Jesus Christ Show | Hour 2 [01/07]

You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. I know that sometimes if you are a believer and you think, oh gosh, you know this is going to be there's going to be a simple answer to this, and I don't want to ask it because I don't want to feel like a fool. Don't let that cross your mind. The important thing is to seek answers,

to seek the truth. And the same goes with your life. In life situations, if there's things that are are weighing on you, that are cluttering your your mind or your heart from focusing on God, it's important to clear those by the wayside. And it's when you ask for insight from friends, from family, even here on the program. It's not a it's not showing weakness, showing strength. And you know how it is that it's always easier to help someone else out with their issues than it is to for you to

really dissect the things you're going through. And that's why you know, lifeguards tend to be on the real tall chair so they can look outside the situation a little bit, because that's better than if they were just in the water. And the same goes for you that in your life it's going to be much more difficult to navigate sometimes than it is for somebody on the outside. And those things help to move along and to grow and those types of things.

So keep that in mind as you as you ask, not only on this program but one another, find those places of understanding and that it's not a place of weakness at all. I want you to think about something today that happens all too often, and that is coming to a place where where you feel that it's done, Like you've crossed the point of no return.

Now, if you're flying a plane or what have you, there is the concept of point of no return, that you are past the halfway point, which means you're not going to have the gas, the fuel that it's going to take to get back. So you have to push yourself continually forward, regardless of weather or circumstance. Well, in life, there's always a point of return. There's always a place where you can rethink the decisions you've made in your life and try and make better ones, to go down a path

that is more productive or beneficial. And I know that you've done things. I know that you've gone through life and that there's been times where you've done things that you're not proud of or that you regret. But there's always time for change, even in the last minute. Now, you don't want to wait. You don't want to dilly dally. You don't want to dangle and get to a point where you may not get that opportunity. As the saying goes, that he who waits to make a change in his life in the

eleventh hour dies at ten thirty. But what I want you to think about is to know that as long as you are drawing breath on this earth, that you can call out to me. That even if you think in your heart of hearts that you can't, that you've done so much that you think is wrong, that you've gotten so far removed from the truth, from righteousness, from God, that there's no way back. I want you to know

that there is. There, absolutely is. Luke twenty three forty three is me speaking to one of the thieves on the cross, and I say, assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. This is a criminal who is being nailed to a cross beside me, and I reassured him that even he would be with me in paradise It's never too late to make a change. It's never too late to rethink your life, your circumstance, the things that you believe, what you use to be

your guiding light or ruler in life. It's never too late to look around at that and make a decision for Christ, change your life and know that there's a purpose. Sometimes I feel like you get to a point where you treat me like you owe me money. You have gotten to a point where you feel that you're so bad that you can't come and talk to me, that you can't see me, seek me out, pray because of the fear

that I'm going to reject you somehow. But even in those last moments, like a thief on the cross, he turned his life around, and so can you. Julie. Welcome to the Jesus Christia. H Hello Jesus, Julie. Hi, I just had a question. I just want to state that I do wholly believe in God. But my question today is sometimes when I pray, I think of, well, God, you do so many miracles, you do so many wonderful things. Why can't you respond in your

miraculous ways quicker to some of my hopes and dreams and desires. I don't feel like I'm a greedy person, that I don't feel like I want too much. But sometimes when I'm really questioning, oh, I don't know the path of let's say career. Sure as an example, you know, he just everything that he has created. I get frustrated sometimes in the riddles of trying to figure out, well, is this a sign or is this a way for him showing me or me getting this job offer, or me having

this interview. It's a sit you know, I guess it can be frustrating to me that I can't see it more clear. Sure, And it's and it's a very normal question and place to be when you are in your life asking questions and asking for guidance. The the balance there is that in those types of prayers there is a relational response, meaning that you play a part

in them, as does the father. So in that relationship, sometimes people ask really obvious things or things that they already know and they want confirmation, and in that sense there's there. Sometimes there's not a right or wrong answer. If you asked God, should you have you know, milk today or lemonade? There's not a real answer. Sure, there isn't that's a flavor, that's a taste that's based on what you what you want, not what

God wants for you. Now, if you get into you know, the minutia of the question, and then you start going, well, it is milk better for me than lemonade, and lemonade has sugar, and you start going into all that, then you can make decisions based on what your particular needs are when it comes to jobs, and this is when the question comes up a lot our career paths. You can't wait for God to design a

path for you that you're not willing to put the time into yourself. So if you've established gifts, what your gifts and abilities are, then it's a free for all. Then it's whatever is out there is a righteous path for you. Now applying it to your life. That means that if you know that you're good it's speaking, then whatever you're gonna do is going to involve speaking. So you start whittling it down like that to say, God, if there's two jobs in front of me, which one's better, which one's

worse? To make a list, because when people ask that, oftentimes it means one isn't better for them, but it's sexier, there's something about it that looks more interesting or more fun, or it's a little more high profile, and those are the things that you have to whittle through, and God will continually point you in the direction. People say that they get confused because

they're rejecting what God is saying. Usually I'm always just looking to do the right thing, and oftentimes I have a family, I'm just like Gosh, I hope I made the right choice. Hope I'm doing the right thing. God, can you, you know, give me the strength to understand or show me somehow that this is it? And sometimes it's there and sometimes I wait, and sometimes maybe it's there and I don't see it. Maybe,

but there's oftentimes where they're just both right. It's a flavor things. It's once you've done all your work, once you've said, hey, is you know, is this going to bring in enough money for my family? Is this going to keep me out of the home too much? Once you've done all that homework, then it comes down to flavor. It really does. And don't over text yourself. You can make a decision and deal with the decision. And sometimes God's not gonna be pounding on your door for those types

of things both are right, choose the one that you want. Prayer just to the time. I'm telling you, the time that we have together goes by very quickly, I realize. But when it comes to prayer, I know that there are a lot of questions, especially about the way they're answered, and sometimes going into prayer in the proper attitude and understanding what its purpose

is is best. It is communication, It is communing with God. It is making petition or requests of things that are needed or wanted, but things that are needed are usually provided for on their own. And as far as direction is concerned, if you think of it like shopping with a parent and you see a child with a parent, and the kid asks for everything as they go through the store, Can I have this? Can I have this?

Can I have this? Can I have this? And the parent oftentimes goes no, no, no, or yes yes yes it's for It gives the child an opportunity not just to know what the parent wants for them,

but what they should want for themselves. The sugar, cereals or candy or these types of things are not the staples in which you're to build your life upon, and your nutritional building blocks, so the parent will guide the child, help the child understand, not giving the child what they want, but giving the child what they need and establishing a place for the child like a measuring read for the child to know what the will of the parent is,

which is ultimately the best will for the child. Similarly that when you ask for things from God, a lot of times the answer is going to be no, because you're asking for sugar cereal and God's saying no, that's not good for you. But if similarly, if the parent allows the child to get a non sugar cereal, that what choice they make between those non sugar cereals is not going to matter the criteria the specific criteria was not a sugar

cereal. Then the rest becomes flavoring. So that confuses people sometimes when they're making requests of God, they're saying, well, how come you're not answering me specifically on this Well, because that becomes a flavor or a taste issue. That's not a good, bad, or wrong issue, And usually those are clarified quite quickly in many ways, and don't even need prayer for that specific type of thing because you already know you don't have to pray whether you're

going to hit yourself in the head with a ballpeen hammer. You know that God already thinks that's not a good idea. Couldn't imagine a scenario where that would be a good idea. So I realized that it gets confusing sometimes. But really it's about this. The specificity of prayer is to fine tune yourself and your will to the will of God. That's what it is, so that your prayers become asking what He wants to give you. Anyways, that's

the purpose. So when it comes to our relationship, it's the exact same thing. You pray for things that you want and fine tune your will to My will. Ben, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Hello, Hi, Ben. I've been going to say in church for years though, and one of the things they've been preaching over slope it is that if you leave the church and go to a different church, you go to you go to

hell because you leave the place that God put you. And oh boy, I disagree with a lot of the theology going on as the church, and I don't know what to do is going to a different church? What do you say, go to hell for going to a different church. Well, okay, wow, that's rough from the pulpit they're preaching that. Huh, yes, okay, that's a little scary. There are essentials to the things that are imperative. It's it's like asking, you know, how many how

many corners does a circle have? None? That's what makes it a circle. If as corners, it becomes a square or another shape. But there are things that define Christianity, and I know that that it seems that when it comes to spiritual things or things dealing with religion, that it's a free for all. Whatever you believe, fine, and that that that is fine for an individual in the United States. You have every right to believe whatever

you believe. However, Christianity does have a definition to it. And as long as you are in a church that is defined by the essentials of the faith, the triune nature of God, the virgin birth, these types of things. Who does it say that I am? Does it say that I'm just a good guy, a teacher, or does it say that I Am the Messiah, the the God incarnate? These types of things are going to be imperative if they If the church has that, then and you just like

this particular church or that particular church, It doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is what the church teaches. If they are teaching that they are the only true church and that churches with that, with those essential criterias are not a good church you're going to help, then to me, that becomes cult like and it becomes a huge problem because now they're trying it's not about your Christianity, it's about your church entity. It's about being a part

of their church rather than being a follower of Christ. So that is a concern to me. So the church itself, if that's what they're preaching from the pulpit, that's a little disconcerting. That's about keeping membership and not about

somebody following their heart and what you believe is your path. So if you feel led to go to another church, as long as it's a Bible believing, Bible teaching, essentials based church, and you can find out for most churches have websites or you can ask them for a mission statement states what they believe and why they believe in these types of things, then it doesn't matter what church you're in. Right, So you know the problem lies now with

your wife. If you know you guys should be a unit in the home, and you have to come to some conclusion that works out for the family, because if the family's going to different places, I would be a little concerned as well, right because she's talking about how she wants to go to church together still and sure that's the way it should be. That would be

the best. Wait, now you say, theologically, what's standing out theologically in this church, and without giving the name of the church, what theologically is standing out in this church that makes you feel a little uncomfortable there or want to change. I was in a why I was in abandon. That was before I really knew a lot of their ministry requirements, so I m I can understand them. Adunl't not owning a TV, which that I'm fine with that, but they don't want you to own a TV. Yeah,

you're not allowed to own a TV. There's Saturday morning outreach, Saturday night concert, flash outreach, Friday night outreach, Wednesday night church, Sunday morning church, Sunday night church, and then throughout I'd say at least half the time, there's prayer on Thursday nights. They want you to go to prayer Saturday mornings and then every day before you go to work. Okay, so this to me sounds and listen. All those things are good. There's nothing

wrong with them as far as suggestions or offerings. It's great for a church to be active and have a lot of offering for those that are participating, meaning that if you have time before work to go in there and pray, or to have Bible studies throughout the week, or these things all great if they become mandates and things like TV, which yes, I realized that that TV is a portal to a lot of garbage, but that doesn't mean that it's all garbage. That's you know, like saying, don't own a bookshelf

in books because there's bad books out there. I think it's better to temper what you do watch and once you there's nothing wrong with not having a TV, by the way, at all. My problem would be if a church was mandating it. So these types of things lend it to something called the shepherding movement and things like that where people decide who you can marry, what house you can move into, how you live your life, and that's an

individual, case by case decision based on the leader of the home. And that's the family members, So it sounds to me a little hinky as well. I would definitely, at bare minimum put a question mark over the church. And if you have other similar things that kind of make you feel like, wow, there's something off, then I'd say, yeah, it's time to run, not walk to the nearest exit. But you know, if it's just hey, they're very active and participatory and they make us accountable,

that's normal. That's good. If they're dictating what you can do and what you can't do. If you're a member of the church, it's a little different in the sense that if you are working there in some capacity during ministry, then they have every right to say that anybody that is in ministry at

our church is going to abide by these things. That's fine. But if you're sitting just in the pews and the seats and you're a part of the church that way and they're trying to dictate things, it raises some more eyebrows. So anything else that stands out maybe theologically there, uh, the way that they use tongues during services, gotcha, And it's not a loosey goosey all over the place, and right there's no interpretation of it whatsoever. There's

not that would be a big one too. That would be a big one. So it sounds to me that you're kind of making good checks and balances of your concerns. And I'd say, from what you've told me, they're not here to defend themselves. But from what you've told me, those are very legitimate reasons to go look for another church. Great, I'm the only

concern I am having is with the wife too. Of well, you need to sit her down and make your case and explain and not be divisive and say, I'm really concerned, and you're trusting in me to be a spiritual leader in this home, and these are my concerns and I'm trying to make the best decision possible. And this church, I don't feel suits are our specific needs. And and I know that you love this church. I asked that we go try I've been here with you, I've sat here with you.

I'm asking you to try some other options with me, right And you know you've got to There's a lot of things you got to work together, uh in life and have compromise and decisions. But this sounds to me spiritually like it's a bad place to be so so you've just got to take the time to to make your case to your wife so that she can hear your concerns, but make them real and legitimate, paint them out, say I

think this, this is a really scary situation. And and you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna put you on hold, but Ben, don't hang up. I want I want our screener to to talk to you and get the name of the church, because I'd like to know the name of the church as well, and we'll get more specifics from him. There. A church is a very personal need. Not only are there not only are there general generalities that are important, Like I said, the essentials of the faith that

make Christianity Christianity. You can't just and you find this all over the place. You can't just say, oh, well, we read the Bible or we do this, and therefore we're a Christian church. There are things that make a Christian church a Christian church. You can't just take the name and co op for any any belief that's out there. And I know a lot of people do that. Even the New Age movement tries to do that,

where they have their very metaphysical and other Christian. They're not tied into Christian in any way, shape or form. Yet they use scripture and try and make it look like they're sempatico and they're not. And you have to know that there is a line. And if it feels uncomfortable, sometimes it's going to be that taste or flavor thing again. Sometimes it's going to be, well, I want to eat more youthful church, or I want a church

that focuses on these types of ministries or whatever. That's fine, and there's gonna be other times where you look and you say, you know what, the theology here is starting to rub my spirit wrong. It's starting to make me feel like I'm a part of something that I shouldn't be a part of. And I know the battle that goes on there as Wow, am I just being wimpy? Am I being undedicated? Do I not want to be

accountable? And if those are the questions, then you know, you stick to it and you let the church grow with you as you grow with the church. But if you really feel that they're going counter to what you believe scripture teaches, Scripture does not teach that there's any one specific building or teacher that is the truth. It teaches that scripture is the focus that I, Jesus Christ, am the focused. That is what is taught. So this whole, if you went anywhere else, that's a really a really big red

flag. That always makes me concerned when somebody proclaims they are the they have or the arbitrary is a truth and you can't find it anywhere else, and if you go anywhere else, then you're doomed to hell. Those types of things make me concerned. When it's within Christianity, then you start poking around at the theology and seeing if they're adhering to the essentials or not. That would be that what breaks down the truth versus that which is false. Gary,

Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Criminal. I'm sorry you are my favorite criminal? Is that right? Yes? You were. That's a strange way, yeah, a strange way of putting it. But I appreciate you. She's convicted for blasphemy and you suffered and died, and I very much appreciate what you told me. My question is is it wrong to give money to street people that will probably use it for drugs and alcohol? When you

said it rains on the just and the unjust. Oh, there's a lot of controversy that goes into this because the things that were said in scripture. If you remember, there were those that wanted to spend time with me and then would talk about the poor, and I remarked that the poor you will always have with you, meaning that you're not going to dig the poor out of being poor. There will always be poor people on the earth. Sad

notion. Well, let me finish. In addition to that, Gary, the assumption is that people that when you're doing something, even you said give money, but some people say is it wrong to help the people on the street by giving them money? Well? Are you helping? Is the concern? If you're just giving money to make yourself feel good or to go, look, hey, I'm handing money to somebody who's less fortunate than I am. That's pride, that's about you. If you really want to help somebody,

then you need to know whether you're helping them or not. Okay, how about this rather than calling it charity because I see this all the time on the convenience store at six o'clock in the morning, before one's desperate for a drink. They're either afraid or unwilling to accept help. If I say this, I'll buy you an alcoholic beverage or I'll give you the money to buy one. But in exchange for that, I want you, while you're drinking it to ask God or Jesus for help or to show you the way

to get help with your life. Then it's an exchange of values. It's no longer charity. No, But you're helping someone sin in the process. I am helping him sin in the process. How do you know you drink? No, it's about somebody who's an alcoholic or somebody that needs a drink. But that's different. There's a difference in sin, and this is people that confused in this. There are general sins that are wrong for everyone, and then there are specific sins that are wrong for you. An alcoholic,

it is a sin for them to drink. That doesn't mean that it's a sin to have wine with dinner. It means that it's a sin for alcoholic to have alcohol at all. That's the concern. So you're participating in that sin to try and barter for God. And quite frankly, I don't need anybody to barter for me. There's no need for any sort of exchange. I will touch the hearts of man across the board. People will either either accept or reject. And if they took the drink and started to accept,

it doesn't mean anything. Scripture says that when someone's under the influence, they're under the influence chemically. They're under the influence of the enemy, not of God, and so they're in a state where they couldn't receive if they wanted to. But Jesus, let me ask you this, aren't I passing judgment on somebody yet clearly obviously they have a problem, or they wouldn't be there begging for money at six o'clock in the morning. Yes, you are passing

judgment on them. What's wrong with that? Didn't you say judge, not less you be judged. Yeah, I said, be prepared for you to be judged if you judge others, So that doesn't say don't judge. People get this tied up in their own mindset. If you were to say somebody looked good, or somebody was smart, or somebody was good at something, you're judging them as well, right, yes, yeah, okay. But

the concern is that people get lost in the concept of judging. What I don't want and why it says this over and over in scripture, don't judge the speck in someone else's eye when you have a plank in yours is that In Corinthians it says if you judge yourself, you will not have to be judged by others. However, it never says that there isn't going to be judgment. There has to be judgment for anybody to grow. Even you saying that they need God is a judgment. There's no way to interact with somebody

in a beneficial manner without judging them. Judging can be a wonderful thing. What I don't want is people to judge others instead of judging themselves, meaning that they're constantly so focused on other people that you never look at what's going on with you Gary, or what Gary needs or how Gary can grow. So that's what concerns me. The concept of judging is so taking out of context. People use that as a way to kind of shut down people that

are trying to correct them. You could have no correction, no toutelage, no understanding, no teaching if unless you were judged, you can't look at yourself as better than that person. But you can look at that person and say I have a better way of you doing this, or I have something that's helpful. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People don't like judgment because they don't want to be found out. They don't want to be called out

on the carpet or accountable. Judgment has a purpose. Unrighteous judgment is when you just think you're better than someone else. It doesn't matter who you are, and you just keep pushing other people around and tell them what they need to do. That would be a problem when it comes to giving money on the streets. The thing is you have to understand if it's going to be helpful or not. You don't have the time or the resources to vet every individual, so the best way to do it is to vet a or look

into an organization a charity that does this. You can carry cards from the local mission on you so that they will help people go and get food. But to give to that individual, more likely than not, you're giving to their ailment, their sickness, their sin, or a problem more than you're giving to them to help themselves out. And if you talk to or hear interviews from people who have been on the street, who lived on the street

but really works to get off them. They'll tell you that that didn't help. They'll tell you what helped them was someone put pushing them towards getting back on their feet, or some people are mentally ill and need help there. Whatever it might be, your money isn't necessarily going to help them, and it comes from a place of pride more than it comes from a place of actually wanting to help someone, and finding that balance is a difficult one to

come to. So keep that in mind as you, you know, engage people on the streets and try and find out whether you know it's good or not to be giving money. KFI AM six forty on demand