1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,240 All right, Ross, welcome back. 2 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:12,240 Thank you. 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,960 We had a good conversation yesterday. 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:21,720 And I know this is going to be of benefit to a lot of people because we're going to 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,280 be discussing the Bible today, right? 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:25,280 Yes, sir. 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,760 You had some things you wanted to discuss about the Bible? 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:28,760 Yes. 9 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,480 So, I know that Jesus didn't speak English. 10 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:36,360 I know that the prophets didn't speak English. 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:43,320 So I was wondering, and I know what I've been taught over the years and just kind of wanted 12 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:51,440 your input and your guidance on understanding the Bible. 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:01:01,320 We read a translated Bible and that reality, especially living in a state where Spanish 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:09,040 and English are the sanctioned languages, but that reality implies a lot of different 15 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:18,400 things and I kind of wanted for you to enlighten and give some guidance to me and those watching 16 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,520 the podcast about how we understand the Bible. 17 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:29,560 One thing I talked about is a lot of our Bibles have Jesus's words in red. 18 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:37,120 There are oftentimes some italicized pieces in those scriptures. 19 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,120 And then, you know, we've probably got 200 different versions. 20 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,600 I think one that you favor is the English Standard Version. 21 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,680 One that everybody's very familiar with is the King James, but there's a New King James, 22 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,840 there's, you know, American Revised Standard, NIV. 23 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,120 There's so many different versions. 24 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:09,440 And so, as we try not to be as religious, but to be more spiritual and understanding 25 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:18,000 the Word of God, just some guidance on, I guess, literal translations. 26 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:25,000 And I think there's some Bibles that aren't word for word translations, but they're more 27 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:26,800 phrases. 28 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,600 Just some guidance from our under shepherd. 29 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:37,840 So you touched on, you know, Jesus didn't speak English and the Old Testament wasn't 30 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,200 written in English. 31 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,560 Let's take that a step further. 32 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:49,200 Think about how much the English language has changed over the past 10 years. 33 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,600 Then think about how much the English language has changed over the past 500 years, like 34 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,920 going back to the King James Version. 35 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:58,720 Who can understand that? 36 00:02:58,720 --> 00:02:59,720 You know? 37 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,320 And it's written in English. 38 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:08,120 And so you've got the Bible that's written over the course of thousands of years. 39 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,800 And so even though, say, the New Testament was written in Greek, well, the Greek language 40 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,080 changes just like the English language does. 41 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,360 And then the Old Testament is written in a few different languages, Aramaic, portions 42 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,440 of it, mostly Hebrew. 43 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,320 Languages evolve. 44 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:33,800 So this makes it extremely challenging to interpret the Hebrew language and what it's 45 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,880 trying to communicate. 46 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:41,680 You know, what was in the mind of the author? 47 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,880 And then translate that into English. 48 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:50,800 And then the English needs to be updated every now and then because the way we communicate 49 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,760 and express ideas, it evolves, right? 50 00:03:54,760 --> 00:04:10,800 So this is an extremely challenging and nuanced objective to communicate what is written in 51 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,080 ancient texts to the modern mind. 52 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:19,560 And then, so that's exegesis. 53 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,240 What does the Bible say? 54 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,000 And then there's hermeneutics. 55 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,060 Now that we know what that says, what does that mean? 56 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:31,040 And those are two different tasks. 57 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:32,260 You know? 58 00:04:32,260 --> 00:04:41,920 So this is something that requires a lot of skill development at doing without getting 59 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:50,600 it to, you know, a lot of the weird and oppressive ideas that Christians sometimes communicate, 60 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,620 the church sometimes communicate that really does not produce pure religion. 61 00:04:55,620 --> 00:04:59,680 It produces a rules-based religion. 62 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,560 You know? 63 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:07,640 So this is an extremely important topic and all of those things that you brought up will, 64 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,640 you know, warrant some unpacking. 65 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:11,640 Yes. 66 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:12,640 Right? 67 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:17,520 But one of the things I wanted to promote early on, because after our conversation yesterday, 68 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:24,040 I was thinking, okay, what's going to be useful at helping people grow in their skill at understanding 69 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:25,120 the Bible? 70 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:31,640 So I used to teach Old Testament, New Testament and comparative religions at West Texas A&M 71 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:32,820 University. 72 00:05:32,820 --> 00:05:41,080 And for my Bible classes, I always assigned this book, How to Read the Bible for All It's 73 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:42,080 Worth. 74 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:43,080 Okay. 75 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,720 Who's the author? 76 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,080 Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart. 77 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:49,480 Okay. 78 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,160 This will give, it's not an easy read. 79 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,840 It's not necessarily a particularly hard read. 80 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:02,000 It's written for a popular audience, so it's not just written for like academic settings. 81 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Okay. 82 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:09,200 But it will give your average person some very useful skills at how do I think about 83 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,380 what I'm reading in the Bible. 84 00:06:11,380 --> 00:06:16,080 One of the reasons people get frustrated with reading the Bible is it's so hard to understand. 85 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,680 And then I don't really necessarily know what to do with this information that the Bible 86 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:20,680 is giving me. 87 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,040 So I'll just skip this and try and get to the parts that give me warm fuzzy feelings. 88 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,040 Okay. 89 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:27,040 Right? 90 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:35,680 So I highly recommend this book and it is worth working your way through this. 91 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,800 Okay. 92 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:47,320 Just while we're on book recommendations, commentaries are extremely helpful at understanding 93 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,120 what we're reading. 94 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:54,160 Finding good commentaries is very challenging. 95 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,760 So I can, I'm going to give you a recommendation on just the gospels. 96 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:06,240 If your average Christian just worked at understanding the gospels, that's a big part of developing 97 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:07,240 their faith. 98 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,280 And really it'll help you understand the rest of the Bible for that matter. 99 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:19,000 So I can unreservedly recommend these gospel commentaries. 100 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,160 It's a series. 101 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,720 So they've got one on each of the gospels. 102 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,840 It's the Moody Gospel Commentary. 103 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,380 I use these for all of the gospels all the time. 104 00:07:30,380 --> 00:07:35,040 It's probably the first commentary that I go to to start helping me think about what 105 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:36,960 I'm reading in the gospels. 106 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:43,360 It is not academic, so it's readable, but it's not fluffy either. 107 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:49,820 It deals with substantive ideas just in a language that's easy to read and digest. 108 00:07:49,820 --> 00:07:53,560 And so I think these are outstanding commentaries. 109 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:59,680 I think every Christian who wants to grow in their understanding of the Bible would 110 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,840 do well to invest in these four commentaries. 111 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,520 And that's just a good place to start, you know, because you're going to need help. 112 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:07,520 Right. 113 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:16,400 You know, I mean, I've been doing this for, I've been studying the Bible for 30 years. 114 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:24,920 And I still realize how much help I need understanding and thinking about what I'm reading, you know. 115 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,400 That's a good starting point. 116 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,720 And so I'll kind of, that's my starting point. 117 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:37,800 And I'll let you kind of think about where you want to go next from there. 118 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:47,840 With that being said, and I think you said something very, very important and profound. 119 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:53,920 Finding good commentaries is very, very challenging. 120 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:54,920 Why is that? 121 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:04,160 Is it because the orientation of the author of the commentary is important because there 122 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:09,320 are different schools of thought, there are different points of reference? 123 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:17,920 Why is it that finding a good commentary is so challenging? 124 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:31,080 Critics who are the ones who write commentaries are in, they're embedded in modern secular 125 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:40,720 institutions and they have to be very careful about saying things that can't be criticized 126 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,160 because that's how they build their reputation. 127 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,120 So there's a certain element of that coming into play. 128 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:58,680 And so within the Western school of thought where we want to criticize anything that smacks 129 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:10,920 of supernaturalism, being, believing in myths, being simple minded, you know, there's a tendency 130 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:17,680 to want to reduce the supernatural elements of the Bible amongst academics. 131 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:25,100 And so even outside of that, you're going to have people commenting on the text from 132 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:27,320 a certain theological perspective. 133 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,920 And that's something that everyone does. 134 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,720 We bring our own biases and presuppositions to the text. 135 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:41,400 And so many times commentaries are written from a theological perspective within a theological 136 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:48,240 tradition because people who publish Christian books are funded and supported by institutions, 137 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:53,800 you know, and they're going to want to promote ideas and ways of thinking that support their 138 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:58,640 brand. 139 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:05,040 And so you have to be able to kind of wade through a lot of that. 140 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:10,600 And you know, I can point out commentaries like on Revelation. 141 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:15,320 Of all the controversial ideas, Revelation is probably one of the most controversial 142 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:21,800 set of ideas that has a plethora of different means of interpretation. 143 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:28,320 So I have to have a lot of commentaries on Revelation to help me think about this book 144 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,560 from a lot of different perspectives. 145 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:36,680 You know, and I'll take a commentary on Revelation and I deal with the overall perspective or 146 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:41,680 I disagree with the overall perspective of the author, but he's going to say some very 147 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:47,720 important things that help me think about maybe a particular aspect of the book of Revelation 148 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,880 that I need to hear. 149 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:57,880 So it's that's why commentaries are so difficult and really study Bibles aren't much better. 150 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:03,240 You know, and you know, as a Bible teacher, it's frustrating to be teaching something. 151 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,400 And one of the notes in the study Bible contradicts what you say. 152 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:13,200 It's like you realize that note isn't the Bible, right? 153 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:14,200 Right. 154 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:15,200 Yes. 155 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:20,240 You know, so that's why it's so finding a good commentary is so challenging. 156 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,080 And then having a commentary that's actually saying useful things. 157 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,320 That's why I recommend that Moody commentary series. 158 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,160 Finding in those commentaries I find useful. 159 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:36,600 It's not just spouting off on these minutiae details that don't really help me understand 160 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:37,920 the passage much. 161 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:42,040 You know, when you say Moody, is that the movie Moody Bible Institute? 162 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:43,040 Yes. 163 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,040 Okay. 164 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:45,040 Okay. 165 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,000 And I'm not recommending all their commentaries, just this. 166 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:49,000 Okay. 167 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,080 This gospel series, the Moody gospel commentary. 168 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:53,080 Okay. 169 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:54,080 So. 170 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:59,640 So with that being said, something that I forgot earlier, and I think you've shared 171 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:07,000 it from the pulpit, the Apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls. 172 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:17,080 Can you just kind of, for the lay person, what's our biggest takeaway from the Apocrypha 173 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:18,080 and the Dead Sea Scrolls? 174 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:23,680 And I did a little research on both of those, but I think you, I'm sure you're going to 175 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:26,480 cover that and give us some more depth. 176 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,080 So if you could talk a little bit about that. 177 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:32,080 Yeah. 178 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,680 Those, those documents were very important. 179 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:37,840 So I'm going to do a little diversion. 180 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,280 I love dropping these facts. 181 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,280 Okay. 182 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,440 They were discovered in 1948. 183 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:51,360 1948 was a very important year. 184 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:56,800 There were three major things, shoes that dropped in 1948. 185 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:03,680 So on the heels of the end of World War II, you have the establishment of the nation of 186 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,120 Israel. 187 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,680 And it's not just the nation of Israel that was established. 188 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,680 There were several countries that were created. 189 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:17,200 The lines of the Middle East were redrawn. 190 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:23,080 And so a lot of the conflict we're having in the Middle East is a direct result of that 191 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,320 type of meddling. 192 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,560 But that was an important event. 193 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:33,280 The creation of the nation of Israel, the return of the Jews to their native homeland, 194 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,800 the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 195 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:44,560 And the last one is going to probably throw you for a loop. 196 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,400 You remember anything else that might have happened in 1948 that is very near and dear 197 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,400 to our hearts here in New Mexico? 198 00:14:53,400 --> 00:15:00,840 The American Spanish Civil War. 199 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:02,360 I'm not sure when that happened. 200 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,200 That's stretching my history knowledge. 201 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,200 Okay. 202 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,200 Okay. 203 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:08,840 The, the Roswell incident. 204 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,080 Oh, okay. 205 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,800 The beginning of the UFO narrative. 206 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:15,800 Okay. 207 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:17,920 Also occurred in 1948. 208 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,560 All right. 209 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,040 That's a different, that's a different subject for a different time. 210 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,040 Right. 211 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,240 But that is not an insignificant. 212 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:26,720 Okay. 213 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,320 Genesis of a narrative. 214 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:30,320 Okay. 215 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:31,320 Okay. 216 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:36,440 So the Dead Sea Scrolls. 217 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:43,280 The reason the discovery of those scrolls was so important is because the Bible was 218 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:57,920 coming under such heavy criticism within academia as being something that was monkeyed with. 219 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:07,000 We didn't know how many of those documents had been changed by scribes and theological 220 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,760 agendas. 221 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,160 You know, this is an idea that was popularized. 222 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:18,440 If you remember the, the book by Dan Brown, the Da Vinci Code, remember that book in those 223 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:25,440 movies and it was promoting the narrative that people monkeyed with the teaching of 224 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:30,480 Jesus in the scripture to fit their theological agenda. 225 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:37,080 And he would cite things like the Council of Nicaea and people changed the teaching 226 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,600 of Jesus and things like this. 227 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:50,840 So traditional Christian thinking based upon the pages of scripture was under heavy assault 228 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:51,840 by academia. 229 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:52,840 Okay. 230 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,360 So what the dead, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls function to do more than anything 231 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:08,240 else is illustrate the Bible that we have is the Bible that we were, that was received 232 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,400 by the original authors. 233 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,080 Yes. 234 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,120 The information we have is correct. 235 00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:25,040 So for instance, the Dead Sea Scrolls were, they predate Christianity, right? 236 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:30,200 And so they're all Jewish documents. 237 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,520 And so we found portions of Isaiah, for instance, and the only thing that function to do is 238 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:39,560 validate what we have is what they received. 239 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,300 It has not been changed. 240 00:17:42,300 --> 00:17:50,280 And how they understood and even more importantly, how these faithful Jewish stewards of this 241 00:17:50,280 --> 00:18:02,060 information, the thinking that they had about their religion is what is transmitted by Jesus 242 00:18:02,060 --> 00:18:06,840 and John the Baptist and the early New Testament authors. 243 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,440 So they didn't create a new religion. 244 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,760 They were correctly interpreting the religion that was expressed in the pages of the Old 245 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:15,760 Testament. 246 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:16,760 Yes. 247 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:24,120 And so it's just preserving and validating and affirming a way of thinking about God 248 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,440 and what he has revealed in scripture. 249 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:33,240 And that perspective has been retained in the pages of scripture and transmitted through 250 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,840 the traditions of the church. 251 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:36,840 Yes. 252 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:43,400 And this is kind of off the wall, but there's a movie starring Denzel Washington where he 253 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:53,640 was the one who was preserving the Bible and he was under attack. 254 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,000 They were searching for him, trying to kill him. 255 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,320 Is this the Book of Eli? 256 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:58,320 Yes. 257 00:18:58,320 --> 00:18:59,920 That is a powerful movie. 258 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:00,920 Yes. 259 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:01,920 Yes. 260 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:02,920 Yeah. 261 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:03,920 Okay. 262 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:04,920 So you've seen that? 263 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:05,920 I have. 264 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:06,920 Okay. 265 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:07,920 Okay. 266 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:13,760 Well, and that kind of gets me to, I think you were talking about the martyrs in one 267 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:14,760 of your scriptures. 268 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:15,760 Go ahead. 269 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,640 I want to pull out a scene from that movie because that movie illustrates how the Bible 270 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:26,560 is so divisive and it's used as a weapon to control people in the hands of people who 271 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:28,680 do not interpret it correctly. 272 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:37,400 So there's a lunatic, the villain in that movie is a lunatic who refers to the Bible, 273 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:43,560 that book, and he says, that book isn't a Bible, it's a weapon. 274 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:53,240 You know, when improperly interpreted, that book can be used as a weapon of evil. 275 00:19:53,240 --> 00:20:01,520 So which is precisely what the Pharisees did in the New Testament and Jesus calls them. 276 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:07,640 You know, they're referred to as snakes and sons of Satan and fools. 277 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:08,640 Yes. 278 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,640 You know? 279 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:17,640 Hence why it's so important that we do what Paul was telling Timothy, study to show thyself 280 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:24,440 approved and workman that need not be ashamed rightly, dividing the word of truth. 281 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:33,440 And he tells Timothy, guard your doctrine closely because by it will you not only save 282 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:38,920 yourself but you will save those that you're put in charge of. 283 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:46,680 And so it is by our correct thinking and doctrines about the Bible, Paul says directly, that's 284 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:51,880 what brings people into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. 285 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,760 So it is a very important thing. 286 00:20:54,760 --> 00:21:01,600 You know, that's interesting because I grew up in the United Methodist Church and I remember 287 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:10,480 when I went to war the first time as a 20 year old and, you know, at 20 years old you 288 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:16,280 can fight for your country but it's not that you know anything about life or anything. 289 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:29,160 So I got to Saudi Arabia in my unit and as we were going toward northern Saudi Arabia 290 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:39,480 and Iraq there were these old deacons that had Bible study every night in a tent. 291 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:40,760 And they were soldiers? 292 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,720 Yes, these were all soldiers, yeah. 293 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:52,200 And I mean we're having church in northern Saudi Arabia before the ground war and, you 294 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,040 know, we didn't have instruments or anything like that. 295 00:21:54,040 --> 00:22:00,920 It was just a Bible and your hand and I mean singing songs and you know somebody's sharing 296 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:02,040 the word. 297 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:09,920 But that's where I accepted Christ as my Savior and I remember it vividly. 298 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:17,280 I was realizing, I probably shared this in one of our other podcasts, that there was 299 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,960 nothing I could do in my power to get out of a war, of this war. 300 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,240 Didn't know how to fly an airplane. 301 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:33,360 If I could I wouldn't be able to refuel it and get back. 302 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:37,280 So I was literally stuck. 303 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:42,000 So I'm sure we went in through the Gospels where it says there will be wars and rumors 304 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,680 of wars. 305 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,280 And that's not, this is not the end of the world. 306 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:54,800 And the reality of wars and rumors of wars is that people die. 307 00:22:54,800 --> 00:23:06,100 And that's when I said, you know what, God, I accept your will for my life because Jesus 308 00:23:06,100 --> 00:23:08,720 died for me. 309 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,960 And it doesn't matter to me if I die over here or not. 310 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:24,360 If it is your will that I perish in this war, then I perish because you are my God. 311 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,120 You are my Lord. 312 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:30,320 Jesus redeemed me from destruction. 313 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:38,360 And not soon after that, I'm not sure how the Holy Spirit communicated to me, but maybe 314 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:42,000 through visions that, no, you're not going to die in this war. 315 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,080 You're not going to die in a war. 316 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:55,160 So three wars later, every time I went into combat, my mindset was, no, this is not the 317 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,620 end. 318 00:23:59,620 --> 00:24:01,660 Do what God needs you to do. 319 00:24:01,660 --> 00:24:02,660 And that's one thing I've learned. 320 00:24:02,660 --> 00:24:09,260 You can be a Christian, you can be like Christ in whatever you're doing. 321 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:18,700 I think we need anointed people in the military, in the hospitals, in the schools, in the media. 322 00:24:18,700 --> 00:24:21,700 And now that takes my mind someplace. 323 00:24:21,700 --> 00:24:26,840 When I was growing up, we got the news from Walter Conchright. 324 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,340 And the feeling was it was the news. 325 00:24:29,340 --> 00:24:34,780 not biased, it didn't have a taint. He was the most trusted man in America at one point. 326 00:24:34,780 --> 00:24:44,660 And now, you know, there's an agenda from which news source you go to. And I was told that there 327 00:24:44,660 --> 00:24:52,740 was a lawsuit not too long ago where one of these news sources made the declaration that 328 00:24:52,740 --> 00:24:58,500 they aren't a news source, they're about entertainment. And they paid so many millions of dollars because 329 00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:06,180 of maybe some mis-sayings or misquotes that they were making in the defense. They just 330 00:25:06,180 --> 00:25:13,860 said they weren't a news source. So anyway. That's a rare glimpse of honesty, right? It 331 00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:26,740 is. It is. So, guard your doctrine closely. That being said, my pastor back in the early 332 00:25:26,740 --> 00:25:39,180 90s always used de Stroom's Concordance and would tell us the Hebrew word for this is 333 00:25:39,180 --> 00:25:46,100 such and such. And the Greek word for this is such and such. So, again, I've had this 334 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:55,620 for 30 years. I went and bought a Stroom's Concordance so that when I had questions about 335 00:25:55,620 --> 00:26:02,180 a word that was pivotal, say in a particular verse of scripture, I could look it up in 336 00:26:02,180 --> 00:26:09,180 Strong's and understand where that word was translated from. So that kind of gets you 337 00:26:09,180 --> 00:26:16,220 into, was this Jesus speaking? Why is this italicized? I guess italics means added by 338 00:26:16,220 --> 00:26:22,340 privilege of the translator who understands the culture, understands the language. It's 339 00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:29,420 more interpretive than it is a translation. Okay. So can you get us into that, the word 340 00:26:29,420 --> 00:26:38,180 translation and then those versions of the Bible that are kind of translates phrases, 341 00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:47,020 if you will? So you have a spectrum of Bible translations. Okay. You have got what's called, 342 00:26:47,020 --> 00:26:55,500 I'm not exactly sure the vocabulary, a free translation, an interpretive translation. 343 00:26:55,500 --> 00:27:04,820 So things like the message, the new living translation, these are interpretive and the 344 00:27:04,820 --> 00:27:17,940 goal is to communicate the concepts in a very understandable, easy to read format. Now, 345 00:27:17,940 --> 00:27:22,460 I would say the new living translation is a good translation because they have a team 346 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:29,340 of scholars who are doing it. The message is an interpretation by one person. He's a 347 00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:36,420 good person, Eugene Peterson. But whenever you have a team working together to kind of 348 00:27:36,420 --> 00:27:45,740 debate things, you're going to get something that's more trustworthy, in my opinion. So 349 00:27:45,740 --> 00:27:51,340 something like the new living translation is going to be a solid free translation. Then 350 00:27:51,340 --> 00:27:59,060 you've got what's called a dynamic equivalence. It tries to strike the balance from communicating 351 00:27:59,060 --> 00:28:06,940 what the text originally said and making it readable and understandable to the modern 352 00:28:06,940 --> 00:28:15,400 reader. So something like the NIV, okay, which is a good translation, is attempting to strike 353 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:22,340 that balance. And there are other translations as well. The United Methodist denomination 354 00:28:22,340 --> 00:28:30,400 used to recommend the new revised standard version. And so that's a good translation. 355 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:36,160 And then you have what's called a more literal translation of the text. The goal is to simply 356 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:45,380 communicate what the text said in a more direct fashion. And so this is why I like the ESV. 357 00:28:45,380 --> 00:28:52,860 It leans, it is a modern literal translation. So you'd take something like the King James. 358 00:28:52,860 --> 00:28:59,140 That leaned towards a literal translation. The problem with the King James was, was produced 359 00:28:59,140 --> 00:29:06,980 in the 1500s. They were working off of inferior manuscripts. We've found, going back to the 360 00:29:06,980 --> 00:29:12,700 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they've also discovered New Testament documents that 361 00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:20,580 are older and better than what the translators of the King James were working from. And so, 362 00:29:20,580 --> 00:29:31,300 and the original King James makes some blatant errors. So you've got older literal translations 363 00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:40,260 like the American Standard version. Again, these were produced in the early 1900s. And 364 00:29:40,260 --> 00:29:45,620 so I like the ESV because it is a modern, we've got the best manuscripts. We've got 365 00:29:45,620 --> 00:29:52,600 very high quality scholarship producing a more literal translation of the Bible, which 366 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:59,340 is what I prefer. And the ESV study Bible, by the way, is a very good study Bible. So 367 00:29:59,340 --> 00:30:06,500 I recommend that to people all the time. Just always understand there's a difference between 368 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:13,900 the Bible and the notes at the bottom. Yes. Right? Yes. Yes. And I really, really appreciate 369 00:30:13,900 --> 00:30:22,140 that because that's what my pastor was saying, Pastor Dollar, back in the 90s, that the translator 370 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:28,500 actually made an error here or they added this, but this was not in the original transcripts. 371 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:36,460 And I'm not exactly sure what that translator was thinking. But if you go back to the original 372 00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:42,900 word, it was translated from, you know, that word means, you know, A, B, C. And based upon 373 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:49,980 how this was translated, it appears that he was thinking that this meant D, E, F, and 374 00:30:49,980 --> 00:30:58,260 G. And I was like, oh, okay. And so that's why I ended up getting my Strong's so that 375 00:30:58,260 --> 00:31:09,780 I could kind of go back and really let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and kind of 376 00:31:09,780 --> 00:31:18,940 say, hey, check that. Or, yep, you got it. And I think that's why it's so important. 377 00:31:18,940 --> 00:31:25,880 And I remember this probably from my grandfather was a pastor, my mother loves it. So the funny 378 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:32,220 thing is, when my parents were at Purdue, my dad doing his PhD and my mom her masters, 379 00:31:32,220 --> 00:31:39,860 they sent me to my granddaddy. And my granddaddy in South Carolina was a farmer, janitor, and 380 00:31:39,860 --> 00:31:51,740 a pastor. And he dipped a chew. So anyway, he'd always have this chew. And I'm a baby. 381 00:31:51,740 --> 00:31:56,980 And you tell I'm fair skinned. My granddaddy looked more like my mother. She's very dark. 382 00:31:56,980 --> 00:32:02,420 And so you got this little, you know, high yellow baby in the pulpit with this pastor. 383 00:32:02,420 --> 00:32:08,260 And my cousins laugh, my older cousins, because they say, well, granddaddy's always spitting 384 00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:13,220 the bottle. And they say sometimes he'd give me the bottle and I would drink from the bottle. 385 00:32:13,220 --> 00:32:20,660 So they thought it was the funniest thing in the world. 386 00:32:20,660 --> 00:32:27,340 But he and I would talk about after Desert Storm, we would talk and I remember telling 387 00:32:27,340 --> 00:32:33,900 my granddaddy, you know, I've always been in church with you and, you know, been in 388 00:32:33,900 --> 00:32:43,500 church growing up. And I said, the Bible that I'm reading, I'm not reading what I know to 389 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:55,780 be westernized Christianity. What I'm reading is total submission unto the will of God. 390 00:32:55,780 --> 00:33:01,100 And he was like, well, son, keep growing. And I said, yes, sir. Yes, sir. And so when 391 00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:06,900 I got back, I remember my pastor, Reverend Outlaw, gave me an opportunity to speak to 392 00:33:06,900 --> 00:33:12,140 the congregation. And those are things that I was sharing that, you know, when I got into 393 00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:23,860 the Bible for myself, I saw a different Christianity than I had been experiencing in the U.S. where, 394 00:33:23,860 --> 00:33:30,660 you know, it's okay to get drunk. It's okay to go out. It's okay to party versus committing 395 00:33:30,660 --> 00:33:41,580 your life unto Christ versus understanding that we are the redeemed of the Lord. And 396 00:33:41,580 --> 00:33:45,180 my pastor, I just remembered that's why I love Pastor Dollar so much. He would go into 397 00:33:45,180 --> 00:33:51,980 what is redemption? What does it mean to redeem something? That means that, you know, somebody 398 00:33:51,980 --> 00:34:04,180 paid a price for you. So that reality of you don't belong to you, you belong to him because 399 00:34:04,180 --> 00:34:10,340 he literally died for you. They whipped him with a cat of nine tails. And I remember Pastor 400 00:34:10,340 --> 00:34:17,660 Dollar would go into the description of what is a cat of nine tails and go into the description 401 00:34:17,660 --> 00:34:24,220 of Roman culture and how they were uber masculine. And, you know, how at the end of that cat 402 00:34:24,220 --> 00:34:29,740 of nine tails, there these, I think there were penny nails and it, you know, the whip 403 00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:34,540 kind of wrapped around you and it, you know, went into the flesh. And then when it came 404 00:34:34,540 --> 00:34:43,260 out, it's bringing flesh with it. And, you know, those realities like Jesus did that 405 00:34:43,260 --> 00:34:52,460 for me. And it's not hard to come to, no, I belong to him. He paid the price for my 406 00:34:52,460 --> 00:34:59,060 life. And so I remember yesterday we were talking about the Holy Spirit. And now when 407 00:34:59,060 --> 00:35:05,300 I think back over my life, I just remember so many instances where if the devil could 408 00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:14,020 have killed me or destroyed me, he would have, but he couldn't. And the reality is greater 409 00:35:14,020 --> 00:35:22,060 is he that is on the inside of me than he that is in the world to the point where we 410 00:35:22,060 --> 00:35:33,700 don't have to fear the devil. We don't have to fear his demons. And so this word, you, 411 00:35:33,700 --> 00:35:38,060 and I think the Bible lays it out beautiful, are the feet of them that prepare or that 412 00:35:38,060 --> 00:35:44,140 preach the gospel of peace. As I just feel so honored to have this opportunity to talk 413 00:35:44,140 --> 00:35:53,740 to you. And I think this is such a great medium that the body can watch and learn. So thank 414 00:35:53,740 --> 00:35:59,580 you so much. Well, so where else would you like to go with this? I mean, the free translations, 415 00:35:59,580 --> 00:36:04,980 interpretive translations, dynamic equivalents, I understand that the ESV and my mother has 416 00:36:04,980 --> 00:36:09,620 started reading the ESV and I think it's wonderful. 417 00:36:09,620 --> 00:36:15,620 So just to piggyback off of what you said there, because you were talking about redemption 418 00:36:15,620 --> 00:36:23,740 and the cost of redemption and the connection to the Bible, because the Bible is what communicates 419 00:36:23,740 --> 00:36:32,380 that story and it provides, going back to the Holy, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 420 00:36:32,380 --> 00:36:40,020 the born again person that Jesus Christ creates a new on the inside of me whenever I submit 421 00:36:40,020 --> 00:36:48,180 his Lordship, the Bible provides us with the nutrients, you know, just like going back 422 00:36:48,180 --> 00:36:52,740 to a baby in the bottle. Yes. You've got to feed the baby the proper nutrients so it can 423 00:36:52,740 --> 00:36:58,640 grow into a strong and healthy person. The Bible provides the believer with the nutrients 424 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:06,500 by which we grow into strong and powerful people. And you just touched on so many things 425 00:37:06,500 --> 00:37:10,780 there, like greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And I don't have 426 00:37:10,780 --> 00:37:16,140 to be afraid of death, for instance, which you were in a context where the rubber meets 427 00:37:16,140 --> 00:37:21,780 the road and really clarifies your priorities in life when you're staring faith, death in 428 00:37:21,780 --> 00:37:32,660 the face. So things like death, things like enemies in the demonic realm that want to 429 00:37:32,660 --> 00:37:43,140 control our minds and emotions. We no longer when we grow to mature men and women of God, 430 00:37:43,140 --> 00:37:52,940 we get to the point where we don't have to cry out. You know, we become powerful people 431 00:37:52,940 --> 00:38:01,580 that understand we dominate those beings, they don't dominate us. Because I have developed 432 00:38:01,580 --> 00:38:08,520 my spirit, my born again spirit to maturity, I realize how powerful I am. And I am no longer 433 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:15,780 intimidated by things out there in the world. You know, so it helps me to discern truth 434 00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:23,420 from error in regards to my own thoughts about my own shortcomings and because my sin is 435 00:38:23,420 --> 00:38:32,540 a real thing. And it's something that I have to learn to bring under the yoke of discipline. 436 00:38:32,540 --> 00:38:40,460 And so a lot of Christians become hijacked with thoughts of guilt and shame. You know? 437 00:38:40,460 --> 00:38:46,900 So really learning to understand the message of Scripture and the testimony of Jesus Christ 438 00:38:46,900 --> 00:38:57,260 helps us to overcome not only the enemy without but the enemy within. You know? So yes, yes. 439 00:38:57,260 --> 00:39:07,820 It's so powerful. You know, in regards to the Strong's Concordance, 440 00:39:07,820 --> 00:39:13,500 it's probably smart to keep a hard copy of that. But it's just so easy to use those tools 441 00:39:13,500 --> 00:39:18,300 online. Okay, I was telling you yesterday about a website that I use the Interlinear 442 00:39:18,300 --> 00:39:23,580 Bible. So stack the original Greek with the English translation. And it has a link to 443 00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:32,900 the Strong's definition right above each word. It is so useful as a resource at understanding 444 00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:39,100 the Bible. If you just Google Interlinear Greek Hebrew Bible. 445 00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:47,540 Okay, Interlinear Greek Hebrew Bible. Yeah. But I was, I'm always cautious when doing 446 00:39:47,540 --> 00:39:56,300 that because I had a Greek professor when I was in college that said, I hear pastors 447 00:39:56,300 --> 00:40:01,420 all the time telling me that this translation is wrong. And then the original Greek, it 448 00:40:01,420 --> 00:40:07,540 means this. And he said, of course, this is a made up number. 92% of the time they get 449 00:40:07,540 --> 00:40:14,340 it wrong. So the thing we need to respect is the people who are working on these translations 450 00:40:14,340 --> 00:40:24,060 are actual experts in these fields. And it is being peer reviewed by other experts, because 451 00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:29,300 they really care about getting it right. You know, they have a they do it with the fear 452 00:40:29,300 --> 00:40:37,460 of God. And so that's why I use the Strong's and things like that to help me understand 453 00:40:37,460 --> 00:40:43,220 concepts that are in the original language that the the English language can't quite 454 00:40:43,220 --> 00:40:50,700 communicate. Okay, you know, I'm not so much trying to change or reinterpret or correct 455 00:40:50,700 --> 00:40:55,380 the Bible translator so much is just get a deeper meaning. An example of that's like 456 00:40:55,380 --> 00:41:00,600 the word meek. We've got a certain understanding of that in the English language that I bristle 457 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:07,060 against because my last name is meek. And so people use the word meek to mean weak, 458 00:41:07,060 --> 00:41:13,540 typically in the English language, but it's actually communicating the idea. And if you 459 00:41:13,540 --> 00:41:18,020 go back and do some of these studies, you can see it's communicating the concept of 460 00:41:18,020 --> 00:41:25,940 like an ox doing work. Okay, the farmer places a harness on the ox to do some work. It's 461 00:41:25,940 --> 00:41:35,260 using the ox's strength to benefit the farmer's family. This is the idea being communicated 462 00:41:35,260 --> 00:41:43,340 with the word meek. God is placing us under a yoke. Yes. And he intends to harness our 463 00:41:43,340 --> 00:41:52,100 strength for the purpose of bringing something good to the world. Now the ox could easily 464 00:41:52,100 --> 00:41:58,500 break out of that harness and trample the farmer. Yes. Right. Yes. And so the ox is 465 00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:06,300 being meek in being willing to have his strength used by someone else to make something good. 466 00:42:06,300 --> 00:42:15,620 You know, now that's a revelation of the word meek. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. And so 467 00:42:15,620 --> 00:42:21,400 that's why when Jesus says, uh, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, 468 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:31,180 I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you for my burden is easy and my yoke is light. 469 00:42:31,180 --> 00:42:38,980 Yes. Yeah. Wow. That goodness gracious that, uh, I think that in itself kind of blows me 470 00:42:38,980 --> 00:42:48,500 away that that analogy, um, that's probably the best that's probably ever been, uh, communicated. 471 00:42:48,500 --> 00:42:54,180 And, uh, you know, I'm sure I can't speak for others, but if I could, uh, probably tell 472 00:42:54,180 --> 00:43:01,180 them exactly that because I think that is a revelation of what meekness is. And you 473 00:43:01,180 --> 00:43:08,660 get those treasures out of the scripture whenever you put the effort into being consistent and 474 00:43:08,660 --> 00:43:13,300 diligent at really trying to understand not only what the text says, but then what it 475 00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:20,780 means, you know, now that takes me to this. So, and as you know, I was in a Baptist church 476 00:43:20,780 --> 00:43:28,260 for a long time. Um, and I've been in church all my life. I think I was in Nashville here 477 00:43:28,260 --> 00:43:33,660 at the Antioch missionary Baptist church. And I think the pastor was talking about understanding 478 00:43:33,660 --> 00:43:41,580 the Bible and he said, anybody can read the words. Everybody can read the words. The devil, 479 00:43:41,580 --> 00:43:47,900 the demons can read the words, but they don't understand what's in between the words that 480 00:43:47,900 --> 00:43:57,980 the Holy spirit, you have to have the Holy spirit, um, uh, as your litmus test to understanding 481 00:43:57,980 --> 00:44:02,380 the scriptures, what's your, your thought and your point about that? 482 00:44:02,380 --> 00:44:11,500 Yeah. So within Methodism, we have this tradition, uh, called holiness of heart and mind. Okay. 483 00:44:11,500 --> 00:44:22,780 Okay. So if you over rely on the Holy spirit to help you understand the Bible, it will 484 00:44:22,780 --> 00:44:27,740 drive you to all kinds of fruity and flaky and nutty conclusions. Okay. So I came out 485 00:44:27,740 --> 00:44:34,100 of the charismatic Pentecostal world where I used to hear say, people say all the time, 486 00:44:34,100 --> 00:44:39,620 well, God told me this means this or God told me that. And you know, 90% of the time it 487 00:44:39,620 --> 00:44:46,300 was hogwash, you know, now some of it's real and needs to be respected and cared about. 488 00:44:46,300 --> 00:44:52,660 But so there's the type of person that over relies on the Holy spirit or their intuition 489 00:44:52,660 --> 00:44:57,740 or God told me this means this, you know, not that that's an invalid tool, but you can't 490 00:44:57,740 --> 00:45:05,860 do it at the neglect of developing your mind with study and high quality thinking and, 491 00:45:05,860 --> 00:45:12,380 uh, allowing your ideas to be critiqued by others. A lot of times, super spiritual people, 492 00:45:12,380 --> 00:45:16,420 if they're critiqued by others, they will say, well, that person's just done spiritual 493 00:45:16,420 --> 00:45:23,780 and they, they're not hearing God, you know, it was like, you need to really respect the 494 00:45:23,780 --> 00:45:29,460 criticism that you're offered because it might help you clarify your thoughts and your perspective, 495 00:45:29,460 --> 00:45:37,580 you know? Uh, so we need to be mindful and diligent about cultivating our abilities and 496 00:45:37,580 --> 00:45:48,660 skills in both of those areas and respecting the criticisms that we might be offered, uh, 497 00:45:48,660 --> 00:45:55,460 as maybe being something that helps us to see things in a more mature, well balanced 498 00:45:55,460 --> 00:46:04,420 fashion. So, okay. You know, and then there are people that just study the Bible from 499 00:46:04,420 --> 00:46:08,580 a purely academic point of view and they don't even believe most of the stuff that's in there. 500 00:46:08,580 --> 00:46:15,740 Right. You know what I mean? And so, uh, holiness of heart and mind is something we really need 501 00:46:15,740 --> 00:46:27,260 to retain and press into in our theological tradition as Methodists. God is real. The 502 00:46:27,260 --> 00:46:33,020 supernatural is real. He still speaks to us today. The gifts of the Holy spirit are still 503 00:46:33,020 --> 00:46:45,700 valid and active. That is no excuse for neglecting our mind and training our mind in high quality 504 00:46:45,700 --> 00:46:57,700 principles that accommodate critique, uh, from other perspectives. So without, you know, 505 00:46:57,700 --> 00:47:09,380 labeling them unspiritual or whatever. So, okay. So that's, um, um, very, very good. I think that 506 00:47:09,380 --> 00:47:19,900 adds a lot of balance, um, to what Timothy told Paul study to show that self-approved, a workman 507 00:47:19,900 --> 00:47:26,860 that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And the thing about this word is 508 00:47:26,860 --> 00:47:34,260 it doesn't change these and the letters of the texts, they don't change the words of the scripture. 509 00:47:34,260 --> 00:47:43,180 They don't change our emotions change. Um, and we are emotional beings, but you've got to go back 510 00:47:43,180 --> 00:47:53,180 to the source, um, because in the beginning was the word, the word was God, the word was with God. 511 00:47:53,180 --> 00:48:02,500 And then a few scripts later, the word became flesh. So our authority has to be the word and 512 00:48:02,500 --> 00:48:13,860 anything that, um, takes us away from the word, uh, we're wrong. You're preaching to the choir here, 513 00:48:13,860 --> 00:48:22,580 brother. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and at the same time, the beauty of the nature of this unique 514 00:48:22,580 --> 00:48:32,340 book, it is uniquely authoritative in that nothing reveals God like the pages of scripture. 515 00:48:32,340 --> 00:48:40,500 Mm hmm. Now you have to have the power of the Holy Spirit to bring it to life. Uh, but God is 516 00:48:40,500 --> 00:48:46,500 constantly growing our understanding. The Bible doesn't change, but our understanding of what is 517 00:48:46,500 --> 00:48:54,180 written there is improving. Uh, it doesn't change anything that's written there. You know, it's just 518 00:48:54,180 --> 00:49:00,660 our understanding, standing of the implications of what is revealed there is growing and we're 519 00:49:00,660 --> 00:49:11,780 getting better as corrupt as the world is becoming. God is cultivating what the Bible predicts will be 520 00:49:11,780 --> 00:49:19,780 a bride that is pure and spotless and without blemish, you know, holiness of heart and mind 521 00:49:19,780 --> 00:49:25,940 without spot or blemish in our character and our thinking in our ways of relating to the world 522 00:49:25,940 --> 00:49:33,700 around us. That's exciting. Yes. You know? Yes. Yes. 523 00:49:35,940 --> 00:49:42,500 Um, well, what else, uh, would you like to share? I think the, what I'm taking away from this is 524 00:49:42,500 --> 00:49:53,540 the ESV is a good version to, to read, to, to study. Um, do you recommend online or having a, 525 00:49:53,540 --> 00:49:58,100 uh, a copy? Uh, is that maybe just the age thing, young people? 526 00:49:59,220 --> 00:50:04,660 Mostly I've experienced cause you know, it's like most of my library is now electronic. 527 00:50:04,660 --> 00:50:09,140 And one of the reasons is commentaries. If you buy the hard copy or expensive because they take so 528 00:50:09,140 --> 00:50:14,660 many pieces of paper to produce. And it's like less than half the price if you buy them online. 529 00:50:14,660 --> 00:50:20,340 And the other benefit is I've always got my library with me in my pocket, you know? So I'm 530 00:50:20,340 --> 00:50:26,100 pro technology. Uh, you know, it's like the translation of the Bible, that's the best is 531 00:50:26,100 --> 00:50:35,540 the one that you'll read. Yes. Right. And, uh, but yeah, that I, I use the internet a lot because 532 00:50:36,820 --> 00:50:46,340 it is an amazing place to discover high quality thinking and thinkers that help me get better 533 00:50:46,340 --> 00:50:51,140 at understanding what's written in that book. You know, now of course you can find all kinds 534 00:50:51,140 --> 00:50:57,300 of bad things as well on the internet, but that doesn't change the fact. Right. I use the internet 535 00:50:58,180 --> 00:51:02,820 to produce my content, to help people take steps forward in their faith. And it's an amazing tool 536 00:51:02,820 --> 00:51:11,220 for me to help spread my message. Right. So, uh, but I, I've always been technology, a technology 537 00:51:11,220 --> 00:51:16,500 friendly person. Okay. Yeah. I mean, obviously we've got a room full of lights and cameras and 538 00:51:16,500 --> 00:51:24,980 stuff like that. So, yes, but well, the pastor, I think that's a great introduction and I've gained 539 00:51:24,980 --> 00:51:33,380 a lot from it and I appreciate it. And I think it's digestible enough for the, the lay person to 540 00:51:33,380 --> 00:51:41,620 kind of understand. And so thank you for taking the time forward and forward to going back and 541 00:51:41,620 --> 00:51:50,420 rereading it and re-listening to it and applying that holiness of heart and mind. Uh, so, oh man, 542 00:51:50,420 --> 00:51:59,620 that, that's so important. And then your, uh, revelatory explanation of, uh, uh, meek and, uh, 543 00:51:59,620 --> 00:52:06,980 uh, uh, God's yoke. That's, that's incredible. Okay. So thank you. And I'll end with this. 544 00:52:08,500 --> 00:52:13,140 This is one of my favorite verses. It's from the book of Proverbs. Okay. And it's in regards to 545 00:52:14,660 --> 00:52:21,780 the information hidden in the pages of that book. It's the glory of God to conceal a matter. 546 00:52:21,780 --> 00:52:30,420 It's the glory of Kings to search them out. And so ultimately that's what, you know, two guys like 547 00:52:30,420 --> 00:52:34,900 you and me are sitting here doing. We're searching, we're searching out the mysteries of God together 548 00:52:34,900 --> 00:52:42,180 and it is producing greatness in our minds and hearts. And that's what happens when every person 549 00:52:42,900 --> 00:52:49,940 engages in that process. So thank you for coming in and, uh, and doing this with me. Yes, sir. 550 00:52:49,940 --> 00:52:53,460 All right. God bless you. Blessings to you.