WEBVTT - Is the Pope A Christian? 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:13.440 What's up everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.480 being here, Thanks for listening on whatever platform you're listing on. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.439 I am super loose with this podcast. I treat it 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.239 kind of like we're sitting in the cab of a 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.439 truck and we're driving down the road and we're just 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.360 having a discussion. I don't have a table full of notes. 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.479 I only have your questions, which you have emailed me 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.280 podcast at grangersmith dot com. If you haven't asked a 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.839 question yet, you could feel free to do that email 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.600 podcast at grangersmith dot com. Ant Man, my producer, who 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:44.839 a lot of you know, will get that email and 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.919 put it into the queue. So once again, podcast at 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.920 grangersmith dot com. Ask me anything. I'm sitting here with 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.800 a list of questions that ant Man has put together 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.880 from that I have not even glanced at them. Sometimes 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:02.960 I'll sneak a peek and see what I'm about to 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.760 talk about. I know nothing about what this is about 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.040 to what I'm about to get into with these questions. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.560 So we'll do that. And before we get into that, 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.880 I want to address something that has been talked about 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.280 quite a bit on social media. Maybe you've seen it, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.560 maybe you haven't depending on your algorithm, but it is 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:25.279 Pope Francis. Pope Francis made a comment, a public comment, 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.320 and a lot of people have kind of engaged with this. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:33.120 And I don't plan on getting into the weeds with 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.040 this at all, but I think it's important. I want 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.920 to use it maybe unlike a lot of other people have. 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.959 I want to use it as a maybe like a 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.960 teaching tool. We'll put it that way. This came through 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.440 one week ago from when I'm reading it. Yeah, six 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.440 days from when I'm reading it. It says this. It 0:01:55.520 --> 0:02:03.120 says Pope Francis to children and say, quote, all religions 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:08.480 are paths to reach God. They are to make a comparison, 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:13.520 like different languages, different dialects to get there. But God 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.440 is God for everyone. If you start to fight saying 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.079 my religion is more important than yours. Mine is true 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.440 and yours isn't, where will that lead us? There is 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.720 only one God, and each of us has a language 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.680 to arrive at God. Some are Sheikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christians. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.600 They are all different ways to God. So, like I said, 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.079 a lot of people have engaged with this comment, which 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:43.400 is not Christian to say that it's not orthodox, it's 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.280 not classic theism in any way. It's never been taught 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:51.840 that way. Ever. That is very much an outside of 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.440 orthodox thought for the Catholic Church, for anybody that's ever 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.400 claimed themselves to be Christians. They have never said that 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.120 all religions lead to God. And the reason they have 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.400 never said that is because the Bible never says that, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:10.040 and Jesus specifically never said it something I want to do. 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.120 Of course, we all think John fourteen six, when Jesus 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.840 says I am the Way, the Truth, and the life. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:21.800 No one comes to the Father except by me. That's 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.240 one of the many exclusive passages that Jesus talks about 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.880 in the Bible. There are many, and one of the 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.120 teaching tools I want to say, and what I want 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.680 to present to you as you're listening to this is 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.280 for you to find more of the exclusivity of Christ, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:41.920 as it's sometimes talked about Christ in many ways, as 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:46.640 we read his words, is very exclusive, and it's not 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.640 just John fourteen six. The only way Jesus taught is 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:55.080 that He's the only way, and there is never what 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:59.080 Pope Francis is speaking here about universalism. There is never 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:04.880 any kind of universeism in Jesus. Now, the call of 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.600 the Gospel from Jesus goes out to all, the call 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.400 from the disciples, and still the call that we as 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.440 evangelicals preach and teach today goes to all people, of 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.839 all tribes, of all tongues. It is indiscriminate to all people. 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:24.160 The call is available. The offer is available for freedom, 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:31.200 for redemption, for forgiveness, for healing, for hope, for adoption 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.840 as sons to the King of Kings. That offer is 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:37.880 goes out to the ends of the earth, to all 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:44.760 people indiscriminately. But the exclusivity of Christ means that there 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:48.679 is only one way to God. And so God loved 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:53.520 the world enough to give us his son so that 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.320 we would have a way to him. But he didn't 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:00.919 provide a bunch of ways. Now that opens up a 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.360 whole can of worms of many, many, many other discussions. 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.760 And it's even the thought of that opens up all 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:10.880 these other ideas like, well, what happens to the so 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:15.120 and so, what happens to this person of here, And 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:17.440 there's a couple of ways to think about that, and 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.160 once again, another podcast another time we can get into it. 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:25.280 But ultimately, the way we think about it is well, 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.559 I better get out there and tell as many people 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.239 about the good news as I possibly can. That should 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:37.920 instead of instead of driving us to look inward and say, ugh, 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:43.240 that sounds really exclusive. Instead it should drive us outward 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.880 and say, I better get out and tell people about this, 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.120 because there are people that don't know about him yet, 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.040 they don't know about the only one way, the one 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.560 way to God, and I need to tell him. And 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.640 it's not based on how well I tell him or 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:02.279 how pretty my words are to come out. The word 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.560 is given to us with the Bible. We already have 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:07.800 the Gospel. We already have the word of God that 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.640 goes out sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.279 the division of soul and of spirit. And we know 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.440 that that word goes out and pierces for us. So 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.960 all we do is proclaim it and tell people to 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.920 believe and repent, turn from themselves and believe in the 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.440 only one way to God, which is Jesus. So that's 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.360 one way to look at it. The other the other 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.479 way to look at it is God is just. God 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:38.080 is holy, and God is loving and God will miss none. 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.000 So when we start, we have a tendency sometimes to 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:46.200 think that God is gonna God is unjust and he's 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.359 gonna miss a bunch of people because he only provided 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.960 this one exclusive way. And to that, I say, who 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.560 knows the mind of God God word? His word goes 0:06:56.560 --> 0:07:00.400 out and does not return empty. It will succeed in 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:04.359 the very purpose by which he sent it. There is 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.440 no unsuccessful peace of God. Whatever he's doing and whatever 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.080 he purposes will happen the way that he wants it 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.440 to happen. His word will go out. And so let's 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:18.440 let that the exclusivity of Christ inspire us to have 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.760 an urgency to tell people that don't know about Christ. 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.920 Let's tell them about him. And the people that do know, 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.040 let's reinforce more of who he is so that they 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.480 could they could then go outward and find that urgency 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:35.200 for the lost. That's what we should do. Here's the 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.720 final thought. Once again, my homework assignment for you is 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.640 to go beyond John fourteen six and look at all 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.720 the other exclusive claims, not just of what Jesus says 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.240 written in the red letters, as some Bibles have, but 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.840 what the all sixty six books of the Bible say 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:57.520 pointing towards the exclusivity of the Messiah. All of it 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.040 points towards that, and even if Jesus didn't say it, 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.480 it's still the word of God. And Jesus is the 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.520 second member of the Trinity, so Jesus is God. So 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:11.560 just because Jesus didn't say it, remember that Jesus said 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.040 himself that Moses was talking about him, the prophets were 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:19.480 talking about him. So every word in the Bible essentially 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.920 is God's word, which is Jesus's word, not just the 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.040 red letters. That's why I'm kind of against red letter Bibles, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.320 by the way. But here's the final thought. This is 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.200 actually the first thought I had when I read this, 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:36.720 because the exclusivity of Christ is obvious, it's very clear 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.040 in scripture. But the first thing I thought of is 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.760 that the pope says he makes a huge mistake here, 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.720 because the pope says God is God for everyone, and 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.160 then he says there is only one God, and each 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.800 of us has a language to arrive at God. And 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.400 then he goes to name a few random religions, one 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.959 of them being Hindu. Hindus don't believe there's one God. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.000 They don't believe that, so that's an insult to the 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:08.200 Hindu religion. You see, like Pope Francis in his effort 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:15.520 to be universal, is self corrupting. In his offer to 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.679 be universal, he's condemning the Hindus because they believe in many, 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:25.480 many gods. So to tell them that it's okay, whatever 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.120 you believe will lead to the one God. And to them, 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:31.680 they're going, I have many gods. That's an insult to 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:33.920 me for you to tell me that there's only one God. 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:39.680 So the Pope, in his way to be like ever loving, 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.920 which is not the definition of love at all, he's 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:47.760 actually deeply offending people of the Hindu faith. It's interesting. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.199 That's all I wanted to talk about and talk about. 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.400 With that, I wanted to address it quickly, but I 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.840 think we should get into some questions. And the first 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.960 one comes from Anonymous. It says once again the podcast 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.520 is podcast at grangersmith dot com. And the first question 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.040 from Anonymous says, Hey, Granger, I appreciate everything you stand 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.880 for and I love listening to the podcast for godly advice. 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.160 My question is how do I encourage my friend to 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.160 stop having sex with her boyfriend until they get married. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.160 They are both Christians and my friend wanted to save 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.200 herself for marriage, but I recently found out that she didn't. 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.280 I have been married for two years. My husband and 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:27.000 I saved ourself for marriage, and I know how hard 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:31.360 that was. They both want to get married but won't 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.680 for a couple of years. They are nineteen and eighteen. 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.440 I care about them, and I want God's will and 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.920 blessing for their lives. I've been seeking the Lord and 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:43.240 searching his word for encouragement I could pass along. Should 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.880 I just mind my own business? Please let me know 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:50.760 your opinion. Thanks so much. Okay, let's dive into this. Anonymous. 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:55.800 Thank you for emailing. I don't think you said your age, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.080 but you sound you're probably pretty young as well. And 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:02.520 then you have this couple. They're friends of yours, and 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.360 specifically the girl you want her to stop having sex 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:13.640 with her boyfriend until they get married, and saying that 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.520 she wanted to save herself. So the first thing to 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:18.920 be careful with, as I read it, is the first thing. 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.760 The first thing we want to do in this kind 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:29.880 of situation is judge and compare. Now, obviously, sex outside 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:35.760 of the covenant of marriage, a godly marriage. Sex outside 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:44.480 of that is a sin and the first thought we 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.160 want to do is go I didn't do that. I 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.720 saved myself and it was really hard, and now they're 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:56.080 doing it. Instead. We should, as Jesus would teach, we 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.040 should look at the log in her own eye before 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.160 we start messing with a speck in her friend's eye. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:05.800 And so we should look. We should look at our 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.800 own sin. It's interesting that earlier about Poste Francis, I 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.080 talked about where it should make us look outward, But 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.760 when we see sin, it should make us look inward, 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.160 in fact, looking at the cross itself of Jesus and 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.760 what he did to die for sin to be able 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:26.280 to forgive us with the blood of the son of God. 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.480 And that's what he did on the cross became the 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:33.319 substitute for us, taking on the sin of the world, 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.839 the sins of the world, being separated from God, taking 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:38.720 on the sins of the world upon his own body, 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.320 that we might be redeemed. When we look at that, 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.800 that should make us opposite of pote francis. That should 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.480 make us look inward at our own sin and hate 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:51.280 it and think, oh I am that sin that put 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.160 Jesus on the cross. So when you look at your 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.200 friend you go, Yeah, she's having sex with her boyfriend. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:01.720 Shame on her, which is a sin. You're right, but 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.920 we should we should first look inward and go. And 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.560 that's the same sin I struggle with. I didn't, I 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.360 didn't act on it in the same way. It didn't 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.320 manifest in my marriage like this. But I have many 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.600 other sins that have manifested, maybe other sins that my 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:21.720 friend doesn't struggle with that I do. And Lord, please 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.720 forgive me this by your blood of the cross. I 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.680 look to you, by your sacrifice. You know, we should. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:32.320 We should direct our gaze at Jesus, knowing that he's 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.800 the forgiver of sins, knowing that he was sent to 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.280 sent to earth to save sinners, not to save the 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:42.280 righteous people. He came to save sinners, like my friend 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:47.080 and like me. So always include yourself that that protects 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:52.600 you from becoming unnecessarily judgmental. Now we should judge according 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.600 to how we we need to be judged. Right, But 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:01.280 but if you, if you are without, then throw a stone, 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.160 you know, And I don't think that's you, and it's 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.120 definitely not me. So what do we do with this? 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.160 What do we do? You're like, Okay, Granger. Well, my 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:15.400 friend's obviously in sin, and sin when it's fully matured, 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:19.600 leads to death, and I see death all over my friend. 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.960 What do I do. You're saying, be careful not to 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.160 judge her, because you're full of sin too. Okay, So 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:33.880 I say this without saying this out loud. It's interesting 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:39.080 that you say they're both Christians because because being reborn 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:44.560 a Christian, not a cultural Christian, but a believer. When 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.520 I was traveling in Israel here just a few weeks ago, 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.400 it was interesting that a lot of people, one percent 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.000 of the population, not a lot one percent of the population, 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:59.080 call themselves Christians. But I noticed that in that one 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.720 percent of the Christians in Israel, most of them aren't. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.400 It's just cultural. They're not Muslim, and they're not jew 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.320 and they're the ones that you know, do the cross thing, 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:15.840 the Virgin Mary thing. So they're not really Christians. That's 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:20.160 just their culture. Very few of them, and they use 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.200 the word believer. Very few of them are believers, meaning 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.960 they're born again. Like according to John three, when Jesus says, truly, truly, 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.720 I say to you, unless one is born again, he 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.880 cannot see the kingdom. So I'm talking about born again believers. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.400 If that's who your friends are, then the sin of 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:43.840 having sexual relations outside of marriage will start eating at 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:47.960 them and they will turn in repentance back to God 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.960 and say, well, we got to stop this because I 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.960 just it just creeps me out. I know, I know 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.080 it's not right, and I love you, and we need 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.480 to get married as soon as possible, because having the 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:05.160 sexual relations with each other, this lustful relationship, is outside 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:10.560 of God's promise and God hates that. It's sin. And 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.040 so because God hates that, I hate it too, and 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.200 it creeps me out. I can't sleep at night knowing 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:20.440 that I'm not right with God. So I want to repent. 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.520 I want to turn to him. That's what repentance means 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:28.120 and stop this so that that's that's how a Christian feels, 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.560 That's how a Christian thinks. That's what drives a Christian. 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.320 You say, how do you what do you mean drives 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:39.920 a Christian? I mean these are things that that self 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.880 conscious feeling of I'm in sin right now starts to 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:46.920 just erode your mind and you have to you have 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:52.800 to turn away from it. Now. The what accelerates repentance 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.880 actually really what initiates the repentance is God through his word, 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:03.160 and so this could mean that they are believers, but 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:08.080 they are so poorly discipled. The word of God is 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.160 not being poured into them. They're not in a healthy church, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.879 and no one is preaching God's word to them, So 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.400 it hasn't it hasn't kicked in this repentance. They would 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:25.000 listen to a passage like Ephesians four seventeen through thirty two. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.560 They would listen to a block of scripture like that, 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:30.840 or in the Book of Hebrews when you hear the 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:35.160 warning passages or any of the sexual sin passages. There's 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.160 hundreds thousands. Maybe they would hear that and go, uh oh, 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.120 that's me. I better get out of this. Oh man, 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:48.399 I'm so sorry God, I have Psalm fifty one failed you. 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.679 So that could be, But I don't think that's the 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:57.399 story here. I think because the more common thing is 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:02.240 they're just actually not born again believes. They just they're 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:08.080 cultural Christians and it's unfortunate. But so what do I 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:09.840 still have told you what to do? Because you're like, well, 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:14.720 grandear what I do? Especially if they're cultural Christians. The 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.879 thing that you can't do is go to them and say, hey, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:23.280 y'all shouldn't be having sex right now, because that that 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:27.359 doesn't really change anything. Like at that point, you just 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:28.879 sound like a mom or a dad. I don't know 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.399 who you are because you're anonymous, but you kind of 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.960 sound like a mom or dad. Instead, you want to 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:36.720 get the word of God in front of them. You 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.360 want to tell them the gospel. You want to tell 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.760 them about what Jesus did on the cross to die 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.760 for sin. And once they get a grasp of what 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.720 that means, that Jesus died for sin so that we 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.919 could live free, so we could be forgiven. Once they 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.560 get a grasp of that, and they realize they're sinning 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.360 the very sin that put Jesus on the cross, that 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.280 the sin that he freed them from, they're going back 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.080 to it like like an old pair of clothes that 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.000 they've moved on from that, and they're going and they're 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.639 putting them on this this old, dirty garment again that 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.800 Jesus died for that. You would say, Jesus died for 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.199 what you're doing. Nails driven through his hands and his 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.359 feet hung on that cross, and he died for what 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:21.000 you're doing right now. You want to keep doing that. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:23.840 The Word of God will convict them in that way, 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.560 not you, And so you want to get them in 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.879 a church, a solid Bible teaching church that teaches expositionally, 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:36.520 that walks through scripture, not topics, not man made and 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.120 I hope, I hope you feel better about yourself topics. 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.400 But we're gonna we're gonna pick up where we left 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.280 off last week in the in the book of wherever 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.359 you are in the Bible, and the preacher walks through 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.399 a block of scripture and then applies it to the 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.960 lives of the people listening. So here's here's what the 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.480 the original author meant, and here's how we could take 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.200 that truth and apply it to our modern lives today 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.680 in twenty twenty four. And you do that Sunday after 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.159 Sunday and you're meeting with people in the church and 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:11.760 they go, how's your week going, And then you start thinking, 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.360 I had sex with my girlfriend last night. I don't 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.639 want to tell anybody, but it's really starting to bother me. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:21.439 This is this is how it begins to happen without 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.639 you even saying it, without you saying, hey, you stop 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:28.120 sleeping with your girlfriend. Let the word of God convict them. 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.800 Put the Gospel on full display in front of them. 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.320 Let it do it, Let it do its work, and 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:40.520 repentance will come. So a yeee. Apparel. Life before Shopify 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:42.879 was pretty clunky, I guess, to say the least, it 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:44.560 would take a long time for you to go in 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.439 and enter your credit card number and go to the 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:50.239 checkout and do all that stuff on our website just 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.600 to buy a hat or a sticker. You know, That's 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.400 that's crazy. Shopify comes in and they are the mechanics 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.040 in the checkout. They go in, they great into your website, 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:03.800 and they become the easiest checkout ever, and they actually 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:07.159 turn browsers into buyers. But it's not just us that 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:10.359 uses it. There are millions of companies that use Shopify 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:14.040 all over the world. It's so easy for us now 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.800 just to focus eeee on the creative side of it, 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:18.840 on these new launches, like the fall launch that we 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:21.639 just had. Instead of worrying about all the mechanics and 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.959 all the algorithms that go into what Shopify does at 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.320 the checkout stage, we get to worry about the front 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.399 part that you see, the pictures, how we price it, 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.600 how we market it, the videos that we do to 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:35.800 promote it. We don't have to worry about all the 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.160 other stuff. That's what Shopify does and that's what they 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.159 can do for you too. So if you have a 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:43.399 business like ours at ee, upgrade that business and get 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.600 the same checkout that we use with Shopify. Sign up 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.760 for your one dollar per month trial period at shopify 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.080 dot com slash granger all lowercase. Go to shopify dot 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:56.760 com slash granger to upgrade your selling today shopify dot 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:58.879 com slash granger. And if you want to get a 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:01.240 hold of me, go to Cameo dot com slash granger Smith. 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:03.800 Quick way for me to send you a video message, 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:08.200 an update, happy birthday, congratulations, send it to someone else, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:09.919 whatever it might be. I'll just pull out my phone 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.880 and record something, record a video for whatever you want 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:15.960 me to say. Again, that's Cameo dot com slash granger Smith. 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.280 Our next question comes from Joe once again all I 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.080 haven't read these at all. This is all on the 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.880 fly this episode completely. Joe says, Hey, good evening, Granger. 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:27.640 I have read your book Like a River and been 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:31.320 following your podcast recently and they've really inspired me. A 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:34.639 question I have though, is about faith. I have a 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.359 good relationship with God and strong faith, yet things seem 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:40.720 to be harder than ever and only getting harder in 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:43.480 life in general, and it just doesn't seem like I 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:46.360 can catch a break. I guess my question is, if 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:49.359 I have such a good relationship with God, why is 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:54.320 it so hard? Hey, Joe, thanks for the email. Man great, 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:58.640 great question, and thank you for reading the book, and 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:02.280 thank you for thank you for thinking through this, because 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:12.919 you know what we see in a daily digestion of 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:19.080 God's word, as we start to see that God doesn't 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:26.240 necessarily put in front of us a nice, little happy life. 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:30.679 That's just not his intention. And somehow we've gotten that 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:35.760 impression that people who love God and God loves them 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:39.399 and have a good relationship as you say, with God, 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:45.480 that he provides them with a nice, happy life that's 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:50.720 full of good meals and low debt and a roof 0:23:50.760 --> 0:23:55.359 over your head and a happy family. And people around 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:57.560 you aren't getting sick as much as they used to 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:03.320 whenever you weren't a Christian. People are people are just 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:05.680 a little bit nicer to you than when you used 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:09.920 to be an unbeliever. These things just aren't true, and 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:12.520 you see it clearly in the Bible. A lot of 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:15.960 times when people in the Bible, like in the Book 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:20.960 of Acts or any of the letters from the Apostles, 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:23.520 which is these are the letters that happened after the 0:24:23.520 --> 0:24:27.000 Book of Acts in the Bible, in the New Testament. 0:24:27.040 --> 0:24:31.320 These are letters from different apostles to different people or 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:36.919 different churches for different reasons. And through those letters you 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:40.520 see that sometimes people when they became a Christian, life 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:46.000