Road Trip DL: Even-Ezers, Long-term Thinking, True Christian Examples of Heroism and Faith

Alpha & Omega Ministries

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GodCenteredTheology

Good stuff!

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00:31

Okay, well, if it can break, it's broken,

00:39

I guess. Here we are, no splash screen, no music, nothing that's supposed to work is working.

00:47

And I even started the program, and Rich is like, no, you're not there. And we have no earthy idea why.

00:53

I'm starting to wonder if someone has hacked our systems and doing stuff like that.

01:00

I'm going to try to get my mind back into this now. It's not going to be easy to do, but I will do my best.

01:08

I was sort of looking forward to this program, but not so much now. Anyway, we're on the road, and so I'm doing all this stuff on my own, mainly.

01:20

And so on our way to Mobile, Alabama, I had a guy, and this worries me,

01:27

I had a guy on Twitter saying, Mobile, when, where, you know, we've had this stuff up for a long time.

01:35

But my concern is that the debate has limited space.

01:42

And so I'm concerned that some people are just going to show up, and we're not going to have a place for them.

01:50

So by the way, we are live, the doors are open, and evidently this particular place is near...

01:57

The only thing I can figure out is we're near a drag racing strip.

02:04

Seriously. It is Saturday night, so yeah, that would fit. So if you hear incredibly loud engines roaring in the background, that's what it is.

02:18

And we'll see how that goes. Maybe I can go watch some drag racing. I've never been to...

02:24

I've never fully watched that by a video online, something like that. It sounds like it's probably loud enough to ruin your hearing too.

02:32

It is ridiculously loud. But anyway, so next weekend, the inevitable question always is, will it be live streamed?

02:44

And I don't know. And my experience normally is the people putting it on don't know until shortly beforehand or something like that.

02:53

And so what we've done, I think what we've done for a couple of years now, is we've just put that information out on the app or on the website or something like that and said, you know, yes, no, maybe here's the link, something along those lines.

03:07

And obviously it will be recorded, I say obviously.

03:17

I think back to, and this is, shall we call it Providence? I think the best guy

03:26

I ever debated who was an Arminian, he was an attorney, he was good. Most attorneys are not good at debates.

03:33

This guy was really good. And I can't even remember now where it was. But we get done with the debate and I go back to the soundboard place and stuff.

03:47

And the guy sort of looks at it and he says, well, that didn't get recorded. And I'm like, why?

03:55

We just, we didn't record it. It's like, okay. So that's why there are a few less debates available on YouTube and places like that than we actually have on the list because there have been a few where technical difficulties or just somebody forgot to hit record and we don't have those.

04:19

But hopefully that won't be the case here because the topic is extremely important.

04:27

And I, again, I think I'm seeing so much interaction with people.

04:37

Can you hear that? So much interaction with people in regards to Mary and things like that.

04:47

And I'll be honest with you. Yeah. The Marian dogmas, central, vital, idolatrous, the haunt yards.

04:58

Best example of how denying Sola Scriptura leads to just all sorts of terrible, horrible things.

05:08

But let's be honest. The real central issue with Roman Catholicism, we think of all sorts of things.

05:19

We think of Sola Scriptura, we think of the papacy and tradition, purgatory and priests and all the

05:24

Marian dogmas. But why, you know, if you've read the

05:30

Roman Catholic controversy, I said very clearly, why do we need to address Roman Catholicism?

05:36

And the answer is the gospel preached by Rome does not bring peace.

05:44

It's very much, it's the gospel. We don't have the same gospel. Remember, oh, and was that late 90s, maybe around 2000, when

05:57

Tim Staples and I were on the Bible Answer Man before the Bible Answer Man went loopy.

06:04

And at one point, because he was doing the ecumenical, odgy dodgy type thing.

06:14

And finally, I nailed him down. I said, Tim, if you and I were staying outside an abortion clinic.

06:21

And someone came up to us and said, what must I do to be saved? Would you agree with me?

06:28

That we would give fundamentally different answers to that question. And he had to say, yes, we would.

06:38

And I actually have, I don't have them queued up, so I'm going to try right now with how everything else is going.

06:50

I, Jeff Durbin sent me a couple of clips from some Roman Catholic priests. Very much on this subject.

06:57

And I will queue them up when I feel more confident that everything's going to work the way it's supposed to.

07:06

I will queue them up because they addressed this very issue.

07:11

And here's my concern. I honestly am coming to the conclusion that most of my

07:24

Reformed brothers have been focused on non -definitional issues when it comes to Roman Catholic.

07:37

A lot of people are like, hey, go get them. Yeah, you get those Catholics. But when it comes to their understanding of what

07:46

Rome's actual teachings are regarding the sacrifice of Christ.

07:52

Not just justification by faith. A lot of people sort of at least have, they've watched enough

08:00

Luther movies. They've got that figured out. But really even more basic than justification by faith is the atoning work of Christ.

08:14

And when you allow traditional development that took place 12, 1300 years of development to bring you to a place where you literally teach people that the same sacrifice of Christ is represented in an unbloody manner, but it is propitiatory, but it perfects no one.

08:54

And this has to be done through a sacramental system, a sacerdotal system with ordained priests.

09:01

That was one of the clips that I will get to was this priest talking about, you need to go to a priest, you need to go to a priest, you need to go to a priest.

09:13

That's why we've done at least one debate on that subject and should probably do more.

09:21

Because there are no sacerdotal priests in the New Testament outside of Jesus himself.

09:27

He is our one high priest. All who are in him are believer priests in that sense.

09:38

But in the idea of a church office, there are two offices in the church.

09:45

We have elders and we have deacons. That's all the New Testament speaks about. You say, oh, what about bishops?

09:51

Same office as an elder. Look at how Paul uses those interchangeably. But there's nothing in the

09:58

New Testament about the qualifications for a priest because it's something that developed and I would say developed primarily...

10:13

Remember when Israel wanted to have a king? Why did they want to have a king? Because everybody else did. And if everybody else did, then we want to have one too.

10:22

Well, what's common in man's religion? Priesthood. And so that really developed early, but it's not apostolic.

10:35

No, no, it's not apostolic. It doesn't come from the apostles. It's not found anywhere in the New Testament. It's something that developed over time.

10:42

And in the debate that I did with Mitch Pacwa on that subject, he admitted that it was a development of an understanding of the term presbyter, which had early on been made a lower, the elder, the bishop -presbyter divide had already taken place.

11:05

And that left room for development, shall we say.

11:12

In that term, that's what became the foundation for the priesthood. But it's certainly not apostolic.

11:19

It's certainly not New Testament. And it is, as such, a horrible mechanism whereby people have, in essence, been placed under this authority.

11:35

You have to go through this to be able to receive God's grace. So anyways, I wasn't going to get into all that. But the point is, it just seems to me that most of my

11:46

Reformed brothers have a very shallow understanding of Roman Catholic theology as a whole.

11:55

They're not being helped very much by having Francis running around doing the universalist, inclusivist, ecumenical, all -religions -lead -to -God type stuff that he's doing.

12:13

But if you do your homework, you find out what Rome really teaches about these things.

12:20

And subject of the mass, the atonement. Well, look at evangelicals on the atonement.

12:27

How many times have I said that evangelicals have a primarily emotional doctrine of the cross, not a biblical doctrine of the cross?

12:39

And so if that's the case of evangelicals as a whole,

12:45

I would think Reformed men would be a little bit more focused. It's not been my experience.

12:50

It's not been my experience. I don't see a lot of them reaching out to Roman Catholics.

12:57

Sadly, what we're seeing a lot of is an ecumenical fuzziness that, interestingly enough, the people who engage in that ecumenical fuzziness probably don't know a whole lot about what

13:14

Rome teaches on the mass. And that might be what leads them to where they're going.

13:21

So anyway, yeah, vitally important subject.

13:28

Before we dive into Hebrews, because I promised we would sort of do some work in Hebrews today.

13:37

That's always a good place to go, assuming my computer doesn't die or something like that. But before we go there, lots of stuff developing, of course, in our society.

13:53

I have a friend of mine that keeps saying, do you believe yet? Do you believe yet? And I keep going, nope, nope.

14:03

I actually saw a road sign, a bulletin board that said, if it's not close, they can't cheat.

14:12

And what's funny is I've seen some of these saying something along the lines of make sure to demand paper ballots.

14:22

Don't let Trump cheat. Well, you know, that's not coming from the Democrats. That's a little reverse psychology going on there,

14:34

I think. Yeah, I've said many times

14:39

I would love to have another four years to be able to travel and do things.

14:47

And I just don't expect that would happen with a Harris -Waltz victory at all.

14:55

I think four years from now, the nation would be in a horrific state of disrepair.

15:03

But at the same time, I also just simply

15:09

I want to warn folks. These folks have had four years to do deep systemic damage to this nation.

15:22

The military has been deeply compromised. The economy has been deeply compromised.

15:27

And just because Trump walks into the Oval Office, that doesn't change the fact that the federal government has been printing money day and night for years.

15:43

And it's just I guess I understand it. Nobody teaches economics or anything like that anymore. But that's that that is theft of your work and your savings.

15:57

Why bother saving if the government's cranking out money to just give away to people?

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And that fundamentally devalues everything you've worked for and saved.

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People don't understand just how well violation of God's law.

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It's theft. It is absolute theft. It is a violation of weights and measures of just weights and measures because you are you're changing the value.

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Of. The shekel of the various forms of monetary exchange for the purpose of your own power, you're stealing from others.

16:44

To establish yourself and your anti -God, anti -man agenda. It's going to be.

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A lot to answer for someday. There's going to be people who are who right now think that they'll they'll never have to answer for anything, that they will have to answer for much on that day of judgment.

17:08

They truly, truly will. And so just because Trump walks into the

17:14

Oval Office, if that's what happens, if he's allowed to live that. He can't just wave a magic wand.

17:25

And undo four years worth of of damage. And that's where I want to bring. Another biblical.

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Thought to your mind. And I've not heard anybody talking about this.

17:40

So maybe it'll be useful to you. I hope it is. I don't know.

17:45

Probably only a few of you watching on a Saturday anyways, but I want to bring up a thought up.

17:53

Maybe other people have. I'm just. Only have so much time these days to try to keep up with.

18:03

Do you remember? I've told the story many times and every every time we sing.

18:12

Here I raise my Evan H. At church. Half the congregation looks over at me and smiles because I have explained this to our folks multiple times.

18:25

And then when I travel, you know, if we sing that particular hymn, I'll mention it, too.

18:31

It's it's not here. I raise my Ebenezer. Everybody starts thinking about Christmas and Ebenezer Scrooge.

18:38

And I have no idea what the world's going on with it. As I've explained many times before, it's it's a

18:46

Hebrew phrase. Evan H. Sir, Evan H. Sir. It means stone of help.

18:53

And here I raise my stone of help. And if you've. Most people have tried to read through the

19:01

Bible in a year and at least you. Most people at least get well into Exodus.

19:07

It's Leviticus that kills everybody. And so so you you should have read the sections.

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In the early Old Testament narrative of the patriarchs.

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Building monuments, piles of stone. That's what an Evan H. Sir is a stone of help.

19:32

It's a you pile up these stones. I noticed, for example, when

19:38

I went hiking a couple of years ago, almost died. But when hiking a couple of years ago in the high mountains of Colorado, up at 12, 13, 14 ,000 feet.

19:49

And I forget what they called them, but they would they would the trail would be next to impossible to follow.

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But there were these stacks of stones that marked the trail. I forgot what the name was.

20:01

Sorry. And someone I'm sure will tell me on Twitter when we're done. So it's a little bit like that, but it was meant to be more permanent.

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And what was it all about? It wasn't necessarily for sacrifice or anything like that.

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It was putting up a monument as a remembrance.

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Of what God has done for you. A special protection, extension of his grace, a great blessing, something along those lines.

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And you did not want to forget this. You wanted.

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When you passed by. 50 years later. To remember what

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God had done for you. And you want other people in the future. To likewise know.

21:00

That the God of Israel had been gracious to one of his servants in this context.

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When you when you read. How the Bible speaks of God's people.

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There is a backward looking. Look at all that God did. Hebrews chapter 11. Look at these heroes of faith.

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And then there's the forward looking. There is.

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The expectation of the continued extension of God's blessing and grace into the future.

21:41

Now. Here's the application.

21:49

Presidents. Are elected in the United States for a four year term.

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Maximum two four year terms. Now, that's a fairly recent change, actually.

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After the Roosevelt years. And. Senators for six.

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The House for two. One of the problems we have in the

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United States of America. Without question. Is the fact that we do not think long term.

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As a people. We do not think long term. We had initially imbibed and had gifted to us.

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Seriously. A much more long term sense of things from our forefathers from.

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The United Kingdom. Scotland and Ireland. Various places on the continent that all the people came to form the

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American experiment. But modern. Modern men in.

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The West. Are generally not long term thinkers.

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That's why one of the bad things that that certainly is going on is.

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We make policy decisions based upon what's going to help me right now.

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In this situation, right? We are willing to have policy decisions made that.

23:39

Will make us feel better briefly. But will damage everybody long term.

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We don't think long term. Almost nobody in this election. Is thinking long term.

23:56

When I oppose Marxists. Yeah, I'm thinking long term.

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But. Most people, that's not how it is. Most people are not thinking about what policy.

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Decisions should be made now. That will.

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Improve. Life. 50 years. 100 years. Don't even think about that.

24:29

And when you get politicians who are willing to implement policies and programs.

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That in the long term have to collapse. They can't possibly.

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Last. And they bring damage to the nation. They do it for short term political gain.

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Monetary gain power game. But they don't have a long term concern whatsoever about the nation itself.

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And. A nation that. Unfortunately, our enemies.

25:06

Think long term. Especially both China and Russia.

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China and Russia think long term. And. You might say, well, the way we're set up four years, eight years at most.

25:26

That's really not long term stuff. Yeah, but. It used to be.

25:32

That there was a continuity in the world view. And in being dedicated to the good of the nation, which.

25:44

That's pretty much gone by the wayside now. The point is. When let's say in some fantastic turn of events.

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Donald Trump was elected. And the Republicans. And believe me, when

26:07

I say Republican, the first thought across my mind is coward. But the Republicans have the

26:12

Senate and the House so that he can actually. So something actually happens where he can actually make some fundamental changes.

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That would have long term benefit. We still owe 36 trillion dollars.

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We still owe 36 trillion dollars. And. Right now about the best we can hope for.

26:40

Is to find a way to. Slow the interest rate payments.

26:53

I mean, I don't hear anybody. Talking about finding a way to pay off the federal debt because no one thinks they're responsible.

27:05

And the people in government have been creating this fiat money.

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That cheapens, cheapens, cheapens, cheap. Every turn of that. I don't know if they use. What kind of printing presses they use anymore.

27:20

My dad was a. Expert printer and. The drums turning and all that kind of stuff.

27:29

I don't know if they did anymore, but. Every turn of that drum, every dollar bill, $10 bill, $20 bill that comes flying out of those machines.

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Means the 10 and the 20 in my pocket is worth less and less. And so how do you pay that debt off?

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You can't do it by just printing more. You know, there's not enough paper in the world. Because it just becomes more and more worthless over time.

27:55

And with bricks going on and with. Various nations abandoning the dollar as a standard.

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We could. We could see due to external events.

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The dollar collapse in value. And it wouldn't be because it wouldn't.

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At that point specifically be because. The federal government was still printing all that worthless money.

28:27

Certainly had a part of it in the long run, of course. So if we had a.

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As Christians, we're supposed to have a biblical worldview. We're supposed to see down the road.

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We're supposed to. Think past ourselves. There are. I will say it. Certain eschatological systems that.

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Do not in any way encourage. Long term planning and thought.

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And. You know, that's what I grew up with. But. Now I'm.

29:06

Seriously hoping and praying. That I will live long enough to have.

29:13

To be able to hold. Great grandchildren in my arms. And so you start thinking long term like that.

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And we should be all along. We should be teaching our young people. To think in that way.

29:27

Man, talk about. Taking them out of. The. Making them even more strange to the world.

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How weird would you be if you lived your life in such a fashion. As to.

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Think not only of yourself, but think of your entire culture. And of the kingdom of Christ.

29:58

Talk about changing someone's priorities. How you're going to live and what you're going to do, what you're going to value, what you're not going to value.

30:06

Yeah. So. When you when you sing that song. Here I raise my Evan H.

30:12

Sir, say it right. I don't care if the person next to you looks over at you strangely. You said the

30:17

Hebrew correctly. They're thinking Ebenezer Scrooge. You know it means stone of help. So you say it rightly.

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As the Hebrew would be Evan H. Sir. And it might open up a cool opportunity after the service to.

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Tell them and then they can tell their grandkids. Oh, it's just someday we will have. It will just be second nature.

30:37

All across the world to say. Evan H. Sir. And I will have done my best, my part.

30:45

In promoting that. Proper way of doing. But anyway, when you think of those.

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Piles of rocks. That the patriarchs kept putting up. You know,

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Jacob's ladder. He built a memorial there. We need to be doing the same type of thing.

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We need to be. Looking back. We need to be thankful for all who've come before us and.

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Given us so much of what we have. But just as they did things that help us now.

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In the same way. We need to. Be giving of ourselves.

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To build the future as well. And to. Do so for the honor of Christ and his.

31:40

And his kingdom. One of the reasons I've been thinking about.

31:48

Hebrews. Well, first of all, someone says, I mean, I. I don't think I had the opportunity of responding to someone.

31:55

On Twitter said something about a number of people over the years have said it, but. Specifically recently said something about.

32:04

How much of a blessing. The 80 some odd sermons. That I preached on.

32:11

The book of Hebrews. A decade or so ago now. Had been for them.

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And that's very encouraging to hear. And, you know, it's a lot of work. I was not.

32:26

The main preaching pastor at that time. So I. Frequently only.

32:32

Preach, you know. A Sunday morning, Sunday night. And a

32:37

Wednesday night each month. So it took a while to do 80 of them. But.

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I did put a lot of work into it. And. I have. Said more than once that.

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Hebrews just shot up. To the top of my list. With Romans and so on and so forth.

33:01

What a. What a shame. That that book. Is a closed book.

33:08

For most evangelicals. I would say. The more.

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A person has an accurate. Understanding. Of the argument. Of the epistle of the

33:21

Hebrews. The more. They're going to be absolutely. Convinced.

33:29

That they need to evangelize Roman Catholics. They're going to be in a position to be able to go.

33:37

Wow, I can see exactly. Why this is so vitally important. And.

33:44

So. One of the. Reasons that my mind has.

33:52

Turned back. Is all the conversations that have been going on.

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Over the past number of. Months. In regards to.

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Those who are saying. Look, we need. We need.

34:16

Young men need models. They need role models. And. So one.

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One great source of role models for young men. Who've been told that they're.

34:33

Toxically masculine and. All the rest is kind of stuff. Is to look to the

34:39

Crusades. To look to the military engagement.

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That has taken place. Well, literally from.

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The beginning. Of the rise of Islam.

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When Islamic armies moved out of. What we call Saudi Arabia today. Moving north and moving.

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West. Primarily, at least initially. Many of the nations that they literally.

35:18

Overran. Were. Christian. And I use the scare quotes.

35:28

Advisedly. It. They had a lot of Christians in those nations.

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And some had. Adopted. After Nicaea, a form of.

35:44

Christendom. And so. The East Eastern Christians had been involved.

35:54

In having to either live under Islam. Or fight Islam. For a long period of time.

36:04

But it wasn't until the Crusades were called. In 1195.

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1095, sorry. That. You had this this clear delineation.

36:23

Of a militaristic Christendom. And. Anyone who engaged.

36:34

In a crusade. The phrase it well crusade itself comes from crooks.

36:42

CRUX. The cross. Latin, obviously. And. You were said to take the cross.

36:52

There was a vow that you would make. That you would go to the Holy Land. And you would seek to.

37:02

Rescue Christians to. Take back was taken by the

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Muslims. Almost half a millennium earlier. And.

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That if you like. Turned back before you even got the oil. You were.

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You not only had not fulfilled your vow. But you would be looked down upon greatly. You'd be shamed. And. So from the beginning they took the sign of the cross.

37:36

Now Christians and made the sign of the cross for a long time. I honestly. Don't know exactly when that happened for the first time.

37:45

But. This was taking the sign of the cross. And putting the cross on your armor.

37:51

On your clothing. On your shield. It was. A. Real shift.

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In the. Understanding of the emblem of the cross. To take the cross.

38:06

And the problem is of course. There is a biblical meaning. Of taking up the call.

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And. Clearly what happened was. In the preaching of the day. There were these very well -known.

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Preachers Bernard Clairvaux. Later on. And others who would go out and preach to crusades.

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The connection was made between. Taking up the cross denying yourself.

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And basically joining the death march. That's what Jesus was talking about. Gospel of Mark. That became.

38:45

Very very. Redefined. To where taking up the cross now meant.

38:53

That you would. Give your life. To kill the infidel.

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And to free. The holy places.

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Of Christendom. The holy places of Christendom.

39:11

The church of the sepulcher. During the crusades.

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You had stuff like. At Antioch.

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This guy had a vision. Supposedly. Where to find.

39:28

The. Lance. That had been thrust into Jesus's side.

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And they dug and dug. And they dug up. A lance head. Or at least something that looked like a lance head.

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And. The crusaders literally came flying out of the city. And attacked the

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Muslims. We have the lance head. And it gave them. They were about to lose.

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And then they. Turned things around and. Eventually most people decided.

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That's not what that was anyways. But. One of the biggest issues.

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During the crusades. Was the true cross. And it was a.

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Black. Piece of wood. Encased in silver. That was supposedly.

40:27

A piece of the true cross. I know. By the time you get to.

40:34

Erasmus he said. There were so many pieces of the true cross. You could have built a ship of. And he was probably right.

40:42

But. This was. Captured by the Muslims. And then taken back by the

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Christians. And you know all this stuff. And. This was the kind of Christendom.

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That existed at that time. Very much. Well. With this superstitious.

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Very superstitious. And. When you. Read the

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New Testament. And ask yourself just honestly. Do I have any reason to believe that the apostles.

41:20

Had a piece of the true cross. Would have venerated the.

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The Lance. That pierced Jesus side. And the list goes on.

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I mean pieces of Jesus's baby diaper. And the crown of thorns. And a hair. Feather from the wing of the angel

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Gabriel. And just it's just it's. It's never ending. The fact is.

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It's so far removed. From anything you have in the

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New Testament. And yet these men. There were some. There were some tremendous.

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Tremendously brave. Soldiers. That fought in these wars.

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With a cross on their chest. Unquestionably the most famous.

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All the crusading period would be. Richard the Lionheart. But there were.

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There were those there were those. Before him and after him. St. Louis.

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St. Louis. He was a crusader. Didn't. Get very far.

42:34

But he was a crusader and. Dedicated to. Crusading ideals.

42:41

And there were brave men who lost their lives. Brave men who survived there were. Incredible.

42:48

Warriors who could. Swing a. Swing a sword and cut a man in half one shot just.

42:55

Powerful men. Men who could be wounded over and over again and survive.

43:01

Even though they've. Ten years later get wounded and die from gangrene or something but.

43:08

There were there were great. Valiant men. But. They had a cross on their chest.

43:21

And the question that I have asked over and over and over and over again. Is how does the gospel.

43:30

Relate to all this because. And people get upset. Oh. You're starting to sound like John Piper.

43:37

Oh good. If. The gospel.

43:44

Is not the defining issue. In. Identifying proper.

43:55

Christian models for young men. If the gospel is. Negotiable.

44:03

Then why not if you want to lionize Richard the Lionheart. If you want to lionize.

44:13

Men who were fighting who had been promised that if they died in this battle.

44:20

That the punishments of their sins. Would be taken away. And if you're a

44:28

Christian you're going but. Jesus already did that. Yeah. It is one of the problems.

44:36

But if the gospel doesn't define this stuff. Then why not. Why not look at the

44:42

Muslim warriors who are just as brave and just as powerful and manly and masculine and could swing a sword and chop people in half like everybody else.

44:52

Why not look look at Saladin. I mean the Muslims do they look at. It's amazing the continued.

45:02

Popularity of Saladin. As a hero amongst the

45:07

Muslims to this day. Hussein. Not Barack.

45:15

The other guy. Hussein. Saladin was central to his view of himself as a

45:26

Muslim warrior and all the rest of us. But if the theology stuff is just off to the side.

45:33

And it's just how hard you could swing an axe or a sword. Why not.

45:39

Why not look at. Muslims or Mongols. Wow.

45:46

They were incredible fighters. Just unbelievable masculine. Manly men.

45:54

There's been genetic study. That has shown that.

46:00

Genghis Khan. Fathered most of Eastern Europe. I mean they've done a genetic study.

46:10

And I forget. I'd have to go back and look now. But I. My recollection is that the.

46:20

Chromosome studies and genetic studies they did. Indicated that they estimated the Genghis Khan had at least twenty five hundred.

46:29

Twenty five hundred. Wow. There's some masculinity for you.

46:37

Why not lionize him. And if the gospel doesn't define this. If we're not if that's if that part is irrelevant.

46:44

If we can just lay that aside so you don't sound like John Piper. Then why not. Why not.

46:52

Please don't tell me you go well. Well they took up the cross. That's not that's. That's not the biblical phrase.

46:58

That's not what it meant. It couldn't have meant. What does any of this have to do with Hebrews.

47:04

Well obviously. After. The. Lengthy.

47:12

In depth. If you don't know. The. Tanakh. The Torah.

47:18

The Nevi 'im. The Ketuvim. The Hebrew scriptures. You'll never understand the argument. After that. All comes to a head.

47:27

In Hebrews chapter 10. Here is. By this will.

47:34

We have been. Sanctified. The offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

47:40

Hebrews 10. Then building to it. Building to it. Kisadek priesthood.

47:46

And the. Tabernacle and. Types and shadows and.

47:51

And. The Levitical priesthood. The lesser priesthood. And the greater priesthood of Melchizedek. It all.

47:58

Comes to a crescendo. By this will. We have been sanctified for the offering.

48:06

Body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once. You get that. And then the warning that comes with that.

48:13

Here's what the sacrifice of Christ does. Therefore. There's nothing to go back to.

48:20

So if you do go back. You are trampling underfoot the blood of the

48:26

Son of God. What's the what's the first thing the writer does.

48:33

Which again. You know my theory. Hebrews is a sermon.

48:41

Preached by Paul. And written out by Luke. And when you look at Romans.

48:46

What happens with Romans you. You get to. The pinnacle of chapter 8.

48:53

And then the application. In 9 10 11 to Israel. And then there is a hard break.

49:02

In the sense of a shift. And that shift is to.

49:09

The practical application. Here's the theology. This is what God has done. Romans 11.

49:18

Ends with this. Doxology of praise. And.

49:24

Now therefore. Present your bodies of the living sacrifice. Same thing happens in Hebrews.

49:33

About same point chapter 11. And once you have the theology once you have the.

49:39

Finished mess. Of the cross. Then what happens. Chapter 11.

49:49

Here's. Here's what God's done. Here's the picture of what.

49:55

Continuing faith looks like. Think of all these. These individuals and.

50:01

And sometimes it's hard for us because. We have. We have. 2000 years look back.

50:10

And they didn't have that. There's a real element in the book of Hebrews.

50:17

Of. Yeah we're. We're being told we're the new kids on the block.

50:23

We're being told we're a part of this. Cult that's never going to last. But the reality is we are the continuation of something

50:31

God has been doing all along. And those who've come before us faithfully believe the promises of God.

50:39

That have now been fulfilled in us. So what should we do. How then should we live.

50:46

Should we not be. Therefore these faithful. Faithful individuals.

50:52

Stand firm. And when you look. At the heroes of faith.

50:58

In Hebrews chapter 11. Why are they considered the heroes of the faith.

51:10

Did any of them lead crusades. Well there were. There were military men.

51:17

David. Solomon. There were good kings of Israel who. Swung a sword.

51:27

But they're not the primary ones that are presented to us. In fact the ones that are presented to us as.

51:35

The hall of fame of faith. Often the ones who suffered.

51:41

And suffered the most. They were the ones who got. Cut in half by the sword.

51:47

Not because they were in a battle. But because they would.

51:54

Well they insisted on speaking. The prophetic truth that have been given to them to.

52:00

Kings who didn't want to hear. Or to pagan kings who likewise didn't want to hear that there was only one true

52:06

God. And so. When you.

52:12

When you look at Hebrews. And you see that. That.

52:17

In between because chapter 12 then goes into a lot of the. Same very practical.

52:24

Application stuff that we have. In Romans. Chapter 11 is that exhortation.

52:32

To look back and to see. God's people. Have been persecuted.

52:41

As a part of his will. From the beginning. And we honor them.

52:49

Not because of their body count. Not because their body.

52:55

But because of their steadfastness. Their self -discipline.

53:01

Their self -control. Their patience. And these are the very things.

53:10

That I think mark. A manly man. I've given the example.

53:19

In the past not in this content. But I think of B .B.

53:27

Warfield. And you know. You may have seen a picture or two of B .B. Warfield.

53:34

He did have big beard. But then again most guys did back then. I hope.

53:43

No one. Uses A .I. to put B .B. Warfield in the gym or. Anything like that.

53:52

I've mentioned. How much the Lord use Warfield's writings. In my early

53:57

Christian walk. To learn. And to get grounded.

54:04

And very encouraging along those lines. But his collected works.

54:11

I remember. I traded. A very nice pistol.

54:16

And this was not even close to a one to one. But I traded a very nice pistol.

54:22

Once. For the collected works of B .B. Warfield. And. But it's not a big set.

54:30

There are many people who've written. Whole lot more than Warfield. The primary reason.

54:40

Is that he had. A wife. Who was.

54:48

Well I guess. It was an invalid. And. He took care of.

54:58

And if you do that you don't have a whole lot of time to be doing. Other stuff. He could have.

55:06

Been a much more. Well known. Theologian. Through what he wrote.

55:13

Traveling things like that. He didn't he honored his commitment to his wife. And. I will take.

55:24

A B .B. Warfield. Who does that. Over every

55:29

Arnold Schwarzenegger looking. Man to man. Who can throw the weights around.

55:37

But doesn't have that kind of self discipline. Any day. And I think that's what we see in Hebrews chapter 11.

55:48

Who's. Who's going to have. The memorials.

55:53

Oh yeah. I know there are. Richard the Lionheart. He has a statue. In. Outside Westminster.

56:06

How many people in England have any idea who he was. That tells you something about England.

56:13

Obviously. But in the same way.

56:19

At the same time. The statue that you that you want to have.

56:24

Is the statue that comes with. Well done. Thank you.

56:32

Well done thou good and faithful servant. I'm just expecting the head to blow on that engine pretty soon.

56:38

And then it will be quiet again. Man. Anyway. That's what you want.

56:44

Well done. A good and faithful servant. You don't need a statue. You just need those words. And how do you get that.

56:53

Discipline. Patience. Godliness. A focus.

57:01

Upon. Look to him. Not to me. He's the one that's seated at the right hand of the father.

57:10

He is king of kings and lord of lords. That's. That's what you need to have.

57:19

And that's something that you. You can't establish a workout routine.

57:28

To get that in three months. It's. It's lifelong.

57:35

It's lifelong. And. That. Over the years.

57:43

41 years of ministry. Now I've seen a lot of flash in the pan guys. That. Don't have any idea where they are now.

57:52

I've. Seen people who were. Who look like man.

57:57

They're. They're really gonna make an impact and. Put it back to the world. Not necessarily in the sense of a.

58:06

Moral collapse. But just. Burn out. You know.

58:14

The. The seeds scattered by the side of the field. And the rocky soil.

58:20

That type of thing. You see a lot of that. I think.

58:28

If you're a wise. Christian young man. The people you want to look to.

58:35

Are the ones who finish well. Not the ones the highest body count.

58:42

Biggest biceps. Or the best bench. But with the longest.

58:52

Disciplined. Service. Willingness to be a slave.

59:02

Look to those. Who finished well. And were. Proud. To be called a slave of Jesus Christ.

59:16

Though. You look to them. And you'll have the examples that you need. You'll have the examples that you need.

59:24

That's why they're given to us in scripture. Read Hebrews chapter 11. And see for yourself.

59:33

And hopefully that will be. Of some level of. Of encouragement to you.

59:39

Well. Without music. And graphics.

59:45

And everything else. We've gone right at an hour now. I mean.

59:50

I do have the music queued up. But since. Our graphic. I'm just going to.

59:56

I'm going to. One of the things I'm going to do. Tonight is. I have it somewhere. Oh.

01:00:02

It's on the other computer. It's on this computer. I'm going to put on both computers. I'm going to have that splash screen. I'm just going to have it ready to go.

01:00:09

It's just. Because I don't. I don't trust this. This. Thingy over here.

01:00:15

Anymore. To have it in there. So. We'll. We'll have that available. So we can. Sort of.

01:00:21

Do the end around. If we need to. One way or the other. But. We'll get that fixed. And.

01:00:27

I. I haven't looked real. Carefully. At. The travel schedule.

01:00:34

Getting over to. Mobile. But we should be able. To get a few more programs. And. Just. I just.

01:00:44

Would ask you. Seriously. To pray for that debate. Because I. I don't know.

01:00:49

The gentleman. I'm debating. I don't know. That I will even meet him. Before the debate. And.

01:00:58

I'll be honest with you. That concerns me. Because. I just don't know.

01:01:03

Fully what to expect. If someone has not spoken. On the subject. Recorded stuff. On the subject. You know.

01:01:09

I say. Why are you debating him? That well. He works for. I think. The archdiocese. In Birmingham.

01:01:15

I think. Maybe. Not sure. Exactly. Where. But he. I'm sure.

01:01:21

He is a seminary. Graduate. Because he was an ordained. PCA minister.

01:01:27

Before becoming. Roman Catholic. So. That gives me.

01:01:32

Some ideas. He's not. To be the first. Ordained. PCA minister. That became.

01:01:38

Roman Catholic. That debate. That was Jerry. First debate. I did. But. Just.

01:01:46

Just pray. For clarity. Because. I really. Really. Honestly. Do believe. That that is.

01:01:53

An absolutely. Central. Aspect. Of. What we need to. Recognize.

01:02:00

And. Be dealing with. Within the church. So. Thank you. For watching.

01:02:05

The program. Today. We. Get the app. So we can let. You know. When the next.

01:02:12

Program. Is going to be. And. About what time. And things like that. But again. We're on the road.

01:02:18

And I don't know. About you. I like the background. I'm going to have to move. The what's on the.

01:02:24

Couch back here. You can only see. Oh. Right. Right there.

01:02:30

That's the Alpha Omega logo. That's actually. The splash screen. I could take this off. And. Hold it in front of the camera.

01:02:37

That's. That's the same graphic. On the splash screen. But I have to move it over. So you can actually see it. I mean. All you can see.

01:02:42

Is just part of the leg. Of the Alpha. That doesn't do any good. I need to bring the. Get it. Reorganized here.

01:02:48

So it would. You can see it. But. I really like.

01:02:54

Rich says. He is going to. Fix. The background issues. Well.

01:03:00

I know what he's talking about. We want to. We want to be able. To help. Have a second camera. Over here. And that shoots.

01:03:05

Way over. Too far. Into that corner. And I bet you. I know what he's thinking of. To be able to get over there.

01:03:11

But anyway. I like this. And we're going to. We're going to keep it.

01:03:18

Available. Because it's. Easy to put up. And hopefully. What Rich comes up with. Will be just as easy.

01:03:25

To handle. One way or the other. But yeah. I like. Like the way.

01:03:30

That's set up. And. And we're almost there. Just. Little things. I mean. This. The problem. We had today. Didn't even see that one coming.

01:03:37

That doesn't. That's left me going. That's never happened before. That's how it happens.