Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez,
Speaker 1: and we are here live on this Friday afternoon until
Speaker 1: 4 o'clock to answer the questions you have about the Bible,
Speaker 1: the Christian faith, just about anything that's on your mind.
Speaker 1: Grab an open line, 888-564-6173 is our number. You can
Speaker 1: also send in your question by scanning the QR code
Speaker 1: if you're watching us on Facebook.
Speaker 1: YouTube or Instagram, but the best way to get an
Speaker 1: answer is to call us right now at 888-564-6173. And
Speaker 1: answering your questions today, we've got Brian and Cheryl Broderson
Speaker 1: from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. Now, Cheryl's not here in
Speaker 1: the studio. She's with us in spirit though, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure everything that Brian answers today will be what Cheryl
Speaker 1: would 100% agree with. So.
Speaker 1: We have her blessing. Yes, yeah, yeah, we, we had
Speaker 1: a briefing before I came over and she told me,
Speaker 1: you know, basically what to say, OK, perfect about the question. So,
Speaker 1: and she knew the questions already, so yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: know how she knew that, but um.
Speaker 1: I don't either. Yeah, but you know, she does have
Speaker 1: like a prophetic gift, so maybe the Lord just showed her,
Speaker 1: these are the things you're gonna talk about today, and, yeah,
Speaker 1: so let's do it. Very good, we'll do it. It's
Speaker 1: all these calls, yep, all these calls coming in.
Speaker 1: 888-564-6173 is the number. OK, Sheryl didn't really do that
Speaker 1: just so you know, sometimes people.
Speaker 1: Take things the wrong way and then rumors get started. So, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: Cheryl is at home with the construction workers. Um, she's
Speaker 1: helping out. I decided wearing a hard hat and yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll come to the radio, honey. You just, uh, clean
Speaker 1: up after the construction crews.
Speaker 1: That's not true either.
Speaker 1: Today we're starting a program with uh with Phibs uh yes, so,
Speaker 1: so this, this is the truth. My daughter is going
Speaker 1: home to New York tonight and so they were spending
Speaker 1: some time together and um we do have people doing
Speaker 1: some work at our house. So yeah, we weren't she
Speaker 1: wasn't able to get away, so I came, hang out
Speaker 1: with you because thank you. I don't want you to
Speaker 1: be by yourself. I so appreciate that very, very much.
Speaker 1: And so do our listeners, I'm sure. All right, 888-564-6173
Speaker 1: is our number. And before we go to the phones,
Speaker 1: here's a question that was sent in online. Dear pastor's perspective,
Speaker 1: I discovered that an alumnus of my university is a
Speaker 1: high ranking theologian in the United Reformed Church. It is
Speaker 1: a conservative denomination in the sense of being true to
Speaker 1: the beliefs of the reformers who founded the movement 500
Speaker 1: years ago.
Speaker 1: But some friends have told me negative things about the
Speaker 1: reformed church primarily because of their Calvinistic beliefs such as
Speaker 1: irresistible grace, overemphasis on divine election, and especially limited atonement.
Speaker 1: However, the Lord has opened up doors for me to
Speaker 1: do ministry alongside this theologian that furthers the gospel. My
Speaker 1: question would be, can we, as non-denominational Christians be co-laborers
Speaker 1: with our reformed friends? And what about going to a
Speaker 1: reformed church sometimes when the Lord opens connections without abandoning
Speaker 1: fellowship at our main congregation? What would you say, Brian? Well,
Speaker 1: I would say that sounds.
Speaker 1: Exciting that you have the opportunity to minister uh alongside
Speaker 1: of this person and, um, yes, of course we can
Speaker 1: um do ministry together with the people who hold uh
Speaker 1: different but orthodox theological positions uh as to us and
Speaker 1: the reform.
Speaker 1: People, even though I, I would disagree with some of
Speaker 1: their doctrine of salvation, like some of the things you
Speaker 1: mentioned there, um, those are just basically, you know, different,
Speaker 1: different ways of interpreting what scripture says, and um I,
Speaker 1: I have many friends who are in the reform world
Speaker 1: and I have greatly benefited from um the reformers themselves, um.
Speaker 1: Going back to Luther and to Calvin and others, and
Speaker 1: those that have been influenced by them over the years. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is great, sounds like a great opportunity. I would
Speaker 1: definitely seize the moment. Awesome. Thank you for sending in
Speaker 1: your question. Here's another one. This one is from.
Speaker 1: Patricia, who says, first, I want to thank you from
Speaker 1: my heart for this awesome radio show. I love you all.
Speaker 1: My question has to do with the faith of the
Speaker 1: Canaanite woman, whom we read about in Matthew 15.
Speaker 1: Uh, verses 21 through 27. I'm just gonna read the
Speaker 1: passage really quickly in case somebody's driving and can't turn
Speaker 1: there in their Bible, but this is where it says, uh,
Speaker 1: Jesus departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and behold,
Speaker 1: a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried
Speaker 1: out to him, saying, Lord, have mercy on me, son
Speaker 1: of David, my daughter is severely demon possessed.
Speaker 1: But he answered her not a word, and his disciples
Speaker 1: came and urged him, saying, Send her away, for she
Speaker 1: cries out after us. But he answered and said, I
Speaker 1: was not sent except to the lost sheep of the
Speaker 1: house of Israel. Then she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord,
Speaker 1: help me. But he answered and said, It is not
Speaker 1: good to take the children's bread and throw it to
Speaker 1: the little dogs. And she said, Yes, Lord, yet even
Speaker 1: the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the
Speaker 1: master's table.
Speaker 1: Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great
Speaker 1: as your faith, let it be to you as you desire,
Speaker 1: and her daughter was healed from that very hour. So
Speaker 1: Patricia says at first when I read this, I was
Speaker 1: not happy with the way Jesus answered the lady. I
Speaker 1: was kind of disappointed. I keep reading over and over.
Speaker 1: I even went to the Bible notes and was still
Speaker 1: not quite sure if I got it.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks later, my pastor did a sermon
Speaker 1: on this passage. Oh my goodness, I got so excited,
Speaker 1: but it still didn't click. Please, can you guys talk
Speaker 1: about her? So far I think it's because the lady,
Speaker 1: being a mother, didn't give up on her daughter no
Speaker 1: matter how Jesus answered her. That's just my thoughts. What
Speaker 1: would you say, Brian?
Speaker 1: Well, um, it's interesting that I was having a a
Speaker 1: brief conversation with my son about this yesterday because he's
Speaker 1: going to, I think he's going to allude to it
Speaker 1: in his teaching this Sunday, but then he's going to
Speaker 1: actually be at that particular passage following week. So we
Speaker 1: were talking about it and he said, isn't it interesting
Speaker 1: that um this woman gives kind of a parable back
Speaker 1: to Jesus? She's the only one that responds in that
Speaker 1: sort of a way. And I thought, yeah, I never,
Speaker 1: never thought of that.
Speaker 1: So remember the context, she she's a woman from the
Speaker 1: tire uh area of Tyre and Sidon, so she's a Gentile.
Speaker 1: She's outside of the covenant. Um, Jesus says, I have
Speaker 1: not been sent except to the lost sheep of the
Speaker 1: house of Israel. Now, of course, the gospel is going
Speaker 1: to go beyond Israel to all of the nations and
Speaker 1: um Jesus does care about this woman, but I think
Speaker 1: Jesus is.
Speaker 1: Doing something here.
Speaker 1: That is uh in in some ways it's a it's
Speaker 1: a bit of a rebuke to to Israel.
Speaker 1: Because here is a woman who is not an Israelite,
Speaker 1: who is pressing in with faith to Jesus, even though
Speaker 1: he seems to be uh just sort of dismissing her
Speaker 1: and just say, no, I, you know, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: do that, that that's not what I'm here to do.
Speaker 1: And so as she presses in.
Speaker 1: And then his responses, uh, you know, to praise her
Speaker 1: for her great faith, what Jesus is doing here is
Speaker 1: he's contrasting as he's done on another occasion, uh, he's
Speaker 1: contrasting the Israelites who should believe with the Gentiles who are.
Speaker 1: You know, they're the unbelievers, but yet they actually really
Speaker 1: do believe. And, you know, there was that one moment
Speaker 1: where Jesus, um,
Speaker 1: He, he spoke of the fact that um
Speaker 1: It was after
Speaker 1: Um, they had.
Speaker 1: Rejected him in the synagogue and he said
Speaker 1: He said that the um.
Speaker 1: He said something. He said he he talked about um
Speaker 1: in the days of um Elijah.
Speaker 1: And how um.
Speaker 1: The
Speaker 1: The prophet was sent.
Speaker 1: Um, to a woman of tire.
Speaker 1: And she received the message. And so again, he's pointing
Speaker 1: out the fact that that Israel's rejecting the message, but
Speaker 1: The Gentiles who are supposed to be the unbelievers, they're
Speaker 1: they're receiving the message. And then he goes on and
Speaker 1: he tells another story about Elisha, the prophet, and how
Speaker 1: this man named Naman, who was a Syrian, how he
Speaker 1: was healed of leprosy. There were many lepers in Israel
Speaker 1: in the days of um Elisha the prophet Jesus said,
Speaker 1: but only Naman.
Speaker 1: The Gentile, the Syrian, was healed. There are many widows
Speaker 1: in Israel in the days of Elijah the prophet, but
Speaker 1: only this widow was taken care of. And the point
Speaker 1: is because they believed, and that's in contrast to what
Speaker 1: he was experiencing from the very people who should have believed.
Speaker 1: That's the whole point. Israel should have believed, um, all
Speaker 1: of the evidence is there, he's there among them, but
Speaker 1: they're rejecting him. This woman, even though.
Speaker 1: He sort of seems to um dismiss her request. She
Speaker 1: is not going to take no for an answer. So
Speaker 1: she's she's exemplifying faith. That's what she's doing. And Jesus
Speaker 1: is using this opportunity to highlight the faith that she
Speaker 1: is a gentile house. Yes, Patricia, thank you for sending
Speaker 1: in your question online through Kwave.com. I had to get
Speaker 1: my brain working there.
Speaker 1: You know, it was kind of like stuck. I saw
Speaker 1: it in action. It was just like, OK, wait, we're
Speaker 1: we're OK, yes, it all came back to me at the,
Speaker 1: at the moment there. Oh good. All right, let's go
Speaker 1: to the phones now. 888-564-6173 is our number, and we're
Speaker 1: going to begin with Jay in Tustin listening on FM
Speaker 1: 107.9 K wave. Hey Jay, what's up?
Speaker 1: Hey, hi, I just got, um, like 5 bullet points
Speaker 1: maybe you can help me understand.
Speaker 1: Um,
Speaker 1: lately it's been talking about Adam and how he committed
Speaker 1: the first great sin.
Speaker 1: And it seems odd to me that
Speaker 1: like, often the pastors make it sound like it was
Speaker 1: a surprise that Adam took of the fruit and that
Speaker 1: he broke the law, but it's not like God wanted
Speaker 1: to me it seemed like God wanted him to eat
Speaker 1: the fruit because he puts the tree of
Speaker 1: Good and evil or I guess it's good and evil
Speaker 1: right in the center, dead center of the Garden of Eden.
Speaker 1: And then when he does eat the fruit, why didn't
Speaker 1: you just kill Satan then, banish him from earth. He
Speaker 1: has power to do so.
Speaker 1: And God's all knowing, so he had a no joke.
Speaker 1: Adam was to take the first fruit. And isn't that true?
Speaker 1: He had to know of course knowing. So my, my question,
Speaker 1: why are we, why does Adam always made out to
Speaker 1: be this bad person who ruined the plan of God
Speaker 1: where he wants to all live in the Garden of
Speaker 1: Eden and in some type of.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Nearly perfect environment and, and I think, I think
Speaker 1: God always planned to send the savior down because he
Speaker 1: always has a plan for everything. So that, that's been
Speaker 1: my confusion. Why, why the different pastors talk on that subject,
Speaker 1: you know, like night and day their approach to I
Speaker 1: just kind of confused about that. Let me get some
Speaker 1: insight on that. I don't have any more questions. OK.
Speaker 1: OK, so yes, you're, you're right that God knew, but
Speaker 1: where I think you're mistaken is that God planned. So
Speaker 1: God did not plan for Adam to send, but God
Speaker 1: knew that he would create these uh, these beings in
Speaker 1: his image, and that, um, these beings would betray him, basically. Uh,
Speaker 1: he knew that before he ever created us.
Speaker 1: And yet he nevertheless created mankind anyway. So, um, why,
Speaker 1: why did he go ahead and create if he knew
Speaker 1: uh that all this was going to happen? Uh, we
Speaker 1: don't know exactly why, but we do know that, um,
Speaker 1: Um, you know, if you think of it like I
Speaker 1: heard this illustration one time that I thought was really good,
Speaker 1: it's like
Speaker 1: Even though you know that there might be a negative
Speaker 1: outcome to certain things, there's something worth it in the
Speaker 1: midst of all of that. And the illustration that someone
Speaker 1: gave was, was marriage and you know the love relationship
Speaker 1: between a husband and wife. So you marry one another,
Speaker 1: and you know that at some point this marriage is
Speaker 1: going to end in death, somebody's gonna die.
Speaker 1: And so you could just say, well, I don't want
Speaker 1: to have to face that difficulty. I don't want to
Speaker 1: have to face that grief. I, I don't want to
Speaker 1: live through that moment of losing this person, so, uh,
Speaker 1: I'm never gonna get married because I don't, I don't
Speaker 1: want that experience. Or you could say, well, yeah, that
Speaker 1: that will happen someday and I will just, you know, when,
Speaker 1: when that comes, I'll I'll deal with that.
Speaker 1: But I wanna, I wanna live with the love and,
Speaker 1: and the beauty and the wonder of this relationship that
Speaker 1: that I will have in the meantime.
Speaker 1: And so that was an attempt to point out, well,
Speaker 1: you know, if God knew everything was gonna go so bad,
Speaker 1: why would he allow it to happen in the first place? Well,
Speaker 1: he figured that the good that would come out of
Speaker 1: it would outweigh the bad that would transpire during during this. So, so,
Speaker 1: and I think that's a a pretty good way to
Speaker 1: think about it.
Speaker 1: Um, but then the other question, or, or, you know,
Speaker 1: suggestion that Adam, I mean, why is anybody blaming Adam?
Speaker 1: I mean, he didn't, you know, uh, this is just
Speaker 1: what he was supposed to do. No, he wasn't supposed
Speaker 1: to do it. That's the difference. God knew he would
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 1: But he wasn't intended to do it, and God told
Speaker 1: him not to do it. So, you know, you mentioned
Speaker 1: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in
Speaker 1: the midst of the garden. Yes, God points it out,
Speaker 1: he says, all the trees in the garden, you can
Speaker 1: eat freely from every one of them, don't eat from
Speaker 1: this one. And so this is God's opportunity to allow
Speaker 1: mankind to have a choice as to whether uh we would.
Speaker 1: Willingly follow him and love him and serve him or
Speaker 1: if we would only do it if we were forced
Speaker 1: to do it. God didn't want to force us to
Speaker 1: do it or create us without a capacity uh to
Speaker 1: not do it because then that wouldn't be genuine love. So, um,
Speaker 1: Adam had to have the choice, he made the wrong choice,
Speaker 1: and that's why he gets the blame.
Speaker 1: Got it, Jay.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. You made some good points there. OK, good.
Speaker 1: I'm glad that helped. Thank you for calling in today
Speaker 1: on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number. And now let's
Speaker 1: talk to Debbie. Welcome to Pastor's Perspective, Debbie.
Speaker 1: Hi, hi. So, um,
Speaker 1: Uh, I would say about almost a year ago, I
Speaker 1: went to my pastor and said I could not handle
Speaker 1: the burden of my husband's pornography addiction. And, uh, he
Speaker 1: scheduled a meeting with us, and at that meeting, he
Speaker 1: looked at me at one point and said, Are you
Speaker 1: compassionate about your husband's pornography addiction?
Speaker 1: And I said, yes, I am. I've been in this
Speaker 1: marriage for 12 years. I prayed for him. I've recommended
Speaker 1: different programs. Um, I've done counseling, but I can't surrender
Speaker 1: for him. So that was the one thing. Now, fast
Speaker 1: forward to a couple of months ago, and I actually
Speaker 1: got attacked by, I guess, an unclean spirit. I woke
Speaker 1: up at 1:30 in the morning with feeling like something
Speaker 1: went inside of me down to my stomach and then quickly.
Speaker 1: As quick as it went in, that's as quick as
Speaker 1: it went out. But it was really eerie and the
Speaker 1: whole thing just freaked me out and I was trying
Speaker 1: to process it. And I reached out to him, my pastor,
Speaker 1: and said, um,
Speaker 1: I explained what happened, and I said, could this be, um,
Speaker 1: my husband's pornography used in the house opening up to
Speaker 1: a demonic realm.
Speaker 1: Uh, this unclean spirit, and he said, I would not
Speaker 1: focus on, um, your husband's pornography addiction. There's nearly nothing
Speaker 1: in the Bible that would say that, support that. I
Speaker 1: would look at your own heart and maybe bitterness that
Speaker 1: you have in your heart. That would be the reason
Speaker 1: for the unclean spirit to attack you. So, I left
Speaker 1: that church. I, I didn't feel supported there. And I'm
Speaker 1: just wondering, is that correct?
Speaker 1: Um, I don't think so. No. um. Oh, thank you. Uh. Yeah, I.
Speaker 1: I mean, I, I think.
Speaker 1: OK. And I went to the Lord. I went to
Speaker 1: the Lord and I said, Lord, do I have bitterness
Speaker 1: in my heart towards my husband? And I heard as
Speaker 1: clear as a bell, the Lord said to me, you
Speaker 1: can't get over the fact that 12 years ago when
Speaker 1: you remarried him, I divorced him the first time because
Speaker 1: of pornography. When you remarried him and you asked him, you,
Speaker 1: you're done with the pornography, and he said to me, yes.
Speaker 1: So he, he lied. And I, I, the Lord said
Speaker 1: to me, you can't get over that fact. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah. We're separated right now. I asked him to
Speaker 1: move out like two months ago. OK. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: to get, to get over it, what did you feel
Speaker 1: like the Lord, what like what did that mean when
Speaker 1: the Lord said you can't get over it? Is, is
Speaker 1: God diagnosing? Is this what you felt the Lord was
Speaker 1: telling you this is the problem that you can't get
Speaker 1: over this? Or is he giving you like, oh, I
Speaker 1: understand that, you can't get over this.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I, I think, I think, honestly,
Speaker 1: I think, I think he's saying I can understand why
Speaker 1: you're feeling this way because of the betrayal, you know, um,
Speaker 1: but that's what I think. Yeah, yeah, OK, a couple
Speaker 1: of things. Number one, I think.
Speaker 1: I, I don't think you should think in terms of
Speaker 1: an evil spirited you and then departed from you because
Speaker 1: you have no, I mean, there's no way to to
Speaker 1: actually prove that that happened. And it's unlikely that it
Speaker 1: did happen, and not to say that something uh didn't happen, but,
Speaker 1: but that's not what it was, whatever it was, because
Speaker 1: you're the possession of God, you belong to him.
Speaker 1: And the Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 5
Speaker 1: verse 18, that because we belong to him, the evil
Speaker 1: one cannot touch us or in in the sense of
Speaker 1: of possessing us or taking control of us.
Speaker 1: So I would say that. OK, so whatever happened, and
Speaker 1: I almost think that whatever that was, because you don't
Speaker 1: really have an explanation for what it was, it was
Speaker 1: a it was a weird experience to just leave that
Speaker 1: leave that behind. Now, I think with your husband, you
Speaker 1: want to, if, if, if there is.
Speaker 1: You know, bitterness there and listen, this is understandable. This
Speaker 1: is easy to go in that direction with this kind
Speaker 1: of thing where it's deceit, it's ongoing sin, uh, and,
Speaker 1: and so it's, it's easy to understand how this could
Speaker 1: uh create a bitterness type of a thing in you.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that it has, but I'm just saying I,
Speaker 1: everybody would understand if it did.
Speaker 1: So then what you need to do is just like
Speaker 1: you've done. Lord, is, do, do I have bitterness or Lord,
Speaker 1: if I, if I have bitterness that I'm unaware of,
Speaker 1: show it to me. Uh, Lord, I don't think I'm bitter, but,
Speaker 1: you know, help me if I am, and, and God will,
Speaker 1: God will help you. Now, I mean, the question that
Speaker 1: you said the pastor asked you during that counseling session is,
Speaker 1: do you have compassion for your husband?
Speaker 1: Um, I would never have asked that question, especially in
Speaker 1: that kind of a context, because this is a moment where,
Speaker 1: I mean,
Speaker 1: You know, having compassion for him is one thing if
Speaker 1: it's in the sense that you're praying and you want
Speaker 1: to see him really set free from this. But if
Speaker 1: having compassion on him means, oh, the poor guy, you know,
Speaker 1: he just can't help this and so we're not gonna
Speaker 1: worry about it, we're just gonna let it go because, uh, it's, it,
Speaker 1: you know, it's out of his control and I just
Speaker 1: have to live with this now.
Speaker 1: If that's what that was inferring, I would say that's, that's, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's exactly what it was. They did a covenant and
Speaker 1: he broke it within two weeks and he'd be like, hey, buddy,
Speaker 1: how you doing? And I'm like, oh my gosh, I
Speaker 1: went to you because I can't take the burden any
Speaker 1: longer of of 12 years of just catching him, you know,
Speaker 1: and the trauma of that done to me and in me.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I, I, and he's, he's actually
Speaker 1: contacted me and I said, look, I, I don't have any.
Speaker 1: Any anything to against you, I just don't feel that
Speaker 1: I can be supportive in the church and I've, you know,
Speaker 1: but I don't think that was, it was good counsel.
Speaker 1: I mean, myself, and I think that, you know, I
Speaker 1: think sometimes I've I've seen this happen many times, um,
Speaker 1: you know, in pastoral counseling, oftentimes there's the for some,
Speaker 1: some strange reason it it kind of
Speaker 1: You know, we want to be compassionate towards people's situations.
Speaker 1: Of course, repentance is the big thing that we're looking
Speaker 1: for and you know, compassion extends to uh those who repent.
Speaker 1: Those who persist, we're supposed to warn people uh in
Speaker 1: the that position. We're supposed to let them know that, hey,
Speaker 1: this is the kind of thing that will actually bring
Speaker 1: God's judgment on you if you, if you don't turn
Speaker 1: away from it. So, yeah, you know, and you know, we,
Speaker 1: we should do that lovingly, obviously, but, but that's, that's
Speaker 1: the counsel we give, not just
Speaker 1: You know, dumping compassion on, on people who are continuing
Speaker 1: in their sense, so.
Speaker 1: So I, you know, honestly, Debbie, I just feel like
Speaker 1: you got, you got kind of a bad.
Speaker 1: Um, you had a bad experience in that session, and
Speaker 1: I think you need to just simply make sure that
Speaker 1: in your own heart, you're letting God help you deal
Speaker 1: with your husband. And it doesn't mean you have to
Speaker 1: get back with him. It doesn't mean any of that stuff.
Speaker 1: It just means that in your heart, you want God
Speaker 1: to give you the ability to just not allow it
Speaker 1: to turn into a root of bitterness.
Speaker 1: Right, right. Do you think, do you think that that
Speaker 1: could have been like an unclean spirit harassing me? Could be, yeah,
Speaker 1: because evil spirits can harass us. That is true, yeah.
Speaker 1: Can harass us. Yeah, cause you wrote that book, like,
Speaker 1: can evil spirits be brought.
Speaker 1: And because pornography opens up that spiritual realm. Well, I think,
Speaker 1: I think that's possible. Um, I mean, it is, you know,
Speaker 1: pornography is a dark, it's a dark, dark world and
Speaker 1: it's definitely the devil's, you know, it's his realm. So
Speaker 1: it could certainly open something up, but not.
Speaker 1: It can't affect you because you're sealed by the Holy Spirit. You're,
Speaker 1: you know, you're God's daughter. So,
Speaker 1: Whatever else is going on, that's not gonna um affect you.
Speaker 1: Debbie, thanks for calling us today here on Pastor's Perspective.
Speaker 1: Now here's Cynthia in Lake Elsinore, who called 888-564-6173. Hi Cynthia,
Speaker 1: what's up?
Speaker 1: Hi, hi, Pastor Broderson. This is Cynthia. Um, I'm the
Speaker 1: reason why I'm calling is because I've had this, um,
Speaker 1: dream a couple of months ago. I've been trying to reach,
Speaker 1: call in and reach um you off for a while, but, um,
Speaker 1: I've had this dream and it was really strange. Um,
Speaker 1: it was, it was, well.
Speaker 1: It was me getting on the freeway, but there was
Speaker 1: an ambulance in front, and there was bodies, and then
Speaker 1: there was a traffic, so I couldn't go any farther
Speaker 1: on the off on the on rap. So I went
Speaker 1: into the middle lane. I walked across because there was
Speaker 1: no cars coming and I was standing there in the
Speaker 1: middle of the intersection, you know, between lanes, and I was,
Speaker 1: I just started crying because I was seeing things, you know, like.
Speaker 1: Like a big accident. And so I'm standing there and
Speaker 1: I turned to my right and I can see from
Speaker 1: behind me that there was a lion and it was
Speaker 1: a good feeling. It wasn't a bad feeling, and he
Speaker 1: had his arm paul wrapped around the front of me
Speaker 1: and he been like up towards my neck.
Speaker 1: I, I was just wondering because I know there's different um.
Speaker 1: So, so this is a dream. This then nothing happened
Speaker 1: after the dream, right? No, even after I woke up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a quite a vivid dream. And um how long
Speaker 1: ago did you have that?
Speaker 1: A couple months ago.
Speaker 1: You like my, like my wife, she has perfect recollection
Speaker 1: of her dreams and I'm, I can't remember mine.
Speaker 1: Um, I don't have too many of them, but yeah, I. Well, Cynthia,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, there's there's no way to know
Speaker 1: for sure what, what that meant, if it meant anything
Speaker 1: uh significant, that there's no way to know unless something
Speaker 1: were to happen down the road and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, this is that
Speaker 1: thing that was my dream, um. I would say, I
Speaker 1: would say the one.
Speaker 1: The one thing that I would think would be in
Speaker 1: the reference to the lion, and the lion um embracing
Speaker 1: you or holding you, uh,
Speaker 1: Is that, you know, the Bible says that Jesus is
Speaker 1: the lion of the tribe of Judah. And so, you know,
Speaker 1: perhaps there was something there in the great uh children's
Speaker 1: series by CS Lewis, the Chronicles of Narnia. uh Aslan
Speaker 1: is the Jesus figure in that in that series, and
Speaker 1: You know, he comes and comforts and saves and all
Speaker 1: of that kind of stuff too, so yeah, so comforting.
Speaker 1: It was, and then it was over, but it was
Speaker 1: that feeling of just looking over and Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: is there anything, is your life been chaotic at all or? No, no,
Speaker 1: I think um it's been great because um the last year,
Speaker 1: I would say um I have
Speaker 1: Uh, my daughter has been baptized, my 33-year-old last two
Speaker 1: weeks ago and here in Lake Elsnore at Cornerstone. Um,
Speaker 1: I got baptized at CCCM and that was 2 years
Speaker 1: ago in May, and, um, that was wonderful. I lived
Speaker 1: closer to go there. Good, good. OK, yeah, I think,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think the comfort.
Speaker 1: You just take the comfort from it and just say
Speaker 1: whatever that was, you know, I think the Lord was
Speaker 1: giving you some comfort, comforting, yeah, but, but the, the
Speaker 1: way it happened, you know, like the accident and the
Speaker 1: ambulance and a few other people, you know, getting into
Speaker 1: the ambulance, and this is kind of strange. So I'm
Speaker 1: thinking I didn't know what it was coming from. Is it?
Speaker 1: And, and it felt good though. Yeah, it's hard to,
Speaker 1: it's hard to say dreams are tough, you know.
Speaker 1: That's for sure. Cynthia, thanks for calling us today on
Speaker 1: Pastor's Perspective. And by the way, there's a house for
Speaker 1: rent across the street from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa in
Speaker 1: case you wanted to live closer like you said. So
Speaker 1: come on down, and then you can start coming to
Speaker 1: church here on at the Calvary Costa Mesa Sunday mornings. OK,
Speaker 1: break time, we'll be back in a little bit. 888-564-6173
Speaker 1: is our number. Give us a call.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is the number to
Speaker 1: call for the next 25 minutes or so. Pastor Brian
Speaker 1: Broderson from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa is here. Yes, that's
Speaker 1: the same Pastor Brian that you hear weekday afternoons at
Speaker 1: 5:30 here on Kwave as well as weekday mornings at
Speaker 1: 7 and late night at midnight or early morning at
Speaker 1: midnight depending on how you want to look at it, right,
Speaker 1: and
Speaker 1: Sunday night live at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa right at
Speaker 1: 6:30 in the fellowship hall for Back to Basics Live,
Speaker 1: where we are teaching through the Book of Acts and
Speaker 1: having a great time. Yay! And uh don't forget the
Speaker 1: uh Calvary Chapel conference, the Calvary Global Network conference, that's
Speaker 1: coming up soon.
Speaker 1: Want to tell us about that? Yes, of course, I
Speaker 1: want to tell us about that. Yes, this, uh, the
Speaker 1: way forward ministry according to Jesus, we are just looking
Speaker 1: forward to a fantastic time. You know, conferences are, um, conferences,
Speaker 1: I just love the, the fellowship. I like to, you
Speaker 1: get to see people that you haven't seen in a
Speaker 1: while maybe, and it's
Speaker 1: You know, you just have a few days to really
Speaker 1: reconnect and to get encouraged, God speaks through.
Speaker 1: You know, the messages, um, and, and all of that.
Speaker 1: So I've always really been blessed by conferences. So that's
Speaker 1: why we do conferences and we encourage people to come
Speaker 1: and be part of our conferences. So the 22nd through
Speaker 1: the 25th, is it? Yeah, I think the 25th, yes, yep,
Speaker 1: 22nd through the 25th of this month.
Speaker 1: And we will be back out at um well out
Speaker 1: in the Murrieta area we'll be at uh Reliance Church
Speaker 1: in Temecula, California. So there's a little nostalgia here because, uh,
Speaker 1: some of us are gonna be staying on the campus
Speaker 1: of Myriad Hot Springs that used to be our conference center,
Speaker 1: but we're using that as our uh hotel accommodation this
Speaker 1: time around, and they've given us a great deal, so
Speaker 1: that's really sweet.
Speaker 1: And so anyway, um, it's just gonna be a good time.
Speaker 1: We got a fantastic lineup of speakers and just it's
Speaker 1: just gonna be, uh, if you want to be encouraged
Speaker 1: in ministry, then get signed up and come out and
Speaker 1: be part of it, and conference. Calvary Chapel.com will give
Speaker 1: you all of the information you need.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, conference. Calvary Chapel.com. Let's go get some more
Speaker 1: questions now. Pete, we're gonna go to you after I
Speaker 1: read one that was sent in online. Here it is.
Speaker 1: How is it?
Speaker 1: That a church of people who are saved and have
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit cannot recognize poor theology or cultish teaching
Speaker 1: and behaviors. If they have the Holy Spirit, why doesn't
Speaker 1: it not sit right with them? Why does the pastors
Speaker 1: subscribe to those ideas if they really have the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit and are seeking God and His nature?
Speaker 1: That is a, it's a really good question. And funny enough,
Speaker 1: my wife echoed that very thing to me today. We
Speaker 1: were talking about something and, um, you know, people who
Speaker 1: just tend to, to believe lies and things like that and, and, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I, I, my comment was the fact that
Speaker 1: they don't think for themselves and.
Speaker 1: And she said, yeah, but why, why aren't they convicted
Speaker 1: by the Holy Spirit? And I said, well, honey, that's
Speaker 1: a good question. So, so I think, I think what
Speaker 1: you're dealing with is you're dealing with immaturity and people
Speaker 1: who are immature have not developed their spiritual senses. Hebrews
Speaker 1: census in the um the fifth chapter there, the author
Speaker 1: talks about those who, um,
Speaker 1: Haven't, uh, they've
Speaker 1: They've become uh those who need milk instead of solid food.
Speaker 1: They haven't really nourished themselves on the solid food of
Speaker 1: biblical truth and so they are like babes, uh, in
Speaker 1: Christ rather than than growing up and and being mature,
Speaker 1: and they're not able because of that immature state, they're
Speaker 1: not able to uh discern good and evil.
Speaker 1: Those who do exercise themselves in the the strong food,
Speaker 1: they are the ones who who can make the discernment.
Speaker 1: So I would say that you just are dealing with
Speaker 1: a lot of people who are spiritually immature and you say,
Speaker 1: but what about pastors? How do pastors get led astray
Speaker 1: in this? Well pastors can be spiritually immature as well,
Speaker 1: you know, just because you can.
Speaker 1: Communicate because you can teach, it doesn't necessarily mean you're mature,
Speaker 1: just means you have a gift to speak. And um
Speaker 1: so discernment and truth is really, that's how you.
Speaker 1: That's one way, of course, love and grace and mercy
Speaker 1: and all that too, but, but you know, if people
Speaker 1: are embracing false teaching, then you know that there's something
Speaker 1: amiss with their spiritual development.
Speaker 1: For sure. All right, thanks for sending in your question.
Speaker 1: Now let's go to the phones. Here is Pete in
Speaker 1: San Pedro. Welcome to the program, Pete. How can we
Speaker 1: help you today?
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you. I'm calling, um, uh, with my question
Speaker 1: is from uh John 14, where Jesus says, I go
Speaker 1: to prepare a place for you where I am, so
Speaker 1: you can be there too, and
Speaker 1: I've always heard that it means, you know, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be awesome because how many years it's been since then.
Speaker 1: But then I heard Pastor Chuck Smith on the word
Speaker 1: for today, unless I'm mistaken, within the last week, saying
Speaker 1: that it's not about that, it's about receiving our new
Speaker 1: glorified body. So I'm just curious which which is which. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Um, well, you know, it, it says dwelling places. I,
Speaker 1: I go to prepare, uh, a place for you. There
Speaker 1: in my father's house, there are many dwelling places. That's the,
Speaker 1: that's literally what the words translate to. Um, the old
Speaker 1: King James version said in my father's house are many
Speaker 1: mansions and uh I go to prepare a place for you.
Speaker 1: And so Jesus is going to prepare a dwelling place
Speaker 1: for us. Does that, is that a reference to like
Speaker 1: literal sort of, you know, mansions in the sky, um,
Speaker 1: probably not, um, because actually we're going to be coming
Speaker 1: back to earth with the Lord and ruling and reigning
Speaker 1: with him here on the earth. So,
Speaker 1: Um, is it referring to the, to the body? It
Speaker 1: could be. So I, I think that it's one of
Speaker 1: those things you can't, you probably can't be dogmatic about
Speaker 1: it because Jesus doesn't really explain it beyond that.
Speaker 1: OK, OK, great answer, and I just wanted to ask you,
Speaker 1: Pastor Brian, are you gonna be teaching, um, Sunday night at,
Speaker 1: at your church? Yes, I teach Sunday nights at 6:30
Speaker 1: in the fellowship hall at Calvary, yeah. Great. Oh, and
Speaker 1: the fellowship. OK, great. I have a new believers that
Speaker 1: agreed to go with me and so I wanna make
Speaker 1: sure you're gonna be there. OK, good. I look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you guys.
Speaker 1: OK, I'll look forward to seeing you then. All right, Pete,
Speaker 1: God bless. Thank you for calling us today on Pastor's Perspective. Now,
Speaker 1: some people might be upset all of a sudden about
Speaker 1: because they're hearing this and they're thinking, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna have this big giant 14
Speaker 1: bedroom mansion with, you know, this, that, whatever, and so
Speaker 1: you're saying that might not be the case?
Speaker 1: Um,
Speaker 1: Maybe not, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, the word mansion,
Speaker 1: it's funny that that was even a translation at a
Speaker 1: certain point because it is, I mean, it is literally
Speaker 1: just dwelling places. Uh, so you think like,
Speaker 1: Um, you know, a dwelling place it's, it's pretty, it's
Speaker 1: a pretty, um,
Speaker 1: A nondescriptive description, right? It doesn't really tell you, but then.
Speaker 1: You know, somebody said
Speaker 1: Let's say mansions here, but I, I heard somebody once say, well,
Speaker 1: If, if you really understood what God was preparing for you,
Speaker 1: you would realize it is a mansion. And so that's
Speaker 1: why mansions is a good
Speaker 1: Is a good translation compared to the tent we have now,
Speaker 1: I guess I mean if, if it is your body, if,
Speaker 1: if it is the glorified body that he is preparing
Speaker 1: for us, then yes, indeed. I mean, that's gonna be
Speaker 1: absolutely amazing. And the contrast that Paul gives in uh
Speaker 1: 2 Corinthians 5, you know, um, this earthly tent, our
Speaker 1: our present dwelling place, if our earthly tent is destroyed.
Speaker 1: We have a building from God not made with human hands,
Speaker 1: eternal in the heavens, and for this we groan, desiring
Speaker 1: to be clothed with that heavenly body. So, very good,
Speaker 1: could be. Pete, thank you for your phone call, and, uh,
Speaker 1: let me read another one that was sent in online
Speaker 1: and then Allison, you'll be next, so hang on. Here
Speaker 1: is Sylvester's question. Can a person be so
Speaker 1: And he did put a lot of os there in
Speaker 1: his email to us, so I'm not just being overly
Speaker 1: dramatic here. Can a person be so heavenly minded that
Speaker 1: they are no earthly good?
Speaker 1: Well, it depends on what heavenly minded means, I think.
Speaker 1: Um, it
Speaker 1: If, if heavenly minded means that you.
Speaker 1: Or just sort of walking around with your head in
Speaker 1: the clouds and you're not dealing with reality and you're.
Speaker 1: Not
Speaker 1: Um,
Speaker 1: Understanding that.
Speaker 1: You know, God has called us to work out our
Speaker 1: salvation here on earth with fear and trembling, uh, and
Speaker 1: you just live in, in kind of a make-believe world.
Speaker 1: Which sometimes people do do. um, they, I, I think.
Speaker 1: Become in lots of ways ineffective in their
Speaker 1: Potential ministry.
Speaker 1: But if you're heavenly minded in the right sense,
Speaker 1: That you're grounded.
Speaker 1: In the word of God.
Speaker 1: And you're thinking in terms of the way God thinks,
Speaker 1: and you're seeing things through the lens through which God
Speaker 1: sees things, like a, uh, you know, we talk about
Speaker 1: a Christian worldview.
Speaker 1: I think the more the more we're developed in that area,
Speaker 1: the more the better off and more effective we're gonna
Speaker 1: be for.
Speaker 1: Serving the Lord here in the world. So, so if
Speaker 1: it's a
Speaker 1: If it's just sort of a.
Speaker 1: Um, pie in the sky.
Speaker 1: Float on the clouds idea of heaven, then you're.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna do much good.
Speaker 1: But if it's a real.
Speaker 1: Uh, grip on
Speaker 1: Scripture and the mission of God and those things, then
Speaker 1: of course you're gonna do.
Speaker 1: Really well
Speaker 1: I mean, I I'd like to think that we're heavenly
Speaker 1: minded people, you know.
Speaker 1: But
Speaker 1: We're not weird, like, most of the time anyway.
Speaker 1: Although we were talking the other day about keeping Christianity weird,
Speaker 1: which reminded me of, yes, yes, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you a follow up about that and, um, thought
Speaker 1: about it the other morning is when we say to
Speaker 1: keep Christianity weird, but yet, does that mean Christians are
Speaker 1: supposed to be weird? What is the what is the difference?
Speaker 1: And I mean we are peculiar people, but what's that,
Speaker 1: what's that fine line.
Speaker 1: Yeah, peculiar. I don't know if that's really the best
Speaker 1: word that's ever been used to translate that passage, but, uh, OK, so,
Speaker 1: The weirdness of Christianity is the miraculous, the supernatural, that when,
Speaker 1: when somebody says keep, keep it weird, that's what, in
Speaker 1: the best sense, that's what they're talking about. Don't don't
Speaker 1: get it of the supernatural. Don't try to take away
Speaker 1: from the reality of the miraculous. Don't deny that Jesus
Speaker 1: actually did rise from the dead. Don't be, um, afraid
Speaker 1: to say that he, he died for the sins of
Speaker 1: the world. Don't be afraid to
Speaker 1: Have confidence that you can actually pray and God hears
Speaker 1: you and um you can expect to see God work
Speaker 1: in your life and you believe that he's living and
Speaker 1: powerful and moving today. Don't be afraid to do any
Speaker 1: of that. Do, do all of that. Now, for lots
Speaker 1: and lots and lots of people, that's the weird stuff.
Speaker 1: So keeping it weird means, yeah, just keep, keep doing
Speaker 1: the real believing that, yeah, don't be a weirdo.
Speaker 1: Yourself.
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes people they cross over into weird
Speaker 1: they're just, they're weird and awkward and people are like, uh, that's.
Speaker 1: You know, it's, it's, it's one thing to have the
Speaker 1: gospel offend people. It's another thing to be offensive to
Speaker 1: people just because of the way you are.
Speaker 1: Um, presenting the gospel sometimes, you know, that, that happens too.
Speaker 1: So let's not be weird awkward people, let's be God's people,
Speaker 1: and let's embrace all that.
Speaker 1: That the scripture gives us to embrace, and people will
Speaker 1: think that's weird, but that's OK.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. Allison, you're next. Thanks for calling us today
Speaker 1: on Pastor's Perspective from Riverside. How can we help you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was listening in my car, and while you
Speaker 2: were talking to um this young lady that was married
Speaker 2: and she was having problems with her husband being um
Speaker 2: Uh, pornography. And, um, she said she felt this entity, um,
Speaker 2: go in her body and came right out and then
Speaker 2: I heard, I thought I heard you say if we
Speaker 2: belong to God, the evil one cannot touch us, which
Speaker 2: is the scriptural. Yes, but
Speaker 2: I am going through something right now. I am under
Speaker 2: witchcraft attack from, uh, and, uh, that stemmed from an
Speaker 2: ex-boyfriend and
Speaker 2: Um, the evil touches me. I'm, I'm being attacked. I
Speaker 2: feel different, uh, arrows, if you will, um.
Speaker 2: Burning, you know, they, they can actually
Speaker 2: get into my car, they leave stuff in my car,
Speaker 2: they get into my, where I live and, and throw stuff, the,
Speaker 2: the dust.
Speaker 2: Is blown on me. They're using dust and different things
Speaker 2: to be blown on me on all my clothes, my shoes.
Speaker 2: I can shake my clothes and the dust is on me. Um,
Speaker 2: whatever they're using to throw on me, it, it, uh,
Speaker 2: it burns my legs. I am told not to talk
Speaker 2: about it because
Speaker 2: Um, well, it's just giving more ammunition to the person, and, but, um,
Speaker 2: and I'm trying not to talk about it, but I heard,
Speaker 2: you know, I was listening and I heard you said that,
Speaker 2: you know, the evil one cannot touch us well it's
Speaker 2: touching me and I'm feeling it.
Speaker 1: Well, well, let me.
Speaker 1: Clarify that real quickly and then also.
Speaker 1: Say something about what you're talking about. So,
Speaker 1: What the evil one cannot do is possess you as
Speaker 1: God's child. Now, it doesn't mean that the evil one
Speaker 1: can't harass people, and at times, there there are forms
Speaker 1: of harassment, but that's vastly different than being under the
Speaker 1: the control. So to be taken possession of by the devil, um, those,
Speaker 1: the whole world lies in the grip of the wicked one,
Speaker 1: John says, but the evil one does not touch us
Speaker 1: or or possess us or control us in that way.
Speaker 1: Now, there are occasions when there can be spiritual warfare
Speaker 1: that manifests itself in physical types of affliction. Uh, Paul
Speaker 1: talked about a thorn in the flesh that he had
Speaker 1: a messenger of Satan that buffeted him, and it seems
Speaker 1: that he's describing some sort of a, of a condition
Speaker 1: of a physical, uh, an illness of some sort. We
Speaker 1: don't know because he doesn't really go into the details
Speaker 1: on it.
Speaker 1: Um, but he, but he makes those statements and then
Speaker 1: we see in scripture, we see examples of that occasionally
Speaker 1: being the case with people.
Speaker 1: But generally speaking, it's people who are um.
Speaker 1: Not believers in the sense that they were under the
Speaker 1: control of demons and then Jesus delivered them and they
Speaker 1: be they became believers. So so you're a believer, so
Speaker 1: you're so you're in a category where you're under the
Speaker 1: protection of the spirit and now the things that you're describing.
Speaker 1: Now, whether those are are really.
Speaker 1: Manifestations of spiritual warfare or not, it's very, very difficult to,
Speaker 1: to know, and it could be you have um something
Speaker 1: going on in your, in your body physically that's causing
Speaker 1: these kinds of things. It could be you have a
Speaker 1: neurological kind of a disorder that's happening, that's causing these
Speaker 1: sensations and so forth. So to say that this is
Speaker 1: the devil and this is witchcraft and
Speaker 1: You know, there's dust in my car and on my
Speaker 1: house and on my dress and all of that. That's
Speaker 1: going beyond what the Bible really, um, allows us to
Speaker 1: say definitely about spiritual warfare. So at this point, you're
Speaker 1: just sort of guessing that maybe that's what's happening. And,
Speaker 1: and I would say that that's probably not what's happening.
Speaker 1: And maybe your imagination is just kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: gotten the better of you and and run away a
Speaker 1: little bit. But I would also say, Alison, that you obviously, um,
Speaker 1: you know the Lord, you trust him, and you know
Speaker 1: the scripture because you quoted it to me.
Speaker 1: And so just keep trusting in God's word and know
Speaker 1: that the evil one cannot control you or possess you,
Speaker 1: because that's what God's word says, regardless of what you're
Speaker 1: feeling like. So this is why God gave us the Bible,
Speaker 1: so we could discern things uh that are real and
Speaker 1: things that aren't real, because we can think a lot
Speaker 1: of things, we can imagine a lot of things, we
Speaker 1: can come up with all kinds of different theories about this,
Speaker 1: that or the other thing.
Speaker 1: But the Bible is the place where we get the, the,
Speaker 1: the clear cut answers, and in this case, it's clear
Speaker 1: cut that you as a child of God cannot be
Speaker 1: controlled or possessed by the devil.
Speaker 1: Allison, thank you for your phone call today here on
Speaker 1: Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number. And, uh, here's two
Speaker 1: questions that were sent in by Samuel online through Kwave.com.
Speaker 1: He writes, Hello, brothers in the Lord, I have two questions.
Speaker 1: Are we going to see Solomon in heaven? And why
Speaker 1: did the Lord allow polygamy?
Speaker 1: Why did the Lord, that why did the Lord, that's the,
Speaker 1: that's the the one, you know, Pastor Chuck always used
Speaker 1: to say, now, you know, don't ask me why did
Speaker 1: the Lord unless he told us why, um, we can
Speaker 1: only speculate.
Speaker 1: So, but are we going to see Solomon in heaven? Yes,
Speaker 1: it seems to me, as you read Ecclesiastes, which is
Speaker 1: a um most people believe that this was written by Solomon.
Speaker 1: That Solomon, although he does have a season where he
Speaker 1: has gone astray, he's actually fallen into uh idolatry because
Speaker 1: of the influence of his wives and so forth. Um,
Speaker 1: it does seem as you read Ecclesiastes that he comes
Speaker 1: back around and the end of the book, he basically
Speaker 1: says this is the, the whole purpose in life is
Speaker 1: to fear God and um that's what's that's what everything
Speaker 1: is about. So you might wanna
Speaker 1: Check that out and read those last chapters, one or
Speaker 1: two chapters of Ecclesiastes, and I think you'll see that there. Um,
Speaker 1: why did God allow polygamy? Well, God has allowed a
Speaker 1: lot of things that he hasn't approved of because he's
Speaker 1: given people the, the freedom.
Speaker 1: To
Speaker 1: Act, uh, according to their will and sometimes against his will.
Speaker 1: And so polygamy was never God's will, but he did
Speaker 1: allow it to take place. Uh, in the beginning, God
Speaker 1: created them male and female. He said for this woman, uh,
Speaker 1: for this reason, a man will leave his father and
Speaker 1: mother cling to his wife, the two will become flesh,
Speaker 1: one flesh, um, what God has joined, let no one separate.
Speaker 1: That's the beginning. And then we go through this long history.
Speaker 1: Where polygamy is a part of even the, the people
Speaker 1: of God are engaging in it. And um in some cases,
Speaker 1: like in Solomon's case, it's very, very bad outcome.
Speaker 1: Uh, in the case of others, it's, it's different and
Speaker 1: the circumstances are different, but then we come back to Jesus,
Speaker 1: and when we get to Jesus, Jesus takes us all
Speaker 1: the way back to the beginning and says this is
Speaker 1: how God intended to be and this is how it
Speaker 1: is to be from now on. And so Jesus brings
Speaker 1: us back to the the um monogamous relationship.
Speaker 1: Samuel, thank you for sending in your questions. And now
Speaker 1: let's do one more. This one is from Don, who
Speaker 1: wrote in on the pastor's perspective Facebook page using messenger.
Speaker 1: Don writes, in Mark 9:13, it says, Elijah has already come,
Speaker 1: and they abused him. I have heard John the Baptist
Speaker 1: referred to as Elijah. Was he Elijah or was there
Speaker 1: another record of him coming?
Speaker 1: John the Baptist was not Elijah, but he uh came
Speaker 1: in the spirit and the power of Elijah. And so
Speaker 1: when you read about the birth of John the Baptist
Speaker 1: back in the Gospel of Luke in the first chapter there,
Speaker 1: you will see that that is what was declared concerning
Speaker 1: this child that he would go forth in the spirit
Speaker 1: and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of
Speaker 1: the fathers to the children and the children to the parents.
Speaker 1: And so,
Speaker 1: John, um, John the Baptist becomes a type. Jesus says
Speaker 1: at one point, John is Elijah if you can handle that.
Speaker 1: But then he says, but Elijah will come. So Jesus
Speaker 1: is just affirming that John is a he is a
Speaker 1: type of Elijah.
Speaker 1: Um, he's the, the, the forerunner of the Messiah in
Speaker 1: his first coming, and Elijah will be the forerunner of
Speaker 1: the Messiah in his second coming.
Speaker 1: Very good, Don. Thank you for sending in your question online,
Speaker 1: and we are out of time for today's program of
Speaker 1: pastor's perspective. We did it. We did it. We're gonna
Speaker 1: archive on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify in just
Speaker 1: a few minutes if you missed any portion of this
Speaker 1: or just want to hear it again or share it
Speaker 1: with your friends, and then we'll be back with you
Speaker 1: on Monday.
Speaker 1: All right, yes, I thought you were gonna say something else. Oh,
Speaker 1: I know what you're gonna say. I won't be here
Speaker 1: on Monday, but you will. Oh, that's right. I'll be
Speaker 1: here with Char Char Broderson. By the way, Char is
Speaker 1: teaching this coming Sunday morning as he does every Sunday
Speaker 1: morning at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. Well, he's been gone
Speaker 1: for the past couple of weeks. He's back this week
Speaker 1: he was gone last week, but one week, yes, OK,
Speaker 1: so Gospel of Mark Gospel of Mark, yep, Sunday mornings
Speaker 1: at 8:30 or 11 if you can't be here in person.
Speaker 1: You can watch online at live.ccm.com or listen to the
Speaker 1: 11 a.m. service live here on the radio and Pastor
Speaker 1: Brian Broderson Sunday night at 6:30 at Calvarey Chapel Costa Mesa.
Speaker 1: More details about that at back to Basradio.com/live. All right guys,
Speaker 1: talk to you later. Have a great weekend. See you
Speaker 1: at church on Sunday. Thanks for listening and watching Pastor's Perspective.