How To Study the Bible (and ACTUALLY Grow Spiritually) | Live Free with Josh Howerton

Bible study methods are like diets what's the best diet the one you'll do what's the best way instead of the Bible the one you'll Do the foundation of our theology is not anecdotes or experiences is the word of God You have desires that nothing in this world can satisfy it's because we were made for a different world Well, hey, a lifrey nation before we jump into the episode this podcast is recorded right here at late-point church in Dallas, Texas But the lifrey nation is spread all over the country and all around the world So if you've been watching and thinking man, I wish I could be part of something like this We want to invite you to take a simple next step and that is join us for church online Every weekend we stream our services live on YouTube Facebook and our church online platform And it's more than just watching a service. There are a live hosts in the chat prayer teams ready to stand with you and people all around the world Worshiping together in real time And so whether you're exploring the faith coming back to church or just looking for a place to start Church online is a great way to jump in and experience what God is doing here at late-point We would love to see you in the chat this weekend and now enjoy the podcast. Let's keep this fake Well, hey, welcome back to another episode of the lifrey podcast. My name is Carlos Racer And today I'm excited because I'm here with Pastor Paul Cunningham and Pastor Josh Howard's it. Wait. Oh, it's hey But this is the first episode on three of us have had it. Welcome back. It's good to be back It was like one week, but it feels like it was like a month. Yes, I agree for many reasons, but I will not tell you why It's the week that felt like a month. Yeah, we're gonna play something No, I'm gonna wait until you say the thing before I play the thing. Oh, okay. Why is why is this special? What special thing happened Carlos? Well, we have a special special announcement. I am excited and honored to announce that Chat G Paul C a K a the epistle missile pastor Paul Cunningham went to Israel Yes, I made it Oh, man, that's the music. I believe it was me as a airport I'm sure in some way I broke some rule by doing that, but it was funny. I mean as Paul is wearing a shirt I like you shirt. What is this? Yes? Yes, wow, wow this may or may not have been waiting on me It's a gift from my parents for when I made it show show the shirt. Yes. Yes. I made it to Israel, bro I've been asked a million times. I'm seeing why we were there. Man. Did you guys make it? Yes? I made it to Israel Bro, did you get your $7,000 from Benjamin Netanyahu still waiting on that money? I haven't seen a nickel yet So Ben we're listening or watching to this you could please just get in contact with you I give my address that'd be great We're gonna talk about it in just a second here But we're coming to you from Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. And today we're gonna have a spicy episode It's a lot here, man a lot here because we're gonna go second Timothy chapter two We're gonna talk about consecration What did I make it to the sermon? We're gonna be asking how to read the Bible We get a lot of people reaching out saying hey, I just bought my brand new Bible Essentially want to go like is it you doing three or four ways? Four we're gonna go four four ways to study the Bible Like top three most asked question we get. Yes, bro. How do you guys get this stuff? You get I'm not getting that one I read it how you study the Bible hacks tips easy ways to study and read the Bible all the things We're gonna be reacting to a viral video that resurfaced recently as well of this kid in a hospital because Mel Gibson retweeted it I think it's a fake Mel Gibson account by the way, I think so. I got got Because I saw the name too, but I'm like, yeah, it's probably not Mel Gibson You is legit but the video is a real video and it is a kid in a hospital seeing a vision of heaven And so we're gonna be asking hey, how should a Christian think through people saying that they see visions of heaven? Whether it's a near death experience or something along those lines. Yeah, you know what I'll just tease it I want to zoom out and ask because Christians give this all time There'll be a book that goes like it's like a bestseller for a year 90 minutes in heaven. Yeah, it's like hey, man How how should we think about that? Yeah, and we have some warnings and then we'll probably say a few things you might not expect We'll go there in a second. It's gonna be great. Hey, great job this weekend. Yes. Thank you. It's good good to be back Good to be back in the saddle come on couple things we want to celebrate More than a couple so first of all just kicked off rooted. Um, I want to shout this out. I just got this Over 3,700 people in this rooted session So 3,700 people at Lake Point that are walking through the 10-week discipleship experience can be awesome I'm at a Navy SEAL roast so legit. Yeah, I wouldn't preach the last weekend. Obviously, but I still like I'm a Christian So I like going to church with my family We were in the four o'clock and this dude his name is Eric He was like, hey, man, I was on SEAL team four. Please don't kill me You know, and dude is amazing. I mean, he just honestly he started listening to our stuff online Got can I think got connected via live free Stumbles in a like point is you know failing forward in grace figuring it figuring it out And he's like, hey, I'm out going through rooted. Oh, hey man. You made it through buds. You probably gonna make it through rooted But dude is anyway, 3,700 people going through the discipleship thing. It was amazing Wow, well, we we actually hear quite a bit of people saying that they Found the podcast online and then they came to like point and then they're joining a group joining rooted and now like the whole family's here They're getting baptized hang. I'm gonna cheat. I'll actually I'll turn it out takes you two later We can they didn't post so literally I got this message 30 seconds where you start recording So this is like an actual thing. So first of all live free nation legit We're actually moving people into churches and discipleship. So this is this is somebody at our North Dallas campus. She said my husband Well, I'll omit the names in case I'm not allowed our new to Lake point north North Dallas. We did rooted last semester This is our first time stepping out in the leadership for fall rooted She said there was a few common threads in our 24-person rooted group number one. This is gonna bless you Everyone got connected to lake point via the live free podcast Amazing. That's what she said. Yes. Number two all we're seeking biblical community making friends of faith to walk through life together And three and she was just talking about their past and she just starts going on You know brand new believers recommend their lives to cries bunch people getting baptized for the first time all because Start right here at live free nation. That's awesome man We people will be asking obviously because rooted is for the people that attend lake point here in person And so for those that are not attending in person lake point and because maybe they happen to live in a different state And we want to encourage you go find a Bible believe in church and find get plugged in That's right discipleship happens in relationships So that's amazing if you're anywhere near one of our strategic launch network churches That's where you need to go actually text map to 20401 and we love to help you find a church Yeah, so Matt you text map 2041 The hundred churches lake point has planted like all those locations it gets into you work constantly pushing people on those churches Those are good dudes good and out of the thousands of people that are joining rooted a lot It's perhaps actually thousands of people more will be taking a step of faith through baptism Yeah, that's what begins coming up in two weekends So that's like that's like biggest party of the year. We'll baptize out Hundreds, I mean like I'm not gonna say I'm gonna guess I'm gonna conservatively guess 500 people in that we'll baptize that weekend Wow, so you ain't never seen anything like it if you are if you were ever going to make a lake point service in person That you come come hang out for a big old party. Yeah, I think we're allowed to share this but last year we by the grace of God We baptized over 3000 people, but this year I think we're Let's say okay, well, I think we're gonna surpass that number like literally like our next baptism weekend in two weeks We'll pass it is dumb. I'll go to God. Yeah, we're just good Well if somebody's listening right now and they attend like point and you feel like man I haven't baptized I've not been baptized yet You we'd love to help you so text the word life to 2041 if somebody's in the area as well come visit We gotta get for you as well every single week. We do a free giveaway Because that's literally the definition of a giveaway It's just meant to be free. That's true. So go to YouTube and Spotify and comment hat Oh, I forgot when you were here last past your Josh We tried to name that guy over there and we have some people. You want to hear the top three contenders? Yeah, sure, and then let's get into we'll start talking about the Bible here in a second You guys have to talk about your Israel trip real quick. Well, that's a great story Yeah, what do we get for the name? Number one somebody said go go get it. Yeah Somebody said that the bare skull should be named Berenabas Because it looks so supportive sitting there next to Paul That's for creative. That's number one number two bear witness You know like okay, and then number three that feels like a coffee shop like a Christian coffee shop named Hebrews It's like that's a little. I mean, it's an option. Uh, and then number three. Did you get that Hebrews? But I appreciate it. They just now got it. They didn't. Yeah. They didn't get it. Thank you. And then number three somebody said that we shouldn't name the the this bear skull Baldi and memory of the kids who parason second kings chapter two. Oh, yes, that's not bad. That's not like that's a little lone Mobile stories. Yeah, PG 17 mobile stories That one. Okay, real quick. Let's start talking about the Bible. Uh, Israel highlights what would you would you all see? It was your first time. Good. Okay. So, uh, I'm excited to share this one. This is going to blow your mind. Hi So, uh, this right here is a photo right now that trains about to pull up It is the photo of the guarding of Getsemini And this is literally the garden. That's literally the place where Jesus praised the night He is arrested and Getsemini is located in this place called Mount of Olives Which is literally amounted full of olive trees. Now, uh, the word Getsemini comes from the Hebrew and Aramaic Getseminine Which literally means oil press or the olive oil or the olive crushing place And so obviously people know this but oil is what you get when you put pressure on olives And so the next photo right here is what people used to use in biblical times to literally grab a piece of stone, that circle stone on the top, put a bunch of olives over there, and then put pressure on them, and that's how you make oil. So when you read scripture, and you see that Jesus of the Garden of Gethsemane, he's not at this random garden. He's actually at a place that is associated with olives being crushed and pressed to produce oil. Now, in the Bible, Pastor Josh, you don't, you know this, and Chagypa C probably knows this as well. There are four different purposes for olive oil. This is really interesting. So first purpose for olive oil, it was used to anoint kings, priests, and prophets. You see this in the Old Testament, King David was anointed with oil, and then he became king. The sons of Aaron were anointed, and then then became priests. Elijah anoints Elijah to become a prophet. So king, priests, and prophet number one. Number two, olive oil was also used for cleansing. It was used to build soap. And so this is why Jesus is in Matthew chapter six that when you fast, it says wash your face with oil. Like it literally was used to cleanse you. Number three, olive oil was used to treat wounds and bring healing. This is really interesting in the Gospel of Luke. Luke is a physician, and he tells us the parable of the good Samaritan, and he says that the good Samaritan grabs the man that was wounded, and he uses oil on him to help with their healing. Also, I didn't know this, but in James chapter five, the famous pastor that says that if somebody is sick among you, bring them to the elders and anoint the person that is sick with oil. Oil is a representation of God's blessing over your life, but at the time, it was also used with medicinal purposes. And so again, bring healing. Number four, olive oil was also used to fuel lamps. So this is in just biblically true. This is also archaeologically true. This is a photo of the lamps that were used in that time. You actually have one right here, which is amazing. So you would put a bunch of oil in that little space and then a wick and then like you light it up, and that would be what people used to bring light. Now, if you think about everything I just said, four purposes. Here it comes. In Gethsemane, the place of the oil press, Jesus is being pressed as he fulfills the role of the ultimate anointed king, priest, and prophet. In Gethsemane, Jesus is being pressed because he is getting ready to go to a cross to cleanse us from our sins. In Gethsemane, Jesus is being pressed because he is the one who came to hear our wounds and the one who came to hear our wounds is getting ready to be wounded himself. And in Gethsemane, Jesus is being pressed because he is the light of the world and the Bible says that those that are in him have no darkness in them. That's amazing, but there's more. When we learn this on our trip, when you press ripe olives, the first liquid that comes out is actually not pure oil. It is a dark purple reddish color liquid. And some people think it actually looks like blood. Luke 22, 44, Jesus is praying, and he is an agony, he's saying, Lord God, Father, if there is another way. And the Bible says that as he is praying, he is an agony. His sweat becomes like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And so here's the point. Salvation costs you nothing, but to Jesus, it costs him everything. When you put pressure on the olives, what comes out is oil. When Jesus was pressured at the garden and at the cross, what came out with his blood and is in that blood that you and I today, by his grace, we find salvation. Oh, bro, that's what I learned. That's what I learned. Levels to this, bro, that's the first time I saw that you've all told you. He did. He did. He did. He did. He did. He involves the greatest guy in history. He's shut up. He's involved. That's what I was talking about. I was over there like weeping like a baby. He's like going through this thing. I knew where he was going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like he started. He started in. And if you know your Bible just enough, you start going like, oh, it's better and better. It's better. Anyways, it's so good. Well, man, I got to follow that. What do you got? Let's see what you got. Let's see what you're putting in the mic. This is, oh, man, well, first off, the whole thing was just incredible. Yeah, it was. It's hard even put into words. That's still like I am meditating on it and still trying to take it all in. Man, wait, hold on, Paul, let me ask you this. Have you been in Israel? I have been in Israel. Okay. I had that joke is dead. It's dead. It makes me sad. I was closing of a book and it's kind of sad when you finish that book. You know, there's other jokes. I'm sure there's nothing in my, in my expense. So I haven't been over in the footsteps of Paul. So I haven't been over that area. You still got that on me. But anyways, no, it was special. Brought a lot back with me. I left a lot of me there too. You know, may or may not have gotten a severe case of bacterial food poisoning. We will not go into detail. When I go into detail, Paul made some deposits. Yes, that's it. But about the grace of God, seriously, by the grace of God, I didn't have to miss a single site. And man, a few things to cast. More bliss. The receipt. That is exactly right. Listen, the way I like to think of it, it is, I just found a foolproof plan for not gaining any weight when I'm traveling. A foolproof. Yeah. Anyways, yeah, a few, a few things to suck out. One that really hit me hard was Caiaphas's house. Yes. Because a lot of the places, like, oh, this is approximately where Jesus was or, hey, maybe it was buried 10 feet beneath this, but there, I mean, they've excavated it. You're, you go down into the dungeon where he was held. And so if you paste that thing, you're like, Jesus was here. So I just knelt down, put my hand down. And then when I stood up, they had a Bible there and it was open to Psalm 88, which is actually one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible, which is kind of morbid because it's the darkest chapter in the whole Bible. But the, the Psalm ends darkness is my closest friend. You've taken my loved ones and companions from me. The darkness is my closest friend. And so just thinking of just Jesus being there in the darkness, but to your point, Carlos, he's in the darkness for us. That's right. He entered into the darkness to save us. So something about Caiaphas is how it's hit me. Obviously, the garden tomb was incredible. We had an incredible guy that sees our shadow. He's a little free listener, by the way. And everything. But walking out of the tomb and it just hit you like, this is what Jesus did. He walked out of it. But one of the things and it was kind of random that hit me was when you're in Galilee, everything is so close to each other. When you're reading the Bible, it doesn't hit you. It doesn't hit you. It doesn't hit you. It's like to kind of connect with us to be like, Jesus is hometown for a while. It was Capernaum. And that's where you see the story of him raising a little girl who died, the woman who touched the hymn of his garment. But then nearby it, the feeding of the 5,000, discern on the mount, when you read the surround the mount, I'd always imagine, oh, yeah, he walked away. It's out. Do literally walked up the hill. That's right. You know, and then down the hill is where he restores Peter on the shore. So it's all right there. So all these stories of healings and ministry happened within a few square miles of each other. It's literally like 75% of this happened in this area of Dallas. It's like kind of like that. Like in the Galilee area, literally if you went for a nice little 5K or 10K in the morning, you would go almost the extent of his Galilee in one side. It's insane. But the thing I've been reflecting on and really kind of crystallized today is I was thinking about how Jesus in the book of John says, man, you will do even greater works than these that I've been doing. Obviously he doesn't mean in the scope of the miracle. I think what he's talking about there, you're going to do them in places I've never been before. But if it's true that Jesus did most of his life changing ministry within a few square miles of each other to think the thing that hit me is that means for us today, these greater works, he's amazing things God has for us to do. They're probably within a few square miles of where we live. That's great Paul. We don't have to go to some far grand off place. I'm so thankful I went to Israel, but the things that God wants to do through me are probably right around me. That's good. And that starts whether it's a few square feet away from me and my kids and my wife's life or my neighbors. And so that's just the thing that's been resonating with me as Jesus was really into local ministry and impacting the people around him. And if we could raise a bit of army of men and women who are fallen Jesus is the same. The whole world would be different because of it. So there's much more, but those are a few initial things that suck out to me. Can you play that song one more time? I just need to. We heard music. Just people know we heard music like that. We're not doing a coach appropriation or anything like that. Well, uh, yeah. I don't know what that means. All right. That's only here in America. I don't know. Okay. And by America, I met North America, but anyway, it's different conversation. Uh, Pastor Josh, I have a question for you. I will allow it. What do you make it to this sermon? A lot. Okay. So this is great. So first of all, we're I think five weeks and five to good fight. Five or six. We five fight to good fight through second Timothy. I'm or I'll just tell you, I am loving this so much. Just don't need to. It is about 10 times more fun for me as a preacher. We're just preaching through a book. So this has been amazing. Um, so I'm actually a cheat. I'm gonna do one thing from last week's passage and then go into this. Um, so my bro shout out my bro, he preached, uh, the first part of second to me to dude. There is one of my favorite verses and I was so mad that he got that passage. One of my favorite verses in the whole New Testament is in it. So let me set this up real quick because this, this is why I had to, I needed to go back. Okay. So first of all, um, who I'm getting a quote is a old dead guy named Charles Spurgeon. This is Charles Spurgeon. You know, Charles Spurgeon and total stud. Yep. They call them Prince preachers, uh, preach, uh, Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for many years. The guy was pastoring a church of like 10,000 people before their microphones in the 1800s, like total stud. Bro, this, I'm reading the Charles Spurgeon biography right now. Um, became, became a senior pastor for first time in 17. Started pastoring Metropolitan Tabernacle. He was 19. He's pastoring like one of the most prominent churches in London when he's 19 years old had preached 600 sermons by the time he was 20. He's a freak. He's a total like a freak of nature. Yeah. Freak of nature. Yeah. Whole life, you know, cigar and one hand glass and brandy and the other, he's just kind of that kind of guy. You know, he's, he's a dude. Um, okay. So I'm going to, it's one of my favorite Charles Spurgeon quotes. This is why I had to like, let me go back. So, uh, let me set it up. So what I'm going to say is not going to make sense unless you know what Jesus name means. So we call Jesus Jesus in English. That's not what Jesus was actually called. The English name Jesus just transliteration of the Greek word, Jesus. Okay, that's where we get Jesus. But we all three know this. Jesus, he's grew up speaking Aramaic. So in Aramaic, they didn't call me Jesus. They called him Yeshua. Which by the way is where we also get the name, Joshua. - Great name. - Great name. - Strong name. - Strong name. (laughing) - That's what I get that name. But the name Yeshua comes from the Hebrew word Yasha, which means to rescue or to save. So all this is going to come together here in a second. So Jesus' name literally means one who rescues or one who saves. All right, now bookmark that in your head. So then here's my favorite, probably in all the second Timothy is as this. Second Timothy's 212, remember Jesus Christ, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. Okay, now you're like, what does it mean? He cannot deny himself. Nobody ever said it better than Charles Version. Okay, so Charles Version quote. As for this, my master never denied himself. If you go to him, you will find him at home and on the lookout for you. He will be more glad to receive you than you will be to be received for he waits to be gracious to you. He is watching for you. I tell you again that he cannot reject you. That would be to alter his whole character and un-Christ himself to spur in a coming center would. And here it is, un-Jesus him and make him to be somebody else and not himself any longer for. He cannot deny himself and then spurge and just end saying, go and try him, go and try him, go and try him. And the reason I think I love that so much is when you're the guy or the girl who you send that send, you promise you'd never send again for the thousandth time and you did it again. Or if you got a lot of doubts and you're like, man, I just feel really faithless. You read he cannot deny himself and you remember his name literally means the one who rescues or saves. And then you remember he cannot un-Jesus himself. So go and try him, go and try him, go and try him. I love that verse so stinking much that I had to go back, retraces steps and hit it. So you got that. That's from 2 Timothy 2 12. Now this passage we did this week, honestly man, there was a ton here. It's a lot, honestly man. It's a lot just about like Paul gone to his little disciple Timothy and go, hey man, here are the marks of a disciple that's actually growing. That's really all this is. So I'll just, I'm gonna hit a few things. You know, it's interesting to me. He begins this passage and this is an underrated thing. Preachers probably notices more than other people. He begins this passage and he says, keep reminding them of these things. Man, I'll just like for, you've been a disciple for a minute. You probably need to hear this. About 95% of the time, you don't need to learn something new. You just need to remember something old. Yes. Is that thing we'll say over and over? Forgetfulness is the greatest enemy of faith because when you forget what God did, you stop believing what it'll do. So it's like man, most of the time I've found when something's off or there's something going on under the hood, I really just need to go find the thing. That's hilarious. My assistant's setting up my new phone and I'm getting like a billion alerts like right now. I'm like, don't allow, don't allow, okay. There's the code that I'm supposed to send her. That's probably not gonna happen. Oh no. Somebody takes Janet. (laughing) Yeah Jason, this is great. So that's what, just go find the old thing. It's your heart needs to remember. And like, you know, just do it. Now, I'm gonna show you a gross picture here in a second. So just roll with me. He says this in this passage and man, I'll be honest, especially in social media age, this is like, this is one of the most disobeyed verses there is now. He just says this. He says, avoid Godless chatter. So he says, avoid Godless chatter. I think, and what's really interesting, if you look at the Hebrew for Godless chatter, it's Twitter, so what it is. And the Greek is Facebook. That's probably a tie, a next vlog. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In the Latin is Instagram. There you go, yeah. And in the air make is blogs, you know, it's like, what about you to shoot? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Okay. And dude, what's interesting is, yeah, TikTok, that's what it is. He says avoid Godless chatter. And then what he says, this is really interesting. Because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. So dude, this is really interesting. Because he gets into this and what he says is, hey man, he says avoid foolish controversies. Quit talking about quarrels about words. What he's literally talking about is he's talking about people who get real contentious in churches and they start debating little things and dividing their life groups, that kind of stuff and all this stuff. And what he's saying is, bro, there's a way to argue about the things of God that actually makes you less godly. You can be arguing about things of God all you want. But there's a way to do it that makes you less godly and then bro, this is where I'm going to show you a gross picture. He says avoid those people. Because quote, their talk will spread like gangrene. Okay, now I'm going to show you something nasty. Say it like that right there. So that, look at that. Bro, look at that. No, don't look away, Paul. Look at that with your face. (laughing) Both eyes, look at that, okay? Bro, gangrene. So that's what that is. Now I'm just, I'm going to keep it up because it's making you uncomfortable. I'm keeping it up there on purpose, okay? So when somebody gets that disease, now you can take it down, it's real gross. When somebody gets that disease, here's the point. His point is you can't cure it. The only thing you can do is cut it off. That's the only thing you can do. Now here's what's really interesting. I didn't have as much time to go into this. So second Timothy and Titus, they're like Syme's books because both of them were Paul's right into two of his spiritual sons. He says the same thing to Titus, but with different language about Godless chatter or people who were divided in church second of the thing. Titus three, this is what he says. This has got a bit of an edge to it. It's kind of thing like, wait, can we obey that verse? That sounds, I don't know what I think about that. He says warn a divisive person once and then warn them a second time. And then after that have nothing to do with them. So real what he's literally saying in this passage, he's saying, hey man, if you want to ruin a church, just let people get in there who like just, they sow division and they're arguing about stuff all the time, this Godless chatter and what we're supposed to do is essentially you got, when you see that, when you see, by the way, over the speaking this over the people like point, we're not these people, we don't do this stuff. But when you see people who do that stuff, he's going, hey man, you got two choices when you see that. You rebuke them or you remove them. That's what, and Bryce gets another one of those things where he calls out two dudes by name. Like he literally says, I think it's hominayas and phyllitis is their names. He just calls them out by name. And he's like, it's these guys. These guys are not doing, are those the names? I think that's the names. He tells these guys, yeah, hominayas and phyllitis are 17. He's like, don't do that. So I will say, by God's grace, we have not had to do this hardly ever at like point. But what you're seeing here is the very uncomfortable, very unpopular thing that goes very internet viral, that there are moments where churches just have to go, hey bro, you can't do that in our church. And if you can keep doing that, we got to kick out. That's what he's doing here. I will just say this. You know, I'll just, this right here, the ad addition to avoid Godless chatter, you know, in internet age, there's a lot of people, they'll see, you know, it's just the nature of us being very online. It's like, now people are always saying stuff about churches like a new whole industry, you know. Look at them, you know, I won't even say. (all laughing) - Say something, say something close to home. - To my monetized website. So I can just land our churches by the end of it. That kind of thing. But there's a lot of times people are like, hey man, I get this, why don't you respond? Well, because that just said, just to avoid Godless chatter, just avoid it. So it was interesting, like I've meditated on these verses a lot, you know, you notice Jesus did this. People with a lot of times walk up to Jesus and be like Jesus, hey tell us, you know, hey, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? And they're like, try to, essentially, they got a gotcha question. And then Jesus, he's broke. As I'm meditating on this passage, I realize how wise Jesus is. Jesus is applying the proverbs and he's applying this, avoid Godless chatter. And he, there's sometimes where he refuses to answer questions or he'll answer a question with a question. He'll go, oh, you want to ask me a question? And very interesting, very interesting. Let me ask you a question. And then he essentially goes, you know, hey, the baptism of John was it from heaven or from man? And he puts them in a, you know, a darned view, darned view, but the point is, man, Timothy's gone, hey, man, make sure as a church and make sure as pastors that you don't get drawn into Godless chatter. Hey, man, don't wrestle with the pig. All the heavens, you get dirty and the pig likes it, you know. So you got this. Now, there's a couple other things I really, you guys got anything on that? We good here? - Yeah, if I'm honest, like I, this is a verse I take very seriously. Obviously, like you said, Mr. Josh, like part of our jobs is kind of like, you know, it's just very online, very involved. So I actually, I wrestle with this verse a lot because man, there's obviously wisdom in trying to figure out where's the line between what is a foolish ignorant controversy and what is something that as Christians were called to speak into. - That's right. - But the verse is not saying that you never speak into the things that you need to be speaking into. And literally, like a verse after it says, "Hey, you have a responsibility as a leader." Lord's servant to one, not to be quarrelsome, but be kind to everybody, but then to correct your opponents with gentleness. And so there is a sense in which there's a time for you to say, you know what, like that's just not worth it. And that's a good warning for a bunch of, before Christians really for us. Then there are things we're just not going to, we're not going to touch. And there's also a time to, like you said, to correct your opponents with gentleness because that's literally averse. That's good. That's right. Yeah. Actually, I'll give it, can I give a delineation? Yeah. We made before the pod, but let's go a go there deeper. Yes. So this doesn't mean it's not saying it says avoid foolish controversies. It does not say avoid all controversies. In fact, those two guys that he mentions, Hamina's and Falitas, he calls them out by name and he addresses the controversy they're creating specifically because these guys were, I'm going to explain this here in a second, they were teaching false doctrine saying that the resurrection had already happened. So, I don't have time to go into this. It was a very, it was like a very Greek heresy that was like, "Hey man, everything physical is bad. Everything is spiritual good. The only resurrection that happened actually already happened when you gave your life to Christ. It was a spiritual resurrection. Already happened to you, you know, no physical resurrection was coming." So you'll notice Paul consistently chooses which things he confronts and which things he doesn't. Based on this that we call it, a lot of times we'll talk about theological triage, okay? So here's the analogy that gets used. There are first-year issues, second-year issues, third-year issues, okay? So first-year issues are issues of core doctrine, like you must believe these things in order to be a Christian, okay? So this is salvation by grace alone through faith alone and Christ alone. This is the resurrection of Christ and coming of Christ, you know, a bunch of stuff that goes in here. We don't debate those, we defend those. That's right. Yeah. I'm going to do the three Ds here. Okay. Got it. Got it. Okay. So second-year issues are issues where we would say, "Hey, it's actually more important to be together than to be right, but it may be uncomfortable." So for instance, motive baptism, like honest to me, if you are committed, what somebody might call a "pado-baptist," you're about sprinkling babies, and then you come to like point and we're like, "Well, we only don't people who have actually made professions of faith. Visible representation of invisible reality." Because we're all on team Jesus together, and let's move forward as team Jesus in a unified way, but maybe uncomfortable at like point when you want me to baptize your baby and do a little, you know, and I'm not going to do it. Maybe uncomfortable. Yeah. Okay. Third-year issues are issues where it's more important to be together than to be right and it shouldn't be uncomfortable at all, okay? So this is things like, "Hey, man, in my opinion, things like eschatological views, hey, what order are the events of the second coming going to happen in? Okay. Is it the millennium and then the, you know, thing or has the millennium come before the thing, preacher, rapsure, prostitute, rapsure, hey, man, we can like have fun discussions. We don't need to divide over that age of the earth, stuff like that. Like, I'm as conservative as you get on that stuff, but I'm not going to divide my discipleship group over that. How many of it is? That kind of stuff. The second-year, third-year issues. The way I like to put it is, first-year issues, if we disagree, we have a different faith, second-year issues, if we disagree, we should probably go to a different church, third-year issues, if we disagree, we just have different opinions. Bro, that's fantastic. Say that one more time. That's fantastic. First-year issues, if we disagree, we have a different faith, second-tier issues, if we disagree, we should probably just go to a different church, third-year issues, if we disagree, man, we just have different opinions. That's great. That's amazing. So he said it a little better than me. So here's what I would say, so what I'll typically do is when somebody's trying to figure out, hey, man, what should I? So by the way, notice there's a bunch of stuff that is not in any of those. There are like fifth-tier issues growing up. What color's the carpet in the church, or how they play drum, that kind of stuff. Like, hey, man, I didn't even register on the Richter scale. But on those things, what I'll do is, hey, third-tier issues. China's sexy me now, right? That's a joke, by the way. Third-tier issues, it's, hey, man, discuss, second-tier issues, debate, and then this will have an edge to it. First-year issues, either declare or divide. That's it, dude. So third-tier issues, friendly discussion. Second-tier issues, my have a lively debate. First-tier issues, divide and declare. So this is what's going on here, I think. That's so good. Let's just say a couple more things about this that was, you know, that I think were really good. And then I want to talk about Ways to Study the Bible. I love this, it started this passage. So you got this whole deal, let me find the pass right here, yeah, verse 20. Now in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, and some for dishonorable. Now what he's talking about here, so you got, by the way, I was messing with my ring and it fell a second ago. Somebody can find that thing because all the podcast clips are going to look like I don't got a ring on, and then it was going to be like, oh, he and Jan are, like, nope, me and Jan are real good. The Godless Shatter. Yeah, Godless Shatter will start. Godless Shatter will start. That's the way it is. My little silicone workout ring. Wait, Trinity, get in here. Come here. Oh, Trinity, get in here. Nothing. We've been waiting for an episode for the woman behind the curtain to show her face. It's a great reveal. So here we go. Drum roll. Here it is. Everybody in the comments is going to welcome Trinity. No, you get over here. You show your face. This is Trinity. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's so quick. And by the way, she didn't have to come over here because he found it. She found it. Logan Trinity. Can I get a sprite or something? That'd be good. That'd be good. Okay. So what he does here is he's talking about how he says, great house. So he's talking about big, like a big old house. Okay. By the way, if you attend Lake Point, it's a big house. Yeah. Okay. And then he says, there are some vessels of gold and silver for honorable use. And then he says, some for dishonorable, almost every Bible scholar says the same thing. He's literally talking about like a chamber pot. Like he's, he's talking, he's talking about a first century crapper is what he's talking about probably. And what he's saying is, hey man, there are all these vessels have a purpose. Some of them get used for extremely noble, honorable, significant purposes. But when the man, you kind of keep it, you don't want people to even see you use them. You know what? You know, not me in crafts. It's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Yeah. Now dude, this is so hopeful for me. What he says is, and I'm going to just read it. He says, if anyone, if anyone cleanses themselves from what is dishonorable, then they will become a vessel fit for honorable use. Now notice, you notice the word, anyone. Okay. So dude, here's what I love. So, what we'll say a lot of times is that that word condemnation. It's a builder's term. It literally just means unfit for you. So if you drive by a bunch of condemned houses, actually, do you have that? I'll try to get it. You didn't want to get on camera. If you drive by a bunch of condemned houses, go ahead and talk. Can you talk about that little condemned picture right there? So you'll see it. Like a condemned home will literally have this thing on it that says what right there says condemned as unfit for human occupancy or use. And when you see that Bible word condemned, it literally is just a builder's term. It means unfit for use. And so bro, I love this so much, man. What Satan is always going to do is how somebody condemns a house is a building inspector comes by and it'll look at something that's jacked up with the house, be like, ah, foundations cracked. There's a spestus in there, you know, we got rotted framing and it'll go because of that condemned, because of that condemned, because of that unfit for use unfit for use unfit for use. And you just got to know that's exactly what Satan's going to do in your life. He's going to find one thing in your life that either was or is jacked up and he's going to point out and he's going, hey man, you know, I'm not, I'm pointing at Paul, but I don't mean Paul. He's going to point at you listener. He's going to point at addiction unfit for use, had an abortion unfit for use, divorced unfit for use, you know, you guys got an anxiety problem unfit for use. Um, I do, I love this so much because what this passage says is it says, uh, it says if anyone, if anyone cleanses themself from things that are dishonorable, then they will be useful to the master of the house for something that is significant, a noble use, okay? So what God does is he comes by and he just says, Hey man, there is therefore now no condemnation, Romans eight, you are fit for use, you're going to be fit for use. And I just want to remind you, man, what you'll notice all throughout the Bible is this, this God is not determining your usefulness based on what you were, but based on what you will be. Yeah. So you run through the whole Bible and you're going to see this thing. You got no was a drunk, Jacob was a thief, Joseph was a convict, Moses was a murderer, Samson was a bully, Gideon was a coward, David was an adulterer, Solomon was a womanizer, Elijah had anger issues. When it was a racist, Jeremiah was depressed, Mary was a pregnant teenager, Peter was a hypocrite, Matthew was an extortionist, Thomas was a doubter, Paul was a terrorist. God's not determined on how he's going to use you based on what you were. He's going to determine it based on what you will be if anyone cleanses themself from what is dishonorable. So good. They can be used by the master of honorable, honorable use, especially in all the way in. That's amazing. Yeah. It's awesome. Now I got a lot more. There's a bunch of stuff about words, using your words. There's so much. Paul, I mean, just to encourage you if you're out there and that hits you, my mind went to first John where it says, anyone who says there without sins, a liar is right. But it says, but if we confess our sin is right. He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin. and cleans us from all unrighteousness. So he forgives us, but then he cleanses. So if you're listening to this, you're like, oh, confess your sins to God and know that he is a God who loves him longs to forgive and then declines and to restore. Yes. I was actually thinking about the restoration of Peter. And you just mentioned Peter's name. We got to go there to where he was restored. And he thinks he's all big and bold and that he actually overestimated his faith. Peter's mistake was overestimating it. Jesus knew where he was at. And so Jesus said, you know, I'm going to pray for you. And after you restored, come back. Kind of a thing. And I just love it. And I'm like, Jesus expected less from Peter than he did for himself. I'll say that again, it sounds harsh, but he expected less from Peter than Peter did for himself because Jesus knew before Peter was ever even on this earth, every mistake he had ever making, including denying him three times. And yet Jesus still signed up for Peter. That's right. Because he knew what he was signing up for. That's right. So I just say this to you out there. If you failed, especially could be years ago, recently, Jesus knew what he was signing up for when he signed up to die for you. That's right. Confess your sin. Let him forgive you and cleanse you. And I'll move into what God has for you. Amen. Amen. Do let me just say one more thing on this passage because at a practical discipleship level and how it affects your family, this probably the most important thing in the passage, there is more in here about words. What words you use, how you use your words, then bro literally anything else. Hey, live free nation. Let's have fun with this and swing some elections in all seriousness. Midterm elections are obviously coming up in November. In the state of Texas, there's an estimated 16 million Christians and the midterm elections coming up in November will be decided by a predicted actually about 300,000 votes. So what this means is if Christians do their job as salt and light in the world, good things really easily happen. So what we've done, a live free nation is we actually built a website to help mobilize Christians to do our job as salt and light inside. So you can simply text the word vote to the number 2041, text the word vote to 2041. And we have built a website all at our own expense to help Christians remember to vote leading up into the midterms because the number one reason that Christians don't vote especially in midterm elections is they just forgot. So with one text vote to 2041, you will get one text which is a link to the website where you can put in your address. We do not keep any of the information and it will tell you where the polling location is for voting in your area when to come and what in your area you need to bring. Again, we keep absolutely none of the data and we will send you that text and then only one other reminder text right before midterms. So let's have some fun with this text vote to 2041 and we'll see what live free nation can do. It's very interesting. When he says in this passage, I'm going to read it. It's versionally too. He says flee youthful passions. I was meditating on this this week. What are youthful passions? It's all the stuff that senior saints look at, look at younger people and go, that's real dumb. For real, that I like, I was trying to, how do I, I was going, how do I preach this? I was like, this is how it's all the stuff that when you get older, you look back and you're like, that was dumb. You know, it's like the 70 year old guy that looks like a guy that looks at a guy who's chasing skirt everywhere and he's like, bro, that's so dumb. Do you have any idea what you're doing? It is senior saints. They look at younger guys who just they love to fight. They just want to fight all the time. Are you about everything? And they just kind of chuckle at you and you're like, that's so dumb. That's so dumb. It's just getting worked up about stuff. You shouldn't just get worked up about or and here's the big one. What you'll notice is that older, more mature senior saints, they're very careful with their words. So when Paul says, flee youthful passions, it's like, what's the stuff that the old people think is dumb? And one of his words, and I just want to point this out, this is a little theology of words. So it's really interesting. So if you get, so you get the beginning of the Bible, God creates in Genesis one and he literally creates with words, right? Let there be light. There was light. Boom. Creates words. We are created in the image of a God who creates with words. Now, all I'm all out on word of faith, name it, claim it, blab it, grab it. I'm all out. Okay. But there is something to the fact that we are created in the image of God who creates with words. That means our words have a power that we probably do not fully understand. In fact, I'll just say it. I think that's what Proverbs 18 21 means when it says death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat his fruits. So here's what here's what that verse means. Okay. Every time you speak, it says eat its fruits. Every time you speak, it's like you're planting seeds and it's not going to happen overnight, but it will happen over time. All those things you speak are going to grow up into something, neither death or life, and one way or another someday you're going to eat exactly what you planted. That, by the way, that verse is literally where we get in the English language. You're going to eat your words. Do you know that? That came from Proverbs 18 21. That came from right that. So what I would say is let me just apply it to like marriages and kids real quick. Death and life are in the power of your tongue. Very interesting, by the way, that when the Holy Spirit falls in Acts 2, the first thing he does is he affects their tongues. That's very interesting. Very interesting to me. Okay. So I'll just give you a little analogy we use in the Howard and House, and then you're going to talk about how to study the Bible. It's going to be great. The reason this passage talks so much about using our words here, here's the analogy we use. Death and life. Chedgy Paul sees her this before on exact timber tree. The little analogy we use the Howard and House is where we say we're hummingbirds, not buzzards. And this may sound real dumb to you. I'm telling you this changed your family. We say we're hummingbirds, not buzzards. Okay. So here's a difference. A hummingbird can be flying over an entire desert of dead things. It will see one living flower and it will descend on the one living thing and pass over a whole ocean of dead things. A buzzard will do the exact opposite. A buzzard can fly over a whole field that's all life. It'll see one dead carcass and descend on the one. It'll pass over all the living good things and descend on the one dead bad thing. And listen, I'm just going to tell you if you're a dead, your tongue there is life and death in the power of your tongue. You are either going to have a hummingbird tongue with your wife and with your children or you're going to have a buzzard tongue with your life with your wife and with your children. Either you will be the type of man, husband, and father who looks at your wife and you'll be like, hey man, there's a lot of stuff wrong. But I see a few things, right? And that's what I'm going to choose to focus my words on. And here's what you're going to notice. When you choose to direct your words towards that, the living things start to grow. Or you're the type of man who death is in the power of your tongue. And you walk in the house and bro, there is so much glory in your kids, in your wife, in your family. But your tongue passes over all the good things. And it's constantly talking about the one dead thing. You got a buzzard tongue. And I'm just going to warn you right now. Life and death are in the power of your tongue. And I'll say this, if it heads up, dad, your kids are either going to live up to the blessings of your tongue or they will live down to the curses that come for your tongue. Say one more time. Your kids will either live up to the blessings that come from your tongue or they will live down to the curses that come from your tongue. There's your warning. So that's what this, that's why there's so much in here about how we use our words and our families in our churches. It matters. Now Paul, yeah, part of this passage, this is most frequently asked question that we get. Part of this passage is says, study to show yourself approved, a workman unto God, quote, rightly dividing the word of truth. Yeah. Okay. That's a big deal. And one of the most frequently asked questions we get on this podcast is, how the heck do you guys get that stuff out of the Bible that I never see when I'm reading it? So I'll just let's do this real quick. Let's like we want to equip people to be good workmen unto God. Yep. So Chachi, Paul, see you want to run us through real quick like three or four ways to study your Bible. Yeah. When people ask me this question, man, how did you learn all this sort of thing? I always tell him like, there's nothing special about you, me or Carlos, the difference between you and someone that you look up to who really knows the Bible is time and intentionality. In fact, time and intentionality takes time. Like I am this sum accumulation of about 47,000 meals that I've had in terms of just physically. Can't remember but a handful of them, but I'm the sum total of all of them in the same way. I mean, I you the three of us are, I'd say they were the sum total of all the times we've read God's word. So we may only remember a handful of those times that really stick out to us. But man, over time, the accumulation it just adds up. The intentionality part is really important as well. So it's not just so I'm going to flip up into a random page and see what's there. I know like an intentional plan is going to work better than a half hazard one. And so I'd say people like you want to be doing two things and I'll give you four study methods to do these two things. You want to number one, be exposing yourself to as much of scripture as possible over the course of a year. To get a Bible reading plan. It can be a year to your could be a three year plan. But that's we're going to be reading more scripture at runs. Just be exposed to as much scripture as possible. Or you could download the like point. Yeah, we're done. We'll send you a daily Bible reading plan. I got the plan for you by texting the word app to the number 2041. Wow, that was great. That's hot. I learned for you. Wow, wow, just commemorate that moment. That was amazing. But the thing on the microphone is here. I'm sorry. Oh, and then number two, number two, can I bring it as back, but number two, man, go deep on a book or two of the Bible year. Yes, and do both of those. Yes. I tell people, this seems like insane. But I'm like, if you will do that every year, if every year, you're exposed, yourself to as much scripture as possible through a Bible reading plan, and you will pick a book or two of the Bible or a theme or two of the Bible and go deep in them. In the course of two to three decades, you could have insanely, I had to say mastered the Bible, but you'll be like there. You would have exposed yourself to the depths of scripture and you'll be a fundamentally different person because of that. So those two kind of broad-based approaches expose yourself to a lot, but then go deep in a few. But then there's four good methods of how to do that. I don't want to walk people through them and really focus in on two of them because two of the methods is best if you get a book and I'll recommend some, but two will walk step by step. What'd you got? No, I was just going to say, as you do these, so if people are listening, here's what I'd say. I'm going to say two things. One, people, they may hear four and they may go, "Well, hey Paul, which one's the best one?" I'm going to go on and answer this question. When people, it's the same thing, what I say is Bible study methods are like diets. What's the best diet? The one you'll do, or going to Israel and getting a stomach bug. The one you'll do? What's the best way to study the Bible? The one you'll do. So just pick the one that you do. Now, the other thing I'll say where our personalities might be different is you're probably on your Myers-Briggs. I won't even ask you. Do you remember what your last letter is? You might get it wrong. I'm a P. You're a P. Okay, okay, me too. Yeah. Okay. What do you do? I'm a J. You're a J. That's why I think you're okay. Okay. Which means you guys got more like got feeling versus like sometimes I think I think that's right. Here's why I make it this wrong. Here's what I've been told that it means is like J's is like let me get the thing that I like to do and I'll just do the same thing over and over and over and over. Yeah. Honestly, for me, what'll happen is I'll do one of these and then honestly, I'm going to shoot you real straight. I get bored. Yeah. I'm serious. I get bored to do the same thing every day and then I just switch. Yep. So it's like what I would say is which one's best one, the one you'll do. Yep. And then if one starts lagging on you, we'll just switch. Just keep yourself interested. Now, you want to tell us four ways about it. Yeah, I've got actually chart for you. We love charts. I love it. We got charts. It's going to be at the four methods. Nope, not that one. We'll do the one that lays out the different. Yeah, the Bible study methods right there. Four methods. Devotional, inductive, deductive and biblical theology. Okay, I'm going to walk through just briefly each of these and then we'll double click specifically on devotional inductive and kind of walk you step by step through this methods. But each of these serves a different purposes and really they're about different questions you're asking. So devotional, this is best for your bread and butter bible reading. This is really asking the question of how can I respond to what God has said today by reading the word of God today. How can I read it? So this is also great for it. Like when I'm trying to take in a lot of scripture at a time, this is me. I'm going to sit down. This is probably more like 10 to 15 minutes, maybe up to 30. So this is best for your daily bible reading. I said people, you can do this one three to four days a week. It's a great thing to do. Inductive is really more right. Go. Go ahead. You're going to explain how to do. I'm going to explain how to do. I'm going to come back through then actually explain how to do. Inductive Bible study is where I'm asking the question, what does this passage communicate? This is a little bit more of in depth Bible study. Kind of thinking about this way. Whereas devotional Bible study is more like, I got 10 to 15 minutes, maybe up to 30 in depth Bible study or inductive Bible study is more like man, 30 to 40, maybe even up to 60 minutes of your time. This is great for diving deep into a passage or if you're wanting to study the book of the Bible. So we've been going through second Timothy, you could do that on your own and just take a little bit of it at a time, 30 minutes up to 60 minutes and just being honest with you to your point, I'm probably not going to do that every day. Most people don't have time for that every day. So for me, I'm going to do like as much as I can every day. I'm on the devotional reading that short, asking God, what do you have to say to me through this today? Inductive is then maybe once or twice a week. I'm going to go deep. And again, if you do that over the long haul, it really adds up big time. Deductive is really more of the idea of like systematic way or quick is inductive. That's K Arthur's old thing. Yeah. So I've got a book right here. Is she still in the Bible? She's still living. I don't know actually. It's a good question. She's a devoured K Arthur inductive Bible study method. She still does it sometimes. She popularized the approach. Probably go ahead and give a plug. That's right. She's hugged Jesus. Okay. This is yeah, how to study your Bible by K Arthur. Great resource. So we're going to give just a little bit of a brief starter course for people. But if you want to go deeper, this is a great book. 170 pages will take you deeper into it. Deductive Bible study is more the idea that hey, there's big topics and themes in the Bible. And we're asking, what does the whole Bible have to say about that given topic? So instead of looking at an individual passage to say, what is God trying to communicate to this specific passage? It's saying, hey, what does the whole Bible say about hope? What does the whole Bible say about the Trinity or about any given topic? This is where I would say, hey, it's best if you get a guide to help you. Someone who's written a systematic theology. So I've got here Wayne Grewdom's systematic theology is a great one. Also John Nielsen's, personal opinion, every Christian dad should have a copy of systematic theology in his house. Yep. That's your go to when your kid asks a question that you don't know how to answer. Here's what you do. You say, I don't know, but I'm going to find you the answer. And you go right at that book. Exactly. And so he gave you an idea like the last year. So I really wanted to dive deep back into the Trinity. And so what I do is I take a book like Wayne Grewdom's or others. And I'll use that as a guide. But here's the key. So you're not just reading Wayne Grewdom's words. You want to get into the word. There you go. You'll read his stuff. But then what'll happen is in all the stuff he's writing, you'll see Bible references and verses. Then go look them up and read it for yourself. That's the key. Other words, you're just otherwise you're just taking his word forward. You actually want to go to the word and see what it says. All right. Bro, I'll just go close. So one of the things that people listen to podcasts who like, bro, how do you guys do that? Yeah. So like the stuff he did at the beginning about oil press. And it was used in for four different things. And then he starts connecting it. I'm going to use a big theological word. Christologically, in how the four uses of oil throughout the scriptures are fulfilled in Christ. Okay. How you get that is through deductive Bible study. So this is one thing we may talk about in a second. One of the things that frequently blows my mind is all very intentionally chase rabbit trails. So I may talk about this in a second. Like I'm reading, I'm in numbers. And the other day, I'm in like numbers four. And it keeps insisting that the entrance to the tabernacle face east. So honestly, dude, here's what I do. I'm in my Bible study. And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to chase the rabbit trail. It's a great question. Okay. I'm going to trace the rabbit trail. And I just start digging in. What is the theological significance of the directions east and west of the Bible? And I don't know if I've time. Sting a blew my mind. It's insane. I'm like, I got it. It looks like hands up, tears down, worship pouring out of my heart, just chasing the rabbit trail on Tuesday morning. What's the theological significance of east and west of the Bible? That's deductive Bible says. Yes. Yeah. Oh, I got to be careful. We're going to make me chase right now. Don't do it. Don't do it. For example, that's where you can see. Oh, yeah. Like the garden of the Eden and the tabernacle were modeled almost exactly the same in terms of directions. They're facing how it's constructed, cherubim, all the things. But again, if you have a guide like Wayne Gruden, we're like, how do we learn this stuff from other people? We learn it. But then you saturate yourself and you go into the word and it's amazing. You know, again, even like here's a two practical encouragement from this, then I'm going to give the fourth category. And let's double click on soap and inductive and give people kind of a starter course so they can get going on their own. Which is a practical thing. I actually find for like deductive more like top of course, systematic study. If you know how to use AI, it can actually be really helpful right here. Fact. Fact. You got a double check. But fact, but this is where it's like, hey, can you get me all the relevant Bible verses on and then you give it a topic that you want to do. So even like I know for some people, they kind of have like, here's my word for the year that I felt like God has given me. A great thing you could do is then chat GPT or whatever. Say, hey, what does the Bible have to say about your word? And then spend that year diving into those verses on that word. It's a great way to do a more deductive study. This is what I did on the East and West thing. Yeah. I'm literally sitting there and I'm rocking. Got got Grocha expert. And I'm like, list for me every theologically significant verse that mentions the directions to East and West and the Old and New Testaments. And that's literally I just sit there and I'm doing my I'm looking up in my actual physical Bible. So I'm making sure I'm not relying on the AI. And and that's all of a sudden, I'm like, my mind's like being filled by glory. It's amazing. Yeah. And again, begin to put pieces and I'll give you the last study method. It's for me, most days I'm trying to do more devotional study. Trying to expose myself to the word is often as possible as God. What do you have to say to me today? Three word once and for all. But then maybe just a couple of times a week, I'm going to go more to that deductive study and go a little bit deeper. And it adds up over the course of the year. Final category, biblical theology. This is actually a really fun one. This is asking you with the question of, hey, how does a particular theme develop across script? So I'm going to say like when people hear about the connections you make Carlos between the old and New Testament, Pastor Dotsch, you do the amazing thing the same way. This is biblical theology. Yes. It's taking something that is a theme and it starts in the Old Testament, but then shows how it's fulfilled by Christ and the New Testament, which is in every single page of the Bible. Every single page and saying multiple layers of every single page of Bible. Oh, it's crazy. One even to help people understand like one reason, for example, that the book of Revelation is really difficult for people. In addition to it, just having a lot of symbolism and symbolic language in it, it is Old Testament saturated. Yes. And because people don't know the Old Testament as well, it's hard for them. And then it catch these things. It's alluding to all the time. But again, this is a method. It's great to have a guide. So a couple books, God's Big Picture by von Roberts is a great introductory one. And then also tracing God's story is a good one. It's great about this one. My daughter and I have started going through his systematic theology together is every chapter. He'll take you to the theme, but then he actually gives you reading assignments from the Bible. So again, you're not simply reading John Nielsen's word. He's going to make you read the word. And I think you had another recommendation, right? I do, because I'm too dumb to read Paul's books a lot of times. This is That other one out there, Trinity, the book that I did. So honestly, if you're going to, my opinion, if you want to do one and you're like, "Hey man, I'm trying to figure out the Bible. " This is how I'm kind of new to this thing. What are they even talking about? How the Old Testament and New Testament are laid? Where do they get all that mind-blowing stuff? My opinion, that's where you start. It's called Epic of Eden by Santa Richter. That book's thinking blue my mind. The first time I read it, you'll never reach a Bible same again. - Yeah, so pick one of these resources we give in. If you want to do one of the other study methods, use them as a guide, but again, I can't emphasize enough. Don't just read their words, read the words. If you see one of those references, go look them up. Now, let's do maybe a quick walkthrough of soap in the end of the study to actually just show you how to do this. So we've got the graphic for soap up there. Soap is simply, say, anagram that stands for scripture, observation, application, and then prayer. So if you're not watching this, I mean, highly encourage you to do it later. Maybe you can also put this in the guide as well. I've got up there even recommendations of how long you spend on each of these sections. So the idea is like, for me, I've got my Bible open. I've got a Bible reading plan that I'm coming out of. I've got my Bible open. Usually I have a journal in a pen, so I can say, focus, not get on my phone. And I get distracted by my phone. And so for me, then I'm going to just simply follow S-O-A-P. So scripture, choose a passage. And I usually encourage people, read it slowly at least once. Read it slowly. Don't skim through it really fast. Just read it slowly and intentionally at least once. And then for me, this is more of a recommendation than that you have to. Write a verse that stands out to you. A verse for a phrase. And even often what I'll do, and this is important to say actually, but the first thing you need to do before you do anything is just stop and pray for a moment. And just recognize, you talk about God, your words are important. The idea is like, God spoke the universe into existence. And that same God spoke this word into existence and he wants to speak to me. That's right. And so also I'm going to say, what do you have to say to me today? So I'm going to read it slowly. Usually thinking, is there any phrase or verse that sticks out to me? Then there's observation. Here's a mistake a lot of people make. A lot of people will immediately then say, what does this mean to me? Yeah, who cares? Nobody cares. Terrible question. Exactly. No, it does not matter what it means to you. It matters what does it mean, period, once and for all. So in observation, you're really asking yourself, hey, what does this mean? What did he mean to say once and for all? So you can ask a few questions like, hey, what's happening in the passage? What does the passage reveal about God or about people? And you're also noting words that stick out is, hey, is he saying these words a month? You're simply spending five or six minutes and be saying, hey, what seems to be the main message, the main things that are being communicated here. Don't worry about, by the way, if you get everything. This is devotional reading. You're not trying to write a thesis. You're simply trying to get a few basic things. Then there's applications. This is where you ask, not does it mean to me, but actually, what does it mean for me? So there's what does it mean? And then you're asking, OK, based on what it means, what does that mean for me? How do I actually live differently in light of this? So you can ask some of these questions. How does this truth meet my life right now? Is there something that I need to believe or change or do? And here's what I use to encourage people, choose one specific thing. If you have multiple things, great. But it's going to be, say, hey, if one thing changed today about what I believe or what I do, or how I feel, based on this passage, what would it be? And then the final thing, P is prayer. Take a moment, thank God for what you learned, and ask them for the grace to apply the thing that he showed you. Anything that you guys would weigh in on this and say, and you will click on? On the observation. I mean, that's the word that we use traditionally for observation. And kind of application a little bit is the word meditation. That's the word the Bible uses. And I mean, this is from Psalm 1. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord. And on this law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields his fruit in its season. And its leaf does not weigh there. And all that he does, he prospers that word to meditate in Hebrews the word arach, which is literally the same word that the prophet Isaiah uses when he's talking about a lion growling over its prey. So in the same way that you see a lion looking at its prey and it's a growling and it's kind of pondering and it's looking at it and it's about to eat it, that's how Christians are called to approach scripture. We look at scripture and we meditate. We ponder it. We are hungry for it. And basically, that's what you just described Paul on observation. It's good. You have to pass your draw some more emotional reading on this. Yeah, a couple of things real quick. So here's-- I just want to highlight a couple of things you said. First of all, man, like developing this habit will be arguably the most important thing you ever do. Yes. Because I'll just say the same thing I say all the time, man. It starts out sound and sacrilegious, but just stick with me. Praying is not powerful. Reading the Bible is not powerful. Going to church is not powerful. Singing a song is not powerful. You know what is powerful? Reading the Bible every day. That's powerful. Praying daily. That's powerful. Going to church every week. That'll change your life. So it's the thing over time. When it comes to observation for me, a lot of times, for some reason, for me, the number is 30. I'll sit down and I'll read like a passage. And I'll just go, OK, I'm going to make 30 observations. That's good. And it's basic stuff. I mean, like, Paul's talking to Timothy. That's an observation. This is the fourth time in this book. He said this. I'll just force myself to do 30. And I just-- you know, I get my brain does this thing. So if I can have a pin right there and force myself to do it, like, OK, 30, it just gets it heart-marinating in it. Now, to what Carlos just said, you know, I've heard the little analogy before. You got the example from the scriptures that the word is like a sword. You got that analogy. You want to grip a sword with five fingers. So here's what I'll kind of do sometimes. There's like five ways that I want to interact with the Bible. And they kind of all flow into these different study methods. You want to read the word. So all five fingers grip the sword. Here's the five fingers. Read the word, study the word, memorize the word, meditate on the word, pray the word. If I can get those five, I'm gripping the sword with all five fingers, OK? And then when it comes to meditate, really meditation is like a prayerful form of what you just said. So like, this is two days ago. I just needed it. I took my little long walk. And I got my life on note with a bunch of lyrics of hymns. I look like a great-- I actually had a church member stop and be like, are you OK? They saw me there because they see me. I'm like crying out to the Lord. You know, they're like, you OK? Yeah, I'm worshipping. You know what I'm saying? They're like, leave. That's what I'm like. I'm busy with. Hey, man, there's things you-- Mind your own business, things you think, but you don't say. And you know-- I love you about it. Jesus loves you. But so meditate, it's like meditating. It really goes back to-- it's a prayerful form of what Paul's talking about. It's like meditating. I'm meditating on that passage. I can't remember which number. Oh, God, you are my God. It's like, I'll just sit there. So really what I'm doing is making prayerful observations. I'm just going, oh, God, man, I'm just stopping. Man, you are a Lord. You are sovereign over the universe. You own the cattle on a thousand hills. Not a sparrow falls to the ground, apart from-- I'm just like naming and saying back to him the aspects of his Godness. Now, I might go to the next word, you are my God. Man, I have been adopted by my Heavenly Father. It's not just that I'm yours is that you're mine, you're my God. This is a covenant, you know? And then earnestly, I see. So-- but these-- here's what I'm-- what I'm driving at is these are prayerful observations about the text. Is what we're driving at. It's so good. Yeah, let's keep going. It's so good. Yeah, let me talk, walk through the inductive. We should take a long time because actually soap and the inductive method are really similar again. Devotion reading the point is usually is shorter. And mainly it's, hey, I do want to know what the text means, not what it means to me, what it means. But it usually is driven towards, hey, God, what do you have to say to me two days, based on our reading plan? Whereas, inductive study is really more-- you're doing a deep dive into a passage, usually in the book of the Bible in context. And you're going to walk through it a little bit at a time, because you're just trying to be a person who masters the word and can handle the word correctly. But you'll see a similar pattern in that inductive study moves from observation to interpretation to application. So again, different letters than before of soap, but it's still a lot of the same stuff. It's observation, interpretation, and then application. So again, usually people, hey, read, choose one complete passage. So for example, if we read in second Timothy, we would do the passage this week, and you're going to read that passage slowly, for this, I'd say two to three times. So before, it was like, hey, read it once. If it's more devotional, if you're going in depth, read it two to three times, depending on the length of the passage. And what you're doing on observation is you're marking repeated and important words. You're like, man, the Apostle Paul seems to talk about words a lot. He says the word teach a lot. Okay, that seems to be really significant. Let me circle that highlighted or whatever it is. Look for contrast and commands and reason. So like, if Paul or whoever it is in one of the books is giving commands, okay, write that down. What is the command that he's given? You mentioned, I love the observation thing. It sounds simple, but like, that's important. It's like, what I do, if you looked at my journal when I'm writing stuff, it's usually not as profound as people would think is literally I'm just trying to catch if, hey, Paul commands this. He says this kind of a thing. And then I would say for this one, write down at least five. So you went 30, you did six times more than me. You're like advanced level compared to me kind of a thing. But it's like, right, at least over here, right at least five observations, then investigate. This is where you're going to ask questions that are raised by whatever you have been reading. So ask questions. This is one of the best ways to learn. So if you don't understand it, begin asking questions, why does Paul say this like this? Hey, why does he mention their names? You're just asking questions. And you may not even be able to answer them at first. And this is where it's helpful, I find, to have a good study Bible. Now, I do, I do tell people on this, don't go there first. What's your recommendation on a study Bible? ESV study Bible is amazing. NASV study Bible is fantastic as well. Those are my, any besides those two. ESV is the one that I typically go to, I've got a MacArthur study Bible that I like. Yep. Yep. Don't go there. first because it'll become a crutch and set wrestle with it. But then you're like, "Hey, I still don't get it. That's where having that good study Bible is a helpful tool for you." Yeah, and I will say this, Paul, because honestly, for me, this is probably one of the ways that I've grown the most over time. Just I have a lot of questions. You know, I just, where literally, I think every single day, when I read my Bible, it's question after question. Like today, I was reading this morning, the temptation of Jesus. And it says that Jesus was in the desert with Satan. And then it says that Satan took Jesus to the top of the temple. And I'm like, wait, I mean, I've been there now. So I know that the desert's over here, but the temple's like literally the day, like, teletransport. Like, well, that's a question that I have. And like, again, I think some people get discouraged because when they read it, they're like, man, I don't understand it. What did you write down the questions that you have? Because that's how you moved from not knowing towards finding the right answer. Exactly. If you write down the questions and then go look for the answer. This is usually the place that's going to take you the longest. Is your writing down the questions and then you're going after the answers. You've got a guide to help you. Go ahead. It's usually where you get the best stuff. It is where you get the best stuff. That's usually where you get the best stuff. I'm so glad you said that. That's a really key thing is shallow Bible study to end depth, Bible, say, this is the difference. There you go. Is where you will ask the questions and then take the time to go look for the answers yourself. Okay. Then finally, let's begin wrapping this up, summarizing it. This is where I encourage people, when you're doing more than in depth study, for the particular text or passage you've got, try to summarize the author's main point in one to two sentences, max. Keep it simple. Keep it in your language. Don't try. You're not impressing anybody. This is for you. But summarize and say, if I could boil all this down into what's the main point of this and one to do sentences, man, that's good. And then respond. Then you are asking, hey, again, what should I believe? How should I change in light of this? Here's what I tell people for this or for soap. Here's the analogy I use. Remember when we were growing up and we had to write five paragraph essays. The idea that they were doing is, hey, they're trying to teach us how do I introduce something I want to say? How do I write some things to support it? And then how do I conclude the argument? Since you learned how to write a failed paragraph essay, have you ever written one again? No. No. But what stayed with you, you over time, the more they forced you to do it, it became second hand to where now you still got the same concepts, but now you just do it without thinking about the five paragraph essay. Same thing for these methods, whether it's soap or then more inductive thing of observation, interpretation, application. When you begin to do this, it may have to be a little bit more rigid. And you may even write out those words about beside them in the film in your paper, you will begin to do this naturally. It'll just be part of who you are and what you do. That's part of the game. It takes time. If you need some more help, again, a great book, especially for the inductive study, is either how to study your Bible by K Arthur, but there's also a great one called a noble word by Peter Crowe. And what I love that he does is throughout the book is about 160 pages. He takes you through the same passage in Genesis and he says, okay, this chapter is on observation. Here's how to do it. That's fascinating. Yeah. All right. Here's interpretation. He does a case study. Interesting. And it's the same passage. So then it's like, here's interpretation. He teaches you some tools. And he's like, all right, now go do it. And so that's a really good one that I'd recommend as well. All right. Anything on those things that you think I left out or be good to give some. Just to add what you just said, Paul, you know, obviously as you keep studying it, learning more things matters. It is important. It is necessary. I think we have a responsibility. We have a faith that seeks understanding. That's a good thing. But I think also having the right posture after your heart is also essential. Yes. Because when you look at scripture, the Bible says that Satan and demons actually know their Bible quite a bit. Today you will find atheists that have a lot of degrees more than probably the three of us combined that actually are not in the team Jesus. And so when you do read it, you know, I would just say three things. You read it and you study it with a heart that is reverent. The Bible says in ICS 66 that this is the one to whom I will look. So God is saying, I'm going to pay attention to this person. He who is humble and contrite and spirit and trembles at my word. And so when you open up, when you study, when you do all the books, when you read all the things, make sure that you have a heart that is literally trembling. This is like God Almighty speaking to me right now. Read it with expectation. Ultimately, Paul, you said, this is God speaking to you. He's going to not just speak to you in a generic way, but this is your Heavenly Father giving you a word that you need for today. It is your daily bread. And then the last thing I would say, read it humbly. Second Timothy chapter three, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness so that the servant of God that's you and me may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. We don't go to scripture and study it. So it affirms what I wanted to say. We go to it so that it corrects us. And so that we can be grown. We don't go just to be informed. We go to be transformed. We don't want you to think free. The whole point is for you to actually live free. And so that's it, man. So good. Man, last thing I'll say. And then we're going to talk about this kid having a vision of Jesus. What should people think about 90 minutes in heaven books, which you should do an inductive Bible study on it? There you go. And figure out what you think is actually. So here's how we'll point out really all we do every episode is we're basically doing this. You're listening to three dudes that like the Bible and like Jesus a whole lot. Just doing a Bible says. That's how we're doing. It's hilarious. I don't think people figured that out. I'll just give an example. So I'll give an example of how like, okay, man, how does how does it work? And then how does it pull worship out of your heart? We're like, do that. That that that that changed me this morning. So do the other day. I'll just give the example of the east west thing. So I'm in numbers, not not the reputation for the most riveting book in the Bible. But it's numbers. And you know, there's all these complex instructions about how to set up the tent. You know, it's like basically the first few chapters are like a like an Ikea instruction manual. Which we all love. Which all of us love. But I kept notes. So here's an example that if you're listening to this, you're like, okay, bro, I want to get into the word. Well, how do I need to think? This is an example. So I'm reading the Ikea instructions that got inspired. And they keep doing this thing where he keeps going. Hey, the entrance to the tabernacles got to be to the east. And it over and over says toward the sunrise. Now, I'll just here's a heads up. When you're reading your Bible, if you see something that doesn't make sense, usually spiritual. I'm just going to tell you this, like 99% of the time, if you read something, you're like, if it doesn't make sense, usually spiritual. So I did exactly what Paul just talked about. I go into inductive, a deductive study, my inductor, yeah, which one's the one where you take the theme across the whole body, deductive, deductive, deductive and biblical theology, a little bit of both deductive study. So I pull out handy dandy groc expert and I did the thing. Give me every, I just this is literally a question I asked it. Give me every passage in the Bible that carries theological significance around the directions east and west. So then it's now it gives me the pastures. Now I'm not relying on AI to give me the meaning. It's just pointing to the passage. So then I go to the passages. Okay, bro, so I'm like worshiping my heart out, reading Ikea instructions on Tuesday, because okay, here's what you get. Like, first of all, apparently, this is a huge theme in the Bible. Literally, I learned, I was today years old before I figured this out. Okay, so dude, basically throughout the entire Bible, it's the direction of the presence of God moves east to west. Okay, the entire, and then it culminates in a way that's called degumble your mind. So you got in Genesis, Eden's in the east, and then when they get kicked out of Eden, the presence of God departs out of Eden, and they put the little flaming sword right there. And the exit to Eden that it was gardening or the entrance is on the east side. So the glory departed out the east. So towards towards the east. Okay, in Genesis, bro, this is nuts. In Genesis, as they're rebelling against God for like the first 15 chapters, if you trace where they move as they rebel, they're moving east, east, east, east. So remember, the presence of God moves east to west, they're moving west to east, they're moving away. Okay, so, so they're moving east, east, and then the hinge point of Genesis, God calls Abraham. He's like, I'm a reverseist little trend. Guess who's the one dude who starts reversing the flow? Abraham, he calls Abraham out of the east, and Abraham is now moving west is where God calls. Okay, now you go a little deeper. Then you start reading IKEA instructions. Okay, I read my IKEA instructions in Leviticus and Numbers, and the Tabernacle always has to face the east. And then it specifically says toward the sunrise. Now remember, here's the theme, all this going to crescendo here in a second, it's going to blow your mind, going to make you want to study your Bible. So now remember, the whole flow of the Tabernacle is east to west, always. So the entrance is on the east, and the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant, where the glory of God dwells in highest density, it's on the farthest west side. Okay, so you're flowing east to west, then bro, New Testament. Well, first of all, you get these prophecies, how someday there's going to come a son of righteousness with healing in his wings. Where's the sun, where's the sunrise guys in the east? Okay, then you get in the New Testament, the magi, when they're coming, they follow a star out of the east, and they come west, and who's there? Jesus. Then dude, you get a New Testament. I'm learning all this, I'm today years old, learning this on Tuesday, I can't wait to preach this someday. Then when the New Testament talks about the return of Christ, I'm going to read the verse. For as lightning comes from the east, and shine. in the West. So we'll be the coming of the Son of Man and then. When Christ returns, we know the book of Zechariah tells us he will almost certainly, his feet are gonna touch down on the top of the Mount of all of all of us, which is east of Jerusalem. And we'll listen. What the Bible is showing us is every single day. Every sunrise is a sermon. Wow. My glory is going to return. It's gonna return from the east and it's gonna go to the West. You will see it with your eyes. Now bro, all that is me sitting outside of my stupid little rocking chair. Just chasing a little rabbit trail. I wonder why the Ikea instructions said east. And all of a sudden I'm finished and just glory. I'm just like glory streaming down my face. Why? Because the word of God is living inactive and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing and dividing a sunder. There it is. Let's do this. Wait, but before I play that music one more time. Sure. Oh, Bryce, I think. No, no, no. Wait, that's actually perfect for the whole east thing. They are east of us. There you go. Okay. We have a video. Let me see. Let's, so let me give you a little bit of content. You want to introduce the video? Yeah, here's why I want to do this. We're gonna do this real quick. Here's why I want to do this. About every three years a new book comes out. This like 90 minutes in heaven. I don't know if that's actually the name of a book. By the way, so I'm not slamming. It is. Okay. Well, I don't even know that book. I'm not slamming anybody's specific book. I'm just talking about stuff. Or you'll hear a thing, you know, some new book will come out and and do it honestly. It always bothers me a little bit because I feel like people read those books and they're more excited about what that book says about heaven than what this book says about. And there's like this little Christian hysteria. And then honestly, dude, we may have somebody out of the pod sometime soon. People have these, they're called NDE's and your death experiences where they supposedly have visions of heaven. And then this week there was a video that went like stupid mega viral of this kid. Do you have any background on this video? We're about to see. Yeah, young boy coming out of Anastasia after surgery for us from a skateboarding injury and the video is basically him coming out of it. And he starts to say a bunch of different things about Jesus. He starts to talk about his father whom apparently had passed multiple years before from cancer. Yeah. Saying that he was seeing him and he's saying it's beautiful. It's pretty rare about to see it. Yeah, you're going to see it in a second. Okay. So what I want, here's what I want to do just real quick because I just want to use it. We want to view the world through the word. So when you see this stuff, how should you as a Christian think about it? When you see the book on the bookshelf, what should you think about it? Let me, before we go to the video, can let me just begin with why I'm really, really, really cautious about books like 75 minutes. I went to hell for 75 minutes. Let me tell you about it. Okay, or heaven, whatever. I'm really cautious for a couple reasons. But then I'm going to show you this video and we may go in a direction unexpected. First of all, let me just point this out. The Apostle Paul was, we actually have a biblical example of this in the book of 2nd Corinthians. The Apostle Paul was caught up to the 3rd heaven. By the way, in your Bible, when you see 3rd heaven, how the Bible does it is the 1st heaven are where you can see some clouds. The 2nd heaven is like what we would call outer space and the 3rd heaven is like heaven heaven. Like where Jesus is at. Okay. So this has actually happened before Biblically and we know it. But what's interesting is I'm just going to read it. It specifically says, Paul says this, that he was, quote, caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things watch things that no one is permitted to tell. So it's interesting to me when this happened to Paul, he's like, man, actually, I can't talk about it. He didn't sit down and write the 112 minutes in heaven book. That's interesting to me. Number two, none of the people Jesus raised from the dead, Lazarus, JavaScript, etc. None of them go on their 97 minutes in heaven speaking to her. No one did that. Nobody did that. I'm just pointing that out. No, we got nothing from them on. Here's what I saw. Let me tell you all about it. And then, dude, I'll tell you, here's another reason I'm really cautious about this. And I'm not saying all this stuff's fake. I'm just telling you why I'm really cautious about it. Colossians 2, 18, very underrated, unknown verse. It specifically warns against people who will try to quote, disqualify you or manipulate you. And it says that they quote, go into great detail about visions they have seen. So I just, you know, there's a pattern that you start seeing here. Okay. Now, that said, the question we want to ask is this video, I saw a whole bunch of people, I don't know, posting it. What do you do with a video like this? So we just set it up. Kid, I think the kid's name is Kason. Kason. Kason. And he's having this, what seems to be a vision into heaven. And he says some things that you're like, well, that's kind of interesting. Okay. What do we think about this? Let's check this out. Hi, Jesus. By the way, just wait. I'm going to warn you right now. This is going to wreck your heart. This is going to wreck your heart because the kid's father had died, like Carlos mentioned, not too long ago. Okay. So go, go back. Here we go. You're so beautiful. Now watch the specific things he says. I'm going to come back to this. He's going to dream. Jesus, what are you coming back? We need you. I need you. I miss you. Jesus. I said, do you see me skateboarding? Is that pathway in your home? Oh my god. Mom loves you guys. She says you're on time. He said you're so beautiful. I can't wait to see you. Watch closely some of the things he says. He can be a hug. I'll scream a better. I'm talking to you dad. I wish I was with you dad. No. I can't hardly do that. As a dad. There's so many flowers. Watch where he says about what he's seeing. And this is where I want to butterflies. A lot of butterflies. I don't have any verses for that, but I'll come back to you. Oh my god. So pretty. Okay, just that. God is so pretty. Look, Mark that. He has fire. Look, Mark that. I know you'll save everyone. Can you see now? Can you see? I see heaven. Heaven is so pretty. I miss you dad. Don't go away. Please don't. Is this normal? Okay, you know. I love you, Jesus. I love you, God. So pretty. Did you see my mom? She's so pretty. She works so hard to provide for us. I love you so much. I would have really never heard of her. I'm sorry, Jesus. Are you awake now? Jesus loves you. I was. I was very gospel. Okay. All right. Now first of all, if that didn't make your eyes sweat, you need to check your salvation and check your pulse. I'm just going to tell you if you're like a younger guy and you're like, why are these guys so wrecked by that? I'm just going to tell you it rearranges the furniture of a man's soul when he has children. Yes, it does. So that right there, that's going to hit different when you got a kid or two. It's really hard for me even to slip into like Bible analyze mode. But let me do my job here. First of all, I already gave some warnings about why I'm like cautious about this kind of thing. Let me give some other warnings before I say swing the other way. Let me just give a heads up, especially for like a military guys, that kind of thing. I'm not a medical professional. I don't claim to be. I'm just saying something I've noticed. I've noticed some guys that they'll get into like psychedelics and then they'll say that they have visions or encounters with Jesus. And I'll just tell you, I've seen that go real, real, real dark. I'll also give a warning. The devil can do visions too. Galatians 1, 8 that even if we are in Asia, we're having a peer to the impression of the gospel, let them be a curse. So the devil can do visions too. So my caveat is we do not believe every spirit, every word, every vision. We're committed to test the spirits, test the words, test the visions. Might be God, might be Satan, might be anesthesia wearing off. But let me say this, I refuse to rule out the possibility of something like that being absolutely legitimate for two reasons. One, we already know the Apostle Paul and second Corinthians was caught up into the third heaven. In other words watch Paul's heavenly father loved him so much. They said come here buddy. Can I show you some things? And I can totally see it in the Father's heart to see a boy like that who lost his dad and if you know the background He also lost his grandfather and for him to go hey come here buddy That's not outside the Father's heart according to second Corinthians Due to also say this it's hard for me not to watch that video and think about the verse in Acts 2 Your young men shall see visions Maybe what you're looking at there is a young man man this all visions also let me just point out a few things It is very interesting to me some things that kids said He sees let's let's grant the premise. We're not saying this But let's grant the premise that that was legitimately an expression of the heavenly Father's heart to love that kid And he really did see some sort of realistic spiritual vision, okay? One he says dad you're so beautiful. Well, here's we know. I don't know what our glorified boders are gonna look like another gonna look glorious That's interesting. Yeah, okay. He also says it's so fascinating to me, bro that little kid I don't even know how much of his Bible. He's ever even read and He sees God and you see his eyes change and he goes God. You're so pretty. He says it twice. You're so pretty Revelation book of Revelation After this I looked and behold a door standing open heaven and Behold a throne stood in heaven and one seated on the throne God and He used sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Karnelian and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald Sounds real pretty to me And then dude, did you see that spot where he sees Jesus and he says he has fire eyes His fire eyes Revelation 19. Yep, then I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and the one sitting on it was called faithful and true and in righteousness He judges and makes war his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head or many diadems I'm just telling bro. Some things you got Bible verses for now Here's how I would do this and you guys can disagree with me disagree and I heard my feelings If I was a pastor of his in the hospital with that kid and I walked in and that kid said Hey pastor, I just saw this was that real Here's what I'd say I Think what I'd say is that put my hand on his shoulder and I want to hug him and hold him And I'd say something like hey buddy. I don't know I don't know But here's what I do know Every word of the word of God is true and you said some things that are true Jesus does have fire in his eyes The glory of God isn't more beautiful than you're ever going to be able to imagine Heaven and hell are real and when you understand that you do want to spread the gospel more and then I'd want to say and Hey, buddy You will see your daddy getting in heaven and you will get a hug him and you're getting a hug Jesus to and here's the best part buddy It's going to be even better than what you saw Because no I has seen nor ear heard nor mind conceived what God has prepared for those who love him So when I'm looking at that stuff I'm very skeptical of 37 minutes in heaven book. Let me go on my tour and that's just not what the Apostle Paul did. That's not one of you I cannot rule out the possibility that's something like that Absolutely might be a legitimate expression of your young men shall see visions. Mm-hmm. Agreed disagree additional comments Mm-hmm. No, I mean a few things. I mean even just to sum it up It's like a lot of what you said number one. We should affirm the longing that are in people when they see something Yeah, we should from the longing yeah, people want hope and they long for eternity because God has put eternity in the hearts of people Scripture says the way see as though as said is that if we have desires that nothing in this world can satisfy It's because we were made for a different world, right? So we should affirm the longing number two I think we should affirm the phenomenon in the sense that some near death experiences are credible some are And now they're filtered through fallen human interpretation Which is why I love what you said of the idea of no eye has seen nor ears heard what God has prepared What's amazing is that Paul wrote that in first Corinthians and in second Corinthians he talks about this vision He had so Paul had to have this vision and yet he basically is saying it's even better than what I saw It's better. So I think we could say hey We can affirm that there's a phenomenon that it seems like some of these the things that people say are Scriptural but here's a key third point We do not want to affirm these experiences as authoritative very important that's pretty much I think what you're saying is saying hey man We should affirm the longing we should affirm the phenomenon because some of these including this one might be credible We should not affirm them as authoritative. They either confirm what scripture says or their false Yeah, period because there are some near-death experiences by the way of people from other religions Yes, right that would they believe they're in heaven and we would say that is not what scripture says So that I think is the key thing is is we can say hey God in his graciousness may give some people a sneak peak of what's ahead of them There's even better than the sneak peak But we would also say hey these are not authoritative We always have to take what these people experience and line them up against scripture and where it lines up We say man. I'm so amazed so glad you had that experience and what's actually you're gonna experience is even better and if they don't line up We take scripture size. It's not theirs. Yeah, the foundation of our theology is not anecdotes or experiences is the word of God That's right. And so if it's an award of God we agree we embrace it and then we test everything in light of that. That's exactly right Can't close their episode in any way. Please. Yeah, so as of the recording of this episode we are actually recording this Right around the one-year anniversary of the assassination Charli Kirk I only text which early one time. I was shown it to you right before this house trying to get him on live free and People probably do not realize the significance that charlie Kirk had even on this podcast Or they might because the title of this podcast may sound a little familiar Even the title of live free. I got from two places. I got it from first Peter 216 live as people who are free Not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as living as servants of God I got it from there and I got it from seeing it on a t-shirt charlie Kirk had live free If you go back literally exactly a year the weak charlie Kirk died. We had Sabrina on and we did a episode Responding to a bunch of lies about Charli and debunk, you know kind of walking through those old clips for let me just say People that guy's gonna be the next charlie Kirk that guy's gonna there's never gonna be another charlie Kirk that guy was unique That was a unique man that Episode changed their trajectory even of this podcast It was really a lot of watching what he did where he started taking the word and bringing it into every area of the world That really may be kind of go like now. We need to go there in in parts of the pod And that episode is how tens of thousands of people found us in the first place and so Standing on the fact of his very unique influence on this podcast and the effect that he said on so many people's lives I thought it'd be fitting to close the episode this week with a tribute to Charlie Kirk who is hug and Jesus today This is Charlie Kirk from Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk back with us We're starting chapters nationwide One of the things that I think is so important to remember is that we worship a loving God who allows us to be here on this planet To do his will here on earth But look I don't blame people for saying that I'm a political guy that is my day job And so I'm focused on the second most important thing I have to say this without getting emotional But I'm very proud of my husband so then of course everyone says what's the first thing? Okay, well the first thing is winning souls for Jesus Christ. Most important thing. Jesus is the way the truth and the life But then Charlie what's the second thing? To make sure you can do the first thing It's good it's my day job Politically we believe the Constitution should be ultimate authority, but out of the Constitution are all Biblical truths. I've had some pretty amazing experiences. I've been very very blessed and the greatest joy I've ever had is coming home to my little daughter Running up to my leg. There's nothing that even comes close to it not flying an Air Force one not meeting with presidents They just called it for Pennsylvania Charlie. It is things called Remember where you were when this happened that pales in comparison to your little girl coming up and squeezing your leg What is God's plan when I go on a college campus. I just believe I will only tell truth I will not compromise and I'll love on the loss in the words of my husband buckle up In soul South Korea crowds gathered to wave American flags and shout If everything completely goes away "How would you want to be remembered?" I want to be remembered for courage from my faith. That would be the most important thing is my faith in my life. Whether it be Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, and Ananias, the here I am is when legendary things happen in the Bible. "How would you want to be remembered?" "How would you want to be remembered?"