WWUTT 1950 Q&A Demon Oppression, Jesus at Work, Alien Encounters

Can a Christian be demon -oppressed? Does the Bible say anything about how to leave your job?

And is there a mention of aliens anywhere in the Bible? The answers to these questions and others when we

Understand the Text. This is

When we Understand the Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast to help encourage your time in the Word. Tell all your friends about our ministry at www .utt

.com. And once again, it's Pastor Gabe. And baby bugs. And baby bugs.

Oh, he found my cup of water. Yeah. We got a baby in here with us. We do. Well, what is he at now?

Twenty -one months? Something like that. Twenty -one months as of the first of June.

Yes. Remember when we used to record episodes and we had him sleeping next to us?

Yes. Now he's not sleeping. That's not what's happening right now. No. He's going to be entertaining for a little bit.

Well I'm back. Okay. Yes. Welcome back. Yes. Thank you. How long has it been?

It's been too long. Yes. Oh. Oh. Oh. But. Okay. We have to go back and revisit a topic.

Okay. A specific topic. Like back when you were on? No. No. No. No. It was in between. Anyway, you did like a

Twitter poll or something. Okay. Do you remember this? Do you know what I'm talking about? Well, I do Twitter polls almost every week.

Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. But it was about you turning down to be a voiceover.

Oh, okay. When I was offered the chance to be Captain America or Thor or Iron Man in a movie.

You can't just leave us hanging. Okay. I'm just saying. Yeah. So I listed four things because the kids.

This started with the kids. The kids said, give us four things and we're going to guess which one is the lie.

Right. It's two truths and a lie. So it's three things. Oh, it was three things. Okay. So it's two truths and a lie. The one thing that was in there that was the lie was

I played in the Little League World Series. They all thought it was, I had been offered the chance to play

Iron Man, Captain America or Thor in a movie. And so then when I told them, no, I've never played in the

Little League World Series, it took a few seconds. And then it sunken. And then it set in.

They're like, wait a minute, our dad was going to play Captain America? So, yeah, so the story behind that was

I actually won a contest. This was in 2004, 05, somewhere in there.

I can't remember exactly. Before me. Yeah. It was before Becky. So this was almost 20 years ago.

And I won a contest and the contest was to play a bit role in one of the

Avengers movies. And I actually, I know which movie and I've seen it and its sequel in the

DVD bins at Walmart. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, the movie did get some pretty wide circulation.

I've seen it since then. And it's not that great. This was. You could have made it better.

This was back before. Well, no, I'm not a writer on the show. I'm just voicing a part.

But this was back before Disney owned Marvel. OK. So this was an animated movie that they were doing.

I won a contest to play a bit role. But once I did my auditions, they really liked it.

Oh, cool. And they said, they said, we think we can give you a bigger part than this. And so I was invited to do an audition and they told me they were going to give me either

Captain America or Thor Iron Man. But they had not decided which one. I think one of it, one of the roles was dependent on they had another guy that they were offering the part to.

And if he turned it down, then maybe they would consider me for one of them. I don't I don't remember how it went.

And anyway, I I skipped the final audition to this day. I cannot.

I did it on purpose. I didn't I did not go to the final audition. And to this day, I cannot tell you what my mindset was.

I don't know why I skipped it, but I have no regrets over it. So it was you know, it was a neat opportunity.

It's a fun story. But I just I just didn't do it. And like I said,

I've I've not seen the whole film, but I've watched part of it since then. And yeah, it's, you know, mediocre.

It's not a great Marvel film. But so it's something to tell the kids, grandkids.

Your dad was almost Captain America. I don't know that I had anything in mind that, you know, any any sort of like conscience issues or things like that.

I just I just decided I didn't want to do it. And so I skipped out. Yeah. Well, I still am proud of that every time

I hear it. Had I not turned it down, I would not have met my wife and had the great family that I have.

Very true. It's likely my life would have gone a completely different course. Yeah. So I have no regrets in that.

I would much rather be a pastor anyway. But yeah, that's the story behind that whole. So cool.

I love it. This is the Friday edition of the broadcast. We're kind of telling these stories and being distracted by a toddler running around at our feet here.

At least he's at our feet. We'll see how well we do. And if I have to do a seg, you know, if you got to take him out or whatever,

I'll throw a what video on here. Sweet. And then we'll. That'll work. Yeah. Kind of kill some time.

So being the Friday edition of the broadcast, we take questions from the listeners and you can submit those questions too when we understand the text at gmail .com.

First couple of emails here have to do with some corrections made to recent broadcast.

This one goes back to last week's Q &A. It's our friend Casper's, who is now a professor of Old Testament at a seminary.

Oh, cool. Yes. A longtime listener. Yeah. So the student has now become the master.

That's awesome. So Casper says. Congratulations on that. I'm not saying Casper's was ever my student.

But anyway, he says, Dear Gabe, I hope you and your family are doing well. You can hear the toddler coughing in the background.

My first year at Southern has finished and what a year. I've enjoyed getting to know wonderful colleagues and the opportunity to teach

God's word has been amazing. Right now we are in Europe visiting family and also doing research at Tyndale House in Cambridge.

Oh, cool. I wanted to briefly respond to your last Friday edition of the broadcast on the question of Christ's humanity and his divinity.

I agree that we need to keep both natures distinct. Jesus being truly human was not some kind of superhuman or demigod.

Yet at the same time, he never ceased to be fully God at any moment during his incarnation. It seems to me that in places during the podcast, you use language that might lead someone to conclude as much.

He quotes me saying he was also not omnipresent. He was a human being in human form.

He wasn't all over the world all the time, nor did he have to be because the Father and the Holy Spirit would do that, unquote.

I think it's important to maintain the classical attributes of God. He never changes.

He never ceases to be God. The one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit also acts as one in upholding the universe.

The historic Christian doctrine of Christ's two natures is tied to his having two wills, one human, one divine.

The great mystery of our faith is that as a human baby, the Lord Jesus was totally dependent on his human mother.

Yet as God, he was simultaneously upholding the entire universe, including sustaining

Mary. Thanks for the podcast and keep up the good work. Kaspers, I think you summarized it much better than I did.

I think that I was being more rhetorical than anything and just probably overstated my case. But I appreciate you chiming in and bringing us back to those classical distinctions.

Yeah. I like the way that was worded. Like the way he worded it? Yeah. Yeah. I told him too.

I responded in an email. I said, you know, that's just such a great summary. Yeah. That was great. To say he was upholding the entire universe, including

Mary, while at the same time, he in his humanness was dependent upon Mary.

Yeah. I love it. Wonderfully mysterious to think about. It's something that you don't really, I mean, you talk about, but you don't really stop and think about it that way, you know?

Ponder and think about it. Right. Kaspers, appreciate your email as always, and God bless you in the ministry that you are doing.

This next one is from Mike in Tennessee. Dear Gabe. First, I want to say how much I appreciate your podcast.

My wife and I listen to them on long trips. We learn from your insights and clarifications, and we also enjoy your humor and your outtakes.

I think the outtake on this video is going to involve a coughing baby. Yeah. Probably. I want to comment on your session on salt and light.

This was either last week or the week before when I was in Matthew 5. While I think you made the correct point, your example missed the point from Jesus context.

You mentioned detractors say Jesus did not understand salt. I say they don't understand chemistry.

There are many salts in the world beside table salt. Forty -five years ago, I was visiting a

Coptic monastery near Alexandria, and I saw them harvesting big slabs of salt from a lake.

The lake fills with water from the Mediterranean in the winter and dries up in August, leaving a thick coating of salt.

As they were putting the salt in the vault, our guide explained why it was so valuable. This was

NaCl, or sodium chloride, also known as table salt, and was used as a preservative and seasoning.

If they run out of sodium chloride, they use potassium chloride, KCl. Unfortunately, potassium chloride breaks down and loses its flavor.

Think pool salts. When this happens, they toss it on paths as a herbicide to keep weeds from growing.

Jesus followers did not need to be chemists to know that while both salts look and act the same, only table salt retains its saltiness.

Salt from the salt sea includes potassium chloride and other salts, so it loses its flavor and is only good to throw on the path.

They would have understood that there would be counterfeit followers that act just like the others, but were never really followers of the way, and in time, would show their true nature.

Again, we appreciate your program and your saltiness. Tell Babe that Mike and Tracy say hello from Tennessee, and we appreciate your contributions to the program as well.

Regards, Mike. Aw, thanks. Thank you so much for the input, Mike. I sure appreciate that.

Yeah, that was when I was in Matthew chapter five, where Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

So appreciate some of the Middle East context that Mike provides for us there.

Yeah. All right, this next question comes from Chris in North Carolina. Good afternoon,

Pastor Gabe and Becky. It's been a while since I've heard y 'all referred to as the Gabe and Babe show, so I just wanted to throw that out there to keep it alive.

I have recently become aware of an Amazon Prime docuseries entitled Happy Shiny People that covers the rise of the

Duggar family and the influence of Bill Gothard's teachings and movement. A friend of mine shared about some of its content on social media, stating that she had been raised in the

Institute in Basic Life Principles or IBLP movement that that he was doing.

She briefly described the environment as cultish, particularly surrounding the personality and teachings of Bill Gothard.

I listened to the first episode of the show and it became clear that while some of the interviewees seem to just want to get the truth of various abuses in the open, others were using the opportunity to bash the whole of conservative biblical

Christianity. There seemed to be a conflation of homeschooling with some cultish, backwards, harmful lifestyle.

I know better. I was raised in IFB circles or the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist circles and was homeschooled as well, but I do not recall anything related to IBLP.

Do you have any insights or experiences with this group, its affiliations and its ideology?

Thanks. Chris from North Carolina. No, I am not familiar with any of this stuff, to tell you the truth, and I grew up in South Carolina and some of this stuff was definitely going on around me, but it never got into my home or my church circles when

I was being raised. It's only been recently that I've heard about this. Even when the

Duggars were on the air, I never watched the show. What was it called? Fifteen and Counting or something like that? I don't remember.

However many kids they had, and counting, that was... Nineteen and Counting. Nineteen, well, yeah, it could have been that.

Yeah. Maybe at one point it was Fifteen and Counting. I think it kept going up. Yeah. That's right, yeah. But, see,

I never even watched the show, so I didn't know what was... I watched a couple episodes, but that was it.

Yeah. So, really was unfamiliar with Bill Gothard until recent years when, you know, the show went off the air.

There was the stuff that happened with Josh Duggar, and then people that came out and said, well, this was the cultish lifestyle that the

Duggar family was in, and so here was some of the teachings that was influencing them, and Josh was influenced by that, and all this other kind of thing.

So, it was through that talk that I became familiar with it, but before that, I really had...

I had no clue. Yeah. I know it was a big deal, since I've read about it since then. Yeah. The different conventions and seminars they would have.

It just happened to be totally out of my perimeter when I was growing up.

Didn't have any exposure to it at all. Yeah. I was raised Catholic, so that wouldn't have been in my circle either.

So, yeah, I'm not really able to give you any insight. I've only picked up bits and pieces through the various scandals and things like that that have come to light in recent years.

Different involvement that Gothard had. I remember the accusation that John MacArthur was involved with Bill Gothard turned out to be totally bunk.

Oh, really? But it's kind of like Bill Gothard is such a pariah that that name has a certain stigma attached to it.

Mm -hmm. So, if there's teachers you don't like, if you can attach them to Bill Gothard, you can...

Oh, there it is. Yeah, there it is. Yeah. You can try to discredit that teacher. That's kind of the thing that's been going on.

And so, therefore, a lot of rumors, a lot of myth and speculation that's tied into some of this.

So, you have to be careful with what you listen to. Yeah, if you're actually getting the truth or not.

Right. Especially with regards to this documentary. Now, I haven't watched any of Shiny Happy People. I've seen people talk about it.

I've seen people say, you know, there are some legitimate things in there in exposing the Bill Gothard movement.

But at the same time, just like Chris said, they weaponize that stuff and try to make all

Christian homeschool families look bad. Of course. And it's almost like, hey, if this was happening with this family, this was a famous family, so just think about how many other families are out there.

That aren't in the public eye. Yeah. That we don't know about. If we can get them out of the home and into the public school system, then we would be saving kids.

Yeah. Yeah, so you can indoctrinate them with their LGBTQ nonsense, is really what you want to do.

So, anyway, like I said, haven't watched the documentary. I'm not sure if I ever will. Yeah. I like documentaries.

You do. I might pick it up at some point just to be aware of it, because I'm sure more people are going to be talking about it.

Yeah, probably. And it's good to have an awareness of it. But yeah, just beware. This is the angle that they're taking with this particular documentary.

It's just to make Christians look bad. Yeah. That's too bad that it takes like that tone, you know.

Now, there is a book out there by Ginger Vuolo, who is one of the Duggar kids.

Okay. She's married to Jeremy Vuolo, who goes to Master's, as a matter of fact. Oh, wow. She has a book called

Becoming Free Indeed. Okay. So, if you want to know something about the movement and you want to get it from a solid source.

Right. Then I recommend that you look up her book. When I was at ShepCon back in March, I saw her book in the

ShepShop. Oh, that's neat. Bookstore there on the Grace Community Church campus. Uh -huh.

So, I would encourage you to check that out. Pick up her book. And that'll give you some better insight into this, instead of trying to weed out all the myths and speculation stuff.

Right. After all, we're told to stay away from myth and speculation. That's right. And pursue the truth. That's right.

And as it says in Ephesians 4, to speak the truth in love. Yes. And get it from a firsthand witness.

That's right. Well, this kid here needs to go to bed. Yeah, I think he's ready now. All right.

So, why don't I play? Say night -night. Night -night. Night -night. He's waving to everybody. Night, bubs.

Can he see it? Yeah, night. He's still just waving. All right. So, I'm going to do the video thing.

Uh -huh. You go put him to bed, and I'll see you in a minute and a half. All right. Sounds good. You got a minute and a half to put him to bed.

90 seconds. Do you think you can do it? We got this. All right. Did you know that Jesus talked about money more than any other subject?

11 out of 39 parables are about money. One of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke are about money.

He talked about money more than faith and prayer combined. After the kingdom of God, money was

Jesus' favorite topic. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. It's a common myth, and megachurch pastors love to repeat it.

But no, money was not Jesus' favorite subject. Sometimes Jesus used money as an illustration for something else, like in the parable of the talents or the parable of the lost coin.

That doesn't mean the subject he was addressing was money. If you were to list the subjects Jesus talked about most,

God is at the top of the list. That seems kind of obvious now that you think about it, right? Next, he talked a lot about the kingdom of God and heaven.

He also talked a lot about hell, warning about the final judgment and eternal fire. In fact, no one in the

Bible talked about hell more than Jesus did. Jesus made many references to himself as the son of man, son of God, the good shepherd, his death and resurrection, his return, his word, and so on.

He talked about sharing the gospel and making disciples. Other big topics include faith, prayer, love, and good works, salvation, holiness, sin, and the

Old Testament scriptures. And somewhere down the list, Jesus talked about money. It's certainly an important topic, but it was not

Jesus' favorite subject. Only by faith in Jesus Christ can you be forgiven your sin and have fellowship with God.

Jesus is the most important subject of all when we understand the text. Now, that really didn't have to do with what we were talking about.

No. But yeah, just trying to buy some time. Well, I'm back.

Yep. Welcome back. Thanks. You did that rather quick. Yep. He went down pretty easy. He was ready.

Good deal. Finally. You know, he does go to bed really, really well. He does.

I mean, the kids put him to bed even for naptimes and stuff like that. He does.

He goes to bed really, really well, but he's got his cough, so that's not really letting him sleep.

I mean, as chaos as he is, and as much of a full -time job as he is when he's awake.

He is either go or stop. That's right. There is no in -between. He's got two speeds.

Go and stop. That's pretty much it. Now, this next question comes from Nunya. Nunya?

I'm guessing short for Nunya Business. Excuse me. So, now you've got that cough.

I do. We got rid of the coughing kid. Sorry. And now still have the coughing wife. It tickles. Nunya says, good afternoon.

Question, can someone who claims to be born again be demon oppressed?

If so, what can be done about this? Thank you in advance. Demon oppressed?

Can you repeat the question? Yeah, sure. Can someone who claims to be born again.

Okay. Be demon oppressed? Oh. If so, what can be done about this?

Now, she says, claims to be born again. Right. That's true. So, I'm going to just,

I'm going to say she's asking if someone is born again, can they be demon oppressed?

Okay. So, take the claims out of it. She's asking, can someone who is a Christian be oppressed by a demon?

Now, oppressed, yes. Possessed, no. Yeah. Okay. I was going to say, because,

I mean, Job was, I mean. He was oppressed by Satan. He was. Yeah. I don't know enough about it, though.

Now, the example that I would give would be the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.

Okay. So, in verse seven, he says, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations that he had received, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh.

Yeah. Okay. A messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself.

Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.

Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and hardships for the sake of Christ.

For when I am weak, then I am strong. Mm -hmm. So, you have there Paul's testimony that he was being oppressed.

Right. By a demon, by a messenger of Satan. Yes. Now, the other side of that being, you can be demon oppressed, but you won't be demon possessed.

Okay. Because as a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.

Mm -hmm. And so, no demon can do so. Right. The Spirit is not giving up ground.

Right. To Satan to dwell in the same place where the Spirit dwells. Praise the Lord. Amen to that.

So, yeah, while there will be occasions in which Satan may try to tempt you.

Mm -hmm. Resist Satan by drawing near to Christ. That's in James Chapter 4. Mm -hmm.

When you have Satan trying to oppress you by something that's going on.

And when I say Satan, I'm speaking more of the powers of Satan. Okay. Satan's not omnipresent.

Right. He's got something else that he's up to. So, his messengers or his minions may come after you.

But, yeah, all of a sudden I had in my head that Satan's minions are these little yellow guys with single eyes, look like walking

Twinkies. I just distracted myself by calling them minions.

Oh, that's funny. Yeah, demons. Anyway, so I say that very loosely when

I say, you know, Satan may oppress you. Uh -huh. Or he may try to rob your joy.

Or God will allow a demon to test you in some way, just like Paul. And Jesus. Yeah, and Christ was tested by Satan in the wilderness as well.

That's right. But he wasn't ever possessed. No. So, yeah, that would make sense.

So, God may allow that. Mm -hmm. But he certainly won't give you over into the devil's hands.

Right. Just like with Job, the example you gave at the beginning. Yeah. God said, you may do these things to Job.

Mm -hmm. But you cannot harm his body. Right. And then after that, he was even able to afflict Job with sores.

Right. But he could not take his life. Right. The Lord may allow that to happen, and he does that for the purpose of testing us.

Mm -hmm. For as 2 Corinthians 1, verse 9 says, these things happen to teach us to rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.

Right. So, it causes us to draw all the more near to the Lord. Definitely. Good question, though,

Nunya. Yeah. And I hope that's an encouragement to you. This next question comes from Danny.

Hello, Pastor Gabe and Becky. Hope everyone's doing well. Better. Thank you. Question.

What does the Bible say about resigning at your workplace? I understand that it says that we need to submit to our masters and leaders, and I've very patient in working through the toxicity and stress for 11 years, but I don't see any improvement.

All the employees are being overworked and undervalued. They have not listened to my request to evaluate my salary and workload.

Thank you for all that you do. God bless. Hmm. So, what does Scripture say about resigning?

Well, it doesn't say that you need to give a two -weeks notice. Isn't that the standard?

Yeah. You know, like if you're going to quit a job, you're supposed to turn in your two -weeks notice or something like that. Two weeks to two months,

I think. Yeah. Somewhere in there. Depends on your job, I guess. It does say that we are to submit to our earthly masters.

Now, this is with regards to slaves, Colossians 3 .22. You're not a slave at your job.

But still, hear what's being said to those who are slaves. Slaves, in all things, obey those who are your masters, according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men -pleasers, but with integrity of heart, fearing the

Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the

Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

Serve the Lord Christ. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

So even though that is an address made specifically to slaves, and in case I didn't give the reference there, it's

Colossians 3 .22 -25. Even though that's said to those who are in indentured servitude.

Nonetheless, I think there's principles there that you can apply even to a workplace where you're free to come and go.

Sure. If you want to quit your job, you can. But understand this principle, verse 23. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the

Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

Serve the Lord Christ. So there in your workplace, Dani, you're not being valued.

You're probably not being paid what you're worth, or you're not being paid for the job that you actually do.

And whether or not you choose to stay is between you and the Lord. Right. I don't see, at least by the scenario that you've given to me in your email, that you're going to somehow be sinning if you were to quit your job.

But do it in a respectful way. Right. And it's okay for you, too, to express, you know,

I'm underworked and undervalued. I'm not getting paid for the job that I do. I've brought these issues up in the past.

I've said things about it, and yet nothing changes. Right. And so it is better for me, for my family, if I quit this job and I go try to find something else.

I mean, you're perfectly free to do that. There's nothing scriptural that says you are obligated to have to stay at the job that you are at.

You know, just whatever you do, consult the Lord, pray about it, pray with your spouse if you're married.

If you are part of a church, talk to a pastor. Talk to a Sunday school teacher, somebody who's older.

If you are a woman, ask a senior woman's advice if you've ever been in this situation before.

If you are a young man, ask an older man and gain some wisdom from those who have experience in these kinds of things.

And maybe they know something about you and they know something about your job. Right. And they're able to speak into that situation and give you wisdom that's specific to your situation, you know.

But yeah, again, in all things, you are serving the Lord Christ. Honor the Lord. Don't try to think that, you know, maybe if I pray about it,

God will give me a voice from heaven. I've counseled people there before.

You know, somebody who tells me, well, I think God is telling me to do this. No, he didn't.

Yeah. Whatever it is that you're going to do, just do it. Yeah. And do it to honor Christ.

And be good steward of it, of your job. I mean, you don't think of it like a thing, but it is a thing that God has gifted you.

And so. You're able to make ends meet through. Yeah. This provision that God has given you, this job so that you can get paid and.

Yeah. Yeah. Pay your bills. So, I mean, there are very, very hard jobs out there that pay very little.

But the impact of them is very great. It's more than just, oh,

I hate this job. I'm going to quit. Yeah. Right. So. More to think about there. Yeah. Most people don't like their jobs.

Right. Yeah. That's pretty common. Every time I had a job, it was like, oh, I got to go to work.

Yeah. You know. But I mean, I even love my job. Some of them. And I have the

Jane of all trades, I guess, with how many different types of jobs I've had. But anyway. Yeah.

You've worked way more secular jobs than I have. Yes. In fact. Yes. A lot.

Yeah. Yeah. I have worked at secular. I've worked at secular radio stations. Yeah. I think that was about the extent of any secular jobs

I had. Yeah. I don't think I had any jobs that were not secular.

That were Christian. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Even when I worked retail, I worked at a Christian bookstore. Yeah. So. That's funny.

Yeah. Just about every single job I had was Christian in environment. You know.

Even if it was a for -profit company. It was still. Yeah. The environment was still Christian. Yeah. So. Anyway.

You were saying nobody likes their jobs. Well, I had interrupted you because you were talking about the different jobs that you've had.

Oh. Well. I was just. I don't remember what I was saying now. Like you worked at a rock quarry.

Yeah. I drove a 60 -ton haul truck. That was crazy to me. I only saw pictures of it.

But I was just like. I was also a daycare leader. You know. Okay. I had my own daycare classroom.

And. That is two vastly different worlds. Completely different worlds.

I don't know. I went from the toys to the Tonka. You know. I mean like. It's a great big huge. It's a great big Tonka toy.

Tonka truck. Yeah. That's right. So. I got to drive it. And it was fun. Anyway. I don't.

I think you were talking though. About how nobody likes their jobs. And. I said that.

But then you had. You had come into talking about the different jobs that you've had. Even in ministry though.

There are jobs that aren't enjoyable. I remember when I was. I was just basically agreeing with you.

And the vast differences of jobs that I've had. It's still the same attitude towards it.

Of. You know. I got to go. You know. And. Oh I got to put this work in. And I'd much rather be doing this instead.

And. It was just. It was never the right attitude. Yeah. It was like my dad used to tell me when I was a kid.

You got to have the want to. Yeah. Plenty of jobs you're not going to like to do Gabe.

But you have to do them. And you have to want to do them. Yes. Yes. Can you really do the job well.

If you don't have that desire in your heart to do it well. Right. And in this particular case. And in this council that's being given in Colossians 3.

You're serving something higher than the job that you're doing. You're serving something even higher than the emotions that you feel.

Or you know how you consider your circumstances. Yeah. You're serving the Lord Christ.

Yep. And even the way that you behave at your job. You can do your job to the glory of God.

And there's eternal reward in that. Now see as Christians we understand that.

Whereas even a job that you would ordinarily not like or isn't pleasant. And maybe even your coworkers and your employer don't truly appreciate you.

Yet there is still something about that job that is eternally rewarding.

It rolls up into praise to God. Yes. And it sanctifies you.

Mm -hmm. Going back to even the statement before from 2 Corinthians 1.

The hardships that Paul and his missionary brethren went through. Taught them to rely on God.

Mm -hmm. So it can be the same thing at your workplace. Yeah. You're underappreciated.

But it teaches you to rely on God who loves you. Yes. And you know you're not a disappointment to your father who is in heaven.

Right. Definitely. And so in this way you have that growth that you experience in Christ.

In the spirit that dwells inside of you. When you obey this instruction to do your work heartily.

You have the want to. Right. But it's not a want to please your employer necessarily.

Although that's a good thing to do. Mm -hmm. But you work for the Lord rather than for men. Knowing that from the

Lord Christ you receive your reward. Mm -hmm. Now it's great that he's blessed you with this job. It's a job that pays money.

That money can be used to pay your bills and provide and get food and things like that. Mm -hmm. You do need to be thankful to God for that.

Right. So even if it's a job you don't like. Thank the Lord. Mm -hmm. Just like is said in Philippians 4.

With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Yes. You may want another job.

You may desire another job. And it's good to pray for that. Mm -hmm. You go to the Lord in prayer. But when you come in prayer have an attitude of thanksgiving.

Yes. Lord, thank you for caring for me, for providing for me, for giving me this job that I can be provided for and help those around me.

I've got money I can give to my church. Mm -hmm. So I can even through this job help further ministry.

Yeah. Be thankful to God for that. That's a good point. But Dani, if your hang -up is over, you know, can

I quit my job and go get another one? There's nothing in the Bible that tells you you can't quit your job.

Right. Like I said before, this isn't indentured servitude. But just go about it wisely and even.

Unless you're under contract. Yes, something like that. Because like you said in your email, you do need to be submissive to your masters and leaders.

Mm -hmm. So if you have signed a contract in some way, you're going to have to honor the contract.

Right. When I was working at a secular radio station in Manhattan, Kansas, finally got tired of that job and quit it.

But I had something better kind of waiting in the wings. Part of my contract that I signed when

I started working at that radio station, there was a no -compete clause. Okay. And I was not allowed to work at another radio station within the listening area of that station.

Right. For six months. Okay. But the radio station I was being hired for was outside of that radius.

Mm -hmm. So it was not within the radio signal of the station that I was quitting. Right. However, I did not tell my boss that.

It wasn't any of his business. And I was not under any obligation to tell him where it was that I was going. Uh -huh.

I just said, I'm putting in my two weeks' notice and I resign. Mm -hmm. And he said, okay.

You know, we appreciate you working here. But it was kind of funny for that two weeks. Man, he got increasingly suspicious.

He thought the reason why I wasn't telling him that I – what station that I was going to was because –

It was within the listening area. Because he knew that it was – or at least his suspicion was that it was going to go against the non -compete clause.

Uh -huh. And he was like, Gabe's hiding something. And so – Yeah. Like he was trying to get other staff to try to figure out where it is

Gabe's going. I didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell a single co -worker where I was going. I'm just resigning and I'm going to go do something else.

It was a Christian radio station five hours away. So I was not in violation of my contract.

But I still – I had to abide by the contract. Yeah. And had I broken the contract and they sued me for it –

Yeah. I mean, I would have – You would have been guilty. I would have been guilty, right? It's like we had talked about earlier this week from Matthew 5 about making vows and oaths.

Yeah. You got to stick with your word. So if I'm signing a contract and I say I agree with all of these stipulations in the contract, then

I have to uphold that. Uh -huh. But thankfully, I didn't have to. I was outside of the – outside of the listening area.

All of that just – you know, hopefully all of that, Dani, even my little rabbit trails there, personal experience stories can help you make up your mind as to what you should do.

Uh -huh. Let's pray for Dani right now before we go to our last question. Okay. Heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you provide for us, that you give us a job, you give us income, that we may be fed and be able to pay our bills.

It's just like Jesus said in Matthew 6, the Lord knows that you need these things and he provides for you.

He cares for the birds, so how much more does he care for you? And so we thank you for all that you have provided for us.

Teach us, as said later on there in Matthew 6, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the things that we need will be added to us as well.

We pray for Dani as Dani has to think about some of these things with regards to the job that Dani works, still wanting to honor the

Lord in the workplace, but even be able to finish well, representing Christ in all of Dani's interactions.

Give Dani wisdom to be surrounded by some good guidance and counsel so that Dani can make the best decision that gives honor to Christ.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, last question here comes from Aaron.

And Aaron says, Dear Pastor Gabe, is it just me or have stories in the news about aliens, extraterrestrials, and UFOs been on the increase?

It used to be fringe. Now it's on the nightly local news. What? Is there really something going on with all these alien sightings or is all of this just a big distraction from any real news that's going on?

Does the Bible say anything about aliens from another world? Thank you for your program. Yeah, are you not aware of like even in local news stations, there's like local stories going on of alien encounters and objects in the sky?

On local news? Yeah, local news. No, I had no idea. How about I play one for you? You want to hear this?

I guess. I can't remember where this is, but I remember the friend that posted it. So let me pull up this audio.

Okay. This is totally a local news station. It's not Fox News. It's not CNN. Okay. A local station reporting on strange objects in the sky and mysterious people in the backyard.

Okay. Are you ready? I guess. As ready as I can be. Is it going to give you nightmares?

Are you going to be up at night? Are you going to be looking at stuff in the backyard? Like what is going on?

Yeah. I mean, Erin's right. I am seeing more and more of these stories. It does seem to be. Stories.

Okay. Yeah. I wanted to clarify. Well, they're news stories. Well, no. I mean like you don't see more and more of the extraterrestrial people in our backyard or whatever.

Yeah, no. Stories in the news. Okay, check. Yeah. I'm just checking for myself. So listen to this.

All right. Into this for weeks now. And tonight are David Sharns with the video. You will only see on eight news.

Now. David. Right. Denise sources telling babies that investigators that several agencies believe something landed or crashed, whether it was nonhumans or not.

It certainly scared the people living on this property. Now, before we show you that video, listen to their call for help.

There's like an eight foot person decided and another one inside and it has big eyes and looking at us and it's still there.

Okay. Where is this on your property? In my backyard. I swear to God, this is not a joke.

This is actually. So there's two people or two subjects that are in your backyard.

Correct. And they're very large. They're like eight foot, nine feet, 10 foot.

I don't know. They look like they look like aliens to us. Big eyes. They have big eyes.

Like, like I can explain it. And big mouth. They're shiny eyes and. And they're not human.

They're 100 percent. They're not human. Okay. Well, the eight years now, investigators obtaining video as officers then responded to the call you just heard.

You'll see the officers also saw something in the sky that night. But the big question is, what was it?

And is it all connected? It's almost midnight on May 1st when a

Las Vegas Metro police officers body cam catches this. Something flashing low in the sky.

911 emergency. Minutes later. There's like an eight foot person beside it. And another one inside and it has big eyes and looking at us.

And it's still there. Someone calls 911 reporting two large figures in their backyard.

I'm still nervous right now. The eight years now, investigators obtaining another officer's video as he sent to the

Northwest Valley home. I have butterflies, bro. Shooting star. Then these people say there's aliens in their backyard.

By now, it's more than an hour after that bright light. Officers meeting up with the caller and his family.

What do you see? It was like a. It was like a big creature. A big creature. Yeah. Like a tall.

I'm not going to be as you guys. One of my partners said they saw something fall out of the sky, too. So that's why I'm kind of curious. Did you see anything land in your backyard?

They see like a big. That's what they say. They see like a big, like a big something with light. What I saw right now, I do believe in it.

Police walk into the backyard to investigate. But Metro blacked out that part of the video because it's considered private property.

What's clear? They're taking this call seriously. Hey, this might sound like a really dumb question, but did you guys see anything fall out of the sky?

Asking others what they saw. I would normally discount it as nothing. However, seeing as one of my partners said they saw it, too.

Only reason I'm actually investigating it further. That investigation turning up no concrete answers as of Wednesday.

Whatever or whoever fell into that yard long gone within minutes.

Oh, hey, it does. It does. Nine foot beings come back. Don't call us. All right. Deal with it yourself. I ain't dealing with that.

So, yeah, this is quite weird. Brian was saying during as we're watching this story now, we've been been in contact with the family in that video.

And as you heard in that 911 call, they seem very reasonable and honestly quite scared as you heard them in the call.

No, they don't seem impaired in any way. And whatever crashed by the time that police got there was gone.

But sources say that there's really no dispute. Something was in their yard. Exactly what?

We do not know. I mean, it's so interesting. So like the Metro officers see something, the neighbors see something.

I mean, so what could it be? Well, we know that there are obviously a lot of military bases around this area.

George Knapp covers a lot of that stuff for us on the 80s. Our investigators were showing you drone video from above that area.

And we know, of course, Creech not far away. Nellis Air Force Base not far. I checked in with them.

They say they are not involved at all. And we are waiting to hear from the Pentagon as well. And you talked to these people.

It seemed completely legitimate to you. And do you have any personal thoughts on maybe what it was? So it seems from talking to our sources that something happened.

There was obviously some flash in the sky. A lot of people saw it that night on the night of April 30th early in the morning on May 1st.

Did that exact thing land in their yard? I don't know. But these people said they saw some

SUV circling the area. Could this have been some piece of equipment that malfunctioned? Maybe they saw something and then someone came.

I can't believe we're talking about this. Someone came and retrieved it from the backyard in the SUV. We don't know.

This all comes as a former high -level intelligence officer, an air veteran, was on News Nation talking about how there is a program where the government collects some unidentified objects.

So this might be that. We just don't know. We're going to work to find out. And no substances. They were looking with clear eyes.

You got to love how he just throws in there at the end, were they on drugs? Without saying it.

Yeah, without saying it. Clear eyes. Yeah, right. These people weren't on drugs, were they?

Have we looked into that? That was funny. But it's true. It does seem like these stories have been more mainstream lately.

Huh. That's interesting. Okay. What does the Bible say about aliens?

Well, in Colossians 2 .14, it says, Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, he,

God, also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in him.

Do you know what I'm talking about in those passages at all? I mean, our sins. Yeah, exactly.

And God. Right. For coming it. God has canceled the record of debt that was held against us.

He nailed it to the cross of Christ, and he disarmed the rulers and authorities. Right. Demons.

Ah. That's what aliens are. Okay. Yes, there are extraterrestrial or trans -dimensional beings.

They're demons. They're in another dimension. They're from the spiritual realm.

Yeah. So, yeah, people will see things that are strange creatures and probably even summon them as well.

I mean, that's kind of part of this whole thing. I don't know how much you've looked into people trying to make contact with extraterrestrials, but there's oftentimes either drugs or meditation that is involved, and they see these beings, sometimes even lights in the sky.

And this is probably a discussion, a broader discussion for another time. I didn't prep anything on talking about aliens here on this show.

But, yeah, I can give you some stuff. I can show you exactly where. You can give us some stuff? Not mushrooms.

I'm kidding. Yeah, yeah. Not the drugs like that guy was asking about before. Just different stories that people have of contact that they've made with these beings, but it usually involves something that you would otherwise qualify as being quite pagan.

Huh. Like, okay, you were doing this, and then you saw aliens. Ah, I gotcha.

You would not have thought of that as being something pagan or something spiritual in nature if it involved anything else other than aliens.

But because extraterrestrials are who these people are making contact with, you think of it as something more scientific rather than being something spiritual.

But there is something spiritual connected with these encounters that people have.

Hmm. So why would that many people from different places see the same thing?

I think there was something that actually fell out of the sky that night. Oh, okay. And just coincidentally, it happened to coincide with this phone call that these people made.

It wasn't like those events were interconnected. Makes sense. But when you see the body cam footage on the actual news report, you heard them talking about, right here in the body cam footage, you see an object fall from the sky.

Right. I think that really happened. Right. Okay. That happens a lot, though. Yeah, those kinds of things, especially in Nevada.

Right. How clear that sky is. Yeah. You probably see things like that all the time, more often than you would see it in San Diego or maybe it doesn't happen in Southern California around cities as often as it would in Nevada, which is more desert out there.

Right. Anyway, with the object falling from the sky, it was caught on the body cam footage, and then you had the phone call.

I don't think the two things were related. I got you. They just happened on the same night.

Mm -hmm. What these other people were involved in that they saw beings in their backyard, no idea.

Yeah. But there is something demonic connected with these sightings of extraterrestrials. Interesting.

Well, then that makes sense as to why there's more and more. It could be. Because we are becoming a fallen nation, unfortunately.

More and more a fallen nation. Yes. Falling further and further away from God. There we go. That's what

I meant. Absolutely. Isaiah 8, 11 to 14 says, For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a strong hand and disciplined me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

You are not to say, It is a conspiracy in regard to all that this people calls a conspiracy.

And you are not to fear what they fear. And you shall not tremble.

It is Yahweh of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And he shall be your fear.

And he shall be your cause of trembling. And then he shall become to you a sanctuary.

Mm. Amen. So that's how we're to regard these things. Draw near to God. Yeah. And he will draw near to you.

Amen. Let the people fear what they're going to fear. Right. Yes. But in Christ, we have nothing to fear.

Mm -hmm. The love of God casts out all fear. Let's finish there with prayer, and we'll conclude the show for today.

All right. Yes, let's. Heavenly Father, when it comes to the mysterious things that are happening in our world, things that we cannot explain, different things that are happening in the culture, like certain stories get amped up.

We'll hear conspiracies about political dealings and all this other kind of stuff.

We start getting worried, this nation against that nation. Well, our Lord Christ said in Matthew 24 that you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

But the end is not yet. So we continue to hold fast to the truth of the gospel that has been proclaimed to us.

We have nothing to fear of what the rest of the world fears or what man fears. Teach us to have the reverent fear of God, that we may walk in righteousness and holiness before you, holding fast to Christ, who is the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, as said in Hebrews 12.

He is coming back again to bring his saints to himself and to judge the living and the dead.

May we be looking forward to that day when we join the Lord forever in glory. In the meantime, while we are on this earth, teach us to do all things for your glory, giving praise to our

God, who is good to us. In Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen.

Amen. I got it recording.

I know. Okay. Are you going to be able to do this? Maybe. With the baby in the room?

I'm sure eventually, after I get through the intro. Okay. It's like old times.

I know. That's what I was thinking. We'll get the baby back in here again. Okay. This is

When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast to help encourage your time in the Word.

Tell all your friends about our ministry at www .tt .com. Thanks.

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