WWUTT 2005 Q&A Moving, New Church, Journey to Bethlehem, The Chosen Again

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September 29, 2023

Responding to questions from listeners about Pastor Gabe's announcement that he is resigning in TX and moving to Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, AZ, a brief review on the musical Journey to Bethlehem, and once again responding to a question about The Chosen. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

00:00: So, where is the ministry headed next? What do we make of that upcoming Christmas musical, Journey to Bethlehem? And once again, what's so bad about the Chosen? The answers to these questions and others when we Understand the Text.
00:24: This is When we Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary in God's Word, that we may have the mind of Christ.
00:31: Tell all your friends about our ministry at www.utt.com.
00:35: Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
00:37: Thank you, Becky.
00:38: You're welcome.
00:39: We have an announcement to make.
00:41: Announcement.
00:41: But before we get there, once again back to Psalm 71.
00:45: We're finishing Psalm 71 today.
00:47: Yes.
00:48: So, this is Psalm 71, verses 22 to 24 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.
00:54: I will also praise you with a harp, even your truth, O my God.
00:59: To you I will sing praises with the lyre.
01:03: O Holy One of Israel, my lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to you, and my soul which you have redeemed.
01:12: My tongue also will utter your righteousness all day long, for they are ashamed, for they are humiliated, who seek to do me evil.
01:24: So we conclude this psalm here, this psalm that had begun, In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge.
01:33: And we finish this with praise.
01:35: I'll praise you with a harp, even your truth, O my God.
01:39: We celebrate God for his word and his truth that have been given to us.
01:44: To you I sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
01:49: My lips sing for joy.
01:51: My tongue utters your righteousness all day long.
01:55: So what comes from our mouth is words that are honoring to God.
02:00: Whether praise or anything that we say and the casual doings that we have to do in our day, may the words that come from our mouths continue to be pleasing to God, as said elsewhere in the psalms.
02:13: But then here at the end of 24, they are ashamed, talking about those who mock me, who have come against me earlier in the psalm.
02:23: They are humiliated, who seek to do me evil, because their counsels will not stand.
02:29: But the counsel of the Lord continues in the heart of his people.
02:34: So wonderful psalm, as we finish up Psalm 71 today, getting into some questions, as this is the Q&A.
02:42: Yes.
02:43: Technically, it's the Friday edition of the broadcast.
02:45: Technically, yes.
02:46: Even though we're recording it.
02:47: It's not Friday.
02:48: Right.
02:49: We're recording it and uploading it on Sunday, but we're still dating it for Friday.
02:54: Right.
02:55: Because that's when it should have been on the air.
02:57: Yes.
02:58: And on the Friday edition of the broadcast, we take questions from the listeners, and you can send those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail.com.
03:06: Yes.
03:07: Now, why was this episode late, and why was every other episode that I did this week, why were they all late? Why were they? Because I had a really hard time holding onto my voice all week long.
03:22: And even Sunday night, when I was supposed to be recording for Monday, I sat down and did it.
03:29: I think I lasted five minutes.
03:31: And then it was like...
03:34: It was.
03:35: And Jesus said...
03:39: Just like that.
03:40: That's hurting me trying to do that now.
03:43: Oh, goodness.
03:44: Well, don't make it worse.
03:45: Yeah, I know.
03:46: I'm not going to make it through this broadcast if I keep doing that.
03:50: So, yeah.
03:50: For that reason, I couldn't.
03:52: I could not get a broadcast done in time.
03:54: Yeah.
03:54: Pollen's very high, and they lifted the burn ban, so everybody's burning their brush that died over the summer because it was too hot and not raining.
04:02: Yeah.
04:03: And there was the...
04:05: I mean, we worked ourselves to exhaustion the week before.
04:10: I preached on Sunday and gave it everything I had.
04:13: And that was it.
04:14: And then, apparently, really, it was like, okay, God gave me that one.
04:18: Yep.
04:19: Thank you, Lord.
04:19: Yes.
04:19: But it's like, but you're not going to have a voice for the next three days.
04:22: Right.
04:22: So, that was what ended up happening.
04:25: So, I got the broadcast done an evening late.
04:29: Yeah.
04:29: And we're getting them online a little bit late.
04:32: So, that was the reason why.
04:33: Friday rolled around.
04:34: It was a combination of some different things.
04:36: You were sick a couple of times during the week.
04:39: Yeah.
04:40: Well, just from allergies.
04:42: Yeah.
04:42: Yeah.
04:43: Same thing.
04:44: Yeah.
04:44: But you were just as miserable.
04:46: Yep.
04:47: And so, anyway, we were planning on doing a normal Q&A on Friday.
04:51: Right.
04:52: As we do.
04:53: Uh-huh.
04:54: But it just so happens that we had to put it off through the weekend until we got to Sunday.
04:59: And this morning, Sunday morning, I made an announcement at our church.
05:04: Yes.
05:05: And so, since we've procrastinated the Friday Q&A until Sunday, we can make this announcement here.
05:15: Sure.
05:16: Sure.
05:16: We can add it in.
05:17: That's right.
05:17: Once again, we're recording this after I'd already announced it to my church.
05:21: Right.
05:21: But it's getting dated for Friday because that's where this episode should have been posted in the first place.
05:28: Right.
05:29: So, here's that announcement.
05:31: It was recorded at church and we're going to play it for you here and then respond to a couple of comments about it.
05:38: Awesome.
05:38: My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, after much prayer and counsel, it is under a great burden and God-given desire to preach the Word of Christ every week that I submit to you my resignation as Pastor of Education and Discipleship at First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, effective October 30th, 2023.
06:01: My family and I will be moving to Casa Grande, Arizona, where I'm honored to be named the Pastor of Providence Reform Baptist Church.
06:07: This church of equally faithful and loving saints, with a hunger for the Word, has called me to shepherd this flock and take up a pulpit ministry to preach the full counsel of God.
06:20: It is never easy to know how to handle such a decision or how to break this news, so I hope no one is hurt with me or with my family because you didn't know.
06:31: My ambition is no secret.
06:34: I simply desire to preach.
06:37: We're not leaving out of any hurt feelings or bitterness toward anyone.
06:42: We would still encourage anyone to attend this church, where the gospel is preached and the saints are loved, and it has been my privilege to have served here, to have lived with you and have learned so much.
06:58: You have taken care of me and my family.
07:01: You have fed us and paid our bills so that I could be devoted to full-time ministry.
07:07: Had you not called me to be a pastor, my son Ezekiel wouldn't have been born, and my daughter Annie was baptized here.
07:15: You have taught my children.
07:18: We have forged many great friendships.
07:22: Our time was short, just three years, seems like it was only yesterday.
07:28: But we will not forget you.
07:31: My sermons will still be online, I will still be doing the podcast and the videos, and should any of you decide that you need a break from the East Texas humidity and you want more of a dry heat, you're welcome at our church anytime.
07:47: On behalf of Becky and our children, to Pastor Tom, to my fellow elders and ministers, to the teachers of both the adults and the children, to my Sunday school class, and to everyone in our First Baptist Church family, thank you.
08:08: If we don't see you again this side of heaven, we'll see you on the other side when we're gathered together at the throne.
08:15: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
08:26: Faithful is he who calls you.
08:29: He will surely do it.
08:31: First Thessalonians 5, 23-24.
08:34: Pray for us, and we will pray for you.
08:38: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
08:49: Very grateful for our church family at First Baptist Church in Lindale.
08:53: It has been a wonderful three years.
08:55: Yes.
08:56: Yes.
08:57: And I know you understand my desire to want to preach.
09:02: Yeah.
09:03: In fact, I think maybe nine out of 10 people that we talked to this morning were coming up to us saying, we're sad that you're going, but we knew it was going to happen.
09:13: Yeah.
09:13: You know? So I think- Bittersweet.
09:15: Right.
09:16: Of, you know, we're excited for you guys, but really sad that we're going.
09:21: People pretty well understood, Gabe's going to go back to preaching.
09:24: We knew that was going to happen eventually.
09:26: So we wish that we could have stayed in the area.
09:29: We had prayed about that.
09:32: We had at even one point thought we would end up back in Kansas, but the Lord shut those doors as well.
09:38: And this conversation had opened up with Providence Reform Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.
09:45: And so it has been- And it just kind of developed.
09:48: Yes.
09:49: And getting to know those people have been, it's been wonderful.
09:52: We already know we have brothers and sisters in the Lord there.
09:56: Amen.
09:56: And we've been chatting, like there's one of those apps, I won't say which app, but one of the apps that we're on, where like the whole church is on and so we're communicating with one another, sharing ideas, people reaching out to us going, hey, if you need help finding a home, here's my realtor.
10:13: We had one couple go to some houses for us and we did the FaceTime thing, looking over the fence.
10:20: Here's what the backyard looks like.
10:22: I loved it.
10:24: Absolutely loved it.
10:25: So we said when we went from our church in Kansas to Texas, we said it was like leaving one church family for another one.
10:32: Yes.
10:33: And this is what this is feeling like also, going to Providence Reform Baptist.
10:37: It really is.
10:38: Yeah.
10:39: It's amazing to see fulfilled what Jesus said in Mark 10, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake and for the gospel's sake, except one who will receive 100 times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms along with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life.
11:11: So we gain so much more.
11:13: Even on this side of heaven, we gain brothers and sisters in the Lord and persecutions.
11:21: There's that part.
11:22: You can't ignore that either.
11:24: We're going to suffer that this side of heaven as well.
11:27: But great to find church families like that, no matter where you live, to be able to find a good church that worships God, honors his word, and we hope that you have one.
11:39: We hope you have a good church.
11:41: You no doubt have problems in your church.
11:44: You wished maybe things could be better than they are.
11:48: Well, continue to stay there and labor with those brothers and sisters in the Lord and grow them in the knowledge of the word.
11:55: Yeah.
11:56: And so that you can become a sanctified church that is built in the image of Christ.
12:03: So be a part of a church family.
12:05: If you happen to be around the Lindale, Texas area, we recommend First Baptist Church of Lindale.
12:11: Of course.
12:12: If you are going to be somewhere around the Casa Grande, Arizona area, please come to Providence Reformed Baptist Church.
12:19: Amen.
12:20: We'd love to have you there as well.
12:22: By the way, so we've heard several different pronunciations of Casa Grande.
12:28: Yeah, I just got in a conversation about this because my mom was asking, she's like, okay, so how do you pronounce it? How do you say it? So the people that grew up there and have lived there, they say Casa Grand.
12:41: Casa Grand.
12:42: So if you've lived there and grown up there, it's Casa Grand.
12:45: Yes.
12:45: Okay.
12:45: But if you've moved in, it's whatever you feel like saying.
12:51: So right now we're in the whatever you feel like saying camp.
12:54: Yep.
12:55: And when we get there and get established, we'll probably change the pronunciation of the town.
13:01: We'll see.
13:01: When we first started talking with folks out there at the church, I kept saying, what was I saying? Casa Mesa? Yes.
13:09: Yeah.
13:09: I kept saying Casa Mesa.
13:11: And it's not Casa Mesa.
13:13: That's big table.
13:13: Or no, house table.
13:15: Yeah, right.
13:15: Table house.
13:15: Table house.
13:16: House table.
13:17: I don't know where I was getting that from.
13:19: It just felt like Casa Mesa just felt like it fit.
13:22: And there's mesas there.
13:23: There are mesas.
13:24: And the logo of Providence Reformed Baptist Church is a mesa.
13:27: Yeah.
13:27: So.
13:29: It is awesome.
13:29: Yeah.
13:30: It's beautiful.
13:32: Yes.
13:32: It's desert.
13:33: It is that.
13:33: It is desert.
13:34: Southeast of Phoenix.
13:35: But it's the prettiest desert I've seen.
13:37: It is gorgeous.
13:38: Oh, my goodness.
13:38: Loved it when we were out there.
13:40: And people from the church were asking us, why Casa Grande? Why are you coming? And I said, I don't know.
13:48: It's all the Lord.
13:49: It is all the Lord.
13:50: It's Providence.
13:51: It is.
13:52: It's Providence.
13:54: So, we're thrilled to be going.
13:57: And we, in the process of praying about all of this, we had said, man, this is gonna be our second move since we started doing When We Understand the Text.
14:07: Eight years, 2,000 plus episodes.
14:11: And incidentally, that weekend that we hit our 2,000th episode was the weekend that the church voted to approve me.
14:18: So we had G3 that week.
14:21: We had our 2,000th episode.
14:23: We had this church vote that we knew that was going on and we couldn't tell anybody about until all of that was said and done.
14:30: And I mean, yeah, it was a really full weekend.
14:33: I don't know that we've ever quite had a weekend like that before.
14:36: And then I preached that weekend after driving 1,400 miles round trip.
14:41: With five children.
14:42: Yeah.
14:43: We did 700 miles with five children in one day.
14:48: But, you know, people were praying for us and I'm so grateful because the Lord answered the prayer.
14:56: Yeah, He did.
14:56: He's so good to us.
14:57: How in the world my voice was able to hold up on as little sleep as I had.
15:01: And then coming back into the pollinated eastern Texas and still was able to preach two sermons, teach a Sunday school class and do Sunday night.
15:11: There you go.
15:12: Pulled all that off on a Sunday morning.
15:15: By the grace of God.
15:16: By the grace of God.
15:17: Which was exactly what I preached about that morning too.
15:20: It was.
15:21: Yeah.
15:21: That's so true.
15:22: So we appreciate you.
15:24: We appreciate your prayers.
15:26: I know we move around a lot.
15:27: I don't want to.
15:29: Yeah.
15:29: I would like to be settled in one spot.
15:31: I'm not the kind of person that is like, oh, I'm bored here, so let's go somewhere else.
15:36: That is not me at all.
15:39: I like boring.
15:40: I like simple.
15:41: I like, you know, the consistency.
15:46: That's great.
15:47: So God willing, would love to be in Casa Grande for years and years and years, continuing a pastoral ministry of being able to preach.
15:58: We love being able to be in a reformed Baptist church.
16:01: Yes.
16:01: That their confession of faith is the London Baptist Confession 1689.
16:06: You've heard Becky and I talk about that multiple times over the years, but have never actually been in a reformed Baptist church before.
16:13: So this is exciting to be able to do this.
16:16: We're sad that we're leaving one church family, but excited for what we've got coming up as we head to PRBC.
16:24: Yes.
16:25: I'm going to have to adjust my thinking to those letters.
16:30: PRBC.
16:30: To that acronym.
16:31: That's right.
16:32: Yeah.
16:32: Yeah.
16:33: All right.
16:34: So questions, comments.
16:36: We've got a few questions here related exactly to that announcement.
16:39: Jason said, Hi, Pastor Gabe, I just saw your video of your resignation.
16:43: I can't imagine the whirlwind of emotions and the amount of prayer involved with your decision to take on your new role in Arizona.
16:51: Yeah.
16:51: Never had any idea I would ever move to Arizona.
16:53: Yeah.
16:53: Me either.
16:55: So for years and years and years, Becky and I talking about different places we might end up.
16:59: Yeah.
17:00: Whether we would stay in Kansas, whether we would go somewhere else, Arizona, I don't think it was ever part of that conversation.
17:05: I don't think so, actually.
17:08: Yeah.
17:08: It was.
17:10: I mean, there were a few places that we just didn't think about.
17:14: Right.
17:15: But we didn't really write off Arizona.
17:17: No, we didn't.
17:18: And in fact.
17:19: It just never came up.
17:21: That's it.
17:22: Right.
17:22: Right.
17:22: It wasn't ever.
17:23: I could never move there.
17:24: Just.
17:24: Yeah.
17:25: We just didn't talk about Arizona.
17:28: But we did have some discussions about your respiratory issues.
17:32: Oh, yeah.
17:33: Which have been exacerbated since coming to East Texas.
17:36: Unfortunately.
17:36: Unfortunately.
17:37: And so there was a couple of conversations where I said, you know, I've been told that people that have that struggle with breathing do pretty well in Arizona.
17:46: Yeah.
17:47: That didn't mean I was looking for places in Arizona that just was casually mentioned in conversation.
17:53: It was.
17:53: But the Lord heard that.
17:55: Yeah.
17:57: So.
17:58: Or started the ball rolling in our minds.
18:00: Something.
18:00: Yeah, right.
18:01: Exactly.
18:02: Something like that.
18:03: God is getting us used to the idea.
18:05: Yeah.
18:05: So Jason says, I'm excited for you, your family, and more importantly, the kingdom of God.
18:10: As you continue to prepare for your move, I exhort you to be the tree firmly planted by the Lord, by streams of water.
18:17: That's Psalm 1.
18:19: To yield fruit in its season and prosper in all that you do for his glory.
18:23: Jason, I want to tell you how providential it is that you mentioned that.
18:27: So before Becky and the kids and I went out to Arizona to candidate, I was going through Psalm 1 with the kids and memorizing it.
18:35: We had memorized it with them years ago, but our youngest, Mariah, wouldn't have remembered that.
18:40: Right.
18:41: And Aria definitely wouldn't have remembered it.
18:43: So we started memorizing Psalm 1 again.
18:46: Then we got out there to Providence when I was candidating, and they sang Psalm 1.
18:53: Yep.
18:54: That was the psalm that we sang together that Sunday morning.
18:59: Now you send this email in which you're quoting Psalm 1.
19:05: Be the tree firmly planted by the Lord, by streams of water to yield fruit in its season and prosper in all that you do for his glory.
19:13: Providence, Jason.
19:14: Yes.
19:15: And nobody told you that.
19:17: I love how the Lord works.
19:18: Yes.
19:18: You know? Exactly.
19:20: Exactly.
19:20: Psalm 1, I never would have thought Psalm 1 would be our theme psalm in all of this, but it has been.
19:26: It has.
19:26: It really has.
19:27: Thank you.
19:27: And really appreciate that.
19:30: This next comment comes from Harvey in South Carolina.
19:33: Pastor Gabe, hope you find a house with usable recording space already.
19:38: Oh, amen.
19:40: Although having just built one in Texas, maybe another round may go faster this time.
19:46: Let's hope so.
19:47: I built this room once, we can move somewhere else, I'd have to build it again.
19:52: But yeah, so we know what we're looking for now.
19:54: Right.
19:55: And how vital it is.
19:57: Yeah, exactly.
19:58: Yeah.
19:59: Because before we thought that we could just make it work.
20:02: Right.
20:02: And it just, it wasn't for us, for our lifestyle and for how things work in our family.
20:09: And so having you in home is a lot, lot more appreciative.
20:15: Yeah.
20:15: Right.
20:16: Right.
20:16: I mean, we appreciate it more.
20:18: It's just, it's something we know we need to do.
20:20: Yeah.
20:21: Something we actually need to be looking for in a house.
20:23: Yeah.
20:23: And so it's less stressful on our family too, to have you here.
20:27: And I think you get things done a little bit easier too, if I'm not mistaken, but you can chime in about that.
20:34: Like in recording things.
20:36: It's less distracting.
20:37: Yeah.
20:38: Yeah.
20:38: Right.
20:39: Being at work at the church and recording is more distracting than being at home.
20:44: You'd think it'd be the other way around, but it's really not.
20:47: But like I said, it goes with our lifestyle because I think the kids have learned that you just leave daddy alone while he's recording.
20:54: We'll ask him when he's done and yeah.
20:57: Right.
20:58: So.
20:58: Which is, yeah.
21:00: Isn't the way that it was thought of at the church.
21:03: And then of course you and I would go and record on a Thursday night.
21:07: We would go to my office.
21:09: We did that for two years or something.
21:11: We did.
21:11: Before we finally got this room done this year and now we're leaving.
21:16: Well, it's a nice office for whoever needs to buy it.
21:19: That's right.
21:19: It's exactly right.
21:20: Perfect.
21:20: Now they've got an additional room inside the garage.
21:25: I mean, you could set up a saw table in here if you want to do woodwork in here.
21:29: Couldn't cut a board longer than eight feet though.
21:31: Nope.
21:32: Because it's just an eight by eight foot room.
21:34: Yeah.
21:35: That's right.
21:36: Open the door right there.
21:37: Running out the door.
21:41: I really only made this room functional for recording.
21:45: It's technically not done yet.
21:46: So.
21:47: That's true.
21:48: I do have to do some touch ups here before we totally get done.
21:54: Maybe just finish with the patching on the outside and sanding it and stuff like that.
21:59: Sure.
21:59: Inside I'll let whoever figure out what they want to do in this room.
22:03: Because I mean if they want to use it for a crafting room.
22:04: Yeah.
22:04: It's right off the laundry room.
22:06: So it's a good little space.
22:09: It is a great little space.
22:10: I did a good job in here.
22:11: You did a great job, babe.
22:13: I love it.
22:14: My first time constructing a room and it came out pretty good.
22:19: Like literally putting the walls up, studding it and everything.
22:22: Yeah.
22:22: Into the concrete.
22:24: Yeah.
22:24: Right.
22:25: Yeah.
22:25: Well now see that was fun.
22:26: That was the learning curve.
22:28: That was fun.
22:29: Because I got to buy a gun and shoot the nail into the floor.
22:35: You guys that work with tools, you know what I'm talking about.
22:38: Like the 22 nail gun.
22:41: Kaboom.
22:42: That was great.
22:42: Yeah.
22:43: Zeej had a blast with that too.
22:45: Yeah.
22:45: I was inside praying that you guys wouldn't get hurt or that concrete wouldn't go flying in your face or you know.
22:51: And then I bought a chainsaw to get rid of some of the brush that we've got out back from like the ice storm and then the storms that we had over the summer.
23:00: Oh yeah.
23:00: There was a tree that fell.
23:01: So I got to cut that up and everything.
23:03: Oh man.
23:03: I've been having a blast with that chainsaw.
23:06: Yeah.
23:07: It needs to cool off though a little bit more because you came in super, super.
23:12: Yeah.
23:13: I was drenched.
23:14: Sweaty.
23:14: That's East Texas though.
23:16: Yeah.
23:16: It is.
23:17: I mean, humidity.
23:19: Humidity? Humidity.
23:20: Humidity.
23:24: Yeah.
23:24: It's one of the things I said in my resignation statement of, you know, if you want to go from the East Texas humidity to the dry heat in Arizona.
23:34: So when we went from East Texas to Candidate in Arizona, it was 103 in Texas.
23:38: It was 103 in Arizona.
23:40: Yep.
23:41: So we were able to compare.
23:43: That was actually after the monsoon that went through and cooled off the air.
23:49: So really.
23:50: No, it was 103 that first day.
23:51: Oh, it was the first day.
23:53: Yeah, it was.
23:54: I thought that was after.
23:54: Yep.
23:55: No, then the monsoon was that night.
23:57: I guess it did heat back up to 103 when we were leaving, but yeah, that was, it was interesting.
24:03: So we got to feel exactly like, okay, this is the difference between Arizona 103 and East Texas 103.
24:10: Yeah.
24:11: They're both hot.
24:12: I'm not drenched.
24:14: One's an oven and one's a sauna.
24:16: Yeah.
24:16: Pretty much.
24:16: So it's kind of, you know, pick whichever one, whichever one you like.
24:22: All right, this next question, I think that's everything that has to do with the move.
24:26: So here we're going to get into a couple of actual questions here.
24:29: We'll see how far we get.
24:30: Okay.
24:31: So from Jonathan, dear Gabe and babe, I listened to the 2000th episode, congrats.
24:38: Aw.
24:38: I heard you discussing the upcoming musical movie, Journey to Bethlehem.
24:42: Okay.
24:43: I actually talked about this in episode 1999.
24:46: Okay.
24:46: So it was the day before when I did the quick Q&A before you came on for the 2000th episode.
24:51: So Jonathan said, I was at a college student conference with some of my students, the Converge conference, and they previewed the movie to us.
25:00: Okay.
25:01: This is the musical Journey to Bethlehem that's coming out later this year.
25:05: Okay.
25:05: Next month, I believe.
25:06: Or it could be this month.
25:07: I don't know.
25:08: Anyway, he said of the movie, not good.
25:12: It did not follow the biblical narrative, corny comedy throughout, Gabriel, who is played by Lecrae.
25:20: I'm offended by that, by the way.
25:23: Somebody less woke to play Gabriel, please.
25:26: Thank you.
25:27: Yes.
25:27: Okay.
25:28: Fair enough.
25:28: He floats through a room and bangs his head on the doorframe.
25:33: Oh, okay.
25:35: That's Jonathan explaining the corny comedy.
25:38: Yeah.
25:38: Yeah.
25:39: In the musical.
25:40: Wow.
25:42: Director.
25:42: I'm not sure I would laugh at that.
25:44: No.
25:44: Yeah.
25:45: I'm laughing at how stupid that is.
25:47: Director at Liberty is taken to the extreme.
25:50: They told us some of the makers of the show Glee worked on this, and it shows.
25:55: Oh, wow.
25:56: Was there anybody that worked on Glee that was not pro-LGBTQ? I have no idea.
26:00: Because that kind of propaganda was all throughout that show.
26:03: Never saw an episode of it.
26:05: Never saw a single episode.
26:06: Yeah, I haven't either.
26:07: This was a musical show that aired on Fox, but I saw enough clips of it, and I read enough like behind-the-scenes stuff, background of people that wrote on the show and acted on the show and everything like that.
26:19: Actors that came from the show and starred in other things.
26:22: Right.
26:23: Very, very pro-LGBTQ propaganda throughout the show.
26:27: So yeah, very bothersome that you've got writers from that show that are on this Bible musical.
26:35: And so Jonathan says, as far as the music, the people sang well, the actors for what it was did okay acting, but the movie itself was overall pitiful in my opinion and not following the biblical story.
26:47: Just thought I'd give you a quick email on what I thought about it.
26:49: Love the show.
26:50: Keep up the great work.
26:51: God bless.
26:52: Well, thank you for taking the time, Jonathan, and for punishing yourself to put yourself in the joke.
26:58: I'm sorry, but thank you.
27:03: This next question from Daryl, hello, Pastor Gabe and Becky, I have a question regarding The Chosen.
27:08: I'm sure you're getting tired of getting questions about this show.
27:12: Oh, but the show keeps going on and on and on.
27:16: The fourth season's about to launch, so I'm not surprised.
27:20: Oh, no.
27:21: Yeah, it's coming.
27:22: I've seen clips of it already.
27:24: I have a family member who loves the show, so I opened up a conversation about it with him.
27:29: In our conversation, I sent him your video, What's Wrong With The Chosen? I personally haven't seen the show.
27:35: I've heard enough of what you said about it.
27:38: Plus, I've seen your videos on it.
27:40: I have no desire to watch it, but can you tell me some advice on how I should respond to this? This was his reply.
27:46: Quote, it's clear the person who made this video didn't watch The Chosen as a whole.
27:51: Oh, by the way, okay, first I guess I should play the video.
27:55: Okay.
27:56: So, here's the video critique that I did of The Chosen.
27:59: Yes.
28:00: And then this person responds to my video.
28:04: Okay.
28:04: So, here's the what video that he's responding to.
28:07: Sure.
28:10: What? The Chosen is a TV series that is supposed to be about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ through the eyes of the people who met him.
28:18: It is said that the stories come straight from the Gospels.
28:21: But no.
28:22: The stories embellish on and change the Gospel accounts.
28:26: To give a few examples, when Jesus speaks the Beatitudes for the first time, it's not in the Sermon on the Mount to the crowds in Galilee as in Matthew 5-7.
28:34: He literally tells Matthew to write them down.
28:37: He later tells Matthew, I'm here to start a revolution.
28:40: Jesus never said that.
28:41: He said he came to give his life as a ransom for many.
28:44: When Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, she says, you're a prophet and you're to preach at me.
28:50: He says no.
28:51: But yes.
28:52: That's exactly why he was there.
28:53: He preached to her whole town.
28:55: He said in Mark 1-38 that he came to preach.
28:58: There are few scenes in The Chosen that are anything like the Bible.
29:02: When The Chosen released their trailer for Season 3, there was a scene where Jesus says, I am the law of Moses.
29:09: That's not in the Bible.
29:10: But many pointed out it is in the Book of Mormon.
29:12: By the way, Mormons produce this show.
29:15: Writer and director Dallas Jenkins got online to say, of course, I'm not quoting from the Book of Mormon.
29:20: I've never read the Book of Mormon.
29:21: But the point still stands that when you go beyond what is written, the results are not of God.
29:27: Paul rebuked the Corinthians in this way.
29:29: If one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we did not preach, you bear this beautifully.
29:35: Do not settle for counterfeits when we understand the text.
29:39: All right, so responding to that video, this fellow says, quote, it's clear that the person who made this video did not watch The Chosen as a whole.
29:50: It appears his mind was made up, then searched for things to reinforce what he already believed.
29:56: Actually, I really kind of came into it rather neutral.
30:00: Because the people who were recommending The Chosen to me, some of those people were people I trusted.
30:07: And they said, you know, it's really not that bad.
30:10: It seems to be pretty biblically faithful.
30:13: And so from these people that I trusted, not knocking anybody, but I went ahead and caught some of the clips.
30:20: And as I've said before, the first two clips I watched were John 3 and John 4.
30:25: Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, and then his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, which was talked about in that particular video.
30:32: Yeah.
30:34: So, this person's claiming I had already had my mind made up.
30:37: No, I really didn't.
30:39: I didn't have my mind made up about it at all.
30:41: There were certain criticisms that I go into it already thinking, like, okay, somebody else portraying Jesus that's going to do a terrible job.
30:49: Nobody's going to do this well.
30:51: So yes, I do.
30:52: There's not one among us that could.
30:54: Right.
30:55: I do have some preconceptions going into it as far as that goes.
31:00: But I was not going into the show determined to hate it.
31:02: I was not.
31:04: That was not my objective.
31:05: And we're always hopeful that a biblical show that's quote-unquote biblical, that we're always hopeful that it actually is biblical enough to enjoy watching it.
31:16: Yeah, right.
31:16: Exactly.
31:17: Or that you don't have to feel like you've got to police a show like this.
31:21: If you find out somebody in your congregation's watching it, okay, well, prefer you wouldn't, but it's not that bad.
31:26: Right.
31:26: No, this is terrible.
31:28: And it's the stuff, the propaganda that they put out outside of the show, the stuff they push on Facebook, on Twitter, their chosen channel on YouTube.
31:39: It's mountains more stuff than you actually watch in the show.
31:44: Yeah.
31:44: And the theology that gets attached to the show is way, way worse than what they put in the show.
31:51: Right.
31:51: It's like the same sort of warning that we've given with the Bible Project in the past.
31:56: Right.
31:57: Yeah.
31:57: Some of the Bible Project videos are solid.
32:00: Right.
32:01: Which is why I think you didn't pick up on that at first.
32:04: Because all we were doing, we were watching those summaries of the books of the Bible.
32:08: Right.
32:09: Which are pretty good.
32:10: Right.
32:11: But then you go into the links that they have in the bottom and you start downloading like the Sunday school lessons that go along with that.
32:19: Yeah.
32:19: And the stuff in the Sunday school lessons was heterodox to even becoming heresy.
32:27: So, then it becomes, I recognize this is really pretty dangerous.
32:30: And it's subversive because they know how to present this in a right way that catches your attention, catches the attention even of people who are biblically solid.
32:39: Yes.
32:40: And then we'll throw in this other stuff that is quite contrary to what scripture says.
32:45: And then I've made some other videos demonstrating that from the Bible Project.
32:48: So, with The Chosen, it's the same sort of a thing.
32:51: Even if you could make the argument that the show was plausible.
32:55: Right.
32:55: Because that's Dallas Jenkins' metric when he's writing and directing the show.
33:00: Just as long as this is plausible, it could plausibly happen.
33:04: Yeah.
33:05: Well, anything could plausibly happen.
33:06: That's true.
33:07: But anyway, even if you could get by watching an episode and think, okay, well, not great, but not bad either.
33:16: Then you watch the videos that are connected with that, whether it's Dallas Jenkins saying stuff about how the Mormon Jesus is the same Jesus, or you have him sitting with his Catholic friends and his Orthodox Jew friends who deny that Jesus is the Christ, and you have them sitting around their round table sharing their thoughts about Jesus.
33:36: Whatever it might happen to be.
33:37: Or their behind-the-scenes video they did where Jonathan Rumi comes into a room and he's encouraging these people, and the stuff he said about Jesus was heretical.
33:45: Not to mention that he's a Catholic mystic and claims that he can communicate with the dead.
33:50: Yeah.
33:51: So, all of these things on top of what you're watching in the show, the doctrine that extends beyond the show is so much worse.
34:00: And people that get into this show start watching that stuff, and Satan is speaking through it.
34:06: Yep.
34:07: As much as you want to claim it's Christian, it's not.
34:10: They worship a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible.
34:13: But anyway, going on here with this person's critique.
34:17: He says, quote, for instance, he says, talking about me, Jesus said he didn't come to preach to the woman at the well.
34:24: In the scene, Jesus says that, but preach is said in a way to mean judge, because that's all she'd ever experienced, judgment and condemnation.
34:32: Well, okay, so this person is interpreting what Dallas Jenkins meant when he wrote that line in there.
34:42: The woman saying, oh, I see, you're a prophet and you come to preach to me, and Jesus says no.
34:47: Okay.
34:48: He's claiming he knows what Dallas Jenkins really meant with that line.
34:51: Okay.
34:52: So which one of us is right? Like you're writing in there what Dallas Jenkins did not say to say, no, what Dallas really meant was this.
35:03: Right.
35:03: That's not what he said.
35:04: It doesn't matter if that's what he meant.
35:06: It's not what he said.
35:07: She said, you've come to preach at me, and Jesus says no.
35:10: He says that he did not come to preach in the show.
35:14: That's what he says.
35:15: And that's wrong.
35:16: And that's exactly contrary to Jesus' mission.
35:19: He came to preach.
35:20: Right.
35:21: Now, this person goes on to say, in the very next scene, Jesus preached in her city, which the video said, the video did not show, the wording is kind of funny, but that's what it looks like.
35:35: Jesus preached in her city, which the video said show Jesus didn't do.
35:40: I don't know.
35:41: I don't know what that means.
35:43: I think what it means is that your video didn't show it.
35:47: Right.
35:47: Right.
35:47: I know there's some words missing there.
35:49: Yeah.
35:50: But it's not true that it was the very next scene.
35:55: The encounter with Jesus and the woman at the well was the end of season one.
36:00: Right.
36:01: So, the very next scene is what, two years later, when they did season two? Yeah.
36:07: And it starts with Jesus and his disciples in Sychar preaching, as said there in John 4.
36:15: So, that's totally inaccurate to say the very next scene.
36:18: It was a whole other episode years later.
36:21: Season.
36:22: Right.
36:22: In a whole other season.
36:24: Yeah.
36:24: When they picked it up.
36:25: Right.
36:26: On top of that, there's a brief scene that shows Jesus standing up to teach and people gathering around him.
36:34: They spend more time with Jesus in Sychar doing like a deacon type ministry.
36:42: Okay.
36:43: So, fixing a wheel on a guy's wagon.
36:46: That's one of the scenes that it shows Jesus doing.
36:48: In fact, I believe it's the very first scene of Jesus in episode one of season two.
36:54: The first time you see Jesus, he's fixing a wheel on a wagon.
36:58: Okay.
36:59: That is not what Jesus came to Sychar to do.
37:03: And it's to diminish the ministry of preaching that he was doing to show him doing that.
37:08: See, it's really more important that he was doing these, you know, the deacon type ministry.
37:14: Was it to prove that he was a carpenter? That's what they were trying to establish in like the narrative of the show.
37:22: Yeah.
37:22: So, he's a carpenter, so he knows how to fix these wagon wheels.
37:25: Sure.
37:26: But it also shows him in Sychar for like a long period of time.
37:31: It says in John four, he was there for two days.
37:33: Oh, well, there you go.
37:35: He preached there for two days and the people came to believe and know that he is the Christ.
37:41: Yeah.
37:42: And because of the testimony of the woman that she had come into the village shouting, could this be the Christ? Right.
37:50: That's there in John four.
37:51: So it's totally rewritten in the show.
37:54: Right.
37:54: And it's not true that the very next scene is him preaching because it wasn't the next scene.
37:58: It was, you know, whatever, two years later, like I said, whenever season two came out.
38:03: Yeah.
38:03: And plus it wasn't the way the episode started was Jesus teaching.
38:08: Right.
38:08: That wasn't how it started.
38:09: Right.
38:10: So anyway, so it kind of seems to me that this person rather was predisposed to hate whatever my criticism was of the show.
38:20: Well, if he likes the show, then probably.
38:21: Most likely.
38:23: So yes, if one watches clips for correctness, this person says, yes, you ain't going to like it.
38:29: Well, I watched John three.
38:33: Okay.
38:34: The scene between Jesus and Nicodemus.
38:37: I gave an exegesis of the scriptures of what that exchange actually looked like, according to John three, and then looked at it in the show and showed you all the problems with it and said, this scene is indicative of every other problem in the show.
38:52: Yeah.
38:53: Now there are other ridiculous points in the show where like, you know, I mean, the people will say there were, there was one scene with the women standing around talking and one of the women goes, love is love.
39:05: Oh, it's like, yeah, you're going to take the LGBTQ mantra and you're going to make it a line in the chosen, right? Spoken by one of Jesus women disciples, which is how she's portrayed in the show.
39:17: Wow.
39:19: Very, a lot of culture has been pulled into this show.
39:24: Oh yeah.
39:25: It is Americanized from and from a theologically liberal vantage point, a theologically liberal Americanized version of Jesus.
39:35: That's what you're watching in this show.
39:36: It is not biblically faithful.
39:38: It's not even close to biblically faithful.
39:40: They have the same names and probably the same outfits.
39:44: Now who else? Maybe the same scene.
39:46: Who else does that? Uses the same names, but creates a different Jesus Mormonism.
39:53: Hey, and who's behind this show? Oh, but Dallas Jenkins is an evangelical.
39:59: Yeah.
39:59: Who says that the Mormon Jesus is the same Jesus.
40:03: A lot of Mormon cultural influence.
40:07: It's like I said, in the interview that I did with Justin Peters, it's a very ecumenical Jesus.
40:12: Yeah.
40:13: They're creating a Jesus that everybody will like.
40:15: Yeah.
40:16: Because Jesus is only love.
40:19: Well he was.
40:22: He was all love.
40:23: Yeah.
40:23: He was all love.
40:24: But he also was all judgment and all holy.
40:29: That's right.
40:29: Yeah.
40:30: Jesus is love.
40:31: God is love.
40:32: But that's not all he is.
40:34: Right.
40:35: Last question here.
40:36: This is from Marissa.
40:37: Hello Gabe and Becky.
40:39: I was wondering if you could talk about raising children with manners and Bible verses that support it.
40:45: Also what that looks like practically.
40:48: We live in a day and age that it seems like manners, like from my childhood, are no longer a thought or necessary.
40:57: Praying for you and for your ministry.
40:59: Aw, thanks.
41:00: Marissa, that's a great question.
41:02: And as you can tell from Becky's response right there, aw, thanks, she's losing her voice.
41:08: I am.
41:09: And I'm losing mine.
41:11: So we're going to make that a teaser for the next episode.
41:15: And we're going to come into answering that question.
41:18: Aw, poor Marissa.
41:19: Oh, goodness, we're going to answer that question in the Q&A next week.
41:27: The first question? The first question.
41:28: We'll start with that one.
41:29: Perfect.
41:30: Remind me.
41:30: Okay.
41:31: We got it.
41:31: We'll get that question going.
41:33: Yeah, pray for our voices.
41:35: We're praying that we can get all of this crud moved out and get back to a longer Q&A.
41:41: Right? On Friday.
41:43: That's right.
41:45: That's the goal.
41:46: That's right.
41:47: So, this is episode 2005 in the books.
41:52: We'll be back with our study in Matthew on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, God willing, Isaiah on Thursday, and another Q&A on Friday.
42:00: Yeah.
42:00: Let's finish with prayer.
42:02: Yes, let's.
42:02: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the goodness that you show to us in Christ by your providence working things out for our good and for your glory.
42:12: And I pray that in any and all things, we are thankful to God.
42:16: As is said in 1 Thessalonians 5, give thanks to the Lord in all things, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
42:26: So help us to have that heart of faithfulness, of thankfulness unto God.
42:31: And we thank you for working things out the way that you have in our lives for this program, that this Bible teaching could reach people and would grow them in the Lord, grow them in the knowledge of your word.
42:44: And I pray we're able to continue that by your will.
42:47: I thank you for First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas that called me to pastor there for the three years that we've been here.
42:54: And I pray that you would give us safe travels as we go from here to Casa Grande, Arizona, to become part of Providence Reform Baptist Church.
43:04: And may the ministry of the word continue to flourish there as well in the people who are part of that church.
43:10: And that Lord, you would bring in others to that church who are committed to sound doctrine, committed to Christ and hearing his word and growing according to your gospel.
43:19: And I pray for myself and the other elders that are there that we would be faithful to preach the word week in and week out, for it is through the word of Christ that we are sanctified and made in the image of the son.
43:31: May we continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure, as said in Philippians chapter two.
43:44: Thank you, Lord, for your kindness and help us to be kind to one another.
43:49: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
43:50: Amen.
43:51: Amen.
44:01: All right.
44:04: So this is a new setup.
44:08: This is Ray pointed at you.
44:12: So it'll pick up all my pops.
44:14: Pops.
44:15: Pick up your pops.
44:16: Pick up my pops.
44:18: Not to be confused with my pops.
44:21: My headphones are really loud.
44:23: I don't hear myself at all.
44:25: Maybe you adjusted yours twice.
44:27: I must have.
44:29: That sound.
44:33: Sorry.
44:33: I have a weird tickle.
44:37: Check, check, check.
44:38: Okay.
44:38: How are you? Check.
44:39: I still can't hear anything.
44:41: You can't hear anything? No.
44:46: Oh, yeah.
44:47: Because I got.
44:50: How's that? I don't know.
44:52: Oh, that's better.
44:53: Is it too loud? Nah.
44:55: Okay.
44:55: Just don't yell at me.
44:56: So that's good? Yeah, that's good.
44:57: As long as you don't yell at me.
44:58: As long as I don't yell at you.
44:59: We're good.
45:00: You know, because we have such a problem with that.
45:03: Or yelling at something or something.
45:06: To get attention.
45:07: When I get excited about something.
45:09: Or that.
45:09: Yeah, that too.
45:11: That too.
45:11: No getting excited.
45:13: None.
45:14: No, none.
45:15: Check.
45:16: All right.
45:17: Check, check.
45:17: I think I'm set.
45:18: I feel good.
45:19: I feel good.
45:20: Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
45:23: Wow! I feel good.
45:24: So you don't yell like that.
45:26: No.
45:26: Yeah.
45:27: Okay.
45:27: Well, that one was acceptable.
45:29: You actually muted that.
45:32: We're good.
45:34: All right.
45:34: Okay.
45:35: Did you send me my thing? My opening? I did.
45:37: I sent you your opening.
45:38: Oops.
45:39: Sorry.
45:40: I'm a slacker.
45:42: Slacker.
45:43: This is when we understand the text, a daily Bible commentary, and God's word.
45:47: That we may have the mind of Christ.
45:50: That we may have the mind of Christ.
45:52: Tell all your friends about our ministry at www.utt.com.
45:56: Da, da, da, da, da.
45:58: You're going to add that in there from now on? Yeah.
46:00: Like you'll just...
46:01: Da, da, da, da, da.
46:02: That's right.
46:02: There we go.
46:04: Well, I didn't finish it, so...
46:09: Oh, wait, wait, wait.
46:10: Wait.
46:11: Yay! Yay! The audience is cheering you on.
46:14: There you go.
46:15: All right.
46:16: That is so weird.
46:21: Oh, my goodness.
46:26: Terrible.
46:26: Just terrible.
46:27: Terrible.
46:27: Terrible.
46:28: Terrible.