[00:00:07] Speaker A: Everybody, it's Rick and Rob. Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor podcast.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: New music. I love it.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: You like that?
[00:00:11] Speaker B: I like it. That's cool.
[00:00:12] Speaker A: We had to do what we had to do.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's cool.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: I actually had to go pay for music.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: Did you really?
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Yeah. It was like $6 or something, but still had to.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: So I owe you $3.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: No, you don't.
All right. It's a new. It's a new month. It's April. We haven't been together for like a month.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: I know. It's been a long time. It's been, you know, the schedules have, you know, not lined up, and there's been sickness and some other things that have been going on and travel, and it's all been kind of crazy for both of us.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has been super crazy.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: But, you know, that's part of real life.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: It is.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: You know, it's part of real life. And, you know, you have trouble and things that go on in your lives.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: You know, you're gonna see that.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: You know, we've had some friends who have had some issue, and. And so that's kind of, you know, where we are today. Right?
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: And so we'll talk about a little bit about how Jesus, you know, felt, dealt with that type of stuff.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Yep. And the struggles that we face are nothing new to him.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: That's right. That's right.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: So.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: So before we jump in, how's things going in your life?
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Good.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Tell me what's going on.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Well, we just. Last weekend, we had our opening run of the year for the club, our orphan run out in Concord, North Carolina, and we raised a little over $6,000 for sacred selections.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: That's a adoption placement service. Christian adoption placement service. That's a mouthful. Christian adoption placement service. Yeah.
And so we had a, you know, had a great turnout for that. Most of the club was there.
We had some visitors that, you know, we've known over the years that have come down and hung out with us. And we had two guys that come down from upstate New York that was snowing when. When they left their. Their homes, and they rode all the way through that and came down, hung out with us Friday night, did the charity ride with us Saturday, and left out Sunday morning. So it was a lot of fun. We had some, you know, had some unfortunate things, had some breakdowns and some other stuff. And, you know.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: Well, that stuff always happens when you get a bunch of people together.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, yeah, it was.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Somebody's bike always breaks for some reason.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: It was a clutch weekend.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I saw that on agros.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah, agro had that. And we had. We had a, another guy that came down from Illinois.
He was on a 2018 roadmaster, indian roadmaster.
And we stopped to get gas Saturday night. We went to get something to eat and then stopped to get gas before we headed back out to the camp and pulled out on the street right there waiting for the traffic light to turn. And when we left, everybody else left but me and him because his clutch cable broke. He's like, well, I got one in the saddlebag because these are known for this. So we, you know, we pulled it back into the parking lot at the gas station and changed the clutch cable out.
And then, you know, coming home, agro had a, had an issue. And the crazy thing about it was there were guys that were, you know, there. A couple of guys traded bikes, you know, guy got a new bike on Friday before the, you know, for the orphan run on Saturday. And so I was kidding agro about, you know, man, you go have cherry this piece of crap in, you know, and he didn't think that was very funny.
But it was a, you know, it was a good time. It was a. It was a lot of fun to be with brothers and bros and. And, you know, to be out on the road like that. And it's. It was good. We have so full patches in forge brotherhood for 2024. Have to do a minimum of 5000 miles.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: Well, that should be easy.
[00:04:11] Speaker B: Well, it's real easy. I've got 2400 in already. I think I might, you know, and this rule was made the end of January. I've already got 2500 miles. You know, that.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: That sounds easy.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's real easy.
But it was designed because it, you know, so nobody would get lazy.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: I mean, it makes sense. Like, I like the idea, you know, BFC being a motorcycle ministry, it's harder to put those type of stipulations in.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: But, you know, I think I wouldn't mind it.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah. I was kidding with another national officer and he said, hey, when I get my 5000 miles in, just count me done for the rest of the year. I said, no, we still got to go to Vermont, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri.
We still got a bunch.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Anyway, how you doing?
[00:05:07] Speaker A: You know, good. I mean, stuff's crazy, you know, works crazy ministries. Doing great. You know, we got a huge weekend coming this weekend. You know, there's tons.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah. All kinds of stuff going on. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: You know, I'll be in Clarksville tomorrow morning and then I'll be in Mount Juliet by four, maybe 1115, and then I'll be in Rockville.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Rockville?
[00:05:28] Speaker A: Yeah, you know.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: By 01:00.
You know.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah. I was planning on being a rock veil, but I had some family things popped up here this morning, so.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: And I, you know, I may. May be in Lebanon tonight. You know, it is that night. Oh, it is, yeah.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: Yeah. It is at night. So if it's not raining, well, you can cage it still.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: I mean, it ain't gonna rain.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: It's about to right now.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: And I went to lunch with Big K today, so.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Did you really? How's he doing?
[00:05:56] Speaker A: He looks amazing. He's doing.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Does he?
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Yeah, he's doing great. But we met in Hermitage, so I rode my bike down there and.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: You know, just nice to get on it, you know.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Last time I saw him, he looked really, really rough.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: He looks really good still.
You know, he looks amazing. Let me. He does look amazing. But you can tell, I think, that he maybe towards the end of the day, starts to kind of get tired.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Right. Which is. I mean, expect.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: Expect.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Right. But he looks. He looks great.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Good. You know, good. He's gonna be. He's gonna ride tomorrow. Really? He's not gonna go to Clarksville with us.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah, but he's gonna go, you know.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Because I think, you know, the whole day, we'll probably do about 250, which isn't a ton of miles.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Yeah, but it's not.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: But we're not, like, just riding.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:41] Speaker A: If you were straight through, ride 400 is not a big deal.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: But when you're like, stop, you know, do this man, a cafe for the homeless. Then ride. Then do this thing at CP between the lakes for a memorial thing. And then ride. And then hang out. And then ride.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: Right. You know. Yeah, there's kind of. No, I think.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Well, you know, here's the ministry. The. Well, the writing season.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: You know, isn't. It's really already in full swing.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it is.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: You know, there are so many things that are going on and so many things present opportunities for us in ministry that way that it's, you know, being in and involved with motorcycles and ministry and putting miles in that way.
You know, it's easy sometimes, especially with stop and go miles, to get tired.
But at the same time, we're gonna burn up a bunch of miles this year.
I mean, a bunch of miles in two weeks. I gotta go to Panama City.
Three weeks after that, I'm on the backside of Georgia.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, we're doing Panama City in October.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: You know, we'll do the fall one.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, this is. This is a memorial run for one of our gumbo not forgotten brothers.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: And then, you know, in between that, I've got national meeting stuff that I've got to go to, and that's not that far, though.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: It's North Carolina, right?
[00:08:07] Speaker B: No, no, no.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: Move them around.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Well, a national meeting for just the club would be in North Carolina, but these are going to be in other states. Like, we got to go to Vermont, we got to go to Oklahoma, Missouri.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: More about permission meetings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: We try to do those at major events, but these are outside of major event stuff, so.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Well, it's good.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: So. So today we're gonna talk about John 1518 through 25.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Through 25. Yeah.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Do you want to read it?
[00:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll read it.
So, starting in verse 18, if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. This is Jesus talking. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you? A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their law. They hated me without reason.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: There's a whole lot there to unpack.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: A lot. A lot. So let's jump in here real quick.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So start at 18. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Right.
So everything that we face in life, and we forget this a lot of times because we get into this mentality, and we talked about it this morning.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: You know what's crazy is, as you were reading that, like, we'd already read it once before, right? Yeah, Cord. Right, right. But as you're reading it, I was thinking, wait a minute.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: This is victim mentality that we were talking about this morning.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Like, didn't we just talk about.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Yeah, this is. This is kind of where what we're talking about today didn't. A lot of times it did come from what we talked about in the morning, but this is something that we just, it kind of clicks with us. So keep in mind, in today's society, there are so many, and I saw this evident the other day. There was a guy who I would, I classify him as a cult leader, if I recall his name. You'd go like, yep, that's him.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: Yeah, probably.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: So three years ago, there was an incident involving this guy and a very dear brother of mine.
And they had been very close for several years, like since 2013, before that, even 2011. So anyway, long story short, the confrontation that popped up and this guy, not my brother, but this guy challenged my brother. That was the wrong thing to do because he answered the challenge with a knockout punch.
And this guy is showing pictures that are baited. We'll call them that. They're. There's probably over exaggeration.
And those.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: I think I saw something about that.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: And those of us who know the story.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Know that this guy's just full of crap. Right. But he's playing his victim mentality.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: And that woe is me. And in everything that I've done, this former brother treats me this way.
Wait a minute. Let's talk about the whole story. So in this first verse, if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. We don't have the right to play victim mentality or play that card in the things that we suffer in ministry today because of what Christ has already gone through.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Even in just that statement.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. There is a lot there.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: There's a lot there.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: And if you think about, you know, that it hated me first.
You know, and you think back to, you know, the things that he went through.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: And, you know, the pharisees and everybody condemning Christ.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: You know, out of fear.
Fear that he's going to take away everything that they control.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: Right. And that's the thing, because they're going to lose control.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. And that's why they hated him.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Right. And that's. That's. That's where a lot of our issues come up because we're afraid that we're gonna lose control of things that we don't have in the first place.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: You know, we think about, you know, we don't like change because, you know, I'm gonna have to do a different routine in the morning.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: You know, or we don't. We don't want to do this particular thing because of the position that I'm in, makes me look weak because of me having to do this right.
I'm a prospect for life.
I'm a full patch. I'm a founder in my club. I'm a rivet holder. I'm a national officer.
But I will bring a hangaround a drink.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: Well, because it's servant leadership.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: It is. But my whole point is, the things that Christ went through do not give me a right to put myself in a high and lofty position.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: You know, so my servanthood and my service to other people doesn't stop because of a title.
And when we look back at what we don't like in losing control of things or our perception of control, we end up too many times trying to make things what we perceive as better. We end up making them worse because we don't want to give up. We don't want to let go. We don't want. And it reminds me of that picture of Jesus has got that great big Teddy bear behind his back, and the little girl that's holding this old, worn out, beat up teddy bear, she's like, but I love this one. Love this one. Yeah.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: You know, he's got something so much better for us.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: What about when you talk about if you belong to the world, it would love you as its own.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: Mm hmm.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: As it is, you do not belong to the world. But I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
I think sometimes people don't know what it means to belong to the world.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: I agree. I agree.
And we get messed up in not just not understanding belonging to the world, but in also of not understanding what it means to not be, you know, the scripture, you know, were to be in the world, not of the world.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: You know, and I get asked a lot.
So, you know, you go to clubhouses, you go to events, you go to these rallies, you go to these, you know, meetings inside these compounds and things like that. And what makes you different than them?
What makes you different than them? And the difference is simply this. The desire of my heart is to chase after Jesus with everything that I have so that I can be close to the father through him.
And the places I go, the people that I see in those places, nine times out of ten, don't have that same mindset.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I would agree.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: They don't have that same heart set.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: So in that, that's how I describe being in the world, but not of the world, and being chosen by Jesus to be out of the world gives me that resolve to continue to chase after him with everything that I have so that I show the world that I am a sold out follower of Jesus Christ, you know, and as it, you know, because I don't belong to the world, the world's going to hate me because he's chosen me.
But the world needs to know what I have and the way that I found my joy versus the happiness that they're chasing.
[00:17:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
So if it was just a quick, what does it mean to belong to the world?
What would that be?
[00:18:02] Speaker B: To belong to the world would be to chase after my own desires, to.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Elevate my desires above.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Above everybody else desires above anything else.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: I mean, what would it be for you? What would it. How would you answer that question?
[00:18:23] Speaker A: I think for me, I think it's more than just my desires.
I think that, you know, I can desire to do one thing right, and that's where my heart is going.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: But I may still do something else.
Like, I'm not listening to my heart. Right, right. So it's not like, just. It's not just my desires.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Right. I think it's desires and.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: And focus.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Focus and commitment and. And just walking that out every day. Right. It's very easy to take a step in the wrong direction. Right.
[00:19:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: Right. It's the narrow road.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Right. And a scenario for a reason.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: And so it's very easy to take a step in the wrong direction, and that step is worldly.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Mm hmm.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: Even though I don't desire, I may not desire it. I may not put it above everything else.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: But I can still make that step.
And so part of it is it's just like you guys. Right. You know, don't. Maybe don't go someplace you shouldn't go alone.
Right.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Always be a approach.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Now, I'm not saying that I always need to be somewhere with a BFC member because you and I have one place.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Right, right.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: But we're still together.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Right. So that there is that accountability and there is that.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: Yeah. There is that Christian.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: And so because I just feel like because of the world and. And Satan is so strong.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: That you gotta. You gotta be prayed up and powered up.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Well, and it's funny you say that because somebody asked me today about June bug boogie.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: And I'm like, no, yeah. There's. There's a place that's. That's not something that we would even go stand outside of.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: To minister at because of the filth, you know?
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Well, I've had somebody ask me if we would go to little Sturgis, and I'm like, no, I don't think so.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Right. I struggle with going to Sturgis. Right. Cause there's a lot going on, but there's, you know, Sturgis is so big that you can get away from it.
[00:20:44] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: You can't because everything's contained at little Sturgis.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: It's the same way with Junebook boogie.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. It is.
[00:20:51] Speaker B: You know, it's all contained right there at that one spot.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: And so it's not something that.
Do those people deserve to be ministered to? Do those people deserve to hear the gospel?
[00:21:06] Speaker A: Absolutely, they do. But is it a place that they're going to be willing to listen?
[00:21:10] Speaker B: That's the thing. Is the debauchery going to be too strong for them to be able to understand? And this is one of those things where being in the world, but not of the world in those kind of things gets easily blurred by people who are looking from the outside in.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: You know, for either one of our crews to go to either place and to be seen in those areas.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: And not only be seen in those areas, let's be honest, like there is video everywhere. Oh, yeah, cell phone videos.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Right, exactly.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Do I really need to see a, you know, a BFC cut on some.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: Video or a forged brotherhood cut with.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: Some, you know, wet t shirt contest going on?
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Because that's what, like, that's what goes on at the.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And among other things. But, you know, that's the.
So to be taken out of the world. I chose you out of the world.
That is why the world hates you.
Because we're not part of that, for lack of a better term, that debauchery.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it is debauchery.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. You know, because we're not a part of that and because we stand for something different then the world would, you know, look at us differently to a point of hate at some point.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: Well, it's interesting that, you know, the beginning of this, the header is the world hates disciples, right?
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Right before verse 18. And so, you know, you talk about being of the world and that the world hates you and. And, you know, what does that look like? And.
And it's interesting to me.
You know, this is 2000 years ago, right.
And it's so relevant today.
These are the words of Christ.
And today we're in the same environment.
Right. Now, it may not be little Sturgis or the June bug boogie, right, right. But it's very easy for today's culture to condemn the modern day Christian. Absolutely right.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: And because of that condemnation, there are some christian faiths that are changing their belief system to accommodate.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: That's what I was gonna say. To accommodate that.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah, to accommodate those people.
And I don't understand because Jesus words say they're going to hate you, but they hated me first.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Right. So this is what I hear in that.
It's going to be okay. Yeah, it's going to be okay.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: It's fine.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: You know, when you think about the things that we face as far as world hatred, and you see TikTok videos in the, you know, YouTube, uh, shorts and Facebook reels and things where, uh, the crowds are gathered around, um, the Ben Shapiro's, you know, the Charlie.
What's Kirk?
[00:24:40] Speaker A: Charlie Kirk.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Those guys, you know? And. And Kirk has always got the same message.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: Always got the same message, you know?
And I I I respect those guys or people like that for standing up for what christian values are in the face of people who are yelling at them, saying, well, you're spreading a message of hate.
No, no. You know, here is evidence right here of if the world hates you, keep in mind they hated me first because I called you out of the world.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: So going against what they're wanting to do, what they're trying to accomplish, because of what the gospel says, because of what God's word says, they are going.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: To hate you, and they hate you because you love Jesus.
[00:25:39] Speaker B: Right.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: It's such a crazy thing for me to think of, right? Is that the LGTV. That's what I'm gonna call it. The LGTV community.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: I love it when you do that.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: That they're supposed to be the world. We'll just say the whole woke culture, right?
[00:26:02] Speaker B: Okay. Okay.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Is supposed to be the culture of tolerance.
And if you look up the definition of tolerance, right. It's to tolerate an opinion or view opposite of yours, right?
[00:26:17] Speaker B: Yep. That's what it's supposed to be.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: So if you're the culture of tolerance, why don't you tolerate that?
[00:26:25] Speaker B: I disagree.
[00:26:27] Speaker A: Love Jesus.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: That I can love you and not agree with the choices you make.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: Right.
[00:26:35] Speaker A: And not agree with the decisions you make. But I can tolerate your right to make that decision.
[00:26:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Right. But you can't tolerate my right to disagree with disagree.
[00:26:49] Speaker B: Right. That's troublesome.
I mean, it really is. But at the end of the day, it's not something that we did not know was coming.
[00:27:00] Speaker A: I agree with that. It doesn't mean I have to like you.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Well, I know right here the scripture that we're talking, you know, I mean, here's scriptural evidence right here. But at the same time, it is hard.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: Especially.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Especially when someone you love dearly, whether it be a family member, a friend, a neighbor, you know, somebody you grew up with, decides that their lifestyle has to be accepted because of. That's what woke culture says.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: And that's what's hard for me.
I won't say to overcome. That's what's hard for me to figure out how to have that conversation.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Yeah. I struggle with it. I openly do. Right. And I think I openly struggle with it because they are supposed to be tolerant. We tolerate everybody's right to feel how they feel, dress how they dress, love who they want to love.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Right.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: Right. We tolerate everything except for christians.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Mm hmm.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: Except for your right to follow Christ.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Right. We'll tolerate everything but that.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:16] Speaker A: And, you know, lately, and I've probably said this to you before and. Or on some other podcasts, but, you know, when I am in a conversation, I will ask somebody before we even get started, like, are you a tolerant. Do you believe you're a tolerant person?
[00:28:31] Speaker B: Mm hmm. They always say yes, and then it ends up.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: And then I ask them, like, what does tolerant mean?
[00:28:37] Speaker B: Right.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: What is the definition of tolerance?
[00:28:40] Speaker B: So, in that.
In that being able to not define that from their side of the table.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: What does that say to us as christians, as true christians?
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:53] Speaker B: I'm not talking about people who.
I'm talking about people who actually want to serve, who actually want to see the gospel preached and further the kingdom.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: What does that mean to us as far as the way that we need to go about our lives?
[00:29:14] Speaker A: Well, I mean, we have to be loving.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: We do. We do.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: But we can't just act like we accept it.
[00:29:25] Speaker B: That's. That's where the rub comes in for me.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: I can love you.
I can want to be friends with you.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: I can think. You're an amazing person.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: I have friends who, you know, are, you know, married and have a great relationship with their partner, and they're really good people.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: I have love for them, but I don't have to accept that. Love doesn't mean acceptance.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: But here's the thing, Rick. We can love those. Those people. I almost said those kind, and I didn't mean to. We can love those people, but we love them enough that we want them to see what the truth is. And that's the difference in what christians, what we as christians walk out in a tolerant situation as opposed to what the woke culture walks out in their tolerant situation.
So we love those people enough that we want to see them in the kingdom of God.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Right. Whereas woke culture says, well, you're not part of us, we hate you.
[00:30:41] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:30:41] Speaker B: And we're going to spit on you.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: And we're going to throw things at you and we're going to riot, and we're going to set up corners over here, and around the corner is going to be a pallet of bricks so that when you drive your car through here, we could throw bricks at you and then running hot. You know, that's absolutely. That's where this is coming. But. But we love enough that we don't want to see people stay in a sinful state.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:08] Speaker B: And have the. That have the judgment against them.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: Instead of hearing, well done. Good fifth, sir.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: So how do you.
How do you do that without, like. Because I think I. How I do it right, you know, is I just. I'm not gonna win somebody over by beating them up with some Bible verse.
Right.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: Well, not in every situation.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Not in every situation. But generally speaking, I'm not going to win somebody over by quoting scripture at them.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Right.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: But if I'm just consistent in the love that I show and the message that I continue to say, this is what I believe, and I don't relax my morals around scripture, then I'm hopeful that someday through me, somebody will see the love of God.
[00:32:09] Speaker B: Right. Right.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: But if I'm beating them to death, well, you're a sinner and you're going to hell.
What am I. I'm not benefiting them.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Remember the story that I told you this morning about my buddy that was a converted Muslim or is a converted Muslim. Okay, so he's a multi generational.
He was multi generational Muslim, and now he's a Christian. He's converted to Christ.
His family has disowned him.
His father was killed in a civil war. His brother was killed in a war, all because of jihad and those kinds of things.
He met with two guys for two years.
I think he said it every other day. I have to call him and ask him. But anyway, he met with him in the beginning. It was once a week. I know. And then I think it got to be every other day that he would meet with them.
And he said, the thing was, they never talked down to me, they always let me know that they loved me, but that they loved me enough to not let me stay in this clouded state of mind of religion.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: And that they showed me through. They loved me enough to show me in scripture sometimes by opening scripture.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
But they earned that right, too.
[00:33:47] Speaker B: That's. That's the thing.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: Right. They earned that right over a period of time.
[00:33:51] Speaker B: Right.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: And built the trust and built the like, hey, we're loving you no matter what.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Right. But the initial conversation was about, you know, the differences in what he believed at the time versus what they believed out of the Bible.
[00:34:04] Speaker A: Right.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: So that's how that initial comment and his response was, I hated him.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: I hated them, you know? And so it took two years for him to figure out that they kept coming back because they loved him. Yeah. You know, and so to answer that question, the original question of how do we. How do we do that? How do we, you know, we have to be willing to stick it out and to be loving enough to show, even in scripture, to open the Bible and show in scripture, but to live out what that example of what Christ was in our lives that caused us to want to be followers of him.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: And doing that, that shows the people that we come into contact with, the woke culture, the sin culture. We'll just call it sin culture.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Sin culture is a good term, so.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Let'S just call it a sin culture. So to show the sin culture, whether it's people we work with, live next door to live with.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: And let me just clarify one thing. Just because we say sin culture doesn't mean that I'm above sin.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: No.
[00:35:28] Speaker A: Like, I just want to clarify that.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: No, no, no.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Somebody may not have listened to us before.
[00:35:32] Speaker B: Right. I'm saved. I'm not perfect.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: That's right. I still sin. I repent for my sins.
[00:35:36] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: We're all sinners.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: Right, right. And that's the.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: But when you consistently live in that sin.
[00:35:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: Without any repercussions, without any repentance, when.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: Sin is your choice.
[00:35:49] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
[00:35:50] Speaker B: That's the thing. Yeah, that's the thing.
And I think we have to be willing to show that our tolerance is because of our love for them, to want them to know Christ, to have the ultimate joy.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
So if we look at the end of this, I mean, we kind of went through a bunch of stuff, but he says in verse 22, if I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
He's saying, here and there. And I know there's other parts in scripture that I. You know, I don't remember where it is, but maybe Paul talks about it where it's like, you have no excuse.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: Right?
[00:36:40] Speaker A: Right. You can't look at this and say there was no creator.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: Right.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: Right. Like, just because somebody may not have told you about God or Christ.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: Right.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: You don't have an excuse.
[00:36:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:36:51] Speaker A: Well, he's saying, I.
[00:36:52] Speaker B: He.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: I spoke to them.
[00:36:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: Jesus is saying, I came. I spoke to them.
If I didn't, they would not be guilty of their sin.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: Well, here's the thing now.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: They have no excuse.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: Jesus was the law.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:37:08] Speaker B: And if. If you can't. If you can't get your source directly from the source, and for Jesus to come along and go, look, you guys, all these things that you've added, the 10,000 additives.
[00:37:25] Speaker A: That's right. 630 new laws or whatever it was.
[00:37:29] Speaker B: 618 levitical law that God gave on top of the Ten Commandments. Right. So there's the levitical law of how to live.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: There was the law of Moses. That was, you know, the Ten Commandments and those things. Then there was the levitical law that God gave. You know, don't go cheating on your wife. You know, don't, don't. This is what. This is how we defined or define what needs to go on in the tabernacle. This is what. How a priest should. You know, how a priest should conduct his self. This is how you should marry somebody. That's levitical law that we're talking about. Right. What the Pharisees had done and still continue to do to this day is add things on top of that. So when to give you, for instance, one of the Ten Commandments is keep the Sabbath holy. Right.
So they had restrictions on what you could and couldn't do on the Sabbath. Right. Like, you could walk from your house to your neighbor's house and back if it was in a certain. Within a certain distance. Right.
If something happened and you had to go two neighbors down, you couldn't do it because of the Sabbath.
Right. And Jesus is telling them, you have missed the point of the point.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: You know, and so that's where this.
If I had not come and spoke to them, they would not be guilty of sin, because they. They're just following what they have created in the law.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:39:08] Speaker B: And until Jesus came and said, what you have created in the law is wrong.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: What you have created in the law is you're just being extra.
[00:39:20] Speaker A: Very extra.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Right. You know, and that's what made them mad because he called them out for it.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: Well.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: And it was. It changed their livelihood.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: It did.
[00:39:31] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:31] Speaker B: It did. Absolutely.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: You know, it's interesting because in verse 25, he says, but this is to fulfill what is written in their law.
[00:39:40] Speaker B: In their law.
[00:39:41] Speaker A: They hated me without reason.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:39:44] Speaker A: Right. Their law. Right. So that's exactly what you're talking about around, you know, they're worldly laws. Right. About what you can and can't do.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Right.
It went from, this is how you do it that God gave them.
[00:40:04] Speaker A: On.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: Mount Sinai and then in levitical law to. Well, let's define how this is.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: Right. Right.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: Let's make sure that we have all these statutes in place and the penalty for not doing them or doing them incorrectly. Is this.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Right?
[00:40:26] Speaker B: And we get tied up too many times in understanding or not understanding because woe is me. This victim mentality that Jesus faced this first.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Right.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: And because he faced it, we can face it.
[00:40:45] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. That's what it all boils down to. Right. So if we were gonna land the plane. Right. Like, yeah, we've talked about a bunch of things.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Mm hmm.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: You know, for me, it's. It's. It may sound simple or rudimentary, right. But people aren't gonna love you.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: That's the bottom line.
[00:41:07] Speaker A: Right. They are gonna hate what you stand for.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:41:10] Speaker A: And don't let that change what you.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: Believe or who you are, who you are.
[00:41:19] Speaker A: Don't let that change your love for Christ, because it certainly is not going to change his love for you.
[00:41:25] Speaker B: Right. And just remember that in everything that we face, that, number one, we're not facing it alone.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: Number two, it's already been conquered.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
It was amazing.
[00:41:42] Speaker B: It was.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: I mean, the way it was already conquered, it was.
[00:41:45] Speaker B: It really was.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: You know, we don't even deserve it. Like, I mean.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: I think we all know that.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: So we need to get out of our own heads.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
It's been a good one.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: I've enjoyed being back, man.
[00:41:58] Speaker A: I missed it, too. You know, we're gonna try to not miss as much as we can.
[00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I can't say that we won't miss.
[00:42:04] Speaker A: Anymore, but that's okay. Yeah, that's all right.
[00:42:07] Speaker B: Hey, folks, thanks for being with us today. We appreciate you logging on and listening to the podcast today.
If you have a question or if you have a topic you'd like for us to cover, please email
[email protected]. Dot would love to hear from you. And until next time, always remember to.
[00:42:27] Speaker A: Love God and love people.
