Ethan Hoover & Matthew Maher host Rechurched's first ever Q+R episode tackling several great questions submitted by the community on the content discussed in Season 1. Enjoy!
Questions Covered in This Episode:
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Ethan Hoover & Matthew Maher host Rechurched's first ever Q+R episode tackling several great questions submitted by the community on the content discussed in Season 1. Enjoy!
Questions Covered in This Episode:
Resources:
Learn More:
To learn more about the podcast and your hosts, visit our website.
Looking to sponsor Rechurched? Apply to be a sponsor!
Follow us on Instagram!
Learn More:
To learn more about the podcast and your hosts, visit our website.
Looking to sponsor Rechurched? Apply to be a sponsor!
You are listening to research, a podcast aimed at instigating Christians to be Christian.
Ethan hoover:Hey, what's up everybody? My name is Ethan. You're listening to the recharged podcast and I'm joined by my co host, Matthew Mayer. What's going on? Dude?
Unknown:Hey, what's up, guys? Thank you so much for your support. We've gotten a lot of feedback. I've heard from people in person and online about their appreciation for, I would say the intensity and the integrity of the podcast. So great job, brother. Appreciate you holding the fort down with me,
Ethan hoover:dude. Yeah, always. Well, we only got through about four questions last episode, but it was solid. They were solid questions. Sorry. They're solid questions. They needed solid answers. And we hope that we gave some clarity provided some clarity to those. And yeah, so we're going to do exactly that in this episode again, as well. We have several questions to go over. So we're going to jump right in. And we're going to start with Stan ah, Stan asks, what is the best way to discover a church that is not preaching the psychology prosperity or progressive gospel? In other words, how would you know a church's preaching the Bible as absolute truth? And he continues with Matt, I've been following you ever since your God over government thesis when you ministered at pastor Gary's church? I live in Washington and recently just rediscovered God and got baptized in December 2021. That's awesome. Yes, you are one of the guiding lights in my life. On my path and journey with Christ. He has put work into my life recently, and and I could never be more grateful for his grace and mercy, keep preaching. And I'll be following for sure.
Unknown:What's up? Stan, thank you for your question. And shout out to pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone chapel, I would say I'm grateful for that man of God who allows me to come preach the gospel from his pulpit, which is again, rare in these days. So Stan's question, I think, in dealing with season one, where we definitely teased out the false gospels, by way of the peace, right? So prosperity, psychology, progressive and political. And there's so much more to say about all of those. I would say this, first and foremost, a compromised pulpit. This is important that the compromised pulpit is not Christ pulpit. So if there's a compromise in the pulpit, God's hand of favor cannot be upon that ministry. The state of the pulpit dictates the state of the pew. So if people are coming to be fed the Word of God, and the pulpit is compromising or watering down the Word of God. I say watered down, scriptures produce waterlogged people waterlogged Christians, pulpits have become more or less thermometers in a day where they need to be thermostats. So the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat thermometers, they changed with the times right? The temperature changes based on a thermometer. pulpits are looking at the culture and going you know what, we don't want to address that issue. We want to have the people come back next week. So that'll be on the fringe. That's right. So they conform to the culture, thermostat preaching, you're set to a certain degree, it's a biblical worldview. If the Bible covers it, you're going to teach it, even if it's controversial. So pulpits need to be set on fire by the word of God. And the Word of God alone. Let me give some signs to which I believe can help you identify a compromised pulpit and these false gospels sign number one, huge sign you ready for it? And it'll be it'll be it'll be in doses that you can remember when Jesus serves only as a point of reference, as opposed to a person who deserves all reverence. So think about what I just said, when Jesus is used in a message, but only as a point of reference, though, read the gospel account, something he did, and then the rest of the message is about you doing the same thing. Basically, without using Jesus as the example. As the point of reference. The message is not altered. You still leave feeling like I got to do this. Right. So it's work based it's self effort, it becomes about behavior modification, more or less, as opposed to Jesus being the person who deserves all reverence He is God. So it's not about behavior modification. It's not about what I have to do. It's about what he has already done. The message of Christianity is Christ. It's the esteem of Christ, not the esteem of the Christian. The message of Christianity is Christ crucified, not behavior modified. So that would help you identify the psychology gospel. Psychology gospel is gonna send her messages about you. You're the captain of your own destiny. It'll say, I'll say I'm more or less about, like, self help, type of books, not Christ crucified. So cute messages, carnal methods, cute messages that are very surface, carnal methods. I'm not opposed to what do they call object lessons. I'm not opposed to them, but they can become very gimmicky, gimmicky, gimmicky. They can become very gimmicky. And I think all we need is the crucified, Christ lifted up in the pulpit sign number two. So sign number one, Jesus is only used as a point of reference. He's just an example. He's not the person who deserves all reverence, He is God. So therefore, the entire message should rise and fall upon his personhood. Sign number two, huge one, when God's sovereignty is limited by man psychology, when we think God thinks like, we think I've said that before, when Finn theology states, we think God thinks, like we think so. Therefore, the messages, and the ministries are a reflection of how a man thinks, versus thick theology, which is built on God's sovereignty, knows, God knows more than I know. God knows why my parents had to bury a child, and 2005. We didn't like the way that felt God's sovereignty, gives us a hope that there's a purpose and even loss. Because God doesn't think like we think. So any pulpit that is reducing God's sovereignty, and making it sound like something that man would be responsible for. I want to do that. Do you think like, I wouldn't allow that to happen, because I know what true love is. And it's like, really, and we so discredit the sovereignty of God. I would say there's nothing more comforting to know and God is sovereign over everything. Personally. Sign number three have a compromised pulpit. Here we go. sermons are emotionally driven, but not scripturally grounded, emotionally driven. emotional manipulation is pulpit felony soul robbery, the worst thing that can be done from the pulpit is to convince someone they're saved when they're not emotionalism, a lot of pulpits that are built on the prosperity gospel, or the psychology gospel, and even some of the flavors of the progressive gospel are dealing with emotional manipulation, and not grounded in Scripture. So that how do you listen, you listen and go. I didn't hear a single verse during that message.
Ethan hoover:Yeah. We talked about it in past episodes, too. Well, how do you know, a counterfeit? You study the real thing? That's right. Just like absolute truth. Just like the Bible, you study the real thing. That's right. And then you can tell
Unknown:that's right. That's right. So obviously, that's going to be the biggest litmus test. If it's grounded in Scripture, you'll be able to hear clearly why the preacher is saying what he's saying. When it comes to the prosperity gospel. I feel like the prosperity gospel has lost its momentum over the years. Right? The economy is tanking the world's on fire. People are getting sick and dying from all types of diseases and viruses. The prosperity gospel is no longer as attractive as it once was. These guys are still charlatans. They're still looking through the camera lens and pleading with the people to send them money. So God can bless them tremendously. I think they're losing momentum. I think they're more of a laughingstock these days. But more to say about that and a little bit, Sign Number four would include sin is never addressed in those pulpits. The flesh is always caressed in those pulpits. And anyone can listen without being distressed in those pulpits. Even people come up to me in times past. And whether they were saying their experience themselves, or they were regurgitating somebody else's experience is like, Oh, I can't bring my family this church you know that the message was too hard and heavy. And I'm like, good, like, what do you want? You want Oh, you want me to tell them what they want to hear?
Ethan hoover:Yeah, not what gotcha good person, raise such a good person. They
Unknown:were offended. Well, the gospel is offensive. various vendors know Conversion without conviction. We need to be brought to a place from the pulpit where people are convicted. And we repent, and we want more of God's mercy and grace. pulpits that are compromised will not address in pulpits that are compromised will not address in their messages are always about massaging the flesh again telling you what you want to hear. That's what the prosperity gospel is built upon. Who doesn't want to be happy, healthy and wealthy? They tell you what you are, according to God, like, did you know that the message of the gospel does not really mention the word love? Repent? For the kingdom of God is at hand.
Ethan hoover:Talks about God's love for us but not
Unknown:not like you not object? Yeah, no, yeah. No, if Jesus didn't step in the way, you are the object of God's wrath. Yeah. So like, God does love us. Don't get me wrong, For God so loved the world that He gave His only son. Don't. God loves us. But we got to start from the place of contrition. Yeah. So God loves us. Not because we are worthy. God's love is what makes us worthy. Yeah. Do you see what just happened there? Yeah, huge difference. Final sign of a compromised pulpit, when the message is more about gain being godliness, as opposed to godliness being gained. That's the prosperity gospel. That's the psychology gospel. The message is about gain. What you have who you are, is indicative of your godliness, as opposed to the proper scriptural application is no godliness is our gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain. That's First Timothy chapter six, verse six, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we will carry nothing out of this world. So to stand, Biblical preaching is not popular. And preaching to be popular is not biblical. And you should be able to tell the difference behind the types of messaging that are going out from that pulpit based on again, how much Scripture is being used, and whether or not people are being called to repentance?
Ethan hoover:Yeah, and if you're, like, just moving into an area, you can probably look up their church website, look at their statement of faiths, and see what they believe. And usually that gives you a pretty good idea of where they stand on certain topics. But if you need more clarity on what they believe, and you're just starting to maybe like, look into a church or whatever, I think it's fair to ask for a meeting with their pastor or with their church leadership and ask them some questions, so that you can get a good litmus test of where they stand. I think that is that makes sense? I think so
Unknown:that's practical as for meeting as some very pointed questions about where they stand, but also at the same time, I think you could sit through X amount of Sundays and determine where this Minister's heart is, where's he getting his frame of reference? Is it a biblical worldview? Or is it a cultural view?
Ethan hoover:Moving on Elizabeth II asks, Can you name some current popular pastor slash author slash people that you believe are teaching a false gospel and share which false gospel it is? She also continues with, I've learned so much from listening to this and appreciate that you guys are doing it. Thank you. Thank you, Elizabeth. Min. Matt, start named?
Unknown:Gosh, I wish it's easier for me to answer these types of questions when there is a name mentioned like earlier. Last episode, somebody asked the question about Marcus Rogers, so I was able to address him and some of his theology, which I am not in agreement with, and then simply say, I still believe that brother knows the Lord, but I don't know. Yeah, cuz I don't follow him that close. Yeah. If there was a name like, hey, what do you think about so and so it'd be easier for me to answer that as opposed to name drop, right. I would say and again, this is just me speaking from my hip. That if you were to Google search, top Christian pastors in America, and I didn't do this, I don't know what what the the the search would yield. If you were to do that. I would say it's likely that the top Christian pastors in America rated by whoever, whether it was a poll or consensus of people or a Christian website? I would guess that the majority of them are false teachers.
Ethan hoover:You I'm gonna name them just go ahead, go ahead. Wow, we're getting reached. It's like a mixture. So Paula white, and Francis Chan.
Unknown:I like Francis Chan, but he's gotten a little woke recently. So I'm like, wondering where he's what he's doing. He's not he don't come out with his Bible and just start preaching the word he comes out with, like, you know what, the Lord changed directions. I'm just gonna start talking and I'm like, I can do that. But I don't know if that's the Yeah, I don't know. I like Francis Chan. No. John Piper, John Piper got woke over the past two years, she went on that social gospel gospel bandwagon made some really contradictory statements about politics. And while he's an amazing expositor, I've read his articles all the time. I listen to his sermons as far as, Hey, what is Piper saying about this particular text? And he's usually pretty good. He's got some weird, weird theology out there. So I want to class take it with a grain of salt. Yes, I actually would say, his resources have, from my experience, always been grounded in scripture. But I gotta call spade a spade. Yeah, there's things he said recently, that were more in alignment with the culture than the Scripture. Franklin Graham, Franklin glandt Graham, likewise, this is the son of the late great Billy Graham. Franklin Graham is a minister who preaches the gospel in a very firm way. I would say he to recently again, these this is a discredit the man but like, he went out and told his millions of followers, they should get vaccinated. And I'm going, what research are you reading? People have to make their own decisions. That's why you have medical autonomy, in what goes in your body. And what you just did was Shane Christians, who in their conscience are in disagreement with medical tyranny, which is the state telling you what should go on your body? So I'm going Franklin Graham, come on, brother.
Ethan hoover:What isn't the place for that? No, no,
Unknown:I've actually people ask me all the time. So if you make a decision, I can call out what the government is doing as being wrong and oppressive, and a form of medical tyranny. And we've been lied to let's get that out of the way. We've been lied to over the past two years about COVID. And the stats and and if you're if you're following it, you see that the CDC they keep changing it. Oh, yeah, by the way, 70% of the deaths, were actually from people with comorbidities, four or more. And it's like, we were saying that and 2020. And we were censored silence and called insensitive, and love your neighbor was shoved into my face. And I'm going wait a second 70%. And obviously, there's a lot of there's a lot of data right now around vaccinations, and how they have had side effects. And they aren't what they said they were and Well, anyway, that'll go down that rabbit trail. I'm just saying Frank Graham. He's made statements I'm going come on dude, stick to the gospel. Yeah.
Ethan hoover:So Franklin Graham and then say his name de monde Wilson diamond, Wilson, never heard of him? Neither.
Unknown:John MacArthur, John MacArthur, he is my go to people might be surprised to hear that he's my go to, with what is MacArthur saying about this text similar to John Piper, he's been on the stage for over 50 years in ministry recently came under controversy. Did you know that huge controversy, recently recently, suddenly over something that occurred in his church, and I cannot speak to it because I've read both sides. And the fact that I'm saying I cannot speak to it, somebody could say, oh, you're a false teacher, because you're not going to speak call it out. And like, not call it out. If I'm confident in what is being said, I read both sides. Something took place in his church, where let me just give you the skinny, they had to do church discipline on a woman because of the way she was handling her marriage, or she wanted to leave her husband. We don't know when the report came out. But the husband was abusive. He was abusing the kids. He was abusing her, he actually got locked up for it. So he did jail time. So it's not like it didn't happen. There's a lot of dispute on when it happened. And it did make Arthur and his team overlook it and cover it up because this guy apparently worked for the church. Now again, I'm giving you the Cliff's Notes version. So all this came out, somebody did a report on it. And they're saying that, you know, he should repent, and he should own it and apologize to this family. And I'm going I can't I can't tell you what he should do. If it was me, even if the timeline was inaccurate, think about it. Even if somebody said you mishandled it. I've got I didn't know that piece of information when we were implementing church discipline and sitting them down. All I knew was what I knew. But in light of what you're saying, forgive me. I would never want anybody to be oppressed or abused under my care. I would hope that he would just do that. But apparently his team has not come out with any statement. So come on, guys. We are Christians. If you're accused of something, I want to own it. If it's not true to make a statement, I am saying it's not true. I appreciate the concern if there I'll meet with whoever I gotta meet with to talk it through. But I love John MacArthur's teaching again, what he's saying from the pulpit with the Word of God. By and large is solid. We might disagree on some things, but again, he's he's got the pure gospel. I'm Steven Furtick. Steven Furtick Alright, so Steven Furtick is Elevation Church? Well, let's just communicator great well,
Ethan hoover:yeah, let's call a spade a spade. We wouldn't say Pastor mood, say Speaker I was
Unknown:he's a great motivational speaker, he might use some scripture from time to time. I don't shuddered. I want to put him on my list of top Bible teachers. Right. So is he propagating a false gospel? That's a different discussion. There's things he said that I disagree with completely, which have to do with Jesus and His divinity. So I'll go, man, you miss that your degree off about Christ being God? I don't know, man. Yeah, I'm just saying some of the stuff that guy puts out is be careful. Yeah, I would say be very careful errs on the side of psychology gospel. That's right. That's good. So now you're connecting season one with Dr.
Ethan hoover:Ted Haggard.
Unknown:Don't know me either.
Ethan hoover:John Maxwell.
Unknown:John Maxwell. He's like a leadership. He is leadership guy when I mean, I guess influential Christian or whatever you google search to read this list would yield he is a very popular, I typed in top Christian pastors. Okay. I in my mind thought it would yield like true false pretty
Ethan hoover:well. Well, here
Unknown:ready for the next one. You're ready for the next one. Kenneth Copeland Goldstein, Joel Olsteen. Alright, so Joel Osteen. People will say, Well, he isn't he is a if I had a buzzer here. And the reason being is people go, Well, my my grandma listens to Joel Olsteen. And, you know, she don't really believe in God, but she can she can listen to Joel I'm going alright. Well, Joel is not bringing the replays to repentance, and lifting up the name of Jesus and inviting her to have forgiveness of sins, and a change of lifestyle, then she's just going to enjoy Joel's message straight to hell and the truth. Yeah, so he's a megachurch pastor. All right, here's a better way to look at this. If any of these people were ever invited on Oprah, or Larry King, or any other talk show, and they weren't booed off the stage, it's likely that they are people pleasers. And they are probably preaching a false gospel. Let me say it like that. Because those questions that you're asked on those shows, Hey, so what's your stance up on Jesus can do you have to believe in Jesus to get to heaven? And God's like job like? Well, you know, I believe that, you know, Jesus, I can't judge their heart. That's right. So he says, Yeah, and I believe there are I've written I've met Muslims and, and Buddhists, who all you know, they love the Lord, too. They love their God. It's like, no, the answer is no, the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ period. And that message is offensive. And that message is going to get you opposed by people who don't believe in that message. Is there other people on that list? I'll say one more, because I don't know the other one. But Andy Stanley, ooh, Andy Stanley recently, actually, he reiterated something he said recently that he's built his ministry upon he says, The Old Testament is not applicable to us today the church. So it's like are you just throw out half of the Word of God, I wonder what he means by that. He's teased it out. He's been confronted by he, in my opinion, again, fits into categories of like, Christian leadership, teaching people more about how to like lead organizations and ministries and families versus preaching the word of God, his father, I listened to frequently Dr. Charles Stanley, I would point to him way before the sun, so the sun is, again, I'm not following these guys closely to see what they're putting out. But what I do see at times, usually gets me to cringe and go, Oh, yeah, that is not something you just sit by that much. What about? I keep thinking of this. I could see your face in my mind. A lot of people follow some of these women preachers. Number one, Joyce Meyer, that's the one I was thinking of. That's that's a really popular one. People love her.
Ethan hoover:What is she a quote unquote, Pastor?
Unknown:I'm not sure if she identifies as a pastor or a speaker. That's a whole different discussion. Do you believe women can be pastors? Yeah. Right. So maybe we'll talk about that in season two. Urban Meyer is a false teacher. That's an easy false teacher. What she puts out is just complete, nonsensical, like, and I know there's a lot of ladies out there we love Joyce Meyer. She's not preaching the whole gospel, she is actually going the complete opposite direction. Beth Moore similarly pull away like they're all They're all saying the same stuff. TD Jakes is popular, with yield in the circle. The search into that great communicator really opens up my mind. And as he teaches certain texts. God has some weird theology when it comes to Jesus, and dominion and like, it's like pick and choose almost like it's weird. Oh, just be guys spend time in the Word of God at the same time that I can say to somebody, you know what, I don't think they're preaching the pure gospel. There's people out there that would accuse me of not preaching the pure gospel, and would classify me as a false teacher. And I can handle that. And I would be willing to say, Why do you say that? Well, because you brought up politics from the pulpit. Well, that's not what makes me that's not what makes somebody a false teacher, right? It's when you compromise the message of the gospel. And the gospel is built on Jesus Christ, His life, His death and His resurrection. And the Old Testament Scriptures point to it. We've covered that before. The New Testament Scriptures obviously solidify it and help us walk out our Christian faith.
Ethan hoover:Next question comes to us by charity? Well, kowski she asks, does God's Word say anything about defending our lives or the lives of others against evil? That it is okay? If I were to be put in a situation where I would need to take someone's life rather than let them hurt my children? What would your biblical wisdom be on this? And she continues with, I'm not sure if this question will fit in with your first season topics, but I thought I would send anyway,
Unknown:I'll take it. It's a great question. A lot of people struggle with
Ethan hoover:this. She also adds a little bit more background to her question. She says God's Word speaks of laying down our lives and to not hold on to our lives, right. I'm really walking through a season of pressing into this as I watch the world around me falling deeper into deceptions and lies. I draw close to Jesus and go to God's word for truth and wisdom and direction. But I also have four children that my heart breaks for. As I watched the world we live in crumble. God's Word says that he must be our first love before anything. I understand this. But living in this world of crazy, I can't help but think I may be in a situation someday, where I would need to protect my children from harm. This is where my question stems from. I do believe the Holy Spirit would lead me. And we really can't plan for these things, but would like to hear any wisdom you had to share on the topic of defending our lives against evil. I am absolutely loving this podcast. And I thank you for your dedication of the truth of God's word. Thank you for your time.
Unknown:Thank you for the context. Thank you for the question. It's in regards to self defense. It sounds like Yeah. And obviously there are plenty of scriptures that talk about us laying down our life. So that's accurate, not holding on to life. There are plenty of martyrs. From the beginning, the Old Testament prophets were killed from April to Zacharia. Jesus said, from A to Z, you killed the prophets, we killed the son of God, he didn't defend himself. Early Church martyrs, families were murdered. They didn't defend themselves. So I think this question requires great discernment. Because I don't think it's always about being a doormat. People will use verses like Jesus said, If somebody slaps you turn the other cheek. Well, that was always in reference to not paying evil for evil. If somebody, you know, plucks your eye, the law of the day was like, then take both their eyes. So he's like, no, no, no, no, no, if somebody slaps you, whether literally or figuratively, if somebody Will Smith's you know what? That's right. You know, I was in a speaking engagement recently in Mississippi. And it came to my mind that I should have said that I put a picture on the screen of my family. It's me, Sarah and the kids and like, I turned into a joke. So I put it on the screen, always college kids, and they look at the screen. I'm like, I usually go. Our fellows don't look too long at my wife and they'll crack up laughing but in my mind, because this just happened like the day before. In my mind, I was gonna say, alright, fellas, don't look at my wife or with all Will Smith, you. I think that would have had them erupt in laughter. But to che, Ethan.
Ethan hoover:Anyway, continue.
Unknown:So, yes, the scriptures that we hold on to, as far as not repaying evil for evil, or not defending self and have the quote fingers up, don't defend self is when Jesus making a point about going the extra mile or turning the other cheek or if somebody takes your garment, give them your jacket, too. So that really helps frame our Christian responsibility in terms of an altercation, where I feel threatened or oppressed or have an enemy when it deals with life property, the right to own property, your children our property in in in essence, I find more examples in the scriptures of defending what God has entrusted to you, especially You think for a second, we're on the street. And you see pastor Matt Mayer, and you're like, he's just a Christian these days, and you start saying something slick to my wife or you touch my wife. You're gonna get Will Smith. Yeah, that's right. And if somebody just said that's unbecoming of a pastor, well, then I'm gonna call Little John. Yeah. And if you don't know who he is, you don't want to know. Alright, here's Exodus 22. Listen to this ready. Exodus 22 Give some clues about God's attitudes towards self defense if a thief is caught breaking in at night. Okay, so breaking in at night. And a struck a fatal blow. So somebody breaks into your home, it's in the middle of the night. And you retaliate. Right? You defend your property, listen to what it says. The Defender is not guilty of bloodshed. But if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed. Do you see the change in the let's just say the time of the day? Yeah. Nighttime caught off guard panicky you wake up, you feel threatened. You respond. person dies, you are not held, charged, charged, liable. Sun comes up. It's during the day, different type of perspective. You see it come in, there's no threat. They just want to rob you. You got to use wisdom. You don't want to retaliate or defend at the expense of life if that's not what the threat was bringing to you. Does that make sense? Yeah, so I think deadly force, as even in Scripture should always be a last resort. That's an Exodus verse. So that's like, that was just for Israel, however, but it's like, no, no, it's also civil law. Right. Right. It also includes private property. And the right to in America, bear arms. That's another question. Should Christians even bear arms? Well, it's, it's part of our laws in certain states. So I would weigh my answer on this. In each circumstance. It's hard to answer these questions because it's like, Alright, you're talking about protecting our kids, you protect your kids at all cost? If you're talking about somebody come up to and go, do you believe in the name of Jesus? Yes or no. And I got a gun to your head. You say yes. And you don't defend yourself. So you see how there's a difference there? Hey, give me your money. Okay, I got away in three seconds. For each in my pocket, give money or fight this dude off, grab the gun. I can get shot. My kids are here. I'm giving them the money. Yeah. Right. But like, so each scenario is going to require a different level of wisdom. Yeah, so that was charity.
Ethan hoover:That was charity will kowski Alright,
Unknown:charity, I will include maybe a link I think which would be helpful to read what the Bible says about some of these verses, and they're not contradictory. So it's not like Jesus said, turn the other cheek, therefore no self defense, while at the same time he told his disciples at one point go by a sword, which required protecting yourself. So
Ethan hoover:I think yeah, what charity said also in her like, her, like additional comments, is like a good place to be in, you know, like she, she knows that the spirits would lead her in, in that moment with wisdom, knowing God's word. And I think that's what exactly what you're saying is, that's exactly what we're supposed to be doing is being led, we would have to be led in those moments, right, by knowing God's word and by the Holy Spirit. And the article that we can include in our resources down in the show notes, includes in the last paragraph, it says, The Bible never forbids self defense. And believers are allowed to defend themselves in their families. But the fact that we are permitted to defend ourselves does not necessarily mean we must do so in every situation. Like I said, knowing God's heart through reading His word, and relying on the wisdom that comes from heaven, will help us know how to best respond in situations that might call for self defense, right?
Unknown:A good example to follow who deals with these types of threads all the time is Victor Marx follow his ministry charity, he is a firm believer in Hey, you're going to walk in wisdom, but you're also going to be aware of danger and how to respond accordingly. So from his school of thought more than from the guy who they made a movie about was that guy's name? He was a conscientious objector. He was unwilling to, you know, hold a gun and shoot people in war, but he wanted to serve. Remember that movie? It's not important,
Ethan hoover:but like, I can't remember it is a recent Oh, it was pretty popular in the theaters. Hacksaw Ridge Hacksaw Ridge is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Mel Gibson and written by engine nine. Oh, that doesn't give me anything. That's
Unknown:great. Desmond das Jessamine das That's right. Yep.
Ethan hoover:An American pacifist combat medic Who as a seven day seven day event is the event is believe that refuse to carry or use a weapon or firearm of any kind See, das became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Right, as well. So we have two questions left. So we're gonna jump right in Jenna G asks, in order to be saved, you need to be baptized. And what does baptism look like?
Unknown:Another baptism question.
Ethan hoover:If you're curious about baptism, we answered this a little bit. Well, that
Unknown:was do you have to use baptized in the name of Jesus right or name of the Father stone?
Ethan hoover:And when we went into some more specifics, I guess more rabbit trails in that in part one of the q&a episode, right. But in order to be saved, you need to be baptized.
Unknown:No. Whoa, whoa, baptism is, I would say an add on, which is encouraged scripturally. Right. Again, it's a public proclamation that affirms an inward decision and transformation, because autism,
Ethan hoover:probably people that got saved, and didn't have the ability or chance to get baptized
Unknown:always use the thief on the cross. He got saved, he's hanging there, he didn't get baptized. Right. So right away, that is an example of that can't be the case, because he didn't get baptized. And Jesus said specifically to him, today, you will be with Me in Paradise, right? So therefore, no theology should be built on salvation plus a work while at the same time, baptism is encouraged scripturally it was part of the Great Commission, as far as the mandate baptize people, because the understanding is, if you truly repent and receive salvation, the very next question is, can I get baptized, I want to show the world around me that I am now identifying with Jesus Christ. That's Romans chapter six, verses three and four, are Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, there's that first association. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism and to death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. So right there, you have the baptism of the cross, and the resurrection rising from the dead in the tomb. And that's what baptism symbolizes.
Ethan hoover:So Jenna, also actually add some comments all that. So she says, in my home church, we believe that a person first believes that his baptized like we're saying, and then they are saved, as it says, In the Bible, and multiple places like Mark 1616, to suggest that we follow that order. Her follow up question is children who are never baptized or were baptized as a baby, when they were brought up in the Catholic faith, are they saved?
Unknown:Right, so great question. We'll talk about that in a second. Remember, if baptism was a necessary agent for salvation, why in the world with the Apostle Paul right to the church at Corinth? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius Paul, the leading apostle. The first missionary, really that was set forth to like plant churches, right to a church and goes, Hey, I'm grateful I didn't baptize. Like that wasn't my priority. My priority was preaching the gospel. Others were baptizing but if it was part of the salvation equation, don't you think Paul would have made it a priority to at least say, hey, we too, need you baptize for Christ and not send me to baptize. He writes, he continues. We what Paul was not sent to baptize. I thought that's part of this whole thing. I was sent to preach the gospel. He writes, not with words of human wisdom, less the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. That's first Corinthians chapter one, verses 14 to 17 in the text, so it's not a requirement. However, it's encouraged. It's part of the progressive process moving forward and your faith. We baptize people every single year. It's part of the process. Our baptism has dates. Okay, so we'll see you on the Ocean City beaches at a certain time and a certain place to get baptized. Well, what if somebody gives her life to the Lord and the baptism date is the following week and they get killed in a car accident to the salvation not stick? No, it stuck, right? Just like it was great error and thinking that this becomes a mandatory function of salvation.
Ethan hoover:It turns into legalism and turns into a stumbling block. Alright, so in a lot of things,
Unknown:first of all, there's no reference in the Bible of baptizing babies.
Ethan hoover:Did you know that? I didn't know that.
Unknown:So the Catholic church baptizes babies, and that history obviously would include, that was a big way of keeping families in your parish, or in your care, the first thing you would do is get the baby what? baptized? So when Johnny becomes five or six, Hey, Johnny, you were baptized in the Catholic Church, it's the best form of indoctrination, because then he's got to go through the next process, which is often confirmation. So now he's in high school, Johnny, we're gonna get you confirmed. Now he's never made a decision to choose Jesus as his Lord and Savior. But now he's in a confirmation class. And now he's in front of the I don't know this, like, I'm not Catholic. And now he's in front of the,
Ethan hoover:what do they call their congregation, priests? And like,
Unknown:they're going through this process and like, it's a big deal. And Johnny's taking a picture and like, they have a party and, and then meanwhile, Johnny don't go to church anymore. But He's baptized as a baby and he had his confirmation. And he makes his confession. It's false salvation. Yeah. It's an it's dangerous. It's very dangerous. How many people think they're saved when they're not so reread the question. But baptism of babies is not scriptural dedication of babies is scriptural.
Ethan hoover:Yeah. So I think the whole point of baptizing babies confirmation, it was just like this long game, for the church, the Catholic Church to keep these families like you said, keep these families like feeling like they belong to their parish, like the mafia, exactly. To keep paying. Meanwhile, they're popping out fake converts, right? And it's just all one big scheme. And it's sad.
Unknown:It's a pope Ponzi scheme.
Ethan hoover:Pope see scheme.
Unknown:Alright, what was the other part of that question about babies and baptism?
Ethan hoover:my follow up question is children who are never baptized, or were baptized as a baby when they were brought up in the Catholic faith are they saved?
Unknown:Well, again, if baptism is not a requirement of salvation, I think that needs to be very clear. So there are some verses that seem to indicate baptism is a requirement for salvation. I think that's where a lot of people get these belief systems from. But the Bible clearly tells us salvation comes by faith alone, in Christ alone through grace alone. So there has to be different interpretations of those verses, like I said, at one point, maybe it was last episode or this episode, some of these examples that people use. I think she said, Mark 1616. Yeah, Mark 1616. Let me read that real quick, because I bet it's more descriptive. Actually, no, this is a great commission. I don't you need to read it. This is the end of Mark, Jesus is given a great commission to that audience. And of course, he writes, he believes in his baptize will be saved, but he does not believe will be condemned. Right. So yeah, that's, that's right. That's the great commission guys Believe and be baptized. Baptism, however, is not a requirement of having salvation. We know that from other verses in the Bible that deal with solely the confession of the mouth, and the belief of the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. So will I object to somebody getting baptized? No. Would I tell somebody to not get baptized? No. But it is not a requirement of salvation, that if that's the question, so if the question was, Is it a requirement? It's a no, just as the one question about Marcus Rogers? Do we baptize just the name of Jesus? No. So bible never contradicts itself. So never think that some of these more descriptive examples are prescriptive. And because they're not necessarily gelling that it's a contradiction. That's not what's happening here. There are examples of people that got baptized immediately. That was part of kind of like, I don't want to use this word, the spiel like you, you just got saved. Okay, let's get you baptized. Because that's kind of the the outward expression Yeah, that your salvation is true. But also, people think they're saved and can get baptized. And because they got, you know, they, they said a prayer to accept Jesus, quote, fingers and then got wet that was saved and there's been no change of life. The indication of salvation is conversion. You've gone from death to life. So your mind your mentality changes, your eyes, your vision, your perspective changes, your words, your communication, it changes. Does that mean you're not going to see something and lost after it? No, it means you catch it when you do. Does that mean you're not going to think bad thoughts? No, it means that there's a spirit inside of you now that convicts you of sin, right? And again, play that out and every single day area, the things I used to do even with my hands. With my money with my life, they were an indication that I was not living for God. There was no fruit of repentance in my life. So that's all I got. Yeah, it's not about doing the right things. It's about the intention behind those things. Really. That's what it comes down to comes down to the heart. God is learning at the heart of heart, the heart so the heart must be given over to Jesus Christ, who is the only one who can salvage the heart. These are all really good questions, and I hope the the answers are helping form and found your faith biblical worldview, like seeing it from a biblical worldview, a scriptural worldview, which is not just cherry picking and taking one verse, and allowing an entire theology to be built around just one singular verse, or one singular expression, or one singular formula, or one singular phrase, all of those types of theologies, they take you further from that one foundational mark and that's Jesus Christ alone, Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures, the prophesied one to come, the Son of God, the word become flesh, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the one who gives us His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, the spirit that fell upon the disciples at Pentecost, the early church that was birthed based on the blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God. And that movement, that institution, made up of believers that were Jews and Gentiles and Greeks, all under one name, the name of Jesus, he broke down the walls of division. So there's no longer Greek or Jew, there's no longer slave or free. There's no longer male or female, for we are all one in Christ. So, start with him, Jesus Christ. If your salvation is in his name alone, then there's going to be fruit to that. Okay, what's the fruit? Well, I want to get baptized. So let me get baptized with an understanding of what it means. So it doesn't matter if he got baptized, unless you understand the meaning behind the baptism. Yeah. And then you live a life, walking out your testimony to God's glory. Right. I'm saved. I'm redeemed. And I want the world to see that. And that brings us to our final question. Oh, there's
Ethan hoover:one more. Yeah, by none other than Jack Lawson, who we both know Jack. Jack asked the question. Jack asked the question. Well, Jack, that's, that's gonna be another t shirt. Just Jack asked that question. But Jack asks, Ethan needs to get recharged. He just said, Jack. I'm gonna have to say his full name. I could not have planned that. Jack Lawson asked. You talked about a speaking engagement where the pastors were visibly shaken by or supposedly to political content? Do you think that it is because of their fear of losing their physical church and the money and livelihood that they built? And what advice biblically, would you share with them?
Unknown:Great question. I would, I would say that's one assumption. I don't know what they were thinking, or why they were offended at the content. I don't know their intentions. So whether or not they're not. So whether they're not addressing certain issues based on the fear of man, or fear of losing congregants, which always equates into we call nickels and noses right peoples in the seats. Money's in the plates. Yes, that would be a very real fear for many pastors who are unwilling to engage some of the issues of our day, because they don't want people to leave. Right. I mean, that's a lot of ministries are built on the fear of man. Yeah. So but I don't know what their actual motives were, in the moment. I could make other assumptions that they may have disagreed, they may land on the other political plane, in regard to those issues that I was addressing, which dealt with, again, when I make statements from the pulpit, that are political. And I say that word with this with the proper understanding, I think people understand the word. So when you say something that's deemed political. I say it from the frame of reference that the word politics is the word Paulus, which is the word citizen or the word community affairs. I'm dealing with things that Christians should care about in the midst of community that affect society. When somebody else hears it, they might automatically assume, well, we don't touch politics. But the point would be, there is a way to touch these things. masks and vaccinations have been politicized. That doesn't mean you can't address them, right. So These people very well could have agreed with the mask mandates. And anybody that doesn't agree with the government's mandates is defying Romans 13, which is, again, I disagree with that interpretation of Romans 13. So now we're on two different sides. You think I should, I think I showed it. And you, you were mad that I brought it up in a way of saying Christian liberty or medical autonomy, or it's not about the mask, stop arguing about it. It's not about the VAX, stop arguing about it. It's about getting back to the church of x. Here we are people who are claiming a God who conquered death. And now we're walking around as if we're fearing death, right? But we're not fearing death pasture, we're just loving our neighbor, you can't get to loving your neighbor without first loving God. And if you really love God, then you're not going to look like the world. And if the world is parroting it, or puppeting it. If the world is in agreement to it, I'm gonna step back as a Christian no matter what the issue is, and go, Hmm, why is somebody like, and I always use this person, because I just think she's so outlandish. It's just funny. And she's not even. She's not even like in the news lately, but I just think of her. Lady Gaga. I just think of Lady Gaga. When I think of like Hollywood, like, if she's saying one thing I'm gonna go, if she's in agreement with that type of living or lifestyle. I'm gonna be on the opposite side until I figure this thing out. Yeah, yeah. And I can I can name a million people that I think of that are godless that need Jesus. And if they're in agreement with something that's happening in our world, I'm gonna step back and go, huh? What other issue? Could I ever come into agreement with that type of person? And chances are, there's not many, right so that that alone tells me something was off the past couple years, in regards to what our world experienced. Oh, Jax, thank you for remembering I said that in a message. Yeah, I'm not sure what they were thinking. But if I had the time to talk to them offline, actually, I did. I do talk to them offline. And I did ask them what they were thinking. And they, you know, basically said, they don't believe certain things belong in the pulpit. And I shot back and said, I think they do belong in the pulpit. And we agree to disagree. And that was that.
Ethan hoover:Well, that about wraps up all the questions that were submitted for the q&a or for season one, it ended up being a two parter, which we actually weren't anticipating. But since we had so many questions, we were able to split it up, and really dive deep. And we hope that both of these episodes really brought more clarity to what we discussed in season one. And even the questions that you guys have asked, we will actually touch on a lot of these things like baptism and, and gifts in season two. And so speaking about season two, Matt, you want to tease out a little bit about what we're thinking for season two, you tease it out, just ever so slightly, in part one of the QSR episode about the church biblically, not historically, right? You said it differently?
Unknown:Well, I think when we consider the church, right, there's this historical lens. And a lot of people assume church history equals church biblically, church biblically, is what the Bible prescribes for the functionality and the intentionality of The Church of Jesus Christ on earth. Just because it happened in church history, does not mean that that's what God expected of his church biblically. Right? And we want to close the gap between the two, for example, a lot of the crusades in the name of Jesus, which led to a lot of life's lost the slaughtering of families, all in the name of Jesus conquering land, that gets credited to the church, and I'm going, none of that may have happened in church history. But that's not the intention that God had for his church biblically. In fact, the true Church during those times was slowly but surely doing what God expected it to do. And we got to discern the difference because right now there's a church that is visible. That doesn't mean that the church that God intended which is invisible, the invisible church, is the remnant. You can't destroy the the invisible Church of Jesus Christ, it constantly is going to keep making, taking ground, making strides taking ground, okay. That's the reason why this little movement that began in Jerusalem, from a teacher named Jesus could not be put out So it's gotta be so much more. And I think over time, the church has been God's influence for good on planet Earth, even though they often get bashed, or they get talked about in a negative light. And I've gotten some of these things that are brought up about the church are true, but that doesn't make it church biblically. Yeah. So there's so many things like the traditions that have come out from the church. Well, that's always how it's always how it's been eaten. So I've gone yeah, but that doesn't make it biblical church. Right.
Ethan hoover:Right. So we're going to look at then back, you know, in the inception of the church, or century, and now where we have come. Yeah, I guess maybe we from all this history, we've strayed away. So we want to close the gap. Yes, exactly. So that is what we're going to focus on in season two. But this is the last episode of season one. And we are going to take a few weeks of break between now and a season two, trailer or teaser, and then the start of season two. So in the meantime, we just want to say thank you, for everybody who has listened, followed along subscribe to the podcast. And man, we have heard so many encouraging thoughts and feedback that is just really cool, really cool to, to hear. And it's really encouraging for us to know that you guys are really utilizing this as a resource to grow and be discipled and refine your biblical worldview. And that's really our hearts doing this whole podcast. So we appreciate every one of you who has listened. If you haven't subscribed yet or followed the podcast, please do. So we encourage you to do that. Especially because if you hit the little bell icon, you'll be notified when our season two teaser and trailer releases in several weeks. But in the meantime, go to recharge podcast.com, learn a little bit more about the podcast, learn a bit more about us, your hosts, and go back to the start of season one. And really listen and really listen. And really listen. We can't stress that enough.
Unknown:I don't think that season one has a shelf life. Maybe some of the examples we used were timely or related to current events. But I guarantee you, no matter when you listen to Season One, I think the content and the substance is still going to be applicable because guess what COVID is going to be replaced by something else. The next political cycle is going to be replaced by something that the next progressive movement is going to be championing something else but right, but at its core, at the core of all of that. They're always the same ideologies. They're just repackaged. Likewise, the pure gospel, a biblical worldview is what keeps us grounded. And I'll say this, and you can close this down, Ethan. We need to know the truth. So well, that's scriptural, that we can discern the lies of hell. No, it's so well, that you can identify it. That's the heart of recharged.
Ethan hoover:Amen. So keep listening along. We can't wait to see what research becomes in the next several weeks in the next several months. And who knows maybe yours as well. But thank you all were blessed by you. See you in season two. God bless