Oct. 31, 2024

Connection: Faith and Reality

Connection: Faith and Reality

More discussion about the reality of sin and the perspective of faith

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More discussion about the reality of sin and the perspective of faith

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. In just a

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few hours, you're going to start hearing some this sound

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at your front door. You're gonna hear that, You're gonna

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hear the doorbell, and there's going to be people standing

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at your door right and you're going to open the

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door and you're gonna be like, wait, they're Spider Man.

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Wait wait, there's there's there's a serial killer from a

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horror movie. There's Jason, there's Michael Myers. Oh wait, wait, wait,

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wait wait, there there's a there's this, there's that. And

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you're gonna be like, what is happening on my front door?

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How did all of these fictional characters show up on

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my front door? What? There's a princess, there's a warlock,

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there's a witch. What is there's there's there's a devil.

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What is happening? Well, you know what is happening because

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well it is Thursday, October the thirty first, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently three zero five pm Central time here

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in West Texas, and that means we're just a few

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hours away before you're going to open your door and

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You're going to see all of these things, spider Man,

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iron Man, who knows Captain America, I don't know, a

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superheroes in I don't know where You're You're going to

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see all types of things. And you know what you're

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actually seeing, right, what you're actually seeing is not really

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spider Man, not really iron Man, not really a witch,

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not really this not really that. You're going to see

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people dressed up because it is Halloween, whether you celebrate it,

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whether you don't celebrate it, whether you leave the porch

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light on and open the door, or whether you turn

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the porch light off and turn off all your lights

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so that no one will bother you. Whatever your tradition is,

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whatever your ideas, whatever you will participate in or not

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participate in. You will if you happen to look outside,

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you're going to see all these people walking, you know,

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down the street, along the sidewalk, maybe even in the

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middle of the street, and they're going to be dressed

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up in all kinds of different costumes. But you're going

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to know that they're just dressed up in a costume. Right,

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You're not going to go with a minute wit a minute,

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wit a minute. No no, no, no, no, no, no, No,

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that's really a ghost, that's really a witch, that's really

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that's really a superhero, that's really You're not going to

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do that because you know what is happening. You have

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some correlation between everyone dressing up, playing pretend versus what

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reality is. There is some correlation. You know, they're pretending.

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You may want them to have fun. You may even

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pretend and go oh and act all scared and play

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along with them. Right, You may even do that, right,

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I don't know. There may be a lot of people

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dressed up tonight, like Caitlin Clark from the Indiana Fever.

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I bet you there's a lot of little girls will

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be dressed up that way. There's gonna be a lot

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of different costumes and characters. And you may play along,

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but everyone knows, Hey, we're just playing along. You know

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that here, here's reality. Here's what we will call fantasy,

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reality fantasy, right, and we know that how that correlates. Right,

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We like to escape into fantasy, but at the same

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time we know what reality is. Right. You don't want

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to get lost in fantasy, but you do like to

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escape there sometimes, right, But you know the difference you

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can separate them. That makes sense, you go to a movie,

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you may. You may in a sense respond emotionally. You

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may respond with a gasp or or shock, or applause,

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or with crying based on what you're seeing on the

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screen right You may. You may because you at so

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caught up into the story that you act and react

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almost as if it's real with your emotions. Some people

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may be more than others. Some people can in a

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sense set aside any of their you know, perception of

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what's real or not real, and just escape into the story.

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Some people can do that. So a lot of that

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will be happening tonight, where there'll be people pretending, people

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playing along. But everyone knows the difference when you go

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into a movie, even though you know the difference, But

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you can allow yourself to just be caught up into

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the story and escape, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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That's great, that's fun, that's wonderful. In a similar way,

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not exactly the same, but just for illustration purposes, just

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to try to connect something that you can relate to

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to maybe something that may be a little bit more abstract.

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So I'm going to take that, which is you understand

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tonight October thirty. First, there's going to be all these

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people in costumes. It's Halloween. You're going to understand that,

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and you're going to know the difference between the pretend

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and the reality. Right, you understand that. But I think

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when we enter into the world of Christianity, I think

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sometimes we have a problem because we have this thing

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called faith. We have this thing that called faith where

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we believe in what we cannot see. We believe and

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a lot of these concepts that maybe seem abstract, we

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can't necessarily see them. They're spiritual, they're not necessarily physical.

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We believe in it. But at the same time we

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live within this reality. And I think sometimes as Christians

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there is not only a conflict between faith and reality.

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I think sometimes we don't know how they connect. When

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should they disconnect, should there be agreement, should there be disagreement?

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How does this work? And it leads to some really

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bizarre things within the history of Christianity. I'll give you

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the most obvious, you know, the most obvious. There's an

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entire stream of theology out there, an entire stream that

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will say, hey, by faith, I believe that the Bible

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teaches that physical fee is guaranteed in this life. We're

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not talking about something in eternity in this life. If

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you will believe you can be healed, it's not if

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it's God's will. It is God's will because by faith.

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I believe that's what the Bible teaches, and I believe it.

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I don't care what I see. God guarantees helly. God

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will fix He can raise the dead, he will raise

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the dead, he will get rid of that cancer, he

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will let you walk again. And they believe it. It

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doesn't matter what reality says. They say they are not

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walking by sight, they are walking by faith. Well, this

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leads to some weird things, right, They're making all of

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these claims and over and over and over. You can

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be like, uh, your claim and reality are in conflict.

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But they'll say, but you're walking by sight. I walk

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by faith. I know you're walking by faith. But look

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around you. People are not being raised from the dead.

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People with missing arms and legs are just they're not

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just growing back all. And a lot of your claims

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of miracles turn out to be fraudulent. So how do

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you reconcile that? For some they don't feel like they

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have to reconcile. They don't care. They just they have

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in a sense they have committed themselves. Dare I say

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to the fantasy, to the dress up, to the pretend,

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and they they are so convinced that these things are happening,

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even though everything around you says, look around, there's a

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hospital here, there's a hospital here, there's a hospital here,

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there's a cemetery there, there's a cemetery there. There's kids

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in hospitals all over the country right now suffering from

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horrible childhood diseases that are terminal, and they're not going

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to make it to sixteen or seventeen. They're going to

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live their lives, in many cases in and out of hospital,

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suffering and suffering and suffering and suffering. Yet you say

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that healing is guaranteed, and so then what do they

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have to Well, then they have to blame the person

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not being healed. You don't have enough faith. It's like

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they've almost entered into a well, a halloween dress up

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and they're playing these characters and you're like, can we

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take the mask off? Can we take the costume off?

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Because reality is saying something completely different. That's one example.

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Another one much closer to what we've been talking about

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for now. It feels like a good portion of twenty

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twenty four is this reality. There is a reality in

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your life and my life. And here is the reality.

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God says, be holy as he is holy, that is perfect,

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that is perfection. You have never been that. You are

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not that, and you never will be that in this life.

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Meaning you will always fall short. Meaning you're in a

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perpetual stat of sin. You cannot fulfill that. You cannot

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fulfill God's law, you cannot keep it. Be holy as

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he is holy, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Do all things without grumbling and complaining. Uh. I mean,

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I can go Love God with all your heartmind, body

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and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemy,

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turn the other cheek. I can go on and on

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and on. You cannot accomplish that. That is a reality,

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ladies and gentlemen. It's an it's not even disputable. You

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live in perpetual sin. That's reality. But Christians come along

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and go no no, no, no, no no no no

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no no no no no no. By faith in Jesus Christ,

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I have become a new creation. All things have passed away,

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all things have become new. You're but but you're but

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there's a conflict here the reality you're in perpetual sin. Well, no, no, no,

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I'm a new creation. Whole things are passed away, all

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things have become new. Like, no, you're still sin, but

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I'm a new creation. No, you're still a sinner. It's

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as if Christians have perfected this. Halloween is not a

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one time event. For Christians, we live in a perpetual

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state of dress up, a perpetual state may of make believe,

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a perpetual state of fantasy and our fantasy. Well, for some,

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as I've already stated, their theological stream is God guarantees healing.

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No reality says it. So, oh, you're walking by sight

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and not by faith. We walk by faith and not

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by saying no reality is healing is not guaranteed. Right now,

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can you stop saying that? Oh no, no, no, I'm

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not taking off my Halloween costume. I'm gonna continue to

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wear it. And then you've got others going look, look, look, look. No.

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When I became a Christian, I became a new creation.

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All things have passed away, all things have become new.

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I can now say no to sin and yes to God.

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I now have been free, freed from the bondage of sin,

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I can do it. And you're like, but you don't.

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If you break one point of the law, you're guilty

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of all the law. So guess what, You're guilty of

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every point of the law, because you're always guilty of

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one point of the law. Because you never love God

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with all your heartmind, body, and soul. You never love

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your neighbor as yourself. You're never as holy as God

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as holy, You're never perfect as your heavenly Father is

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perfect you. I can go on and on and on

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and on and on, but there's this conflict. And if

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you scream wait reality, they're like no, no, no faith.

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And you're like reality, They're like, no faith. Just like

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if you walk up and some kid walks up to

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your door tonight, knocks on the door and open the door,

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and who knows what they're dressed up as it It

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doesn't matter whether something scary, whether something heroic, whether something

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from fantasy fiction, It doesn't And you're like, look, kid,

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I know what you are. You're just a kid. Take

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off the mask, you know, just show you're the kid.

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Will be like what are you doing? What are you doing? No? No, no, no, no,

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I'm really I really am spider Man. No, really, I'm

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really a skeleton. No, I'm really a ghost, I'm really

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a witch, and I'm really a warlock. They're gonna be like,

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what are you doing? Stop ruining my Halloween. Don't I'm

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not a kid, I'm right now. Well that's how many

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that's for some weird reasons. That's how Christians are. No, no, no, no,

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you're still a sinner. No, no, I'm not taking off

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my mask. I'm a new creation. I can do all things.

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I can basically stop sinning. No, you're a sinner. No,

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I am not taking off my mask. It is Halloween

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every day of the year. I'm pretending to be basically sinless.

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Now they always throw in basically because well push comes

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to show, they will admit that they are a sinner.

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It's the same kind of concept we played dress up.

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Oh no, healing is guaranteed. Look around, you stopped with

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your nonsense. Oh no, no, no, you just don't have faith.

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You just don't have faith. You just don't have faith. See,

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if you truly have faith, you would realize that you

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really are a new creature in the old pastway, and

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everything has become new it you've been freed from the

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bondage of sin, and now you can say no to

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sin and yes to God, so I can be perfec Well,

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I mean, well, wait a minute, I thought you just

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said I didn't have enough faith. Can you make up

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your Are we playing dress up? Are we not playing

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dress up? Are we playing We're not playing pretent? It

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is reality? Well, if it's reality, then I can be sinless. Well,

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I mean, come on. And so then it goes back

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and forth, and we've talked about all of this just confusion.

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Now why am I starting? Why have I spent thirteen

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minutes using this kind of Halloween illustration and talking about

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this kind of conflict between basically faith in reality. Just

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as there is a conflict or there's a connection, conflict

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and connection. I want you to see both concepts. There's

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a correlation between faith and reality, and there should be

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a correlation obviously between fantasy and reality. When we lose

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when we lose grasp of reality, whether it's fantasy or reality,

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or whether it's faith in reality, things go horribly wrong. Right.

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There was just the big news story I don't know

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release the last week. I think, in fact my daughter

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sent it to me. I think was it today? Let me.

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Look here.

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She sent me a lot of news stories here today.

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You see here?

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Where is it?

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She sent me a lot? I can't keep track of

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all of them.

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Here here we are, this is the news story. There

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are no guardrails. This mom believes inn ai chatbot is

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responsible for her son's suicide. Let me read that again.

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There are no guardrails. This mom believes an AI chatbot

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is responsible for a son's suicide. This teenager started chatting

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with an AI chatbot that I think was supposed to

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mimic pretend to be a character in games Game of

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Thrones if I remember correctly, And what happened is next thing,

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you know, he's committing suicide. And they're saying, well, he

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got so lost in the fantasy that he forgot reality.

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When anyone gets so lost and fantasy and loses touch

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of reality, we say that's a bad thing, right, We

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condemn that. We're like, no, you gotta stay in touch

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with reality, or once you get lost in the fantasy,

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it's a bad thing. Right. Well, in a similar way,

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what happens when Christians lose touch of reality and fall

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into this faith faith, faith, faith, and they can there's

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almost like a disconnect between reality where you walk around

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telling everyone no, no, no, no no no. God guarantees healing.

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If you'll just believe your cancer will be gone, this

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will be gone, and they and so they say, I'm

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gonna believe it and then they die. Well guess what

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That disconnect between faith and reality leads to pain, suffering, confusion.

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Well what do you do when you run around telling

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everyone no, no no. When you become a a Christian

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you're a new creature, old things that passed away. All

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things have become new. Okay, well, then I should be

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able to stop sinning. See, if you get so caught

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up in the faith part, you've got to keep it

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correlated to reality, to lovel Isn't there a correlation somehow

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between faith and reality? Isn't there some connection? Now? Again,

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as I was saying, and I cut myself off, why

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am I talking about this? Why am I going through

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all of this illustration? Because well, we have been talking

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about some realities in the Christian life that I believe

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Christianity is not they're not willing to accept, they're not

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willing to deal with in any meaningful way. And here

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is the reality you keep sinning even as a believer.

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You will never stop sinning. You're in a perpetual state

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of sin. You cannot keep the law of God. You cannot.

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Now that means that's a reality that many Christians are

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not willing to accept, not willing to acknowledge, and almost

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minimize because they get so caught up in the so

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called faith aspect. Well you've got to see it by faith.

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Well you can try to see it by faith, but

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that faith has to be connected to reality to some level.

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And we have talked about this before. I did an

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entire message on faith versus reality. But here's what happened.

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We've been working through this book, the Sixth Secrets of

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the Christian Life, and I opened it up to chapter

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five for the fifth Secret, and it really started emphasizing

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this idea of faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. And

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so then I just had to step back and go,

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m is faith the secret? If I just have the

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right faith, if I just believe the right things that

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done dun't to done, I have found the secret to

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the Christian life. And I guess I will almost basically

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be free from sin. Now I'm not saying that that's

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exactly how the book puts forth. The argument will actually

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work through the chapter at some point, but it made

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me step back and go this concept the struggle between

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faith and reality. There has to be correlation. So I

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started doing a little bit of work kind of basically

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with this mindset, this kind of question in my mind.

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I basically should I basically asked, I basically.

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Put forth this concept of there being possibly a conflict

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between faith and what isn't seen versus what actually is

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seen and experienced. Right. I started talking about this possible

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conflict because I had read an on Ai kind of

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a summary of chapter five of the book Six Secrets

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of the Christian Life, and it really emphasized this faith

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faith faith faith thing. And so then I basically asked AI, well,

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doesn't this create a conflict between having faith and what

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isn't seen versus what we actually see and experience, because

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you can't just say, well, if we have faith and

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I guess you know, all of a sudden we now

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just we never sin, or like, how does this work?

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Because there's a reality. So AI acknowledged this. Hodge, which

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is the you know, Zaane Hodge is the author of

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the book Hodge's Approach. This is what Ai said, Hodge's

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approach to living by faith rather than site, can create

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a noticeable tension between trusting and the unseen promises of

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God and navigating the realities we see and experience daily.

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This conflict is often part of the Christian experience, as

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believers try to reconcile faith in God's invisible truth with tangible,

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visible circumstances that may appear contradictory or challenging. So AI

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acknowledges this is kind of the conflict in the Christian life.

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We have these supposed promises, these ideas, which in a

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sense are spiritual. They're not tangible, they're in some cases

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they're unseen. But we while we have these, we live

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in the real world, and the real world in many

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cases calls into question greatly some of these concepts. So

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AI gave me this. The sources of conflict between faith

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and sight Number one, they give human natures need for tangibility.

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Humans are wired to rely on their senses and reasoning

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to interpret the world, making it challenging to trust in

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something unseen or not immediately verifiable. Faith, however, calls Christians

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to move beyond sensory evidence to rely on God's promises,

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even if they don't align with visible circumstances. Now, this

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is where the problem shows up. And I think, and

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at least with me and a lot of Christians, because

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they say, lying on God's promises and as long as

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I have a promise, who cares if they don't align

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with visible circumstances. And that sounds so good, and that

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preach is so good, and there is maybe a level

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of that I can agree with, but there is also

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a danger. Charismatics will say, see, we rely on God's

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promises even if they don't align with visible circumstances. God

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guarantees healing by his stripes. We are healed, so healing

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is guaranteed for now. And you're like, wa, wait, wait, wait,

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I don't think that this is a conflict in that

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case between God's promises and visible circumstances. I think because

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you are misinterpreting those promises and misapplying those promises, right,

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see that. I don't think the charismatic issue is that, well,

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they're walking by faith and I'm walking by sight. I No.

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I think the issue is they're putting faith and promises

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based off of misinterpretation and a misunderstanding. Is healing guarantee

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in the atonement? Well, yes, and glorification when there'll be

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no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, and

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will have a new body. Then not for now, So

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it's a misunderstanding. So I believe faith, and now see

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this is where I would would argue, if I put

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faith that there is a time of glorification in a

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new body, that I am putting my faith in that

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which I cannot see, which goes beyond and it does

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not necessarily align with visible circumstances. So in that case,

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it is doing that I am putting my faith in

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something I cannot see that goes beyond visible circumstances. But

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at least it still can be somewhat correlated with reality,

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because they can explain the reality now of people not

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being healed, people not being healed, death, death, death, death, death, death,

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children suffering, people suffering, pain, disease, all the things, because

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it would be remove those promises not being for now,

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but being for eternity. See, then I can correlate. I

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can correlate and connect my faith to reality. So I

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do believe human nature has a need for tangibility, and

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I think that need for tangibility means that there has

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to be some way to correlate and connect faith and

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reality to something that actually works and not basically Halloween

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every day of the year where we're all dressed up

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pretending something that's not the case. Saying when people say, well,

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if anyone's on Christ is a new creature, old things

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have passed away, all things have become new. Well, you

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can put your faith in this promise and say that

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it's for now, but you're going to be living in

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complete disconnect between faith and reality. But if I understand

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that promise to be referencing my position in Christ, if

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anyone is in Christ, that's my position, then I'm a

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new creature. Old things are passed away, all things have

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become new. It is speaking of my positional reality. Now

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I cannot see that reality. It does go beyond visible circumstances,

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but I can believe it and yet remain in connection

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to reality because reality is you're a center. I'm a center,

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Sin Sin Sin Sin. Since then, the big mega church

404
00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:20.680
right right down the street from me, five minutes from

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my house. There's a south side campus and a north

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side campus. I live about five minutes from the south

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side campus. It is the Megachurch here in Abilene, Texas. Right.

408
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.559
Oh wait, here's the breaking news story.

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Youth leader from the church right down the street arrested

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for child pornography. Now, how does that happen? Because the

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reality and people, that's horrible. He's not even a Christian. See,

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that's what we always run. That's our only way to

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be able to see. We can't process that reality that

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someone could be in the church, even be a believer,

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and be committing some horrible sin. We can't process that

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because we want to play dress up. No no, no, no, no, no, no,

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we're all perfect. No we're not. We're sinner, sinner, center sinners,

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and sinner sin. They may not commit your sin, they

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may not commit my sin, but they sin. Oh and

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I can, I can go. I can pull up probably

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I probably pull up five ten fifteen reports probably from

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the last week of different horrible things that's happened inside churches.

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I saw there was a report about some either some

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form of sexual sin, some something bad in a church, right,

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And they said, oh, this is the fruit of once saved,

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always saved. Right, And so I wanted to respond to

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the person and say, oh, yeah, you're right, because all

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of that horrible Catholic sexual abuse scandal, and they and

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it's all because they believe in once saved. Oh yeah,

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that doesn't work. That doesn't work because because churches who

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don't believe in what saved always says they never commit sin.

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So we always got to find some reason to excuse,

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to explain the sin. It can't just be Christians still sin. No, no, no,

434
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we've already given that up and we're playing dress up.

435
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No no, no, everyone's in Christ They're a new creation.

436
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So basically we don't sin. No, we are a new

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creation positionally. Practically, guess what we are? A sinner and

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guess what that means. You can have your faith and

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still be connected to reality. But Christians want to separate

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and so remove the two that we live. We say

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and live and say things that are just utterly disconnected

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from reality. This is where this what cares. This is

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what charismatics do. They live in this fake, fake, fake world.

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All right. So the first thing AI gave me was

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if I can go back here, if I can go

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back here, that human natures need tangibility, We need tangibility,

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but that needing it can create the conflict. And I

448
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think what happens is many Christians start denying that need

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for tangibility and then turn their faith perspective into tangibility

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even when it's not. And I think this leads to

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really psychological just craziness. Number two, visible challenges versus spiritual promises.

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Life's hardship, such as illness, financial struggles, relational conflicts in

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justice often seems inconsistent with God's promises of provision, healing,

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and justice. This discrepancy between present trials and God's promises

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can cause doubt, as it may feel like faith requires

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ignoring or overlooking real life difficulties. And as the thing,

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some people so live in this faith world, this faith

458
00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.240
we'll call it a faith halloween where they're playing dress

459
00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:55.599
up and they just cannot They have some like, well,

460
00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.680
why is all these bad things are happening? So then

461
00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.519
they come up with all, well it's satan, Well it's

462
00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:03.680
free will. They come up with a million excuses because

463
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.440
they just can't accept that maybe their idea of faith

464
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:09.960
and their idea and the promises is that they have

465
00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:14.920
just so disconnected their faith to reality that they've created

466
00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:25.480
a fantasy world. They go on to say a kind

467
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:28.319
of a third idea that society often lives by empirical

468
00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:32.359
evidence and proof living by faith and what isn't seeing

469
00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:36.519
can feel countercultural or irrational within a world that prioritizes

470
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.160
scientific reasoning and observable outcomes. This cultural backdrop can make

471
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.000
faith based decisions seem disconnected or even foolish. Well, listen,

472
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:48.960
disconnected decisions can be foolish because in many cases they've

473
00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:51.920
disconnected it with reality. Yes, we live in a world

474
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:54.559
that should care about empirical evidence. I think we no

475
00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:56.880
longer live in a world that cares about empirical evidence.

476
00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:59.559
That's a whole different discussion, but I think there is,

477
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:03.400
and I think that that conflict should make us go,

478
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:06.039
wait a minute, Wait a minute. Have I so abandoned

479
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:10.240
empirical evidence for a faith concept and that I have

480
00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:15.359
abandoned any connection to reality? Therefore, my theology says things

481
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:20.079
that are just empirically not true. God guarantees healing. He's

482
00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:23.319
doing all of these miracles. Now you're the empirical evidence

483
00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.400
proves that you're a liar, because every time we go

484
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:28.200
investigate your so called miracles, they turn out not to

485
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:34.880
be anything but frauds. Oh, if anyone's in Christ is

486
00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:36.400
a new creature, old things have passed away, All things

487
00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:39.759
have become new Is that true? Practically yes, empirical evidence

488
00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.160
says you're a liar. Okay, so what do we have

489
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:44.319
to do? We have to throw out anyone out of

490
00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:47.440
the Kingdom of God who doesn't quo quote unquote live

491
00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:50.000
up to what we claim. But what we're claiming is

492
00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:57.960
not true. Another issue is many Christians grapple with internal

493
00:29:58.039 --> 00:30:03.240
expectations of how God's promises shouldn't be menifest. I think

494
00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:06.440
any real Christian, any good Bible students, should be like,

495
00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:09.599
wait a minute, if that's what God's promising, how should

496
00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:12.759
that be made manifest in a real, practical way. That's

497
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.319
all I do on the podcast. In many cases, when

498
00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:17.839
I challenge Christianity, I'm like, well, wha wait, wait, wait, wait,

499
00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:23.160
you're claiming the scripture says this, but reality tells you

500
00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.519
that your interpretation here is maddening, it's insanity. It's not

501
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.799
connected to reality in any way, shape orform. Faith in

502
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:39.440
reality should have some correlation with these expectations. When these

503
00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.599
expectations don't align with actual experiences, it can lead to

504
00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:46.839
frustration and disillusionment. Faith then requires trusting that God's understanding

505
00:30:46.839 --> 00:30:50.839
and timing differ from our own, which can be difficult. Now,

506
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:54.039
I think it's not about reconciling. I don't think it's

507
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:57.759
about trusting in God's understanding about timing. Now, I think

508
00:30:57.759 --> 00:30:59.359
what we have to do is sometimes go, wait a minute,

509
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:04.000
is my am I believing something that's not actually been promised?

510
00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:08.599
For example, if anyone's in crisis, a new creature old things,

511
00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:11.599
old things have passed away, all things have become new. Well,

512
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:14.400
if I connect that promise to real life every day,

513
00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.200
that I basically be completely transformed, well, then the only

514
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:21.960
practical reality would be sinlessness. Well, since no one is sinless,

515
00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:24.519
then I either have to argue people aren't saved, which

516
00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:28.200
would include me because I'm not sinless, or maybe we

517
00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:31.200
misunderstand this promise, and then we can say, well, if

518
00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:33.839
we look at it from a theological perspective, this speaks

519
00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:36.960
of my standing before God based off imputed righteousness, and

520
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.759
practically I'm still going to sin. So there, I don't

521
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:41.440
have to say, well, I got to try to come

522
00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:44.480
up with some explanation. No, there, I've been able to

523
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:50.480
maintain the scriptural belief, place it in a correct philological perspective,

524
00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:58.440
and maintain my connection to reality. Now, AI says this

525
00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:03.240
conflict isn't about denying reality. Now, this is where I

526
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.920
don't know if I agree with this statement. This conflict

527
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.960
isn't about denying reality, but reinterpreting it through the lens

528
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:12.799
of faith. Now I get a little nervous there. I

529
00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:17.240
don't think we need to reinterpret reality. I think what

530
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:20.839
we have to do is reinterpret our understanding of the

531
00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:23.680
things we read in scripture that we then create a

532
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:27.680
fantasy faith world, a faith Halloween where we play dress

533
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.240
up to pretend something that's not real. I think what

534
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:33.480
we have to do is reinterpret how we've understood these

535
00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:36.039
things and our faith and go, wait a minute, there's

536
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.960
got to be a way that this correlates better with

537
00:32:38.039 --> 00:32:40.839
reality to some level. I'm not saying this is always

538
00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:42.759
going to be the case, but it has to at

539
00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:49.640
least be a major a major point of it. They say.

540
00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:53.200
Here is some of the approaches Christians take viewing challenges

541
00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:56.160
as faith building. Some believe that visible hardships or opportunities

542
00:32:56.160 --> 00:32:58.279
for God to deepen their faith as they trust Him

543
00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:01.319
to work behind the scenes, even in adverse. So they're like, Hey,

544
00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:04.359
there's these problems, but God's using it. Okay, great, but

545
00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:07.799
you're still acknowledging the problem, and you're still not creating

546
00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:11.119
some idea that these problems should just magically go away.

547
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:13.720
So I think that that is at least putting faith

548
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:19.359
in reality together. Many Christians hold that while what is

549
00:33:19.480 --> 00:33:24.079
visible is temporary and what and while spiritual truths are eternal,

550
00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:27.480
this perspective can provide comfort is that frames current experience

551
00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:31.720
and experience within a large faith centered narrative. Now, I

552
00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:35.119
like this when I see some promises. That promise may

553
00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:38.799
be for eternity, that promise may be about my position,

554
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:42.559
it's not about my temporal practical life. And if I

555
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:46.039
can separate that, then I can have the eternal promise,

556
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:48.799
I can have the positional promise and at the same

557
00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:54.960
time acknowledge the temporal, practical reality. So that means I'm

558
00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:58.799
interpreting the Bible and its proper context because I'm understanding

559
00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:02.599
that's an eternal promise, not a temporary promise, and that

560
00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.960
is a positional promise, not a practical promise. Therefore, I

561
00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:08.960
can acknowledge the position and the eternity, and yet very

562
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:19.880
much willing to acknowledge here's reality. Now. AI went on

563
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:22.559
to say the tension between faith and sight can be

564
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:26.760
uncomfortable and challenging, but Hodges and many other Christian teachers

565
00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:30.960
see this struggles central to spiritual growth. The conflict becomes

566
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:33.960
an invitation to rely less on human understanding and more

567
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.559
on God's promises. See I don't know about that. I

568
00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:39.119
don't think the conflict becomes an invitation to rely less

569
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:44.280
on human understanding. I just I disagree with that. It's

570
00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:48.199
human understanding and how we understand the Bible right because

571
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:53.320
we're using principles of reading, reading, comprehension, reading interpretation. I

572
00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:56.400
know many see, even many Christians. That's why we'll never

573
00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:59.199
agree on biblical harmoneutics, because many Christians believe it's some

574
00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:02.960
mystical thing just praying God will tell me what the

575
00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:05.800
passage means while people have been praying for two thousand years,

576
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:08.039
and if God is telling everyone the meaning of the passage,

577
00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:13.039
something went wrong because nobody agrees. I don't think it's

578
00:35:13.079 --> 00:35:17.639
a it's where we decide to become less to rely

579
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:20.159
less on human understanding. I think this is where we

580
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:24.480
become more acknowledging of human understanding, but at the same

581
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:28.119
time trying to ensure that we're understanding scripture correctly and

582
00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:37.039
light of what we see in experience cultivating a faith

583
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:40.800
that matures it learns to trust in God's invisible yet

584
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:43.760
enduring presence and power. Well, I can trust in God's

585
00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:47.079
enduring presence and power, but I must understand that sometimes

586
00:35:47.079 --> 00:35:51.559
that power and that presence is no guarantee that anything

587
00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:54.679
practically is going to change or anything's going to happen,

588
00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:58.400
because that promises, those promises may be about eternity and

589
00:35:58.440 --> 00:36:05.639
about my position and not practice and not temporary. So

590
00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:09.199
after reading AI, I was like, huh, I got some

591
00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:13.119
problems here. So I questioned AI. I said, well, shouldn't

592
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.679
there be some correlation if someone says things like God

593
00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:20.880
is guaranteed physical healing in this life and God is

594
00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:24.320
freed from sin, so we can say noicein and yes

595
00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.320
to God, and at the very same time, reality says

596
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:31.559
healing isn't guaranteed in any way possible, and Christians obviously

597
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:33.880
can't stop sinning because we never come close to God's

598
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:39.280
standard up perfection. There has to be some place for reality.

599
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:45.079
So AI says, you raise a crucial point that many

600
00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:49.360
people grapple with. There's a real tension between the promises

601
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:53.519
often taught or assumed in Christian faith. Let me say

602
00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:56.760
that again. I love how Ai says that there is

603
00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:01.840
a conflict. There is a tension between the promises often

604
00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:09.920
taught or assumed in Christian faith. Christians just assume promises.

605
00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:13.719
They just hear things being taught in many cases the

606
00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:17.400
teaching of the promises and the ideas. Again, those promises

607
00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:21.079
and ideas are about eternity and positional, they're not about

608
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:23.800
the temporal and the practical. But yet we just assume

609
00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:26.079
that they are. And so then you come into Christianity

610
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:29.079
and they're like, here's your Halloween costume. Welcome to a

611
00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:32.320
life of faith. Halloween. You're gonna play dress up and

612
00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:34.920
you're gonna pretend to be this, this, and you're never

613
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:37.079
any of these things, but we're all gonna pretend it.

614
00:37:37.159 --> 00:37:39.159
We're gonna pretend that this is happening, and we're gonna

615
00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:41.960
pretend this is happening. And someone's got to say, hey, hey, hey,

616
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:53.960
Halloween's over. Take off the costume. It says there's a

617
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.480
real tension between promises often taught or assumed in the

618
00:37:56.519 --> 00:38:00.559
Christian faith and what's actually observed. The expectation that faith

619
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:03.719
will correlate with reality, especially in specific areas like healing

620
00:38:03.719 --> 00:38:08.679
your sinlessness does not does seem necessary for a grounded

621
00:38:08.840 --> 00:38:12.639
honest faith. If you want a grounded honest faith, there

622
00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:17.079
has to be a correlation between faith and reality. If

623
00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:21.280
you disconnect that, it just loses. You've lost, I don't

624
00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:23.760
know what you you You've left the planet. You're You're

625
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:26.480
just over there in fantasy land. It's like, okay, hey, hey, hey, hey,

626
00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:30.199
what's that over there? Oh? Sh be quiet? Why because

627
00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:33.719
they're playing they're playing make believe. They're playing fantasy. We

628
00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:36.079
don't want to We don't want to disturb them. But

629
00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:40.159
but don't don't they shouldn't they wake up? Ssh, they're Christians.

630
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:42.719
We don't want to disturb their make believe world. Let

631
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:49.880
them should be very quiet. Now. I know that's offensive

632
00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:52.960
to many Christians, but that's exactly what happens. There's we

633
00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:59.159
we just we untether ourselves from being connected. We cut

634
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:02.400
away the anchor. We just drift away into cuckoo land. Okay,

635
00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:07.880
that's what happens. Cuckoo for cocoa puffs is what happens.

636
00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:13.519
We have to have a grounded, honest faith. We have

637
00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:16.960
to we have to have a grounded honest faith if

638
00:39:17.039 --> 00:39:19.800
we don't. I don't know what it is at that point.

639
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.960
Now what some people say, if I say grounded and honest,

640
00:39:24.280 --> 00:39:28.960
they'll say, you're teaching a powerless Christianity, you're removing the miraculous,

641
00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:32.519
or I'm I don't know, trying to live in the

642
00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:36.119
world that we actually live in, you know, the world

643
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:39.119
we actually can see. Like you could sit there and

644
00:39:39.159 --> 00:39:42.039
pretend all day. You can stand behind the pulpit and

645
00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:45.320
make all your outrageous claims, but when push comes to show,

646
00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:52.039
reality always wins out. That doesn't destroy the concept of faith.

647
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:58.440
So the importance of this is what AI then says, well,

648
00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:01.599
what is the importance of real list stick correlation and faith?

649
00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:04.840
Oh that's good, Wow, what is important? What is the

650
00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:10.360
importance of realistic correlation and faith? Like? Where does the

651
00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:14.679
How important is reality and correlation with faith? How how

652
00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:19.679
important is it? Well says number one, Faith with integrity.

653
00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:23.239
For faith to hold integrity, it should engage with reality.

654
00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:26.280
If believers are told that God promises physical healing or

655
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:29.000
sinless victory in this life, and the ongoing presence of

656
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:32.199
sickness or struggle with sin feel like a contradiction, leading

657
00:40:32.199 --> 00:40:35.800
to confusion or even disillusionment. There's your faith has and

658
00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:39.039
not just that I think you're living a lie. Faith

659
00:40:39.079 --> 00:40:43.960
with integrity is enough to acknowledge. Guys, guys, come on, now,

660
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:47.920
stop this nonsense. And even in many of the sermons,

661
00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:51.440
especially many that deal with basically, oh, if anyones in

662
00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:54.159
crisis and new creation, whole things have passed away, all

663
00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:56.119
things have become new, You've been set free from sin.

664
00:40:56.199 --> 00:40:58.840
You can say, notice sin and yes to God. All

665
00:40:58.920 --> 00:41:01.119
of them preach that, and we've heard it a million

666
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:03.280
times in all of our sermon reviews. Then they'll say,

667
00:41:03.360 --> 00:41:08.400
but however, you're still fighting against it, You're still struggling.

668
00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:11.360
You just said that I'm a new creation and everything

669
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:13.679
is gone and I'm completely free from it. Why am

670
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.239
I struggling? What am I fighting? That? They and they

671
00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:19.000
contradict themselves because no matter how much they want to

672
00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:22.159
teach that, even they can't go so far to say

673
00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:25.280
you can be sinless because they know deep down they can't.

674
00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:27.840
So why don't we just be more honest with that

675
00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:32.119
and say, hmm, maybe our theology is messed up here,

676
00:41:32.280 --> 00:41:34.559
because you know what, if you don't fix that, you

677
00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:39.400
know what you create, You create a situation where not

678
00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:43.880
now most Christians are good at playing dress up. I

679
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.639
think the majority go to church, they're ready, they're ready

680
00:41:46.679 --> 00:41:49.599
for their their their faith Halloween costume, and they play

681
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:51.920
dress up right, and they're ready, they're ready to go.

682
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:56.679
But there's some I think who look around. I think

683
00:41:56.679 --> 00:41:59.719
these are always the minority. They kind of look around

684
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:01.880
and and kind of like they start taking off the

685
00:42:01.880 --> 00:42:05.840
costume and they're like, guys, what are we doing? You sin?

686
00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:09.280
I sin? God's standard is perfect. Nobody here. What are

687
00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:12.320
you talking about? People being healed? This person died, this

688
00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:14.920
person got sick, this person, what are you talking about?

689
00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:19.440
And they become disillusion and you know what, They'll start

690
00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:24.519
thinking that Christianity is a scam. It's not Christianity as

691
00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:26.800
a scam. You went to a fake you went to

692
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:34.639
a church dedicated to faith Halloween. So I need we

693
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:39.480
faith with integrity. Number two. Avoiding misinterpretation of promises. Many

694
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:44.199
theological traditions interpret certain promises of healing or freedom from

695
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:48.159
sin as ultimate promises fulfilled in the new creation, rather

696
00:42:48.199 --> 00:42:52.440
than immediate ones. This interpretation allows for a realistic faith

697
00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:55.679
that sees God's promises as beginning now but reaching full

698
00:42:55.719 --> 00:42:58.639
expression only in eternity. For example, freedom from sin is

699
00:42:58.719 --> 00:43:01.679
viewed as a positional being declared righteous by God, but

700
00:43:01.800 --> 00:43:05.119
not yet fully practical, still wrestling with sin daily. That's

701
00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:07.559
what I've always talking about that so much of this

702
00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:11.320
is not even as you disconnect faith from reality when

703
00:43:11.360 --> 00:43:16.679
you misinterpret promises. When you go to Ezekiel thirty six,

704
00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:19.559
that's clearly about Israel and say, oh, we get a

705
00:43:19.559 --> 00:43:21.440
new heart, we get a new this, we get work

706
00:43:21.519 --> 00:43:23.559
perfect on the inside. We have a new heart, we

707
00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:26.800
have a new spirit. We've been set free from sin. Well,

708
00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:31.239
you preach it that way. Nobody's experiencing that, so why

709
00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:35.440
are you pretending? But I can understand. Well, first that

710
00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:38.639
promise for a new heart, and ezekiels for Israel, and

711
00:43:38.679 --> 00:43:40.599
they get that right before they go into the land.

712
00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:42.679
So you already got to just put that in its

713
00:43:42.679 --> 00:43:45.840
proper context. But many of the other passages, if anyone

714
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:47.880
is in crisis, a new creational things passed away, all

715
00:43:47.880 --> 00:43:54.000
things wound come new. It's clearly positional, not practical. So

716
00:43:54.079 --> 00:43:58.360
then I can guess what I can still have faith

717
00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:06.599
that's connected to reality. See this interpretation allows for a

718
00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:10.199
realistic faith that sees God, that sees God's promises, is

719
00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:12.360
beginning now, but reaching full expression and an attorney. But

720
00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:15.239
I want you to hear that if a realistic faith

721
00:44:17.079 --> 00:44:28.360
faith connected to real reality, it's a realistic faith. Now

722
00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:33.159
I've got more here. I'm skipping some. A faith that

723
00:44:33.320 --> 00:44:40.320
incorporates reality tends to recognize the role of suffering, imperfection

724
00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:45.559
and brokenness in this life. This view doesn't dismiss faith. Rather,

725
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:48.519
it suggests that faith can grow precisely because of challenges.

726
00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:52.039
Faith in this sense isn't about denying reality, but trusting

727
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:55.920
God's promises for the future while accepting the imperfect, complex

728
00:44:56.039 --> 00:45:02.519
nature of the present. We've got to have that. There's

729
00:45:02.559 --> 00:45:13.159
a balance faith, but there's a reality. Many believe that

730
00:45:13.280 --> 00:45:18.880
a mature faith can hold the tension between God's promises

731
00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:24.760
and the current imperfect state of the world. This perspective

732
00:45:24.800 --> 00:45:29.000
acknowledges that while certain realities don't yet align with divine promises,

733
00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:31.800
faith is still meaningful because it points towards the future

734
00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:35.239
where those promises are ultimately fulfilled. This allows believers to

735
00:45:35.280 --> 00:45:38.039
live with hope while also being honest about the limits

736
00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:42.159
and struggles present in this life. I think that the

737
00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:45.320
more mature you become in your faith, this is what

738
00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:51.039
I think immature faith. You just put on the Halloween

739
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:54.960
costume and you're run around pretending to be whatever because

740
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:58.119
you can't accept the reality. The reality is too much

741
00:45:58.239 --> 00:46:00.800
for you. The more mature you finally like, you know what,

742
00:46:00.840 --> 00:46:03.719
I got to take off the costume. Ladies and gentlemen, Okay,

743
00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:06.599
I'm not this. I'm not this, I'm not that. I'm

744
00:46:06.599 --> 00:46:09.519
a sinner. You're a sinner. God is not healing. All

745
00:46:09.559 --> 00:46:12.239
these supposed things are happening, are not happening. None of

746
00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:15.800
this makes any sense. This is all broken. Come on, guys,

747
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:21.639
let's have a faith rooted in reality. That's maturity. Immaturity

748
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.159
is you just create a fantasy world. Oh you may

749
00:46:25.199 --> 00:46:29.840
talk with much more bravado, you may talk with much

750
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:32.840
more whoo, you've got it all figured out. And you

751
00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:36.119
sound so certain, and you sound so dogmatic, and you

752
00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:39.840
sound so sure, and you're so condemning and you're so judgmental,

753
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:42.519
and you think you've got it all figured out. That's

754
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:46.400
because you're immature. And trust me, I've spent most of

755
00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:57.000
my Christian life right there in the immature classroom. Allowing

756
00:46:57.119 --> 00:47:02.519
faith to correlate with observable reality creates a more sustainable

757
00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:06.599
and resilient belief system, one that holds on to hope

758
00:47:06.599 --> 00:47:11.400
without requiring the distortion of what is tangibly experienced. We

759
00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:25.880
don't distort our reality. We acknowledge it. So when we

760
00:47:25.920 --> 00:47:28.840
get to secret number five and it talks about faith,

761
00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:31.559
we'll see how they handle it. But I just want

762
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:33.880
to see that there is has to be a correlation

763
00:47:34.199 --> 00:47:39.639
between faith and reality. Faith and reality, how do they connect?

764
00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:46.000
Typically we put at odds faith versus reality. There there's

765
00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:49.119
a there's a there's a an attack between the two.

766
00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:54.199
And I understand that right, in some ways, there is

767
00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:57.519
a conflict between faith and reality. So let me try

768
00:47:57.559 --> 00:48:01.360
to explain in some ways there is right if I

769
00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:03.519
believe that there's gonna come a time, I'm gonna have

770
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:05.840
a new hen, there's gonna be a new heaven, a

771
00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:08.039
new earth, I'm gonna have a new body, there's gonna

772
00:48:08.079 --> 00:48:11.559
go wait, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death. Okay,

773
00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:14.760
none of that correlates with reality. Reality would not lead

774
00:48:14.800 --> 00:48:17.199
me to that conclusion in any way. There's my faith,

775
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:22.960
So there is a core, there is a disconnect there,

776
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:25.880
there is a conflict there. But at the same time,

777
00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:30.000
by saying that it's going to happen, but it's not yet.

778
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:33.599
Now I can then at the same time hope, maintain

779
00:48:33.679 --> 00:48:36.320
that faith, but then put that faith in the context

780
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:38.920
of reality and go. But as of right now, I'm

781
00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:41.400
still a sinner. I still have a sinful nature. I

782
00:48:41.440 --> 00:48:43.960
cannot fulfill the law of God. There's gonna be pain,

783
00:48:44.119 --> 00:48:46.760
there's gonna be suffering, there's gonna be death. God's not

784
00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:49.159
going to intervene and do all these miraculous things as

785
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:52.000
he's done in the past. He's not healing people today

786
00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:54.639
as he has in the past. There's just those things

787
00:48:54.679 --> 00:48:57.119
are not occurring, or it would be everywhere twenty four

788
00:48:57.159 --> 00:49:00.000
to seven. It's not happening. And if it does happen,

789
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:04.400
and you're talking about something that's so well unusual, it's

790
00:49:04.400 --> 00:49:07.719
because it's supernatural. It's not natural. It's something that would

791
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:11.199
be so just obviously it's not seen all the time.

792
00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:14.039
It would be everywhere and all and every single time

793
00:49:14.079 --> 00:49:16.280
you hear claims that this stuff. What if we find

794
00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:19.679
out either they won't give us evidence, or they won't

795
00:49:20.039 --> 00:49:22.760
open up, you know, the medical files, or or you

796
00:49:22.760 --> 00:49:24.719
start doing a little bit of investigation, you'd be like

797
00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:27.119
what or they just give you something like, well, this

798
00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:29.880
person was having cancer and it went into remission, and

799
00:49:29.920 --> 00:49:33.159
that happens to atheists too, Okay, and I without even

800
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:37.559
any prayer. Okay, things happen medically that are unexplainable, and

801
00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:40.840
it happens to people who pray. People have different faiths.

802
00:49:40.920 --> 00:49:44.119
So you can, you can try to, you can do

803
00:49:44.199 --> 00:49:46.360
whatever you want with that. But then again you start

804
00:49:46.440 --> 00:49:49.039
trying to make it more pretend instead of connecting it

805
00:49:49.079 --> 00:49:58.239
to reality. There's gotta be got to be. They gotta

806
00:49:58.320 --> 00:50:08.320
be together somehow, they have to be. And I think

807
00:50:08.360 --> 00:50:16.760
the Bible exists with the connection between the two. Right.

808
00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:22.519
The Bible may say that, hey, we're in that we

809
00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:25.800
are a new creation in Christ, and you know, and

810
00:50:26.079 --> 00:50:27.800
the old things have passed away, all things have become new.

811
00:50:27.800 --> 00:50:29.679
But the Bible also says, for I know that I

812
00:50:29.719 --> 00:50:32.440
know that good itself does not dwell in me, that

813
00:50:32.559 --> 00:50:34.639
is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire

814
00:50:34.679 --> 00:50:36.760
to do what is good, but I cannot carry it

815
00:50:36.960 --> 00:50:39.960
out the Bible. The Bible, the same author who says,

816
00:50:40.159 --> 00:50:42.320
if anyone's in Christ is a new creation, old things

817
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:44.400
have passed away, all things have become new, are the same?

818
00:50:44.599 --> 00:50:46.719
Is the same one who said, Hey, I want to

819
00:50:46.760 --> 00:50:48.559
do good, but I can't do it, and I continue

820
00:50:48.559 --> 00:50:51.039
to sin and I continue to struggle. How do we

821
00:50:51.079 --> 00:50:55.639
reconcile the two. Well, maybe the promise it is about

822
00:50:55.639 --> 00:50:58.599
position and not practice, and practice is we struggle and

823
00:50:58.679 --> 00:51:02.800
we sin. See. I think if we put the promises

824
00:51:02.840 --> 00:51:04.960
in the right category and in the right place and

825
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:07.760
in the right timing, then we can maintain our faith

826
00:51:08.519 --> 00:51:11.159
even though it's going to be in conflict to some level,

827
00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:15.239
but at the same time have a correlation between our

828
00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:18.320
faith and the real world of what you know, what

829
00:51:18.360 --> 00:51:22.679
you see, and what you experience. And the more your

830
00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:33.599
faith removes you from reality, the more worthless your faith becomes.

831
00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:43.440
You move towards immaturity and not maturity. I think the

832
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:55.360
Biblical writers constantly acknowledge reality. All right, I will stop there.

833
00:51:55.480 --> 00:51:59.280
It's fast approaching four pm Central time here in West Texas.

834
00:52:00.039 --> 00:52:04.320
Won't be long. People are going to be knocking on

835
00:52:04.360 --> 00:52:08.480
your door. You're gonna open it up. You're gonna see

836
00:52:08.480 --> 00:52:18.079
all these costumes. Now, you know reality versus the fantasy.

837
00:52:18.239 --> 00:52:22.760
You know the difference, and you can allow them to

838
00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:27.840
play dress up, pretend you can even Oh, oh, that's

839
00:52:27.840 --> 00:52:31.639
so scary. Oh iron man, I'm so glad you're here.

840
00:52:32.039 --> 00:52:34.519
There's some bad guys two blocks down the street. Go

841
00:52:34.559 --> 00:52:36.119
catch them and put them in jail. Right, you can

842
00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:40.119
play it long because you know the reality you still

843
00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:42.559
are connected to. You can have a little fantasy, but

844
00:52:42.639 --> 00:52:45.639
still connected to reality. And I think as Christians we

845
00:52:45.639 --> 00:52:51.119
can have faith. It's got to be connected to reality.

846
00:52:51.159 --> 00:52:54.920
And when people stop being connected to reality and fantasy,

847
00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:59.880
bad things happen, really bad things. And when Christians disconnect

848
00:53:00.239 --> 00:53:06.639
reality and their faith, I think theologically, biblically and practically

849
00:53:07.199 --> 00:53:11.320
gets a little weird. You can tell me what you think.

850
00:53:13.159 --> 00:53:15.079
I always want to hear from you, so I appreciate

851
00:53:15.079 --> 00:53:19.199
any feedback you may provide. But for now, go do

852
00:53:19.239 --> 00:53:22.000
whatever you do, whatever you're going to do tonight. Not

853
00:53:22.039 --> 00:53:24.000
here saying telling you what to do or not to do,

854
00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:25.960
because I know Christians will fight about this fro until

855
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:27.840
the end of time, so I'm not here to get

856
00:53:27.840 --> 00:53:31.559
into the fight. I'm just acknowledging the reality that it's

857
00:53:31.599 --> 00:53:34.360
Halloween in the United States of America. You may choose

858
00:53:34.360 --> 00:53:36.039
not to participate in it, but if you look out

859
00:53:36.039 --> 00:53:38.360
your front door, you're going to see the reality of it.

860
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:43.519
So I'm just using that reality to try to show

861
00:53:43.559 --> 00:53:47.159
you that we in some ways play faith Halloween where

862
00:53:47.199 --> 00:53:54.880
we dress up. Thank you for listening, God bless