Broken Church 7

gotbrew@biblebros.net

Transcript

Celebrity Preachers And Pew Problems

David McIntyre 0:00

In this episode of Bible Bros and Brew, we're going to continue our conversation around celebrity preachers and all the junk that tends to come with that, as well as the people who are sitting in the pews that exacerbate the situation. It's important that we who sit in the pews fix the part that we play in this whole story. Up next on Bible Bros and Bird. I'm not alone as usual. I've got with me the illustrious Philip Rich. And over in the corner, back in the back, preferably behind a set of curtains from time to time, just in case he becomes a little bit of a DJing eyesword. On the ones and twos, we've got John back in the back. He's never he can't be hidden. Trust me, I've tried. Gentlemen, welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Oh.

David McIntyre 1:24

So tonight we're uh going to continue our conversation around the subject of celebrity features, but we're gonna focus on the pulpit. And I think I told you back in the beginning as we started talking about this, there are always two sides, two perspectives to this story. There's the pulpit and then there's the pew. And if we don't fix the pulpit, then the pew is going to be forever a problem. But you know what? If we don't fix some of the stuff going on in those pews, well, we just leave the door open for the pulpit to be forever challenged and to be potentially a forever problem. But we don't want to do that, we want to

Paul Calls Out Church Divisions

David McIntyre 2:05

actually take the opportunity to build something good. And so if you guys don't mind, I actually want to jump right into the word, and I'm gonna start by taking a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

Jon Dzyuba 2:22

Beautiful.

David McIntyre 2:24

Now, as we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, um, it's important that we do a little bit of reading here, and and I think that you will, well, I I just hope that you will find this instructive tonight as we dig into this. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, um, Paul picks up in verse 10, and he says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. So in verse 10, we see Paul's intent, right? And it's an important intent. First of all, that we agree, and that there be no divisions among us, that we be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Now, what specifically is Paul talking about? Now, I would tell you just from having read the word, Paul is talking about in all things in Christ. He doesn't want us all to be of these different mindsets and of these, you know, this guy is over here believing this, this guy is over here believing this. Paul is saying there's one Christ, he's central, and we all should share. Uh not only should we agree about that, but there shouldn't be divisions among us about that, and we should be united and of the same mind and same judgment. But now Paul jumps right in to the problem in verse 11, and he says, For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. Cephas was Peter, uh, Cephas was his uh his uh his previous name, but Jesus called him Peter. Um he says, or I follow Christ. And he asked the question in verse 13, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you are baptized in my name. And he goes on and carries on this verse. But Paul is saying here, and we we identify very quickly that there's a problem. And the problem is there's a division that's being created because everybody is trying to say they're of this person or of that person. And let me tell you, I and Philip, I think would agree, we know and have seen this firsthand. This isn't just an old church issue, this is a modern church issue. When we were at the uh large church that we were at together, that same spirit lived. And there was a there was everybody there were we talked about it last week, we talked about the bubbles, and everybody had their own bubble and it was wrapped around this ministry. Well, I'm of so-and-so, and they'd be like, Well, we're of so-and-so over here in Dallas. Well, no, we're of so-and-so over here in Fort Worth. Well, no, no, no, no, no. We're of so-and-so over here in California, and everybody had their bubble, and everybody thought their guy was the guy. Philip, and I am I lying.

Phillip Rich 6:17

No, you're not. No, you're not. You're us we we witnessed it firsthand so many times, just you know, it was honestly similar to like sports teams. You know, it's it had that same kind of vibe, you know. Well, I'm a Tar Heels fan, well, I'm a you know, I don't know, Syracuse fan. It's like whoever, you know, your your local pastor was, for whatever reason, he was the guy that taught the word the best. You know, nobody was preaching the full counsel of God but him, uh, things like that that just seemed to kind of permeate the culture of these different churches, and we definitely felt that um coming from other places and from our own church as well.

David McIntyre 6:56

It it was almost like it was a requirement. Yeah, yeah, you know, you know, you you you just you had, you know, it was like you know, choose your fighter, even though none of them fought one another, you know, that was still just the mindset that it seemed to be there, and so Paul is seeing this in the very first chapter of Corinthians. In fact, it's the first thing he comes out of the gate with to the Corinthians, because what he sees happening here is he sees division being formed, and that's the absolute opposite thing that he wants. And Paul starts us off here by asking some important questions in verse 13, number one is Christ divided? No, he's not, and then he asks an even more important question Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Man, these have some very interesting thoughts in

What’s In The Cup Tonight

David McIntyre 8:08

them. But before we go any further, let's take a moment and let's find out what everybody's drinking to help make them so conversational tonight. Let's look at what's in the cup. All right, now let's take a look around and let's see what everybody's drinking real quickly. Let's see. Let's start with you, John. I here you're drinking something of a cherry nature.

Jon Dzyuba 8:27

Close. This is more of a raspberry nature. Uh it's a chocolate raspberry light roast from I believe it was barissimo. Uh I had to drink it iced just because it felt right. It's too hot in in Georgia right now. So I needed it iced, and I I think that drinking it iced made it even more potent, is the right word. Because that first sip was just like there's a little bit of chocolate and then just like came back around just raspberry. Um it's good. Trust me, like it's like refreshing, and then that raspberry is like punching me right now. Um it's beautiful. How about you guys? How about you, Uncle Phil?

Phillip Rich 9:14

Man, you know, I have been I probably overconsumed some caffeine today. So in light of that, I decided to go with Peregrine's decaf, the uh what is this? The Peru. They're Peru decaf La Vicunya. And it has notes of fudge and praline and hazelnut, dude. All the beautiful things that make flavor just go pam, pow, ping, pow. Just like that. Um, so I'm really sorry. Um, it's been really nice and very pleasant, and as you can tell, I've needed something beyond like something besides caffeine at this point. So, yeah, serving a good purpose here.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Nice.

Phillip Rich 9:59

Uh how about you, David?

unknown 10:03

I think.

Phillip Rich 10:04

Oh, David's on mute. Let me mute while he's talking so we won't echo each other.

David McIntyre 10:10

I've gone back to a new favorite um that my daughter bought me from Brattleboro, Vermont. This is from Mocha Joe's, and it's their Cameroon coffee. And um, hopefully that'll there we go. Uh, this is a dark roast, which I think I told you guys before. I've never really been a dark roast dude, but this coffee has got me thinking maybe I have wrongly judged dark roast. And so that's funny. Uh molasses, walnut, and vanilla. And the thing about it that's making me re-judge dark roast is because of all of the different roast, um, I can't think of another coffee outside of some of these flavored coffees, which you expect them to come through, where the flavors of the coffee have come through so clearly to me. And that's that's uh that's a beautiful thing. So we highly recommend you grab one of these cups

Favoritism Vs Christ At The Center

David McIntyre 11:20

and you enjoy it. Now let's jump back into the world. So, so what is what is your thought as we kind of enter this conversation? What are you thinking about uh what's being said here?

Phillip Rich 11:35

I think it's interesting because you have God's perspective where it says that he is no respecter of persons. I think that's in Acts 10, 34, maybe. And it it's it's other scriptures too where it talks about how he shows no favoritism to anybody, he judges everyone equally according to his standard of righteousness. Um, but then on the human level, you know, we are not uh, you know how Paul told us to be imitators of God in Ephesians 5. We're not being imitators of God uh in in that regard, a lot of times, because we do find ourselves sometimes being respecters of persons, and that's why Paul was saying this in First Corinthians. He was like, Okay, some of y'all over here saying, I follow Paul, you know, he's my guy, I follow Peter, you know, uh, and other guys that he mentioned or whatever, and he's like, Look, man, Christ, you know, you can't split Christ into a thousand pieces, he is we are one body, and we should be of one mind. And I love how um it's just interesting, man, just how real these letters really are. If you take the time to just read them, take any religious goggles off or religious filters off, and just really read what's right written right there. Paul was like, Look, man, I've been hearing some reports from Chloe's people that there's some divisions among you. It's just like, wow, man, you know, that this was evidently like Chloe was somebody who uh maybe she was a host of a uh one of the churches there, whatever it might be. And they had some real problems, you know, they had some real issues with this stuff, and and all of the book of First Corinthians, it's it's it's very much a very human book where he talks about the different times when these people were acting carnal and all those things like that, and they had problems with understanding how to balance their enthusiasm for the spiritual gifts, you know, that's what chapters 12 through 14 are all about. So um, I just always get kind of a kick out of that that these are real people. This was the church in its inception, and what's so fascinating to me is that the same problems they dealt with back then, we're still dealing with them now. Uh, there's still respective persons, there's still people who want to put ministers and other prominent leaders on pedestals and things like that. And it's just fascinating, man, that you know that the nature of human beings hasn't changed for thousands of years, and I don't see where it will. We just have to do our best to try to be doers of the word. So uh David's on mute, I believe.

David McIntyre 14:17

Sorry, that's that's good, Phil. I want to read this a little bit if I could from this commentary to you guys and see what you think about it. It says that Paul's response is striking because Paul refused to enjoy the fact that some people had made him their preferred celebrity teacher. He did not say, at least my group is following the right apostle. He treated the entire personality-centered system as spiritually immature. Whenever Christian identity begins to sound like I am the follower of this preacher, our leader is the only one left, only one telling the truth. Nobody teaches like our pastor, or if you disagree with this leader, you're against God, something has become badly distorted. No preacher was crucified for the church, no pastor rose from the dead for the church, the church belongs to Christ. And I just I I love that. Um because honestly, you guys, and you'll see more of this, I think, probably next week when we kind of wrap this up, but it it's we so when we're not doing this stuff, we work and live out in the real world just like everybody.

Graduate From Leader To Mission

David McIntyre 15:48

But one of the things that we also do is we do a lot of training and instructional design, which means we build curriculum, we we build that kind of thing. The stuff that you get trained on at your job, some of it, the fun stuff, the good stuff, we we do, we do that kind of stuff. The stuff that bores you and leaves you in tears and just wants you to pull out your hair and fall off your chair, we didn't do that. Uh but in the work world, one of the things leadership leadership training tells you is that initially people will connect to the leader. They'll like the leader, they'll like their approach, they'll like the the way that they communicate, they feel like that leader somehow another reaches them or connects them. But that it doesn't become real leadership until they graduate from being connected to the leader to be connected with the mission. Right? So there has to be a graduation that removes the focus from the leader to the mission, and you can you can understand that because initially the only thing that you know it's just like if you go and visit a new church, the only thing that you really know is you get to hear that preacher for 35 minutes to an hour, and that is what you're that and maybe the worship are the things that you're making your assessment off of about how you feel about that church. Yes, there may be some of the touches, you know, somebody greeted you here, somebody greeted you there. Um, but really you're connecting with this pastor and his vision in the church. It's not abnormal for that to be your initial connection. You're like, I like that guy, I want to come back and hear more. A preacher like that that I think stands out right now is Philip Anthony Mitchell at 2819. He's extremely charismatic. Um, but that dude also preaches the word. I could see people being connected to him. But as you begin to hear him teach the word and the emphasis that he puts on your relationship with Christ, you see that he is taking his authority that God has given him and moving you over to Christ. I can't sustain you, I can't do for you what Christ can do for you. Therefore, you should connect to the mission that I'm connected to, and that is mission Christ. That is mission gospel. And who is Christ pointing us to? Christ is pointing us to the Father. So we want to get on that same mission, but so many times, what tends to happen, and it happens in organizations, and it happens in churches, people go no further than the connection to the man preaching. Or they might get highly connected with a small group leader or somebody who's leading a ministry, and they get caught up there, and they never truly connect to the full mission of the church, and that creates problems. That's where you get the Apollos, Paul, Cephas Christ stuff. Does that make sense, Philip?

Phillip Rich 19:37

Sorry, I'm on mute again. Uh yes, it does. Absolutely. And you gotta stay in that mission mindset. You can't get off into the personalities of this, you know, this ministry versus the head person over that ministry, whatever the case is. You've got to make sure that you're you know keeping Jesus at the center because he is the head of the church. Whoever else is, you know, in a position of authority or preaching from the pulpit, whatever the case is, they are simply a servant just like everyone else is. They're another part of the body, just like everybody else is. And then he goes on and says some other things, but I just like the fact that he used that phrase, the chief shepherd, meaning there's nobody else that has that occupies that title. And as a matter of fact, and and I and I I don't mean to be, I don't know, maybe too nitpicky about this, but even if a pastor is coming and saying, My flock, my sheep, they're not your sheep, buddy. That's Jesus's sheep. You are simply a person who's in a position of leadership to kind of help facilitate uh the the workings of that local church, but don't get it twisted. They do not belong to you, they are God's sheep. So you you might feel a sense of responsibility, or even some people say a burden for your flock or whatever the case is. Look, man, look that that's that's not on you, bro. God, I I hate to do this, but I think it's important. Um God has a thousand people in reserve, just like you, that can take your place at a moment's notice. You may not think that, but but what happened happened in that cave when he was like, you know, God, everybody's you know, nobody's serving you but me, and now they're trying to kill me. And you know, and God said, Dude, I've reserved 7,000 people that haven't bowed their knee to bail. God knows what's going on, bro. He overbooks, you know. You if you're in here thinking that you're you know the the head honcho and that you know the ministry is gonna rise and fall. On you, I promise you, and I don't mean to sound mean, I'm just saying, be you know, have some perspective, man. I promise you, you're replaceable. I promise you that. Even after uh Judas went and hanged himself, you know what they did? They rolled dice to find the other, the last apostle for the fulfilled the 12th. Sounds crazy, but that's exactly what happened in the book of Acts. So we we just gotta make sure we have a humble mindset when we approach these things and realize God is the head of it all, Jesus is the chief shepherd, the body belongs to him, the flock belongs to him, you're just an instrument he's using for the time, but you can also be an instrument that ends up in the pawn shop later on. So sorry, I had to say that. Anyway, you get my point. Praise God.

David McIntyre 22:56

Oh, if help me, Jesus. The other thing, just before you make it to the pawn shop, you should realize that this takes the pressure off of you. There you go. That's exactly what I'm talking about. You know, the it's it's all it all belongs to the Father, and he's going to shape that thing the way that he wants it. Your job is just to fall in line with him, do what he says. When there's a need for provision, you begin to request it of God. When there's a need for direction here or there, you request it of God. He gives you direction, you just follow his instruction, and then when he returns, you're returning unto him that which already belonged to him, but hopefully in the condition that he gave it to you and asked you to bring it forward to, which is why we ought not, you know. I know that some people get frustrated with megachurch pastors and all of that, and you assume that the reason why people go to their church is this reason and that reason. Well, some of these megachurch pastors are some really good shepherds.

Phillip Rich 24:03

Yeah. Absolutely.

David McIntyre 24:05

And there's some smaller church pastors who are great shepherds, but then there's some who I'm just saying. I'm just saying. You know, so you you want to be really careful. Okay, but now let's take this a step forward because Paul kicks us off in 1

Milk Faith Jealousy And Strife

David McIntyre 24:30

Corinthians talking about this. He goes on and talks about a few other things, but then in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, he comes right back to this topic again. And and I say right back, he kind of has never left it. He's fused other pieces of the conversation through it. And then as we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we see Paul saying, I'm gonna start in verse 1. It says, But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people. Huh?

Jon Dzyuba 25:05

Interesting.

David McIntyre 25:06

But as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ, I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and even now you're not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. Here's the why. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul, and another I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? In other words, well, you're operating as an infant in Christ at best, but I can't address you as spiritual, but you're a person of the flesh. And now he even gives a more poignant piece to this that it's not just a hey, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of this, but there's jealousy and strife that's now involved in it, as he points out in verse three. So that lets you know that this isn't just a simple, you know, we're connected to, but rather we're we're at odds because I'm from this guy and you're from that guy. And so, you know, you can almost see it at dinners, you know. You know, we don't sit with those people, they're from so-and-so's church. Oh no, that's a Joel Osteen. We know how they do, so we can we don't go over there. Oh, oh no, oh no, that's a Paul Walker guy. You know, those people are kind of nuts, and so and everybody has their thought about every group and all of this other stuff. And Paul is like, when you do this, you're merely human. I I like that merely human term, Philip, because it it the way that he uses merely human here, and I wish I'd taken a little time to study it now that I'm sitting here thinking of it. It says if he strips everything special about you away and says, at best, you are in this beginner baby stage where you need milk to hopefully grow well.

Phillip Rich 27:40

Yeah, yep. If you think about it, this is what's fascinating to me. This just shows you the exalted idea of the new creation in Christ because Paul was like, Man, you guys are supposed to be new creatures in Christ. I've told you this. Uh, you're supposed to be those who are the temple of God, recognizing the Spirit of God dwelling in you, recognizing that you have the greater one living in you, and yet you're acting like a mere human being. You know, it's it's like he recognizes that the the person who's indwelt by Christ, that's a different level, you know. But you're now you're trying to go back down into the place of the flesh and just live a carnal life when you have the spirit of God in you and you can live from your spirit instead of from the flesh. You know, it's kind of like living from the inside out, if you want to uh put it that way. And so, yeah, I like that too. He's like, you know, you you mean to tell me y'all getting caught up on this stuff and getting hung up on these little petty divisions? Man, you're acting like mere human beings when you've got the Holy Spirit living in you, you know? It's pretty pretty fascinating, man.

David McIntyre 28:56

Yeah, and I just want to remind you guys again that this isn't Paul, Apollos, and Cephas having this division, it's the people, yeah. It's the pews, that's right. That's right, it's not the pulpit, and that's an important piece to see because a lot of this podium creating and uh pedestal stands that are created for these people that caused them to fall in the first place are created by the people sitting in the pews, and so we've got to stop doing that stuff, and we've got to be mature, but now let's pick up verse five. It says, What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Or that could even yeah, well, let me leave that alone. Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. So neither he who plants, nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workmanshipers. You are God's field, God's building. According, I let me go on because there's a little bit more here that's good. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So you see here that what Paul is saying, he even takes it to the utmost part. He's like, you know, Apollos and I don't even matter. All we are are the ones that Christ assigned you to to receive this message. We're both preaching the same message, we're laboring and doing the work of the Lord, each one of us in our own places, and Christ happened to assign you to hear Apollos and you to hear Peter and you to hear Paul. So, and then what would happen is they would travel, and then Apollos would come across people who had already been taught by Paul. Paul would cross people who had already been taught by Apollos, and they would preach more on top of that. So that's where you get the concept of one plants the seed, and the other is watering the seed, but the one responsible for all increase is the father, and he's telling you that's what matters, that God gives the growth. Philip, what's your thought?

Phillip Rich 32:15

I love it, man, because he says, you know, I planted, Apollos watered,

Planting Watering And God’s Growth

Phillip Rich 32:20

but then God gives the increase. And it's like he said, and I love how he says, so then the guy who plants really isn't anything, and the guy who waters really isn't all that important, but it's God who makes it grow. And ain't that the truth, man? Like you could plant all day and water all day, but it takes the power of God to make a seed grow. You know, he programs seeds to do what they do, and without his uh uh, I don't know what to call his programming. I mean, we we could we could do our our level best to plant and water all day, but we won't get one single thing out of it without the the the programming of God, that algorithm he put into nature to go ahead and produce things from seed. And I think it's the same way, like because he was talking about you know ministry in particular, it's like, yeah, you could you could preach to somebody that might be some watering, or you might even be the person who's who's planting the that seed for the first time in a person's heart. But let me tell you something, man, don't get it twisted. You have you're being used by God to present the gospel or to to share insight about the word or something like that, but it takes God to illuminate a person's heart, to illuminate their mind, and to help them understand these things, and that and once that comprehension happens, like Jesus said, once they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, then they're converted. But that's something that is the work of God. It takes him to open the blinded eyes of people's hearts, man. So uh yeah, humble yourself, dude. You can be used, and it's a blessing to be used, but don't get it twisted, man. It's only God who can make that thing grow and produce something.

David McIntyre 34:04

Yeah, you know what's wild is um back a couple of years ago, uh Philip and I uh at the same time we were experiencing the joys of uh uh growing stuff outside. Yes, and you know, and in hindsight, when you think about it, um in in all the because I'd gotten involved, you know, vegetables, and then I was like, oh my gosh, and there are all these marigolds, and there's this and there's that. And so by the time you know I was done with it, I'd been to Home Depot a hundred times, I'd looked at 6,000 plants, about 13 of them home. I had seeds, you know, I had zucchini seeds, and then you know, I had the this trebadour plant that did this and had a little trumpet on the end. I forgot what it's called and all this stuff, and I'm just like, I'm let's grow whatever. Oh no, and then we had we were growing those tomatoes kicking like nobody's business. We had little tomatoes, and we're like, This is the most amazing thing, there's fruit, and then you know, I I'm watching, and I'm watching this zucchini get born, and it's like, look at this thing, and then you become somewhere all I did was drop it in the dirt. I was barely even needed to water it from some of the times that stuff got overwatered just because I was out there trying to do extra and be farmer job out there and and just water the water, you know, look at me standing out here with the plants, just water, and up there growing stuff, and you know, looking at the plants, and you know, I even at one point went out and you know, dusted some pollen on another plant to help it grow, and all the while this stuff is growing, and we'd go on vacation and come back, and it would still be growing, and it let you know really quickly that it wasn't you, dude. That stuff could have literally fell off the trunk on the side of the road, been sprinkled in just a little bit of dirt, and taken dirt, and still would have done exact we had, I don't even know how one of our most impressive plants was uh was a little herb tree that Lori just planted a little bit in front of our mailbox, and um man, by the time we moved out of that house, we couldn't pull that thing out of the ground, and it was huge and it was bushy and it was wonderful, and it was so it was so fragrant. Um, I forget what herb it was, but all the while realizing it was out by the road, I was never really watering that thing, I was never doing anything with it. God was doing what he programmed in those plants to do, and so it was very easy to become a humble farmer because when you realize that it's all him and it's not you, and all you do is you pray that God will provide the sun that the plans need, the rain that the plants need, and that you'll be wise enough to see if there's a problem where bugs might come in, and you'll do your part to help fight those bugs off. But it's God, it's always been God, it will always be God, and we've got to move out of the way. And once again, it goes back to something that Philip and I have taught on this podcast and John as well uh humility, humility it takes humility to sit in the pews of your church because you know what? I sit in my church pews, or sometimes on Bedside Baptist, I know. But I listen at my church and I don't sit there and say, well, if I had preached it, I would have gone this way. I'm grateful for the word, I'm grateful for a church where the word is preached and not a bunch of foolishness that I don't have to necessarily wade through a bunch of junk to try to get any meat, and that they do know how to both feed a meal of milk and some meat so that everybody gets to eat. Right, right, and so remember, and I'll I'll I'll kind of wrap us up here, Philip, if you don't mind. If we'll just look at the if we'll scoot down in verse three and look around verse um. Verse 21. And it kind of brings us to this point, to this head and this conversation, in light of everything that we've talked about, everything we've heard, it says, Let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's. In other words, it just brings it down to the simple fact that it all belongs to Christ, including you. Yeah, you belong to Christ, and because you belong to Christ, He's given unto you all things that pertain to life and godliness. Godliness, but never ever lose sight that you don't have all of those things by your own doing, by your own works, because of what some other man did, but because of Christ and Christ alone. And remember, even Christ is the work of the Heavenly Father for you and for your benefit. What's your thought?

Phillip Rich 40:44

Uh it's beautifully put, man. I I can't even add nothing to that, dude. Just you know, the way that Paul wrapped that up at the very end, it's just a huge reminder to us that all things really are of God. It's it's like what he said in 2 Corinthians 5 when he said, if any man's in Christ, he's a new creation, old things are passed away, all things have become new. And then the very next verse, I think it's verse 18, he says, and all things are of God. And then Ephesians 2, he says, We are his workmanship. You know, we didn't create ourselves, we didn't save ourselves, we are his workmanship, created in Christ unto good works. By grace, you're saved through faith, and it's not from you, it is the gift of God, right? So um always remember that none of this was our idea, right?

Repentance Practical Changes And Closing

Phillip Rich 41:35

No, no, no. Amen.

David McIntyre 41:38

I'll read this last little bit of this um this commentary. It says the congregation should not be treated as belonging to the preacher.

Phillip Rich 41:49

Amen.

David McIntyre 41:51

The preacher belongs to Christ, and so do the people.

Phillip Rich 41:55

That's good.

David McIntyre 41:56

So never uh never lose yourself in that. And if you're look, I'm gonna tell you, I'm guilty of this. I'm not telling you because I have avoided it, in fact, I have fallen prey to it. And so I I've come to you and I come to you as someone repenting of that old stinking thinking, that old way of being, and coming to you saying I recognize that it has always been and it always will be about Christ. So when I say that if you need to repent and if you need to deal with this in your life, um, there's nothing wrong with needing to do that. Because in this world, sometimes it's very easy to lose sight of what matters most. You can get caught up in all of the hubbub and all the stuff that may be going on in and around your church and um absolutely lose sight of things. Once again, I've been a person who's lost sight of what's important in the church, and it's caused me heartache and trouble, but I'm also on track, and I'm seeing it more and more clearly every day. And I want you to be on track, and I want you to see it more clearly every day, and it starts with repentance, it starts with a heart that comes to God and says, God, I've been acting like a mere human, I've been acting like a child when it comes to this stuff, and I have propped people up, and I have made men my God rather than allowing you to be who you are. Forgive me, Lord. I repent of that. Help me to get it right, help me to set myself on the right path, and then walk differently from this. point forward and as you do that you'll recognize that there's something different you'll recognize it in your study time because you'll feel like you're eating more solid food again than you are drinking from a straw and things um things begin to work the way they're supposed to and then you might have to make some decisions. Maybe when you awake from this you realize you're in the wrong church or maybe you realize you're mispositioned in the right church. Maybe you need to go and sit on the other side of the church away from these people that are dragging you into the swirl with them. Maybe you need to reconsider who you have given your devotion and affection to in the church even though you might have a good church but you're caught up with some other leader that's got you believing that they're the main character and not Christ. So consider your ways is what the Bible tells us to do. Consider your ways and then repent and allow God the opportunity to work something different in your life. Philip that's about it wraps it up any other final thoughts from you or anything you want to add to that perfect I I I can't I can't add a thing.

Jon Dzyuba 45:32

Yeah I I that's it yeah good stuff chocolate any final thought from you yeah I I like your analogy of the pot of you know being able to grow flowers and grow things in your garden. Not flowers but food but I think that in the midst of it all you you let God do everything and then you remember and you realize that even though he's doing it all he's allowing you to just be a part of it. And I think that's the beautiful part of it all. Like you mentioned you're not he's not asking you to do the work. He's just asking you to to be there be obedient and listen and you get to be a part of it. I think if I I'm not gonna drone on about it but I think about these stories about these characters what if Noah said no what if Jonah said no what if all these people just didn't want to I believe that these the things that God wanted to happen were going to happen it was just whether Noah was going to do it or whether somebody else was going to do it. Uh you you get to be a part of God's story when you decide to let God take charge.

David McIntyre 46:52

We always are so many of us are trying to be main characters in our own lives and all of that good stuff but man when you become did no even know that God was giving him main character strength at that moment you know did Moses but even just look at some of the minor prophets you know you know look look at how they impacted how Israel moved they didn't know they never knew but later on their stories have become a part of our learning and our training and our growth and we're getting to see all of this stuff but in the midst of it all we begin to realize God has always been the main character. He is the ultimate main character. Yes and in the immortal words of the Lord of Rings there's only one Lord of the rings and he does not show power so uh take that for what you will all right you guys we're out of here thanks so much for being a part of this episode with us really take to heart what we're saying here and and revisit how you approach church how you approach your own place in church or in the gathering place you know and how things should work because God has an order and when we are in order all things can work the way they still don't forget to connect with us on social media you can find us on TikTok you can find us on Instagram we're also floating around out there in Facebook world for those of you who use that anymore I get it if you do you're probably born in the 80s um and that's okay that's okay in the 90s too so um everybody jump out there and join you can also visit us on the web at BibleBrosbrew BibleBrosebrew.com and you can also reach us by email at got brew at biblebrosbrew all right until next time I was just thinking back to make sure I said that right every time until next time I'm David again that's Phillips he's John and we are out of the