Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. It's Matt Slick live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at karng.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick live.

Francis, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Everybody welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick. Hang on a minute. Listen. I messed up already.

And you're listening to Matt Slick live. If you want to give me a call, the number is 877-207-2276. And also, you can email me at info at karm.org, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G, info at karm.org, and put in a subject line radio comment, radio question. Either one of those is good, and we can get to them, and I'll actually look. Uh, let's see.

So, um, yeah, I got some questions and stuff like that, radio questions I can put in. Yeah, I got a whole bunch. Look at that. Yeah, good stuff. All right, uh, ah, interesting. Okay. Oh, interesting, huh. Um, okay, this stuff, uh, so anyway, you know, so many things. Oh, yeah, good, Tish is calling back. All right, still working a little bit of stuff on Eastern Orthodoxy.

Almost done with that. And, um, I'll tell you, last night I was in a discussion room with some EO, and I got called demon possessed because I don't, well, it was, it was incredible because I don't bow to the Eastern Orthodox Church as the one true church with the true authority and that, uh, and stuff like that. Uh, it's just bad. Um, but we went toe to toe and I wouldn't let him push me around and, uh, called him on the carpet and stuff. Hey, you know, for me, that's a, that's an enjoyable time. It's what I'm made for. It's one of the things I do. If you want to give me a call, as I said, 877-207-2276. And also, um, uh, email, you know, info at karm.org, info at karm.org, easy peasy. It's all you got to do.

Let's get to Tisha from Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome. Thanks for calling back. Hi, how are you? I'm fine hanging in there and to get into radio.

So good stuff. Well, that's great to hear. Um, I have a question I wanted to ask you about women pastors. There has been some controversy in the past that I have heard other men pastors speaking about in the past. And they were saying biblically women are not supposed to be pastors, but you know, as we know, I also know that there are a lot of men pastors that have a lot of respect for some women pastors, for example, like Joyce Meyers, pastor, Shirley Caesar, who is legendary.

And I was baptized. My, me and my daughters were baptized by a woman pastor. So I just want some clarification on this because I want to know if there is a discrepancy because I would like for my daughters to be baptized the right way. If that's not supposed to be what it is, if they've been baptized even by a woman, it's a valid baptism because baptism is not validated by who does it. Now, the churches will say that, yes, it is, but you can't find anything in scripture that says, uh, baptism must be done by clergy and elder or whatever.

There's nothing in the Bible that says they're baptized. All right. So I'm going to read you something here.

I want you to tell me what you think of this. Um, can you tell me what verse that is? There is no verse.

There's no verse. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's just, there's nothing in the Bible that says that baptism, uh, must be by a clergy member or anything like that. It just says that people can just baptize you. Yes. Okay. So a woman baptizing you, uh, I consider a valid baptism.

Now, I'm going to read you some stuff here and, uh, read you some stuff. Tell me what he could, he could have helped himself up until a point where he said, I commend my spirit in your hands. At that point, he couldn't do nothing for himself anymore. He had become sin. He was no longer the son of God.

He was sin. What do you think of that? Hmm.

That's very interesting. Yeah. Or how about this one? The, the minute that blood sacrifice was accepted, Jesus was the first human being who was ever born again.

Okay. How about this one? He became our sacrifice, died on this cross. He did not stay dead.

He was in the grave three days during that time. He entered hell where you and I deserve to go because of our sin. He paid the price there. He paid the price in hell, not the cross, but in hell.

Okay. His spirit went to hell because that is where we deserve to go. There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth. So you have to believe that Jesus went to hell and finished the atonement in hell in order to be saved. And here's another one.

I was listening to a set of tapes by a guy and he explained it like this. This kind of gets the point across. He said, you know, why do people have such a fit about God calling his creation, his creation, his man, uh, not his whole creation, but his man, little gods, doesn't the Bible say we're created in his image? What do you think of these? Okay. What do you think? Yeah. Okay. Um, that is definitely something to really, you know, think about. Um, yes.

Eye opening was definitely, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

That's Joyce Meyer. Okay. Okay. I got you. She's a false teacher.

She's a false teacher. Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Now, you mentioned Joyce Meyer. That's why, uh, and I don't know the other name you mentioned, but I like, I wouldn't mind researching. Um, pastor Shirley Caesar. Um, she's actually a legend.

Yeah. She has a church in Raleigh. She has a couple of churches.

Pastor. What's your, how do you spell her name? Uh, her last name is Caesar is C E A S A R. Okay. Um, she's, she's actually a legendary pastor. Um, she has records. I'm just trying to get the name and where I can second research her.

Pastor Caesar from Charlotte, North Carolina, Shirley, Shirley, Shirley, Caesar, Shirley. How do you spell? Uh, I guess it's, um, it's S H I R L E Y.

You think Sally? Okay. All right. Um, okay. Well, let's see. Let's go through some scripture now. Okay.

I'm going to check on this person here. There we go. All right. So let's go through scripture.

Okay. Teach you out of God's word. Now, Adam and Eve were in the garden and she, Eve, sinned first. She ate the fruit first. Then she brought it to Adam. Then he sinned. But Romans 5, 12 says that sin entered the world through one man. So even though she was in the world and she sinned first, sin didn't enter the world through her, it entered through him. Okay.

Okay. Because he's a, he's the head. He's the federal head. That's dealing with the created order. Now let's go to 1 Timothy 3, 15. Paul says, in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. So he's writing so that people will know how to behave in the church, in the household of God, which is a church of the living God, the pillar of the support of truth. So he's telling us, this is important because he's writing to tell us how to behave in the church. In 1 Timothy 2, 12 and 13, the previous chapter, okay, Paul says, I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet for it was Adam who was first created and then Eve.

Whoa. So what Paul does is he ties in the issue of the creation of authority and teaching authority to the created order because Adam was first created, not, and then Eve. Paul the apostle says this. Some people say, well, this woman pastor thing, they're not supposed to be women pastors, which I agree, they're not supposed to be women pastors. Can women be ministers and minister to women? Is that biblical?

Yes, it is. Let me lay down the biblical position. I want you to be convinced out of scripture, okay? Not some guy in the radio named Slick, all right? Exactly.

Okay, so good. So Paul is laying out the issue of exercising authority in the context of the church because this is 1 Timothy 2, 12 and 13, but the next chapter, chapter 3, verse 15, he says, giving instruction how to behave in the household of God. So this is church instruction. Furthermore, I'm going to go to 1 Timothy 5, 17, and it says this, the elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. Elders work at preaching and teaching. Not every elder, but especially those who do. So a preacher is equated with an elder here. Now I'm going to go back to 1 Timothy 3, and it says this, an overseer, now that's the Greek word, episkopos, episkopos, we get Episcopalian from, and it's translated into the English bishop and or sometimes overseer.

So I'm going to explain something. I've had several years of Greek, and Greek nouns take gender. We don't do it in English, except very rarely. The word girl is feminine. The word boy is masculine, but table, dirt, cloud, they don't have any gender. But in Greek, nouns have gender. All of them have gender.

That's just how they are. So this says an overseer, and this is the masculine form, an overseer or a bishop, must be above or approached the husband of one wife, the husband of one wife. All right, so now we go to Titus, okay, and Titus chapter 1, Paul says in verse 5, for this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders, and that's the Greek word, presbuteros, elders, and in Greek, it's a masculine word, that you appoint elders in every city. If any man is above or approached the husband of one wife, having children who believe. Okay, for the overseer, it's above or approached.

It's above or approached, now it goes on. So Paul the apostle says women are not to teach or exercise authority over men in the church context, that the elders are also the ones who do the preaching and teaching, and that the elders are to be, in Greek, men of one woman or husband of one wife. Women can't fit that bill. Therefore, women are not to be pastors and elders. This woman, Pastor Shirley Caesar, is in violation of God's word.

She's in violation of God's word, absolutely. Now, I'm going to be out in North Carolina, Charlotte area, in August. The third weekend, something like that, yes. Is that a ticketed event?

No, I don't think so, it might be actually, I don't know, I'm going out there with ministry to Muslims, and I'll be speaking several times on Friday and Saturday and preaching on Sunday, but the radio station headquarters is out in Salem, so I'm going to take an extra day or two or three, I'm going to drive up to Salem and just hang out a little bit, check out the place. I have some semi-serious invites to go to Raleigh and some other places. I'm willing to go and meet people- Okay, I have one more important question. Hold on, hold on, hold on, we've got a break, we've got a break coming up, but I'm willing to go out there and debate anybody on this while I'm out there.

But hold on, we've got a break. Hey folks, I'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. All right, everyone, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on the air with Tisha, Tisha, and welcome. You're back on the air.

Thank you, Matt. My next quick question is, do you recall the Canaanite woman that Jesus healed her or her daughter? It was the mother or her daughter, and the prophets were upset with Jesus because he healed her because she was a Canaanite woman, and they considered her to be a spiritual dog?

Yes. Yes, and so my question is, I just need some clarification. If we are not supposed to judge people, and if it was taught then and now for us not to judge people, why was this woman or her daughter called a spiritual dog, and then after Jesus healed her, was she still considered to be that way? No, the Jews looked down upon the Gentiles because the Messiah was only coming through the house of Israel. He was covenantally sent only to the law sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 15 24, and this is in the context of what you're talking about, the Canaanite woman. So the Jews were, at this time, the religious leaders were arrogant and prideful because they knew that Moses had been given the law by God himself, the miracles that had occurred by the prophets.

They were sure and they were steady, but they had let their legalism scar their hearts so that no love was there. And so when Jesus, because he says in Matthew 15 24, I was sent only to the law sheep of the house of Israel, Jesus was not sent to the whole world. He was only sent to Israel, but he was sent to Israel only covenantally as part of the covenant. The Jews rejected the Messiah, thereby breaking the covenant, and thereby we Gentiles are now grafted in. So this woman comes across and wants to be healed, and Jesus steps out of the covenant boundaries, so to speak, and he deals with a Gentile. And in Psalm 22, for example, it's a prophecy of the crucifixion, and it's written 1000 BC. And in that prophecy, it says dogs have surrounded me. Dogs was a term used for Gentiles. So when he says I was sent only the law sheep of the house of Israel, verse 24, but she came and began to bow down before him saying, Lord, help me. He said, It's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she said, Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from the master's table. He says, Your faith is great.

He healed her. What he was doing was being covenantal, but it also says in Genesis 12 three, when God spoke to Abraham in you, all the nations shall be blessed. Paul quotes that verse in Galatians 3 eight and calls it the gospel. So covenantally, Jesus was only sent to the Israelites. They broke the covenant and the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise in you. All the nations shall be blessed was then manifested because of Israel's sin. We are the ones who benefit their their sin in the rejection of the Messiah and their murder of him.

But then God used that murder as a means of atoning sacrifice. So, any rate, that's the whole contextual kind of picture and if it helps. But there you go. Okay. Okay. Well, thank you for that information. I appreciate it. Okay. Hope that helps.

And one more thing. A lot of people don't know this, but about women, pastors and elders, I've done a lot of study on this. And in my study, my own research going to the nomination or websites that this years ago and churches and things like this, I discovered that 80% of the denominations that adopt women, pastors and elders then start adopting within two generations started proving homosexuality.

80%. Yes. Okay. And the fact that women pastors exist is because men aren't doing their job. And so I recommend, I'll say it now, I recommend everybody who has a woman pastor, woman elder, leave the church.

It's not a biblical church. And like I said, I'll be out there. So if anybody wants to debate me on it, we'll set it up. Yes. Now is that the same for women ministers?

Okay. So a minister is also a pastor. Now the word minister, however, can be used in different senses. So, um, if someone can minister to someone else and you can be anybody and help them. And another time when it says a minister at a church generally is understood to be a pastor. So if we have a church where a woman is called a minister, the implication is she's pastor-ish.

When someone grows up with that in that particular false church, false aspect of that church, and they go to another church and they have a woman minister who's a pastor, oh, it's okay then. All right. See the problem. Okay. Good. The one last question is, well, what about the deaconess? The deaconess?

Women are not to be deacons either. Okay. Okay. Because I just, it's because it says the deacon is to be a husband, husband of one wife and it's in the male. Exactly. Okay.

And so they're not to be deacons either, biblically. Well, thank you. Thank you for this clarification. I had more questions, but I'll call you back to ask you more later and I'll be out there in August to see you. I'll get the information. Just remember me, Tisha from Charlotte. Well, I forget a lot of people because one I'm autistic and the other is I meet so many people it's, I just go, uh, who are you? Sorry. You know, I can't remember.

I couldn't understand. As long as they know that, you know, then we're okay. All right. Good. All right. Okay. Thank you. God bless. Okay. God bless you and everyone. Thank you. Okay. So let me just reiterate before we go to the next caller, Juan from North Carolina. I have been saying radio on radio for over 20 years or I don't know how long I've been so stinking along that, uh, I will be glad to debate this issue. Does the Bible support women pastors and elders?

I'll be out in North Carolina in August or August 15, 16, 17th is the scheduled time was to be out there. If you want to have me debate it with someone at your church, let's set it up. I'll do it Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, whatever it is, I'll debate it. Does the Bible support women pastors and elders? And I don't care if it's at a church with a woman pastor, I will still say it. If they're offended, it's not my concern. The concern I have is to speak and teach the word of God, the word of truth. Now, if someone wants to take umbrage with that and they think I'm wrong, well, that's, maybe I am wrong.

You know, certainly possible. But, uh, if they want to do that, then I would suggest that what they do is, um, is contact me info at karm.org and say, yeah, we'll arrange a debate. Now, I don't want it with a debate with just, you know, Bob who became a Christian three weeks ago.

No, nothing like that. It needs to be someone who's at that church, an elder or somebody like that, because the elders, biblically speaking, are supposed to be qualified to be able to teach sound doctrine and refute error. So an elder and or a pastor is fine with me. We got to do that. Hey, and we got a break coming up, so please stay tuned. We'll be right back after these messages.

One, two, two, seven, six. Let's get to Juan from North Carolina. Juan, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt. How's it going? It's going, man. It's going. Nice Friday.

Nice breeze coming in from outside. Yes, it is. Enjoying it. I said, let me call Matt, because he's a great theologian, theologian, and I said, well, I was doing some reading on the book of Luke, I can't remember what it's, uh, chapter five or six about Lazarus and the rich man. And so, you know, the story where, you know, uh, chapter 16 or six, 16, 19. Anyways, uh, so, you know, there you go. Okay. So Lazarus and the rich man, you know, Lazarus dies. He goes to, uh, Abraham's bosom and then the rich man dies and he goes to, goes to Haiti.

Okay. So, you know, the Bible doesn't explicitly explain what Hades or Abraham's bosom is. So, you know, you have to do some research and, uh, you know, in looking at and reading about, you know, Abraham's bosom or paradise, you know, they called it, um, you know, and this was a story being told by Jesus. So Abraham's bosom is where the just or the righteous go when they, you know, they move on from, from earth, you know, they die. But Hades also is supposed to be a place where the righteous or the unrighteous go when they, you know, they, they, they pass, they pass away.

So that confused me because I always thought because, because the rich man is complaining about him being tormented by the flames, right? And if he is in Hades, isn't that hell? Because also it is my understanding that when Jesus died, he went down into Hades to make the, you know, to go and kind of pick up the just, you know, the righteous people and bring them up to heaven. So, I mean, how, how can I understand that better?

Okay. Generally speaking, generally speaking, Hades is a place of the wicked and where there's torment and, but it's temporary. And, but it's temporary paradise, generally speaking, is the place of the good where there's blessing, but it's also temporary. And the reason these are both temporary, it would seem is because Christ had not yet been crucified.

So it looks like people went to a holding place. And when Christ was crucified, according to Ephesians 4, he then, 8 through 12, he then led captive, a host of captives. And some think that what he did was he went and proclaimed the gospel, not preached it to accept it, but proclaimed it to inform who he was, what had happened. And then, this is one of the theories, and then he ascended into heaven with the people of paradise. Now, the question is, is Hades still existing?

Possibly, maybe. And so that the wicked go there now, where they're under torment, as exemplified by Jesus in Luke 16, 19 through 31. And it will be cast into outer darkness, into hell, or hell will be cast into outer darkness later on. Like a fire. Yeah, like a fire, that's right.

So that's what's going to be, that's the general idea. Now, when it says he went down to hell, we've got to be careful with some of the older Bibles and how they translated some things. And so, there's Hades, there's Tartarus, there's, I just had it, Gehenna, and other words. But Gehenna was in the valley of, was in the valley, you know, where Jerusalem is. That's where Gehenna was. So they would relate that to being hell, you know, because they would burn and burn babies, burn people, burn all kinds of stuff. Yes, that's correct, and that's why it was used, it was used as a symbol of constant burning. And that's where you're going to go in judgment, in use for that.

Okay, all right. Okay, now, you know, I grew up Catholic, so, you know, the doctrine of the purgatory, or the concept of the purgatory, you know, it's, you know, in reading through this, you know, Hades and, you know, Abraham's bosom, you know, it brought me to mind, like, okay, where this is kind of similar to purgatory, you know, like, you know, purgatory is supposed to be a place where, but it's not, right, but I wonder if Catholics take that concept of Hades and, you know, Abraham's bosom and transform it into this, you know, not biblical purgatory, you know. Well, I'm not sure how purgatory evolved in the Catholic religion, but they will use that verse, and 1 Corinthians 3, 12, each person's work to be revealed with fire, they say, well, fire means purgatory, so therefore that's what it means, you know, they just jump all over any word that has that semblance. In Catholicism, purgatory is a place of, let's just say it's uncomfortable, correction, yeah, that purifies them, that enables them then to go to heaven through their suffering, and that's just not biblical, it's a false doctrine.

Yeah, that's not biblical, and then that's why they say, you know, you should, you know, pray, you know, pray for the dead and all that stuff, and yeah, tell people, look, once you're gone, you're gone, you know, there's no salvation, if you don't save yourself here on earth, you know, there's nobody that can pray for you and be saved after you die, so, I mean, that's not true, it's not biblical at all. That's right. Now, you were mentioning in the previous call, you were mentioning in the previous call that you'll be in Charlotte, and that you were going to go up to Salem, I think you meant to say Winston-Salem, which is actually where I'm calling you from. Yeah, the plan is to go there and see the radio station, I haven't been there, I've been on the radio network for years, I've just never been there, and I've got to go for a conference, so I might as well hang out there, and if anything else manifests, I'll arrange for it, I haven't bought plane tickets yet, but, you know, just working it. Awesome. Well, hey, Matt, thank you very much, that was very informative, I appreciate all you do on the radio station, and how you help spread the word and all that, and your knowledge, so thank you very much for that, and have a great rest of the evening.

You too, well, praise God. Okay, thanks a lot for paying your call. Yes, sir. All right. All right, bye. Okay, all right, now let's get to Wendell from Fort Worth, Texas. Wendell, you're on the air. Hello, Matt, and how are you all in California?

I'm in Texas, and we finally have a wonderful sunny day. Okay, here's my question, I have, if I may trouble you, I have two questions. Number one, what is your view, are you pre-trib, you know, I'm hearing the Metroplex influenced by Dallas Theological quite a bit in Southwestern Baptist where I attended both of those schools, so what is your view, are you pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, any of that? We're going through the tribulation, and we're going to be suffering.

Yep, going through it. Pre-trib rapture, in my opinion, is unfounded in scripture, I don't see it at all. I use what's called a two-age model, and when you use a two-age model, in my opinion, it just destroys pre-trib rapture. Okay. Oh, okay, now you have to help me with that, because everything that I've taught, I've been taught by Dr. Walbert, and Mal Couch, and Robert Lightner, and all those, Charles Wiry, I'm confused, okay? The way we see it, we're going to be caught up.

Hold on, hold on, let me show you something, okay? In Matthew 24, well, let's do a back up even more step, you know, you've heard it say, you know, two men in the field, one is taken, one is left, that's the rapture, right? No, I heard that. Oh, good. Now, that wasn't the rapture, from what I understand it, that would be second coming.

Very good. It's the wicked who were taken in that, so that's good, I'm glad you said that, right, good. All right, so if you go to Matthew 24, Jesus is talking about different things, they asked him, what's the sign of your coming? And he goes on, he says, many will fall away, they'll be false prophets, lawlessness will increase, you'll see the abomination, unless those days be cut short, no life will be left, so will the coming of the Son of Man be, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Son will be darkened, etc., and the Son of Man will ascend in the clouds, descent. So, I mean, I can really go into this quite a bit, but he says after, Jesus says it right there. Well, does that mean, but Matt, these things have always been taking place, deceptions, various earthquakes, various tsunamis, these things.

But it doesn't say that there. It says, Son will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky, the powers of heaven will be shaken, Son of Man will appear in the sky. So, he says, you'll see them coming on the clouds with great power and glory, he'll send forth his angels with a great trumpet and gather his elect from the poor winds. So that's the return of Christ, where the elect are gathered. But here's something else, the elect are the Christians, the believers, except when you go to Matthew 13, the weed and the tares, when Jesus comes back, the first ones gathered are not the good, they're the wicked. First, gather the tares and bind them. So when I show people this, it immediately puts pre-trib rapture in jeopardy, because the judgment of the wicked occurs at the end of the tribulation period. And yet, the first ones taken at the return of Christ are the wicked. Then the good are taken. You see?

I can go on more and more and more, but there you go. Well, I'm sure you have it on your website somewhere so I can look it up. Yes, it is. Just look it up. Two ages, two age model. You'll see it.

Two age model. Hold on, man. Hold on, we've got to break. Okay. Okay. Hey folks, we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. Welcome back to the show. Let's just get back on here with Wendell. Okay, Wendell, back in the air.

Okay, all right. We'll deal with that other, the rapture, maybe at another point. But now tell me, tell me about, if you can, tell me about Matthew 27, where it talks about, and the graves were open, and the bodies of the saints which slept arose, of course, after his resurrection. Who are these saints? Who are these believers? People who died in faith before. Or it's all just people who died in faith earlier.

And many of them came into Jerusalem. Yep. Yeah.

Okay. I believe it. I believe it.

It's the word of God. I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. I don't know how it happened, but I just believe it. There you go. That's my answer. I don't know how it happened, but I believe it. That's it. I like that.

Just like Noah's Ark. I don't know how it happened. I just believe it. There you go.

It worked for me. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. Thank you, sir. You too, man. God bless. All right.

Next longest waiting is Aaron from Michigan. Aaron, welcome. You're on the air. Oh, yes. I want to know your views on the Trinitarian, Unitarian, and Oneness Pentecostal when it comes to the Godhead. And who are we to pray to? Or I know the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son, but when it comes to all these three things, who are we to pray to?

Okay. The Trinity is the correct doctrine revealed in Scripture. Oneness is a cult and Unitarianism is a cult. Both of them are false doctrines. Oneness teaches that there's one person, the God who manifests as three different forms or three different modes or just three different persons, let's just say.

Not three different persons, but one person and three different manifestations. There's different views on Oneness. Unitarianism denies the deity of Christ. The Trinitarian essence, both of those groups add works to salvation. And so they're both non-Christian cult groups and false theologies. So the Trinity is the true doctrine. I've written a great deal on it.

I've debated it many, many times. Who do we pray to? Pray to pray to God. And biblically speaking, pray to the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit as if you were to differentiate. But when I pray, I just say, Lord, sometimes I pray straight to Christ.

I just pray to the Lord Jesus because he's prayed to in the Bible and stuff like that. So do I picture it as three people? No, do not picture anything. Don't picture anything. Just pray to God. Just pray to the Lord. Don't picture anything in your mind or you'll end up in error. Don't do that. Just pray to God.

Just all you have to do is just pray to the Lord and just say in Jesus name is fine and you're okay. Okay. Not a big deal. Okay. All right.

Thanks. All right. Okay.

Anything else? Okay. Well, okay. Now let's get to Jermaine from California. Jermaine, welcome. You are on the air, brother.

Oh, hey, Matt. How's it going today? Oh, it's going, man. It's going.

So what do you got? Yeah, I was on vacation, but I had to get a call and I'm actually up in Yosemite and I was just looking at the, just, uh, God's creation up here is very beautiful and it made me reflect on eternity. And I was just curious, does the Bible give us any concrete clues as to what we will be doing in eternity? Because I know he told us exceedingly joyful in his presence, but do we give any clues as to what we'll be actually doing? We're going to reign with him in heaven. Talks about that in revelation talks about having a sharing of the kingdom.

Don't know what these things mean. I don't, uh, we'll have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll have an intimate relationship there and a level that we've never experienced before. We're going to have fellowship one with another. We're going to see each other without sin. So that's why people are not going to recognize me. I don't know about you, but man, people are going to go, who are you?

Well, I'm Matt. Oh, well, that's what you look like without sin. So I'll be unrecognizable, uh, and looking forward to that.

And I wouldn't recognize myself. Hey, so, uh, we'll be living on looks like the new heavens, new earth, and having a fellowship with the Lord. Some people think, well, that'd be boring, but the immense glory of his purity, uh, that our souls are made to enjoy will be amplified and it'll be euphoric for forever.

Okay. Um, do, do you think people think it will quote be boring because we just can't comprehend that kind of joy and that kind of kind of bliss? I mean, we, we make movies about it, but it doesn't really touch anything on the surface of what I would expect. Well, um, people often will, will tell me, you know, we're bored, be boring in heaven. You just fellowship with people on the wall. And, um, it's, is the Bible says, I forgot where it says, I has not seen or tongue is not said what majestic things that will be for us in heaven.

It's going to be incredible. You know, so I think of things like me, what I think would be cool would be to on at thought, go visit any place in the universe, just go to that galaxy over there. There I am. I want to do that kind of stuff. Go see nebula, the horse nebula, go to Alpha Centauri.

I want to go see the moon. You know, that to me is a good idea. Now, maybe it's ludicrous. I don't know what's going to happen in heaven, but God says, you know, you can't even imagine it. Well, that's pretty good for me. You know, of course the greatest is just being with Jesus, you know, but maybe everyone will leave his presence. Don't know, but it's going to be good. It's going to be wonderful. It is.

All right. Um, and finally, just to go along with that question, I mean, when I was a kid, they give you a telescope and you'd be occupied for hours and have internet and all that. But I know they're still to this day constantly discovering like galaxies beyond what we can count. I just kind of wonder, is that a part of, I will say, uh, well, I know it's got creation, but it's like, it goes so far out, like you literally, it would take you a whole lifetime to get to the first one. Do you think that's possibly a part of what we would experience? It could be possible.

Maybe it is, you know, I just don't know. Um, I'm hoping that, uh, you know, I don't know. It's just going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to it. And, um, you know, could you imagine just not having to sleep anymore?

Not having to eat, uh, being able to like Jesus, uh, he just was able to appear and disappear, be able to do stuff like that. Um, cause we'll be like him in the Bible says, uh, I think it's going to be incredible. Yeah, it's going to be great.

So I think awesome is the best description. I'll stick with that. Yeah, that's right. It'll be good. All right. All right. Thank you, brother. God bless you. You too. God bless both of you. All right. All right. Now, next longest waiting is, let's see, Kathy from Salt Lake City. Welcome.

You're on the air. Just a quick question. Um, I'm a born again, Christian, and I was invited to my great-granddaughters baby blessing at the, uh, Mormon church, LDS church, and I told them I would not go, um, just wondered if I did the right thing, you know, it hurts them.

That is a great grandma. I don't go and just wondered if I'm honoring God by that decision. All right. Now, the, one of the principles of honoring God is to honor God, honor God, honor him, honor him, honor him. Is that you do so in accordance in part with the intentions of your heart. If you think something's wrong, even though it's not wrong, but you think it is and you do it, you've sinned. You've not honored God. And we are to honor God. Now, if you believe that it's not good to go to a cult like Mormonism and participate in a baby dedication blessing, then don't do it.

Don't go. Well, if on the other hand you think it's okay, then that's another topic. Then the question becomes, is it lending support to Mormons, Mormonism?

And well, uh, that's, that's a tough one because we don't want to support Mormonism. It's like if someone said, Hey, Matt, you want to go to the homosexual wedding? No, I won't go because I'm approving of that, which is sinful. The homosexual marriage is directly sinful. However, I don't see anything sinful about a baby blessing or baby dedication.

So now we have never close to the gray area. Is it arisen a sinful thing to go to a baby, a dedication or baby blessing? I wouldn't think so in a Christian church.

Okay. You could do that. But now we're talking about a cult like Mormonism. Now what do we do? Well, um, you have to decide at this point if doing that would be a support of Mormonism in their eyes.

If that's the case, I would recommend not to do it. If it's a dedication of a baby at someone's house and then you can have a barbecue afterwards, you know, I could go. I would probably, uh, be in another room personally. I probably wouldn't participate in their pagan ceremony, um, personally. So it's just, it's up for grabs here a little bit.

It's not an easy one just to nail. Absolutely. But I probably might just opinion, I probably wouldn't end up going myself. Thank you so much. Those are very, very helpful comments. I totally agree. Okay.

Yep. Well, there you go. And, uh, you know, Mormonism is not Christian and we don't want to lend our, our approval of things that are ungodly. And if they are honoring and serving and dedicating a baby in the name of their false God, then I'd stay away from that. But then what do you do? You know, let's say you meet some Mormon missionaries someplace out in the street and I've had them in the case where they say, well, I'm going to pray. And I go, go ahead.

You know, I'm just sitting there. It's not going to hurt me if they pray. I don't pray with them because I don't pray to their false God. And then I'll say, do you mind if I pray?

And then I pray to Jesus, which they can't do. And so, you know, it's not exactly easy. All right. Okay.

Yeah. Well, I just so appreciate those comments. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

You're welcome very much. Well, God bless. Okay.

God bless. Bye. Okay. Bye. All right. Now let's get to Dave from North Carolina. David, welcome.

You're on the air. Yes, sir. A quick question. Is it a lack of spiritual discernment for a person to want to take someone's ashes and take them to their favorite place that they used to like to go? No, I don't see anything wrong with that. As long as it's not a brothel, you wouldn't go there. You know, but No, it's just like no venting place. I just, in my mind, I was thinking of the lack of spiritual understanding as if that person's going to be happy there. They're, and you know, we know that their ashes, it's not, they're not there.

No, no, no. Their soul's a different place. Ashes are just their physical body remains. It doesn't matter where you put them. Exactly.

It doesn't affect a person. But do you think that's okay? Yeah, I don't see anything in scripture that denounces the idea of taking someone's ashes and take them to the ocean or, you know, a lake or bearing them or keep them on a mantle. I don't see the problem. Okay. Yeah. I think the person that's doing it, I think it may give them some peace that I took their ashes to their favorite place.

They used to love to go, but I just, I don't know. That was a little, there's something about that kind of sticks me in the crowd a little bit, but that's all right. Nope. Not a big deal, but it's okay. We're out of time though, but if you want to talk about it some more, I'll call it back on Monday when we have more time. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Well, God bless. Okay. All right. Boy, a lot of good calls today. If you want to give me a call, got a will next week, I hope you all have a great weekend. May the Lord bless you. Talk to you next week, another program powered by the truth network.