Ep 942 | Jase Attempts to Be a Good Samaritan but Fails & How Long Since Phil Looked in a Mirror?
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I am unashamed. What about you?

Phil has to see the unseen. To us, we're all like, you got your mic down here. It's like faith because you can't see your face. Well, and he can't hear that way either. When's the last time you actually looked into a mirror?

It's probably going on years now. We're trying to get dad to pull his mic up. Jay says it's an act of faith because dad can't see it because he's got the little mic that attaches to his headphone. Kind of like a side where. Yeah, well, you can't see what you can't see. Yeah. Because I'm sitting here thinking, pull your mic up, but you can't see it. Then we went into how long it's been since Phil has actually seen a mirror camera.

Well, it was like your theory on Cy, which I think you're exactly right. When Cy got his eyes fixed and looked in the mirror, he thought, oh, boy. So now he's like shaving and – Yeah, he immediately went and got a makeover, got a beard trim and shaped up. He started grooming. Yeah. He did. He had like a 40-year grooming period, like wilderness grooming.

Well, it started when he retired from the military. Cause he said, he said, boys, when I retired from the military, my razor retired with me. So that's what he told me. Yeah. He tried to bring back the rat tail. That didn't work. Yeah. So I call it the skullet. It's a, it's like a mullet, but since size has no hair on top on the front, it's a skullet. He's got hair in the back, but not in the front. He's,

Party in the back, business on top. This seems like a weird day today because we're doing our podcast at a different time.

Due to Zach having some difficulty. Travel problems. Zach's just get, he's having a hard time getting back to real life. It's like he's, he's like, he's a hamster Jace. He's just, he's on the wheel. He's trying, he's really running hard, but he just can't get anywhere. Can't quite get there. You know, but I will say, maybe I shouldn't point this out, but you were also late Jace. Oh, I was way late. Yeah.

Well, we had delayed an hour and a half. So then we get all ready to go. Zach's in his place. And everybody's like, where's Jay's? I don't know. Then he texted and said, I'll be there. Life is filled with adventure. Do you want me to give you the high points while I'm like? Of course. There's always a story with you. I woke up at my normal time.

Even though I had received a text that we were reminder for this one time only, we're moving up an hour. It's kind of like the equivalent of setting your clocks back or forward. Podcast savings time. When you're a man of routine, you get ready and I was fixed to leave. And then I realized, oh, wait, I have an extra hour.

So I waited the extra hour, get up to leave again. Then I receive another text saying Zach has been delayed another 30 minutes. So I go back now. This is, so I was ready to leave four hours ago. Yeah.

I knew this was going to be Zach's fault. My lovely wife came in, and she had taken the little one that we are. It was his first day of, I don't even know what you call it, preschool or whatever. So I had to hear about that. So now I'm a little delayed from the actual departure, but she's like, well, you better go get something to eat because we usually are here in the morning, and we have breakfast, but Al's not here. He brings breakfast. So I was like, well, I'll go get some lunch. We're fixing to talk.

Well, I didn't realize how many more people are stirring towards the middle of the day in town. And due to the heat here, you know, I go, the only fast food I go besides, you know, the true wilderness is Chick-fil-A. And they didn't have their employees out taking orders due to the extreme heat. So what I noticed about, here's the problem I have with fast food setups. Once you go in, there's no getting out.

You can't eject. You can't say it because now people pull in behind you and you're just in line. And it just seemed like I was going to be there throughout the day. It was really slow. But you've got me hung up in what we're doing with...

Jason's reading of Mackie's parallel. Say what? So, so turn them loose. I don't know what they. There's three people. There's three people who know what Phil just said. Al actually gave Phil some notes.

Internal, not necessarily meant to be shared with the audience. Alf, this may be just a hunch, but that might have been a bad idea. Yeah.

What it's looking like. So, no, I did. I have the information going into what we're now looking at in Ephesians. You don't like my story on how I was getting here? I was kind of mid. Apostle Paul finally started making his points. All right, well, let me give you this. He starts out with Acts chapter 1 there. You know, it's not for you to follow the times.

or dates the Father has set by his own authority. You'll receive power, though, when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll be my witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem to all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So it picks up a little stamina,

All of them are preached to. When the people heard it, they were cut to the heart. So Peter has set forth a fire that's going on. Oh, I'm with you. I'm excited about it. We're the only part. When we got to Ephesians, you say, is the message still sound with the ones they started with over here in Acts chapter 1? It goes together.

Yeah, it goes like a glove. Like a glove. What I like about this, we're the only podcast in the world that interrupts a story for the actual content. Yeah. Which we're going. So I will really give you the highlights from that point on. I may get the Chick-fil-A. There's a truck jackknifed with a trailer. You see, you can't turn left. So I had to go all the way around town to get down there. Just get me who Mackie is. Ha ha ha ha.

Because your reading is supposed to be for one Mackie. But that was a recap. A Mackie's parallel. Yeah, I don't even know what that's referring to. I can't remember what we're doing. You went to Axe and got it. I saw that. I said, well, I'll have to wait to see how Mackie's material unfolds. The craziest cold open ever. So anyway, if you're listening and you're like, what's going on? I'm left with Lewis Mackie. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

Who is Mackie? So there I was traveling here realizing that I might be late. And then I get in the back roads where Phil lives and I come up on a car that's parked in the middle of the road right past a curb. Was that Mackie? No, it wasn't Mackie. I don't know who it was.

I may be bumping into them on the way down here. Well, I slow down because I'm like, there's no hazard lights. They're not in their lane, in the middle of the road. So I start slowing down. That's never good. No. I mean, literally a mile from here. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And so I see the door open, and it's a young woman with a crazed look on her face.

Like going to the ditch, looking at me kind of in a panic. And so I thought she was just going to the ditch so I could get around. I was like, oh, she didn't realize there's a car coming. You're parked in the middle of the road in a dangerous place. So I slowed down because I thought, well, maybe she needs some help.

So as I'm slowing down to roll down the window, she just took off. There's a cutover. They just cleared all that land. I mean, it's 100 degrees. It's the middle of the day. And I thought, what is going on here? But then it kind of hit me. I thought, I think she saw me because I look back at her car and it looked like we had a radiator problem because there was a lot of liquid on the pavement.

Little smoke coming up. But I think she... Does Mackie have any reference to your life? No, I was just saying it's all about perspective. Life is an adventure. I think she had car problems, but then she saw me, because this is a dangerous place, and thought, I need to run.

I just thought it was interesting. I'm trying to tell you why I was waiting to unfold a little bit. Yeah. Anyway, what were you doing? What's the woman doing in the middle of the road? She's probably still running in that cutovers. All I know when you're trying to be a good Samaritan and people run from you, I don't know. Maybe you need to get with size to working on some grooming tips.

Well, I could have rolled down the window if I'd have thought about you, Phil. I'd have said, I have the Holy Spirit of God, but I think that would have made it worse. I think it would have. All right, so, Dad, I'm going to solve your mystery and tell you who Mackie is. It's Dr. Tim Mackie, who we've been following some of his studies on Ephesians. And at the end of the last podcast, Jace read, which was a brilliant idea because the stuff was really good.

The comparisons that Dr. Mackey made from Ephesians 3 back to Ephesians 1. Yeah, which was obvious, but just when it was all put together, there was like seven or eight things. Because you get to Ephesians 3, when you get to the end, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. I mean, what a statement. I think it's one of the most powerful statements in the Bible. To your point, you go back to the book of Acts where this started to unfold.

It is, I mean, the solid message of Jesus. Oh, there's no doubt. I mean, beyond repute. Well, it kind of hit me when I read that. You know, if we just all sat around and made a list of what we would like God to do for us, I'm sure we would come up with a list. We would have some things. Oh, yeah. Just think about what that says. But then when you kind of read what he says, it's like, well, he can do...

Not two times more or three times more than what you think. Or a hundred times more. We're not even at a hundred. The term immeasurably. Immeasurably. You cannot measure how much more. It's even more than you can imagine, which made me think, you know how we usually use the word unimaginable?

is when something bad happens. We say, oh, that is just evil that's unimaginable. Unimaginable. We usually use it in the negative light because we're human beings and we're not thinking, oh, God can work in me something that is unimaginable to me in a good way. But the only reason that I connected all those dots from the Mackey outline, which he, I think, did the same thing,

If you're going to have that kind of prayer life and start imagining these things, I think you have to take the first three chapters seriously.

All the good things that he laid out there, all the exciting, thrilling. The resurrection of the dead is what's got them stirred up. Well, and power and heaven and earth coming together. When he wants to start the book of Acts, by the time he gets to Phaeacians, they're just hammering the resurrection of the dead. Well, and the same spirit that raised Jesus is now living in you.

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So, Dad, since Dad's released some of my internal notes, I'll say what else I said in the notes or an email as it to you guys.

That that was so good, there was still some meat left on the bone. Because Jace just opened up by reading that comparison back. Man, I just had my mind reeling from the last podcast. And Dad, I'm so glad you went to Acts, because one of the things I wanted us to talk a little bit more about out of this text was the third one, Jace. The first one was United Heads. It's the groundwork in the book of Acts. It's the groundwork.

Exactly. And you mentioned it's the resurrection. And then, of course, it's right after that. So you mentioned united heaven and earth. We talked about the storehouse of riches, this idea that the riches from God, which have no depth, by the way, that's also unimaginable. And then the third one was the spirit takes up residence in us. And we talked a little bit about it, but I want to talk some more about it because dad just mentioned Acts, because that's when the Holy Spirit came.

was the game changer. That's when everything changed, when he was poured out in that moment that we read about in Acts 1 and 2, because it changes everything now that he lives in us. And that links to some of the other ones as well. But some of the things I didn't mention before, I want you to listen to this. The Spirit of God. I read in the last podcast, Romans 8, 26, 27, where it says he relates our weaknesses to God.

And then Zach read a couple of podcasts ago in first Corinthians two, that he works to connect not only us with God, but then to fellow believers, this idea of the wisdom that comes from the spirit and how that connects us all together. Um,

He renews us, 2 Corinthians 4, 16. He transforms us, 2 Corinthians 3, 18. He informs us of God's will, Philippians 2, 12 and 13. He purifies our hearts and makes us holy, 1 Thessalonians 2, 12 and 13. He bears fruit through us, Galatians 5, 22. He makes disciples of Christ better, John 14, 15 and 16.

And then it says here in this text that he does it in our inner man, the inner being, which literally is what it means, which is where we struggle and also where we're renewed. So I just I had to get that in because it's such a huge thing.

you know, the world creation changing event when the Holy spirit now resides in us to now build up what is the temple of God in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And it's worthy of note that by the time they got to Galatia and they started out with the message that Peter preached, that you've looked at, uh,

all the Corinthian letter, first and second, but just to say in the Galatia, what he's fixing to say in Ephesus, he says, "You're all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek," which is amazing for this audience,

slave nor free, male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, and this keeps coming up, where did this start from? Then you are Abraham's seed. Well, that's where you better be. And heirs according to the promise. You turn a page or two pages, and the same thing. There's one body, one spirit, one hope. When you recall, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

It's a coming together of all this material, and it's amazing what all is said in this short period of time. A little bit in the book of Acts, Peter lays the groundwork, and I mean, here they go. You know, and what's interesting about this is that

Phil emphasized the resurrection, and then I love what Jace said. He emphasized the coming of the Holy Spirit living in us. When y'all were saying that, I was thinking, what is the connection between the two? If you think about Jesus, Jesus didn't ascend to the Father until when?

after the resurrection. So the reason why the resurrection is crucial, one of the reasons why the resurrection is so crucial, it's not just for our own, like we get to be raised too, which is also obviously a huge part of it, but it's also essential to the coming of the Holy Spirit. Because in John 16, when Jesus is talking about the coming of the Spirit to live in us, he says in verse 7, I tell you the truth,

it's to your advantage that I go away. What's he talking about there? His ascension. He says, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. So when you think about the correlation and what's happening in Ephesians,

chapter 3 and the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit is in Ephesians 3, what he's talking about is that all these amazing things that God has done and is going to do for us. But it says that...

Also, we will know this, that we will know, verse 19, the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Well, where does that fullness come from? Where does that knowledge of love come from that we would actually know it? It comes from the Holy Spirit living in us. Well, how are we going to get the Holy Spirit? Christ has to be raised and Christ has to ascend to the Father so that he will send us the Holy Spirit. So it's kind of this full circle moment of,

of all of this coming together in Paul's writings here. But that's really what's happening here. Yeah. It's worthy of note. That was excellent. Well, it goes back to... I mean, it took me back to thinking how this all got started. I mean, you remember in Acts 19, when Paul comes to Ephesus, he ran upon some disciples there, and he's like, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? And they said...

We haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit. So, of course, then he, you know, asked them about their baptism. And the people he had run up on had been baptized with John the Baptist baptism. So, you know, upon hearing this, he baptized them in the name of Jesus. And then all of a sudden these miracles start.

you know god gives you know through the holy spirit paul all this confirmation that

He sent from God and sharing Jesus and, I guess, having the authority to do this. The message is still there. Exactly. And you remember what happened. I mean, he stays there two years going in the synagogue. So when you read his letter to the Ephesians, no wonder the last two verses of chapter 2 is talking about you're the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because he had had this encounter. He was going...

to their earthly temples. Well, then he branched out from there, and you remember what happened. He starts driving out demons and all this, and then they have this big riot breakout because they had this seventh wonder of the world here, this temple of Artemis, which I think is the...

Greek word of it. Uh, the Roman was the princess of Diana who was like, you know, based on what I read, I mean, it was like kind of the hunger games girl. You know, she was the goddess of fertility and, uh, and hunting. I mean, but you think about it, it was a pretty good gig because you could, you could say, I have the power to allow you to give birth to

Well, people are going to have births when they, you know, a man and a woman come together. But that was kind of their gig, you know, and it's like, oh, it's because we're worshiping this made up God. And, you know, when the money started drying up from what Paul was preaching, saying this is just a myth, right?

You know, the Orion. Because you remember what happened? They were turning in their scrolls. Remember, they were burning up all their stuff. And, you know, there was life change happening. Yeah. Make every effort, you say to these Ephesians, make every effort, which you know it's going to be a pretty tough gig right there, to keep the unity of the Spirit, that's a tough one, through the bond of peace. Then he says, one body, one spirit, one.

One call to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith. So you read that, you say, to keep this all going is literally remarkable. So you've heard us talk a lot about Covenant Eyes on this show. And they're a wonderful organization. And their main goal is helping provide accountability and protecting people from the effects of pornography.

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This is wild news for most people. Oh, yeah. I was going to ask you, Jess, don't you think the same exact thing? How many times have we run into people that were just like those guys in Acts 19 that are trying to do it on their own? Their lives are a mess. And they say, man, I need to read my Bible more. And I don't know, I need to get back in church. But my life is just such a mess. They're doing it without the Holy Spirit.

And what he brings to the table. And I mean, it's amazing to me that 2000 years later, it's the same exact thing. The people that don't know that this inward peace is possible. Yeah, I think I think that the difference is, is when you the phrase they can't do it. But what it's not about doing it. It's about being in it and being him. Yeah.

And that's the big revelation that's happening here with the spirit, the spirit, the Holy spirit. I mean, you read this in Ephesians three and you mentioned that the first Corinthians passage as well. What, what is like, what is the goal? Like what's the, what's the end point? And the end point is life in Christ. It's actually saying the Holy spirit's actually saying this is like life with Christ is where true life is. It is where life is found and everything else is going to lead you to

to a death worker, to emptiness or to it's there's no life there. There's life here. And that's that's why the language that Paul uses in both first Corinthians one and two and in Ephesians three is it's language about abundance. It's language about fullness. It's language about the imagery there is that there's something in this for me. Like, right. There's there's some kind of a need and longing and desire that is fulfilled in Christ that

And the role of the spirit is he is the person of God who makes this known to us. He's the one that illuminates our imaginations for this. He's the one that reveals this truth. He's it's like he's turning on the lights so that you can actually see the room and see, oh, no, that's where the couch is. You know, that's where the, you know, the chair is. That's where the that he's showing us reality. And what is reality?

It's Christ life in Christ, abundant life in Christ. That's the language. Yeah, that's the point I was going is, you know, that's our theme here for this podcast, for our life, even for our discussion. And he's going to start off with chapter four, saying that very thing as a prisoner for the Lord.

I mean, this is what we do, live a life worthy of the calling. I mean, God uses us in different ways, but we all, as members of his body, the church, spirit field, we all have this responsibility to the actual calling of making Jesus Lord of our life because of him coming to earth, him dying on the cross, being buried,

being raised. He's given us his spirit. And so the reason I went to Acts 19, I mean, Phil went to Acts 2, which was perfect. But then you see this being lived out. And when you read his letter to the Ephesians and says, you know, God can work in you and do way more than you can ask or imagine. When you look at what happened in this town that we're now reading the letter that he sent to them,

I mean, Paul was getting nothing but misery out of the riots. They're trying to kill him. They're arguing. And it keeps going on and on whereby when it gets to chapter 20, he goes around Ephesus and has this little private meeting with the elders. And I just wanted to read a portion of it. He wouldn't even go back in there. He had a meeting. I'm not going back in there. And so the elder, he sent for the elders.

And in 2022, he told, this is after the riot and all this. He says, and now compelled by the spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task. The Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace, which is why I'm referring to that Ephesians 4.1 when he's like, I urge you to live a life. It's like a reset. You know, you have this. He's been talking about love. He's been talking about power.

the power of love, but he's doing it in a city where these people are in love with power. And really those are the two contrasts he's presenting. Do you as a human being want to be powerful and love it? Or do you want to display the power of love and get persecuted, cause riots, get run out of town?

be threatened to, you know, to lose your life. And so then he goes on to say in verse 25, now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. I mean, he's like, I'm out of here, which he did write him a letter. But he said, therefore, I declare to you today that I'm innocent of the blood of all men, for I've not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

And he talks about keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God. He goes on to say in verse 32, I commit to you, to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. It's the same things he's referring to in his letter.

And he says, you yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. And everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work, we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus. And I think this is interesting. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. And of course, then he got on his ship. I was just trying to lay the groundwork for how big a venture this was. I mean, this was the seventh day.

One of the seven wonders of the world had their own goddess. And when you look up how all this place got started, you know, hundreds of years before even this, you know, a meteorite fell from the sky and they, you know, they were all looking around thinking, well, this was the sign that this place, you know, the heavens have spoken. And it's so interesting that, you know, when you fast forward that and they make up this goddess, who's a hunter. Chapter four, verse 10.

to he who descended, God becoming flesh, Jesus, is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. He started talking about how they would be broken into different works, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service. But the preparation part is one of the most amazing things ever.

Yeah, it really is. But really, when you just look at the New Testament as a whole, I mean, Ephesus keeps coming up. You have chapter 19 and 20 in Acts. Then he writes this letter. But he also, you remember Timothy, those two books, he was sending Timothy to

To Ephesus. And then in Revelation, Jesus himself writes a letter to the church at Ephesus. And you remember, he's like, look, you did great for a while battling evil because we all know in this kind of place what was going on. But he's like, you've forsaken your first love. I mean, the very thing Paul was writing them about, they were just having extreme difficulty in living this life as Jesus as Lord.

Well, you can even chart it too, Jays, for looking at as the gospel goes out from Acts 1, which dad started out there, when it goes out from Jerusalem. I mean, Jerusalem is where it started, but you can see now we're talking about worldwide impact on the church and what it's doing. So you start looking at Antioch, which is up in Syria. You got Ephesus, which is over here in Macedonia. You ultimately have Rome, which is where Paul winds up. But you're seeing... It's still spreading. Yeah.

It's still spreading to this very day. I tell a story when I speak across the Fruited Plains about the first time I heard dad in a public setting doing duck call demonstration when he talked about his faith.

And, you know, it was kind of a surprise reaction. Jason, I don't know if you remember some of those early like times dad would speak or we'd be at a D.U. banquet or something like that. And, you know, it's not always easy to to talk about your faith and talk about Jesus in settings like that that are kind of there because of your business or whatever. Have you found that to be true? Well, one of the interesting things, you know, when you talk about Phil speaking,

Being associated with a company called Patriot Mobile, which is a cell phone service. Yeah. One of the things Phil would say in his speeches, because people would say, we want a real loud duck call.

Because the ducks are going way too far. And Phil would be like, save your money and move your blind where they're at. So really, with that in mind, you know, having cell service is you basically got to be connected somewhere where you can hear what's happening. Yeah.

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So I want to reset back before we leave this text, because a couple more things I want to talk about. We talked about united heaven and earth, Chase, when you read that from Mackie. This this incomparable riches, which is grace, power, God's generosity, the spirit that takes up residence in us. We talked about the Bible, talked about how that becomes this new temple.

This house that we've been talking about, that his spirit indwells, and that's us. Then he talks about Christ's love, because maybe it's how much he's established. And we talked about that being agape love, which is unconditional, sacrificial. And then number six on this list was the power to know. Remember to know this love that surpasses knowledge. And then back in 117, to know him better.

And after we talked about this on the last podcast, when we were finished recording, there's a little devotional that I read every day. And it's just a bunch of different authors. We've done some of these. Dad did one with your daily feel where they just take writings from different Christian authors and put it into a little devotional. And here was the one from that day. But I thought this was so powerful. We come out. Why should we try to get to know Christ better? And his text was first John 520.

The son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may know him, that we may know him. And same thing we've been talking about, right? Why do we want to know him? And then here was this little devotional thought. And listen to this. I thought it was so good. This guy's name is Jack Hayford. He wrote a book called How to Live Through a Bad Day. And here's what he said in the Devo. When you're in the middle of a bad day, aim your hard questions at God, not man.

Why? Because in life's darkest hours, there are usually no human beings with adequate answers. Counselors may analyze, associates may sympathize, and experienced friends may empathize. But finite minds and feeble flesh can never satisfy us with the presence we seek for when we truly cry for God himself and not just human answers."

I thought that was such a rich thought in the idea that while we're so bound for bad answers when we're looking at people around us instead of the only one who can truly do anything about it. So the worse it gets, the better it is for you if you know God and if you know Christ and you know him better. So I just thought that was such a rich thought, this idea, Jace, that we would know him better for a reason.

Yeah, and that's why I brought up all this history. It's like the difference in Jesus and other religions, you know, it's all about Jesus and what he did. But these were real places. I mean, you go over to modern-day Turkey and find the remains of this, one of the seven wonders of the world, and guess what's there? A little souvenir shop selling these trinkets representing the Temple of Diana. Ha ha ha.

But the actual temple of Diana, guess what? It's not there. I mean, you just see where it was. And I just thought, isn't that what we do when we try to be God and we try to create gods on the earth and then live our lives? And I think that's why when it gets practical in these next three chapters about husbands and wives, I mean, can you imagine if you're basing life's decisions on some made-up temple that supposedly...

going to answer your questions on who your relationship should be with. That's why when you see these references, when Paul wrote to Timothy, remember that saying where he said, these people forbid people to marry? You're like, why? Because they were getting all their information from this temple in the middle of the city where they had, and only a woman could work there in Timothy.

and having all these ceremonies and parades about how you're going to provide for your family, how you're going to make money. That's why when Ephesians 5, it comes up talking about not having any kind of a hint of sexual immorality or impurity or of greed, because that was really what was behind making up gods. That's what we do. It all comes back to what Paul said about

uh, there, when he said, Jesus said, it's, it's better to give than to receive. Cause you think, why do we come up with these imaginary gods so that we can receive? I mean, what makes different Jesus so different talking about his love is it's all about giving. I mean, his expression of self giving love from God, uh,

Is the only place you're going to find that type of religious vein on the planet, which is funny because the when I mentioned that about the love, you know, the Greek word, which is a guy pay, which was the only two Greek words for love mentioned in the Bible.

Phileo, which is the love of family, brotherly love, and then agape, which is sacrificial, you know, spiritual Christian love. And to your point, Jace, but the Greeks have seven more words for it because of all the different things that people put their trust in. And Zach and I realized it. And dad, we've mentioned this before when we were in Athens,

looking at the temple, what was left of the temple of Zeus and the Acropolis and all that. And we thought, man, if this is where your hope lies, this is pretty bad when it's just one column left on the ground, right? Remember that, Zach? When we saw that, it was like, this is not where you want to be. It takes me back to what Paul said when he stood in the same spot that we were in. He said, God cannot live in temples built by human hands. I mean, that's exactly what we know. That's the life-changing part of it.

Well, I really think that's what's behind. What we're talking about now is what's behind this. He can do more than we can ask or imagine. It's just a matter of us making the decision. Are we going to have the same kind of courage that Paul expressed and was trying to convey the reason for this type of courage? Because when you put all the historical context to this, it would have been really hard to

To break out and say, you know what? I'm following Jesus. Yeah. They're like, what? Yeah. I mean, how are you going to make money? What, you know, what, what about, you know, how are you going to have babies? You know, cause I mean, it doesn't matter whether it's true or not. If you believe it's true and that's what the cultural acceptance is, that's what's going to happen. And they were all making money.

And he came in there, and it was just absolute disruption. It was really the God against the man-made gods.

One of our favorite groups out there, Focus on the Family. Zach, these guys have been doing it for families for a long, long time. Don't you agree? Yeah. How long has it been? I don't know. It goes back to Dr. Dobson. So I don't have it in front of me. But I remember being a young dad watching films that were reel-to-reel at church on Wednesday nights. That's how long it goes back. But they're making a real difference. They've got a podcast now.

called Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. And it's fantastic. Jim's a good friend. He's been on Unashamed. We've been on his shows as well. Every episode of this podcast is designed to give you confidence, to guide you and your loved ones through all the challenges that are out there every day in Christian families.

They've got decades of trusted, compassionate stories of redemption. And Jim does a really good job to connect you to biblically sound advice on marriage and parenting that's relatable, practical, and very interesting. It's not just another podcast, folks. This is the lifeline to growing your family in a good way. So whether you're having some everyday issues or you're searching for some guidance on more complex matters, focus on the family life.

is there to support you every step of the way. Check it out on your favorite podcast platform, or you can visit Focus on the Family with JimDaily.com and start making a difference in your family's life today. That's Focus on the Family with JimDaily.com. You're going to love it. And I was thinking, Jason, what you just said, that about a culture and life and how you get swept into these ideologies. And I thought about the same thing we're doing in the pro-life movement now.

I mean, that's become a big issue in the current presidential campaign is about whether you're for abortion, you want it available to all states. And I thought, how does that become a defining issue for people where you can, you know, basically kill your children in your womb and

And that becomes such a strong thing that people say we want to go out and win elections based on a mindset like this. You know, at one time people were for abortion, but they were kind of quiet about it. But now that's out the window. Now it's like we want more of it.

And it just reminds me of how these ideologies come up over and over and over again. And they don't even make sense. It's like the every life people that do the diapers. We have them on the podcast. You're exactly right. It's a temple of Diana 2,000 years later. It's a political group saying we are the gods of fertility.

That's it. We're going to do what we think is right. And if you went back, Jason, another 2000 years before Diana and this fertility stuff, you'd have Molech and out in the desert. And guess what they were doing? Sacrificing their children and all in the name of a God. It's a crazy thing, which shows you it has to be of the evil one. Why would anybody even do it? Which is the truth.

To make the point, though, our answer to that is Paul's answer, which was the Lord your God does not live in temples built by man's hands as if he needed anything. And God determined the exact times and places that all men would live so that they would seek him out, perhaps, though he's not far from each one of us. And we should not think of God as, I forgot the exact language, but we are his offspring. We are his children. And so the call is to bring people into an understanding of

of who they were made in Christ. And once you establish that, then all of a sudden there is no argument about the value of life. I mean, you are, you are made in God's image. You are his offspring, which is exactly right. Is that, which is why people will say, and I see this some now on the, on the Republican side, well, you know, we just got to back off on this thing because we got to win elections. What they don't understand is there's no, is this not a political issue for us?

This is a moral issue. This is because what God said is right. We're never going to change on life. We're never going to say it's okay to kill babies in the womb or out. That's never going to change. That's beyond political parties. That's beyond who I pull the lever for. So the idea that somehow we can shape our morality into a political party, a leader or somebody else, it's never going to happen. It's

It's because we serve something greater than any, than anything on earth. Yeah. It's not about, it's not about pragmatic or pragmatism, meaning it's true because it works. No, it, what truth is, is what God says it is. And, and it's, and it's anchored and woven and supporting and all around the fabric of reality. So it's, it's where we're, we're trying to say, submit to reality, like let the Holy spirit reveal reality to you.

and then submit to what is real, and God is real, and God has created us in His image, and that's real. I'm not really concerned about what works or some kind of utilitarian view of it where it's just a utility. No, no, no. We're talking about the very fabric of truth, and I don't think we can ever leave that as believers. You know, it's funny, Zach, you mentioned pragmatism because one of the Greek words, one of those seven different ones other than agape, is pragma.

which is means an obligated logical. You love something out of duty or logic. In other words, and that's it. I'm just being pragmatic. I don't really believe in it, but you know what? I, if I have to love it, I will. That that's another Greek thought from another Greek word. And we're like, but that's not the kind of love we have that has to motivate our hearts and changes. Yeah. We're talking about a kingdom. And I've gotten flack even from some of our listeners for saying this kind of stuff, but it's true. I mean, like we have to, as kingdom people, we,

We cannot give our primary allegiance to any of these political movements. I'm not saying we don't do like involve ourselves politically, but like, like, no, we're kingdom people. And I'm not, I'm not going to like put my life in the hands of a movement that's not centered on

and the truth of who God is and then who I am in him. And I mean, that's the key. I'm not avoiding any controversy by saying that either. I think you're actually leaning into controversy historically because it's been God's people who have stood prophetically in a gap of culture who said, no, we're not doing that or that. You know, we're going to we're going to stick here in this kingdom vein. So, you know, I know it's kind of a diatribe there. I apologize, but I believe that the

to be true. I don't apologize. You might start a riot. Maybe Ephesus riots all over again. That's why he's using this language like when he began that prayer in 314, he was like, for this reason I kneel before the Father, which there's your sermon, just like he did with those elders because you know this, when you have a temple that's made up in the middle of your city and you're basing all your family decisions based on a statue,

That's not real. And you look at this statue, you know, I looked at it. I mean, this is what we're going with, which is no longer in existence. So how to, you know, live off the land, of course, and people, they'll even bring up this modern day, you know, fertility God and make them up where, so you got human beings making decisions about families and life and all this and,

But I noticed they've detached themselves from Diana on the, cause she also went out and, you know, shot hogs and shot bear and she had a, you know, bow and arrow. And it was fun if you had, so like feel what they're, what they did instead of us just going duck hunting, you had to go visit the temple, say your prayer, bow the knee. And then if you did that, you would have a good hunt. That's what they did.

It reminds me, James, when you were telling that story, I think I've told it before on the podcast, and I don't have it in front of me, but it's in the Old Testament. I think it's in 1 Samuel, maybe. But where they had stolen the Ark of the Covenant, and they put it in this room, and they put their little god in there next to it, that little wooden god called Dagon.

And they put Dagon in there where every day they would come back in and Dagon would be laying on the floor bowing down to the Ark of the Covenant. And so they started posting guards and trying to figure out what was going on. And so the last day they came in, this happened every night, the last day they came in and little Dagon was broken into about 12 pieces and

before the covenant of God. And it was kind of like, the thing about how stupid that is that every day you got to come in and put your God back together again. It's like, I don't know, maybe I'm not following a big enough God, you know? Well, exactly. Well, that's the reason I went down this road. Cause I thought, you know, I see in my wife, this desire, you know, she had that desire to want to have kids. I mean, it was a,

great desire and she saw in me this desire to go put you know some wild game on the table because i mean it really floated my boat and i thought what two things they picked to have their god over and uh but i think i think it's you you you got to step back and say what is what is life really about start asking those kind of questions uh even you know yesterday i had a guy send me a

He sent me a video that just was pointed in his living room, which was weird because the first time I watched it, I didn't have the sound on. And I just thought somebody randomly had their phone on and then accidentally sent me the text and I couldn't figure it out. Well, when I turned it on, it was a guy blowing his duck call saying on a scale from one to 10, where am I and what do I need to do?

And so, which was helpful because based on what I was looking at, I thought someone has lost their mind. But so I listened to it. And the point I want to make is this guy could tell been practicing. I gave him a five. But my point was he was only trying to learn how to blow a duck call based on other people that he had listened to blowing duck calls.

And I was like, your cadence is off because you've forgotten one key thing. This is supposed to sound like a duck. That's what it's for. And you probably see where I'm going with this. It's like, you're never going to be great if you don't realize what an actual duck sounds like. When you're trying to figure out, is there a God? Who are we going to follow? Where am I going to pledge my allegiance to?

That's why God sent Jesus. And when you zero in, and Ephesians, Paul's letter, did a wonderful job of making this all happen in Christ. If you don't know what Jesus looks like in great detail, to your point about knowing him better, you're never going to pull this off. You're just going to have a bunch of letters that seem to be in contrast with the world, but it's not going to make sense.

Now, that's really good. And we're almost out of time. I think that's and that was the last one, by the way, was the fullness to have the fullness of God be evident in us. And we talked about that in the last podcast. What would it be like to never be empty, to never run on empty? And that's exactly who God is. And so you're never going to run out of God.

who he is when you understand that and you're into Zach's point earlier when you're in him and you're not trying to do it on your own. So it's a, it's a perfect way to wrap that up, man. What a rich prayer. I think we spent three podcasts on that one prayer because it's so, so good. And it kind of now turns the page and where we're heading chapter four. So we'll try to get there next time on unashamed. Thanks for listening to the unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes,

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