Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Hey, welcome to. That's a good question. I'm John, and welcome to a special episode where we take questions live from an audience at Peace Church. Myself and two other pastors from the church. Hope you enjoy. Hope it's a great chance to learn and grow.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: All right, we're going to jump right back in.
I'm going to just jump to a couple of the most recent questions because I'm sure there are people in the room here, and I just want to hit as many as we can here.
Here's one. What do you do when you encounter entertainment that uses God's name in vain or mocks Christianity?
[00:00:47] Speaker C: That's a great question.
I think I'd probably say if it. I mean, if that's the thrust of the stick, obviously we want to rebuke that. If you're watching a movie with a good story and there's an antagonist against the Christian faith, then I don't necessarily think that means it's a discredited thing. But I mean, if. If the, if the whole purpose is to demean and undermine the church and mar the name of Christ, obviously we'd want to avoid that.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I put that stuff in the same category with other, you know, foul language or inappropriate scenes in a movie or TV show. Right. It's something that we try to have as little of as we possibly can.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Awesome question just came in, and this one is a unique one that we've gotten periodically. But is cremation a biblical option for Christians?
Do you want to share a little bit about why someone might ask that? Because we've gotten that a couple different times now.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I always say people ask that fairly often, I feel like. And I always try to say that it's not that you can't do it, just if you are going to do it, I would want to make sure it's not out of a wrong conception about humanity. Because I think a lot of people come to it and they're like, well, as Christians, we believe that the soul is what is immortal. And I want to say, well, actually, the Bible's pretty clear that Jesus had a bodily resurrection, and we too are going to have a bodily resurrection, that for all eternity we're going to be soul and body together.
So if you're doing cremation out of the idea that the body is unimportant and doesn't matter, then don't do it. There are other reasons that cremation could make sense, though. But I would just always want to make sure it's not out of that wrong. That wrong theology.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: Yeah. You won't do it because you think the body's worthless.
I think, although I don't think it's wrong. People have asked me that a number of times and I was kind of scanning who's here to see if I had those conversations before.
And I've had these conversations with people who have lost loved ones who were advanced in age and I've had this conversation with people who have lost infants.
And the Bible's pretty clear that our body does return to ashes, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
We know the body, the natural process is that the body does deteriorate over time. Cremation just kind of expediates that process. But we know that when God does bring about the resurrection, he can use whatever he wants to make that happen. And so if our bodies have returned to the ground and returned to dust, God can still resurrect those bodies. And so I want to affirm what Pastor John said. We don't do it because we don't care about the body or it's, you know, it's nothing. We are to have respect for our bodies, but I don't think there's anything wrong if that's what people choose to do.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Yeah, we had a really long question come in with a couple questions, a lot of context, but I'm going to try to summarize it for the sake of time here. But all along the themes of generosity, giving and sacrifice in the Christian faith. So here's a couple of questions that were included in the long question. How should Christians faithfully practice tithing and generosity or while also exercising wise stewardship and personal finance, such as paying off a home, saving for retirement, providing for our children's education and investing in meaningful family experiences.
[00:04:14] Speaker C: And then they gave some other AKA vacation.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah, some vacation there. And then here's one more. I know we are not all called to sell all of our possessions, but how do we faithfully apply biblical teachings today in a way that embraces sacrificial generosity without being careless and wise planning without drifting into self reliance or comfort driven living. So just kind of that balance that we encounter?
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't want to.
My initial answer, I don't want to come across as judgmental. But a lot of times people say people will say we shouldn't eat too much fruit because fruit has sugar in it. And I want to use the Nate Bargetzi joke of no one's going to get overweight eating too much fruit.
No one's going to go poor by being too generous. I have yet to see that happen. Even among most generous people. No one's going to give away their money until the point they get to poverty. I just don't think people are going to have to worry about that. I think the notion though, the principle that we often talk about is that while we are free from the legality of this, from the Old Testament, I think there is a precedent set in the Old Testament, a beautiful example that the first 10% is set to God and the rest is to use for our life and enjoyment in other ways that we want to seek to bless people. So I think one of the most basic principles I would say is set aside your first fruits. We would say the biblical example is 10%, but lay aside your first fruits for the Lord, Give that to him.
He will take that, bless that. And I think he'll also then bless you with the 90% that he allows you to keep for things such as debt reduction and child education and family fun time and necessities and those sorts of things.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Yeah, if you were to go through the Old Testament, look at the giving that they did, it would total up to much more.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: It does actually. Yeah. If you talk about all of the things, it's actually like, it's like 22% or 27%.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah, it's much larger than we do now. So, yeah, don't think of the tithe as being like a maximum. It was actually like a minimum in the Old Testament. So, yeah, I think that's a beautiful precedent. It's what God calls us to do.
And first fruits means that it's, it's the Lord's first. So it doesn't, you know, it's not what you give at the end of everything else, it's actually the first thing you give. And so, yeah, I think that's, that's the tithe. Now giving beyond that is a matter of prayer, wisdom, good stewardship.
Yeah. You know, if you've given your tithe to the Lord and then you're trying to decide, do I make my mortgage payment or do I give to a charity, you should make your mortgage payment first. I think that's, that's just good biblical wisdom. But to say, hey, I've got a 30 year mortgage and so it's going to be 30 years before I start to tithe. Right, go. Now, hang on, I think you've, I think you've got that mixed up a little bit there.
[00:07:01] Speaker C: We have a very short, concise resource. Many of you probably have already got It. But if you haven't, head in the lobby after church. We have around the table display, there's a short, little, short little thing. You probably read it in 10 minutes. Less than that. Probably just kind of gives a brief overview of our view of tithing. Just grab that on at the round table display.
But I also say if there's other parts of that question that are underneath. If finances are a problem for you, if you're struggling financially, obviously we'd want to have a conversation with you to see how we can help and see how we can get you on a better path.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Okay. This question came in, and I try to not play favorites and ask the questions I want to know the answers to, but this one is getting me, and I got to know the answer to this.
But someone brought up here that recently Pastor Ryan said in a sermon that he holds beliefs that might make the left, middle, and the right upset. Can we know specifically what he's referring to?
So just walk us through. One for each.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: One for each.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: You said left, middle, and right. You got views that would upset people on every part of the aisle. And in between, do you got specifics in mind?
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Well, I mean, I think probably the left would be very easy. I have a biblical view of human sexuality, Obviously, I don't affirm things like gay marriage or transgenderism. I think those things are diametrically opposed to God's good plan for human flourishing and his glory. That's probably an easy one.
Or easy as in obvious. I mean, for the middle, I'd probably say trying to think how crazy of an answer I'm supposed to give right now. When you look at the ideology of the left and the right, it is drastically more severe and different than it was 20, 30 years ago.
And it'd be very easy for a guy like me who grew up in a different time, who have friends who are on the left, who are on the left from a different era. And I look to them, and I think they are good. They're kind people with a brain and rationale. They're not crazy.
But I think when you look at the modern inceptions of the left and the right, the ideology, okay, the ideology.
Not specific human examples, because you can always find exceptions to the rule. But when you look at the ideology of the left and the right, we're talking about extremely different ways to understand the world and what it means to be human. And so what I'd say to those in the middle is, you can't play the middle right now.
So the thing that would make Those upset who want to play both sides is, you can't play both sides. Right now, we're talking about fundamental differences in what it means to be human, and we're making decisions on who gets to have sway in the culture to help answer that question for generations to come. And I just say again, wow, you can find crazy people on the right and crazy people on the left. Ideologically, I'd say the left is extremely dangerous to the future of our culture. And so I'd say to those in the middle, idea, I can understand not liking Trump's brashness in some of the ways that he speaks and the things that he posts. I understand that.
But I'm talking about we need to vote on the ideological future of this country.
And I'm sorry, but the right has, for me, again, not perfect, but has the hope in ways that the left doesn't. That's what I'd say to those in the middle. To those on the right, I would say you need to understand that the American conservative machine is not the kingdom of God.
We have a sitting president who's Republican and says he's conservative, who affirms gay marriage and affirms abortion. To a certain extent, that's not the kingdom of God.
And the right no longer represents the kingdom of God. Now, I think when you put the right and the left together, ideologically speaking, I think the left is far more dangerous.
But I'd say to those on the right, we increasingly don't have a home here anymore.
I'd say this to those who historically have identified the rights as the default Christian position. I would say those are no longer things we can assume anymore. The right does not represent the kingdom of God in the ways that maybe we'd like to have thought in the past.
That's what I'd say. I'd also say if you want to get really particular, if that's not scathing enough, here's what I'd say. I think every conservative parent in America needs to join together and say, we will no longer do sports on Sunday. Awesome.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: All right, this one just came in, the newest one in.
I think it's on a topic that we do get a lot of questions on, but this question came in and said, how do you best encourage a fellow believer to step back into fellowship with the body of Christ when they are. When they are afraid to reenter church community due to years of real and egregious church hurt? So real Christian, real hurt. Stepping outside of community, how do we best encourage them to step back In.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: I don't sound cliche here, but one step at a time.
So, you know, it's hard without context. Right. If we knew, if we knew the story, what type of hurt we're, you know, if we're talking about abuse or, you know, it's hard just to know what the story is and what the experience was. So anybody who suffered some kind of abuse like that, I think boundaries are a really important step. So you got to be involved in Christ's body, the church.
But there are some things that maybe have led to pain in the past that you can avoid in the future. Now, keeping a smaller circle of people that you get really, really close with could be a really good step. So I think, you know, it's a step at a time.
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I'd say that's a very specific pastoral question and I want to respect that. And so I appreciate John's overarching answer. Anything I'd add, I'd probably want to do it one on one with the person who asked the question.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: Another question that came in had to do with marriage and a question on whether or not you can get married in God's eyes but not a civil marriage, or do those have to be linked together?
[00:13:29] Speaker A: I'd love to hear the motivation there.
What's. What's the. Why would you want to get married in God's eyes and not the state's eyes?
Am I missing something? Do you guys know the answer to that question or.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: I know I've encountered some of the reasons. Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:44] Speaker C: I've encountered it in.
Partly because in the cases that I've encountered, it's due to legal. Legal and financial ramifications from a prior marriage.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Okay, gotcha.
[00:13:56] Speaker C: So, yeah, I would say marriage is an all encompassing commitment and the commitment needs to be made spiritually and legally.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: The best argument I've heard from. I've had one person that has asked me that. Not this person sending it in, but I've had a person who previously, right after the Oberfell decision, they said.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Which legalized gay marriage.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, they said that.
Like our country's def. I so disagree with our country's definition of civil marriage. Now, I don't feel right committing to a civil marriage because I don't think that there's.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: That's why I. That's what I was imagining somebody meant at first.
I've been asked the other thing, and I agree entirely with what you said, but I was thinking more of what you said.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: No, I've been asked that legitimately and not somebody who was no prior marriage. They weren't trying to rush into something quick. They were just saying, can we come do a covenantal ceremony at the church and not sign paperwork with the state? Because we don't even think that the state knows how to recognize marriage anymore.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think, yeah, they might be totally right that the state doesn't recognize marriage anymore and yet we do as Christians. And so let's uphold what it means privately and publicly. But then also I think of like you were a part of a church that said we're not going to do right. Then you guys decide you weren't going to do a certain like state certified weddings. We're going to do. We're going to separate actually the covenant before God and the covenant before the state in order to protect the church against.
[00:15:31] Speaker B: We had a count in the county specifically that I worked in where there was going to be certain penalties or we weren't going to be, we weren't going to be able to discriminate on what civil ceremonies we did. So we moved into a season of having covenantal ceremonies at the church.
[00:15:54] Speaker C: I know what you're talking about. It was called celebration of Christian marriage.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's what we, that's the language we use. But thankfully that's, that's shifted now and I don't believe that they're having to do that anymore.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Well, I think, you know, if, if you have to be a little bit crafty in order to avoid litigation. I mean, I'm, you know, I'm open to that. That makes sense to me. But overall the principle is this is a covenant before the Lord and in public it's not like supposed to, you're not supposed to really separate those things.
[00:16:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I've been doing marriages long enough to where after Ogarvel, you know, my marriage license between me and Tiffany still says groom and bride.
Nowadays it doesn't have the distinction, just as spouse on both sides to be accommodating to same sex marriages.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: My wife really likes to tell the story that when she went to the Barry county clerk's office to get our marriage license, she literally had to sign a document that said I'm not marrying an idiot.
It literally said the word idiot. Because I'm serious, I wasn't there, so I can't attest to this. But she, this is her story.
[00:17:00] Speaker C: What did she write, man? What did she do?
[00:17:02] Speaker B: How did you.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Wait a minute.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: What do you mean, what did she write?
[00:17:04] Speaker C: What is.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Ouch.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: What was, what was the loophole that
[00:17:07] Speaker A: she used Then I should not have started.
[00:17:10] Speaker C: You should have opened that door.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: My mistake.
Apparently that word has a legal meaning of like being somebody who's not competent to.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: Actually, that's an old school term, man.
You know what, though you want, though, I'll try to bring this back on track.
I've seen a tradition change in my time doing weddings where, you know, back in the day, they used to light the two candles.
I've done a number of marriages now where they've replaced that ceremony, the lighting the candles with the signing of their, Their marriage license that they do that in front of everyone.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: So, yeah, to get us off track for.
I'll just tell you, after the nation legalized gay marriage, I was driving around and in California and I was listening to npr, not because I was agreeing with everything, but I was just curious. And they were having, they were, they were kind of having a celebration among some different activists who were fighting for it, about that passing.
And actually one of them spoke up and said, hey, as we're changing the marriage certificates from groom and bride or husband and wife to person A and person B, he said, why don't we just add person C and person D on there too? And he started making an argument for polyamory. Yeah, for polygamy. For polyamory. And then one of the activists said, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. They said, for thousands of years, marriage has been between just two people.
And they appeal. Yeah, they appeal to tradition for holding to that. But they kind of missed.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Wait a minute.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: That the argument from history wasn't really on their side.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: Moving on.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Okay, so here's a question we talked about this morning.
Some supernatural stuff. And Ryan, you even teased that a demonology class is coming that you have taught. This question came in. Are demons and the supernatural ever a physical presence, or are they strictly spiritual all the time?
[00:19:20] Speaker C: So there's a couple ways I could think about answering that.
On the one hand, are they saying that the question is, does a spiritual entity manifest itself into a physical form?
Or the question could be, does a spiritual entity embody an already pre established physical form?
Clearly that we see in scripture where they inhabit, you know, a person, or Jesus sends them to a herd of pigs. The notion of a physical, a purely spiritual being manifesting into a physical form.
I don't know if I can make that. I'm trying to. I don't know if I can make that argument from Scripture. I think maybe there is a notion of they can become visible, whether or not that means material. I guess that's where we can maybe talk about certain definitions.
For instance, when Jesus is being tempted by the devil, he's clearly having a conversation, what did the devil look like to Jesus? Was it just a voice?
Was it the typical depiction that we see of a disfigured fallen angel?
Those are great questions to consider. I just don't know if I can give an answer from Scripture.
I've been pretty open with the story of a phone call that I had where clearly there's an audio recording, recording of a demonic screaming happening over a voicemail I was leaving one night.
That, for me, was a massive paradigm shift. I was already a believer, but at that point, there was no going back from something like that.
And so that was a manifestation, as it were.
And so I would say definitely demons can influence and manipulate the material. Whether or not they can manifest the material themselves. I don't. I think. I'd probably say I don't think they have the power to do that, but I think they would have the power to make themselves visible or known and then obviously, like we said, inhabit or manipulate material.
[00:21:24] Speaker B: All right, here's very specific Old Testament question. I think it's interesting.
This person asks, in the Old Testament, the father's blessing, the human father's blessing seemed to often be prophetic. So they spoke the blessing over their sons, and then it would happen as they said, did God give them those words?
What about the case of Jacob and Esau? They all seem to believe that there was power. And in Isaac's words, and also they added on, how could in this situation a blessing be stolen in the case of Jacob Esau, Great question. But we do see these prophetic words often spoken in the Old Testament. Fathers over their sons.
[00:22:10] Speaker C: Or even.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: I've heard people ask naming when they would name children in the Old Testament, there would seem to be some prophetic meaning in the names that we'd see later in their life.
How does all that work itself out?
[00:22:24] Speaker A: I think prophetic is the right word.
The Lord was leading them as they.
As they spoke those words.
[00:22:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, if the question. Maybe the implication of that question is, should we be doing that? And if so, would our blessings have the same amount of power?
I think that's. That's a fun question to entertain. I think obviously fathers should be the head of their households, commanding a spiritual authority and owning responsibility to speak blessings over their children, but then also being proactive and seeing those blessings through.
But I'd go back to what John said. If we're talking about specifically those like with the patriarchs and Stuff, I think there was holy God ordained, prophetic word being spoken.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: So to go back to the question then, of stealing the blessing with Jacob and Esau, I think we have to ultimately say there was interesting human play at work. But obviously God had a sovereign plan over all of it, and what he wanted to happen is ultimately what happened.
[00:23:20] Speaker C: That's good.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: All right, we just got this question in. Do people need love from other people or is God's love enough? If God's love is enough, why are we commanded to love one another?
An interesting question. Yeah, I've been asked that before through that lens. Just focus on the first. Do people need love from other people or is God's love enough?
[00:23:47] Speaker C: Hmm, that's a very interesting question.
I guess I'm liable to think God's love is enough because there was a time where it was just God and Adam. But then you also see at one point, God says that it's not good for Adam to be alone. We were made for community.
And I think that's a beautiful and good thing. So I think that the love that we have. I wonder if there's a delineation happening that maybe you can't fully go all the way with the scripture to say.
Yeah, I think the love that we have is God's love that we're sharing amongst one another. And so I think the origin of the love that we are to have one another is the agape love from God that we take and now we share communally.
And so I would say, yes, God's love is enough and not.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: But.
[00:24:35] Speaker C: But. And God made us for community to share with one another. God is creating, building, saving his church. And we're meant to be with one another. And I think that's a beautiful thing.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: I immediately started thinking about Castaway and could Tom Hanks have lived on God's love alone?
And the answer is yes, absolutely.
But that's only a theoretical situation, right? A man alone on an island. The reality is that God made us to live with other human beings. And so, yeah, us loving each other is a reflection of God's love.
And then it's interesting. I don't know, I start thinking about the question of why would God command us to. If God's love is all we need, why do we have to love each other?
I don't know.
It almost sounds to me like it comes a little bit from, like, a selfish place of, if all I need is God's love, why would I have to share love with other people?
I don't know. I think that's just kind of part of God's design for us, is that.
[00:25:30] Speaker C: Well, I mean, if you also think about the economy and the community of the Trinity, there's a love there that I think in some way God wants to see replicated amongst the one humanity, or at least his one church.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: It's been a while since I saw Castaway, but your Wilson erasure is terrible. He was an important character in that movie and you've totally left him out. That's true.
[00:25:55] Speaker C: Good point.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: I didn't count the volleyball.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: I think there's a little bit of the answer in the question when I look at it.
Why are we commanded to love one another? One of the ways that we receive God's love is by his command for us to love one another. Like you said, I think we can't necessarily separate those.
I know I have an upcoming. My first sermon of the summer is on loving God and loving our neighbor. And I've just been really diving deep into the connection and just the overlap in those two things.
Let's do a couple quick hit lightning round questions that are rolling in.
Short answers, quick answers.
Let's see. I'll hit some of the shorter questions that came in that we haven't asked yet. Okay, ready? What are your thoughts on digital id?
[00:26:46] Speaker C: I guess I don't have thoughts yet because I'm. Because I might.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: I don't know enough about the topic.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: I'm skeptical.
I'd probably. I mean, George Orwell, 1985, 1984.
I'd probably say helpful. But does point us in a direction that I'm not sure I like what it looks like. Further down the road.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: If they hand out numbers, avoid the 666.
[00:27:12] Speaker C: That's the one you want to avoid.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Does the devil have horns?
[00:27:16] Speaker C: No.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: What does the Bible say about tattoos?
[00:27:21] Speaker C: So just real quickly.
There's a reference in Scripture in the Old Testament about avoiding marking yourselves, but it is clearly in reference to a ceremony that is happening in the surrounding cultures about marking yourself in honor of the dead and saying, we're not going to be like that, so don't mark up yourselves. But it's clearly in reference to that. John and I both have a number of tattoos and I would say it is probably one of those aspects where there's a freedom in Christ to have that. I think it goes back to the notion of what are you getting and what's the purpose behind it.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: Okay. What did God do before he created heaven?
[00:27:57] Speaker C: Existed perfectly in the company of the
[00:27:59] Speaker A: Trinity and enjoyed himself.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Is there more than one heaven. Because sometimes people say heavens.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: Paul says he was caught up to the third heaven.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: Yeah. So what the scripture's talking about there is the word for heaven, and the word for sky is the same word.
And they often talk about the third heaven. So you've got the first heaven, the second heaven, and the third heaven. A very crass way to boil it down, and we can talk way more in depth about this. The first heaven is literally like the blue sky where the clouds are. The second heaven is the universe where the stars are. The third heaven is the spiritual realm. And again, because they didn't have a different word for heaven and a different word for sky, those words had to be distinguished in what the usage was. So when Paul says, I was caught up to the third heaven, the third sky, he's making clear that he entered into a spiritual realm. He just didn't go into the clouds or visit the moon. He went actually into the spiritual realm.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: But what about the seventh heaven?
[00:28:57] Speaker C: Perfection.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: All right, TV show.
[00:29:00] Speaker C: I know. Yeah.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: Okay, let's do three more, and then we'll close out.
So this question came into.
Don't know if you.
[00:29:14] Speaker C: There is one thing I want to go back to in a moment, but.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: Okay, don't know if you can give a quick answer to this, but why did God even make the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It's one of the hardest questions there is. Right. That's the problem of evil right there.
[00:29:28] Speaker C: Yeah. In many ways, that kind of talks about the problem of evil.
So the notion of the tree, obviously there's the placement of the tree in the garden insomuch of that being the one thing that Adam and Eve couldn't eat from. So in a little bit, there's a notion of God planet there because in the abundant freedom that Adam and Eve had in the garden, it wasn't total. They still, in some area, had to submit to God's sovereign rule. They weren't free to do anything. They still had to submit to God's rule. And one of the great manifestations of that was not eating from the tree of the garden, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And we all know that they were tricked into doing that. So I think one of the ways you can answer that is saying it's one of the ways that God exerted his authority to a people who had perfection and freedom by still providing something that they were limited from.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Are aliens real?
Just came in hot off the press. One of you out there, you're having fun.
[00:30:33] Speaker C: So there's many ways we could begin to answer this. And I know this is alien life, as in intelligence conscious life that can make decisions regarding morality versus a planet full of trees and bugs and animals. You know, something to that effect.
Well, obviously God created the universe with that capacity, so there's the capacity for that. We're living proof of that.
You know, then you get into questions of, okay, is it distinct from humanity? Is it.
Were they subject to the fall, these sorts of things? And that's where it begins to begin. You're starting to ask questions that really just seem to be way outside of God's plan.
I think there is a growing need for Christians to have that conversation at a much more serious level, because as we survey the universe and we're getting more knowledge of what's going on, especially with the ways, I would say, like, maybe the enemy wants to use science in our scientific advancement against us. I think those are questions that if not us, future generations would have to begin to seriously consider. And not necessarily consider, but begin to form a true theology around.
And so that's a question that I wouldn't mind actually spending a longer conversation having.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: Yeah, ask that more in the future. Okay, last question.
I'm going to combine two and someone.
[00:32:01] Speaker C: Let me just say, can I say one thing real quick? I want to go back to the nicotine thing.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: It's not because I use it. By the way, the question you framed was, does God frown upon it? And I think, you know, God frowns upon the use of things that we know are inherently bad towards us. And you can say, well, sugar's bad. It's like, well, in excess it is. Right. So that's why I delineate these things. I think when it comes to, like, nicotine, I know there's ways we want to use nicotine in ways that maybe the previous generations haven't. I would say I was answering the question, does God frown upon it? I think God frowns upon things that we partake in that we know are ultimately bad for our bodies. That's what I was wanting to answer.
Thank you. That's helpful.
[00:32:48] Speaker B: All right, someone, it seems like every one of these asks these questions, and every time I see it pop up, I just appreciate it so much. But someone asks how they can be praying for us and someone else, or maybe same person, but someone asks how they can be praying for peace, Church,
[00:33:04] Speaker A: pray for us going to Hastings. We want to plant to plan a campus in Hastings.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: John's big focus right now, and that'd be huge.
[00:33:12] Speaker C: Yeah, Ryan, just with the con for, for peace with the congregational address. Obviously it's always a, it's always a point when people get the chance to kind of weigh in with their voice.
We, we want that to be heard. But us also would pray. That's another chance for the church to be reminded how unified we are. So praying for a lot of unity coming out of this. A lot of celebration.
We spend, we spend a lot of time crafting the congregational address, but time into it. We can't do formal congregational meetings anymore. We just don't have the space for that. So this is one of the ways that we want to communicate what God's been doing and what we think God's going to be doing in the church. And again, we get to celebrate, we get to affirm.
And I pray it's another. And it has been, it has been for so long. I pray it's just another indication of how unified we are. Locking arms, moving forward together. That's what I'd say for peace Church. Personally, as we mentioned, John and I are writing a book in our manuscript. We've been working on it for number of months now in our spare time, but we're coming down to the wire and we've been really clear and upfront with the elders. We're doing this on our time, not church time.
So it has been taxing on our time from families and just praying that that is a worthy use of our time that goes to serve the greater good for the kingdom. That's one of the things I would be asking to pray for.
[00:34:30] Speaker D: Thanks for listening. If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone today. You can follow that's Good Question and find more episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. That's Good Question is brought to you by Round the Table, a Ministry of Peace Church in Meadowville, Michigan.
