The Pack Bible Podcast: Week 1

This week we read through Mark 1-5, Psalms 1-5, and Exodus 1-5.

Pack Bible Podcast: Exodus, Psalms & Mark - Week 1

Join Glenn, Forrest, and Mike as they kick off the Pack Bible Podcast, a companion to Radiant Church's Fall Bible reading plan!

This week, they dive into the first chapters of Exodus, Psalms, and Mark, sharing their observations, questions, and personal takeaways.

Discussion highlights include:

• The Messianic Secret in Mark: Why did Jesus often tell people to keep quiet about His miracles? Glenn explores the historical and theological reasons behind this "messianic secret."
• Jesus' Omniscience: Forrest raises a thought-provoking question about Jesus' knowledge as both fully God and fully man. Did Jesus choose to limit His divine attributes while on earth?
• The Power of Psalm 1: Forrest shares how Psalm 1 resonated with his personal experiences and sparked reflection on the importance of choosing wise counsel.
• Balancing Relationships and Faith: The group discusses the tension between avoiding ungodly influences (Psalm 1) and intentionally engaging with unbelievers (Jesus' example). They emphasize the importance of a strong inner circle of believers for support and accountability.
• Finding Delight in God's Word: Glenn encourages listeners to approach Bible reading not just with discipline, but with a sense of joy and anticipation of encountering Jesus.

This podcast models the kind of engaging conversations you can have in your own Packs! So grab your Bible, the reading plan (in the show notes), and join the discussion!

Join a pack!
Bible Reading Plan

*Summaries are generated using AI. Please notify us if you find any errors.

Transcript

 Hey Church, welcome to the Pack Bible Podcast with Glenn Power, a weekly podcast that helps guide and encourage you as you read through the Bible this fall. So grab the Bible reading plan from the show notes and let's jump in.



 (Music) But Junie was like, "What does it mean that it's pretty like a devil?" And I go, "That's not a nice thing to say." We just don't listen to that part of the lyric. "Devils are not pretty and we don't say that." That's definitely a fun part of parenting is like, "Dad, why did he do that?" He's like, "Well son, it's a movie."



 That's bad.



 It's just for fun. No one really does that in real life. All right, does it sound okay? I think that is a lot better right there. Check. Is the volume good? Yeah, you sound great. Do I stay this close or is it too... You're good there. Okay.



 All right, this is the first real session of the Radiant Pack Bible... Wait, what did we decide to call it?



 The Pack Bible Podcast. The Pack Bible Podcast. Okay, yeah. So this is the first real session of that. So the packs here at Radiant are going through a Bible reading plan. They are reading through the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, one psalm a day, and they're reading through Mark. And it's just starting this week actually.



 So they're going to go through about five chapters each of those books. And this podcast is meant just to create a sense of community.



 So me, I'm Glenn, by the way, me and a different guest each week. We'll come together and just talk about the chapters. We'll talk about what stuck out to us, what was exciting, what was confusing.



 And we'll just model a discussion about the word. We're not able to do a summary of each chapter of the Bible that we're reading. That's just too much content. You know, it's about 15 chapters a week. But I would recommend if you want something like that, a little synopsis or summary of every chapter, to check out the Bible Recap Podcast with Terri Lee Cobble. That's a really good one. And that's exactly what she does in a really short and accessible way. So today our guest is the man behind the camera himself, Forrest Cavelli. Hello, hello. So I'm going to interview Forrest about the reading.



 And actually we have another guest here today as well, Mike Salazar. Hello, hello. Okay.



 Keeping it consistent. And in the following week, we're going to interview Mike.



 So, but yeah, all three of us are just going to just talk about this. So, but before we get into it, it's just a fun way to start. Forrest, what's something about you that most people don't know? Man, you want something that's like funny, interesting. Yeah. Make us laugh, circus boy.



 That's my thing.



 You remember those really terrible commercials, the farmers only.com. Oh yeah. I remember those commercials that were out for years. Yeah. I made most of those.



 So you made them. I thought you were going to say you were in them. No, I made those. Okay. That's why we had a lot of friends that were in them, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Matt San Pedro wrote a lot of them and started a lot of them. Okay. Yeah. That was one of my clients and that was the, one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced.



 Did you ever hear, you know, feedback about like people meeting their farmer dates because of your commercials?



 Are there any marriages that happened because of those commercials? There's a ton because of farmers only itself. I don't know how much my commercials were specifically involved. They don't come back and thank you personally for their marriage. No. That's a shame. Yeah. They owe me that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay. So let's, let's jump into this. So. I think I already said the chapters that we read today. We are going to read this week.



 So forest is you read Exodus, Mark Psalms. What were some, what was a question you had?



 Maybe something that was confusing.



 Yeah.



 I was a bunch. And as I started reading this in journaling, I had to, had to slow myself down every second verse. I was like, Oh, that I want to ask that. What is, what is that in there? You know, so my journal was filling up and I was like, I gotta, I gotta land one of these and I gotta bring it in. Quick, quick question. Cause this I think will be helpful to people when you make notes. Do you, you write them in a journal as you're reading the Bible? Yeah.



 Yeah. It's a great practice. Yep. So, um, a lot of, and I'll have to maybe pre-apologize for this. A lot of what I write in my journal is, is questions. Hey, why, why is that? I need to ask somebody why that's there. Like that's really curious. I'm trying to figure out why Jesus responded like that. That's confusing. So I wish it was more praise. You're so good. And that was so amazing. And a lot of it's like, man, that's really interesting. And I'm curious why that happened. And so I think it may be just more inquisitive nature on those fronts, but that's what you're gonna, you're gonna get here out of my journal. That's great. So we love it. So you write and you write in your journal. Some people write in the margins of their Bible, all of it's all of it's a great way to just kind of clarify your thoughts as you're reading the Bible. Yep. Um, it's also, it's amazing to read back through it and yeah. And as you, I haven't read your journal in a while and you kind of skim it and you're like, Oh man, like remember what I was going through and different things and like, it's amazing. You read the same passage of scripture over and over again and get some entirely different. And so that's a, it's quite a journey. That's really true.



 All right. So a question. Um, my favorite one, and we'll see where this leads us, but it was, uh, near the beginning of Mark. So first chapter starting at verse 40, it's a Jesus cleans the leper. Right. That story. And, uh, as I was reading it, a couple of things stood out to me. Actually, you can really scoot back one verse. It was underlined in the Bible because I, I write there as well.



 Um, he went through all Galilee preaching, um, in their synagogues and casting out demons. So, um, where is that sort of Mark one, what verse back up to 39. Okay. And then to continue on through the rest of chapter one to the story of the, the leper. So, uh, I just kind of had the thought I was, I was reading 39. I was like, Oh yeah, Jesus is kind of a question and a statement. Jesus's primary audience or his primary ministry was starting to come up with his primary audience or his primary ministry was towards the Israelites. Correct. Yes. That was his main focus. Right. So I read that verse in 39 and that kind of popped into my head. And then as I read through the rest of, uh, the chapter, it stuck out to me. So he, he heals the leper. Yeah. Then he tells him, Hey, don't, don't tell anybody.



 Yeah. And just, just go back to the priests and tell them, and I'm assuming that's, there was, there was probably a law or, um, he needed to report that he'd been healed and cleaned so he can kind of reenter society in a way. Right. Yeah. God made provision for that in the mosaic law. If somebody is healed, they need to report to the priest and that's kind of their way to, because if they had leprosy, they were, they had to stay on the out, outskirts of the community. So they wouldn't infect anyone. And there's a symbolic value to that as well. But when they're finally healed, they'd have to check in with the priest to confirm their healing for one thing. But then second of all, then the priest could then introduce them back into the community. Yeah. Beautiful. So I understand the practicality of saying, go tell the priest. And then I'm just curious why he would, but don't tell anyone else. And so as I read through it, it was, and because at the end he was like, well, he basically, they found him everywhere. He was out in the desolate places and they, they found him there. Yeah. And so I was like, I, I, that feels like he said, don't tell anyone because it's going to screw up my ability to go into the synagogues and to preach to my primary audience. So don't tell anyone because it's actually going to hurt my ministry. Yeah. It's kind of what it felt like. And then I thought, that's really strange because as I understand it, as I think about it, Jesus is omniscient. He's God. He knows every, knows your thoughts. He knows everything that's going to happen. And it feels like in that verse, he didn't know. He was like hoping, Hey, don't, he was really hoping he wouldn't tell everybody. Yeah. And it wasn't sure that he wasn't, or it's like reverse psychology doesn't seem like his nature. Right. Like, Hey, don't tell anybody. He said, tell everyone. The perfect way to spread the message. Yeah, probably not. So yeah, That's disingenuous. That's probably not how Jesus rolls. Yeah. So that's my question is, was, yeah, why would it tell him not to tell everybody? And then does, is Jesus omniscient? Does he know everything? Cause that kind of feels like that versus leaning in a different. And this is the first question on our podcast. This is, um, so there's, there's two different issues that are going on. There's, they're separated in my mind anyway. The first one is why, why does Jesus constantly tell people to, to not tell anyone after they've been healed? And this is actually a huge characteristic of the gospel of Mark specifically. You see that a little bit in the other gospels, but Mark really emphasizes this. So this is what scholars call the, the messianic secret. The fact that Jesus would constantly do these things. And then he would tell people, shh, now don't tell anyone. And it's really bizarre because when you, when you read the gospels, the idea is, wait, didn't Jesus come to get the message out? Yeah. How does it make any sense that he is doing these amazing, amazing things, healing and teaching and telling people to not get the message out. And I think actually the solution is really practical is that their idea of a Messiah in that day, uh, was, was mostly political.



 And they, they perceived the Messiah as a new David who would come in and overthrow the Romans on their behalf. That was their perception of a Messiah.



 And so if Jesus came in with guns blazing saying, yeah, I'm the Messiah. And every time somebody healed, you know, healed, somebody just, Hey, go tell your friends, get the message out. Messiah's here.



 Then the word would get out that a new David was in town and that Rome was going down. And what would happen is that within days of Jesus's ministry starting, he would be arrested by the authorities and his ministry would stop. And so in that sense, you're completely right. Is that actually the practical reason was, Hey, if, if, if you get the word out too soon and if you get it out in the wrong way with the wrong perception, I'm going to have a 10 day ministry. I'm not going to get three years to heal people, to get these world changing teachings out there. And Jesus wanted that full length of time, you know, that full three years to for him to define what a Messiah was that a Messiah actually was going to come to suffer. That a Messiah was actually going to come to save people from their sins, not from the Romans. So that's, that's one issue. That's the messianic secret issue. Any, any thoughts on that? I mean, I don't know if this is like too early to, to kind of, um, ask this question, but I've heard other preachers preacher. I've heard, not a lot, but I've heard people share about this part too, that, that he just didn't want it to basically explode because then it would make it harder for him to go into these times. Like it would be like super Jesus, you know, like showing up and healing people. And that was a big need. So it was a practical way too, of just saying, Hey, I mean, that's so hard because if you have leprosy and you get healed, like if I lived in that time and he told me, I'm like, yeah, right. I'm going to tell everybody like, that's just how I am. You know, like I would just tell it, don't tell me a secret cause I'm going to share it to everybody. But it was like, what is that true? Like where that part, and maybe that's where you're going to get to have like, they didn't, he didn't want it to explode yet. Like, is that, is it, have you heard that before? Yeah. Yeah. That, that it would get too big, too quick. Um, yeah. And I think that's another way that it would limit his ministry and that, and that's exactly what did happen. You know, that there were, there were too many crowds and the, the wrong idea of a Messiah was starting to get out there already. And he was limited. So because of, so it wasn't reverse psychology,



 you know, he, he genuinely wanted him to keep it on the down low. Again, Jesus wanted to define the terms. Yeah. He wanted to get his teachings out there. He wanted to slowly unveil in his timing, what he was there to do and what the kingdom of God. Was really all about. And because of this guy disobeying him, I mean, it's very understandable, you know, not the worst sin in the world, but, um, because of what he did, there were actually people that Jesus could not heal. It limited Jesus's ministry. Yeah. So the second issue, I think that's at hand, and this is your, I think the bigger, really difficult question is we know that Jesus is fully God and we know that he's fully man.



 So the question is, you know, we know that God is omniscient. It's just a fancy word that means he knows everything.



 So when Jesus walked the earth as a man, he, he was fully God, but was he omniscient all the time? I mean, through his, his a 30 year old human brain, did he know everything that was happening in the, in the, in the, you know, the thoughts of every single person at all times. And that's a really, and that's a really difficult question because although we, we need to hold onto the fact that he was fully God, it's possible that he, he didn't, he chose to not use all of his, uh, divine attributes. Okay. So it was a choice, but there, but somehow, and I'm, and I'm speaking hypothetically because we're, we're kind of in the realm of mystery, right? I mean, Jesus being fully God and fully man, there's a lot of questions attached to it. And just, um, so he, he chose to be dependent on the father. We see that throughout the gospels. You know, I only, I only see, I only do what I see the father doing. So even that that's, that's him making a choice as a human to be dependent on his father and, and not fully exercising all of his rights as somebody who's fully God. So I think it's very possible that he, he wasn't omniscient all the time, or at least he voluntarily laid that down for periods of time as a human. So, man, we can talk about this forever. This is super interesting. Um, so he's fully God, fully man. And when he came down here, he willingly kind of emptied himself as it has divinity, right? That was kind of like, yeah. And that's probably not the, again, it's, it's semantics. That's probably not the best way to say it. Cause sure. Um, but again, it's, but it's super hard to say it right. Yeah. And actually it seems like you gotta like take a lot of theology classes to learn how to say it right. That's just the first thing that popped into my head there. Sure. Yeah. He, he's willingly saying like, all right, I'm gonna, I am God. He, he, yeah, he definitely, he laid down rights and privileges that came with his divinity. So then he's two talks about that. He's more than operating. So it'd be what he did know what, what was things that was revealed to him through the spirit then essentially, which is similar to how we operate right now. He chose to depend on the spirit and listen to the spirit the way that we do



 instead of just that, you know, omniscience card, like, I know everything all the time. He chose to get a word of knowledge for the person sitting next to him. Does that make sense? Yeah. So those times when he clearly read someone's mail and could hear their thoughts, yeah, the Holy Spirit was like, Hey, this guy's thinking this right now. Yeah. And he's like, yeah, he did it in a very human way that same way that we are intuition or, you know, that we could hear the Lord's voice and then act again. The Lord's voice and then act upon it. So interesting. So in a way we, and I love how he's always going, like even when there's a ton of stuff to be done and a ton of things that he's probably seen that the father showing him, I love that he's always going away. Like he's always saying to the disciples, I need to go away and have time with the Lord. And I think that's a very practical way for us to, to live our lives of like, how dependent he is. Like, I think he, I think he just modeled that very well. Like, are we going to do it as well as he, he did it probably not, but he modeled and said, like, our, our times with God, God will tap into us and give us those things as well to like follow and do and give those prophetic words. So I just think that kind of popped in my head. As you guys were talking. Yeah, this is, this is the example, his, his quiet times. Dude. Yeah. This is a, this is what's so amazing with the Bible. I kind of said it earlier that it's just every single time you read it as a new wrinkle. And I feel like now I want to go back and read it again with this lens, like reading through and be like, okay, I feel like he maybe didn't know what was going on here. And here, he obviously had it figured out. And it's to be really interesting to read through it, you know, with that lens and kind of like view Jesus to something that's more actually, cause I see easy to look at the Bible and be like, well, of course he could do that. He's God, you know? And you're like, no, he's,



 he's actually operating just like you in this moment with you have all the same resources that he does. Yeah. And this is probably a bad analogy, but what the image that comes to my mind is a, is a boxer who's 10 times stronger than the other, but he, he comes in blindfolded and with one arm tied behind his back. That's how he chooses to box, you know, like, yeah, does he still have all of his strength? Yeah. He doesn't lose it. But there's this, this voluntary restraint and this voluntary limitation.



 That's the best way I know how to describe. All right. Before we run out of time, I wanted to know for us,



 what was something that just something that touched your heart? Maybe, maybe it's just all questions. That's okay. That's okay too. So maybe, so was there something as you read through it that you felt like, man, I can see this in my life. Like I can see how this, how this relates to my life. So yeah, there's a,



 some one and I feel bad for my, like the key things I wrote down jumping up to me immediately. Maybe not, but so some one, one, just the classic verse. And as, as you go down through it, which let me, I'm going to skip my way back to that.



 As I was reading down through that and I kind of had to stop and just, I was like, I need to find these words for myself. Cause it's, you know, I've heard a lot of bless this man here. A lot of blesses man who walks not in the council with the wicked nor stands in the way of centers or sits in the seat of scoffers. And so I just went through and kind of defined those terms. And so it's like basically it's somewhat who gets advice from council from unbelievers. All right. Okay. I get that one. And then stands in the way of center. It feels like this was a progression. So you started off and you're, uh, you're seeking advice. You're just kind of letting them into your head. And then now you're kind of becoming one of them. You're sitting in the seat of, you're in their seat. You're kind of joining forces with them. Yeah. Let me just, that's such a good observation. So this is Psalm one verse one. The progression goes, walk, stand, sit, at least that's in the NIV. And you're pointing out that it's a, it's an increased commitment to these ungodly people. First, you're just kind of walking with them kind of halfhearted. Then, then you're standing with them. You're stopping what you're doing. But by the end of it, you are full on sitting with them and you are one of them. Yeah. You're, you're joining in, in this case, like the scoffers that you're joining in mocking God, or you're joining in, going in the wrong direction. And so as I was thinking through that, I just,



 it popped into my head. Some really close friends of mine who have done that started off like really on fire for the Lord, going on missions trips and just living really intentionally in that way. But then then they returned from doing those things. They, they walk this path. They started off just by getting a lot of non-Christian friends and then by



 then kind of like aligning themselves with them and then eventually just kind of walking away from their faith entirely and joining them. It's such this huge 180. And so it just kind of struck me that like, this is what this is talking about. I've seen that play out in my own life and I can see how that would affect me. And that was a, it's a personal anecdote. I do have a question. How much time do we got left in there? We can do it. This is, yeah, this will be our last one. So Matt Flummer, kind of our resident philosopher, you know, very interesting, intelligent fellow that we have access to, which is amazing. He preached a sermon a while back, talked about echo chambers. Right. And so that's kind of, as I, as I read through this, it felt like this is difficult because it sounds like don't do this, but let's, there's obviously the ability to have non-Christian friends,



 to do life with them, you know, without having to align with them and then move to the seated and scuffing zone of that. That feels like parlous to Matt talks about not being an echo chamber, broadening your sources, right? Those kinds of things. And not just only getting your stuff from one source. And this feels like, I think if you're going to be in an echo chamber, let's do it amongst our brothers inside the faith. But it does feel like, it's a nice echo chamber, but it's still an echo chamber is what you're saying. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that was my thought. Like, as I, I thought through this and thought of my buddy who walked through that and was like, Oh man, I wish he wouldn't have done that. Then I immediately thought like, well then isn't this that, thought, I was curious, you had to know. Yeah, it's great. So usually when you see two truths in the scriptures that seem to be intention, there's, there's usually a pretty powerful truth in the balance of it. And you have to, you have to find the balance of it. And a lot of times it depends on context as well. But, um, so Psalm, Psalm one really is talking about who, who do you get your, your, your wisdom from? Yeah. You know, who are you walking with? Who are you, who are you sitting with? You know, in a committed way. And it's, it's warning, you know, rightly so, like, like the story you gave of your friend, it's warning that when you become more and more committed to, to this kind of person and you, you yoke yourself to them and that, and those are your, your best friends, the ones that you share all with the one that you constantly receive input from, then it's, it's not going to go good. It's going to, it's going to steal from you. It's going to steal from your faith. You're going to become more like them. Um, now there's another truth, and this is what it's intention with. There's another truth that let's just use Jesus. Jesus ate with sinners. Yeah, definitely. Okay. And so how does Psalm one fit with the fact that Jesus intentionally reached out to the tax collectors and the prostitutes? How do those two things go together? Yep. And I think Jesus is the, is the perfect answer because Jesus wasn't really doing what Psalm one is talking about. Jesus was reaching out to them, but Jesus knew who he was and Jesus actually had a, a close crew of people that, that he was walking with in an intimate way. He wasn't sitting down with the tax collector and the prostitute and saying, Hey, tell me about, you know, how you, you cheated and got more money off of that last deal. Like, that's really interesting. You know, maybe, maybe that's not so bad. I mean, Jesus, Jesus had his convictions intact. Yes. And so really, I think it, cause this is something that we talk about in gap year, you know, I, cause I see a gap years are, are a college age program discipleship school that we have at radiant. And I see a lot of young people get off track because of who they hang out with. And so I emphasize the Psalm one truth, but then I have to say, you know, I'm not saying to not have friends that are not unbelievers, but what it comes down to is where do you go when you need wisdom? Do you go to people that don't know God? That's not a good thing. Um, where do you go when you're suffering? Like, do you have people that you can ask prayer from, you know? And so I believe every, every believer needs to have an intimate circle, just like Jesus did where you can be vulnerable. You can, you can just pour out your heart and what you can expect back from them is something that, that honors God and something that, that is wise.



 And once you have that intact, it's great to reach out to spend time with family members and friends that, that don't know the Lord, but you need that inner circle to keep you solid and keep you steady. And, and nine times out of 10, the people who are taken off track, it's because they don't have a safe inner circle. They're, they're very best friends. The ones that they're yoked with are the Psalm one people that don't know God. Yeah. Does that make sense? I like, I like verse two though it says, but he delights in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. I think for me, this speaks to like, yeah, I, I, cause I think there's other people too that say, well, like, I don't do those things. I don't sit with centers, but it's like, for me, I'm a big podcast guy and it's like the things that I listened to, the things that want to influence me, like other out, other just things that I listened to right in our culture. And I think, I think that I think for me, the part that I take from this is like my, my source on like what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is, you know, even the good things, like the things that are important to my life should come from the model that God has given me his law. Like that is for me, the measure, right? Cause I, I, there's times where God in this season is saying, don't listen to that right now. Like that, that's, you just become a little scoffer in your heart. You know, you kinda start doing those things of taking counsel from specific podcasts when you're like, maybe they are right. And I think God's like saying, be very watchful of that. Cause it's really sneaky, you know, cause again, I haven't, I haven't, I mean, this is probably, I mean, yeah, I go to work with people that don't believe in God, but my, my community is mostly radiant. You know, my community is mostly my close Christian friends. But I just think right now in the time we live in like technology and the things that are just like a click away, it's like, be very watchful of that. You know, that's so good. Yeah. I'm sure right now in the particular season we're in, the temptation would be to just listen to a lot of politics.



 And we really want to be careful that we're our intake. We have, we have the word as our intake. We're, we're delighting in the law of the Lord. We're meditating on it day and night. And it's okay with that, with that foundation intact, it's okay to listen to some politics on top of that. But man, we want to keep that Psalm one verse two foundation intact and just keep delighting. Did you guys read the wisdom pyramid, Brett McCracken? Yes. Yeah. We talked a lot about that and the houses and different things, but yeah, it's just kind of like the proper healthy balance, you know, like, yeah, the main, your base is the word and that time and you get up to the top and you have podcasts and social media and those kinds of things. That needs to be one of your smaller intakes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's, let's leave it there and enjoy the word this week, you guys. And yeah, keep in mind Psalm one is we're talking about just to keep delighting in the law of the Lord. You know, it's not just, it's not just discipline. Discipline's awesome, but there's a, there's a delight. There's a joy in finding Jesus and encountering him as we read through the scriptures. And hopefully these podcasts are just a model of good Bible conversation you can have during your packs, you know, you don't need to have Bible experts. You can just talk, oh, Hey, what does this mean? Talk about it. And it's going to be really edifying and strengthening. So we will see you guys next week. See ya. See ya.



 And just like in Psalm one, one, you should join a pack so you have the proper inner circle.



 I'm good. Uh, time-wiping.



 It's a little bit longer than



 you.



 (Inaudible)