Jesus Christ Show | Hour 1 [01/21]

You're listening to Kfix on demand. D tours on the road sometimes can be quite simple. It takes you off of one road and onto another road. Arrows are everywhere you look, pointing you in the new direction, the direction that you must go through now to get to where you're going. Interestingly enough, a dtour doesn't really know where you're going. They assume they know where you're going based on the road that where they caught you that they're detouring you

from. So ultimately their goal is to get you back on that roll road eventually going in that direction in a way that isn't a great inconvenience. And there are detours in scripture as well, and there will be detours in your

spiritual life. And oftentimes this concept of a detour puts one into a state of chaos because it's like, Okay, I had planned for this, I was going down this path, This was my goal to get to this area, to do it this way in this amount of time, which is all good, and the best way to start really is to have that plan, to have that path. But as a believer, as someone of faith, you always have to be in that state of whatever you want God thy will

be done God and be ready for whatever lesson. This ties into tests, but it gets you in that mindset that if God wants to teach you something that it can come out from everywhere. Now, this concept of a detour or when you get off that main road going that main direction that you had anticipated and prepped for, it can take a lot of time because now you're

processing new information. And let's face it, sometimes when you make a plan to do something, you kind of go into autopilot and now you have to really be in the moment, be present. It consumes more of who you are, and that can be frustrating, not just the amount of time it's taken, not just that it's going to be more difficult, but also just the energy wise. It just takes your energy that is frustrating onto itself, but in your life as a person of faith, as somebody who focuses on

their spirituality, you have to allow for God to do this. Christians would not be where you are today if you didn't allow God to take you on detours. There are detours throughout the entirety of Scripture, including probably the most well known one forty years in the desert. So this detour happens to the children of Israel when they're in the wilderness, and for many different reasons,

lack of faith, not trusting that God had the power to conquer. But there were those there that accepted the detour by God and found that it wasn't about leaving this perfect road that they had perceived was the best way, but about trusting God would find and always put them on the perfect road. And what seems like a curse or a frustration becomes a blessing. Think about what

Moses learned. Moses would press back a lot. If you remember when you read the exchanges between Moses and the Father, Moses had a lot of excuses at times, No, I'm not a good speaker, Maybe you should use someone else, back and forth. But this detour built something, and Moses too, didn't it. This detour strengthened Moses, says in Exodus three one. Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father in law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of

the desert and came to the mountain of God. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire. Now Moses This goes on to talk about the flaming bush and the contact that he had, and it says that Moses thought, I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up? When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said Moses, Moses, to which Moses replied, here I am God said, do

not approach any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. The exchange going on here is a is a point of change for Moses. This is something that he wouldn't have experienced should he been in a state of rebellion against the change of path or the change of direction, or any change at all. And your life is similar. There are things that you have set in your head that you think, ah, this is the path I'm going to go on, this is

what I'm going to do. But in life there are detours, and in your spiritual life there are detours as well, and you should welcome them. And sometimes they are masked in frustration and ugliness, or something comes along and you think, this is not what I want to do, or this is not the path that I want to go down, but God is always there on the other side of it, saying no, honey, I wanted you to learn something. I wanted you to experience something, and this is the

way to do it. You see, God never gets lost. These detours are for you reminders of what's important, reminders that you will get there with persistence. You will get there with dedication. It may not come in the time that you thought, it may not come the way you thought, but

with that dedication, with that perseverance, it will come. And as you plan your paths in life and the paths that you want spiritually, emotionally, with relationships, work, whatever they may be, that as you plan them, know that somewhere inside that plan, somewhere deeply rooted inside that plan, is a Plan B or more importantly, what my producer likes to refer to

as a Plan G. And that's God's plan. Whether that detour might pop up and show you a different direction, a different understanding, a different path, all ordained by God to teach you something else, to teach you something with more depth than you would have learned the other way. And it's up to you to be attentive, to be faithfully flexible, and willing to be taken on a ride. Eric. Welcome to Jesus Christian. Good morning, Jesus, thank you, my call, my pleasure. What's going on?

Could you bear with me? I have a condition. We have to spit sometime. Okay, okay, as long as it doesn't involve chew okay. I'm calling about the scripture Hebrews six four through six last week speaking about those who have been enlightened in the pass of the heaving gifts of God. My original question was, if a person's in that situation, what can they do well? The condition is you have to be aware of it. If you're aware of it, you're not really in that condition. It's like saying the

old saying that only people think they're sane. Same people question their sanity all

the time. So in that particular case, when you're reading, and just as a way of reminding people, it says, for in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to be renewed to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucified to themselves the son of God and put him to open

shame. The question of that always comes up, well, does this mean that people once saved always saved? That people can fall away from salvation? We said, would the last caller last week? No? And that the word tastes there is important because it's only talking about bringing it to your lips, but not really consuming it. If you look a little earlier in chapter five, verse nine, it says, and having been made perfect, he

became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation. So if you put these two together and you think about them, like, can you fill the glass of somebody who already thinks their glass is full? No, they won't ever accept anymore. They'll say, no, it's already full. That's what it's talking about. There is that hubris, that that pride that thinks that they've already consumed it all when they've only brought it to their lips.

That you can't convince them that they haven't consumed it. Therein lies the problem. So they end up rejecting God in their ignorance. But as we know in scripture you're not judged on ignorance. So this is a wilful act of rejecting any further understanding about God. So that's where it lies. It's it's like, can you change the mind of someone, Yes? Can you change the mind of someone who thinks that they're so much smarter than you that

you can't teach them anything? No, So in this case, the fact that you would pick up the phone to even ask the question, Eric, shows me you're not in that category, because someone in that category wouldn't even ask the question. They'd already think, well, I already know everything. I'm already in there. But the fact that you even question, going, oh, I want anybody that questions their salvation even or questions how does this work? Or can I lose something? Am I going to do something that

offends God? Or so greatly that he turns away from me? Those types of things are from people who care. Yeah, and that if you're in that place, Eric, then that would pretty much cast you out of the category of somebody who is just kind of breezing along on the surface. It's like somebody who comes to class, is there always on time? Has the book open sits in class, gazes over the words. All those things.

Doesn't necessarily mean they're a good student. They're just kind of you know, we talked about integrity today and that steadfastness and that consistency and how you know, in Hollywood, it's very easy just to put up a facade or the front of something to make it look like it's a building, because they know there's no real need to build the entire building for the use that they have. But in life you can't get away with that. You can't just have

a facade. You have to be through and through. That integrity has to be through and through. And what chapter six of Hebrews, chapter six, verse four, five and six is talking about is that somebody has the facade of Christianity. They don't. They don't really, it's not a part of who they are truly, it's just that facade and that that you know that they're in lives major major problems. Rick, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Yes, thanks for being patient. How can I help you? Right?

Well, my question is regarding marriage and then later in life. I understand supporting a marriage by having younger people go through the ceremony in front of the church and in front of society to support their bond and union before God.

When you're in later in life and coming from failed relationships and you meet someone who you connect with on a by heart, mind, body and soul and commit to them for the rest of your life, basically, why does society still expect you to jump through all those hoops and do the food for all with the ceremony and then the legal aspect of it when it's a commitment

between two people that we know in our hearts is true. Without giving too much specific because you don't need to give me a bunch of personal information. What do you do for a living? I'm a truck driver, a truck driver, okay, and so do you work for a company or do you work on your own independently? Work for a company, but I'm gone from the house five to six days a week. We're connected by phone. And okay, Well, do you did you reach an agreement with that company when

you came to work for them of some kind? It was it an application of some kind? Or okay, did you sign a contract of any kind? No? Do you think they signed contracts with the companies that have you shipping things for them? Or of course why because of the legality involved, and I understand the legality part to bind persons to an agreement. Honestly, Rick, it's not jumping through hoops, it's not. It's a part of

the process. It's a part of being committed. And no matter what you say day, there's a part of you that's not committed, because if it's not a big deal to you, then why not just do it? Why not just do it and get committed because that's what God wants. The whole process of doing those things are symbols. I get it. But there's a lot of symbolism in scripture as well. Baptism is symbols, is a symbol.

Some people think that communion is a symbol. There's a lot of things that seem like symbols, but they're outward showing of an inward faith or goal or process. And part of that is being in fullness, going through the process of marriage, doing it in front of friends and family, and being committed. If you're hiding from that by not doing that or saying some people make excuses and say, well, gosh, you know what, it's a lot of money to have a wedding. I get that. You know you

can whittle it down there and do it very inexpensively. And if the world's putting pressure on you for that, I get it saying no, I'm not

going to bend to that. But you can go and have a sweet simple service before you and God and make that commitment and make it solidify it because right now, I mean, there's people that say, oh, well, I'm getting older, and I know it costs too much money to get married, or our taxes will change, or we won't get the same amount of and all these excuses just become practical reasons not to stand before God and man

and make it legal. Because scripture says you're to obey the laws of the land and as long as they don't contradict scripture, and in this particular case, the law of the land is, if you're going to be married, be married, and right now, if you're not married, you shouldn't be having relations, and that would God would frown upon that. And trust me, the process, the scriptural process of marriage two thousand years ago took a

whole heck of a lot longer than you know, ten minute ceremony. Nowadays you're talking weeks, you're talking a year or two of betrothal prior and then sometimes the wedding took weeks and you had to feed everybody, including every single person in the town. That's why my first miracle, the wedding at Cana was so was such a big deal and not a parlor trick. Is because making water into wine and it was about feeding and having enough drink for the

entire town. Otherwise you would not save face. I was participating in a wedding there. If I thought it was just you know, hubbub and no big deal, why would I even be gracing it with my presence or being a part of it In that sense, I understand that. Yet, on the legal side of it, the law does allow for what they call common law, depending on where you live. You're in Vegas, yeah, depending on where you live there, there's but that's just part of the legality.

So if you've been with this person for six years, what's common law in Las Vegas? Seven? So what are you going to do? Then? Well, it's not so much of what we do. I'm more concerned about how other people perceive, and not that I'm looking for their validation, but their comments should be concerned about God. Yeah, but you know, people are gonna make comments. People are often wrong, trust me, and so

I wouldn't worry about that. However, scripture does talk about the appearance of evil, and if you there's something that does the woman you live with, does she have any interest in having a wedding or to be married in that context? Ah, it's yes and no on both of our parts. Well, I'm not sure what the no is. I'm not what is the know if you're just talking about Oh, well, it's and it's the way the world wants it. No, it's the way it is in financial situations.

And okay, so legal and financial situations that you guys are in keep you from pretty much. Yeah, and what are those legal or financial situations? Social security and you know, income and we're later in life and non minimum you fixed incomes kind of thing. Sure, I've heard that on more than one occasion. Well, there's and there's some people that would be more lenient

on this. I just think that you're cheating your guysself. And the whole point of being partners is not just not just living together and not just being a part of it in that sense, but really solidifying it by having that that marriage and not cheating yourself with that experience. And the financial thing, I realize is can be frustrating, but it's it's about the two of you. If it's just about finances, it might be cheaper to you know,

then you just get a roommate. You know, it's not about just being a room at I feel that deep down inside you. Whether you think that it's it's just a bunch of garbage or not, that deep down inside you, you know that what you're doing is not kosher. Otherwise you wouldn't have called. And it's there's something about validating that and screaming that from the rooftops and letting people know that that I think is an important part of the marriage.

But this sadly is becoming more common. Rick. I'm getting more calls from people who say they're later in life and because of social security and such, they don't want to get married. But God doesn't say do this because

it's convenient and it's easy. It says do this. You know this, This is the purpose, and these are the laws currently And if you're going to look through scripture and try and find a specific type of marriage or the laws or anything like that, you're not going to find it in that sense, not going to find You're not find anything. This is rick. This is how you need to get married. But you definitely see my sealo of

approval on the marriages and the thing that took place. Those ceremonies become very important, and it's not just for the ceremony's sake. It's for the sake of the individuals in the ceremony to explore those and to really lock you in if there's humanity, and this is I'm sorry men more on you than it is on women, although that those numbers sadly are changing. Uh like to

have at least one toe on the dock at all times. You know that kind of attitude where it's like, well I always have an out, or you know, she doesn't own me in this sense, or what have you. And I think that that kind of tentative attitude towards, you know, towards the relationship, I think is more detrimental than it is helpful. Tom. Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Hi Jesus Hia, Tom. How

can I help? I've had seem like a big deal, but I was maybe it concerned me when I'm not traveling for my job and listening to your show. I go to a small little church and we're real laid back and we just wear like flip flops and shorts and a T shirt and sometimes we go outside when the weather's nice. I'm in North Florida and I was at a party and somebody asked them what church got to Another guy said, oh, you go to that hippie church. I'm like, well, why is

it hippie church? Because of because of the way we were just so laid back, and he alluded to the fact like it was like almost disrespectful because they we don't dress up like his church does. And I'm like, I'm cool with that, man, if that's what y'all want to do. I mean, but my question is, I guess, is is it disrespectful because we don't dress up? And I don't even have a suit. To tell you the truth, I just Tom, I would be broken hearted if you

weren't in church because you felt you needed to wear a suit. And it sounds like a silly question. No, no, but I mean it's not. And I'm telling you right now that they're there are many people listening that are glad that you called. I'll tell you what I'm concerned about, Tom, I want it to be a Bible teaching, Bible believing church. Is it a Bible teaching, Bible believing church. Oh yeah, then the other is just a kouterman. It's just stuff, and it's not disrespectful as long

as you come respectful. People were wearing sandals in the first churches, I'll tell you that. So it's more a matter of the first churches were homes. We met in homes. There weren't buildings with stained glass investments. There was on the Jewish side of things. There were in temple. They had formalities, but if you remember, I mocked a lot of the formalities in Scripture and was upset with the fact the formalities tended to supersede the truth that

was being taught. So if it's so laid back that it's not even really teaching anything and it's really about getting together and hanging out out and having donuts afterwards, I have a problem with it. But if it's a church that says, hey, come as you are, We're all about the message and getting this message to you, and we don't want you to wait till you have a suit. We don't want you to wait until you you know, have time to do X, Y and Z. You come as you are,

then I think that's glorious. I think it's beautiful. But that's exactly what it is. Yeah, we're not hanging out for the donuts, that's for sure, but we're I mean, it's just like what you just said. And by the way, I tell everybody about your show that, oh that's very nice. I appreciate it. And keep in mind that, you know, we grow because you do things like that, and when you tell

people about it, I really really appreciate it. But you as well, Tom, be at peace, because the core of the church is scripture and what scripture is teaching and there are traditions that go along with it that are important, very important. But I don't ever want you to lose sight of the purpose of why you're there. And there's so many churches have gotten have lost their focus and gotten on this hype about the appearance. And now there's

stages. It's not even you know, the standing behind the pulpit. Now it's like the stage and there's this big show and there's a place for that. There's a place for that. You want to reach as many people as you can and you know, modern day you have to be able to strike the same chords or cord they can understand, and they being the people in the church, and there has to be different flavors. There has to be. But as long as it's always you know, ice cream is a particular

formula. It's a particular thing that makes ice cream, and otherwise it becomes frozen custard. Otherwise it becomes frozen yogurt or these types of things, or a gelato if you're Italian, I do that for you, Tony sitting in the other room. So they there's a specific formula that makes something ice cream, but the flavor of the ice cream doesn't. It doesn't keep it from being ice cream. It just changes its flavor depending on the palette of the

individual, you know, the individuals that are consuming it. So when it comes to church, I think that they it's very easy to get wrapped up in what you like and make that the standard. Well, this is what I like to do. I like to dress up. Some people like to My producer, Neil likes likes it split down the middle. He likes to dress up and the formality of certain things. And then on the other side, if he if he's not available to do that on the very very very

rare occasion that he steps into a church. Yeah, I'm talking to you that that there's that likes to be casual as well. And there's just different flavors and and and things out there, and you should experience those as they speak to you. Some people like simple acoustic music at a church. Some people like, uh, you know, electric guitars and keyboards and full drum

sets and all of those things. And that's fine as long as it doesn't take away from the message, as long as it doesn't take away from what's being taught and what's being said, because that's the gathering. And when a church becomes what am I wearing? What are you wearing? When it becomes those things, that becomes idolatry, and it stops being part of the church, and it starts stops being reverence and respect for God and becomes a show

of a class system. And this is what I make, and this is how much I'm worth, and look at the fancy clothes I'm wearing, and that becomes a distraction of God too. So don't you know, people are gonna like it, and some people aren't. There's a church that might not be you know, everybody's taste. It's a very artsy church. And in this particular church, there's a lot of creativity going on. They encourage and people sit at tables rather than in pews or chairs, and there's encouragement of

drawing or writing during the service. There's also painting that goes on that may not be your cup of tea. But if there's if the Bible's being taught there and they're trying to find ways for people to express themselves in that context, great, If it becomes a distraction or a problem, then then it takes away from God. And you don't have the right to take that spotlight from God. And some people don't like the more relaxed churches. Broke my

heart to hear Tom say, I don't even own a suit. Could you imagine not experiencing God because you think that a way cloth is tailored, cut and sown is going to make a difference to God. The important thing is the effort and the desire to seek God and showing the importance and the value

of God. You can get more suits, you can get more clothing, but I'll tell you the one commodity you can't make more of his time, and to give God your time to go and to show that I'm here and I'm showing up and I'm with you and I love you, and I want to hear about your love letter called the Bible, and I want to listen to the things that you taught and the things that you said. That's that's

the beauty of it. Don't get caught up in the other things and lose sight of the importance of being in that place and connecting with God's people and connecting with God. It's not a silly question, not a silly question at all time. Kf I am six on demand