WEBVTT 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:06.019 Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season, 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.640 we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.140 and uncovering what His story teaches us about 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:13.919 loving God and others. Here on Love & Context, 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.059 we're all about having real conversations about 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:18.140 how to live out that love in practical, everyday 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.199 ways, and understanding the Bible in its full 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:22.839 context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:31.679 into Season 3 of Love & Context. That's how Ben 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.399 wants to start every podcast. Welcome to the 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:36.659 Love and Context. Every week, guys. Podcast. 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:40.460 Every week. Every week now. For now. Right. Until 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:41.979 I get onto a kick for something else, right? 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:44.460 Uh -huh. If this is your first time with us, 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:46.039 that was probably the weirdest intro you've ever 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:48.119 heard. Yeah. And the funny thing is, this comes 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:50.460 after we do our little intro. It's like, season 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:53.520 three welcomes you. And so then I do this. Yeah. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.219 Yeah. So we are in the life of Jesus. I'm Ben. 00:00:57.810 --> 00:01:00.149 I'm Spencer. And we're talking about life of 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:01.990 Jesus. And we've been just going through some 00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:03.609 different stories. Last week, we had that fun 00:01:03.609 --> 00:01:05.629 conversation, which I was wondering when we were 00:01:05.629 --> 00:01:07.430 having it, how it was going to pace together. 00:01:07.609 --> 00:01:08.650 And then when I went and edited, I was like, 00:01:08.730 --> 00:01:11.030 oh, this is a good conversation about healing 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:13.150 and what does it mean to engage the miraculous 00:01:13.150 --> 00:01:15.650 and the supernatural in your life with Jesus. 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:19.209 And how do we do that as believers? This week, 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:21.370 we're going to be stepping into, actually, it's 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:25.170 going to be a two -week mini within series, because 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:26.650 we're going to be talking about the Sermon on 00:01:26.650 --> 00:01:27.980 the Mountain. We broke it up into two weeks. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:31.819 Truthfully, I've done this at churches. You could 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:35.260 probably split it up into 15 weeks, but we did 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:37.680 try to cover the whole life of Jesus in one season, 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.500 so we're going to have to combine some things 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:42.120 at some point. I don't know if you know this. 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:44.019 John wrote this in his book. He said that if 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:45.739 we actually talked about everything Jesus said 00:01:45.739 --> 00:01:48.060 and did, there wouldn't be enough books to contain 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:51.459 everything. So we're very much feeling like that 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:53.579 sometimes when we skim a stone across and keep 00:01:53.579 --> 00:01:58.019 running. But Sermon on the Mount, there's also 00:01:58.019 --> 00:01:59.239 the Sermon on the Plain, which is going to be 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:00.799 very similar in the book of Luke. We're going 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:03.099 to choose to jump into the one in Matthew, simply 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:05.519 because of the way that it's structured. But 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:06.879 either one of those, like they're going to be 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.620 very similar typed teachings, probably very similar 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:12.680 package that Jesus like presented in different 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:14.919 places in his ministry. So without further ado, 00:02:15.219 --> 00:02:18.800 ado, ado? Ado. I should actually look at his, 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:22.460 I'm wondering what the ado means. I don't know. 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:24.639 I should look it up at some point. Somebody look 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.659 it up and send us an email. But without further 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:30.080 ado, I know what it's supposed to mean, but we're 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.719 going to jump into Matthew chapter 5. So we're 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:34.439 going to read this in small sections, and then 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.120 one of the things that I want to stress in the 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.439 Sermon on the Mount is that everything you're 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.879 about to read is part of one conversation. Yes. 00:02:46.020 --> 00:02:48.400 Sort of one narrative. And so we're going to 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:50.419 talk about this beatitude, this introduction 00:02:50.419 --> 00:02:53.000 that Jesus gives. And then we're going to talk 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.280 about salt and light. But it's coming out of, 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.939 this is the beatitudes. And then we're going 00:02:57.939 --> 00:02:59.539 to talk about the fulfillment of the law, which 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:02.340 is coming out of salt and light. Then you'll 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:04.360 talk about murder, but it's in the context of 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.159 what came before it. Because it's all one conversation. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.879 There is a book that I think is, I really enjoyed 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:17.219 it. It does kind of a conversation in a section 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:19.620 of it through the Sermon on the Mount. It's the 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:22.680 Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. And he has 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.280 a really good conversation about how, as they're 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:27.159 progressing, each of these things is actually 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:29.060 starting to address different things in the human 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.360 condition. And Jesus is going through and walking 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.680 them through this progression of what does it 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.479 mean to be a kingdom person. One of the first 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:39.379 things about the Sermon on the Mount is, what 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:41.340 is the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount? It's 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:44.530 to reveal... The kingdom of God. This is like 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:46.750 the crux of his message. The kingdom of God is 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:48.569 here among you, and you can interact with it. 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:50.229 Now let's talk about what that kingdom looks 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:52.810 like. Yeah. All right. So let's go ahead and 00:03:52.810 --> 00:03:56.009 jump in. We're going to be in chapter 5 of Matthew, 00:03:56.189 --> 00:04:01.289 verses 1 through 20 today. Now when Jesus saw 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:03.409 the crowds, he went up to the mountainside and 00:04:03.409 --> 00:04:06.030 sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began 00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:07.870 to teach them. Okay. Once again, remembering 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:10.689 Jewish tradition. When you sit, that's when you 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:13.449 teach. Yes. Right? All right. So first thing 00:04:13.449 --> 00:04:16.110 he says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 00:04:16.110 --> 00:04:18.410 theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:20.550 those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 00:04:20.790 --> 00:04:23.189 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the 00:04:23.189 --> 00:04:25.509 earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:28.149 for righteousness, for they will be filled. I 00:04:28.149 --> 00:04:29.889 almost forgot the ness on the end of that. Hunger 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:33.310 and thirst for righteous. Blessed are the merciful, 00:04:33.589 --> 00:05:00.560 for they will be shown mercy. Okay, let's pause 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.259 there. So the first section is blessed are. Right? 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:07.199 Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.180 who hunger and thirst. Blessed are. And it's 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:12.500 this conversation of God is setting this precedent. 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:16.740 One of the things I think is really might be 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:20.459 a way to understand this is that the kingdom 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:22.660 of heaven doesn't look like you think it does. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.079 The people who the world tends to exclude are 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:27.860 actually the people who God is coming to address. 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:31.360 Yeah. Right? This is going to be evidence later 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.829 in Jesus' teaching where they'll be like, Like, 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:35.610 what are you doing with sinners and prostitutes? 00:05:35.689 --> 00:05:37.810 He's like, it's the sick that need a doctor. 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:40.310 You don't go to people who are well and be like, 00:05:40.410 --> 00:05:44.449 hey, do you need some crutches? Right? Yeah, 00:05:44.569 --> 00:05:47.009 and there's also a conversation in the Beatitudes 00:05:47.009 --> 00:05:51.569 about Jesus counteracting Roman ideology, which 00:05:51.569 --> 00:05:54.310 is sneaking into Jewish culture. Oh, 100%. Where 00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:58.670 if you look at what Beatitudes are saying, all 00:05:58.670 --> 00:06:01.009 the things that Jesus is saying is like, blessed 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:04.790 are the... Blessed are the meek, right? Meekness 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:08.870 was not a Roman attribute. Nope. Right? Or blessed 00:06:08.870 --> 00:06:13.470 are the poor, right? Rome was all about getting 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:16.389 as rich as you could. Blessed are the humbles. 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:18.810 Rome was all about being pride. Well, you think 00:06:18.810 --> 00:06:22.009 about blessed are the peacemakers. So with Caesar 00:06:22.009 --> 00:06:23.509 Augustus, you're going to have the Pax Romana. 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.600 So going back to one of the episodes in the last 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:28.680 season where we were talking about Caesar Augustus, 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:31.199 there is this idea that you make peace through 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:35.879 might. That's not what we're doing. So you have 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:37.879 this blending of two cultures that's kind of 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:39.199 happening because you've got Roman influence 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.480 coming into Jewish influence, even though the 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.420 Jewish people are supposed to be able to be autonomous 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:48.800 with their religion. It took me a little bit 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.300 to get that word out. And so Jesus is saying, 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:54.480 no, no, no, let's come back to what it means 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.579 to follow God. If you recall a few episodes back, 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.459 we talked about the different five main responses 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:03.860 to, let's just call it the Messianic era, the 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:05.680 time between the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.899 There was Pharisaic, Sadducee, Zealots. There 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:11.819 is the Essenes. But one of the other ones that 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:14.079 we talked about is also the Herodians, right? 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:17.930 And Herodian is largely like Herod. is the word 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:20.889 in there. It's these people who, they are Jewish, 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:24.649 yeah, but they've also kind of just appropriated 00:07:24.649 --> 00:07:27.949 Roman or Greek life, right? They've really just 00:07:27.949 --> 00:07:30.509 blended their stuff, and Judaism is, for lack 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:33.910 of a better term, it's not just like a button 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:35.550 that you put on their sash, like for the Boy 00:07:35.550 --> 00:07:37.930 Scouts. It is more significant than that, but 00:07:37.930 --> 00:07:40.620 it's basically that. It is. It's not necessarily, 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.480 the life doesn't revolve around it. It revolves 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:45.500 around a mixing of the two, which, by the way, 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:49.759 is a great conversation for modern church. Right? 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:52.180 When your faith becomes so intermingled with 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:56.120 your ideology or the culture around you. Yeah. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:59.410 Yeah. I mean, just take... Take, for example, 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:01.649 denominationalism for a little bit, right? Yep. 00:08:01.790 --> 00:08:04.069 You have people who are like, oh, I'm a follower 00:08:04.069 --> 00:08:05.709 of Jesus. You have other people who are like, 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:09.870 I'm Pentecostal, or I'm Freemethist, or I'm Baptist, 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:13.889 right? And it's like, okay, what are you saying 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:15.529 about the other people when you make that comment? 00:08:15.790 --> 00:08:18.949 Right. Like, and, and it might not be a judgmental 00:08:18.949 --> 00:08:21.129 thing at first, but really what you're saying 00:08:21.129 --> 00:08:23.529 is you really have is showing this heart of like, 00:08:23.649 --> 00:08:25.829 Hey, I'm right. You're wrong. I have a cornerstone 00:08:25.829 --> 00:08:27.589 on righteousness. Yeah. And it's like, that's, 00:08:27.589 --> 00:08:30.670 that's actually not how the gospel. I also have 00:08:30.670 --> 00:08:32.429 a cornerstone on righteousness, but his name 00:08:32.429 --> 00:08:34.970 is Jesus. So, and you can also have him too. 00:08:35.409 --> 00:08:37.049 So, Oh, by the way, I was actually just looking 00:08:37.049 --> 00:08:39.029 here. So those of you on YouTube, you can see 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:41.490 this shirt. One of the guys who listens on a 00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:43.330 regular basis, Dave, if you're watching, hello, 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:46.450 Dave. This is one. of my shirts, and he was like, 00:08:46.529 --> 00:08:48.370 he's like, I wore it on Sunday, and he's like, 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:49.690 that's the same shirt you wore on the podcast, 00:08:49.950 --> 00:08:52.210 and I'm wearing it again, and so I realized this 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:53.409 was going to post two weeks in a row with me 00:08:53.409 --> 00:08:55.710 wearing the same shirt. I have other shirts. 00:08:56.129 --> 00:08:58.509 It just so happens that... The question is, did 00:08:58.509 --> 00:09:00.750 you wash it? No, listen, actually, no, here's 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:02.649 the truth. I did not. My wife did, because my 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:04.750 wife is incredible, and she takes care of me, 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:08.970 because she's awesome, and I am capable of washing 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:14.600 a shirt, but I swear that, like, okay. We're 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:19.580 going here. I will take a shirt and I'll change 00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:22.080 shirts at night or whatever and I'll put it into 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.620 the laundry hamper. By the time I come back to 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:26.080 my room, and it can be an hour, it can be a half 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.039 hour later, I swear it's gone and into the washing 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.940 machine. I know that the washing machine was 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:34.659 just full. How did she get it in there? That's 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:39.000 my question. It's like the flash. I look away 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:46.259 and suddenly it's taken care of. But I used to 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:50.019 really focus on doing the laundry. And then we 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:51.919 had a conversation. And Tara actually enjoys 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.120 doing the laundry. And she enjoys folding clothes, 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.279 which I, by the way, hate doing. But I do because 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.200 I love her. And so sometimes she still asks me 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:02.340 to jump in and fold clothes. But it's like her 00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:07.059 therapeutic routine. And then I go do the things 00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:09.370 that she doesn't like doing. You know, whenever 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:11.570 there's like a spider and she's like, it needs 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:14.029 to die. That's your job. And I said, okay, cool. 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:16.950 I got that. I need you to get the things, like 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:18.490 clean the things on the top shelf, right? Because 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:21.990 I'm 6 '6", you know? It is, we worked out between 00:10:21.990 --> 00:10:24.409 the two of us how to partner in life, right? 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:27.570 By the way, that was a random aside that it's 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:30.149 not about gender roles specifically. It's about 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:31.730 you and your partner figuring out what works 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:35.029 for you. Yes. Yes. No, not one being valued over 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:37.970 the other. Yes. All right. So Jesus is like is 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:40.809 counteracting this. This message is talking differently 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:44.850 from Rome because Rome is, you know, stand up, 00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:50.590 have pride, take control, you know. And Jesus 00:10:50.590 --> 00:10:53.549 is like, be kind, be humble, take care of the 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:56.629 needy. Care for those. Thirst for right doing. 00:10:57.610 --> 00:10:59.830 Righteousness. Thirst for the things that actually 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:01.710 put the world back together. Thirst for justice. 00:11:02.389 --> 00:11:06.809 This is the kind of people that are part of this 00:11:06.809 --> 00:11:09.549 kingdom. He's setting this preamble. The people 00:11:09.549 --> 00:11:11.250 who tend to interact with the kingdom of God 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:15.230 are these types of people. There is a good conversation 00:11:15.230 --> 00:11:17.590 to have there. If these aren't characteristics 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:21.799 of me ever, Am I actually living into the kingdom 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:23.740 of God, or am I trying to co -opt the kingdom 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:25.620 of God into what I want it to be? Yeah. Right? 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:29.279 And the answer may be yes or no. That's a personal 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:32.960 conversation. I think it's worth checking, right? 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.019 Not to beat yourself up, but just to be like, 00:11:35.059 --> 00:11:37.240 man, am I representing Jesus well? Yeah. Like, 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:38.740 am I actually representing his kingdom or what 00:11:38.740 --> 00:11:41.240 I think his kingdom should be? Yeah. So, but 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:44.220 then he makes this turn, and it says, blessed 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:46.259 are you. So who's he talking to at this point? 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:49.649 Everyone. but specifically his disciples who've 00:11:49.649 --> 00:11:52.210 come up to listen to him. So at least the 12, 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:54.690 if not the 72. There's people that travel with 00:11:54.690 --> 00:11:56.789 him all the time. So then he turns to them and 00:11:56.789 --> 00:11:58.710 he says, this is what it looks like to be part 00:11:58.710 --> 00:12:00.769 of the kingdom of God. And because you do these 00:12:00.769 --> 00:12:03.470 things, blessed are you when people insult you, 00:12:03.590 --> 00:12:06.769 persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil 00:12:06.769 --> 00:12:11.230 against you because of me. Okay. Because of me 00:12:11.230 --> 00:12:16.059 is a big part of that sentence. Yes. You and 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:17.899 I have known a number of people in our life, 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:21.360 and there is more than once the story where people 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:22.879 talk about, they're like, I'm being persecuted 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:26.480 because of my faith. Sometimes true. Sometimes 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:31.100 also, you were kind of a jerk there, and it kind 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.139 of just backfired on you. I listened to a pastor 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:35.960 tell a story one time where he was like, yeah, 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.919 when I was pastoring and I was facing just... 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.080 Horrible persecution. I was driving to the church 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.240 one day, and the muffler on my car fell off, 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:46.460 and the guy I was sitting next to in church was 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:51.299 like, or you didn't take care of your car. I 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:53.899 was having a discipleship conversation with somebody, 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:56.379 and they were talking about, it was a political 00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:59.320 thing that was going on, and they said, I want 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:01.230 to represent Jesus well. but I also feel like 00:13:01.230 --> 00:13:03.230 I need to be involved in this thing. And I said, 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:05.190 okay, well, you can go and be involved in it, 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:07.289 but make sure that you're representing Jesus 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:10.049 and not you when you go. So you're behaving with 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:12.049 kindness and gentleness and compassion with the 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:13.690 people around you. Yes, you can speak truth and 00:13:13.690 --> 00:13:15.710 love, but make sure that when we're saying that, 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:18.009 it's actually saturated in love, right? That 00:13:18.009 --> 00:13:19.710 you're not just throwing that on there as like, 00:13:19.750 --> 00:13:21.389 ah, I'm going to say hurtful things, but don't 00:13:21.389 --> 00:13:27.559 worry, I love you. Verbal abuse. And then I made 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:28.820 this statement, and I've said it a couple of 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:32.980 times. If you follow Jesus and live like Jesus 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:36.200 and people get mad at you, that's expected. If 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.039 people don't like Jesus because of you, that's 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.759 sin. Because you're bearing up the name of God 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:46.080 incorrectly, going back to the Exodus. But Jesus 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.700 tells his disciples, he says, you're going to 00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:49.440 live this way, and you're living in a largely 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:52.210 Roman, Jewish... Pride, shame, culture, all these 00:13:52.210 --> 00:13:53.409 different things are going to be going on here. 00:13:53.450 --> 00:13:56.149 They expect you to be strong and conquer and 00:13:56.149 --> 00:13:57.590 do all these things. And if you live this way, 00:13:57.730 --> 00:13:59.789 people are going to insult you. They're going 00:13:59.789 --> 00:14:01.509 to make fun of you. They're going to falsely 00:14:01.509 --> 00:14:03.210 say all kinds of evil about you because you're 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:06.389 in their way. When that happens, you'll be blessed. 00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:09.950 Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward 00:14:09.950 --> 00:14:13.470 in heaven. Because the prophets endured the exact 00:14:13.470 --> 00:14:17.230 same thing. They said things people didn't want 00:14:17.230 --> 00:14:20.090 to hear. Because they didn't want people to go 00:14:20.090 --> 00:14:24.730 flying off a cliff. Yeah. Right? And I think 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:27.690 that's encouraging. By the way, that doesn't 00:14:27.690 --> 00:14:29.549 also say that people will stop saying bad things 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:30.870 about you. It just means in the middle of it, 00:14:30.909 --> 00:14:34.450 you're going to be blessed. Yeah. And the reality 00:14:34.450 --> 00:14:37.429 is sometimes we just take those bad things that 00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:39.649 people say about us way too personally and hold 00:14:39.649 --> 00:14:43.799 on to it way too long. Yeah. Right? If it's a 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:46.240 bad thing that you know is not true, just let 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:51.779 it go in one ear and out the other. As a good 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:54.159 friend of mine would say, he's like, you don't 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.580 grant landing permission to those thoughts. When 00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:00.059 that comes in, you're like, nope, you're going 00:15:00.059 --> 00:15:01.720 to keep flying. This is not the spot for you 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.500 to land. I do think there is a problem when we 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:10.289 let too many people speak into our life. I think 00:15:10.289 --> 00:15:13.789 that you need to build a relationship. Pastor 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:16.029 Sarah said you can't correct without connection, 00:15:16.190 --> 00:15:18.870 right? If there's not connection between you 00:15:18.870 --> 00:15:20.649 and somebody else and it's not something that 00:15:20.649 --> 00:15:22.490 the Holy Spirit is revealing to you or somebody 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:24.830 is using, like somebody who is connected to you 00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:26.330 talks about somebody else saying something and 00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:30.470 it connects with you, right? Like, you need to 00:15:30.470 --> 00:15:31.710 be really careful about applying it. You need 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:33.470 to listen to the voice of God. You need to listen 00:15:33.470 --> 00:15:35.750 to the voice of wise counsel. And I was like, 00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:38.120 people who know nothing, okay. if you're on social 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:39.879 media and you write something and some random 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.940 McRandlesons write something about like, you 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:44.879 don't represent Jesus. Well, I, I got news for 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.139 you. Like their opinion means very little. Well, 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:49.860 and yeah. And the thing about social media too, 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:52.840 is when you're scrolling, a lot of times you 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:54.639 are letting people speak into your life who you 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.019 don't even know. True. Right? Like, you'll be 00:15:57.019 --> 00:15:58.759 scrolling through and you'll see a diet thing 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.139 of being like, you should stop eating this right 00:16:01.139 --> 00:16:05.659 away. Do you like diet soda? Well, it's got all 00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:08.480 these chemicals. And then you'll get to a Christian 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.419 one where it's like, you are not following Jesus 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:13.379 if you're not doing that. And it's like you give 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.639 headway to all of these people you don't even 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.519 know who you have no relationship with, no connection 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.240 with, and you're letting them speak into your 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:25.019 life. Yeah. The reality is that's what scrolling 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:29.820 reels for hours and hours does. And I'm saying 00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:33.360 that as us being people who post reels on a regular 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.899 basis. We do. We do. And we're trying to encourage 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:41.519 people to self -reflect, not necessarily. I actually 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.620 have this thing that I reposted, and it's from 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:45.480 a friend of mine. His name is Josh, and I'll 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:46.879 leave his last name off because I don't know 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.509 if he wants to be. Yeah, that's fine. Throw it 00:16:48.509 --> 00:16:50.769 on the podcast. But he posted a thing, and he 00:16:50.769 --> 00:16:56.129 does consulting for Christian ministries, and 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:57.690 he posted things as signs that you've gotten 00:16:57.690 --> 00:16:59.769 into bad teaching. And so I would say this is 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:01.090 signs that you're maybe listening to the wrong 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:04.410 people. You start to think that the opinions 00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:07.369 of an entire people group don't matter. Right? 00:17:07.869 --> 00:17:11.329 At all. Not that they don't apply, but they don't 00:17:11.329 --> 00:17:15.299 matter. The teacher, podcaster, leader, etc., 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:19.480 is almost always trying to get you angry. If 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:21.420 you're honest, you're beginning to think of a 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:25.640 person or a group as less than human. You celebrate 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:29.180 when harm comes to anyone. If any of those things 00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:31.180 are true, that's signs you're getting into bad 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.740 teaching. Because that's not what Jesus teaches 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.859 us to do. We're always about bringing life. We 00:17:35.859 --> 00:17:38.660 confront evil. We confront injustice. We stand 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:41.140 against the forces of evil and we wage war against 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:45.339 the devil and principalities. But we love people. 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:50.460 And we always value people. Yes. You know? It's 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:53.380 just problematic. Yeah. It was appropriate for 00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:55.279 what we're talking about. Because, you know, 00:17:55.299 --> 00:17:56.859 you go through these things and, like, immediately 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.920 somebody, like, the first thing on social media, 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:01.480 and I love this because we're talking podcast 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:03.500 and we do social media posts. In fact, I might 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:07.339 even clip this into a post. Right? But they'll 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:10.400 come across a post that's like, are you believing 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:13.119 heretical things? Right? Like, it's already. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.779 negative thing yeah rather than hey have you 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:18.339 read this in the Bible and what it means to actually 00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:22.480 follow Jesus with X Y & Z but you know negative 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.279 content tends to sell better it does right it 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:29.009 does now This conversation, people are going 00:18:29.009 --> 00:18:30.509 to say all kinds of things about you. If you 00:18:30.509 --> 00:18:34.329 are somebody who is mournful, who sits with those 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:37.289 who need to be comforted, if you have power but 00:18:37.289 --> 00:18:38.849 you hold it under control, that's what it means 00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:40.849 to be meek. You choose to hold your power under 00:18:40.849 --> 00:18:43.150 control and serve other people. You are a meek 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:47.710 person, right? If you are pure in heart and you 00:18:47.710 --> 00:18:50.130 see God where he's working and those different 00:18:50.130 --> 00:18:52.210 things, people are going to have issues with 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:54.829 you. And so the temptation with this might be 00:18:54.829 --> 00:18:58.779 to go and hide. inside of your churches to hide 00:18:58.779 --> 00:19:02.019 away from the world. Well, good news. We got 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:03.640 another verse that comes up. You want to read 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:05.539 the salt and light section? Yeah. You are the 00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:07.839 salt of the earth, but what good is salt if it 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.160 lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:13.640 It will be thrown and trampled underfoot as worthless. 00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:17.970 You are the light of the world, like a city on 00:19:17.970 --> 00:19:21.150 a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:23.569 a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, 00:19:23.849 --> 00:19:26.970 the lamp is placed on a stand where it gives 00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:29.289 light to everyone in the house. In the same way, 00:19:29.369 --> 00:19:33.230 let your good deeds shine for all to see, so 00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:36.069 that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father. 00:19:36.569 --> 00:19:38.349 Incidentally, if you guys are following along 00:19:38.349 --> 00:19:40.130 in your Bible, I'm reading NIV, he's reading 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:42.349 NLT, because we think multiple translations is 00:19:42.349 --> 00:19:44.500 the right way to go. Mine's better, but you know, 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:51.279 I'm going to clip that out and be like, so, um, 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:54.400 so the temptation is like, people are going to 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.799 say bad things about you. They're going to, they're 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:56.799 going to make fun of you. They're going to lie 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.039 about you. So, and you're like, okay, well we're 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.039 just going to huddle up until, until Jesus comes 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.000 back. No, like you, you are the salt of the, 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:07.119 of the world, right? You are the light and salt 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:09.660 of the world, right? You have to be out there. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.400 If you're not being salty. which is really funny 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.140 because like being salty is like being, you know, 00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:17.980 like it's a, it's like being irritated kind of 00:20:17.980 --> 00:20:20.299 thing now, uh, or being kind of persnickety. 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:23.480 Um, but I love to say we need to be salty. Yeah. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.920 Well, and I'm convinced Jesus is talking, clearly 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:29.839 talking a little tongue in cheek here where he's 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.119 like, you don't light a lamp and then hide it. 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:34.279 Right. Right. He's like, then why would you light 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.019 the lamp if you're going to do that? Right. Type 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:38.289 thing. And, uh, But that's the reality. It's 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:40.630 like we're supposed to put this stuff on display 00:20:40.630 --> 00:20:42.549 for the world to see, not for the sake of what 00:20:42.549 --> 00:20:45.109 we have done, but for the sake of what Jesus 00:20:45.109 --> 00:20:47.549 has done. And if you know anything about ancient 00:20:47.549 --> 00:20:49.869 cities, one, we have way more light than anybody 00:20:49.869 --> 00:20:51.930 has ever had light in any time in history ever. 00:20:52.529 --> 00:20:54.769 So we wouldn't necessarily understand if you 00:20:54.769 --> 00:20:58.410 put one light on a hill, that's not necessarily 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:01.230 going to be lit up because we have so much light 00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:04.250 pollution in our world. But if you have a power 00:21:04.250 --> 00:21:07.140 outage, right? and then somebody lights a light 00:21:07.140 --> 00:21:09.400 randomly on a hill, and it's like, bam, you can 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:13.859 see it. Yep. Right? In the ancient Near East, 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:17.740 most of the cities are built on reservoirs of 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:20.660 water or ability to accumulate water because 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:23.579 the desert is really hot, and there's not water 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:25.799 everywhere. And so they build them on top of 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:27.880 these same locations, and over time, as each 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:29.980 city is conquered, they kind of build on top 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:31.640 of each other until it's actually a city on a 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:36.119 hill. literally is salvation to you if you don't 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:38.660 know where you are to see a city on a hill because 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:41.220 you're like, I know where people are. I know 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:42.920 where water is. I know where provision is. I 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:47.720 know where I can go and not just be lost. I have 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:51.160 seen some of the aerial drone footage of traveling 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:53.900 through Israel even now and I would get lost 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:57.759 super fast. I understand if you live in the culture, 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.059 you could probably figure it out. I would get 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:01.920 lost super fast. I would have GPS and it would 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:05.299 be like, walk 400 miles this way. And I was like, 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:10.279 okay. That's about too many miles. It's like, 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:12.759 so when you ask the two things, what does salt 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.880 do? What's salt do? Adds flavor. Right? It also 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.079 preserves things. Yep. Preserves things. You 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:23.420 ask what light does, it reveals what's hidden. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:28.900 Right? And so that of which is hidden can be 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:32.150 dealt with. It's incredibly hard to clean your 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.690 house if you don't have proper lighting. Because, 00:22:34.990 --> 00:22:39.170 well, you have dogs currently. Yes. And so if 00:22:39.170 --> 00:22:41.130 you don't have good lighting, like that dog hair 00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:44.840 gets everywhere and it's impossible to see. Because 00:22:44.840 --> 00:22:46.559 it'll get stuck underneath the couch, it'll get 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.420 stuck on a sock, it'll get stuck underneath a 00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:50.940 table leg. And I was like, proper light actually 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:55.259 reveals what needs to be done. Speaking of, well, 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:57.720 you're always going to have hair. Dog hair will 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.380 always be with you, to quote Deuteronomy. It's 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:04.480 not Deuteronomy, really. But to your point, light 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:07.900 reveals what needs to be taken care of. It's 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:10.559 really easy to think that things are fine when 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.569 it's completely dark. then you flip on the lights 00:23:13.569 --> 00:23:15.430 and you're like, uh, you ever, okay, this is 00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:17.049 actually, this is, this is going to connect with 00:23:17.049 --> 00:23:19.150 some people. You ever knock something over like 00:23:19.150 --> 00:23:21.130 a water bottle in the middle of the night and 00:23:21.130 --> 00:23:23.430 you're like, ah, it's probably not so bad. Then 00:23:23.430 --> 00:23:25.349 you turn on the light and there's water everywhere. 00:23:25.750 --> 00:23:28.509 And you're like, ah, I should have just left 00:23:28.509 --> 00:23:30.130 the light off. It wouldn't, I wouldn't have known. 00:23:30.349 --> 00:23:33.150 Yeah. Yeah. It's like that. Right. Yeah. And, 00:23:33.230 --> 00:23:36.289 uh, like, so the point of us is, is it's, it's 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:39.799 all positive things. Light is about helping to 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:41.460 clean up. It's about knowing where people are 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:43.599 going. It's about being able to see your destination. 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:47.000 Salt is about preservation. It's about flavor. 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:48.980 It's about to bring out, if you want to say, 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:50.660 bring out the flavor of the kingdom of God in 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:53.779 the world. You're the salt of the world. You 00:23:53.779 --> 00:23:56.640 should be bringing out the flavor of the kingdom 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.680 of God. When people engage you, they should go, 00:24:00.819 --> 00:24:05.559 man, God is good. It's quite different. Right. 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:08.319 Right. They're like, oh, man, I was actually 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:09.779 having a conversation with a with a friend of 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:13.539 mine who is who is close to faith. And and they 00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:16.740 were talking about just I was interacting with 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:18.299 them and they were talking about like just Christians 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.400 that they had known and and like what they had 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:22.119 known historically. And like they had known things 00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:25.000 about like with priests who had abused children 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.539 and like all these, you know, all these different 00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:28.779 things. And and then we started to talk about 00:24:28.779 --> 00:24:31.900 the Bible. And about faith and what does it actually 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:33.099 mean to live it out? What does Jesus call us 00:24:33.099 --> 00:24:35.539 to do to lay ourselves down on behalf of other 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:37.319 people? And we go through those things. So it's 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:39.400 been like five or six years. They started reading 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:40.920 the Bible and they're starting to like follow 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:43.240 after Jesus. But it's funny because I have the 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:46.119 conversation. They're like, yeah, I kept I was 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.880 judging faith by what I saw in people who didn't 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.900 actually follow faith. Right. And then it was 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:55.400 like, but having the conversation about like, 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:56.819 what does it actually mean for me to live out 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:00.710 living for Jesus? Not perfectly. brought out 00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:03.130 the flavor of who God really is, right? And that's 00:25:03.130 --> 00:25:05.910 our job. That's our job in relationship is to 00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:09.809 bring out who God is and reveal Christ. You know, 00:25:09.809 --> 00:25:11.829 talking about bringing on light. Revelation, 00:25:11.970 --> 00:25:17.829 right? Yeah, right. So then to this point, then 00:25:17.829 --> 00:25:22.509 he's going to jump up. He's going to say, in 00:25:22.509 --> 00:25:25.349 the same way, let your light shine before others. 00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:27.990 They're going to see your good deeds and glorify 00:25:27.990 --> 00:25:30.349 the Father in heaven. they're going to see the 00:25:30.349 --> 00:25:32.349 things that you do, and they're going to go, 00:25:32.549 --> 00:25:36.529 wow, God's awesome. Yeah. When we're truly living 00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:40.109 in the way Jesus calls us to live, right? Now, 00:25:40.490 --> 00:25:43.650 and like when we're truly living in a way where 00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:45.710 like, hey, this person needs help, I'm going 00:25:45.710 --> 00:25:48.049 to help them out. Or, hey, I'm sacrificing my 00:25:48.049 --> 00:25:51.430 time to... be here for someone who is mourning 00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:54.769 a loss or fill in the blank right when we're 00:25:54.769 --> 00:25:56.829 living that way people are gonna people will 00:25:56.829 --> 00:25:59.730 see someone who genuinely cares for other people 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:02.430 and they'll be like this is great i want to know 00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:06.250 more about why they do this right at least i've 00:26:06.250 --> 00:26:08.769 at least i've yet to meet people who are like 00:26:08.769 --> 00:26:12.329 that person cares i should never spend time with 00:26:12.329 --> 00:26:14.839 them If you read some of the early church history 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:18.059 reports by UCBS and some of the other early church 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:21.079 historians, the Romans, one of the reasons that 00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:24.380 Christianity went through such an explosive growth 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:26.960 is that Rome would persecute them, but the people 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:29.440 around them were like, we don't want you to persecute 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:32.259 these. These are great people. We love having 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:35.339 them here. right? Like they do such good things 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:39.720 for the places around us. I'm reminded of a pastor 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:42.680 who was talking about his city. He had a burden 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:45.759 for his city, right? Yes, for the gospel, but 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.000 yes, for also like taking care of people. And 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:50.039 they had a report and it said, named their city 00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:52.079 as like one of the 10 worst cities in America, 00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:55.039 right? And he brought it to their staff meeting 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.819 and he put it out there and he says, is this 00:26:57.819 --> 00:27:01.079 our problem or is the fact that this isn't our 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:06.269 problem, our problem? Yeah. Right? And I just 00:27:06.269 --> 00:27:08.509 love the way, like, is this our problem, or is 00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:09.910 the fact that this isn't our problem our problem? 00:27:10.690 --> 00:27:15.390 Years ago, there was a guy, he was a leader of 00:27:15.390 --> 00:27:20.710 one of the denominations in the U .S., and he 00:27:20.710 --> 00:27:23.750 got to a point where he was leading what they 00:27:23.750 --> 00:27:26.710 called a division, so just a large portion of 00:27:26.710 --> 00:27:30.450 the country. And so he's moving to this new city, 00:27:30.490 --> 00:27:33.289 and he gets a realtor to buy a house. And he 00:27:33.289 --> 00:27:36.630 looks at the realtor, and he says, hey, we want 00:27:36.630 --> 00:27:42.670 to move to a not desired neighborhood. A neighborhood 00:27:42.670 --> 00:27:46.970 that has some rougher characters, and that's 00:27:46.970 --> 00:27:49.109 where we want to buy a house. And the realtor 00:27:49.109 --> 00:27:52.450 started laughing. And he's like, what's so funny? 00:27:53.029 --> 00:27:55.569 And she's like, well, no, it was just a good 00:27:55.569 --> 00:27:58.440 joke. And he's like, I wasn't joking. Yeah. Like 00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.859 he's like, I want to be salt and light to the 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:02.660 people who need it. And I want to share Jesus 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:05.079 with the people who need it. And the realtor 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:08.339 was like, okay, you know, so they bought a house 00:28:08.339 --> 00:28:10.819 and he's like, yeah, first thing we did is he's 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:14.660 like, we just got to know the community and we'd 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:17.019 have them over for barbecues and, you know, stuff 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:20.190 like that. And, you know, and. And he's like, 00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:21.829 I got a lot of flack because people would come 00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:23.329 into my house and they'd be like, hey, you're 00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:25.630 leading a denomination and you have people coming 00:28:25.630 --> 00:28:27.849 into your house smoking and drinking. And he's 00:28:27.849 --> 00:28:30.009 like, yeah, they don't know Jesus. Yeah. And 00:28:30.009 --> 00:28:33.099 I'm sharing Jesus with them. And slowly that 00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:35.740 community transformed and more people came to 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.740 know Jesus. They came to set down these bad habits 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:40.759 and so on and so forth. Because one person was 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:42.660 like, yeah, no, I don't need to be in an upstanding 00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:44.519 community where I can hide away from the problems 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:47.240 of the town. It's an upcoming parable, but the 00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:49.279 parable of the mustard seed. It's like once it 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:52.259 takes root, you can't stop it. Yep. But you have 00:28:52.259 --> 00:28:55.619 to go plant it. Yep. It is an invasive species. 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:58.059 The gospel is an invasive species. If it takes 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:00.900 root in your heart, it's coming for you. And 00:29:00.900 --> 00:29:03.319 that's not to say that, of course, people have 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:04.680 free will and they're allowed to choose and blah, 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.960 blah, blah, like 100%. Theological typewriters, 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.420 go away. I'm saying that when God is coming after 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:18.920 you, you're going to know him. Now, does everybody 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:21.180 need to go move to the worst place in their city? 00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:22.980 No, that's not what we're talking about. But 00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:26.359 where you are, listener, podcaster, and us too, 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:31.700 what are the issues in our city? What's the issues 00:29:31.700 --> 00:29:35.220 in our town, in our neighborhood? And how are 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:37.400 we being intentional about bringing the kingdom 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:41.420 of God there in act and then being able to do 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:45.640 it in word? Right? And I think the tendency is 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:47.099 like, oh, well, if I want to make some changes, 00:29:47.140 --> 00:29:49.119 maybe I'll just jump into politics. Maybe. That 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:50.940 might be where God's calling you. Yeah. Into 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:54.519 local politics. But I would suggest that politics 00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:56.440 is the least effective way to actually change 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:59.859 people's life. Agreed. The most effective way 00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:01.940 to change your life is to get involved with them. 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.400 Yeah. And actually go and do things that are 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:06.400 going to make a difference. And just... Just 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.579 caveat on the politics thing, just real quick, 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:11.640 and then we can move on. We've lived through 00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:14.279 Democratic regimes, and we've lived through Republican 00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.339 regimes, and guess what? We're doing just fine 00:30:17.339 --> 00:30:19.740 through both. After all of those things, God 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:21.359 is still king. Yeah, he's still king. It's crazy. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:23.700 And the reality is, do you know how much it affected 00:30:23.700 --> 00:30:26.700 my day -to -day life? Not that much. Not that 00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:29.200 much. We get hung up on stuff politically when 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:31.500 it's like, hey, maybe we should, I mean, yeah, 00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:33.460 take note of what's really important, but maybe 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:35.640 we should. redirect some of that energy into 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:38.299 bringing Jesus to our community. Yeah. Yeah. 00:30:39.339 --> 00:30:41.539 Paul did it during the reign of Domitian. Yeah. 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:44.819 I feel like we could probably figure it out. 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:48.339 Yeah. You know? Yep. Great. All right. So coming 00:30:48.339 --> 00:30:49.700 out of this conversation, you're going to do 00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:51.539 good deeds and people are going to see it and 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:54.920 they're going to glorify Jesus. Don't think that 00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:57.799 I came to abolish the law or the prophets. This 00:30:57.799 --> 00:31:00.440 is in context, right? I have not come to abolish 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:03.079 them, but to fulfill them. So, he just said you're 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:06.500 going to do good deeds. That doesn't mean you're 00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:08.299 going to abolish Torah. In fact, Torah is going 00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:11.819 to be the deeds that you do. Right? He didn't 00:31:11.819 --> 00:31:13.500 come to do away with them. He came to put them 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:16.160 on display. To be really clear, this is a Jewish 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:18.980 teacher talking to Jewish people. Correct. Yeah, 00:31:19.019 --> 00:31:20.920 because we can talk about the book of Galatians 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:22.420 some other time. There are things in the Torah 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:25.079 that do not apply to Gentiles. There are, of 00:31:25.079 --> 00:31:27.900 course, many things in Torah that do. But there 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:30.059 are things specifically about Jewish people that 00:31:30.059 --> 00:31:32.579 apply to them. But he says, I didn't come to 00:31:32.579 --> 00:31:35.240 abolish this. Nope. I came to put it on display. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:37.799 John 1 .1 is going to say the word became flesh 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:40.200 and made his dwelling among us, right? Yeah. 00:31:40.259 --> 00:31:43.940 And so Jesus is literally Torah made flesh, and 00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:48.279 so he is the law, and he is physically there. 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:50.759 He is what the law and the prophets are supposed 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:53.339 to look like. And when you tie this verse into 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:55.799 the larger context of Scripture, what you get 00:31:55.799 --> 00:32:01.399 is Jesus saying, hey, we have... misunderstood 00:32:01.399 --> 00:32:03.859 what Torah is actually supposed to be. Correct. 00:32:04.539 --> 00:32:07.059 It was always supposed to be about this Genesis 00:32:07.059 --> 00:32:12.099 12, blessing all nations. So he says, don't think 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:13.500 that I've come to abolish the law and the prophets. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:14.900 I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:17.500 them. Fulfill does not mean one and done. Put 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:19.000 them on display for how they're supposed to be 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.450 lived. Right? For truly I tell you, until heaven 00:32:22.450 --> 00:32:24.769 and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, 00:32:24.890 --> 00:32:27.849 not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means 00:32:27.849 --> 00:32:30.130 disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. 00:32:30.589 --> 00:32:32.529 Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least 00:32:32.529 --> 00:32:35.289 of these commands and teaches others accordingly 00:32:35.289 --> 00:32:37.190 will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. 00:32:37.269 --> 00:32:38.910 But whoever practices and teaches these commands 00:32:38.910 --> 00:32:40.490 will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 00:32:40.569 --> 00:32:42.950 For I tell you that unless your righteousness, 00:32:43.329 --> 00:32:46.309 your righteous acts, surpasses that of the Pharisees 00:32:46.309 --> 00:32:47.910 and the teachers of the law, you certainly will 00:32:47.910 --> 00:32:51.319 not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, interesting 00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:53.339 thing about that with the confrontation of the 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:55.319 Pharisees and the teachers of the law is that 00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:57.119 they had a lot of head knowledge and not a lot 00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:59.200 of due knowledge. So when we're talking about 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:00.599 the righteousness, it's actually what you do 00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:03.960 with what you know. So if you don't surpass them, 00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:05.839 I guarantee you, you're not living about the 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:08.339 kingdom of heaven. But what were they doing? 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:10.740 Yeah, right? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. What 00:33:10.740 --> 00:33:16.259 were they doing? But this is, I think it's really 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:18.319 interesting because this verse, a lot of times 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:20.900 people say, well, Jesus came not to abolish the 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:22.200 law but to fulfill it, which means that it's 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:23.900 done, means it no longer applies. That's not 00:33:23.900 --> 00:33:26.039 what that means. No. He says it's not going away 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:27.940 until heaven and earth disappear. By the way, 00:33:27.980 --> 00:33:29.880 I don't know if you know this, heaven's not disappearing 00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:35.299 ever. Uh -huh. So you may want to reinterpret 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:38.059 that a little bit, right, until all these things 00:33:38.059 --> 00:33:39.839 are accomplished. And we could get into the Greek 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:43.180 and get into the, but the context here is that 00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:46.240 The instructions that God's given you, the Torah, 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:48.240 how you're supposed to live your life, how you're 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.519 supposed to be a blessing to other people, you're 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:51.640 supposed to bless all nations. Put these things 00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.960 on display in your life to live for God. Like, 00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:56.700 these things aren't going away. You need to do 00:33:56.700 --> 00:34:00.059 them. And you need to put them on display. Jesus 00:34:00.059 --> 00:34:02.500 is going to do it. Yeah. If you're going to follow 00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:04.279 after Jesus, you need to do that. Now, of course, 00:34:04.339 --> 00:34:06.759 broader context, we are Gentiles. We don't follow 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:11.469 what's called Helica, right? We can have a broader 00:34:11.469 --> 00:34:13.230 conversation about that later. We've had some 00:34:13.230 --> 00:34:17.829 conversations about it. But what Jesus is calling 00:34:17.829 --> 00:34:20.090 us to do is he says the things that God calls 00:34:20.090 --> 00:34:21.949 you to for righteousness, to impact the world, 00:34:21.989 --> 00:34:24.889 to love people, love God, to bring mercy, to 00:34:24.889 --> 00:34:28.150 be generous, to put the kingdom of God on display, 00:34:28.349 --> 00:34:30.510 to have a meek heart, like all these different 00:34:30.510 --> 00:34:34.070 things, these aren't going away. Don't do away 00:34:34.070 --> 00:34:37.409 with them. Go do it. This teaching isn't doing 00:34:37.409 --> 00:34:39.449 away with that. It's actually fulfilling this. 00:34:40.109 --> 00:34:42.809 Right? Yep. Being salt and light is not going 00:34:42.809 --> 00:34:44.690 to abolish this. You need to fulfill it in the 00:34:44.690 --> 00:34:47.150 way that you live. Yep. When we're talking about 00:34:47.150 --> 00:34:50.769 fulfilling it, like you hinted at this too, but 00:34:50.769 --> 00:34:53.250 a lot of times we get caught up on, okay, what 00:34:53.250 --> 00:34:55.730 are the things I need to do? You need to be in 00:34:55.730 --> 00:34:57.869 relationship with Jesus. Yeah. And let your good 00:34:57.869 --> 00:35:01.510 works flow from that. Correct. Right? Yeah. James 00:35:01.510 --> 00:35:06.190 talks about this, too, in James 2, where he's 00:35:06.190 --> 00:35:09.090 like, okay, you say you have your faith, but 00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:13.130 you show your faith by your works. Right. And 00:35:13.130 --> 00:35:17.130 we've often interpreted that as like, okay, because 00:35:17.130 --> 00:35:19.349 I believe in Jesus, here are all the things I've 00:35:19.349 --> 00:35:21.690 got to do now. It's like, no. You need to have 00:35:21.690 --> 00:35:24.570 a relationship with Jesus, and Jesus is going 00:35:24.570 --> 00:35:26.869 to change your heart, and good works are naturally 00:35:26.869 --> 00:35:28.570 going to flow from that. Yeah. It's going to 00:35:28.570 --> 00:35:30.900 be the fruit. It's going to be the fruit of your 00:35:30.900 --> 00:35:32.980 relationship with Jesus. I'm going to borrow 00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:35.519 a story from later in the Gospels. Jesus says, 00:35:35.659 --> 00:35:37.000 I am the true vine and you are the branches. 00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:39.760 If you remain in me, you will bear fruit. There's 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:43.500 no if and but. Yeah. Right? If you don't remain 00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:47.000 in me, you're going to wither and die. You're 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:47.940 not going to bear fruit, and you're going to 00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:51.739 get cut off. The job for us is not to produce 00:35:51.739 --> 00:35:54.260 the fruit. Our job is to remain, abide, be with. 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:58.480 And if you do, you will produce. So why do we 00:35:58.480 --> 00:36:00.739 have this conversation? If your life has no fruit, 00:36:00.980 --> 00:36:02.719 we want to have a conversation about Jesus, because 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:05.360 if you know Jesus, you will have fruit. Now, 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:09.360 it might be piddly fruit. It might be really 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:11.820 not great fruit because you're not well -connected, 00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:13.880 or you need to be lifted up, which is another 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:17.090 thing that happens in that verse. But if you 00:36:17.090 --> 00:36:19.369 connect to Jesus, you will have fruit. And you 00:36:19.369 --> 00:36:21.889 also need to define what does good fruit look 00:36:21.889 --> 00:36:25.409 like. Right. Because a lot of times, unfortunately 00:36:25.409 --> 00:36:27.429 in the American context, a lot of times we classify 00:36:27.429 --> 00:36:30.329 good fruit as like how big is your congregation. 00:36:30.630 --> 00:36:34.869 Or how in line is your theology. Yeah. Right? 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:37.090 Talk about denominationalism, right? And the 00:36:37.090 --> 00:36:43.150 reality is most rabbis outside of Jesus had three 00:36:43.150 --> 00:36:47.309 to five disciples. They said, okay, that's what 00:36:47.309 --> 00:36:50.030 I can do. I can invest in three to five people. 00:36:51.230 --> 00:36:55.449 So that's reality. And it could be that you're 00:36:55.449 --> 00:36:57.809 investing in someone and their life does a 180. 00:36:58.469 --> 00:37:03.809 That is substantial fruit. That's substantial 00:37:03.809 --> 00:37:05.710 fruit because you could also be investing in 00:37:05.710 --> 00:37:07.630 100 people and nobody's life's getting changed. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.599 Yeah, and I think this is where sometimes, like, 00:37:11.619 --> 00:37:13.719 this is where Paul can be incredibly helpful 00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.079 for our Roman mind is what I'm going to call 00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:18.360 it. Yeah. He talks about in Galatians, he says, 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:20.159 the fruit of the Spirit is obvious. It's love. 00:37:21.639 --> 00:37:24.559 Demonstrated in joy, peace, patience, kindness, 00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:26.480 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control. 00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:30.320 These types of things, when they start to blossom 00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.280 in your life, are evidence that God is actually 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:35.380 working in your life. Like, you are connected 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:39.719 to the tree. Yeah. Like, if you are connected 00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:42.699 to the tree, you're going to have patience, or 00:37:42.699 --> 00:37:44.320 at least you're going to recognize that you're 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:46.079 being really impatient and want to grow your 00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:48.619 patience. Uh -huh. Right? Yeah, you're gonna, 00:37:48.699 --> 00:37:51.239 like, the Lord will, if you are falling short 00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:53.579 in an area, the Lord will be like, hey, he'll 00:37:53.579 --> 00:37:55.940 knock on the door and be like, hey, maybe we 00:37:55.940 --> 00:37:58.500 should work on this. Yeah. Right? They'll be 00:37:58.500 --> 00:38:00.639 like, what do we need to do to correct this? 00:38:00.900 --> 00:38:03.679 So this first part, and this is really the preamble 00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:05.639 because we're going to be jumping off of this 00:38:05.639 --> 00:38:10.360 into next week's. So he said, this is who I'm 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:12.380 coming to talk to. These are the people that 00:38:12.380 --> 00:38:15.639 are being ushered into the kingdom of God. And 00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:17.639 when you do these things, you're going to be 00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:19.059 talked about a certain way, but that's okay. 00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:20.300 You're going to be blessed in the middle of that. 00:38:20.340 --> 00:38:23.500 I'm going to be with you. And then he says, that 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:25.500 also means you can't hide. You've got to go out 00:38:25.500 --> 00:38:28.769 there and be. the salt gotta be the light put 00:38:28.769 --> 00:38:30.829 on your good deeds so that people glorify god 00:38:30.829 --> 00:38:33.630 that they see the kingdom of god in you if you 00:38:33.630 --> 00:38:35.670 have the kingdom of god in you by the way holy 00:38:35.670 --> 00:38:37.809 spirit is inside of all of us that follow jesus 00:38:37.809 --> 00:38:40.570 you need to take it to the places that need the 00:38:40.570 --> 00:38:43.539 holy spirit yeah right Take him, sorry, not it. 00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:47.119 And then he says, I didn't come to abolish the 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:49.059 law, I came to fulfill it. In other words, everything 00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:51.699 that is in the Torah is actually meant to be 00:38:51.699 --> 00:38:53.619 lived out. And that's really important because 00:38:53.619 --> 00:38:56.320 as we pause here, he's then going to start going 00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:58.059 through a bunch of things in Torah that they've 00:38:58.059 --> 00:39:00.900 misunderstood. He says, I didn't come to get 00:39:00.900 --> 00:39:03.360 rid of this. I came to show you what it was always 00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:05.219 supposed to be. So he's going to make these phrases. 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:07.820 He says, you have heard it said, but I say unto 00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:10.909 you. So this is the springboard, and next week 00:39:10.909 --> 00:39:12.429 we're going to be going into a lot of these portions 00:39:12.429 --> 00:39:15.369 of Torah. The first one is talking about murder, 00:39:15.510 --> 00:39:18.250 right? You've heard it said, but I'm going to 00:39:18.250 --> 00:39:21.929 say unto you. And he's going to start reinterpreting, 00:39:21.929 --> 00:39:25.349 and so what that means is not, Jesus is not raising 00:39:25.349 --> 00:39:27.789 the ante on these things. That's something I've 00:39:27.789 --> 00:39:30.349 heard people say. He said, this is always what 00:39:30.349 --> 00:39:33.429 it was supposed to be. Now let's talk about what 00:39:33.429 --> 00:39:38.860 that means to live out. Right? Until the next 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:42.599 week. You can reach us at loveandcontext .gmail 00:39:42.599 --> 00:39:45.480 .com. Oh, yeah. You can comment all sorts of 00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:47.840 weird things on TikTok. Once again, remember 00:39:47.840 --> 00:39:50.500 that if you engage us disingenuously, I'll probably 00:39:50.500 --> 00:39:52.219 give you a lovely comment like, thanks for boosting 00:39:52.219 --> 00:39:55.840 our algorithm. Because I love you, but I'm also 00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:58.280 not going to engage with your nonsense. Unless 00:39:58.280 --> 00:40:00.239 it's in person. I love engaging nonsense in person. 00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:05.340 We love genuine conversation. Oh, yeah. Ben and 00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:08.420 I absolutely love genuine conversation. That's 00:40:08.420 --> 00:40:10.949 not... often what is found in the comment section. 00:40:11.130 --> 00:40:15.510 I know it's not real. No, it is not. So if you, 00:40:15.510 --> 00:40:17.570 if you like have a genuine question, I would 00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:19.309 suggest emailing me because I probably won't 00:40:19.309 --> 00:40:22.210 even see it if you don't email it. Yep. Um, and, 00:40:22.210 --> 00:40:23.869 uh, but we're going to, I don't look at the comments 00:40:23.869 --> 00:40:26.090 at all. Yeah. I see them sometimes, like sometimes 00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:28.250 it'll notify me and I'll read them. And, uh, 00:40:28.250 --> 00:40:30.769 and I'm like, if it, if, if it was a sincere 00:40:30.769 --> 00:40:32.429 thing, I'm sorry. Sometimes I laugh at them. 00:40:32.690 --> 00:40:34.809 Um, because I'm like, that is a really weird. 00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:39.159 thing to say to somebody you don't know. Um, 00:40:39.340 --> 00:40:42.420 the other thing is, uh, very soon, as soon as, 00:40:42.420 --> 00:40:45.559 uh, Mr. Spencer finishes doing the, uh, audio 00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:48.360 book version, we will be releasing our book on 00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:50.440 the Genesis, uh, from our podcast conversations. 00:40:50.900 --> 00:40:53.940 I'm about halfway through on Exodus. And so that'll 00:40:53.940 --> 00:40:55.960 be coming in about another six months to seven 00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:59.019 months. Um, but, uh, if you were like, man, I 00:40:59.019 --> 00:41:00.420 really like these conversations. I want to check 00:41:00.420 --> 00:41:01.619 it out in book form. And then we're going to 00:41:01.619 --> 00:41:03.380 have an audio book that's based on the book that's 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:08.199 based on the. We're real inceptioning this. It's 00:41:08.199 --> 00:41:11.059 like fashion trends. They just go full circle 00:41:11.059 --> 00:41:13.960 every about 20 years. And then what we need to 00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:15.519 do is we need to get a different group of people 00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:18.760 to have a podcast about the book. Yeah. My wife 00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:23.019 and I, we work in the school district. And we've 00:41:23.019 --> 00:41:25.139 been laughing this last year because the stuff 00:41:25.139 --> 00:41:27.139 we see kids wear, we're like, oh, we're back 00:41:27.139 --> 00:41:31.380 in high school. Yeah. Like, this is what we wore 00:41:31.380 --> 00:41:34.320 20 years ago. Yeah, that's so funny. I mean, 00:41:34.340 --> 00:41:37.860 fashion is a cyclical. Yeah, it is. So that's 00:41:37.860 --> 00:41:42.039 going to be coming out. And my book is out, Beautiful 00:41:42.039 --> 00:41:44.340 Chaos. It's on Amazon. You can get it there. 00:41:44.820 --> 00:41:46.320 Audiobook is also available, but you have to 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:47.900 listen to me. So if you don't like listening 00:41:47.900 --> 00:41:49.500 to me, don't get the audiobook. Just read the 00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:52.820 book. But, yeah, so things are going well. And 00:41:52.820 --> 00:41:56.380 I do want to give a shout -out to, when the book 00:41:56.380 --> 00:41:59.340 does come out, the Genesis book, all proceeds 00:41:59.340 --> 00:42:03.099 are going to local Young Life Ministry. So if 00:42:03.099 --> 00:42:04.260 you want to support Young Life, that's a good 00:42:04.260 --> 00:42:06.010 way to do it. Yep. All right. Other than that, 00:42:06.030 --> 00:42:09.820 we'll see you guys next time. And that's a wrap 00:42:09.820 --> 00:42:12.519 for today's episode of Love and Context. We hope 00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:14.639 this conversation encouraged you and gave you 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:17.059 fresh insights into how we can better love God 00:42:17.059 --> 00:42:19.139 and others through the powerful truths of the 00:42:19.139 --> 00:42:21.539 Bible. We'd love to hear from you. Send your 00:42:21.539 --> 00:42:24.539 questions, thoughts, or suggestions to loveandcontext 00:42:24.539 --> 00:42:27.300 at gmail .com. Your feedback means the world 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:30.199 to us and helps shape future episodes. Stay connected 00:42:30.199 --> 00:42:32.539 with us on social media for updates, behind the 00:42:32.539 --> 00:42:34.780 scenes content, and additional resources. You 00:42:34.780 --> 00:42:37.380 can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and 00:42:37.380 --> 00:42:39.159 Facebook at loveandcontext. Love and Context. 00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:41.239 Be sure to hit that follow button and join our 00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:43.480 growing community. Thanks for being part of the 00:42:43.480 --> 00:42:45.599 Love and Context family. Remember, love is at 00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.039 the heart of it all. Until next time, keep seeking 00:42:48.039 --> 00:42:50.260 wisdom, embracing love and living out your faith 00:42:50.260 --> 00:42:51.079 in today's world.