WWUTT 1310 Q&A Wisdom in Proverbs, Preaching to Parents, Pastors are Swearing, Trump and Prophecy

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What are some helpful ways to share the gospel with our parents? Is it okay for Christians to use swear words to make a point?

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And how can a Christian vote wisely in the coming election? The answers to these questions when we understand the text.

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Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt

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.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky, who is not in studio with me this week.

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We got back from Bible study on Thursday night and she was done. So Becky's gone to bed.

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I'm flying solo this time around. It's the Friday edition of the broadcast when we take questions from the listeners and you can submit those questions to when we understand the text at gmail .com.

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If you keep up with us regularly, then you know that we're moving right now. We're moving from Kansas to Texas where I am joining the pastoral staff at First Baptist Church in Lindale under the teaching of Dr.

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Tom Buck. We're kind of in the home stretch of things here. It's this month that we have to move. We're planning on being in Texas the last week of October and my first Sunday at First Baptist Lindale is supposed to be

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November the 1st. So we've got to get rid of the rest of our stuff. We did the garage sale last week, still have some things left over.

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So it's either just getting handed off or tossed in the garbage. Although the garage sale did go very well this weekend,

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Friday and Saturday, we're painting our house. And so we've got some friends that are coming over to help us paint.

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Next week we've got a piano we have to move out. It's not our piano. We were holding on to it for a friend, but we're moving before they come back to get it.

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So we've we're actually going to put it at the church where I'm presently pastoring and it'll be well cared for there.

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And and let's see, we've got carpet that's going to be laid and then the house goes up for sale for show.

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It's technically for sale right now. It just doesn't have a sign out front. The realtor will bring persons over that inquire about it.

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But in the meantime, we have some things that we've got to finish before it's officially on the market.

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All of that getting done, please pray for us, because I'm tired of moving like I don't even want to move anymore.

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I just want to lay down and not move. And I know Becky feels, yeah, just just about the same way.

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So anyway, thank you so much for your encouragement and your gifts. If you would like to send a gift to us, we have had a few friends that have sent us money to kind of help with the move and things like that.

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I have attached the when we understand the text email address to our

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PayPal. So if you want to send us something by PayPal, it's the same address you use to send your questions when we understand the text at Gmail dot com.

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And as always, we thank you for your prayers. I'm actually going to go ahead and jump to this first question here before I get into my scripture that I was going to start with, because it has to do with our move.

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This is from Andrew and Rachel, and they say, Dear Pastor Gabe and Becky, thank you so much for the great work that you do through what we have watched all the what videos.

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Awesome. That's about 300 videos. And we listen to the Friday podcast each week.

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May God continue to bless your ministry. Is there any way that we can help you move?

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We live in Cincinnati, so we probably won't be able to move any furniture. If there are any practical ways that we can help during this time, please let us know.

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We would be glad to bless you as you have blessed us. Your fellow servants in Christ.

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Thank you so much, guys. And I appreciate all of the kind notes that we've received like that.

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I am not really good at delegating out what I can't have you help do here.

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If you were to come in here, I'd tell you to paint that wall or move this stuff to the garage or something like that.

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It's going to go in the trailer once it gets here. So if there's any way that I could encourage you to help us, it would it would just be with some of those moving expenses.

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And you can send that again to when we understand the text at Gmail dot com. I've also got the cruciform conference coming up, and that's

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October 23rd and 24th in Indianapolis. You can find out more about the cruciform conference when you go to Facebook dot com slash cruciform con.

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We've got a lot of great speakers that are going to be there, including Justin Peters, Jeff Johnson.

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I've done a conference with Jeff before and always a blessing to hear him preach. Anthony Mathenia, who

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I don't know that I've ever met nor heard preached. So I'm looking forward to that. Brandon Scalf is the guy that puts all of this together.

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Jonathan Hayashi is going to be there. Dwayne Atkinson, who is the founder of Biblical and Reform, the podcast network that's also known for just thinking.

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And Michelle Leslie is going to be leading the women's portion. It's going to be great if you can be there. The cruciform conference on holiness,

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October 23rd and 24th in Indianapolis. I am going to be speaking on the 23rd, the first day of the conference, and then

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I have to return on the 24th and then I preach my last sermon at First Southern Baptist Church Junction City on the 25th.

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And then a few days after that, we're heading down to Texas. And my first day at First Baptist Lindale is going to be

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November 1st. So that's going to be a whirlwind, you know, like eight days or something like that. If you are able to help out financially somehow, we would sure be encouraged by that.

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And again, the email address is when we understand the text at gmail .com. As always, the best support that you could ever give to us is just sharing a video or sharing the podcast on social media.

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Anytime I'm browsing Facebook and I find that somebody has shared one of my blogs or one of the what videos or something like that, that is the most touching thing to me.

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Not that I can open up our donation account and see that people have given money. We're certainly blessed with that.

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But we have never like paid for any kind of ads or publicity or promotion or anything like that.

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Any popularity that we've gained through this ministry has simply been because of word of mouth because you've been so great to share this ministry with somebody else.

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That is one of the most blessed things for us. So you can't give money because I know everybody's kind of tight with all kinds of stuff right now.

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That's fine. We're going to continue doing this stuff for free. And and if you would just be so kind as to tell somebody else about when we understand the text, that's always about the biggest help that you can give to us.

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Thank you, Andrew and Rachel, and to anybody else who has sent us such kind encouragement in these days as we are making this transition.

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All right. I wanted to read to you here from Revelation 18. I'm currently going through Revelation on Thursday night on our

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Thursday study, and I've got one more Thursday night study before. That's it. I've been doing this

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Thursday night study for man. I don't know. We were doing it in 2010, 2011, even before I became senior pastor.

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So I think I've been doing this Thursday night study longer than I've been even preaching in the pulpit in my church.

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We've gone through the Old Testament until we finished up the Psalms and then the class unanimously decided, well, hey, we want to go through Revelation.

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So that's what we've been doing, like a blitz through Revelation on Thursday evening. This passage in Revelation chapter 18.

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I'm going to begin in verse one. After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority.

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And the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice. Fallen, fallen is

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Babylon, the great. She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

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For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her.

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And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.

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Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues.

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For her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

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And let me stop there. We often hear this passage cited, this reference to Babylon, the great being fallen, fallen.

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When the angel is saying this about Babylon, he is not saying that Babylon has been destroyed.

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Very clearly, that's not what's being said here, because the angel is then also saying, or another voice from heaven says, come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins.

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So the reference to Babylon being fallen is not that Babylon is destroyed, rather Babylon is filled with sin.

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It is depraved. It is fallen, as we refer to mankind being fallen, fallen short of the glory of God.

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We must be aware of this as we as Christians continue to live in this world. We live in Babylon, the great.

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Mankind is capable of incredible things, of achieving great feats, but these things are all done in vain.

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As spectacular as we might look at something that mankind accomplishes and be wowed by what man is able in his ingenuity to do, it's still all in vain if not done to the glory of God.

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And all of these things that we have accomplished here on this earth are ultimately going to come to nothing when

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Christ returns and judges with fire. Then these things that have existed in this material world, which are transient, are going to disappear with this transient world.

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But only those things that are eternal will remain. People are eternal.

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Souls are eternal. So continue to share the gospel with others that they may turn from this sin and not be enticed by the amazing things of Babylon.

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Instead would turn to Christ who's going to come and judge Babylon. And it's in Christ Jesus that we will live forever in a kingdom even greater than anything this world has accomplished or has to offer.

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A kingdom where there is no more evil, where there is no more corruption.

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There's no more sickness, no more death. All the former things will have passed away and we will dwell with God forever in his glory as we are finishing up this current political season.

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It's not going to end the controversy, of course, once we get past the election in November. But as we come to a close on this particular election cycle, we are just seeing all of the complaints and the animosity and the antagonism and all this stuff is just really being amped up, leading all the way up to the vote itself.

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So be in prayer, cling to Christ. Do not be in despair over the things that you see in this earth.

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Even these election cycles will be laid to rest. Thank God that eventually we will enter into this kingdom where there is no more elections because Christ reigns supreme and not because we put him there.

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We are sinful people and we elect sinful leaders. But Christ is good and he elects to himself those whom he will save by his love and his mercy.

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He is seated on the throne and to him every knee will bow and tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. Remember that in any season. Amen. All right. Let's get to some of these questions here.

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First one comes from Doug in Illinois. He says, Pastor Gabe, regarding your devotional today.

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This would have been yesterday's devotional in Proverbs one verses 20 through 33. Doug says you said that the reason wisdom is referred to as a woman is because the

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Hebrew word for wisdom is grammatically feminine. Therefore, if Solomon were to personify wisdom, it's sensible that he would make wisdom a woman and use feminine pronouns.

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That's about the most basic reasoning I've heard given on the personification of wisdom. And I appreciate that.

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I've also been taught the following. Solomon is a father teaching his son.

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As you said, a father's instruction tends to be more like tough love as dads.

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We're going to tell our kids to shake it off when they get hurt, whereas mom is going to kiss and hug and make it better.

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Dads tend to be the disciplinarians, whereas mom is the comforter. So is it too far out of bounds to say that this is another reason why

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Solomon teaching his son would make wisdom into a woman? So his son would consider wisdom to be gentle and nurturing and a comforter to him.

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Thanks for your question. I actually think that's a little isogetical. I think it's imposing something that's on the text that's not there.

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When we look at wisdom being personified as a woman and we start taking the things that we know about women and putting it on wisdom, that's not the point here.

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We can overthink this. For example, Peter in first Peter, chapter three, refers to women as the weaker vessel.

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So men and he's saying this so that the husband will be gentle with his wife and not harsh with her, as Paul puts it in Colossians chapter three, because like you said,

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Doug, men tend to be more tough love and women are the comforters. So a man needs to be compassionate with his wife.

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So we might have that tendency to read that in first Peter, chapter three, and then carry that over into wisdom being personified in Proverbs one and in chapters eight and nine.

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And we might think of wisdom as being weak, and that's not the case at all. We also see wisdom being disciplinary here in Proverbs chapter one, because as I read yesterday, wisdom says, if you turn at my reproof, this is

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Proverbs one twenty three. If you turn at my reproof, my rebuke, my correction of you, behold,

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I will pour out my spirit to you. I will make my words known to you. Yes, wisdom is being personified as a woman here, but we should not be reading the traits that we know of from women into wisdom.

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Rather, we need to see wisdom for what wisdom says about itself, what God says about wisdom.

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So you're reading Proverbs, reading what wisdom says. You're not thinking of, well, here's what

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I know women to be. And so that's what wisdom must be like. That's Isogenical. That's taking something outside the text and imposing it on the text.

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And just because wisdom is is personified as a woman doesn't mean that you now have liberty to read all of these effeminate qualities into wisdom.

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Read the text for what the text says. Wisdom is not taking outside things and then throwing it on top.

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Great question, though. I also got this comment from Bob on the podcast yesterday. He said, my wife is full of wisdom.

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I don't know what I would do without her. Amen, brother. There are certainly situations where my wife has dealt more wisely than I would have handled it.

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And I may have done something stupid if it wasn't for her patient wisdom. As I said yesterday, what we read, especially there in Proverbs, one is a father instructing his son or even a king instructing the prince.

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But there is still a lesson and instruction there that we all can receive, whether you're a man or a woman, be you a prince or a pauper.

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So I hope that you will continue to join us for our study in Proverbs, which is every Thursday on this podcast.

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We go on to this next question from Heather. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to witness to someone who says that they believe in God and Jesus, but you do not see any fruit.

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So short story, my parents always told me there was a God and we would pray the same prayer before meals.

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But God or Jesus was never discussed in my home. I was told to ask

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Jesus into my heart to be saved. I recently was saved out of this false teaching.

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But now I fear that my parents may not be saved. They only recently, within the last year, started attending a church.

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But they do not read their Bibles. And from what I can tell, do not have sound knowledge on different doctrines or theology.

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I would love to be able to witness to them. And other family members better. Thank you for all that you do.

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And preaching God's truth. God bless you. Well, I sure appreciate that, Heather. And I'll try to give you an answer here that may be helpful in ministering to your parents.

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I would say the way to go about this would be very gently and most especially very respectfully.

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Remember that the fifth commandment is honor your father and your mother.

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And as Paul explains this in Ephesians 6 2, he says, this is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.

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Heather, you are a Christian because of your mom and dad, because of what they taught you.

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They may have given you a very minimalist understanding of who God is, who Jesus is and what the gospel is.

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But if it were not for what they taught you about Christ, then you would not know him.

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Now, it wasn't wise of them to teach you the sinner's prayer evangelism.

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Like if you just pray this prayer, you just say these words and ask Jesus into your heart, then you will be saved because that could have set you up for some serious failure.

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You could have gone the rest of your life in sin, not pursuing righteousness, but instead, after the pattern of this world and chasing the the passions of your flesh, believing that you're saved just because you prayed a prayer at whatever age.

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But God was merciful to you, and he put other people in your life to grow you in this truth that you would not rely upon yourself, but that you would put your faith in Christ, knowing that it is

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Christ who has saved you, not because you did anything good, but because Christ is good toward you.

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Other people taught you these things, grew you in these doctrines, matured you so that you would produce fruit.

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And now you need to be that person for your mom and dad, just as there are other people that taught you these things.

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You have that chance and that opportunity to do that for your folks. As you mentioned in your email, you're not sure where they are in their salvation.

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That's that's a problem enough. But that means that you don't come to them and say, mom and dad,

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I don't think you're saved. So we need to have a sit down and talk. OK, engage these things in a very respectful manner as you are their daughter, just to open up and have a conversation about theology.

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Maybe a question that you could ask them is, you know, dad, how did you get saved?

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How did you come to know the Lord? Ask that of your mother, ask them of that together, maybe ask them about just as an inquiring daughter, how their faith brought them together.

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Was there something about your dad's faith in Jesus and your mom's faith in Jesus that helped them to understand that we can start a family together and raise our children up in the training and the instruction of the

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Lord? See if there's anything like that in their testimony of if they would share something about Christ between them when they met and when they fell in love and got married.

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These may be some ways to kind of help open that door. I would encourage you to know the scriptures well.

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I talked earlier this week about Romans Road evangelism. This is one of those places where that might be helpful, helping them to understand that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

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And if you help them to see what sin is, you may get from them that they're basically good people.

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Sounds like your mom and dad are basically good folks. They don't lie, cheat, try to con anybody or anything like that.

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And and so that's probably going to be a lot of their responses when it comes to understanding their sin, but help them to see that everyone has sinned.

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No one is good before God, but God has shown his love for us and that while we were sinners,

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Christ died for us. That's Romans five, eight, Romans six, 23. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Ask them what they know about sin. Do they know that they are sinners in need of a savior?

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You know, some questions like that. Very basic things. You know, basic things that you came to know about the gospel.

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These are some questions that you could put forth before your parents to see what they know about the basics and then bring them some scriptures to deepen their understanding of the truth.

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And you'll find out in that if they've never known the truth at all, the Holy Spirit of God could convict their hearts, or maybe it will, uh, the spirit will convict them in the sense that they will recognize

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I've not been growing in these things. I've not actually given this much thought and I need to be pursuing this because I love

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God and you pursue the one that you love. I hope that, uh, that any of these answers, any of these tips are helpful for you.

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I get this very regularly as a pastor, somebody coming to me saying that somebody that they love is not a

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Christian. Sometimes it's a spouse, like a husband or a wife will come to me and say, usually it's a wife more so than a husband, but a, a wife will say,

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I don't think that my husband is saved. Uh, I'll have somebody come to me and say, I don't think my children are saved.

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My, my son, he's just gone this crazy, wicked way. Now, how do I bring my son back?

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It's certainly not going to be helpful to, uh, to react in ways that are combative, that are angry, or even that come across as desperate.

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I think you certainly want to demonstrate your love and your affection for them, but not like to a degree that, that you think, how did you become so stupid or foolish?

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You know, don't go that far. The instruction that Paul gave to Timothy and how we correct opponents with gentleness,

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I think is a wonderful instruction, even when it comes to how we share the gospel with family members that we're not sure are saved.

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So, uh, it's second Timothy two 25, where the apostle

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Paul says that the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone able to teach patiently enduring evil, correcting opponents with gentleness.

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God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from a snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

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And we also have this verse in first Peter three 15 that you're probably very familiar with in your hearts.

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Honor Christ. The Lord is holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

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Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, which can happen even from family members,

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I know that all too well. Those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame for it is better to suffer for doing good.

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If that should be God's will then for doing evil. So don't ever let your appeal to somebody else for their soul lead you in a direction of sinning that you become combative and fighting and yelling at one another and becoming angry and sowing bitterness.

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You certainly don't want to do that because then you close the door on any future opportunities that you might have of sharing the gospel.

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Approach these things in a very friendly way. Use discernment. Heather, if you've got friends that are

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Christians that know your parents, ask them because they might know certain personality things about your folks better than I do, and they may be able to give you some helpful tips on have you tried talking with your mom or your dad in this way, something of that nature.

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Thank you for your question and I will be praying for you. And so will Becky. This next question, uh, this, this goes back to,

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I guess, what I just talked about, first Peter three 15. Give an answer for the hope that lies within you, but do this with gentleness and respect a good say into this next question from Adam, who says, pastor

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Gabe, thank you for what? Didn't you do a what video on Christians swearing?

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I'm not sure if you heard, because I know that you're taking time off of social media, but Jeff Durbin recently preached a sermon, a sermon

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Durbin sermon. It's a Durbin sermon. Jeff Durbin recently preached a sermon in which he said, uh, well, and then

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Adam puts the swear word in the email. I'm not going to say the swear word. Anyway, the short of it is that Jeff Durbin said a swear word in a sermon.

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A debate erupted on Facebook and Twitter about whether Christians should swear or can swear.

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I guess probably be the better way to put it. Adam goes on. Some tried bringing up various instances where in the scriptures, the prophets or the apostles swore.

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I thought I remembered you doing a video on the subject. If there isn't a video on this, could you please make one? Thank you for your ministry,

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Adam PS. Please do not start throwing swear words into what videos you have.

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My word, Adam, I will not do so. Yes, I did do a video on this, on, uh, on how

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Christians should not be swearing. And here is the video. I'll respond to your email here in, uh, well, after this 90 seconds, is it okay for Christians to swear?

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No, it isn't. But wait, what about that time? Paul said, I count all things as dung in order to win

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Christ. Isn't that the same thing as, you know, a certain swear word that means the same Nice try, but no elsewhere.

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Paul gives a very clear instruction in Ephesians 4 29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

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So for the Christian, our words are not to tear down, but build up speaking grace to others. Think about what you communicate.

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When you curse by using the harshest of words to describe a person or situation, you are actually cursing

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God. A person is made in the image of God and you would curse that image. The Bible says to be thankful and rejoice in all circumstances.

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And you would tell God that his way isn't good enough. Will outsiders believe you when you say you trust

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God's way and then swear when things don't go your way or when you say you love others and then curse them.

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Paul said to put away obscene talk from your mouth and to walk in wisdom toward outsiders. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer each person.

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James said, if a person can't control his words, even when he's alone, his religion is worthless. The Lord hates perverted speech.

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Jesus said out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So pray as David prayed, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.

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Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. When we understand the text. So yeah, there you go.

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That was the video I did on swearing and it's under the title. What does the Bible say about swearing?

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I found it by going to YouTube and in the search bar I typed in WWU TT swearing and it's the first video that came up as one of the nice things about YouTube.

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I can actually turn it into my own search engine since no one else is publishing videos under WWU TT.

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Just type in that and then a topic. And if I've done a video on that topic, that video is going to pop up.

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So there you go. Utilize YouTube into a what search engine to answer your question,

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Adam. Yes, I had heard that Jeff Durbin had preached a sermon in which he used a swear word.

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What was the sermon about? I don't know. And that's the problem with any time you hear a preacher doing something provocative in this way to snap people to attention or to stir controversy.

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The controversial thing becomes the thing that everybody remembers about the sermon and not what the sermon was actually about.

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Whatever it was that Durbin was preaching on, which if memory serves, had something to do with like he just owned the woke movement or something like that.

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But whatever the points were, I don't know because all I heard is that he used a swear word in a sermon.

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It is strategically a poor move, let alone that the Bible says don't do it.

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And I think the scripture is absolutely clear on this, folks. Really, there is no reason for pastors to be standing in the pulpit, dropping words that even the secular culture identifies as swears like the

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FCC would have blanked Jeff Durbin out if he would have said the word that he said on network television.

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If he were to be interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel, he would not have been allowed to drop that word.

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And and Jimmy Kimmel's totally trash. And you still couldn't say that word even on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

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So how much more should it be discouraged for pastors to be in the pulpit saying such a thing?

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The scripture says no. And furthermore, it's just unwise because whatever point you are trying to make gets lost.

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We're out there to communicate the truth. We're not out there with the intention of shocking people.

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The truth will do that on its own. Let me repeat to you again, Ephesians four, verse twenty nine.

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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

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That should be the objective. I feel just as incensed about the woke movement and how it's been taking over the church, as I'm sure

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Jeff Durbin does. But dropping swear words does not help to advance the truth. Romans twelve two says, do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

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And then you will see God's will for you is good, pleasing and perfect will. As citizens of the kingdom of God, we don't talk like the world.

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We talk like citizens of the kingdom of God. And may our words always be gracious, seasoned with salt.

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The reference from Colossians four, that was also in the video. And again, first Peter three fifteen, which, by the way, in the

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Greek is where we get the word apologia from is first Peter three fifteen in your heart, set apart

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Christ as holy, always ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you, but do this with gentleness and do this with respect.

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And I don't mean to be demeaning against apologia or cross politic. I love those guys.

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I love what they do. And I have told them as much. And if they were sitting in this studio here with me right now,

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I would be speaking with them the same way as I am sharing this with you. One of the criticisms that I have of both cross politic and apologia is that they tend to flaunt their

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Christian liberty. For example, I'm not automatically going to take a cross politic video and share it on the what

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Facebook page if I've not watched it first. And the reason is because they will often drink hard liquor while they're doing that program, and I am not going to put that in front of people's faces and potentially cause someone to stumble or apologia.

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It's the same thing. There's a video with Jeff Durbin, and he's doing an interview with Indy Wilson, and they're both smoking cigars and drinking bourbon while they chat.

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And the camera is often focusing on the bourbon or the cigar.

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So it's like, why? It's not just these guys are having a chat over a drink and a cigar.

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Sometimes the camera even focuses on the fact that they're smoking and drinking. What's the point of that?

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And so you walk away from that video not remembering what they talked about, but just that they were drinking bourbon and smoking cigars, which, by the way, that's all

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I remember about the video. I don't remember what the conversation was about. These are addictive substances, and these are addictive substances, by the way, that I have watched ruin people's lives and destroy families.

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And I even have people in my church who are recovering alcoholics. And if they were to see their pastor drinking bourbon, it could cause them to slip right back into that again, thinking, hey, there's nothing wrong with me taking a drink, and then they lose control of themselves again.

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And the Apostle Paul explicitly condemned this behavior, that you should not be flaunting your

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Christian liberty, causing a brother to stumble for things that, you know, are not sin.

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But if it causes someone else to sin, then it is Romans chapter 14, verse 13. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

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I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

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For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.

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By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom

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Christ died. We have this also in first Corinthians eight, I'm going to start in verse one now concerning food offered to idols.

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We know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

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If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

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But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence and that there is no

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God but one. For although there may be so -called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one

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God, the father from whom are all things and for whom we exist.

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And one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

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However, not all possess this knowledge, but some through former association with idols eat food as really offered to an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled.

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Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do.

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But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

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For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

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And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom

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Christ died, thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak.

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You sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble,

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I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. My friends, if my drinking alcohol is going to cause my brother to stumble,

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I will never drink it so that I do not cause my brother to fall into sin.

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If smoking will cause my brother to stumble, I won't ever smoke. Lest it cause him to sin,

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I've shared with you before that that I'm very, very cautious to ever even talk about movies and television because I don't want my seeing something that was very clearly secular, was not created by Christians.

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It was created by a worldly Hollywood culture and all of their philosophy and fallen moral ethics mixed in there.

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If my mentioning a certain movie causes someone else to watch it and think that these films are OK and they get into worse and worse stuff, if that causes somebody to stumble,

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I'd rather not talk about movies and television. And furthermore, the language that we use uses need to be the same.

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Sorry, the language that we use needs to be the same thing. Perhaps the cross politic guys and apologia are absolutely convinced that using swear words is no big deal and they're not sinning if they do it.

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Let's say they're 100 percent convinced that's still the wrong approach. This is knowledge that puffs up.

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It's not love that builds up. And we've been told Philippians two, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

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Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

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And then where we have details there about what it means to have the mind of Christ, who is our ultimate example of being compassionate and considerate toward one another.

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I am a pastor in a church that is 60 percent military in the 10 years that I've been at First Southern Baptist in Junction City.

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More than half the congregation is military. And don't you know that I've had a lot of young guys in that church who have really, really struggled with controlling their tongues and not letting swear words fly out in every sentence that they speak, because that's what they're surrounded by.

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All the rest of the soldiers talk that same way. And it is a struggle. It is a discipline to control their tongue.

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And they're going to hear a preacher use a swear word and they're going to fall right back into losing control of their tongues again, thinking, hey, it's

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OK for me to talk this way. And then they defile themselves and their consciences.

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My friends, no, no. And these guys may be 100 percent confident that what they're doing is not sin.

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I tell you that Paul would stand in their midst and condemn that behavior. We must be considerate of others in the way that we approach these things.

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This is not about me versus them. I am considering this from a pastoral perspective.

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How are we encouraging and guiding others in our actions and in the words that we say?

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Are we exemplifying Christ or are we being provocative? Are we trying to stir controversy by different words and actions and things of that nature?

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Concluding with this and then we'll go on to the next question. Philippians chapter four, verse eight.

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You know where I'm going, right? Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

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And then Paul even gives himself as an example. Verse nine, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the

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God of peace will be with you. Thank you for that question,

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Adam, this next one comes from Chris in North Carolina. Hey, Pastor Gabe and Becky, I'll pass on your greeting to her.

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I hope you and your family are well and surviving the moving process. I know that is a lot of work, especially when moving so far.

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I am sure you are aware of an event that occurred in D .C. in the last couple of weeks. I learned that it was two events that more or less merged the

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Franklin Graham prayer march and Jonathan Kahn's The Return. Oh, Jonathan Kahn.

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That's a name I haven't thought about since the the solar eclipse. Graham openly endorsed the return

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Kahn's book, indicating a gross lack of discernment, along with his praying alongside

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Paula White and other such heretics. It is my opinion that what happened in D .C.

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was a political rally masquerading as a prayer rally with the intent of galvanizing the evangelical right.

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Those who are strong on conservative politics, but incredibly illiterate with regard to sound doctrine to get out the vote.

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The evangelical right knows abortion and LGBTQ nonsense is wrong, but will overlook sin and false doctrine if it gets their guy elected.

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For the record, I'm as conservative as they come. Abortion is a blight on our nation. The LGBTQ P .P.

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Polly and Pito added for effect movement represents a clear and present danger to civilization, and we are seeing a wholesale assault on our constitutional order in favor of a leftist

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Marxist philosophy that will result in millions dead. But the blending of politics and Christianity in such a way that we compromise sound doctrine and moral character is at odds with a biblical ethic.

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A lot of people are going to see Graham, who is perhaps mostly Orthodox, endorse

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Paula White and think she's good to go when in reality she is one of the Jezebels spoken of in Revelation that is dangerous and irresponsible of Graham.

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What are your thoughts? Thanks in Christ, Chris. My thoughts are pretty much the same.

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I don't know. You pretty much covered it. I don't I don't I don't know what I can add to that, except to say this.

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I do hope that Donald Trump wins and I hope he wins bigly, that that the left doesn't just lose, but they lose huge and that Joe Biden and or huge.

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Sorry, I got I got to use all the the Trump terminology here and that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not in the

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White House, which let's be honest, Joe Biden is not going to be serving very long. Who you're voting for in this election is either

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Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. That's what it comes down to. But this is the most leftist ticket that has ever been produced by the

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Democrats. And it seems like every election cycle, we come up with somebody more socialist, more

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Marxist, more abortion minded than the previous candidate. Biden and Harris are worse than Hillary Clinton, who was worse than Barack Obama, who was worse than John Kerry, who was worse than Bill Clinton.

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It just keeps on getting worse. But my friends, I'm just going to be real with you. This is not just on the left.

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It's also on the right. How on earth did Donald Trump become this candidate for the right?

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This is he was the worst candidate that the right has ever produced. Now, I will say this.

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He has exceeded my expectations. I was prepared for this to be an utter disaster. And the only side that has made

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Trump's presidency a disaster has been the left. Trump did not self implode his presidency.

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The left has been hijacking it ever since he was elected. And this may be American politics for the rest of the foreseeable future.

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We will never have a stable political discourse ever again. It's always going to be just massive chaos.

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And this is God's judgment on America. I believe that the nomination of Donald Trump was

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God turning America over to its own depravity. And when you see guys who have backed

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Trump falling into even even like some of the doctrinal error that they're coming into, like Franklin Graham with Jonathan Kahn and with Paula White, or you look at what has happened with Jerry Falwell Jr.,

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I mean, that guy's ministry is it's over. And none of this stuff surprises me. I knew and I even said as much four years ago, this was exactly where American evangelicalism was going to go in its partnership with American politics.

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There's even a segment of American evangelicalism so opposed to Donald Trump and Joe Biden that they're ready to sacrifice

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America to the left. They won't even vote to try to slow the the the rapid decay that America is falling into their thumping their chests over their high moral superiority.

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I'm too good to vote for Donald Trump. I am a true conservative. And so I'm just going to I'm going to turn it over to the left.

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And that is a very careless approach as well. Here's what I wish would happen. I wish that evangelicalism was won enough.

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And we're really not. I mean, evangelicalism is hugely fractured. Whenever we use this word evangelical, we're not talking about Christianity.

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We're talking about a voting bloc. But anyway, I wish that that evangelicalism was was unified enough that we could hold our nose, go ahead and vote for Donald Trump.

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And then four years from now, we'll attempt to come up with a candidate more conservative. But here's the other thing that could potentially happen to American evangelicalism, and this also being the result of partnering with American politics and Donald Trump as a conservative figurehead,

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American evangelicalism is going to be more welcoming of a certain body of people that has never before been considered conservative until Donald Trump.

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Do you know what body of voters that I'm talking about? The LGBTQ movement.

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Donald Trump, believe it or not, is the first president ever elected who is pro

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LGBTQ when he was elected, when when Barack Obama was first elected, he was not for gay marriage.

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He became that way over the course of his presidency. But Donald Trump has been pro LGBTQ from before he was elected.

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So he is really the first president in American history ever elected who was pro gay marriage from the start, and he was the conservative pick.

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This just demonstrates the leftward drift in American politics when even the right has become the left.

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So given that Trump is pro LGBTQ, how can Christians vote for him with a clear conscience?

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Well, again, this is a strategic move. So it's not an endorsement of Donald Trump. And I don't know how our vote ended up becoming that way.

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Like if you vote for this candidate, then you approve of all of his basically all the stuff that Donald Trump is known for.

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This would be to prevent Biden and Harris, which would be much, much worse. The Democrats have made clear what it is that they plan to do if they control the

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White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The constitutional republic that America is, as we know, it would be over.

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They're going to usher in socialism, Marxism. Biden and Harris have said they're going to stack the courts.

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So beyond the nine Supreme Court justices that we have, they're just going to start throwing liberal justices in there.

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So there would be no way for the conservatives to be able to recover. And and this is the most blood thirsty ticket ever in American history.

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No one has been more pro abortion than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They're going to overturn the

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Hyde Amendment, which is the amendment that prevents your tax dollars from funding abortions.

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They want you to pay for abortions. And even though Donald Trump is pro LGBTQ, the movement that the left is ushering in the name of the sexual revolution is far, far worse.

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And the liberty that you enjoy to practice your Christian faith, even to worship at your church, would end under Democrat control.

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We've seen hints of this even here in 2020. So the vote would be strategic to prevent

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Biden and Harris. And voting third party is is not a good strategy. In fact, you don't vote third party for the benefit of others.

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You vote third party for yourself. I pray that God would still be merciful to this nation, that he is not done with America yet, or maybe this is his plan to turn this nation over to its own depravity, as it says in Ecclesiastes 713.

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Consider the work of God who can make straight what he has made crooked. One thing is for sure, we still need to be out there preaching the gospel.

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It doesn't matter how this election goes. The left could win or the quote unquote conservatives could win.

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But if we're not preaching the gospel, then we're not saving anybody. No one is going to be saved by conservative

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American politics. We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and him alone. Romans 116.

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I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation. Not your vote.

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But preaching the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes continue to preach

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Christ and him crucified for our sins and never be ashamed of that message, whether the left or the right is in control of American politics.

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This next question kind of continues along the same theme, maybe a little less political. This is

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Ryan, who says, I recently heard of Kim Clement, and there is a video of him prophesying in 2014 about Trump winning the election in 2016.

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He apparently died a few weeks after the election. Have you heard of him? Do you know much about him and his music or ministry?

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Sounds kind of strange and suspicious. Yeah, I did do a little bit on him four years ago, right around the time that Trump won or he died at one of those two, because I got a bunch of emails from folks saying, hey, have you heard of Kim Clement?

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Apparently, he accurately predicted Trump becoming president. Well, he didn't. And I'll play the clip that is often cited from him as being his prophecy of Trump's presidency.

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And then I'll explain the context a little bit more. Here is Kim Clement. My fury has ended.

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Hear me. But I have found a man after my own heart.

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I have found a man after my own heart, and he is amongst you. Well, that can't be about Donald Trump.

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He is not a man after God's own heart. The highest court in the land, the

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Supreme Court. Two shall step down. For the embarrassment of what shall take place.

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But I wish to place in the highest court in the land righteousness. And they shall attempt to put others in to endeavor to reach their endeavors.

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But God says, hear me tonight. Hear me today. I have this whole thing planned out according to my will, for it is now time for me to restore the fortunes of Zion.

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And righteousness hasn't returned to the Supreme Court. Even the nominees that Trump has put into the

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Supreme Court voted to pass the Bostock decision that was handed down this past June, granting trans rights to LGBTQ persons.

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So this is absurd. And so far, this just sounds like your typical charismatic new apostolic reformation nonsense.

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I couldn't quite see his face because that was not allowed because there was a mist that covered all the people and he was amongst them.

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This is still the same event. This was all on February 22nd, 2014, according to the video.

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And the spirit of God made me look at him and he said, this man will throttle the enemies of Israel.

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This man will throttle the enemies of the West. And they are highly embarrassing moments that are about to occur for many, many politicians in this nation.

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There will be a shaking amongst there will be a shaking amongst the

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Democrats in the upcoming elections, but unsettling for the Republicans.

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Why is why is God doing this? For God said,

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I am dissatisfied. With what emerges from both parties.

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And then there is a nation he showed me, took me itching for a new kind of war with America.

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They will shout impeach, impeach, they say. But nay, this nation shall come very subtly.

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But he shall not come in the time of President Obama. They shall come when this new one arises.

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My David, that I have set aside for this nation. A man of prayer, of choice words, not a man who is verbose, who has verbosity, who speaks too much.

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Well, that's definitely not Donald Trump. Yeah, Donald Trump is not

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David. Donald Trump is not a man of prayer. So people taking these things from Kim Clement and saying, see, predicted the

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Trump presidency. He predicted impeachment and all this other kind of stuff. No, it's just just random gibberish mumbo jumbo like these these guys usually spout off.

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They will even say this man is not speaking enough. But God says,

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I have set him aside. They will shout impeach, impeach, but this shall not happen.

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And then God says, highly embarrassing moments when another Snowden arises.

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And people will become very afraid. They'll say, we have no protection.

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And then God says, am I impressed with your weapons of war? Am I impressed with the strength of your men's legs?

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I have said I will bring this nation to its knees. The man that I have raised up, pray for the enemy will do everything in his power to put a witch in the

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White House. Did anybody hear what he just said? Nothing, because this isn't

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God speaking. It's just Kim Clement. Notice that scripture is completely absent from everything that he's talking about.

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It's just the random, charismatic nonsense he's spouting off the top of his head. There's another clip of him from 2007 in which he says that Trump will become a trumpet.

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And there are people that say, see, he predicted that he would become president even in 2007 and even named him.

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No, when you listen to the whole clip, he says that Bill Gates will open up the gate of financial prosperity for the church.

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So all Kim Clement was doing there was naming the two most prominent billionaires in the country at that time.

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As we read in Second Corinthians, chapter four, verse three, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, the true teaching of the word of God, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

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As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was proclaimed to us that by your providence, you put people in our life that would share the gospel with us so that we may turn from sin and the destruction that was coming because of our rebellion.

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And you have led us in a way of righteousness according to your son to eternal life, which is promised us who have faith in Jesus.

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Help us to have courage and boldness to continue to proclaim that gospel even now in this present age.

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And we do so with gentleness and respect, correcting opponents with gentleness, grant repentance to this nation.

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And may we see many people come to the faith so that they will escape the judgment that is to come and be saved in the name of Christ.