¶ Love as Action, Not Feeling
things you know easy . You bring up a really good point there , right ? We do not go by feelings For somebody to say I no longer love that person . They're saying that they are no longer choosing to unconditionally and sacrificially serve that individual . And that's the way we are to love our spouses and really love each other .
Right , Love is not a feeling , it is a verb , it is an action . I am committed to you even if you're never committed to me , and this is the way we approach the word of god . Right , our feelings are so fickle . If I would have went by my feelings , I would have married 16 people before I met my wife . But no , I wanted to wait for my actual wife .
Run your race as hard and as fast as you can towards the lord and , when you're ready to get married , look around to see who kept up with you and marry that individual . Martin Luther said don't allow your feelings to preach to you , Because our feelings are always preaching to us . We need to have a louder voice , right ?
The sirens are always shouting and calling out to us and singing to us from those crashing rocks , and if we set ourselves on the solid rock of God's word , well then , we're not going to be led astray . Nancy Wilson worded it like this anytime our emotions drive the car , we soon end up in a ditch .
For many , many years , friends , I have been in the business of saving souls , but today I have added a new saving profile to my saving resume . I am now into saving cameras . That's right , friends . Did you guys see the saving of the camera that I did earlier in the video today ?
I couldn't figure out whether you were talking about shoes or actual souls when you said saving souls .
Souls , living souls , you mean you got a true eye for the camera and you didn't .
Did you guys see the camera earlier ? That was falling .
I did .
You saw that , mark , I did .
Yeah , yale called it out , you saw it . Were you in here ? Yes , you all said oh no , no , no , no . And then you like stumbled and you fell you cried .
I didn't even know I had a witness , but I did , I guess , because I thought you guys were going to believe me . Yeah , because the irony is that the camera didn't catch me catching the camera , so I didn't have any evidence to prove that I can't see the camera .
Don't we have a full-time recording camera up here ? Yes , we do , so it is evidence .
You guys will never hear the end of it . I saved our camera Thousands of dollars . I want to know how you ?
save souls . How does EZ himself ?
save souls . Yeah , help me understand it from a theological perspective . Well , here's my explanation of it .
Well , first I just want to say this In relation to the proper utilization of the hermeneutical and homiletical principles of biblical interpretation and preaching , it's , it's imperative that one possess higher exegetical skills , especially when dealing with the diversity of logical and eschatological systems within the various genres of the biblical text .
So , when you resolve , that then I'll .
I think I know why you have a headache now .
Yeah .
Oh , don't remind me .
Sorry , oh my goodness , seriously , it was gone and now it's back , so anyway have you guys ever dealt with that though Like oh man , where does
¶ Nostalgic Memories and Exciting Updates
this excitement come ?
to talk about this ?
is what I was going to talk about . I was going to say have you guys ever done something great but no one saw it and it wasn't recorded . Yes , and then people just wouldn't believe you my whole life you remember that stupid little thing , ray with the , with the nose , with the little chain what did you do with that ?
I'm supposed to get that hang on .
Hang on , you were horrible you remember , explain to me , remember that little round thing and it had like a chain in there in a guy's head and you would shake it and it would create a nose and a mouth Mix the face . Oh yes , what was that ? I don't know , but that was one of the coolest things .
But every time Ray look and he would just bump my hand and it would make a man's face .
No , that's not the one we're talking about . Yes , it is no .
Ray , it had a little chain Chain . It was round , it had some funny looking dude , black and white head , and then you would shake it and the chain would Mark . You know exactly . I totally remember Remember it was a little circle thing this is reminding me of . Jacob and Daniel . Not remembering , I need a cognitive test .
What would I type in to find it ? How do I find it on Amazon ? I'm going to buy one right now . Who are you guys ? Wait you .
Who are you guys ? Wait , hold on you seriously . What am I doing here ? You can't be serious .
Look , I just got some . He didn't take his meds .
Mark , you remember it 100% right . Remember you would shake it and it was a little chain and then it would shape his nose and mouth .
Yeah , that's the thing I was talking about .
It was circular , wasn't it ? Yeah , but it wasn't ball bearings , it was just like a little tiny .
Well , they looked like a chain , but they were little round bearings that would pull together because they're magnetized . No , they weren't magnetized , they weren't .
Forget it .
I don't even know how to look it up .
And how funny . I'm talking about not being able to prove something .
No , that was it . That was the one I just described wrong . I think it was a chain that fell on the guy's face , but I'd bump you every time you showed me his face .
Yeah , every time . Oh , I remember it now it was a little old . Yes , I found it .
Did you ? Is that it , mark ? Yes , that's it Now . You remember it . That's it , yes .
Okay , so were you thinking of something else ?
No , I was thinking it was ball bearings , but it was the chain link and it would fall into that .
Mark , we need to buy one of those . I love that thing . Yeah , it was a great joy because Mark would do it too .
He'd come up with it , perfectly done , and I'd say , give me a look and I'd bump it and you couldn't get it back right , it was one of those . Yeah .
Now we have phones , because this was before I think we had it .
Are you going to order one more ? What's ? It called it's in Germany , I'm not buying something in . Germany , what's the name ?
of it . I ball bearings . No , it's from .
Germany .
I have done some . There's this one time , going back to your originally question , this one time we're at this park and you know those they make these things that are like made to hurt your children . It's on a pole and then there's a bowl and it spins . But it spins like kind of weird and they like get going and you can't stop .
So I weird and they like get going and you can't stop . So I'm I've got like evie , she's like two years old , maddie's like six , seven or eight , and she sits on it and it starts spinning out of control and she's like holding on for dear life and I book it over there .
She falls off and I catch her by her ankle , dude , and her head like barely misses the cement and I caught her and it was one of those moments like oh but no one was there .
No one cared at all . It was like the greatest dad moment ever no one gave her how long ago was this probably .
Yeah , 10 years ago maybe , oh no , no cell phones we don't believe it would have been a dozen phones would have got it by now we don't believe you .
Yeah , it's funny like we live life through captured imagery . Have you guys ever done this where you're trying to rewind real-time moment in life ? No , seriously , I've had that like , oh , let me . No , I can't Like a person . Yeah , like an event , something that just happened Because we're so used to being able to watch things over again . What are you two ?
doing , we found it .
What the face ? The actual face ? You're going to buy one , right ? Yes , I missed that thing . Yes , that's the one . Yes , oh , yes , please , mark , it's one of my favorite things . Show the camera .
Show the cameras . We can prove that Ray was wrong . There's Ray's phone number and address in the corner . Get that online .
Alright , Friends , time for a cool , classy comment . This is from Lisa Tannis . Hey guys , I recently started listening to your podcast and absolutely love it . You guys are so funny and knowledgeable about the Word of God . I learn a lot from you all . I'm looking forward to your streaming service . Love your books .
Ray , Thank you for your amazing podcast and resources on livingwaterscom . Hey , thank you , by the way , Lisa , Very encouraging . Lisa mentioned something very important our streaming service , Oscar . Tell the people about our streaming service .
I'm not going to listen to it now . We have so much content . We've got 10 seasons , almost now , of Way of the Master . We've got video of Ray preaching the gospel all the way back from , I think , the seventies it goes as early as that .
We've got so much stuff that we've produced over the course of the years that and we've never been able to put it all in one spot .
Often , when somebody comes up to me and asks like hey , where can I watch Way of the Master , it's like you can watch season five on this channel , season seven on that channel , and so we decided to create a streaming service that's going to house pretty much everything we've ever done . It's going to be one login .
You're going to be able to hop in there and watch it all all of our movies , all of our TV shows and , for you , podcast listeners , you're going to be able to watch the podcast being recorded . You'll be able to see our faces and our expressions . It's going to be a totally different experience for you , and all of this will be happening very soon .
You can go to livingwaterstv to sign up so that you can be one of the first to know when it launches . And when it launches , we're going to do a discount for the first 90 days , so you'll want to stay tuned for that .
So don't we have some teaching from teachers around the ?
world , that's true , yeah . Yeah , mark , you want to talk about the Equip .
So there's many different branches of Living Waters TV , and one of the branches that we're very excited about is called Living Waters Equip , where we've brought in the top professors , theologians , pastors and teachers to answer in a street , apologetic way , the top questions that you get out on the street . Right , why the Bible and not the Bhagavad Gita ?
Give us your two , three-minute answer . Right , because when you're out on the street and you're witnessing , you do not have 30 minutes to talk to someone . It's not a monologue , it's a dialogue . Yeah , so how do you get right to it ?
So we're really excited about it .
Give me some teachers . We have Emile Zwane , we have Oscar Navarro .
We have Ray Comfort .
We have .
Mark Spence .
Yeah , actually I'll give you a list . Votie Bochum . Votie Bochum .
Bochum , sorry , let me give you an example . Ray asked me a street question .
You think you're a good person . I don't know .
Okay , we do have a good list of people . We have your pastor , Bruce Garner he's wonderful . We have Bill McKeever dealing with Mormonism . We have Edward DeCour Dr Edward DeCour . We have Eric Hoven , Frank Turek , Greg Kokel , Jay Warner , Wallace , James White , Jay Smith dealing with Islam .
Jay Smith dealing with Islam , Jeff Urban , Jesse Johnson , Justin Peters , Ken Ham , Kent Hughes , Kurt Cameron , Matt Shuckleford , Matt Slick , Mike Gendron with Catholicism , Mike Riccardi , Mike Weiner .
Steven Seagal . Steven Seagal Owen .
Stratton Joe Biden , bill Johnson , joe Biden . How , joe Biden , bill Johnson , joe Biden . How did he get on that list ?
Kamala Harris All right guys .
Anyway , that was about half the list .
Yeah , so that was a radically revolutionary resource . I'll throw one more in God doesn't believe in atheists . Proof that the atheist does not exist . Ray , when did you write that book ? I don't know , no it was about 1992 . Yeah , love that title , one of my favorite titles .
I sent it to a publisher . I sent it to a lot of publishers . Only one picked it up . It was because the editor gave his atheist son son-in-law the manuscript .
He got saved reading it and he decided to publish it . What , wow , really , is that really ?
how that happened . Yes , yeah , is that the same book ? That's right . Oh , that idiot book , american Atheist . Yeah , that was the book . It was called that Idiot Book and then you took flak for that , didn't you ?
Yes , ray , I can't believe you actually went and debated someone at an atheist convention . It was wonderful you weren't worried they were going to poison your food .
No , they gave us a big gift basket when I arrived . I told a friend I got him to try it as a cupbearer .
Yeah Was it Mark Spence Was that your cupbearer ?
No no , it was a guy named Ron .
Boy .
All right , France he died .
All right , france , what was I going to say ? Oh , and don't forget the Living Waters of Monaco , the Heaven and Society Bible , all at living , but livingwaterscom Wow , you have a great level of control Livingwaterscom . Yeah , very nice .
I like that you're clarified . I'm a businessman Livingwaterscom .
All right , friends . Today we are dealing with how to conquer your feelings .
Guys , I don't know if you feel this , I didn't feel like doing this one . I didn't feel like it we should stop now .
We don't feel like it . I don't know why . Every time I hear the word feelings it .
Makes you want to sing . Go for it .
Play me a song , you don't have to .
Feelings Not necessary . Nothing more than feelings .
Our guests just left .
Seriously , man , I'm the worst singer on the planet . I hope people . I hope people realize that , like when I sing , I know .
I'm a horrible singer . I'm not worst singer on the planet . I hope people realize that when I sing I know I'm a horrible singer . I'm not trying to pretend .
Do you ? Are you serious ? Sometimes you're impressed .
Well , sometimes I'm impressed . I hit a note , that's all it is , it's not the worst .
My son said that he absolutely loves hearing you sing . Did I tell you that ?
Your dead son no .
He loves it .
It , he loves it , it demonstrates his humility , yeah , for sure . So anyway , guys , yeah , feelings , man feelings .
Hey , how are you feeling ?
Feelings . Well , I'm still battling that headache .
Oscar , how are you feeling Good ? You know , what's funny is , when I first got married , my wife no , no , no , no , no , no . How are you feeling Good ? I'm feeling hungry .
No , no , no , no , no , no . How are you feeling Good ? I'm feeling hungry . No , no , no , mark , how are you feeling ? I feel good . There's none good . You don't go by feelings , thank you , I've heard that .
With you , Ray . Seriously , it's gotten to a point where , before I ask the question ?
the answer is ringing in my ear . Okay , Ready , ready , finish this . Oscar did it . What a miracle .
Wow , that was good .
All right , let's close in prayer .
We're done how dumb was that ? Yeah , you know , I think back to when I first got saved , because Before you know the Lord .
I wonder , who started that , what , when we first did that ? Are we still on ?
Squirrel . What is the etymology of the knock , squirrel , squirrel .
But we really . You know , when you're a new believer , you just come off of your entire life revolving around feelings ,
¶ Navigating Feelings and Faithing
right ? I mean , think of all the things that we used to do as unbelievers , that we never questioned for a second like , never contemplated , never had any self-introspection over , because that's just how we rolled . And then we get saved and all of a sudden you start to realize , little by little , you can't roll that way anymore .
But I rode feelings like a wave with joy and glee , and that's what ruled my life . And when you think about You're talking about sin , yeah , like feelings . Well , yeah , sin , but also just , I guess , a sense of normalcy and pleasure in just what you feel . It would dictate the reason why you would make decisions . Oh , if it feels good , do it , yeah .
Well , I mean , how many times you hear people say well , I got divorced , I just wasn't feeling love for them anymore , and so you get saved ?
And then your whole world has changed because you start realizing your feelings are deceptive , your feelings are untrustworthy , your feelings are oftentimes self-centered , so it should be faithings , faithings I just made that word up Is that your new book Ray .
It's obvious .
It's very clear Faithings .
You know , ez , you bring up a really good point there , right ? We do not go by feelings For somebody to say I no longer love that person . They're saying that they are no longer choosing to unconditionally and sacrificially serve that individual . And that's the way we are to love our spouses and really love each other .
Right , love is not a feeling , it is a verb , it is an action . I am committed to you even if you're never committed to me , and this is the way we approach the Word of God . Right , our feelings are so fickle . If I would have went by my feelings , I would have married 16 people before I met my wife . But no , I wanted to wait for my actual wife .
Run your race as hard and as fast as you can towards the Lord and , when you're ready to get married , look around to see who kept up with you and marry that individual . Martin Luther said don't allow your feelings to preach to you , because our feelings are always preaching to us . We need to have a louder voice , right ?
The sirens are always shouting and calling out to us and singing to us from those crashing rocks , and if we set ourselves on the solid rock of God's Word , well then , we're not going to be led astray . Nancy Wilson worded it like this anytime our emotions drive the car , we soon end up in a ditch .
Wow , that's so profound . You know the flip side of that and we'll explore all this together , but feelings have been given to us by the Lord . Like feelings are not altogether illegitimate . In fact , they could be absolutely wonderful . So this is what you're feeling at the moment In the proper context . That's my current feeling .
So , you know , it comes down to understanding your feelings , looking at them in their proper context , enjoying them when they correlate to truth and correspond to truth , and thanking the Lord for them , but being careful to not be governed and controlled and ruled by your feelings and by your emotions .
And you know , I would also say that even before we came to know Christ , we denied our feelings on many fronts , you know .
But it was typically in keeping with things that were associated with necessity , in the sense that it immediately impacted us Like okay , I don't feel like going to work today , and maybe we'll go with that feeling a few times in line and say we're gonna be sick . But we know it hits a point that if we keep doing that we're gonna lose our job .
So we deny that feeling of not wanting to go to work and we go right . But I think with the unbeliever anything that doesn't deal with that sort of thing they're just going to typically go with their feelings and be ruled and governed .
Yeah , and here's the big problem with that I don't feel God . We live in a society where the church is telling us that God is a feeling . Right , I don't feel like God is with me anymore and we discount Scripture altogether . Now , feelings are not a terrible thing , like you said . We just can't let them rule us .
Macarthur worded it like this feelings are a poor foundation for marriage , but they can be a wonderful , glorious byproduct . Right , you're right , god has created us like this , but we cannot allow them to rule us as headbe beams as we move forward .
Yeah , you guys are bringing up a really good point , which is that there's these two narratives out there in which we see One . There's like the cultural narratives , that your feelings are what defines you . Right ?
So many people are told today like , whatever you feel , you need to go out and express your feelings , get it off your chest , let it out , just be honest . Those feelings is what define you , and once you express that , then the world around you needs to conform to the feeling that you're having about yourself .
Feelings is how we understand , how the world tells us that we should pursue truth . Right , it's not like you don't hear people say I think . They say I feel . You know , feelings is how we perceive truth , and the problem is our feelings are incredibly inconsistent . I like to always say like .
Sometimes I feel like being really healthy , and then I wake up in the morning and I feel like a breakfast burrito . You know what I mean . When kids are really little , they feel like there's a monster in their closet . Our feelings are inconsistent and to try to use them as governing tools to our lives , as Mark said , it'll leave you to a road ditch .
Now , the other problem too and this is what you're alluding to is that the response is very humish . David Hume was this philosopher and he talked about feelings as like this rabid dog that needs to be reined in , that we need to be less of emotional creatures , that we need to suck it up and just think our way through life .
But this is also not a biblical view of what it means to be a person , and you hit it on the head easy . Our emotions , our feelings , are gifts from the , from the God who created us , and they are given to us to be road signs to better understand our own heart .
Our emotions , our feelings flow from our affections , the things that we love , the things that we worship , and so your feelings . They don't define you , but they will inform you . They will inform you of the idols that you have in your life , of the affections that are controlling your desires , and the Psalms do a great job of this .
Like the Psalmist , they expressed their emotions , but their emotions help them to know their own hearts and then to worship the God of their , the creator of their lives , wow .
That's so good . Oscar Ray , you often talk about fear in the sense that fear can be your friend because it can keep you from doing something stupid and dangerous , and so forth . But we also know that sometimes for the Christian , there are what are called irrational fears , and the reason why these fears are irrational is because they don't coincide with truth .
So when someone is saying you know , as a born-again Christian who knows and loves God genuinely , and they bear fruit of salvation , that person says I just feel like God doesn't love me and I'm afraid , I'm fearful . I mean , that's the kind of thing that's associated with feeling . What do you say to the Christian who's in that realm ?
I get these feelings and they just affect my life .
That's scary Now irrational fears . I think we deal with a lot of things in life because we live in a fallen creation . It's a battle between the carnal mind and the spiritual mind , the Adam and the new man in Christ , and what we've got to do is reckon some of those feelings dead . I'm crucified with the Christ .
Nevertheless , I live not I , but Christ lives in me , and the life I live now in the flesh , I live by the faith of the Son of God , who loved me and gave himself for me , and that's the love expressed in the cross . So that's what we look to , not to our feelings . I was almost going to be late for today's podcast .
I sent you a text saying I could be a minute late . And you were very gracious and you were two minutes . No one was counting or looking and the reason I was a little late is because our television keeps turning itself back on when I turn it off .
I've had that at my house
¶ Battling Feelings and Faith
. You have , we have the same TV . No , it's a different TV , but it's the same sort .
Yeah , it came back eight times . I was going to leave it . It , as I was going to leave , it , would come back on it would go off for about 30 seconds .
Are you sure Lucy didn't have a remote ?
No , she didn't have a remote , but it's been doing it for a couple of months . It's just really annoying . But that's what feelings are like .
You think you've got them under control , and yet they come back on when you least expect it .
The Lord gave you that experience for this analogy that reminds me I had a remote control called a TV Be Gone , and I used to attach it to my key chain . I'd go inside of sporting bars . Oh Mark , this is terrible . It was terrible . I'm bringing my confession before you .
Yeah , I was going to say this last week and right before somebody goes to score a touchdown or something .
I just I could turn off the TV and everybody was going crazy not knowing where I was at . But I absolutely loved doing that . That is such a marketing , all right , hey , back on subject here . Did you stop ? No , real quick .
Remember those pocket PCs before smartphones came out ? It was like a little pocket . It's like a smartphone , but yeah , sort of thing . I had one of those and it had an app where you could control any TV and I loved it , because if you go into a doctor's office and something filthy is on you , Same concept .
Mark have you stopped doing that . I don't have it anymore , I would use it . He'll probably look it up again .
It would be great to be able to preach to people .
Go silent in some bar and say hey , the TV's off , there's no audio I was witnessing to my Lyft driver the other day and he had the radio going and I just wanted to say , can you turn that off ? It was driving . I mean it wasn't too loud , but it was still distracting , you know so what did you do about it ?
this is what I've done . What you do is just say so , how's your day going ? And he's like get real quiet that's yeah , right wait .
Have you really done that ?
right , so you just talk quietly . That's pretty good . I'm sure I have .
They talk quietly that's's really genius , actually . All right , Mark , back on topic .
To answer your question , I think for people who go by feelings right , there is a popular saying if it feels good , do it . If you have that sort of mantra , you're actually in a popular line Not a good line , but a popular line , because Anton LaVey said something very similar . Shouldn't you say who he is ?
The Satanic Bible yeah , he's the author of the Satanic Bible .
Let's not talk about who Mark called that one of our guests in the studio .
But anyway , go ahead . We did have a guest that looked like Anton .
LeVay yeah , we're not going to say who it is .
But I walked into the studio and I go . Who invited ? Anton LeVay .
You really offended him , Mark .
He was super offended . Oh duh , you look like one of the world's worst Satanists .
Stop looking like Anton LaVey , I won't call you .
Anton LaVey Was his first name , james , so Anyways , go ahead , mark Anton LaVey . This is what he said Do what thou will shall be the whole of the law , right ? So do whatever you want . And what do we do ? We do what we feel like we want to do . We prioritize the things that we feel would be beneficial for us at that moment , until
¶ Culture, Emotions, and Scriptural Truth
you become a Christian . Because when you become a Christian , you are now governed by a different law . You are ruled and guided by God's eye . We are led by his spirit , we take refuge under the shadow of his wings and we allow him to make all of the decisions for us . And we understand what his decisions are by meditating through his word .
You know , what's interesting is that you're actually even today , you're actually not governed by your emotions , you're governed by a rubric , a system in which you've accepted by the culture . And so we think like the culture is telling us hey , go express however you feel about yourself .
But the reality is the culture is still telling us what feelings to express and what feelings to suppress . And my prime example is this and this is someone else , way smarter than me , brought this up , brought this to my attention .
But they said if you think about it , if you think about like an Anglo-Saxon warrior walking down his village and he looks inside of himself and he sees same-sex attraction , but he also looks inside of himself and he sees rage , that he wants to go out and murder someone and take everything to his own possession , that Anglo-Saxon warrior , because of his culture ,
will suppress those feelings of same-sex attraction and express that feeling of rage .
Now imagine somebody walking down the street of New York and they look inside of themselves and they feel a desire to commit murder , but they also feel that desire of same-sex attraction because of the culture in which they live , they will decide to suppress the feeling of rage and express the feeling of same-sex attraction , and so the point that I'm making here is
the culture is lying to you . It's not saying you should be able to express whatever you want . The culture has imprinted a standard of living for you in which you govern your emotions by and what we're telling you . The beauty of the gospel is that the culture is fleeting and it's leading you to destruction , but only God knows your heart .
Only God knows who you truly are , because he is your maker and he is giving you a standard , a rubric , a filter in which will lead to your joy and will lead to everlasting life . Wow .
And the world that's giving us that culture to live in is being deceived by the spiritual cultures that they're subjected to .
Yeah , and ultimately traces its roots to what Scripture says about Satan , the prince of the power of the air , the spirit who now works , and the sons of disobedience , and we say that from the standpoint that it goes on to say among whom we all once conducted ourselves .
So we say this with sympathy and compassion toward the unbeliever , because we were once there , ruled by our emotions and our feelings .
But I would add to that , oscar , that was brilliantly stated , I would add to that that what the culture also does as a part of that rubric is it tells you that your feelings , no matter what they are , are valid , and so that's where they take it to the next step . No matter what they are are valid , and so that's where they take it to the next step .
So it's not just I have these feelings and that's why it's that no , and my feelings are valid because they're constantly validated by the world , you know . And so , ray , I'm so glad Oscar brought up the issue of homosexuality . That's where I was going to go , and I think you dealt with that right .
But that's the problem , right , the world is validating whatever feeling you have , and then , on top of validating , it's celebrating , because now it's not just hey , no , that's a good feeling , but we're going to make you a hero , like now . If you come out as homosexual , you're a hero . If you come out as transgender , you're a hero .
So , ray , that happens as well . We talked about the homosexual issue , but I feel like a woman happens as well . We talked about the homosexual issue , but I feel like a woman I feel like a man , I feel like an animal easy needs counsel yeah , oh no I hope no one isolates , but what ?
yeah , what is that clip ?
please just just cut that little portion out . We'll drop it . I just did myself , yeah , yeah . So , ray , what do you say to people ?
because look , somebody feels like a woman .
Well , I'd say what is a woman , okay , okay , that opens up , right , that whole can of worms . We've seen that movie before , but look , I do want to say that this has some serious connotations , because I know there's people listening right now who are inundated with that right . I've always said we're very impressionable and we live in a very influential age .
It's like a stone coming up against soft clay right , where we're easily impacted and affected and influenced . So there's people listening for whom this is like real , because they have been brainwashed for so long that if you feel something , it must be true .
I mean , how many , how many young people have so tragically gone into homosexuality because some stupid thought or weird feeling came into their heart , because they looked at someone of the same sex and then they just , oh , that must mean I am , and then that begins to expand . Mark , were you going to say something ?
Yeah , well somebody wiser than myself , which is 8 billion people on the planet , said if we do not meditate on God's word as truth , we're going to believe lies are true and this is why we buy into that idea that I'm a woman trapped in a man's body or something along that lines .
Right , we need to renew our mind , and scripture is very important to bring this together . Right , romans 12 , 2, . Do not be conformed to this world , as we said earlier , but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that , by the testing , you may discern what is the will of God and what is good and acceptable and perfect .
Or , as John Calvin worded it let the mind dwell upon the truth of God's word until it burns into your soul . That's what we need to do with the word of God . We don't just flippantly read a scripture , a text , our daily bread . I read the verse for the day . We get our news and we get our Bible intake from Instagram memes .
Right , there's something wrong with us . We need to . You can read any chapter of the day . We get our news and we get our Bible intake from Instagram memes . There's something wrong with us . We need to . You can read any chapter of the Bible in two to three minutes , except for Psalm 119 . Two to three minutes any chapter of the Bible .
And people come along and say I don't have time to read God's Word . Look , you go through God's .
Word . You're talking about the genealogies too . Try it while I'm reading Genesis 5 , go Genesis 5 .
Which is the first sign of the gospel .
I'm told man appointed , mortal sorrow will teach that the blessed God shall come down
¶ Diving Into Genesis 5
, teaching that his death shall bring the despairing comfort Something like that First sign of the gospel , genesis 5 .
That's pretty crazy , yeah , tremendous . But we need to meditate on God's word so much that when an answer comes to our head , it really is just we're plagiarizing God's word , that it is God's word that came out . So when I have a weird obstructed feeling to not do what God's calling me to do , I just know that it is the right thing to do .
And if you're a non-believer , you do this all the time actually . But your three-month-old baby needs help and direction and needs to eat . Guess what you do ? You swallow your feelings and you do that , which is right . You feed your starving child , your hungry kid . You're already doing it now with the Word of God .
Approach the Word of God much in the same way .
Amen , yeah Easy .
First mention of the gospel . Explain yourself , because a lot of people say , oh sorry , yeah , yeah , First mention of the gospel . Explain yourself because a lot of people say what was ?
that about yeah , yeah , well , again , this isn't like a Hilda Dion type thing .
But it's wonderful .
Yeah , but it's something that I actually . I heard a preacher touch on that once and I thought there's no way this can be . So I went myself and looked up the meaning of each word in the original and I was blown away .
So it's a genealogy in Genesis 5 , begins with Adam and it ends with Noah , and Adam means man , noah means comfort , and then with each name there's a meaning . I mean , back then names actually had meanings , unlike today . We like the way they sound , but they had meanings .
So when you put it all together , this is what it says man , beginning with Adam , is appointed mortal sorrow , but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing , and then ends with Noah comfort .
And so I mean it's mind-blowing .
Again , maybe I need to look at it deeper . We're not into hidden messages in the Bible and stuff like that , just a little disclaimer . But it's interesting enough to explore . Yeah , and if you didn't follow .
That's just simply the etymology of each name .
Right , yeah , that you're following the names In succession and order . That's right .
From Adam to Noah Adam Seth , enosh , kenan Mahalel , jared Enoch , methuselah , lamech , noah , following all those with the name you come up with .
That I thought you were referring to Genesis 3.15 , which is Proto-Evangelion , which is that someone will come to crush the head of the serpent , which is known from a theological perspective as the first sign of the gospel . Yeah , true , that too .
Proto-Evangelion Right , right , but yeah , we were just talking about the name .
Boy , that'd make a great little tract .
Yeah , oh yeah , Ryan , oh yeah . Ryan , it's down Tanya , watch around .
Oh , it's turned around . What is this ? I hadn't seen that yet . You don't know what that is . I don't know what that is , I hadn't seen it , but I my words , do something for someone . Turn my watch around . I get reminded in a few minutes . But what happens if you have to ?
do it twice , do what twice . Turn your watch around twice .
You have two different ideas . You need to get another watch , two watches . Oh , I've got a watch from too tight . I said , ray , you can get different bands , I can't . I'm a $10 Walmart watch .
Yeah , it's $12 .
Oh , whoa Moving on up .
Actually , I get them online now . I don't repair the battery , I just get another watch . It's so cheap , just get a drawer full of them . So I got a question about this whole thing , see if this happens to a can of worms .
We are getting derailed today . Go ahead .
Are women more likely to be governed by feelings than men ? It's a good question , see ya , because they are more emotional .
We should have asked Rachel when we had her here .
They're more emotional . They're more tender than men .
Yeah , look , I would say there's nothing wrong with us acknowledging that there are things that we may be more susceptible toward because of our makeup as men and women . That's a part of you wear makeup .
We need to isolate all of these little statements , oh that's right , I'm a woman , I wear makeup .
You know what ? You don't even have to do that with AI now . It could take your voice and make you say all kinds of things .
I would say , probably as a general consensus and a general truth , that yeah women may be more susceptible to be moved by men , but they can be more empathetic than men .
Absolutely , there's a good side to it . Right , Let me look at this from a cultural perspective and
¶ Navigating Emotions and Self-Control
I'm kind of live processing the question , which I would say that I would say that we probably have a perception of emotions in which we think well , that is an emotional behavior , when we don't realize that all of us are being governed by some emotion at some point in time .
And I would also say that , like culturally speaking , if you look at the way men , for example , pursued emotional expression in the Old Testament , they were way more expressive than women .
The psalmists are written by men , mostly all men and so I would say that we probably perceive the emotions of women greater than we perceive our own emotions , Because I think that men are pretty emotional , Although side note , this is kind of funny .
I was gonna say this earlier that when I first got married , my wife used to be like man , you don't have feelings , and I go . What do you mean ? I feel hungry , I feel tired .
I feel bored . Yeah , I mean , I think that , based on again , how we're designed and what God made women for , I would say I mean and again it's hard to really pinpoint it exactly and to articulate it but I think that obviously men and women both feel , of course we do .
That's the whole point and that's what leads us , but I would say that women's feelings are probably more accentuated than men's . On on in , in specific areas especially and again that's not a bad thing Like immediately someone talks about it's like oh , what are you trying to say ?
No , we're just saying that women , you know , have a more accentuated feelings and sometimes that can lead to more negative things . It doesn't have to but In a positive way , like their empathy towards children . Yeah , in those positive senses , absolutely , yeah , so so we like women .
I like one of them basically Me too .
Yeah . So , mark , what do we say to believers right now who are listening and they say I try to control my feelings , I hear what you're saying like , okay , truth , truth , truth . But what do I do if they just keep just coming up , like the TV keeps coming back on ?
Yeah , how do I deal with them ? Well , remember , scripture tells us that the fruit of the Spirit not the fruits of the Spirit , but the fruit of the Spirit is for those that have memorized it love , joy , peace , patience , kindness , goodness , faithfulness , gentleness , Self-control . Self-control right . So self-control is one layer of somebody who is born again .
So if you're a Christian , you have self-control . A lemon tree will never produce an apple . A lemon tree will never produce an apple . It's absolutely impossible . And if you see a lemon tree producing apples , throw it in the trash because it's not .
Well , actually you could sell it to Ray , yeah .
Craft it in . So we are designed within our biblical DNA to produce a fruit that is heavenward . Our roots grow upward . So when somebody says , well , listen , I have all the fruits of the Spirit except for self-control . Well , listen , I have all the fruits of the Spirit except for self-control .
Well then you need to examine your faith , to see if you're in the faith . Examine yourself , because you will have self-control as a believer . Sure you're going to grow and sure you're going to mature . You're going to be sanctified . You're going to change from glory to glory as you learn , precept upon precept .
However , there's not going to be something that God's going to withhold from you . And in this area , you could say well , I don't have the ability to do what you're asking me to do , or I have only the ability to do this thing over here , which might be sinful .
That's simply not the case , yeah that's good , mark , and I would say too . To sum it up , I think this word really helps us when it comes to feelings that are contrary to truth Ignore them . Ignore them , don't feed them . Don't allow them to have oxygen to stay alive like a fire . Don't feed them so that they can continue to grow .
Not one peak , even Nope . Or , as the dyslexic people say , not even one peak .
So where's that ?
from oh boy , from my book Fight Like a man a Biblical Battle for Personal Purity , available now . Yeah , wait , I was going to say something it's available . It's available right now . Yeah , people can get it now For sale on Amazoncom , whoa .
And LivingWaterscom yes .
What was ?
I going to say how to make your memory improve .
Oh , ignore them , Don't feed them , don't give in to them , ray . Someone says I don't feel like sharing the gospel .
Go . I'm one of them . I don't like sharing .
What Cognitive test ?
Yeah , I really don't like feeling sharing the gospel . I've got a lazy boy recliner , I've got a nice big TV , I've got a remote . I feel like just staying here . That's the feeling I get every day . But I don't go by feelings .
I go by the fact that people are going to hell and so I get on my electric bike , put my sunglasses on my dog and go there and come back feeling really good . We call it dragon feet , clicking heels , ministry . And when you look at the book of Acts , the disciples seem to drag their feet when they're going to come back clicking the heels
¶ Overcoming Feelings to Share Gospel
, rejoicing . And that's exactly what happens Every time you go to share the gospel . It's going to be dragging your feet , negative feelings . You come ragging your feet , negative feelings . You come back rejoicing because you've been obedient to the Great Commission .
Wow , and that's discipline . I mean , oscar , that must be encouraging to people .
They just heard Ray Comfort everyone knows Ray's reputation when it comes to evangelism saying I don't feel like sharing the gospel , I mean we can all , as a community of God's people , say , hey , yeah , we understand , like fully , like really understand , and I think sometimes people get that sense of like nah , no , but we really mean it , like , yeah , you guys
see us preaching the gospel on the streets . You see us . Sure , are there times when maybe there's some excitement in it ? Yeah , that does happen , but a lot of times we don't feel like it and so hopefully that should be an encouragement to people , absolutely .
I mean , look to Jesus . He didn't stand before the cross and go . I'm feeling this right now , Right .
Remember Jesus in Gethsemane , right Father , if there's any way , this cup can pass from me . So why did ?
he do it For the joy set before him , knowing of the fruit that would come from his obedience , not that emotional moment . And that is the same reason why we share the gospel knowing the fruit that's gonna come from our obedience , the joy set before us .
And I would just say one other thing in regards to like those feelings , like what do we do with them , I would , as a reminder , I said at the top of this episode your feelings are a window to your own heart and Jeremiah 17 , 9 says the heart is deceitful , above all things , and desperately sick . Who could understand it ? So , ignore your feelings .
I would say , don't allow your feelings to dictate your actions . Rather , look at your feelings as an opportunity to better understand the condition of your heart what area of my life am I not submitting to the Lord ? And then look at that as an opportunity for repentance . Amen .
I mean , guys , seriously , are there not enough examples in our lives where we didn't feel like doing something ? We did it , and then we can look back and say I'm so glad , Ray , I think of Mario , it's very likely you didn't feel like going out that day .
I felt like driving past him on my bike .
Oh really .
Yes .
You remember exactly I actually went past him . What are we talking about ? Real quick Mario .
There's a video out called Mario , which seems to bring everyone to tears . How many millions ?
4.5 or something like that , and I was just a Sunday afternoon and I go past this guy who's standing by a tree and the immediate feeling I had was he wouldn't be interested in going on camera because Huntington Beach 50 people will turn down an invitation to come on camera before we get one .
When it's at the local college , it's about one in 20 will come on . And going through that area that I go in , most people say no , no , because I'm a stranger just going past like I'm on YouTube . But he says yes and away we went and I'm so glad . It's a highlight and often when I pray I say Lord , please give me a Mario today .
Yeah , yeah , mark , I think of the number of people . I think what if you didn't feel like and you probably didn't that day when you went to Huntington and you ended up witnessing to those three young ladies that are in the what Is it movie ?
right , yeah , that's exactly right . And before I forget , if you want to watch the encounter that Ray had with Mario , go to our YouTube channel , living Waters , and it's entitled . He Didn't Care About God , but Was In Tears After Hearing this 4.4 million views . Yeah , that's exactly right .
I don't know if you remember this , izzy , but when I went down to huntington beach to get interviews for our movie what is it ? I was sitting in my car for about 45 minutes talking myself out of going and witnessing and sharing the gospel . I went up and down the pier all the way to the edge , probably about three , three or four times .
I went back to my car , sat in my car and then I sent texts out to a bunch of different people saying I do not feel like being here today . I don't want to , but I know this is where I need to be , and I just dragged my feet for probably two hours before I actually went up and down .
And then I went underneath the pier and I saw these three girls who were watching these guys play volleyball , and then I went up to them . I asked them if they were willing to come on camera and to share their thoughts on a moral dilemma .
During the interview they found out that it was about abortion , but they wanted to go down by the water , away from everybody , so that they wouldn't be seen with an old man . That's really what they said to me . And then , once I got the interview of those three , people Well , I'm glad I didn't meet them .
The interview of those three people Well I'm glad .
I didn't meet them , that ancient man , that ancient man . And then when I got that interview , I did what Ray does when he gets a good interview you get out of there as fast as you possibly can before they change their mind .
Yeah , and what a beautiful encounter that was . And again , all of us can testify to that . When I witnessed to Davin at Huntington Beach , it has like over half a million views now . That Jewish guy Again . It was like yeah .
I didn't really feel like it that day but , by God's grace , we went down to Comic-Con and I was witnessing to people , and I was witnessing to this one girl and guy that were dressed up like Ghostbusters and I'm witnessing to them .
It was going well and then she just like turned on me and just got really nasty and accused me of stealing , like trying to steal her stuff , because she left her bag on the ground and then walked away . And it's like you tried , what are you talking about ? Did that get filmed ?
So I was so discouraged , like after that I'm like'm like oh , and I still had to keep going and we're doing getting encounters and tanny put together a video of it and it went totally viral yeah we put it up what is it a week ago or so days ago ?
471 000 views right now and then the full video will be coming out here pretty soon we're gonna do the full video , because people are saying I want to see the full video and so that's good when something like that happens .
I happen to have a cameraman that comes to me every Saturday at Huntington Beach , yale .
Yale , he will prevail . He's the one that we will help he's trying to get me to slap someone's face while I'm witnessing to them so he can film it Slap slap .
I was just thinking real quick of Pita I was deathly afraid of preaching to that guy . He looked like he wanted to break me in hand In Fiji , in Fiji , but then I preached to him and everything that led after that , including preaching to the ladies .
Yeah , this was a guy , and Oscar witnessed him . He was in tears and he says I want to take you to my village and we go to the village , and I want to take you to my chief right , my chief , yeah , In the village . And so we go and the chief wasn't there . His wife was . She takes us to the chief's parents' house .
We all sit on the ground and I share the gospel with the family and the chief's wife starts to cry and she just was like we're so blessed that you've come here to share this news with us .
So this is season 10 of the Way of the Most High . Yeah , not out yet , that's right .
But it will be on livingwaterstv Full circle .
So , friends there , this is something I wrote years ago Do what you know is right , despite what you feel , what you think and what the circumstances are influencing you to do . Do what is right . And my other saying is do what's right . Be at rest , because at the end of the day , that's all that we can do . Don't let your feelings rule you .
There are souls that God wants to save . There are people that he wants to touch through you . There are so many things that you can do for the glory of God and his kingdom in this world . If you just deny yourself , deny your feelings , really take up your cross , die to self , die to your feelings and follow him , and the Lord will do great things .
How do you feel it went today ?
Wunderbar , Wunderbar . All right , friends , there you have it . Thanks for joining us . Don't forget , God doesn't believe in atheists . Prove that atheism doesn't exist . And the Living Waters TV . Just look for it .
And the Living Waters the Bible Living Waters Easy , Someone might be watching this on double speed .
What about now ? All right , friends , there you have it . Don't forget Podcast at livingwaterscom with all your thoughts , one of the top podcasts in the world . Thank you , yeah , one of those good things . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters Podcast , where we have no idea what we feel . Thank you .