Welcome to the Gospel Truth Project Podcast.
I'm your host, Jason Cooper, and I've got my co-host here.
Hey, it's me, Dylan.
What's up, Dylan?
How are you doing today?
I am doing good.
A little hot here, but oh well.
I think it's funny when you talk about Heat because for those who don't know, he's Californian.
And me being in Phoenix, Arizona area, greater Phoenix area in general, Heat is usually my
best friend here.
That's crazy to me.
How hot is it over there right now?
It is a beautiful 94.
It's actually hotter there than it is here.
It's only 87 here.
I don't know if you did, but you know, dang.
I prayed that you'd experienced my troubles.
No, no, that's the reason I live here.
The reason I live here.
70 to 75, perfect.
Beautiful.
No, that's too cold.
This morning I got up.
Too cold.
Listen, this morning I got up, got to my car and it was like 68 degrees and I was like,
brr, I need my jacket.
You are ridiculous.
I was about to go full on winter coat here.
Oh my gosh.
Ridiculous.
It's amazing.
So what's going on with you?
What's exciting going on?
What are you up to?
I just met on Wednesday.
So I just getting ready for youth group today, tomorrow and the podcast.
That's pretty much it.
That's my agenda today.
That's exciting.
Cut this one out a little bit shorter than normal because we are running behind.
Yeah, I mean, OK, don't worry.
We got content for this one.
Last week I know.
Yeah, of course we do.
Last week we I know we talked about like, hey, we don't know what we're going to talk
about next week.
And that was true.
And throughout the week just been texting back and forth like, what if we talk about
this?
What if we talk about this?
And I think we got a good topic to talk about this week.
But we do have a topic already for next week.
Yeah, which which I am excited to go over and it's going to be a little bit more intense.
So this episode is going to be a little bit easier and a little bit more straightforward,
I guess is a good way to put it.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm glad we came to a decision because we had too many and that was the cover issue
and we're like, what are we going to do?
We have this idea, we have that idea.
So I have some good shows lined up in the next two weeks.
I think a lot of like you and me, we have a lot of ideas that we want to do.
And some of those ideas take a little bit more study and then last minute or a day before
or something like a little bit more research to make sure that we are, you know, portraying
the right light on those subjects.
So as you notice, the first couple of subjects that we have done are a little bit more easier
to get into, understand like prosperity gospel.
What is it?
That kind of stuff is a little bit more simplistic and easy to understand, which is good.
And it's just very, very easy to look at the Bible and say, oh, yeah, that is biblical
or yeah, this is biblical.
So today we are actually going to go on the topic of sin and what is it?
What is sin?
That's a good question.
That's a question too.
You know, I feel like nowadays there's a lot of, you know, well, it says it's the same,
but why?
And like it gets into a lot of that type of stuff of like, well, is it, is it a sin?
Is it really a sin and stuff like that?
I mean, there's some topics we could maybe, we may talk on, I don't know.
We'll see where it goes here the next, you know, 45 or so.
But you know, this is, if you just think about what is sin, you know, yeah, it's just, it's
like, it's the absence of God without God.
I believe that's, I'm honestly, it's the Hebrew or Greek, but then you've got some Bible
verses here you wanted to share with real quick.
Yeah.
One right off the bat that because we, as Christians, we talk a lot about sin in general
and a lot of issues we see nowadays is that people and media and people who say, oh, I'm
Christian or something like that.
And then you see them in the media where they're just like, you're going to hell because you
sinned.
And I think obviously that's a wrong way of proclaiming God's love by, you know, doing
it that way.
It's not love.
It's not loving.
It's not love.
You have to meet the person.
Right.
At, you know, where they need to be met.
You know, you can't just be, you're a sinner.
You're going to hell.
It's like, well, we all are sinners.
You know, in a sense, we've all fallen short.
So I mean, you got to be in a loving way, but there's sometimes you do need to be, there's
a time and place for harshness, I believe, but sometimes, I mean, not harsh, but tough
love is a place for tough love.
But there's also a time to be understanding and loving.
Right.
And the reason why to bring that up is because a lot of times we use the term sin and people
who do not understand who God is or what Christianity is for the most part, they'll look at that
and like, I don't know what sin is.
And the generic idea of sin is like Sin City Vegas.
It's like prostitutes and drugs and alcoholism.
Like, you know, that kind of stuff.
There's a lot, you know, people to think of the problem is what I think we get caught
up with with sin is that we look at through our eyes, not God's eyes necessarily.
Because see, for us, it's like, oh, well, this is worse than that sin.
Oh, murder is worse than telling a white lie.
But you got to like, it says that all sins are the same in the Lord's eye.
Whether we can actually see that in Galatians five, which we talk about a lot because I
love that.
This is all you need.
I mean, right.
Not really.
But no, no, but it's a good place to start because it talks about, you know, what is
like walk by the spirit because if we accepted Jesus, like we talked about a week before
in salvation was that we walk by the spirit that's gifted to us from Christ.
We accept him, desires of the flesh are against the spirit and desires of the spirit are against
the flesh.
And then it goes on to say what the desires of flesh are.
And that's kind of what that that's what sin is, is against what God is.
Right.
And so you can see that it's wrapped up in 19 Galatians five, 19, where it talks about
sexual morality, impurity, sensuality, adultery, sorcery, and meditators, strife, jealousy,
fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies.
But you can see that there's a range of stuff there that we say is a range.
Right.
As humans, we look at that and like, well, fits of anger, you get mad sometimes.
Oh, you get a little jealous sometimes.
But man orgies.
But in the same sense, never those orgies.
That's not too far.
Right.
So if you see this from a biblical perspective, that's all one thing.
That's all left or right.
Spirit or flesh.
That's the whole thing.
Sin itself is black and white.
And that's something I think people need to understand is that when you're walking a Christian
lifestyle, sin is very black and white.
It's either it is part of God and the Holy Spirit and what he wants to bring or it's
not.
Simple as it gets.
That's why we talked about the fruit of spirit.
Yeah, we talked about the fruit of spirit, which is what God brings.
And if it doesn't line up with those things that you could see that they're not of God
because those are of God.
That was one of the verses I wanted to bring up.
But we as Christians talk about one thing I wanted to bring up is first John one nine,
which you might know.
But it's if we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, he is faithful and just
true to his own nature and promises and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually
from all unrighteousness, our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with his will
and purpose.
So that right there can sum up anything that's not his will and purpose in our life.
Everything not in conformity with it is wrongdoing, that it's unrighteousness, it's it's sin.
So that's something to keep in mind.
What do you take from that?
I just thought I was talking.
I thought I was talking back to you for a little bit and I had my mic was muted.
Hilarious.
Can you repeat the question?
I totally I know myself off.
No, it's just it's just that verse where it talks about that will forgive our sins and
cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness, our wrongdoing, everything that is in which
is not in conformity of his will and purpose.
So anything outside his will and purpose is wrongdoing, sin and unrighteousness, right?
Anything that is not of the Lord.
Yeah.
Yes.
And is anything that is not of God or, you know, not yeah, not of God, as God has made
clear what he wants and what he expects from us.
And if we don't do that, whether it's like he says that's a lie, whether it is a dramatic
big lie or it's, you know, like saying my hair is super thick and lush, like it's long,
it's, you know, luscious, luscious logs.
And, you know, that's a lie.
Like, it's not a big lie to say, no, I have my father's hair.
It's fine.
It's cool.
I look forward to going bald.
Art.
More bald.
I'm not really that bald, but you know.
That puts it in perspective that we as humans think of levels when God himself thinks of
is it or is it not?
Yeah.
That's it.
Actually, first John three, four through five through three, first John chapter three, verse
four and five, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.
Sin is lawlessness.
You know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there is no sins.
So no one who abides in him keeps on sinning and no one who keeps on sinning has either
seen him or knowing him.
And if you look into this from a perspective, when it's talking about like keeps on sinning,
it's talking about living a sinful life, right?
And that's true is that we fight the flesh now.
I'm not perfect.
No one's perfect.
But my lifestyle does not revolve around sin anymore.
My lifestyle is not sinful in the sense that I do not live to sin.
My point and my purpose of my life is to live for Christ, to live in the word and to read
and to let the Holy Spirit guide me and interact with people with like we talked about before.
So not living in sin.
That's the whole point is that if we abide in him, we don't keep living in sin.
We are now renewed, right?
Yeah, 100%.
Because accepting Jesus is basically saying it's denying your flesh, denying your sin,
full nature and saying, no, I'm choosing God, I'm choosing Christ.
And then not saying there's still not going to be the temptation, so there's still not
going to be the, oh, like, you know, it's like basically, you know, there's a pie sitting
there, like the classic cartoon, like there's a pie sitting there, you're like, that pie
looks really good.
But you know you shouldn't be eating it.
Why shouldn't I, Dylan?
Because it's temptation right there, the pie.
You know, it's like, this is a nice French apple pie.
You know, you got vanilla ice cream in the freezer.
Like it just sounds good.
Like, why not?
Just one slice of pie ain't gonna hurt, right?
You say that, you end up eating the whole pie and then, you know, you're 20 pounds
heavier going like, what happened?
That brings up 1 Corinthians 10 13, actually.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to
endure it.
How's them for apples?
Well, it's not apple pie, but yeah.
Right.
It's true.
The temptation and like that and he does, he gives you the strength.
It was like Philippians 4 13, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.
I need to remember that sometimes because there's times where there's apple pie and
I'm like hmm.
That looks really good.
It's interesting to me that if you go into what I just read, the first Corinthians 10
13, if you take the no temptation has overtaken, if you read the original Greek translation
of that, it's actually more, there's more context there.
It's no temptation, regardless of its source has overtaken or enticed you that is not common
to human experiences.
I think that's a really cool way to say it because some people are like, well, we have
technology nowadays and things so readily available for a guy.
It's hard to stay away from certain temptations or for a female, it's harder to stay from
certain temptations or it's like using technology and advancement in human science and stuff
like that as a crutch to why you can keep on living a sinful life when in reality you're
just finding excuses for yourself to keep on living in that way.
Yeah, exactly.
I think what is it?
I think of what I've always been told to like, you know, by coaches and stuff like my dad,
it's like, well, excuses are like buttholes, you know, everybody's got one.
That's the way to put it.
I mean, I was never told it wasn't exactly said buttholes.
I was used, you know, something else.
So just keep it PG.
Oh, they were used.
Everybody's got an excuse for something.
Everybody has one.
You know, whether it's like, oh, well, you know, I just drink a little, you know, because,
you know, I get tired off of work, I was relaxed.
Like, oh, you know, I don't get drunk that often.
It's okay.
You know, I only do this a little bit.
It's like, right, it goes back to the whole thing.
A little bit, right.
It's still, you know, I don't know why it's the goes to basketball or like a sport for
him.
Like, you know, if you score one point, two points or three points in basketball, it's
still it's still points on the board.
Like, still counts.
Like, you can't just pick and choose like, well, it's not really because, you know, it's
just not big enough.
Like, you know, nothing's too big or too small for the Lord.
Right.
I mean, I mean, that it sounds like they able to heal people and they do miracles.
And also he keeps that standard thing across the board.
And yeah, I think it's important to that we classified sin and what it is.
And I think it's important to know where sin comes from because it comes from somewhere.
Where could that be?
Right.
We know that God is good.
Everything good comes from God.
And that is right.
That's biblical truth all the time.
And when it comes down to all the time, we know that.
Right.
So when I've had people come up to me and say, you know, and say, hey, if God is good,
why does sin exist or why do bad things happen?
And I know this one.
Oh, yeah.
Go for it.
Well, it's because we live in a fallen world.
People need to know, I hear that a lot too, like, well, why do people get sick?
Why do people get cancer?
Why is there all this bad stuff and disease in the world?
It's like, well, there wasn't.
The initial plan wasn't for there to be any of that.
Right.
Adam and Eve had it made.
And they're like, you know what?
We have choice.
The whole thing.
We have choice.
And free will is what makes us well, you know, it's us.
And that also is the reason that we are in the situation we are in.
First John chapter one, eight through 10 says, if we say we have no sin, refusing to admit
that we are sinners, we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us.
His word does not live in our hearts.
If we freely admit that we have sinned and confessed our sins, he is faithful and just,
true to his own nature and promises and will forgive our sin and cleanse us continually
from unrighteousness, wrongdoing, everything not as conformity with his will and purpose.
If we say that we have not sinned, refusing to admit access and we make him out to be
a liar by contradicting him and his word is not in us.
And that's really important because we can look at it and say, you know, where does this
come from?
And we can see that it comes from our from us.
Like we say that's in our hearts.
We're sinful beings, right?
And it's always comes down to interesting where I think the Bible actually talks about
where sin comes from, which is, oh, I got it here.
I found it.
It's in Acts seven, 20 to 23.
And he said, whatever comes from the heart of a man, that is what defiles and dishonors
him for from within that is out of the hearts of men come base and malevolent.
How do you say that word?
Thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, deaths, murder, adulteries, acts of greed,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy, jealousy, slander, profanity,
arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness, poor judgment.
All these evil things, schemes and desires come from within and defile and dishonor the
man.
Right.
It's because God is good and he gives us the free will to choose him or the opposite.
And we already clarified that sin itself is the opposite of God's will.
That's it.
It's the opposite of what God's will and purpose in our lives.
And what is his will and purpose in our lives, Jason?
Even better.
Do you have verses for this one?
No, I don't have any of those verses.
I have John and Matthew, Mark.
I have all these other verses up right now, but I cannot find the notes.
So I have all my Bible study things open right now and I can't find, I got like 20 tabs open
and I'm trying to search through it.
That's fine.
So Bible say about God's purposes.
So we know first off Romans 8 28 says that we know that for those who love God, all things
work together for good and for those who are called according to his purpose.
Right.
And when it comes down to it, verse after verse after verse, it says that it's his purpose.
We pray for his will to be done.
We pray for his guidance.
We pray for his thing.
And I think the reason why it's not, it usually isn't very specific on what that looks like
outside of, okay, I'll say outside of this outside of loving others outside of living
in the word, reading the word, praying to him, getting involved with him, sharing the
gospel that kind of stuff is our purpose.
But that's God's purpose for us is to bring more people to his love and his understanding
and what he's here for.
Right.
And I think that's why it's always saying like, this is our role in things and this
is what God wants us to do.
And that's God's purpose.
And that can look a little bit different per person.
Like for you, it's being in ministry for the youth.
Fantastic.
Right.
My purpose might be different.
I might be making this podcast and making sure it's up and running.
It might be pastoring someday.
We don't know.
That's the whole point is that the Bible transcends time because God's outside time.
So his purpose is very purposeful.
Wow.
That's a PK.
Wow.
No, but you're right.
You're right.
Right.
Oh man.
I just think that was really good.
Yeah.
There's a lot to this and I think it's really important to understand that you can't just
take things at face value.
If someone's telling you this is what it is and then you're just like, oh yeah, I'll take
that as a word.
I don't want you to take my word for it.
I don't want you to take Dylan's word for it.
Like people need to look this up.
Oh, read.
Like I said, I think I said it, I don't know, maybe the first or second podcast, but I tell
my students too, I'm like, okay, if you hear somebody like quote a Bible verse or they
say something, check it up, pull it up.
We have the resource.
Just because they're in a place of authority or leadership doesn't mean they can't be called
out.
Not like necessarily called out, but like in a respectful way, be like, hey, let me
like as accountability, make sure they're being honest and maybe they were wrong.
I always try to catch Jason.
It's more of a game for me.
I'm like, oh, what did you say, Romans?
I'm like, oh, he was right in there.
I'm like, I ain't going to call him out.
That's good because I think it was an act 17 where the Barians, the Barians, I think
that's how you pronounce it.
They were more noble than those in Thessalonica, which because when Peter, I think it was Peter
that went to preach to him and they corrected him.
Right.
And I think it was Peter, was it Peter?
It actually might have been John.
Now I got to look it up.
I was trying to look it up.
I was trying to look it up real quick so I could see.
But I noticed act 17 where the Barians corrected who was with them preaching to him and said,
well, no, actually the Bible says this, like scripture says this.
And he was like, wow, you corrected me.
Thank you.
And he valued that because when you're giving correction, it's fantastic because I want
to grow.
I want to learn.
I want to know more.
I want to be strengthened based on what I'm saying.
That's really, I think that's a really crucial thing about being a Christian in general is
that learning more and acquiring more knowledge and things like this so you can discuss it
better for people who have questions.
Otherwise, if someone comes up to you and starts asking you questions, you're like,
ah, it's in there somewhere.
Yeah, it's true.
It's part of being a Christian and having your faith is always to be growing and to
be learning because as soon as you put, you can't put God in a box.
You can't put your faith in a box.
If you put it in a box, it's not going to grow.
People stay as small as you allow yourself to be, like you should constantly be trying
to push yourself and grow.
That's intimidating.
It is.
I'm in leadership and it's like, ah, how am I growing?
Can I be doing this more?
Or can I be doing more to help?
I find the most biggest time I probably push myself and I should do it more.
When I go to Mexico, it's like, oh, dang, okay, I don't understand everybody.
I don't know what I'm doing.
But I know that I'm like, oh, when you knew this pizza oven, I can lift heavy things.
Okay, I can go be a blessing that way and just waking up and not necessarily knowing
how you're going to serve the Lord, but that's all you wake up.
That's all you're going to do.
It puts it in a perspective that's a little bit different.
It's like, whoa.
Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, it's it's first Peter 3, 15, 3, 15 that says, but in your heart, set Christ apart
as Lord, always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asked you to account
for the hope and confident assurance elicited by faith that is within you.
Yet do it with gentleness and respect.
That's what you reminded me there of.
Oh, dang.
That's pretty good.
Yeah, it's a good important verse because I see it a lot of times where I even I have
brothers and sisters in Christ who are like, they this is wrong.
They need to stop this.
And I told them off because of it, and I'm like, you did what?
What are you doing?
Like it needs to be respectful, calm, like gentleness is one of the traits of the Holy
Spirit.
And if you're not reflecting that, then I have some questions for you because we talked
about this last week where salvation is part of that is that you get the Holy Spirit within
you and part of that is gentleness.
And if you can't discuss with someone in a gentle manner, then I might ask you, are you
are you sure you're connected with Christ and who he is and what his real purpose is
in your life and make sure that you're staying connected, you know?
Dylan, I think your mic is me.
Yes, it was.
I, you know, it is you got to make sure I click it.
So I unmute myself.
I was sitting there going like, yeah.
And I was like, I don't even remember what I was saying anymore.
But you know, it's too dang hot.
Yeah, it's so hard.
This is where the Lord can test your patience and a lot of other things.
It's when it's hot.
Yeah, I think if anybody knows me that they know that my favorite book is James.
And I said that before.
I think you said it every podcast to this point.
Every podcast, every single one.
So one thing I want to, if you haven't read it, read James four.
And the reason why I say James four is because it talks about that our flesh is what we fight
against, right?
That we want to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil and he'll flee from you and
resist resist temptation, those things that do tempt us.
And it's it's funny because I think it's very important to understand that it's not like
some mystical force out there with more power than you can ever imagine.
That's like playing you like a puppet.
It's literally just your flesh.
Your flesh desires that of the world.
And that is what we're at war against every single day is that our flesh does crave those
things.
I had one person come up to me and we were talking about this a couple of years ago where
they felt wrong and felt like they were in the wrong because they craved those things
like they were they were craving alcohol because they used to be an alcoholic and they were
craving drugs because they were clean for five years and they were craving it.
And they felt like they were sinning because they were craving it.
I was like, that's temptation.
Temptation in itself is not a sin.
Jesus was tempted in the desert from from the devil.
But when it came down to it, it's the choices you make at the end of the day and to rely
on God and drawing near to God so that he can keep us clean and purify us.
That's what you need to be doing.
That's the goal.
Yeah, not necessarily the temptation to do it because your flesh is going to crave it
one day.
And the next day and the next day and the next day, you know, it's not going to stop.
And that's like I had a pretty pretty awesome youth leader.
I'm not a youth leader.
I think it was actually it was college ministry at the time.
He said he was talking for the men.
He's like, hey, you know, temptation of like lust and all that stuff.
He's like, hey, that's something you guys need to get a hold on.
Like and try like get accountability.
You know, this is like it does not change when you get older just because you get married.
Temptations, your temptations, no matter what you go through, what they are, will always
be there.
It's like unless you're grounded in the word and have accountability and a team.
True.
You will fail.
And it's like, dang, it's like it's because we live in a world that is so fallen and you
need Jesus to get through it.
Right.
So in Romans 12, one to two, it says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that
by testing you may discern what is the will of God and what is good and acceptable and
perfect.
That's the basic English translation to understand what is being talked there.
And I think it's important because by the renewing of your mind, if you again, going
back to original Greek, Greek words have more like read between the lines kind of thing.
What's the what's the terminology there that I'm trying to think of here?
I can't do what I'm trying to say in context.
Yeah, it has no context.
There's no context before.
Yeah.
Yeah, more context.
So when you look at renewing of your mind in context, if you look at scripture from
a Greek standpoint, your renewing of the mind is focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes
so that you may prove for yourself what the will of God is and that which is good and
acceptable and perfect in his plan and purpose for you.
And I think that's important because it's your renewed, which means that your focus
change like I said before, and you said before, it's the idea that we're not living that
sinful life anymore.
We do sin.
Yes.
But our focus and our goal and we strive for Christ and getting closer to him, drawing
near to him and reading up on him and getting close to him.
A lot of people who do struggle with sin usually do it.
Now this is just what I've noticed.
When people do struggle with sin more, it's you can see that it correlates closely to
them studying and getting close to God more or not.
If I'm reading the Bible five times a week and praying all day every day or in general,
I'm like connecting to God.
Exactly.
I'm floating on air.
I'm so involved in the Holy Spirit.
I feel great because I feel that peace at presence of God with me.
Continue.
Go on.
Say what you're saying.
I'm babbling now.
I know.
I had to unmute myself.
But no, like the more you're walking with the Lord, the harder you're like, I think
I said last time, but the more you're walking with him, the more there's going to be the
enemy attacking you because you are doing the work for the Lord and for the kingdom.
Because you're doing that, there's going to be more struggle.
There's going to be attacks on you.
That's why you have to dig into the word more, be more equipped, being more ready to go.
I remember I felt I had a grip on it and then getting the leadership into ministry.
I'm like, whoa.
I'm like, get hit with depression, get hit with this temptation like crazy.
I was going like, what the heck?
What is this?
I thought I was in leadership now.
It's going to be easier.
I don't have everybody talking about it.
I think it's a big thing too is that a lot of the temptation, I just broke a pen.
Oh well.
I heard that.
If my sister's listening to the podcast, please don't let mom know that I broke her pen.
What the thing is though is that there's a whole, think of not wanting to talk about
when you're struggling.
There's a lot of that, the enemy wanting us to feel like you're alone.
I think that happens so much.
You're told like, oh, 60% of pastors deal with pornography.
It's high.
Which is like 60, that's 60, that's a lot.
It's even worse when you think of that 60% that's been confessed about it.
I think that was like, I like to say they're all being honest.
It was an honest group, polling.
Almost 100% of them are all liars.
You know what I mean?
The thing is there's so many things like, oh no, we'll talk about what sins are, but
do you want to talk about how you are sinning?
It's like, oh no, because of your judgment and everything.
I feel like you and me though, we have that relationship.
We're like, hey man, I am struggling in this right now.
I've sat down on the stairs and bawled my eyes out and talked to you about things where
your wife is there and I'm sitting there crying.
We're like, oh, I feel like this.
The enemy allowed the enemies to tear me down to the point where I was like, yep.
You're like, why didn't you tell me?
I'm like, I don't know.
The enemy wants to make you feel alone.
If someone is listening to this and they feel like you're alone, you feel like, oh no, I
don't want to share that with anybody.
They don't understand.
There's not a single person that has not gone through what you've gone through most likely.
There's nothing new on this earth.
Whether it's depression, suicide, alcoholism, sex addiction, anything like that, there's
somebody who's probably gone through it.
There's somebody who's been through it, got through it, who would love to help you, talk
to you, reach out to those who you love, who care about you.
Reach out to us if you want.
We may have not gone through it, but we can at least try to understand where you're coming
through.
Thrum, what's the other word?
Thrum.
But no, we can try to help you and be there for you.
We're not priests.
We're not asking you to confess to us, but if you need those people or need somebody
to be there for you, we can be there for you.
Is it?
Yeah.
That's all I have to say on that.
I think it's because we, I think most people don't understand the power of confession.
Oh, a hundred percent.
I think that's something that's going on a lot right now is that people don't understand
the power of confession and confession doesn't have to be to leaders, right?
It's not exclusively to Bible leader shepherds.
Oh no, not at all.
I said, like, you know, you're just one of my best friends.
I'm like, talk to a friend.
It's like talking to a friend venting about your day at work, like, oh man, today at work,
don't believe this.
And this person on the freeway, they cut me off.
Like you just talk about like that stuff with your friends and you can, you know, just if
you have that openness that really, cause as soon as you admit to and you're like, Hey
man, like I've been struggling with lying lately.
He takes away the power that that sin has.
You're like, Oh, Oh, all of a sudden the depression is kind of fleeting.
I don't feel bad about that.
I don't know.
I'm not a bad person.
Everybody deals with this.
Right.
And that's where you get like James five 16 where it says, therefore confessor sins to
one another, your false steps, your offenses and pray for one another that you may be healed
and restored.
The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man and a believer can accomplish much when
put into action and made effective by God.
It is a dynamic and can have tremendous power that right there in itself talks about confessing
to others.
And it doesn't say confess to preacher, pastor, leader, whatever.
It doesn't say that it says to each other as a community.
And we can see this again when in first John one seven, it says, but if we really walk
in the light, that is live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God
as he himself is in the light, we have true and broken fellowship with one another.
He with us and we with him and the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin by
erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin and all its form and manifestations.
So it's that fellowship with God and it's talking with others about it and we're renewed
from because of Christ and what he did for us.
Right.
I think it's in Galatians six to where it says carry one another's burdens and in this
way, you fulfill the requirement.
Yeah.
And in this way, you fulfill the requirement of the law of Christ that is the law of Christian
love.
Pretty sure that's what that one is.
Are you looking at one up?
Trying to find my Bible tab.
Bible, Bible, Bible.
While you're finding Bible tab, it's also first John one nine.
If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, he is faithful and just
true to his own nature and promises and will forgive our sins, cleanses continually form
all unrighteousness, which I did read earlier because it's really important to know that
that confession is really big part of it.
And that's something that I think a lot of Christians deal with because even especially
not just especially in leadership, but a lot of leadership has that issue with Dylan was
mentioning there were 60 percent of them deal with pornography addiction or something like
that.
And the issue there is because their leaders, they feel like they can't admit those things
because they'd be looked down upon or removed as leaders or invalidated.
And in reality, that's that right there is leading by example.
And we need to lead by example as leaders lead to need to lead by example.
Yeah.
And under that example is made clear.
It's true.
Like is there is such a shame to when you are in a leadership, you're like it's like,
oh, I don't want to be seen as weak.
Ignorance is weak.
But like, oh, I think there is a stigmatism that comes with leadership that you feel like
you're put on a pedestal like, oh, I can't I people can't know that I struggle with this.
You can't know that I'm, you know, dealing with this.
But people need to also know, hey, we are human.
I found the churches that I've been around or been with.
I probably enjoy the most the pastors that are like up front and they're like, hey, I've
dealt with this.
I've been through this like I just I'm not going to say any names or anything.
But I was this one pastor years ago.
I had an affair.
No, she's on his wife and they got through it.
They got through all that and everything.
It's horrible.
It's like it's he's open about that.
And he talks about like how that, you know, the redemption, how they came out of that
and through that.
And like, and I'm like, dang, I'm like, oh, I'm like, you know, like it goes back to sin.
Like us as humans is like, that is a really bad sin.
Like, whoa, like, how could you like that's how dare you like and God's eyes is the same
as, you know, you know, things that I've done where I've lied or I've been dishonest or
I, you know, or cheated on a English test in eighth grade.
No, I'm like, that's just it's the same thing.
And it's like, and I've had pastors who talk about, you know, the depression after their
wife has passed stuff like that.
And it's like, you know, it's real.
And being open with that in the congregation, too, I think opens up like, you know, more
room for others to share.
And for them, I just I think it builds up tearing yourself down, builds yourself up
and build other people up in the community and their walk with Christ.
I think we definitely need to do a podcast episode that's about leadership in general,
because there's a lot about leadership that's like exactly what you're saying.
If the leader is pretending to be perfect and hides his sin, we're not.
The congregation is going to do that, too.
We are just messed up people like the rest of you who have been called to do this.
That's it.
It's like, you know, the verse that talks about casting the first song.
It's like, you know, we were no better.
Like, we are just called to teach and to lead by example.
There is a higher, right, higher level of judgment put on us.
But there's nowhere that we are.
You know, we're not holy or we're not more.
You know, we don't deserve to be praised or anything because we are just a vessel for
the Lord.
And this by leading by example, which is why there's such a high pressure on that position
is because the lead by example.
But like, again, we'll get to leadership stuff on another podcast.
Like you mentioned earlier, finding someone to confess to like you and me, we talk to
each other and we will be open with each other.
And I think a good verse to end off with is Luke 17, three to four.
Pay attention and always be on guard looking out for one another.
If your brother sins and disregards God's precepts, solemnly warn him and if he repents
and changes, forgive him.
Even if he sends against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times and says,
I repent, you must forgive him.
That is give up resentment and consider this offense recalled and annulled.
And this is brothers and sisters in Christ.
And for you to me, we can talk to each other.
If I have another friend that I like a newer friend, for example, who says, oh, I'm I follow
Christ.
I love God.
I love the Bible and I see them doing something that's that's not of God.
I'll pull them aside and be like, hey, dude, like this isn't of God.
Like what are you doing?
Or that's not really of God.
But in the sense of like, I'm I'm trying to help you.
I'm looking out for you.
That's all.
And that's where a lot of people use that to try to attack or to go after people who
aren't Christian.
And that's not what we're supposed to do.
We're supposed to love people, show them who God is.
And this just comes with it once, you know, once you're all accepted and into accepted
Christ as your Lord and savior.
And part of that, you work together for the greater good and the greater good of what
God's desire is upon us, upon our life and upon others.
And that's just important.
I just wanted to say that because again, it comes down to like, I repent.
I turn away from that and we'll do it again.
Whatever.
I think I want to get away from that.
I want to get away from that.
And that's just kind of that's kind of it.
You know, make sure that you talk to each other, make sure that if you're dealing with
something, you're not alone.
There are people, including us, like you can tweet at us and DMS on our Twitter page or
go into our discord and there's places for people to talk.
And it's just important to know that we are here because God is there for us.
So we are there for others.
And that's important.
As Christians, we are supposed to be there and you're not alone.
And like Dylan, like you said, that sin will always push to say you're alone and we're
not.
And sin happens and we need to make sure that we're not living in sin, but our focus is
on him and striving to be closer to him by reading, confessing and by worshiping him.
Worshiping.
Yeah, just all worship.
Yeah.
And if you're doing to reach out to, you know, just like you said, this quarter, the Gospel
Truth Project, DM us on our Twitter, the podcast, it's at the podcast, GTP.
Yeah, we'd love to hear from you guys.
We're here.
We are always on our phones.
So you hit us up.
A little too much.
I know I get told often that it's like, why are you on your phone?
I'm like, just checking.
I'm like, checking.
Checking what?
It's like, I don't know.
It's like I had to.
It's been five seconds.
Yep.
So, yeah, we're going to end the podcast here.
Tune in next Wednesday as well for our next episode.
And again, we do already have a topic for next week and we're excited to talk about
it.
And we will let people know on the Twitter.
If you follow us there, we'll let you know early what the topic is going to be about.
So you can decide to tune in or not.
Please do.
Jason, you want to pray us out though?
Sure.
Yeah, I'll pray us out.
God, I thank you for the time that we get to spend here together as we discuss your
word and discuss who you are.
I pray that the truth of your word is revealed to those who are listening, that you bring
that truth to them and use us for this.
And I just pray for those who are struggling with sin, who are feeling alone or feeling
depressed or feeling teared down, beaten down and to the bottom.
I just pray that you give them that person that they can talk to, that you open them
up.
That this message helps them just receive your Holy Spirit, God, to just feel that peace,
feel that joy, feel that love from you and be able to just break the chains of sin itself
through you, God, through the power of the confession that you have anointed through
the word of God.
And I just pray that all of us here who are listening, as well as me and Dylan, that we
just continue to seek you, continue to look for truth and continue to speak truth to others
around us and be that influence that you called us to be.
Jesus name.
Amen.
Everybody, I hope you have a good rest of your day and week and weekend and see you
next Wednesday.
Thanks for listening, thanks for joining us.
See you guys on the flippity flap.
Bye.