities and language in them and stuff, and his mother
Speaker 1: it's just like
Speaker 1: Son, why, why do you have to put these words
Speaker 1: and he's like, Mom, I don't write the script, you know, they,
Speaker 1: they give me the script that's written already. I don't
Speaker 1: have any any power over it. And so it's like, OK, um, I,
Speaker 1: I mean, what I was gonna get at is you
Speaker 1: could say.
Speaker 1: Uh, every time they do that, I'm gonna say a
Speaker 1: prayer for them, you know, maybe, maybe that would be a,
Speaker 1: a kind of a some shows you'll pray a lot. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna put it on pause and pray, pause
Speaker 1: and pray. That is a great idea. And it also
Speaker 1: really depends on culture too, right? I mean, like.
Speaker 1: You go over to Europe and things are said in
Speaker 1: ways that like maybe it's totally different than here so
Speaker 1: like you have like British or German or Italian and
Speaker 1: Hungarian and they say things that like we're like wait
Speaker 1: I don't think you could say that, you know, or
Speaker 1: the fre and years and years ago we were flying
Speaker 1: home from when we lived in England, we were flying
Speaker 1: back for a visit.
Speaker 1: And my youngest son was probably like 6 at the time,
Speaker 1: you know, and he's sitting next to this, this woman
Speaker 1: who was like in her twenties, you know, nice, nicely dressed,
Speaker 1: nice looking, and he, he was an amazing kid. I mean,
Speaker 1: he just was like sharing the gospel with her, you know,
Speaker 1: he was actually debating with her and she kept using
Speaker 1: the F word and I'm just like, who, who is
Speaker 1: this woman and what is she doing? So finally I'm
Speaker 1: kind of like, you know, where are you from? I'm
Speaker 1: from Ireland, uh.
Speaker 1: What do you do? Uh, I'm a school teacher. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you're a school teacher, first grade teacher. I mean it
Speaker 1: was like, uh, you don't teach English, do you? So anyway, um,
Speaker 1: but here, here's a passage that I do think is
Speaker 1: relevant to this, uh, question. Um, so Paul, he's writing
Speaker 1: to the people in Corinth and you know, Corinth is
Speaker 1: a
Speaker 1: A city that's full of all kinds of um idolatry
Speaker 1: and immorality and so forth. And he says, he says,
Speaker 1: I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep
Speaker 1: company with a sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did
Speaker 1: not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world,
Speaker 1: or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters. Since then,
Speaker 1: you would need to go out of the world.
Speaker 1: But now I have written to you not to keep
Speaker 1: company with anyone named a brother or sister, who is
Speaker 1: sexually immoral covetous, an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, an extortioner, um,
Speaker 1: don't
Speaker 1: Even eat with that kind of a person. So, you know,
Speaker 1: here Paul is, he's talking about the reality of life
Speaker 1: in the church and life in the world. Uh, you're
Speaker 1: never gonna escape this stuff. This is what the world is.
Speaker 1: And so we have to
Speaker 1: Navigate the the world that we live in. And I
Speaker 1: think like you sort of indicated, Phil, this is a
Speaker 1: this is a personal uh decision that
Speaker 1: I don't think there's one answer that applies to everybody
Speaker 1: on it. And I think you just have to go
Speaker 1: with your, with your conviction.
Speaker 1: Dina, thanks for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173
Speaker 1: is our number. I'm Brian Perez sitting in for Bobby Conway,
Speaker 1: and that's why I'm making fun of Brian's age, because
Speaker 1: that's something Bobby would have done. I would never do that,
Speaker 1: but Bobby would definitely have done that. So that's why
Speaker 1: I did it. Uh, Brian Broderson and Phil Metzger are
Speaker 1: here too, and we would love to chat with you
Speaker 1: at 888-564-6173. Have I mentioned Brian Perez's hair lately?
Speaker 1: It's not as cool as Bobby's, so yeah. Here's Philip
Speaker 1: who is calling in from Alhambra, California. Welcome to the program, Philip. Oh,
Speaker 1: hi guys. Hope everyone's doing good. We are, um, I
Speaker 1: just was wondering if you guys could comment on the other, um,
Speaker 1: sins that cause Sodom and Gomorrah to be condemned, and
Speaker 1: that's about it.
Speaker 1: The other sins, so we know about the major ones,
Speaker 1: or at least we think we do, and, uh, but
Speaker 1: were there others? We, yeah, I, yeah, at least, I mean,
Speaker 1: the one that always, you know, first and foremost pops
Speaker 1: up on social media or anything, uh, one side uses
Speaker 1: to choose another side. But so I was just wondering,
Speaker 1: I know it's a, I know it's a bigger picture. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could elaborate on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a passage um in Ezekiel.
Speaker 1: Where is it, yeah, I'm not sure exactly. I think
Speaker 1: it is the address, but um, yeah, the, the maybe
Speaker 1: maybe it's here, yeah, where he's talking about the sin
Speaker 1: of Sodom.
Speaker 1: And so let's see if this is the passage here. Um, yes,
Speaker 1: she and her daughters had pride.
Speaker 1: Fullness of food and abundance of idleness, and neither did
Speaker 1: she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy.
Speaker 1: So that was the, that's kind of the extended perspective
Speaker 1: on the sin of of Sodom. When you read the story,
Speaker 1: of course, in Genesis, you find that it's the sexual
Speaker 1: immorality that is, that is uh kind of front and
Speaker 1: center in that part.
Speaker 1: And then when you come to the New Testament, uh
Speaker 1: Jude mentions the destruction of Sodom, and he attributes it
Speaker 1: to sexual immorality. So, I think what what I've seen
Speaker 1: happen is
Speaker 1: Those who want to advocate.
Speaker 1: Um, say for same-sex relations and stuff and uh to
Speaker 1: respond to people who say, oh, but you know, God
Speaker 1: judges homosexuality, they would be the ones quite often to
Speaker 1: point to the Ezekiel passage and say, no, Sodom wasn't
Speaker 1: destroyed because of sexual immorality. Sodom was destroyed because they
Speaker 1: were idle, because they were prideful, because they didn't take
Speaker 1: care of the poor. Um, it's actually both, it's not
Speaker 1: order which um was written first Ezekiel or Genesis.
Speaker 1: Genesis. Genesis, yes, much, much earlier. Chronologically, it was written
Speaker 1: before Ezekiel. Yes, I mean actually written or recorded, I mean. Yeah, yeah, well,
Speaker 1: the Genesis or the part of the books of Moses.
Speaker 1: I know it's it's going, I know it's going back
Speaker 1: to the very beginning, but was it? Yeah. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's definitely written before, yeah, by.
Speaker 1: Moses and Ezekiel is, um, you know, he's centuries after
Speaker 1: Moses this time, so. OK, so. But, but finish your
Speaker 1: thought of what you were saying that people will look
Speaker 1: at Ezekiel and point. So people will look at Ezekiel
Speaker 1: and say it wasn't because of sexual sin, it was
Speaker 1: because of these things. And yet, it's because Genesis gives
Speaker 1: us the actual historical narrative on it.
Speaker 1: Um, and, and we see these, the men of Sodom
Speaker 1: are trying to sodomize, that's where the word comes from,
Speaker 1: these angelic beings and God destroys the, the city because
Speaker 1: of that. And then when you come to the New
Speaker 1: Testament reference to Sodom and Jude, um, Jude says that
Speaker 1: they went after strange flesh and they were um committed
Speaker 1: sexual immorality. So the strange flesh there would be that
Speaker 1: these men are going after other men.
Speaker 1: And so that would be, wouldn't be the angels, the
Speaker 1: flush the angels. Well, the angels, uh, no, I don't
Speaker 1: think it would be the strange flush being the angels
Speaker 1: because I think it would have just said the angels
Speaker 1: if it was, yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, Philip, thank you for your phone call today
Speaker 1: on Pastor's Perspective. Speaking of angels, Joseph and Orange has
Speaker 1: a question about angels. What is it, Joseph?
Speaker 2: Pastors, um, so my question is, do angels have free
Speaker 2: will like humans?
Speaker 1: Phil, what do you say? Yeah, it's a good question
Speaker 1: and it it comes up quite a bit in like
Speaker 1: systematic theology. Uh, there's certain certainly they did have free will,
Speaker 1: or at least those that we read about that were
Speaker 1: able to exercise such free will and so there's kind
Speaker 1: of no denying that, you know, we read about Satan's fall,
Speaker 1: Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28.
Speaker 1: It's very clear that there was choice that he had,
Speaker 1: and then later in the book of Revelation, we read
Speaker 1: about a third of the angels falling with Satan, so
Speaker 1: there is, there's every reason to believe that the angels
Speaker 1: had free will, or at least those described. The question is,
Speaker 1: is now do they today or do they still, and the,
Speaker 1: the best I've heard that I, I think I subscribe
Speaker 1: to is the idea that they did have free will,
Speaker 1: but that that was sealed upon.
Speaker 1: Choice. So those who chose to follow Satan, that fate
Speaker 1: was that sealed, you know, free will, and then those
Speaker 1: who chose to stay with the Lord, that sealed free
Speaker 1: will and um.
Speaker 1: I was actually looking this up because I was curious
Speaker 1: about I was looking at a quote from Wayne Grutum
Speaker 1: on that, and he said that scripture indicates many angels
Speaker 1: sinned and fell from their position. It implies that they
Speaker 1: had free will, at least initially and that they were
Speaker 1: morally accountable. So the, I think there's a, there's a
Speaker 1: good base to say that most many theologians would say
Speaker 1: they did have it, but that they do not.
Speaker 1: After that one initial choice, yeah. And I, and I
Speaker 1: think too, you know, there's the references um all through
Speaker 1: scripture uh concerning the holy angels. And I think that
Speaker 1: that is, right? Yeah, yeah. And I think that's a
Speaker 1: distinguishing factor between the two. And so it's not like
Speaker 1: there's going to be another moment. I think that idea
Speaker 1: that this was a moment in time and forever sealed
Speaker 1: whatever decision was made. Yep.
Speaker 1: All right. uh, thank you, Joseph. Does that answer your question?
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much. Thank you for calling 888-564-6173.
Speaker 1: Here's one that was sent in on Facebook really quick
Speaker 1: before we go back to the phones. It's, uh, Mark.
Speaker 1: He wants to know, uh, why is Acts 9:6, it
Speaker 1: is hard to kick against the goads left out in
Speaker 1: the NIV, but later, in chapter 26, it's there.
Speaker 1: It's a manuscript issue. So the manuscripts, um, the the
Speaker 1: manuscripts at the NIV are based on the critical text
Speaker 1: do not contain it in chapter 9, but it is
Speaker 1: there in, um, chapter 26, I think. Um, and so
Speaker 1: it's just uh it's funny enough, I just, I, I
Speaker 1: literally taught this two weeks ago because I was teaching
Speaker 1: Acts 9.
Speaker 1: And I was using the, um, I was actually using
Speaker 1: the New King James, which includes it. And so the
Speaker 1: what's called the text receptus or the majority text contains it,
Speaker 1: but the critical text doesn't contain it. So, um, but
Speaker 1: I said as I was teaching, um, you know, obviously
Speaker 1: Jesus said it because Paul later says he said it.
Speaker 1: Uh, did he say at that time, or, or, you know,
Speaker 1: should have been, should it have been recorded in chapter 9,
Speaker 1: That's a debate that's just purely based on it's in
Speaker 1: some manuscripts and it's not in it do you see
Speaker 1: that changing anything? No whatsoever. There's a key, and that,
Speaker 1: that's a thing, you know, when you start looking at
Speaker 1: and I've, I have gone all over the map with
Speaker 1: uh translations and versions and um looking at the, the
Speaker 1: critical text which is almost every single.
Speaker 1: Bible except the King James and the new King James
Speaker 1: is based on the critical text and where those are
Speaker 1: based on the text receptive as it's called, or the
Speaker 1: majority text and, and yet when it's all said and done,
Speaker 1: you're reading the same thing. Yeah, I mean, it's just I,
Speaker 1: I was, I was recently with a friend in England
Speaker 1: and he gave me, he gave me a copy of
Speaker 1: the majority text. He has it in English.
Speaker 1: And the first part of it was just an introductory
Speaker 1: thing and the, the scholars who wrote it, they were
Speaker 1: basically pushing back against a critical text saying, you know,
Speaker 1: the majority text is superior. And as I'm reading and
Speaker 1: I said, well, OK.
Speaker 1: I said, but in the end, what's the point? It's
Speaker 1: just an academic argument because if you're gonna, because I
Speaker 1: was reading it, I said, I, this is just like
Speaker 1: I'm reading my NIV. It's no different, you know, right? Yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, thank you for sending in your question
Speaker 1: through Facebook, and we're gonna take a break now. We'll
Speaker 1: be back with more of your questions in just a
Speaker 1: little bit. 888-564-6173. Got about 30 minutes left to call
Speaker 1: in and ask your questions. We've got Pastor.
Speaker 1: Brian Broderson and Phil Metzger here. 888-564-6173. If you're watching
Speaker 1: on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, we've got the number posted
Speaker 1: right there at the bottom of your screen. Call in, participate, 888-564-6173.
Speaker 1: 888-564-6173 is the number to call if you've got a
Speaker 1: question for us today on Pastor's Perspective. We've got Pastors
Speaker 1: Brian Broderson and Phil Metzger here ready to take your question,
Speaker 1: so give us a call. But before we go back
Speaker 1: to the phones, let's tell you about the Calvary Chapel conference,
Speaker 1: the CGN International Conference. It's happening later this month in Temecula.
Speaker 1: It's open to leaders, pastors and leaders, and Brian, why
Speaker 1: don't you tell us more about it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it is a ministry conference, which means that
Speaker 1: we are seeking to, to encourage and strengthen people from
Speaker 1: all different walks of church ministry. So it's not just
Speaker 1: exclusively pastors, but it's those who lead in other.
Speaker 1: Uh, areas of ministry, but of course there'll be plenty
Speaker 1: for pastors. We have a spectacular, uh, lineup of speakers and,
Speaker 1: you know, main sessions. We're going through our, our theme
Speaker 1: is the way forward, a ministry according to Jesus, and
Speaker 1: we're looking at those great chapters in the Gospel of John, uh,
Speaker 1: basically chapters 13 through 17, which are some of my
Speaker 1: favorite chapters in all the Bible.
Speaker 1: So we'll be looking at that together in the main
Speaker 1: sessions and then we just got tons and tons of great,
Speaker 1: great workshops on every different aspect of ministry from, you know,
Speaker 1: assistant pastors, executive pastors, children's ministry, youth ministry, worship ministry, uh,
Speaker 1: family life and ministry, things like that, so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all kinds of good things and we'll kick it
Speaker 1: off on uh Sunday evening, the 22nd. We, we start
Speaker 1: off with just a great time of kind of preparing
Speaker 1: our hearts in a time of worship and waiting on
Speaker 1: the Lord, and then we'll jump into the full schedule
Speaker 1: on Monday and you can get registered if you're interested,
Speaker 1: and you can find out all the details at Calvary.
Speaker 1: Wait, what is it? Conference? Conference. Calvary Chapel.com. That's what
Speaker 1: it is. That's what it is, conference. Calvary Chapel.com. Don't wait.
Speaker 1: It's coming up soon. 888-564-6173. Linda, in Oceanside, thanks for
Speaker 1: calling us today. How can we help you?
Speaker 2: Hi, Pastor. Thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 1: Sure.
Speaker 2: Um, my age, I mean, very aged 98 years old aunt, um,
Speaker 2: was living at home until just recently when she fell
Speaker 2: out of her wheelchair multiple times. And most recently, she
Speaker 2: Fell on her face right where she is in the
Speaker 2: rehab center and broke her cheek and her shoulder and
Speaker 2: a couple other things and
Speaker 2: She's in bad shape, um, and she's just so, you know,
Speaker 2: sad and discouraged and those sorts of things. And she's
Speaker 2: just saying to me, I would really like to just
Speaker 2: kill myself, and I don't think I would send me
Speaker 2: to hell if I did, because I have no hope
Speaker 2: in this world and.
Speaker 2: That's the conversation last conversation. He was crying on the
Speaker 2: phone when they came in to take care of her,
Speaker 2: so I had to hang up. Yeah. So she wanted scripture.
Speaker 2: That would reassure her that she wouldn't go to hell
Speaker 2: if she um, she killed herself and the reason she's
Speaker 2: not living out here by me is that she knew
Speaker 2: that I was not OK with euthanasia and, you know,
Speaker 2: mercy killing, etc. because that's what she wanted. No.
Speaker 1: Now, now, are the, are the, the physicians, are they
Speaker 1: willing to, to euthanize her?
Speaker 2: I don't think so. She's in a different state. She's
Speaker 2: in Louisiana and I don't know what their laws are
Speaker 2: about that, but do we have any states in the
Speaker 2: US that are euthanizing?
Speaker 1: Um,
Speaker 1: No, not, no, not like, you know, Canada now is really,
Speaker 1: they've really fallen off the deep end on that, but I,
Speaker 1: I would, there might be a few states that are
Speaker 1: sympathetic toward it, but I don't think that there's any
Speaker 1: state where it's actually legal, and I would, Louisiana would
Speaker 1: for sure not be in that category if it was. Gosh,
Speaker 1: it's so hard.
Speaker 2: I told her what it is.
Speaker 1: It's yeah, it's so difficult.
Speaker 2: It's.
Speaker 2: Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think you have to. You have to just
Speaker 1: keep reminding her of that, that it's, you know, God
Speaker 1: has a time and we don't understand his timing and
Speaker 1: a lot of times we don't really.
Speaker 1: We think he should have done something sooner than he did,
Speaker 1: or we don't understand why things are going on as
Speaker 1: long as they're going on. And of course, if you're
Speaker 1: in her state where she's injuring herself and she's in
Speaker 1: pain and all that, so I, I would just say
Speaker 1: the best thing you could do is, is just keep
Speaker 1: praying for her and and just trying to coach her
Speaker 1: into the fact that God has, um, God knows her plight,
Speaker 1: he loves her.
Speaker 1: He's he's watching over her despite these things and in
Speaker 1: his time, she will go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so, yeah, um, Linda, I'd love to pray for
Speaker 1: your aunt and then also pray for you and just how,
Speaker 1: how you navigate kind of that conversation. Those are hard.
Speaker 1: It doesn't sound to me like she's asking the question.
Speaker 1: As much from like uh, you know, official position more
Speaker 1: like it's emotional, it's an emotional thing, she's hurting and
Speaker 1: she just doesn't want to be alive and we all
Speaker 1: understand what that feels like, uh, especially if you're 98. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean my gosh, you're 98 and like you don't
Speaker 1: recover from wounds and injuries so I may God really
Speaker 1: bless her so let me let me pray for you Linda,
Speaker 1: and pray for your aunt Lour I do want to
Speaker 1: pray for Linda, thankful that she's called in, and this
Speaker 1: has gotta be uh just a burden for any of
Speaker 1: their family members as well.
Speaker 1: We just pray grace over the family, and we especially
Speaker 1: pray for her aunt who's who's been suffering and hurting,
Speaker 1: and we just pray grace over her. We do pray, Lord,
Speaker 1: I'm thankful. What the good news in all of this
Speaker 1: is that her great concern is that she wants to
Speaker 1: get to go be with you, and so we're thankful
Speaker 1: that she's gonna one day be with you. We just
Speaker 1: pray you'd you'd ease her pain and her suffering.
Speaker 1: And that you would just do something miraculous since in
Speaker 1: her Lord bless this family, Lord, for their desire to
Speaker 1: want to do what's right before you. Bless them in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1: And if everyone listening can pray for Linda and her aunt,
Speaker 1: that'd be great. So here's an interesting, um, on, on that, euthanasia.
Speaker 1: Also known as mercy killing.
Speaker 1: It is illegal in all 50 states. However, oh, here
Speaker 1: it is, physician assisted suicide is legal.
Speaker 1: In several states and Washington DC, so how do you
Speaker 1: distinguish between those two things? Yeah, isn't euthanasia just a
Speaker 1: physician assisted suicide? It seems to me that, I guess the,
Speaker 1: the lack of messing with words, the lack of medical
Speaker 1: doctors at this table.
Speaker 1: So according to AI, Phil's best friend, euthanasia involves a
Speaker 1: doctor administering a lethal injection or other means to end
Speaker 1: a patient's life. Assisted dying involves a doctor prescribing medication
Speaker 1: for the patient to self-administer. It's self-administered. Got it. OK, well,
Speaker 1: we learned something, see.
Speaker 1: Yep, still don't like AI, but hey, it probably doesn't
Speaker 1: like you, and it'll win, Brian, so be careful. AI
Speaker 1: could be your best friend. I don't want it to
Speaker 1: be my best friend. Just wait and your therapist and
Speaker 1: your
Speaker 1: AI is, it's really, I, I was actually just listening to, um,
Speaker 1: a great conversation with our, our good friend Scott Ray
Speaker 1: from uh Iola Talbot and him and uh Sean McDowell
Speaker 1: were interviewing another professor from Biola who is a kind
Speaker 1: of an expert in tech and AI and stuff and.
Speaker 1: You know, he's talking about like the amazing capacity of
Speaker 1: AI and and all the great things, good, good things
Speaker 1: it's gonna do. And also the really negative side of
Speaker 1: what it potentially could if in the hands of the
Speaker 1: wrong people or, you know, the wrong government that says
Speaker 1: we're gonna use it this way, um, it could be
Speaker 1: obviously very, very, very concerning. That's for sure.
Speaker 1: Uh, I just found that podcast. Uh, it's called Think Biblically.
Speaker 1: Anybody wants to hear that episode and it prospects and perils, yes, yep,
Speaker 1: check that out. 888-564-6173. Danny and Covina. Welcome. How can
Speaker 1: we help you?
Speaker 1: Hi, pastors, thank you for taking my call. Uh, I
Speaker 1: was just reading in uh Leviticus chapter 4, that right
Speaker 1: after God said that, uh,
Speaker 1: Go to Egypt, go get my people.
Speaker 1: That verse 24 says, and on their way to the encampment,
Speaker 1: the Lord sought to kill him. I'm assuming him is Moses.
Speaker 1: I was wondering, later on, it talks about a circumcision,
Speaker 1: but God would kill Moses over his son's lack of circumcision.
Speaker 1: I didn't understand that. OK. And just to be clear,
Speaker 1: it's Exodus chapter 4, not Leviticus, but um, yeah, and,
Speaker 1: and I think to answer that question kind of just
Speaker 1: like would God have killed I think the answer is yes,
Speaker 1: and I think it's because, now obviously that didn't happen
Speaker 1: and God also knew that, so we have to take
Speaker 1: that into account, but there's a covenant that God's made
Speaker 1: with his people, and this was a part of that
Speaker 1: covenant was that they were to be a people marked
Speaker 1: by circumcision and the lack of that.
Speaker 1: You know, this is kind of like a a holiness
Speaker 1: issue and Moses failed to walk in the ways of God.
Speaker 1: Now again, that's an old covenant. I don't wanna have
Speaker 1: anybody mistake that for the new covenant. That's not a
Speaker 1: new covenant thing at all, that we are totally and
Speaker 1: completely made whole in the blood of Jesus in the
Speaker 1: cross of Jesus Christ, but when you talk about that
Speaker 1: in Exodus 4:24, it is kind of a
Speaker 1: Yeah, one of those like kind of curious passages, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the answer to your question is would God
Speaker 1: have done that? Of course. And but he also knew
Speaker 1: that he wouldn't need to do that, but covenant matters
Speaker 1: to God. He's, he's a God of covenant. He, he
Speaker 1: has made a, uh, an unconditional promise through his Son
Speaker 1: Jesus that those who put their faith in him will
Speaker 1: by no means be cast away. So he does care
Speaker 1: about his covenants, and that was a covenantal promise between
Speaker 1: him and his people, the people of Abraham, and Moses
Speaker 1: was a part of that.
Speaker 1: He failed to keep that covenant. Yeah. Does this help you, Danny?
Speaker 1: Yeah, very strict, but yes, yes it is.
Speaker 1: Any thoughts, Brian?
Speaker 1: Um,
Speaker 1: No, I, I, no, I mean that was a great answer.
Speaker 1: My only thought is, amen. Yes. I mean, I do, I,
Speaker 1: I think we live in a time where people don't
Speaker 1: want God to be that way at all. And I
Speaker 1: think we just have to take God as he reveals himself,
Speaker 1: not as we, you know, think he should have been.
Speaker 1: And so, yeah, he takes his covenants very seriously. I'm,
Speaker 1: I'm just reading in um Leviticus right now and
Speaker 1: You know, all, all of these things, uh, even before
Speaker 1: in Exodus, the tabernacle, the priestly garments, everything, see that
Speaker 1: you make it according to the pattern. Don't, don't deviate,
Speaker 1: you know, this is do it exactly the way I
Speaker 1: say to do it. And you know, there is a
Speaker 1: reason why God gave these really clear cut strict.
Speaker 1: Guidelines and commands and so.
Speaker 1: It was all obviously pointing to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Um, but like you said, Phil, the the covenant, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is, this is like the most serious thing. God
Speaker 1: makes a covenant with Abraham and the sign of the
Speaker 1: covenant is circumcision, and Moses is gonna lead the nation,
Speaker 1: but he's, he's disobedient, neglecting to circum his kids, obviously
Speaker 1: because his wife is not for it. And so, you know,
Speaker 1: it is a
Speaker 1: It's a crazy moment though. Also, you think like, had
Speaker 1: they done that when they should have done that, it
Speaker 1: wouldn't have been nearly as bad. It wouldn't have been
Speaker 1: as terrible as when he did it to do that,
Speaker 1: you know. Danny, thanks for calling us today on Pastor's Perspective.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Vegas now. Here is Monica listening on
Speaker 1: the Kwave app. Hey, Monica, thanks for calling in today.
Speaker 1: How can we help you?
Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Pastor. OK, my question is.
Speaker 2: You know how God uh spoke with Moses back in
Speaker 2: the day, and he spoke with, you know, Abraham back
Speaker 2: in the day. So my question is, today, do you
Speaker 2: think that, do you believe that God um can speak
Speaker 2: to a person?
Speaker 1: And why do you ask that question, Monica?
Speaker 1: Monica, why do you ask that question?
Speaker 2: Because, um, there, uh, years ago, um,
Speaker 2: I was heartbroken, um, because my husband, he was on
Speaker 2: drugs and we had a little girl. And so I
Speaker 2: started going to church and I got saved. And um
Speaker 2: one particular time when I got, when I got saved,
Speaker 2: my own time, my first time, um, after the church,
Speaker 2: we went down to the um basement because we were
Speaker 2: having a dinner. And so, um, I, I was crying
Speaker 2: and on my knees and just crying and
Speaker 2: God is having me tell this story now. Um
Speaker 2: I had my eyes closed and I was reaching up
Speaker 2: towards heaven.
Speaker 2: And
Speaker 2: I
Speaker 2: I was there in heaven. Everything was white. There was,
Speaker 2: there was a lot of people and there were outlines.
Speaker 2: I couldn't see their face, but there were, I outlined, um,
Speaker 2: a lot of people and everything was pristine white.
Speaker 2: Um, somebody was standing. God was on the throne. Somebody
Speaker 2: was standing on his right side. At the time, I
Speaker 2: didn't know that was Jesus because I had just got saved,
Speaker 2: so I didn't know. Um, and when I read it
Speaker 2: in the Bible, I'm like, oh my gosh. So anyway,
Speaker 2: my head was on God's lap, and I was crying
Speaker 2: and crying and I was, and I felt such peace
Speaker 2: that I've never felt before in this life ever. The
Speaker 2: piece that's here is junk.
Speaker 2: My head was on God's lap, and he was rubbing
Speaker 2: my hair and I was saying, I felt so much like,
Speaker 2: please let me stay, you know, I tried to look
Speaker 2: up at his face. He said, No, he spoke to
Speaker 2: my heart, no, you can't see me now. And I said,
Speaker 2: Can I please let me stay with you? And he said,
Speaker 2: it's not your time. And I said, Please. And I
Speaker 2: begged him. And then, of course, I'm still here.
Speaker 2: And um it was years after that experience that I
Speaker 2: found out that Jesus was standing on the right hand
Speaker 2: of God um at the throne and um he's told
Speaker 2: me um I've been praying and I'm still say I'm
Speaker 2: always gonna be saved, but I'm in the church and
Speaker 2: everything and he told me to tell my story now and,
Speaker 2: and so I've been telling people and um.
Speaker 2: People may think I'm crazy, I'm not, um, and like
Speaker 2: I tell people, well, when you get to heaven one
Speaker 2: day you ask God, was she there? And I said,
Speaker 2: he's gonna tell you, yes, he was, she was there.
Speaker 1: So what's your question for us though, Monica?
Speaker 2: So do you think that God can, um, obviously I
Speaker 2: know that he can, um, you know, um, uh, I,
Speaker 2: I don't wanna say appear to people because, um, you know,
Speaker 2: not in the flesh, you can't see him, but do
Speaker 2: you think he can, he can do what I just
Speaker 2: told you? Like visions
Speaker 2: and stuff?
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, yes, and triple, yes, yes, of course.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's the, he's the living God, and I
Speaker 1: think it, I think it's really important that we don't
Speaker 1: forget that.
Speaker 1: Because I think, you know, a lot of times we,
Speaker 1: we wanna, uh, and this is, this is even speaking
Speaker 1: of Christians and sometimes, uh, I've noticed this where, um,
Speaker 1: you know, Christians, it's like I, I love God on
Speaker 1: the pages of the Bible and that's really great stuff
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna study that and know that and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be able to communicate that.
Speaker 1: But, uh, I don't want him to get too close
Speaker 1: cause that's kind of can be a little bit uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: And I think the reality is we, we serve the
Speaker 1: living God and everything that we read about in scripture
Speaker 1: where God meets with people and speaks to them and
Speaker 1: so forth, um, I think that, of course, those things
Speaker 1: could still happen today.
Speaker 1: And what we would always have to do if we say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, the Lord appeared to me and spoke to me,
Speaker 1: we just have to measure what God said to us
Speaker 1: over against scripture. So God's never gonna appear to us
Speaker 1: and tell us something that would contradict what he's already
Speaker 1: told us in in the Bible, but he will certainly
Speaker 1: appear to us and affirm to us things that he's
Speaker 1: told us in the Bible, or maybe show us things
Speaker 1: that we didn't know were in the Bible, like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's Jesus at the right hand of God.
Speaker 1: Um, and then we find out, wow, that, that was
Speaker 1: the case. So what do you think, Phil? No, I
Speaker 1: totally agree. I just, I wanted to just jump in
Speaker 1: with all your guesses. You just, you just came back
Speaker 1: from Africa, where it's a different world in Africa, right?
Speaker 1: And they're, they're not necessarily asking the questions about does
Speaker 1: God speak to you? Does he, you know, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: they're kind of wondering like how, how have you not
Speaker 1: heard God speak, you know? I mean, literally I was
Speaker 1: talking to some people who one of our pastors in
Speaker 1: kind of a remote area was talking about how
Speaker 1: He came to faith through a dream God gave him,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's not an unusual story, but you
Speaker 1: know sometimes I kind of hear those stories and you go, well,
Speaker 1: it's great to hear those, but then when you talk
Speaker 1: to somebody face to face who's telling you this is
Speaker 1: my story, so I, I, I, I agree. I think like.
Speaker 1: Help, God help us to never get to the place
Speaker 1: where we don't see that this is a really, this
Speaker 1: is a living faith. I mean, it's a living God. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, I, I heard my friend Matt Chandler some
Speaker 1: time ago use the term, um, Western plausibility structure, right?
Speaker 1: And what he means by that is that we kind
Speaker 1: of see things through.
Speaker 1: The lens of Western life and culture, which is highly
Speaker 1: materialistic and you know, kind of just dismisses the spiritual.
Speaker 1: So we, we determine things based on that plausibility structure. Uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's plausible. I don't, I don't,
Speaker 1: I just can't see how God would appear or you
Speaker 1: would be at his throne on, you know, your head
Speaker 1: on his lap and he's rubbing that that doesn't fit
Speaker 1: in my western plausibility structure, right?
Speaker 1: OK, we'll blow your Western plausibility structures because that's not the,
Speaker 1: that's not the standard. The Bible is the standard. And, and,
Speaker 1: and one of the other thing just kind of going
Speaker 1: back to Africa to your, your point on that, it
Speaker 1: was so interesting, you know, I, I get questions from people,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of the leaders there, they're like, well,
Speaker 1: what is life like in America? Like what, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's like, where do you, where do you start
Speaker 1: this conversation, you know, and Prince, who's Nigerian but has
Speaker 1: been here several times.
Speaker 1: You know, he starts with like where I would never start.
Speaker 1: He's like, let me talk about the roads. Let me
Speaker 1: just tell you there's like 6 lanes that are all
Speaker 1: paved going in one direction with, you know, he's kind
Speaker 1: of like starting there and and and I realized like
Speaker 1: as we're as we're having these conversations like people's lives.
Speaker 1: They're so in need of God in ways that like honestly,
Speaker 1: we should be jealous in the Western world, you know, we,
Speaker 1: we don't now take this as what I what I
Speaker 1: mean it to say, we don't need God when it
Speaker 1: comes to just like daily living. Now of course we do,
Speaker 1: but we, we have this functional ability to just live
Speaker 1: as if, you know, I'm gonna get in my car
Speaker 1: and drive on a safe road and there's stop signs
Speaker 1: and there's, you know, all these kinds of things and
Speaker 1: but when you live somewhere where you're like there's no.
Speaker 1: Like I need God for like survival just to get
Speaker 1: and I gotta tell you, man, I, I'm inspired by
Speaker 1: people like that because I go, oh Lord, I've mistaken
Speaker 1: comfort for sovereignty and I need a sovereign God still very,
Speaker 1: very real in my life and, and this is where
Speaker 1: I think we have to.
Speaker 1: Also recognize that, you know, we we tend to just
Speaker 1: think inside of our, our own cultural moment, right? And
Speaker 1: and like our own political moment. So, well, you know,
Speaker 1: this is how you navigate this stuff and yet we
Speaker 1: forget there's a global church there are people that have,
Speaker 1: you know, the stuff that we think we're going through,
Speaker 1: which we're really not.
Speaker 1: But you know, these guys have lived it 10 times
Speaker 1: more intensely than we have, and they actually navigated it
Speaker 1: by by trusting God. I think, you know, we, we,
Speaker 1: there's a lot for us to learn from the
Speaker 1: The bigger world, yeah, just from others, even the people
Speaker 1: in our world, in our world here this gal, this
Speaker 1: great gal calling who's having this great, you know, meeting
Speaker 1: with God and that it's gonna be like discredited, you know,
Speaker 1: simply because it doesn't fit kind of with everybody else
Speaker 1: around her and that's an unfair thing. God's a big
Speaker 1: living God. In fact, a word of warning to Monica
Speaker 1: because she says that she feels like God is telling
Speaker 1: her to tell her story. She's gonna be telling her story.
Speaker 1: A lot of people are gonna deride her.
Speaker 1: And that might discourage her. And I mean, don't, don't
Speaker 1: be discouraged. Yeah, because more people are gonna be blessed
Speaker 1: than people who are gonna be negative about it exactly right, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's too easy to, it's too easy to feel that
Speaker 1: like I need to like to be shamed into quietness
Speaker 1: when really it's OK to speak out, it's cool. We're
Speaker 1: hearing more stories of like Christians and
Speaker 1: South Korea and Africa and places like that, sending missionaries
Speaker 1: to America and that's just one of those things like, wait,
Speaker 1: we're the ones that are supposed to be going over there.
Speaker 1: It's just like, no, they see that we're the ones
Speaker 1: that are kind of Well, think of this in in
Speaker 1: the last 110 years, the gospel, and there's the just
Speaker 1: the like kind of unknown Christians in Africa has gone
Speaker 1: from 10 million to today over 140 million. I mean
Speaker 1: it's it's the fastest.
Speaker 1: you know, that idea of Timbuktu, right, we always say
Speaker 1: like Timbuktu, based on like kind of mission understanding is
Speaker 1: the epicenter of global movement around the world. It's no
Speaker 1: longer the furthest, you know, I mean, arguably people in
Speaker 1: Timbuktu are saying someday Costa Mesa, right, or California. I mean, seriously,
Speaker 1: the the fact that God's just doing this big thing
Speaker 1: all around the world is beautiful.
Speaker 1: There was this article recently. Pastor Rick Warren, uh, the
Speaker 1: founder of Saddleback and author of Purpose Driven Life, Purpose
Speaker 1: Driven Church, he addressed the General Assembly of the Association
Speaker 1: of Evangelicals in Africa, calling on African evangelical leaders to
Speaker 1: take the lead in completing the global mission of the church. Um,
Speaker 1: he emphasized Africa's central role in the future of Christianity,
Speaker 1: urging the continent's churches to step forward in global leadership.
Speaker 1: He said there are more Christians in Africa than there
Speaker 1: are people in the United States. Africa is now the
Speaker 1: most Christian continent on Earth with over 430 million believers.
Speaker 1: You were wrong, Phil, by about 300 million. I was
Speaker 1: off by the size of America. Yes, the church in
Speaker 1: Africa must lead the rest of us, is what, um,
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick said. It's great.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed. All right, Monica, thank you for calling in
Speaker 1: today here on Pastor's Perspective. I don't think we have
Speaker 1: enough time for a
Speaker 1: Another phone call. Ah, here's a quick question. Kimberly sent
Speaker 1: this in online through email. Do I have to wear
Speaker 1: a headscarf, according to, uh, 1 Corinthians 11? I just
Speaker 1: read this. Never heard of it before. Am I dishonoring
Speaker 1: my husband, myself, and my God for not wearing a headscarf?
Speaker 1: Uh, no, no, this was, uh.
Speaker 1: If you, if you continue to read the, the portion
Speaker 1: of scripture there in First Corinthians, Paul makes it uh
Speaker 1: clear that this is a custom that was, um,
Speaker 1: Relevant at the time, uh, and a custom is a
Speaker 1: non-binding practice. So it's something that, you know, it's like
Speaker 1: a tradition. You might, you might do this at your
Speaker 1: church and you can take it or leave it because
Speaker 1: it's non-binding. God didn't say, hey, you gotta wear the
Speaker 1: head covering, so.
Speaker 1: All right, Kimberly, living in freedom. Take off that headscarf.
Speaker 1: Thanks for writing to us on, uh, via email, on
Speaker 1: Pastor's perspective through Kwave.com. We're out of time.
Speaker 1: But uh we'll be back tomorrow. We're gonna archive today's
Speaker 1: episode on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. And uh
Speaker 1: Phil Metzger, thank you for, uh, driving ins for having me.
Speaker 1: However you got here. Yeah, I did. I did drive.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised that you're kind of back in your time zone.
Speaker 1: Are you? I know it's been one week and I'm
Speaker 1: feeling great, good, great. Brian Broderson, good to see you
Speaker 1: as always. You'll be back tomorrow. I will be awesome.
Speaker 1: Lord willing. Talk to you tomorrow on Pastor's perspective.