Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your
host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing
to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the podcast again. My name is David Bickford. I'm the pastor
here at the Potter's House in Salmon Arm. And today, before we jump in, I just want
to give you a little bit of a background of who I am so that you know a little bit more
about me and what we're doing up here at the Potter's House in Salmon Arm.
My name is David and I was sent out last year to start a work for God in the town of Salmon
Arm, British Columbia. My background is a little complex. If you've been listening,
you know I was in the United States Marine Corps from when I was 18. And I spent five
years there as a helicopter crew chief and mechanic on CH-53 Sikorsky, which is a large
helicopter. I loved my time in the Marine Corps. I got to deploy to Japan and I also
spent some time in the Middle East for the Iraqi freedom. And so I spent about nine months
over there in theater in Kuwait and Iraq and way back in 2003. After getting out, I had
actually had the opportunity. I worked for the Navy overhauling the same aircraft. And
then I also did some time in the Air Force Reserve as an aerial porter loading aircraft.
And all that time, I was also working towards my bachelor's and my master's degrees. So
to kind of give you an idea though, I got saved when I was in the Marine Corps when
I was about 19 years old. And it was life changing, obviously. It was a dramatic change
in my life. I was headed down a dark path. I was a drunk and I was quite violent. And
I was destroying the thing I'd worked so hard for, which was to become a United States Marine.
And so I got saved in February 2001 while I was deployed just on a training operation
outside of Yuma, Arizona. And it was my friend, John Morris, that led me to the Lord there.
And so that's where I started going to church with the Christian Fellowship Ministries at
the Quarterstone Church in San Diego. As time went on, I ended up getting married. And my
wife being from Canada, we ended up moving up to Canada. And I started going to the Potter
South Church in Chilliwack, British Columbia. I went there for about a decade, I believe,
before getting sent out to start this work for God. So that's just a little bit about
me. And I'll try to give some more information about who I am and what's going on. But me
and my wife, Sarah, we're pioneering this church here in Salmon Arm. We're dedicated to reaching
the lost and seeing people set free from the bondage of sin in Jesus' name. And so with that,
I'm going to go ahead and jump in with the message I have today. So it's titled, An Atheist
Enabled Me to Believe, a Spiritual Transformation is the subheading. And the text we'll be working
from is Matthew 7, 15 through 20. So one of the things I was looking at when working and
putting together this sermon is I was reading the book, The Mission Drift by Peter Greer.
And in there, there's a segment where it uses that term, An Atheist Enabled Me to Believe.
And so it says, It was an atheist who convinced me, Chris, that our world needs more than just
good humanitarianism. Matthew Paris, a British journalist, wrote in the London Times,
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God. In a day and age in which many in our
society believe Christianity to be irrelevant or at best, irrelevant at best or dangerous
at worst, Paris's conviction shocked me. In his article, he repeatedly asserted his belief,
his unbelief in God, but he admitted that his own beliefs are insufficient to solve the issues of
corruption and poverty in our world. Shortly after a trip to Africa, he wrote, Now a confirmed
atheist, I have become convinced the enormous contributions that Christian evangelism makes
in Africa, sharply distinct from the work of the secular NGOs, non-governmental agencies,
or organizations, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not,
will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people's
hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good. Paris is
clear. The message of Jesus is the solution. Christianity frees people. African Christians
stand tall because they know they are made in God's image and they understand their personal
responsibility to make a difference in their communities. They submit to a higher moral code.
So I find this to be a pretty interesting admission and that's why I believe it and I truly
believe it takes a lot more faith to deny God and to be an atheist than it does to see what God could
do in your own life and have that transformation become real in you. So let's look at our text in
Matthew 7, 15 through 20. A tree and its fruit. Beware of false prophets who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.
Are grapes gathered from thorn brushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good
fruit, but the diseased bear bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into
the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Amen. So a powerful message even in today's
world. We see we're starting to see something happen in the world. We're seeing movie stars,
we're seeing recording artists come to the Lord and we're seeing a lot of them actually make stands
immediately for the Lord and even to the point of some of them stepping out of the industries
they've been a part of for years because they feel led by the Lord to be something different,
their new creation in Jesus name. And so we obviously pray and hope that that continues and
that they're they're they mature in Christ and that they continue to bear good fruit because
that's exciting to see a changed life, a very exciting thing. Our world today is constantly
being bombarded with the idea that religion is for the weak and it is something that people who
are unintelligent or lacking in logic fall into. This is on purpose and I can't emphasize that
enough that this is on purpose. In fact I was just reading a quote from C.S. Lewis. I'll see if I can
find it here off the cuff real quick. I find it to be a pretty poignant, I apologize it's not from
C.S. Lewis, it's from G.K. Chesterton. It says the Christian ideal has not been tried and found
wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. So again that's from G.K. Chesterton.
And the quote is the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found
difficult and left untried. And that's certainly true in our day and age. Oftentimes people are not
complaining that the Christian way of living or to live as a Christian is difficult or is easy,
right? They're saying it's too hard. They're saying it's too difficult to live as a Christian.
They're saying it's too hard and that because it's hard therefore I'm not even going to try.
I'm going to discount it and not try because it's difficult. But it is fruitful and that's
something we want to look at. In 1 Corinthians 1.23 it says, but we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles. Romans 11.7-10 it says, what then?
Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.
As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that
would not hear down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap
and a stumbling block and retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see
and bend their backs forever. The scripture points us to the reality that without a knowledge of a
living God, we will be like a ship without a rudder. We were chasing the wind and we are only left
with our fickle nature and our own desires to move us forward in this world. That might seem cruel,
but it is for the sake of the elect. It is for those who open their hearts to Christ and allow
themselves to be changed by the message of Christ and receive salvation by grace through Christ.
That brings me to my first point, which is purpose, point, and price. As we think about the
excerpt from the illustration, it's helpful to ask yourself, what is the purpose of atheism?
The reality is there is no purpose in the belief of atheism because it is the belief in nothingness.
And how can it bring purpose to life if it at its essence is the belief in nothing?
If you were to go to American Atheist website, you would see that they define themselves this way.
Atheism is one thing, a lack of belief in gods. Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there
is no god, nor does it answer any other questions about what a person believes. It is simply a
rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a
belief system. To be clear, atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods, it is a
lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as a belief that there is no god. Clearly,
theistic influence tates these definitions. The fact that dictionaries define atheism as
there is no god betrays the monotheistic influence. Without the monotheistic influence,
the definition would at least read there are no gods. This self-description identifies the reality
that even within the atheist community, there is an acceptance of lacking. They adamantly say that
unbelief is different than belief. And I'm not here to debate the logic of atheism because I know
that Christ died for me and that through him I am saved by grace. I had a personal encounter with
Jesus Christ and I see him at work within me, my family, and all around the world. As I mentioned
in the beginning, that time out in the desert of Yuma, Arizona, when I came to the cross in my own
life and I gave my life to Jesus Christ was a personal transformative experience. And to me,
it's undeniable that I came into relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, what I want to highlight is
that without purpose there is no point and that when there is no point, there is no price. The
system of unbelief causes many to falter and stumble because it focuses all energies inward
on the individual. And as we know from the Bible, the human heart can be deceitful and wicked.
And Jeremiah 17, 9 through 10, it says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.
Who can understand it? If I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man
according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. It just as an aside too, I heard
another quote, I can't remember where this one was from, but it was actually I think just an
Instagram post where a kid was talking about atheism. And it was a comedian and he was saying
that atheists will deny God, but yet they believe in nothingness and that when you die, you return
to nothingness. So in a way they believe that their creator is nothing and they return to their
creator of nothing when they die because there's nothing after death. So it's almost a circular
logic too, because they believe in a theology, whether they deny it or not, that requires
a tremendous amount of faith. But when we look at the rise of 20th century socialism, communism,
we see a world that is striving to worship itself. The idea of evolution is one of where
humanity pulls itself up through force and makes a utopia of a world by eradicating God
and while proving his very existence. There are several examples of the cruelty when you remember
the cruelty when you remove the boundaries of God's morality. During the Holomor or the
Ukrainian genocide of 1932 to 33, the people of Ukraine came under the control of Soviet Russia.
As communism swept the land, starvation quickly followed. The Workers' Party stole the land from
farmers and created a famine that within a very short window drove many crazy. Starvation quickly
led to all sorts of wickedness, including cannibalism. The governing authorities posted
propaganda posters saying, remember, it's wrong to eat your children. I'll let that sink in for just
a second. It's they had to post propaganda posters to remind people who were starving,
remember, it's wrong to eat your children. This isn't the first time this happened in the Soviet
happened during the 1921 famine in Russia.
Remember, it's wrong to eat your kids.
My point here is not to highlight the wrongs
of the Soviet Union, but rather what quickly happens
to man when we refuse to acknowledge God.
Christ in the gospel is our purpose,
salvation is the point, and there is no price too high
for the grace that we have received.
This is why an atheist like Matthew Paris
knows that Christian missionaries will do more with less
to see Africa saved.
In 2 Kings 6, 24-31, we see the image of the siege
of Samaria, Ben-Hadad's siege of Samaria.
So in verse 24, afterward, Ben-Hadad, king of Syria,
mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.
And there was a great famine in Samaria,
and they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold
for 80 shekels of silver, and the fourth part
of a cab of doves dung for five shekels of silver.
Now, as the king of Israel, Jehoram, son of Ahab,
was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him,
saying, help my lord, oh king.
And he said, if the lord will not help you,
how shall I help you?
From the threshing floor or from the wine press?
And then the king asked her, what is your trouble?
She answered, this woman said to me, give your son
that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
So he boiled my son and ate him, and on the next day
I said to her, give your son that we may eat him,
but she has hidden her son.
And when the king heard the words of the woman,
he tore his clothes, now he was passing by on the wall,
and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth
beneath on his body, and he said, may God do so to me,
and more also, if the head of Elijah, the son of Shaphat,
remains at his shoulders today.
So this portion of scripture shows us that even God's
chosen people can fall so far away from his calling
and his purpose.
In fact, if you look at the reaction of Jehoram,
it's pretty startling.
Instead of repenting and turning to God,
he curses the prophet Elijah and calls for his head.
And that brings me to my next point,
which is secularism and relative truth.
In today's age, we are told to let go of our biblical faith.
What we are given in return or in place of our faith
is secularism and relative truth.
That's what they want to replace God and absolute truth with,
is secularism and relative truth.
Secularists can also be defined as atheists or agnostics.
An atheist is one who says there is sufficient evidence
to show that God does not exist and agnostic is one
who says there's insufficient evidence to know whether
or not God exists.
The functional atheist is one who is apathetic
concerning God's existence.
For the purpose of this profile, the term secularist
will be used to indicate all three.
So during the time of the Renaissance
and with the invention of the printing press,
there was an explosion of information.
And not unlike our own time and the invention
of the internet, smartphone, social media.
This expansion of accessible information allowed
for the Protestant Reformation, but it also allowed
for the contesting ideas to be pitted against each other.
The rise of the scientific method was often being used
to contest belief in God.
This was not by mistake, but was done purposely
because some groups were afraid of losing power
in order to maintain control.
They wanted to separate and divide people into camps.
Here's an excerpt from an article I found highlighting
this point written by Dean Halverson,
director of apologetics for the international students.
Toward the end of the Renaissance, the modern method
of empirical science began to develop the key players
or develop the key players were Nicholas Copernicus,
Johann Kepler and Galileo Galilei.
Although it may seem ironic now, each of these men believed
in a Christian God.
They viewed science as a studying the handiwork
of the Almighty Creator discerning his natural laws.
Galileo considered God to have written two books,
the Bible and nature.
Contrary to popular belief, the cause for diversions
between Christianity and science originated not
with the church, but with the university professors
who were threatened by Galileo's revolutionary ideas.
These professors were steeped in Greek scientific method
which included observation to a small extent,
but mostly explained the workings of nature
through rational deduction from first principles
or assumptions, an entire view
of the universe had been built up.
Consequently, the professors embraced such misconceptions
as the sun having no imperfections,
the moon being a perfectly smooth sphere that's shown
with its own light and the earth alone having a moon
since the earth was at the center of the universe.
Galileo's recently invented telescope quickly demonstrated
the incorrectness of such assumptions.
Not willing to be thwarted by Galileo,
the professors decided to make the controversy religious
rather than academic.
They argued that the heliocentric sun centered view
contradicted scripture.
They pulled from Psalm 10422 saying the sun rises,
therefore the sun must revolve around a stationary earth.
In fact, in the face of what at the time appeared
to be genuine contradiction between scripture
and the heliocentric theory,
the theologians of the Roman Catholic Church had no choice
but to condemn Galileo's view because the conflict
had challenged the authority of the church.
And as a result, the controversy,
the schism between reason and faith had begun.
And there were now two apparently irreconcilable sources
of truth, the church and science.
So what point am I trying to make with this?
Like, let's look at our text again.
And before I jump back into the text,
just think about this, think about how it had to be
non-believers twisting the scripture
in order to fit a narrative that they wanted to push
so that they could try to maintain their power.
Because that's what we see a lot in today's day.
We see people who don't believe in the word of God
try to take pieces of the word of God,
twist it to make it either make themselves look better
or make Christians look worse.
And then they try to push it back
as being a religion problem
when it's actually an unbeliever issue.
It's the unbelief of those individuals
that can cause schisms to be created.
And just like with the example of Galileo
and what happened to a lot of early Protestants even
is this idea that the power sources
are going to be contested.
And so then therefore they're gonna make it an argument
that it never was intended to be.
So in our text again at 15, it says,
but where false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
We see that from this example from history.
You will recognize them by their fruits, just dissension,
just trying to cause problems within the body.
Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
So every healthy tree bears good fruit,
but the diseased trees bear bad fruit.
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit
nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
As Matthew Paris recognized in Africa,
we need to recognize within ourselves.
Our truth as Christians must come from the word of God.
We must base our beliefs on the Bible,
our morality, our passions, our purpose
must reside in the word.
In the article above, we can see that the natural human
reaction to pressure is to divide and separate.
The goal is to assert power and relativism is a tool
that's used for this purpose.
And John 18, 37 to 38 says, then Pilate said to him,
so you are king, Jesus answered.
You say that I am king for the purpose I was born
and for this purpose I have come into the world
to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.
Then Pilate said to him, what is truth?
The world will use relative truth in order to obfuscate
or make unclear Christ's message.
That is why so many will try to fit Jesus
into other faiths or pantheons.
It's also why so many will give up so much of the word
of God while claiming to still hold true to Christ.
In reality, this is folly because Christ proclaims
he is the truth and the light and that through his words
and teaching that's the only way we will find
a path to salvation.
Which brings me to my final point, which is Christ died
so that others shall live.
The truth of the gospel is very succinct.
Christ is the son of God, the fulfillment
of all the Old Testament prophecies and promises.
He came to earth to be a sacrifice that we needed,
to be the sacrifice that we needed
and to atone for our sins.
He died and rose from the dead so that those who believe
in him will be saved.
In Philippians 2, 9 through 11 it says,
God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him
the name that is above every name
so that the name of Jesus every knee shall bow
in heaven and on earth and under earth
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
Second Timothy 4, 1 through 5 says,
and it's a charge to us to preach the word,
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus
who is to judge the living and the dead
by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word,
be ready in season and out of season,
reprove, re-prove, rebuke and exhort
with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure
sound teaching, but having itching ears,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own passions and will turn away
from listening to the truth and wander off into myth.
As for you, always be sober minded, enduring suffering,
do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.
And Romans 3, 23 it says,
for all of sin that falls short of the glory of God,
the world will contend for our attention
and it will use every opportunity to distract us from Jesus.
It will try to embarrass you for holding on
to the absolute truth of the gospel.
It will try to move you with words and phrases
like open your mind, find your own truth, love is love.
The danger of relativism is that it allows
for every individual to live according
to their own desires.
Why do we need absolute truth?
It is not enough to understand
why we need absolute truth.
With no absolute truth, there are no longer any standards.
I believe it's safe to say many of our standards
which were once considered absolute truths
are now under attack in our society.
Not just here in Canada, but in America,
but all around the world, when the standards are removed,
the people are free to do what they want.
And we become a society that lives by relative truth.
While some may see this as liberating,
I see this as disastrous.
We would become like Israel
at the end of the book of Judges.
In those days, Israel had no king, all people did
whatever seemed right in their eyes.
Judges 21, 25.
And we're starting to see this today, right?
We see the conflict in Israel
and the terrorist attack that caused
this main thrust of this war that's going on right now.
And we're only like a month beyond
when this war really kicked off because of that terrorist act.
And already we see the leading Ivy League colleges
in the United States trying to make exceptions
for genocidal rhetoric of one group
while claiming the other group that is actually the one
that is defending an actual attack that happened onto them
and saying that they were wrong, even though there was peace,
there were opportunities for negotiation on October 6th
and then on October 7th, there was none.
But it's interesting that the highest thinkers
of our society are making excuses and saying,
oh, well, we need to understand the context
of why people are calling for genocide of the Jewish people.
These same people were telling us about the importance
of watching the way we speak because words are violence
and silence is violence.
And if you were to take any group and replace
what people are calling the genocide of the Jews,
if you were to replace Jew and place any other group
in there, then those same college professors
would immediately claim, those college presidents
would immediately claim that it is against their code
of conduct, but they can't bring themselves to saying
that it's against their code of conduct right now
because of moral relativism.
And because all their learning has allowed them
to come to a place where they cannot see truth for truth.
In John 14, six, it says, Jesus said to him,
I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
This statement shuts the door to any other way
of getting to the Father and any other hope of salvation.
If you believe this, you will experience the benefit
of this truth.
However, your belief is not necessary for this to be true.
This will be true whether you believe it
or choose not to believe it.
Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father
and that will never change.
So as I close, let's review.
Michael Paris has a self proclamation as an atheist
was able to clearly identify the need for Christianity
in Africa because his own truth was insufficient
to meet the needs of the African people.
Without the necessary spiritual change in the people,
there could be no lasting improvement.
Also, secular organizations are not equipped
for this task at hand because they have no message for hope.
Even if they were to lift people up out of poverty,
it does not deal with the spiritual, emotional,
or societal issues that will still be present
in their situation.
And this is a problem that we also see in our own country.
Another thing that we see in our own country
is that the people who are in need
are just not able to do what they want to do.
So they don't have the ability to do what they want to do.
Another aside to that is that much of the secular world
when they go into Africa are trying to push
what the first world considers green initiatives
that make it very, very difficult
for these emerging economies to be able to grow
and sustain themselves.
So that's a problem that we've come to.
But while not recognizing the reality
of what made the Western society strong
was these energy sources that we've been able to use
for the last 100 plus years.
And they've gotten much cleaner since then.
So, but yet we want to make it more difficult
for these other countries.
So what hope does that bring?
It doesn't bring hope.
The secular world doesn't have answers for that.
The secular world also doesn't have answers
for the sickness that is in our soul.
Our ailment is sin.
And no matter how hard humanity tries
to solve the sin problem while denying the sin problem,
they can never be successful because Christ is the only way.
The Soviets in Russia, China, Vietnam,
and throughout the world tried an atheistic route
that leads to horrible pain and atrocities.
Other countries strive and fail.
Western democracies are rotting because of the sin problem.
The only answer, the only truth is Christ.
But they shun and ridicule the answer
while continuing to tear each other apart.
And that is why we as Christians must hold to the truth.
I want to reiterate the words of Paul
and what he said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4.
I charge you in the presence of God and Jesus Christ,
who is the judge of the living and the dead,
by his appearing in his kingdom,
preach the word, be ready, end season and out of season,
reprove, rebuke, and exhort
with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people
will not endure sound teaching,
but having itching ears,
they will accumulate for themselves,
teachers to suit their passions,
and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander off into myths.
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering,
do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.
Finally, our text tells us, in Jesus' word,
thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
We must then strive to live a life that bears fruit
so that those who are still lost
will be able to recognize God through our fruit, our works.
Christian testimony challenges Michael Paris's unbelief
because we have more to work for and live for
than the belief of nothing.
And we know the King is on his throne,
and we should strive in patience to work
so that others will come to the absolute truth.
Humbly we serve a living God so that others might be saved.
So if you're driving, obviously keep your eyes on the road,
but if not, if you're just listening along,
you know, I like every head bowed, every eye closed,
because at the end of every message, there's an invitation.
If this message is resonated with you,
if you feel the pull of the Holy Spirit
and you know that you're a sinner
and you wanna get right with God,
then right now signify that with an uplifted hand.
I can't see it, but God can.
And if you did raise your hand,
if God is speaking to you now
and you know that he's speaking to you now
and you wanna get your heart rate, it's very simple.
Just repeat after me, dear Lord God,
I know that I'm a sinner.
I know that I have fallen short of the mark,
but I repent of my sin.
I turn away from my sin and I accept you
as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I let you into my heart to be my Lord, to be my King.
In Jesus' name, I give you all the praise and glory, amen.
Very simple prayer.
All that is, is the recognition of sin
and acceptance of Jesus as your Lord.
And so that, that is salvation.
That is that simple admission of repentance
and acceptance of God's grace
is what it means to be saved.
And I pray that God would fill you with the Holy Spirit,
overflowing, and that you would go
and you'd find a church to lock into.
If you're in Sammonar,
we'd love to have you come and join us.
But if you're not and you wanna reach out,
I would be more than happy to point you in the direction
of one of our 3,000 fellowship churches globally,
because God is moving in these last days.
And we want you to be part of the body of Christ.
So I just, I'm gonna close in prayer real quick.
Dear Lord, I thank you for everything
that you're doing in our lives.
And I pray that this message goes to the root,
goes to the heart of everybody listening
and helps us to be more fruitful as we go forward
in the service of our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Thanks for listening.
And I can't wait for you to come back next time.
Thank you for listening to the PHA Potter's House
Sammonar podcast.
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at pottershouse underscore Sammonar
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Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ
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And we'll see you next time.
I'm Sammonar, and I'll see you next time.