WWUTT 2450 Q&A Youth Group Pizza, Regeneration Precedes Faith, How to Know You're Elect

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00:01

Should you have pizza in your youth group or not? Does God regenerate the heart of a person before they come to faith in Jesus?

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And how could a person know if they are elect? The answers to these questions and others when we understand the text.

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This is when we understand the text, a daily Bible study in God's word, that we may become more like Jesus.

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Tell your friends about our ministry by going to www .utt .com. Here once again is

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 and 29.

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Jesus said, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

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Amen. Resting in Jesus from all our works which couldn't save us anyway and resting in his finished work, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead.

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So by faith in him, we have our sins forgiven and we have everlasting life.

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Amen. And we are all about promoting that good word of Christ and the everlasting life that we are promised by faith in him through this program when we understand the text.

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Bible teaching five days a week with New Testament study on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, still in the book of Luke right now.

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Thursday is our Old Testament study, we're in Jeremiah. And then Friday, we do our

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Q &A. Yeah. Taking questions from the listeners and you can submit those questions too when we understand the text at gmail .com

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or send us a voicemail. Go to www .utt .com, click on that voicemail tab and then record it from your phone or from your computer and we'd love to hear from you.

02:04

Definitely. I did not get any voicemails this week. That's okay. So no voicemails.

02:10

That's a little sad. And I've got some comments that I need to respond to regarding one of our videos.

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I'm gonna do that one on my own. Like I'm gonna fly solo on that one.

02:21

Right. So Becky's here for this first question. Yes. If you ever address us both,

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I try to save those questions for when you're on. And I appreciate that.

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Yes. So this one comes from Roberto and he says, dear

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Pastor Gabe and Becky, you have recently acquired a new listener to your podcast.

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My baby girl. Aw. Was born on July 25th, 2025.

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Aw. And we'll be tuning into your podcast whenever she gets in the car on the way to appointments and play dates.

02:57

Aw, that's awesome. Congratulations. Her name is Isabella Karras.

03:06

Aw. Which is Greek for grace. I was aware of that. Love it. The stories you share of your family inspire me to be as great a father as you have been to your children.

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Thank you always for your ministry. Wow, that's high praise. Yes, it is.

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I don't deserve that. But in addition to that wonderful compliment, he also sent along baby pictures.

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Oh my goodness. Yeah, looky there. Oh, guys, she's adorable. I can't share them with y 'all, but I can share them with Becky.

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So pretty. There's one, here's another one. Oh my goodness. She's adorable.

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You're just listening to Becky's reactions here. That's all you're getting. How cute.

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Okay, this next one's mom and dad. You ready? Uh -huh. There you go. Aw. Mom and dad with a little baby.

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Yeah, thank you guys. And for passing those pictures along. I love it. Oh, I love the family.

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The furry brothers or sisters. Yeah, that's right. They got a couple of dogs in the picture.

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You pass pictures along to us like that, we feel like we're entering into your world a little bit. I love it.

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We love it. Thank you so much. Sometimes we get emails from folks and we'll share them even with our church family.

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So look at how the ministry has been able to affect others because this is a production of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

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Yes. If it wasn't for our church, we wouldn't be able to keep doing this. Amen. So we thank them very much.

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Continuing on here, Roberto says, I do have a question and I'm hoping that you can provide some good advice.

04:43

I am in charge of teaching my youth at the church and we saw a mass exodus when summer vacation hit.

04:49

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. The youth that would normally come don't come with their parents and actually live across the street and willingly walk to the church.

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We went from a study group of seven to 10 to one or no kids during our

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Wednesday night Bible study. Before school let out, we had a potluck that the church would host every Wednesday night before the

05:11

Bible study. And it seems that since we stopped the potlucks, they have not been attending. If we offer food, they tend to show up, but are completely unplugged from the lesson.

05:22

My pastor has recommended that I buy pizza weekly to entice the youth to come, but I don't want the youth showing up for the wrong reasons.

05:29

Free pizza, in other words. I keep hearing the argument that it's better to have them in church than out in the streets, but I haven't seen any progress or desire to progress or any fruit from these youth since they've been with us.

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I personally don't wanna provide pizza because I don't want these youth coming to church just for the food. These children aren't in dire need of food as it seems they only come for the junk food, pizza, fried chicken, candy, et cetera.

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Is my thinking justified in not wanting to provide them food? Is it wrong for me to think this way?

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Should I provide them food in hopes that they come back and stay at the church? Is it better for youth to be in church and off the streets, even if they go for the wrong reasons?

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Again, we love you guys in your ministry and continuously pray for you and your family. I have attached a few photos of my baby and the whole family together, which

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I have shared. I love it. So there you go. Well, thank you so much for your question, Roberto. And I don't - And the pictures.

06:27

Yeah, of course. And the photos as well. Now, Becky and I have been through this before.

06:33

So we have both been, Becky on her part, not so much a youth leader. No. But you were involved with the youth.

06:40

Yeah. When we would have them at our home. Right. Like sometimes the youth study would come into our living room and we would do our

06:48

Bible study there. Or when we had it over at the church and it was pretty small, but just to have somebody that could communicate with the girls, you would come.

06:58

Yeah. If there was anybody that needed to talk about something or something to that effect. So Becky's been involved with the youth.

07:05

I've done all the teaching anytime that we were plugged into a youth group. Right. Even as a pastor,

07:11

I've had occasions where I took over teaching the youth. Mm -hmm. Well, I did teach for like one section,

07:18

I think, whenever it was just the girls and we were going through, like you had the boys for like a sensitive thing and I had the girls for a sensitive thing.

07:26

Yeah, that was in Kansas. Was that when, I'm guessing that was when we were in Ephesians. I think so, yeah.

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Because then you have specific instructions regarding women and specific instructions regarding men. Right, I think we divided it then.

07:39

I think there might've been a Titus study that we did too. So you had the men and women in Titus two.

07:46

So men mentoring the younger men and women, older women teaching the younger women how to love their husbands and work at home.

07:54

Yeah. And being faithful to the word. So I know that, yeah, I know that we've - Yeah, I think it was that one that I'm recalling because I remember talking about like what it was to be a mom and like what was the, the question that the girl had asked me that really stuck in my head was what was the scariest moment of being a mom?

08:16

And I'm like, well, I'm gonna take you down the list. What did you answer?

08:21

Do you remember? Well, I was, we were freshly, I mean, I think you, I don't know if you were pastor yet, head pastor yet or not.

08:30

Okay. But - So one of the times when I might've been - But it was early. Associate pastor.

08:36

Okay. Marriage and everything. So I had only, I mean, at the most - Because we had two kids. We would have two, yeah.

08:41

Right. And so, so then what was fresh in my mind is when I was living with my parents and Annie wasn't,

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I woke up and Annie wasn't in my arms. Oh, yes. And I panicked. Like, I thought she's under me.

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And like, logic is there, but when you're panicking, like, there's no logic.

09:03

You cannot talk yourself out of it. There is just no reasoning with your brain until you physically see that they are not underneath you or underneath the bed, that there's nowhere to go.

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And underneath the blankets, I mean, I was tearing up the room. I was like, oh my goodness, she's not with me.

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You've lost your child. I lost my child. And so I went into the other room and there she was sleeping soundly in my mom's arms.

09:27

And I was like, I have no idea what's going on. It turns out I was -

09:32

And your reason slowly begins coming back to you. I had to like take a few moments before going and getting her, that just to calm down, because I was still like shaking.

09:45

And anyway, yeah, it turns out that I was so tired that I slept through her crying. And your mom came and got her.

09:52

Yes. And my mom was like, okay, well, apparently she needs sleep, so. Yeah, that was the scariest moment at that time.

10:01

But then shortly after, I do believe that Siege tried to kill himself multiple times. Oh, yes.

10:07

Oh my goodness. So there was those scary moments to add to the list. So our first son, absolutely. Our first son just tried many different ways that he could die.

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So many, and right in front of us, right next to us. Like we were paying attention, we were watching him.

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And within seconds, he's like, hey, I'm gonna do this ridiculous thing of like running off the cliff.

10:29

Yeah, okay, let's do this. Or I'm gonna drink this liquid. I have no idea what its origins are.

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Let me take this screwdriver. And instead of playing with the screw, I'm gonna like stick it in the light socket.

10:41

Yeah, things like that. After I told him to no. But you know, he would do this when we were around. Yeah. So I wonder if subliminally in his mind.

10:50

He thought he was fine. That's right. He's like, if this goes bad, my parents are right there. They'll save me. And he would fall on her face and not even try to put up her hands to like catch herself.

11:02

I know. She would just. Go straight to the head. Yes, and like fall face forward.

11:08

I don't even know how to explain it. It's like she would lean into the fall. Like my head's going right down there.

11:15

Yes, every time. Because she thought that I was always close enough to catch her. I remember there being one time when she was losing her balance and she was falling.

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And she was smiling on the way down. She was totally smiling every time. She knows somebody's going to catch me.

11:31

Yep. It was. Oh, our children. I don't know that it was ever as scary as it was with the first two.

11:42

Yeah, the rest of them so far. I mean, because we had to call an ambulance for Zieg. We haven't had to do that for.

11:47

We did. Yeah. That's true, that's true. He tried to help himself to his allergy medicine and.

11:54

Yes. And also to ibuprofen. Ibuprofen, we had an ibuprofen thing. See, that's a story

12:00

I try not to share publicly though. Cause I'm like, somebody's going to think you were letting your kid eat medicine.

12:05

No. And we didn't even have it where he could reach it. Or so we thought.

12:13

Well, okay. So on the ibuprofen story, we're way off topic. We are. This isn't anywhere close to the topic.

12:18

But on the ibuprofen story, it was the same night that there was a clip of President Barack Obama on TV saying that a child can't open a medicine bottle.

12:33

Oh yeah, I remember that. But they can fire your gun. Yes. And I'm watching him say this going, no, my child can't fire my gun, but they can open a medicine bottle.

12:45

And then I'm sitting there going, you know what? I wonder where Zieg is. Where is our son? He's been quiet for too long.

12:51

I don't think it was quite. And it wasn't even quiet for very long. It was just, you know, when it got silent in the house, he was just that loud.

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So when it got silent at all, you knew he was up to something. He was up to something. So we would, we'd dash in there.

13:06

I don't know. He was quieter than Ezekiel is. I think there was just kind of an aura that happened. Like there is a drift in the house somehow.

13:16

The mood has changed. There's a shift in the balance of life in the

13:21

Hughes residence. The difference was, is that Zachary makes his own noise to his own thing.

13:28

Yes. Bubba. He's his own running soundtrack. He needs you to talk to him.

13:33

Right. Needs. This is a very big need. There has to be a constant ongoing conversation with Ezekiel, yes.

13:43

Nonstop. I can't record anything while he's awake. It always has to be while he's either napping or he's in bed.

13:52

Out of the house. Yeah. But anyway, with the ibuprofen story, yeah. So I don't think it was quite as close to the quote as I made it sound, but it was.

14:01

It was close enough. Pretty well in proximity to just hearing President Obama say that on TV.

14:07

Yes. He was making an appeal for gun control. That I go looking around the house for Zachary and I find him in our bed.

14:15

Yes. Sitting on the bed having dumped out an entire bottle of ibuprofen. That it has the childproof lid.

14:22

It has the childproof lid on it. And I don't even think it was the push one. No, it was a complicated bottle.

14:28

It was. Either way. Somehow he got it open and he had poured the ibuprofen pills on the bed.

14:34

All over the bed. So now I'm calling you and you come running in and I'm like, how many of these were in the bottle?

14:40

How? I'm like, I don't know. It's not like it's a prescription. It's like a hundred capsule bottle.

14:46

And I've had it for four days so I know there's this many left. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. So I'm going, okay, how do I count these or whatever?

14:52

Anyway, so you take him to the bathroom. Were you going to try to induce vomiting? Was that what you were going to do?

14:57

I was going to like question him a lot more and like see in his mouth because they were sugar -coated.

15:03

So they were red. Well, not sugar -coated. They had the coating on them, but they're not sugar -coated.

15:08

No, that's what they called them. No, candy -coated is what the, isn't that right? It doesn't have sugar on it.

15:15

Well, no, but it's sweet. It's sweet and it's red. Is it? Yes. Okay. Maybe I'm wrong.

15:21

Yeah. Anyway, so we noticed that a few of them were wet and we were like, okay, so he's obviously -

15:29

One of them, yeah. So one of them had, the coating was almost entirely off of it. So it was just like the white underneath and you could kind of catch remnants of the coating on it.

15:38

Right. So I'm looking at that, I'm going, these have definitely been in his mouth. Right. So how many did he eat?

15:44

Right. And I, you were with him in the bathroom and you heard - He's too little to swallow something without chewing it first.

15:51

Yes, right. He has to chew it. Right. So you're in the bathroom with him and you heard me say, okay,

15:57

I'm taking one for the team. Yep. You were just like in the door and you're like, I'm taking one for the team.

16:02

And I was like, what are you talking about? Yeah. And then all of a sudden you're like, no, no, no, no, no. I was in the bedroom and you were in the hallway.

16:09

Was that right? Yeah, because then your face comes right back to me in the doorway and you're like, he didn't eat any.

16:17

Yes. So I took the pill and I just munched it. I started chewing it.

16:22

I had never chewed an ibuprofen in my life. Right. And I start - Well, who does that? I start gagging and heaving and I'm like, he did not eat this.

16:33

Oh, it was so awful. It was like chewing on an acid tablet almost. That thing was terrible.

16:39

So ever since then, I have had the medicine up high and out of the way.

16:45

And yeah, it's just, I can't trust anybody, like the littles anyway.

16:52

I can't trust them to like stay out of it and not understand that this is a mommy or daddy to give to you.

16:59

Yeah. So Roberto, see what you have to look forward to now with your new little baby.

17:05

Right. These are the adventure stories that you are going to be creating at home. You're gonna have so many, like it's just astounding.

17:14

Take all safety precautions that you need to take, but don't be surprised where somewhere along the line, your child is gonna figure a way around those safety protocols.

17:24

Oh, seriously, every time. Well, not every time. Not every time. Not every time, but a lot.

17:30

Yeah. And it's panic inducing when it happens, but afterward, it's a funny story.

17:36

Yes. As long as everybody comes out okay. Especially that green liquid. Yeah, but we've already rabbit trailed enough.

17:43

I'm not gonna go into that one too. That'll be another story for another day. Yeah. Is that how it is?

17:50

So that went from - Yes, youth. Okay, so - Talking about having youth in our home.

17:55

Yes. To the girls asking you a scary story about parenting. Yes. And now we've shared these scary stories about our kids.

18:02

Yes. Okay, so we're back to the - Back to you. I can track the trail as we went down in here.

18:07

Oh no. So we've got food to entice the kids. Yes. Is this the right thing that we want to do for youth group?

18:14

Really, Roberto, this is gonna come down to having to decide what you want the youth group to be.

18:20

Is it going to be something evangelical where you are inviting unbelieving youth to come in?

18:29

Now, it sounds like some of the kids are, their parents attend the church, and so they're attending the youth group.

18:34

We did, with our youth group at our church in Kansas, we did get to a point where we had decided the only teens that are gonna be there are parents that are the kids of parents who are attending the church.

18:48

Whether they're members or not, but parents who attend the church, only their kids are coming to the youth group.

18:54

We had it open at one point where, because we were right next to the high school. Oh yeah. So we had it to where on Wednesday, the students would just come from school.

19:04

So it'd be about 3 .30, they're already showing up at the church even before we get to our Wednesday night stuff.

19:09

We would have our Wednesday night meals, so they'd stick around for that. And then we would have youth after that.

19:15

So you've got youth in our building from like 3 .30 until 8 .30 almost.

19:21

So it was a good stretch of time. And there was a period when that was the ambition of the church.

19:26

We wanted to be some sort of outreach, a place for the youth to go, and they can come here. And we did have video games, so they can play video games.

19:36

They could talk with one another, they could play games in some way, they could eat the food, but then we're all getting together for a

19:44

Bible lesson. Right. You gotta be there for the Bible lesson. So we did do that for a little while, but then it actually grew quite a bit and got to a point where we didn't have enough volunteers to watch everybody.

19:55

Right. And some of those students were getting into trouble. Yes. So neighbors around the church, would even call and complain because youth were running into their yard or they saw the youth doing something outside the building that was questionable or something like that.

20:10

And it got so out of control that we could not monitor everything. And we were finding out even that one of the teenage guys was sleeping with one of the teenage girls and they met at our youth group, but then they leave our church together.

20:26

Right. And then go be alone together. And use the church as an excuse. Right. Of their parents.

20:31

Telling their parents, well, I was at youth tonight. Right. And instead they were going off and doing their own thing. So it became so out of control that we couldn't monitor it anymore.

20:41

And even our Christian teens that are there are being affected. Oh yeah, for sure.

20:46

By unchristian, unchristian teenagers. It's like going from high school over to church and you're bringing the high school right along with you.

20:53

Yeah. The public high school. It was like the conduct almost wasn't any different. So we abolished that system of youth group.

21:01

We did away with it. And then we created a Bible study that the teens were coming to who were part of our church.

21:10

And we still had about the numbers that you're talking about here, a dozen students or something like that. It was pretty small.

21:15

I mean, we went from 50 probably at our largest. Yeah. Down to about a dozen.

21:21

But then the Bible study became more intensive. Now it was more purposeful.

21:29

We had - Yeah. It was spiritual growth for the teenagers that were attending.

21:34

Yeah. That's what I meant. And so it went from being something that was just like an alternative that they could go to and not get in trouble.

21:43

When it came down to it, they were leaving and going and getting in trouble. Yeah. So it really wasn't doing what everybody wanted it to do.

21:49

And there were some parents that were upset that we had abolished the youth group. Abolished the youth group that they knew as being the youth group.

21:57

Yeah. Made it more structured. Yeah, right. More biblically specific, you might say. Yeah, sure. It was treated more like church.

22:05

Right. So these are teenagers that are attending that are part of the church versus just anybody and everybody that could come in.

22:13

Now, if one of those teens brought a friend, we were accommodating, but there were still certain expectations.

22:20

Like, are you gonna be with us to study or why are you here? We got rid of the video games by that point.

22:25

Yeah. So it wasn't all this fun and game stuff. And like I said, there were parents that were upset when we did away with that style of youth group, but those parents weren't really attending our church anyway.

22:37

No. So it was like, they wanted a place for their teen to go, but they weren't willing to be part of the church and help do the work.

22:45

Right. Or even volunteer during that time. Right, and we weren't babysitters. Right.

22:50

And it was not, it really was not church. When you are creating an atmosphere like that, it's not church.

22:57

Because unbelievers that come in are not part of the church. Right. And the evangelism needs to happen outside the church.

23:04

Yes. It's not as effective as when they come in and you're trying to do it that way. So again, it just kind of depends on what you expect this to be.

23:13

Is it going to be something where you're going to mostly be doing outreach or is it more specific to the teens that are already in your church and you are teaching them and training them up?

23:26

Now, it sounds like by what you described that most of the teens were teenagers of the parents that were attending your church and they just aren't very focused.

23:37

So they come because they want the food or they wanna play games or whatever, but they don't really wanna be there to learn the word of God.

23:45

In which case you might need to have a conversation with the parents. Yeah. You might need to -

23:51

Of the expectations. Or something to that effect. Now, you wanna get on the same page with your pastor because your pastor wants you to have pizza and you don't wanna do it.

23:59

Oh, yeah, that's a start. So there does need to be a conversation between you and him. Now, I will put in the two cents of we're

24:07

Baptist. We do food at like - Everything. Everything. If we can have an excuse to do the food and it's not too much extra work.

24:15

We're gonna bring the food. That's right. And then we're okay with that. Yes. I mean, you break bread, you fellowship together and who else are you supposed to break bread and fellowship together with?

24:26

And that's the body of Christ. Right. Now, yeah, with potlucks, which are the first Sunday of the month, we know we're probably gonna get more people that Sunday than we might get like the last

24:38

Sunday of the month. Right. That's not unusual. We're okay with that. They're usually people that go to our church though.

24:45

Like somebody new isn't gonna come in and go, hey, I'm here for potluck because they probably don't know about it. Right, that's true. But yeah,

24:51

I mean, congregating around food, there's nothing wrong with that. But I get your concern.

24:57

Yes. That you don't want that to be the reason why they're coming. Right. Or the focus.

25:03

Yeah. Because what you win them - What you win them with is what you win them to. That's right. And then they just expect it.

25:11

Right. Now Ephesians chapter five, this was a verse that we actually looked at yesterday, not Ephesians five,

25:16

I'm sorry, but Ephesians four. In verse 11, it says that God gave the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and the shepherds and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

25:41

So is that your objective when you have a youth study? And if it is, then you're structured more like church.

25:48

You're treating the youth study like church. These are students that wanna be there, they're regenerate, they're

25:55

Christians, they wanna learn from God's word, they want to be more like Jesus. And so you're pouring into them on their level at their age so that they can grow in the word.

26:08

Now, where it says that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, so you would be fitting like that teacher role.

26:14

Right. But even though you're not a pastor, definitely not an apostle or a prophet, yet your purpose as a teacher is still to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

26:25

You're equipping them with God's word and they're getting the tools that they need to go out and minister further.

26:32

Reach those teens that aren't Christians with the gospel. And so hopefully they will then want to come to youth and this study and again, learn more about God's word and grow in his truth.

26:45

Right. And I will admit that every summer, I think everywhere has like a slack off, if you will.

26:53

I mean, even in church we do. Because it gets busy. Yeah. Everybody plans everything for the summer because summer, you have a long amount of time to get stuff done that you weren't able to get during the school year.

27:05

Travel. And yeah, travel, see family, go places and I don't know.

27:12

And yeah, I mean, there's also seasonal things that you can only do during the summer that you can't do other times.

27:18

So it just gets busy. Yeah. Calendars get busy. And so that's not an excuse to not go to church.

27:25

However, it's an American thing, I guess. Yes, that's true.

27:30

And you do feel like you have to relaunch it every time you get around to the fall again. Yes, every time.

27:37

How do we make this something? How do we promote it so that people are going to start attending? Yeah. People are aware that we're doing this again.

27:43

I know it's a lot of work and it takes some focus as well. You got to be committed to it and you got to do the work.

27:49

So I understand why you want teens there who want to study and want to grow because you've put the work into it.

27:55

But again, have a plan and a purpose, understand exactly what you want the youth to be, be in good communication with the pastor about it, talk to the parents about it.

28:04

Because you can tell the parents, hey, we want to provide this for your teen, but your teen has to be involved. Right.

28:10

Nobody is going to motivate the teenagers more than their own parents will. I mean, my dad was just great about, hey, we're going to go do this and you're going to go.

28:21

You know? Yeah. So I had to go along no matter what. And he had that attitude about the concerts that he would plan too.

28:28

So he worked in Christian radio and he would also bring in Christian artists and do these concerts and make them outreach events.

28:35

And the way that he would pitch it to youth, if it was somebody like Toby Mac, I know Toby Mac's still out there, but think

28:41

Toby Mac 20 years ago. Yeah. Okay, you know? When he was much younger than he is now.

28:47

But, you know, bring in somebody like Toby Mac or the Newsboys or Audio Adrenaline when they actually were the

28:53

Newsboys and Audio Adrenaline and have a concert that the kids want to go to.

29:00

And the way that he's pitching it to the youth groups is, youth leaders, just tell your students you're going.

29:07

Because what mostly happens is that a youth leader goes to his youth group and goes, hey, there's this concert coming up.

29:15

Do you want to go? Yeah. And John is only going to go if the crush that he likes is going to go.

29:22

Or, you know, Billy's only going to go if Brett's going to go too, you know, something like that. If you give them a choice, the answer is almost nearing close to 80 % will be no.

29:36

Yeah, right, right. It's just no. And that's everyone. I don't feel like going, I don't know, not motivated.

29:42

If you give it to them like, hey, do this. We're going to do this. We're going to.

29:48

Then it's different. So come and we'll do it, you know, that's the way that you get them motivated and get them in.

29:56

And try to communicate that to the parents so that they're telling their teens, hey, it's Bible study night, let's go.

30:01

Let's do this. There was one time when we had a student that was not attending. And we knew that he was having some issues at school.

30:09

He had even gotten in trouble with the law. But his parents were still faithful attendees of the church.

30:14

They weren't making their son come. You know, he was 15, 16 at the time, something like that.

30:21

So I personally, on a Wednesday before youth Bible study began, I walked over to their house and I knocked on the door and I came in and I sat down with him.

30:32

He's just sitting in the living room watching television. And I said to him, hey, Brian, let's go. Come on over to the church, we're going to youth.

30:40

And he's like, man, I don't know. School was hard today. I'm pretty tired, all this kind of thing.

30:46

And I was telling him, you need to be there. You got students that want you there.

30:51

So come on, let's go. Come with me and we'll walk over there together. Grab your shoes, let's go. His mom comes in and sits down.

30:58

And the first thing she says is, do you want to go with Gabe over to the church or do you want to go over to First Christian Church?

31:07

So she's already giving him an out. And now whatever progress

31:12

I was making with him to get him to come over to Bible study is now out.

31:17

If the parent had been telling him, hey, Gabe's over here, go with Gabe, go with Gabe over to Bible study. If she had just said that, that would have been it.

31:25

He would have been up and grabbing his shoes and going. But now she's given him another option. Or if you must give them an option, if they're that kind of child, then you can say, do you want to go over with your pastor or do you want to go over with me?

31:39

Yeah, it could be something like that, right. It's the same destination, doesn't matter how you get there. It looks a little intimidating for you to be walking over there with your pastor.

31:47

Well, I can be the one to take you along, yeah. Anyway, so sometimes with the youth, you just have to tell them here's what we're doing and they will go.

31:54

Yes. Don't give them the option, just do it. Yes, just do it. Anything else, anything you want to add to the answer we've given already?

32:04

I don't know, just an idea of like during the summer, since it is so rare to have a full house, if you will, maybe make that a special focus, like a different focus than what you've done all year.

32:20

Instead of like continuing the same focus, just be like, hey, here's something like, I don't know, what book of the

32:26

Bible do you guys want to learn? Type of thing. They're all gonna tell you a revelation. What story or something like that and narrow it down to, or you can give them three options to choose from if you're more comfortable with certain places rather than revelation.

32:45

But then that would, number one, give them a choice. And number two, that would help them be like, oh, hey, yeah, we talked about this.

32:53

I really want to go, kind of thing. So it will help motivate them in another aspect.

32:59

Right, yeah, in addition to the teaching that I do at the church, I'm also teaching at a Christian school right now.

33:05

And I have 12 high schoolers in the Bible class that I teach. And there's one or two of them in there that just don't want to be there.

33:13

And so occasionally I have to pull them aside and say, like, I'll start by saying, why don't you want to be here?

33:20

So they're caught. It's like, okay, yeah, you've caught me. It's not just that I'm losing focus.

33:25

I actually don't want to be here. And then they'll stand around. Oh no, you know, I want to be here or whatever. It's like, okay, well, you're distracting the students that actually do want to learn, that actually are here to learn and are interested in the stuff that we're doing.

33:39

So you can participate. And I tell them, this class will be great for you.

33:45

It will be wonderful and enjoyable for you if you want it to be.

33:50

Right. But if you want it to be boring, then it'll be boring. I'm not boring.

33:57

I'm not inherently boring at all. You hear me, how excited I get on this podcast.

34:02

I am just as animated in class with high school students. So I don't make it boring. We watch videos.

34:08

I write notes on the board that they're supposed to be writing in their pad. And then I grade their notes at the end of the week.

34:14

So there's always something that they're doing. They're not just sitting there listening to me talk. But if you want all that to be boring, if you just want to sit there and like, ho hum, it's the last hour of the day.

34:24

I really don't want to be here. Then yeah, it's going to be dull for you. And you won't get a good grade. And really why this is important to me, the whole reason why

34:32

I'm teaching this is because these are the words of life and following these words makes you more like Jesus.

34:41

All of this is building up treasure for heaven. So that's why I'm teaching it.

34:47

It is more than just another class that you have. This should be the best class of the day.

34:53

But only if you think of it that way. If you're going to think of it another way, then it's not going to be interesting to you.

34:58

And that same sort of speech you might need to give to the youth. If you want this to be exciting, then it'll be exciting.

35:05

And I'll be here, we'll eat pizza, we'll study the Bible. And the Bible is the better food than the pizza food.

35:12

Yes. But if you don't want it to be interesting, then it won't be interesting. And that's just the way that goes.

35:18

I mean, there are boring teachers out there, but it still ultimately comes down to, do they want this or not?

35:25

Yeah. And then with the distraction thing, I don't know if it's drawing in a notebook or if it's chatting with one another or if it's on their phones, but on the phones you can take away.

35:36

Phones, yeah, phones are a no. Absolutely not. And then you can leave them at the door or whatever.

35:43

Yeah, they need to have actual hard copies of the Bible. Don't let them say, oh, my

35:48

Bible's, yeah, Bible's on my phone. Don't do that. Nope. It never just stays with the Bible on the phone.

35:54

No. And then also seating chart, if it's chatting, that always works.

36:00

And then, you know, like you can reward them for answering so many questions or doing a

36:06

Bible drill or whatever. Yeah, I've done sword drill. Yeah, and then reward them with, you can sit wherever you want now, you know, as long as.

36:14

I'll give them candy, but sure. If they're the first one up with the verse and they got it, they get a starburst.

36:21

I'm talking once a week here, okay? Not the whole week. I only do it once a week. Okay, fair. And then,

36:29

I don't know, what other tricks do we use? Tricks? Well, I mean, strategic.

36:35

Yeah, I know. What sort of strategies do we? Strategies. I don't, I'm not sure. I mean,

36:40

I think we've kind of run down a list and once we get close to the end and we're wrapping up, then I get another idea.

36:46

Yeah, that's usually, yeah, me too. But as far as the food, no food, we're gonna, you know,

36:54

I mean, it's whatever you're comfortable with, really. Right. And if it's coming out of your pocket, that is more for you and your wife to sit down and be like, okay, can we afford this?

37:03

And then go to your pastor and chat with the pastor. Well, if your pastor wants you to do it, then it sounds like it would come from the church.

37:09

That would be my expectation anyway, or at least say to him, if you want me to provide pizza for the youth, then that needs to come from the church budget.

37:17

The funds. Yeah, youth budget or whatever you have. Yeah. Man, I would come for pizza and fried chicken.

37:23

But that's not why we stay. That's right. I would come for it, but yeah,

37:30

I'd stick around for the Bible study as well. So I hope that helps you out, Roberto. And we appreciate you again for sending that email, sharing pictures of your beautiful new baby.

37:40

Yes. Please tell your wife that we said hello. Becky's out for the remainder here.

37:45

I got a video I'm gonna play and then respond to some comments on that video. Thank you, babe, for joining me.

37:51

You're welcome. See you next week. As Ephesians 2 .1

37:58

says, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once walked.

38:04

And you know from the gospel of John that we are born again, not by the will of man, but by the will of God.

38:11

This past week on Joe Rogan's podcast, there was this guy, I'd never heard of him before. I just caught the clips online.

38:18

But he's sharing with Joe like this, this full or presentation of being regenerated by the

38:24

Holy Spirit. And this is on the most listened to podcast in the world. He tells

38:30

Joe the gospel and says to him, I can't convince you that this is true. There's nothing that I can say to convince you in the truth of the gospel.

38:39

Like I truly believe that. There's no, there's no words that I can use.

38:45

There's no logic that I can apply. There's nothing that I or anyone else can say to convince you of this.

38:52

And it goes back to what we started off in the conversation with, of these things must be spiritually discerned. And it is by grace,

38:58

God's grace, that we are made alive and able to discern the truth of these things.

39:05

That's a hard, that's a hard thing to accept, man. Like that man is totally depraved and I can't say anything to convince anyone of the truth of these scriptures.

39:16

There is nothing that you can do to be made righteous in the eyes of the creator.

39:22

There is nothing that you can do to save yourself. As a matter of fact, without the grace and the help of the almighty, you can't even believe the truth.

39:35

You won't, you won't do it. You are spiritually dead prior to regeneration.

39:43

You see what I'm saying? When you're dead, if we had a dead man laying on the floor right here and I said, dead man, hearken unto my voice.

39:53

There is a hospital a mile down the road. And if you'll get up and walk to that hospital or you'll allow me to take you to that hospital, they'll shock you and bring you back to life.

40:04

Is he gonna respond to that message? He's gonna lay there dead, right? Yeah. We're dead spiritually until we are made alive by the grace of the almighty.

40:17

As 1 Corinthians 1 .30 says, it is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.

40:27

And James 1 .18, by his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth.

40:35

Praise God for the salvation that you have in Christ Jesus.

40:43

Now, something that I did not mention in that video, that's me talking at the beginning and then you have the clips of the guy talking with Joe Rogan and then

40:51

I share a couple of verses at the end. I never did mention his name. I didn't say it in the sermon either.

40:57

Those are clips that were taken from a sermon I preached a couple of weeks ago. I forgot to write his name down in the notes.

41:03

So in the sermon, I'm just recalling the interview that I had seen previously in the week,

41:09

Joe Rogan with a guy named Chad Wright, C -H -A -D -D and then

41:15

W -R -I -G -H -T. He has a YouTube channel called the Three of Seven Project. Now, anytime that I mention a bit of pop culture, always take that with a grain of salt.

41:26

It's not a recommendation to check it out. I do not recommend the Joe Rogan podcast. I've caught a few interviews, but he speaks with very

41:35

R -rated language. I've never heard an interview that he's done where he wasn't using like the harshest of swear words.

41:42

Even the interview that he did with Wes Hough, which was huge right at the beginning of the year, the

41:50

Christian apologist and archeologist Wes Hough, even in that interview,

41:56

Joe had R -rated language. I'm sure there was in this conversation with Chad as well.

42:02

I didn't watch the whole thing, only caught about 15 to 20 minutes of it. I think the conversation's like three hours or something.

42:08

I've only seen a few videos on Chad's YouTube channel. So I'm not automatically gonna recommend that either.

42:14

I watched a few of his gun videos. He uses Springfield pistols. Lot of the gun guys that I watch don't use

42:21

Springfields. Springfield is what I have. It's my favorite pistol. So I was hooked right away.

42:27

It was like, hey, he's promoting the guns I like. But this is what he says.

42:32

Here's what his YouTube channel says about the Three of Seven project. We believe that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God.

42:39

How about that? We as human beings consist of three parts, a body, soul, and spirit, just as God is comprised of the

42:48

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what the three in Three of Seven represents.

42:54

The number seven in Three of Seven represents a totally complete life where we lack nothing and have the tools and ability to help others and meet all challenges physically, mentally, and spiritually head on.

43:08

The number seven in the Bible, of course, is the number of completion. So that's why he uses that in the name

43:16

Three of Seven. It represents a totally complete life, he says. To achieve completeness, the channel goes on, help others and enjoy the fullness of life that God intended for us, we have found that all three aspects of mankind must be fed, directed, and disciplined individually.

43:33

Only when the body, soul, and spirit are sharpened and in unison can we experience a complete and abundant life.

43:42

So that's pretty cool. I've watched a couple of videos from him too where he was just kind of sitting in his truck and he's sharing some thoughts, some post -Joe

43:51

Rogan podcast thoughts. He did another video just a few days ago about how he's not a

43:57

Calvinist because it certainly sounds like Calvinistic or Reformed doctrine that he's sharing there with Joe Rogan, right?

44:05

Well, I would say that it's biblical. Those were things that I understood to be biblical before I ever even knew what

44:11

Calvinism was. And it's been the same way with Chad. Like he did not learn these things reading from John Calvin, he learned them reading his

44:18

Bible. And that was the same with me. By the way, I've got a new blog that I'm gonna be posting today.

44:24

At the time that this podcast airs, I won't have it done yet. But sometime later today at pastorgabe .com,

44:31

I've got a new article I'm putting up that is entitled, Nothing in My Hands I Bring, How I Became a

44:39

Calvinist Just Reading My Bible. So that's the name of the article. And Chad kind of has the same story it sounds like.

44:47

And he is continuing to share some pretty awesome truth from scripture, both through his channel and even when he did this interview on Joe Rogan.

44:58

So I grabbed some clips. I never watched the whole interview with Rogan. I caught about 15 to 20 minutes of it or something like that just through the clips that I watched.

45:06

But I grabbed a couple of those clips and I put them in that video. And I wanted to read a few of the comments that I've received on that video.

45:14

Again, if you are looking for it, go to WWUTT on YouTube and you're looking for the video,

45:20

What Did Chad Wright Say About Regeneration on the Joe Rogan Podcast. This comment from Jim, I heard more truth from Chad on that podcast than in most local churches in a year.

45:35

You're probably not wrong about that, Jim. This one from Ethan, I've heard of Chad from watching his videos on the

45:42

Three of Seven Project channel. He does defensive firearm drills and appears to be a quite down to earth person.

45:48

I pray that he can continue to be a blessing to others. He's sharing the gospel on his channel as well.

45:54

I think that channel has a half million subscribers on it. Yeah, that's right. So he has over 800 videos, almost 900 videos and a half million subscribers.

46:04

Really great that he can use even weapons training as something to pull people into the channel and then share the gospel with them.

46:14

That's terrific. Joe says, not the crossover I expected from my subscriptions, but quite happy to see it.

46:22

I take it, Joe, that you are subscribing to both Three of Seven Project and When We Understand the

46:27

Text. I appreciate it very much. This one, this comment doesn't have a name on it.

46:32

So I'm so grateful for people that are downright blunt with the truth. May God grant

46:38

Joe repentance. Amen to that. I hope through these Christian voices that Joe's had on his podcast that these guys are ministering to him.

46:49

He's talked about how he's attending church now and it's not Roman Catholic because there was a conversation that I caught with him and some other guys and they're drinking beers and probably smoking something.

46:59

And in this conversation, Joe says that he's attending church now. And one of the guys, through profanity, says you ought to go to a

47:07

Catholic church. And Joe's like, nah, tried that. Not going to do that again. I'm with you there,

47:13

Joe. I've heard Joe Rogan make fun of Roman Catholicism. This was years ago when

47:19

Joe was really more on the atheist side. And it sounds like he's really questioning things right now.

47:24

And I hope the Lord is continuing to do a work on his heart. But there was a time he was very, very critical of Roman Catholicism and talked about the

47:33

Pope as being a wizard. He said, Roman Catholicism's a cult and the cult leader dresses like a wizard.

47:39

Got a big magic staff in his hand and a huge pointy hat. He was not impressed with Roman Catholicism at all.

47:47

This person, Mr. Mack, I saw him first in a Navy SEALS video and thought his hat was cool.

47:54

And then YouTube started bringing up his clips along with the Joe Rogan interview where I don't think he was invited to discuss the gospel per se.

48:02

But man, he hit it out of the park in sowing the seeds. I pray for Joe and for his audience.

48:10

Yeah, because you realize the Joe Rogan podcast is the biggest podcast in the world.

48:15

And there's Chad Wright on Joe Rogan sharing the gospel with people. That is great.

48:20

But again, just continue praying for Joe. He's got some questionable content on there as well. He's not just talking to Christian guys.

48:27

In fact, there's not a lot of Christian guys that he ends up talking with. So pray for the guy and that the

48:33

Christians that end up on the show would be able to share the truth with others that are listening.

48:39

But don't think of that program as something that Christians should just go and listen to and feed off of all the time.

48:47

Lots of other junk ends up on there as well. So Canadian Paramedic says, Gabe's videos just keep getting longer and longer.

48:55

Yeah, I've got an explanation for that here. Just a second. He goes on to say, who even has time to watch all of this?

49:03

He's saying it very tongue in cheek. Another great video, brother. I love the short and long form videos. And I've been listening to the

49:09

Friday Q &A with Becky for years and wouldn't change a thing. Keep up the good fight, brother.

49:15

Well, the funny thing with the length of the videos. So this year, especially, you've probably noticed the what videos are getting longer.

49:22

They're not the usual minute and a half. Sometimes they will be. I'll still get some shorter ones in there. But because of YouTube shorts, like the short, the vertical videos, they're all vertical, but the

49:35

YouTube shorts have kind of rendered the whole minute and a half concept obsolete.

49:41

TikTok, we can thank TikTok for that because they really kind of pioneered it and then, well, pioneered it.

49:46

They made it real popular. And then YouTube was like, if we want to keep up with TikTok, we need to be able to provide a format so that people can take their

49:53

TikTok videos and stick them on YouTube. So that's why they're doing that now with the vertical shorts.

50:00

So because of that, it really doesn't make sense for me to continue doing the short minute and a half.

50:06

So I'm going to be doing shorts, which are less than a minute, and they'll be in that vertical format.

50:13

I've already done several this year. And then I'll continue to do the widescreen format as well, but those videos will be longer.

50:20

And yeah, this one here even with Chad Wright was approaching three minutes or something. That's like twice the length of most

50:28

YouTube videos. They are getting a little bit longer, but I appreciate you still sticking with the channel and watching. I'm hoping to be able to produce even more content this year than I did last year, but I'm not off to a good start.

50:38

And we're already more than halfway through the year. Something else is happening with the

50:44

YouTube channel, and this is an announcement that I have dreaded, but nonetheless, the day has finally come, and here

50:51

I am having to make it. Ads are being added to the

50:56

What YouTube videos, and that's happening whether I want it to happen or not.

51:02

So I have said for years that as long as I could, as much as it was in my power to control it,

51:10

I was not going to put ads on my YouTube videos. I had too many comments from people who said they would use them in evangelistic encounters.

51:20

So they would even be out on the street, and they'd just pull out a smartphone and type up my video because they know

51:25

I did a video on a certain subject that somebody asked a question about. And then they just hand the phone to the guy and say, here, watch this short minute and a half video.

51:33

And because I would get responses like that, or teachers would show them in the classroom or at home, parents said we would share the videos with our kids.

51:42

And so I did not want to have ads on the videos. I didn't want my videos to be used to sell anybody else's product.

51:49

And I also did not want there to be a risk of something inappropriate in those ads that definitely would not match with the biblical teaching that I'm putting in my videos.

52:00

Or sometimes because I have a faith format, I fit under religion and spirituality in that category or something like that.

52:08

So because that's the category that what falls in, sometimes the video ads will go with the religion and spirituality theme.

52:17

Well, that means sometimes those ads might be the Book of Mormon, something promoting the

52:24

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints or something like that, or a Christian college that may not really be a Christian college.

52:30

Some of those kinds of things end up being ads that get attached to my video, and I just don't want to be associated with that.

52:36

Well, YouTube just changed their policy again. And the reason why they changed their policy was because they're trying to get rid of all of the

52:45

AI videos that are getting created. So they want to ensure that these are real people, real creators that are making these videos, and it's not somebody starting a channel and then having an

52:58

AI program just dumping a bunch of stuff on there so that they can generate revenue through artificial means, not through creative means, but just through an algorithm.

53:08

And so in order to prevent that from going on and to limit the number of AI videos that are popping up on YouTube, unless somebody is actually creating

53:17

AI content, then YouTube has changed the process that you have to go through to prove that you are a real person that's producing these videos.

53:27

Also, their software has gotten sharper. Like, their own AI programs that YouTube is using has gotten more precise with regards to the material that ends up in a video.

53:41

Some of the music beds that I have, especially in about the first, oh, 200 -plus videos that I did or something like that, some of the music is from a catalog that I had when

53:53

I was in Christian Radio, and I still had that catalog of music, and I just brought it with me into creating content that I would put on social media and use those same music beds.

54:03

Well, it used to be that I could get away with that, and there was no copyright claim on them at all. As a matter of fact, I had a claim on that music because we purchased it through the radio station.

54:13

That was through a program that was called Killer Tracks, or the producer, the company was called

54:18

Killer Tracks. Well, they've since digitized their entire library, and in doing that, now you have to pay annually for that library instead of just purchasing a blanket subscription or a blanket copyright claim.

54:35

And so since they've digitized all of it, AI has gotten better at picking up which tracks belong to them, and when the

54:42

AI knows that I've put a Killer Track on one of my videos, then they flag it with an ad.

54:50

So because it contains copyrighted content that belongs to somebody else, then they're sticking ads on my videos, and there's nothing

54:58

I can do about that. I can't take them out because Killer Tracks wants the ad on there.

55:04

They want to be able to generate some revenue for me using their music bed in my video.

55:11

I'm being a lot more cautious since then on the kinds of music tracks that I use. Pretty much all the videos

55:17

I've done the last couple of years don't contain any Killer Tracks beds so that I don't have to run into this problem again.

55:23

But you'll notice the John MacArthur video that I did, the one that Becky and I played last week, it's already got an ad on it, and it doesn't even have a copyright claim.

55:33

So I don't know why that ad is there. YouTube is just sticking ads on my stuff whether I want it to be there or not.

55:40

So I'm monetizing my channel now. I don't want YouTube taking money for putting ads on my videos.

55:47

I want to be able to profit off of that. If somebody's going to profit off of that, I want it to be me because it's my content.

55:54

So we're going to monetize the YouTube channel. And in doing that, it means there's going to be ads on more what videos.

56:02

I wish that didn't have to be the case. I don't want to put any ads on my videos. The podcast will remain ad -free unless I'm doing a friend a favor and then pushing one of his products or something like that.

56:15

But there won't be any ads on the podcast. There will be ads now on the YouTube videos. I hate to have to do that.

56:22

But I also don't want it to be where you're watching, you're having to watch a 15 -second ad just to watch a 90 -second video.

56:29

So the videos are going to lengthen in content with the exception of the shorts, which of course will be

56:35

YouTube shorts. So those are the changes that are coming to the channel. And it's me adapting with the changes that have happened to YouTube.

56:44

You'll notice that my intro is different than it used to be. The graphics are different.

56:50

I had those same graphics for 10 years or 12 years or something like that. And I figured it was time for a change.

56:56

So I've updated some stuff like that. I've changed things a little bit, but still going to be the same biblical content.

57:02

The truth that's contained in the videos, still the same, though the packaging might look a little bit different.

57:09

All right, let's continue on with a few more of these comments here. This is from Traveling Through who says, "'Amen, you must be born again to see the

57:18

Father. The Holy Spirit reveals and generates.'" This one from Bob, he says, "'It is all a monergistic, not symbiotic work, period.'"

57:30

And good way to put that. I think you meant synergistic though, rather than symbiotic, but I understand what you're saying. So he goes on to say, "'This understanding goes back to the first century.

57:40

Augustine was great in understanding it. The Reformation brought many reformers out to crunch it out.

57:46

The modern church thinks they know better. In fact, he elected us to believe and brought it about.

57:52

We get no credit at all. Amen, Bob. Until we understand this, we are only proclaiming to believe.

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That is not salvation, but don't give up. Wait for the work to be affected by God.'"

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This question from, or this comment rather from John, he says, "'Most people will not accept the true gospel.

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They want to say that God is a gentleman and he will never override your free will.'"

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And you know where that comment exactly comes from? It comes from the Grams. Billy Graham said it,

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Franklin Graham said it, and Anne Graham Lotz was fond of saying it as well. "'God is a gentleman and he'll never go anywhere that he's not welcome.'"

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I've heard her say that on national television, as a matter of fact, like broadcast news.

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So John goes on to say, "'I believe the scriptures in that we are dead in our trespasses and sins.

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What you call free will is, yes, you have agency to choose actions, but being spiritually dead means you are unable to choose

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God because your heart is desperately wicked. Dead and wicked men do not choose

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God. Just as your natural birth, you cannot affect your spiritual birth. Being born from above is proof that God alone can save those he has predestined to be saved.

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God bless this man for standing on the whole word of God.'" That is terrific.

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And by the way, the truth that Chad was sharing there with Rogan, that comes right out of 1

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Corinthians 1 and 2. The apostle Paul even saying in the second chapter of 1

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Corinthians, "'That the naturally minded man cannot understand the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned.

59:40

Until we have the spirit of God to understand the things of God.'" We can't understand the things of God even when it comes to the gospel because 1

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Corinthians 1, 18 says that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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And this was being spoken to a people who were pridefully saying or pridefully boasting in themselves that they had this new knowledge.

01:00:08

We've got the new philosophy on the block. It's called Christianity. Talking about this Jesus guy.

01:00:14

And Paul is saying to them, you did nothing even to come to a knowledge of this. It was all the work of God.

01:00:21

At the end of the first chapter, as I quoted there in the video, 1 Corinthians 1, 30, it is by his doing that you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

01:00:36

So that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the

01:00:41

Lord. Okay, now let's get to some pushback comments. So those are all the complimentary comments, the agreeable comments.

01:00:50

How about those that did not agree? This person named Trevor, he says, Jesus said, compel them to come in.

01:00:58

Calvinists, I know the Bible says to repent, believe and confess, but you can't, so quit trying.

01:01:04

If you're chosen, then it will just happen. If not, sorry about hell. That's not Calvinism at all.

01:01:10

But his quote from Jesus, compel them to come in, that comes from a parable. So that's in Luke 14, 23, the parable of the great banquet, where the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled.

01:01:28

For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.

01:01:34

So this is a parable. It's meant to drive home one particular point. It's not that every single word in that parable therefore becomes some deep theological truth that we can dissect out and come to a treatise on soteriology or something like that.

01:01:50

That's the point that I've made with parables over and over again. You've heard me say that about parables. So this is not

01:01:57

Jesus saying to his disciples that you need to go out and be compelling because even to the

01:02:02

Corinthians, Paul said, that we preach Christ in him crucified. First Corinthians 2, 2,

01:02:08

I decided to know nothing among you except Christ in him crucified. So Paul was not using these catchy arguments and seeker sensitive stuff to try to appeal to the most number of people.

01:02:22

He just preached Christ. So don't take that line out of Luke 14, 23 and think that that's somehow an evangelism strategy.

01:02:31

That's not what we're meant to understand by that. But furthermore, Calvinism is not, well, the

01:02:36

Bible says to repent and believe, but you can't repent and believe so don't worry about it. No, the point is that when it's all said and done, when you have repented, when you do believe, when you've put faith in Jesus, when you're growing in your faith, you look back over all of this and you realize

01:02:54

I didn't do anything. It was all the work of God.

01:02:59

So as said again in First Corinthians 1, 31, let him who boasts, boast in the

01:03:05

Lord. You can't take any credit for that. It was ultimately God who sent someone to you to share the gospel with you.

01:03:13

Paul makes that point in Romans chapter 10 and it's God by his providence that puts you in that place at that time that you would hear the gospel and it was his

01:03:23

Holy Spirit that changed your heart from the naturally minded man to being born again so that you would understand what's being said and believe it.

01:03:35

And that only happens by the grace of God. It does not happen by the will of man at all.

01:03:42

As said in John 1, 12, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

01:04:01

When somebody tells you to repent and believe, do you have to do that? Yes, you do. Absolutely. That's the way that I share the gospel.

01:04:09

When somebody is convicted over their sin, I tell them repent, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

01:04:15

But ultimately we come to understand that we were only able to repent and only able to believe because God did that effectual work in our lives.

01:04:27

I mean, the New Testament says it several times that God is the one who grants repentance, most notably in 2

01:04:33

Timothy 2, 25. Paul tells Timothy to correct his opponents with gentleness for God may perhaps grant repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth and they may escape from a snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

01:04:51

We are in bondage to sin. We're ensnared by Satan before we come to faith in Jesus Christ.

01:04:58

And the one who sets us free is Christ. It's not by your will, but his will that this is done.

01:05:07

Next comment, this is from Red Pho. This is mostly true, but Calvinists take it too far.

01:05:16

God's word was meant to go into all the world and that everyone would be saved, but most will reject.

01:05:23

Telling people they are dead spiritually is true. Yeah, of course, Paul said it. I mean, we get that from scripture.

01:05:29

But you need to understand, Red says, God does not make that decision for us or only call certain people, he calls us all.

01:05:39

We all have a choice by his plan. We all have the ability to submit to his word and accept

01:05:44

Jesus Christ by his plan. Well, you're correct until that last sentence. So where you say

01:05:50

God does not make that decision for us, true, and Calvinists don't think that he does.

01:05:56

God does not believe for me. He changes my heart so that I would believe before being born again, before that regeneration of the spirit that happens in our hearts, what we also refer to as an effectual call.

01:06:12

Before that happens, we have a heart of stone. This is Ezekiel 36, where we do not want to listen.

01:06:20

We do not want to obey. We are rebellious against God. And the

01:06:26

Holy Spirit comes in, again, Ezekiel 36, takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh and sprinkles clean water on us.

01:06:35

So now being born again, born of water and spirit, now we understand the words that we are hearing and we are able to respond to them.

01:06:45

Previously, we didn't even want to respond to them. That was our natural fallen will. We did not want to believe.

01:06:52

We were not seeking God. We did not want to follow him. But by his grace, he has given us a new heart, new ears that we would hear and understand and so believe.

01:07:06

He doesn't believe for us. It's not that the Holy Spirit comes in and is our faith.

01:07:13

No, we must have faith. But the only way as we come to understand that we were able to have that faith is because God made us able to have that faith.

01:07:22

Whereas previously we were resistant and now he makes us a new creation.

01:07:29

So then the red goes on to say, God does not call certain people. Yes, he does.

01:07:34

He calls certain people. And then red goes on to say, he calls us all. Yes, he does that too. But you're talking about the difference between the gospel call and the effectual call.

01:07:44

So the gospel call, that's the message of the gospel that we need to be preaching to everybody.

01:07:50

Everybody needs to receive the gospel call. The Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in Acts 17.

01:07:57

Times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

01:08:04

Amen. I have never preached otherwise. So that message does need, it needs to be preached everywhere.

01:08:12

Don't withhold it from anyone. And Calvinists won't. And Calvinists, you know,

01:08:18

I even hate using the label. Calvinists are Christians. We just, I would say,

01:08:23

I would argue, have grown in our maturity and understanding of soteriology to recognize these things.

01:08:29

Not everybody comes to this understanding when they get saved. You understand it as you read the Bible. That's where I came into it from.

01:08:35

I didn't read John Calvin. I didn't study Calvinism and became a Calvinist. I studied my

01:08:40

Bible and then learned that Calvinism categorized some of these things in a set of doctrines that were called

01:08:46

TULIP. And I actually agreed with all of that because I read it in the Bible, not because I read it from John Calvin.

01:08:53

So there is this effectual call that happens where one person who hears the gospel believes it.

01:09:01

Another person who hears the gospel doesn't. But both of them heard the gospel call. Only the one who was born again will follow.

01:09:11

Red goes on to say, we all have a choice by his plan. Well, sure. I mean, everybody is gonna be held accountable to respond to the gospel.

01:09:21

Nobody's gonna be able to stand before God on that day and say, no one could resist your will. That's the argument that Paul makes in Romans 9.

01:09:29

No one can point the finger at God and say, was your fault I didn't believe. We're still gonna be held accountable for our actions and our choices.

01:09:36

And so Red says, we all have the ability to submit to his word. No, the Bible explicitly says we don't.

01:09:44

It explicitly says we can't submit to his word. This is in Romans 8, verse six.

01:09:50

The mind that is set on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

01:09:57

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law.

01:10:04

Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh.

01:10:10

So before being in the spirit, before being born again, those who are in the flesh cannot please

01:10:18

God. It's explicitly said there in the scripture that we don't have the ability.

01:10:23

We don't even have the desire to submit to God's word and accept Jesus Christ. That's a work that happens by the

01:10:30

Holy Spirit. And again, I don't go out presenting the gospel that way. I don't go up to a person who is unregenerate and say to them, you're either gonna believe this or you won't.

01:10:40

And if you don't believe it, well, it's because God didn't transform your heart to believe. I don't present the gospel that way.

01:10:47

God is the one that changes the heart. My responsibility is to just share the gospel. And those whom the

01:10:54

Holy Spirit converts will come to faith in Jesus Christ.

01:11:00

This person goes by the name, the Orthodox Landmarker. This is Gnostic Drivel.

01:11:07

Okay, it's not, but all right. He provides a quote here from Justin Martyr, but it's really long.

01:11:13

So I'm not gonna go out, not gonna continue on here. Truth Seeker says, Calvinism is flat out ridiculous, irrational and has their own

01:11:20

Christ. Jesus the Messiah despises this theology. This guy goes by the name Truth Seeker and yet he's slandering his brethren, lying about them if he is indeed a

01:11:33

Christian. This person, Jeremy, I'm sorry, but with all respect, this is pretty stupid and unbiblical.

01:11:39

Yes, every verse quoted is indeed true. We all agree with the scriptures, but nowhere in scripture does

01:11:45

Paul speak like that Calvinist did to Joe Rogan. Yeah, yes, he does. Chad was quoting

01:11:51

Ephesians 2 and 1 Corinthians 2. That's what he was referencing. And he cited a bunch of other scriptures, even if he did not give the biblical reference.

01:12:03

I knew the scriptures well enough that as I was listening to, I was like, okay, that's, you know, this verse and that verse.

01:12:08

So he quoted all kinds of passages to Joe, even if he didn't do, even if he did not give the reference, it was biblical.

01:12:16

It was all solidly biblical. So Jeremy goes on to say, nowhere in scripture does

01:12:21

Paul speak like that Calvinist did to Joe Rogan. To be clear, yes, one must be born again, but not to be enabled to believe.

01:12:30

Yeah, that's exactly what born again means. Where previously we did not even have the desire to believe, but the

01:12:38

Holy Spirit changes us so that instead of wanting to rebel against God, we want

01:12:45

God. This person mad say is, okay, this person's probably mad.

01:12:50

The false gospel of Calvinism, disgusting, Acts 1631. And they said, believe on the

01:12:56

Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. By the way, I have that verse, that verse exactly,

01:13:04

Acts 1631 in a video about predestination. And I say in the video,

01:13:11

I answer the question that is commonly asked by those who are either critical of predestination or election, or they want to know more about it.

01:13:20

Maybe they're just confused and they want to know more. They will ask, how can I know if I am elect?

01:13:26

And I answer that question in the video with Acts 1631. Believe on the

01:13:32

Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That's how you know you're elect. Last comment here, this is from Bullseye Guy.

01:13:39

Chad said that there was nothing he could say that would convince Joe. Paul clearly disagreed.

01:13:46

Acts 17 .2, and according to Paul's custom, he went to them and for three Sabbaths, reasoned with them from the scriptures.

01:13:54

That's just describing Paul's actions. That's what Paul did. He went into the synagogue and he reasoned with them from the scriptures.

01:14:01

If they were going to be convinced and come to faith, that would only happen by a work of the spirit.

01:14:06

Paul was clear about that. Paul said that again, quoting Ephesians 2 or 1

01:14:12

Corinthians 2. Paul said the naturally minded man cannot understand the things of God.

01:14:18

1 Corinthians 2, 6 through 16. If a person is going to come to faith, it will only be through the hearing of the gospel.

01:14:25

Romans 10 .17, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Paul was diligent to preach, but God is the one who converts the heart and leads them to a knowledge of the truth.

01:14:41

And praise God, Christian, that he called you and effectually changed you and is now sanctifying you and you will be glorified in his eternal kingdom all because of the work that God does in your life.

01:14:58

Salvation is from beginning to end, the gracious work of God.

01:15:04

Amen? Now let's be diligent to go out there and share the gospel and God by his power and his will will convert sinners to repentance and bring them into his kingdom forever.

01:15:19

May it be done. Whether it's through a podcast that would ordinarily be kind of foul mouthed or through your local church or your evangelism efforts, whether you're sharing it out on the street or you're just talking to a family member or a coworker.

01:15:34

Let us be faithful to do the work and God will do his. Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have read here.

01:15:40

We thank you for our time on this program and be able to answer some of these questions and think about your truth and understand what your word says.

01:15:49

And I pray that you continue to guide us into all truth and sanctify us by your truth.

01:15:55

And may we be humbled to recognize when we don't understand something and come back to your word that our minds and our hearts would continue to be conformed to it and shaped by it.

01:16:06

And may we be patient with one another as we are. We're all in different places in our walk of sanctification, but we all have the same destination in Christ Jesus.

01:16:18

And that is his kingdom with you in glory. Give us hope and comfort in these days through the gospel that we believe.

01:16:27

And it's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Okay, so.

01:16:38

Talking about having youth in our home. Yes. To the girls asking you a scary story about parenting.

01:16:44

Yes. And now we've shared these scary stories about our kids. Yes. Okay, so we're back. Back to you. I can track the trail as we went down in here.

01:16:52

Oh no. So with regards to having pizza or we have food around.

01:16:58

Put this away. Hang on. Sorry, I dropped it. I didn't realize it was open. I was gonna keep going, but.

01:17:03

That's fine. Then you kept going and now I'm distracted. I didn't keep going, I was trying to put it away. I didn't realize it was gonna be so loud.

01:17:10

Yeah, right. Sounds like you're owning a bag of chips. It's just an itty bitty.