Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

Have a great day, and I hope that you had a good weekend. If you want to join in the show, all you have to do is dial 877-207-2276. If you want to watch and join in with the people in the chat room, all you have to do is go to rumble.com forward slash Matt Slick Live, and you can pick the show right there and we can watch. You can watch it and join in with us.

So it works. It's great. We have a good time in there. And we do an after show too almost every single day. We just have a bunch of people. We talk for a half hour. We just chat and people come into StreamYard and stuff like that. If that sounds interesting, that's all you got to do, all right?

And we are also live on Discord and being streamed simulcast to Clubhouse. We could do more, but that's just enough. There are so many things to deal with. All right, how was your weekend? Did you all have a good weekend? I had a good weekend. And I got to do a couple of interesting things happened.

Not a big deal, just kind of interesting stuff. And I'll tell you about that. But in the meantime, if you want to give me a call, all you have to do is dial 877-207-2276. Give me a call.

We can talk. All right, so I look for any and every opportunity I can to share the gospel to find out some way to teach, answer questions. And so I go into Clubhouse, which is a phone app. I go into Discord.

That's a computer app. I used to go into PalTalk a great deal. And I'll go into Facebook, and I'll just chat a little bit there because writing is a lot more difficult than just speaking all this stuff through. So I'm really out there quite a bit. And last night I went into the Metaverse, and so I have an Oculus and a big heavy one, but it works. And so I went in to a place called Big Screen. And I like to go to different areas in the Metaverse overall.

Now, Metaverse technically is from Facebook, but the virtual world. And they have all kinds of venues and avenues. And I try and go to where I can teach, answer questions, and stuff like that. And so I went into a room last night, and it was titled, What is the Gospel, or something like that. And so I went in.

I want to check this out. And I happened to know one of the guys that was in there. So we got talking, and it was fun. And then a bunch of people started gathering around. We had about 15 people in the room.

And they started asking questions, which was just great. It's not a big deal. I mean, it's no big deal.

I really enjoyed doing that, and it was fun to be able to teach. Now, here's the thing. I find that, and you've got to take this with a grain of salt, but I find that Christians as a whole really don't know biblical theology. And I'm not saying you have to know it like I know it, you know, the difference between the hypostatic union, the communicatio idiomatum, and the inseparable operations.

You know, this will be on your exam, you know, graduate level work and all this stuff. No, I'm not talking about stuff like that. I'm talking about, is Jesus a man right now? And half the people don't even know. What's the Trinity? They can't tell.

How many natures does Jesus have? Most people don't know. And I have found that this is the case repeatedly over and over and over again. And these are people who are going to churches, been going for years, and they don't even know the basics. Why is it they don't know the basics? And it bothers me. I'm not saying you have to know it like I know it, because this is my job.

I do it full time. I get that. But you'd think that they would know the basics. You know, how many natures does Jesus have? This is basic stuff. He's two. He's God and man. Simple.

You should know that. Did Jesus rise from the dead in the same body he died in? Well, did he or didn't he? That's an important question to answer, because it makes or breaks the whole faith of Christianity.

Did he or didn't he? So there's all kinds of questions like that. And I find that about 50%, depending on the group, doesn't know the correct answer. I find that that is the case more often than not, and it's really disturbing. So I was in this room last night, and I was teaching, and they were firing questions at me, which is fine.

I love that. I just love to be able to answer. I'm privileged to have been allowed to study so much over the years, and I don't take any credit for that. It's all by God's grace. He's the one who called me to do it and provided the opportunity and gave me the tools, et cetera.

He gets the glory, and I'm just an instrument in his hand. But it's great to be able to be used to be able to minister to people and help them. But it's disturbing in that so many people just don't know the Christian faith.

They just don't know. That's not good. All right, so I've seen that a lot, and I've mentioned it here online before as well, how bad it is. Anyway, okay, so I'm working on something. I'm going to tell you what I'm working on here.

Boy, is it becoming a major, major project. I'll tell you about that in a second. Anyway, I went to the gym today. I started getting back into working out.

I needed to do it, so I went to the gym the first time in a long time. I walk in, and usually they have young people behind the main desk. So I walk in, and this guy, he's cut his head down.

He's reading something. Over the years I've been there that people will study their homework and stuff like that. So I like school. I enjoyed college and graduate school.

I would love to do a doctorate if I could get someone to, well, if I had the money, but I don't have it. Anyway, so there's no sign of Mars Hill, Tom. Well, where is that URL? I'm on it in Clubhouse. I'm in it. I don't know what's going on in the other way.

I couldn't find it, but let me see if I can go over there and take a look. I'll work on it during the break. So I go to the gym, and I ask this guy, what are you studying? He goes, oh, I'm studying Greek. Just what?

You're studying Greek? Really? I didn't expect that answer of all things.

I said, well, classical or koiné? He looked at me. What? I said, are you a Christian? He said, yeah.

And I said, well, what church you go to? And we ended up talking for 15 minutes. A few people came in at that time.

And we just waited, and they went by. And so it was really fun. And I introduced myself and said, hey, I'm a Christian apologist and blah, blah, blah. And so we got talking. And he was a young guy, maybe 23, 4, 5, I don't know that range, and just wanted to serve God.

He wanted to learn so he can learn more about the Lord. And it was just a great experience. And what a shock to, you know, what do you say?

Oh, Greek. What? I didn't expect that at all. But it was a lot of fun to hear that. So at any rate, look, if you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 877-207-2276. You can, let's see, let's see, look at the dates and things like that. I don't see the, I'm looking in the Mars Hill thing, for those who can hear me. And it's scheduled for tomorrow, but not for today, which is the 30th.

So I don't see it scheduled for today, so I'm in the general area. All right. Having said all of that, there's just a lot of stuff going on. I'm going to talk to you later about this project I'm working on, One Minute Christianity. Oh, man, wow, is it becoming a humongous project.

I'll have to tell you about that. But in the meantime, let's get on the phones. Let's get to Tom from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Tom, welcome here on the air. Hey, Matt, I've got a question about John 15, 1 through 6. John 15, 1 through 6, all right, let's take a look at it.

And while I'm perusing it really quickly, what's your question about it? Well, it's about in verse 2 the phrase he takes away. Does that mean there's two interpretations you could do with that word?

One is to throw away, and the other is to pin up or take up. I guess my question is this, who is he referring to, do you think? Well, he's talking to the Jews. John 15 is addressed to the Jews. Is he talking to a Christian, or is he talking to someone who's not a Christian? Well, he's talking to the Jews. Christianity had not yet officially begun because Christ hadn't been crucified and resurrected. So he's talking to covenant. You're 100% right. I guess is he talking to his disciples?

Yes. He's talking about a disciple in that sense that gets taken away, or is he talking about someone who doesn't believe in him? Well, let's read the context. It says in verse 22, Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you are going to disclose yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, et cetera, these things I've spoken to you with you, but you help her, et cetera. He goes on, I've told you before, it happens.

And then he goes on, I'm the true vine. So he's talking to this one guy named Judas, a different Judas, Judas Iscariot. Now, that means, in order for this to be here, that means someone had to watch it or listen. So you could be a group of people, and one person out of a group of people could ask a question, and then you could address and answer the question. And the question can be addressed to the individual, but also to the group.

And it also can be addressed globally to the Christian church as a whole. Right, and he specifically is speaking to his disciples and for a specific moment in time, because obviously Judas is just the Judas the Other of Iscariot has just betrayed him. So he's talking in context of his disciples specifically, but as an application, I guess I'm wondering, okay, he's saying that every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

Right. What does that mean? Well, let's look at verse one, a little bit of context here. I am the true vine, and my father is a vine dresser. So the issue of the vine is used of Israel in the Old Testament, Psalm 80, verse 8. You removed a vine from Egypt, you drove out the nations and planted it, you cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. So Israel is referred to as a vine there. And so the idea of Jesus saying, you know, I'm the vine, it would cause the Jews that were listening to this, because these were Jews talking to him, not the Gentiles. Okay, so he's talking, and they would, okay, the vine, well, that's in the Psalms.

Hopefully they'd heard this before. Okay, then we've got a break, so hold on. Okay, and we'll be right back after the break. We'll go through this some more.

All right. Hey, folks, we'll be right back after these messages. If you want to give me a call, all you've got to do is dial 877-207-2276. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, we have two open lines, 877-207-2276. Tom, are you still there? Yes. Can I clarify something?

Sure. Okay, my confusion is this. I get it. I get this. Verse 6, if you don't abide in him, Jesus, you're throwing, you know, there's no way that you can have life.

So you would dry up and they'd gather them and throw them in the fire. That part I get. What confuses me is that verse 2 says, every branch in me, so both of these branches, one bears fruit, one doesn't bear fruit, but they're in him. Right. In him is a term of federal headship.

So now we have to ask the question. This is a legit, serious theological question. In him, does it mean salvation? Does it mean covenant? Now, I tend to think when it says every branch in me, I tend to want to say, well, that means that they're redeemed because of what's called federal headship. In Christ, all should be made alive. And 2 Corinthians 5, 14 talks about this. So I generally want to say that that's the case.

It presents problems, though. If it means that they're actually redeemed but they don't bear fruit, well, how is that possible? Now, we can ask questions about this because the work of the Spirit is to bear fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit, the karpas in Greek is singular. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, it's all one fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is there for every believer.

So the question then is, and this is why I'm just saying, this confuses me. Why is it that if you are in Christ and redeemed, how can you not bear fruit? If the fruit of the Spirit is guaranteed to the Christian, because that's what the fruit of the Spirit is, then we should be able to bear fruit.

If you don't bear fruit, well, then that means the vine's dead or the root is dead because there's no life in it, no fruit, the tree's no good. So when we look at this, we can say, okay, now let's look at it the other way. In me, maybe it's covenantal because he's speaking to covenant people.

In Israel. And there is a sense in which all who are in the covenant can be said to be included in Christ in the Old Testament, but not so much in the New. So this becomes problematic as well. Now, so when I move on, I say, oh, he takes away. Did not bear fruit, he takes away. What does it mean?

Does it mean they go to hell? Well, if you look at this, it says every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so there are more fruit. So something that bears fruit, I would say is alive.

If it doesn't bear fruit, it's dead. And when Jesus came up to that tree and cursed it for not having fruit, now the tree was alive, obviously, but the tree represented Israel. And the reason is because the nation of Israel is represented as that tree, and it did not do what it was supposed to be doing bearing fruit. It became entrenched in legalism and self-righteousness. And so when the Messiah came, instead of being outward looking, it was inward looking to what they could do about themselves against themselves, right with God, the law, and all this stuff that they put so much weight on.

So, okay. And we know that that says tree, but this says branch. Well, a branch is in a tree. So it's like, okay, now, is he then talking about Israel? Because it seems to be implying that.

Because he talked about the fruit of the vine, and as I said in Isaiah, no, I mean in Psalm 80, verse 8, it talks about the vine being Israel that was removed out of Egypt and planted in the ground where they are now. All right, so this is all the stuff I think about when I'm going through this, going, okay, there's a lot here to juggle. So he takes it away. Now, some people will use this to say, well, if you're in Christ, you can lose your salvation. Now, there's logical problems with that, because if he canceled your sin debt at the cross, Colossians 2, 14, how can it be reinstituted against you if you lose your salvation? And it just doesn't make sense. So that forces me to look at this covenantally, because you can be in the covenant, and you can bear fruit according to the covenant boundaries, but not ultimately be redeemed.

That's a possibility. So it says every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, disciplines it, shapes it to bear more fruit. Oh, I sure know that one. You are already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. Now, who's he talking about? His disciples. Okay, would seem to be his disciples.

You're already clean. That implies the idea of having been cleansed by faith and the blood, the future blood, but the now and the not yet issue. He says, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. Now, that verse right there is interesting, because it tells me or suggests to me that what's going on is if you abide in Christ, you will bear fruit.

If you don't abide in Christ, you won't bear fruit. So some people will say the abiding is a continued action. So if you're a Christian for five years and then you stop being a Christian, you've not abided. Well, you did it for five years. You were abiding for five years, so why weren't you bearing fruit in those five years? But if they weren't bearing fruit for those five years, then how can they be in Christ when you bear fruit? So you see, this is like, oh, man, what is going on?

And I don't have it all figured out. I'm just telling you what happens to me when I go to this section of scripture and try to figure it out, because there's so many things attached to it. And it says, I'm the vine and you are the branches, and he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. So he says, who abides in me, and then he says, I in him.

So here's the thing. I in him means they're in dwelt. Now, if you go back to verse 2, every branch in me, but it doesn't say that he is in them. So this is what makes me think that the in him might have something to do with covenant boundaries. And then we get into some other issues of covenant theology, which I think can lead down a dark and scary road. We won't get into that. Well, let's write this down and look at it. There's a guy out there, Gary W. Derrickson. D-E-R-I-C-K-S-O-N.

He's written an article, Dithiculture, D-I-T-I Culture, and John 15, 1-3-6. And basically, his take on this is that those branches that are in Christ, that aren't producing, the practice in the day would be, if they weren't, they would be attached to the trellis and left there for the next season. In other words, they wouldn't be cut. They would just be attached because they would want to give them as much opportunity to grow as possible for the next season. Whereas if it came back, and this is the springtime, and so they would be doing a lot of pruning before the season.

And so you would never throw anything away until the fall because that's when you do the fall cleaning. And so I think you should see this article. It makes a lot of sense, but it's very long and I don't want to get into it. I just wanted to see your take because these two first people he's talking about appear to be in Christ. Yes. Here's something I've noticed. That's the confusion I have. Yeah, and I agree. Here's something I've noticed. Words actually mean something and are important. It doesn't say he's in them, but it does talk about where he is in them later.

And that makes me focus on verse 2 and compare it to verse 5. And I just wonder, is there a difference? Hey, we've got a break. Okay? Hold on, buddy. We've got another break.

Okay. Hey folks, we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, all you've got to do is talk.

I'm reading while I'm talking. All you've got to do is call me, 877-207-2276. Sharon, let's get to you.

You're on the air. Yeah. First of all, I just want to say thank you for your time to help us understand the truth better. Good.

Well, praise God. My question is, in the day of the flood, knowing the Ark, my understanding was everybody died that was not inside the Ark, of course. That's correct. I've heard lately that there were other people out in the waters, you know, in the flow waters, but I think it's like six people survived? No. It's not in the Bible. Okay.

The water was over the face of the earth for about a year. No, they didn't survive. Okay. All right. Okay.

And they couldn't have gotten saved and their souls went to heaven? No. No, no, no. Okay. Because my understanding was it was just family.

Yeah. The Ark represents being in Christ because to be in the Ark. Now, remember, the Ark had eight people in it. Eight is what's called the number of new beginnings.

And I can get into that, but not right now. And also, God closed the door and God opened the door. He closed the door after they entered into the Ark. And what God says is when he closes, no man can open.

When he opens, no man can close. So they entered into the Ark and they were saved from the destruction around them. And most probably the reason the flood came was to destroy the wicked people. The Nephilim, we get into that, but the wickedness. So he destroyed them.

Okay. And that means they're outside the Ark. So outside the condition of God's provision of entering in through the one door. That's what it represents.

This is why it's what it is. So no, they weren't outside. They didn't get saved. Okay. Who told you this?

Where'd you get this? I thought they were thinking about the Nephilim. That's what I always learned.

It was on the one side. I'm sorry, what? Thank you.

Where did you get this? Because who taught you this? Inside the Ark, there's no other family that was saved. I'm sorry. You've got to say it again. I couldn't understand you. Repeat that. What was it?

That Noah and his family were the only ones in the Ark and they were saved. Right. That's correct. Like eight people?

Just eight people. That's right. All right. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Well, God bless.

All right. Let's get to Ralph from Charlotte, North Carolina. Ralph, welcome. You're on the air. Yes, hello.

Thanks for taking my call on that. Sure. I'd like to just see your comment or what you think about something I've been studying in the book of Daniel, chapter 9, verses 24 through 27. And starting looking at verse 25 there where it says it refers to a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the Messiah comes in seven weeks plus 62 weeks. Right. So I was doing some math on this, looking at dates and all. And I realized that if you look at the decree to rebuild, restore Jerusalem was issued by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. 454. It's March 14th, 445 or something like that. Okay. Well, and then if you look at that date in history, 457 B.C., you add to it 483 years, you come up to 26 A.D. Now how did I come up with 483 years? Well, when Daniel talks about half tags. Okay, do you have a question?

Because you're already off. It's March 14th, 445 B.C. is when Artaxerxes issued the decree. And you've got to use 360 days, not 365 as years.

Did you know that? Yeah, well, I knew that it's used that way, but still it would be consistent within a certain framework of years. But it has to be 360 days because it's 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, March 14th, 445 B.C. That's when Artaxerxes did it.

Okay. So you add the 173,880 days and you get the day that Jesus walked into or rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. Yeah, I come up with that on 33 A.D.

Using the seven years, the heptad meaning a group of seven years. And you do come up with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Yes.

Okay. Yeah, it's a prophecy. Yeah, these prophecies are outstanding. And again, I was using the 483 years to go from 457 B.C., brings us up to 26 A.D. Now, that was the end of the 69 heptads. So you're left with one heptad left, which is a group of seven years, seven years plus 26 A.D. You've got 33 A.D. Well, this has been, it shouldn't be 33 A.D. because, well, we'll get into that. So you have to use a 360 day year if you do that.

But if you just convert it to days, then you get 173,880 days. And so then you can go that way and just count it in from the decree. The decree is important. There are different dates that have been proposed about the decree. So what I understand is March 14th, 445 B.C.

Okay. Okay, well, I was going with the decree that was issued in 457 B.C. to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, issued by Artaxerxes in that year, 457 B.C.

I think it's about... And that's referenced in Ezra, chapter 7, verse 21. Right. So as the starting point, and you're doing it with days, I'm concentrating on the years, the number of years. And to me, it's remarkable that you've got the 49 years plus the 434 is 483 years. And that comes up to 26 A.D. So then you've got seven years left from 26 A.D. to 33 A.D. One haptad, one group of seven years. I've got some issues there. Jesus began his ministry at 30 years of age.

And he was in for three and a half years, cut off. So you've got to work that in there. Yes.

Okay. Well, it still ends when he's 33 years old. That doesn't end when he comes into, you know, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

You've got seven days left in his life, which is part of the 70th haptad. Yeah, we're just talking esoteric stuff here. So I get you.

And what you're doing, and I've written an article on this, and it's on Karm. Does Daniel 9, 24 through 27 predict the coming of Jesus? Oh, Ryan wrote it. Oh, I didn't write it.

Ryan did. I thought I wrote another one. I thought I did, too. So that's okay. But it's there. All right?

Okay. Yeah, it is. And the way I'm looking at it here, it has Jesus coming in seven days before he is crucified. And that's a heptad of days within the 70th heptad of years.

That's remarkable. It's like at the end of our calendar year, you'll say between Christmas and New Year's is the last week of a year, and it's part of that year. See what I'm trying?

So the heptad of days is contained in the 70th heptad of years. Okay. I get you. I get you. But you have a question about it.

No, I wanted your comment and to share with the listeners how remarkable some of these prophecies are. I mean, right down to the day. Absolutely. It's fulfilled. That's right. Absolutely.

It's been 773,880 days from the tree to the arrival of Christ. Yeah. I use it a lot, and it's awesome. I'm glad you found it too. Good. Yes, I did. Good stuff. Okay. Thank you. All right, brother.

Okay, man. God bless. God bless. That is interesting stuff. Yeah.

It is really good stuff. Let's get to Scott from Spokane, Washington. Scott, where are you? Are you there? Hey, how's it going? It's going.

What do you got, man? Hey, yeah, so thanks for taking my call. I just had a quick question, I believe. Sure. So we're all familiar with us touching the ark and killing him. Yeah.

We're familiar with sort of the instructions on how to handle our covenant. Oh, hold on. There's a break coming up. So we have that. Hold on. We've got a break. Oh, okay. So we'll get back to you after the break. I want to hear what you've got to say, what your question is.

It'll be interesting. Folks, we have three open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the show.

Let's get back on with Scott from Spokane. Welcome. You're on the air. Okay.

Thank you very much. So what I was getting at there before the break was, you know, when we think about the ark of the covenant, we all remember the story of Uzzah, but in the ark, just said it, great intention that he was still killed, and that's okay. But when I, so I'm reading in my morning reading this morning at 1st Samuel, chapter five, it begins by saying how the Philistines came and they seized the ark and took it from Israel.

And so as I'm reading this, it's just a simple question. I think, how could they have taken the ark? I'm sure they didn't carry it the right way or do anything the right way. How were they not committed by touching the ark like Uzzah? By not touching it. It had poles attached to it, and you grab the poles, you're, so to speak, safe. Oh, okay.

So they basically just held it the right way and they were, they were fine. Okay. Yeah. Cause I thought about that and I don't know, just a simple question, but it made me think. That's a good question. Yeah, it is a good question.

One other, well, thank you. Just one other question I had for you, just purely opinion, but what is your kind of stance on, you know, singing Psalms versus the hymns and all that stuff? I get it, why people want to only sing Psalms, and we'll talk about hymns in a second. But if you only sing Psalms, then you can't sing Jesus' name in worship and adoration and praise. And that's a huge problem, all right?

So, that's, it's just a problem. Now, in Colossians 3, 16, I think it is, it sings, I think it's where it is. Speak to each other in songs, Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Let me see if that's the right verse.

Yeah, and that's what it is. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Now, some people say the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are the three divisions inside of the Psalms, but that makes no sense. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And then hymns, okay. So, some people only want to sing hymns and not Psalms or not spiritual songs like modern music. Well, okay, I can see why a lot of the modern stuff isn't very good, but a lot of it is.

And I call it sola hymnola. So, here's the thing I've said to people about the hymns. I said, now, I'm not knocking them. They're great, okay? They have a lot of great theology in them.

Not every hymn is a good hymn. But here's the thing. This is the question I just posed to them. The primary job of the pastor or elder is to equip the Christians for the work of ministry. If that means singing psalms and hymns, then do that.

That's part of it. The preaching of the gospel and equipping and educating them needs to be done. All right, now, when you do hymns, hymns are 200, 300, 400 years old kind of thing.

I asked the question. If you have someone coming from outside, this is a secondary responsibility of the church to deal with the unbelievers. Well, when they come inside, what are they familiar with? Are they familiar with hymns? Now, it doesn't mean we don't want to sing hymns because they're not familiar with them. But I think there is something, there's wisdom to the idea of using a style of worship that is contemporary to the time, just as hymns were for that time. And the Christian church and Protestantism used the hymns and sang them because that's what was common around them. That was the cultural norm to sing that kind of music. Well, what's happened is the church is now singing these old hymns, and I'm not knocking them, and they're not adapting some churches by singing only hymns.

They're not adapting. Now, maybe that's something they should do or should not do, depending on variables. So these are just questions and issues that I raise to people. And then the other thing, the organ. I tell people, where do you hear the organ? Some churches, they do organ music with hymns, which to me is just torture, torturously bad. If I was in a church and they start singing hymns with organ music, I'm like, I've got to get out of here.

I've just got to leave. I can't do it. That's just me. There are people who love it, and they get fed by it.

It's not complaining. It's just not for me. That's all. And so the situation, the culture, the people, the motives, all of it comes in, and we need to be careful what we restrict, don't restrict, do, not do. It takes wisdom to look at different situations and talk about all of it, if that makes sense.

Don't if I helped anybody. There you go. Yeah. No, I mean, that makes a lot of sense. When you hear about churches splitting over issues like this, it's just insane.

You can't ever get behind anything like that. You know, my pastor at my church, he tells us the way he pastors, he looks at all the last 50 years, all the bad things that churches have done, foolish things, and he just doesn't do that. So yeah, his approach, I think, is very sound and wise, in my opinion. But yeah, but besides that, that's pretty much all I have for today. Yeah. And so it's just a tough one, and I've been in what I call blue-haired churches, where they all sing the traditional stuff from, you know, 8,000 years ago, and the organ, and they love it.

I'm not knocking it. But if you were to do that in a contemporary setting, like at a beach, if you have a church next to the beach in Southern California, for example, and you've got surfers, you've got mods, you've got hipsters, you've got whatever coming in, and you're curious, are you going to want to sing hymns from the 1600s? Now some of them may love it, but for the most part you'd think, well, that's not the style they're used to, let's speak their language, just as Jesus became one of us, spoke our language, and adopted the signs of the times, yet without sin. So this is not easy to get through quickly.

There's a lot of variables and stuff. So I don't approve of sola somnola because you can't sing Jesus' name. But hymns, they're antiquated, even though they're very good, and have a lot of good theology. Yeah, we sing hymns out of the Psalter, is what we do. Before my church now, I was used to singing modern music, so it took me a while to get used to that switch, but once I started reading the lyrics on the page, I mean, there are really good doctrinal songs in there.

So if you can get used to it, I appreciate it now. At first I was like, eh, but, you know. Yeah, my favorite is praise music. I love praise music, and I cannot attend a church that does hymns. I'm not knocking it.

I'm smiling when I say this, but to me it's just like, oh, man, this is killing me. But there are some good hymns, like Amazing Grace. You've got to admit that's pretty good. Yeah, I got my top four.

The rest are kind of foreign, but we typically sing the same three or four, and I began to really like those. Okay, well, there you go, buddy, okay? So I hope I didn't offend too many people. All right, have a good one. Okay, we'll see you. God bless. All right, let's get to Brian from Channel Hill, North Carolina. Brian, you're welcome.

I mean, man, I'm messing up today. You're on the air. Hey, thank you for taking my call. Sure. I have a question.

I've been renewing my mind, and I've accomplished that, and I've opened my body up as a spiritual sacrifice. That's where I am in my faith right now, and I'm using the teachings from Derek Prince. Stay away from him.

Stay away from Derek Prince? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Uh-huh. Is his theology not good? It's part of the confession. He's not a really good theologian. Doesn't know really how to exegete scripture and some serious areas properly. Stay away from him. Okay.

Well, thank you for the advice. But he speaks of being disqualified in the race, because I know you can't leave your salvation, and we won't talk about him, but in the last books of the Bible, you know, in Jude and the letters from John and Peter, you know, we can't lose our salvation, but could we be, you know, could we lose rewards in heaven, or could you be disqualified? You can't lose your salvation, okay? And I'm a little distracted because about Derek Prince. I want to make sure I'm not mixing him up with somebody else, but I believe he's in the positive confession movement. He's passed away. He was a, yeah, I mean, he was a Pentecostal. I grew up Baptist, and I listened to a lot of, I mean, I listened to Dr. Stanley, Prince.

I listened to a lot of different stuff. Yeah. And as I'm kind of scanning through some stuff, yeah, warning, yeah, I wouldn't, yeah, I wouldn't.

Yeah, I wouldn't go into theology too fast, but yeah, I'll be there. Thank you. Okay. So, okay. Now, I was, sorry, I was a little distracted.

I want to make sure I represent people accurately and don't give false information. I have a lot of stuff in my head, and sometimes the wires get crossed, which makes sure I'm not misrepresenting something. So, anyway, let's continue on. So, having said that, let's kind of back up a minute or two and start again. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, I'm strong in my faith, and, you know, I've just been reading the Word, listening to the Word.

One of the things that comes up, especially in the last books of the Bible, you know, it seems like it's kind of warning you, like, to beware in the end times because I know you can't lead your salvation, but, you know, could you be, because you were talking about earlier with the vines, you know, and I think I've been producing good fruit, but could I lose rewards in heaven, or, you know, could you be penalized, or, because it seems kind of really stern at the end. Yeah. Now, I just want to clarify one more thing. Charlie, a friend of mine, he studies some different aspects of people than I do. He says Derek Prince, part of the NAR, New Apostolic Reformation, casting out demons from doorknobs.

So, definitely stay away from them. Okay. So, you can't lose your salvation. So, God gives us certain gifts and certain callings that we're to do in our lives and in our ministry before him, and if you work according to what he's calling you to do, he rewards you in heaven, and if you ignore what he's calling you to do, you lose, suffer loss or reward in heaven.

This is a fact. Does it mean we're saved or not saved? It has to do with rewards for what it is God's calling us to do. Okay?

Okay. And then, in Hebrew, it speaks of, I think, the punishable sin, there's some sin that you can't be, I forget the exact wording, but anyway, yeah, that was my question mainly about that. Yeah, there are different levels of sin. I don't know if you remember about that, but there are different levels of sin.

Okay? Not all sin is the same. A lot of Christians don't know that, but not all sin is the same. All sin is bad.

Okay? All sin separates you from God, but there are sins that are worse than others. And here's the thing, you know, I just want to focus a little bit on this because a lot of Christians don't realize that they have gifts from God. He gives gifts to everybody, and different people have different gifts because God places Christians in different parts of the body of Christ. Some people, their gifting might be literally to serve the church by setting up chairs every Sunday and taking them down. That might be something God has specifically called a certain individual or individuals to do, and that is, if that's what God's called you to do, then praise God, you're doing God's will. It could be being on the radio. It could be being on national TV. It could be being a pastor.

It could be being a mom raising her children. It's just there's different callings that people have. We need to recognize, each Christian needs to recognize, that in the situation that they are in, God has ordained that. And that from that situation, they're to give that situation, their heart and their time, to God and say, in here, how do I live for you, further your kingdom, how do I glorify you with where I'm at and what you've given me, please teach me how to do more in this situation. That's what Christians need to be doing. And by doing that, God will often work in you, change you, shape you a little bit, perfect you, which is not easy, it's not fun, but it's what it is.

And your rewards increase as you submit to God's will in your life in these things. That's a small snippet before the break. We're at time, brother. We've got to go. Okay? Okay, Brian. God bless, man. Thanks for calling. All right.

We've got another show, another show in the bag. If you want to give me a call, God will tomorrow. And in the meantime, have a great evening, everybody. God bless. Thank you.