WEBVTT - Did God save Trump? 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.360 You didn't believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:24.239 believing right now. Thank God Almighty, that we live in 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:28.200 a country that still believes in the King of Kings 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.120 and the Lord of lords. The Alba have the Omega, 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:43.600 and our God, our God still says, he still delivers 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:51.160 and he still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:56.960 came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:58.400 got back up. 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:05.880 On his feet, and he you know who that guy is. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:24.560 I don't either. A few more here on Saturdays. I 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.800 start laughing when I hear the music that they put 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.520 like contemporary worship. All right, then, of course we're going 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.240 to finish with this one. This is the one we've 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:40.399 seen this, uh computer animation. All of us have seen 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:53.520 it at some point lately. You Okay. So I got 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:55.880 that one because I just thought it was interesting that 0:01:55.920 --> 0:02:00.000 it said one proof that God exists. And here's the proof, 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:05.320 a computer animation of Trump turning his head. So three 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:10.000 videos here, and those are just I literally found those 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.560 thirty seconds ago as you're walking up up the stairs 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.200 to come here, meaning I didn't have to look hard. 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:21.079 I didn't like archive a certain one because that's more 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.840 special than others. But I've been I've been fascinated with 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:31.760 a few things regarding this whole attempted assassination. I've been 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:36.280 fascinated with the God aspect to it. By the way, 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.400 Marshall Canalis, pastor at a Mais Church with me today, 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.880 as you've been with me many times, and not just 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.760 pastor of a Mais church, but my pastor the church 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:51.840 that I attend in Georgetown, Texas. And if you ever 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.360 want to see me or Marshall, you just go there. 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.839 That's where we are on Sundays. But this topic has 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:03.280 been surprising to me. Maybe it shouldn't be this idea 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:10.120 of God's sovereignty that's now on full display apparently because 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:15.640 Trump turned his head, because there's another video I didn't 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.600 record that talks about the angel Gabriel did that turned 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:25.120 Trump's head at the last second so that the bullet missed. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:34.079 And God either did that, according to these videos, because 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:40.360 it apparently he needed to intervene, or he did it 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.080 in a way that would put on his put on 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.920 display his sovereignty in front of everyone. Depending on these 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:54.200 couple different viewpoints. It's a deep well to talk about, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.760 and I think you and I could hit briefly on 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:03.080 this first break answering the question the general question did 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:08.000 God save Trump? We can answer that, and I think 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.480 that's probably somewhat of a title for this podcast. Did 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.839 God save Trump? Or God didn't save Trump? Or God 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.320 did save Trump? However we end up answering that, And 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:23.800 then this other idea is how this idea of evil 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:30.040 continues to be brought up as if there is there 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:33.599 is an evil political party and a righteous political party, 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:38.120 and the forces of evil are behind one side and 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:43.839 the forces of righteousness are protecting the other side, which 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.800 that in itself is a true idea, but not in 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.560 political idea, not in political realm, In a spiritual realm, 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.160 that's a true idea. So first let me ask you, 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.400 not that I don't know, but for everyone as we 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.880 have this discussion from you, what is what does God's sovereignty? 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.719 What does that mean? And and and what are we 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:08.680 to do with this? What does the Bible say about it? 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.760 I guess we should say I have some verses here. 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.480 Sovereignty just means that he has absolute rule and reign 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.400 over everything in the world. Nothing catches him by surprise, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:23.400 nothing happens without him, first, ordaining it, and so he 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:27.919 has absolute control over everything. And so you know, so 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:31.200 the question about Trump, in some sense, I would say, yes, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:37.760 God did spare his life, Sure, agreed, But God forbid 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.560 the bullet had hit Trump and he had died. God 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.760 still would have been sovereign over exactly, and so his 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.719 sovereignty is not contingent on the outcome of the event 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:54.560 that took place. And so I can in good conscience say, yeah, 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:58.880 the Lord was over that. But I don't want to 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:00.880 dig into the second part of the question yet about 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:06.520 evil forces and divine forces behind different parties or whatever. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:11.279 But there is a sense where God nothing happens outside 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.480 of God's ordained control over what's going to take place 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:16.040 in the world. 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:16.440 And so. 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.719 When I see events like Saturday, no matter what the 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.640 outcome is, I have to trust that the Lord was 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:31.320 over it and did what he deems best in the 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:35.840 moment for his glory and for our situation here in 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:40.760 the world. And so so, yeah, all of it was 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.000 under his control. None of it caught him off guard. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.159 So it wasn't like God looked down, saw the shooter 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:47.960 on the rooftop and thought, oh, I gotta I gotta 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.039 get Gabriel down there quick to turn Trump's head. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.480 Right, That's where I was hoping you'd go. Yeah, he 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:54.960 wasn't like the Secret Service. Yeah yeah, he's this guy 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:56.600 going to take a shot. Yeah, am I gonna need 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:57.559 to come in last night? 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.359 Right? So he So all of it, All of it 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:05.520 happened as God had planned it to happen. And that's 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.440 not popular when we think about negative things in the world. 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.320 But I can't go against what I see happening in scripture, 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:19.160 where God is in control of everything. It's actually uncomforting 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.960 to think of worshiping a God or a being, worshiping 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.680 a being who does not have absolute control over everything, 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.800 because then really I'm not I can't really put true 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.600 trust and hope into a being who does not have 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:41.640 control over everything. And so so that's why in one 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.840 since I can say, yeah, God saved Trump by sparing 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:50.240 his life, but again, had a different outcome happened, I 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.560 would have sat here and said God was still in 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:59.880 control of what happened, And everything happened the way God 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.640 wants it to happen because He's in control of it 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.600 and nothing can port his ways. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:09.920 Right, So there's a slight nuance between what you said, 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:14.160 and that's how the Bible represents God. And then there's 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:18.880 another way to use sovereignty. For instance, in the Muslim world, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.920 Allah is known as sovereign. That's one of his main attributes. 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:28.120 But it's not a personal sovereignty. It's more of all 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:35.200 power almighty. But without the inner dealings of people, there 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.480 is no personal dealings with the people, and so that's 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.400 a big difference. We'll start with Psalm one of Three's nineteen. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.480 It says the Lord has established his throne in the heavens, 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:52.520 and his kingdom rules over all. Very famous. These are 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.800 basic verses, very famous. Proverb sixteen nine. The heart of 0:08:55.840 --> 0:09:00.200 man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his step. 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.040 That is, so you have a kingdom, a rule over 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.320 all the kingdom. But proverb sixteen to nine brings in 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.640 a personal aspect to it, a step of a man 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.199 that's very personal. I say forty six y to ten, 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.320 declaring the end, from the beginning and from ancient times, 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.560 things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:28.400 I will accomplish all my purpose, not just the big things, 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:33.520 not just the ultimate the end things, but all the 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:35.600 things that lead up to the big things. In fact, 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.040 it can make a really good argument that it's nearly 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:42.160 impossible to only establish the big things without establishing all 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:43.280 the little things in between. 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:44.800 Yeah, it's exactly right. 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.640 Because the big things only happen because a lot of 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.840 little things happen, including a head turn by the president, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:52.280 the former president of the US. 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.760 I mean you could even take it look deeper than that, 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:59.000 with not just the head turn but the wind strength. Yeah, 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:03.920 the you know, the gravitational pool of a bullet as 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.920 it travels, like all that stuff. He has his control 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:09.280 over all those little things. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:15.560 So, yeah, it's wild. And this is such an idea 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.880 that's largely rejected by people. In fact, people are probably 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:23.760 listening right now going, I don't know, I'm not a puppet. 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.559 I dropped the pin. To those who know the reference 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.720 Daniel four thirty five. All the inhabitants, inhabitants of the 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.560 earth are accounted as nothing. And he does according to 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.080 his will amongst the host of heaven and amongst the 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.720 inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.040 or say to him, what have you done? Ephesians one 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.880 to eleven. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:52.480 been predestined, predestined according to the purpose of Him who 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.160 works all things according to the council of his will, 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:01.160 which we know is good Som. One thirty five six. 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:07.120 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does. And then it extends 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:09.920 in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:15.160 the deeps everything. There is nothing outside of this kind 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:19.840 of sovereignty that we're talking about. Proverbs nineteen twenty one. 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:21.840 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.840 But it is the purpose of the Lord that will 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.920 stand as they have fourteen twenty four. The host of 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.199 the Lord of Host has sworn as I have planned, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.360 so it shall be, and as I have purposed, so 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.720 it shall stand, which that verse gives us. Really in 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:46.120 that context, it gives us an idea of that everything 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:51.640 is planned. It's not a last minute adjustment or some 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:58.800 kind of compromise or recalibration because of something that, because 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.920 of some evil or anything. Uh. And then, of course, 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:07.719 famous famously, Roman's nine is such a deep well where 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.960 we see things like for he says to Moses. Paul writes, 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.520 I have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.000 will have compassion on whom I have compassion and then 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:19.720 so then it depends not on human will or exertion, 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:26.040 but on God who has mercy as we as we 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:33.960 work through. And by the way, I would recommend not 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.440 not studying the Bible in the way that I'm presenting 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.120 it right now, where we're just we're just shooting at 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:44.640 these different verses, but instead reading through consistently some kind 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.120 of some kind of way moving forward through scripture with 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:52.280 some kind of consistent starting point, and then you see 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:56.880 these ideas. Really through the entire canon of the Bible, 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.680 you see these, you see sovereignty ideas, and you also 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:07.760 simultaneously will see the call for human responsibility. It would 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:09.920 be wrong of me to actually do this podcast with 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.240 you and only talk about the Lord establishing steps according 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.440 to his purpose and his plan, and not say that 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.720 the Bible also teaches that we have a responsibility to 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:28.920 respond to him. So why is it now that everyone goes, now, 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:33.559 this is proof of God because Trump turned his head. 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.360 I don't, I mean, it's only it's only certain people 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:38.240 who are saying that. 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.120 It's only certain people. It seems like a lot of them. 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:46.400 It is a lot of them. But I don't know 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.520 why this would be the moment that they do it, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:59.680 because one one act in history can't be the definitive 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:11.760 proof that God exists. Yeah, because again, if if Trump 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:16.280 had died on Saturday, would that have been proof that 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:20.640 God doesn't exist? I don't think so. 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:23.240 I really guide you went there. That's where I wanted 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.320 you to go. And that's what what I want people 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:26.840 to think for themselves through this. 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.840 Yeah, because you got to think the reverse. You know, 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.960 if he had if he would have died on Saturday, 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:39.280 would that have been proof God didn't exist. Speculation as 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.960 to why people probably lean towards this is proof God 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:47.120 exists is because they've elevated Trump to a status he 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.520 probably shouldn't be. And I'm not saying that because he's Trump. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.000 I'm saying that's that's true of any person. No person 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.680 should be elevated that way. Like if somebody came into 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.840 our church on Sunday and in the middle of my 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:02.040 sermon pulled out a gun shot and it and it 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:07.080 grazes my ear and the guy's tackled by our safety 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.360 team and everything's taken care of. If a member came 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.120 up afterwards, go this is proof God exists? I would 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.800 be like, no, I no, I mean, I'm thankful God 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.800 spared my life, but this is not proof that God exists. 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.760 Just because the preacher, because you're the pastor and became 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.840 I'm the pastor of the church. That's not proof God exists. 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.320 That might be proof of his mercy and his grace 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:34.360 towards me, but that's not That doesn't mean He's not 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.480 those things if I die, because then this is where 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.960 a belief in God's sovereignty is is is necessary, is 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.760 in that moment, whether I live or die does not 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:49.200 affect who God is. And it's and this, I mean, 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.760 this goes into a deeper point of it's it's really 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.720 dangerous to to see God through our situations instead of 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:59.080 seeing our situations through how God's revealed himself in scripture. 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:03.920 So if you know, you can take this really small. 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:07.160 Stop and say that one more time, because those people 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:07.800 need to hear that. 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:14.280 Yeah, just there's a real danger in viewing our or 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.920 viewing God through our situations instead of viewing our situations 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.360 through how God has revealed himself in scripture. Because if 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:26.000 you take this super small to a smaller scale, if 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.720 somebody loses their job and they go this is proof 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.920 that God doesn't care about me. Well, now we're taking 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.520 our situation and letting that dictate who God is, when really, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:39.600 every time God talks about himself in scripture, that's really 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:43.440 a gift to us to help us see our situations rightly. So, 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.520 if I know Scripture says God is good and that 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.560 he's in control of everything because he's sovereign, that nothing 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:54.320 is outside of his his ordained will, then when I 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.960 look at situations, whether good or bad, that prevents me 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:03.480 from over celebrating them and also becoming becoming overly anxious 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.879 about them in either in either direction. Because God is 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.080 Who God is is not determinative based on my situation, 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.399 right Because I might be having the worst year of 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.320 my life, the guy down the street from me might 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.400 be having the best year of his life. We might 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.960 both be professing Christians, we might both be pastors. Who's 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.119 whose situation do we then use to base who God is? 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:36.440 If we're through the same time, both profession Christians, both 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.320 might be pastors in solid churches preaching the gospel, but 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.320 our two experiences are drastically different. Couldn't be more different. 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.359 Who whose situation are we then supposed to take and 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.760 go that that's how we're supposed to see God. You 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:52.840 just can't do it. That's so good and so so 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:57.280 like with the Trump situation, I am thankful the Lord 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.879 spared his life. But if there was an attempt on 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.760 Biden's life, I'd be thankful if his life was spared. 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.280 So this is not a political thing of whose party 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:08.040 am I more in support of. It's a I think 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.840 death is a result of the fall and sin, and 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:18.200 so I can't find enjoyment in death. I don't celebrate it. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.160 It is a natural consequence of sin. And so when 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.720 lives are spared in moments like that, I'm thankful the 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.440 Lord he's spared lives in that I grieve the loss 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.680 of the life that that was lost on Saturday by 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:37.800 the bullet and so and then so there's there's ways 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:39.640 to grieve that without celebrating it. 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.359 That's actually a nice point to the idea that God 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.600 there I the angel Gabriel uh intervened at the last 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:53.520 second and diverted a bullet that then killed another man. Yeah. Yeah, 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:59.639 that's a very strange theology to think about. Instead, what 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:01.720 the Bible says, and what you're saying is stop looking 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:03.960 at our situations and then through the through the Bible, 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.520 but instead the Bible, let that would be the lens. 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.040 We look at the situation and that and what we 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.320 see in the Bible is that all of our days 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.840 are numbered. Before we were even born, we had a 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.560 certain amount of days. So Trump has a certain amount 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:20.359 of days. He has a day that's designated for him 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.240 according to God's purpose. And so did that that man 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.560 that stood behind him, that took that bullet. Those were 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.520 not accidents and whatever. You and I both we have 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:34.639 an expiration date. There is a there is a level 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:37.919 of comfort knowing that that. It's profound. 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:44.639 Yeah, yeah, and I mean I think that's that's something 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.600 we can learn from Saturday. Yeah, right, yeah, where we 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:57.000 can just be reminded of our mortality. And yeah, and 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.160 like like you said, with the it's a weird theology 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.640 that Gabriel would one. I don't think that's how angels act. 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:04.879 So that's a whole another topic. 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.600 Gabriel also spoke to Mohammed, so right, yeah, so aparently 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:11.679 but to like turn Trump's head but not protect the 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:16.040 guy behind him, or why didn't Gabriel act two minutes earlier? 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:18.600 So you know, some some critiques of the secret service 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.159 right now could really be critiques of Gabriel. Really in 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:22.560 some sense could be critiques of God. 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.000 That's true, that the whole Angel staff needs to be evaluated. 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.480 Yeah, why wasn't the guy's tire flattened on the way driving. 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:32.120 To the gabler rallies where you're at, bro? 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:37.000 Yeah, the title for the podcast, but you know so 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.640 you could you could ask those same questions of Gabriel 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.000 in that sense or God in that sense. 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:48.160 The head angel needs to be fired. Yeah, title podcast. 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:51.639 All right, we'll take a break and get to some questions. 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:55.200 If you have a question for me, email podcast at 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:57.159 grangersmith dot com. Hey, if you want to get a 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.399 hold of me, go to cameo dot com slash granger Smith. 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.160 You will find me there and from there I could 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.240 build you a video message. I get your notes, and 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.320 what you want me to say, like happy birthday, happy anniversary, 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.560 a word of encouragement, congratulations, good job on the graduation, 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:16.400 or why did you not make graduation? Whatever you want 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:18.600 me to say. I'll read those notes and I pull 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.399 out my phone and I record a video message and 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:23.760 I say whatever you need me to say to whoever 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:25.640 you need me to say it too, and I send 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.159 it right back to you. It's super simple. It's a 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.600 great gift for the person that you don't know what 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:33.720 to buy for. Again, go to Cameo came eo dot 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.760 com slash granger Smith. Okay, we're going to get into 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:40.879 some emails now once again. The email addresses podcast at 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:46.399 grangersmith dot com, and Julia is the first one. She says. How, 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:48.480 my name is Julia. I'm twenty years old from a 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:52.000 small town in northern Mexico. I've been blessed by your podcast. 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.040 In fact, they are part of my conversion story. So 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:56.919 I'd like to start off by thanking you for your 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.240 time and effort putting them out, and as as a 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:06.560 symbol of my belief in Jesus, I desire to get baptized. However, 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:11.600 my Midnight Church practices the effusion method. When I told 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:13.520 them that I would like to get baptized by immersion, 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.680 they told me that they would take it into consideration, 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:20.840 But they are talking about it more or less, talking 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:23.560 about more or less a year until that might even 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:27.480 be possible. What is your opinion on various methods? Since 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:31.119 baptism is an immediate sign of obedience to God, should 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.480 I go ahead and get baptized now or wait, I 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.280 want to do it glorifies God most and be a 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:39.720 blessing to others, but I'm not sure what that looks 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:46.800 like for me. What are your thoughts or your advice? Hey, 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.439 thank you so much. That's Julia. I'm so glad that 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:57.000 you're listening and thinking through these things before I before 0:22:57.160 --> 0:22:59.560 we get started at all. You got the right guy 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:01.960 with Marshall here. I'm going to give you an email 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:08.119 Brooks Marv B r O O K E S m 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.440 A r V at gmail dot com. He is our 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:13.800 Minnonite brother and he would love to talk to you 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:20.280 about maybe deeper into the Mennonite faith. And I trust 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:24.720 what Marv says, So I got that for you. Encouraged 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:29.359 by Julia here, it's encouraging that she's she's thinking through 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:34.920 these things and she seems to have a good heart 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:42.840 posture about desiring to do what glorifies God most and 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:51.160 a desire to also be obedient to the authority in 0:23:51.200 --> 0:23:57.720 her church leadership. So she has I just Julia, I 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:00.680 see so many emails that I've seen so many emails 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:04.199 for eight years, and usually you see something like this 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:08.240 where they say I'm leaving my church, or I'm going 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:10.440 to do it my Church's way, not the Bible's way, 0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:15.119 or there's it's just some extreme and it it always 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:22.800 ends up feeling a little a little self centered. So 0:24:26.920 --> 0:24:30.720 if if if Julia came to a MAIS and so, look, 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:33.280 I'm visiting, I'm on vacation, i have some cousins here 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:37.159 in Georgetown, Texas, but I'm going back on Monday to 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:40.000 northern Mexico. What would you what would you want to 0:24:40.040 --> 0:24:44.000 equip her with as she goes back to Mexico. Yeah? 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:48.480 Uh so we practice at full immersion at a mais. 0:24:51.840 --> 0:24:56.200 Seems to be what we see in scripture pretty consistently. 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:02.280 That being said, I have friends Marv, yeah, Min and 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:06.720 my brother. I have friends in the Presbyterian Church where 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:09.480 they don't practice full immersion at least in all of 0:25:09.520 --> 0:25:14.160 them in the way that they do baptisms. And while 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:17.160 I would encourage them to reconsider that, I can't say 0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:19.240 that person is not a Christian because they didn't do it. So, 0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:21.359 first of all, you gotta we gotta recognize there's no 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:28.760 saving power or aspect to baptism itself. It is an 0:25:28.800 --> 0:25:35.560 act a person does to profess faith in Jesus or 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:42.800 not too, but a nact somebody does to visually represent 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:44.720 what's happened spiritually to them. 0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:46.639 And sounds like Julia understand. 0:25:46.320 --> 0:25:49.919 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanted to clarify that. And so, 0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:54.640 especially when we see the explanation of baptism and scripture 0:25:55.680 --> 0:26:00.119 being buried like Christ risen with Christ, there's a symbol 0:26:00.280 --> 0:26:02.800 aspect to it. Mostly when we say full immersion, you're 0:26:02.920 --> 0:26:05.240 getting dunked in water coming out, So there's part of 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:08.800 the symbolism there. But because there is no saving aspect 0:26:08.800 --> 0:26:12.399 to baptism itself, I can't tell somebody they're not a 0:26:12.440 --> 0:26:15.520 Christian because the baptism didn't happen specifically the way it 0:26:15.560 --> 0:26:22.440 was supposed to. And so what I would want to 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:25.919 ask her is one, if it is her conviction that 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:29.720 it's by immersion, which is what I would encourage, are 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:32.679 there any solid churches around her that practice that that 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:34.800 she can connect to there, Because one thing we tell 0:26:34.800 --> 0:26:38.720 people at our church visiting our church is if you 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:43.159 disagree with what we teach, then let us help you 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:48.640 find a gospel preaching church that agrees with this secondary issue, which. 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:49.240 Is what it is everyone. 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:53.400 It's a second secondary issue. Let us help you find 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:55.399 a church in our area that preaches the gospel that 0:26:56.040 --> 0:26:58.440 holds the same convictions on the secondary issue. You do 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:01.240 because you don't want to cause contention in the church. 0:27:02.960 --> 0:27:04.639