Jan. 5, 2025

2025: AI and the Church Pt 1

2025: AI and the Church Pt 1

A discussion about AI and the future of the church

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A discussion about AI and the future of the church

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All right, if you have a Bible, First Chronicles, chapter twelve,

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it's where we're going to be beginning. It is the

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first Sunday of twenty twenty five, and for most churches,

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either last Sunday or this Sunday, all the typical New

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Year's sermons will be occurring. I've already heard some of them.

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Of course, many of them went to Isaiah forty three,

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and God's going to do a new thing type thing,

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which drives me absolutely crazy. I was listening to one

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late last night and I was like, this never ends,

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which makes sense. That's why we've been in Isaiah forty

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through fifty five. Other churches will do a little maybe

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not use that passage of scripture, but it's going to

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be a lot of the you know, let's make some

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goals and what are we going to do in the

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new year, and that type of thing. And there's probably

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positives in it, there's probably negatives in it. You can

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everyone has their opinion on those sermons. The main thing

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I think we can all agree is, no matter how

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great the sermon is put together, no matter how motivational

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the sermon may be, no matter how passionate the sermon

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may be, we all know by middle of January the

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end of January, nobody even remembers the sermon that was preached.

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I think we can all acknowledge that even if the

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church outlines some really important steps for people to take

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in the new year, the reality is that it all

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gets forgotten. It all in some ways, it feels like

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vanity of vanities. So I was trying to decide, well,

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what do we do today? What do we do? It's

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the beginning of a new year. We definitely we know

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we have Isaiah forty through fifty five to continue to

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work on. But I'm like, well, if there's a time

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to do anything like this, it's probably this Sunday. So

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I'm a lot of this may ultimately move over to

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the podcast. I may turn this into kind of like

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a mini series or maybe an ongoing series that I

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just continue to add any relevant content throughout all of

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twenty twenty five. But I want to spend all of

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this hour and the next hour talking about artificial intelligence

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and what it means for the future of Christianity and

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for the future of the Church, because I don't think

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anyone is even coming close to understanding what is occurring.

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So I want to talk about it. So that's what

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we're gonna do for two hours, and then it'll go

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way further on in the podcast. I've probably got thirty

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forty hours of notes, and that's probably not even that's

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probably an underestimate. So we will see what we can accomplish.

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But I want to begin by looking at a text

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that has often misused. I'm going to do my best

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not to miss use it. But first Chronicles, chapter twelve,

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verse thirty two. First Chronicles, chapter twelve, verse thirty two.

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You've probably heard this read a million times and used

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in a lot of different contexts. It's almost used always

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in a topical sense, and you can see why. But

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what do we see here, First Chronicles twelve thirty two

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of the sons of Issachar? Right, who had understanding of

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the times to know what Israel ought to do? When

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it talks about the sons of Isacar, that speaks of

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two things about them. What are those two things? Number one?

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They understood the times. Number two and knew what Israel

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ought to do. Right, there was two things they They

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were able to look at the times and say, this

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is what Israel ought to do in relation to these times. Now,

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it has a very specific context. So let's do this

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before we even begin to do anything else. Let's look

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at at least the historical context of First Chronicles twelve

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thirty two. I'm gonna look at the broader narrative, and

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then I'm gonna look at some other Well, we'll just

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look at more of the broader narrative for the context.

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All right, the broader narrative for First Chronicles twelve thirty two.

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This verse is part of a list. If you go

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back to you look at First Chronicles twelve, go back

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to verse twenty three, First Chronicles twelve twenty three, and

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it says that these are the numbers of the bands

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that were ready were ready armed to the war and

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came to David a hebron See that. And then what

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does it do starting from the next verse following yeah,

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it begins to list and detail the tribes of Israel

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who gathered to support David as king after the death

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of King Saul. Everybody got kind of the context, so

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it's just listing all these tribes and all these tribes

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are coming to support whom David. Everybody got that, all right.

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The nation was in a period of transition, a transition

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was occurring. Everybody got that, all, right, And uncertainty. Whenever

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there is transition, there is uncertainty. Can we all agree

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with that? Right? We can go back through Let's be fair,

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if we go back through church history, have there been

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great periods of transition? Right? We could talk about the

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Apostolic time, moving into the Early Church, the rise of

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Roman Catholicism, we could talk about the Protestant Reformation. There's

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always and they're all with transition always comes uncertainty. Right,

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Saul's reign had ended in disaster. I think we can

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all agree that it did, and Israel needed a new

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united leader. I think we can all agree that that's true. Historically,

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this chapter celebrates how various tribes came together, each bringing

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their strengths to support David's rule. We all know the

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success of a leader is in many cases determined by

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what those who follow. Right, those who follow, they bring

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their strengths, their ability, what they have to offer that allows.

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And we even know that within a church context, right,

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the pastor, it's going to be how the people in

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the church support it are doing things that's going to

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really determine so very much. So we see that content

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we see the narratives. Everybody any question about that context,

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I think we can understand it now when we come

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to the role of the tribe of Issacar. The sons

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of Isacar were noted for their wisdom, discernment, and understanding.

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That's how most people would say that the sons of

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Isacar were noted for their wisdom, discernment, and understanding. You

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want to write those three things down, what were they? Wisdom,

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discernment and understanding. Wisdom, discernment and understanding. But for the

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most part that wisdom, discernment and understanding most likely applied

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to the political and cultural landscape of that time that

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this tribe, that these men of Isacar could look and go, hey, politically,

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they could they had wisdom, they had understanding of the

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political and cultural situation at the time. I think that's

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fair to say, all right, understanding the times, that phrase,

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it's caught many sermons have been I think there's an

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entire ministry called understanding the Times that is built off

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this verse. Well, it most likely refers to their ability

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to interpret the historical moment that was occurring at that

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time and recognizing that this was the right time for

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David to become king. They could perceive, hey, look at

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do we look at this situation. If David is going

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to become king, it has to be right now. And

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they could see that, they could discern that does that

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make sense? Their knowledge of what Israel should do highlights

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their strategic insight and how to navigate this pivotal moment

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in Israel's history. So they could see politically, culturally, they

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could see that it was time for David, and they

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could look at the landscape and go, Okay, this is

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what Israel needs to do right now. So this would

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be a good group of people to have on your side,

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especially in that historical context. Everyone okay with that? All right?

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So we had Lou. We looked at the broader narrative.

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We looked at some of the specific role of the

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trump of Issacar. I'm going through this quick. I just

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want to put this all together. So then we would

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ask why would Issacar's role have been so important? While

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other tribes contributed military strength, Isacar contributed leadership and discernment.

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Their wisdom would have helped guide Israel through a time

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of uncertainty and ensured their alignment with God's plan for

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David's kingship. So other tribes may have had military strength,

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the sons of this car could in a sense offer insight, wisdom, discernment,

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helping and making the right decision strategy, and you always

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need you always need both, especially in this historical content.

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Can we agree there? Now? What did understanding the times

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mean for Isacar? Most likely it meant political awareness. They

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recognized the fall of Saul's dynasty and saw that God

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was establishing David as king. Possibly spiritual discernment. They understood

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that David's kingship was a part of God's covenantal plan

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for Israel and possible strategic action. Their wisdom led them

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to align with David at a crucial moment, preventing further

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division in Israel. So most likely they had political awareness,

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spiritual discernment, and strategic action. Okay, so what can be

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taken from these men of Israel? Let me read the

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verse again? First, Chronicles twelve thirty two, and the children

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of Isacar, which were men that had understanding of the

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times to know what Israel ought to do? Everybody see that? Yes,

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so what are some takeaways? Well, we discernment, like the

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sons of Isacar. The Church must be spiritually discerning, understanding

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the cultural moment and how it aligns or cot or

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is in conflict with God's purpose. So, just like the

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children of Isacar, just like the men of Isacar, way,

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the church needs that kind of discernment, all right. The

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Church and Christians must be spiritually discerning to understand the

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times in which we live and how it either aligns

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or it is in conflict with God's purpose. We've got

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to be able to see that. We have to have

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wisdom and action. Knowledge should lead to action. Understanding the

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times means knowing how to live faithfully amid change. It's

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not just we understand the times. We've got to be

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able to come up with what should we do next?

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We have to be able to figure that out. Does

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that make sense? All right? So can we then apply

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this situation with the children of this car, the sons

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of this car, the tribe of this car. How can

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we take what they did and apply it to what

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we're going to be talking about today? All right? So

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for the next two hours we're going to be talking

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about AI and the future of Christianity and the Church.

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And my thesis is this Christianity, and the Church is

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never going to be the same again. And if you

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want to leave it to me, and I'll be even

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more dogmatic. The church is no longer needed, the church

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is no longer relevant. You should burn all the buildings down.

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We no longer need it. That's where I'll go so

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far and say, I know nobody else is going to

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agree with that. But if you don't see what AI

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can do, then you're blind. You don't understand the time

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what AI can do. There's no point And even having

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a pulpit, there's no point in even standing here. There's

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no point in having a podcast, there's no point in

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preaching sermons. We it's irrelevant. It's finished, it's done. Just

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go ahead, it's ended, it's over. And if you don't

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understand that, you're completely not realize what's going on in

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the world in which you currently live. There's no point anymore.

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There's no point I, I, they're me Standing here right

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now is a waste of everyone's time. And that's the reality.

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And I'm going to try to demonstrate that. So how

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can we apply this well? I think First Chronicles twelve

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thirty two provides at least a principle about the sermon

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in action, and I think we can see that they

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had the serment and they knew what to do. Can

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we agree with that? I think this can be applied

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to the Church's approach to AI and other profound societal shifts. Now,

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I'm I'm not going to be trying to bring in

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all the other societal shifts because there's a lot going on.

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I want to just talk about AI because I feel

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like I can speak about AI far more authoritatively than

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I could maybe other societal shifts. Now, let's make sure

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we remember this. The original context was about the sons

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of a sacar recognizing a pivotal moment and Israel's leadership

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and how it aligned with God's plan. Can we agree

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to that? All right? This principle of wise discernment and

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times of change is relevant to AI. They had discernment

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during a time of great transition. Can everyone agree with that?

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We live at the very forefront of a great change,

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and I don't think any one of the church is

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catching on to what is happening. So let's I'm gonna

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apply this in a number of different ways, right, So

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number one, So number one, if you want to write

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these down. I want through all of that relatively quick.

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We need to talk about discernment and the face of

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technological change. Discernment and the face of great change from

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a technological standpoint, because technology is changing rapidly and dramatically.

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The sons of Visakar understood the times by recognizing how

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God's purpose intersected with their current reality. Now for them

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it was a little easier, right. All you really needed

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to know for for the David situation was what if

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you were trying to understand the Times about David, what

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did you need to understand the dividic covenant? If you

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understood God made a covenant with David, then you you're

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on your way to figuring it out, right, I mean,

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so many issues, so many issues back then all you

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needed if you knew the covenant, you could figure it out.

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I believe so yeah, I mean because Saul is already

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dead and yeah, so yeah, right, so I think we can.

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I think then we can say that that would be

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a little easier to understand. So how does that apply

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to artificial intelligence? I want you to hear this. The

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rise of artificial intelligence represents a major I'm gonna say

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cataclismic societal shift. Everybody got that the rise of AI

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represents a major I'm gonna use cataclysmic just since how

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shaking it is. Societal shift it is. Some will say

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it's possible, some may say potential. I'm just gonna say

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it's it's gonna be completely transformative, probably more so than

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maybe even the printing press or the Internet, and both

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of those had profound impacts on everything. So this is

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what the church must discern. Is AI a tool that

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can be used to enhance ministry or a force that

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could distract distort biblical teaching? I'm going to add another one.

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Or is AI a tool that's going to make the

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church completely irrelevant? I believe it makes it completely irrelevant. Well,

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I mean everyone's talking about it, but I'm kind of

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trying to be in front of it. Is what I'm

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trying to do. I'm trying to be in front of it.

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So I believe what we have to consider is AI

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going to make the church irrelevant? Now I know how

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it's going to play out. The older generation is going

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to be like, no, we need the church, the church,

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the church right, and they're going to all fight for it,

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and they're gonna view AI in a suspicious way. They're

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gonna push back, They're gonna be resistant. But the older

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generation is gonna be gone and it's not gonna matter. Right,

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So the older generation is gonna push back and fight it.

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Who cares? The young younger generation is gonna be like,

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well they're gone now, and then well the future. So

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what I'm looking to may not be I don't even

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think we're gonna make it ten years. I think ten

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years is pushing it as fast as AI is developing.

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But ten years from now, yeah, yeah, ten years from now,

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I don't man, not give me a break. There's yeah,

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it's gonna be major things. So we need discern it

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in the face of technological change. Right, So we could

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ask some of these questions, how does AI align or

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conflict with the church's mission to teach and disciple believers. Now,

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this is where it comes down to. I'm gonna pose

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a different question in your minds. What is the purpose

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of church? What is the church for? Now? Remember, we

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are not Catholics, right, We're not Lutherans right. Okay, we're

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not Episcopalians right. In other words, were we are what

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we are? We just make sure we classify ourselves non sacramental.

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That's important, right, because if the church has sacraments, sacraments

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are visible means of grace. You need those sacraments, and

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the sacraments belong to whom the church. You have to

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come to the church in order to receive the sacrament.

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You need the sacrament because the sacraments are means of

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grace either if even if you don't believe them to

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be salvafic, right, they're absolutely essential to for goodness of sin,

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spiritual strength, comfort, and all the things are supposed to

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supposedly do for you the minutes you're no longer sacramental.

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That changes the role of the church, right, because if

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I'm here to distribute the sacraments, then you're here to

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receive the Lord's Supper. You're here for that time. But

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if it's not sacramental, then what from our non sacramental

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perspective coming out of the Reformation, what is the church

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supposed to be about? Typically, how do we understand it? Okay, Well,

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if you go that direction, that that sounds to me

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something far different than what came out of the Reformation. Well,

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just if we're non sacramental and we're coming out of

301
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the Reformation, what's the purpose of the church. Now, if

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you go with fellowsh and all of that, then you're right.

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The church is gonna survive. You don't need AI for

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any of that. You just need to hang out with

305
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people and talk about the weather. Okay. Now, now that's

306
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where the issue is. If the church is about the

307
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equipping of saints and the preaching of the word, now

308
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that's where the church becomes irrelevant. Now if you want

309
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the church where you can hang out with people, talk

310
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to people, become friends, hold hands, sing kumbaya, all of

311
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that wonderful stuff, the church will live on for if

312
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for infanty it'll they'll never die because people like having

313
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friends and meeting people. They like this the social aspects.

314
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The social aspects will work, But the preaching and teaching,

315
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if that's the purpose of the church, burn it down.

316
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You don't need the church. AI can do it better,

317
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and without fail, it can do it better, there's no

318
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question about it. So it really comes down to we're

319
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gonna have to discern what is the purpose of the church.

320
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If you like the fellowship aspect of it, then you're

321
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then church is going to be great for people. And

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I think that's where church is going to move to

323
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it's already been moving that way. Okay, Okay, now, well

324
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we'll get we'll get there. We're gonna get into all that.

325
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We're gonna get into all of those weeds later, but

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for now, we're looking at the big picture. But so

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everyone see if the church is going to be about community,

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which oh man, that buzzworth and you can see the

329
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church was already moving in this direction right if you

330
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think about it, way before we got here. I mean,

331
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this was the This is so weird for me to

332
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watch in the eighties. What did I hear? The church

333
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is biblically illiterate, the church is illogically illiterate. We've got

334
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to do something. We got to do something. Nobody's reading,

335
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nobody is studying. And then it was like, small groups

336
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are gonna fix it. Small groups are gonna fix it.

337
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And we have small groups from one part, from California

338
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to New York and everywhere in between. Did it fix it? No?

339
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The church is still biblically illiterate, The church is still

340
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philologically illiterate. What are we gonna do? What are we

341
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gonna do? We gotta preach, we gotta preach, we gotta preach.

342
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After all of that, where are we still today? Church?

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Still biblically and theologically illiterate. So nothing we've tried to

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do to fix it is fixing it. So but guess

345
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what the churches have caught and you could start seeing it.

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The churches became more about what, well you named all

347
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the things right from the beginning, fellowship, community, meeting, people, friendship.

348
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So I don't know what all the stuff people say,

349
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and that's what it became. And so then I was like, okay,

350
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well and that's what people want say. I thought I

351
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was under the impression that everyone was upset because Christians

352
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were so biblically and piologically illiterate. See this is I

353
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was stupid. I was like, oh, you're worried about a

354
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church people being biblically anthologically illiterate. Will just get out

355
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of my way. I can fix that. I will have

356
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a church where everyone will know Bible, will know theology

357
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better than anywhere. I will give them assignments, I'll give

358
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them home work, I will work, I will do, I

359
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will give them tests, will teach, teach, teach, teach, teach, teach, teach, teach, teach,

360
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and and here we are, so I know I don't

361
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even think the people in the church really want what

362
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they claim they want. I mean, that's what been my

363
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that's been my except everyone talks a big game until

364
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they're in a place where you really do theology. They

365
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don't really want it. They want the communal part. Well,

366
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if you want the communal so let me make it

367
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very clear. If you want community, if you want to

368
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hold hands, seeing kumba yong, become good friends, do all

369
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of that wonderful stuff, the church will never die. Just

370
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you just need to remove the word church and just

371
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call it a community center because that's what it becomes.

372
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And if that's what people want, they're going to be happy, okay.

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But if you want something else, I think the church

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becomes irrelevant. So I think it really comes down to

375
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what is that going to do? Now? One could argue,

376
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can AI be utilized to accomplish the preaching teaching part,

377
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and then everyone else can kind of sit over here

378
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and do a lot of the community part. I don't know.

379
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I don't know how. I don't know if the two

380
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can work together. I think the one makes the other irrelevant.

381
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But we're gonna have to see. So those are some

382
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questions that we should ask. So we talked about number

383
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one discernment in the face of technological changes, we ask

384
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some questions. Second, we have to recognize the new reality

385
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that AI creates. We have to recognize the new reality

386
00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:54.799
that AI is creating. Right now, as you're sitting here,

387
00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:59.160
a new reality exists, and most Christians don't even know

388
00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.039
the reality exis this. They're still living in eighteen hundreds

389
00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:08.799
or somewhere. The children are the men tribe of Issachar

390
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recognize that Saul's rein had ended and that it was

391
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time to support David as king. They didn't cling to

392
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the past, but embrace the future under God's leadership. AI

393
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is it. This is very important. I cannot stand this.

394
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I've got to just like pound the pulpit on this.

395
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AI is not a temporary trend. It's a technological shift

396
00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:42.920
that will reshape how people learn, how people communicate, and

397
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:50.559
how people engage with information. This is going to change everything.

398
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:53.920
I'll just give you some simple ways on how it

399
00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:57.440
has changed. Right, Okay, So I was in a situation

400
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.720
there was a plumbing problem and the toilet was doing something.

401
00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:04.319
People didn't know what to do. I simply went took

402
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.599
a picture of what it was doing, sent it to Ai.

403
00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.400
AI said, here's the problem. Someone came over. I said,

404
00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:13.519
that's the problem. They looked and they said, that's the problem.

405
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:17.039
The dryer was doing some weird thing. I simply told

406
00:26:17.079 --> 00:26:19.640
Ai what the drawer was doing, said, it's this the problem.

407
00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:22.839
The dryer repairman came in, said that's the problem. My

408
00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:25.440
television was doing something. I took a picture of the

409
00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:28.000
message on the screen. AI told me exactly what the

410
00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:31.839
problem was. Three separate situations. AI was able to diagnose

411
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:37.640
the problem it within five to ten seconds. Didn't need

412
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.839
anybody else. Now. I needed someone else maybe to fix it,

413
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.000
but it identified the problem. Those are three very real

414
00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:48.160
situations that have all occurred within the last six months.

415
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Three situations. Yeah, that's that's insane exactly. So it's already there,

416
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.440
all right. So I want you to hear that again.

417
00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:05.279
It's not a trend. It's a shift, and it's going

418
00:27:05.319 --> 00:27:08.519
to reshape how people learn, how people communicate, and how

419
00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:15.359
people engage with information. The church. Are you ready? Must

420
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.160
avoid reacting with fear, which is what many will do,

421
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:24.680
or nostalgia. Oh, I want the good old days where

422
00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:26.400
all we had was a pencil and a piece of

423
00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:28.960
paper and we had to drive to the library to

424
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.960
get a book. Okay, those days are over. Okay, it's gone. Okay,

425
00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:36.319
it's done, and we must instead embrace the reality. We

426
00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:39.799
got to embrace the reality because the reality is the reality.

427
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:43.119
And at the same time, for the church, we have

428
00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.319
to somehow do this, but we have to anchor ourself

429
00:27:46.359 --> 00:27:48.759
to biblical truth and that those may appear to be

430
00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:51.720
in conflict at times, especially when it comes to the church, right,

431
00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.519
because many are going to say, well, God ordain the church.

432
00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:59.319
God ordained the church. God ordained the church, right, that's

433
00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:01.559
what you're going to heart, Well, how does that work

434
00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:07.920
when you don't no longer need the church? Look forget

435
00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:11.319
me preaching. When I'm sitting there doing the podcast there,

436
00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.000
especially through a good portion of twenty twenty four, there's

437
00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:16.640
times I'd be in the middle of a broadcast, like

438
00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:20.079
why am I even doing this? People can get this

439
00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:24.119
information in five seconds. They don't need this stupid podcast.

440
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.279
You know what, when I'll be preaching in Isaiah forty,

441
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:29.440
I'm like, why am I even preaching? They could look

442
00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:32.319
all this, they can have all this information in five seconds.

443
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:39.079
I mean, it's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous, and not only that,

444
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:41.880
like I can take now, I can, like especially on

445
00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.359
sermon audio, because they have the transcript, I can download

446
00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:47.559
the transcript, upload the transcript to AI, say, please point

447
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:52.119
out all the historical, textual, exegetical and factual errors and

448
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:54.279
the message. It'll give me a list of everything the

449
00:28:54.279 --> 00:29:00.680
pastor got wrong. Within like ten seconds, I'll be like, well,

450
00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.440
that's not true, that's not true, that's not true, that's

451
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.519
not true, that's not true, that's not true. And almost

452
00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:08.079
every summon there's like multiple errors, like the Hebrew word

453
00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:10.079
didn't mean that, the Greek word didn't mean that, This

454
00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.640
didn't mean that, that wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong wrong. Well,

455
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:17.880
what if AI has to correct all the errors being

456
00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:21.559
preached from pulpits, what's the point of the pulpit And

457
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:24.519
if you can simply do that while you're sitting in

458
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:27.319
the pew. Hey, I'm gonna be today. I'm gonna be

459
00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:30.319
preaching on Isaiah forty. Before I get through my introduction,

460
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.319
you can already have AI on your device give you

461
00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.920
an entire breakdown of Isaiah forty, the historical context, the

462
00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:41.319
textual context, the cultural Oh. Before I can even get

463
00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:44.880
done with my introduction, You don't need me, I'm wasting

464
00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:50.440
my time. That's the reality. How do we embrace that

465
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:55.000
reality yet hold on to biblical truth. I don't have

466
00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:57.839
the answer because I think it's gonna appear that they're

467
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:01.960
gonna be what and conflict? Is it not going to

468
00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:04.680
appear that way? It's going to appear that way, And

469
00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:07.160
I don't have a good answer. But we're gonna have

470
00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.359
to recognize the reality. So discern it in the face

471
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:14.799
of technological change. Second, recognizing the new reality. Now here's

472
00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:20.920
some key questions. Will the church adapt its discipleship methods?

473
00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:25.480
Will it adapt those methods to account for AI's influence,

474
00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.240
or is it gonna resist? What is the church going

475
00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:32.319
to do resist or say, well, how do we adapt

476
00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:37.119
all of our teaching and preaching and discipleship with AI.

477
00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:41.079
I think it's gonna depend the older churches are going

478
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.000
to resist it and just go whatever, okay, and then

479
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.680
the younger are gonna just be like, I don't need you,

480
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:54.559
I don't need you for anything. And younger have already

481
00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:57.799
kind of adopted that. What have we definitely seen church

482
00:30:57.799 --> 00:31:03.839
attendance all across the United States is doing well. COVID

483
00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:08.680
definitely didn't help, right, okay, but so we already are

484
00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:12.200
seeing this all right, now wisdom that leads to action.

485
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:16.440
Third concept, The sons of Isacar didn't just understand what

486
00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:20.359
was happening. They knew what Israel should do and act decisively.

487
00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:24.599
So who's going to be one of the sons of

488
00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:27.799
Isacar in our current reality and know what we're supposed

489
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:30.960
to do. I don't know. I want to try to

490
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:34.680
figure it out. And there's gonna be lots of voices

491
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:37.079
trying to figure out what is going to do. I've

492
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:38.880
got a news article here in a minute showing you

493
00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:41.519
what some are doing and it's absolutely crazy. But all right,

494
00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:44.440
we'll look at that in a minute. But we've got

495
00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:50.200
to figure out what to do AI. Okay, I'm let

496
00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:54.599
me state it this way. It's not enough for Christians

497
00:31:54.599 --> 00:32:00.000
simply to be aware of AI's potential. The church must

498
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:08.519
respond wisely by equipping believers to use AI responsibly. Now,

499
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:13.079
that's that's a big thing. Is the church's job now

500
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.039
going to be, Hey, guys, I'm going to show you

501
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:20.160
how to use AI? Is the pastor's job now simply

502
00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:23.400
going to be to train people how to use AI? Now,

503
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:26.200
my thing is the minute I train you how to

504
00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:30.680
use it, I just as well go home. There's no

505
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:36.039
point in me doing anything. But that's kind of where

506
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.720
the church is going to turn into. It's going to

507
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:40.559
just be training people on it. And I'm telling you,

508
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:44.559
the church is becoming completely irrelevant here. So that's going

509
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:49.200
to be a big that's going to be a big issue.

510
00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:55.400
Do we just simply train? What do we do? And

511
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.400
then we must respond by wisely equipping believers to use

512
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.640
AI responsibly for spiritual growth rather than just a passive

513
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:05.480
consumption or misinformation. So in other words, the argument is,

514
00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:08.799
we don't know what Because of this new reality, the

515
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:10.759
church is going to have to train people how to

516
00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:16.720
actually use AI instead of just passively embrace information. Now,

517
00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:21.440
once we start actively, once we start actively trying to

518
00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:26.680
show people how to use it, and they're no longer passive. Again,

519
00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:29.359
I don't know when at that point the church becomes

520
00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:35.559
completely irrelevant. All right, So some practical applications again, some

521
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.920
people say educate church members and how to use AI

522
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:44.440
for sound biblical study. I guess I don't know. Some

523
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:48.799
would argue create accountability structures for using AI and sermon

524
00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:53.240
prep ensuring pastors don't rely on AI to replace prayerful

525
00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:56.880
engagement with scripture. How are you gonna what what does

526
00:33:56.880 --> 00:34:00.440
that even mean? Like, are you gonna monitor, hey, pastor,

527
00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.400
how much time have you spent using AI? You've got

528
00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:07.400
to spend prayer full engagement with scripture to prepare your sermons.

529
00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:11.480
To me, whenever I hear someone say that, that shows

530
00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:14.199
me that person's one hundred and seventy years old because

531
00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:21.280
they don't understand Christianity. Well, no, because if you think

532
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:26.079
pastors have been prayerfully studying scripture to prepare their sermons,

533
00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:28.800
I'm sorry, I don't know what world you were living in,

534
00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:32.199
because you lived a lie. Pastors went to their studies,

535
00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:36.519
pulled out commentaries and built their sermons off their favorite commentary.

536
00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:41.840
That's what they did, or they purchased them through I mean,

537
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.039
I did an entire podcast where I purchased a sermon

538
00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:48.920
and then I then I preached a sermon on the podcast,

539
00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:51.159
and then I went and looked up other sermons and

540
00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:54.280
guess what we found. Those other pastors were preaching the

541
00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:58.639
sermon word for word as I purchased it. And then

542
00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:01.679
famous pastors even came out that they're using subscription services

543
00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:04.559
where they tell those services what they want. And then

544
00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:06.480
those people and you know what those people were doing

545
00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:10.400
who they were paying to put their sermons together. Those

546
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:14.280
people were using AI and then they were simply using

547
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.800
AI to build the sermon, and then they were getting

548
00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:18.880
paid like one hundred dollars a month to produce sermon.

549
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:23.840
And famous pastors were busted for using those. So now

550
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:27.119
we're worried about AI. Pastors have been taking other sermon.

551
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.840
They give me a break, because especially now, if you

552
00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:34.960
hold your ar theological standard, what do we believe I

553
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:37.880
can pray all day, do we believe God is gonna

554
00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:43.599
give me a sermon? No? No, it's gonna come from study.

555
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.119
And guess how study is done. And most every pastor

556
00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:50.039
you learn it. You get commentaries. You look it up

557
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:52.320
and you structure it off, and many cases you'll take

558
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:57.079
your outline from the commentary. I've said it so many times.

559
00:35:57.119 --> 00:35:58.679
I can listen to a sermon and going, oh, give

560
00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:01.280
me a breath, page fifty six. The MacArthur, I know

561
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:06.199
that give mem and I even way back, I told

562
00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.199
the story one day when we were getting ready to

563
00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:10.960
come here. Becca was small and we had the television

564
00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:13.480
on It was a church in Sweetwater, Texas. And I'm

565
00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:15.199
sitting in the other part of the house and I'm like,

566
00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:19.840
what in the world. I'm like, I know this sermon.

567
00:36:19.880 --> 00:36:22.400
I went and I looked at the stage presentation and

568
00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:24.639
I told Becka, go to the computer, look it up.

569
00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:26.920
She looked up the sermon and I said, now, watch

570
00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.119
word for word. The man was preaching the sermon that

571
00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:33.480
he'd taken from some other site, and it was word

572
00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:35.760
for word. And I was like, that's what preaching is.

573
00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:39.000
But guess what that was in Sweetwater? And guess what

574
00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:41.719
That church was ten times bigger than we are, and

575
00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:45.000
we look at such a good sermon. He is reading

576
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:48.159
you someone else's sermon. So why are we gonna worry

577
00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:51.760
about pastors using AI. Give me a break, they've been

578
00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:56.039
using everything. A Hey, it's just that's read. Unless you

579
00:36:56.119 --> 00:37:00.199
believe God is giving you a message, then yeah, So

580
00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:05.400
I don't even understand that. Now they says we need

581
00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:09.800
to facilitate discussions about ethical and philological concerns surrounding AI

582
00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:13.320
to foster thoughtful reflection. Now, I do believe we need

583
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.960
discussions about AI, and that's why we're doing this. Now.

584
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:19.239
It's the beginning of a new year, twenty twenty five

585
00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:21.280
is going to be the year of AI. I mean,

586
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:24.679
you just will be prepared for it. AI is exploding,

587
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:27.840
so I mean it's already been there. So and we'll

588
00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:30.039
talk about all the ways you already use AI all

589
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:31.920
the time, whether you know it or not. All right,

590
00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:35.039
So we'd have to facilitate it. And that's what we're

591
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:38.559
doing now. That's why we're having this discussion today. All right.

592
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:45.719
So I've got a number of other things here, I

593
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:48.639
will I'll end this with this, okay, or at least

594
00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:52.400
this section here, all right? When we come to first

595
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:56.320
Chronicles twelve thirty two, let's read it again, First Chronicles

596
00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:58.239
twelve for thirty two. And the children of asa Car,

597
00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:02.920
which were men that had understanding of the times to

598
00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:07.440
know what Israel ought to do. Right, they understood the times.

599
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:09.920
They knew what Israel's ought to do the story of

600
00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:14.679
these sons of Isacar reminds us that profound cultural changes

601
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:21.639
require spiritual discernment, wisdom, and decisive action. Everybody want to

602
00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:26.159
write that down. The sons of Issacar, they teach us.

603
00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:34.719
They remind us that profound cultural change, profound cultural change

604
00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:38.280
are we not experiencing that right now with AI. Yes,

605
00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:44.800
they require that moment, requires spiritual discernment, it requires wisdom,

606
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:49.880
and it requires action. Just as Isacar recognized their historical

607
00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:53.920
moment and align with God's plan, the church must understand

608
00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:57.199
the significance of AI and respond in ways that align

609
00:38:57.239 --> 00:39:00.360
with God's purposes. This means using AI as at to

610
00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:02.519
serve the mission of the church while guarding against its

611
00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:09.199
potential distort the truth or depersonalized spiritual leadership. The church's

612
00:39:09.320 --> 00:39:12.320
challenge is not simply to understand the times, but to

613
00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:18.119
know what to do to embrace technological advancements in a

614
00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:23.079
way that upholds the centrality of biblical truth quote unquote

615
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.559
authentic community. Some who would say, I don't know what

616
00:39:27.559 --> 00:39:34.440
that exactly means and spiritual transformation. So there is where

617
00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:37.159
why we are talking about it, and that's why we

618
00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.679
are referring to the sons of Asacar because it fits perfectly.

619
00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:43.679
All right. That raises a lot of issues, does it not.

620
00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:46.920
So here's what we're going to do. We're just gonna

621
00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:49.480
go ahead and press on and we'll we'll get ready

622
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:51.480
for the next hour when we get there. Okay, So

623
00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:56.280
any questions about any of that. So what is my thesis?

624
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:03.920
I is not only going to potentially change Christianity and

625
00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:07.559
the Church I believe, and I'm gonna be that AI

626
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:11.440
makes the church completely irrelevant. We don't need the church anymore.

627
00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:13.400
You can just burn it to the ground. Right. I'm

628
00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:15.920
not saying that aligns with biblical truth. I'm saying that

629
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:18.639
that's just the reality, and we've got to figure out

630
00:40:18.679 --> 00:40:23.079
how to work that reality. Unless your church is sacramental,

631
00:40:24.280 --> 00:40:29.159
AI can't fix that. Right, unless you believe the church

632
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:37.119
is here primarily for what more of social features? Community, friendship,

633
00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:42.199
holding hand, singing, kumbaya, doing all that stuff. Right, then,

634
00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:45.679
then the church, the church functions if you don't focus

635
00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:48.760
it on those two things. If you just say the

636
00:40:48.840 --> 00:40:50.719
church is the place where you come to learn and

637
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.320
hear the word of God, you don't need me, Ladies

638
00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:59.760
and gentlemen, I cannot compete with AI. AI. All of

639
00:40:59.800 --> 00:41:03.400
my years of school. Well, put it this way. First,

640
00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:06.519
let's just be honest. From a practical standpoint, all of

641
00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:09.800
my schooling, all of my theological training means what to

642
00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:15.679
people sitting in the pew means absolutely zero? Right, So

643
00:41:15.800 --> 00:41:17.599
let's just go ahead and get out. We can pretend

644
00:41:17.639 --> 00:41:20.119
all day you say, oh, no, it's important, it's important

645
00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:23.480
to what Until you disagree, then it doesn't matter. Now

646
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:27.480
you're smarter than me. Right the minute you disagree with me,

647
00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:32.920
you're smarter than me. So if already the pastor's knowledge

648
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:37.280
is irrelevant, well again, guess what AI can do better

649
00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:44.000
than I can. So that's where we are. So, but

650
00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:46.280
here's what I want to do. I want to go

651
00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:50.559
backwards before we move forward. Right, So let's take a

652
00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:54.639
journey to kind of some important things. Right. I want

653
00:41:54.679 --> 00:41:59.039
to talk about how God provided illumination and discernment and

654
00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:03.639
the past. Then we'll move to the present, and then

655
00:42:03.679 --> 00:42:08.280
we'll try to figure out the future. All Right, before

656
00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:23.079
the completion of Scripture, God's guidance was given directly through profits, apostles, visions, miracles,

657
00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:28.639
and direct revelation. Can we agree with them? These were

658
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:34.440
unique circumstances, and they were distinct and different from what

659
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:38.920
we have today. I will argue that what they had

660
00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:41.760
then we do not have. Now that's a major point

661
00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:44.800
of our theology. Right. I know other people will disagree

662
00:42:44.800 --> 00:42:48.840
with that, but I can prove that their way is wrong. Right,

663
00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:53.239
Because if God is giving us insight, illuminating us, giving

664
00:42:53.320 --> 00:42:56.000
us truth, leading us into truth. Then we wouldn't have

665
00:42:56.119 --> 00:42:58.880
thousands and thousands of denominations and nobody. We would have

666
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:01.679
complete agreement. Right, So God is not doing that. I

667
00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:04.280
can prove that God is not doing that. So here's

668
00:43:04.280 --> 00:43:08.639
some biblical examples. You ready, all right, look at it?

669
00:43:08.760 --> 00:43:10.719
If you look at Exodus three through four if you can,

670
00:43:10.840 --> 00:43:12.320
if you want to just flip through, We're not going

671
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:14.960
to read anything specific. I'm just gonna be showing you

672
00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:18.880
where I'm making my reference. Moses receives direct revelation from

673
00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:22.400
God at the burning bush. In this section, he speaks

674
00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:26.199
from the burning bush. That's direct revelation. Can everybody agree

675
00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:33.000
with that? That's direct revelation, specific, special revelation. God speaks

676
00:43:33.039 --> 00:43:38.199
directly to Moses. Yes, that's Exodus three through four. If

677
00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:42.559
you look at Isaiah six, we know this. Isaiah's calling

678
00:43:42.599 --> 00:43:47.440
involved a direct vision of God's glory. Everybody remember that.

679
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:55.519
Everybody can say Amen and Acts two. The apostles received

680
00:43:55.519 --> 00:44:01.039
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost with signs and wonders and

681
00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:05.880
Acts ten. Peter received a vision to take the Gospel

682
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:10.639
to the Gentiles. In Galatians one, through twelve or Glacious

683
00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:13.960
Chapter one, verse twelve. Paul stated that the gospel was

684
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:18.960
that he preached was received by revelation of Jesus Christ.

685
00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:22.639
This shows that in the Biblical times, God was speaking

686
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:29.079
directly to people direct revelation, special revelation, visions, dreams. It

687
00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:33.400
was very specific. Once the Bible is complete, we don't

688
00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:35.559
have any of that, don't you? In some ways I

689
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:38.440
wish we had that, because if God is speaking directly

690
00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:41.440
to Stephen, is speaking directly to Roberton, and to mister Goodley,

691
00:44:41.559 --> 00:44:44.159
is speaking directly to me, then what would be the outcome?

692
00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:51.679
We would all agree? Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't that

693
00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:54.119
be the most awesome thing for every church, that God

694
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:56.639
is speaking directly to everyone. That well, one you would

695
00:44:56.639 --> 00:45:00.000
be like, you don't really need a pastor, do you?

696
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:02.440
That'd be AI? Can you imagine? That would be a

697
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:06.559
the best AI. If God was speaking directly to you,

698
00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:09.760
giving you direct revelation, leading you into all truth, helping

699
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:13.239
you understand the scriptures, you wouldn't need a pastor. But

700
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:17.199
God obviously then assigned what pastors? Why did he assign pastors?

701
00:45:17.239 --> 00:45:21.639
Because obviously people are not getting direct revelation all right,

702
00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:23.400
you would think that would make sense. And then the

703
00:45:23.440 --> 00:45:26.000
way it's supposed to be designed is the people were

704
00:45:26.039 --> 00:45:28.679
supposed to be submissive to the pastor because the pastor

705
00:45:28.760 --> 00:45:31.199
was supposed to have some authority. And what blew that

706
00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:35.840
all up? The Protestant Reformation? And then now, well, then

707
00:45:35.880 --> 00:45:38.440
everyone knows more than everyone, so so at that point

708
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:42.159
the whole system started falling apart anyway, All right, but

709
00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:46.360
those are examples of illumination and discernment that were directly

710
00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:50.320
tied to God's supernatural action in history. These moments were

711
00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:55.199
necessary because the full revelation of Scripture was unfolding. But

712
00:45:55.760 --> 00:45:59.119
so number one, we have how God provided illumination and

713
00:45:59.159 --> 00:46:02.199
discernment in the past. Can we agree that it was different?

714
00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:06.400
I hope we can't. I know, Charismatics would say it's not. Well,

715
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:09.000
what cracks me up is charismatics say, oh, no, God

716
00:46:09.039 --> 00:46:11.039
is speaking to me, and then they can't even agree

717
00:46:11.079 --> 00:46:15.599
with one another, so or they make false prophecies and

718
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:18.440
all the rest. All right, So what happens with the

719
00:46:18.480 --> 00:46:23.639
complete revelation? What scripture is complete? What scripture is complete?

720
00:46:23.639 --> 00:46:26.000
What do we say? What's the cry of the Reformation?

721
00:46:27.679 --> 00:46:33.119
Starts with an S sola scripture and what does that mean?

722
00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:39.559
Scripture alone? This becomes the thing. So now the church

723
00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:44.719
becomes really about what helping you understand this? Because this

724
00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:48.840
is the final authority. That's the way it's supposed to be, right,

725
00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:52.719
can we agree? We got scriptures like two Timothy three

726
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:55.920
sixteen through seventeen. I'm just going to read from the

727
00:46:55.920 --> 00:46:58.159
translation to heave in front of me. All scripture is

728
00:46:58.159 --> 00:47:02.880
God breathed and is useful for teach, rebuking, correcting, and

729
00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:05.159
training in righteousness that the servant of God may be

730
00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:10.519
thoroughly equipped for every good work. The completion of the

731
00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:15.239
Bible marks the transition from direct revelation to reliance on

732
00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:19.320
the written word. The scriptures now serve as the sole

733
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:30.400
authority for teaching, rebuking, and discerning. The scriptures are supposed

734
00:47:30.400 --> 00:47:35.480
to be the sole authority for what number one, teaching, rebuking,

735
00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:41.480
and discerning. The scriptures are supposed to be that right,

736
00:47:41.519 --> 00:47:43.239
and the church is supposed to be the place where

737
00:47:43.280 --> 00:47:48.000
you come to be equipped to do that. That's what

738
00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:50.960
has supposed to happen. And what can we say, Well,

739
00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:53.360
almost everyone says the church has failed to do that.

740
00:47:54.079 --> 00:47:57.079
I'll just go from my lifetime from the nineteen eighties

741
00:47:57.199 --> 00:47:59.599
to twenty twenty four, because over and over and over

742
00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:03.079
every said says Christians are biblically illiterate, theologically illiterate, and

743
00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:05.280
they can't do it. So then it's like, how come

744
00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:07.119
the church can't get the people to do it? I

745
00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:09.440
don't know. I've never been able to figure that out.

746
00:48:09.719 --> 00:48:12.360
On one hand, it makes a little bit of sense,

747
00:48:12.559 --> 00:48:15.000
like when I was younger, I didn't understand this because

748
00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:18.760
I was doing it and I wasn't a pastor. Now

749
00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:21.159
after I became a pastor, then it was like, okay, well,

750
00:48:21.639 --> 00:48:23.920
these people don't want to be a pastor. They just

751
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:26.239
want to live their life, so they don't really care

752
00:48:26.559 --> 00:48:28.320
to do all of that. But that's what makes the

753
00:48:28.320 --> 00:48:33.039
Protestant system so hypocritical, right, because they're like, I don't

754
00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:34.280
want to be a pastor. I don't want to be

755
00:48:34.280 --> 00:48:36.960
a theologian. I just want to be a Christian. But

756
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:40.519
in our system, you're supposed to be the one discerning

757
00:48:40.519 --> 00:48:43.079
whether I'm preaching is true or false, meaning you have

758
00:48:43.119 --> 00:48:48.800
to be as knowledgeable or greater in knowledge than I am.

759
00:48:49.079 --> 00:48:53.039
See nobody. Protestants don't want that responsibility, But when will

760
00:48:53.079 --> 00:48:57.760
they exercise that when they disagree, then they'll say, I'm

761
00:48:57.800 --> 00:48:59.480
the one who's supposed to be determined what is true

762
00:48:59.519 --> 00:49:01.280
or false? Well, how come you haven't been doing all

763
00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:04.079
the work that's necessary to be able to do that.

764
00:49:04.199 --> 00:49:06.760
You see, the contradictory part is what always drives me

765
00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:09.719
crazy about Protestants. They don't want to go home and

766
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:12.599
spend hour after hour reading and studying. They don't want

767
00:49:12.639 --> 00:49:14.800
to be reading hermeneutical textbooks. I don't want to be

768
00:49:14.840 --> 00:49:17.239
reading systematic theology. They don't want to be doing any

769
00:49:17.239 --> 00:49:18.599
of the work. They don't want to be doing the

770
00:49:18.599 --> 00:49:21.880
Bible study methods. They don't want to do anything because

771
00:49:21.880 --> 00:49:23.599
I don't want to be a pastor? Why do I

772
00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:25.480
have to do all of this work? Because you're the

773
00:49:25.519 --> 00:49:27.639
one who's supposed to be determined with what is preached

774
00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:30.039
is true or false? How can you determine what what's

775
00:49:30.079 --> 00:49:32.519
preached is true with false when you've got someone preaching

776
00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:36.599
to you who's got seven degrees and theology biblical studies.

777
00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:40.360
But guess what, you won't do the work, But what

778
00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:44.000
will you do? Tell me I'm wrong? The second you

779
00:49:44.039 --> 00:49:46.960
think I'm wrong. You see how contradictory that is? Like

780
00:49:47.239 --> 00:49:50.239
the whole Protestant system is so broken in that and

781
00:49:50.360 --> 00:49:52.880
is there a way to fix it? They're no going back.

782
00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:58.440
There's no going back. But obviously something dramatically changed because

783
00:49:58.440 --> 00:50:00.480
now this is supposed to be the authority that everyone

784
00:50:00.559 --> 00:50:04.079
is using. Everyone got that all, right now, So we

785
00:50:04.159 --> 00:50:10.920
have a historical shifty after the Apostolic age, follow the history.

786
00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:18.159
After the Apostolic Age, the church became fully dependent on this.

787
00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:21.320
This is what was supposed to happen. Right before the

788
00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:26.519
completion of this What did you rely on direct revelation

789
00:50:28.400 --> 00:50:33.800
or apostolic authority? Right? Because the Apostles had an authority

790
00:50:33.880 --> 00:50:37.519
right now, This is where it gets confusing in church history, right,

791
00:50:37.920 --> 00:50:41.679
because some felt the apostolic authority. What happened to it

792
00:50:45.440 --> 00:50:52.280
Apostolic succession, which led to what magisterial authority Pope and

793
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:55.239
the church, the church now having the authority. So it

794
00:50:55.280 --> 00:50:57.599
almost went to the way it kind of worked as

795
00:50:57.639 --> 00:50:59.760
you had come to this direct revelation. But even in

796
00:50:59.800 --> 00:51:04.119
the even in the Bible, God wasn't speaking to everyone, right, Okay,

797
00:51:04.199 --> 00:51:06.480
So even in the Bible, you don't have God speaking

798
00:51:06.480 --> 00:51:09.239
to every individual. He spoke to a certain individuals who

799
00:51:09.320 --> 00:51:13.199
then took on a role of authority. So if we

800
00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:16.840
follow the way it went, this stream said, okay, well,

801
00:51:16.840 --> 00:51:18.360
then that's the way it works. God is going to

802
00:51:18.400 --> 00:51:23.199
continue to guide and direct and speak to whom the church.

803
00:51:24.239 --> 00:51:27.079
Now the church maintained the authority, and what were the

804
00:51:27.119 --> 00:51:30.280
people supposed to do? Submit to the church, and who

805
00:51:30.320 --> 00:51:34.000
then had the authority to interpret the scripture? The church

806
00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:36.719
and the people were to agree with the church, and

807
00:51:36.760 --> 00:51:39.079
they couldn't disagree with the church, because if they disagree

808
00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:41.239
with the church, what would the church then do to

809
00:51:41.320 --> 00:51:47.360
them anathematize. That was that system the other stream, and

810
00:51:47.440 --> 00:51:49.559
the other stream didn't really have a lot of wait

811
00:51:49.599 --> 00:51:54.599
for a very long time. Ultimately becomes what God gave

812
00:51:54.679 --> 00:51:59.280
us the Bible. He gives us the Holy Spirit. So

813
00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:02.320
the Holy Spirit, it will help me interpret the Bible.

814
00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:07.519
And so I now can judge the church, and I

815
00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:12.719
can tell whether the Church is right or wrong. So

816
00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:15.800
you had a fight between the church and the individual.

817
00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:21.440
Who who went out the individual? Now people will say, no,

818
00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:24.480
the scriptures went out. Forget the scriptures did not win

819
00:52:25.320 --> 00:52:28.800
the individual one. This is a major if you don't

820
00:52:28.800 --> 00:52:31.679
want to know a shift in history. Thus you got

821
00:52:31.679 --> 00:52:34.280
to understand that and what led to that shift? A

822
00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:36.400
lot of people think it was because of the Bible. No,

823
00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:50.679
what was happening within culture at that time? What was

824
00:52:50.679 --> 00:52:52.280
some of that? What was the word known for it?

825
00:52:52.280 --> 00:52:56.840
I'm waiting for Sarah to answer it. The Renaissance, okay,

826
00:52:57.079 --> 00:53:01.280
the rise and what the Renaissance gave? The rise humanism? Right,

827
00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:07.400
and what were some of the basic concepts here? The individual,

828
00:53:07.719 --> 00:53:13.199
the mind, reason, over the supernatural or over the church.

829
00:53:13.920 --> 00:53:18.920
Which was perfect time for Luther to do what say

830
00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:21.760
no to the church? And what he said no to

831
00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:24.800
the church? Everyone was like, what we can say no

832
00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:27.440
to the church? Right? And that's where we got So

833
00:53:27.679 --> 00:53:30.239
we see the cult. I want you to see that shift. Right.

834
00:53:31.440 --> 00:53:34.719
You have God speaking in all these as Hebrews says,

835
00:53:34.800 --> 00:53:38.320
diverse ways, right, Okay, we see how that all plays

836
00:53:38.320 --> 00:53:41.199
out in the Bible. Then we ultimately end up with

837
00:53:41.280 --> 00:53:45.599
two streams, the church or the individual. Now everybody says

838
00:53:45.639 --> 00:53:48.199
it's the church versus the scriptures. No, became the church

839
00:53:48.280 --> 00:53:50.840
versus the individual. The scriptures kind of get lost in

840
00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:55.400
between both, right, because some felt that the church begin

841
00:53:55.519 --> 00:53:59.039
to do what corrupt the scriptures. Add to the scriptures,

842
00:53:59.079 --> 00:54:02.239
add theology and practices that weren't found in the scriptures. Right,

843
00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:06.639
that's what some would argue purgatory indulgences, right, Okay, that

844
00:54:06.760 --> 00:54:08.800
was some of the issue, okay, And then others was

845
00:54:08.840 --> 00:54:10.599
that we're gonna get back to the scriptures. But then

846
00:54:10.599 --> 00:54:15.000
the individual started doing the exact same thing the church did,

847
00:54:15.360 --> 00:54:18.519
so then everything kind of becomes lost. That's that's what

848
00:54:18.719 --> 00:54:22.360
happened in history. That was the historical shift. Now, when

849
00:54:22.360 --> 00:54:26.639
the Church was in power, what did they do? They

850
00:54:26.760 --> 00:54:34.840
called for councils, put forth creeds and did what offered anathemas.

851
00:54:35.320 --> 00:54:37.519
Remember we looked at all the councils. You look those

852
00:54:37.519 --> 00:54:43.840
seven ecumenical councils, what are they filled with? Anathema? Anathema, anathema, anathema, anathema, anathema,

853
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:46.840
anathema Because they felt that they were operating under the

854
00:54:46.840 --> 00:54:49.800
idea of apostolic succession and they had the authority to

855
00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:54.679
do so. Right, Does that make sense right? Now? So

856
00:54:54.760 --> 00:54:57.880
what but when we get further further, Not only we

857
00:54:57.880 --> 00:55:00.760
were already having disagreements during the time the councils, that's

858
00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:03.639
why they were having the councils then offering the anathemis.

859
00:55:03.679 --> 00:55:05.840
But then by the time we get to the Protestant Reformation,

860
00:55:06.199 --> 00:55:09.360
the damn just blows up. And now you've not only

861
00:55:09.400 --> 00:55:11.599
got to fight between the church and the individual, you've

862
00:55:11.599 --> 00:55:15.599
got to fight amongst the individuals. So what becomes the

863
00:55:15.760 --> 00:55:22.000
historical reality? Contradictions and divisions arose, and it demonstrated what

864
00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:28.079
human fallibility and interpreting scripture. Humans couldn't obviously figure it

865
00:55:28.119 --> 00:55:30.639
out because and no one could agree. And what did

866
00:55:30.639 --> 00:55:34.920
this demonstrate? Well, if nobody could agree, then God obviously

867
00:55:34.920 --> 00:55:39.360
where I'm speaking to all the individuals or there would

868
00:55:39.400 --> 00:55:42.679
be agreement. So now we were left with a Bible

869
00:55:42.719 --> 00:55:47.559
where all kinds of problems. So everybody see the historical shift.

870
00:55:49.159 --> 00:55:53.599
So we have the church, we have the individual. The

871
00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:55.719
Bible is supposed to be somewhere here in the middle

872
00:55:55.719 --> 00:55:59.440
of all of this, right, I believe we're about to

873
00:55:59.760 --> 00:56:02.599
We're the whole reason we're doing this today is we

874
00:56:02.639 --> 00:56:09.639
have entered into a new shift, the church, the individual.

875
00:56:12.559 --> 00:56:20.960
Now what's the third stream artificial intelligence? We're living through

876
00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:25.880
that third shift right now as we speak, and we're

877
00:56:25.960 --> 00:56:28.079
out of time, all right, but all right, so do

878
00:56:28.159 --> 00:56:33.119
we have to see that? Right? So we have some

879
00:56:33.159 --> 00:56:35.800
of these we have differences in human reasoning and tradition

880
00:56:35.920 --> 00:56:39.360
we can agree with. That's true. History has shown us right, right,

881
00:56:39.519 --> 00:56:41.679
we don't agree in our human reasoning. We don't agree

882
00:56:41.679 --> 00:56:46.159
in our traditions. Right. We have cultural and linguistic biases

883
00:56:46.360 --> 00:56:48.840
as human beings? Do we not have that? We can't

884
00:56:48.840 --> 00:56:51.960
agree and we have our own biases based off our culture,

885
00:56:52.159 --> 00:56:55.079
our own language, our own traditions. Oh and what else

886
00:56:55.079 --> 00:56:59.599
do we have as human beings? A sinful nature which

887
00:56:59.639 --> 00:57:06.400
affect our judgment and discernment. We're fallible, we're sinful, and

888
00:57:06.480 --> 00:57:17.440
we're biased. Right. What are the three things about us? Fallible? Sinful, biased,

889
00:57:22.079 --> 00:57:24.400
and we can't We want to know why we can't

890
00:57:24.400 --> 00:57:27.400
come to any agreement on anything in the Bible. That's

891
00:57:27.440 --> 00:57:35.199
the reason we can't. Those are three things that's massively profound.

892
00:57:35.199 --> 00:57:38.920
All right, we'll have to stop right there. We'll have

893
00:57:38.960 --> 00:57:40.920
to stop right there, and then we'll pick this up

894
00:57:40.920 --> 00:57:42.519
in the next hour. So in the first hour, we

895
00:57:42.639 --> 00:57:44.159
did a lot. We covered a lot, did we not?

896
00:57:44.360 --> 00:57:47.119
We covered a whole lot in one hour. I could

897
00:57:47.119 --> 00:57:49.840
have broken it down into smaller segments. What did we do?

898
00:57:49.960 --> 00:57:52.519
We went to first chronicles twelve thirty two. For those

899
00:57:52.519 --> 00:57:54.679
who just came in First Chronicles twelve thirty two. We

900
00:57:54.719 --> 00:57:57.159
looked at the sons of Isacar, right, and they were

901
00:57:57.199 --> 00:57:59.719
able to understand the times and know what Israel should do.

902
00:58:00.039 --> 00:58:02.960
We looked at the historical context of everything about them,

903
00:58:03.079 --> 00:58:05.280
and what I am making, my thesis that I am

904
00:58:05.280 --> 00:58:10.239
making is we are undergoing right now a profound cultural,

905
00:58:10.400 --> 00:58:13.800
technological change that's going to have a profound impact on

906
00:58:13.840 --> 00:58:17.559
the future of Christianity. And that change is the rise

907
00:58:17.599 --> 00:58:20.880
of AI. And I believe that, and I know no

908
00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:22.360
one else is going to agree. So you don't need

909
00:58:22.400 --> 00:58:26.159
to argue with me that I believe AI based on

910
00:58:26.360 --> 00:58:31.960
our type of Christianity. We're not sacramental, right, We're not sacramental.

911
00:58:32.119 --> 00:58:35.719
We do not believe in an apostolic succession. Right, So

912
00:58:36.119 --> 00:58:38.599
I believe if the church is about the preaching and

913
00:58:38.639 --> 00:58:41.239
teaching of God's Word, and that's what it's about. It's

914
00:58:41.280 --> 00:58:45.360
not about a social club. That I believe AI now

915
00:58:45.559 --> 00:58:48.920
makes the church absolutely and totally irrelevant, and there's no

916
00:58:48.960 --> 00:58:54.119
point even having it. Now. That's a bold statement, right,

917
00:58:54.599 --> 00:58:56.440
and we'll go on. Now. I'm not saying that that's

918
00:58:56.440 --> 00:59:01.599
a biblical statement. I'm saying that that's a practical statement.

919
00:59:03.599 --> 00:59:06.039
All right, Now we're going to have to figure a

920
00:59:06.400 --> 00:59:08.280
lot of this out. So we went through a lot

921
00:59:08.320 --> 00:59:11.280
of concepts, a lot of the issues, and we started

922
00:59:11.320 --> 00:59:13.039
breaking it down. So what I wanted to do is

923
00:59:13.079 --> 00:59:16.760
we went back and we looked at how things were

924
00:59:16.800 --> 00:59:20.440
before the Bible was completed, how things were after the

925
00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:25.440
Bible's completed, the historical breakdown, and now we've added in AI.

926
00:59:25.679 --> 00:59:27.760
We're going to see where this all goes and we'll

927
00:59:27.800 --> 00:59:29.400
try to break it down. We'll do that quickly in

928
00:59:29.400 --> 00:59:31.280
the next hour. All right, let's pray, Lord God. We

929
00:59:31.320 --> 00:59:35.079
come before you this morning. Lord, we are living in

930
00:59:35.159 --> 00:59:42.000
a very interesting time. How we understand this change, how

931
00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:46.880
we either embrace it, fight it, talk about it, condemn it.

932
00:59:47.400 --> 00:59:50.159
We have to make some very important decisions and we

933
00:59:50.199 --> 00:59:53.079
need that understanding. Lord. I pray that we will think

934
00:59:53.119 --> 00:59:57.880
carefully and logically through this concept, and that we as

935
00:59:57.880 --> 01:00:00.719
a group of people will have some site on where

936
01:00:00.719 --> 01:00:02.920
things are headed and what it means for all of this.

937
01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:04.800
And we asked this in Jesus name, and God's people

938
01:00:04.840 --> 01:00:06.360
said Amen.