MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
Programs to help men become transformed to the image (character) of Jesus Christ.
MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
MEN ALIVE 213 - Give Me PATIENCE - Now!
Ever pondered on how the Holy Spirit helps us endure life's toughest storms with patience and love? This episode takes you on a journey to explore the concept of Holy Spirit Patience. Brace yourself as we unravel how God, in His perfect planning, ensured we won't reach perfection without Him. We'll discuss how the Holy Spirit nourishes us with patience to endure faithfully, even if we don't receive all of God's promises in this lifetime. So, if you're on a quest to deepen your trust in God and His divine plan, this episode is an enriching listen.
Welcome to Men Alive, a biblical journey to help us conform to the image of Jesus Christ. I'm your host, paul Estabrooks, our teacher, as my longtime friend, dr Jim Cunningham, consultant in adult education, director of Go Teach Global and author of the book Men Alive, jim, today's program is the fourth section from the Galatians 522 list of the fruit of the spirit called patience. Let's tell our listeners what we did for this program.
Speaker 2:Pablo, this is your story to tell.
Speaker 1:I recall sending you a possible title for the program called patience, and I want it now and then I decided to test this newly available source of information called chat gpt, an artificial intelligence robot that generates response to inquiries you give it. I submitted this request write me a 2000 word essay on the fruit of the spirit patience and it did within one minute. In fact, chat gpt even generated a new title for us and called the program cultivating the fruit of the spirit the power of patience.
Speaker 2:In one minute. That's incredible but frightening. I read it and it rearranged my whole world of writing scripts. How are we to use this technology? Am I to write my words first and then see what significant ideas or words were added by artificial intelligence, or am I just to take AI and have them write the whole thing and maybe add one or two thoughts?
Speaker 1:I like what the apostle Peter said in his first epistle, for we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God. The Father, the voice from the majestic glory of God, said to him this is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy. We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and Christ, the morning star, shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke from God.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Peter says it right there in verse 21. The Bible was not written by human initiative or by artificial intelligence. It was written by prophets who were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke from God. So, pablo, I would see the AI writings as a reference, maybe a source to consider, like a politician or a president having a speechwriter. When I read AI, I'm reading the words that did not come from my lips, my head or my heart, and especially when AI quotes Scripture. We need to be like the Bereans in Acts 1711, of whom it was said and the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica and they listened eagerly to Paul's message. Then they searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
Speaker 1:For sure. That's what you and I learned in Bible college. Examine the Scriptures, make sure every passage reference is in context, like the old adage that says a text out of context is a pretext.
Speaker 2:That's how I feel about using artificial intelligence to write any script, especially for radio or podcasts. Be careful, be patient, do your homework, check the content of any Scripture used. For example, I did a search of the word patience in the New Living Translation's version of the New Testament and came up with 13 verses to which I compared the verses used by chat GPT's artificial intelligence. And guess what? Babel AI did not reference any Scripture in talking about the section of the fruit of the Spirit called patience. It was more philosophical and said quote this essay explores the significance of patience, its nature, its manifestations in various contexts and the ways to cultivate this virtue in one's life. Unquote.
Speaker 2:That's a little different than studying the Word of God that, according to 2 Timothy 3, 14 to 16, quote teaches, reproves, corrects and trains. God's Word is supernatural and able to make you wise for salvation. That may be okay for philosophy class, but there are three verses of Scripture that are connected with my Spirit. The Apostle Paul prayed in Romans 15.5,. May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of.
Speaker 1:Jesus Christ. This verse could have been used to support AI's comment about patience in interpersonal relationships. Imagine what sermons will sound like if AI begins writing scripts for sermons. Here's what AI said, quote In relationships, patience is crucial for fostering trust and mutual understanding. Conflicts and disagreements are inevitable in any human interaction, and patience helps create space for meaningful communication and resolution. Instead of reacting impulsively to disagreements, patient individuals listen attentively, seeking to understand the other person's perspective. This empathetic approach builds bridges and strengthens the bonds between people.
Speaker 2:Oy voy vey. How does that word sell that? Help anyone live without the control and filling of the Holy Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is a spiritual control that is only available when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, and Christ anoints us with His Holy Spirit, who then seeks to fill and control us every moment of every day until we see Jesus Christ face to face.
Speaker 2:I love what the apostle Paul tells the church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians 6,5, quote we have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights and gone without food. Many, adds in verse 6, quote we prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness. By the Holy Spirit within us and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God's power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. In other words, folks. Paul is saying we have had the stuffing knocked out of us physically, but we endured it with patience. How? By the Holy Spirit within us and our sincere love for people.
Speaker 1:Where.
Speaker 2:O. Where, O almighty AI, did that patience and love come from? It is the result of what Paul calls we had the Holy Spirit within us. It was not some artificial robot telling the church in Colossae, in Colossians 3,12,. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourself with tender hearted, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And from where does that patience come? From the indwelling fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:Please be patient with us while we remind you that you are listening to Men Alive with Dr Jim Cunningham from Go Teach Global. Jim, we can only earnestly pray that people would be as interested in bearing the fruit of the Spirit as they are in receiving the gifts of the Spirit 2 Timothy 3.10 proves that people with patience are observed by others.
Speaker 2:Paul said to Timothy but you, timothy, certainly know what I teach and how I live and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love and my endurance. And to Titus he added teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience".
Speaker 1:But artificial intelligence did do a good job of defining the nature of patience that GPT wrote. This Patience, as described in the biblical context, is derived from the Greek word makrothumia, which translates to long suffering or the ability to endure for an extended period. However, patience is much more than just passive endurance. It encompasses an active, enduring spirit in the face of difficulties, waiting or adversity.
Speaker 2:And, to their credit, ai did give some academic examples of what they called manifestations of patience as found in personal growth, learning a skill or breaking a bad habit, interpersonal relationships for meaningful communication and patience in professional success, learning from mistakes. Parenting required patience as well to strengthen the parent-child bond. Ai needs to acknowledge that one's Christian faith is not a quote religious belief system, unquote of rules and regulations. Our Christian faith is a relationship with the Creator, god of the universe, through accepting His Son as our Savior, who in turn gives us His Holy Spirit as our controlling guide. Pablo, it's interesting what you did with chat GPT. At the end he wrote give me ten illustrations or stories of patience as a fruit of the spirit, and it did all within one minute. But none of the ten stories came from the Bible. They gave stories of the patient shown by a farmer waiting for a harvest, a mystic seeking for enlightenment, an overworked doctor patiently helping those who were ill and loving parents who adopted a child and patiently helped that child adjust.
Speaker 1:All were illustrative of patience in a human sense True, but you and I both enjoy illustrations from the Bible, like Abraham waiting until he was a hundred years old for the birth of his promised son, Isaac, or Joseph waiting with patience to be freed from prison. That's the kind of patience given to us by the Holy Spirit to trust God fully while waiting for him to answer our prayers.
Speaker 2:Let's call that the Holy Spirit patience. If we look at Hebrews 11, at the end of the great list of faithful servants of God, we read these words quote, but others unquote. Then the author lists nameless people who continued to serve God, living by faith with patience. Here's what the author of Hebrews says, quote. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning. Some were sawn in half. Others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground unquote.
Speaker 2:Then it says all these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised for. God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. That is Holy Spirit Patience. In a day when some preach prosperity and health for all who love God, here we see that God's Holy Spirit grants us Holy Spirit Patience to endure faithfully without necessarily receiving in our lifetime all that God has promised. May God grant us that kind of fruit in our life Holy Spirit, patience to trust Him and His plan until we see Him face to face.
Speaker 1:Until next time, I'm Paul Osterbroek, son behalf of Dr Jim Cunningham, encouraging you to become men alive, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
