Bible Reading’s Negative Results

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Looking at our world from a theological
perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast,

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making Theology Central Good Evening everyone.
It is Tuesday, July the ninth,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently
nine twenty three pm Central Time,

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and I am coming to you live
from the Theology Central studio located right here

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in Abilene, Texas. Now,
if you've ever been around Christians, which

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I'm assuming you have, and I'm
assuming most of the people listening to this

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will be professing Christians. If you've
ever been around Christians, if you've ever

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been to church, if you've ever
listened to Christian broadcasting, if you've ever

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listening listened to Christian radio, Christian
podcast, if you've ever listened to preachers

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or sermons, you know that there's
kind of a basic idea, and that

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is, if you will take the
Bible, and if you will read the

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Bible, it's going to bring nothing
but positive results into your life. It's

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gonna bring a sense of peace,
it's gonna bring a sense of calm,

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it's going to bring joy, it's
going to bring happiness, it's going to

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make everything better. The more time
you spend in God's word, the better

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off you're going to be. It
will improve your mental health, it will

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improve your emotional health. It will
make your life better. It will improve

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your behavior, it will make you
better, will make you more godly,

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it will it will make you stronger. It's just benefit after benefit after benefit

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after benefit. In fact, sometimes
it may sound like you're listening to an

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infocommercial. If you will read your
Bible, you will get this and this

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and this. But wait, there's
more. If you will continue to read,

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you will get this, and you
will get this, and you're gonna

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have blessings and peace and joy and
happiness and tranquility and life is going to

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be so much better. Oh,
there may be difficulties in your life.

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There may be there may be trials, But if you'll stay in the word

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of God, it will be your
refuge, it will be your shield,

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will it will be everything. Okay, maybe people don't go exactly that far,

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but you get the idea. That's
a common way of understanding. But

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what if, hypothetically speaking, what
if what if people read the Bible and

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it made them experience stress. It
made them experience anxiety, It led to

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trauma, it led to worry.
In fact, it started making things worse.

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It was worse for their mental health. It was worse for their emotional

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health. What if that was true? What would your thinking be? Now?

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What some people say, No,
no, no, no, no,

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no, no no no, that
cannot be true. Because the Bible

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is the word of God, and
the Bible is true, it must only

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produce positive results. But what if
if it produced negative results? Now,

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I think we would have to at
least conceive this and consider this. This,

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this is my own personal opinions.
Even if it brought about negative emotions,

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negative feelings, even if it brought
about something negative, that would not,

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in any way, shape or form
disprove it, you know, disprove

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its truth claims. In other words, the Bible would not be untrue because

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it produced anxiety, worry, and
stress. Because I think our concept is

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well, if the Bible is true, it's only going to produce these positive

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things. But I don't think truth
always produces positive feelings and positive results in

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a certain way. I think I
think truth sometimes can be very traumatizing,

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can create anxiety and worry. Right
if I knock on your door at three

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o'clock in the morning, Hey,
Hey, there's a fire, it's about

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to engulf your entire house. If
you stay in it, you're all going

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to die. You need to get
out. Now. That's not going to

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produce a feeling of peace and calm
and tranquility. But those words would be

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true just because they create panic,
fear, anxiety. Would not make my

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warning untrue. Okay, the truth
of what I say it would be based

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on whether the fire is actually there, not on how it makes you feel

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truth. You cannot determine truth based
on how you feel. You cannot base

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truth on its how it impacts your
emotions. Sometimes truth will make you angry,

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Sometimes truth will hurt you. Sometimes
truth will make you worry and make

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you be filled with anxiety. So
I think just even if it produced negative

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results, that would not call into
question the truthfulness of God's word. I

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think that we have to just establish
that as a starting point here. But

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I'm curious, why is it that
Christians seem to always sell it as it's

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all going to be positive. Should
our reading of the Bible always produce positive

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or should it produce actually a wide
range of emotions, and some of those

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emotions maybe should not be so pleasant. Is that a possibility? Is it?

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I mean, what do you think? Well, I'm asking all of

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these questions because early this morning I
received an email. The subject line of

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that email read like, this study
shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress

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and trauma. Study shows Bible readers
experience higher levels of stress and trauma.

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It had my attention. I was
like, oh, this looks interesting.

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Now this the email took me to
Medium dot com. Now. I have

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had a subscription to medium dot com
in the past because I used it as

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a great resource for podcast topics,
right because basically anyone can write for Medium,

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but they put most of the content
behind a paywall. I've subscribed to

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it one to try to support those
who are writing, because these are just

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like you know, everyday people writing
articles. Some people with great you know,

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lots of education and experience, some
people maybe not so much, but

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they can write about any topic.
And it's kind of like just trying to

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support independent writers. And as they
post their concepts, their ideas, they

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whatever they may post. So I
love the concept. But of course,

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you know, when I started cutting
back on things related to the podcast,

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that was one of the things I
cut out to try to save some money.

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The subscription is not that much.
I think today they've got a is

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it four dollars for something I can't
remember. They were doing some kind of

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special today. I think that's why
I got the email. But the author

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of this particular article, his name
is Dan Foster. Dan Foster, and

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he's one of the ones I followed
on a regular basis on medium because I

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think he used to be maybe a
pastor, maybe he used to be an

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evangelical. I can't remember his full
story, but let's just say he's now

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very negative towards many things in Christianity. So I always like to hear someone

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who maybe who was inside of Christianity, who's now maybe a little bit more

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outside of Christianity, offering their criticism
of it, because it kind of I

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like hearing that kind of criticism and
trying to see it from a different perspective,

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because sometimes when you're in Christianity,
you may not perceive how people who've

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walked away from it, or people
are outside of it, how may how

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they may perceive it, And so
I like hearing those perspectives. So this

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one, this this article definitely caught
my attention. Now, the the article

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here I didn't pay for, so
I only have like the preview part.

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But the preview part gives us the
basic thesis. But then I tracked down

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where they were getting this from.
Now, I don't think he states this

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at the beginning, which I'm a
little disappointed in because the way, this

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is the way his entire you know, heading is for his article study shows

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Bible readers experience higher levels of stress
and trauma. Okay, that's that's the

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hook, all right, that's the
hook. That that that that that pulled

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me in, right, that immediately
pulled me in, or maybe we could

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call it the bait, whatever the
case. It pulled me in, all

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right, That that hooked me.
That that that pulled me in. Underneath

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that, it says the remarkable findings
of a new survey, and then underneath

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that it says posted sixteen hours ago. Well, I've got major problems here.

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This is not a new study.
In fact, he quotes from Christianity

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Today. So of course I went
to Christianity Today to pull up the original

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article. The original article finds that
this was posted July the fourteenth, twenty

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twenty one. So that's not a
new study twenty twenty one. It's twenty

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twenty four. So I don't know
why his heading has remarkable remarkable findings of

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a new survey, because unless there's
been a new one published. But it

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seems that this is taking me to
the twenty twenty one study, So we

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may do a little bit more research
to ensure that we that have they been

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continuing to do this study and are
they continuing to find the same facts?

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Now, that would be very remarkable, right if they did this study in

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twenty twenty one, and if they
did a study in twenty twenty two,

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and if they did a study in
twenty twenty three, and if they've done

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the study in twenty twenty four,
and every year the study reveals that Bible

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readers experience higher levels of stress and
trauma. All right, we need to

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talk. That's significant now for me. Again, let me make it very

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clear, even if this is one
thousand percent accurate, that does not prove

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the Bible to be untrue, because
truth doesn't can lead to stress and trauma,

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all right, so let's make sure. And second, what it would

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do though is maybe cause some Christians
to pause. And the infocommercial version of

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Christianity. Remember I stated all the
time, there is the infocommercial version of

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Christianity. Then there's the type of
Christianity that everyone pretends to be experiencing even

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if they know deep down they're not
really experiencing it. They talk a big

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game, they put on a good
game face, but it may not be.

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And then I call it. There's
the reality of Christianity, and the

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reality of Christianity is messy and it's
ugly. It's filled with professing Christians committing

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all kinds of horrible sins. It's
filled with Christian marriages that end and divorce.

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It's filled with Christian men addicted to
pornography. It's deal It's filled with

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churches where there is sexual abuse,
child molestation, it is filled with I

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just read the story a little while
ago a pastor got arrested on a flight

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I don't know where they were flying
to because he got in a fight with

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his wife because the wife had a
seat upgrade and he wanted her to sit

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with him and not go to her
seat upgrade, and he ended up hitting

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her in the head and she has
epilepsy, and I guess he was trying

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to trigger a seizure. He ends
up getting arrested after the end the fly.

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He is a pastor. Okay,
we know the things going on with

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Robert Morris I mean, it's just
Christianity is filled with that. Now I

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know what many Christians do. Well, anything that these people do, they're

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not Christians. And then that makes
them feel better because they can just throw

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everyone out of the Kingdom of God
that does something wrong. But that's not

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the way it works. Okay.
The point is real. The reality of

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Christianity does not look anything like the
infocommercial, and it doesn't look like the

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Christianity everyone's pretending to be experiencing while
sitting in the pew, because when they

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leave that pew and they go home, it's a In fact, many cases,

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if you really want to know what's
going on behind closed doors, ministered

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to teenagers are ministered to kids raised
in a Christian home who may, if

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they feel comfortable, tell you what's
going on behind those closed doors. And

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it may be uncomfortable for everyone to
hear. And we should not be shocked

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by that, because that's the reality. We are all messed up, broken

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people with and maybe some people are
more messed up than other people, but

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all people are messed up because we're
all sinners, even though Christianity doesn't want

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to present that. So maybe an
article like this, maybe slap in the

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face and make us go maybe we
should stop selling Christianity and be more honest

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about the reality. So is this
true? How did this this study come

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to this conclusion. Let's dig in
and just have a little bit of a

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conversation here, all right, are
you ready? Here we go first underneath

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and again you can go to medium
dot com look up Dan Foster and look

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up the article that was published sixteen
hours ago. I think if you think

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if you sign up you get one
free article, maybe it's behind the paywall.

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Really, you should probably do a
subscription and just spend a couple of

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weeks looking at all the articles on
Medium, and maybe you'll find it,

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as you know, an interesting thing
you know to have. All right,

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so but I digress. Here we
go. Headline again reads a study shows

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Bible readers experience higher levels of stress
and trauma. It says, the remarkable

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findings of a new survey. I
feel that this is referring to the one

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from twenty twenty one. I don't
know if it's been repeated, but maybe

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later on in this article he says, like I said, I did not

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pay, but I'm going to read
what is available to me. Okay,

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Underneath that we have one hundred and
twenty three like high fives or applause.

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It's like a I think it's like
a little high five or applause symbol.

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So one hundred and twenty three people
have liked it. I don't. It

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doesn't appear to have any comments.
Then underneath that, there's a man got

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his hand on his forehead like almost
like oh man, oh no no,

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and he's got a Bible open in
front of him. Obviously, it's supposed

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to capture the idea. It's supposed
to capture the idea that he's reading the

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Bible and he's being filled with stress
and trauma. All right. Underneath that,

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here's how it reads new research.
Now again, I don't think this

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is new research. Is this a
hyperlink? Yeah? Okay, I see

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this drives me crazy. It says
new research, and it takes me to

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the study state of the Bible twenty
twenty one. So I don't know.

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I do not like this at all. To me, this is a little

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disingenuous. Don't say this is a
new study. It's from twenty twenty one,

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right, so already, so I
thought I am correct. This is

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from the twenty twenty one study is
what he's borrowing from. This is not

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new, all right. Let me
just get that out of the way.

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This is not new. I don't
know if this study has been repeated in

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any way, shape or form,
and I don't even know if this article

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and medium is actually is accurately representing
the study. What I want to do

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is use his presentation of the study
to just kind of then deal with a

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hypothetical reality about how should the Bible
really impact us? How should it because

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I think in many cases it should
have a much more what we would classify

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a negative impact than anyone wants it
to. We always believe it's a source

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of encouragement and strength, and I've
been bothered by that mentality within the church

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because I think any reasonable person reading
the Bible may not come out going this

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was encouraging and great. I think
they may come out going this is some

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of the most disturbing things I've ever
read in my entire life. That's my

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own personal feelings. But we'll get
into that as we see this, all

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right, So the article continues.
New research from the American Bible Society has

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revealed that regular Bible readers are more
likely to report experiencing high levels of stress

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and if I can read it correctly, higher levels of stress and anxiety than

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those who do not read the Bible. So let me read that again.

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According to the American Bible Society,
not coming from like you know, their

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American Bible Society. You mean,
you can question their motives, but according

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to their findings, regular Bible readers, those who read the Bible on a

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regular basis, are more likely to
report experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety.

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See see I can actually read than
those who do not read the Bible.

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So the argument is, if you
read the Bible, you're going to

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have higher level levels of stress and
anxiety, and if you don't read the

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Bible, you won't. Now this
gets into cause and effect, right,

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So let me because I want to
be fair about it. I want to.

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I want to make sure that we
are fair with the information. I

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don't want to I don't want anyone
to walk away with a wrong impression.

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So I'm going to challenge the way
this is being presented, because you would

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have to really dig into this to
know cause and effect. Maybe the people

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who are experiencing high anxiety and stress, maybe the anxiety and stress is caused

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by something outside of the Bible,
and that's why they're reading it so much.

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The anxiety and stress has driven them
to the Bible. And when asked

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do you read the Bible all the
time, yes, do you have high

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levels of stress and anxiety? Yes. That doesn't mean the reading of the

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Bible cause the anxiety and the stress. It may mean that the anxiety and

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stress is the thing that led them
to the Bible. They may be reading

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the Bible to try to combat the
anxiety and the stress. So people play

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weird games with that, those kinds
of that's why surveys and statistics can be

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so misleading. Now, for my
purpose, I want to ask, well,

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maybe the Bible should be causing much
more anxiety and stress than it actually

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does, because I think if we
actually believed what it said, I think

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we would probably all be, I
don't know, filled with a lot of

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anxiety and stress. That's my own
opinion. But we'll see, all right,

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let's continue reading. In fact,
the lead researcher at the American Bible

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Society told Christianity Today, see I
told you Christianity Today. That's the twenty

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twenty one article. He told Christianity
Today that Christians who regularly read their Bible

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experience more stress and often higher levels
of trauma. The survey found that one

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quarter of Americans are experiencing moderately moderate
levels of stress, and ten percent are

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experiencing extreme high levels. Nearly half
of respondents said they had trouble sleeping,

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forty four percent reported feelings tense,
forty four percent said they were lonely and

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cut off from others, and thirty
seven percent said they felt numb or detached.

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The surprising thing is is that those
who read the Bible on a regular

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basis reported higher results in all categories
then those who do not read the Bible.

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And it says, who would have
thought? Then it says some possible

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explanations, and well then guess what
now I have to pay to be able

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to see the rest? All right? In fact, hang on, actually

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you know why? Hang on?
Let me go back, hang on,

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let me I'm not gonna, I'm
gonna. I'm gonna look here really quick

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to see because I did try to
sign in, and I thought maybe if

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I signed in, it would give
me access here. Hang on, let

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me look here for my They sent
me a link earlier today. Let me

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see here. I still may have
to pay. I think what it did

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is send me to a pay window, is what it did. Hang on,

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let me look here. I get
so many emails. Let me see

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here. I think it's not gonna
I don't think it's going to help me

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any but I'm trying. If I
can get to the rest, I would

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love to see what he says about
it. Okay, let me see here.

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I think it's what it's going to
do. Yeah, here we go.

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Here's a had to do the signing. The signing thing is frustrating.

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Here okay, yeah, that did
that did not I don't think that helped

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me in any way, shape or
form. Hang on, I'm gonna copy

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this. I don't know why.
Let me look here. I just want

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to make sure I don't I don't
have access because sometimes they give you like

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a free article a day, and
that's not currently working. Let me see

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here. Yeah, it does not
want to work. I was hoping we

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would be able to get the access
to the whole. Okay, wait,

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wait wait wait, oh no,
yep, I have to upgrade to see

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the rest. All right, so
they try to offer some possible explanations.

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Sorry about that. I know that
kind of ruined the flow I was in,

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But that's okay, because I thought, oh, it'd be great to

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be able to see the whole article. But you can go read the entire

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article now if I go to Christianity
Today, they try to offer some explanation

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for this, right, And one
of the explanations they offer is one that

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I've already presented, that maybe the
people are already feeling the stress and that's

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what's leading them to the Bible.
And then they're saying, hey, I

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have all this level of stress.
Now. The Christianity Today, though,

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does try they try to present it
in a more positive spin. Listen to

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the Christianity Today headline study, regular
Bible readers experience more stress in twenty twenty.

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Right now, that's kind of what
the headline on Medium went with,

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right, But here's where Christianity Today
tries to then put a positive kind of

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layer of paint on it. They
say, but also more hope. So

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they say, hey, people who
read the Bible all the time may have

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more stress, anxiety, and trauma, but they also have more hope.

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So this leads Christianity Today to argue, well, wait a minute, they're

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coming to the Bible with their stress
and anxiety, and they're leaving with more

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hope. That's how Christianity today tries
to present it a little bit. They

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go on to say. The survey
found that one quarter of Americans are experiencing

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moderate levels of stress and ten percent
are experiencing extremely high levels. Nearly half

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of the respondents said they had trouble
sleeping, forty four percent reported feeling tense,

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forty four percent said they were feeling
lonely and cut off from others,

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and thirty seven percent said they felt
numb or detached. Every measure of anxiety

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increased a bit between twenty twenty and
January twenty twenty one. I don't know,

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maybe there's some things going on in
the world at the time that may

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have led to that, But okay, I digress. Christians who regularly turned

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to the Bible were not immune.
In fact, the opposite was true.

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We actually found that more scripture engaged
people experienced more stress and often higher levels

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of trauma. According to the study, a strong relationship with the Bible often

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coexist with and could even be compelled
by, the hardships of life. See

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so they're trying to argue, well, maybe and I think there's some truth

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to it. Times of great stress
and anxiety, people may turn to the

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Bible where normally they will not,
so maybe that's why they're experiencing it right,

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and so they kind of offer that
kind of explanation. They do offer

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that some of these people, though, seem to report having more hope,

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So maybe you could find the positive
and negative in it. But you can

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see why Medium that that person seeming
to have much more of a negative approach,

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at least at the beginning of the
article, put a more negative spin

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on it. Now maybe later in
the article he gives a more balanced view,

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but the the beginning of the article
definitely has a negative spin. So

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here's what I want to do.
Here's what I want to do. And

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again, if you want to find
that article at Christianity Today, look for

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study regular Bible readers experience more stress
and twenty twenty but also more hope,

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and that will take you to an
article from July the fourteenth, twenty twenty

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one, and it was posted at
six a m. If you want to

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look for the article on Medium,
goo to medium dot com do a search

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for study shows Bible readers experience higher
levels of stress and trauma, and you

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can find it there, all right, So that will get you all of

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the actual sources and all of that
material. Now, what I want to

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do is turn off my iPad and
I want to talk. I want to

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go with the hypotheses. I want
to just go with the theory. I

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want to go along with the idea
that those who read the Bible more experience

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more stress, more anxiety, and
more trauma. And I'm going to go

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with the idea that the Bible causes
it. That's the argument I'm going to

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make. Now, I'm not saying
that's factually true, because again cause an

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effect here, and the way the
study was done, I could call it

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into question. But I'm going to
put forth the concept, or I'm going

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to at least put forth. So
I'm gonna kind of go along with that

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hypothesis, but I'm gonna put forth
my own hypothesies, my own theory.

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You're ready. My theory is any
serious minded person who reads the Bible on

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a regular, consistent basis and actually
cares about what it's saying and about the

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context, and actually willing to face
what it says and how unpleasant it may

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be, will and should, if
they're being even remotely honest, with what

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they're reading, filled with a lot
of anxiet, a lot of trauma,

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a lot of stress, maybe even
sleepless nights. Now you may disagree with

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me, and that's okay, but
I'm going to start first with a one

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scripture to support it. Then I'm
just gonna look at a number of scriptural

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ideas that should just keep you up
all night, every night and bother you

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incessantly. All right, here's the
scripture. Here's here's the concept. All

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right, I'm gonna read it.
It's from the Book of Isaiah, chapter

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fifty five, verse eight. You
probably know what I'm about to read.

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Where we hear this concept for my
thoughts speaking of God. For my thoughts

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are not your thoughts, nor are
your ways my ways, Saith the Lord.

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For as the heaven are higher than
the earth, so are my ways

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higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts. God's ways and

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God's thoughts are higher than us.
They are beyond our even ability to really

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grasp. And when we are confronted
with God's ways and God's thoughts, ladies

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and gentlemen, you should be immediately
confronted and feel some anxiety, worry,

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stress. You should be bothered when
people like I read the Bible and I

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find such comfort. Usually the next
words out of their mouth they quote some

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scripture so far out of any reasonable
context, like, well, you're finding

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comfort because you're actually making it up. That's not what that verse says.

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Hey, hey, Christians do this
all the time. Oh you're going through

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difficult times. Well, let me
read you this verse in Jeremiah that says

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God, No, you don't know
the plans that God has for you.

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He has plans to prosper you and
to bless you. And the people say,

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we'll see the Bible brought comfort.
No, no, you're misreading of

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the Bible brought comfort because that first
has nothing to do with you. That's

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about people coming out of Babylonian captivity. I'm sorry. I've told the story

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a million times about someone I worked
with and her and her husband kept trying

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to have a baby and it wasn't
working. It wasn't working, and then

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00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:06.319
she was having her morning devotional and
she read where God promised you know,

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00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:08.920
Abram and Sarah a son, and
she's like, that gave me so much

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peace, And I'm claiming that promise
for me. I'm like, you're your

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name's not Sarah, and your husband's
name's not Abram. That's promise has nothing

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to do with you. You're finding
peace and comfort and your misreading of the

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Bible stop it. I didn't say
it exactly like that, but it's like,

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you know what, what are you
doing? You're gonna be utterly destroyed

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and devastated all right, over and
over and over that. Sometimes when people

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say the Bible is so comforting and
it brings so much peace, it's because

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you're just literally making it say whatever
you want it to say. And if

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you make it say whatever you want
it to say, I guess it will

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always be comforting. But if you're
reading it as it is, Oh ladies

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and gentlemen, we got some sleepless
nights and store are you ready? Where

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do all the anxiety, worry,
and trauma arises from? Well, for

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me, it begins with this verse. You're ready me read it directly from

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the scripture. I was going to
quote it. You may read it.

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Do you want me to read it? In the beginning, God created the

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heavens and the earth. Immediately I
got trauma. You know why because I

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know what comes after. In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the

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earth. You know what comes after. In the beginning, God created the

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heavens and the earth. Here's what
comes after, sin, death, starvation,

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horrible diseases, rape, murder,
war, do I child molestation,

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on and on and on and on
and on. I know everything that's coming

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00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:48.000
after. In the beginning, God
created the heaven and the earth. I

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know what's coming after. And so
then I have a hard time. Wait,

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So the God who created everything,
did he not know what was going

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to happen? Did he not know? Did he? Is he just oblivious

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00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:07.599
to the fact? Is he powerless
to stop it? And he said,

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well he didn't know. He's not
the one who caused it. The fall

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00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:15.920
caused it. Yeah, But who
created the being who was responsible for tempting

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00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:19.680
Adam and Eve? Oh? God
created Satan. Oh, now that even

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more. That's gonna keep me up
all night. Now wait a minute.

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Now, Once Satan fell, God
could have wiped him off the face of

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the earth, heaven, and eternity, and then Adam and Eve would have

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had no one to come into the
garden to tempt them. But he led

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00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:36.519
him in the garden. Now,
when God created Adam and Eve, he

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00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:40.279
knew that they were going to send. Why create them knowing they were going

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00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:44.079
to send? Now, don't tell
me he needed people, because there was

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00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:48.880
he was, He's complete and perfect
in himself. There was perfect harmony within

402
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.279
the trinity, one God, three
distinct persons, equal co eternal. So

403
00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:55.640
he didn't need them. So why
would he create them knowing what's going to

404
00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:59.000
happen? And then once they fell
into sind then why not just wipe them

405
00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:00.880
off the face of the earth and
stop? But no, he lets them

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00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:05.359
produce children who then are born with
a sinful nature. And then what happens

407
00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:12.000
from Genesis three on sin murder,
death, rape, deceit just horrible.

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00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:15.519
It gets so bad that he almost
wipes He wipes almost everyone off the face

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00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:19.079
of the earth other than the eight
people in the arc. But he knows

410
00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:22.160
that those eight people in the ark
are carrying the very same problem that was

411
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.920
present before the flood, and that
is their sinful nature. They get off

412
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:30.960
the arc boom sin sin, sin, sin, death, destruction, sin,

413
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:35.720
pain, rape, murder, deceit, adultery, fornication, incest.

414
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.720
You just everysing on and on and
on and on and on and on and

415
00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:42.680
on and on. If that verse
in the beginning, God created the heaven

416
00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:46.240
and the earth has never bothered you. Disturbed you cause you sleepless nights.

417
00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:50.319
Ladies and gentlemen. I don't know
what you're reading. You can come up

418
00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:53.079
with all your little, you know, so called philological answers to make you

419
00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:58.920
feel better. But you're just playing, You're you're you're just playing games.

420
00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:02.559
You're just you're just trying to put
a nice paint, a layer of paint

421
00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:08.880
over a very complexing and difficult problem. The eternal, all knowing, all

422
00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:15.519
present, God, all powerful,
knew exactly what was going to happen.

423
00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:22.359
And you could even go a step
further. Did he decree everything to happen?

424
00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:27.400
Some say yes, some say no. Either way, you either have

425
00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:30.759
to say God didn't know. Now
you're open theism and you've basically destroyed the

426
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:34.519
attributes of God. He's powerless.
Now you've destroyed his omnipotence. Okay,

427
00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:37.160
you're gonna run it. And guess
what Christians have been trying to figure out

428
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:50.799
the answers to this forever forever That
should keep you up at night. Then

429
00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:52.880
all the things that happened in the
Bible. How about the concept of I

430
00:33:52.920 --> 00:34:02.160
don't know hell there's a place that
if you don't believe the right things,

431
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:12.960
you will burn for all eternity that
does not bother you, doesn't keep you

432
00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:17.199
up at night. Now I know
the game Christians play. See all the

433
00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:21.119
people we don't like, and all
the people we disagree with, and all

434
00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:23.599
the people we hate, that their
actions they go to hell. But it's

435
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:27.840
amazing we always find a way to
make sure our loved ones get in.

436
00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:36.559
Now you can say, well,
well, God, God never intended.

437
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:40.280
If God never intended, then God
is the most defeated disappointed God in the

438
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:45.880
history of gods. Because the Bible
says the way to destruction is brought and

439
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:50.400
many find it. The way that
life is few is narrow, and few

440
00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:53.000
find it. So that would seem
to indicate that God's got in a perpetual

441
00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:58.320
state of disappointment because what he wanted
is not happening. Why can't the eternal

442
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.880
God get what he wants? He
knew when he created the world exactly what

443
00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:05.199
was going to happen. Again,
you just run into all these massive philosophical

444
00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:07.599
problems. But a place where people
are burning right now as you're sitting there,

445
00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:12.280
someone is burning, not just what
some person, millions of people are

446
00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:15.159
that doesn't like, I don't know, create some kind of I don't know

447
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:22.280
trauma. I think that creates trauma. The idea that there's a spiritual entity

448
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.960
roaming about seeking to devour you by
the name of Satan. Does that not

449
00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.760
bother you a little bit? Does
it not bother you that the Bible seems

450
00:35:30.760 --> 00:35:37.639
to indicate that someone could take the
Lord's Supper wrong and die. Now we

451
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:40.400
all say we believe the Bibles are
had Eric inspired word of God, and

452
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:44.519
they look at how churches handle the
Lord's Supper. I'm like, if that

453
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.840
stuff could kill people, I think
everyone should be gravely concerned and try to

454
00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:52.039
figure out how should we understand what
could get you killed and taking it the

455
00:35:52.039 --> 00:35:55.679
wrong way? And maybe just maybe
we were like, hey, we stop

456
00:35:55.760 --> 00:36:00.239
this open communion stuff, in this
close close union stuff. Maybe we go

457
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:04.760
full closed and we fence the table
because I don't want to be responsible for

458
00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:12.960
anyone dying. But do we really
take it serious? If you read the

459
00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:17.079
Bible, you know what you're going
to be confronted with. This is the

460
00:36:17.079 --> 00:36:21.440
thing that should cause you the most. All those other things are more philosophical,

461
00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:25.599
but on a much more practical level. If you read the Bible,

462
00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:43.079
page after page after page after page
after page, you are confronted not only

463
00:36:43.079 --> 00:36:45.679
with the holiness of God, but
you're confronted with the holiness of God in

464
00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:50.480
the form of his commands. Thou
shalt do this, Thou shalt not do

465
00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:54.000
this. You are confronted with his
law, page after page after page after

466
00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:55.960
page. Do this, don't do
this, do this, don't do this.

467
00:36:57.039 --> 00:37:00.840
If you do this this, don't
do do don't do don't don't do

468
00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:01.760
this. Do this, don't do
this, don't do this. Do this,

469
00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:06.159
don't do this, don't do this
over page after page after page after

470
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:07.960
page after page, and as you
read the Bible, the one thing that's

471
00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:12.360
going to be somewhat disturbing is you
realize nobody in the Bible can keep it.

472
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:17.079
Everyone fails, godly people, ungodly
people. Everyone fails, believing people,

473
00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:21.119
unbelieving people. They're guilty in front
of God's law. They're guilty in

474
00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:23.239
front of God's law. They fail, they fail, they fail, they

475
00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:28.719
fail. They felt nobody can keep
it. Every time you open up the

476
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:32.480
pages of Scripture, you should see
a law which you do not keep.

477
00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:37.239
And let me state it. I
know Christians will argue, because Christians love

478
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:42.519
that infocommercial Christianity than actually anything real. Nobody can keep it. You will

479
00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:45.119
never keep it. I don't care. You can stop doing this. You

480
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:49.920
can stop doing this. You can
stop doing this. You can pat yourself

481
00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:52.760
on the back. You can act
like you're so godly and you're so perfect

482
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:57.440
and you're so holy. But let
me tell you, you're a sinner and

483
00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:00.800
you cannot keep God's law. God's
law dems that you are perfect. That's

484
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:06.360
why the Bible says be holy as
he is holy. You can't do that.

485
00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:10.280
That should keep. That should create
the greatest sense of trauma and fear

486
00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:15.119
in your life than anything. It
should bother you. Now, what many

487
00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:19.679
Christians do is try to teach this
concept well see see if you get saved,

488
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:22.679
now you can keep it. So
now this even creates more trauma because

489
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:24.920
you're like, okay, now I
can do it, and then you're like,

490
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.840
wait a minute, I keep sinning, and I keep sinning. Or

491
00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:30.920
you have to start pretending to be
that which you're not. And once you

492
00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:36.519
start pretending to be that which you're
not, you almost have an you know,

493
00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:40.039
you're just being an impostor you're pretending
you have to live a fake life.

494
00:38:40.679 --> 00:38:45.079
You have to cover yourself in robes
of self righteousness, and who knows

495
00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:49.079
how many leaves of you know,
fig leaves. You have to cover your

496
00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:54.000
your sin and shame. You got
to pretend. And the church is filled

497
00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:58.519
with everyone pretending to be so godly
and so righteous, and over and over

498
00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:00.920
and over you see you like,
sorry, your fig leaves just fell off,

499
00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:08.239
and yeah, you're exposed, all
of us, see anyone reading the

500
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:15.800
Bible. We should feel the sting
of the law. We should feel the

501
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:21.159
shame and the guilt and the humiliation
that comes from the law. We should

502
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:24.880
actually feel that we should stop all
of this pretending that we do it.

503
00:39:25.159 --> 00:39:30.599
The church would be better off if
we would all admit we're broken, messed

504
00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:37.320
up failures. We are the dumpster
fire of humanity. We are broken,

505
00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:42.239
vile people. It's not Lord,
I thank THEE that I'm not like these

506
00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:47.920
people. It's Lord, I am
unworthy to even look up. I am

507
00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:52.559
unworthy of anything. I'm a sinner. I have violated your word and thought.

508
00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:58.519
I have violated your word and word
and deed and action and desire and

509
00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:02.800
feelings. Perpetual state of disobedience to
your command to be holy as you are

510
00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:07.599
holy. I am in a perpetual
state of disobedience to your command to love

511
00:40:07.639 --> 00:40:08.599
you with all your heart and mind, body and soul. I'm in a

512
00:40:08.599 --> 00:40:13.320
perpetual state of disobedience to love my
neighbor as myself. I am a selfish,

513
00:40:13.480 --> 00:40:16.679
narcissistic jerk who only wants my own
way. I serve myself, worship

514
00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:20.679
myself, and love myself. That
is what I am. Internally. Oh

515
00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:23.159
externally, I've cleaned up the outside
of that tomb, and I look really,

516
00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:27.039
really, really good, and I've
got everybody full. But when I

517
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:30.760
lay down at night, I know
what a piece of trash I am.

518
00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:39.400
That should cause a little bit of
trauma. Now, this is where the

519
00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:45.159
proper distinction of long Gospel is so
important. Instead of trying to pretend that

520
00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:50.320
now we have the ability to keep
it, what we should do is realize

521
00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:52.159
the only way to get rid of
that trauma, the only way to get

522
00:40:52.199 --> 00:40:55.360
rid of that anxiety, the only
way to get rid of that worry and

523
00:40:55.400 --> 00:41:04.199
that fear, is to embrace the
sternness of the law. It's it's sour,

524
00:41:04.360 --> 00:41:07.440
it's it's pain that it brings,
so that we can then run to

525
00:41:07.639 --> 00:41:19.400
the absolute, full, unfiltered,
uncensored sweetness of the Gospel, which is

526
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:24.480
not that we are made better,
but that Christ is perfect and His perfection

527
00:41:25.079 --> 00:41:29.880
is given to me, so that
I stand before God perfect. In my

528
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:35.880
position in Christ, I'm a new
creature, not in practice. In Christ.

529
00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:37.199
In my position, I'm a new
creature, the oldest past away.

530
00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:44.079
All things have become new in Christ. In my position, I am perfect,

531
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:46.039
I'm holy, and I'm righteous.
That's the only way to get rid

532
00:41:46.079 --> 00:41:51.280
of the drama or the trauma and
the well and the drama. That's the

533
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:52.760
way to get rid of everything.
That's the only way you can lay your

534
00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:57.800
head down at night and rest is
because you know, Hey, today,

535
00:41:58.119 --> 00:42:01.599
I know I failed. I know
I sin I know I sinned and thought

536
00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:07.239
desire. I know I messed up
a million ways. For every way I

537
00:42:07.320 --> 00:42:09.920
didn't mess up, there were ten
ways I did. But you know what,

538
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.119
I can go to bed not because
I'm gonna do better tomorrow, not

539
00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:16.639
because I'm even gonna try to do
better tomorrow. I may even do worse

540
00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:24.199
tomorrow, but because I know I
am perfect in Christ. I think the

541
00:42:24.199 --> 00:42:32.320
Bible should be causing far more trauma, far more anxiety than Christians wanted to

542
00:42:32.320 --> 00:42:37.559
say that we wanted to just always
be positive. But no reasonable person can

543
00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:42.079
read this and not come away going, man, this is some disturbing stuff.

544
00:42:43.239 --> 00:42:45.840
Where why would God? Where was
God here? Why why would God

545
00:42:45.880 --> 00:42:50.039
do that? Where is God?
God? So? God does this,

546
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.039
but he doesn't do this. So
he helps here, but he doesn't help

547
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:54.840
here. He provides here, but
he doesn't provide there. Well, what

548
00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:01.960
is going on? God dep sin
in a miraculous way to stop this from

549
00:43:01.960 --> 00:43:05.719
happening. But then in another way, he's like, I'm not gonna help

550
00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:07.440
here. I'm not gonna help,
not gonna. I'm not gonna intervene.

551
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:12.039
You go ahead, you murder a
man, commit adultery. I'm not gonna

552
00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:15.880
intervene. Oh I'll intervene after it's
all said and done and send someone to

553
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:17.719
tell you how bad you are.
But I'm not gonna do anything to step

554
00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:22.639
in to stop you beforehand. But
in other situations, God intervenes, dunt

555
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:25.039
du da, I'm gonna stop this
from happening, or I'm gonna I'm gonna

556
00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:29.320
change the whole course of history.
And you're kind of like, well,

557
00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:36.800
could you parted the Red Sea?
But you couldn't just I don't know,

558
00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:40.239
just do one little thing to stop
David from having a man killed. I

559
00:43:40.480 --> 00:43:49.760
just just like one little thing,
these kinds of things. But the most

560
00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:55.239
disturbing thing is God's law, God's
law, God's law, God's law God.

561
00:43:55.480 --> 00:43:59.639
Every day. You know what I
learn? Then I'm an idolater.

562
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:02.800
You know what I learn every day. That I'm a murderer, That I'm

563
00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:07.000
an adulterer, that I that I'm
a I covet, that I do this

564
00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:10.639
and that I do that, that
you name it, That I'm a fool.

565
00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:15.480
I'm prideful, I'm arrogant, I'm
conceited, i am unloving, i

566
00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:24.960
am unforgiving, I'm definitely unholy.
Now I'm not excusing any sin. Please

567
00:44:25.039 --> 00:44:30.800
don't don't. Someone will misinterpret what
I'm saying is we have to just be

568
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:37.239
willing to face and feel that shame
and humiliation because we're confronted with it every

569
00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:42.639
day. It can lead you to
trauma. They can lead you to real

570
00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:47.840
trauma. And what's so frustrating is
if you seek counsel, maybe from a

571
00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:53.119
pastor or from you know, maybe
some some Christian counselors, they're going to

572
00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:54.480
be like no, no, no, no, no no no, no,

573
00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:58.159
no, See, the Bible should
bring it should be all positive.

574
00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:00.519
And you're like, no, I
think, if I really read it,

575
00:45:00.599 --> 00:45:04.519
I have to be How do I
it's not that the Bible shouldn't cause this

576
00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:07.119
trauma and anxiety. I think it
should. Now, how what can I

577
00:45:07.159 --> 00:45:09.960
do with it? And I think, then if we read the Bible correctly,

578
00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:15.079
then we know that the Law is
supposed to do that. God's holiness

579
00:45:15.159 --> 00:45:21.559
is supposed to absolutely destroy us and
disintegrate us and fill us with shame and

580
00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:25.280
humiliation and fear. And though we
run to the sweetness of the Gospel and

581
00:45:25.320 --> 00:45:31.079
we hear Christ did it all for
you, It's all taken care of in

582
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:37.320
Christ. His righteousness is imputed,
not infused to your account. You stand

583
00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:42.719
in Him perfect. Then you can
have some peace. Now, you say,

584
00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:45.639
but that peace should be permanent.
In some ways it's permanent, but

585
00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:47.199
in another way, every time you
open the Word, you're going to be

586
00:45:47.239 --> 00:45:51.440
confronted again with the Law and you're
going to have to run to Christ again

587
00:45:51.639 --> 00:45:54.320
for that peace. It's kind of
a cycle. The Law should constantly break

588
00:45:54.360 --> 00:46:00.000
you and the Gospel should constantly comfort
you. But at the same time,

589
00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:07.679
let's be honest, all this other
stuff in the Bible. It's if it's

590
00:46:07.719 --> 00:46:10.360
not bothering you. I don't know
how people people will read the Bible,

591
00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:14.239
And I'm like, how are you
not utterly disturbed at this point? I

592
00:46:14.239 --> 00:46:16.079
don't know it's the Bible, God
does whatever. And I'm like, what

593
00:46:16.119 --> 00:46:21.039
do you mean whatever? Any reasonable
person right now would be having a nervous

594
00:46:21.079 --> 00:46:24.039
breakdown, going what is this?
I don't understand this, how this story

595
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:28.360
is so troubling? And the average
Christian sitting of the view like I don't

596
00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:30.159
know why, what's the problem?
Amen? Raise God? It's all good

597
00:46:30.159 --> 00:46:32.400
to me, And it's like,
what are you talking about? Are you

598
00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:39.960
not reading? You should be bothered
greatly, but no, because they've just

599
00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:45.280
been so trained that it's just all
supposed to be positive. It's all supposed

600
00:46:45.320 --> 00:46:50.679
to be rainbows, puppies, kittens, roses, skittles, I don't know,

601
00:46:50.960 --> 00:46:53.599
unicorns. Everything's supposed to be the
praise God. You know it's so

602
00:46:53.800 --> 00:46:58.599
good? How come no one's like
I was reading my devotionals today and I

603
00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:02.039
am disturbed beyond all comprehension. I
am broken, I'm humiliated, I feel

604
00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:05.800
shame, and I just don't understand
God. No, no, no,

605
00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:07.840
No, you're not supposed to say
that. You're not supposed to say that

606
00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:12.639
someone's car alarm is going off,
right, probably because I was talking so

607
00:47:12.760 --> 00:47:15.159
loud, all right, and they're
probably now yelling out the front door.

608
00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:22.800
Be quiet. You're disturbing me and
causing anxiety. Okay, But I look,

609
00:47:22.679 --> 00:47:27.719
the study showed in twenty twenty one
that those who read the Bible more

610
00:47:28.159 --> 00:47:34.760
experienced greater levels of trauma, stress, and anxiety. I don't think the

611
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:37.760
I don't think there's a cause and
effect. I don't think you can say

612
00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:42.679
reading the Bible causes this. I
think in most cases those people were already

613
00:47:42.679 --> 00:47:45.519
experiencing high levels of stress and trauma
because what was going on in the world,

614
00:47:45.679 --> 00:47:49.760
and they were picking up and reading
the Bible trying to find hope.

615
00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:52.679
The Christianity Today article seems to argue
that the people did also have a greater

616
00:47:52.760 --> 00:47:57.559
sense of hope from reading the Bible. So I think that that clearly proves

617
00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:00.000
that people came to the Bible with
their hope, with their anxiety, fear,

618
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.360
worry, and trauma, and found
some sense of hope. Now,

619
00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:07.280
my concern is they may have found
a sense of hope from a complete misreading

620
00:48:07.320 --> 00:48:12.519
of scripture and a misapplying scripture.
But that's a whole different subject. I

621
00:48:12.639 --> 00:48:16.159
wanted to take it and just kind
of argue, as if it's true.

622
00:48:16.960 --> 00:48:21.159
What if it's true, Well,
it doesn't change the truthfulness of the Bible,

623
00:48:21.360 --> 00:48:25.039
because truth, in many cases induces
worry, anxiety, fear, and

624
00:48:25.079 --> 00:48:30.440
trauma. At the same time,
I wanted to put forth the argument that

625
00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:38.559
maybe, just maybe we should be
more bothered by what we read, maybe

626
00:48:38.559 --> 00:48:43.719
we should actually act like we believe
it. Look, I've been in churches.

627
00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:49.119
They'll start reading from First Corinthians eleven
before they do the Lord's Supper,

628
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:51.639
and then I'll watch them just hand
it out like it's candy. And I'm

629
00:48:51.679 --> 00:48:55.000
looking around the church, going they
don't even know half of these people what

630
00:48:55.079 --> 00:49:00.679
is happening here? Or they're just
like, if if you're here today,

631
00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:02.519
you're invited to partake. I'm like, you don't even know who I am.

632
00:49:02.920 --> 00:49:06.440
You can be handed me something that
could kill me, Like, I

633
00:49:06.920 --> 00:49:09.480
come on, now, we gotta
do bad. We don't. So when

634
00:49:09.519 --> 00:49:13.559
I when I see that, I'm
like, people don't really believe it.

635
00:49:15.239 --> 00:49:19.480
I've told you before in one of
the Bible institutes, I attended. We

636
00:49:19.480 --> 00:49:22.000
were reading in the Gospel of Matthew, and we were reading some other verses

637
00:49:22.039 --> 00:49:29.440
about marriage, divorce, and remarriage, and the pastor who was the head

638
00:49:29.440 --> 00:49:31.880
teacher, he's like, you could
just open your bibles and rip those verses

639
00:49:31.920 --> 00:49:37.119
out of your bible, because if
any church actually tried to apply these scriptures

640
00:49:37.639 --> 00:49:44.320
first, that would be calling most
of the people in their congregation possible adulterers

641
00:49:44.360 --> 00:49:46.480
because they're married, divorced, and
remarried. And even if you believe the

642
00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:51.039
Bible allows it in some cases and
many in many cases, they wouldn't even

643
00:49:51.079 --> 00:49:55.599
meet the supposed reason offered here,
even if you believe that there's a reason.

644
00:49:55.960 --> 00:49:59.320
So he would be like, so, you're not going to do anything

645
00:49:59.360 --> 00:50:01.119
about it, because you'd be like
looking at all these people, going you're

646
00:50:01.119 --> 00:50:07.280
living in adultery, So stop having
physical intimacy with one another. They're going

647
00:50:07.320 --> 00:50:08.960
to look at you like you're out
of your mind. You're not going to

648
00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:13.440
stop them from, in many cases, serving in the church. You're not

649
00:50:13.480 --> 00:50:15.599
going to stop them from partaking of
the Lord's supper. So just rip that.

650
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:20.039
Nobody really believes it, because if
they really believed it, it would

651
00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:23.039
be a it would disrupt the entire
church, because most churches are made up

652
00:50:23.079 --> 00:50:30.199
of large numbers of people who are
divorced and remarried. But nobody wants to

653
00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:32.800
go away a minute, I could
I actually be in an adulterous relationship?

654
00:50:32.920 --> 00:50:37.280
Well, if I am, what
am I supposed to do? See,

655
00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:44.719
nobody wants to have that conversation because
that leads to trauma and anxiety. Now,

656
00:50:44.960 --> 00:50:46.760
some people will say, well,
I'm in Christ, I'm forgiven,

657
00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:51.920
so okay, Well, then by
that logic, hey, those two teenagers

658
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:54.079
over there are committing premardal sex.
They're in Christ, they are forgiven,

659
00:50:54.199 --> 00:50:58.639
so just keep committing the premartal sex. Because those people up front, they're

660
00:50:58.679 --> 00:51:01.960
divorce married, they were married,
divorced and remarried. They're committing adultery.

661
00:51:02.079 --> 00:51:07.920
Hey, hey, but they can
keep having physical relations so because they're forgiven.

662
00:51:07.039 --> 00:51:09.599
Well okay, Well then the homosexuals
come in. Well, I mean,

663
00:51:10.280 --> 00:51:14.679
they're in Christ, they're forgiven,
so why tell anyone to stop anything.

664
00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:17.559
So now you start applying it that
way, people get mad and get

665
00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:22.280
angry. I understand it, because
that's a just Look, I don't have

666
00:51:22.360 --> 00:51:28.360
any easy answers. I don't.
That's a difficult passage because it's mentioned numerous

667
00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:30.599
times. We have the Matthew passage. Some people call the Matthew passage the

668
00:51:30.639 --> 00:51:36.440
exemption clause. Now we could argue
the exemption there is what would happen in

669
00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:42.360
the betrothal stage, because that's the
very gospel that talks about hey, before

670
00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:45.199
they were, you know, fully
married. Joseph is like, I'm going

671
00:51:45.239 --> 00:51:49.559
to put away Mary, you know, because well she's been found pregnant.

672
00:51:49.559 --> 00:51:52.800
But that was in the betrothal stage, right. So many people would say,

673
00:51:52.800 --> 00:51:53.760
well, then, if we're really
going to apply this to our modern

674
00:51:53.840 --> 00:52:00.960
thing, this would be breaking up
an engagement because of a section and morality,

675
00:52:00.360 --> 00:52:02.920
not once you're married, because what
God has joined together, no man

676
00:52:02.920 --> 00:52:07.280
should put us under till death.
Do you part? Now? Typically,

677
00:52:07.679 --> 00:52:12.840
even in our vowels, we don't
say I'm marrying you unless we make these

678
00:52:12.920 --> 00:52:15.880
vowels supposedly we make them before God. And guess what's left out of the

679
00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:22.039
vows I married you? Unless you
do ABCD, then I'm free to put

680
00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:25.039
you away. We don't because nobody
wants to say that in their wedding because

681
00:52:25.039 --> 00:52:29.039
it would make everyone uncomfortable. Well, then that's why I say do away

682
00:52:29.079 --> 00:52:32.400
with vowels right. That's why I
always say, just say, do you

683
00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:36.159
take this man to be your husband? Yes? Do you take this woman

684
00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:38.119
to be your wife? Yes?
The end. Don't add anything else to

685
00:52:38.159 --> 00:52:44.599
it. Don't add anything else to
it, because that you can keep that

686
00:52:44.719 --> 00:52:47.239
vowel I promised to be here.
You don't talk about for how long.

687
00:52:47.519 --> 00:52:53.320
You just that's the best. I
know that destroys the fantasy of it,

688
00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:58.679
but I think that's then then nobody
can violate that. But again, that's

689
00:52:58.719 --> 00:53:01.280
a part of the Bible that nobody, nobody wants to deal with because it's

690
00:53:01.320 --> 00:53:06.079
so uncomfortable. It's what do we
do? What do we? I don't

691
00:53:06.119 --> 00:53:07.719
know. I don't know what we
What do you do? I don't have

692
00:53:07.760 --> 00:53:10.760
any easy answers, because on one
hand, I believe that no matter what

693
00:53:10.840 --> 00:53:19.559
sin you've committed, there's absolute forgiveness, and you know that it's all forgiven

694
00:53:19.719 --> 00:53:22.719
and it's been removed as far as
the east is from the west, and

695
00:53:22.920 --> 00:53:25.639
we move forward. I completely believe
that. But if we understand the Bible

696
00:53:25.679 --> 00:53:30.840
correctly, if you're in a relationship
now that's considered adulterous, then you just

697
00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:32.679
keep committing adultery over and over and
over and over. And over and over

698
00:53:32.719 --> 00:53:37.119
and over. Do you just then
say, well, it's all good because

699
00:53:37.159 --> 00:53:39.679
I'm in Christ and I'm forgiven,
so I don't need to stop the behavior.

700
00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:43.800
But then if you stop the behavior, well then what are you doing?

701
00:53:44.280 --> 00:53:47.320
Now you're in a marriage relationship and
you have no physical intimacy? Well,

702
00:53:47.360 --> 00:53:52.159
the Bible also warns against that.
So then like, ah, I'm

703
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:57.639
ah, which one trumps the other? Does the Bible's call for physical intimacy

704
00:53:57.639 --> 00:54:02.159
within marriage trump the call trump the
scripture about well, now if you're married

705
00:54:02.239 --> 00:54:07.360
in divorce and remarried, you could
be committing adultery. Which one trump's the

706
00:54:07.400 --> 00:54:10.800
other? Obviously no one knows.
And guess what everyone's gone with, Well,

707
00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:14.960
the one that is just like,
hey, now you're married, the

708
00:54:15.039 --> 00:54:19.079
other is forgiven and you just move
on, okay. And I understand why.

709
00:54:19.159 --> 00:54:22.039
I do understand why. By no
means am I'm trying to be critical.

710
00:54:22.079 --> 00:54:23.960
What I'm trying to say is,
these are the things that should disturb

711
00:54:24.039 --> 00:54:28.519
you and cause trauma to you as
a Christian. But what we have we

712
00:54:28.519 --> 00:54:31.119
always find an easy way around it, so everyone just feels comfortable. But

713
00:54:31.159 --> 00:54:38.840
it's weird. We find an easy
way around some things and then other things,

714
00:54:39.079 --> 00:54:44.480
we make no allowance, no finding
a way around it, and we

715
00:54:44.519 --> 00:54:52.559
want absolute total annihilation and destruction and
finish them and crucify them, and they

716
00:54:52.599 --> 00:54:57.679
should never speak again. And it's
like, well, I'm a little confused,

717
00:54:59.400 --> 00:55:02.519
and I've talked about this dilemma many
times. It's so weird. In

718
00:55:02.519 --> 00:55:07.000
a church, you can be like, this person is getting church disciplined for

719
00:55:07.039 --> 00:55:08.480
this. You're like, but you
got five people in the church. You're

720
00:55:08.519 --> 00:55:14.760
divorced, married or was married,
divorced and remarried. There's a possibility even

721
00:55:14.760 --> 00:55:17.840
if you believe in an exemption for
that, there's an exception clause for in

722
00:55:17.880 --> 00:55:21.679
some cases for divorce. Even some
of them are not going to meet it.

723
00:55:21.880 --> 00:55:23.920
So that means they're in adultery.
Why are we not doing anything about

724
00:55:23.920 --> 00:55:29.000
them? Well that's different. Oh
okay, all right, okay, Well

725
00:55:30.639 --> 00:55:34.519
that's good to know. So sometimes
what you want to counsel is like,

726
00:55:34.559 --> 00:55:37.280
hey, here's the deal. Here's
the deal. What you need to do

727
00:55:37.159 --> 00:55:42.199
is you just get divorced, go
get remarried, and then come back to

728
00:55:42.239 --> 00:55:45.400
the church, and then you're good
to go. That's the way you're in.

729
00:55:45.599 --> 00:55:47.840
Just go get a divorce boom,
get married, then come back and

730
00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:52.519
then everyone will think you're great.
Now, I'm not saying, Look,

731
00:55:52.679 --> 00:55:55.920
I'm not saying there's any easy answers
here. I'm not I'm not saying in

732
00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:00.840
any way, shape or from Please, no one misunderstands. I am not

733
00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:04.559
saying what's right here. I'm not
saying what's wrong here. I'm not making

734
00:56:04.639 --> 00:56:08.360
any condemnation at all. What I'm
saying is when you confront things in the

735
00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:14.800
Bible that times, they can be
very traumatic and unsettling and cause you sleepless

736
00:56:14.880 --> 00:56:17.400
nights and cause a lot of stress
because in many cases I don't know if

737
00:56:17.400 --> 00:56:22.840
we have good answers. Now.
What I do know is, no matter

738
00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:27.239
where you find yourself, no matter
what sin you find yourself, you know

739
00:56:27.320 --> 00:56:30.239
what your only hope is. Is
some cases there is no good human answer.

740
00:56:30.400 --> 00:56:32.679
But I know you can run to
Christ, and you know what,

741
00:56:32.920 --> 00:56:37.440
no matter what your situation is,
no matter what it was, no matter

742
00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:45.079
what it will continue to be.
I do know this though in Christ there

743
00:56:45.159 --> 00:56:47.719
is absolute forgiveness because He has died
and paid for all of your sin,

744
00:56:49.239 --> 00:56:53.599
past, present, future, all
paid for and in him. Even though

745
00:56:53.639 --> 00:56:58.000
positionally you may be in a situation
where who knows how to even define it.

746
00:56:58.119 --> 00:57:02.400
But guess what in Christ you are. You're perfect and holy and righteous.

747
00:57:05.519 --> 00:57:07.119
But I can see where it's going
to cause a little trauma. So

748
00:57:07.519 --> 00:57:09.719
I know, on one hand,
we don't want to say the Bible should

749
00:57:09.760 --> 00:57:14.320
cause any trauma, but I think
the Bible is actually designed to cause a

750
00:57:14.360 --> 00:57:22.599
lot of trauma. You know why
because sinful people are being confronted by a

751
00:57:22.639 --> 00:57:28.519
holy God, and there's always going
to be trauma and difficulty, and we

752
00:57:28.559 --> 00:57:30.920
are being confronted with thoughts that are
not our thoughts, ways that are not

753
00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:38.800
our ways because they're too high for
us. No, I know, I

754
00:57:38.960 --> 00:57:42.800
just dealt with the divorce issue,
and now people are going to be all

755
00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:45.480
mad at me. Look, don't
be mad at me. The scriptures talk

756
00:57:45.480 --> 00:57:50.880
about it in a number of places. God's feelings about divorce and this,

757
00:57:51.079 --> 00:57:53.320
and hey, if you marry a
woman to put her away and she marries

758
00:57:53.360 --> 00:57:57.480
another, she's now an adulter.
All these verses, right, Like,

759
00:57:58.199 --> 00:58:00.119
it's not me, you got to
deal with the don't get mad at me,

760
00:58:00.519 --> 00:58:04.760
because I'm not saying one way or
the other. What I'm saying is

761
00:58:04.800 --> 00:58:07.320
that that even in Bible College,
they were kind of like there's no way

762
00:58:07.320 --> 00:58:10.519
you're going to be able to do
anything with this in your church. You're

763
00:58:10.599 --> 00:58:14.239
just not. If you try,
it's going to be a total and utter

764
00:58:14.360 --> 00:58:16.280
mess. Well, well, how
are you even going to work this?

765
00:58:16.719 --> 00:58:21.039
And and so they even acknowledged the
difficulty, and I'm like, what it's

766
00:58:21.039 --> 00:58:24.000
now. At the time, I
was young, going whatever, whatever,

767
00:58:24.079 --> 00:58:27.360
I'll show you. And then you
become a pastor and you're kind of like,

768
00:58:27.360 --> 00:58:32.440
wait a minute, how many people
here are divorced and remarried? Oh?

769
00:58:32.880 --> 00:58:37.320
No, what do I do?
What do I do? What do

770
00:58:37.320 --> 00:58:38.000
we do? What do we do? What we do? What do we

771
00:58:38.039 --> 00:58:42.159
do? How do I handle this? What's the answer? I don't know

772
00:58:42.199 --> 00:58:46.639
the answer? Okay, in church
history was this is the answer some gave,

773
00:58:46.800 --> 00:58:50.480
but others didn't like that answer.
I don't know what the answer.

774
00:58:50.559 --> 00:58:52.000
You know what? I don't know, But you know the one thing I

775
00:58:52.039 --> 00:58:55.960
do know is I can take all
of our drama and all of our trauma,

776
00:58:57.039 --> 00:58:59.320
and all of our stress, and
all of our anxiety, and all

777
00:58:59.320 --> 00:59:02.280
of our sin, and all of
us can find peace in the finished work

778
00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:13.480
of Jesus Christ. And trust me, I got so much sin in my

779
00:59:13.519 --> 00:59:15.360
own life. I don't even know
what to do with it ninety five percent

780
00:59:15.400 --> 00:59:17.679
of the time. But I do, well, you know what, I

781
00:59:17.679 --> 00:59:21.280
don't know what to do with it
one hundred percent of the time other than

782
00:59:21.320 --> 00:59:25.559
I can only do one thing,
and that's run to Christ. That doesn't

783
00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:36.360
excuse anything, doesn't excuse, but
it's the only hope. Does Bible reading

784
00:59:36.440 --> 00:59:39.159
lead to more anxiety, worry,
and stress? M I'm skeptical of the

785
00:59:39.199 --> 00:59:44.519
study. Should it lead to more
worry, anxiety, and stress? I

786
00:59:44.559 --> 00:59:50.159
think it should because I think that
demonstrates the more you're bothered by what you

787
00:59:50.280 --> 00:59:54.679
read, the more you're troubled,
the more you're you are just don't know

788
00:59:54.719 --> 00:59:59.719
what to do. I think that
indicates someone who's really trying to read the

789
00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:05.800
biok as it is and facing it, no matter how ugly it may be.

790
01:00:06.400 --> 01:00:08.719
I think people who don't have that
problem, I don't think they're really

791
01:00:08.760 --> 01:00:13.440
reading it now. And I know
that's kind of a dogmatic assertion, so

792
01:00:13.519 --> 01:00:16.440
maybe that's just my hypotheses. You
can tell me what you think. You

793
01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:21.760
can email me at news i F
at yahoo dot com. That's news I

794
01:00:22.119 --> 01:00:30.199
F at yahoo dot com. Thank
you for listening. Now go read your

795
01:00:30.199 --> 01:00:37.760
Bible, experience that trauma and run
straight to Christ because I don't have any

796
01:00:37.760 --> 01:00:40.360
other answer for you. God bless