WWUTT 2545 Q&A Family Resources for Devotions, Bible Translations and Copyright, Guarding Against Lust

Should we be using Bible translations with no copyright? What are some good resources to use for family devotions?

And what are some Bible passages we can meditate on to guard ourselves from lust? The answers to these questions and others, when we understand the text.

Greetings and Happy New Year from your friends at When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary that we might help encourage your time in the

Word. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. Psalm 75, we give thanks to you,

O God. We give thanks for your time is near. Sorry, not your time.

Your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. End of the

Psalm, I will declare it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked

I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Welcome to When We Understand The Text. I think this is the first time. It's not the first episode of the new year, but it's the first time you've been on.

This year. To say Happy New Year. Yes. I feel like the last time I was on was like last year.

It was. It's been since last year that you were on this program.

It's been a long time. Where you been? Where you been all my life, babe? Well, you know, taking care of things.

Yeah. Being exhausted. We've been sick. Oh, man. And then recovering from sickness, trying to get back into the swing of things.

Yes. Which, by the way, being sick is one of the reasons why Hear the Word of the Lord lagged this week.

So I only got two episodes up. And my intention for 2026 is to only do it Monday to Friday.

So it's not going to be an everyday thing like I was trying to do last year and ended up falling way behind.

Yeah. So if I give myself those two extra days, I should be able to stay on top of it. So getting back into a regular schedule on Monday, I had started in the

New Testament for this year. I will resume with the Old Testament and finish up the rest of that.

But figured for the start of this year, jumping into Matthew. Yeah. And still in the legacy standard version.

Yes. That's what I'm reading through right now. So again. So are you doing like just Matthew or?

No, I'll keep going through the whole New Testament. Okay. Yeah. Awesome. Matthew to Revelation. And then you'll go back and hit up the rest of Old Testament.

Exactly. Nice. So once again, that podcast is Hear the Word of the

Lord. That's what you're looking for on your podcast app. And it'll be updated, God willing,

Monday to Friday. This stuff that we've been catching here at the end of 25 and going into 26 has all been kind of respiratory.

Yes. There's been coughing and phlegminess. It's annoying. And that definitely doesn't help in my recording.

And I don't have six pack abs from it. Like I should. I have been exercising these muscles for a long time now.

All that wearing out your abs from the coughing. Oh my. I got my mug of water over here just in case.

Yes. With this being the Friday edition of the broadcast, we're back to answering questions from the listeners.

Praise the Lord. And you can send those questions to WhenWeUnderstandTheText at gmail .com.

Or you can send us a voicemail. Go to www .utt .com.

Click on the voicemail tab and record us a voicemail either through your phone or through your computer.

I mentioned this week, too, that I'm going to be making some updates to the website. It won't be hosted on Blogger anymore.

But you'll still be able to find the voicemail tab right there in the menu toward the top.

So this first message that we have to respond to is a voicemail from Tyler.

And it's been so long since I've done this. I got to make sure I'm all queued up here. Yeah. Everything on? I got my volume up and all this.

Okay. Here we go. Here's Tyler's question. Hey, Pastor Gabe. My name's

Tyler. I'm calling. I've been listening for a little while, although I've seen your YouTube videos in the past.

I wanted to ask a question. I'm a young father. I've got two boys. One of them's two years old, and the other one's two months.

So we're getting into the age of the two -year -old where maybe we can start using some children's

Bible resources. We've been using Kevin DeYoung's Bible resource so far with him just to try to immerse him in the teaching of the

Bible and kind of more just to get him used to a routine. My question is, with how many bad resources there are out there that don't represent the

Bible well? And when you're dealing with children who really might struggle to intake the

Scripture itself at their age, what resources would you recommend and what would you avoid to help train them up in the truth?

Thanks for your help and your ministry. Bye. Appreciate it, Tyler. Thank you for your voicemail. So I'm actually very, very simple when it comes to what sort of resources can we use as a family in doing

Bible study. I just use the Bible. So now another great thing to do with your kids is catechism.

So being able to find a good catechism to go through, and you can find free catechisms out there.

So this app is one that I've recommended several times before. It's called the Reformed app.

And I downloaded it initially just to have the confession. So you have the

Westminster Confession, the Shorter Catechism, you've got the London Baptist Confession of Faith, Heidelberg, and things like that.

But then when I clicked on catechism, so it gives you an option to read the confessions, catechisms, creeds.

And when I clicked on catechism, I discovered that there is a catechism for boys and girls on there.

Oh, neat. I did not think that this was on there until I downloaded it. I really didn't know all the features that were on here.

But again, it's called Reformed app, and that's all one word, Reformed APP. And when you click on catechism, and you click on catechism for boys and girls, very, very easy questions to do with your kids.

And so asking them a question, teaching them the question and the answer, which is essentially what catechism is.

So the first question is very simply, who made you? Yeah. Answer?

God. God made me. Yes. Question number two. What else did God make? Answer? God made all things.

Number three. Why did God make you and all things? Answer? For his own glory.

So you see how simple and easy those questions are. Yeah. And it's good to not only read the Bible, yeah, but to do some easy catechism questions with your kids.

And we've done that with our children too. We have. I've been through a lot of different curriculums, and I can honestly say that I've not been pleased with every one of them.

There have been like just, I mean, even if it's just a small amount, something needs tweaked for our beliefs and how we interpret.

Okay. Yeah. Some of it might be kind of like soft. Yes. Or light on the theology. Yes. So making a little adjustment.

Mesh things together that shouldn't be meshed together. Yeah. Like the really bad ones, they take verses out of context, a lot of stuff, and those got put on the wayside very quickly.

Right. But yeah, so I don't know.

If you're going for a curriculum, like when they're a little bit older, something that has coloring with it or whatever, or extra lessons, something like that,

I would investigate who made it, like what religion they are coming from.

What tradition or background? Yes. Less religion. But yeah. My words are not with me.

The denominations. Yeah. Okay. Right. What denomination are they from? Right. Because that's going to make a big difference on what input they're putting in their curriculum.

I will say though, there have been some publishers that I would not have thought were very good that actually turned out material that I was like, this is great.

True. That is very true. So there's, I think it's Bob Jones University. Yes. EJU. Yeah.

Right. They'll put out some school curriculum stuff. Yeah. I think you've used some of it, haven't you? Yeah. So the textbook that they did on biblical doctrines, that's the name of the textbook.

When I saw that it was from BJU, I was like, yeah, that's probably not going to be very good.

When I was reading it, it was outstanding. And some of the recommended reading resources in there were reformed.

Like check out John Frame's systematic theology, or Wayne Grudem, or Tim Keller even, or something like that.

And I'm reading that going, this is actually very solid, basic theology to give to kids.

So even though you might look at the publisher or what denomination it comes from or something like that, it doesn't even necessarily mean it might not be very good.

That's very true. You still kind of have to look at the material. I know. So if you're able to go to,

I don't know, a bookstore, if you're able to find one and go to it, because they're becoming more and more rare.

The brick -and -mortar stores? Yes. Yeah. Go ahead and thumb through it a little bit, and then you get a feel for it real fast as to whether or not it's on the up and up, or kind of soft, as you said.

I still think the best thing to do, really, is just open up the Bible and read it. That's the easiest thing. Yes. And the best.

Yeah. Cheapest thing. You're getting right into the word. And you're teaching them. The word is enough.

Exactly. Exactly. And they'll ask questions about it, and you can answer questions about it. And you'll notice that as your kids get older, so children are getting older, then you're having more kids and they're younger, but you're starting to cater the

Bible studies to the fact that you've got older kids. Well, now you're reading entire chapters. The older kids are comprehending.

They're even joining in because they're reading along with you. But the littles still can't read, and yet you're not doing devotional lessons on the level of the littles.

Right. You're doing Bible lessons on the level of who your older kids are. So if that's where you're going to get to eventually anyway, why not go ahead and do that now?

Yeah. Sure. They will pick it up. They will. There are some things that are good to get down on their level, like I mentioned with the catechism for boys and girls.

You can get into more advanced catechism later. So very simple catechism questions that they understand, who made me,

God made me, and things like that. What did God make me for, for his own glory? And then you get into more advanced questions later.

What is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever? A little kid may not understand.

What does that mean? Right, exactly. Little children may not understand that, but you get into more of that as they get older.

There is a study Bible. I'm about to do a video. I was hoping to get this done before we got to this

Q &A, but I'm about to do a video recommending certain study Bibles to people. It's a question that I get all the time, like, what's a good study

Bible? And one study Bible that I'm going to recommend, I've not brought this into our family devotions that we do in the evening yet, but I've been meaning to.

So one of the study Bibles that I'm going to recommend is Joel Beeky's study Bible, the

King James, I think it's the King James Version Reformation Study Bible. It's not Reformation Study Bible, because that's

Ligonier. The Reformation Heritage Study Bible, that's what it is. Reformation Heritage King James, they only do it in the

King James, probably because the copyright is free. Oh yeah, that could very well be it.

That's probably the reason they do it. And it has some terrific study notes. It's a fantastic study

Bible. In addition to that, after every chapter, it gives you three questions to ask in a family devotional setting.

Oh wow, that's neat. Encourage conversation about the chapter. Now when we do this, when we've done our

Bible reading, we're going through chapters of the Bible at a time. Whenever we gather as a family, usually about eight o 'clock in the evening, except on Wednesdays and Sundays, because we always have stuff in the evening on those two days.

But when we do our devotions, the kids will just automatically ask questions, and that kind of fuels the discussion about the chapter.

But in case you need something to kind of launch yourself into discussion about the chapter, that study

Bible is terrific for that. And there may even be a version of a family devotional practice that is set apart from the study

Bible that you can buy as a book just by itself. You'd have to go to Reformation Heritage's website, which is heritagebooks .org,

and just look up family devotionals or whatever, because they may have the study notes from the

KJV or from that study Bible just by themselves and not in the study

Bible. But you'll have to look it up there and say, I may be speaking presumptuously there, but check it out.

Because there's all kinds of good family devotional stuff at heritagebooks .org. Also, Founders Ministry puts out the

Grace and Truth little workbooks and things for kids. Those are good as well.

Those are awesome. Yep. We've used those in the past. I don't think we have any currently, but we've used them before. But anyway, that Reformation Heritage study

Bible at heritagebooks .org is a great study

Bible. I mean, the study notes in there by themselves are worth the study

Bible, but it's just great that they also add in questions for devotional study. And Joel Beeky has done a lot of things that are geared toward, like even how you as a man or as a father lead your family.

Yeah. Let me go ahead and check on it. I'll click on the website, because I bet you this book will come right up when

I look. Oh, no, it's going to take me to the study Bible page. Here you go.

This is the book from Joel Beeky, How to Lead Your Family. A Guide for Men Wanting to Be More.

And it's a short book. It was the book of the month at our church. Oh, yeah. I think either in November or December.

I can't remember which one. But that's a great book. Check that one out too. The Redeemed Man is another one from Joel Beeky.

Great resources there at heritagebooks .org. I'd highly recommend it. So great question,

Tyler. And I hope that was helpful for you. There was a poll question that I did.

I just recently did this poll question on the what page on X. And I forgot to mention it, because I think, actually,

I think I'm still in the middle of the poll question now that I think about it. Out of the top four best -selling translations of the

Bible in 2025, which one would you prefer? And yeah, this poll, at the time that I'm reading this, it has eight hours left.

But 797 votes so far. Wow. Now, if you'll remember back to last week's episode when

I did the biggest Christian stories of the year affecting religious news, the number one story, or at least the one at the end of the year on December 31st, was that 2025 set a record in Bible sales.

And I mentioned that the English Standard Version was the best -selling translation for 25.

So this poll question was out of the top four best -selling translations for 25, which one's your favorite?

Which one would you prefer? So the top four are the English Standard Version at number one, New International Version at number two,

King James Version at number three, and the New Living Translation at number four. Okay? 797 votes thus far, 3 .6

% said the New Living Translation. That's not very many. No. Not a translation

I would prefer or even recommend to anybody. So that's what we would call a phrase -for -phrase translation.

Oh, okay. So when the translators of the New Living Translation were coming up with that version, they were trying to capture the essence of the phrase, not necessarily be word -for -word, or what we would call an essentially literal translation.

So this is closer to a paraphrase. And for that reason, I wouldn't recommend the New Living Translation. New International Version is like that as well.

That was the second or the third, the second fewest picked, is what

I was trying to say. 6 .3 % voted for the New International Version. Number three. That was number three.

Thank you. All right. Just be simple. Simplified. Simplified. Thank you. And then at number two was the

King James Version, 17 .2%. Yeah. Not too bad. And with a whopping 72 .9

% the English Standard Version. Yeah. So that was indeed the bestseller for 25.

Earned. Yep. Yeah. And among our followers on X, the one that they would prefer over the other three. So still a very affordable translation as well.

In fact, the article that I read that was talking about the English Standard Version being the best -selling translation,

I think it was the first year that the ESV was the best -selling translation of the year. And one of the reasons why, at least according to the article

I read, they attributed it to... That's a hard word to say. Attributed it to...

How many syllables did I get in there? They said that it was because Crossway wants to make cheaper

Bibles. They want to make them more affordable. Right. Not cheap Bibles. You can get some pretty expensive ESVs.

Definitely. They want them... They want to be loose with their copyright. They want more people to be able to use it.

They want more variety and options that you can buy. They definitely have that. They have a lot. That is true.

And so for that reason, they came out as the clear frontrunner in the number of Bibles sold for 25.

So that is a favorite among a lot of people. Now when I asked that poll question, there were several people in the poll that said, like in the comment section were saying, well,

LSB, you didn't put LSB on there, or you didn't put the new American standard in there. LSB did not even break the top 10.

Wow. So the legacy standard is still a new enough translation. Okay.

That's what I was going to ask. So you think the ESV has been around for, I think, over 20 years now.

So it's taken them that long now to finally hit the top of the charts and be the best selling translation of the

Bible. So the legacy just came out a few years ago. I don't even think it was 2020, was it?

It may have been 21. Yeah. Somewhere around that. So they've got some growth to do before they can break into the top 10.

The new American standard, which essentially the legacy is the new new American standard.

Say what now? But the NASB is still outselling the legacy from the

Lockman Foundation. Both the 95 and the 2020 are still outselling the legacy.

So eventually, you know, the legacy will get up there. It'll find its due. It's just not there yet.

Lord willing. Legacy has got to make a few more affordable translations, though. A lot of the ones that you find on like 316

Publishing are really pricey. And they're supposed to be held on for your legacy.

That's exactly right. Yeah. I mean, they are really quality Bibles. They are.

They're going to last. Yep. But being a quality Bible, it also gets really pricey.

It does. So this is one thing. For them to make, too. Right. And so that's another question.

That's another question that I got today about translations. Let's go to this next one. Okay. This comes from Caleb.

Pastor Gabe, thank you for your year -end report regarding Bible translations.

What are your thoughts about using translations that don't have copyright, like the King James Bible or the

Berean Standard Bible? Also, I've heard some people argue that no one should have to purchase a

Bible, but that it should be free to all. Would you call that a biblical opinion? Thanks again for your podcast.

So there are some translations out there you never have to ask permission to use because it's trademarked or copyrighted.

You can just use it to your heart's content. It's in the public domain, as we would say.

The King James version is going to be the obvious frontrunner in that regards. Most famous translation of the

Bible. It's astonishing any other translation ever outsells the King James, because that's still the most popular.

You go to Walmart or the grocery store and you can find King James Bibles on the rack. The American Standard version is another one that is in the public domain.

The Young's Literal Translation, the World English Bible, the Berean Standard Bible, as you mentioned,

Caleb. And when you said that, I had to look that up because I didn't remember that. I was like, the Berean Standard is in the public domain?

Yeah. As of 2023. Oh. Interesting. So just about two years ago, a little over two years ago, they put it in the public domain and now you don't have to pay for copyright to use the

Berean Standard Bible. Interesting. Now, the other part of your question, Caleb, was I've heard some people argue that no one should have to purchase a

Bible, but that it should be free to all. I don't agree with that because it takes money to print a

Bible. It definitely does. I mean, all those raw materials. You have a phone, you can get the app, and that's free.

Right. You don't have to pay. It is free, but you are paying for the phone and for the phone service.

You are paying for the phone and the phone service, sure. But you can also get online at a library where you're not having to pay and look it up and read your

Bible because it's on the internet for free. So kind of most everybody,

I can't say everybody because not everybody has internet, but most everybody is at least able to get to it.

Yeah. And you can walk into most any church and say, can I have a Bible? Oh, yeah.

Of course. And they're going to hand you a Bible. Yes. I mean, I've done it. I have Bibles for that purpose.

What if you go to a big, big church? No. I think they still give you Bibles. Do they?

Oh, yeah. They don't even use Bibles. They have boxes of them. Okay. No. So Joel Osteen.

Yeah. Like if you go to Joel Osteen's church. Remember, he has everybody hold up their

Bibles. Right. And say, this is my Bible. Ah. That's true. I am what it says

I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that whole thing. Pledge. Right. Yeah. And then they never open it and read it.

Ever. Ever. But they still have them. They lug it around. Yeah. So you could probably even walk into.

All right. Fair. Into Lakewood and say, give me a Bible. And they'll give you a Bible. Okay. Ask nicely, though.

Yeah. You know. I mean, I have tons of Bibles for that purpose. Okay. And I've even handed out some nice leather

Bibles. Yeah, you have. When somebody came through the door and didn't have one or the Bible I noticed they were carrying was really beat up,

I'm like, here, come over here. Pick a Bible. Yeah. And then I'll let them pick one off my shelf. Yeah.

Some of them they walk away with cost as much as a car payment. Yeah. But that's why

I have them. For you to come and pick a Bible. So what was it? Do you trust or do you?

Oh, what do you think about? Yeah. You just said, what are your thoughts about using translations that don't have copyright?

I mean, it's great if you do, if you prefer that copyright. Copyright. Prefer that translation.

Translation. But reading, like I've bought my ESV Bibles. Reading my ESV does not cost me anything after buying the

Bible. I'm not asking permission from Crossway even to do the podcast. I think he's more getting at the fact that like to use it.

Would I prefer that people use Bibles? Yeah. Or having to pay for using it.

Again, it's up to you. Yeah. Now, if it's a question of, is it okay for these publishing companies to have copyrights on their

Bibles? Yeah. I think that's what maybe what he's getting at. Right. So in the case of like the King James, you could print your own

King James and you don't have to ask anybody's permission to take the King James Bible and print copies of it yourself.

Right. That's a lot. It is. That's a lot of work to do something like that. And it's a lot of money because man, that ink.

I think it's Ray Comfort that printed his own Bibles. And what he did was he printed his own

Bible with the text on one side and a blank page on the other. So it doubles the size of the

Bible. Yeah, it does. So that way he can like write his notes and everything like that as he goes through it. But he printed his own.

So I think he used one of those copyright free public domain translations to be able to do that.

I'm not going to sit here though and say, yeah, you have to use a public domain Bible because don't give any money to those people that own those copyrights.

Listen, the scripture tells us that a worker is worthy of his wages. And we use that passage to talk about how a pastor does his labor and deserves the wage that the church would pay him for that service that he does.

In First Timothy 5, 17 to 18. That's even what Paul is arguing for. So those elders who rule that are considered worthy of double honor don't muzzle the ox.

As said in the Old Testament, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing and the laborer is worthy of his wages.

So as those things are said in scripture, and that latter passage, by the way, was said by Jesus in the book of Luke.

That's quoted from Luke. Jesus is the one that has said that a person who labors even in the ministry and doesn't have time to be able to get another job, but has invested themselves full time to ministry.

It's good that he gets paid for that work. So likewise, with a Bible publishing company, they've done all the work to publish this

Bible. They have people employed who do the editing, who do the layouts, who come out with the style, who even decide to do a journaling

Bible so that you've got columns that you can write in or do a study Bible. So you've got notes right there in the

Bible. They're probably still paying for the translation being made. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, right.

Even the people who are on those translation committees. Yeah. Like all this stuff costs money and it's a lot of work.

It is. It's a ton of work to pull a bunch of people in and have a team to do these kinds of things.

I have no problem with paying the money that they're asking me to pay to buy a

Bible. And I don't remember ever buying a Bible and seeing the price on that and going, that's really unreasonable.

Yeah. I can't remember ever thinking that. Yeah, I don't think you ever have. I mean, frankly, frankly, I'm looking at this going.

You're always like, wow, that'd be nice. Yes. I mean, yeah, there are some that are really pricey because of the quality of leather, the craftsmanship that's gone into it.

They are beautiful Bibles. Oh, yes. Yeah. We've recommended, you know, Post Tenebrous Luke's Bibles.

Oh, yes. Definitely. There are all kinds of great Bible publishers and Bible rebinding companies out there, private entrepreneur.

I mean, are we going to penalize him because he has this ability to exercise this craft and wants to do it to the glory of God and make great quality leather

Bibles? And we're going to tell that guy, no, you should be giving those away for free. Yeah. He probably does give away a lot of them for free.

Probably. But you can support his work and his living and what he does by paying the money for a

Bible. I think it just gets a little pretentious and maybe even a little virtue signaling for people to go, shouldn't have to pay for a

Bible. They should be free. Well, buy them up and start handing them out. There you go. Right.

You go buy them. Yeah. And you go hand them out. I'm all for it. I started to say this a moment ago, but I didn't finish it.

Sorry. I'm looking at a Bible that's 500 bucks. Yeah. I would still be looking at that going, this is priceless truth.

Yeah. Like, you want me to pay a million bucks for it? Sure. Here's a million dollars because these are the words for eternal life.

So, it's kind of funny that it's got the words of eternal life, you should give it away for free. Okay. It's got the words of eternal life.

How much are you willing to pay for that? Yeah. You could flip it around the other way. Nor am

I advocating that we should be charging a million dollars for Bibles. I'm just saying, this is eternal truth we're talking about.

Yeah. In this Bible. How privileged are we that we can buy it for five bucks?

Yeah. When there are countries in the world that don't even have it in their translation yet.

So, be praying for Wycliffe Translators and the American Bible Society and all these other groups that are investing themselves in making more translations of the

Bible and coming up with more languages, translating it into more languages so more people can have the word.

Yes. In their language. Amen. And we help support that work. We do. When we buy Bibles.

Yes. So, I'm a big fan of buying Bibles and I have a bunch of them. Yes, you are. And yes, you do.

And I love giving them away. And yes, you do. Yes, that's right. Okay. This next question comes from Chris.

Was the last one Chris? No, Caleb was the last one. Okay. Chris, hey, Pastor Gabe. I figure you're the man to ask about this because you give thorough answers and you have great biblical discernment and don't hold back any punches while maintaining a gracious, humble posture.

Now that I've puffed you up, you're welcome, Becky. I love it.

What are your thoughts about Danny Gokey, John Reddick, and We Are Messengers band?

I assume you've heard of them with your background in Christian radio and music. Apparently, some of their songs are played on the local

Christian radio station too, which doesn't say much to me since many of those songs are

Jesus Is My Boyfriend songs. There's a local church hosting them and I was asked to go, are they worth the $30 a ticket?

Thank you in advance for your answer, Chris in Iowa. P .S. I appreciated your review of the

David movie. Well, thank you, Chris. I'm glad that was helpful for you.

Now, I don't know John Reddick and We Are Messengers as well. I do know who they are.

I've listened to some songs from them, but Danny Gokey's been around for a little while, so I know his stuff a little bit better.

Now, you're asking, should I pay $30 for the ticket? Well, listen to the songs and if you think in listening to the songs it is a concert that you want to go to, you're basically being asked, would you pay $30 for this entertainment?

Right. So, it's up to you. You want to go for some good Christian entertainment and enjoy a good Christian concert.

If that's your flavor, if you like that kind of music, why not? Pay $30, go see the show.

I take my kids to concerts and sometimes those tickets can get kind of high depending on who the artist is and what the tour is, but it's

Christian entertainment. Yes. There may even be some songs in there I don't really fully agree with, but I love the artist.

I love some things that they've done in the past. And so, I know what to expect when I go to see them in concert.

I know the kids really want to see it. So, it's good entertainment. And that was what Rich Mullen said about going to a

Christian concert. Yeah. If you want good theology, go to church. Yes. But if you want Christian entertainment, buy our records.

In Rich Mullen's day, it was records. Yeah. Go see a Christian concert, support the ministry that they do.

So, if it's what you want to do, you want to pay $30 for the ticket, go ahead. Now, with regards to Danny Gokey in particular, not impressed.

Yeah. And I don't really care for his music that much, but there may be other artists that you listen to that aren't even

Christian artists at all. True. Would you go to their concert even though they're not a Christian artist? So, Danny has a couple of songs.

I'll mention the lyrics to you here. I think this may have been the first one of his that I ever heard. It was, Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.

It's about a dozen years old now. But I remember hearing this song, and it was on a

Christian radio station. As I'm surfing the dial, I came across it. And in my vehicle, you got the little digital display in there that'll tell you what the radio station is playing.

So, it shows you the station you're on, the artist, and the song. Right. And as the song is playing and I'm listening to it,

I'm going, is this even a Christian song? Did I land on a Christian station? And I looked at the dial and saw that it was

K -Love. And yeah, this is Danny Gokey. And again, the song is Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.

I'm listening to this going, there's nothing about this that's overtly Christian at all. So, let me read to you the lyrics here.

You're shattered like you've never been before. The life you knew in a thousand pieces on the floor.

And words fall short in times like these when this world drives you to your knees. You think you're never going to get back to the you that you used to be.

Tell your heart to beat again. Close your eyes and breathe it in. Let the shadows fall away. Step into the light of grace.

Yesterday's a closing door. You don't live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you've been and tell your heart to beat again.

Okay? I think I've actually heard this one. You've heard this one? Mm -hmm. Nothing Christian about that.

No. And as you keep going through the rest of the lyrics, there's never anything else that mentions God, mentions

Christ, mentions that somebody else is picking you up, that God is watching over you and he'll never leave you nor forsake you.

There's no encouragement like that. This is very much a believe in yourself type of song.

Just believe in yourself again. Tell your heart to beat again. And this is like a signature song from Danny Gokey.

And he's considered a Christian artist. So, that's just kind of...

I think there was a point in time where Christian artist and just clean artist kind of got blurred.

That's true. Yeah. So, who's the gal that I kind of like put in the same category with Danny Gokey?

She's a really popular Christian vocalist. Doesn't narrow it down to me. I'm sorry.

I did a what video on her even? Lauren. Lauren Daigle. Yes. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

So, she's another one. She'll have songs too that I've heard and I'm listening to them and I'm going, there's nothing overtly

Christian about this at all. And she does have some clearly Christian songs. So does Danny Gokey.

But yeah, there are things that have been very popular for those artists. I think they write them to be cross genre or be able to cross into the secular market.

Definitely. Because Lauren Daigle has definitely had some success there. But again, yeah. Even listening to that,

I was just like, this is not grabbing me at all. I don't see how this really gives hope to anybody. Yeah.

It will give you the feels, I guess, when you're - Definitely. Really low. But it's not hopeful.

It's not giving you anything hopeful. Here's one from Danny Gokey called Rise. This was a few years later.

There's a brokenness inside of you. There's a wound that still reminds you of the fear, shame, and rejection.

You have seen it. You have seen it. You know it's time to get up, but your heart's paralyzed. You're so stuck.

You're past the point of trying again. You're defeated. You are defeated. But something inside you can't deny.

You hear the call of your creator. Okay? We got a creator mentioned there. I made you for more.

Unlock the door. I want to restore your glory. So rise, breaking the dark, piercing the night.

You're made to shine. An army of hope bringing the world a radiant light, a radiant light.

You were made to rise, rise. So we're Jesus? Yeah. I mean, that one is like,

I want to restore your glory. Well, what glory did I have? And how is that going to be understood by somebody who's -

Well, I mean, if he's writing songs to believe in yourself, then that's your glory. Yeah, sure.

Of course, like Romans 8 .30 says, those whom he's justified, he's also glorified.

True. So in Christ Jesus, we're glorified. It's an already and not yet. We're seated in the heavenly places with him now, as said in Ephesians 1.

And then we - well, also chapter 2. But then we also have not entered into glory.

We haven't received our glorified selves. But we also don't lose that glory.

If we're glorified in Christ, we don't cease to be glorified. So it's just an unusual phrase.

I want to restore your glory. Breaking the dark, piercing the night. You're made to shine.

An army of hope, bringing the world a radiant light, a radiant light. You were made to rise, rise.

See, that just makes me think of Jesus. But he's talking about you. So we're

Jesus? Yeah, so a radiant light. Like a Gnostic would agree with that.

An Orthodox Jew would agree with that. Muslims are cool with that. Yeah, true.

It's across the board. A Mormon, Latter -day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses. And there's nothing about this song that would offend anybody who believes in a creator.

In a radiant light. Yeah. I mean, I think even to some extent an atheist could listen to that.

And be like, I don't believe in a creator. But that's encouraging. I'm a radiant light. I was made to rise.

I just believe in myself. It's fine. So yeah, Danny Gokey stuff is just kind of very generic.

And so again, it just depends. What do you want to pay for in going and seeing a concert? I'm not telling you not to go see it.

Of course not. If it's catchy, it's catchy. Sure. Right. If you enjoy that kind of music and you want to see that kind of show, that's up to you.

But as far as a Christian artist goes, Gokey is really not that blatant about it.

What I mean for $30? Yeah, sure. Right. $30 isn't too bad. I mean, that's a movie night. Exactly.

Right. If you go see a movie for that. Movie and a dinner, that's the same price. Right. No, it's not.

$30. Per person? Maybe if you were going by yourself. Yeah, per person. Okay, there you go. Yeah. Yeah.

I would agree with that. I mean, a cheaper place to eat might do. But. I went out to eat with a friend today for lunch, because we're recording this on a

Thursday night. Sure. It was a restaurant that I'd never eat. I'd actually, I take it back. I had eaten there, but I'd only had breakfast.

I never had lunch there. And when we got the lunch menu and I opened it up, I was like, oh, my soul. I didn't know a sandwich here cost that much.

I would have recommended something else. But yeah. Oh, dear. I bought a side.

Nice. It didn't have much of an appetite anyway. I was paying for the meal, so I was like, you know,

I'll just order a side. That'd be enough for me anyway. Yeah. And it was equivalent to buying a food basket over it in and out.

Oh, funny. And I just bought a side, you know, and drank water. I drink a lot of water now. I don't hardly drink any soda anymore.

We still enjoy it. But anyway. I do. Somebody hands me a soda. I'll enjoy it. Anyway, all that to summarize.

$30 is not bad if you want to go and hear catchy tunes. But don't go for theology and don't go because the song's hit home or anything.

Don't expect that. Right. Or like taking a friend because they need to hear the gospel.

Oh, yes. That's a bad idea. Yeah. Because, I mean, especially if the theology is really bad, you really don't know what you're introducing them to.

Like, if I might go see Brandon Lake. I don't care for Brandon's Lake. I don't care for Brandon Lake's music at all.

But if I were to go see a concert just for research. Okay. I want to see what he does live.

Let me see this. I think there's plenty of places I can get that even on YouTube. But, you know, just say

I'm going to a Brandon Lake concert for research purposes. I would not take anyone with me.

Because I know where he's at theologically. Like, he could introduce whoever

I'm taking with me to some pretty dangerous stuff. Oh, okay. You know what I mean? Yeah, sure. Like, I wouldn't bring the kids.

I might take a friend because we're both there for the same reason. Right. Okay, let's listen to what

Brandon Lake's doing. And then we can get an idea of what the concert. And then we'll come back and report on. Here's what Lake is doing in his live shows.

Here's what he's telling people. For that reason, I might go see a show or something like that. But, yeah,

I wouldn't take anybody with me. I remember this would have been back when we were living in Kansas. But I talked with you one

Sunday about. I think I want to go to the Mormon church on Sunday. Oh, yeah. I remember that. And you and the kids go to our church.

But I'm going for research purposes only. And I never did. I think we all, as a family, we went and visited somebody else's church that weekend.

If I remember right. It was a Sunday that I had off. So, like, I'm going to use it to go. I think we went south.

Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right. We did some traveling that weekend. Yeah. So, anyway.

Okay, well, thank you for your question. Did I answer that question? Yeah. I think so. Chris's question with regard to Danny Gokey, John Reddick, and We Are Messengers.

I think you missed one up above. Let me get a couple more. I have more than two, but I'm just going to read two more.

Okay. Because that's probably all I got time for. So, I'm going to get to this question here. Hi, Pastor Gabe. I had a question about 1

Timothy 3, 4. If a pastor and his wife are unable to have children, does this disqualify him as a pastor?

Please keep this anonymous. Thank you. All right. Let's go to 1 Timothy 3, 1 through 7.

And we'll read, once again, the qualifications for a pastor or overseer in the church. The saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober -minded, self -controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Okay. Now, here's verse 4. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive.

For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

He must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Okay. So back to verses 4 and 5 again, because this is where it is said that a pastor must manage his own household well.

He must manage his own household with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. Well, what if he doesn't have children to keep submissive?

Right. If he does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

Well, how can you gauge if he's able to do that if he doesn't have any children? So coming directly to the question that was asked here, if a pastor and his wife are unable to have children, does this disqualify him as a pastor?

My direct answer to that question is no, it does not. Now, if you had said to me, if a pastor and his wife don't want children, right?

Like they choose not to have children. That's different. I would say you have good reason to evaluate his character in that regard.

Right. Why doesn't he want to have children? Right. There's got to be some reason. Right. Like legit reason as to why they're not having children.

That's at least a yellow flag. Yeah. Like that's at least something to make you go, okay, why would he say that?

And then ask him about it, explore the reasons why. Is there some sort of health reason?

Right. Is why they choose not to have children. But if you're unable to have children.

That's different. Yeah, that's not in your power to control that. Nope. John Owen is actually a good example of this.

I can't remember how many children it was that he and his wife lost, but it was a lot. It was like eight or nine kids.

Oh, that's sad. So they had, she was pregnant and just couldn't keep the pregnancies. And I think they had one child that survived pregnancy, grew older, but even she still died at a young age.

So you look at John Owen. That's so hard. Right. Would you say of John Owen that he wasn't qualified to be a pastor just because in God's providence, it wasn't intended for them to have the family they surely wanted?

Surely would have loved to have had a large family. And yet it just wasn't intended for them to have that.

So would we be looking at John Owen and say that he was disqualified? No. Right. But if you have a pastor that does have a lot of kids and he doesn't manage them well, then he disqualifies himself.

So again, the caveat that's given there in 1

Timothy 3, if he does not know how to manage his own household, how will he manage God's church? So there is great responsibility upon a minister who has a wife and kids that they are his priority in ministry first.

Titus 1, verses 5 through 9 says the same thing, that the children cannot be accused of insubordination.

Like if they are believers, you look at these children, you say they are submissive to their parents. They claim to believe the word and follow

Christ. Even if like in our context, in a Baptist church, they've not been baptized yet.

My oldest has been baptized. We're working on the next two, which may be within the next month or so that they get baptized.

Even if you're in a family where not all the kids are baptized, you're looking at a pastor's family where all the children are not baptized.

But can you say of those kids, they're in submission to their parents? The parents discipline them well, they're well behaved.

None of them act in such a way, which you would say of that kid, I don't know that that child is even a believer.

Are they meeting that stereotypical PK sort of a euphemism? You know what

I mean? The rebellious kind. The rebellious kid, right. I was kind of that way. I wasn't a

PK though, I was an RK. I was a radio kid. That's right. Yeah. My dad was the president.

CRK. Yep. Christian radio kid. Dad was the president of a

Christian radio organization. So, the microscope was always on me. I knew that my behavior was always being looked at.

And I think that because of the behavior of some of my siblings a little bit later on, that was what eventually cost my dad his job in that ministry.

But with me, I at least put on the good exterior so people could see how

I behaved and then my sins were in the dark, which the

Lord convicted me on later. But that was definitely a lot of me in my upbringing. So, what you are able to observe about this pastor, even when they don't have children, why don't they have children?

So, it's good to be receptive to that question. If you are unable to have kids, just be prepared that there are probably going to be people who will scrutinize you for that reason.

Oh, yeah. Why don't you have children? Yeah. And don't be offended if somebody must ask you that question.

But just the same as we're told in 1 Peter 3 .15, be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you.

Even with regards to being a childless home, you're giving an answer for the hope that you have in Christ.

We would love to have kids. We hope that maybe someday the Lord would bless us with children. But don't think that not having children means that you're disqualified in that position of ministry.

Right. Now, I will say this, though. If you feel like it, if you feel guilty, like you feel a guilty conscience because you don't have kids, then maybe you shouldn't be a pastor.

Yeah. So, if your conscience is not clear on it, then it would be good for you to step away until you can be confident in that before continuing in that area of ministry.

But if you confidently know and can say, my lack of children does not disqualify me for this.

We would love to have children, but it's just not been intended by the Lord for us to have them, then that should be a sufficient enough answer for anybody who asks you.

Definitely. Well, thank you for your question. One more that I have to answer here because it's a prayer request.

So, we're going to close with this one and lift up this brother in prayer. All right. Good evening, Pastor Gabe. I listen to your podcast a lot.

Sometimes I listen all day. That is a blessing. I accepted

Jesus and fell away due to allowing lust into my life and giving into it.

I've committed adultery a lot and have lied about it. However, Jesus recently brought me back.

Sounds like a prodigal child sort of a situation, and I never want to fall away again.

I never want my heart to harden like that again. I now fully understand why lust is so evil as well as adultery.

Anyway, can you please pray for me and this struggle that I constantly battle, and would you be kind enough to give me

Bible verses to memorize to help me battle these thoughts and temptations, please? I thank you for all your work and may

God continue to bless you and your family. So, let me give you a couple of passages here, and then at the close, we will pray for you, brother, and we thank you so much for sending us this email.

This is a great one. So, here's a longer passage for you to meditate on in 1 Thessalonians 4.

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please

God, just as you were doing, that you do so more and more.

For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

That each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the

Gentiles who do not know God. That no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the

Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God, who gives his

Holy Spirit to you. Let me go to another one here in Ephesians chapter 5, also beginning in verse 1.

Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints.

Let there be no foolishness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Therefore, do not become partners with them, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the

Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the

Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the

Lord is. And this one from Colossians chapter 3, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,

Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the

Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the

Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. One last one, and that is in 1

Corinthians 6. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the

Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord, and will also raise us up by His power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?

Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?

For as it is written, the two will become one flesh. But he who is joined to the

Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality!

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify

God in your body. Now I've just read from Colossians 3, 1

Thessalonians 4, Ephesians 5, and 1 Corinthians 6.

I suppose if I thought about that in advance, I would have read them in that order, because then you have 3, 4, 5, 6. Nice.

But go back to those chapters and read them regularly. Hear that word, get it into your heart.

And meditate on what has been written to us. And notice that all of that is grounded in the fact that Christ died for us.

He died for us and rose again. And as Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 6, he will raise you up too.

And so if Christ has purchased you, you are not your own and you were bought with a price.

So be a slave of Christ. Master your body and your desires. And take your thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.

But do not despair when you have stumbled and fallen. Or you're looking back at even those past sins and wondering, can

God love me after everything that I've done? Remember Romans 8, 1 as well.

For there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And so continue to walk in the light as he is in the light. And the blood of Jesus covers us from all sin.

So let me pray for you here, Donald. And we'll say this prayer closing out our broadcast.

Once again, if you have any questions that you'd like to submit to the broadcast, you can send them to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

If you want to send a voicemail, go to www .utt .com, record your voicemail.

Either from your phone or from your computer. And we'd love to hear from you. Definitely. And thanks for listening to the program and recommending it to others.

So, babe, welcome back. Thank you. Still scratchy in the throat there.

A little froggy. A little froggy. Let's pray. Yes, let's. Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time, this time in the word, and meditating on those things, those timeless truths that you have given to us in Scripture.

And I pray that we don't take this for granted. What a privilege it is to be able to have the

Bible. And we would read it. We would be responsible to come back to the word and let those words get into our heart and live according to those things that have been written, spoken by your

Holy Spirit, and still speaking those words to us today, making them applicable to us, so that we may know how we may live in a way that is pleasing unto

God. Lord, I lift up Donald to you, somebody who in his email loves the

Lord, is convicted in his heart over his past sin, knowing that he wants to walk with Christ in the light and not in the darkness and in the passions of his flesh anymore.

God, I pray that you give Donald the strength in his mind and in his conscience to put to death what is earthly in him, that he would not submit his mind, his thoughts, and therefore his body to this wicked perversion anymore, but that he would be purified.

And in his thinking, though some of that toxicity that's gotten in there because of the passions of his flesh may take a while to flush out, but he's continuing, as said in 2

Corinthians 10 .5, to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, not dwelling on these fleshly lusts any longer, but dwelling on Christ, who died for us, who rose again from the dead.

As Paul says in Romans, death no longer has mastery over him, and so in Christ Jesus, sin is not to have any dominion over us, but we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, as said in Romans 8.

So help us continue to take these lusts and these things that may well up from our flesh.

We take them captive, we obey Christ, and we commit ourselves even in our bodies to you.

For as said in Romans 12 .1, in view of the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice unto the

Lord, holy and acceptable to him, and this is your spiritual act of worship.

May it be so, Lord Jesus. And as I often close my prayers with saying from Psalm 23, lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake.

Thank you for your grace and your mercy to us. Your mercies are new every morning and great is your faithfulness.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Amen. I only have two hours and 20 minutes left on this memory card, so we can't go over two hours.

I'll try to keep it to minimum. With you yawning, I don't think you're going to make it one hour.

I don't think so either. All right.

Has Aria gone to bed? Is she going to come in here and ask for hugs and kisses? Who, Aria? Yeah. I've already gave her.

I got her hugs and kisses out there. All right, check. But she is going to flush the toilet.

Right next to the studio, so we can hear it loud and clear. Are your headphones up enough?