Matt Slick Live

A previously recorded Matt Slick show. Enjoy the show today. If you liked the video, please check it out. If you liked the video, please check it out.

Hey Matt, yeah, so I had a couple real quick questions to ask you. Is it sinful to wear a Metallica t-shirt or a Rage Against the Machine t-shirt? I wouldn't say it's sinful.

What do they stand for? The Bible says whatever you do, do for the glory of God. So just judge it by that. Can you wear one of those shirts for the glory of God?

Want to be legalistic about it? Well, you know, I don't wear shirts like that. I went shopping today and I had a shirt that said, make 1984 fiction again. And now I'm wearing a shirt that says truth with a cross on it. So, you know, I think if we're Christians, we might want to use that opportunity to spread the gospel message. But I wouldn't say it's sinful to wear a, you know, Metallica shirt. Okay.

If you don't have any callers waiting. We do, but go ahead. He was saying that we get wicked leaders because of the sin of, I guess, the country. So do you think Biden and Tom Lahairs are like wicked leaders? Wow. They support and promote homosexuality, abortion, socialism. These are all against scripture.

And I would say they're not good. I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The promotion of it. And I listened to Hannity without shopping today and Hannity said that, you know, he just signed a bunch of stuff in and going to make our economy tank and doing things that are to the advantage of China.

You know, I don't know all this stuff, but I think they are a judgment in part upon the Christian nation. Seriously. So where do you think America is headed? To destruction. Wow.

Yeah, I don't. The only thing I see is to redeem this country is a revival. We need a revival. We need more people that God raises up to stay, to hold back the onslaught of liberalism. It teaches us that every single country exists that when they fall, unless they're overtaken by a war, but they don't get generally better, they get generally worse.

And they gradually move into liberalism, more socialist, communist, totalitarian regimes, high taxation, increase of laws to force people to comply, reduction of freedom, censoring, free speech, things like that. Those are kind of the things that precede the fall of nations, along with the rise of homosexuality in some cases and some other stuff. So the issue is, are Christians going to take this seriously? So when I talk like this, I sound like an alarmist or some conspiratorialist, but hey, the Bible says that when Jesus returns, will he find faith?

And if those days be not cut short, no flesh will be left. So I believe, because of what the scriptures teach, that things are going to get worse and worse. But I also believe that Christians can guide the course of history by promoting the truth of the gospel message.

And God in his timeline works all things out. So I'm a realist, and I think Biden and Harris and liberals, I think Obama was part of the judgment, and liberals, and I don't know if Trump was or wasn't having decided that one yet, because our country promotes ungodliness and legalizes the killing of the unborn, the killing of the innocent, it legalizes and promotes sodomy, homosexuality, it legalizes and promotes various forms. Well, the government about this, about pornography, but it certainly does not work to quell it. It allows it. And now there's making legalization for various drugs.

People might want to say marijuana's not that bad. Well, okay, you know, what's next? Is there going to be anything next? You just wonder, you know, what's going on? And since there's more laws being passed to prevent freedom of speech, freedom of religion, is being repressed, or suppressed I should say.

And I just found out that Biden, for example, says that the people who need to police the social media groups to make sure they're doing things fairly is the social media groups, which is ludicrous. So, yeah, there's all kinds of stuff. Oh, I know stuff that I'm not going to talk about, but yeah, there's other things going on.

Hey, one more quick question. When someone says to you, follow the God of your understanding and follow what works for you, because I'm in a group and this lady's a yoga instructor and she says, you know, whatever makes sense to you and the God of your understanding, if that helps you, then follow that. That's demonic theology.

Yeah. In other words, invent a God that you like, submit to whatever you think is the truth, don't worry about the actual true and living God, just believe whatever you desire. In other words, put the truth of who God is up to your imagination, your desires, your wants. It's ultimately demonic doctrine. Well, what do you say to someone like that? Say, well, what if the God that you believe in is Satan? Is that okay?

Do you think that's all right? Or a doorknob, as they say in AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, which Christians should not be involved with because it says those kinds of things. Yeah, I'm a hardline, I think, believer. I'm sorry, what? No, I heard you talk about the AA stuff and how it has cult roots and crazy stuff going on with AA stuff.

There's a lot of crazy stuff going on. Yeah, I might have to remember that stuff. All right, buddy. All right, man, I appreciate it and I'm praying for you, man.

Thanks, man, I really do. All right, let's get on the phones with Charlie from North Carolina. Charlie, welcome.

You're on the air. Hey, last night, the last question was, this guy asked about the sinner's prayer. I didn't hear your answer. I don't remember what he asked, but is that biblical?

Yes and no. So the sinner's prayer, there is one in the Bible and it's where the tax gatherer prays and he says, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's a sinner who is praying. Literally, it's God, be merciful to me, the sinner.

It's Luke 18, 13, and it's in the parable that Jesus himself gave when he says there was a man who went up to the temple to pray. Two men, one a Pharisee and a tax gatherer. The Pharisee says, look what I've done, how good I am, this is what I've not done. I don't do the bad stuff.

I'm not like that tax gatherer over there. And the tax gatherer says it's going to be merciful to me, the sinner. Jesus says he was the one who was justified rather than the other. So this is a sinner's prayer in the Bible. Yes, a sinner's prayer is in the Bible. But the sinner prayer that they talk about is both biblical and non-biblical depending on how it's used. Because the sinner's prayer is basically along the lines of, there's no exact right formula.

It's basically along the lines of God is perfect and pure and he's holy. And if you lie and you steal, you've sinned against God and there's a judgment to come upon you. And so what you do is you can pray and ask the Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins. And you repent of your sins and you confess Jesus and you confess him as Lord and you pray and ask him to forgive you. And he'll forgive you. And so, is that biblical? Well, of course it's biblical.

I have no problem with that. That's a good sinner's prayer. If, however, someone comes along and says, and because you said the prayer, now you're saved. That's not right.

Oh right, I got you. So what I would say, if I was preaching and I wanted to lead people to the Lord, I'd say, I'm going to say a prayer and you can repeat after me if you want. It's not the prayer that saves you.

It's the work of God. This is a confession before God. And I'm not going to say, if you say these words, then you're automatically saved.

That's not the case. If you believe them, if you trust in Christ, that's the issue. And so then I'll say, so let me lead you in that kind of prayer.

That's what I was hoping. Because we have a small congregation, and not to boast or brag, but I really get the Lord to give me a heart for the lost. And he put it on my heart to say a sinner's prayer.

The one I thought, you admit you're a sinner, you ask for forgiveness and repent of your sins, and then you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Yeah, some people say there's a certain order. I don't see that as necessary because... Oh, yeah, that's just the way I heard it from, you know.

I know there's no order. I understand that, yeah. But you know, God can use that.

He can certainly use his confession. So yeah, okay. Hope that helps. All right, good.

All right. Okay, Charlie. Hey folks, we have two open lines if you want to give me a call.

877-207-2276. Let's get to Joseph from Iowa. Joseph, welcome.

You're on the air. Yes. Yesterday I had like three questions, but I didn't have chance to ask all the questions. My second question was still about salvation. We know all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And so I want to ask a question about the little ones, the babies, or even the people who are mentally handicapped, and they don't know how to decide what is good and what is bad. So when these people die, when these people die, are they also still under the curse? Are they going to go to hell because they didn't have chance to declare their faith in Jesus? Well, the Bible doesn't say. And so I can't say this is what happens or is not what happens. We do know in Psalm 22... So we talk about that? Okay, we do know in Psalm 22 verse 9 that the Bible, the psalmist said, you didn't make me believe at my mother's breast.

So we know that God who grants that we believe, like in Psalm 129, can bring people to believe at their different ages. So we don't know exactly what happened to the babies, but what I believe is what I'll tell you after the break. So hold on, folks. We'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned.

We have two open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right. Welcome back, everybody. We have two open lines. Why don't you give me a call?

877-207-2276. Joseph, are you still there? Yes, I'm still here.

All right. Now, what I believe about babies is that when they all die, they go to heaven. I can't prove that from scripture, but I have lost a baby.

And ever since then, I've just not been able to be objective about it, and I admit that. And I just like the idea that I don't go to heaven. So you believe they go to heaven, but they don't have any proof about that?

But I don't have, yeah. It's one thing I've never been able to really be that objective, but I can say that if any baby goes to hell, that's the right thing. If they all go to heaven, that's the right thing, because God is the one who ordains whatever is right. And so we don't have an answer. I just prefer the idea that babies go to heaven. I just think it's better.

So how about the intellectually disabled people, the people who are intellectually disabled? We don't know. The Bible doesn't say, and so it just can't say.

I wish it could. Yeah, it just doesn't tell us. My second question is, I think it's very short. It's about the flags in the churches. We know the church and the government have to be separate, and we know that we have to honor, we have to respect our government and stuff like that. So when it comes to church, I think the church has to be very autonomous, and it doesn't have to intermingle with political affairs.

It's supposed to mingle. It's not biblical to say separation of church and state. It's not biblical to put the flags in the church, right?

No, no, no. I didn't say that. I said it's not biblical to have separation of church and state, because everything is under the lordship of Christ, everything, one way or another. So what we have to do is understand that even politics should be under the domain of Jesus. So how do we live that out? We live that out by raising godly people and voting for godly people who vote for godly things and pass godly laws.

That's the idea. And for Christians to say that separation of church and state, which is not in the Constitution, nor is it in the Bible, it's just something that secularists have used to infiltrate into our society so that Christians don't do anything in politics, so that they can be in control. So we are supposed to be influencing society. It's what we're supposed to do as Christians. Okay. So how about Christians putting, like, I find a lot of churches here, they put flags in the churches, especially even on the altar, they put the flags in the front of everyone so that everyone can see the flag of the United States. I don't see any problem with that.

What? I don't see any problem with that. You don't see any problem with that?

No. I mean, they're not bowing down to it. It's just, hey, we're Americans. I don't care.

If I was in Mexico and they had a Mexican flag in a church, okay, they're in Mexico. Not a big deal. Okay.

That's my opinion, anyway. Oh, yeah. Thank you so much for the question I have. Sure. All right, man. Well, God bless. Okay.

God bless you. All right. Okay. Let's get to Mike from Florida. Hey, Mike.

Welcome. You're on the air. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I can, Mike.

Welcome. You're on the air. Hey, what's going on, brother Matt?

This is faithful to God. I've worked with vocab alone. I think you and I have had conversations in the past.

Yeah, vocab's great. I have a question. Oh, I can hear myself echoing. I have a question regarding Sean McCraney. So I watched, I think it was two of your interactions with him. And I know at one point he believed in the Trinity. He no longer believes in the Trinity. And I know he has inclusivist ideas regarding the Christian faith.

So I guess I wanted to get your thoughts on him overall. He claims that he doesn't completely reject the Trinity. He claims that he just hasn't had it explained properly or something to that effect. And also I wanted to get your ideas about his inclusivism and if you feel that that's the unfortunate route set up.

Let's do one at a time. So the Trinity, I've sat down with him many times and I've spoken to him and explained what the Trinity is. When he says no one's explained it to him, that's not correct. I know I have. I don't know about others. I assume others have.

But I know for a fact. I've sat down with him and explained things to him. Our first meeting, we met in Salt Lake City area at a restaurant and said hello to each other. This was about three, four years ago I guess. And he had a certain theological issue that he was having problems with. I sat down with him and explained it to him. And he actually said to me, he says, I've never had anybody explain it like that before. He goes, now it makes sense.

And I forget what it was, but I said, okay, no big deal. I've explained things to him. I've sat on the set with him. We've gone over things and he's moved into apostasy. And he's not to be trusted as a decent teacher. You can't follow the guy. He's bad news. Okay?

Right. I know he has inclusivist ideas. And I think on the, I think it was the last appearance that you made in 2016, he continually emphasized the Holy Spirit and that somehow the Holy Spirit was moving all these various people in his church to these different practices. So like one person would promote law keeping for salvation and then someone else would promote something different. And somehow like the Holy Spirit is just all moving them together to just join together under this banner of just believe in Jesus.

I wonder if you feel that this is kind of the direction that we're going in in this country with a lot of these purported Christians, Christian ministers, where it seems to be feel good, just come together. You know, we don't need doctrine. We don't need to believe in essential doctrine. Just say Jesus and that's it.

Yeah. And those are false teachers and false shepherds. Because doctrine is important. If it's just follow Jesus, then that generic kind of a thing can come in and be held. And the Catholics, the Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses can all say the same thing. Without doctrine, you don't know who Jesus is. You don't know who the true God is. You don't know what salvation is. And not all churches are teaching that, but unfortunately there are some churches that are teaching this all the oxen-free, feel-good theology. As long as you're sincere and you're trying, God understands how your sincerity is.

You're not perfect. He loves you anyway. It's heresy. Because God does love us and He's certainly very loving in the person of Jesus, especially to the saved, but also to the unsaved. And you can see that in Matthew 5, 43-48.

And He is loving. But our sincerity is not what bridges the gap between God and ourselves. God doesn't look at our sincerity and say, Oh, your sincerity, even though you believe things that were wrong, you were sincere, so I'll let you into heaven.

That's not the case. Nothing in scripture says that. And it's out of the book of Nonsensicus. And I would say, you know, it's nonsense. It doesn't make any sense. And so, because people don't hold to the supremacy of the word of God, they'll believe all kinds of other things. And that's what's happening in that case, in that context. There's a lot of false teachers and false shepherds out there who will elevate man's feelings, man's ideas, man's sincerity, and say that God understands because of what we are. That's humanism.

And it's very dangerous. Okay? All right, buddy, we've got a break.

Yep. All right, man. God bless. Hey, folks, you have two open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. Welcome back, everyone. We have one open line, 877-207-2276. We lost Rhonda. The question was, where is Adam and Eve? And they are in heaven.

And if you want, you can call back, or someone can call and explain why. Let's get to John from New Jersey. Hey, John, welcome.

You're on here. Hey, Matt, I had a call back because I had a question, and it's about Romans 9. Okay. So is Romans 9 about individual election or the nation of Israel?

Both. It's talking about both because Jacob and Esau weren't nations, of course, but it's also talking about individuals because it says Pharaoh, for example. And Jacob is an individual, and Esau is an individual. But what it says in that context is that Jacob I love and Esau I hated, and it was not because they had done anything good or bad. And so then, wait a minute, why would he say he hates one and loves another?

You know, individuals, that would raise the question, well, it's not fair. If it was just nations that are being spoken about, that God can love one nation and not another nation, well, that's fine, because there are people in those nations who will do good and bad of their own free will. So that theology makes the text more palatable to people.

But it means then that you don't raise the question, oh, that's unjust. And so they soften it in order to make it fit their theological perspectives. And then, you know, it says to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy. So he's speaking to Moses about the whom, and the whom in the Greek is singular, and whom I have compassion. In Greek, you can have a singular in plural, like who. Who do you want to believe in?

You can say who is an individual or who is a group or who is in three or four people. And so in Greek, though, whom can be in the singular and in the plural in its construction. And I will have mercy on the one who I have mercy is like saying that in Greek. And so that's when it says it does not depend upon the man who wills or the man who runs, but upon God who has mercy. And the scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you. So Pharaoh was raised up. And it's right after the issue in verse 16 of it does not depend upon the man who wills or the man who runs, but upon God who has mercy.

Well, what's the it? It has to do with who God loves and who God hates previously. So then, this is a conclusion of what was said before. That's why he's saying to the man who runs and the man who has mercy, the individuals. That's why he says, Pharaoh, I raised you up for this purpose. God has the right to do this with individuals as he wants. Then it says, so he has mercy on whom, it's in the singular again.

Whom he desires, he hardens whom he desires. Well, why does he still find fault? Well, you raise the objection if you understand that he's doing this to individuals. And if you raise the objection, just like Paul does, then you're understanding what he says because he raises the same objection. If you don't raise the objection, then you don't understand what he's saying. The only way to test if you understand the pericope properly is to see if you basically say, well, wait a minute, that doesn't seem to be fair. And then that's when you know that you're understanding what Paul is actually saying. And then Paul goes on and says, you'll still find fault.

Who resists as well? Well, who? It's in the Greek. It's singular. All right, because Frank Twery, if I'm saying it right, he was on YouTube and he goes around college campuses and does the apologetic thing. So when I asked him that and he gave that answer, I was like... Which answer? I never heard that before.

Which answer? The word is talking about Israel and not individuals. Yeah, I would challenge him on that one. And I've talked to Frank before.

He's a great guy. But I would say absolutely no, it's not just about a group. It's about individuals as well. And as you go on in the text, he says, on the contrary, who are you?

Oh, man. That's a singular person who enters back to God. The thing.

Mulder will not say to the Mulder, why did you make me like this? This is individuals. Does not the potter have the right over the clay to make the same lump? One vessel. That's one person. For honorable use, another for common use. And he goes on.

So absolutely, yes, it is teaching about individual election. God has the right to do with his creation as he desires. If people don't like it, then my suggestion, unfortunately, it's a real suggestion, is to take a highlighter and mark those scriptures out of your Bible so that you don't have to be bothered by them anymore. You see, the fact is, God is a sovereign king. And we have to realize that he can do with his creation as he desires.

But on the other hand, he's loving. And he's kind and he's patient and he wants people to come to him. And yet, he uses, he chooses to use the Christians to preach and teach that gospel. And we find that apparently the more we preach and teach, the more we evangelize, apparently the more people God has chosen to be saved. And so what we have to do is just realize that all this is way above us.

We have to be obedient to God. And we go and preach and teach. Now, I believe what I teach, and yet I evangelize regularly.

I mean, I'm on the net in the evenings. I'm on various chat things. And I'm trying to get the gospel out to unbelievers. I try and witness. I try and wear shirts when I go out that hopefully someone will start a conversation with me if they see my shirt.

And I can witness to them. And I try this over and over. I was at a pizza place with my wife on Sunday, and a woman just had her hands full trying to carry something out of the car. And I just go, ma'am, you need some help?

I'd be glad to help you take this out. One of the reasons was I wanted to help her because she needed help. Another one was I hope I have an opportunity to mention the Lord to her. And so my last name is Slick, right? And I used to be a minister.

So I'll use that. And as I said to her, I said, well, look, I like to help people. And I said, I'm a minister, and I help people. I'm a minister of the gospel.

And it turns out she was a Christian, and we just fellowshiped for five minutes. But you see, there's an opportunity that I'm trying to witness because that's how we're supposed to be. We should always look for opportunities. And the more we witness, the more we share the gospel, the more people get saved. God's in control. He grants that they believe. But there's something about the fact that we preach and teach. We get out there and do that, and it makes a difference. I can't explain how it all works.

I just know that God says he has a right to do what he wants with his creation. You can't complain. But on the other hand, he says, get out there and make disciples. Go.

How does it all work together? You know what? It's above my pay grade. And that's okay. And so I just do what God commands, and I believe what he teaches.

And that's how it's supposed to be. Yeah, I was in a group the other night, and a guy speaking did 27 years in prison, and he said he thanked Allah for all his blessings. And when the group was done, I said, well, I'm a Christian, and I gave him a gospel tract. And he said, well, we serve the same God.

No, we don't. Here's something to think about in this. And I've been using this with Muslims recently. I'm going to go over this slowly. So I'm going to go to Exodus 3, 14.

And the word Lord here is the word Yahweh. Now, the strongest concordance says it's 3068. So what I'm going to do, and I'll tell you why.

So I'm going to go to concordance. We'll find every instance of 3068. In other words, that name of God. And it occurs 6,517 times. So 6,500 times the name of God occurs in the Old Testament.

6,500 times. And I'll ask the Muslims, and I've been doing it this week, as a matter of fact. And I'll say, what does the Bible say that God's name is? His name is I Am. Because Yahweh comes from the Hebrew verb to be. And that's why it says I Am that I Am.

Not I will be. What I will be, the Jews translated it into the Greek Septuagint as I Am that I Am. And so that occurs 6,517 times.

So 6,517 times. So God identifies himself as Yahweh Elohim, as Lord God. And it occurs all over the Bible. Now, if the Muslims want to tell us that they serve the same God as we do, I say, why does God not identify himself as the I Am in the Quran, if it's the same God? If he were to say his name 6,500 times, get it written in the Bible, in the Old Testament, 6,517 times, why doesn't it appear once in yours if you have the same God?

And they can't answer. Well, that's a good one. I've got to remember that. I don't know if I'm going to see this guy again, but I've got to remember that. I've got to remember that.

That's good stuff. Yahweh, which is the tetragrammaton, yotet vate, which is I Am that I Am. So God's name is I Am, which is Yahweh, Hebrew. We just use that as the anglicized pronunciation. If their God, Allah, is the same as the Old Testament God of the Jews, then why is it that Allah doesn't identify himself?

Because you can say in Arabic, I Am, and he doesn't. Right. That's a good argument, too. I'm going to have to remember that.

But you have an article on your website about... I've got to go, buddy. It's a break. OK. Got to go. All right. Call back Monday. All right.

God bless. Hey, folks. We have three open lines, 877-207-2276. Be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Welcome back, everyone. Let's get on the phones with Jade from North Carolina.

Jade, welcome. You're on the air. Hi, Matt. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. It's a pleasure to speak with you.

I listen to you every single day. I just had a question. Some friends and I have been speaking on social media about how far that we feel that America has dropped the ball with teaching our kids biblical foundations and just everything. God has just taken out of literally everything since we've been growing up. And so we kind of moved forward into the whole abortion thing with fighting and everything going on with him.

And then it took a step forward. And one of my friends posted a video about how Americans celebrate Christmas now and all of this, which I know has taken origins. But I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on that.

I know that personal convictions, I've already looked at some of your information online. But I was reading in Deuteronomy 2 where it says, not Deuteronomy 2, but in Deuteronomy that God told the Israelites that they must destroy all of the Gentiles' gods. They must destroy everything. So when I think about the Christmas tree star and the Christmas tree and all of these things, I'm like, what do you do with that?

It just kind of burdens me. So in 1 Corinthians 10 there was the issue of eating meat sacrificed to pagan idols. In the marketplace people would get the meat that was sacrificed to the idols and they would sell it in the marketplace. It was okay for a Christian to eat meat where the animal was killed for the purpose of praising and worshiping and appeasing a pagan god. And the answer was, yeah, you can eat it. And the reason was because that meat isn't really anything and those gods aren't really anything greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.

You're free. But you don't want to eat that meat if it's going to stumble somebody else. So the pagan origin of that meat, not cows invented by pagans, but where the meat came from was of pagan sacrificial origin.

But we're still free to be able to partake in that. The Christmas tree ultimately is a pagan origin symbol. It started with the winter solstice, which was a week-long period starting on December 17th.

I think around the 20th of December is when the shortest day of the year is. And in Europe they would celebrate that shortest day ending and have a festival. And during that time pagans would do their pagan stuff. So the Roman Catholic Church, which was in control about the 4th century on, couldn't beat that or couldn't get them to stop so it adopted that day as the day of Christ's birth.

It tried to purify it. I agree with the sentiment in trying to do that. And so the origin of that day is pagan and the Christmas tree itself is pagan. Are we as Christians free to have a Christmas tree in our house and celebrate that day and give gifts and stuff like that?

Well, yes we are. So are we free to have Valentine's Day? Valentine's Day is just, you know, you can go buy flowers and get a card and chocolates and be nice and all that stuff you do on Valentine's Day.

Go to dinner, whatever. Well, that's pagan origin. Well, you know, basically I think it was a hallmark or some company tried to get it going so they could sell more cards and they did. We celebrate that, right? Christmas celebrates that, yeah. Can they have a Christmas tree in their house?

Yes, they can. They're not bowing down to a Christmas tree. They're not worshipping a Christmas tree. If they feel convicted about it, then they shouldn't do it.

If they think it's a bad thing, then don't do it. But you don't have the right to say somebody else shouldn't. Because each person must be convinced in his own mind. And since we're free and no longer under the law and no longer under the theocratic system that was aimed at Israel only in the Old Testament context to destroy all pagan gods that they were actually, the unbelievers were actually worshipping.

But that's not the case here. If there was a Christmas tree that was somehow worshipped as a pagan god and that was to be destroyed, it's because it was a symbol used of pagan worship and in pagan worship. But that's not what happens with the Christmas tree today. It's just a Christmas tree. I have a Christmas tree downstairs right now and I don't see any problem with it. And my family decorates it, we put presents underneath it, and it's a good time of gathering of family. And I don't see any problem with that.

It's like, well, what if Valentine's Day became the day where we serve gifts with each other? Oh, can't do it. Well, why not? Because?

So it becomes a personal preference, but there's no theological necessity not to do it. Okay? Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it. Okay. Well, we've got to be careful. We don't want to use our liberty for sin.

So let me give one more bit. One of my daughters is definitely not a Christian. And she came over for Christmas with two of her friends who were not believers. Would they have come over if we didn't have Christmas?

No. They saw, my wife and I as Christianity, they saw stuff and we got exposed to that even more. So that's a good thing. So instead of being legalistic and saying we can't, I like to say, what can we do and use something to promote that gospel? And so we've got to be careful. We don't want to go to the bad places. We want to do bad stuff and say, hey, let's use this. There's wisdom, but the general idea, we have to be, as Christians, not so pure that we don't even involve ourselves with things in the world.

Right. Because that video, it was just, I don't know if you've ever heard of, his name was Tim Staley or Jim Staley, I don't know for sure, but he was really breaking it down and it really made me think a whole lot like, oh my gosh, all of these terrible gods and we're like having it, it makes you feel terrible. It does make me feel terrible.

Can you stop doing this stuff? For decades, and I don't see any problem. If he wants to put legalism on people, that's his problem. Yeah, that's sort of what I thought too. That's sort of what I thought too. I thought that it was a personal conviction type situation. Thank you so much for clearing that up for me.

That's sort of the way I felt as well. You're welcome. Okay, well good. God bless.

God bless. Bye. Bye. All right, let's get over to Julie from Utah.

We lost. Let's see, let's get over to Peter from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Peter.

Hey Matt, did you call me? Peter, did you say Peter? I'm sorry. Oh, I think. I didn't know I'm on.

Peter, you're on. I'm sorry. Okay. Thank you. No, you just made a noise. I didn't hear my name. First of all, I appreciate your ministry. I contribute monthly to CARM. You don't say it much, but I encourage your listeners to do that.

I think it's awesome. And I want to just throw out a couple ideas and I have a question at the end for sharing the Gospel. You mentioned chat room and it kind of spurred me on. One thing I like to tell everybody is when phone calls come in unsolicited, and often there's a person, machines you can't do it, but a person, and so anytime I always answer them and listen carefully and then ask, oh, you have some questions, if I answer your questions, can I ask you a couple questions after we're done? And I share the Gospel through that many times.

Good. And I encourage listeners to do that. The other thing is, which has been a learning thing for me, is my family, much of them are not believers, and they've heard the Gospel from me so many times they shut me down very quickly. But I found out over the years I can share what I call fishing stories, where I say, yeah, I was talking to this man, Robert, and he said he was going to heaven, and I said, how do you know that? And he said, oh, I'm a good person. I love people.

I'm compassionate. And then I tell them what I told Robert in sharing the Gospel, that it's by faith in Christ alone. Good. And that allows me to share the Gospel with my family.

That's the only way I can, is by sharing those stories. Good. I did have a question on all this. Here's my question.

It's a tough one. I think about people rarely tell me about sharing the Gospel with people. And my first question is, the Gospel is, it is, somewhere you've got to come to Christ died for your sins, was buried dead, rose again the third day. That's the Gospel about believing in him.

Right. You'll have eternal life. And I wonder how many people that I go to church with over the year do not do that once with anybody, even the people they work with. And I wanted to hear your thoughts on that, how few of us really do that. You know, I try and get people to share the Gospel, but we have to be careful, and we've got to make sure we don't make people guilty. If a mother is at home taking care of her children, and she has a few Christian friends that she has, she's not going to have the opportunity to share the Gospel very much, and she should not feel guilty for that.

Right. So we want to make sure that people understand that the Gospel sharing is inside of the context of which you're able to do whatever it is you're able to do. And so we want to be gracious about that. But we need to also ask to be used and be willing to share the Gospel at the right time.

I'm obviously very outgoing in that sense. So for me it's not a problem. But I try to be careful here because we're supposed to preach and teach that Gospel one way or another, but we are not to put any guilt upon people. If you don't share the Gospel at least once a day, you're not a real Christian.

Nothing like that. Sometimes you just don't have that opportunity. So sometimes God will put us through a season where we don't share the Gospel because we've got other things we've got to do. Raise kids, for example. And maybe you're at a job where you are not allowed or permitted or it doesn't work to share that Gospel. And you've got to be wise.

But when the opportunity arises and you think that the Lord has opened that door, then step through that door and pray for the opportunity and the wisdom to recognize the opportunity when to be able to share that Word. I had a job in San Diego working at Hewlett-Packard fixing computers. When I got there, I didn't let anybody know I was a Christian. I purposely kept it to myself.

Because I was working with about 40 other guys, we were fixing computers, taking the whole campus there and doing stuff. I wouldn't cuss. I didn't laugh at their bad jokes. I wasn't rude.

I just wouldn't participate. And after about three months, they approached me and said, We've noticed things about you. You don't cuss. You don't laugh at these certain kind of jokes. They go, Why is that? And I said, At that point, I said, Well, I'm a Christian.

And I want to serve the Lord in ministry. So I just don't participate in that. I didn't put anything on them. They changed. They asked me. You see, so sometimes being a witness might take months before the right opportunity presents itself to be able to tell them what the truth is. And there's just different situations like that, okay? Yeah. Makes sense.

Okay. I just want one idea on work, because I understand most many secular jobs you can get in trouble. And they surely didn't hire you to be a chaplain. They didn't hire me to be a chaplain.

I'm in high tech business. But one thing I've learned is I take them out to lunch. I need for breakfast.

There you go. And has nothing to do with work. And then I pray about it a lot. But I especially once I know that it has been a while.

And then I say, you know, we've talked about a lot of things. But I want to share with you today the most important thing in my life. Good for you. Thanks, Matt.

That's my point. That's good stuff. Thank you, brother. All right. God bless. Sorry about that. We are out of time. And the Lord bless you.

Sorry, Nick, from Wisconsin. Call back Monday when Todd loves witnessing. The Lord bless you. I hope you all have a great weekend. And by His grace, exactly what you are. Talk to you later.