Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Hopefully, I'll stay on the air.

The internet went down right before the show came on, and it just came up about a minute ago. And I'm just letting you know that, well, new modem, new this, new that, we'll see what's gonna happen. And there you go. If you wanna give me a call, all you gotta do is dial 8772072276. I wanna hear from you, give me a call.

And yeah, today's a nice Tuesday, so T-shirt Tuesday. And if you are interested in participating, in, you know, watching, we have some people in a chat system, a chat room, I think Laura will, in a little minute or so, have the information up on the CARM website, so that you can go, just go to CARM.org, forward slash, well, just CARM.org, and you'll see on the right-hand side, you'll see a picture of me and radio and stuff like that. And so that's all you gotta do. You can check that out there. All right, let's see, got that going, and got this going.

Yeah, so the internet was down, and so I just missed a couple of things I had to do really quickly. But like I said, if you wanna participate by, you can watch, and people, it's great, it's a lot of fun. People enjoy it, they do.

But apparently, they like to watch me laugh when some things happen, like yesterday was an odd show, and they get a kick out of it, they say it makes me, they come, makes them laugh when they see me lose it. All right, hey, oh, there we go. If you wanna give me a call, 877-207-2276, I wanna hear from you, give me a call. Why don't, why don't we just jump on the air right now? Let's get to it, somebody from Ohio.

Hey, welcome, you're on the air. Hi, hi, hi, Mr. Slade, I was calling, I was asking the question as far as like, I know what the Bible says about divorce, you know, unless there's adultery involved. And abandonment. What if you have someone who has addiction to like drugs and alcohol, and you didn't know that in the beginning, you know, you tried to deal with it, and then you tried to get them help, and they didn't want help, and it's causing a lot of, it has caused a lot of strife between both families and the in-law families and the other families.

A lot of strife, a lot of hardship. And so what's your question? My question is like, will God be upset if, if you divorce that person? Are you going to church, by any chance? Yes. Have you consulted with the elders of your church about this? Yes, I have. Okay, what have the elders told you?

Just curious. And what he said was basically a person, you know, is causing a lot of strife. You know, he wouldn't suggest divorce, but a person causing a lot of strife, that is something to, you know, be aware about, or aware of.

Yeah. All right, so these kind of things are difficult, because adultery and abandonment are grounds for divorce. Divorce. And if he's still there. When you say it, okay, okay, I'm sorry. I apologize, go ahead. No, it's all right. So if he's still there, let me ask you, is he still working and trying to provide for the family?

No, he is, he's out of the home now. Okay. And let me ask you some questions. Jean, you can say you don't want to answer, because people may recognize your voice.

And so feel free not to answer, you know. Were you and your children, you have children, I guess, right? Do you have children? Yes. Okay, were they in danger because of him? No, no. Okay, and so was he committing adultery?

No, not that I'm aware of. All right, and so he's not working, right? He's just doing drugs, is that the basic situation? No, he's what some would call like a functional addict, I guess.

Okay, does he say he wants to still marry or still be married? I haven't asked that question. I kind of just.

You should. Is he a Christian? No, well, I mean, he believes in Christ Jesus, but you know, that's all it is in your heart. He doesn't attend church with us.

He has in the past, but not on a regular basis. All right, okay, so I'm gonna recommend a ministry to you. I'm gonna recommend a ministry to you, okay? And plus several things here.

So one of the things is the way r122.org, the way Romans 12.2, but it's the way with the letter R, 12.2.org. And Chad, he's a friend of mine. He's a pastor in the area here, and he used to be addicted to drugs and stuff. And so he has, you know, had complete victory over it. He works with people who have problems. And so he's quite good.

He really is. And he knows how to talk about it. He's been to AA, and he knows how bad AA is.

And no Christian pastor should be involved with AA, as I'll just say that. And so he's quite familiar. That's one option, okay? And his name's Chad Prigmore, and he's a great guy. The way, you said it's the way? Yeah, the way, T-H-E-W-A-Y-R 12.2, 122.org.

Got it. And try and contact him, and say Matt Slick on the radio said, because he'll know. He lives near me. But, okay, so that's one thing.

Another thing is that I recommend that you get a notebook and start keeping record of the events, the best of your recollection, of the times and the dates of what's happened, and your attempts for reconciliation, your attempts for working through the marriage, making it right. People you've talked to at certain times, like even today, talk to me. You know, on 719, talk to Matt Slick of Matt Slick Live about this issue.

He recommended to contact Chad at this address. Also, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just real basic, and the reason I'm telling you about this is because if your marriage ends in a divorce, what I'm trying to do is protect you. And by having a written record that you go through, you can present it to other elders.

If and when you get divorced, and if and when you wanna marry again, kind of a thing. Down the road, I'm not saying, hey, start looking right now. No, I'm just saying, I recommend this to people, keep a record, because you can then cite, here's my notebook, here's this, here's that. You keep it online if you want, whatever you wanna do.

But you wanna have access to it. And on this date here, on this date there, he's been doing this, been doing this kind of drugs, here's the problem. And go on, you're documenting it. What you're trying to do is provide, this could also be a legal document too, should a divorce ever come up.

But also for the church to understand what your situation was, so you can document various things. So years ago, here in the area, I knew a couple where he was committing adultery. And I recommended that she do certain things. And then he did not repent, and he would not repent, and she came to me and said, is divorce a possibility now? Not that she wanted to, she was trying to work on it. And I said, yes, it is, because he's committed adultery multiple times, and he's continuing to do so. So she's free to divorce, not obligated to, and she ended up divorcing him.

And she was a godly woman who wanted to make it work. And one of the things I recommend when people have this situation is a notebook. You want to keep track of all the events. It'll help you, it'll help you later on, and it'll be useful.

It may not sound like a lot of fun right now, but that's one thing. Okay, now, if he is not working, if he's able to but refuses to, if he's able to provide by working but refuses to, if he takes money out of the kid's mouth, the kid's mouth is out of your mouths, for his drugs and the like, and yet he's what you call a functioning addict, then the issue of the abandonment and the breaking of the covenant of marriage becomes an issue at this point. His obligation to you when you get married, and I've done many weddings, the obligation is to love to protect, to provide for, et cetera. This is the covenantal aspect. You make a covenant. And so if he's breaking the covenant through his repeated, unrepentant abandonment of that marriage covenant, then it might be in this case that you have grounds for divorce. This is why you need to keep a record of what's going on so that you can present it to the elders of the church should it become necessary.

So what you wanna do at this point is even try to have reconciliation with them, and you write it down, try to contact him about this, asked to go to the pastor for counseling. He refused or said he would and did not show up, or whatever it is, tried three times, four times, on this date, on this date. You want a record of this kind of stuff so that when someone's going through it, they go, yeah, you tried. You tried over and over. This guy's unrepentant. And it went on for months, let's say, whatever it is.

Okay, and then the elders at that point, having talked to you and knowing the situation better than I could over the radio, can then make a recommendation at that point, okay? Yes, it's more of, there hasn't been money or financial where he's taken money from the children, but it's more or less anger. Like the fruits of his spirit, he's the exact opposite. Angry, bitter, you know, just. Yeah, that he needs counseling. So you need to find out if he's willing to stay married, and you need to see if you can work on the marriage.

If he's out of the house, because that's what's necessary at this point, then that's what's necessary at this point. And don't be so eager to break the marriage bond. Let's say you're dating a guy later, not that I want your marriage to end, and he's a godly man, and he says, you're married.

Okay, what was the reason for the divorce? And you say, well, we just didn't get along. Okay, a good man would say, sorry, we're done, okay? And so you want to protect yourself. You want to protect yourself, okay?

And this is one of the ways. But at the same time, you have to pray for reconciliation too. And it's not a preparation so that you can divorce him. It's so that you can do what's right and hope that he will repent. That should be your goal for his repentance.

You pray for him, you ask others to pray for him, you work towards that, you've made a covenant, through thick and thin, and you work the best way you can for that, and then the elders need to make a recommendation at the right time. That's why it's, I'm trying to be vague, but not too vague at the same time, okay? All right, here we go. Thank you. All right, there's the music, we gotta go. Have a good day.

All right, God bless. Hey folks, four open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back, please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right everyone, welcome to the show, four open lines. Why don't you give me a call at 877-207-2276. All right, let's get to, let's see, that'll be Alberto from Georgia. Alberto, welcome, you are on the air.

Yes, good afternoon or evening, Matt Slick. My question is, what's the difference between a complacent Christian and a godly Christian, like in 2nd Timothy, chapter three, verse 12? Well, that says, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. A complacent Christian is one who's apathetic, doesn't do, doesn't, is involved, not really concerned about his life as a Christian or the relationship of others with Christ. That's a complacent Christian, a complacent, apathetic, don't really care, and it was contrasted to it, a dedicated Christian, you said? A complacent and a godly, yeah, personal godly Christian. Well, a godly Christian is someone who emulates Christ, and so, as he was, Jesus sought to change people.

A complacent Christian doesn't care about changing people. Jesus sought to sacrifice himself where a complacent Christian would not. Jesus was God in flesh, and he taught, and he loved, and he humbled himself. And this is what we're to be as godly people. Jesus is the standard of godliness. He's the representation of God, Hebrews 1-3. He is the one who lived the law perfectly, 1 Peter 2-22. He never sinned, and so, we are to follow him. We're to emulate him. We're to be like him. As Jesus says, pick up your cross, daily follow after me. Matthew, I think it's 10-28. Let me see if that's correct. All these verses in my head.

No, that's not it. What am I thinking? 10-28, pick up your cross and follow after me.

Anyway, we're to do that on a daily basis, okay? So you think we're a complacent Christian, even though we're saved by grace, not by word, we're still going to heaven, even in its complacency? Well, now we're talking more precise issues, a complacent Christian. Is he really a Christian? If such a person is a real Christian, he can certainly have the faith and be a real Christian, and have grown apathetic about things.

People do that. They can be Christians. They go through the, they just go through life, and they might go to church, and do all the things they're supposed to be doing, but they don't really walk with them. And so, you know, the Bible says, if you say you know him and don't keep his commandments, the truth is not in you and you're a liar. So at what point is a, so to speak, complacent Christian not really a Christian?

And this is the difficulty. Someone who is, you can be complacent for a few months. You know, you could have, you can be lots of reasons. Someone could have literally a food allergy, and it affects them.

You could have a deformity in your brain that can affect things. You can have so much stress in your life that you become complacent as a means of self-protection and just dealing with it. But what about the person who, you know, everything's fine and just becomes complacent and apathetic? Well, such a person, I would say, well, you're probably not really a Christian.

Now, I'm not saying you're apathetic for five minutes. We're talking about someone habitually is like that, and there's no real evidence of concern because a Christian's gonna be concerned about others because we have the Lord God living in us, and he says, you know, love God and love your neighbor, and we're to be do that. We are to do that, and if a Christian or someone professes Christ and isn't doing that, well, then how could he be called a Christian? Not that it's our works that make us Christian, but it's the fruit of the regenerative work of God in us that is made manifest. This is what James 2 is talking about. And so, you see, it's not an easy one to just say yes or no to.

I guess they're really gonna get into some more details. That make sense? Mm-hmm, I understand you, sir. All right, thank you, sir, very much.

You always give good explanations, always. God bless you. God bless you, brother. All right, man.

Okay, you too. Bye-bye. All right, hey, Four Open Lines, and why don't you give me a call?

877-207-2276. Let's get to Mario from North Carolina. Mario, welcome, you're on the air. Hello? Are you there? Hello?

Yes, you're on the air. Yes, I just, hey, Matt, how are you? Oh, I'm fine, thank you for asking. How are you? Hello? I just have a quick question for you.

Mm-hmm. The question, the question I have is about the Christmas celebration in Halloween, is it okay for, I'm just asking you, is that okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween and Christmas? Yeah, so Christmas on December 25th, the reason it's on that day is because it was a winter solstice in Europe, and it meant that it was the last day of winter, so from then on, not the last day of winter, it meant from that day on, the days were getting longer. So they, because it was pretty harsh in that time, so they would celebrate that day. The Roman Catholic Church came along, dominated Europe, and tried to get rid of pagan holidays, and the pagans wouldn't, they would convert, but they still celebrate these things. Long story short, they said, well, let's move, let's just declare that the birthday of Jesus, and then make it a holiday, a holy day, holiday, holy day.

And that was where it came from, that's how it worked. All right, now can we celebrate that? Well, yes we can. You see, we are freed from the bonds of the law, having died with Christ, Romans 6, 6, Romans 6, 8, Romans 7, 1 through 4. Now, in 1 Corinthians 10, it talks about eating meat sacrificed to idols, and it says if you are aware, you go to someone's house, and they have meat to sacrifice to an idol, you don't even know, don't even ask, just don't worry about it, just eat what's before you.

If there was a prohibition from anything like that in a strict sense, then no. Now we can talk about Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council, what it was talking about related to what Paul is saying. But what he's getting at here in 1 Corinthians 10 is the idea of not participating in the ungodliness that would stumble somebody else, because he says, if someone says, well that's meat sacrificed to idols, then don't eat it for conscience sake.

Not your own, but for the other one. Because why should I, as he says, why should I be restricted by another's lack of freedom? But we don't want to stumble them, so don't participate in it. So the idea of what Paul is teaching is that we are free, but we're not to be so free to stumble somebody else, and so we can even, in that case, eat meat sacrificed to idols. All right, now the principle here is that, can we celebrate Christmas? Yeah, we can. We're not worshiping a tree. We're not doing anything as Christians, other than saying, hey, we're celebrating the birth of Christ, and we're just using this day to do it, and we're commemorating and giving gifts, just as the three wise men gave gifts. And so, are we free to do that? Yes, we are. And now, we are to do it if it's gonna stumble somebody else let's say, of a family member, and they're really, really bothered by it.

Then you might want to entertain the idea of not doing it. And then there's more details there. We got a break coming up, so hold on, okay?

And then I will continue after the break. Hey, folks, four open lines, 8772072276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone, welcome to the show by the way. I'm Matt Slick, and I'm here with my friend, Matt Slick, and I'm here with my friend, Matt Slick. And I'm here with my friend, Matt Slick.

All right, everyone, welcome to the show, Bottom of the Hour. Hey, I just want to let you know that we stay on the air by your support. If you like the show and you want it to stay on, would you please consider supporting us? All you have to do is go to CARM, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G, forward slash donate, and we ask $5 a month. I hope that's not too much to ask, but you know what?

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Give me a call, 877-207-2276. Are we right? I mean, no.

Oh, we lost him. Okay, so nobody's waiting right now, and that's a good opportunity for me to talk about something I've been working on a little bit, and it's on the Eastern Orthodox Church. I spent some time last night discussing stuff with some Eastern Orthodox people, and the reason I bring this up is because, to my surprise, Eastern Orthodoxy is gaining strength and gaining in numbers, and people are converting to it. We're hearing, or I'm hearing more and more of how people are becoming, instead of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and I'm absolutely bewildered by this. But I was talking to some people last night, and they were saying, for me, this didn't fit. They're saying, well, the reason they convert, they converted, and others were telling me the reasons they've heard others converted too.

I'll just put them together. The reason is that they like the liturgy, and it connects them to the ancient church, and they like the, the liturgy is the worship service where the priest wears big, fancy robes, where they sing ancient songs, where they stand up, sit down, they do varying rituals in the service that go back hundreds of years, and they like that. And then they convert. Now, this is what we've been hearing is some of the reasons, and to me, that's ludicrous.

It's just ridiculous. Why would you convert over things like that? It should be, if anything, scripture. And so, what's happened is more and more, I've been tackling the issue of Eastern Orthodox stuff, and I've got a document I've been working on. It's 84 pages, collecting information on Eastern Orthodoxy.

And it's very difficult to nail down what it is that they actually teach. Now, with Roman Catholicism, you can go right to their website, vatican.va. You can download the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You can do varying searches where their theologians have specifically gone in and made precise declarations about things. Not so with Eastern Orthodoxy. With that group, you find that, instead of having a single pope, you have patriarchs over varying areas, and they may or may not agree on a few things. And the Eastern Orthodox member is obligated to follow the teachings and the leading of that patriarch in that geographical area. Now, they teach, the Eastern Orthodox Church teaches, just like the Catholic Church, that it is alone the true church.

Now, that kind of a statement always concerns me, because it's the wrong starting point. People ask me, what's the true church, man? What they're doing is starting with the assumption that there is a single ecclesiastically set up proper true church. That's what they're assuming.

And I ask them, I say, this is what you're assuming when you ask the question. I say, show me from scripture where that's the case. And they can't, because that's not what the scriptures teach. It doesn't teach that there's an exact one true church. What it does teach is that the church developed in the book of Acts, and that it spread out all over.

And there was a Jerusalem council, and they did what they thought was right, and the apostles were alive at that time, and so information was disseminated. What these groups do, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, which are divisions of Orthodoxy, what they do, along with Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, the varying groups that use the Bible, is they will say basically the same thing. Their church is the true church. And the best information for salvation is in their true church.

The best stuff that God has for you is found in their true church. The best revelation is found in their true church. And there's lots of groups that claim to be the true church. What they fail to understand is that the body of Christ is the church.

The body of Christ is indwelt by the Lord God, the true and living God, and we are regenerated. And members of the true church, in that sense, being the body of Christ, not in an ecclesiastical structure that has a building headquarters someplace, but in the living body of Jesus, where he is the king and he is the Lord, and members of that body can attend different earthly-formed churches. They can be in Baptist churches or Presbyterian churches. They can be in non-enominational churches. And so when people say, well, this is the true church, which one is your true church?

They just don't understand. And the reason is because they bought into the lie that there has to be a true church, an organizational structure connected to the original apostles. All of them teach that. All of them say that they are the restoration, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, or the continuation, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, of the original apostles. And the right to interpret scripture is found in their church. The right to understand and receive revelation is in their church.

True tradition is found in their church. You see, this is called ecclesiality. The Greek word for church is ekklesia.

And it means assembly, a gathering. And idolatry, right, that is. So ecclesiality. It is, not that they worship their church, they don't. But they put the church in a place that Jesus is supposed to be in.

Now think about this. Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to God the Father but by me, John 14.6. These churches will say, the church is the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody gets to God but through that church. There are churches that teach that. Roman Catholicism officially says there's no salvation outside the church. And they mean their church. The same thing with Eastern Orthodoxy. Though, they will admit that somehow God can save someone outside the true church, but it's not normative.

Because he can technically do that. I believe they say that because of the pressures of evangelicalism, cross-examining them and looking at the scriptures, saying, what are you talking about? And I've noticed that their doctrines have been altered slightly. Let's look at Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism, for example. They both teach that their church, their structural organization is the true church. They have the restored gospel that was lost. And they are the ones in authority and true salvation is found in that organization, in that earthly church structure.

Why? Because they're the authority. They're the restored church. It's called ecclesiology, worship of the church. Now, it's making the church an idol. And what idolatry is, is giving to a created thing, that which belongs to God. So Jesus says, on the way to truth and life, nobody comes to the Father but by me. Then the church takes that and claims it for themself.

The created thing. This is a man-made church. And they'll say, no, we're the church created by God.

No, you're not. A church created by God, a true church, will be consistent and bear witness of Christ and him foremost. When I listen to, when I read scriptures, it says the Holy Spirit bears witness of Jesus, for example, John 14, 26, 15, 26. The prophets bear witness of Jesus, Acts 10, 43. And God the Father said at the baptism in Matthew 3, it says, listen to Jesus.

Okay. And so, what happens is that the true Spirit of God bears witness of Christ. But a false spirit will bear witness of the church and say that through the church's authority, that's where you find the fullness of the gospel, the fullness of whatever it is they wanna say. And this is what leads to damnation. Because they don't put scripture where it belongs. And Christ, because both are called the word of God, but they submit them to the authority of their church structure or organization. Ecclesiology. They are giving to the church what belongs to Christ.

Shame on them. Hey folks, we'll be right back. Please stay tuned. ["The Church of God"] It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. All right, if you wanna give me a call, we have three open lines, 877-207-2276. Let's get to Paul from Raleigh, North Carolina. Paul, welcome, you're on the air.

Thank you. My question is, the movement ACIM, a class in miracles, how would you talk to someone who's trying to propagate this woman Helen? A course in miracles.

Yes. A course in miracles, it's a cult. Yeah, it's occult, it's hidden mysticism and the occult, okay? Which is the best way for me to demonstrate to this gentleman, without being rude, I don't want to push him away, because evidently he needs help or I would not have been introduced to him. You need to tell him the truth.

You need to very politely say, this book, A Course in Miracles, was attained by a woman named Helen through occultic means, by in contact with spirits and through a dictation kind of a movement that claimed to be from Jesus. It's new age. He has been studying this for two years. Okay, he's lost. He is really into it.

Yeah, he's in bad shape. All right, so, it's hard to communicate to you quickly the kinds of arguments that you can develop in order to undermine his position to get him hopefully to believe the truth. You see, basics in apologetics is this, that everybody's going to have a foundation upon which they build their belief system. We have to find out what that foundation is and then see, they need to see, if they can demonstrate that the foundation is true. There's a question I often ask, what must be the case in order for ABC to be true? What must be the case, what must exist in order for whatever it is to be true? So in this case, what I would do is I'd ask this guy, okay, Course in Miracles, so what must be the case so that you know that it's a true thing from God? How do you know it's a true revelation from God? And this is what you gotta do.

You gotta ask. The person will then say something like, well, you know, it's helped me a lot. Let's just say that. It's helped me, so I know it's true. Well, drugs.

That's what he said. Okay, then drugs help people. Does it mean something's true because you feel better about yourself or something else?

Because the answer is no. And I ask questions like, well, could it be that a demonic force could use varying people to make people feel good about their religion while they're going to hell? This is what Mormonism does in that they feel good. They feel a testimony. They feel that God's talking to them or witness.

And so demonic forces are working. They're deceived, and they will just be happy, smiling all the way to eternal damnation. This is the principle you gotta deal with, and you gotta be careful and polite because saying, like I said just now, will offend a lot of people, but truth is still truth. And on the radio, I'll say it a little bit differently than I would in person because I know a lot of people are listening. I want them to hear it. But the thing is, when you work with an individual, you have to ask and you're able to say, what is the foundation of what it is you believe and why? How do you know it's true?

Because it helps me. Here's an illustration I give. A man is walking down a path. To his left five feet is a cliff. To his right five feet is a forest. And he's walking along this path, and he notices a tiger right there, and the tiger jumps at him and he ducks. The tiger goes off the cliff.

The man is saved. And he concludes that what he has to do in order to be saved whenever a tiger jumps is to just duck. That's all he's gotta do.

Okay, you're making noise there in the background, buddy. And so all he has to do is just duck. And so 100 feet later, a second tiger jumps. Now he's gonna test his idea to see if it works, if it helps him. And he ducks a second time, the tiger jumps, goes over the cliff.

Now he concludes that it's been verified. All you have to do whenever a tiger jumps at you is just duck and you'll be fine. And of course, it doesn't work because if he's out in a flat area, the tiger will jump, miss him, jump and get him. But it's a very basic illustration to show that just because something works doesn't mean it's true.

That's the point. Just because it works doesn't mean it's true. You can be hooked up to an IV for drugs that make you feel better. That doesn't mean it's good for you. You can be addicted to something that doesn't mean it's good for you, makes you feel better about yourself. You can believe lies about yourself. Doesn't mean it's right, okay?

This is what you gotta get through to him. If he's gonna base it on it works, that's why I know it's true. Well, that doesn't mean it's true because demonic forces can make it look like it's working for you.

You feel good about yourself, your family, your friends. They're brilliant, the demonic forces. This is why you gotta trust the word of God. This kind of stuff, does it make sense?

Yes, that does. I'm just, I guess more than anything, I'm meeting with him tomorrow, so if you would remember me and your prayers. I know that when someone claims that they have a word from Jesus, that Jesus spoke to them for 20 years, and it sounds, I mean, I've listened to the book on tape, the whole book, and it just sounds like there's a whole lot of truths woven into cults.

Of course, of course. Cults can't be successful if they teach things like go out and murder people and rob everybody and set houses on fire. You'd be in trouble in no time, but no, what the cults are gonna do is say, you need to be kind, you need to be nice, you need to learn how to get along with people, how to be loving. The demonic forces want that because it doesn't matter how good you feel as long as you believe in the false gospel and the false God, that's all they care about, so you can go to hell. So that's why cults work, because they have truth in them. They borrow truth from scripture, and then they give it. They twist it, manipulate it, and this is what Satan did in Genesis 3.

You will not die. Took the word of God, changed it, okay? That's what he did in Matthew with Jesus.

Yeah, yeah, uses the word and twists it. This is why cults exist. Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Criticize, Unity, for example. This is why Roman Catholicism, this is why Eastern Orthodoxy exist, is because people don't trust the actual word of God. They don't trust, this is a spiritual thing. The actual word of God is the word of God himself.

It's inspired in the scriptures of the prophets and the apostles in the Old and New Testament, and what they're saying is I don't need God's word, I need another word, because it really came from God through our prophet or prophetess, but it contradicts what God has already revealed, so what they'll do is say, well, what God's already revealed in the Bible's been corrupted, or they will so violently interpret it, misinterpret it, in order to subject it to the official theology and teaching of their restored whatever it is, and this is the case with A Course in Miracles, okay? Well, thank you very much. You've confirmed I just have to find a thesis or basis or premise to where we can start.

That's right, and undermine it, because you cannot justify anything without the Christian Trinitarian God. I need to teach a course on this and how to work this. I'm gonna have to work it. It's difficult because it's intellectual, but I need to take complicated things and bring them down to an average Joe's level so they can understand them and use them. So I can do this, and my wife, for example, we sat in a car today, we got back from something, and this kind of conversation came up about something else, and a relative who's in a group of rational thinkers, and I just scoffed because it's an unbelieving group, and I can undermine what they say, and it's easy. And she goes, how do you do that? And I gave her the principles.

This is what you do. There's a difference between ultimate and universals. The ultimate is the thing of which nothing is greater. Universals are principles that are everywhere, and yet universals are abstractions, like redness, roundness, goodness. These are abstract qualities. Well, how do you justify the universality of universals, the ubiquity of universals?

How do you justify them? If you're an atheist, you can't, because you'd have to appeal to the impersonal universe as the foundation and the grounding of the personal universal moral absolutes, but that doesn't work. And only in Trinitarianism can the problem of what's called the one and the many be solved, and that's a semi-complicated issue in philosophy.

And we are allowed to think like this. If you have, for example, a piece of paper with dots on it, what unites the dots as dots? What is the ultimate? Is it the concept of dot, or is it the relationship that they have on the paper to each other? You're imposing values on them, and I can ask questions about this. And you'll find that making sense of how they relate to each other is a simple exercise, but it becomes very problematic if you don't have a foundation by which you can then propose the universal of dotness and how they relate to each other. Now, this gets complicated.

People are like, this is way too heavy. But I'm working on how to bring this down to such a level that people go, I get it, and they can use it. And that's what I'm trying to do. A simple, basic premise. Right. Which is difficult for people to understand.

Right, and so here's an example how to do this. People say that, for example, murder is wrong. It's a moral truth. But you don't find moral truths under rocks or behind doors, or you pick it from a tree. You can't weigh such a moral truth. You can't see, it weighs 3.2 ounces.

It's colored blue. Such statements related to a moral truth are ridiculous. Morals are abstract entities.

They exist in the mind, in the heart. It's an intention. But it's universal. People agree everywhere that murder is wrong. But agreeing doesn't make it so.

Because if someone disagrees, it doesn't make it not true, it's still true. So the truth value is existing independent of what they want. But it's a universal.

Just like a circle, circularity is universal. But with morals we can relate to it better. Okay, so how then does the universal truth that murder is wrong obtain its truth value? What's behind it by which we then say it's true? In other words, what must be the case to say that murder is always wrong? Because a moral is an abstract thing, occurs in the mind. If it's universally true, the implication is a universal mind, the being of God. And so that's the basics of how it works. Good luck getting an atheist to accept that. Well, atheists don't, but I use that argument against them all the time and you can hear them if you listen quietly and carefully, you can hear them go, hee hee hee, I don't like that. Okay, you can, okay?

It beats them up and they're not able to deal with it. Thank you very much. All right then, you're welcome.

God bless. I know I got a little technical folks, but I hope you like that. Give me some feedback if you like that kind of stuff. Like tomorrow you say, may I teach some more on that? Maybe I'll work something up.

And then I can teach on it, we'll see. Hey folks, there you go. May the Lord bless you. Made it through the hour without tech problems. We'll talk to you tomorrow. God bless. Another program powered by the Truth Network.