WEBVTT

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So before we get started with today's conversation,

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It's easy to talk about spiritual discipline,

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prayer, study, showing up for people, but let's

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Now let's get into today's episode and see what

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God has for us. Hey everyone, my name is Austin

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and welcome back to another episode of the Unfiltered

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Faith Podcast. If this is your first time tuning

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in, I'm so glad you're here. And if you've been

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here before, welcome back. Today we're going

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to be talking about how to spot false theology.

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So if you're someone that likes to take notes,

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I encourage it. And while you're at it, have

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your Bibles out because we're going to be looking

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through several passages of scripture that will

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help us with our discussion today. And I've also

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invited a special guest with us. So I'm going

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to let him introduce himself and we're going

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to get started. I'm Dustin Wright. I do a podcast

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called the raising the wild ones podcast. We

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call ourselves the redneck theologians, which

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is Exactly the way it sounds we're just a couple

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of country boy and we talk about theology I was

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in youth ministry for like eight years and then

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now I'm in camp ministry for sometime later.

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See, I didn't think about all that stuff, man.

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And I have a bachelor's degree in youth ministry

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and a master's degree in theology and ministry

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that I'm just shy of finishing up. Hopefully

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this semester we'll see if I finish that bad

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boy up. And I'm happy to be here. I'm stoked.

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This is always, it's a fun topic to talk about

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because it's one that you've got to be prepared

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for, but one that not very many people... are

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prepared for. It's like, everybody thinks, you

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know, why would God let false theology just run

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rampant? And it's not necessarily that God would

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let that, it's that Satan wants to deceive people.

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I kind of ramble some, so my bad. No, you're

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all good, man. And thank you for taking time

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out of your busy schedule to do this episode

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with me. Have you ever listened to someone talk

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about the gospel, theology, or even Jesus and

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thoughts yourself? Is that really in the Bible?

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We live in a world where some theologies everywhere

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you can scroll through tik -tok Instagram YouTube

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and even Twitter and find someone with a mic

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talking about God some of it sounds really good

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but some of it sounds almost right and That's

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exactly the problem because almost right is still

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wrong. So Dustin first of all what even is theology

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and Second of all, why should it matter? Can't

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we all just say we love Jesus and call it a day?

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I mean you ask the question, what is theology?

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And simply put, the theology is just the study

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of God and His, you know, nature, His religious

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beliefs, those sorts of things. That's boiled

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down to what theology is. But when you get into

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the idea of other people throwing out different

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ideas and different theologies, it's like, yes,

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we can love God. I mean, that's one of the main

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things was the chief end of man is to love God

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and serve Him forever. I think I should have

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had that memorized, should have remembered that.

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And so that's a big part of what we do as Christians.

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But It's not just the brass tacks of, we love

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God, but we've got a, I don't want to say love

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God correctly because that's a really bad way

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to say it. I don't know what a better way to

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say it, but it's like. We have to be leery of,

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I mean, you said it, you say to yourself, there's

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everybody's got a mic out there and everybody

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can say what they want. And it's just kind of,

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you start talking about the different kind of

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like bad theologies as you can easily slip into

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something like the prosperity gospel or even

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like salvation through works. I mean, that's

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a really big one. It's like, well, if I try hard

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enough and I do hard enough and I love God the

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best I ever can, then I'm going to be saved.

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And it's like, well, And so what the Bible says,

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you know, that's not what scripture says. That's

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not what Jesus talks about. And so we get in

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this idea of like different kinds of theology

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and false theology. And I don't want to be mistaken

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because like, yeah, we've got different, I won't

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say religions, but denominations. You got like

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Baptist, you got Methodists, you got like non

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-denominational, but there's, I guess there's

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a good way to put it. There's like top tier.

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beliefs that if you're wrong on your top tier

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beliefs, then that's false theology. If you're

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wrong on your second tier beliefs, then There

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may be some of those things where you're like,

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yeah, okay, I don't really agree with that. You

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know, it's kind of like a top tier belief for

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me was like, it's like the virgin birth, right?

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That Jesus came through Mary, virgin birth, that

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God, you know, came down and talked to Mary.

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A top tier is that Jesus is both fully divine

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and fully man. Like he has to be both of those

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things for the whole sacrifice to work. But a

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second tier belief is like, even it's the hotly

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debated second tier belief, I'll say this, but

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it's like, was Noah's flood? fully world or was

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it just geographical and it maybe was a different

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type of flood around the rest of the world? I'll

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tell you where I believe I think it's the full

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world. But if that changes, does that change

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the whole story? Did God still destroy sin with

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a flood? Well, yes, He did. Did He destroy what

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He needed? Well, yes, He did what He did. But

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it's kind of a thing where we can disagree on

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this and maybe it doesn't necessarily affect

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the fact that Jesus is still fully God and fully

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human. And so it's like a lot of people can get

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into the idea of is total false theology, like

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the separation of denominations, which different

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denominations are going to believe different

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things. But then there's some things that like,

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well, if you believe into these top tier beliefs,

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well, then you're getting into false theology.

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So, um, I'm going to share something with you

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that's probably going to blow your mind, whether

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you're aware of it or not. Everyone. is a theologian.

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Everyone has an opinion of God. In some capacity

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or another, everyone has an opinion of God. Whether

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you're Christian, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist,

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I don't know, agnostic, atheist, Jesus is in

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every part of that story. And so, if we were

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to look at an even broader perspective of theology,

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we have something called world view. So, While

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theology is a component of worldview, a worldview

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is more comprehensive, encompassing a wider range

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of beliefs and assumptions about reality. Worldview

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is a topic for another episode. So the real question

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isn't if you're a theologian. The question is,

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are you a good one or a bad one? Are your beliefs

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grounded in truth or in assumptions, emotions,

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or culture? Because here's the deal. Saying,

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I love Jesus is a great start, but it can't stop

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there. Which Jesus are you loving? Is it the

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Jesus in the Bible? The one who came in grace

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and truth, who calls us to repent and believe?

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Who is both Savior and Lord? Or is it the cultural

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Jesus? The one who just wants you to be happy

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and never confronts sin and always validates

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your truth. So we've covered what theology is

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and why it's important, but let's flip the script

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for a moment. What is false theology and why

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is it spread so easily? That's a fun one. I mean,

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at its core, false theology is bad theology.

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And I mean, it can be as easy as, you know, taking

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a good theology, flipping something within it

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and making it sound terrible. I mean, you got

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like the prosperity gospel. You've even got the

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idea of the worship of oneself, you know, trying

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to figure stuff out and where you really deal

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with false gospel. It's where. you could take

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a scripture and then you just twist it just slightly

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or the idea where you could pull one scripture

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out completely out of the Bible and then just

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talk about that one. My favorite one to talk

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about is the whole idea of don't judge others,

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only God can judge you, right? You hear that

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all the time and it's like even to the point

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where it's like, you can't judge me, only God

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could judge me. I was like, well, yes, but have

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you looked at the passage where that actually

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came from. Have you looked at the context of

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what that means and what Paul was talking about

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when he wrote that? And it's like, it all makes

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sense and it all boils down together and false

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gospel spreads so easily just simply because

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of Satan. His whole point is to try to deceive

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us, even if it's just a little bit. And even

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if it's like a big one where it's all of a sudden

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like where it's like hey stop worshipping Jesus

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And maybe maybe you are the one who needs to

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be a god and you should worship yourself You

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know and that's where you get into a lot of like

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Not I'm not gonna name you the big name like

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preachers But there are some of the big name

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preachers out there who will just be like if

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you pray hard enough Then God will heal you if

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you do this hard enough and God's gonna give

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you money. I'm gonna be honest I've prayed for

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money a lot and you know, I'm still sitting here

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drinking cheap coffee, you know, and it's like

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it's this idea where it's like well What's the

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problem? Was it me? Was I the one that didn't

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pray hard enough? I'm the one who's the problem.

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I'm the issue. And it's like, well, no, I'm not

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the issue. God's the issue. It's like, no, that's

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not it. It's the fact that you started putting

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your hope and your faith in something really

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other than Jesus Christ. And you've stopped listening

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to where he wants to take you in your life. And

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you've started listening where I want to go into

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your life, right? You hear the idea everywhere.

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Now it's like, just send good vibes, right? Or

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what's it manifest? Like I'm trying to manifest

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my life. I'm just going to think about it good

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enough until it happens. It's like, I'll tell

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you right now, it's not going to happen unless

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God wants it to happen. And you have to really

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let go of yourself. and focus and follow Jesus

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is kind of the idea of being a slave to Jesus.

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We were under him and under what he wants for

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us. And so we will encounter false theology everywhere.

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And how that looks may vary, but we have to be

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ready. And then that's where the scriptures come

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into play. Like that's where it talks about hiding

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the gospel in your heart, hiding God's word in

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your heart is that's where we have to lean towards,

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because that's our defense against these false

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gospels. You know, and sometimes it's hard because

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you sit there and you think about, well, that

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sounds weird. That sounds different. Why is that

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different? You know, it's like dig into the scriptures

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and figure out why, because you may encounter

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it. I mean, I was looking on like a tick to our

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Instagram. I think it was Instagram this morning

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and I ended up grabbing the guy just had a little

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quote and I was looking at the quote and I was

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like, Oh, that's off. And I'm like, why is that

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off? And I sat there and thought about it. I'm

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like, Oh, Cause he's trying to get it like prosperity

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gospel here. And it's like, interesting. And

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it was just a little, small little quote and

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whether he intended it or not. It was like, made

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me stop and think, why is that off? Paul also

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talks about if like an angel preaches a gospel

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that's contrary to the gospel that Paul preaches,

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let that angel be cursed. And it's like, that's

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an angel. And I'm like, no, we can, we talk about,

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you know, Satan being a fallen angel too. I mean,

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you go all the way back into Genesis. You can

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see that through the serpents. It's like. If

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that angel says a false gospel that's contrary

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to this, let that angel be cursed. It's like,

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this is important and it's, it's serious. Now

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we may get it wrong. I'm pretty sure I'm just

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going to go ahead and record to say Dustin has

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probably said some false theology throughout

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his life. Oh, and I've probably screwed up somewhere

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because if it was my job to save people, it's

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not going to go well. I'll just say that I'm

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not going to win that fight. It's like, At some

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point, like even when we do mess up, it's the

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other side to say, Hey guys, I messed up on that.

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I misspoke. I should have said this way. I should

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have done this. It's, it's going back and trying

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to correct or just asking for repentance because

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that even comes in the point of sometimes false

00:12:13.590 --> 00:12:15.830
gospel doesn't always come through like false

00:12:15.830 --> 00:12:17.889
prophets. Sometimes it comes through because

00:12:17.889 --> 00:12:20.669
I was thinking wrong or, you know, we just have

00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:23.110
to be aware of what we're saying just as much

00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:25.549
as what others saying and, and how we dig in

00:12:25.549 --> 00:12:29.240
and look at all that. Absolutely, absolutely.

00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.419
And I'm sure as a pastor you've encountered people

00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:37.600
who have just spoken just bad theology. Do you

00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.179
have any stories of those encounters? I was thinking

00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:44.139
about some of these things and one of the things

00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:48.070
that really stands out to me is there's called

00:12:48.070 --> 00:12:49.710
fields of faith. Have you ever heard of that?

00:12:49.750 --> 00:12:51.409
And one of the big things of fields of faith

00:12:51.409 --> 00:12:53.570
is it's just a clear presentation of the gospel.

00:12:54.169 --> 00:12:56.330
And so with a clear presentation of the gospel,

00:12:56.669 --> 00:12:58.509
people, you know, normally respond, especially

00:12:58.509 --> 00:13:01.330
teens, because this was a teen event. And I remember

00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:03.490
it wasn't the presentation of the gospel. It

00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:06.649
wasn't the guy that was on the field, but with

00:13:06.649 --> 00:13:08.509
people on the field and some of the people that

00:13:08.509 --> 00:13:11.389
were talking to students were like Jehovah witness,

00:13:11.669 --> 00:13:14.230
nobody kind of like checked them and make sure

00:13:14.230 --> 00:13:16.009
about their theology. They just kind of like,

00:13:16.009 --> 00:13:17.669
oh, you want to tell people about Jesus, come

00:13:17.669 --> 00:13:20.230
on and talk to people about Jesus. And I remember

00:13:20.230 --> 00:13:22.169
just kind of milling around the field that day

00:13:22.169 --> 00:13:25.169
and I heard out of the corner of my ear, whatever,

00:13:25.470 --> 00:13:27.330
like, like this person was telling somebody about

00:13:27.330 --> 00:13:30.889
Jesus. And it was, it was straight up just, oh,

00:13:30.909 --> 00:13:34.309
Jesus was just man. He was just a man. And I

00:13:34.309 --> 00:13:36.250
stopped and I like turned real quick and look,

00:13:36.250 --> 00:13:39.460
and I'm like, wait a minute. You're telling these

00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:42.490
kids that... And I stopped and kind of like entered

00:13:42.490 --> 00:13:44.110
into the group because, you know, I was like,

00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:46.889
well, can you explain a little further? And they're

00:13:46.889 --> 00:13:48.250
like, well, no, no, no, the scriptures didn't

00:13:48.250 --> 00:13:49.730
go on. And I'm like, well, no, the scripture

00:13:49.730 --> 00:13:51.570
clearly, I mean, go back to John chapter one,

00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:53.669
that, you know, the word became flesh, you know,

00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:56.250
the word was with God and the word is God, you

00:13:56.250 --> 00:13:58.009
know, kind of right there in the first bit of

00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:00.169
John, it's like very clear of Jesus is fully

00:14:00.169 --> 00:14:03.110
God and Jesus is fully man. He has to be both

00:14:03.110 --> 00:14:05.529
of these things for the sacrifice to work. And

00:14:05.529 --> 00:14:07.710
so I remember that one just being as a real big

00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:10.299
one of sitting there thinking about Well, this

00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:12.860
was a little group of about four kids and I'd

00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:14.539
caught that and we'd kind of worked through that.

00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:16.919
But then it came out that there were like eight

00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:18.879
or nine people who were kind of preaching the

00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.360
same idea to these kids who had just heard the

00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.720
gospel. These kids had just like been told that

00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.059
Jesus is the savior. And then all of a sudden,

00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:28.860
now they're sitting in a small group with somebody

00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.460
going, Jesus was just a man. He was just a prophet.

00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:32.799
You know, I remember if they said something,

00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:34.840
I think what I actually heard was Jesus was just

00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.519
a prophet, just like Isaiah. And I'm like, wait

00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.590
a minute. That's wrong. You know, that's on a

00:14:40.590 --> 00:14:43.789
large scale, just kind of a real blatant, like

00:14:43.789 --> 00:14:45.789
red flag, big one where it's like, you know,

00:14:46.129 --> 00:14:48.330
the guy's like waving the flag and it's like

00:14:48.330 --> 00:14:49.990
massive, you know, it's like, that's an issue.

00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:53.250
But there's even like little things just in conversations

00:14:53.250 --> 00:14:55.950
you have with people. I'm currently in a Baptist

00:14:55.950 --> 00:14:58.110
church right now with the Baptists. We're great

00:14:58.110 --> 00:14:59.769
people. We like to eat a lot of food. That's

00:14:59.769 --> 00:15:02.480
just what Baptists do. But it's like, I remember

00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.539
sitting in a meeting with a whole bunch of deacons

00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:06.299
and they were talking about the idea of they

00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.539
were wanting to have a dance at the church for

00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:11.620
a wedding. And they're like, well, we can't dance

00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:15.419
in the Baptist church. And I'm like, why not?

00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:17.379
Well, and I remember the guy says, well, it's

00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:20.659
against God's regulations. And I'm like, where?

00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:22.600
You know, and it was even just little things

00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.259
of this gentleman. Man, I love him to death.

00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.019
I mean, he's a great guy. If I were to ask him

00:15:27.019 --> 00:15:29.419
right now, hey man, could you help me move some

00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:31.820
sound equipment with your pickup truck and serve

00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:34.120
God for the next eight hours straight? He'd be

00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.580
like, yeah, I'll be there. But yet one little

00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.159
thing that he was taught years and years ago

00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:41.899
that was bad theology has just stuck with him.

00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:46.039
And it's like, it kind of, as teachers, it makes

00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.600
us think of what are we teaching? What little

00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:51.379
things are we? And it's, so it can be big things.

00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:53.720
It can be little things. You know, it can be

00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:56.049
like, hey, let's examine this. And it's kind

00:15:56.049 --> 00:16:00.230
of the idea of lifelong learning through theology

00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:03.149
and just listening to, well, that doesn't sound

00:16:03.149 --> 00:16:05.870
right. And the Holy Spirit is really great at

00:16:05.870 --> 00:16:08.730
this as if you hear something and while somebody's

00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:12.169
preaching and you're like, that's weird. Don't

00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:14.070
just throw that away in the back of your mind.

00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:17.350
Maybe jot it down, write it, look at it and think,

00:16:17.549 --> 00:16:19.789
why is that weird? Where's that scripture from?

00:16:19.889 --> 00:16:22.470
Is that really what that scripture says? What's

00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:24.879
the context of the scripture? You know, and so

00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:29.500
it's just, Holy Spirit's the best marker of that

00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:32.820
might be wrong. So speaking of times that I've

00:16:32.820 --> 00:16:36.440
encountered bad theology. So I go to a rather

00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:39.919
interesting college and I'm just going to leave

00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.779
it at that. And you hear some pretty interesting

00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.580
ideologies through the grapevine. There's some

00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:48.799
real head scratchers out there. And there was

00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:52.379
one of them. Have you ever heard of this idea?

00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:56.340
Have you ever heard of this religion called God

00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:58.840
as a woman a couple years ago a group of my friends

00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.580
were approached by someone who belonged to this

00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:06.579
religion and I remember them talking about it

00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.039
and I remember just scratching my head and I'm

00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.019
like What and so I don't know if you ever heard

00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:13.920
of that before or not There are some people out

00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.509
there even that say that Jesus was white That's

00:17:17.509 --> 00:17:19.190
all I think about when you say like that one

00:17:19.190 --> 00:17:21.569
is like that old It's the picture of Obi -Wan

00:17:21.569 --> 00:17:23.549
Kenobi and it's like, oh, hey, look, it's Jesus

00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:26.190
like no, that's that's Obi -Wan Kenobi. That's

00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:28.029
not Jesus I mean, I got a whole bunch of books

00:17:28.029 --> 00:17:30.470
back here one of my favorite things to do because

00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:33.589
I'm probably a weird person is I like to find

00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:36.430
books written in like the 60s 70s and 80s because

00:17:36.430 --> 00:17:38.650
you want to find some bad deal my favorite one

00:17:38.650 --> 00:17:42.710
This book right? It's called Satanism the seduction

00:17:42.710 --> 00:17:45.869
of America's youth. It was written in 1972. And

00:17:45.869 --> 00:17:48.170
you think that would be a cool read, right? It's

00:17:48.170 --> 00:17:49.769
pretty neat. There's some, actually some decent

00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:51.750
theology and the decent digging, but it's not

00:17:51.750 --> 00:17:54.170
actually digging into occult practices at all.

00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:56.630
And like telling you like why these things are

00:17:56.630 --> 00:17:58.730
bad. You know, you think a book like this is

00:17:58.730 --> 00:18:00.289
like, well, okay, it's going to dig into like

00:18:00.289 --> 00:18:02.109
witchcraft and it's going to be like, why is

00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.990
witchcraft a bad, why is this bad? And no, it's

00:18:04.990 --> 00:18:06.750
just saying like, Oh, Hey, by the way, Dungeons

00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:09.180
and Dragons is bad. It's evil. But that doesn't

00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:10.900
say anything else on it. So it's just saying

00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:13.319
all these things are bad without even like digging

00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.940
into like why or issues and stuff like that.

00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:19.140
And so people write books and this is what they

00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:20.579
believe in. This is what they thought. So we're

00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.759
going to write a book on it. Well, what, what

00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:25.960
does it come back to? You know, the scripture

00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.900
or the ultimate guide that we have to what theology

00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:31.000
is known. So it kind of even makes you think

00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:32.599
like, what are you studying when you're studying

00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:34.940
about God? Are you studying a random book on

00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:37.779
your shelf or you studying God himself through

00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:39.829
scripture? Another example I just thought of,

00:18:40.150 --> 00:18:42.609
I don't know if you've ever seen those people

00:18:42.609 --> 00:18:45.529
with the mics and the giant speakers in the street

00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:48.170
corner with the big sign, the hitters screaming

00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:50.450
at people like, you're going to hell and the

00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:52.890
end times are coming or whatever. And I'm just

00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:56.130
like, that's not an effective way to communicate.

00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:59.089
I remember last year, I think there was two guys,

00:18:59.230 --> 00:19:02.369
there was one guy that held up the sign and then

00:19:02.369 --> 00:19:04.210
there was another guy with the Bible talking.

00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:08.900
with the mic preaching and The sign said take

00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:12.160
this short online test to find out if you're

00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.460
going to heaven or not And I'm just infuriated

00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:19.099
because who are you to tell us if we're going

00:19:19.099 --> 00:19:21.880
to heaven or not It says in revelations 5 1 through

00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:24.619
5 then I saw in the right hand of him who sat

00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:27.960
on the throne a scroll with writing of both sides

00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.579
and sealed with seven seals and I saw a mighty

00:19:31.579 --> 00:19:34.339
angel proclaiming in a loud voice who was worthy

00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:36.920
to break the seals and open the scroll. But no

00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.180
one in heaven or on earth or under the earth

00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:41.819
could open the scroll or even look inside it.

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:45.660
I wept and wept because no one was found who

00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:47.900
was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.200
Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep,

00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.660
see the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root

00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:57.220
of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the

00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:00.089
scroll. and it's seven seals. So who was able

00:20:00.089 --> 00:20:02.329
to open the book of life? How can it be open?

00:20:02.930 --> 00:20:05.029
And how can you get your name written in it?

00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:07.829
We talked about it a little earlier that Jesus

00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:10.430
in first John, it talks about that he's fully

00:20:10.430 --> 00:20:12.829
God and fully human. If Jesus was fully God,

00:20:13.150 --> 00:20:15.569
he would not relate to us at all. If Jesus was

00:20:15.569 --> 00:20:18.049
fully human, he would not relate to God at all.

00:20:18.150 --> 00:20:20.539
So for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice. He

00:20:20.539 --> 00:20:23.279
had to be fully God and fully human so he could

00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.059
both relate to us and relate to God. And so then

00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:28.240
you get into Jesus where it talks about the temptation.

00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.220
And so then Jesus was tempted by Satan, you know,

00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:33.460
through different means. And so he went through

00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:36.480
the same exact process that we did. I mean, Dustin

00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.000
falls to temptation on a daily basis, but Jesus

00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:42.440
did not. And he was the perfect sacrifice, the

00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.220
only one that was righteous, the only one that

00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:46.980
was holy and pleasing to God ultimately. And

00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.200
through that and his death on the cross, he took

00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.720
our sins upon himself. But the best part about

00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.200
that whole story, we always talk about that,

00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:58.299
and it's like, don't forget. Jesus didn't stay

00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:00.660
dead. I mean, he overcame death. Dustin, when

00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:02.799
he dies, yeah, I'm going to die. I'm just going

00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:04.880
to be dead. There's not going to be any overcoming

00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.180
there. But Jesus overcame that. And so like you

00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:09.980
talk about like, how do we get to that level?

00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.039
It's a simple faith and trust in Jesus Christ

00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.680
that he will overcome sins and we can seek after

00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:17.420
him and we can seek after God because we know

00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:19.819
what he's done. But there's so many different

00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:22.259
things kind of under this idea of digging into

00:21:22.259 --> 00:21:25.059
God's word that you mess that up and all of a

00:21:25.059 --> 00:21:27.400
sudden if you think that Jesus is messed up somewhere

00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.380
you think well I need to do this to get to heaven

00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:31.440
or I need to do this to get to heaven you know

00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.519
even if it's just a little thing of Satan like

00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.740
even though you talk about the loss of salvation

00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:38.339
you know it's the idea of there are multiple

00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:40.519
scriptures you know the New Testament that says

00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.519
once you are saved you are fully safe you can't

00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.160
sin bad enough after your salvation where God's

00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:49.500
like hey you're no longer safe anymore sorry

00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:52.170
you screwed that up because that Once again,

00:21:52.369 --> 00:21:55.690
put salvation on us. We are now in control of

00:21:55.690 --> 00:21:58.670
our salvation. If we can send bad enough to lose

00:21:58.670 --> 00:22:00.789
our salvation, which I'm going to tell you right

00:22:00.789 --> 00:22:03.930
now, if Dustin was in control of his salvation,

00:22:04.150 --> 00:22:06.849
I'm going to screw it up. That's why God is in

00:22:06.849 --> 00:22:08.990
control of our salvation and Jesus is in control

00:22:08.990 --> 00:22:11.509
of our salvation And so it's like even like little

00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:14.630
small things if if can be kind of like planted

00:22:14.630 --> 00:22:17.329
That's a bad theology or just a small seed of

00:22:17.329 --> 00:22:19.990
bad theology then 15 and 20 years down the road.

00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:22.150
You're like, oh man I really I really host it

00:22:22.150 --> 00:22:26.250
there not just some sin not just most sin Jesus

00:22:26.250 --> 00:22:30.210
overcame all sin and that's why our salvation

00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:33.170
is held within him and not within ourselves and

00:22:33.170 --> 00:22:35.400
so it's It's like when you start really digging

00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:38.779
into bad theology, it doesn't have to be a full

00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:41.880
-on horrible theology. It could just be one small

00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.440
little bit that cocks it askew just a little

00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:48.700
bit that makes you think, well, this may be the

00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:50.880
case over here. And that's why I always say,

00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:53.039
just bring back to scripture. I mean, what does

00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.180
the Bible say? about these things. Because if

00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:58.019
there's one thing that the Bible's very clear

00:22:58.019 --> 00:23:00.180
about, like I get on my podcast, we talk about

00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:02.160
some weird stuff, I'll be honest. We talk about

00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:03.960
some of the weird things in the Bible, like we

00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.559
talk about giants and stuff like that. But if

00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:08.799
there's one thing that scripture is very clear

00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:11.799
on, it's salvation through Jesus Christ. So you

00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:15.700
mentioned earlier the whole concept of one saved,

00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.140
always saved. Do you believe in the concept of

00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:23.920
one saved, always saved? And is it? impossible

00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:34.799
to lose your salvation because I've heard stories

00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.279
of people though denounce their Christianity.

00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:39.500
And I'm just like, how do you denounce your Christianity?

00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:41.720
Because to me, if you denounce your Christianity,

00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:45.299
because to me, if you denounce your Christianity,

00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:47.720
you weren't really a Christian in the first place.

00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:49.940
Deconstruction movement. Is that what you're

00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:52.970
talking about? Oh, that's a That's a fun one.

00:23:53.089 --> 00:23:55.670
I mean, I've been thinking into that for a couple

00:23:55.670 --> 00:23:57.410
of years now, because I mean, you even got like

00:23:57.410 --> 00:23:59.630
some big name people who were Christians in the

00:23:59.630 --> 00:24:01.490
past and like, well, I've deconstructed now.

00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:04.430
And, and I'll go ahead and say this, like, here's

00:24:04.430 --> 00:24:07.309
one of the things is there a problem with looking

00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:10.200
at what you were taught when you were a kid and

00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:12.259
trying to see if it's biblical and what you were

00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.519
taught now. No, not at all. There's not a problem

00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:16.900
with studying scripture. There's not a problem

00:24:16.900 --> 00:24:19.579
of asking questions. I mean, you could, you could

00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:21.960
go really, really far back and the dude, Martin

00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.160
Luther, who used to be a Catholic and he got

00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.039
really mad at the Catholics. And so he wrote

00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:28.700
99 things about how the Catholic screwed it up.

00:24:28.819 --> 00:24:30.839
And then he poses it to a wall. I mean, it's

00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:33.019
kind of talking about the reformation was Martin

00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:35.680
Luther wrong for deconstructing. I air quoted

00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.480
there since you know, it says audio. deconstructing,

00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.759
you know, the Catholics? No, because he pointed

00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:43.640
out things that they were doing wrong, right?

00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.319
He pointed out different stuff, but did he pull

00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.039
back and go, I'm not a Christian anymore because

00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:50.460
I clearly can't believe all this is true. It's

00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:53.720
like the idea of you talk about once saved, always

00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.859
saved. And it's interesting for us to think about,

00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:57.960
it's like, how do we know if someone else is

00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:01.839
saved? The plain fact of the matter is the Bible

00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:03.880
talks about, you will know them by their fruit.

00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:05.480
You will know them by their actions. You will

00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.029
know them by how they act. But at the same time,

00:25:08.150 --> 00:25:10.710
it's not our place to judge if someone else has

00:25:10.710 --> 00:25:13.210
saved. It's just our place to tell people about

00:25:13.210 --> 00:25:15.910
Jesus. And so you have this whole like deconstruction

00:25:15.910 --> 00:25:17.609
movement and there are people who are like, well,

00:25:17.609 --> 00:25:20.789
I'm not saved anymore. You know, I was saved,

00:25:20.829 --> 00:25:22.829
but I'm not saved anymore because I've deconstructed

00:25:22.829 --> 00:25:24.789
out of that. You kind of have to sit there. And

00:25:24.789 --> 00:25:27.650
I think just a lot like you of, well, were they

00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:30.660
ever fully saved? in the first place. It's like,

00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:32.259
like the parable of the man who built his house

00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:34.279
on the sand, you know, all that kind of stuff.

00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:36.279
And, you know, build your house on a rock. It's

00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:38.640
like, what did they build their faith on? And

00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.200
being in youth ministry. One of my favorite things

00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.880
to see and what was sad about it is you didn't

00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:47.220
quite see it. And every student is my favorite

00:25:47.220 --> 00:25:50.079
thing to see was probably anywhere between like

00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:53.859
16 through 20, 21, 22, like back in there, you

00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:56.059
see a student who grew up in a Christian house.

00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:58.220
Cause this is, this is primarily when this happens.

00:25:58.759 --> 00:25:59.940
You have a student who grew up in a Christian

00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:02.779
house, all of a sudden at some point they realize.

00:26:03.639 --> 00:26:05.700
Maybe I gave my life to Christ when I was six

00:26:05.700 --> 00:26:08.359
or seven, but my faith was always tied to my

00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:10.599
parents. And it's like, I always just kind of

00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:12.259
believed what they believed and thought what

00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:15.180
they thought. And it's like, at some point they

00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:17.380
click and it's like, all of a sudden they start

00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:19.599
taking their own faith and making it their own.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:21.640
You know, they take their parents' faith and

00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:23.460
make it their own. Does that mean that they weren't

00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:25.059
saved when they were eight and nine when they

00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:27.460
gave their life to Christ? No, that doesn't mean

00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:29.460
that. What that means is that they've decided

00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:32.200
at that point to not just take everything at

00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:34.700
face value. They decided to dig into the scriptures

00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:37.279
and see what it is. And so you really sit there

00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:39.980
and think about those ideas of like kind of deconstruction

00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:42.900
movement of those people never take it as face

00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:44.380
value. And then all of a sudden when they start

00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:48.759
to dig in on their own, it's like, oh, this is

00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:50.740
all wrong. This is terrible. The world doesn't

00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:55.259
want me to teach this, which Right there is the

00:26:55.259 --> 00:26:57.980
problem. You stopped focusing on the savior and

00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:00.180
you started focusing on the world because one

00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:02.359
of the big things with the whole deconstruction

00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:05.460
movement is it's a complete and total shift of

00:27:05.460 --> 00:27:07.079
what they're looking at. They stopped looking

00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:08.920
at the savior and they started looking at the

00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:11.259
world. And I'll be the first one to tell you

00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:13.900
that especially like growing, I grew up in the

00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:16.210
nineties. You know, and there were some things

00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:18.329
in that movement in the 90s that was just like

00:27:18.329 --> 00:27:20.589
absolutely trash. And I could go on and on about

00:27:20.589 --> 00:27:22.349
stuff like the True Love Weights movement and

00:27:22.349 --> 00:27:25.150
stuff like that, where it wasn't even the basics

00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:28.609
of, hey, you know, make sure that you're sanctified

00:27:28.609 --> 00:27:30.069
for marriage. It's like, oh no, if you screw

00:27:30.069 --> 00:27:32.450
up, God doesn't love you. And it's like, whoa,

00:27:32.609 --> 00:27:35.490
that's a big one, right? And so like, I've worked

00:27:35.490 --> 00:27:37.690
through that. Does that mean I'm not saved? No,

00:27:37.690 --> 00:27:39.769
it means I've studied the scripture and I've

00:27:39.769 --> 00:27:41.950
found out for myself, okay, this is maybe what

00:27:41.950 --> 00:27:44.910
God's talking about here. And so it's like, when

00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:47.250
you get into that, instead of the, especially

00:27:47.250 --> 00:27:49.509
the deconstruction movement, people aren't allowing

00:27:49.509 --> 00:27:51.869
God and the scripture to guide them. They're

00:27:51.869 --> 00:27:56.230
allowing the world to guide them. And so it's

00:27:56.230 --> 00:27:58.170
not my place to judge whether someone is saved

00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:00.390
or not. I mean, that's kind of where I stand

00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:03.269
on that. But as far as salvation, I feel the

00:28:03.269 --> 00:28:06.329
scriptures are very clear of once you are saved,

00:28:06.349 --> 00:28:09.509
you are in the hands of God and who is man to

00:28:09.509 --> 00:28:11.490
try to pull yourself out of the hands of God.

00:28:11.650 --> 00:28:15.289
Oh, and it's like. Once God holds us, nothing

00:28:15.289 --> 00:28:19.690
else can pull us out of that. And so what does

00:28:19.690 --> 00:28:21.890
that mean in that movement? That means, you know,

00:28:21.970 --> 00:28:23.990
just live a life of Christ and tell everybody

00:28:23.990 --> 00:28:27.630
about Jesus. And if you know somebody that's

00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:29.650
kind of working through this, which there's been

00:28:29.650 --> 00:28:32.250
quite a few people that I've met along the ways,

00:28:32.809 --> 00:28:35.529
walk with them, talk with them, you know, tell

00:28:35.529 --> 00:28:38.380
them like, Hey, it's okay. to question. Like,

00:28:38.380 --> 00:28:41.220
I even remember a time in my life, I was 15,

00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.299
I think, and I remember asking my dad, I was

00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:45.480
like, dad, how do I know that Christianity is

00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:47.000
the true religion? I mean, because we've got

00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:50.259
Islam, right? We've got Mormonism, we've got

00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:53.339
Hinduism, we've got all these different isms

00:28:53.339 --> 00:28:55.200
out there, all of these different religions.

00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:57.619
It's like, and how do I know that Christianity

00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:00.220
is the one? And my dad, instead of going, because

00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:03.579
Christianity is the one, my dad was like, well,

00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:05.779
hey, let's look at Islam. Let's dig into Islam

00:29:05.779 --> 00:29:08.279
and let's see. what you think on that. And through

00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:10.119
digging into the even like studying of these

00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:12.000
other religions, I was like, well, yeah, that

00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:13.900
one's totally messed up. Well, that one's totally

00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:15.920
messed up. Well, that one's weird. What's Nirvana?

00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:18.720
You know what I mean? It's like, it's almost

00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.720
the idea and the process that needs to take place,

00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.519
which is so many times you hear a lot of people

00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:29.339
just being like, no, no, if you look into Islam,

00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.920
you're going to become a Muslim. It's okay to

00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:34.539
study what other people think. There's nothing

00:29:34.539 --> 00:29:36.079
wrong with studying what other people think.

00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.660
It helps us better understand them. I mean, I've

00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:40.779
got a good friend of mine that's currently in

00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:43.319
Tanzania. He's in Tanzania and he's ministering

00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:45.339
to Muslims. And he's told me, he's like, Dustin,

00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.200
I've read the Quran two or three times. Is he

00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:49.880
a Christian? Yes, he's a Christian. Absolutely.

00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:52.240
I believe that. And he talks to people and he's

00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:54.859
like, I read it so I can understand where they're

00:29:54.859 --> 00:29:57.640
coming from. So I can better say, Hey, this is

00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:00.859
the true Jesus. So it's just, there's, there's

00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:04.019
nothing wrong with digging into. But the problem

00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:07.500
is, is what you let guide you when you dig into

00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:09.980
these things. Because if you let TikTok, if you

00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:12.200
let the world, if you let Instagram guide you

00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:14.440
and you let, you know, random influencers be

00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:16.220
like, oh, I deconstruct it. If you let those

00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:18.960
people guide you, you're going to be led astray

00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:21.619
because it's not God, it's not scripture. And

00:30:21.619 --> 00:30:22.940
even though the Bible talks about like, test

00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:24.799
these things, you know, it says like, test the

00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.400
scriptures, right? I mean, even if you're listening

00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:28.859
something to the day and you're like, man, doesn't

00:30:28.859 --> 00:30:31.099
screw it up on that, man, test it. I may have.

00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:33.619
You know what I mean? This is just a really stupid

00:30:33.619 --> 00:30:35.680
example. And I don't even know why I'm bringing

00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.259
this up, but have you seen the show Young Sheldon?

00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:41.400
A little bit, yes. So there's this episode where

00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:43.700
Sheldon is going through all the different religions

00:30:43.700 --> 00:30:48.180
and he's testing all them out and his mom kind

00:30:48.180 --> 00:30:50.299
of chimes in and she's like, nope, you're Baptist.

00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:53.680
And that's the only true religion. And so what

00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.220
you were just talking about just now, that specific

00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:58.500
scene just popped in my head out of nowhere.

00:30:59.149 --> 00:31:01.650
Baptists are real bad with fire and brimstone

00:31:01.650 --> 00:31:03.930
gospel. If you don't repent today, you're going

00:31:03.930 --> 00:31:06.450
to go to hell. That's something that was preached

00:31:06.450 --> 00:31:09.329
so much on them. One of the, there's a ton of

00:31:09.329 --> 00:31:10.970
other different stuff. So I mean, like this is

00:31:10.970 --> 00:31:12.990
getting really into the old nitty gritty. I don't

00:31:12.990 --> 00:31:15.210
know if you've ever, do you ever watch, was it

00:31:15.210 --> 00:31:19.589
Nacho Libre? Oh yeah, I did. My, I love that

00:31:19.589 --> 00:31:21.390
movie. One of my favorite things you say is like,

00:31:21.509 --> 00:31:24.980
it's time to get into the nitty gritty. One of

00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.039
the big things that's happening right now and

00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.119
like theological seminaries, especially like

00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:31.500
Baptist theological seminaries is this big giant

00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:34.480
debate of like Calvinism and reformed theology.

00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.200
And there are, there's merits to that. There's

00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:39.180
also demerits to that just with anything, but

00:31:39.180 --> 00:31:42.119
it's like, this is one of the things that's today.

00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:44.059
It's like, we're having to wade through this

00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:47.220
stuff of, well, what's the deal about Calvinism

00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:49.579
and why is Calvinism being taught so prevalent

00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:51.960
in like Baptist theological seminaries? And it's

00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:53.880
like. Well, maybe because there's a couple little

00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:56.200
things that are skewed now that don't seem big

00:31:56.200 --> 00:31:59.440
now, but in like 60 years, you could be looking

00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:02.420
at this theology where, where ultimately it's

00:32:02.420 --> 00:32:04.099
grown and grown and elevated and gotten different.

00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:05.700
And you're like, man, that one's kind of messed

00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:08.299
up because one of the, one of the things with

00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:10.980
Calvinism has always gotten me is the idea of,

00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:13.579
you know, God only died for the elect. So Jesus

00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:15.880
only died for those who are going to be saved.

00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:18.960
It says that for God so loved the world that

00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:20.759
he gave his only begotten son. It doesn't say

00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:22.579
that for God so loved the people that are going

00:32:22.579 --> 00:32:26.420
to be saved. No, Jesus died for all of us. Not

00:32:26.420 --> 00:32:28.819
just those who were going to accept his salvation,

00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:32.019
but Jesus died for everybody. And so it's like

00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:35.740
a small little, is that a big issue today? No,

00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:38.160
not necessarily. Could that be a big issue in

00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:42.910
a hundred years? Absolutely. And so it's. It's

00:32:42.910 --> 00:32:44.750
just little stuff like that, trying to think

00:32:44.750 --> 00:32:46.869
of and trying to look at and trying to discuss.

00:32:46.910 --> 00:32:48.910
And I know if, you know, I were talking to a

00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:50.930
Reformed theologian, they would rebuttal me on

00:32:50.930 --> 00:32:53.710
some of that stuff, which is fine. I love having

00:32:53.710 --> 00:32:56.569
conversations with people about theology. But

00:32:56.569 --> 00:32:59.849
there's so many just little things that maybe

00:32:59.849 --> 00:33:03.630
aren't necessarily bad theology today, but causes

00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:07.349
us to pause and go, well, what does that mean?

00:33:07.609 --> 00:33:09.990
When you take it all the way out to where it

00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.930
should go, ultimately, how does that look? And

00:33:12.930 --> 00:33:14.970
that's like where you get, especially, I mean,

00:33:14.970 --> 00:33:17.289
I'm dogging Baptists because I'm Baptist. I can

00:33:17.289 --> 00:33:20.490
do that. Right. In some ways we need to stop

00:33:20.490 --> 00:33:25.109
looking at the denomination and being like, why,

00:33:25.609 --> 00:33:27.589
why are we dog in the Methodist church or why

00:33:27.589 --> 00:33:30.150
do we dog like the church of God for speaking

00:33:30.150 --> 00:33:32.789
in tongues? It's like, maybe we should stop looking

00:33:32.789 --> 00:33:35.250
at those things. We start looking at their theological

00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:38.339
things. We're all those who follow Christ. And

00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:43.059
so if these top tier things are the same, then

00:33:43.059 --> 00:33:45.279
we're where we need to be. If our second tier

00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.539
things are a little different or our third tier,

00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:49.200
cause I'm gonna even go down to third tier, which

00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:51.839
is like the really like off the wall things is

00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:54.960
like, why did Paul tell women to cover their

00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:56.880
heads? I was like, that's definitely a third

00:33:56.880 --> 00:34:00.099
tier thing. We can debate about that all day

00:34:00.099 --> 00:34:02.319
long. And does it really matter if a woman wears

00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:04.900
a hat or not in the sanctuary? Absolutely not.

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:07.559
Does it have anything bearing on salvation? No.

00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:10.440
But it's like we can kind of come down these

00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.340
rungs and we need to remember that we need to

00:34:13.340 --> 00:34:16.719
make sure these first tier things are the important

00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:20.639
and not worry about the rest. Here's a hot take.

00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:23.820
I don't think when Jesus died on the cross, he

00:34:23.820 --> 00:34:26.489
had any intentions of different. denominations

00:34:26.489 --> 00:34:29.889
he just said go and make disciples so the different

00:34:29.889 --> 00:34:32.469
denominations was our own understanding of his

00:34:32.469 --> 00:34:34.949
teachings and somewhere in history along the

00:34:34.949 --> 00:34:37.710
line that got skewed so the core belief the bottom

00:34:37.710 --> 00:34:40.809
line of Christianity the important thing that

00:34:40.809 --> 00:34:43.949
you need to know is that Jesus died on the cross

00:34:43.949 --> 00:34:46.789
rose from the dead three days later and that

00:34:46.789 --> 00:34:49.429
should be at the center of what you believe and

00:34:49.429 --> 00:34:52.750
let that shape your theology Let that truth anchor

00:34:52.750 --> 00:34:55.489
every moment in every decision from here on out

00:34:55.489 --> 00:34:58.329
Because there's nothing more important than knowing

00:34:58.329 --> 00:35:01.369
your name is written in the book of life So moving

00:35:01.369 --> 00:35:03.789
on from that, what would you say are some red

00:35:03.789 --> 00:35:06.690
flags that you've seen that signal false theology?

00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:11.010
Oh, I mean there's a ton especially if if the

00:35:11.010 --> 00:35:14.130
sentence begins with I and that's one of like

00:35:14.130 --> 00:35:17.239
if the sentence starts with I especially like

00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:20.500
I feel that God was doing like this because really

00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:23.039
in a lot of ways we can have a lot of different

00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:25.280
feelings on scripture. We have a lot of different

00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:27.199
feelings that can interpret different things.

00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:30.460
Like even like I mentioned earlier the idea of

00:35:30.460 --> 00:35:33.820
women wearing hats in church, right? It's I feel

00:35:33.820 --> 00:35:36.780
that women should wear hats in church. How does

00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:38.340
that feeling have anything to do with what the

00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:40.099
scripture says or the context of the scripture?

00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:42.960
You know, and so that's like one of the first

00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:44.739
things that starts out with I, which there's

00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:46.500
absolutely nothing wrong with saying like, well,

00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:50.260
I think this, but then it's almost like the rebuttal.

00:35:50.300 --> 00:35:53.340
You know, it's like, you know, Austin, I think

00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:55.619
that, yada, yada, yada. What do you think on

00:35:55.619 --> 00:35:58.360
that scripture? Because then it opens up a conversation.

00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:00.199
And then all of a sudden, instead of me going

00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:03.980
Austin, I think you should believe this. It's

00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:06.440
what we're all of a sudden having a conversation

00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:08.099
here. Cause there are so many of those little

00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:09.739
things. Like you're absolutely right. Like, I

00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:11.940
mean. like not wearing hats in the sanctuary.

00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:14.139
I mean, that's definitely a rule today. But what's

00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:16.099
really interesting is my pastor preaches in a

00:36:16.099 --> 00:36:18.260
hat on Wednesday nights, like almost all the

00:36:18.260 --> 00:36:21.380
time. And then it's just kind of like, okay,

00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:23.059
so it's like, where, where did that come from?

00:36:23.059 --> 00:36:24.739
Where did that start? But then you kind of start

00:36:24.739 --> 00:36:26.719
the conversation. And one of my favorite things

00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:29.199
to do in all honesty is, and I don't think any

00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:32.139
of these guys listen to my podcast at all, but

00:36:32.139 --> 00:36:34.840
it's a men's breakfast that I go to every Tuesday

00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:39.010
morning. I'm 35 and I clearly am younger by like

00:36:39.010 --> 00:36:41.250
20 years than the youngest guy in this breakfast.

00:36:41.469 --> 00:36:43.530
It's a whole bunch of retired men, but you get

00:36:43.530 --> 00:36:45.510
around and they talk about the weather and farming

00:36:45.510 --> 00:36:48.269
and just stuff. But then we talk about theology

00:36:48.269 --> 00:36:50.449
from time to time. And it's, and one of my favorite

00:36:50.449 --> 00:36:53.130
things to ask is I asked like six, seven months

00:36:53.130 --> 00:36:55.329
ago, this is this one gentleman was going on.

00:36:55.349 --> 00:36:58.250
I was like, why can't we dance in a Baptist church?

00:36:58.889 --> 00:37:01.190
Like, what's the issue there? And then he goes,

00:37:01.369 --> 00:37:04.739
well, you know, my parents and I'm like, You

00:37:04.739 --> 00:37:06.820
see, instead of basing it on scripture, when

00:37:06.820 --> 00:37:09.119
you ask these questions that are kind of pushbacks

00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:11.599
against maybe what they just said, you know,

00:37:11.619 --> 00:37:13.320
cause I think that's exactly how that started.

00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:15.780
He goes, well, I believe that we shouldn't dance

00:37:15.780 --> 00:37:19.139
in the Baptist church. You know, it's like, well,

00:37:19.179 --> 00:37:22.719
why is that? And then if his or her first response

00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:25.389
isn't. Well, the Bible talks about this passage

00:37:25.389 --> 00:37:27.110
because even at that point, you're like, okay,

00:37:27.210 --> 00:37:28.730
well, let's take a look at that passage. And

00:37:28.730 --> 00:37:32.110
I mean, even being open to maybe Dustin's interpreted

00:37:32.110 --> 00:37:35.110
it wrong this whole time or so and so, or, you

00:37:35.110 --> 00:37:38.460
know, it's even kind of the idea of Most of these

00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:40.679
red flags, especially with false theology now

00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:42.519
It's gonna have you're gonna have like some people

00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:44.059
that are blatantly gonna sit there and they're

00:37:44.059 --> 00:37:45.860
gonna preach false theology And they're just

00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:47.860
gonna not be able to open that discussion But

00:37:47.860 --> 00:37:50.860
so many times especially within the church or

00:37:50.860 --> 00:37:53.239
then people we know false theology is spread

00:37:53.239 --> 00:37:55.980
through I don't say ignorance, but you know different

00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:58.340
thoughts of the past and so it's like opening

00:37:58.340 --> 00:38:00.659
that conversation up with these people just to

00:38:00.659 --> 00:38:03.929
be like Why is this issue? What's the issue there?

00:38:04.010 --> 00:38:05.929
What is it? He's like, what does the Greek say?

00:38:06.090 --> 00:38:08.110
Now that translation of that word's weird. Let's

00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:10.329
look at that in the Greek. Most of the red flags

00:38:10.329 --> 00:38:12.349
you're going to encounter aren't going to be

00:38:12.349 --> 00:38:14.929
that screaming person on the sidewalk saying

00:38:14.929 --> 00:38:18.269
that Jesus didn't die for anybody's sins. Jesus

00:38:18.269 --> 00:38:21.030
was just a prophet. I don't know the last time

00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:23.760
you went to San Antonio, Austin, but... You go

00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:26.400
to San Antonio and you go to my favorite thing

00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:29.039
to do. So just listen, because I'm a weird person,

00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:31.539
but I would just sit out right outside the Alamo

00:38:31.539 --> 00:38:33.820
and San Antonio. There's always a street preacher

00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:36.519
there. There's always one. And most of them are

00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:38.579
heavy fire and brimstone. And sometimes it's

00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:40.840
like horrible bad. And me and my dad, because

00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:43.639
I won't lie, I make snide remarks a lot. And

00:38:43.639 --> 00:38:45.800
my dad does too. We would just sit there and

00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:47.280
then I would turn to my dad and be like, you

00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:50.210
know, dad. I didn't know I wasn't saved until

00:38:50.210 --> 00:38:52.909
today. And it's like, but it's the same kind

00:38:52.909 --> 00:38:55.730
of idea is most of the red flags you're going

00:38:55.730 --> 00:38:58.929
to see start with simple conversations that,

00:38:59.110 --> 00:39:02.730
that start with like I, or I feel, and it's like

00:39:02.730 --> 00:39:05.869
the quick rebuttal to that isn't a you're wrong.

00:39:06.150 --> 00:39:09.010
It's let's ask questions. Let's see why that

00:39:09.010 --> 00:39:11.630
is. And then let's start a discussion and it

00:39:11.630 --> 00:39:15.119
may not happen today. It may be. five years from

00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:16.820
now, they're like, you know, that was a weird,

00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:18.840
I don't know why I really thought that, you know,

00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:21.940
and it's, it's all through relationships with

00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:24.960
people. So we've talked about what theology is,

00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:27.820
why it matters and how to spot what's false,

00:39:28.300 --> 00:39:31.539
but let's not talk about what we do when we recognize

00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:33.860
something false being Todd, because calling something

00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:36.880
out is one thing, but how do we actually defend

00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.380
the faith in a way that's truthful and loving?

00:39:40.070 --> 00:39:42.010
And kind of talking about here hitting on a thing

00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:44.230
called apologetics, which is a big church word,

00:39:45.150 --> 00:39:48.110
which we talked earlier, do this thing on our,

00:39:48.110 --> 00:39:50.289
on my podcast called hillbilly hermeneutics,

00:39:50.789 --> 00:39:53.269
which I think is really funny because a hillbilly

00:39:53.269 --> 00:39:55.110
is not going to know anything about big fancy

00:39:55.110 --> 00:39:58.309
church words. Apologetics is just basically mean

00:39:58.309 --> 00:40:02.070
the defense of one's faith. And so And it looks

00:40:02.070 --> 00:40:04.789
different between different things. And so an

00:40:04.789 --> 00:40:06.750
apologetic, except against somebody who clearly

00:40:06.750 --> 00:40:09.050
and fully believes with all their heart that

00:40:09.050 --> 00:40:11.630
God was just a man or Jesus was just a man or

00:40:11.630 --> 00:40:13.409
Christianity is just a construct. I mean, one

00:40:13.409 --> 00:40:15.250
of my favorite big ones that they talk about

00:40:15.250 --> 00:40:17.250
the whole idea that Jesus dying on the cross

00:40:17.250 --> 00:40:19.570
and raising again was a mass hallucination brought

00:40:19.570 --> 00:40:21.929
on by drugs. It was somebody burning an opium

00:40:21.929 --> 00:40:24.269
field near Jerusalem that day. Like, is that

00:40:24.269 --> 00:40:26.050
what happened? But it's like people believe and

00:40:26.050 --> 00:40:28.010
think this and the way you go about fighting

00:40:28.010 --> 00:40:29.989
and defending your faith against somebody with

00:40:29.989 --> 00:40:32.769
that hard core of a belief is totally different

00:40:32.769 --> 00:40:34.610
than the way you go about defending your faith.

00:40:34.789 --> 00:40:37.269
Because like with them, it really comes down

00:40:37.269 --> 00:40:39.630
to the idea of, well, this is what the scripture

00:40:39.630 --> 00:40:41.969
says. This is what I believe. You may not believe

00:40:41.969 --> 00:40:43.690
what I believe, but at some point when you'd

00:40:43.690 --> 00:40:46.329
either walk away and go, we're not going to get

00:40:46.329 --> 00:40:48.349
mad and frustrated and irritated with each other.

00:40:48.849 --> 00:40:51.050
But at the same time, if you encounter somebody

00:40:51.050 --> 00:40:52.849
who's just got a little bit of a different, to

00:40:52.849 --> 00:40:55.849
me, apologetics comes back to asking questions.

00:40:56.110 --> 00:40:59.210
seeing why they believe. But then also one of

00:40:59.210 --> 00:41:01.429
the big things with apologetics for me is a lot

00:41:01.429 --> 00:41:03.650
of people are like, I've seen it where they carry

00:41:03.650 --> 00:41:05.690
like some scriptures and stuff in their wallet,

00:41:05.769 --> 00:41:08.030
which I think is a good idea. But I also think

00:41:08.030 --> 00:41:11.530
memorizing scripture, which I'm terrible at.

00:41:11.769 --> 00:41:13.210
And I know I say this all the time, like, Hey,

00:41:13.269 --> 00:41:15.269
we should memorize scripture. And the worst one

00:41:15.269 --> 00:41:17.630
for me is like, I have a ton of scripture memorized,

00:41:17.650 --> 00:41:21.230
but I have no idea where it's at. I may say a

00:41:21.230 --> 00:41:23.260
quote or something like that. But it's like,

00:41:23.400 --> 00:41:25.440
I remember even having a conversation with a

00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:28.320
guy. I was probably three or four weeks ago now.

00:41:28.579 --> 00:41:30.260
And it started off talking about camp. I mean,

00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:31.960
he was asking me what I did for a living. And

00:41:31.960 --> 00:41:33.599
I was like, well, I'm in camp ministry. Other

00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:35.440
than that, I work as a carpenter. You know, I

00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:36.900
was like, what's camp ministry? And so I started

00:41:36.900 --> 00:41:38.860
talking to him. Well, I mean, it's just, it's

00:41:38.860 --> 00:41:40.599
sending kids and he goes, I don't think kids

00:41:40.599 --> 00:41:43.699
need to be indoctrinated into, you know, the

00:41:43.699 --> 00:41:45.139
Christian. They should be able to have a free

00:41:45.139 --> 00:41:48.369
choice. And I'm like, Well, they do. That's what

00:41:48.369 --> 00:41:50.369
we're doing. And I remember at that point, God

00:41:50.369 --> 00:41:52.849
put this scripture on my mind. I had no idea

00:41:52.849 --> 00:41:54.829
what it was. I said, well, hey, you know, it's

00:41:54.829 --> 00:41:58.449
the idea of when we memorize these things, in

00:41:58.449 --> 00:42:00.489
these moments, instead of going like, hold on,

00:42:00.570 --> 00:42:02.409
buddy, let me grab my wallet and let me pull

00:42:02.409 --> 00:42:04.349
out my Bible and let me tell you the scripture.

00:42:05.010 --> 00:42:08.429
Then it's like, as they're locked away in here

00:42:08.429 --> 00:42:10.590
somewhere, the Holy Spirit does an excellent

00:42:10.590 --> 00:42:12.809
job of going, hey, remember that thing you memorized

00:42:12.809 --> 00:42:14.409
six years ago that you haven't thought about

00:42:14.409 --> 00:42:16.099
at all? You're going to think about it today

00:42:16.099 --> 00:42:19.019
because you need it today. It's allowing the

00:42:19.019 --> 00:42:20.840
Holy Spirit to help you through these conversations.

00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:23.599
But then we always need to realize that we do

00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:26.239
these things in a loving way because our ultimate

00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:28.619
goal as Christians is to know Jesus, serve him

00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:30.980
and spread the gospel. And so how are we going

00:42:30.980 --> 00:42:33.780
to spread the gospel? If that guy is just mad

00:42:33.780 --> 00:42:36.460
at me for telling kids about Jesus and he's going

00:42:36.460 --> 00:42:38.900
to walk away and he goes, that guy is just a

00:42:38.900 --> 00:42:40.539
hypocrite. I remember talking to him in the coffee

00:42:40.539 --> 00:42:43.760
shop. We just still discuss and it's like one

00:42:43.760 --> 00:42:46.360
of my favorite things is I've got a friend that

00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:48.239
I talked to in the coffee show we have that thing

00:42:48.239 --> 00:42:50.519
on Tuesday mornings and I always stay a little

00:42:50.519 --> 00:42:53.159
after and I talked to this guy he is like a philosophy

00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:57.280
major and so it's like He can slam Christianity

00:42:57.280 --> 00:43:01.199
all day long, but I still talk to him. I still

00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:04.219
discuss things I still rebuttal some of his points,

00:43:04.219 --> 00:43:08.019
but it's like I don't go you are wrong. This

00:43:08.019 --> 00:43:12.070
is right. It's like apologetics When we think

00:43:12.070 --> 00:43:14.230
of defense of the faith is we think of many throw

00:43:14.230 --> 00:43:15.949
up the shield and when you throw up the shield

00:43:15.949 --> 00:43:18.010
when you're defending your faith, are you going

00:43:18.010 --> 00:43:20.409
to take some hits? Yes, that's what the shield

00:43:20.409 --> 00:43:23.389
is for. The shield is to block the sword, the

00:43:23.389 --> 00:43:25.670
arrows, all that kind of stuff. But at the same

00:43:25.670 --> 00:43:27.909
time, does that mean our sword is just to like

00:43:27.909 --> 00:43:31.210
cut him down? At some point we would like to

00:43:31.210 --> 00:43:33.190
hand him the shield of faith and the sword of

00:43:33.190 --> 00:43:35.250
the spirit, right? And say like, Hey buddy, this

00:43:35.250 --> 00:43:37.710
is what Christianity is. And so it means like

00:43:37.710 --> 00:43:41.440
when we defend our faith, Our ultimate goal also

00:43:41.440 --> 00:43:44.679
needs to be to help them understand our faith.

00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:47.460
And to me that always comes through like relationships

00:43:47.460 --> 00:43:51.519
and questions. And I won't lie because this one

00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:54.380
guy, I've had to read some philosophy so I could

00:43:54.380 --> 00:43:56.119
like kind of really figure out like, why does

00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:58.380
he think that way? And it's worked really well

00:43:58.380 --> 00:44:00.440
cause he'll say something and I'll quote something.

00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:02.119
I remember talking to him when I was like six,

00:44:02.219 --> 00:44:04.739
seven months ago and I quoted something and he

00:44:04.739 --> 00:44:06.980
goes, That's Aristotle. I'm like, yeah, I read

00:44:06.980 --> 00:44:09.800
it a couple of weeks ago, but it was like a quote

00:44:09.800 --> 00:44:12.159
that led into a biblical point. And it's like,

00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:14.739
so my defense of my faith right there, it started

00:44:14.739 --> 00:44:18.579
with relating to him and where he was. And then

00:44:18.579 --> 00:44:22.420
it moved into, but this is why I believe what

00:44:22.420 --> 00:44:24.719
I believe. Yeah, for sure. And here's the thing.

00:44:25.119 --> 00:44:27.900
False theology often sneaks through confusion,

00:44:28.139 --> 00:44:30.980
emotion, and cultural pressure. And when we can

00:44:30.980 --> 00:44:33.380
lovingly, clearly say, here's what the Bible

00:44:33.380 --> 00:44:37.050
actually teaches. It helps others step out of

00:44:37.050 --> 00:44:40.250
the deception and into truth. Now what would

00:44:40.250 --> 00:44:43.289
you say to the person who feels unequipped? Like

00:44:43.289 --> 00:44:45.570
maybe they want to defend their faith, but maybe

00:44:45.570 --> 00:44:47.969
they don't quite feel smart enough, or they're

00:44:47.969 --> 00:44:50.869
afraid they'll say the wrong thing. Join the

00:44:50.869 --> 00:44:54.639
club, buddy. You always hear these little tropes

00:44:54.639 --> 00:44:57.480
and stuff like that, but to me, a simple quiet

00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:00.659
time in the morning where maybe you read a couple

00:45:00.659 --> 00:45:03.820
of passages and you just pray intentional prayers,

00:45:04.039 --> 00:45:07.079
being intentional with God. It's being intentional

00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:09.260
with what we ask for. That's being intentional

00:45:09.260 --> 00:45:11.579
with our time. And it doesn't have to be a ton.

00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:14.519
And I'll be the first one to say mornings are

00:45:14.519 --> 00:45:17.059
not the best time for my quiet time, but I've

00:45:17.059 --> 00:45:19.019
heard people say, I think it was Martin Luther

00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:21.340
King was like, I always start out the first hour

00:45:21.340 --> 00:45:23.739
of my day focusing on God and like, good job,

00:45:23.940 --> 00:45:26.820
man. That's awesome. Because man, sometimes I

00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:28.699
wake up and I'm like, I ought to be at work in

00:45:28.699 --> 00:45:30.880
eight minutes. It doesn't necessarily have to

00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.480
be first thing in the morning, you get out of

00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:33.980
your bed, you open your Bible and you go sit

00:45:33.980 --> 00:45:36.079
in your quiet space and you just read. Sometimes

00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:38.059
your quiet time can be before you go to bed at

00:45:38.059 --> 00:45:40.059
night. Sometimes your quiet time can be during

00:45:40.059 --> 00:45:43.840
your lunch break, but it's making sure that you

00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:46.739
focus on a time because if we don't study God's

00:45:46.739 --> 00:45:49.480
word, then we don't know God's word. And if we

00:45:49.480 --> 00:45:52.000
don't know God's word, when those times come,

00:45:52.269 --> 00:45:54.769
It feels like we flounder. Now, the Holy Spirit

00:45:54.769 --> 00:45:56.650
is an awesome thing. And there's been a ton of

00:45:56.650 --> 00:45:58.650
times where I've talked to people and said things

00:45:58.650 --> 00:46:01.250
and I've stepped back and gone, man, God, you

00:46:01.250 --> 00:46:04.150
took it there because that was not Dustin at

00:46:04.150 --> 00:46:07.389
all. You know, man. And I'm not even sure like

00:46:07.389 --> 00:46:09.710
where that came from. And so it's even leaning

00:46:09.710 --> 00:46:12.309
on the Holy Spirit in those moments. And sometimes

00:46:12.309 --> 00:46:16.110
that same thing is silence. Sometimes it's just

00:46:16.110 --> 00:46:18.329
admitting going, Hey, man, I don't know the answer

00:46:18.329 --> 00:46:21.239
to that, but let me have your phone number. And

00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:22.539
I'm going to do some digging in the next couple

00:46:22.539 --> 00:46:24.059
of weeks and I'll show you a text message and

00:46:24.059 --> 00:46:26.139
I'll tell you what I think. Or you know what?

00:46:26.139 --> 00:46:27.940
I don't get that one, but hey man, what are you

00:46:27.940 --> 00:46:29.579
doing next Tuesday? You want to go grab some

00:46:29.579 --> 00:46:31.679
coffee and I'm going to dig into this and I'm

00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:33.199
going to look into this. And when we get coffee,

00:46:33.219 --> 00:46:35.599
we can discuss that because that kind of brings

00:46:35.599 --> 00:46:37.719
in what I was saying earlier. When you start

00:46:37.719 --> 00:46:39.980
to kind of think about these ideas, especially

00:46:39.980 --> 00:46:42.440
discussing them with other people, it's making

00:46:42.440 --> 00:46:45.239
sure that you focus on the relationships between

00:46:45.239 --> 00:46:47.320
the people. Oh, and it's like when we defend

00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:49.579
our faith, when we talk about these things, sometimes

00:46:49.579 --> 00:46:52.360
we have to focus on other things. It's making

00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:55.579
sure that the scripture is ultimately just buried

00:46:55.579 --> 00:46:57.420
within our minds. One of the things I think I

00:46:57.420 --> 00:46:58.960
was talking about a couple of minutes ago was

00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:01.079
the idea of the Holy Spirit speaking through

00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:02.960
us. I'll be honest, there's been times where

00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:05.940
I've gotten up to preach a sermon and as I'm

00:47:05.940 --> 00:47:07.559
preaching through the sermon, like a point will

00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:09.780
come up that I didn't even prepare for. And those

00:47:09.780 --> 00:47:11.599
moments, it's like, sometimes you got to lean

00:47:11.599 --> 00:47:13.440
on that. And I'll be honest, some of those things

00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:16.219
are scary, especially in conversation. I was

00:47:16.219 --> 00:47:18.599
talking about my friend earlier, you know, that

00:47:18.599 --> 00:47:21.300
I get coffee with every once in a while. I remember

00:47:21.300 --> 00:47:23.280
having one of those moments with him where he

00:47:23.280 --> 00:47:25.940
was going on about some kind of philosophy and

00:47:25.940 --> 00:47:27.800
just like the nature of humans and stuff like

00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:29.800
that. And I was like, Ooh, ooh, nature of humans.

00:47:29.800 --> 00:47:31.800
Like this is a good one because the Bible talks

00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:34.300
a lot about the sinful nature and kind of where

00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:36.460
we are as human beings. In the midst of that

00:47:36.460 --> 00:47:38.699
conversation, I remember like almost just like

00:47:38.699 --> 00:47:40.980
this being light bulb come up where I was about

00:47:40.980 --> 00:47:42.800
to take it and start talking about the sinful

00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:44.420
nature. And then all of a sudden it was like,

00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:46.119
no, Dustin, you're not going to talk about the

00:47:46.119 --> 00:47:47.900
sinful nature here. You know, we're going to

00:47:47.900 --> 00:47:49.480
talk about, you're going to talk about like the

00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:52.480
fall of Satan. And I'm like, that's weird. Why

00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:55.000
would I talk about that at this point? God, what

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:58.150
are you doing here, buddy? And I remember sitting

00:47:58.150 --> 00:47:59.710
there, okay, okay, all right, God, I'm going

00:47:59.710 --> 00:48:01.889
to follow this. I'm going to follow you here.

00:48:01.909 --> 00:48:03.869
And I started talking about like in the garden

00:48:03.869 --> 00:48:05.590
and what it talks about the serpent deceived

00:48:05.590 --> 00:48:08.389
Eve. And then I started talking about just how

00:48:08.389 --> 00:48:10.289
Satan tempted Jesus and like different ideas

00:48:10.289 --> 00:48:12.989
of Satan. And he stops at one point. And I remember

00:48:12.989 --> 00:48:15.130
him just looking straight at me and just going,

00:48:15.389 --> 00:48:18.329
you know, that's just kind of the sinful of man.

00:48:18.349 --> 00:48:20.050
And I'm like, wait a minute, that's what I was

00:48:20.050 --> 00:48:22.710
going to talk about. But you got that through

00:48:22.710 --> 00:48:27.369
me talking about this. It's relying on the Holy

00:48:27.369 --> 00:48:30.789
Spirit to lead us even in everyday conversations.

00:48:31.449 --> 00:48:33.550
Because we think of churchgoers, especially me

00:48:33.550 --> 00:48:35.349
as a pastor, and the Holy Spirit is going to

00:48:35.349 --> 00:48:37.429
speak for me when I teach about the Bible, which

00:48:37.429 --> 00:48:39.010
is true. The Holy Spirit needs to speak when

00:48:39.010 --> 00:48:41.710
you teach about the Bible. But man, the Holy

00:48:41.710 --> 00:48:44.210
Spirit also needs to speak when you're having

00:48:44.210 --> 00:48:47.429
a friendly conversation with somebody that, you

00:48:47.429 --> 00:48:49.030
know, you're just trying to talk to them about

00:48:49.030 --> 00:48:52.050
Jesus. You need to allow that opening for that.

00:48:52.050 --> 00:48:55.239
And I know that's as a Baptist. People get weird

00:48:55.239 --> 00:48:57.059
when you start talking about the Holy Spirit.

00:48:57.320 --> 00:48:59.739
They're like, wait a minute, Dustin, you mean

00:48:59.739 --> 00:49:02.880
I need to let that their Holy Spirit speak through

00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:07.400
me? It's God. Yes. You know, I like how my Baptist

00:49:07.400 --> 00:49:10.239
voice is always like a heavy Southern draw, just

00:49:10.239 --> 00:49:12.639
this habit. You know, Dustin, you want to come

00:49:12.639 --> 00:49:15.340
to my house? You go dove hunting? We could use

00:49:15.340 --> 00:49:18.539
one of my eight shotguns. Yeah. All right. I'll

00:49:18.539 --> 00:49:21.670
come. Okay. So we're not necessarily defending

00:49:21.670 --> 00:49:24.250
the Bible because it's weak. We're defending

00:49:24.250 --> 00:49:27.250
our hearts against deception. And that's what

00:49:27.250 --> 00:49:31.010
we mean by apologetics is there's proof in the

00:49:31.010 --> 00:49:34.329
Bible that everything happened. Everything exists.

00:49:34.650 --> 00:49:36.969
There's even science that backs all that up.

00:49:37.170 --> 00:49:39.150
And when you're listening and wondering where

00:49:39.150 --> 00:49:41.929
to start with apologetics and learning how to

00:49:41.929 --> 00:49:45.210
defend your faith, here are a few great sources

00:49:45.210 --> 00:49:48.420
I recommend. First of all, Mere Christianity

00:49:48.420 --> 00:49:51.340
by C .S. Lewis. It's a fantastic book. Second,

00:49:51.719 --> 00:49:54.260
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I should

00:49:54.260 --> 00:49:56.539
have that one somewhere back there. And finally,

00:49:56.659 --> 00:50:00.019
honestly, just read the Bible. In context goes

00:50:00.019 --> 00:50:02.639
further than most people think. I was listening

00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:04.940
to Caleb on Hillbilly hermeneutics the other

00:50:04.940 --> 00:50:08.579
day about Philippians 413. And for those that

00:50:08.579 --> 00:50:11.699
don't know what Hillbilly hermeneutics is, would

00:50:11.699 --> 00:50:14.800
you be able to... Tell them what it is. So he'll

00:50:14.800 --> 00:50:17.059
belly hermeneutics. It's it's a fun thing. I

00:50:17.059 --> 00:50:18.659
won't lie me and Caleb We're just sitting around

00:50:18.659 --> 00:50:21.639
drinking coffee one morning and and we were talking

00:50:21.639 --> 00:50:23.500
about different stuff for our podcast And so

00:50:23.500 --> 00:50:26.219
we have like a main episode drops on Wednesdays

00:50:26.219 --> 00:50:27.760
and that's normally where we interview somebody

00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:29.639
or we talk about different theologies we talk

00:50:29.639 --> 00:50:31.739
about some of our weirder stuff and then he's

00:50:31.739 --> 00:50:34.960
like what if we did something different on like

00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.219
Fridays? And then I'm like, dude, hillbilly hermeneutics.

00:50:37.380 --> 00:50:39.000
I had this thought and it just sounds weird.

00:50:39.260 --> 00:50:41.500
And he's like, what, what do you mean? Like hermeneutics

00:50:41.500 --> 00:50:44.280
is basically the study of the Bible in context

00:50:44.280 --> 00:50:47.099
from like the original language and just really

00:50:47.099 --> 00:50:50.820
studying scripture to the way it relates to the

00:50:50.820 --> 00:50:52.960
original audience. And I'm like, and do you think

00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:54.860
hillbillies can do hermeneutics too? And then

00:50:54.860 --> 00:50:56.940
he's like, I just got this image of this like

00:50:56.940 --> 00:50:59.619
really old guy on like in a swamp somewhere,

00:50:59.739 --> 00:51:02.340
like in a rocking chair, like. reading the Bible,

00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:04.559
drinking some sweet tea. Why don't, why don't

00:51:04.559 --> 00:51:06.800
we just do that and we just pick scriptures and

00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:09.219
we just kind of break them down from original

00:51:09.219 --> 00:51:12.079
context to today's context, but just do it in

00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:14.539
a simple method because, you know, Austin, you've

00:51:14.539 --> 00:51:16.380
grew up in church. I mean, there's so many words

00:51:16.380 --> 00:51:18.519
out there that they're like sanctification and

00:51:18.519 --> 00:51:20.960
like, what does sanctification mean? What does

00:51:20.960 --> 00:51:23.340
exhortation mean? What does hermeneutics mean?

00:51:23.480 --> 00:51:26.579
What's apologetics? And it's like the average

00:51:26.579 --> 00:51:28.699
person, much as I heard these words all through

00:51:28.699 --> 00:51:31.739
my schooling and growing up. but we can talk

00:51:31.739 --> 00:51:34.360
about these scriptures and we can talk about

00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:37.179
them the way people want to hear them. And it's

00:51:37.179 --> 00:51:41.340
just simple, easy, but not shying away from the

00:51:41.340 --> 00:51:43.599
heart. And it's not shying away from, but man,

00:51:43.679 --> 00:51:46.579
that's something that we can all look at as well.

00:51:46.840 --> 00:51:48.820
We can look at that and be like, well, why is

00:51:48.820 --> 00:51:51.139
that word translated this way? One of my favorite

00:51:51.139 --> 00:51:53.260
Greek words to talk about when you talk about

00:51:53.260 --> 00:51:57.119
like hermeneutics is baptize. Baptize is literally

00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:00.159
what they call a transliteration, which is just

00:52:00.159 --> 00:52:02.760
a fancy word meaning they took the way it sounded

00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:05.360
in Greek and they spelled it out in English.

00:52:05.940 --> 00:52:08.739
In Greek, it's literally Baptismo. And I'm like,

00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:12.500
okay, they took the mo off. Baptize instead of

00:52:12.500 --> 00:52:15.619
the E's, but I baptize. So what does that word

00:52:15.619 --> 00:52:18.019
really mean? Well, there's different translations

00:52:18.019 --> 00:52:20.119
in the word. And so you get into like different

00:52:20.119 --> 00:52:22.699
theologies, like some spots in the New Testament

00:52:22.699 --> 00:52:25.239
talks about baptizing being more of a sprinkle.

00:52:25.800 --> 00:52:28.179
Most of the time it talks about baptizing being

00:52:28.179 --> 00:52:30.280
a full immersion. Hey, does that mean like you

00:52:30.280 --> 00:52:31.619
can start talking about baptisms? Does that mean

00:52:31.619 --> 00:52:33.880
if I'm not fully immersed, I'm not saved? No,

00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:36.159
that means that there's been a conversation over

00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:38.079
this throughout the years, and that's why Baptists

00:52:38.079 --> 00:52:40.199
do full immersion, but that's why Methodists

00:52:40.199 --> 00:52:43.239
sprinkle. But it all comes down to this idea

00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:45.980
of this one word can be translated different

00:52:45.980 --> 00:52:48.380
in different spots. So anyways, the reason I

00:52:48.380 --> 00:52:50.579
brought up hillbilly hermeneutics is because

00:52:50.579 --> 00:52:53.679
context is very important. And unfortunately

00:52:53.679 --> 00:52:58.280
a lot of verses do get taken out of context and

00:52:58.280 --> 00:53:01.159
that creates confusion and just some bad theology

00:53:01.159 --> 00:53:03.960
to non -believers. Because when we rip verses

00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:07.019
out of the context, we turn the gospel into something.

00:53:07.119 --> 00:53:09.400
It was never meant to be like a motivational

00:53:09.400 --> 00:53:12.440
slogan instead of a message of redemption and

00:53:12.440 --> 00:53:16.139
surrender. And remember, the goal of apologetics

00:53:16.139 --> 00:53:20.019
is never to be quote unquote righteous for the

00:53:20.019 --> 00:53:22.820
sake of it. It's to help others encounter the

00:53:22.820 --> 00:53:25.579
real Jesus rooted in truth and love. So Dustin,

00:53:25.599 --> 00:53:28.579
if you could say one thing to someone who feels

00:53:28.579 --> 00:53:31.059
like their faith is being challenged or confused.

00:53:31.340 --> 00:53:34.199
by what they're seeing online. What would you

00:53:34.199 --> 00:53:36.639
say? You said it perfectly a minute ago. You

00:53:36.639 --> 00:53:39.119
said the Bible does not need to defend itself.

00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:44.000
I think it's a way we approach it. If you feel

00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:46.780
like your faith is being challenged, then maybe

00:53:46.780 --> 00:53:49.699
stop, take a look at the person who's challenging

00:53:49.699 --> 00:53:52.920
your faith, and maybe try to see where their

00:53:52.920 --> 00:53:55.739
issues are. Because ultimately if somebody is

00:53:55.739 --> 00:53:58.239
challenging your faith, they've most likely had

00:53:58.239 --> 00:54:01.179
an encounter sometime in the past with that.

00:54:01.150 --> 00:54:06.070
issue with that problem and Maybe they're challenging

00:54:06.070 --> 00:54:08.309
your faith out of anger. Maybe they're challenging

00:54:08.309 --> 00:54:10.869
your faith out of frustration Maybe they're challenging

00:54:10.869 --> 00:54:13.909
your faith just on ignorance But one of the big

00:54:13.909 --> 00:54:16.349
things when we talk about apologetics is sometimes

00:54:16.349 --> 00:54:19.110
we forget the human element I mean, you're absolutely

00:54:19.110 --> 00:54:21.429
right the Bible can fight for itself and it can

00:54:21.429 --> 00:54:24.210
do it really good without you even saying a word

00:54:24.210 --> 00:54:27.730
But most of the time the reason the Bible is

00:54:27.730 --> 00:54:29.829
being challenged is because somebody else has

00:54:29.829 --> 00:54:32.320
been hurt by a church, most likely they have

00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:34.840
not been hurt by the Bible and by scripture itself.

00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:36.900
But they've been hurt by the church, they've

00:54:36.900 --> 00:54:38.980
been hurt by people in the church, they've been

00:54:38.980 --> 00:54:42.400
hurt by a pastor, they've got some hurt somewhere.

00:54:42.659 --> 00:54:46.039
And so for me at least, taking a second, looking

00:54:46.039 --> 00:54:48.679
back at maybe where that hurt came from, seeing

00:54:48.679 --> 00:54:50.880
them as a person and being like, you know what,

00:54:51.300 --> 00:54:54.219
I see that pastor hurt you and I am sorry if

00:54:54.219 --> 00:54:56.760
he never responds to you, I'm sorry that he hurt

00:54:56.760 --> 00:55:00.099
you, but you know who didn't hurt you? Jesus.

00:55:01.019 --> 00:55:03.159
You know what I mean? It's pulling back and looking

00:55:03.159 --> 00:55:07.960
at what is the root cause of what they're saying

00:55:07.960 --> 00:55:10.659
to you and how they're saying it. Because there's

00:55:10.659 --> 00:55:12.599
so many Bible verses you could go to to talk

00:55:12.599 --> 00:55:15.019
about, but maybe instead of going to a Bible

00:55:15.019 --> 00:55:17.239
verse that talks about how Jesus is fully divine

00:55:17.239 --> 00:55:19.119
and fully human, and that's why we need to focus

00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:21.880
on Jesus as our savior, maybe the Bible verse

00:55:21.880 --> 00:55:23.900
we need to talk to him about is how Jesus is

00:55:23.900 --> 00:55:26.219
kind and loving and he understands your hurt.

00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:30.619
It's a different approach. to the way a lot of

00:55:30.619 --> 00:55:32.820
people think defending and fighting, because

00:55:32.820 --> 00:55:34.880
when you think of defending your faith, I mean,

00:55:34.920 --> 00:55:37.400
so I need to fight. You know what? You can fight,

00:55:38.019 --> 00:55:40.739
but you can also fight by seeing the person and

00:55:40.739 --> 00:55:43.119
stopping and going, you know what? God loves

00:55:43.119 --> 00:55:46.219
you too, whether you like it or not. Right, because

00:55:46.219 --> 00:55:48.480
at the end of the day, it all comes down to this.

00:55:48.960 --> 00:55:51.659
Where are you yielding your foundation? Are you

00:55:51.659 --> 00:55:54.480
yielding it on the rock, where it's sturdy and

00:55:54.480 --> 00:55:57.269
won't break? or are you building your foundation

00:55:57.269 --> 00:56:00.269
on sand where it'll crumble easily and not stand

00:56:00.269 --> 00:56:03.789
but theology doesn't just stay in your head it

00:56:03.789 --> 00:56:06.409
shapes your entire life it affects your understanding

00:56:06.409 --> 00:56:10.190
of grace it affects your identity are you defined

00:56:10.190 --> 00:56:13.389
by culture your past or what god says about you

00:56:13.389 --> 00:56:17.210
and it affects your salvation are you truly christ

00:56:17.210 --> 00:56:19.730
or are you a version of him that doesn't exist

00:56:19.730 --> 00:56:23.320
and that's why sound doctrine matters Before

00:56:23.320 --> 00:56:25.400
we wrap up, I just want to give a quick thank

00:56:25.400 --> 00:56:28.139
you to Destin for joining us and sharing so much

00:56:28.139 --> 00:56:30.659
wisdom and insight on such an important topic.

00:56:31.239 --> 00:56:33.440
And he's agreed to do several more episodes down

00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:36.019
the road in season two. Thank you for reminding

00:56:36.019 --> 00:56:39.099
us that theology isn't just for scholars. It's

00:56:39.099 --> 00:56:41.539
for every follower of Jesus who wants to know

00:56:41.539 --> 00:56:44.440
him rightly. If this episode challenged you or

00:56:44.440 --> 00:56:47.320
encouraged you, don't keep it to yourself. Share

00:56:47.320 --> 00:56:50.019
it with a friend, a small group, or even the

00:56:50.019 --> 00:56:52.300
one person who's been asking hard questions about

00:56:52.300 --> 00:56:56.480
faith. You never know how God might use it to

00:56:56.480 --> 00:56:59.260
stir up discernment and transformation. Be sure

00:56:59.260 --> 00:57:01.659
to connect with us on the Unfiltered Faith Podcast.

00:57:01.860 --> 00:57:04.480
If you haven't already, hit that follow or subscribe

00:57:04.480 --> 00:57:06.599
button so you don't miss what's coming up next.

00:57:07.139 --> 00:57:09.559
Until next time, keep seeking those fresh perspectives

00:57:09.559 --> 00:57:12.039
and keep having those unfiltered conversations

00:57:12.039 --> 00:57:14.559
with others to better understand the world around

00:57:14.559 --> 00:57:14.900
us.