Flattery

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I'm Dylan Hamilton, and with me are Michael Durham, Chris Giesler, and Andrew Hudson. Today we will be answering a two -part question on flattery that was sent back in 2023.

The question reads, part one, how are we to rightly or biblically encourage someone in such a way that we are not pouring flattery upon them, but rather expressing that we are truly grateful for how they are using the talents or abilities or position that God has given them to bless the church and further the kingdom?

Part two reads, how are we to respond and react when we are the one being encouraged and appreciated?

And I think we've discussed that it'd probably be good to go ahead and go to the definition or the strong concordance on the word flattery in the

Bible. You got that for us, Andrew? Sure do. So let's take the text from 1 Thessalonians 2 .5.

As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed, God being our witness.

That word there is translated as flattery, but it's with a view to gain over another or to have an advantage over another.

Yeah, that's good. When you think about flattery, there is a manipulation there.

There's something false there. If you're trying to encourage someone, if you're trying to express your thankfulness concerning someone's giftings and how they have been used by God as a blessing in your life, what would the difference between that be and flattery?

Well, are you trying to gain something from them? It could be something as minimal an exchange as I'm going to compliment them about something that I do appreciate, but I hope that they'll know that I'm in the same category and that they'll say something nice back to me.

Does she ever compliment? Yes, and it may not even be as calculated as that. It could be that I just roll with an expectation that when

I say something nice to someone and compliment them and say, you know, I'm so thankful for you, what you do,

X, Y, Z, and that I'm just kind of expecting that they're gonna say something like that back to me. And if it doesn't happen, then

I might end up thinking ill of the person or I might start thinking ill of myself because I didn't get complimented back.

That's when you're looking at why did you say that? So what's the intent?

Was it a manipulation? Was there something about it where you were seeking for an exchange or a gain of something?

That's when you're getting into flattery. Right, so it's like it's expecting some sort of a trade -off or a trade between one another rather than just a free gift where the compliment seems more like a free gift rather as flattery is an assumed exchange that's gonna happen between two people?

Yeah, I think that's a good idea. What are we trying to accomplish here? Have you thanked

God already for this person? Have you already thanked God for the gift that has blessed you?

Have you already done that? Because if you go to somebody and you've not given the thanks to God first and you go to them and you're telling them directly, and I was just so thankful for, you know, and who are you giving the praise to?

Now we know as Christians, we ought to give the praise and the glory to God and we recognize that other people in their giftings,

God uses them as blessings for us. But we wanna give the glory to God even while we know, want them to know that, hey, keep it up, you're doing great.

I want you to know that God is using you. Please continue. And you're trying to encourage them, but have you actually thanked

God for them or are you just saying that you are? Because sometimes we can slip into spiritual speak.

Sure. Right, you know. Just a lingo, yeah. Praying for you, you know, and that kind of thing.

It never happens. Did you though? Yeah. Right, and we want to be honest in that.

Okay, so here's a clear example, I think. When we read in Acts 12 about how

Herod dies, okay, eaten by worms, right? But the occasion for his death was that he was dealing with some people that he was upset with and so they decided to flatter him to gain advantage in their situation.

And so they began, as he was speaking to them, they began to cry out and chant, the voice of a God and not of a man.

And he did not give glory to God in this situation and say, no, no, no, not me, not me.

But he liked that. You know, like, hey, yeah, these guys, I like that. As was a custom in the day for rulers to welcome the mantle of divinity that helped them rule, right?

So he's receiving that, but he ends up being eaten by worms. Now, they, the people were flattering him because they were seeking to gain advantage.

That's a clear example. And obviously, if you're trying to encourage somebody in the church, that's not what you should be trying to do.

There can be a culture that is developed in a church or in some sort of Christian sector of a culture where everyone is expected to walk around and only ever say positive things to one another, like some sort of 11th commandment or something.

So would you say that this principle of going to God first and giving him the praise first is that a mediating that compliment or mediating that praise for that person to God first and then to that person rather than having it be a direct exchange without God being a part of the picture at all?

Yeah, I think that's a good diagram. And it's one where we see Paul very often, he will compliment.

Thanking God for people. Oh, yes. But he also says, you know, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

And he'll have some positive things to say about people. But you also know from the context, that he's recognizing, hey, this is all of God.

And Paul would say of himself, I am what I am by the grace of God, that's all that I am. But he also recognizes there is that personal element of sacrifice and effort.

And so he will encourage people and he will, in a sense, praise people and thank people.

But we know the praise is actually to God and the thanks is to God. If that's clear and you're not trying to flatter people, but you're trying to exhort them on to God, hey,

God's really using you, keep it up. That's the whole idea. That's the desire to have there, I think. I had a passage come to mind, or a verse,

Romans 12 .10. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

How would that look as far as showing honor? I can see that easily slipping into flattery.

I'm showing honor to this person and that's what I'm doing. And here it says to outdo one another in showing honor.

What can that look like? Well, we also are told in the same idea to give honor to whom honor is due.

So in trying to outdo one another in honor, only give honor to those to whom it is due.

So if you're trying to, it's not saying outdo one another in giving honor to those who it's not due.

That would be where you're moving into flattery. If you give honor to somebody to whom it is not due, why are you doing that?

That's not accurate. That's not truthful. If they haven't done something that you could look at and say, that's a good thing.

That is what God wants us to do. You're being faithful, but you're just bolstering them without any direction of, yeah, that was a good thing.

Just way to go on being you. What are you honoring at that point?

What version were you using for that? Let's see. I think that was ESV. Okay, King James Version has be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love and honor giving preference to one another.

So that's just a little bit of different. Like a service to one another. This reminds me of the beginning of Philippians chapter two, consider one another's interests as more important than your own.

Now, that humble attitude is a proper approach. And by this, you're not saying,

I don't have my role. You're not lying about something to the father and thinking about the interest of his wife and children ahead of his own is not there by also saying to his wife and children, you're way more important to this family than I ever will be.

Honestly, toddler, you're the most creative here.

You ought to take the lead. We're not saying anything absurd. That would be an absurd thing, right? In the same way, when we're giving preference to one another, we're not also thereby changing up the actual situation.

We're not saying things that are not true. In the Philippians two, three, it's interesting that it gives the negative and the positive.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility, consider others more important than yourselves.

That goes back to the flattery. If there's something to it, if there's an ulterior motive, that with flattery being greed or seeking to gain an advantage, same thing here with selfish ambition or empty pride, you're puffing yourself up.

Put those off, but in humility, consider others more important than yourself. Not so that you look good, oh look,

I'm giving you a compliment because that's the kind of person that I am. I'm an encourager, but it's in humility, consider others more important than yourselves.

And so I think that pretty much covers it, but when you're saying something to someone, is it because I want them to like me,

I want to be noticed, is it because I'm trying to gain the favor of somebody that a lot of people like?

What is this about? Or am I really just thankful to God and I'm trying to encourage them and exhort them unto love and good works to continue on?

Where's my motive here? Wasn't there another part to that on how someone should respond?

There is, but before we go there, I was gonna ask, are there any, I mean, the Herod example's a pretty clear -cut example.

What other clear -cut examples of flattery can you think of off the top of your head from the Bible? Maybe I'm just creating dead air time by asking, but.

Well, you have, okay, so we know that the devil is the father of lies, and so when we see devilish speak behind flattery, so there can be some examples wherein some of Jesus' opponents will say something nice at the front end, hoping to catch him off guard.

You know, good. Good teacher. Good teacher or something like that. You know, it's like, we know you're from God, we know that you're true, but we're gonna catch you here.

Those kinds of approaches where there's a nice buttering up at the beginning brings to mind a little portion of a book called

Antagonists in the Church. It was something I read a long time ago, and the thesis of the book is the reason why some people are antagonistic in the church is because they're antagonists.

This is just who they are. They're like a type. Yeah. And his main metaphor running through the book was, you know, red flags sticking out of a bush, and if you see one or two, you know, don't be too alarmed.

If you see three or four or five of these, be really alarmed. And one of them is when someone first comes and they just gush all over you, you know, oh, this is amazing, this is the best place ever, you know, and they just really, really butter you up and say all these things.

Hey, ooh, hey, hang on a second. That might be a red flag. Why are they saying all of this?

They want perhaps immediate acceptance. There's an idea of an exchange going on here.

There can be some very subtle types of flattery, of putting people into position to make decisions and judgment calls that they're not meant for.

For instance, the way that Satan approached Adam and Eve, where he, by subtle flattery, puts

Eve into a position of making a decision and doing something that she was never designed for, but he didn't say to her, he didn't come out and say to her, you're smart enough to figure this out on your own, but he essentially put her in that position by the way he was approaching, and that's a subtle form of flattery.

Do we have subtle form of flattery in the way that Satan tempts Christ as well, or is that, or am

I reading into that a little bit too much? Well, it's like, hey, I know you can do this. Yeah, you're the Messiah, right?

Yeah. Yeah. If you can turn the stones into bread, you can throw yourself off the temple. You won't even have a foot hit the ground.

Yeah, exactly. There's an idea of, you know, I know who you are, you know, but it's the idea of, even if you're saying something that is true, you could be saying it for a nefarious or deceptive aim.

And so it's worth asking, when I'm complimenting someone, am I flattering them or am

I encouraging them? Well, is it based in some sort of manipulation and deception, or is it based in truth and your desire to serve this person by encouraging them, right?

I think that's where you're gonna see a distinction. Yeah, my mind went to the, we have no king but Caesar, because they were wanting something, they were wanting him to do something.

And he was like, you're just, and he's like, well, we have no king but Caesar, he's not our king. But you guys, because you're on our side, you'll do what we want.

And for a Roman pro -council whose job Is to keep the peace. Is to keep these Jews in line, that's music to his ears.

You know, it's like, oh yes, I can be the keeper of the empire here. Exactly.

Yeah, promotion in the headlights probably. All right, part two of the question, how are we to respond and react when we are the one being encouraged and appreciated?

So basically trying to sniff out whether something is flattering or a genuine compliment and then how to react.

Yeah, even in the reaction, try not to over -spiritualize it or sound spiritual doing it.

Like I know for me, because I do music, so there's anytime there's someone up front, like maybe a pastor or someone leading music, you know, people might be drawn to say something either genuinely or to gain attention.

And my kind of standard thing is to say, praise the Lord and then just move on.

Like just kind of in the, because genuinely, praise the Lord. If it was beneficial to you, then good.

But it's all praise to him. And then after that, I'm like, I don't really need to say anything else about it.

And anytime we see Christ taking on any sort of manipulative rhetoric from anybody like Satan or Peter in certain cases, his answers are usually just quoting scripture to what the flattery or what the manipulative language is.

Right? Like I can't think of any other response that I usually get from him. Yeah, when

Herod died, it was because he did not give glory to God. Right? So let's say you can't tell the difference if it's flattery or encouragement, but the response should still in either case give glory to God.

So praise the Lord is a great standard response. Because if it's genuine, then praise the Lord.

And if it's not, still praise the Lord. Or like the classic reform response is only by the grace of God.

You know, like that's usually what I get from guys in reform circles or older reform guys is only by the grace of God.

And I mean, like, it sounds like, okay, you don't want to continue that conversation, but I'm just. Well, you know, this goes back to abiding in Christ and producing fruit.

I mean, if you cut me out of the situation, bro, I'm not the one producing this fruit. So let's render the fruit of the harvest of the vineyard up to the master.

So I've heard various ideas on this. Some pastors, the pastor who

I first sat under, other than my dad, said when someone says something nice to him, he just says, well, thank you.

And he doesn't like turn into, and he feels like I'm not in a situation where I need to like, you know, discourage them in some fashion by saying, look, you don't need to be telling me that, you know.

So he just says, thank you, moves on. Other people have said, well, what I try to do is like, cause he comes from the pastoral side.

So he says, they say, that was a great message today. Then he says, well, what did you find helpful?

And he asked him. And then sometimes people just don't know. And a lot of times it's like a crush of people moving through or whatever, and you don't have time for that conversation.

But I will often say, well, I'm glad you found it helpful. You know, because obviously something there was encouraging to them, helpful to them.

I'm recognizing that that's what they're saying. And often, sometimes it's about certain people are encouraging people.

You know, they're a Barnabas, they're a son of encouragement or a daughter of encouragement. Is it Bathsibus?

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, some people are just really encouraging.

And in general, they're the ones who are going to say something almost every time. So when you're hearing that you need to give glory to God, I think that's like the most important part of that.

Beyond that, what happens if you stop getting that encouragement? What happens if you don't have people coming up saying thank you?

What now? Was I dependent on it? Was I expecting it? Am I looking for it?

Do I go hang around and see if I can get some encouragement? What happens with that?

Man, being a son, it comes with so much. Because the matters of the heart are just so far beyond just cut and dry rules.

Like we have to do it this way and this way and this way because what we've been talking about is just, it's within us. It's the defilement that comes from within.

That's what we're having to deal with every single time in these situations. So we should come into whatever service or gift we have, whatever responsibility we have that God has given to us.

If we're coming in as a father, we come in as a servant, if we're working hard in wherever God has placed us, whatever we're doing, if somebody is gonna say something, we need to be ready to give glory to God.

And if people don't say anything, guess what? We still give glory to God. Thank you for letting me do this.

Thank you for letting me work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this and to, as Jesus put it in Matthew 6, to make the backbone of our piety private.

Not entirely private. He's not against public prayer. He's not against doing good.

He's not against those things. But what he warns against is the kind of benevolence and the kind of prayer and the kind of fasting that is always looking for somebody to notice and say something nice about it.

And he says that's a real problem. Those are some real red flags. If you're serving in the church and you're always expecting a good number of people to notice and to compliment, and you go home ticking off a list, well, they didn't say anything, they didn't say anything, and they didn't say anything, then you might be doing these things for the wrong reasons.

Yeah, that makes me think of kind of another area. Say you've got younger men and younger women.

They're being trained by older men and older women, and they're seeking in areas, where am I gifted? How am

I supposed to serve the church? How do I know if I'm doing it right? And I think there will be some looking around for, like, can someone tell me if I'm, am

I doing this right? Should I be serving somewhere else? Not seeking for praise, but like an affirmation in ministry.

Like, I just want to be used. And I think of like the elders laying the hands on to affirm, we affirm this person is in line.

It's not so much for the praise. And how do you transition between someone who's younger and doing that, and then someone maturing and not needing that as much as they get older?

Yeah, I think that in general, you want to encourage folks that are just starting out in some sort of service or some sort of work, or even, you know, a young mother, a young father in the home.

What about somebody who's, you know, just trying to first start, get a job, start trying to work, and encouraging them that they're in motion, encouraging them that they're heading in these good directions.

And I always try to drop maybe one or two things, you know, that might be helpful to you.

You know, when I was in the same situation, I had to learn this the hard way, or I always found this and that to be sometimes a help.

And sometimes, if they're working in some avenue in the church, I might say, if you've got any really good ideas about this, if you notice anything,

I'd love to hear about it, because I just want to get that conversation going so I have the opportunity to disciple more.

And at the end of it, it's just a situation where you're trying to build that relationship for that discipleship and encouragement so that you have the opportunity to give some, sometimes some corrective direction that's really going to help them, but you're not trying to discourage them at all.

Right. Would you say in cases like that, where they're kind of growing into something, or they're just trying to feel where they're supposed to be ministering, that often,

I don't want to say negative comments, but more of the, you'll get feedback and get a sense that this is not for me, versus you're looking for that positive affirmation of yeah, this is what you're supposed to be doing.

Yeah, sometimes I'll be asking them, so what drew you to look at serving in this way?

What drew you to trying this? What stood out to you? It's like, well, it's the only thing available.

Or, well, I thought it would be this, but it was this actually. And then that helps get to some more specific ideas of how they're gifted and how they might do well in different areas.

Yeah. In James chapter two, it's not specifically talking about flattery, but one of the responses to flattery, which the flatterer is seeking, is favoritism.

And James rebukes those who show favoritism, being like our

God, not showing favoritism towards being a respecter of persons, is a guard against the flattery that comes, whether it's you can see it coming or you can't.

And if, as somebody who is serving, whether in the family or in the church or working, if you're somebody who is, and you know that you're somewhat affected by those words of encouragement, the praise and thanks from people, you're gonna have to be prayerfully watchful that you don't play that favoritism with folks who tend to be more verbally appreciative, right?

Whereas some other people are gonna be probably even more appreciative of what you do, but they don't say anything, not because they're being rude, but that's just not their wheelhouse.

So not to be too affected by it. Don't let the praises and the thanks of men as they say all these nice things to you, don't let it affect you too much.

Just like, you don't have to beat yourself up about it, but mainly when people say all those things, you're like, man, you don't even know.

Or like, I don't know how you got that out of what I did, because that was awful, but you seem to be encouraged by it, so you're one of the most easily encouraged people

I've ever met, so anyway. What about the opposite side of it? Because we're talking about people who struggle with buying into the compliment.

What about people, so for me, when I go to work and I'm not getting yelled at and they're still paying me,

I assume it's a good job. Or if everything's still running smoothly and they're just leaving me alone to do what

I'm supposed to do, I'm like, okay, great. Then they appreciate this, otherwise I'd be getting barked at.

So on that side, when I hear people come up to me, or in cases that that has ever happened, my knee -jerk reaction is that this might be flattery.

The shield goes up right away, rather than, and it's been a struggle for me too. I mean, Mr. McGarry was like a pressure point for me because he was

Barnabas on me, like just encouragement, encouragement from all sides, and I had no idea how to take it, but I realized that this is what this man was.

So I had to learn to answer him and understand how he, and he was one of those guys that was always answering better than I deserve by the grace of God.

Like he was that dude. So having to learn how to interact with him actually went a long ways for me in that, but I am the one that puts up the wall first whenever somebody starts complimenting me.

So somebody who does that, what sort of wisdom do they need to take into those interactions? I would say that there needs to be a willingness, even a faith, a belief, a trust that God can use me to bless others, right?

And to not discount that, and that not everybody who will be saying kind things and encouraging things to me is trying to get something out of me or so on and so forth.

But yes, God can actually use me to bless others. You know, this is a real thing.

Grace through my life to others because of Christ, because of the Holy Spirit. These are the means that God has decided to use.

So I'm encouraged, they're encouraged, praise be to God. And sometimes we can think, you know, not me.

You know, that's not who I am. Other people do that, not me. And there are some people that God puts in our lives who play the role of Barnabas and go out of their way to come to us and say, wow,

God is using you. I'm looking forward to see what God does with their you next. Have you ever thought about this?

You know, and I have known people like that. My, you know, Mr. McGarrett, my father -in -law was one of those.

I'm thinking of another man right now who is exactly that. And I'm thinking of a friend of my brother's.

He talks about him behind his back. And he says, he's Barnabas. Here's Barnabas. And that's, you know, that's just the way that he is.

And God uses people like that to stir us up to love and good works. Amen, well,

I think we got that covered pretty well. So why don't we move on to our recommendations, Michael? Now, if you like car wrecks, like if you like, you turn on NASCAR, because you, you're waiting.

They're going round and round and you're just waiting. You're waiting for that big pile up, okay? You drive on the highway and you're one of the ones that slow down to seven miles an hour.

As you go by, oh my, look at that. If you like that kind of stuff, let me recommend to you a two -part documentary series on YouTube called

The Real David Platt. Oh. If you wanna see a 10 ,000 car pile up, that would be the thing to watch.

Now, the two -part documentary is very interesting to me because as it talks about this mega church out on the

East Coast that David Platt became CEO of for a little while, their polity is so unbiblical that it was easy to mess with this church in some major ways and all their campuses and their 36 million annual dollar budget, you know.

But what happened, the documentary is made to take the side of the church members and to show how all these awful things happened when there was a hostile takeover of SBC interest in a church that was not allowed to be a part of any denomination.

So when I'm watching it, though, it's all from the perspective of the church members. And they're talking about this, that, and the other, and I'm thinking, oh my, the way you understand church is broken.

And you're so sincere and you're very hurt and you don't know what happened and these people came in and did this, that, and the other, and you're taking offense at things that might have been good for you to learn and you're taking offense at things that really were wrongs done to you and it was just such a mess from the beginning to the end.

And so I watched it all the way through and I walked away and I said, wow, you know, that just encourages me to practice safe driving.

You know, I'm gonna check my mirrors, I'm gonna give that extra space between me and the next car, a little bit more if it's raining,

I'm gonna practice all my defensive driving, my safe driving, because I do not wanna see a microcosm of that in my life or in my church.

Not to be the cause of other brothers stumbling. Oh no, yeah, and then to think about, and it reminded me about how some people view church and how deeply meaningful, emotional it is for them.

And it just reminded me, it's like, yeah. And a lot of people who are in a church are there because they got hurt at their last church and they're, oh, they're so hurt.

And it reminds me about how people view things and what they go through and like, how do

I help them? How do I disciple them? How do I shepherd them? How do I help lead them into something that's healthy?

You know, lead them to Christ, who's the great shepherd, so. Well, for less radical recommendations, we'll go over to Chris.

Radical. My recommendation is not necessarily a resource, but something to try.

We all carry around technology with us, whether it's computers or phones or whatever that is.

And they're like libraries. They're like those old contact, you had a little box that had all your contacts in it.

Rolodex. Rolodexes, and it's got all of those in it. It's got all kinds of stuff in it, but we use it so flippantly.

So my recommendation or challenge is, see if you can find an encouraging or a new way to use it to redeem the times, use it to intentionally have interactions with people around you who you have lost contact with, or you don't normally have contact with, or to fix relationships.

And because it's always there, and I find either I'm misusing it or I'm not using it to its whole capabilities.

I could be using it for something good. Maybe it's just sitting around, but I could use it to do something with it.

My mind goes to my siblings. Some of us have drifted kind of farther apart, just time, we have our families and stuff.

But instead of like having to send a letter and wait several days and then send it back, I can text them and communicate with them at any time and start having those conversations, and often

I just don't. So my recommendation is, see if you can find a way to redeem some of the time used on technology.

All right, that's an interesting, deliberate communication, what you're talking about. Yeah, there's so many people trying to vie for your attention in communication.

Social media, people that don't know you, bots or whatever it is, always have something to say.

And I'm like, well, okay, I can cut out some of the chatter. That might be the put off, but what am I putting on?

How am I using it positively? Andrew, as you think. You know, he's talking about off -grid communication.

And here I am, I'm about to talk about, get us, if you use a smartphone, I think one of the great ways to redeem the time on your smartphone is to have a

Bible app on your phone. So get yourself a Bible app. There are many out there. I was just talking to the brothers here, and recently

I did some surveys for Google and they pay me in Google bucks. So I got on their

Play Store, the eSword mobile version. I've been loving it. There's different versions.

There's strongs and fares in it. You can do word searches. I'm not saying that you need to pick up the eSword that's on mobile, but what

I am saying is be immersed in the word. Do word studies to learn from the master. Amen.

Well, my recommendation this week is Fiat Food by Matthew Leachac. And you should read it for the theology.

Not that it's good theology, but he makes a claim in the book that incentives align between government, big farms, big pharma, and the

Seventh -day Adventist church to change the American diet for theological and eschatological purposes, and it is absolutely wild.

So I knew some of this going into it, but the details were actually worse than I thought they were. And he actually started this book because he was wanting to disprove a chapter out of the

Fiat standard because he thought there's no way this can be true. He gets to researching it and fact -checking all of it, and he says, oh wait, it's way worse than he let on in the chapter.

I need to write a book about this. So he sent a letter out to the publisher and said, will you publish the book if I go on a deep dive on Fiat Food?

And he said, yes. He's like, this is something I wanna do, but I don't have time for it, so you go ahead and do it. And the lengths to which

Ellen White's theology and her followers like John Harvey Kellogg went to emanatize their eschatology and to force their theology onto young boys and girls in order to get them to be less self -abusive, we shall say, is horrific.

And the things that they did and they teamed up with the government to do in order to change the

American diet without their consent is mind -boggling. So go ahead and try and give a listen or a read to Matthew LeShack's Fiat Food.

Michael, what are you thankful for this week? I am thankful for my wife, thankful for all the extra work she does to help our family.

And we're coming up on our 20th anniversary, but our anniversary's right in the middle of the holiday season, so we decided to take our anniversary trip early.

So we've already been to Northeast Arkansas and see the changing of the leaves together and spend some time together.

So I'm very thankful for her, and we're reflecting on how we've spent half our marriage here at Sunnyside Baptist Church.

And what a blessing that is, and it's hard to wrap our heads around, but just very thankful for her, for her encouragements and for who she is.

Chris? I'm thankful for game nights. Whatever avenue, there's different places that I play games, it's kind of a new thing for me.

I found board games boring as a kid because I thought Monopoly was it, and I was like, this is not fun.

I can just roll these dice and do whatever. So having friends that play games in which you can have interactions and conversations while still playing a game, the game tells a story, all those different things, just an intentional time with brothers or with brothers and sisters,

I'm grateful for those interactions that having a game night can bring about. Amen, Andrew?

I'm thankful for the bread which came from heaven who gave himself for us.

I was talking to some enemies of the gospel earlier today, and I got to share with them about the one who offered himself.

They don't happen to believe the same things about him, but it doesn't stop it from being true.

So I'm thankful for the one who laid down his life for the sheep. Amen to that. I'm thankful for the maturation that the

Lord works in his people, and that he has them grow at the exact rate that he wants them to, and not the rate that they want to, or they would want others to grow.

But he produces the best fruit, it's the highest quality, and it's 50, 75, 100 fold.

So I'm extremely thankful for that maturation, both in my life and in my brothers and sisters in Christ.

And that wraps it up for today. We are very thankful for our listeners, and hope you will join us again as we meet to answer common questions and objections with Have You Not Read?