WWUTT 2145 Q&A Gabe and Beki's Top 10 Favorite Videos

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What do people pretend is in the Bible, but is absolutely not in the Bible? Do you have to go to church to be a

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Christian? What does the Bible say about praying in tongues? Or women pastors? Or how long a sermon should be?

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The answers to these questions and others, when we understand the text. This is

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When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Thank you for telling your friends about our ministry, and be sure to leave a review on whatever podcast service you like to use.

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Here, once again, is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. Ten years.

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Ten. Ten years. Ten years. Of 90 -second what videos. And those have since expanded out into two -minute videos.

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We've got some longer -form videos in there. It actually began with the four -and -a -half -minute videos, but decided there were topics in there that didn't take as long to explain.

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So we did the 90 -second thing. Yeah. And so for this episode, since we're celebrating 10 years, we're going to count down our favorite.

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Our favorite what videos? 90 -second what videos. Yeah, our favorite of the short videos.

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Yes. Yes. But not the shorts. Not what? Oh, yeah, because I have the 10, 15 -second ones in there.

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That's true. So not the short, short ones, but the short ones. The little short ones.

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Yes. The longer, short ones. Longer, short. There we go. That's what we're at.

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Typically— Not to confuse anybody. Typically on the Friday episode, we take questions from the listeners, and you can send those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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We'll get back to those questions maybe next week. Email is the best way to get them to us.

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Are you willing? I take DMs. Sometimes I'll grab a comment under one of the videos. But don't count on him remembering where that's at.

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Exactly. Email's just the safest way. Everything's streamlined in the email. That's right. So here we go.

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We're being a little selfish with this episode, because this one's ours. Just ours. These are our picks.

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So you guys get to know us just a little bit better. Over 400 videos in 10 years.

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Yes. And we had to narrow this down to our 10 favorites. Oh, my goodness. It was so tough.

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And even as we're ranking them, I'm like, eh, eh, just, just, I like them all.

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I like that one better than that one. So this could be an ever -changing list, of course.

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Yes. But this is what today, my favorites were. And as we go through this list, we will be sharing some memories along the way.

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And also remembering the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been given to us.

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Because that was the purpose of this from the very beginning, to find more ways to communicate the truth of God's word, recognizing the lack of biblical literacy, even in the church today.

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And bringing us back to a correct understanding of what the Bible has to say. So each one of those videos comes back to what scripture says, pointing us to Christ, and so here we go.

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All right. This is number 10. Oh, and when we do this, by the way, we're getting the whole family involved.

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So our children are going to count down these videos for us. Yes. And the voices that you hear shouting out each number is going to be from our kids.

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Yes. All right. Shall we get started? Yeah. Here we are. Someone asked this question on social media.

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What do people pretend is in the Bible, but is absolutely not in the Bible? The responses were mostly things that are in the

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Bible. Andre said firsthand accounts. The entire New Testament is firsthand accounts. Second Peter 1 16 says we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

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And John said in John 21 24. He was the author of John. Stuart said an explicit statement that scripture is the word of God.

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Second Timothy 3 16 says all scripture is God breathed. And in John 10 35, Jesus called scripture the word of God.

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Chris said if you don't work, you don't eat. See Second Thessalonians 3 10. Judith said an eye for an eye.

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See Exodus 21 24. Shannon said the meaning of life. See Ecclesiastes 12 13.

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Kermit the Frog said that same -sex sexuality is condemned. See Leviticus 20 13.

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Sam said any claim that there is only one God. Oh, please see Deuteronomy 4 35.

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Isaiah 45 5. And First Timothy 2 5. Lucy said the truth. But Peter said they deliberately overlook this fact.

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That the earth was created by the word of God. And by that same word, it will be destroyed. Only by faith in the truth of Jesus Christ will you be saved.

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Jesus said the one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge. The word that I have spoken in the

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Bible will judge him on the last day. What do people pretend is in the Bible but is absolutely not in the

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Bible? Their own opinion when we understand the text. Now, I remember when

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I did that video. It was like a Saturday or something like that. And it was this comment that was trending on Twitter.

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It was Twitter at the time. Now it's X. Yes. Twix as we like to call it now. Yes. But it was from this guy,

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Guthrie Graves Fitzsimmons. And I can't remember who he is. He's like the president of some humanist league or something like that.

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And so he had this question that was going viral. What do people pretend is in the Bible but is absolutely not in the

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Bible? So I just read through some of the responses. And I made the video out of that. And it was one of those that I didn't really think was going to be that popular.

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Okay. Because I thought most of the responses were going to be, you know, what people were saying on Twitter. That the video wasn't going to be that watched.

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Because sometimes things that happen on Facebook or Twitter don't really translate well to YouTube. Fair enough.

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You know, YouTube is YouTube. That's right. But this turned out to be one of the most popular videos that I've ever done.

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Huh. That was neat. And was one of your favorites. Yes, it was. Because this was one that you picked.

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What did you like about that video? Just how crazy it is that the truths that I can remember and recall that I know were in the

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Bible are the truths that they're saying is. We're not there. We're not there. Yeah. Yeah.

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I know. That was the astonishing thing to me about most of those responses is like, guys, it's right there.

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Yeah. Like, I wouldn't be able to give you a book or anything like that. Chapter and verse.

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Right. Yeah. But at the same time, I'm like, yeah, that's there. That is definitely there. I know it's in there.

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That was just astonishing. And I like to be reminded that the world just doesn't know.

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And it doesn't revolve around me. Well, that might be it.

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My opinion is not in there. Yeah. No joke. It's the word of God, not the word of Gabe.

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That's right. All right. So that was your first pick. This next one. Well, not first pick.

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Well, it's your first on this list. Okay. Number 10. We're alternating. We're going back and forth here. My fifth.

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Your fifth. Right. Because I picked five. You picked five. Right. And we have some extra ones we're going to throw in here, too.

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It's really more than just a top 10. It is. So this is mine.

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This would be my first selection then coming in at number nine. Do I have to go to church to be a

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Christian? Though you may call yourself a

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Christian. If you don't go to church, you're probably going to hell. What? No. Church doesn't save anyone.

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You know, that thing about being in a garage doesn't make you a car. So going to church doesn't make you a Christian.

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Sure. But being a Christian means you're part of the body of Christ. And what is the body of Christ? Ephesians 5 23 says the body of Christ is the church.

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Jesus died on the cross for the sins of his people so they could be reconciled to God. That word reconcile means to accept that which was not previously desired.

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Because of our sin, we did not desire God and he did not desire us in that state. But because he loves us, he sent his son to live and die in our place.

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By faith in Jesus, we're made righteous in the eyes of a holy God. Titus 2 14 says he purified for himself a people for his own possession.

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And in so doing, he reconciled us not only to God, but to God's people. In sin, we're far from God and against one another.

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But in Christ, we're one with his body and members of one another. Christian understand something.

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If you want to be with Christ, you will want to be with his body. To be separate from the body is to be separate from Christ.

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If you don't want to be with his church, it's probably because you're still dead in your sins and you are not saved.

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Hebrews 10 25 says do not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

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So be faithful to the body of Christ when we understand the text. It was our friend

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Nate Pickowitz who said that was the first video that he saw and that made him go, oh, these videos are awesome.

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Yeah. Like he's not willing to pull punches there. Right. Yeah, that's a tough one to swallow too.

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Because I mean, you know, like you can hear the gospel, you can be receptive to it, you can read your

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Bible. But if you're not going to church. Yeah, if you don't want to be part of Christ's bride, you're not part of his body, you're separated from Christ.

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Yeah. And of course, that doesn't mean if you miss a Sunday, suddenly you've lost your faith. Well, of course not. No. As we have in our own confession at our church that, you know, unless providentially hindered.

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Right. We should want to be with the body of Christ. We should we should desire to be with Christ people and praise

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God, building each other up in love, listening to the word preached.

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You can't practice the love one another's without one another. Yeah. I think you had mentioned this weekend about how you can't practice the fruit of the

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Spirit. Because all of it has to do with one another. Yeah, you can't practice the fruit of the Spirit without others to do the fruit of the

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Spirit with. Yeah. Indeed. But again, caveat, that does not mean shut -ins or people who are not physically able to go.

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Right. That doesn't include them. We need to go to them. Right. And as much as it's possible for the church to bring them to us.

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Yes. If you have the means and the ability to do so, and it's not going to, you know, harm the person to try to get them out of bed and bring them to church, then as much as you can accommodate, make sure people can get there.

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So we're celebrating together in baptism and partaking in the Lord's table together.

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And being able to love each other, celebrate with one another, following as said in Romans 12, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep.

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Yes. This next one is your next pick. Yeah. My number four. All right, here we go.

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In 2 Timothy 4 .2, the apostle Paul told Timothy to preach the word, but for how long?

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Obviously, Paul wanted Timothy to preach the scriptures until his dying day, in season and out of season.

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But how long should a pastor preach a sermon? According to Pew Research, the median length of most sermons is 37 minutes.

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Throughout church history, sermons might be shorter to over an hour. The Puritan preachers would preach for hours more.

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In the Old Testament, the people would listen to preaching that would last all day. The book of the law would be read aloud.

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That's the book of Deuteronomy, which takes about three hours to read out loud. Nehemiah 8 .8 says they read from the book, from the law of God clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading.

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That would have taken even longer. In the New Testament, the Sermon on the Mount is the longest written sermon.

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Read aloud, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes. In Luke 4, Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read

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Isaiah 61, 1 and 2. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, sat down and said,

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Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. That would have taken barely 90 seconds.

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In Acts 20, Paul preached so long a young man named Eutychus fell asleep, literally tumbling out a third story window to his death.

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But Paul ran down and brought him back to life. Note to some zealous preachers out there, you can't raise the dead, do not try this at home.

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So how long should a sermon be? Let's say anywhere from a minute to before someone dies when we understand the text.

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Okay, so that was your pick. Yes. The title of that video being, How Long Should a

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Sermon Be? What did you like about that one? It's just clever.

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I enjoyed it very much. There were some puns in there.

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There were a lot. Some visual puns even that you probably wouldn't get unless you watched the video.

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Yes. You actually have to see the images to know some of those puns. Okay, so this next one's my pick.

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And there's some memories behind this one as well. So let's play it and we'll let you know some of the backstory behind this particular video.

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What you're hearing is commonly referred to as speaking in tongues, but it's not. It's just gibberish.

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Nowhere in the Bible are we told to pray like this. In fact, there's not one verse in the Bible that encourages praying in tongues.

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What about the book of Acts? Well, the gift of tongues was given to share the gospel so everyone could hear it in their own language.

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What about 1 Corinthians 14? Well, it's there Paul says, if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

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What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also. He doesn't encourage praying in tongues.

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He's discouraging the practice. But verse 39 says don't forbid speaking in tongues. Right. And the context is to prophesy, not private prayer.

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What is the gift of tongues for? It is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers to hear the gospel spoken in their own language.

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Read every passage on tongues with that understanding. It's not a prayer language and it's especially not incoherent babbling.

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Jesus said, when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the pagans do. Pray then like this, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

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Jesus prayed clear prayers and so should we when we understand the text. Now the backstory behind that video is that when we started, when we understand the text,

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I was still a continuous. Yeah. I still believe that you could be speaking in tongues or that somebody could miraculously heal someone else.

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It was a very, I had a mild charismaticism, but most of the churches that I attended from about, let's see, 1999 to 2009.

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So for those 10 years, I was in mostly charismatic churches. And then when

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I started, when I became a pastor in 2010 and I started when we understand the text, of course, our first videos would have been at the end of 2013.

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And then our first 90 second videos were in 2014. During that period of time, I was still a continuous.

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And it was sometime around 2015 that I became convinced that this is not biblical.

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And it was a friend of mine actually who walked me through first Corinthians because where I started was first Corinthians 14.

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Well, according to this chapter, and he said, no, no, no, you don't have the right understanding of speaking in tongues. If you're starting in chapter 14 and reading out from there, you're not reading the text correctly.

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Yes. And that was a good reminder when we understand the text. He took me through Acts and then through first Corinthians.

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And by the end of that three hour discussion, I was a cessationist. So that was the change that happened in the midst of my own pastoral ministry.

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And then also in the videos that we did for when we understand the text, there was another video in there before that one where I talked about how speaking in tongues was acceptable.

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And then that video was really the announcement, so to speak, that I had changed my views on this. Yeah. So what we call speaking in tongues is not the gibberish or what scripture says speaking in tongues is.

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Yes. It's not speaking gibberish. It is actual human languages. As Christ prayed clear prayers, as we see throughout the

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New Testament that the apostles prayed clear prayers. Yes. Then that's the way we should pray.

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There's really not a reason or an excuse to pray things that neither you understand nor anyone else who is around you.

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You ever prayed in tongues before? I went once with a friend in,

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I think it was in high school. Or believed you had prayed in tongues before. I should probably put it that way. No. So she told me how to, and I was like, this is odd.

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And it was just so uncomfortable. Yeah, like you can force yourself to do it. Yeah. It just didn't, it didn't flow for me.

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And I'm thinking the whole time that I'm speaking something over and over and over again, it never changed.

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So it wasn't like I was speaking a language. It was just repetitive. But in my mind,

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I'm still speaking English and repeating whatever, or not repeating, but saying whatever my prayer is.

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I'm like, why am I doing this extra work? Why not just pray what I want to pray?

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Yeah. So I gave it up very quickly. I think it was all within the span of maybe two minutes.

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Well, it's in the book of James, where it says you do not have because you do not ask. Yeah. Of course, because you've been praying nonsense.

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So that's why. Yeah. That's why the Lord is not giving to you. So yeah, this is not the model of prayer that scripture gives to us, this speaking gibberish.

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Articulate clear prayers. And if you don't know what to pray, pray the scriptures. This next one is one of your picks.

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Yes. There's a great joke in here. I got to give credit where credit is due. So I'm going to say where the joke came from in this particular video.

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Okay, here we go. On the opening day of the 117th

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United States Congress, Representative Emanuel Cleaver got up to pray. And that's when this happened.

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May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us peace, peace in our families, peace across this land.

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And dare I ask, O Lord, peace even in this chamber now and evermore. We ask it in the name of the monotheistic

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God, Brahma and God known by many names, by many different faiths.

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Amen and a woman. Yup. He just said amen and a woman as if amen is a gendered word.

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Amen means so be it. A woman means nothing unless he's singing a Michael Bolton song. And this was a prayer to Brahma, the

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Hindu God, not the true God of the Bible. Romans 121 says, although they knew

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God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

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Hence concluding a prayer with amen and a woman. This is the blasphemous pagan religion of the left who want to force everyone to bow to their sex gods and pay for their child sacrifices.

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They have the audacity to stand before Congress and pray for peace when their hands are full of innocent blood.

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We read in 2 John 1, 9 that everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have

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God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son when we understand the text.

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I'm sure it's the Michael Bolton reference is the reason why the reason why you picked that one.

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And I have to give credit where credit is due. It was actually Anonymous, our friend

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Kevin. Oh yeah. The anonymous cow who made that joke on social media.

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And when I saw him say that, I was like, oh, that's going in a video. That's just too good.

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Well done. Well done. He has the greatest puns too. Oh yes. Maybe we should do like a we should get him on and just have like a pun war sometime.

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Used to be on the the theology driven podcast. Yeah. Which is defunct.

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It doesn't exist anymore. I'm sad about that. That was a great podcast. I enjoyed that one. Yeah. So sometime we'll just get him on here just for fun.

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Yeah. Just for laughs. Now, in light of that video, this is an evergreen instruction here in first Timothy chapter two, where the apostle

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Paul says, first of all, then I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

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This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our savior, who desires all men to be saved.

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To come to the full knowledge of the truth. So be in prayer for our governing officials.

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Amen. This next video is, I guess this one's my pick that we got up next here.

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Yeah. Ah, yes. Okay. I remember this one now. I have to look at my own list. I don't remember what I chose. Bethel Church in Redding, California manipulates audiences by piping in fog through the ventilation system, calling it glory clouds, an actual manifestation of the

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Holy Spirit. It's not. It's a fog machine. They do this with gold dust and feathers, too, saying they're actual angel feathers.

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Todd White goes up to some people on the street and says the Holy Spirit is telling him one of them has back problems. He does this gag with their feet showing one leg is longer than the other.

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Then he prays to God and makes it look like God is growing out their leg to even it with the other one. He's literally pulling their leg.

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These men are lying, manipulative charlatans, but I repeat myself. Yet when you try to call them heretics, they have staunch defenders.

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No, they preach the gospel. They keep the main thing the main thing. Yeah, they really don't. But let's, for the sake of argument, say they did.

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All this with the glory clouds and street magic they call the Holy Spirit. Do you really think

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God is okay with that? How is that not taking his name in vain? These men do not love the truth.

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They oppose it, corrupt magicians who are disqualified regarding the faith. Jesus said that we're to worship

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God in spirit and truth. The Bible says to share the truth in love if it isn't true, it isn't loving.

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Paul said to the Corinthians, we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or tamper with God's word.

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But by the open statement of the truth, we'd commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. There's no question

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Bethel Church, Todd White, and others that do what they do are false teachers. We're to have nothing to do with them when we understand the text.

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And that's a great deal of the new apostolic reformation using those tricks and gimmicks and cons in order to manipulate people, avoid them at all costs.

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Now it was making that particular video that led to a bit of graffiti on Bethel Church's campus.

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Yeah. I'm gonna try to recall this story as best I can because this was seven years ago. It was. So I don't know that I remember.

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Yeah. Apparently there's this big rock on Bethel's campus and I think it's at their school of supernatural ministry, the

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Christian Hogwarts. Yes. It's not really Christian. So the charismatic

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Hogwarts, maybe call it that way. They had this rock where you could write prayers on it or draw prayers or paint prayers.

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So people would inscribe things on this big stone and somebody on this campus, it was either somebody who came out of the ministry or it was somebody who was doing ministry on the

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Bethel campus trying to share the gospel with those who had been manipulated by Bethel's ministry.

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They painted the entire rock with when we understand the text.

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Right. And it had www .tt .com on it. Now my understanding is that they got in trouble for that.

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Yeah. I don't condone doing anything illegal. Don't graffiti what on stuff, at least not illegally.

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You get somebody's permission to put a big mural up of when we understand the text, www .tt .com.

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I'm all in favor of that. That'd be awesome. But don't be breaking the law to do something like that.

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So my understanding is they got in trouble for it and they had to repaint the rock or something like this. But I still,

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I would have wanted to interview the perpetrators and ask like, what would have been wrong with that?

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If the point of the rock is to put on it whatever you want to put on it, then what was wrong with painting the whole thing with www .tt

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.com? I don't know. I don't know the rules of it. So. I was notified of it.

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An email was sent to us and I had a meeting with my elders about it. And we made a decision that we weren't gonna say anything positive or negative about it publicly because we just, we didn't know the details.

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Right. But was still one of those stories. I'm gonna cherish that one. I'm gonna hold onto that one and always remember that video was connected to that.

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Now, something that was done perfectly legally is there was a fellow in the Southeast who had a monster truck.

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Oh yeah. And he put the what logo on his monster truck. Yes. Loved it.

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That was awesome. We got to meet him at one of the G3 conferences. We did. And he showed us a picture of it. That was fantastic.

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It's so cool. Another memory I'm gonna hold onto. Okay. So that so far, what have we gone through?

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We've been through five videos, six videos. Yes. So that's 10 through five.

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We're gonna pause right here before we get to our top two. My top two choices, your top two choices.

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Right. And these are our favorite Christmas videos. Yes. So first of all, your favorite

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Christmas video, and then we'll do mine. Yes. Surely you know a few

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Christmas carols about angels singing. But where in the

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Bible does it say that angels sing? When the angel announced to shepherds that Jesus was born,

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Luke 2, 13 says, and suddenly there appeared with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising

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God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased.

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Notice the angel said, not saying. In fact, there's nowhere in scripture that explicitly says angels sing.

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Isaiah 44, 23 says, sing, oh, heavens, for the Lord has done it. Who else could sing from heaven, but angels, right?

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But when we look at the context, we see that Isaiah was personifying creation. Shout, oh, depths of the earth, break forth into singing, oh, mountains.

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Job 38, seven says that when the foundations of the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.

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That gets the closest to describing angels singing, but still using figurative language. Maybe angels sing and maybe they don't.

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This is really not that big a deal, but we know for sure that we sing. In fact, we are commanded to sing.

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Sing to Yahweh a new song. Psalm 98, one. This is said to the church.

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Address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the

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Lord. Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ to God, even the father in song when we understand the text.

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Now that video happens to be the newest video on this list. Oh yeah?

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Because I did that one just a few months ago. That was this past Christmas season. Oh yeah, that's true. So we have the most recent

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Christmas video and then my pick is going to be the very first Christmas video that we did. I've done over 15

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Christmas videos. Yes. But we both love the Christmas holiday. And so I felt like we needed to make a special place for these are the favorite what

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Christmas videos that we have done. So what else do you like about that video? Whenever we had learned about it, because my story is

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I became a Christian shortly before we met. Because you had just been baptized when

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I met you. Yeah, right. And so just to learn that, you know, all these years

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I learned that angels sing and then come to find out maybe they don't. So it was just eye opening.

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And I really like how creatively it got put together. Yes, this was also the first video in which

29:35

I included AI art. Oh, yeah. I had not messed with AI before this video.

29:41

You finally got it to work for you. Yeah, that's right. Where it did actually work for me. And I messed with it enough to know that I'm not going to keep using it.

29:49

Yeah. I don't really like it that much. But, you know, as it was popular last year, more and more people started to use it.

29:56

So I started to mess with it as well. So some of the art in that video did come from artificial intelligence art developers.

30:03

What do you call them? I don't know. Generators. Yeah, there you go. Those AI art generators. But yeah, it was okay.

30:10

Not something I'm going to continue doing though. Yeah, there was a lot of odd placed things. Oh, man,

30:15

I should do a video sometime of like. You've talked about this. Yeah, let me show you what

30:21

AI comes up with. There's like a ghost in the machine here or something like that. Okay, so this one was my favorite

30:28

Christmas video. And as I said a moment ago, this was the first Christmas video that I did and still remains my favorite one.

30:38

Luke 2 7 says that Mary gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

30:47

This one verse is why we think of Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem at the last minute being turned away by an innkeeper and then giving birth to the savior of the world in a barn.

30:56

But none of that is accurate. Due to the census decree, Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem and verse 6 says while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

31:04

So they'd been there for a while. It wasn't like she arrived in labor pains. Joseph didn't drag his wife from Nazareth nine months pregnant because they went back to the place of their lineage.

31:13

They would have been staying with family. We get the idea that because the inn was full and Mary laid Jesus in a manger, he must have been born in a stable.

31:20

But scripture doesn't say that. The Greek word for inn is kataluma, which also means guest room.

31:26

The same word comes up in Luke 22 11 to describe the upper room where Jesus and his disciples had their last supper.

31:32

A typical dwelling had two levels. The upper room was for dining and sleeping. The lower level for work and fellowship.

31:38

At night, the animals would be brought inside to ensure they wouldn't run away or be stolen. And that's where the manger would have been.

31:44

Mary may have preferred to have her baby downstairs because the guest room was full of people who were there to register for the census.

31:50

But Jesus was born in a home, not in a barn. Now, if that ruins your perspective of Christ's lowly beginnings, it shouldn't.

31:57

Instead of being born in the palace, which would have been visible from Bethlehem, the king of kings was born in a peasant's home in the part where the animals sleep.

32:05

Though he was God, he made himself nothing so that through him, we might have everything when we understand the text.

32:13

Amen. Now, I want to thank Phil Keggy, like the legendary guitarist,

32:20

Phil Keggy, because in both of those videos, the one that you picked and the one I picked right there, that's

32:25

Phil Keggy's music underneath it. Oh, neat. And he gave me permission to use it. Awesome. And so a lot of the

32:32

Christmas videos actually have Phil Keggy's instrumental music is the music beds beneath that narration.

32:39

Awesome. Now, I have had people occasionally ask me, where do I get the music for these videos? Different places.

32:46

There's one example. Some of it comes from Phil Keggy. I've had a few people write tracks for me and I've used the tracks that they came up with.

32:54

I've written some of the songs. A lot of the music beds, especially in the very beginning, like for the first three or four years of doing these videos, they came from my years in radio and I had saved a lot of those music beds on my computer.

33:08

And so use those when I started coming up with the first videos. So they're the kind of tracks that radio stations receive to put underneath their commercials and things like that.

33:17

Yeah. So the typical stock tracks, you know, that kind of thing. Well, there's our

33:23

Christmas list. Our two favorite Christmas videos. Little short, but it's sweet. So we come back to your list here and you picked our number four video.

33:33

This is one of those, like some of the videos that we've done confront those common sayings that Christians say.

33:41

Yes. Maybe don't know where they came from. Some of them probably think they're in the Bible, but they're really not.

33:47

And this is one of those sayings. Cleanliness is next to godliness. What does the

33:52

Bible have to say about that? Cleanliness is next to godliness.

34:01

It's true. Psalm 5110 says, created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.

34:09

James 4, 8 says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded.

34:17

Now the phrase itself, cleanliness is next to godliness, is not in the Bible. One of the earliest appearances of the phrase is from John Wesley, who said, slovenliness is no part of religion.

34:27

Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness. When the Bible talks about cleanliness, it talks about spiritual cleanliness.

34:33

Even the parts where we read about external cleanliness or being clean in the body are meant to be outside examples of being clean in the soul.

34:40

We must be washed from the stain of sin. We must be holy in the eyes of God. And we must be after that holiness.

34:47

But a person who is dirty and sweaty from working outside has not become unholy, nor is a person who has a messy desk or unwashed dishes.

34:55

In Mark 7, the Pharisees criticized Jesus' disciples because they didn't wash their hands before they ate.

35:00

Why do your disciples eat with defiled hands? Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and told the people, there is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him.

35:10

But the things that come out of a person are what defile him. Our hearts are unclean. 1

35:15

John 1, 9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

35:24

That's cleanliness that leads to godliness when we understand the text. I forgot about that video.

35:31

Oh yeah? I like that one too. Yeah? Good pick, babe. Thanks. So what do you like about it?

35:38

I just like the reminder of, you know, he's faithful to cleanse us and having a pure heart should be our focus every day.

35:49

I remember you taking that verse from Psalm 51 and stenciling it in our laundry room of the first house we bought.

35:56

Yes. Created me a clean heart, oh God. That might sound cheesy, but it was such a good reminder every time

36:05

I walked into the laundry room. Yes. Remembering that prayer and what was behind Psalm 51.

36:11

Right. The sins that David committed and yet came before God saying, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.

36:18

Yes. And to put it in the laundry room, sure, it's kind of like tongue in cheek, but at the same time.

36:24

It's a pun. It is punny. But at the same time, it was, you know, usually when I'm getting ready to do laundry,

36:31

I don't have the best attitude. And it was a good reminder.

36:36

That's right. I need to keep my heart in the right place and my focus in the right place.

36:42

And you've always done a good job for me and the kids putting verses around in various places. Yes. To remind us of those things.

36:48

I try. Except when it's on the mirror in the bathroom. Yeah, you never look there. Because according to my wife, I never even look at the mirror in the bathroom.

36:55

He doesn't. I left him a message once that was there for like three days. I'm like, hey, did you ever see this?

37:01

So I can erase it. And he's like, what? No, what? What are you talking about? Yeah, it's all right. I still love you.

37:07

Now, this video is the first video that you've been in.

37:13

Oh, yeah. You've had a few appearances in some what videos? A couple. Like tags at the end or something like that.

37:19

Sure. When we do the top 10 lists, your voice will be in there. But this video here is actually,

37:26

I think if we were to make a top 10 most popular videos, I believe this one's on that list.

37:32

It's like at number two or three even. Has a lot of views. So this was the video that we did confronting the question, can women be pastors?

37:43

And the title of it is, do women have to be silent in church? So the title didn't even have anything to do with women being pastors.

37:53

Right. But I know that's one of the reasons it's been so popular because that tends to be a pretty trendy question.

38:00

So here we go. The number three video. First Timothy 2 .11

38:09

says, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. So according to the Bible, a woman is supposed to sit in church and be quiet, right?

38:16

She's supposed to keep her mouth shut and leave the talking to the men. Yeah. Good luck with that, honey.

38:22

I love you, sweetie. All right. So that's not the meaning of that verse. Rather, it goes with the full instruction that follows.

38:28

I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet.

38:34

The context here is church leadership, which continues on into chapter three. Basically, a woman can't be a pastor or an elder in a church.

38:41

That's no less controversial, but it's what the Bible says. And this instruction is universal to all people in all cultures at all times.

38:48

It's not exclusive to the time period in which the apostle Paul was writing this. How do we know that? Because Paul exercising his authority as an apostle goes all the way back to Adam and Eve with his explanation.

38:58

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

39:04

So because Adam was formed first and because Eve was deceived by the serpent, a woman is prohibited from being an authority in the church.

39:11

She can teach children and she can teach other women and she can lead others to Christ. Priscilla did that for Apollos along with her husband,

39:17

Akilah, but she can't be a pastor. Any church that appoints a woman as a pastor would be in biblical disobedience.

39:23

There are other ways a woman can find godly fulfillment that a man cannot, but the authority in the church is commanded for men to step up and lead.

39:31

Was that a good explanation, love? Yes, very good, sweetheart. Aw, thanks. And that's when we understand the text.

39:40

I don't remember where I got the idea to like, I need to get Becky in on this. Yeah. But there have been some radicals out there that hated that because it made it look like I was submitting to my wife.

39:53

Oh, yeah. In the video, yeah. It's like - They don't know you. You're right. Like, this is just a funny exchange between me and my wife.

40:03

Yeah. Not like I cower under her opinions of - Yes. First Timothy 2 and 3.

40:10

So anyway. Yeah, no. Thanks for participating in that one.

40:15

That indeed is one of my tops. One of my top favorites. That's my second most favorite what video?

40:21

Why is that? Because you're in it. I was wondering. Not just the subject matter, not just the fact that it has 100 ,000 views already.

40:30

You know. But because you're in it. We did it together. We did. And you're pregnant with Aria in those images.

40:36

I was. Yeah. Very much. Yes. Very much pregnant. I was trying to hide behind you in those pictures.

40:44

Yeah, that was the first one I ever put my face in too. And I'm not real crazy about that.

40:50

You're not. No. After I started doing it, I was like, no, I don't really like this.

40:56

Yeah. And then I started doing it again a couple of years ago. Even, you know, did some pretty professional shots.

41:02

I didn't go to a professional photographer, but I just made sure they were high quality shots. And then when I did a few videos that way, and then

41:08

I thought, nah, still don't like this. Yeah. Yep. They're not going to be my thing. Now this, this leads us to our top two favorites.

41:17

Your favorite and my favorite. Drum roll. So here is your number one pick. Your favorite what video?

41:29

The word sin, as it appears in the Bible, comes from the Greek word hamartia or the Hebrew word hatah, which both mean to miss the mark.

41:36

The word was used in archery and spear throwing. When a person missed the center of the target, they erred or hamartia'd.

41:42

So as this applies to sin, we should ask, what is the mark that we are missing? And the answer is the holy, righteous perfection of God.

41:49

When it comes to missing that mark, we're not just veering off a little and barely missing the bullseye. On our way to the range, we took a wrong turn and drove off a cliff.

41:56

We don't come anywhere near the holiness of God. Understanding sin requires more than knowing the definition of a word.

42:02

We must consider how sin is framed in the Bible. It's worse than simply missing a target or making a mistake.

42:08

Sin is treason. It is rebellion against the law of the high king of heaven. And for that, we deserve death.

42:14

Joshua 1 .18 says, whoever rebels against the Lord's commandment and disobeys his words shall be put to death.

42:19

That's sin and its consequence. Romans 6 .23 says, for the wages of sin is death. That verse goes on to say, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our

42:28

Lord. See, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That's everyone. No one on their own merit will stand innocent before the throne of judgment.

42:36

But God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Followers of Jesus are saved from his wrath, no longer enemies of God, but we've been reconciled to God and to his people.

42:47

Now we're fellow heirs of his kingdom from treasonous criminals to fellow heirs. That's the love of God through his son in whom we have the forgiveness of sins when we understand the text.

42:57

All right, babe. What do you like about that video? I'd say that the reminder of, even if you are sinning just a little, you are completely off the mark.

43:08

You're still way off. Way off. By the time you actually get to the target, you completely missed it by then.

43:14

Yes. Now this is an illustration I've used in sermons before of like, you didn't just veer off the target a little bit.

43:21

You were driving in the complete opposite direction and drove off a cliff. Now I've used that before.

43:27

Another pastor friend of mine said it this way. It would be like if you got into a ship and you crossed the

43:32

Pacific Ocean, you went over to Australia and you tried to shoot your arrow to hit a target that you had placed in New York City, that still wouldn't even compare with how far off you are.

43:43

Right, right. And that sin is so terrible. And we just don't think about it being that bad.

43:51

Yeah. At least I don't in my everyday. And I have to remember that it is.

43:56

I am that bad every day, every moment. Yeah, we think we just sin a little bit. Yeah, yep.

44:02

And we make excuses for those sins too. So it's not so bad. Like white lies. Yeah, you know.

44:09

Something just to make the sin a little softer. It's okay if I just put this off for a little bit longer.

44:15

And just to remember that the Lord is so good and gracious to us to give us a son, to forgive us of our sins, all of them.

44:24

Yeah, even the sins that you don't confess, that you can't remember doing. Yes. In Christ Jesus.

44:30

Or you don't even recognize that you did it. Yeah, right, right. In Christ Jesus, our sins are forgiven. When we walk through the gates of heaven, we will not have perfectly confessed every sin.

44:40

Right. And God will receive us into his kingdom anyway. Amen. And that's such a wonderful reminder. So the more we recognize how wicked we are and how bad our sins are, then all the greater

44:53

God's grace appears to us. Yeah, definitely. It makes us better worshipers of God.

44:59

Yes. Sin is so bad that it's the reason we die. Yes. The reason why all of the world and the universe is in the condition that it's in.

45:09

God subjected all things to futility, as said in Romans 8, because of our sin against God.

45:15

But because God loved us, he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins, taking our sins upon himself.

45:22

And those who believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are clothed in his righteousness. And that is the message of the gospel.

45:29

Yes. Simply an understanding the meaning and the definition of sin and its consequence.

45:36

Well done, babe. That was your top pick. Thanks. Now here is mine. So my absolute favorite what video?

45:43

Oh my goodness. And there just wasn't any question, even when we were doing this list. This is my favorite.

45:49

Number one. In second

45:54

Kings two, after Elijah is taken up by chariots of fire and his protege, Elisha succeeds his ministry.

46:00

We read another popular story, only three verses long, but it has stirred up a lot of controversy with some skeptics.

46:06

Verse 23 begins, Elisha went up to Bethel. And as he was going, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him saying, go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head.

46:15

Elisha turned. And when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys.

46:22

From there, he went on to Mount Carmel and then to Samaria. Okay, so really that's just two verses. But what's the deal?

46:27

God had two she bears come out of the woods and maul 42 small boys just for calling

46:32

Elisha bald. That's pretty ruthless, right? Well, here's the thing. Elisha was going to Bethel. And that city was the focal point of Israel's apostasy.

46:40

The people had become so hostile against God that even their youth would disrespect one of God's prophets.

46:46

Elisha wasn't just some preacher. Remember, he spoke the very words of the Lord. The reference to bald head isn't really understood.

46:51

But whatever the meaning, it's clear that Elisha felt threatened to the point that he cursed them and two bears mauled 42 boys.

46:59

But understand there weren't just 42 of them. That's only how many the bears nabbed. In fact, there were likely more than 50 running in some kind of pack threatening

47:06

Elisha. What the writers of Kings truly mean to convey is that contempt toward God's prophets has disastrous consequences.

47:13

Indeed, even Jesus said that those who won't accept the prophets also won't accept him. And that has the most disastrous consequence of all when we understand the text.

47:23

And that's in Luke 16. Yeah. Where Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

47:28

And the rich man who was in a place of fiery torment is looking up and seeing Lazarus at the side of Abraham and is asking that one would just dip their finger in a little bit of water and come and drop water on his tongue to cool his tongue in this awful place in which he was burning.

47:46

And he asked Abraham that somebody go back and warn his brothers of this awful place.

47:52

Abraham says, they have Elijah and the prophets. Let them hear them. And the rich man says, no, but if somebody comes back from the dead, then they will listen.

48:03

And Abraham says, and this is Jesus that is talking about this. If there's anybody who would know of this exchange that had taken place on the other side, it would be the one who came to us from the other side.

48:13

Right. And Jesus saying that Abraham responded, if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they listen to one who would rise from the dead.

48:24

And if you're not willing to listen to even what the old Testament has to say, you won't believe what

48:29

Jesus has to say either. And that's one of the reasons why I love that particular video.

48:35

That is my favorite what video. And I've yet to come up with one that I like better than that one. But we so appreciate you watching and sharing these videos with others.

48:46

We had first, we first came up with this ministry, answering the questions that were coming from people in our own congregation.

48:52

And that began at Providence Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. And now we are at Providence Baptist in Casa Grande, Arizona.

49:01

And it's only by the blessing of God that he has since taken these videos and made them so widespread that many more people would watch them and share them on social media,

49:10

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, anywhere that you want to post these videos, please do so. You don't have to ask our permission.

49:17

The only thing that I say is that just don't profit off of them. Don't ask anybody for money for these videos.

49:23

You can rip them off as you want to and post them anywhere. And we're glad that people have found them so useful and have ministered to them and has shared the truth of God's word with them through these short videos.

49:35

Amen. Well, babe. Yes. These were our top 10 favorite what videos.

49:40

Yes. At some point, we need to do the top 10 lost what videos. Yes.

49:46

The ones that were deleted. Yes. That can no longer be found. We should also do the 10 of the first videos we ever did.

49:56

Okay. Like what were our 10 first videos? Because some of those I've always wanted to like remaster. Sure.

50:01

Better images. Because the way that I make the videos got better as we went along.

50:07

So I wish I could go back to some of those and remake them a little bit. And you're constantly fine tuning as well.

50:12

Yeah, all the time. It'll keep getting better. Even the most recent one I did was like, yeah,

50:18

I can do that a little bit better. Yeah. And so I released another version of it a couple of days later. So.

50:23

Sounds like you. I'm a regular George Lucas. What can I say? Again, if you have any questions that you would like to send to us, send them to when we understand the text to gmail .com.

50:35

Don't forget about the podcast WWU TT and whatever podcast service you like to use.

50:40

Be sure to leave us a rating, a ranking, a review. Review. Because it helps more people find our podcast and these videos.

50:49

Yeah. Our ministry. All right, babe. Let's pray ourselves out here. Yes, let's. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for what you have done for us.

50:57

Goodness, you have shown to us in Jesus Christ, our savior. And I pray that we would be bold in the gospel to share it with others because it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that a person can be saved from the judgment of God and have eternal life.

51:12

Our sins are forgiven. We are reconciled to God. We have fellowship with God now and forevermore because of what has been done for us through Christ by grace.

51:23

We are saved through faith. This is the gift of God. Not of works, not of ourselves.

51:28

So that no one may boast, as said in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. And I pray that we continue to dive deeper into scriptures, understanding it better, that we may know you more and worship you accordingly and sharing the gospel with others.

51:43

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. Amen. What did you like about that one?

51:55

It's just clever. I enjoyed it very much. Yeah.

52:02

There were some puns in there. There were a lot. Some visual puns even that you probably wouldn't get unless you watched the video.

52:11

Yes. You actually have to see the images to know some of those puns. Incidentally, one of my favorites, this isn't on our list.

52:18

So I'm kind of ruining that this isn't on the list. But it's the video that I did on spare the rod, spoil the child.

52:24

Oh, yeah. I watched that one too. Is spanking in the video. Yeah. I loved if I, you know, let me toot my own horn.

52:31

But I love the where I say, but what's behind this? And I'm pointing to the child's behind, you know, had some behind jokes in there.

52:41

All right, never mind. That was. You're such a guy. That was totally cheesy. That was just cheesy.

52:46

I'm going to cut that out. We're cutting that out. That was cheddar. That was cheddar.

52:52

Cheddar. Cheddar cheesy. Cheddar. Cheddar makes everything better. Oh, that it does, my dear, that it does.

53:04

But you like sharp cheddar. I like me some sharp cheddar. I'll go with the

53:10

Colby Jack, which is not cheddar. That is not.

53:16

It has not cheddar in either one of them. Colby or the Jack. Yeah, I know. But it's my favorite.

53:21

It's just kind of like it's like when you want a cheese consistency. Yeah, but you don't really want cheese.

53:29

Yeah, that's totally mild. That's Colby Jack. That's why I trust you to do the cooking.

53:35

Yeah, with cheese. Cooking with cheese. Cooking with cheese.

53:40

Don't even don't don't the cheese song. It did not come into my mind until you said that.

53:50

Oh, my goodness. Nope, nope. All I'm thinking about is getting back on this.